If you want to see climate change, head north and keep going until you run out of globe. That is easier said than done. The Arctic (北极) is home to few people and covered in ice much of the year. But those who make their way to the icy seas of the Arctic Ocean will see a part of the planet that is warming and changing faster than anywhere else.
In September, scientists announced at the National Snow and Ice Data (数据) Center that Arctic summer sea ice had fallen to its second lowest level since 1979, and probably long before that. The Arctic has lost an area of ice greater than the area of all U.S. states east of the Mississippi River. And what ice remains appears to be getting thinner and weaker.
Nick Toberg and Till Wagner are polar ice scientists who are doing sea ice fieldwork. “There is plenty of data to suggest that the ice is becoming thinner as well as smaller in area,” they say.
The changes happening in the Arctic are a warning for the entire world . As polar expert Walt
Meier puts it, “What happens in the Arctic doesn’t stay in the Arctic.”
Some scientists worry that Arctic sea ice may be going from a downward spiral (螺旋线) to a “death spiral”, one from which there is no escape. As more ice melts (融化), more dark open water appears. The darkness absorbs (吸收) more heat, which speeds up the pace of melting.
Until recently, many scientists thought it might take until the end of the century for the North Pole to become completely ice free during the summer. Now some believe it could happen by 2030 or even earlier. “The melting is happening faster in the real world than it has in the models,” says Nick Toberg. The purpose of the first paragraph is to tell readers __________.
| A．it’s difficult to arrive at the Arctic |
| B．it is too cold for people to live in the Arctic |
| C．what caused the climate change in the Arctic |
| D．we can see the most obvious climate change in the Arctic |
From the second paragraph we can learn Arctic summer sea ice __________.
| A．is still decreasing |
| B．began reducing in 1979 |
| C．fell to its lowest level in September |
| D．is equal to the Mississippi River |
What does the underlined sentence in Paragraph 3 mean?
| A．The changes don’t affect the Arctic at all. |
| B．The changes will only happen in the Arctic. |
| C．The changes happening in the Arctic will stop. |
| D．The changes will also affect other parts of the world. |
Nick Toberg may agree that __________.
| A．the ice in the North Pole will stop melting |
| B．the ice in the North Pole is melting faster than expected |
| C．the ice in the North Pole will melt before 2030 or even earlier |
| D．the ice in the North Pole will not disappear until the end of the century |
Although many Chinese students say that their knowledge of English grammar is good ,most would admit that their spoken English is poor .Whenever I speak to a Chinese student they always say, “My spoken English is poor.” However ,their spoken English does not have to remain “poor” ! I would like to suggest that there may be some reasons for their problems with spoken English.
First, they fail to find suitable words to express themselves due to a limited vocabulary .
Obviously the better answer is to expand their vocabulary. However ,you can speak with a limited vocabulary, if your attitude is positive .Others will follow you as long as you use the words that you know.
Second ,they are afraid of making mistakes. Sometimes they make mistakes when they are speaking because they are shy and nervous .Yet students should remember that their goal should be FLUENCY NOT ACCURACY. Your aim in writing is to be accurate following the rules for grammar and using the right words and spelling them correctly .However ,in speaking your aim is fluency. You want to get your message across ,to talk to someone in English ,as quickly and as well as you can ,even though sometimes you may use a wrong word or tense ,but it doesn’t matter because the person you are speaking to will understand you and make allowances（留出余地，体谅）for any mistakes he hears.
The third reason is that not enough attention is paid to listening .You have one mouth but two ears! All that hearing was necessary for you to start speaking.
Fourth ,most Chinese students are reactive rather than proactive language learners .Instead of actively seeking out opportunities to improve their spoken English they passively wait for speaking opportunities to come to them and wonder why their English always remains poor .If you have this proactive outlook ,then you will see English opportunities wherever you go.
If you do not use your English beyond the classroom you will forget what English you know .Remember: USE IT OR LOSE IT! You can learn how to speak English better by speaking English more.What is most probably the writer’s purpose in writing the passage?
| A．To improve your reading. | B．To improve your spoken English. |
| C．To improve your listening. | D．To improve your vocabulary. |
It can be inferred from the third paragraph that .
| A．don’t be afraid of making mistakes .Just speak! |
| B．don’t be nervous ,don’t be shy .Just write! |
| C．don’t be fluency .Just be accuracy |
| D．don’t be shy ,don’t be fluency. Just listen and write! |
The text is most probably taken from a .
| A．teacher’s diary | B．report on study |
| C．sports newspaper | D．movie magazine |
Most schools forbid chewing gum, but in a few years they might consider changing that rule. Why? Scientists are finding evidence that gum chewing may be good for your health. It may even help improve your test scores.
This exciting research is just beginning. And in the meantime, companies are also experimenting with adding vitamins, minerals, medicines, and other subst
ances that could give g
um the power to cure headaches and fight everything from serious diseases to bad breath.
Other researchers are finding that gum might work better than a pill to deliver medicines and other substances into the bloodstream. That’s because the lining (膜) of our cheeks can absorb certain substances more quickly than our stomachs and intestines (肠) can.
That discovery could help other researchers develop medicine-containing gums that fight colds, ease headaches, battle nervousness, and more. Scientists might even create antimicrobi
al (抗菌的) gums that cure bad breath.
Those projects may take years, but gum scientists have already had at least one recent success: They’ve created a gum that could help us stay awake.
Researchers have produced a gum called Stay Alert. Each stick has as much caffeine as a cup of coffee. It can take an hour for the caffeine in coffee to have its full effect, but the caffeine in Stay Alert hits in just a few 
minutes.
The gum is easy to transport and it’s stable in cold and hot climates. Unlike a pill, it doesn’t require water to swallow. Those qualities make it easy for soldiers to use.
For now, Stay Alert is available only to the military (军队). The manufacturer may one day offer it for sale to the public. People who work at night, such as truck drivers and medical personnel who ride in ambulances, might benefit from a product like Stay Alert.The passage mainly talks about _____.
| A．the rule of forbidding chewing gum in school |
| B．new research on chewing gum |
| C．different kinds of chewing gum |
| D．the relationship between chewing gum and medicine |
What does the underlined word “hits” i
n Paragraph 6 probably mean?
| A．Touches. | B．Attacks. | C．Takes effect. | D．Affects badly. |
According to the passage, Stay Alert is a gum which can help people _____.
| A．stay awake | B．fight colds |
| C．cure headaches | D．overcome nervousness |
It can be inferred from the passage that _____.
| A．stay Alert is not easy to store |
| B．stay Alert needs water to swallow |
| C．stay Alert is available to the public now |
D．we can’t buy gums tha t cure bad breath now |
The $11 billion self-help industry is built on the idea that you should turn negative thoughts like “I never do anything right” into positive ones 
like “I can succeed.” But was positive thinking advocate Norman Vincent Peale right? Is there power in positive thinking?
Researchers in Canada just published a study in the journal Psychological Science that says trying to get people to think more positively can actually have the opposite effect: it can simply highlight how unhappy they are.
The study’s authors, Joanne Wood and John Lee of the University of Waterloo and Elaine Perunovic of the University of New Brunswick, begin by citing older research showing that when people get feedback which they believe is very positive, they actually feel worse, not better. If you tell your stupid friend that he has the potential of an Einstein, you’re just underlining his faults. In one 1990s experiment, a team including psychologist Joel Cooper of Princeton asked participants to write essays opposing funding for the disabled. When the essayists were later praised for their sympathy, they felt even worse about what they had written.
In this experiment, Wood, Lee and Perunovic measured 68 students’ self-esteem. The participants were then asked to write down their thoughts and feelings for four minutes. Every 15 seconds, one group of students heard a bell. When it rang, they were supposed to tell themselves, “I am lovable.”
Those with low self-esteem didn’t feel better after the forced self-affirmation. In fact, their moods turned significantly darker than those of members of the control group, who weren’t urged to think positive thoughts.
The paper provides support for newer forms of psychotherapy (心理治疗) that urge people to accept their negative thoughts and feelings rather than fight them. In the fighting, we not only often fail but can make things worse. Meditation techniques, in contrast, can teach people to put their shortcomings into a larger, more realistic perspective. Call it the power of negative thinking.What do we learn from the first paragraph about the self-help industry?
| A．It has produced positive results. |
| B．It is a highly profitable industry. |
| C．It is based on the concept of positive thinking. |
| D．It was established by Norman Vincent Peale. |
What does the word “underline” mean (Line 4, Para. 3)?
| A．point out | B．lay emphasis on | C．pay no attention to | D．take for granted |
Which of the following is TRUE about the Canadian researchers’ study?
| A．Encouraging positive thinking many do more good than harm. |
| B．Self-affirmation can bring a positive change to one’s mood. |
| C．There can be no simple therapy for psychological problems. |
| D．Forcing a person to think positive thoughts may lower their self-esteem. |
What do we learn from the last paragraph?
| A．Meditation may prove to be a good form of psychotherapy. |
| B．People can avoid making mistakes through meditation. |
| C．Different people tend to have different ways of thinking. |
| D．The effects of positive thinking vary from person to person. |
With the development of society and economy, animals and their habitats are getting pushed aside as households decrease in size and increase in number.
Small numbers of people per household on average use more energy and goods per person. Greater numbers of households require more natural resources for construction. The possible result of this problem may be insufficient natural resourc
es to meet consumer demand without endangering habitats important to biodiversity.
Personal freedom and social choice ma
y come at huge environmental cost. Direct costs include visible damage to animal habitats and plant life. Indirect costs include the release of more greenhouse gases.
The effects of such “personal freedom and social choice” have already surfaced in south-west China’s Wolong Nature Reserve. In Wolong, they found that a reduced average household size was directly tied to an increase in homes, and thus an increase in the amount of firewood consumed for cooking and heating. The rise in wood fuel use has contributed to disappearance of forests and to the loss of habitats for giant pandas.
Curious about whether other parts of the world were experiencing similar phenomena, they got the support of a team of researchers including Stanford’s Paul Ehrlich, well-known for his population studies, to find out the household dynamics in 141 countries between 1985 and 2000. Their study proved that the difficult choice of Wolong is part of a global trend.
In the 76 countries considered biodiversity “hotspots”, such as the United States, Brazil, Australia, and Kenya, the number of households grew by 3.1% every year, while the population increased just 1.8%. Meanwhile, the number of people per home dropped from 4.7 to 4.0. The decline in household size has resulted in 155 million additional households in hotspot countries, almost always limiting biodiversity.
In the 10 non-hotspot countries — those without high-density areas of animal and plant species — similar results were found, though on a lesser scale. Even in countries experiencing population decline, such as New Zealand, the number of households still increased because of a reduction in household size.What does the underlined word “insufficient” mean?
| A．Plenty of. | B．Not enough. | C．Abundant. | D．Little. |
It can be learned from the passage that China’s Wolong Nature Reserve__________.
| A．is facing the same threat as many other parts of the world |
| B．sets a good example in protecting animals |
| C．is a place where giant pandas and their habitats are not affected |
| D．is a place where animals and their habitats are seriously damaged |
Which of the following is best supported by the last two paragraphs?
| A．Biodiversity is better kept in countries with smaller populations. |
B．Biodiversity is bet ter kept in hotspot countries. |
C． The threat to nature from reduction in household size is a worldwide problem. |
| D．Both hotspot countries and non-hotspot countries face the threat of the same scale. |
What does the passage mainly talk about?
| A．Reduced household size leads to an increase in household number. |
| B．Modern homes consume more natural resources. |
| C．How to meet consumer demand without endangering animals and their habitats. |
| D．Reduction in household size as well as increase in household number threatens nature. |
Recently, online high schools in America have sparked (激发) a debate about whether or not taxpayers’ money should be used to support online education. Online schools receive the same amount of funding as all other public schools, even though they don’t have to pay for rent or school equipment. States should use their educational funds to improve education at real schools, not to support online programs.
Some students only use online classes to supplement their school work. They benefit from the social experience of a traditional high school, while still taking online courses.
However, about 90 thousand students in America receive their education only from online schools. 50 thousand of these students take courses at Florida Virtual School, the largest online school in the country. While this method of schooling helps students who live in remote regions, most school systems are upset that they are losing more students each year to these online programs.
Although online learning allows children to work at their own pace, these online schools have only one teacher per several hundred students. Often, teachers can’t give struggling students the help they need as they are unable to talk face-to-face with them, to find exactly what they’re having difficulty with.
Additionally, even though online schooling accommodates (顾及) students who live in more remote states, students in online programs may suffer in social situations because they will not learn valuable communication skills from their schooling. Similar to students who are home schooled, those who take only online classes won’t learn social etiquette (礼节), and will be treated differently by their peers.
Online schooling might be useful for places where there are not enough students for a real school, such as agricultural regions, but states should only spend taxpayers’ money on online schools in extreme cases.What is the passage mainly about?
| A．Whether students should study at online schools. |
| B．Whether online schools should be allowed to exist. |
| C．Whether taxpayers should pay for online schools. |
| D．Whether traditional schools should be replaced. |
According to the passage, online schooling _____.
| A．is helpful to students living in remote regions |
| B．allows students to work together |
| C．makes it possible for students to get immediate help |
| D．develops students’ critical thinking |
According to Paragraph 5, the author worries that students at online schools _____.
| A．might lose interest in learning |
| B．would play online games |
| C．could not receive teachers’ help |
| D．could not become fully developed |
What is the author’s attitude?
| A．Taxpayers should not pay for online schools at all. |
| B．Taxpayers should pay more for online schools than real schools. |
| C．Taxpayers’ money should be spent on online schools conditionally. |
| D．Taxpayers should support online schools in different ways. |
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