Many trees in the Brackham area were brought down in the terrible storms that March. The town itself lost two great lime trees from the former market square. The disappearance of such s
triking features had changed the appearance of the town centre entirely, to the annoyance of its more conservative inhabitants(居民).
Among the annoyed, under more normal circumstances, would have been Chief Inspector Douglas Pelham, head of the local police force. But at the height of that week's storm, when the wind brought down even the mature walnut tree in his garden, Pelham had in fact been in no fit state to notice. A large and healthy man, he had for the first time in his life been seriously ill with an attack of bronchitis.
When he first complained of an aching head and tightness in his chest, his wife, Molly, had tried to persuade him to go to the doctor. Convinced that the police force could not do without him, he had, as usual, ignored her and attempted to carry on working. Predictably, though he wouldn't have listened to anyone who tried to tell him so, this had the effect of fogging his memory and shortening his temper.
It was only when his colleague, Sergeant Lloyd, took the initiative and drove him to the doctor's door that he finally gave in. By that time, he didn't have the strength left to argue with her. In no time at all, she was taking him along to the chemist's to get his medicine and then home to his unsurprised wife who sent him straight to bed.
When Molly told him, on the Thursday morning, that the walnut tree had been brought down during the night, Pelham hadn’t been able to take it in. On Thursday evening, he had asked weakly about damage to the house, groaned(含糊不清地说) thankfully when he heard there was none, and pulled the sheets over his head.
It wasn't until Saturday, when the medicine took effect, his temperature dropped and he got up, that he realised with a shock that the loss of the walnut tree had made a permanent difference to the appearance of the living-room. The Pelhams' large house stood in a sizeable garden. It had not come cheap, but even so Pelham had no regrets about buying it. The leafy garden had created an impression of privacy. Now, though, the storm had changed his outlook.
Previously, the view from the living-room had featured the handsome walnut tree. This had not darkened the room because there was also a window on the opposite wall, but it had provided interesting patterns of light and shade that hid the true state of the worn furniture that the family had brought with them from their previous house.
With the tree gone, the room seemed cruelly bright, its worn furnishings exposed in all their shabbiness. And the view from the window didn’t bear looking at. The tall house next door, previously hidden by the tree, was now there, dominating the outlook with its unattractive purple bricks and external pipes. It seemed to have a great many upstairs windows, all of them watching the Pelhams' every movement.
“Doesn’t it look terrible?” Pelham whispered to his wife.
But Molly, standing in the doorway, sounded more pleased than dismayed. “That's what I’ve been telling you ever since we came here. We have to buy a new sofa, whatever it costs.”Why were some people in Brackham annoyed after the storm?
| A．No market could be held. | B．The police had done little to help. |
| C．The town looked different. | D．Fallen trees had not been removed. |
In the third paragraph, what do we learn about Chief Inspector Pelham’s general attitude to his work?
| A．He finds it extremely annoying. | B．Не is sure that he plays an important role. |
| C．Не considers the systems are not clear enough. | |
| D．He does not trust the decisions made by his superiors. |
What aspect of the Pelhams’ furniture does “shabbiness” in paragraph 8 describe?
| A．its condition. | B．its colour. | C．its position. | D．its design. |
As a result of the storm, the Pelhams’ living-room _____.
A．was pleasantly ligh ter |
B．felt less private |
| C．had a better view | D．was in need of repair |
Why did Molly sound pleased by her husband’s comment?
| A．It proved that he was well again. | B．She agreed about the tree. |
| C．She thought he meant the sofa. | D．It was what she expected him to say. |
She looked at the man walking along the sidewalk next to the nice houses. He didn't live in any of those houses. She had seen this man several times before. He looked like a criminal. She knav not to judge a book by its cover, but this man was no good
She drove by him. He looked at her car as she drove by. She continued driving. She watched him in her rear view mirror. She got to the corner and stopped. She continued to watch him walking in her direction. Suddenly, he turned left up a driveway. A red SUV was parked in the driveway right next to the sidewalk. She saw him walk up to the driver's door and put his hand on the handle. He relumed to the sidewalk and continued walking in her direction.
“What was that all about. ” she wondered. Then she realized that he had tested the door to see if it was locked. He is a criminal, she thought That's what he does. He just walks through our neighborhoods looking for cars to break into.
She called the police. She described the man. The officer said he knew who the man was. Residents called two or three times a week to report him walking by. But the police couldn't arrest him for walking around. They had to catch him with stolen goods. "But he was testing that SUV door to see if it was unlocked," she said.
"I'm sony," said the officer. "That's not against the law. If you see him actually steal something, give us a call.”What could be the best title of this passage?
| A．A crazy man | B．A wandering man |
| C．A stealing man | D．A useless policeman |
The underlined word “criminal” in paragraph 1 can best be replaced by ____________.
| A．thief | B．killer | C．worker | D．cleaner |
Which of the following statements is true?
| A．The woman recognized the man and wanted to arrest him. |
| B．The police knew the man’s identity and arrested him finally. |
| C．The woman was walking after the man when she called the police. |
| D．The man did a series of strange things but the police couldn’t arrest him. |
Why couldn’t the police arrest the man?
| A．Because the police knew that the man was a resident of this area. |
| B．Because the police knew that the SUV belonged to the man. |
| C．Because the police knew that just walking around isn’t against the law. |
| D．Because the police knew that it was not the man but the woman who broke the law. |
According to the passage, what can we know about the man?
| A．He wore a suit that day. |
| B．He has broken into several cars before. |
| C．He is the owner of that red SUV. |
| D．He was always walking along that sidewalk. |
It was unusually quiet in the emergency room on December 25.
I was nurse on duty that day. I didn’t think there would be any patients, sighing about having to work on Christmas. Just then five bodies showed up at my desk, a pale woman and four small children.
“Are you all sick?” I asked suspiciously.
“Yes,” she said weakly and lowered her head.
But when it came to descriptions of their presenting problems, things got a little vague. Two of the children had headaches, but the headaches weren’t accompanied by the normal body language of holding the head or trying to keep it still. Two children had earaches, but only one could tell me which ear was affected. The mother complained of a cough but seemed to work to produce it.
Something was wrong, but I didn’t say anything but explained that it might be a little while before a doctor saw her. She responded, “Take your time; it’s warm here.”
On a hunch (出于直觉), I checked the chart after the admitting clerk had finished registering the family. No address---they were homeless. The waiting room was warm.
I looked out at the family huddled by the Christmas tree. The little one was pointing at the television and exclaiming something to her mother. The oldest one was looking at an ornament on the Christmas tree.
I went back to the nurses’ station and mentioned we had a homeless family in the waiting room. The nurses, grumbling about working Christmas, turned to compassion for a family just trying to get warm on Christmas. The team went into action, much as we do when there’s a medical emergency. But this one was a Christmas emergency.
We were all offered a free meal in the hospital cafeteria on Christmas Day, so we claimed that meal and prepared a banquet for our Christmas guests. We needed presents. We put together oranges and apples in a basket. We collected from different departments candies, crayons and other things available that could be presents. As seriously as we met the physical needs of the patients that came to us that day, our team worked to meet the needs, and exceed the expectations, of a family who just wanted to be warm on Christmas Day.
Later, as the family walked to the door to leave, the four year old came running back, gave me a hug and whispered, “Thanks for being our angels today.”Which of the following would be the best title of the passage?
| A．Working Christmas Day |
| B．Christmas Day is Coming |
| C．A Happy Family |
| D．A Pale Woman and Four Small Children |
What kind of person do you think the author is?
| A．Hardworking and outgoing |
| B．Serious and careful |
| C．Hardworking and warmhearted |
| D．Serious and stubborn |
Which of the following is TRUE according to the passage?
| A．Something was wrong with one of the children’s heads. |
| B．The pale woman forgot to write the address. |
| C．The author did not understand the truth. |
| D．The children’s mother told a lie. |
It can be inferred from the text that______.
| A．The author didn’t think there would be any patients on Christmas Day |
| B．The woman was uncomfortable when she lowered her head |
| C．The family appeared in the emergency room on Christmas Eve |
| D．The woman and four small children were satisfied and grateful |
By 2050 there will have been an extra 2.5 billion people on earth. And what will they eat?
To solve the problem, we should have to double our food production. We can also develop a diet of algae（海藻）, insects and meat grown in laboratories.
Algae can grow very quickly at sea, in polluted water and in places that would normally kill food crops. They are already eaten widely in Japan and China and they are eaten by almost everything from shrimps to blue whales. They can fix CO2 in the atmosphere and provide fats and sugars.
Man-made meat looks like meat, feels like meat and it is meat, although it’s never been from a living, breathing animal. Instead, it is grown from cells in big containers. Moreover, studies show that producing man-made meat will use far less water, energy and land.
China has developed “green super rice”, a series of rice types which produce more grain and have stronger ability to fight against floods, salty water, insects and disease. We used traditional plant breeding（作物育种）techniques to cross-breed more than 250 rice types. Green super rice, which is enough to feed an extra 100 million people, will be planted widely in the coming years.
Insects like ants are not on most European menus but at least 1,400 kinds are eaten across Africa, Latin America and Asia. Now, with rising food prices and worldwide land shortages, such insects are getting more and more popular. Not only are many insects rich in protein（蛋白质）, low in fat and high in Ca and Fe, but insect farms need little space. And they can grow well on paper, algae and industrial wastes.In order to exist in the future, people have to _______.
| A．move to other planets |
| B．produce rain in laboratories |
| C．build new laboratories for food research |
| D．increase the food production or look for other food sources |
From the second paragraph we know that _______
| A．algae have a strong life force |
| B．few people eat algae now |
| C．algae have few values for human beings |
| D．algae can pollute our environment |
Green super rice _______
| A．has to be watered with salty water |
| B．can grow even in a bad environment |
| C．includes no more than 250 rice kinds |
| D．was developed with new technologies |
What can we learn from the passage?
| A．Green super rice is delicious but high in price. |
| B．In Asia about 100 million people may be faced with food shortages. |
| C．Man-made meat doesn’t look like meat but has the same taste as real meat. |
| D．One of the reasons why many people begin to eat insects is their rich food value. |
Our environment isn’t as green and beautiful as it should be. There are steel monsters blocking out the sun, blowing out dangerous smoke, and letting out poisonous chemicals into rivers, cars producing harmful waste gas, people throwing out waste in a wrong way and all other kinds of sources that ruin the planet. Facing current environmental problems, people need to do their best to save the Earth.
You can see many big garbage dustbins in the streets. They’re not there for a show, but for you to drop your waste. We should realize that what a little we do does count. So next time you get that urge to throw gum or a chocolate package out of the car window, or “ accidentally” drop as you walk down the street, ask yourself how much waste you’ve been contributing to the environment with that bad habit going on for years.
At home, the first thing we can do to protect the environment is avoid letting water run continuously and make sure that taps（水龙头）are not leaky（泄露的），which would help greatly in scrimping. Another is to use energy-saving lights, and turn them off before you leave the rooms. It’s not only energy-saving, but also cuts down electricity costs.
Recycling is a method to make items reusable. Many things you want to throw out can be made into new products through the reproducing process. Use your imagination to come up with ways on things that you can use again.
Pass the message of simple ways to save the environment on to kids. Starting with kids is a good way of teaching the message early in their lives, in the hope that they can carry it forward as they grow older.
With environmental protection awareness in mind, we can do what we can, for the results are to have a big effect on the planet. As long as we do our part, the world is one small step closer to being saved.The underlined word “scrimping” in the third paragraph can be replaced by _____.
| A．saving | B．cleaning | C．cooking | D．drinking |
From the fifth paragraph, we can know that ________.
| A．protecting the environment begins with small chores |
| B．protecting the environment should start from childhood. |
| C．wonderful life comes from environmental protection |
| D．protecting the environment benefits the country and the people |
Which of the following isn’t true?
| A．The more people do their part, the greener the environment will be. |
| B．Selling what you don’t want any more is a kind of recycling. |
| C．To protect the environment may help you save some money. |
| D．Your bad habits for the environment are a valuable contribution. |
Which of the following can be the best title for this passage?
| A．The Use of Garbage Dustbin |
| B．How to Save Water and Electricity |
| C．How to Save the Environment |
| D．Our Current Environmental Problems |
A famous Renoir had been stolen from a museum. Detective Earl Blackman was to work on the case.
Everyone was in the dark before an art professor came to point out the false picture. So the museum even didn’t know when the picture had been stolen. Thousands of people came to visit the museum every day. After long work, some art students were focused on.
The five students who had made copies of the Renoir during the last six months were asked to bring their copies to the museum. The fifth student said she had sold her copy, which was later proved to be the one in the museum. She, however, could only remember the buyer was a man with the little finger on his left hand missing.
Blackman went back and stayed in his office looking at all the pictures of known thieves. No success.
The next afternoon, at about closing time, Blackman went to the museum to ask if the cleaning men were in the museum after everyone else had left. The director told him they had no cleaning man but six cleaning women.
As the detective left the director’s office, he saw five cleaning women. He stopped one and asked about her work. Then came the sixth cleaning woman. She was dressed just like the other women except the gloves on her hands which made her different. Blackman watched her for some time. When she came near, Blackman caught her. The woman cried out in a man’s voice, “What was that?” Blackman was more sure.Everything came to light ________________.
| A．when an art student was asked |
| B．when the cleaning man came into the office |
| C．when Blackman looked at all the pictures |
| D．when the cleaning woman cried |
Arrange the following sentences in the right order.
a. The museum asked for help.
b. The four students showed their copies.
c. An art professor came.
d. The detective looked at all the pictures.
e. The thief bought a picture.
| A．a-c-e-d-b | B．c-a-d-s-b | C．e-c-a-b-d | D．e-a-b-d-c |
Blackman caught the cleaning woman because of __________.
| A．the glove | B．the clothes | C．her sex | D．her work |
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