If you want your land to keep fertile, you must try to stop soil from being carried away by water or wind. When soil is taken away by flowing water or blowing winds we call it soil erosion. Ways have been found to stop soil erosion, and this is known as soil conservation. One way of stopping soil erosion is to grow small plants such as grass. These plants are referred to a cover crops, whose roots hold the soil tightly together. The rain water can not wash away the soil. When trees and tall bushes are planted at the edges of an open field, soil erosion by strong winds can not take place. The trees and b
ushes, which act as a
very big and firm wall, protect the open land from the winds. The way to stoop soil erosion on slopes is to build terraces on the slope of hillside and mountainside. When the slope of a hillside is cut into “step”, water carrying soil can not run straight down the terraces, which are used to slow down the speed of the flowing water containing much soil in it. In this way most of the soil in the water is left behind on the terraces, much soil in it.What takes place in soil erosion?
| A．Flood happens to the fertile land |
| B．A large quantity of the soil loses away gradually. |
| C．Terraces are built on the slope of hillside or mountainside. |
| D．Plants are grown to protect the open land |
“Cover crops” in this passage means _________.?
A. grass B. trees and bushes C. plants life and an area
E. covering plants that produce grain or vegetablesBesides growing small plants, another method to fight against soil erosion is to ___________.
| A．build terraces | B．build walls | C．plant trees | D．plant tall bushes |
According to the passage, trees and tall bushes are planted around an open field ________________.
| A．because their roots hold soil tightly |
| B．to stop soil from being blown away by winds. |
| C．Because soil erosion causes terrible damages to crops |
| D．To keep the balance of nature |
Which of the following is the best ti
tle of the passage?
| A．What Causes Soil Erosion |
| B．The Importance of Erosion |
| C．Rain Erosion and Wind Erosion |
| D．Erosion and the Way of Tight against Erosion |
Welcome to London's River Marathon and our online Entry section．You can fill in an Entry Form and the closing date for Race entries is 6th September．
Here you can learn something about our service such as towage（拖船）．
A tow-down service from Ham, Richmond and Putney to the Start is being run from early Race day morning and timed to have your boat available for collection when you arrive at Registration．To take advantage of this service, boats must be launched by 18.00 hours on Friday and the cost is ?0．00 per boat．If required, Towage and Crane Assistance must be requested via the entry maintenance facility; we will be in touch with full details on receipt of a request．
There are also a number of ways to enjoy the Race without necessarily getting into a sweat. Camping/Roast BBQ/Party:
As usual, we will be operating our very successful campsite at Thames Young Mariners in Riverside Drive, just a few minutes walk from the Race Finish．The 14th Richmond Sea Scouts will once again organize and host this very popular service．
The Friday night BBQ party will include a delicious roast and the entertainment will be provided by our regular blues band．
On Saturday evening the bar will be open．
ShuttleBus:
The ShuttleBus service has become an integral part of Race Day．In the morning of this year's Race, it will take crews and spectator boat passengers from the Holiday Inn Hotel, Thames Ditton, the campsite and Finish area to the Start in time for registration and boarding．
The service starts at 08．00 hours．Later, we will be running buses from the party area at the Finish （Ham Street car park） at 22．30 hours to the Start, calling at Waterloo and Liverpool Street stations．
Passenger Boat:
With its good visibility, low freeboard, licensed bar and friendly cooperative crew．The Viscount makes the ideal viewing platform for The Great River Race．The boat will be leaving Masthouse Terrace Pier at 11．45 hours with boarding starting from 11．15 hours．Light lunches will be available on board．
60．The Great River Race takes place on _____．
A．10th May B．22nd May C．6th September D．25th September
61．What does the underlined word "launched" in the passage probably mean?
A．sent up B．set off C．put into water D．put into action
62．Which of the following is true about The Viscount?
A．It offers no lunch． B．Its departure time is 11:15 hours．
C．The bar on it is illegal． D．You can get a good view of the race on it．
63．Hans from Germany is a music lover and likes eating roasted beef．What service will he probably choose to enjoy the race?
A．The Friday night BBQ service． B．The tow-down service．
C．The ShuttleBus service． D．The Passenger Boat service．
第三部分阅读理解（共20小题；每小题2分，满分40分）
阅读下列短文，从每题所给的四个选项（A、B、C和D）中，选出最佳选项，并在答题卡上将该项涂黑。
A
When I was young, I went looking for gold in California．I never found enough to make me rich．But I did discover a beautiful part of the country．It was called "the Stanislau"．The Stanislau was like Heaven on Earth．It had bright green hills and deep forests where soft winds touched the trees．
Other men, also looking for gold, had reached the Stanislau hills of California many years before I did．They had built a town in the valley with sidewalks and stores, banks and schools．They had also built pretty little houses for their families．
At first, they found a lot of gold in the Stanislau hills．But their good luck did not last．After a few years, the gold disappeared．By the time I reached the Stanislau, all the people were gone, too．
Grass now grew in the streets．And the little houses were covered by wild rose bushes．Only the sound of insects filled the air as I walked through the empty town that summer day so long ago．Then, 1 realized I was not alone after all．
A man was smiling at me as he stood in front of one of the little houses．This house was not covered by wild rose bushes．A nice little garden in front of the house was full of blue and yellow flowers．White curtains hung from the windows and floated in the soft summer wind．
Still smiling, the man opened the door of his house and signed to me．1 went inside and could not believe my eyes．I had been living for weeks in rough mining camps with other gold miners．We slept on the hard ground, ate canned beans from cold metal plates and spent our days in the difficult search for gold．
Here in this little house, my spirit seemed to come to life again．
I saw a bright rug on the shining wooden floor．Pictures hung all around the room．And on little tables there were seashells, books and china vases full of flowers．A woman had made this house into a home．
The pleasure I felt in my heart must have shown on my face．The man read my thoughts．"Yes," he smiled, "it is all her work．Everything in this room has felt the touch of her hand．"
One of the pictures on the wall was not hanging straight．He noticed it and went to fix it．He stepped back several times to make sure the picture was really straight．Then he gave it a gentle touch with his hand．
56．According to the passage, the Stanislau was _____．
A．an independent country B．a beautiful part of California
C．a rough mining camp D．an almost bare mountain
57．The writer writes the passage mainly to _____．
A．recall his experience in California B．persuade people to visit the Stanislau
C．introduce the couple he met D．offer tips on searching for gold
58．Which of the following can best describe the couple?
A．Ambitious but selfish． B．Hopeful and merciful．
C．Warm-hearted and contented． D．Enthusiastic but hopeless．
59．What's the correct order of the events?
a．I went to California in search of gold．
b．A town was built in the valley．
c．I came to the front of a little house．
d．The man put the picture straight．
e．I walked through the empty town．
A．b, a, e, c, d B．b, a, c, e, d
C．a, b, e, c, d D．a, b, e, d, c
Scientists from the Max Plank Institute for Biological Cybernetics in Tubingen, Germany, have presented the first experimental evidence that people do end up walking in circles if lost in unfamiliar areas．The study, published in the journal Current Biology, examined the tracks of people who walked for several hours in the Sahara desert in Tunisia and in the Bienwald forest in Germany．Researchers Jan Souman and Marc Ernst said the scientists used the global positioning system （GPS） to record these paths．The results showed that the walkers were only able to keep a straight line when the sun or moon was visible．As soon as the sun disappeared behind some clouds, people started to walk in circles without even noticing it．
Souman said one explanation offered in the past for people walking in circles was that most people have one leg longer or stronger than the other, which would produce a systematic bias（偏差） in one direction．To test this．the researchers asked people to walk straight while blindfolded which removed the effects of vision．They found that these circles were rarely in a systematic direction, with the same person sometimes switching to the left and sometimes to the right．
"Most of the participants in the study walked in circles, sometimes in extremely small ones．Walking in circles is therefore not caused by differences in leg length or strength, but more likely the result of increasing uncertainty about where straight ahead is," said Souman, "Small random errors （随机性误差） in the various sensory signals that provide information about walking direction add up over time, making what a person perceives to be straight ahead drift away from the true straight ahead direction．"
72．The underlined word "this" in Paragraph 2 refers to _____．
A．the effects of vision B．a systematic bias
C．the leg length differences D．one explanation offered in the past
73．What is the probable reason for people's walking in circles?
A．The invisible sun or moon．
B．The increasing uncertainty about directions．
C．Differences in leg length or strength．
D．Wrong signals providing information about areas．
74．Why are the subjects required to be blindfolded?
A．To encourage them to walk straight． B．To stop them from seeing each other．
C．To dismiss the effects of vision． D．To keep the test a top secret．
75．Which of the following statements is true?
A．People walk straight in the day．
B．The farther people walk, the greater the direction bias grows．
C．People walk only in large circles．
D．Researchers use the global positioning system to record their tracks．
The findings of a new survey have American professors talking about the good old days—when A's were a lot tougher to earn．
Sites like RateMyProfessors．com make it easy for students to find a class taught by a professor who is known as an "easy grader"．A recent survey by Kaplan Test Prep found that 46 percent of the more than 1,200 students polled admitted to using the site for just such a purpose．
"Our research shows that many of today's college students are looking at multiple factors when picking out courses: overall teacher quality that will result in a good learning experience, but also instructors who don't like to award a lot of C's and D's," said Jeff Olson, vice president of research at Kaplan Test Prep．
"While it makes sense that students would choose kinder graders, it also helps explain the recent popularity of grade inflation（膨胀）．"
Grade inflation is seen by many professors as poisoning the learning environment．Some, like former Duke University professor Stuart Rojstaczer, are righting it head-on．
On his website, Gradelnflation．com, he releases an annual list of schools where grade inflation is the worst．
This year, he decided to name the schools where grades were inflated the least．He praised, for example, Princeton University, as well as Purdue University, where the average GPA has remained around 2．8 for over 30 years．
"Purdue doesn't even seem to know that grade inflation exists in the US," Rojstaczer says．"Ignorance is bliss（极大的幸福）．"
68．From the passage we may know that Kaplan Test Prep is most probably _____
A．an institute B．a professor
C．a vice president D．a course
69．Grade inflation is spreading because _____．
A．it's poisoning the learning environment
B．instructors intend to improve their overall teaching quality
C．many instructors adapt to the students' expectations
D．students get easy access to sites like RateMyProfessors．com
70．The passage suggests that _____．
A．universities will employ hard graders
B．if we want to be happy, we should be ignorant
C．A's are becoming easy to earn at most US universities
D．professors and instructors should give students higher grades
71．The writer tends to _____．
A．favor easy graders B．see grade inflation as unavoidable
C．oppose Kaplan Test Prep D．miss the days when A's were hard to earn
Monarch butterflies（黑脉金斑蝶）are a common summer sight in the northern United States and Canada. These large orange
and black insects brighten parks and gardens as they fly lightly among the flowers. What makes monarchs particularly interesting is that they migrate（迁飞）— all the way to California or Mexico and back. They are thought to be the only insect that does this.
Every year in the late summer monarchs begin their journey to the south. Those heading for Mexico go first for the 
Louisiana-Mississippi area, and then fly across the Gulf of Mexico into Texas. Once in Mexico, they settle themselves in one of about fifteen places in a mountain forest filled with fir trees. Each place provides a winter home for millions of monarchs. There are so many butterflies that they often cover entire trees. When spring comes, they begin their long journey north.
The question is often asked whether every butterfly makes the round-trip journey every year. And the answer is no. The average monarch lives about nine months. So one flying north might lay eggs in Louisiana and then die. The eggs of that generation may be found in Kentucky; the eggs of the next generation may end up in Wisconsin or Michigan. The last generation of the season, about the fourth, will make their way back to Mexico and restart the journey.
Scientists learn about monarchs’ migration by catching and making marks on the insects. By recatching a monarch with such a mark and noticing where it came from, the next scientist can get to know things like the butterfly's age and its routing（路线）.
68. One of the places where monarchs spend the winter is _____.
A. the Gulf of Mexico B. an area in Mississippi
C. a forest in Mexico D. a plain in Texas
69. The routing of monarchs’ migration can be learned _____.
A. by examining the marks made on them B. by collecting their eggs in the mountains
C. by comparing their different ages D. by counting the dead ones in the forests
70. Which is the best title for this passage?
A. Migration of monarchs. B. Scientists’ interest in monarchs.
C. Winter home of monarchs. D. Life and death of monarchs.
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