Damage to Ozone Layer Gets Worse
In the middle of winter, when snow is falling in many parts of the United States, scientists have sounded a warning to people who plan to spend many hours in the sun this summer．The warning: The sun's summertime rays are more dangerous than once thought.
A team of scientists from 80 nations recently reported
to the United Nations that a layer of ozone（臭氧层）in the atmosphere, which protects humans from harmful levels of ultraviolet（紫外线）radiation, will be thinner over the United States this summer．The thinner layer allows more ultraviolet rays from the sun to reach Earth．The extra amount of ultraviolet radiation could cause an increase in the number of cases of skin cancer.
Scientists first became concerned about the layer in the mid-1980s when a hole was discovered in the layer above Antarctica during the winter．The hole was caused in chemicals used in refrigerators and air conditioners．When these chemicals are sent out into the atmosphere, they produce gases that destroy the ozone.
Concern about the protective ozone layer rose more recently when data from satellites and ground stations showed that ozone levels were dropping over areas other than Antarctica．Low ozone levels were recorded in the spring and summer over the United States and over other populated areas in the world.
Although many countries have already begun stopping the use of ozone-destroying chemicals, the new findings are expected to advance the timetable for a total ban of the chemicals.The scientists have observed the ozone layer ______．
| A．since 1980 | B．since last winter |
| C．for more than 20 years | D．for about one year |
The ozone layer in the atmosphere can ______.
| A．do a lot of good to human beings in many ways |
| B．protect humans from diseases caused by bad weather |
| C．do a lot of harm to human beings in the summer-time |
| D．protect humans from harmful levels of ultraviolet radiation |
Scientists first found that there was a hole in the ozone layer ______.
| A．above Arctic during the winter in the mid-1980s |
| B．above Antarctica during the winter in the mid-1980s |
| C．over somewhere in the north of the equator in 1980 |
| D．over the USA in the summertime in the mid-1980s |
The damage to the ozone layer was caused by ______.
| A．the changeable weather | B．ozone-destroying chemicals |
| C．chemicals from refrigerators | D．chemicals from air conditioners |
Charlotte’s Web by E．B． White is a children’s book．
As the story opens,eight-year-old farm girl Fern Arable stops her father from killing a baby pig who is weaker than his brothers and sisters．The little pig,Wilbur,becomes one of the main characters in the story．Later he will be treated as a friend by Charlotte,a wise and loving spider living on the same farm．Wilbur slowly realizes that the farmer will kill him for his meat in a few months ,and Charlotte decides to help him out．She tries many things to keep Wilbur alive．She writes words in her web describing how wonderful Wilbur is and this makes the farm famous．
White creates a sort of modern animal fable（寓言）,in which animals can speak both with each other and with Fern．Also there are many great characters in this book．
The society of animals has many lessons to teach children and adults:friendship,sacrifice（牺牲），hope,determination,love,duty,fairness,respect,and many more．
Part of this novel’s success is the fact that the author makes a heroine（女主角）out of a spider,a creature that many people probably dislike．Unlike a lovely little pig or other creatures,a spider is a creature greatly different from humans．White’s Charlotte is a truly wonderful character．He tells the story of Charlotte and her friends in a special way．This is a book that no one could ever dislike．It has much to offer to children as well as to older teens and adult readers．According to the descripion of the book,Charlotte ______．
| A．is a nice and clever spider |
| B．often teaches her friends good lessons |
| C．always sacrifices herself for her friends |
| D．is disliked by many animals around her |
According to the writer,which of the following is a factor in the success of the book?
| A．That there are many animals in the book． |
| B．That the author of the book is very famous． |
| C．That the author knows children very well． |
| D．That the author makes a heroine out of a spider． |
We learn from the passage that Charlitte’s Web ______．
A．is the most interesting book for children
B．is E．B． White’s only book written for children
C．is a good book not only for children but also for adults
D．is mainly about how animals get along with each otherWhat is the purpose of the writer in writing this passage?
| A．To introduce the book Charlitte’s Web |
| B．To discuss what kinds of books are good to read |
| C．To explain why Charlitte’s Web is a good book |
| D．To tell us the importance of friendship in our life |
That warm day was the only day of the week without rain．I opened the door,took a seat and began to enjoy the wonderful sunshine．Suddenly,I noticed that the house near mine had been sold．An elderly lady was in front of the door,with some beautiful flowers beside her．I walked to her．She looked to be in her early eighties and had the prettiest white hair．
“Hi！My name is Karmen,”I said smiling brightly at the old lady．She smiled back and said,“Hello,Karmen．I ’m Henrietta．”Her voice was very strong for someone at her age．Later，I learned she was alone and had no family or relatives to help her．From that day on,I often visited her and helped her with her housework and sometimes she gave me some delicious food．A year passed,and I considered Henrietta to be one of my best friends．
One day,I walked over for my morning visit and knocked on the door,but there was no answer．I knocked again,and she still didn’t turn up．So I let myself in,using the key she had given me．I checked her living room and then her kitchen．I finally went into her bedroom,and she was lying peacefully on her bed．Beside her there were two notes．One was her will（遗嘱）,which said all that she had would be given to me．The other was a thank-you note．I went to her bedside and cried sadly．
Though several years have gone by,I still miss her deeply．Whenever I look at the beautiful flowers in front of her house,I remember the wonderful friendship we had．The writer came out of the house to ______．
| A．look at an old lady | B．enjoy some flowers |
| C．enjoy the sunshine | D．clean the house nearby |
Through visiting the old lady,the writer learnt that the old lady ______．
| A．disliked all her relatives |
| B．had no one to look after her |
| C．didn’t want to live with her family |
| D．was looking for someone to look after her |
What can we learn from the passage?
| A．The old lady was not kind． |
| B．The writer didn’t have any good friends． |
| C．The old lady didn’t know how to make food． |
| D．The writer got along very well with the old lady． |
What does the underlined part “turn up”in Paragraph 3 mean?
| A．Appear | B．Leave | C．Try | D．Change |
It’s going to be a busy day at Betsy Ross house in Philadelphia on Thursday. She won’t be there, since she died in 1836, but hundreds of tourists will be going through her house.
You see, Thursday is Flag Day in the United States. The unofficial holiday commemorates the adoption of the stars-and-stripes design of the American flag by the Continental Congress 235 years ago, on June 14, 1777. According to lore, the Ross House is the birthplace of the nation’s flag. That’s open to debate, but it’s a story that schoolbooks still tell. Betsy Ross was a seamstress, busy sewing cushions for chairs in Philadelphia, which was the focus place of the American revolution against British rule. The Declaration of Independence by the colonists was signed there, and so was the new nation’s Constitution after independence was won.
Widowed when her husband, a member of the local militia, was killed in a gunpowder explosion, Betsy Ross often mended the clothes of the rebels’ leader and future U.S. president, George Washington. According to what some say in history and others a stretch of what really happened, Washington asked Ross to design and sew the new nation’s flag. The story was promoted by Ross grandson, who wrote that Betsy Ross had “made with her hands the first flag.” She became a role model for girls - a shining example of women’s contributions to the nation’s history. Most research indicates that Ross did sew the first flag. She’s credited with substituting artful five-point white stars for six-pointed ones in the upper-left blue field. But many other accounts indicate George Washington brought the design to Ross and simply asked her to stitch it together.
In a letter, Washington wrote: “We take the stars from Heaven, the red from our mother country, separating it by white stripes, thus showing that we have separated from her. And the white stripes shall go down to posterity as representing liberty.” People would like to go to Ross’s house in Philadelphia to _____.
| A．ask Betsy Ross who created the first American flag |
| B．meet her grandson who wrote a book about flags |
| C．debate over who designed the first American flag |
| D．remember her as the creator of the first American flag |
Which statement is true according to the passage?
| A．Betsy Ross was one of the people who signed The Declaration of Independence |
| B．All are in agreement that Ross designed the first American flag |
| C．It is almost certain that Ross did sew the first American flag |
| D．It is George Washington who designed the stars and stripes flag |
The underlined the word “seamstress” in Paragraph 2 probably means_____.
| A．a person who designs flags |
| B．a person who makes a living by sewing |
| C．a person who takes part in revolution |
| D．a person who creates chairs |
What does the last paragraph imply according to the passage?
| A．It implies that the U.S. is independent from Britain |
| B．It implies that Washington liked Ross’s design of the flag |
| C．It implies that Washington might be the designer of the flag |
| D．It implies that Ross did have helped with the design of the flag |
From the beginning of human history, wild animals provided food, clothing and sometimes medicine for man. We may not depend as much on wild animals now. But we hear about them every day. Americans use the names of animals in many ways. Automobile manufacturers and gasoline companies especially like to use big cats to sell their products. They like lions, tigers and wildcats. When Americans say wildcat, they usually mean a lynx, an ocelot or a bobcat. All these cats attack quickly and fiercely. So wildcats represent something fast and fierce.
An early American use of the word wildcat was quite different. It was used to describe members of Congress who declared war on Britain in 1812. A magazine of that year said the wildcat congressmen went home. It said they were unable to face the responsibility of having involved their country in an unnecessary war.
Wildcat also has been used as a name for money in the 1800s. At that time, some states permitted banks to make their own money. One bank in the state of Michigan offered paper money with a picture of a wildcat on it. Some banks, however, did not have enough gold to support all the paper money they offered. So the money had little or no value. It was called a wildcat bill or a wildcat banknote. The banks who offered this money were called wildcat banks. A newspaper of the time said those were the days of wildcat money. It said a man might be rich in the morning and poor by night.
Wildcat then was also used for an oil well or gold mine that had almost no oil or gold in it. Dishonest developers would buy such property. Then they would sell it and leave town with the money. The buyers were left with worthless holes in the ground. Today, wildcat oil wells are in areas that are not known to have oil.What is the main idea of the passage?
| A．Wildcats and their stories. |
| B．Wildcats and their characters. |
| C．Varieties of animal species. |
| D．Relationship between animals and humans. |
The underlined words "a lynx, an ocelot or a bobcat" in Paragraph 1 may refer to "__________".
| A．gasoline companies | B．automobile manufacturers |
| C．brands of automobile | D．names of wildcats |
Which of the following would people like to have or trust according to the passage?
| A．Wildcat congressmen. | B．Wildcat oil wells. |
| C．Wildcat banks. | D．Wildcat cars. |
It can be inferred that during the days of wildcat money__________.
| A．people couldn't buy anything with the money |
| B．people complained and suffered a lot |
| C．the rich invested too much on oil wells |
| D．people didn't know how to save money |
Some people believe that international sport creates goodwill between the nations and that if countries play games together they will learn to live together. Others say that the opposite is true: international contests encourage false national pride and lead to misunderstanding and hatred. There is probably some truth in both arguments, but in recent years the Olympic Games have done little to support the view that sports encourage international brotherhood. Not only was there the incident of tragedy involving murders of athletes, but the Games were also ruined by lesser incidents caused principally by minor national contests.
One country received its second-place medals with visible anger after the hockey final. There had been noisy scenes at the end of the hockey match, as the losers disagreed with the final decisions. They believed that one of their goals should have been allowed and that their opponents’ victory was unfair. Their manager was in great anger when he said: “This isn’t hockey. Hockey and the International Hockey Federation are finished.” The president of the Federation said later that such behavior could result in the suspension(停赛) of the team for at least three years.
The American basketball team announced that they would not yield first place to Russia, after a disputable(有争议的) end to their contest. The game had ended in disorder. It was thought at first that the United States had won by a single point, but it was announced that there were three seconds still to play. A Russian player then threw the ball from one end of the court to the other, and another player popped it into the basket. It was the first time the US had ever lost an Olympic basketball match. An appeal jury (评审委员会) debated the matter for four and a half hours before announcing that the result would stand. The American players then voted not to receive the silver medals.
Incidents of this kind will continue as long as sport is played competitively rather than for the love of the game. The suggestion that athletes should compete as individuals or in non-national teams, might be too much to hope for. But in the present organization of the Olympics there is far too much that encourages aggressive patriotism (爱国主义).According to the author, recent Olympic Games have ____.
| A．created goodwill between the nations |
| B．hardly showed any international friendship |
| C．caused only false national pride |
| D．led to more and more misunderstanding and hatred |
What did the manager mean by saying, “...Hockey and the International Hockey Federation are finished”?
| A．There should be no more hockey matches organized by the Federation. |
| B．His team would no longer take part in international games. |
| C．Hockey and the Federation are ruined by the unfair decisions. |
| D．The Federation should be ended. |
The basketball example implied that .
| A．too much patriotism was displayed in the incident |
| B．the announcement to make the match last longer was wrong |
| C．the appeal jury was too hesitant in making the decision |
| D．The American team was right in receiving the silver medals |
Which statement best summarizes this passage?
| A．The organization of the Olympic Games must be improved. |
| B．Different teams often have disputes when fighting for the first place. |
| C．Any team that has disrespectful behavior should be suspended. |
| D．Athletes should compete as individuals. |
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