The Entropia Universe

The Entropia Universe is a virtual world on the Internet, which seems very like our real life．It is set in a distant future and based on a planet called Calypso．Entropia was the brainchild of a group of Swedish computer lovers who decided to see if they could create a three dimensional (維度的) virtual world that could be placed on the Internet．They did manage after they received the financial backing they needed．

The game can be played for free, but nearly all in-game activities require personal resources that you have available to use．Although there are various activities to keep you busy on Calypso, what most people do first is to find themselves a profession, such as hunting the fierce animals on Calypso, mining the precious minerals and making tools．Then they can think about buying their virtual house or paying a visit to a virtual nightclub or doing any of the other activities that make life bearable．

Entropia has its very own economy (經(jīng)濟(jì)) and its own currency, the PED (Project Entropia Dollars)．Players move real world money into PED which they then use to pay for their life on Calypso．However, the virtual things inside Entropia do have a real value in the outside world, and careful business deals mean that players can actually make real money there．PED can be changed into dollars any time at a rate of 10PED to 1US$．

What’s so impressive about The Entropia Universe is the number of players; currently more than 600,000 representing over 220 countries from planet Earth．A number of players insist that it’s a good way to make money．However, the reality of Entropia’s economic system is that most people end up paying more than they earn and it’s not uncommon to find players who are paying up to $200 a month into their PED account．This might not be the most economical way of spending one’s free time．However, some people say that for them the fact that they can escape the realities of the earthbound life and become a different person with a completely different life for a few hours every week is worth the use of money, even if they don’t get any interest rates on it．

1.What can we learn about The Entropia Universe?

A． It costs nothing to join．

B． It focuses on business plans．

C． It is designed for computer lovers．

D． It presents what life is like on other planets．

2.What does Paragraph 2 mainly talk about?

A． What people do on Calypso．

B． When people buy houses there．

C． How people make life bearable．

D． Why people often find a job first．

3.According to the author, playing on The Entropia Universe ______．

A． may be very annoying

B． can be quite expensive

C． is a cheap way to kill time

D． is a good way to earn money

4.What can be inferred about The Entropia Universe?

A． It is technical．

B． It is satisfying．

C． It is ridiculous．

D． It is educational．

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It is never too late to try to make your dreams come true. This could be Mary Moe’s motto—the expression that best presents her spirit. Mary Moe has done a lot during the past 91 years. For much of that time, she wanted to fly, but never had the chance—until now. She recently achieved her life-long dream.

Mary just learned how to fly an airplane, a dream she has had since she was a little girl. Growing up, she was inspired by two American pilots: Charles Lindburgh Amelia Earhart. They became her inspiration. Lindbugh made the solo nonstop flight across the Atlantic Ocean in 1927. Five years later, Earhart became the first woman to make the flight. But Mary Moe could not find time to make her dream come true. At age 34, she was just too busy—busy fighting cancer. She was also busy with her job in advertising and busy raising her family.

There was simply no time to think about flying a plane. And it was difficult for her to drive to the airport. Lessons were costly. Everything seemed to be working against Mary.

“I had actually gone out to that airport in the 1980s to see about flying lessons and it was such a long drive out and expensive and I thought, ‘No, I have to put this back burner for a while.’” So her dream had to wait. She kept it on the back burner. Then, at age 91, her wish finally came true.

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A. lived a smooth life B. been unemployed

C. spent a hard time D. learned how to fly

2.The underlined part is closest in meaning to “_____________”

A. set this down B. put this off

C. cut this off D. give this away

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She said, “I was very nervous. But when I opened the hotel door and saw 20 armed policemen lined up in the car park, I was so glad they were there.”

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Vicki quietly showed eight armed officers through passages and staircases to the top floor room and handed over the key.

“I realized that my bedroom window overlooks that pair of the hotel, so I went to watch. I could not see into the man’s room, but I could see the passage (走廊). The police kept shouting at the man to come out with his hands showing. Then suddenly he must have come out because they shouted for him to lie down while he was handcuffed (帶手銬).”

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A. get B. be paid C. ask for D. own

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Trampolining

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The idea of trampolining is ancient．Eskimos have been throwing each other in the air for thousands of years．Firemen began using a life net to catch people jumping from buildings in 1887.1.

A gymnast named George Nissan and his coach Larry Griswold made the first modern trampoline in 1936.They got the idea by watching swing artists bouncing off of a tight net at the circus．They named their equipment after the Spanish word trampolín, which means diving board.

2. In 1942 they began making trampolines to sell to the public.

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B． Trampolines may be fun, but they can also be dangerous.

C． The men wanted to share their idea with the whole world.

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E． You can surround your trampoline with a net so that people don’t fall off of it．

F． They found a winner when they performed a piece of spring across a steel frame.

G． And in the early 1900s, circus performers began bouncing off of netting to amuse audiences．

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The second one, occurs at the other end of the income scale, and may even apply to otherwise rational (理性的) Economist readers: well-educated, rich parents try to do too much．Safety is part of it—they fear that if they are not constantly watching their children may break their necks, which is the least rational．Despite the impression you get from watching crime dramas, children in rich countries are safe, so long as they look both ways before crossing the road．The other popular parental fear—that your children might not get into an Ivy League college—is more rational．Academic success matters more than ever before．But beyond a certain point, parenting makes less difference than many parents imagine．Studies in Minnesota and Sweden, for example, found that identical twins grew up equally intelligent whether they were raised together or apart．A study in Colorado found that children that adopted and raised by brainy parents ended up no brainier than those adopted by average parents．

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B． falls slow behind others

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B． When it comes to child-raising, Economist readers will become more rational．

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B． advise modern parents to learn from their previous generations

C． persuade stressed parents to learn to relax and give more freedom to their children

D． call on the government to do more to help poor parents with school-age children

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You may not pay much attention to your daily elevator ride．Many of us use a lift several times during the day without really thinking about it．But Lee Gray，PhD，of the University of North Carolina，US，has made it his business to examine this overlooked form of public transport．He is known as the “Elevator Guy”.

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He explained that when you are the only one inside a lift，you can do whatever you want – it’s your own little box.

If there are two of you，you go into different corners，standing diagonally (對(duì)角線地) across from each other to create distance.

When a third person enters，you will unconsciously form a triangle．And when there is a fourth person it becomes a square，with someone in every corner．A fifth person is probably going to have to stand in the middle.

New entrants to the lift will need to size up the situation when the doors slide open and then act decisively．Once in，for most people the rule is simple – look down，or look at your phone.

Why are we so awkward in lifts?

“You don’t have enough space，” Professor Babette Renneberg，a clinical psychologist at the Free University of Berlin，told the BBC．“Usually when we meet other people we have about an arm’s length of distance between us．And that’s not possible in most elevators.”

In such a small，enclosed space it becomes very important to act in a way that cannot be understood as threatening or odd．“The easiest way to do this is to avoid eye contact，” she said.

1.According to Gray，when people enter an elevator，they usually _____.

A． turn around and greet one another

B． look around or examine their phone

C． make eye contact with those in the elevator

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2.Which of the following describes how people usually stand when there are at least two people in an elevator?

A．

B．

C．

D．

3.According to the article，people feel awkward in lifts because of _____.

A． someone’s odd behaviors

B． a lack of space

C． their unfamiliarity with one another

D． their eye contact with one another

【小題】What’s the passage mainly about _____.

A． Bad manners in the elevator

B． Some unwritten rules of elevator etiquette

C． An interesting but awkward elevator ride

D． The strange behaviors in the elevator

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科目：高中英語 來源：2014-2015學(xué)年黑龍江省高三上學(xué)期期中考試英語試卷（解析版） 題型：單項(xiàng)填空

On hearing the news, she rushed out without hesitation, ________ her handbag ________ on the sofa and ________ in the distance.

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B．leaving; lying; disappeared

C．leaving; laying; disappeared

D．left; lying; disappearing

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