The Maldives faces the threat of extinction from rising sea levels, but the government said it was looking to the future with plans to build homes and a golf course that float.
An increase in sea levels of just 18 to 59 centimeters would make the Maldives－a nation of tiny coral islands in the Indian Ocean－virtually uninhabitable by 2100, the UN’s climate change panel(专门小组) has warned.
President Mohamed Nasheed has vowed a fight for survival, and he signed a deal with a Dutch company to study proposals for a floating structure that could support a convention center, homes and an 18-hole golf course.
The company , Dutch Docklands, is currently building floating developments in the Netherlands and Dubai.
The Maldives began work on an artificial island known as the Hulhumale near the crowded capital island of Male in 1997 and more than 30,000 people have been settled there to ease congestion.
The city, which has a population of 100,000, is already protected from rising sea levels by a 30-million-dollar sea wall, and the government is considering increasingly imaginative ways to combat(对抗) climate change.
Nasheed has even spoken of buying land elsewhere in the world to enable Maldivians to relocate if their homes are submerged. He has also pledged to turn his nation into a model for the rest of the world by becoming "carbon neutral (碳中和)" by 2020.
His plan involves ending fossil fuel use and powering all vehicles and buildings from "green" sources such as burning coconut husks.What do you know about Maldives?
| A．It has a population of 100,000. | B．It has a floating golf course. |
| C．It is a nation of tiny coral islands. | D．It is located in the Pacific Ocean. |
The underlined word "uninhabitable" might mean _________ .
| A．不能居住的 | B．不习惯的 | C．不能改变的 | D．不能忍受的 |
The floating structure will be used as all the following except ________ .
| A．a convention center | B．a sports center |
| C．homes | D．a golf course |
What are the government's ways to combat climate change?
| A．Buy land elsewhere in the world. |
| B．Make the nation "carbon neutral" by 2020. |
| C．Use "green" sources instead of fossil fuel. |
| D．All of the above. |
CARDIFF, Wales Poets, singers and musicians from across the globe gathered in Wales to celebrate the tradition(传统) of storytelling.
“It might seem strange that people still want to listen in age of watching television, but this is an unusual art form whose time has come again,” said David Ambrose, director of Beyond the Border, an international storytelling festival(节) in Wales.
“Some of the tales, like those the Inuit from Canada, are thousands years old. So our storytellers have come from distant lands to connect us with the distance of time,” he said early this month.
Two Inuit women, both in their mid 60s, are among the few remaining who can do Kntadjait, or throat singing, which has few words and much sound. Their art is governed by the cold of their surroundings, forcing them to say little but listen attentively.
Ambrose started the festival in 1993, after several years of working with those reviving (coming back into use or existence) storytelling in Wales.
“It came out of a group of people who wanted to reconnect with traditions. and as all the Welsh are storytellers, it was in good hands here.” Ambrose said.
1. Ambrose believes that the art of storytelling _______.
A. will be more popular than TV
B. will be popular again
C. started in Wales
D. are in the hands of some old people
2. From the tales told by the Inuit, people can learn _______.
A. about their life as early as thousands of years ago
B. why they tell the stories in a throat-singing way
C. how cold it has been where the Inuit live
D. how difficult it is to understand the Inuit
3. According to the writer, which of the following is NOT true?
A. Storytelling once stopped in Wales.
B. Storytelling has a long history in Wales.
C. Storytelling is always well received in Wales.
D. Storytelling did not come back until 1993 in Wales.
4. The underlined phrase in good hands means _______.
A. controlled by rich people B. grasped by good storytellers
C. taken good care of D. protected by kind people
Tales of the supernatural are common in all parts of Britain. In particular there was（and perhaps still is）a belief in fairies. Not all of these fairies are the friendly, people-loving sprites that appear in Disney films. In some folktales they are cruel and cause much human suffering. This is true in the tales about the changeling. These tell the story of a mother whose baby grows sick and pale and is changed so much that it is almost unrecognizable to the parents. It was then feared that the fairies had come and stolen the baby away and replaced the human baby with a fairy changeling. This was most likely to happen between birth and the baby’s baptism. There were many ways to prevent this from happening: hanging a knife over the baby’s head while he slept or covering him with some of his father’s clothes were just two of the recommended（推荐）methods. However, hope was not lost even if the baby had been stolen .In those cases there was often a way to get the real baby back. You could place the changeling on the fire—then it would rise up the chimney, you would hear the sound of fairies’ laughter and soon after you would find your own child safe and sound nearby. Or, if you were more cautious（谨慎）,perhaps there was a magic well in the neighbourhood where you could leave the changeling overnight, and in the morning you would return to find your own baby there without a scratch（划痕）on him.
1. Another word in the passage which is closest in meaning to the underlined word sprites is ______.
A. changeling B. baptism C. folktales D. fairies
2.The writer described ______ways to prevent babies from being stolen and ______ways to save a stolen baby.
A. Many; two B. Two; two C. Two; three D. Two; four
3.Which is not stated but can be inferred from this passage?
A. Some sick babies might have been killed with the recommended methods.
B. There are bad fairies as well as good fairies.
C. Lots of stolen babies were saved with the recommended methods.
D. Fairies would laugh if they found a changeling rise up the chimney.
Northern Europeans spend a lot of time in their cold and cloudy winters planning their summer holidays. They are proud of their healthy color when they return home after the holiday. But they also know that a certain amount of sunshine is good for their bodies and general health.
In ancient Greece people knew about the healing(治疗) powers of the sun, but this knowledge was lost. At the end of the nineteenth century a Danish doctor, Niels Finsen, began to study the effect of sunlight on certain diseases, especially diseases of the skin. He was interested not only in natural sunlight but also in artificially (人造地) produced rays. Sunlight began to play a more important part in curing sick people.
A Swiss doctor, Auguste Rollier, made full use of the sun in his hospital at Lysine. Lysine is a small village high up in the Alps. The position is important: the rays of the sun with the greatest healing power are the infra-red (红外线的) and ultra-violet (紫外线的) rays; but ultra-violet rays are too easily lost in fog and the polluted air near industrial towns. Dr. Roller found that sunlight, fresh air and good food cure a great many diseases. He was particularly successful in curing certain forms of tuberculosis with his “sun-cure”.
There were a large number of children in Dr. Roller’s hospital. He decided to start a school where sick children could be cured and at the same time continue to learn. It was not long before his school was full.
In winter, wearing only shorts, socks and boots, the children put on their skis after breakfast and left the hospital. They carried small desks and chairs as well as their school books. Their teacher led them over the snow until they reached a slope which faced the sun and was free from cold winds. There they set out their desks and chairs, and school began.
Although they wore hardly any clothes, Roller’s pupils were very seldom cold. That was because their bodies were full of energy which they got from the sun. But the doctor knew that sunshine can also be dangerous. If, for example, tuberculosis is attacking the lungs, unwise sunbathing may do great harm.
Today there is not just one school in the sun. There are several in Switzerland, and since Switzerland is not the only country which has the right conditions, there are similar schools in other places.
1. According to the passage, when did sunlight begin to play a more important part in the treatment of disease?
A. From ancient times. B. At the end of the nineteenth century.
C. Not until this century. D. Only very recently.
2. Why are a Danish doctor and a Swiss doctor mentioned in the second and third paragraphs?
A. Because they both made use of sunlight to treat illness.
B. Because they were the first people who used sunlight for treatment.
C. Because they were both famous European doctors.
D. Because they used sunlight in very different ways.
3. Dr Roller set up a “sun-cure” school probably for the reason that _______.
A. most children could stay in his hospital
B. children could study while being treated
C. the school was expected to be full of pupils
D. the school was high up in the mountains
4. What can be inferred from the last paragraph of the passage?
A. “Sun-cure” schools are becoming popular everywhere.
B. Switzerland is the only country where “sun-cure” schools are popular.
C. Proper conditions are necessary for the running of a “sun-cure” school.
D. “Sun-cure” schools are found in countries where there is a lot of sunshine.
Move Earth—it’s no science fiction
LONDON-Scientists have found an unusual way to prevent our planet from overheating: move it to a cooler spot. All you have to do is send a few comets（彗星）in the direction of Earth, and its orbit will be changed. Our world will then be sent spinning into a safer, colder part of the solar system.
This idea for improving our climate comes from a group of US National Aeronautics and Space Administration（NASA） engineers and American astronomers. They say their plan could add another six billion years to the useful lifetime of our planet—effectively doubling its working life.
The plan put forward by Dr Laughlin, and his colleagues Don Korycansky and Fred Adams
,needs carefully directing a comet or asteroid so that it passes close by our planet and sends some of its gravitational energy to Earth.
“Earth’s orbital speed would increase as a result and we would move to a higher orbit away from the Sun,”Laughlin said.
Engineers would then direct their comet so that it passed close to Jupiter or Saturn. The comet would pick up energy from one of these giant planets. Later its orbit would bring it back to Earth, and the process would be repeated.
In the short term, the plan provides an ideal way to global warming, although the team was actually concerned with a much greater danger. The sun is certain to heat up in about a billion years and so “seriously compromise” our biosphere（生物圈）—by cooking us.
That’s why the group decided to try to save Earth.
The plan has one or two worrying aspects, however. For a start, space engineers would have to be very careful about how they directed their asteroid or comet towards Earth. The smallest miscalculation（误算）in orbit could fire it straight at Earth—with deadly consequences.
There is also the question of the Moon. As the current issue of Scientific American magazine points out, if Earth was pushed out of its current position it is “most likely the Moon would be stripped away from Earth,” it states. This would greatly change our planet’s climate.
1. What makes the scientists plan to move Earth?
A. A few comets are moving to the direction of Earth.
B. Earth’s working life is coming to an end soon.
C. Earth will become too hot for mankind to keep alive.
D. The moon is moving farther and farther away from Earth.
2.If the plan is successful, Earth will have a working life of ______years.
A.12 billion B.6 billion C.18 billion D.24 billion
3.What serious problems might the plan cause according to the passage?
A. The comet might hit Earth and man might lose the moon.
B. Earth might be moved too far away and man might be frozen to death.
C. The comet might hit Jupiter or Saturn and never return to Earth.
D. Earth’s working life might be greatly shortened.
4.What does the underlined word “compromise” mean?
A. provide B. benefit C. share D. endanger
5.Which of the following best shows how the plan would work?
Death Valley is one of the most famous deserts in the United States, covering a wide area with its alkali sand. Almost 20 percent of this area is well below sea level, and Badwater, a salt water pool, is about 280 feet below sea level and the lowest point in the United States.
Long ago the Panamint Indians called this place “Tomesha”— the land of fire. Death Valley’s present name dates back to 1849, when a group of miners coming across from Nevada became lost in its unpleasantness and hugeness and their adventure turned out to be a sad story. Today Death Valley has been declared a National Monument(纪念碑) and is crossed by several well-marked roads where good services can be found easily. Luckily the change created by human settlement has hardly ruined the special beauty of this place.
Here nature created a lot of surprising, almost like the sights on the moon, ever-changing as the frequent wind moves the sand about, showing the most unusual colors. One of the most astonishing and variable parts of Death Valley is the Devil’ s Golf Course, where it seems hard for one to tell reality from terrible dreams. Sand sculptures(沙雕) stand on a frightening ground, as evening shadows move and lengthen.
1. _______ is the lowest place in the desert.
A. Tomesha B. Death Valley
C. Nevada D. Badwater
2. The name of the valley comes from _______.
A. an Indian name B. the death of the miners
C. the local people D. a National Movement
3. From the passage we can learn that _______.
A. no one had ever known the desert before the miners
B. it’s still not easy to travel across the desert
C. people can find gas-stations, cafes and hotels in the desert
D. people have changed the natural sight of the desert
4. Devil Golf Course is famous for _______.
A. the frequent wind B. the colors of the sand
C. dream-like sights D. the sand sculptures
5. From the passage we can see that the writer _______ the Death Valley.
A. appreciates B. is fearful of
C. dislikes D. is tired of
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