No one knows yet the accurate number of lives which have been lost in this terrible fire .But reports suggest that it is more than one hundred .
A wall of flames fifty feet high and at least one hundred and fifty miles wide is now racing towards the forests and rich farmlands of southern Victoria . Towns less than one hundred miles from Melbourne will be in danger unless the wind changes . People are rushing excitedly into the streets . The police have warned them not to see the fire but many people are doing so .
The cause of the fire is unknown . No rain has fallen in this part of Australia for three months , and the hot , north-west wind from the great central desert is blowing at more than thirty miles an hour .
The firefighters are travelling to the fire by road , rail and air . But it is not easy to get there . Flames and fallen trees have cut off or blocked roads and railway lines . The thick smoke often prevents them from finding the air strips (飞机跑道).
It is said that the fire has brought the greater danger to the country since the Second World War .By the time the article was written , the fire .
| A．had just broken out | B．had been put out |
| C．was spreading violently | D．was coming to an end |
The writer wrote this article mainly to tell people .
| A．the fire was terrible and dangerous |
| B．it was impossible to put out the fire |
| C．more than one hundred people died of the fire |
| D．to join in the fight against the fire |
In the 4th paragraph , the writer suggested that .
| A．the fire would soon be controlled by the firefighters |
| B．it would be very difficult to put out the fire |
| C．the government was paying great attention to the fire |
| D．the fire had caused great losses and the airport was in ganger |
The underlined word “ accurate” in the first sentence has the same meaning as .
| A．recent | B．whole | C．rough | D．exact |
The idea for a science experiment can come from an unusual place. After watching a YouTube video of a dancing bird named Snowball, a scientist in Californina decided to study the ability of animals to keep the beat.
Bird lovers have long claimed that their pets have rhyhm, and there are many videos of dancing birds online. Until now, scie
ntists have suspected that humans are the only animals that can accurately keep rhythm with music.
Thanks to Snowball, that scientific opinion is changing. Snowball is a cockatoo, a kind of parrot, and his favorite song is “Everybody” by the Backstreet Boys. When he hears the song, he moves his feet and rocks his body with the tempo, or pace of the music, as though he is the only bird member of the boy band.
Aniruddh Patel is a neuroscientist, or a scientist who studies how the brain and the nervous system contribute to learning, seeing and other mental abilities. He works at the Neurosciences Instiute in San Diego. After seeing Snowbaill’s dance online, Patel visited the cockatoo at the bird rescue facility he’s called home for two years. The scientist played “Everybody” for Snowball and also played versions of the song that were sped up or slowed down. Sometimes, Snowball danced too fast or too slowly. Often, when there was a change in tempo, Snowball adjusted his dancing to match the rhythm. In other experiments, scientists have observed the same abilities in preschool children.
Patel isn’t the only scientist who has studied Snowball’s moves. Adena Schachner, who studies psychology at Harvard University, also wanted to know more about the dancing bird. Schachner’s team played different musical pieces for Snowball and a parrot named Alex, as well as eight human volunteers. The scientists observed that the birds and the humans kept time to the music with about the same accuracy.
Schachner and her team watched thousands of YouTube videos of different animals moving to music. Not all the animals could dance, however. From watching the videos, the scientists observed that only animals that imitate sounds, including 14 parrot species and Asian elephants, accurately moved in time to music.
63.The underlined words “that scientific opinion” in the third paragraph refers to the theory that .
A.birds like Snowball have the ability to keep the beat
B.humans are the only animals that can accurately keep rhythm with music
C.the brain and the nervous system contribute to some mental abilities
D.bird pets can have their special rhythm under human’s instruction
64.From the fourth paragraph we may know that .
A.Patel is the only scientist who has studied Snowball’s moves.
B.Snowball is able to adjust his dandcing to match the rhythm.
C.Snowball cannot dance to the versions of the song Everybody.
D.it is the brain and the nervous system that control the mental abilities.
65.The idea of studying animals’ ability to keep the beat comes from .
A.bird lovers’ discovery B.humans musical sense
C.the same abilities in children D.videos of dancing birds
66.According to the scientists, Snowball’s ability to dance to music is probably related to the fact that .
A.it is the only bird member of thd Backstreet Boys band
B.it has the ability to imitate sounds
C.it is a kind of dancing parrot
D.it has the same abilities as preschool children
Despite all the reports of Internet security attacks over the years, including the recent ones on Google’s e-mail service, many people have reacted to the break-ins with a shrug (耸肩).
Mr. Shulman and his company examined a list of 32 million passwords that an unknown hacker（黑客） stole last month from Rock You, a company that makes software for users of social networking sites like Facebook and MySpace. The list was briefly posted on the Web, and hackers and security researchers downloaded it.
The list provided an unusually detailed window into computer users’ password habits. Typically, only government agencies like the F.B.I. or the National Security Agency have had access to such a large password list.
Some Web sites try to keep back the attackers by freezing an account for a certain period of time if too many incorrect passwords are typed. But experts say that the hackers simply learn to trick the system, by making guesses at an acceptable rate, for instance.
To improve security, some Wed sites are forcing users to mix letters,numbers even symbols in their passwords. Others, like Twitter, prevent people from picking common passwords.
Still, researchers say, social networking and entertainment Web sites often try to make life simpler for their users and are unwilling to put too many controls in place.
Even commercial sites like eBay must weigh the consequences of freezing accounts, since a hacker could, say, try to win an auction（拍卖） by freezing the accounts of other potential buyers.
But owing to the reality of our overcrowded brains, the experts suggest that everyone choose at least two different passwords— a complex one for Web sites where security is vital, such as banks and e-mail, and a simpler one for less risky places, such as social networking and entertainment sites.
Mr. Moss relies on passwords at least 12 characters long, figuring that those make him a more difficult target than the millions of people who choose five-and six-character passwords.
“It’s like the joke where the hikers run into a bear in the forest, and the hiker that survives is the one who outruns his companions,” Mr. Moss said. “You just want to run that bit faster.”
59.The underlined sentence “Many people have reacted to the break-ins with a shrug” shows that many people .
A.don’t take seriously the hacker’s break-ins
B.are worried and frightened at the hacker’s break-ins
C.don’t know what to do with the hack
er’s attacks
D.are eager to get helps from the experts
60.According to the passage, which of the following web sites needs a more complex password?
A.A social web site. B.An entertainment web site.
C.A commercial web site. D.A game web site.
61.The Internet users are advised to in order to keep back the hackers.
A.mix letters, numbers and symbols as well
B.choose passwords with at least 12 characters
C.choose passwords with 5 or 6 characters
D.choose at least two different passwords
62.Which would be the best title for the passage?
A.Password, good luck or risk! B.Popular Passwords, High Risk!
C.Clever Hackers, Stupid Netizens. D.Hacker,the Enemy of Internet Security.
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，从各篇短文后所给各题的四个选项（A、B、C和D）中，选出最佳选项。
It was shortly before midnight, and Dr Patricia was getting ready for bed. The phone rang on the end of the line was a woman about to break a promise.
The woman was her mother’s neighbor. Flora Harris had made the neighbor swear she wouldn’t tell her daughter she’d had a heart attack and was in the hospital, for fear her daughter would worry. The neighbor wisely decided to disobey orders.
Harris desperately wanted to get to the hospital immediately, but she couldn’t. She lives in Washingt
on, D. C, and her mother lives in California.
For the past year a half, Harris has gone to Los Angeles every other month to take care of her mother. Flora Harris takes care of her husband, James, who’s 91 and has Alzheimer’s disease. They live in their own home, and a caregiver comes to help them a few hours a day.
Harris is one of many Americans facing the heartache of how to take care of aging parents from afar. She’s often worried, not to mention exrtemely busy with a demanding job, two teenage daughters and the frequent trips to California.
In some ways, Harris is lucky. She has the resources to make the trips to Los Angeles. Plus, Harris is a doctor who treats the elderly.
“But it’s still tough,” she says. “I can foresee what the next few years are going to look like, and it’s not a pretty picture. My father’s going to need diapers (尿布). There will come a time when he won’t recognize me and he’s easily excited. I worry he’s going to be violent and hurt my mother.”
So what do you do when you live a continent away from your aging, sick parents? There are no magic answers. You can hire someone to help, but you can’t oursource it completely.
51.Why was the woman thought to have broken a promise?
A.She failed to take care of Flora.
B.She was not supposed to call Harris at midnight.
C.She couldn’t go to hospital on time.
D.She told Harris about her mother’s illness.
52.What can we learn about Patricia Harris from the passage?
A.She thinks it harder to look after her parents the next few years.
B.Her parents cannot take 
of themselves at all.
C.She cannot do a demanding job.
D.She cannot afford to go to California often.
53.What does the underlined word “outsource” in the last paragragh mean?
A.Arrange somebody outside to do a job.
B.Work something out by oneself.
C.Speak something out for help.
D.Understand something.
54.What’s the main idea of this passage?
A.Aging people in the USA are increasing.
B.The rate of heart disease is high in America.
C.It is difficult to tend aging parents from afar.
D.Harris advises on tending aging parents from afar.
I shall never forget the night, a few years ago, when Marion J. Douglas was a student in one of my calsses. (I have not used his real name for personal reasons. As he requested.) But here is his real story as he told it before one of our adult – education classes. He told us how tragedy had struck at his home, not once, but twice. The first time he had lost his five-old daughter, a child he adored. He and his wife thought they couldn’t bear that first loss; but, as he said:“Ten months later, God gave us another little girl and she died in five days.”
This double bereavement was almost too much to bear. “I couldn’t take it,” this father told us. “I couldn’t sleep, I couldn’t eat, I couldn’t rest or relax. My nerves were entirely shaken and my confidence gone.” At last he went to doctors; one recommended sleeping pills and another recommended a trip. He tried both, but neither helped. He said:“My body felt as if it was surrounded in a vice(大钳子), and the jaws of the vice were being drawn tighter and tighter.” The tension of grief(悲伤)——if you have ever been paralyzed(使瘫痪)by sorrow, you know what he meant.
But thank God, I had one child left ——a four —year— old son. He gave me the solution to my problem. One afternoon as I sat around feeling sorry for myself, he asked; ‘Daddy, will you build a boat for me?’ I was in no mood to build a boat; in fact, I was in no mood to do anything. But my son is a persistent little fellow! I had to give in.
Building that toy boat took me about three hours. By the time it was finished, I realized that those three hours spent building that boat were first hours of mental relaxation and peace that I had had in months! I realized that it is difficult to worry while you are busy doing something that requires planning and thinking. In my case, building the boat had knocked worry out of the ring. So I determined to keep busy.
The following night, I went from room to room in the house, making a list of jobs that ought to be done. Scores of items needed to be repaired: bookcase, stair steps, storm windows, window-shades, locks, leaky taps. Amazing as it seems, in the course of two weeks I had made a list of 242 items that needed attention.
“During the last two years I have completed most of them. I am busy now that I have no time for worry.”
No time for worry! That is exactly what Winston Churchill said when he was working eighteen hours a day at the height of the war. When he was asked if he worried about his huge responsibilities, he said :“I am too busy. I have no time for worry.”
55.The underlined word “bereavement” in the second paragraph refers to .
A.having lost a loved one B.having lost a valuable article
C.having lost a profit-making business D.having lost a well-paid job
56.Marion felt his body as if it was caught in a vice because .
A.he couldn’t earn enough money to support his family
B.he was suffering from sleeplessness disease
C.he couldn’t get out of mental pressure
D.he felt tired of adult-education classes
57.Mari
on made a list of over 200 items that needed to be repaired because .
A.he hadn’t been able to spare time to mend them
B.he wanted to kill his free time by repairing them
C.the items had actually been broken and needed attention
D.repairing the items helped crowd worry out of his mind
58.At the end of the
passage, the author wrote about Winston Churchill in order to .
A.prove that he followed Churchill’s example
B.support his student’s solution to his problem
C.show that he was successful in his career
D.clarify how his conclusion was reached
So much to do, so little time．So much information, so little time to read ．In this age there is more information than ever before．There is not enough time to read everything we want to read．However, you can take in and understand more information in shorter time through speed-reading．This article will not make you read 3 000 words per minute, but it will show you how to increase your speed greatly．You will also learn the basic techniques of speed reading, along with the dos and don'ts of speed-reading．
When you first learned to read, you would say the word out loud and sound it out．Then you might whisper the word because people can become annoyed when you read aloud．The stage you are now at is saying the word in your head．Most people tend to read this way．Saying the word in your head will cut your reading speed tremendou
sly (极大的)．
How do you calculate your reading speed? The speed is measured by how many words per minute you can read．Getsome reading material, preferably a book．Find out
how many words are on the page．Time yourself one minute．Start your timer and start reading．When the timer sounds, stop at once．If you counted 500 words on the page and you read half of the page, then you are probably reading at 250 words per minute．
The first thing about speed-reading is looking at the word and recognizing it．Don't say the word in your mind, just look at it and recognize its appearance．Later you will recognize groups of four words or more to increase your speed．This is the first and most important step in speed-reading．
The next step is technique．As with any other skill, speed-reading requires technique．You should first be sitting up straight with your book on a horizontal (水平的) surface, such as a table or desk．Next, should be able to see the entire page．This is necessary if you want to recognize clumps of words．Lastly, you should be focused．It's hard to read a lot of noise．Find a quiet place to read．This will help your understand of the text．You need something to guide your eyes while reading．Then right, you should use your hand, Remember when you were little, you would read using your finger．That is a great technique, only now you're using your hand to underline each line．Move your finger smoothly across page．No need to go rush , start our slow．Keep your eyes focused on words as you recognize them while using your hand as a guide．This will increase you speed．
The third step is practice．Practice makes perfect．Set time intervals(间歇)．Read using different techniques, but make sure you understand what you're reading．
56. Which of the following statements is true according to the text?
A．Now there is limited information than ever before．
B．Now conditions ask people to use less time to know more information．
C．Now people can read what they like．
D．The less you read, the more time you will spend．
57. What is the subject discussed in the text?
A．What speed-reading is．
B．Why we need speed-reading．
C．Now it is much information time．
D．People should practice speed-reading in different kinds of ways．
58. Which of the following shows the right way for the speed-reading from the text?
a. Ask for some techniques. b. Look at many words and recognize them.
c. Practice more．
A．c, a, b B. c, b, a C．b, a, c D．a, c, b
59. The underlined sentence “you should be focused” in the fifth paragraph means that _________．
A．a person should devote his attention to it while reading
B．your feelings will be hurt while reading
C．a person should smooth away difficulties while he reads
D．you should pay attention to your faults while you are reading
60. To speed up your reading, you should_________．
A．sit up straight with your book flat and use something to guide your eyes
B．say every word out loud and sound it out
C．know it is necessary to read quickly
D．underline some important words while you say them
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