A desert is a beautiful land of silence and space. The sun shines, the wind blows, and time and space seem endless. Nothing is soft. The sand and rocks are hard, and many of the plants even have hard needles instead of leaves.
The size and location of the world's deserts are always changing. Over millions of years, as climates change and mountains rise, new dry and wet areas develop. But within the last 100 years, deserts have been growing at a frightening speed. This is partly because of natural changes, but the greatest makers are humans.
Humans can make deserts, but humans can also prevent their growth. Mauritania is planting a similar wall around Nouakchott, the capital. Iran puts a thin covering of oil on sandy areas and plants trees. The oil keeps the water and small trees in the land, and men on motorcycles keep the sheep and goats away. The USSR and India are building long canals to bring water to desert areas.In this passage, the underlined word “needles” refers to ________.
| A．small, thin pieces of steel |
| B．long, thin pieces of branches |
| C．thin, hard, pointed leaf |
| D．small, thin pieces of sticks |
Which of the following is NOT true?
| A．The greatest desert makers are human beings. |
| B．There aren't any living things in the deserts. |
| C．Deserts have been changing quickly. |
| D．The size of the deserts is always growing. |
People in some countries are fighting a battle against ________.
| A．the growth of deserts |
| B．desert climate |
| C．natural changes |
| D．the disappearance of desert |
What does the author want to tell us?
| A．Deserts are lands of hardness, silence and space. |
| B．The deserts of the world are changing from time to time. |
| C．Man is to take measures to control the growth of deserts. |
| D．Deserts have grown at a fast pace in the past 10 years. |
阅读下面短文，并根据短文后的要求答题（请注意问题后的字数要求）。
［1］If you are worried about things and are under a lot of stress at work or school，then you are prob-ably not sleeping well. Worry can keep you awake，tossing and turning in bed until the early hours of the morning when you eventually fall asleep. When you wake up，you don't feel refreshed，but tired and worn out and unable to face a new day.
［2］ Dr. Henry Winkle，in a recent newspaper article entitled Stress and Sleep，indicates that .Dr. Winkle says，“The more we worry，the less we sleep，the more we are unable to deal with stress. If we can find a way to get a good night's sleep，”he adds，“we can often find the energy to deal with what's worrying us.”
［3］So，what is a good night's sleep? Research shows that the amount of sleep which people need in order to keep healthy varies a lot. Seven hours is about the average amount，though strangely enough，sleeping longer often gives you a headache instead of making you feel more refreshed.
［4］Dr. Winkle believes that preparing for sleeping is important. People who work late should try to give themselves a short break and do something restful before going to bed. This could be watching TV or listening to music. Doing some exercise earlier in the day should help you to feel physically as well as mentally tired. A bedtime drink can also help，but coffee or tea should be avoided as they contain caffeine and will keep you awake.
［5］ “When you put the light out，” Dr. Winkle says，“concentrate on relaxing your muscles，working slowly up from your feet，and you 'll be asleep before you know it.”What is the main idea of the text? (no more than 5 words)
Complete the following statement with words from Paragraph 2. ( no more than 3 words)
People shouldn't go to sleep immediately but should after working late in the night.Point out the disadvantage of drinking coffee and tea before going to bed. (no more than 6 words)
Fill in the blank in Paragraph 2 with proper words. (no more than 10 words)
What does the word “it” (Line2，Paragraph5) probably refer to? (no more than 3 words)
In a few years，you might be able to speak Chinese，Korean，Japanese，French，and English-and all at the same time. This sounds incredible，but Alex Waibel，a computer science professor at US's Car-negie Mellon University (CMU) and Germany's University of Karlsruhe，announced last week that it may soon be reality. He and his team have invented software and hardware that could make it far easier for people who speak different languages to understand each other.
One application，called Lecture Translation，can easily translate a speech from one language into an-other. Current translation technologies typically limit speakers to certain topics or a limited vocabulary. Us-ers also have to be trained how to use the programme.
Another machine can send translations of a speech to different listeners depending on what languagethey speak. “It is like having a simultaneous translator right next to you but without disturbing the person next to you，”Waibel said
Prefer to read? So- called Translation Glasses transcribe(转录) the translations on a tiny liquid-crystal display(LCD) screen.
Then there's the Muscle Translator. Electrodes capture the electrical signals from facial muscle movements made naturally when a person is mouthing words. The signals are then translated into speech.The electrodes could be replaced with wireless chips implanted in a person's face，according to research-ers.
During a demonstration held last Thursday in CMU's Pittsburgh campus，a Chinese student named Sang Jun had 11 tiny electrodes attached to the muscles of his cheeks，neck and throat. Then he mouthed-without speaking aloud- a few words in Mandarin(普通话) to the audience. A few seconds later，the phrase was displayed on a computer screen and spoken out by the computer in English and Spanish: “Let me introduce our new prototype.”
This particular instrument，when fully developed，might allow anyone to speak in any number of lan-guages or，as Waibel put it，“to switch your mouth to a foreign language”. “The idea behind the universi-ty's prototypes is to create'good enough' bridges for cross- cultural exchanges that are becoming more common in the world，”Waibel said.
With spontaneous(自发的) translators，foreign drivers in Germany could listen to traffic warnings on the radio; tourists in China could read all the signs and talk with local people;leaders of different coun-tries could have secret talks without any interpreters there.What can't be learned from the text?
| A．The spontaneous translators will help us a lot. |
| B．There is no Muscle Translator in the world now. |
| C．Muscle Translators can translate what you think into speech if you just move your mouth. |
| D．A lecture translation can translate what you said into other languages easily. |
What does the underlined word mean?
| A．happening at at the same time. | B．happening by itself. |
| C．similar in size. | D．Similar in quality. |
What's the final destination of inventing the language translators?
| A．To make cultural exchanges between different countries easier. |
| B．To help students learn foreign languages more easily. |
| C．To make people live in foreign countries more comfortably. |
| D．To help people learn more foreign languages in the future. |
What can be inferred from the seventh paragraph?
| A．The translator is so good that it can translate any language into the very language you need. |
| B．The translator is becoming more and more common in the world as a bridge. |
| C．With the help of the translator，you only need to open your mouth when you want to say something without saying the exact words at all. |
| D．The translator needs to be improved before being put into market. |
Where can we probably find this passage?
| A．A newspaper. | B．A magazine on science. |
| C．A fairy tale. | D．A scientific fantasy book. |
The United States is already one year into a depression That was the news this week from the Na-tional Bureau of Economic Research. The downturn is the longest since a depression that began in 1981and lasted sixteen months.
Economists generally wait for production to shrink for six months in a row before they declare a re-cession. But the bureau, a private group, uses a wider set of information to measure the economy. Thenews only confirmed what many people already knew: that the world's largest economy is weak and maynot recover soon.
Worsening conclitions have led to a big drop in spending, especially on costly products like new cars. Even Japanese automaker Toyota saw its sales fall thirty - four percent in the United States in November from a year ago.
The heads of Chrysler, Ford and General Motors retumed to Congress this week to again ask for federal aid. Congressional leaders denounced(指责) them two weeks ago after they came in private jets with no clear plans for saving their industry. This time, the chiefs drove to Washington in fuel- saving hybrid vehicles. And their companies presented detailed restructuring plans. The reguest for aid has risen from twenty-five billion dollars two weeks ago to thirty-four billion in loans and credit lines.
G.M. wants almost half of that, and says it needs four billion dollars this month. It warned that without support it cannot continue to operate.
Ford is in a better position, But the sharing of suppliers means it could be affected if G.M. or
Chrysler fails. Ford is asking for a nine billion dollar credit line in case it needs it.
Chrysler is the smallest and most trouble of America's Big Three. It says it needs a seven billion dollar loan by the end of the month.
Two days of congressional hearings began Thursday in the Senate Banking Committee. The chairman, Democrat Chris Dodd, said he would support helping the automakers for the good of the economy.
But the committee's top Republican, Richard Shelby, continued to express opposition to a bailout(贿政援助）．
A main root of the world financial crisis is the weak housing market in the United States. The Trea-sury Department has been under pressure to help troubled homeowners. Now comes news that the depart-ment is developing a plan aimed at reducing interest rates on mortgage loans(汽车贷款) for some buyers of homes. That could be good for homeowners trying to sell.From the first two paragraphs, we know .
| A．the United States is expected to recover soon |
| B．the depression has lasted more than 16 months |
| C．the depression is much more severe than expected |
| D．the depression will last no more than 6 months |
Why were the automakers refused for federal aid two weeks ago?
| A．Because the government had no extra money to help. |
| B．Because they didn't have a ciear plan to save their industry. |
| C．Because they had wasted too much on costly new cars. |
| D．Because they had enough money to save their industry. |
Which of the following is asking for the largest federal aide
| A．G.M. | B．Toyota. | C．Chrysler. | D．Ford. |
From the passage we may know Richard Shelby tile automakers' request for federal aid?
| A．was for | B．was against | C．didn't care about | D．took no notice of |
Which of the following statement is NOT true according to the passage?
| A．The hearings on Thursday agreed on a federal aid to the automakers. |
| B．The main cause of the crisis is weak housing market in the U.S.. |
| C．The government is taking measures to save t he housing market. |
| D．The Treasury Department had to help the troubled homeowners. |
One Tuesday evening in the beginning of the fall 1996 semester at Shippensburg University, sirens(警笛) sounded. These sirens were not in celebration; they were a cry to the university that something was wrong. A house, only one block away, was on fire. Nine of the university's students lived there.
From the minute the word got out that help was needed, it seemed like everyone showed up. The victims of the fire were offered endless invitations for housing for the night. The very next day, everyone got into gear to do their part in helping them. Flyers (小传单) were posted with items that were immediately needed, just to get these students through this next couple of days. Boxes for donations and money jars were placed in every residence hall（学生宿舍）．
As a residence director，I went before the students in my hall to ask them to do what they could. I knew that college students don't have much, but I asked them to do their best: “Every little bit will help." I really didn't think they could do much. I was proved wrong.
At the hall council meeting the night after the fire, my residents decided to have a wing competition, where each wing of the building would team up to see who could bring In the most donations. I announced that the wing who won would receive a free pizza party.
Thursday evening we announced over the PA system that we were beginning the wing competition. Within minutes, the place exploded. The single large box that I had placed in the lobby (太厅) was over-flowing. We quickly grabbed more boxes, and we watched in amazement as they, too, filled to the brim. Members of the resident assistant staff and I began to count the items. I was astonished by what I saw, and I was inspired by these kids.
When we came to the final tally（得分）, the winners turned to me and announced that they would like to donate their winnings as well. They wanted the victims of the fire to have their pizza party.
Tears welled up in my eyes. I had watched these students jump to action, work tirelessly and donate all that they could. And then, as if that were not enough, they handed over their reward’s was touched and so very proud of them.The writer mainly wanted to by the story.
| A．tell us the suffering of nine of the college students from a fire |
| B．praise the college students helping the victims selflessly |
| C．tell us how successful the wing competition was |
| D．show he was deeply moved by the college students' action |
The phrase "get into gear" in the second paragraph means .
| A．be eager | B．take action | C．be prepared | D．start working |
At first, the residence director thought .
| A．it was impossible to expect the college students to donate anything |
| B．it was easy to collect a lot of donations from the college students |
| C．the college students would donate not much |
| D．the college students would donate all the items they had |
The wing competition was held .
| A．on Tuesday evening | B．on Thursday |
| C．on Wednesday evening | D．the very next day |
How did the residence director feel when he saw the brimful boxes?
| A．Terrible． | B．Funny． | C．Surprised． | D．Serious |
Can people change their skin color without suffering like pop king Michael Jackson? Perhaps yes.Scientists have found the gene that determines skin color.
The gene comes in two versions, one of which is found in 99 per cent of Europeans.The other is found in 93 t0 100 per cent of Africans, researchers at Pennsylvania State University report in the latest issue of Science.
Scientists have changed the color of a dark - striped zebrafish(斑马鱼) to uniform gold by inserting a version of the pigment(色素) gene into a young fish.As with humans, zebrafish skin color is deter-mined by pigment cells，which contain melanin(黑色素).The number, size and darkness of melanin perpigment cell determine skin color.
It appears that, like the golden zebrafish, light - skinned Europeans also have a mutation (变异) in the gene for melanin production.This results in less pigrnented skin.
However, Keith Cheng, leader of the research team, points out that the mutation is different in hu-man ancl zebrafish genes.
Humans acquired dark skin in Africa about l.5 million years ago to protect bodies from ultra - violetrays of the sun. which can cause skin cancer.
But when modem humans leave Africa to live in northem latitudes, they need more sunlight on their skin to produce vitamin D. So the related gene changes, according to Cheng.
Asians have the same version of the gene as Africans, so they probably acquired their light skin through the action of some other gene that affects skin color, said Cheng.
The new discovery could lead to medical treatments for skin cancer.lt also could lead to research in-to ways to change skin color without damaging it like chemical treatment did on Michael Jackson.Scientists have done an experiment on a dark -striped zebrafish in order to
| A．fincl the different genes o humans' |
| B．prove the humans' skin color is determined by the pigment gene |
| C．find out the reason why the Africans' skin color is dark |
| D．fincl out the ways of changing people's skin color |
lt can be inferred from the passage that .
| A．nowadays people who want to change their skin color have to suffer 8 lot from the damage caused by the chemical treatment |
| B．Europeans and Africans have the same gene |
| C．the new discovery could help to find medical treatments for skin cancer |
| D．there are two kinds of genes |
The passage mainly tells us that .
| A．scientists have found out that people's skin color is determined by the gene |
| B．the new discovery could lead to research into ways to change skin color safely |
| C．pop king Michael Jackson often changed his skin color as he liked |
| D．people can not change their skin color without any pain |
The reason why Europeans are light - skinned is probably that .
| A．they are bom light - skinned people |
| B．light - skinned Europeans have mutation in the gene for melanin production |
| C．they have fewer activities outside |
| D．they pay much attention to protecting their skin |
The writer's attitude towarcls the discovery is .
| A．neutral | B．negative | C．indifferent | D．positive |
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