Texas was part of Mexico until a rebellion by Anglo-American colonists and Tejanos, Mexicans living in Texas. After that, the territory was an independent republic for almost ten years.

　　In 1846, Texas became the twenty-eighth state.

　　Today, Houston is the fourth largest city in the United States. Two million people live there. The area now spreads over more than one thousand six hundred square kilometers of southeastern Texas. Oil and gas exploration are still important to the Houston economy. But other industries have also grown over the years. One of these is the space industry.

　　Houston is home to the Johnson Space Center. Astronauts train there. And it is also where the NASA space agency has its Mission Control. Controllers direct space shuttle flights from Houston, just as they did with the old Apollo flights to the moon.

　　Movies like "Apollo Thirteen" have only added to the image of Houston as "Space City".

　　--From VOA's Special English (Written by Jill Moss 21 June 2007)

　　An 76． Houston

77．

Aspects In the past 83． Industry 80． The Space & other industries 78． 25 square kilometers 84． Population 81． 2 million 79． a) Establishment in 1836

b) Capital of the RT

c) 82． of the US a) The fourth largest city of US

b) 85．

七、Writing

　　假如你是济南某中学的高三学生李华，你于2007年5月18日收到了美国笔友Stella发来的一封电子邮件，请你仔细阅读她的邮件并回复邮件给她。

　　注意：1．邮件的内容必须包括对方想要了解的全部情况；

　　　　　2．谈一下你对自己所处现况的看法；

　　　　　3．词数：120-150词。

　　Glad to hear from you last Friday . From your letter I've learned a lot about Jinan . Great changes have taken place in Jinan in the past few years . It must be more beautiful than it used to be . I'm expecting to visit it sometime in the near future .

　　Now, I'm eager to know something about your school life , especially about what you usually do after class . I will be delighted if you can tell me something about it .

　　I am looking forward to your reply .

　　With best wishes .

　　Yours ever ,

　　Stella