It is plain that in the year 2020 everyone will have at his elbow several times more mechanical energy than he has today.
There will be advance in biological knowledge as far-reaching as those that have been made in physics. We are only beginning to learn that we can control our biological environment as well as our physical one. Starvation has been predicted twice to a growing world population: by Malthus in about 1800, by Crookes in about 1900. It was headed off the first time by taking agriculture to America and the second time by using the new fertilizers. In the year 2020, starvation will be headed off by the control of the diseases and the heredity(遗传) of plants and animals---by shaping our own biological environment.
Now I come back to the haunting theme of automation. The most common species in the factory today is the man who works or minds a simple machine---the operator. By the year 2020, the repetitive tasks of industry will be taken over by the machines, as the heavy tasks were taken over long ago; and the mental tedium will go the way of physical exhaustion. Today we still distinguish, even among repetitive jobs, between the skilled and the unskilled; but in the year 2020 all repetition will be unskilled. We simply waste our time if we oppose this change; it is as inevitable as the year 2020 itself.

1.The article was written to __________.

A. warn us of the impending starvation

B. present facts about life in the near future

C. oppose biological advances

D. warn of the evil side of automation

2.Advances in biological knowledge were___________.

A. kept pace with advances in physics

B. been responsible for the invention of new machines

C. surpassed those in physics

D. lagged behind those in physics

3.According to the passage, starvation_________.

A. can be predicted

B. is unavoidable

C. can be prevented

D. is mainly caused by poor agriculture

4.Repetitive tasks in industry lead to__________.

A. physical exhaustion

B. mental stimulation

C. mental exhaustion

D. extinction

5.If the predictions of this writer are realized, the demand for the unskilled workers in the twenty-first century will be __________.

A. very high 

B. very low

C. the same as today 

D. constantly rising

We find that bright children are rarely held back by mixed-ability teaching. On the contrary, both their knowledge and experience are enriched. We feel that there many disadvantages in streaming pupils. It does not take into account the fact that children develop at different rates. It can have a bad effect on both the bright and the not-so-bright child. After all, it can be quite discouraging to be at the bottom of the top grade!
Besides, it is rather unreal to grade people just according to their intellectual ability. This is only one aspect of their total personality. We are concerned to develop the abilities of all our pupils to the full, not just their academic ability. We also value personal qualities and social skills, and we find that mixed-ability teaching contributes to all these aspects of learning.
In our classroom, we work in various ways. The pupils often work in groups and this gives them the opportunity to learn to co-operate, to share, and to develop leadership skills. They also learn how to cope with personal problems as well as learning how to think, to make decisions, to analysis and evaluate, and to communicate effectively. The pupils learn from each other as well as from the teacher.

1.How does the author look at the mixed-ability teaching?

A. Doubtfully 

B. Critically

C. Negatively

D. Positively

2.Which of the following statement is true about “streaming pupils”?

A. It prevents the students from advancing

B. It can encourage the pupils to do their best.

C. Children can develop at different rates in this way.

D. It is advantageous to developing the full abilities of the students

3.The author considers that a teacher should be concerned to develop the student’s________.

A. total personality 

B. intellectual ability

C. social skills

D. learning technique

4.By cope with in the 3rd paragraph the author means ___________.

A. control

B. solve

C. treat 

D. conquer

5.The purpose of writing the passage is to __________.

A. recommend group work for classroom activities

B. emphasize the importance of evaluating the pupils correctly

C. argue for teaching the bright and the not-so-bright in the same class

D. criticize the methods of grading students just according to their intellectual ability.

It is impossible to answer the question, “Who built the first canal?” Perhaps some people long ago, living in a dry country, discovered that they could dig ditches to irrigate(灌溉)their fields with river water. And, naturally, in the days when boats were the most important means of transport, canals were the easiest means of reaching a place that was not on a river, but was at the same level as a river. Furthermore, a ditch joining two rivers proved both easy and time-saving for boat travel.
Today, most countries in the world have canals. Even in the twentieth century, goods can be moved more cheaply by boat than by any other means of transport. Some canals, such as the Suez or the Panama, save ships weeks of time by making their voyage a thousand miles shorter.
The size of a canal depends on the king of boats going through it. The canal must be wide enough to permit two of the largest boats using it to pass each other easily. It must be deep enough to leave about two feet of water beneath the bottom of the largest boat using the canal.
In places where it does not rain very often, irrigation canals drain water from rivers or lakes and carry it to fields. Sometimes artificial lakes, such as the lake behind the Aswan Dam on the Nile River, provide the irrigation water.
In places where there is too much water, canals can drain the water off the land for use in farming, In Holland, acres and acres of land have been drained in this way. Since much of this drained land is below sea level, the water in the canals has to be pumped up to sea level.
Many countries have built canals near the coast, and parallel to the coast. These waterways make it possible for boats to travel between ports along the coast without being exposed to the dangers of the open sea.

1.Where were canals first built?

A. Suez 

B. Panama

C. Holland 

D. No one knows

2.A canal must be deep enough to leave how many feet of water beneath the bottom of the largest boat using the canal?

A. One foot of water 

B. Two feet of water

C. Five feet of water

D. Ten feet of water

3.The Aswan Dam was built primarily for what purpose?

A. Navigation 

B. Irrigation

C. Drainage

D. Electricity

4.Compared to other means of water transport, canal boats are___________.

A. cheaper and sometimes faster

B. more expensive, but faster

C. cheaper, but more dangerous

D. more expensive and slower

5.Are canals ever built parallel to the sea coast?

A. No, because boats can use the sea

B. Yes, to protect boats from storms.

C. No, because the sea can flood the canals

D. Yes, to protect boats from attacks.