Washington — The largest ozone (臭氧)hole ever observed has opened up over Antarctica, according to the scientists of the US National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA). They believe it is a sign that ozone — destroying gases produced years ago are just now causing the largest quantities of ozone to disappear.
This year’s South Pole ozone hole spreads over about 28.5 million square kilometers, an area three times larger than the landmass of the United States.
Pictures of the hole have been offered by NASA. The hole appears as a giant blue mass, totally covering Antarctica and stretching to the southern tip of South America.
“The last time the ozone hole was close to this size was in 1998, when it spread over about 27.2 million square kilometers,” NASA said.
Paul Newman, who works with NASA’s Total Ozone Mapping Spectrometer (TOMS) instrument on a NASA satellite, said ozone watchers had expected a big hole this year, but not this big.
The Antarctica ozone hole, first observed in 1985, is caused by the depletion (损耗) of Earth protecting ozone by human-made chemicals such as chlorofluorocarbons, known as CFCs.
“Even though these chemicals were not allowed to use from the beginning of 1987, they remain in the atmosphere and will continue to do so for years,” Newman said.
“This year’s large hole may have been caused by a change in a swirling high-level air current over Antarctica, which circles the area and contains the zone hole,” Newman said.
56. The text is mainly about ____ .
A. the discovery of the largest ozone hole B. the discovery of the Antarctica ozone hole
C. the history of the Antarctica ozone hole D. the size of the largest ozone hole
57. The time 1985 was talked about in the text because it was when the Antarctica ozone hole ____ .
A. was watched by Newman B. was first closed C. disappeared D. was first watched
58. There is a giant ozone hole over Antarctica because ____ over there.
A. human-made chemicals have protected ozone B. ozone has protected the earth
C. human-made chemicals have destroyed ozone D. human-made chemicals have increased ozone
Dear Dad,
Today I was at the shopping mall and I spent a lot of time reading the Father’s Day cards. They all had a special message that in some way or another reflected how I feel about you. Yet as I selected and read, it occurred to me that not a single card said what I really want to say to you.
You’ll soon be 84 years old, Dad, and you and I will have had 55 Father’s Day together. I haven’t always been with you on Father’s Day but I’ve always been with you in my heart.
You know, Dad, there was a time when we were separated by the generation gap. You stood on one side of the Great Divide and I on the other.
The Father-Daughter Duel shifted into high gear ( 档位) when you taught me to drive the old Dodge and I decided I would drive the '54 Chevy whether you liked it or not. The police officer who sent me home, after you reported the Chevy stolen, didn't have much tolerance for a stubborn 16 year old, while you were so tolerant about it, Dad, and I think that was probably what made it the worst night of my life.
Our relationship greatly improved when I married a man you liked, and things really turned around when we began making babies right and left. Somewhere along the line, the generation gap disappeared. I suppose I saw us and our relationship as aging together, rather like a fine wine.
But the strangest thing happened last week. I was at a stop sign and I watched as you turned the corner in your car. It didn't immediately occur to me that it was you because the man driving looked so elderly and fragile behind the wheel of that huge car. It was rather like a slap in the face delivered from out of nowhere. Perhaps I saw your age for the first time that day.
I guess what I'm trying to say, Dad, is what every son and daughter wants to say to their Dad today. Honoring a father on Father's Day is about respect and sharing and acceptance and tolerance and giving and taking. It's about loving someone more than words can say, and it's wishing that never had to end.
I love you, Dad.
Love,
JennyHow did Jenny probably feel on the night she was sent home by the police?
| A．Disappointed. | B．Nervous. | C．Guilty. | D．Frightened. |
We can learn from the passage that Jenny and her father_________.
| A．kept in touch by writing each other |
| B．are separated due to the generation gap |
| C．have been getting along very well |
| D．had a hard time understanding each other |
Why did Jenny feel strange when she saw her father last week?.
| A．She seldom saw him driving that huge car. |
| B．She had never realized his being old and weak. |
| C．She didn't expect to meet with him there. |
| D．She had never seen him driving so slowly before. |
Jenny wrote his father this letter to _________
| A．tell him about their conflicts | B．say sorry for her being stubborn |
| C．express her gratitude to him | D．remind him of the early incident |
Europe’s deadly outbreak of a rare form of E. coli bacteria (大肠杆菌) has brought new attention to food safety issues. One of the problems when people get sick from food is that the simplest question is often difficult or even impossible to answer. Just what did the people eat that made them sick?
Of course, one way to avoid these medical mysteries is to keep dangerous organisms out of the food supply. This is easier said than done, but scientists keep looking for new ways.
Scientists in the United States have developed an experimental system that uses a high-tech optical scanner. The system is designed to identify the presence of contaminants(致污物) like soil or animal waste on fresh produce. These can be sources of E. coli. E. coli bacteria naturally live in the intestines(肠) of humans and many animals. Most kinds of E. coli are harmless but some can make people sick.
The new scanner can also show damage and imperfections that might make the produce unappealing to shoppers.
Scientists designed the system at a Department of Agriculture research center in Beltsville, Maryland. Moon Kim of the Agricultural Research Service led the team.
MOON KIM: “We were requested, we were asked, to develop a method to detect contamination in produce. So we started with the apple as the model sample.”
The scanner uses a high-speed camera placed over the conveyer belt that moves the produce along. As the apples move along the belt, the scanner captures images of each piece of fruit.
Moon Kim says the team hopes the system will be available before long.
MOON KIM: “We are targeting for development in commercial plants for the next several years.”
The scanner can direct a sorting machine to separate the bad apples from the good ones. The system is currently able to show the surface of only half the apple as it speeds by. The inventers hope to improve the process so it can show the whole surface.What is the main topic of the text?
| A．Bacteria. | B．A high-tech scanner. |
| C．A camera | D．Food safety. |
E. coli bacteria ______.
| A．broke out all over the world | B．comes from soil or animal waste |
| C．is extremely harmful to health | D．does not cause illness |
The high-tech scanner ______.
| A．can help to sort out different fruits |
| B．make the produce appeal to shoppers |
| C．can only capture images of the whole apple |
| D．can identify the presence of contaminants |
What can be inferred from the text?
| A．The scanner needs to be improved. |
| B．The scanner will be available in the next several years. |
| C．Moon Kim is unwilling to develop the scanner. |
| D．The scanner is connected to a sorting machine. |
Until the 1980s, the American homeless population is mainly made up of older males. Today, homelessness strikes much younger part of society. In fact, a 25-city survey by the U. S. Conference of Mayors in 1987 found that families with children make up the fastest growing part of the homeless population. Many homeless children gather in inner cities; this transient(变化无常的) and frequently frightened student population creates additional problems — both legal and educational — for already overburdened urban school administrators and teachers.
Estimates of the number of homeless Americans range from 350,000 to three million. Likewise, estimates of the number of homeless school children vary radically. A U.S. Department of Education report, based on state estimates, states that there are 220,000 homeless school-age children, about a third of whom do not attend school on a regular basis. But the National Coalition for the Homeless estimates that there are at least two times as many homeless children, and that less than half of them attend school regularly.
One part of the homeless population that is particularly difficult to count consists of the “throwaway” youths who have been cast of their homes. The Elementary School Center in New York City estimates that there are 1.5 million of them, many of whom are not treated as children because they do not stay in family shelters and tend to live by themselves on the streets.
Federal law, the Stewart B. McKinney Homeless Assistance Act of 1987, includes a section that addresses the educational needs of homeless children. The educational provisions（规定） of the McKinney Act are based on the belief that all homeless children have the right to a free, appropriate education.It is implied in the first paragraph that ____.
| A．the writer himself is homeless, even in his eighties |
| B．many older homeless residents are going on strike in 25 cities |
| C．there is a serious shortage of academic facilities |
| D．homeless children are denied the opportunity of receiving free education |
The National Coalition for the homeless believes that the number of homeless children is _____.
| A．350,000 | B．1,500,000 | C．440,000 | D．110,000 |
One part of the homeless population is difficult to estimate. The reason might well be ____.
| A．the homeless children are too young to be treated as children |
| B．the homeless population is growing rapidly |
| C．the homeless children usually stay outside school |
| D．some homeless children are deserted by their families |
The McKinney Act is mentioned in this passage in order to show that ___.
| A．the educational problems of homeless children are being recognized |
| B．the estimates on homeless children are hard to determine |
| C．the address of grade-school children should be located |
| D．all homeless people should have free education |
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E-mail: harcourt@learning.comThis advertisement aims at calling on people to ________.
| A．attend full-time universities |
| B．work part time to further their education |
| C．improve their education at home to get better jobs |
| D．earn their degrees in different ways that suit them |
Which of the following is NOT clearly mentioned in this advertisement?
| A．The way how you will get your degree. |
| B．Tuition price. |
| C．The hot fields you will be preparing yourself for. |
| D．The length of time it will take you to get a degree. |
What does the writer of this ad intend to say by naming General Electric, IBM, Ford, etc.?
| A．To show that their training is widely used in the country. |
| B．To show that the training program is fully supported by famous companies in the U. S. |
| C．To prove the value of their training in every area. |
| D．To show the importance of getting recognized by the most famous companies. |
It seems to the writer that the greatest attraction for people to take their training is______.
| A．its convenience |
| B．the degree’s nation-wide recognition |
| C．the economic benefit it will bring about |
| D．the hot fields the training will help people to enter |
It is quite reasonable to blame traffic jams, the cost of gas and the great speed of modern life, but manners on the road are becoming horrible. Everybody knows that the nicest men would become fierce tigers behind the wheel. It is all right to have a tiger in a cage, but to have one in the driver's seat is another matter.
Road politeness is not only good manners, but good sense. It takes the most cool－headed drivers great patience to give up the desire to beat back when forced to face rude driving. On the other hand, a little politeness goes a long way towards reducing the possibility of quarrelling and fighting. A friendly nod or a wave of thanks in answer to an act of politeness helps to create an atmosphere of good will and becomes so necessary in modern traffic conditions. But such behaviors of politeness are by no means enough. Many drivers nowadays don't even seem able to recognize politeness when they see it.
However, misplaced politeness can also be dangerous. Typical examples are the driver who waves to a child crossing the street at a wrong place into the path of oncoming cars that may not be able to stop in time. The same goes for encouraging old ladies to cross the road wherever and whenever they want to.
An experienced driver, whose manners are faultless, told me it would help if drivers learnt to correctly join in traffic stream without causing total blockages that give rise to unpleasant feelings．Unfortunately, modern drivers can’t even learn to drive．Years ago, experts warned us that the fast increase of the car ownership would demand more give-and-take from all road users．It is high time for all of us to take this message to heart. According to the passage, where is it that the nicest men would become short-tempered?
| A．Beside the wheel. | B．Before the wheel. |
| C．In a cage. | D．In the driver’s seat. |
Which of the following is proper when drivers are forced to face rude driving?
| A．Fighting and quarreling. |
| B．Showing great patience. |
| C．Calling back. |
| D．Beating back |
What can be dangerous from the passage?
| A．Road politeness. | B．Road sense. |
| C．Inappropriate politeness. | D．Traffic jams. |
The following statements are right EXCEPT that________.
| A．Modern drivers are good at driving |
| B．Blockages can cause unpleasant feelings. |
| C．Modern drivers can’t master the roadmanship. |
| D．All road users should understand the meaning of “give-and-take”. |
Which section of a magazine is the passage most probably taken from?
| A．Health and life. | B．Health and society. |
| C．Human and society. | D．Human and environment. |
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