Climate change, pollution, overuse of water and development are killing some of the world’s most famous rivers including China’s Yangtze, India’s Ganges and African’s Nile, WWF said on Tuesday. At the global launch of its report “World’s Top 10 Rivers at Risk”, the group said many rivers could dry out, affecting hundreds of millions of people and killing un
ique aquatic life.
“If these rivers die, millions will lose their livelihoods, biodiversity will be destroyed on a massive scale, there will be less fresh water and agriculture, resulting in less food security,” said Rayi Singh, secretarygeneral of WWF-India. The report launched ahead of “World Water Day” today, also cited the Rio Grande in the United States, the Mekong and Indus in Asia, Europe’s Danube, La Plata in South America and Australia’s Murray-Darling as in need of greater protection.
Rivers are the world’s main source of fresh water and WWF says about half of the available supply is already being used up. Dams have destroyed habitats and cut rivers off from their flood plains while climate change could affect the seasonal water flows that feed them, the report said. Fish populations, the top source of protein and overall life support for hundreds of thousands of communities worldwide, are also being threatened, it found… The Yangtze basin is one of the most polluted rivers in the world because of decades of heavy industrialization, damming and huge influxes of sediment from land conversion.
Climate change, including higher temperatures, also means serious consequences for fishery productivity, water supply and political security in Africa’s arid Nile basin. Tributaries flowing into the Ganges are drying up because of irrigation, WWF said.
64. What does the text mainly about?
A. Saving fresh water in our life.
B. How to protect our rivers.
C. An important discovery.
D. World’s top 10 rivers are at risk.
65. We can infer from the text that ___________.
A. rivers’ dying out could affect food security
B. there are four Asian rivers mentioned in the passage
C. the Yangtze is polluted thanks to the lack of enough tributaries
D. higher temperatures couldn’t affect fishery productivity
66. The top 10 rivers are fast dying as a result of the following EXCEPT___________
A. climate change B. wasting water
C. pollution D. dams
67. WWF is probably a name of ___________
A. an organization B. a newspaper
C. a magazine D. a report
As the world watched the twin towers of the World Trade Center come under attack, a common phrase was repeated:” It looks like a movie.”
But this time there was no superman to save the people or the famous building. The attack destroyed one of the world's highest skyscrapers and left 5,000 people dead or missing.
Movie fans have become used to such events after years of Hollywood films showing disasters, terrorism and danger. The Empire State Building, the White House, New York City and even the American president himself have all been threatened(威胁) by terrorist attacks in these exciting films. The film” True Lies”, released in 1994, is considered to be a good example of this kind of movie. The special effects, including explosions and missiles, make the action look like a real thing.
“Independence Day” in 1996 took this type of movie one step further by blowing up the White House. This science fiction(科幻) movie is about a war between human beings and aliens from another planet. In the movie, the World Trade Center towers are destroyed.
Violence has become a major part of Hollywood movies. And this is what people enjoy. Soon after the attacks, many famous film companies stopped the planned releases of some of their new movies, especially if their films showed terrorist attacks or plane crashes. “Swordfish” was top of the American box office in June. But the movie's story was frighteningly similar to the Sept. 11 disaster. The film would have been stopped in American and British cinemas after the attack. But it's unlikely that Hollywood will stay quiet for long. It is already waiting for the feeling in America to calm down.What is the main subject of the newspaper article?
| A．The relationship between the Sept. 11 attack and Hollywood films. |
| B．The effect of the Sept. 11 attack and Hollywood films. |
| C．The response Hollywood made to the Sept. 11 attack. |
| D．The result of Hollywood films showing violence and disasters. |
Which of the following is TRUE?
| A．Hollywood made a lot of money out of the film “Swordfish” in June. |
| B．Hollywood stopped making films showing terrorism and disasters after the Sept. 11 attack. |
| C．“Swordfish” was not allowed to be shown after the Sept. 11 attack. |
| D．The World Trade Center was destroyed because no superman came to save I t. |
From this article we know that _____.
| A．Hollywood is a film making center making films of violence and disasters. |
| B．too many Hollywood films showing terrorism and disasters resulted in the Sept. 11 attack. |
| C．people who were used to the Hollywood films were not shocked at the Sept. 11 attack. |
| D．in fact, the Sept. 11 attack had nothing to do with Hollywood films. |
The First of May is a Bank Holiday—the first public holiday of the year in England.
Most people consider it a special day ,the beginning of summer ,a day when the light lasts long into the evening ,and when we can look for warm weather .We don't always get it .We feel disappointed ,but not surprised if there are cold winds and frosts at night in May .Winter should be over .Most people know that in the past ,when farming occupied almost everyone ,the changing seasons were of great importance .In that older time there was every reason to celebrate May Day .Customs of those celebrations remain.
Of these customs ,the best known is the choosing of a May Queen and the dancing round Maypole .Even these customs are little more than memories now—but in the last century it was quite common in villages and small towns ,and even in schools and colleges ,for a pretty and popular girl to be chosen Queen of the May .It was a great honour to be chosen .For a day she wore a light and flowery dress, carried garlands（花环）,and was ceremonially crowned with flowers .She presided over a procession ,as a rule with a number of attendants ,and over the Maypole dancing and all kinds of entertainment .The Maypole was slender（苗条的） tree trunk ,cut off its branches, with beautiful ribbons fastened to the top .The dancing was designed in such a way that the dancer's movements move the ribbons into a pattern. This, as you can imagine ,required skill from the dancer ,and was not achieved without practice .
It's the Celtic（凯尔特的）people who celebrated the First of May as a spring festival .Their celebration seems to have had little to do with taking pleasure in early ,beautiful flowers and in warmer weather! They called it Beltane—the fire of the god Bel .They lit fires ,in the expectation that their blaze would help the sun in its struggle to regain its strength. They drove their cattle between banks of flame in the expectation that the terrified beasts would be purified（净化） and protected from disease .A tree ,which must have been blackened with smoke ,stood in the middle of the fires ,and is thought to have been the origin of the Maypole .Their priests（牧师） made sacrifices to the goods in the hope of good harvests and sufficient store of food for the winter. There was dancing certainly ,but it was noisy and cheerful ,since its purpose was not to weave a pattern of colored ribbons ,but to drive out evil spirits from the earth and to arouse those kind spirits.The main purpose of the passage is to show ________.
| A．the reason why they celebrate May Day |
| B．the start and customs of May Day |
| C．the way they celebrate May Day |
| D．the choosing of a May Queen during May Day |
According to the passage ,which sentence is NOT true?
| A．In the old days they celebrated May Day for the changing of the seasons. |
| B．In England summer begins at the first of May. |
| C．The custom of the choosing of a May Queen still exists in the present May Day celebration. |
| D．The Celtic people celebrated the first of May as a spring festival. |
From the surrounding words and sentences we know that the word “presided” means ________.
| A．管理 | B．越过 | C．指挥 | D．主持 |
The best title for this passage is ________.
| A．The First of May | B．The Beginning of Summer |
| C．May Queen | D．The Holiday of the Year |
Light for the City
Edison and his assistants came to New York to set up an electric power system. They hoped it would provide enough electricity to light up a part of the great city.
They bought several machines with them. These were called generators, which produced electricity power for lamps in Edison’s building.
Soon there were lights for the building. Edison lived in a room facing the street and he often worked over night. The light burned brightly and steadily and he often worked over night. People often came and stopped their horse-drawn carriage to look. Everyone knew that Thomas Edison was in town.
First, the inventor and his assistants produced several large generators. A great deal of power would be needed to light up even a small part of the city.
Then the workers were busy digging deep trenches(沟) in the hard earth below the city streets, and Edison had fourteen miles of wire laid into the trenches. The wire connected each building to a generator.
Setting up an electric power system was not an easy job. It took a year and a half. In September, 1882, the job was finished.
A small group of men stood around Edison inside the power house. The big moment came at last. The inventor, taking a deep breath, pulled a switch. The electric lights flashed up.
“Very good! Very good!” a man nearby shouted to praise Edison for what he had done.
“Sir,” said Edison, “this is only the beginning!” And Edison was right. Soon Edison’s lamp were lighting up cities all over the world. The generators they brought with them could produce as much as electricity as ______ needed.
| A．Edison’s building | B．a small part of the city | C．the whole city | D．the world |
At that time carriages ______ by horse could be seen in the street.
| A．draw | B．drew | C．drawn | D．drawing |
Trenches were dug to ______.
| A．set up generators | B．lay wires | C．built city streets | D．build a power house |
It took a year and a half to ______.
| A．set up the electric system | B．produce several large generators |
| C．dig the deep trenches | D．lay fourteen miles of wire into the trench |
Smiling
People smile at times. However, the meaning of a smile in different cultures may be different. Depending on different cultures, smiling can express joy and amusement, but it can also indicate embarrassment（苦恼）. The following examples show this point of view:
In an attempt to be open and friendly, people in the United States smile a lot. Every one smiles at each other, this nonverbal communication shows being friendly in the United States. However，in China, smiling is not only an expression of happiness, but also a way to avoid being embarrassed. Chinese people like smiling when they are embarrassed in order to avoid embarrassment. Smiling is a kind of good will but not sneer（嘲笑）. For example: When a child falls off from a bike, the adults in China may smile, which is a kind of gentle encouragement and may not be a kind of impolite laugh.
When a person from the United States might blush（脸红）with embarrassment or become offensive, a Chinese might blush with smile. To avoid serious misunderstanding, people who engage in intercultural communication should be able to understand the meaning of smiling appropriately. Related to the smile is the laugh. Also, different cultures have different meanings about laugh. For example, Americans can enjoy a very heartfelt belly (腹部) laugh that comes from the deepest emotions. However, most Chinese seldom laugh that way because they are thought to be silly except among close friends. We can use smile to express all of the following feelings except_________,
| A．joy and happiness | B．amusement | C．embarrassment | D．fear |
People often smile at each other in the United States because_________.
| A．they are very happy | B．they want to show they are friendly |
| C．they want to hide their true feelings | D．they want to avoid embarrassment |
In China, seeing a child falls off a bike, an adult will smile in order to ________.
| A．laugh at him | B．avoid his own embarrassment |
| C．avoid embarrassment and encourage the boy | D．show his politeness |
What is mainly talked about in the passage?
| A．People smile at times. | B．Smiling can express different feelings depending on different cultures. |
| C．Americans are more open and friendly than Chinese people. | |
| D．The Chinese people often hide their true feelings. |
Bill Robinson is on trial for murder（因谋杀而受审）．He grew up in a small town in Ohio and then went to Kent State University for one year．When he was nineteen years old，he was asked to join the army and was soon sent to fight in Vietnam．He was very unhappy there as he hated the war and he hated killing people．Two years later he returned home and tried to pick up where he had left off，but things were never quite the same again for the young black man．For one thing，he always had terrible dreams about the war．He could not concentrate on his studies and soon he had to leave school．Then he was fired from one job after another．He wanted to meet someone nice and get married，but he just couldn't seem to get close to anyone．He became angry easily and people avoided him．He was always lonely．Finally one day，while eating at a restaurant，Bill lost control of himself and shot someone for no reason at all．Bill's lawyer hopes that he will not be held responsible for the shooting．He hopes that the judge and the jury（陪审团）will understand that Bill was“temporarily insane（一时精神错乱）”and did not really choose to kill anyone． What did Bill Robinson do after he returned from abroad？
| A．He gave up the chance to go back to college． | B．He tried to go back to his normal life． |
| C．He picked up his things and left again． | D．He found what he had dreamed of． |
He failed to complete his college education because he ____ ．
| A．hated school | B．joined the army |
| C．didn't study hard | D．found it difficult to keep his mind on his studies |
He never married because ____ ．
| A．there were no nice girls around | B．he didn't care to meet any girls |
| C．he hadn't met girls that he liked | D．he found it hard to make friends with girls |
The best title for this article is ____ ．
| A．Robinson on Trial | B．Murder at a Restaurant |
| C．A Young Black Man | D．A Victim of the Vietnam War |
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