What will man be like in the future--in 5,000 or even 50,000 years from now? We can only make a guess, of course, but we can be sure that he will be different from what he is today. For man is slowly changing all the time.
Let us take an obvious example. Man, even five hundred years ago, was shorter than he is today. Now, on the average, men are about three inches taller. Five hundred years is a relatively short period of time, so we may suppose that man will continue to grow taller.
Again, in the modern world we use our brains a great deal. Even so, we still make use of only about 20% of the brain's capacity. As time goes on, however, we shall have to use our brains more and more and eventually we shall need larger ones! This is likely to bring about a physical change too. The head, in particular the forehead, will grow larger.
Nowadays our eyes are in constant use. In fact, we use them so much that very often they become weaker and we have to wear glasses. But over a very long period of time it is likely that man's eyes will grow stronger.
On the other hand, we tend to make less use of our arms and legs. These, as a result, are likely to grow weaker. At the same time, however, our fingers will grow more sensitive because they are used a great deal in modern life.
But what about hair? This will probably disappear from the body altogether in course of time because it does not serve a useful purpose any longer. In the future, then, both sexes are likely to be bald!
Perhaps, all this gives the impression that future man will not be a very attractive creature to look at! This may well be true. All the same, in spite of all these changes, future man will still have a lot in common with us. He will still be a human being, with thoughts and emotions similar to our own.
72. The reason for believing that future man will be different is that he ______.
A. began to change five hundred years ago
B. never stops changing
C. never stops growing
D. has recently begun to change
73. People's heads will eventually grow larger. This is because their brains ______.
A. will grow faster than at present
B. will be in use
C. will play an important part
D. will need more room than at present
74. Future man will probably ______.
A. have bigger eyes
B. get weaker eyes
C. see better
D. have to wear better glasses
75. Future man's hair will ______.
A. grow darker B. stop growing completely
C. fall out more often D. get longer
Shirley Temple Black, who lifted America’s spirit as a bright-eyed child movie star during the Great Depression, peacefully passed away at her California home on Monday evening at 85, surrounded by her family and caregivers.
Temple, born on April 23, 1928, started her entertainment career in the early 1930s and was famous by age 6. Temple was 3 when her mother put her in dance school, where a talent scout spotted her and got her in Baby Burlesks, a series of short movies with child actors playing in adult movies.
Movie studio directors took notice of her and in 1934 she appeared in the film Stand Up and Cheer! and her song and dance caught people’s attention. Movies such as Little Miss Marker and Bright Eyes featured her signature song. In 1935, she received a special Oscar for her “outstanding contribution to screen entertainment” in the movie Stand Up and Cheer!
She made some 40 feature movies, including The Little Colonel, Poor Little Rich Girl, Heidi and Rebecca of Sunnybrook Farm, in 10 years, starring with big-name actors like Randolph Scott, Lionel Barrymore and Jimmy Durante. Temple was a superstar before the term was invented. She said she was about 8 when crowds shouting their love for her made her realize she was famous. “I wondered why,” she recalled. “I asked my mother and she said, ‘Because your films make them happy.’ ”
Her child career came to an end at 12. She tried a few roles as a teenager—including opposite future president Ronald Reagan in That Hagen Girl – but retired from the screen in 1949 at 21.
Temple was only 17 when she married for the first time to John Agar, who would eventually appear with her in two movies. Their five-year marriage produced a daughter. In 1950 she wed Charles Black in a marriage that lasted until his death in 2005. She and Black had two children. Temple’s interest in politics was sparked in the early 1950s when her husband was called back into the Navy to work in Washington.For which movie did Shirley Temple win the Oscar?
| A．That Hagen Girl |
| B．Little Miss Marker |
| C．Stand Up and Cheer |
| D．The Little Colonel |
When Temple first caught the audience’s eyes, ____.
| A．she hoped to play a role in a series of movies |
| B．her family was offered |
| C．her mother sent her to a local dance school |
| D．the United States was in fact in financial straits |
After Temple got married to Charles Black, ____.
| A．she might have begun her political life |
| B．she had to raise her two young children |
| C．she decided to work for the Navy |
| D．she ended her film career on screen |
It can be inferred from the fourth paragraph that ___.
| A．people could find happiness in Temple’s films |
| B．Temple’s mother only focused on income |
| C．Temple disliked crowds shouting at her |
| D．Temple’s mother was worried about her |
A beer bottle thrown from the stands landed near Usain Bolt in the moments before the 100-meter final Sunday night in London.
As Bolt and seven other competitors ducked into their starting crouches, a bottle sailed from the first row of the stands at Olympic Stadium.
It harmlessly bounced in the lane belonging to Yohan Blake and didn’t appear to cause a distraction(分心) to the runners, who started a moment later. The thrower’s lack of distance was a blessing. Had he gathered tips from the competitors of the hammer throw(链球) competition, which was taking place in the infield at the same time as the 100 final, the bottle could have hit one of the competitors. It ended up landing a few feet from Blake (lane5).
Edith Bosch, a female Dutch judoka who won a bronze medal earlier during the Olympics, claimed that the man who threw the bottle was sitting near her and that she “beat” him. Whether that’s true or the hyperbole (夸张的语句) of an aggravated athlete was unclear in the minutes after the incident. Pictures show a group of Dutch athletes sitting behind the starting area.
Police took the man into custody(监护). He will appear in court on Monday morning.
Neither Bolt nor Blake said they knew of the incident until they were informed by reporters. “I don’t know who would have done that,” Bolt said.
Gatlin was aware of it but implied it was only a slight distraction. “I didn’t know what it was,” he said, according to the BBC, “but when you’re in those blocks, the whole stadium is so quiet that you can hear a pin drop.”How many exact athletes are mentioned in the text?
| A．Two | B．Four | C．Seven | D．Eleven |
What is the text mainly about?
| A．Usain Bolt along with seven other competitors |
| B．A female Dutch judoka sitting behind the starting area. |
| C．The lane belonging to Yohan Blake before 100 final. |
| D．A beer bottle thrown at Usain Bolt before 100 final. |
What’s the writer’s attitude towards the athletes for the 100-meter final?
| A．Critical | B．Doubtful |
| C．Disapproving | D．Positive |
When 18thcentury scientists first came across Australia’s platypus (鸭嘴兽)，they thought it was a trick.It is not surprising that the platypus made people confused.This funnylooking animal has feet and is a kind of warmblooded mammal(哺乳动物)．
While other mammals usually keep their blood at around 37 degrees，the platypus has a lower body temperature of 32 degrees.As to its appearance，the platypus’ mouth is not really like the duck’s; its mouth actually looks a bit softer.The platypus closes its eyes when swimming instead of watching its hunters.It uses its mouth to pick up outside information made by the creatures underwater.
Strangest of all，the platypus is a mammal that can lay eggs.And there is only one other kind of mammal that can lay eggs，the echidna(针鼹鼠) of Australia.Both the platypus and the echidna lay soft shelled eggs，and both feed their young with their own milk that comes out of their skin.These animals also walk in a way that is similar to crocodiles (鳄鱼)，with legs on the sides of their bodies rather than under them.
Though pretty in a special way，the platypus is actually one of the few mammals that are poisonous.A male platypus has knifelike bones on its back legs which have enough poison to kill a dog.
The platypus has the honor of being one of the oldest mammals in the world.Until the early 20thcentury，it was hunted for its fur，but it is now protected.Although the platypus is easily influenced by pollution，it is not under any immediate threat.What can we learn about the platypus?
| A．It has a lower body temperature than other mammals. |
| B．It only closes its eyes when underwater. |
| C．It’s the only poisonous mammal in the world. |
| D．It feeds its young on wild animal meat. |
Which of the following is NOT used as a comparison in the passage?
| A．The crocodile. |
| B．The echidna. |
| C．The duck. |
| D．The dog. |
The characteristics of the platypus that have been described in the passage include________．
a．the color of its skin
b．the way it gets information
c．its walking pose
d．its strange appearance
| A．b－c－d |
| B．a－b－c |
| C．a－c－d |
| D．a－b－d |
We can learn from the last paragraph that the platypus is________．
| A．hunted for its meat |
| B．in danger of extinction |
| C．endangered because of air pollution |
| D．wellprotected now |
Ask someone what they have done to help the environment recently and they will almost certainly mention recycling.Recycling in the home is very important of course.However，being forced to recycle often means we already have more material than we need.We are dealing with the results of that_overconsumption in the greenest way possible，but it would be far better if we did not need to bring so much material home in the first place.
The total amount of packaging increased by 12% between 1999 and 2005.It now makes up a third of a typical household’s waste in the UK.In many supermarkets nowadays food items are packaged twice with plastic and cardboard.
Too much packaging is doing serious damage to the environment.The UK，for example，is running out of areas for burying this unnecessary waste.If such packaging is burnt，it gives off greenhouse gases which go on to cause the greenhouse effect.Recycling helps，but the process itself uses energy.The solution is not to produce such items in the first place.Food waste is a serious problem，too.Too many supermarkets encourage customers to buy more than they need.However，a few of them are coming round to the idea that this cannot continue ，encouraging customers to reuse their plastic bags，for example.
But this is not just about supermarkets.It is about all of us.We have learned to associate packaging with quality.We have learned to think that something unpackaged is of poor quality.This is especially true of food.But it also applies to a wide range of consumer products，which often have far more packaging than necessary.
There are signs of hope.As more of us recycle，we are beginning to realise just how much unnecessary material we are collecting.We need to face the wastefulness of our consumer culture，but we have a mountain to climb.What does the underlined phrase“ that overconsumption” refer to?
| A．Using too much packaging. |
| B．Recycling too many wastes. |
| C．Making more products than necessary. |
| D．Having more material than is needed. |
The author uses figures in Paragraph 2 to show________．
| A．the tendency of cutting household waste |
| B．the increase of packaging recycling |
| C．the rapid growth of supermarkets |
| D．the fact of packaging overuse |
According to the text，recycling________．
| A．helps control the greenhouse effect |
| B．means burning packaging for energy |
| C．is the solution to gas shortage |
| D．leads to a waste of land |
What can be inferred from Paragraph 4?
| A．Unpackaged products are of bad quality. |
| B．Supermarkets care more about packaging. |
| C．It is improper to judge quality by packaging. |
| D．Other products are better packaged than food. |
Global warming is when the earth heats up，the temperature rises.It happens when greenhouse gases—carbon dioxide，water vapor，nitrous oxide (二氧化氮)，and methane (沼气) trap heat and light from the sun in the earth’s atmosphere，which increases the temperature.This is like when heat is trapped in a car.On a very hot day，the car gets hotter when it is out in the parking lot.This is because the heat and light from the sun can get into the car，by going through the windows，but it can’t get back out.Once the light is inside the car，it is trapped and the heat builds up，just like it does in the earth’s atmosphere.This is what the greenhouse effect does to the earth.The heat and light can get through the atmosphere，but it can’t get out.As a result，the temperature rises.
Sometimes the temperature can change in a way that helps us.The greenhouse effect makes the earth appropriate for people to live on.Without it，the earth would be freezing，or on the other hand it would be burning hot.We would not get the sun’s heat and light to make the night somewhat warm.During the day，especially during the summer，it would be burning because the sun would be up with no atmosphere to filter (过滤) it，so people，plants，and animals would be exposed to all the light and heat.
Although the greenhouse effect makes the earth able to have people living on it，if there gets to be too many gases，the earth can get unusually warmer，and many plants，animals，and people will die.They would die because there would be less food (plants like corn，wheat，and other vegetables and fruits)．This would happen because the plants would not be able to take in the heat.This would cause us to have less food to eat，but it would also limit the food that animals have.Gradually，people，plants，and animals would all die of hunger.
People are doing many things to try to stop global warming.One thing people are doing is carpooling.Carpooling is driving with someone to a place that you are both going to.This minimizes the amount of greenhouse gases put into the air by a car.
Another thing that people are doing is being more careful about leaving things turned on like the television，computer，and the lights.A lot of people are taking time away from the television，and instead，they are spending more time outdoors.This helps our planet out a lot.Now，more people are even riding buses，walking to school，and riding their bikes to lower the amount of greenhouse gases in the air.
Planting trees and recycling also help.If you recycle，less trash goes to the dump，and less trash gets burned.As a result，there are fewer greenhouse gasses in our atmosphere.Although adults do many things to help stop global warming，kids can do just as much.The underlined word “it” in Paragraph 2 refers to________．
| A．light |
| B．heat |
| C．temperature |
| D．greeenhouse effect |
By the example given in Paragraph 1，the author wants to________．
| A．explain how greenhouse gases work |
| B．show his feeling in a car in hot summer |
| C．tell us cars are causes of greenhouse gases |
| D．say that there are greenhouse gases in every car |
What is the effect of atmosphere?
| A．It only traps the heat of the sun. |
| B．It works the same way as greenhouse gases. |
| C．It makes the earth neither too hot nor too cold. |
| D．It prevents all the light from the sun shining on the earth. |
What is the main idea of the third paragraph?
| A．If there is greenhouse effect，all the plants will die. |
| B．Human beings are likely to disappear from the earth. |
| C．Crops can’t take the heat if there is greenhouse effect. |
| D．Although greenhouse effect is necessary，too much of it causes us to die. |
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