Have you ever noticed the colour of the water in a river or stream after a heavy rainfall? What do you think caused this change in colour? It is soil that has been washed into the river from the riverbank or from the nearby fields.
Components of Soil
Soil is made up of a number of layers, each having its own distinctive colour and texture. The upper layer is known as the litter. It acts like a blanket，limiting temperature changes and reducing water loss. The topsoil layer is made up of small particles of rock mixed with rotten plant and animal matter called humus (腐殖质), which is black and gives the topsoil its dark colour. This layer is usually rich in nutrients, oxygen, and water. Below the topsoil is the subsoil, a layer that contains more stones mixed with only small amounts of organic matter. This layer is lighter in colour because of the lack of humus. Beneath the soil lies a layer of bedrock.
Soil forms from the bottom up. Over time bedrock is attacked by rain, wind, frost, and snow. It is gradually broken down into smaller particles in a process called weathering. Plants begin to grow，and rotten materials enrich the topsoil. Most of the soil in Eastern Canada ，for example ，was formed from weathered rock that was exposed when the ice disappeared 12,000 years ago.
Water Beneath the Soil
Surface water collects and flows above the ground in lakes ，ponds, and rivers. Once in the soil or rock, it is called groundwater. Gravity pulls groundwater through the soil in a process called percolation(渗透). Eventually the water reaches a layer called the water table. Under this is bedrock through which water cannot percolate.
As water percolates downward, it dissolves organic matter and minerals from the soil and carries them to deeper layers.This causes a serious problem because plants require these nutrients for growth.
Soil pH
Soil can be acidic, neutral, or basic. The pH of the soil is determined by the nature of the rock from which it was formed，and by the nature of the plants that grow and rot in it.
The acidity of rain and snow can lower the pH of the groundwater that enters the soil. By burning fossil fuels such as coal ，oil and gasoline，humans have been contributing to higher levels of acidity in many soils. When fossil fuels are burned，gases are released into the air and then fall back to earth as acid rain. Acid soil increases the problem of carrying nutrients to lower soil levels. As nutrients are removed，soil is less fertile. Plants grow more slowly in acidic soil，and also become easily attacked by diseases.The layer of soil that provides necessary nutrients for plant growth is called________.
| A．litter | B．subsoil | C．humus | D．topsoil |
The underlined word “dissolve” is used to express the idea that organic matter and minerals from soil are________.
| A．rushed away into the river |
| B．mixed with water and become part of it |
| C．destroyed and carried away by water |
| D．cleaned and purified by water |
According to the text, which of the following is NOT true?
| A．Soil forms from weathered rock on the earth surface. |
| B．Air pollution is partially responsible for acid soil. |
| C．The deeper layer of soil is darker in colour than the surface soil. |
| D．Groundwater tends to carry away nutrients for plant growth. |
We can infer from the passage that the water table lies________.
| A．between the subsoil layer and bedrock |
| B．in the subsoil layer above bedrock |
| C．between the topsoil layer and the subsoil layer |
| D．in the bedrock layer beneath the subsoil |
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Singles Day falls on every November 11th, and as the name indicates, this relatively new holiday is one specially for people who are still living the single life. I was a bit surprised when I googled “Singles Day” on the Internet, to find that China is the only country in the world that has set up a special day for singles to celebrate their lives.
An old story goes that once there were four single men, leading very boring lives. None of them were married, or had lovers, or did anything exciting. They just sat around all day and played Mahjong. One day they played Mahjong from 11 in the morning until 11 at night. During the game, no matter who won, the winning card was always the “four columns” card (the card shows four independent, parallel columns in two lines). Even more of a coincidence, it was Nov. 11. In order to remind them of the day, they nicknamed it Singles Day.
Singles Day was first celebrated at various universities in Nanjing, capital city of Jiangsu Province during the 1990s. These college students carried their university tradition into society after they graduated. Singles Day is now a special day for all.
The main way to celebrate Singles day is to have dinner with your single friends, but it’s important that each person pay their own way to show their independence. People also hold “blind date” parties in an attempt to say goodbye to their single lives.
For breakfast on Singles Day, singles often eat four youtiao (deep-fried dough sitcks) representing the four “ones” in “11.11” and one baozi (steamed stuffed buns) representing the dot in between.
Many singles also choose to say goodbye to their single lives on the day. Many attend “blind date” parties and many people choose to marry on this day. In addition to meaning “single”, the four “ones” of the date can also mean “only one” as in “the only one for me”. Some people will use this date and this meaning to tell their special someone that they are the only “one” in their heart.
45. Which of the statement is TRUE according to the passage?
A. Singles Day has a long history.
B. Only men celebrate Singles Day.
C. Singles Day is only celebrated in China.
D. Students in Nanjing University started Singles Day.
46. People celebrate the festival mainly by .
A. playing Mahjong B. having dinner
C. getting married D. hanging out with friends
47. What is the best title of the passage?
A. Singles Day
B. Four Single Men’s Singles Day
C. University Culture on Singles Day
D. Symbolic Food on Singles Day
48. Which of the following best shows the structure of the passage?
(a-para.1 b-para.2 c-para.3 d-para.4 e-para.5 f-para.6) 
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第二部分：阅读理解（共20小题；每题2分，满分40分）
（共25小题。第一节每小题2分，第二节每小题1分；满分45分）
第一节 阅读下列短文，从每题所给的四个选项（A、B、C和D）中，选出最佳选项，并在答题卡上将该项涂黑。
Long bus rides are like television shows. They have a beginning, a middle, and an end — with commercials thrown in every three or four minutes. The commercials are unavoidable. They happen whether you want them or not. Every couple of minutes a billboard glides by (滑过) outside the bus window. Only if you sleep, which is equal to turning the television set off, are you spared the unending cry of “You Need It! Buy It Now!”?
The beginning of the ride is comfortable and somewhat exciting, even if you’ve traveled that way before. Usually some things have changed — new houses, new buildings, sometimes even a new road. The bus driver has a style of driving and it’s fun to try to figure it out the first hour or so. If the driver is particularly careless or daring, the ride can be as thrilling as a horror story. Will the driver pass the truck in time? Will the driver move into the right or the left-hand lane? After a while, of course, the excitement dies down. Sleeping for a while helps pass the middle hours of the ride. Food always makes bus rides more interesting, but you’ve got to be careful of what kind of food you eat. Too much salty food can make you very thirsty between stops.
The end of the ride is somewhat like the beginning. You know it will soon be over and there’s a kind of expectation and excitement in that. The seat, of course, has become harder as the hours have passed. By now you’ve sat with your legs crossed, with your hands in your lap, with your hands on the arm rests — even with your hands crossed behind your head. The end comes just at the right time. There just no more ways to sit.
41. The long bus rides and TV shows are alike, because .
A. they both can offer people with thrilling stories
B. they both are boring
C. they both have a beginning, a middle, and an end, with commercials in between
D. they both force people to sit for a long time
42. During the whole bus ride, what come to the passengers’ eyes most frequently?
A. Some salty food on the bus. B. The programs on TV.
C. Advertisements on the road. D. Trucks on the road.
43. In order to pass the middle hours of the ride, you can .
A. read the billboards B. have something to eat
C. watch TV shows D. sleep
44 The purpose of the passage is to .
A. show how much bus rides differ from TV shows
B. teach us how to deal with each period of a long bus ride
C. persuade readers to take a long bus ride
D. give the author’s opinion on long bus rides
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Children are being indirectly affectly by the impact of the recession (经济衰退) on their parents, the Children’s society warns.
The chief executive of the Children’s Society, Bob Reitemeier, said that children were “on the front of recession”. He said the recession made it even more important to try to end child poverty.
The answers suggest children from poorer backgrounds are more likely to be affected, but over a third of children across all backgrounds said they were aware that the recession was worrying their parents.
Fifteen-year-old Patricia said her family felt the impact of the recession on their everyday budget(预算). “We have to save up our money and do not spend it so much on unnecessary things,”she said.
Those questioned appeared to have great awareness of the economic crisis, which, unsurprisingly, was higher among the older children. But around 15% said they hadn’t been affected by it.
Recent figures showed that in 2007 there were 850,000 young people with no particular occupation. An official from the government said it was so “disappointing” that some young people were concerned about the economy.
Parents are clearly best placed to talk to their children about their worries, but schools also play an important role in teaching young people the skills they need to become healthy, happy and confident individuals.
68.Which of the following is true?
A. It is more important to try to end child poverty in the recession.
B.Children from poorer areas are less likely to be affected.
C.All the children questioned are worried about the economy.
D.That some young people are worrying about the economy is “good news”.
69.What does the underlined word “it” refer to in Paragraph 5?
A. The poorer background. B.The impact of the recession.
C. Everyday budget. D.The government.
70.What’s the main idea of the passage?
A. Many children are concerned about the recession.
B.Children are being directly affected by the recession.
C.The recession affected children indirectly.
D. Schools play an important role in teaching young people how to become healthy, happy and confident individuals.
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Every night for a year, Neil Simons quietly went out of his house. He wanted to “talk” to an owl (猫头鹰)settling for the night at the end of his garden. He made owl cries like a real wild owl and was happy to hear the bird “hooting (大声叫嚣)” back to him.
Last year Fred Cornes moved in next door. He heard an owl hooting and answered back. For 12 months the neighbors got into the back gardens of their homes, thinking they were talking with nature. Mr. Simmons kept a diary of all his talks with his bird friend. They would both be out again tonight if it wasn’t for a chance talk between their wives.
Mr. Simmons said. “My wife Kim was telling Fred’s wife Wendy about my owl watching and described how I got the birds to boot back. She said, ‘That’s funny — that’s just what Fred has been doing.’ Then the penny dropped, I felt such a fool when I found out. The trouble is that owl calls aren’t exactly the same and it’s easy to make a mistake.”
Mr. Cornes said, “I’m really flattered (过奖). I didn’t know I sounded so real. I love nature and I couldn’t resist hooting at the owls. I was very excited when they hooted back. I’m sorry that I was fooling my neighbor who was fooling me.”
64. After the talk between the wives, the two men would probably _________ .
A. stop observing owls B. not stay up hooting again
C. not enter the back garden again D. make no mistakes about wild owl cries
65. “Then the penny dropped.” most probably means “Then __________.”
A. I understood B. everybody knew about it
C. I heard the noise D. no money was paid
66. Mr. Simmons felt upset about the whole thing because __________.
A. all his efforts seemed to be meaningless B. his wife let out his secret by chance
C. garden owls hooted so differently D. Fred had been doing the same
67. The text suggests that __________.
A. Nail seldom heard natural owl calls B. the owl never hooted back to Neil
C. Fred was always good at pleasing owls D. owl watching is no longer interesting to Fred
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Some say everyday miracles(奇迹) are predestined(注定的)----the right time for the appointed
meeting. And it can happen anywhere.
In 2001, 11-year-old Kevin Stephan was a bat boy for his younger brother's Little League team in
Lancaster, New York. It was an early evening in late July. Kevin was standing on the grass away from the plate, where another youngster was warming up for the next game. Swinging his bat back and forth, giving it all the power an elementary school kid could give. The boy brought the bat back hard and hit Kevin in the chest. His heart stopped.
When Kevin fell to the ground, the mother of one of the players rushed out of the stands to his aid.
Penny Brown hadn't planned to be there that day, but at the last minute, her shift(换班)at the hospital had been changed to see her son’s performance. She was given the night off. Penny bent over the senseless boy, his face already starting to turn blue, and giving CPR, breathing into his mouth and giving chest compressions. And he revived in the end.
After his recovery, he became a volunteer junior firefighter, learning some of the emergency first-aid
techniques that had saved his life. He studied hard in school and was saving money for college by working as a dishwasher in a local restaurant in his spare time.
Kevin, now 18, was working in the kitchen when he heard people screaming, customers in confusion,
employees rushing toward a table. He hurried into the main room and saw a woman there, her face turning blue, her hands at her throat. She was choking.
Quickly Kevin stepped behind her, wrapped his arms around her and clasped his hands. Then, using
skills he'd first learned in Scouts. The food that was trapped in the woman's throat was freed. The color began to return to her face.
"The food was stuck. I couldn't breathe," she said. She thought she was dying. "I was very frightened."
Who was the woman?
Penny Brown.
59. The author wrote the passage to show us that_______.
A. miracles are predestined and they can happen anywhere
B. whoever helps you in trouble will get a reward one day
C. God will help those who give others a helping hand
D. miracles won’t come without any difficulty sometimes
60 Which of the following statements is True of Kevin Stephan?
A. He was hit on the face by a boy and almost lost his life
B. He was a volunteer junior firefighter, teaching the players first-aid skills
C. He worked part-time in a local restaurant to save money for college
D. He saved Penny Brown though he didn’t really know how to deal with food choke
61. Why did Penny Brown change her shift and was given the night off that night?
A. She was invited to give the players directions
B. She volunteered to give medical services
C. She was a little worried about his son’s safety
D. She came to watch her son’s game and cheered him
62. The underlined word “revived”(paragraph3) most likely means______.
A. came back to life B. became worse C. failed D. moved
63. When Kevin knew the woman was Penny Brown, probably he first felt _____.
A. happy B. surprised C. sad D. worried
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