Once, the Paiter-Surui tribe(部落)lived a happy life in the heart of the Amazon rainforest in Brazil. But after the tribe’s first meeting with Westerners several decades ago, they were nearly wiped out; diseases brought by outsiders reduced the Surui’s numbers from 5, 000 to about 250.
Today, some 1, 300 tribe people live in 23 villages across 600, 000 acres. Though they are as likely to wear T-shirts and jeans as feathered headdresses, the Surui are determined to preserve and protect the tribal culture of their homeland. Now they are under threat again, from illegal logging and deforestation(滥伐), but this time it’s different. The Surui have put aside their bows and arrows and taken up a new weapon: the Internet.
The tribe people learned to use the Web from their leader, Chief Almir Narayamoga. “We decided to use computers and technology to bring attention to our situation, ”says Narayamoga, 36. The first in his tribe to attend college, Chief Narayamoga learned how to use computers at the Federal University of Goiás in Goiânia, a city of 1. 2 million. In 2007, he fled the Surui homeland after his fight against loggers who placed a $100, 000 reward on his head. He traveled to the United States and paid a visit to Google headquarters in California. He came armed with a big idea.
Narayamoga’s visit to Google was considered a great success. And Google sent teams to the Amazon to train the Surui in using computers, cameras, and smart phones to photograph logging sites, which could be pinpointed using GPS technology and then uploaded to Google Earth. The Surui have now mapped the entire reserve and recorded the biodiversity and the rainforest within it.
【改编】Why are the Surui under threat again ?
| A．The population were reduced greatly by diseases from outsiders. |
| B．They want to preserve and protect their tribal culture. |
| C．The rainforest where they are living are suffering from wildly illegal logging and deforestation. |
| D．Chief Narayamoga fled the Surui homeland. |
Chief Narayamoga fled his homeland because .
| A．he owed a large debt |
| B．the loggers wanted to kill him |
| C．he wanted to learn computers |
| D．he failed to fight against logging |
What kind of idea did Chief Narayamoga have after he returned to his homeland?
| A．He could ask the US government for help. |
| B．He could negotiate with the loggers. |
| C．He could save their land with the Internet. |
| D．He could make a map of their land. |
What can we learn from the last paragraph?
| A．Deforestation has been stopped in Amazon. |
| B．Narayamoga’s efforts are paying off. |
| C．The Internet is still something new to the tribe people. |
| D．Logging has been stopped due to the use of GPS technology. |
Do you know Australia? Australia is the largest island in the world. It is a little smaller than China. It is in the south of the earth. Australia is big, but its population is not large. The population of Australia is nearly as large as that of Shanghai.
The government has made enough laws to fight pollution. The cities in Australia have got little air or water pollution. The sky is blue and the water is clean. You can clearly see fish swimming in the rivers. Plants grow very well.
Last month we visited Perth, the biggest city in Western Australia, and went to a wild flowers’ exhibition. There we saw a large number of wild flowers we had never seen before. We had a wonderful time. Perth is famous for its beautiful wild flowers. In spring every year Perth has the wild flowers’ exhibition. After visiting Perth, we spent the day in the countryside. We sat down and had a rest near a path at the foot of a hill. It was quiet and we enjoyed ourselves. Suddenly we heard bells ringing at the top of the hill. What we saw made us pick up all our things and run back to the car as quickly as we could. There were about three hundred sheep coming towards us down the path.
Australia is famous for its sheep and kangaroos(袋鼠). After a short drive from any town, you will find yourself in the middle of white sheep. Sheep, sheep, everywhere are sheep. Australia is _______.
| A．the largest country in the world | B．as large as Shanghai |
| C．not as large as China | D．the largest island in the north of the earth |
The government had made _______.
| A．too enough laws to fight pollution |
| B．so many laws that it can fight pollution |
| C．enough laws that it can hardly fight pollution |
| D．enough laws because the pollution is very serious |
Which of the following is NOT true？
| A．Perth is famous for its beautiful wild flowers. |
| B．Perth is bigger than any other city in Western Australia. |
| C．Perth lies in the west of Australia. |
| D．No other city is larger than Perth in Australia. |
Which of the following is true？
| A．Australia is famous for its sheep, kangaroos and wild flowers. |
| B．We ran back to the car because we were in the middle of white sheep. |
| C．Three hundred sheep came towards us because they saw us. |
| D．If you go to the countryside in Australia, you will see a large number of white sheep. |
Bamboo is one of the nature’s most surprising plants. Many people call this plant a tree, but it is a kind of grass.
Like other kinds of grass, a bamboo plant may be cut very low to the ground, but it will grow back very quickly. A Japanese scientist recorded one bamboo plant that grew almost 1.5 meters in 24 hours! Bamboo grows almost everywhere in the world except Europe. There are more than 1,000 kinds of bamboo that grow around the world on both mountains and plains(平原).
Not all bamboo looks the same. Some bamboo plants are very thin. They may only grow to be a few centimeters wide while others may grow to more than 30 centimeters across. This plant also comes in different colors, from yellow to black to green.
Many Asian countries have been using bamboo for hundreds of years. They often use bamboo for building new buildings. As a matter of fact, the cables(绳索) that hold up the hanging bridge across the Min River in Sichuan are made of bamboo. The bridge has been in use for more than 1,000 years, and is still holding strong.
In Africa, engineers are teaching poor farmers how to find water using bamboo. These African countries need cheap ways to find water because they have no money, and their fields often die from no rain and no water. It seems that bamboo is one of the best things they can use. Bamboo pipes and drills(钻) can help to make the poor thirsty fields to be watered. How is bamboo like grass?
| A．It is thin and easy to cut. | B．It grows everywhere. |
| C．It grows quickly after its cut short. | D．It is short and green. |
The sentence “while others may grow to more than 30 centimeters across.” means “Some other bamboo plants may grow to be very _______.”
| A．short | B．strong | C．thick | D．tall |
From the text we know ______.
| A．most people call bamboo plant trees |
| B．a bamboo plant may grow 4.5 meters in three days |
| C．the bamboo plant changes its colors when it grows |
| D．a bridge held by bamboo cable was built thousands of years ago |
Why did the engineers teach the poor farmers in Africa to make use of bamboo?
| A．Because it is cheap. | B．Because it is colorful. |
| C．Because it drills fast. | D．Because it is used by Asians. |
Paracutin was born in Mexico in February, 1943. At the end of one week Paracutin was 500 feet high, and it is now over 9, 000 feet high. Today Paracutin is asleep.
What is Paracutin? It was the first volcano(火山) in the world which was seen from its birth right up to the present day. On February 20, 1943, a peasant and his wife set out to work in their corn fields from the Mexican village of Paracutin. They were surprised to find the earth warm under their feet. Suddenly they heard noises deep in the earth and a small hole appeared in their field. In the afternoon there was a sudden loud noise and stones were thrown high in the air. The peasants ran from the field and turned to watch. They saw the birth of a volcano.
Large quantities of stone and lava(岩浆) broke out and a little hill began to form. By evening this hill was 100 feet high and hot ashes(灰烬) were falling on the village. At night the strong light of the hot lava lit up the countryside. The trees near the village were killed and the villagers had to leave their houses. When the village was destroyed, its name was given to the volcano. The news quickly reached Mexico City, far to the east. Many people came to watch the scene. The volcano grew and grew for ten years and hundreds of square miles of forest were destroyed. Then Paracutin went to sleep. Paracutin was once the name of ________.
| A．a peasant | B．a village | C．an old mountain | D．a Mexican |
What was destroyed in the growing up of the volcano?
| A．The little hill of stone. | B．The villagers living close by. |
| C．The forests and fields round Paracutin. | D．The Mexican peasant and his wife. |
In this passage the writer is trying to ________.
| A．tell us an interesting happening | B．explain a scientific theory |
| C．make us believe something | D．make up an interesting story |
What can we learn about volcanoes from this passage？
| A．New volcanoes may appear in places where people do not expect them to be. |
| B．Volcanoes are always growing. |
| C．Volcanoes are active from time to time. |
| D．New volcanoes are active for only ten years. |
The Man of Many Secrets — Harry Houdini — was one of the greatest American entertainers in the theater this century. He was a man famous for his escapes — from prison cells, from wooden boxes floating in rivers, from locked tanks full of water. He appeared in theaters all over Europe and America. Crowds came to see the great Houdini and his “magic” tricks.
Of course, his secret was not magic, or supernatural powers. It was simply strength. He had the ability to move his toes as well as he moved his fingers. He could move his body into almost any position he wanted.
Houdini started working in the entertainment world when he was 17, in 1891. He and his brother Theo performed card tricks in club in New York. They called themselves the Houdini Brothers. When Harry married in 1894, he and his wife Bess worked together as magician and assistant. But for a long time they were not very successful. Then Harry performed his first prison escape, in Chicago in 1898. Harry persuaded a detective to let him try to escape from the prison, and he invited the local newspapermen to watch.
It was the publicity(宣传) that came from this that started Harry Houdini’s success. Harry had fingers trained to escape from handcuffs and toes trained to escape ankle chins. But his biggest secret was how he unlocked the prison doors. Every time he went into the prison cell, Bess gave him a kiss for good luck — and a small skeleton key, which is a key that fits many locks, pass quickly from her mouth to his.
Harry used these prison escapes to build his fame. He arranged to escape from the local prison of every town he visited. In the afternoon, the people of the town would read about it in their local newspapers, and in the evening every seat in the local theater would be full. What was the result? World-wild fame, and a name remembered today.According to the passage, Houdini’s success in prison escapes depends on _______.
| A．his special tricks and supernatural power | B．his unusual ability and a skeleton key |
| C．his magic tricks and supernatural powers | D．his wisdom and magic tricks |
In the fourth paragraph, the underlined word “this” refers to _______.
| A．his first prison escape | B．the year 1898 |
| C．the publicity | D．Harry Houdini’s success |
It can be inferred from the passage that Houdini became famous _______.
| A．in 1894 | B．before he married |
| C．at the age of 17 | D．when he was about 24 |
Which of the following is the best title for the passage?
| A．A Skeleton Key | B．A Man of Many Secrets |
| C．World-wild Fame | D．Great Escape |
“You’ll have to take care of the baby today,” a woman told her husband . “ I’m not feeling well.”
“Then you must stay in bed and rest, dear. “ her husband said. “I’ll be pleased to look after our baby. “
“Thank you. I’ll have a quiet day and I’ll soon get better. “ his wife told him.
“Shall I do the shopping for you as well?” her husband asked.
She was very pleased and said, “That will help me very much. I’ll give you a list of things to buy. “
She wrote out the list and gave it to him.
“You can get all these things at the supermarket,” she said.
“You can put the baby in the shopping cart, then you won’t have to leave him outside.”
The man took the baby to the supermarket and put him in the shopping cart. Then he pushed the shopping cart along the rows of things to buy and looked for those that were on his list.
At first all was well, but then the baby began to cry.
Then he started to scream.
And scream!
And SCREAM!
“Keep calm ,George, ” the man said. “Don’t get excited. Don’t shout, George. Don’t lose your temper, George.”
A woman in the supermarket heard him saying these things. She walked up to him.
“I think you are wonderful ,”she said. “You are so patient with your little George. ”
“Madam, ”" the man said, “I’m George. He’s Edward.” Why did the man take care of the baby?
| A．it was his turn. | B．His wife was not well. |
| C．His wife was not at home. | D．He always looked after it. |
Why did the man take the baby to the supermarket?
| A．He had to go shopping. |
| B．He wanted to show the baby to his friend. |
| C．He wanted to give the baby a ride in a shopping cart. |
| D．The baby liked going to the supermarket. |
What did the baby do in the supermarket?
| A．pushed the shopping cart | B．lost its temper |
| C．made a lot of noise | D．helped his father |
Finally we can infer from the story that_____ .
| A．the man was very calm when the baby was crying |
| B．the woman was very pleased to see the man |
| C．the woman mistook George for the baby, while in fact the man was named George |
| D．the man was very busy in shopping, but he couldn’t find all the goods on the list |
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