Tuvalu is located in the South Pacific. It is tiny and has only nine islands with a population of just 11,000. In 1999, it was the third- poorest country in the world. The islanders earned just $1,000 each year.
But then something unusual happened. Tuvalu received an internet domain (领土) name—the letters “tv”. These letters were very interesting for many companies around the world. A communication company from California offered to buy the domain name “tv” for $40 m. For the Tuvalans this was a very large amount of money. The islanders became very rich.
Because of global warming, and because the islands are only 3m above sea level, Tuvalu will probably become the first country in the world that will disappear under the sea.
You can already see signs of the rising sea on Tuvalu. Some beaches are disappearing and you can see tree roots by the ocean. Cyclones（旋风）used to be very rare but they now appear a few times a year, and the rains that come with the cyclones cause flooding. Despite these problems, the Tuvalans had their new money. They could use it to buy themselves a future. Or at least they could use it to buy some time. Paul Lindsay, a documentary film-maker, took these questions with him all the way to Tuvalu, and came back with an incredible (难于置信的)story. As the water rises, the Tuvalans are using the money to develop the land. They are building new houses, planning nightclubs, restaurants and hotels and new cars are driving around on new roads. The residents do not think this is strange: “Just because we are sinking, it doesn’t mean we don’t want to raise our standards of living.” Sam Teo, Tuvalu’s minister for natural resources told Lindsay.Which of the following information about Tuvalu is WRONG?
| A．It only has a population of 11,000 people. |
| B．The average income of the Tuvalans is $1000 in 1999. |
| C．Tuvalu is only 3m high above sea level. |
| D．The Tuvalans received $40 million when they sold the domain name. |
The biggest problem for the Tuvalans is _________.
| A．poverty | B．global warming |
| C．The small population | D．cyclones |
Which of the following match the beginnings with the endings is correct?
①The Tuvalans became rich…
②By the end of the century…
③The Tuvalans are spending their money
④When the sea rises…
a.on roads, cars and new buildings
b.the sea will cover the islands completely.
c.the Tuvalans will have to leave their islands
d.when they sold their internet domain name.
| A．①-d, ②-b, ③-a, ④-c | B．①-c, ②-d, ③-b, ④-a |
| C．①-c, ②-b, ③-a, ④-d | D．①-d, ②-c, ③-a, ④-b |
Why did Paul Lindsay come to Tuvalu?
| A．To make a documentary film to record the life of the Tuvalans. |
| B．To understand the living condition of the Tuvalans. |
| C．To know how the Tuvalans survive despite all of their problems. |
| D．To discover the reason for the Tuvalans not to improve their living standards. |
As weather cools across the United States, a growing number of Americans visit farms. They harvest fruits, enjoy hay wagon rides and walk in the fields. These people are called “agri-tourists.” They improve the economy of rural areas and help farmers increase their profits.
School children are walking in a corn field maze. The corn is cut into tricky passageways that make it difficult to find a way out. The children are from Yorktown Elementary School in Bowie Maryland. They have traveled to Montpelier Farms in Prince George’s County which is also in Maryland. The farm is about 40 kilometers from The White House.
Debbie Pierson is the student’s teacher. “We go on these kind of field trips so that the children will have a hands-on experience of what it’s like to be on a farm,” Pierson said.
In Loudoun County Virginia, there are farms where grapes are grown for use in making wine. Many of the farms let people visit, and drink the wine that is made there. Bill Hatch owns the Zephaniah Farm Vineyard. He holds wine tastings in his home. “We are doubling the number of visitors to our farm every year. We have an average of 250 people on a weekend,” Hatch said.
As more people visit farms, more farmers are adding activities in which visitors can take part.
Malcolm Baldwin owns WeatherLea Farm and Vineyard in Loudoun County. Six years ago, he began letting people be married at his farm. They can also sleep at the farm overnight. Mr. Baldwin says the money he makes from these activities let him keep his small farm operating. “But without the animals, and without the vines, the wedding business wouldn’t be as profitable (有利可图的), because people like to see the vines. They like to see the animals and without which I don’t think this will be a popular place,” Baldwin said.We can infer from the first paragraph that people always go for field trips in _______.
| A．Spring | B．Summer | C．Autumn | D．Winter |
The underlined word “maze” in the passage is similar to “_______”.
| A．puzzle | B．trip | C．house | D．activity |
On Malcolm Baldwin’s farms, visitors can ________.
| A．taste the wine made in the USA |
| B．raise and hunt animals |
| C．do wedding business |
| D．have fun as well as bring him money |
Every month, Julia and her cousins would go to visit their grandparents. They would be excited because their grandfather would give them a few coins. Then they would buy toys or sweets. The grandparents commented that, behaving like this, the children would never learn to manage their money. So they planned a special test, in which the children would have to show, over the course of a year, just what they could manage to get with those few coins.
Some thought that they would save their money, but Ruben and Nico continued spending it all on sweets. So they give up saving.
Monty decided to manage his money by exchanging it: buying and selling things, or betting (打赌) it with others. Soon he surprised the whole family. He had accumulated (积聚) lots of money. However, Monty was not very careful, and he got involved in more and more risky deals. A few months later he became penniless after a losing bet. Alex, had a will of iron. He saved the money and at the end of the year he had collected more money than anyone. Even better, with so much money, he managed to buy sweets at a reduced price, so that on the day of the competition he was presented with enough sweets for much more than a year. And even then, he still had enough left over for a toy. He was the clear winner, and other children learned the advantages of knowing how to save and how to wait.
There was also Julia. Poor Julia didn’t enjoy the competition, because even though she had had a wonderful secret plan, she had spent her money without giving her plan enough time to work. However, she was so sure that her plan was a good one, that she decided to carry on with it, and maybe change the expressions on her relatives’ faces, who had seemed to be saying “What a poor girl shel is. She couldn’t manage to save anything”.
When she was about to complete the second year of her plan, Julia surprised everyone by turning up at the grandparents’ house with a violin and a lot of money. She did it really well.Who saved nothing at the end of the first year?
| A．Ruben, Julia and Alex | B．Ruben, Nico and Monty |
| C．Ruben, Monty and Julia | D．Ruben, Nico and Alex |
Why did the grandparents plan a test on the children?
| A．Because they wanted the children to learn to spend money. |
| B．Because they wanted the children to learn to save money. |
| C．Because they wanted the children to learn to manage money. |
| D．Because they didn’t want the children to buy toys and sweets any more. |
From Monty’s story, the children learned ______________________.
| A．to save and to wait. |
| B．to buy and to sell things |
| C．to set a achievable goal. |
| D．to be careful and self-disciplined |
The underlined sentence in the fourth paragraph means ______________.
| A．Julia will bring disasters to herself and her family. |
| B．Julia is not good at managing money. |
| C．Julia is too stupid to do anything well. |
| D．Julia has so many secrets that nobody likes her. |
Our society reports many negative messages about bicycling in traffic. Bicycling in traffic is considered by many to be reckless and sometimes rude. The most common advice given to cyclists is to avoid busy roads that provide convenient access to important places, which means they should only go to unpopular destinations on undesirable and inconvenient roads. Another popular idea is that cyclists should stay as close to the edge of the road as possible in order to stay out of the way of cars. Getting in the way of cars is considered to be an invitation to death, because car drivers are often expected to run into anything that is slower or more vulnerable. Going together with motor traffic used to be regarded as a nice idea for cyclists, but today it is thought to be suicide. Roads are believed to be designed for cars and not for bicycles. Inferior bicycles may hold that they have the right to use the road, but they had better stay out of the way of superior users or they will be “dead right”.
As a result of these “common-sense” beliefs, bike safety programs developed by motoring organizations and “pedestrian-style” cyclists during the 20th century attempted to teach cyclists to provide a clear path to motorists at all times by hugging the edge of the road, riding on sidewalks so cyclists can see when to get out of the way. Some towns tried to prohibit bicyclists from operating on important roads or roads without shoulders. Engineering projects designed for bicycle safety have involved construction of side paths to get cyclists off roads and bike lanes to keep cyclists out of the way of motorists. The benefit of these efforts is to protect cyclists from collisions from behind, which are widely believed to be the greatest danger to cyclists and caused by cyclists’ failure to keep up with the desired speed of motor traffic. This is the taboo that harms the bicycle transportation policy: that bicyclists must be kept out of the paths of motorists or they will surely be killed.According to the author, bicycling should be ________.
| A．supported | B．banned |
| C．controlled | D．cancelled |
From the first paragraph, the person riding a bicycle in the city should take ________.
| A．main roads | B．streets |
| C．highways | D．sidewalks |
Why do many people do not agree that people should ride bicycles on roads?
| A．Most people think roads are designed for cars not for cyclists. |
| B．People riding bicycles are considered to be inferior. |
| C．People’s riding on the road is against the law of the country. |
| D．People riding bicycles are not experienced. |
The underlined phrase “cyclists’ failure to keep up with the desired speed of motor traffic” in the second paragraph means ________.
| A．cyclists’ speed is beyond the limit |
| B．cyclists’ speed is much lower than that of motorists |
| C．cyclists often compete with motorists on the roads |
| D．motorists usually look down upon cyclists |
What does “superior users” in paragraph one refer to?
| A．Bicyclists. | B．Government leaders. |
| C．Motorists. | D．Pedestrians. |
In earliest times, men considered lightning to be one of the great mysteries of nature. Some ancient peoples believed that lightning and thunder were the weapons of the gods.
In reality, lightning is a flow of electricity formed high above the earth. A single flash of lightning 1.6 kilometres long has enough electricity to light one million light bulbs.
The American scientist and statesman, Benjamin Franklin, was the first to show the connection between electricity and lightning in 1752. In the same year he also built the first lightning rod (避雷针). This device protects buildings from being damaged by lightning.
Modern science has discovered that one stroke of lightning has a voltage (电压) of more than 15 million volts. A flash of lightning between a cloud and the earth may be as long as 13 kilometers, and travel at a speed of 30 million meters per second.
Scientists judge that there are about 2,000 million flashes of lightning per year. Lightning hits the Empire State Building in New York City 30 to 48 times a year. In the United States alone it kills an average of one person every day.
The safest place to be in case of an electrical storm is in a closed car. Outside, one should go to low ground and not get under a tree. Also, one should stay out of water and away from metal fences. Inside a house, people should avoid open doorways and windows and not touch wires or metal things.
With lightning, it is better to be safe than sorry.People once thought lightning came from ________.
| A．the sky | B．the gods |
| C．the earth | D．nature |
According to the passage what do you think all buildings need?
| A．Metal fences. | B．Electricity. |
| C．lightning rods. | D．Machines. |
Lightning can travel ________.
| A．as quickly as water |
| B．not so quickly as electricity |
| C．at very low speed |
| D．at very high speed |
Which of the following is NOT true?
| A．In the U.S. about 360 people die from lightning in a year. |
| B．The Empire State Building frequently gets hit by lightning. |
| C．Swimming during a thunder storm is a good idea. |
| D．A closed car is the best place to be during an electrical storm. |
Lightning is probably ______ to man.
| A．useful | B．kind | C．useless | D．Friendly |
Did you know that reading can keep your mind active and engaged well into old age?
Several years ago when I was working as a newspaper reporter, I interviewed a woman who was a resident at a local nursing home. She was 100 years old. She read at least one book per week, mostly novels. She was bright, intelligent and fun to talk with.
“I love to read. It helps me keep up with what’s going on in the world,” she said. “A friend of mine brings me a new book every week. I look forward to her visits and I look forward to the books.”
“I can’t get around much any more,” said the 100-year-old woman, “but when I read, I can go anywhere, anytime I want. And no one has to help me!”
Reading also sets a good example for younger generations. I have observed that the best readers are those students who see their parents reading. And I’m not talking about only reading novels. Newspapers and magazines are important too. Your actions will communicate a great deal to your children and grandchildren about what you value.
But why is reading so important? In this day and age, with television to give us news, and movies and videos to keep us entertained, who needs to read?
The answer is everyone.
Developing good reading skills does not only mean that you can read a novel or a magazine, it also means being able to read and understand things like a credit card contract or an insurance policy, or the instructions for how to put a new printer to use with your computer. In addition, developing good reading skills means that you can think for yourself. You can read about the advantages and disadvantages of anything from homeschooling to taking a vacation to Ireland. And then you can make up your own mind about what’s best for you and your family.The example of the 100-year-old woman is used to _______.
| A．inform us of a woman who loved reading |
| B．show a new way of gaining information |
| C．find differences between books and travels |
| D．introduce the benefits of reading books |
The 100-year-old woman loved reading because _______.
| A．reading helped her meet her friends |
| B．reading could broaden her horizons |
| C．she wanted to escape from the real world |
| D．she taught her grandchildren to read |
Who are most likely to be book lovers according to the author?
| A．The kids taught by intelligent teachers. |
| B．The kids forced to read by their serious parents. |
| C．The kids influenced by book lovers around them. |
| D．The kids curious about the outside world. |
We can infer form the passage that _______.
| A．other media are less important than books |
| B．the old woman’s friend was a bookseller |
| C．understanding is important in reading |
| D．the author once worked in a nursing home |
In which part of a newspaper would the passage be most likely to appear?
| A．Business | B．Lifestyle | C．Travel | D．History |
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