Against the supposition that forest fires in Alaska，Canada and Siberia warm the climate，scientists have discovered that cooling may occur in areas where burnt trees allow more snow to mirror more sunlight into space.
This finding suggests that taking steps to prevent northern forest fires to limit the release of greenhouse gases may warm the climate in northern regions.Usually large fires destroyed forests in these areas over the past decade.Scientists predict that with climate warming，fires may occur more frequently over the next several centuries as a result of a longer fire season.Sunlight taken in by the earth tends to cause warming，while heat mirrored back into space tends to cause cooling.
This is the first study to analyze all aspects of how northern fires influence climate.Earlier studies by other scientists had suggested that fires in northern regions sped up climate warming because greenhouse gases from burning trees and plants were released into the atmosphere and thus trapped heat.
Scientists found that right after the fire，large amounts of greenhouse gases entered the atmosphere and caused warming.Ozone (臭氧) levels increased，and ashes from the fire fell on faroff sea ice，darkening the surface and causing more radiation from the sun to be taken in.The following spring，however，the land within the area of the fire was brighter than before the fire，because fewer trees covered the ground.Snow on the ground mirrored more sunlight back into space，leading to cooling.
“We need to find out all possible ways to reduce the growth of greenhouse gases in the atmosphere，” scientists said.They tracked the change in the amount of radiation entering and leaving the climate system as a result of the fire，and found a measurement closely related to the global air temperature.Typically，fire in northern regions occurs in the same area every 80 to 150 years.Scientists，however，found that when fire occurs more frequently，more radiation is lost from the earth and cooling results.Specifically，they determined when fire returns 20 years earlier than predicted,0.5 watts per square meter of area burned are soaked up by the earth from greenhouse gases，but 0.9 watts per square meter will be sent back into space.The net effect is cooling.Watts are used to measure the rate at which energy is gained or lost from the earth.According to the new findings，taking steps to prevent northern forest fires may________.
| A．result in a warming climate |
| B．cause more forest fires |
| C．lead to a longer fire season |
| D．protect the forests there |
The following are the immediate effects after a forest fire EXCEPT________.
| A．large amounts of greenhouse gases enter the atmosphere |
| B．the levels of ozone which is a type of oxygen increase |
| C．snow on the ground mirrors more sunlight back into space |
| D．ashes from the fire fall on the ice and darken the surface |
Earlier studies about northern forest fires________.
| A．had analyzed all aspects of how northern fires influenced climate |
| B．had indicated that forest fires would pollute the atmosphere |
| C．had suggested that people should take measures to protect environment |
| D．had suggested that the fires would speed up climate warming |
We can infer that forest fires in Alaska，Canada and Siberia may________.
| A．warm the climate as the supposition goes |
| B．cool the climate by reflecting more sunlight into atmosphere |
| C．make more space for the growth of young trees |
| D．help to gain more energy rather than release more energy |
The Festival of Cultures
August 11 – 14
City Park
The Festival of Cultures is a yearly event to celebrate the wide range (范围) of cultures found in our great state. People representing 40 cultural groups will share their traditions and customs. Here are just a few of the festival’s many activities.
Crafts(手艺): See the fine art of basket weaving from Vietnam and Zimbabwe. Watch the delicate art of making paper umbrellas from Thailand and the decorative craft of paper picado, or paper cutting, from Mexico. All craft demonstrations (示范) provide a first-hand view of how things are made. You will appreciate the process involved in making these products.
Music and Dance: Experience musical instruments that you have never heard before. Listening to the music of a sho from Japan, a bull-roarer from Australia, a sitar from India, and a chakay from Thailand. You will also be entertained by folk dances from around the world, such as the troika from Russia and the mayim from Israel. From 1:00 P.M. to 3:00 P.M. on August 14, special folk-dancing classes for children will be offered. Children ranging in age from 6 – 8 can learn the kinderpolka from Germany. Children ranging in age from 9 – 12 can learn the raspo from Mexico.
Storytelling: Listen for hours as professional (专业的) storytellers charm you with captivating tales. Fables, folktales, and ballads from various countries will be told. By popular demand, Gwendolyn Washington, a famous African American storyteller, is back.
Food: Enjoy delicious foods from countries, such as gyros from Greece, seafood paella from Spain, crepes from France, and tandoori chicken from India. These tasty dishes will be difficult to pass up.
Tickets August 11 - 13
Adults $3
Ages 13 – 18 $2
Ages 6 – 12 $ 1
Ages 6 and under Free
The festival of Cultures is organized by the World Marketplace. For more information about the festival, call (800) 555 – 0199.
60．Which of the following are from Mexico?
A. The paper picado and the raspo.
B. The kinderpolka and sitar.
C. The paper cutting and the troika.
D. The mayim and the gyros.
61．A couple with two children at the age of 8 and 16 are going to the festival on August 12. How much money will they pay for the festival?
A. $5. B. $6. C. $8. D. $9.
62．What do we know about the festival?
A. Children will have a chance to learn different folk-dancing.
B. Storyteller Gwendolyn is invited to the festival for the first time.
C. People will be offered opportunities to play musical instruments.
D. Visitors can make paper umbrellas from their first-hand experience.
63．What’s the purpose of writing this passage?
A. To advertise (做广告) for the World Marketplace.
B. To introduce a wide range of cultural traditions.
C. To explain the great importance of popularizing the festival.
D. To persuade (说服) readers to attend the festival held in the City Park.
第三部分阅读理解（共20小题；每小题2分，满分40分）
English is fast becoming the language of science around the world, but what is its future among everyday speakers? One expert points out that the percentage(比率) of native English speakers is declining(降低) globally while the languages of other rapidly growing regions are being spoken by increasing numbers of people. But English will continue to remain widespread and important.
However, British language scholar David Graddol says English will
probably drop in dominance(主导) by the middle of this century to rank, after Chinese, about equally with Arabic, Hindi, and Urdu. “The number of people speaking English as a first language continues to rise, but it isn’t rising nearly as fast as the numbers of many other languages around the world, simply because the main population group has been largely in the less developed countries where languages other than English have been spoken,” he sa
ys.
In a recent article in the journal Science, Mr. Graddol noted that three languages that are not near the top of the list of the most widely spoken now might be there soon. These are Bengali, Tamil, and Malay, spoken in south and Southeast Asia.
David Crystal, the author of the Cambridge Encyclopedia of the English Language, says about 1.5 billion of the world’s six billion people speak it as a second tongue compared to the 400 million native speakers. But another expert on the English language says Mr. Graddol underestimates (低估) the future of its dominance
. “Nobody quite knows what’s going to happen because no language has been in this position before. But all the evidence (证据) suggests that the English language snowball is rolling down a hill and is getting faster,” he said.
56. In David Graddol’s opinion, English will _______.
A. remain widespread and important
B. be more important than any other language
C. lose its dominant position
D. die away in the near future
57. The underlined sentence in the last paragraph implies that ______.
A. snowballs will roll down faster than language balls
B. the English language snowball is rolling down faster than any time in the past
C. English language will soon drop in dominance
D. more and more language users will choose English
58. How many experts does the passage mention who express their ideas about the future of English?
A. 2. B. 3. C. 4. D. 5.
59. What should be the best title for the passage?
A. English Remaining the Dominant Position
B. The Future of English? Who Knows?
C. Opinions from Different Experts
D. The English Language Snowball Rolling Down
Do your kids like plastic toys? Well, I guess it’s time for them to play with wooden toys.
I have always liked kids’ wooden toys since I was five. I always ran along on the back of a hobby horse pretending to be a cowboy from the West when I was a little boy. Now I’m a dad and I still like buying these timeless natural wooden toys. They will never be out of style. My daughter has a child’s rocking horse, and my two sons hav
e wooden trains and cars. The great thing about this type of toys is that they will last generations if they are treated kindly. Even if they break, most of the time they can be repaired using spare parts bought from wooden-toy makers, and if the part is not too complicated(复杂的), you yourself can make the part from a piece of wood.
What if they do break and can’t be repaired? Well, at least they can be d
ealt with without having any bad effects on the environment. They can be turned into wood chippings and used for pathways in the country or play areas for kids. Even if the wooden toy is buried as rubbish, which is very rare these days, it will not harm the soil or the environment.
I like all types of wooden toys. There is such a wide variety of wooden toys today and the choice is getting bigger day by day. As an alternative(替代品) to plastic toys, wooden toys can’t be beaten. I’m sure in the near future wood will no doubt become the number one material for making toys, as plastic becomes more and more expensive because of rising oil prices and the environmental issues concerning plastic. Plastic toys might harm kids’ health, too.
67. According to the author, wooden toys which can’t be repaired will _______.
A. be taken back by the makers B. need a lot of money to deal with
C. not harm the environment D. be collected by collectors
68. From the last paragraph, we can learn that _______.
A. plastic will be used up sooner o
r later
B. plastic toys will not be allowed to be sold very soon
C. wooden toys will become more popular in the future
D. wooden toys will become more and more expensive
69. Which of the following is NOT the reason why plastic toys will be less popular in the future?
A. That plastic has bad effects on the environment.
B. That plastic toys might harm the health of children.
C. That plastic toys offer children few choices.
D. That oil prices are getting higher than before.
70. We can infer that this passage is written to _______.
A. tell us the disadvantages of plastic toys
B. advise parents to buy wooden toys instead of plastic ones
C. tell us how much the author and his children like wooden toys
D. advise toy makers to make wooden toys rather than plastic ones
The oldest stone buildings in the world are the pyramids. They have stood for nearly 5,000 years, and it seems likely that they will continue to stand for thousands of years yet. There are over eighty of them scattered along the banks of the Nile, some of which are different in shape from the true pyramids. The most famous of these are the “Step” pyramid and the “Bent” pyramid.
Some of the pyramids still look as much alike as they must have been when they were built thousands of years ago. Most of the damage suffered by the others has been at the hands of men who were looking for treasure or, more often, for stone to use in modern buildings.The dry climate of Egypt has helped to keep t
he pyramids in good condition, and their very shape has made them less likely to fall into ruin. These are good reasons why they can still be seen today, but perhaps the most important one is that they were planned to last forever.
The “Step” pyramid had to be on the west side of the Nile, the side on which the sun set. This was for spiritual reasons. It also had to stand well above the level of the river to protect it against the regular floods. It could not be too far from the Nile, however, as the stones to build it needed to be carried in boats down the river to the nearest point. Water transport was , of course, much easier than land transport. The builders also had to find a rock base, which was not likely to crack under the great weight of the pyramid. Finally, it had to be near the capital, or better still, near king’s palace so that he could visit it easily to personally check the progress being made on the final resting place for his body.
63. Which of the following statements is TRUE about the “Step” pyramid?
A. It is unlikely to fall into ruin in the near future.
B. It was built on the sands along the Nile.
C. It
is the oldest building on earth.
D. It is the most famous of the true pyramids.
64. The most important reason why some pyramids remain in good condition is that _______.
A. people have taken care of them
B. it doesn’t rain often in Egypt
C. they were well designed
D. the government has protected them from damage
65. Most of the damage to the pyramids has been caused by _______.
A. the regular floods B. the dry climate of Egypt
C. people searching for gold D. people in search of building materials
66. Why did Egyptians build the pyramids along the banks of the Nile?
A. Because they believed in their god.
B. Because it was difficult to find a large rock base far from the Nile.
C. Because the river helped a lot in the transport of building materials.
D. Because it was not easy to choose a suitable place for the pyramids.
An eight-year-old girl took a jar with all her change in it, slipped out of the back door and made her way 6 blocks to Rexall’s Drugstore with the big red Indian Chief sign above the door. She waited patiently for the storek
eeper to give her some attention. At last she was noticed.
“What do you want?” the storekeeper asked, “I’m talking to my brother from Chicago whom I haven’t seen for ages,” he said without waiting for a reply to his question.
“Well, I want to talk to you about my brother, ” Tess answered. “He’s really sick and … and want to buy a miracle…. ”
“I beg your pardon?”said the storekeeper.
“His name is Andrew and he has something bad growing inside his head and my Daddy says only a miracle can save him now. So how much does a miracle cost?”
“We don’t sell miracles here, little girl. I’m sorry but I can’t help you,” the storekeeper said.
“Listen, I have the money to pay for it. Just tell me how much it costs,” said the girl with her eyes welling up.
The storekeeper’s brother was a well-dressed gentleman. He came up and asked, “What kind of miracle does your brother need?”
“I don’t know,” Tess replied. “I just know he’s really sick and Mommy says he needs an operation. But Daddy can’t pay for it, so I want to use my money.”
“How much do you have?” asked the man 
from Chicago.
“One dollar and eleven cents.”
“Well, what a coincidence(巧合)﹗”smiled the man. “A dollar and eleven cents—the exact price of a miracle for your brother.”
That gentleman was Dr. Carlton Armstrong, a famous surgeon(外科医生). The operation was completed free of charge. Tess’s Mom and Dad were happily talking about the surgery—“a miracle”. Only Tess knew exactly how much the miracle cost. One dollar and eleven cents... plus the faith of a little child.
59. Why didn’t the storekeeper notice the little girl?
A. Because he was busy with his work.
B. Because the girl was too little to be seen.
C. Because he was talking with his brother.
D. Because he was telephoning his brother.
60. We can infer at first the storekeeper spoke to the little girl in a(n) _______.
A. friendly voice B. impatient voice C. delighted voice D. surprised voice
61. The well-dressed gentleman _______.
A. was a very wealthy gentleman B. was a famous biology professor
C. operated on the girl’s brother free D. visited his brother now and then
62. Which of the following would be the best title for this passage?
A. Faith leads to the miracle B. A very generous surgeon
C. A little girl saved her brother D. A dollar and eleven cents
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