四. 阅读理解（共15小题，每小题3分，满分45分） A
41.According to the news report, scientists plan to send robots up to Mars to _____. A. find out whether there is water on Mars B. see if robots can find minerals there C. test how fast robots can drive there D. prove that robots can work on Mars
42. How long in between will the two robots be sent to Mars? A. 1 year. B. 7.5 months. C. 2 months. D. 2 weeks. 43. One of the important jobs for the robots on Mars is to _____. A. study the soil B. walk everywhere C. test the new camera D. find a suitable landing point 44. We can infer from the last sentence that scientists_____. A. have changed the landing points many times B. hope to land the robots on the surface of water C. are still working on the plan D. know where they can find water B Lillian Beard whistled and smiled while she worked. “Why are you so happy?”her co-workers asked her. “Last week I got my income tax refund,”Lillian answered.“This morning I went to the bank and cashed the check. I have $ 462 in my pocket. I’m thinking about the money. How will I spend it?” After work, Lillian came home and decided to wash come clothes. She looked at the jeans she was wearing. They were dirty, so they put them in the washing machine, too. Ten minutes later she thought, “The money! It’s in the pocket of my jeans!”Lillian ran to the washing machine and took out the jeans. The money was still in the pocket, but it was wet. Lillian put the money on the kitchen table. A few hours later the money was still wet. “Hmmm,”Lillian thought.“How can I dry this money?”Then Lillian had an idea. She could dry the money in her microwave oven! Lillian put the money in the microwave, set the timer for five minutes, and left the kitchen. When Lillian came back a few minutes later, she saw a fire in the microwave. She opened the oven door, blew out the fire, and looked at her money. The money was burned. The next day Lillian took the burned money to the bank. A teller at the bank told her, “If I can see the numbers on the burned bills, I can give new money.”Unfortunately, the teller found numbers on only a few bills. The teller took those bills and gave Lillian $ 17. A newspaper reporter heard about the burned money. He wrote a story about Lillian for the newspaper. Several people read the story and called the newspaper. “Tell Mr. Beard to send the burned money to the US Department of Treasury,”the people said. “Maybe she can get her money back.” Every year about 30,000 people send damaged money to the Treasury Department. Experts there look carefully at the damaged money. Sometimes they can give people new money for the damaged money. Once a farmer’s cow ate-his money ––– thousands of dollars. The farmer killed the cow and sent the cow’s stomach, with the money inside, to the Treasury Department. The experts gave the farmer new money. Lillian sent her money to the Treasury Department. The experts looked at Lillian’s burned money and sent her a check for $ 231. What did Lillian buy with the money? She didn’t buy anything. She gave the $ 231 to friends who needed money. Lillian said, “When I burned the $ 462, I thought, ‘Well, my money is gone.’”The check for $ 231 was a big surprise. I decided to give the money to my friends. Money is important, but people are more important to me. 45. Where does Lillian’s $ 462 come from? A. Her salary B. Her bonus（奖金） C. She picked up on her way home D. Tax which has been overcharged 46. How did Lillian dry the money? A. By blowing B. By putting it in the sun C. By drying it in microwave D. By putting on the table 47. How did Lillian know she could send her money to the Treasury Department? A. Her bank told her. B. People from the newspaper C. A friend phoned her. D. She thought out herself. 48. Lillian gave her money to ________. A. her mother B. her friends C. Treasure Department D. farmer
C
Your mobile phone rings, and instead of the usual electronic signals, it’s playing your favorite music. A friend sends your favorite song to cheer you up. One day, a record company might forward new records and music videos to your phone. The mobile business is getting into the music business. For the moment, the interest is in pleasant ring tones, but some companies are hoping to take full advantage of the next generation of mobile phones ― all – purpose gadgets（小玩意儿）that blend phone, personal stereo, video player and Internet browser into one. Finally, record companies might send new records and videos to fans who register（注册）their cell phone numbers. The fans could pass music or songs along to friends― a kind of musical trading card. Unlike Internet tracks, mobile downloads would be easy for record companies to control, said former record industry official Ralph Simon, who is now chairman of Yourmobile, based in Santa Monic, California. “If you pass a song along to other phones through a network, each phone can be charged,” said Simon. “It’s like going through a toll gate（收费站）. There’s more possibility for copyright control than there is on the Internet.”49. The underlined word “blend” in the second paragraph most probably means________. A. send B. become C. mix D. compare 50. “
C. pass along songs and music D. send voice mail
