b
    his feet had touched the ground again, but south african mike melvill’s head was still high above the clouds.
    seeing the earth from the edge of space was “an amazing experience”, said the 63-year-old pilot it was more than a personal experience. melvill and his rocket plane space ship one made history last monday when it became the first private manned flight to reach space.
    the spacecraft was carried by a jet until it reached a height of 14kilometers. then it separated from the jet and continued its journey beyond the earth’s atmosphere. the craft reached space by traveling at three times the speed of sound.
    on board, mevill was able to see the earth. he also became weightless for about 3 minutes when the craft reached its highest altitude of 100 kilometers. he even opened a bag of colorful chocolate sweets to see if they would float around in the cockpit（驾驶员座舱） —— they did.
    the successful flight brought the design team, led by famous american designer burt rutan, closer to winning the us10 million ansari x prize. the award will be given to the first privately funded（投资） spacecraft to send three people 100 kilometers above the earth. the spacecraft also has to land safely and repeat the achievement within two weeks.
    this is to prove that the craft is reliable and has the ability to carry paying customers. “the flight opens a new chapter in history, putting space within the reach of ordinary citizens,” said patti smith, head of commercial space transportation at the us federal aviation administration.
    it’s hoped that this flight is the first step toward space tourism. members of the public could pay us$20,000-100,000 for the chance to fly high above the earth’s atmosphere, float in zero gravity and take in the sights of space.
    rutan thinks that affordable space flights will be possible within the next 10 to 15 years. and that’s just the beginning. “we are heading into orbit sooner than you think,” he said.
    “we do not intend to stay in low-earth orbit for ages. the next 25 years will be a wild ride… one that history will note was done for the benefit of everyone.”

5. the story is about___________.
a. a successful flight into pace
b. the beginning of affordable space flights
c. competition for commercial space transportation
d. the first private rocket plane
6. according to burt rutan, what is likely to happen?
a. he’ll win the ansari x prize.
b. a space flight will cost much less than 100,000.
c. in a few decades, private space craft will travel high in space.
d. the space ship one will make another flight within two weeks.
7. the fact that chocolate sweets could float proves ____.
a. the spacecraft was flying faster than sound
b. mevill was in space
c. mevill was high above the earth
d. there was a strong wind
8. the title of this passage is _________.
a. walk in space
b. the first private manned spaceship reached space successfully
c. the first spaceship
d. a manned spaceship reached space successfully

c
    an american researcher has developed a simple device to help people stop snoring. the device limits the movements of the tissues（组织） that cause the unpopular sound. snoring is a common problem. it may prevent a person from getting enough sleep. it may also prevent enough oxygen from reaching heart and lungs during sleep. but for most people, snoring affects relations with another person who must sleep in the back room.
    snoring happens when the sleeping person breathes with the mouth open. in the back of the mouth the tissues surrounding the entrance of the throat are soft. as the person breathes, the movement of the air around the soft tissues causes them to move or vibrate. this tissue movement causes the sound we call snoring. a number of possible solutions have been proposed. some devices keep the mouth shut. they force the patient to breathe only through the nose. a medical operation is also possible. other devices catch the sound of snoring and then wake the patient. the new anti-snoring device was developed by a dentist, george wagner of the indian university school of dentistry. he developed a piece of plastic that fits up against the inside of the mouth. the device keeps the soft tissues from vibrating and making the snoring noise. it is worn only at night. doctor wagner said that the simple device has ended several patients’ snoring problem in a simple way.
9. the underlined word“snoring”（in paragraph 1） probably means ____.
a. speaking while one sleeps
b. dreaming while on sleeps
c. noises made while on sleeps
d. sighs given while one sleeps
10. snoring happens ____.
a. when dreaming at night ,even during the day
b. when breathing with one’s mouth closed
c. when sleeping with one’s mouth open
d. when being poor in health
11. from the passage we know that the simplest and more efficient way to prevent a person from snoring is ____.
a. to keep the soft tissues from vibrating
b. to give the patient a medical operation
c. to wake him/her up as soon as he/she snores
d. to make him/her listen to the sound of snoring