Five times in the earth’s history, some three-quarters of all living species disappeared forever-and within a short period of time. Those species losses stand for a major change in the planet’s ecology(生态学). Clues to these changes can be seen in the fossils(化石)and rock layers.
Today, human activities are driving species to die out at a rate never seen before. And this loss of species really does matter, said Anita Narwani. She works at the University of Michigan in Ann Arbor. That’s because the diversity(多样性)of species in an ecosystem provides people with all types of services we can’t do without.
Trees provide oxygen for us to breathe. At the same time, they remove carbon from the air which is a cause of global warming. Plants help clean air and water. Animals move seeds from one area to another. A broad range of living resources also provides people with food, shelter and medicine.
Narwani wanted to find out how important the diversity of species is for people. So she teamed up with other ecologists to review more than 1,700 studies. They found that more diverse parts of the earth tend to do well in things like removing carbon and providing us with wood and other natural resources. They were also better at keeping fisheries large and healthy so that they could feed many people.
Unfortunately, the diversity of species is in steep drop. It is too soon to say that the earth is undergoing a sixth mass extinction, Narwani said. She said a mass extinction means the loss of 75 percent of species over 2 million years or less. We haven’t lost that many – at least not yet. But according to her, if species losses continue so fast, such a mass extinction could occur in just 300 years.
The new findings highlight the potential for humans to use up many of the resources on which we now depend. As people learn more, however, they can take steps to lessen those risks. People should protect ecosystems so that they can continue to provide us with their services.What’s the writer’s purpose in giving the examples in Paragraph 3?
| A．To tell us how we get our food and resources. |
| B．To show the importance of the diversity of species. |
| C．To tell us the use of each species. |
| D．To show the writer is very learned. |
The underlined word “They ” in Paragraph 4 refers to .
| A．humans |
| B．Narwani and her team |
| C．natural resources |
| D．various species |
Narwani and her team found that .
| A．many people know the importance of protecting wildlife |
| B．many species die out because of human activities |
| C．making good use of natural resources benefits people |
| D．rich diversity of species greatly benefits people |
We can learn from Paragraph 5 that .
| A．the world’s species are dying out in a very fast rate |
| B．we’ll lose 75 percent of species on the earth |
| C．the earth is undergoing a sixth mass extinction |
| D．a mass extinction of species will occur in 300 years |
As dangerous as sharks may have seed to people after watching Jaws, which was released on June 20,1975, the recent disastrous decrease in their numbers show that people have proven far more dangerous to sharks.
This disastrous decline is due in large part to commercial fishing of sharks. “The market for
shark fins（鱼翅）in East Asia opened up thanks to changes in their economy, increasing their
ability to spend money on things such as shark fin soup,” Burgess said.
However, the biggest worry for sharks and their relatives, the skates and rays, which are suffering a similar fate, “is how they are killed incidentally when fishermen try and take other fish—the problem of bycatch（渔业混获）,” Burgess explained. “They may be thrown back afterward, but they’re still dead.”
The key of the problems behind bringing sharks back is that “they’re not the same as other fish,” Burgess said, “Sharks are slow growing and slow to reach maturity. Sharks are live bearers, which means females keep their young in their body just like us, but instead of nine months, it takes 12 to 18 months or more in sharks. Also, sharks generally can’t give birth again until a year after they’ve given birth—sometimes they’re on a three-year cycle. So once you get a shark population knocked down, this ‘life in the slow lane’ means that recovery is measured in decades rather than years.”\
Burgess said, “I’m on the recovery team for it, but the recovery plan for that is over the course of 100 years. So I won’t see them recover, nor will you, nor will your children. That’s what it means when these animals go down—they’re down a long time.”
Any measures aimed at saving sharks must not only consider byeatch, “which is the real killer right now,” but also encourage interactional cooperation, Burgess said.
“Sharks are very migratory, and many species cross borders,” he said. “We can protect them only by getting many govemment to come aboard. That’s the hardest part about this.”The text mainly tells us .
| A．shark fins are valuable | B．sharks are dangerous |
| C．bycatch brings bad effects | D．sharks are in danger |
The number of sharks is decreasing mostly because of .
| A．the film Jaws | B．commercial interests |
| C．changes in economy | D．shark fin soup |
Bringing sharks back is difficult because .
| A．they’re like the other fish |
| B．their reproductive rate is slow |
| C．they can’t give birth again |
| D．their life cycle is only 3 years |
What can be concluded from the last paragraph?
| A．Sharks live the way human beings do. |
| B．It’s time many govemments cooperate. |
| C．Sharks’ migration takes a very long time. |
| D．Bycatch shouldn’t be forbidden by intemational laws. |
The test is most probably a .
| A．newspaper ad | B．book review |
| C．science news report | D．science fiction story |
Dolphins and sharks are showing up in surprisingly shallow
water just off the Florida coast. Mullets, crabs, rays and small
fish gather by the thousands off an Alabama pirer. Birds covered in
oil are crawling deep into marshes （沼泽）, never to be seen again.
Marine scientists studying the effects of the BP disaster（英国石油公司漏油事件）are seeing
some strange phenomena. Fish and other wildlife seem to be fleeing the oil out in the Gulf and clustering in cleaner waters along the coast in a trend that some researchers see as a potentially troubling sign. The animals' presence close to shore means their usual habitat is badly polluted, and the crowding could result in mass die-offs as fish run out of oxygen. Also, the animals could easily be captured by their enemies.
The nearly two-month-old spill（漏油）has created an environmental disaster in US history as tens of millions of gallons have flown into the Gulf of Mexico ecosystem. Scientists are seeing some unusual things as they try to understand the effects on thousands of species of marine life.
For nearly four hours Monday, a three-person crew with Greenpeace cruised past delicate
islands and mangrove-dotted inlets in Barataria Bay off southern Louisiana. They saw dolphins by the dozen frolicking（嬉戏）in the oily sheen（光泽）and oil-tinged pelicans feeding their young. But they spotted no dead animals.
"I think part of the reason why we're not seeing more yet is that the impacts of this crisis are
really just beginning," Greenpeace marine biologist John Hocevar said.
The counting of dead wildlife in the Gulf is more than an academic exercise; the deaths will
help determine how much BP pays in damages.What do the marine life react to the BP disaster?
| A．Birds crawl deep into caves. |
| B．Dolphins and sharks show up in deep water. |
| C．Tens of thousands of marine animals are found dead. |
| D．Sea creatures flee from oil spill, gathering near seashore. |
Which of the following is NOT related to the potentially troubling sign?
| A．The usual habitat of deep-water animals is badly polluted. |
| B．Many animals could be easily eaten by their enemies. |
| C．Masses of fishes could die due to lack of oxygen. |
| D．Some dolphins are frolicking in marshes. |
The environmental disaster was caused by .
| A．the damage of the Mexico Gulf ecosystem |
| B．the lack of environmental sense of BP |
| C．the nearly two-month-old oil spill |
| D．the crowding marine life |
What is John Hocevar’s attitude towards the disaster?
| A．Worried. | B．Disappointed. | C．Depressed. | D．Hesitant. |
From the passage, we can infer that .
| A．Bp will pay much money according to the number of dead wildlife there |
| B．marine scientists have seen some strange phenomena |
| C．the disaster has little influence on dolphins |
| D．a three-person crew reached no conclusion |
Mrs. Amatuli was my teacher in the fourth grade.
One day at lunch time, I was getting ready to eat my same old tuna fish（金枪鱼）sandwich and suddenly Mrs. Amatuli asked me if she could buy my sandwich from me. She explained that I could use the money to buy a hot lunch from the cafeteria.
I was thrilled. I never bought my lunch at the cafeteria. It was too expensive for my family, and we always carried our lunch and brought the bah back home to use again the next day. My sandwiches were either bologna（大腊肠）or tuna fish. It rarely varied beyond that.
You can understand my delight when I had the opportunity to buy a hot lunch.
When we finished lunch that day, Mrs. Amatuli took me aside and said she wanted to explain why she had bought my sandwich.
Oh, I couldn’t wait to get home and tell my Mama that form now on I wanted tuna fish on Fridays. After my Mama understood why, she gladly fixed tuna fish for me on Friday. She even fixed it on brown bread because she knew Mrs. Amatuli liked brown bread.
From then on every Friday I cold get in line with the rest of the kids for a hot lunch. I didn’t care how many of the ids complained about cafeteria food—it tasted divine to me!
I realize now that Mrs. Amatuli could have fixed herself a tuna sandwich of Friday. But she bought my sandwich because she saw a little girll who was thrilled over the simple act of having a hot lunch.
I will never forget her for her compassion and generosity.Which of the following can best describe Mrs. Amatuli?
| A．Lovely. | B．Strict. | C．Clever. | D．Kind. |
The author didn’t buy her lunch at the cafeteria because .
| A．her lunch was various | B．her family was very poor |
| C．her mother could prepare it at home | D．her teacher gave her a hot lunch |
After lunch that day, Mrs. Amatuli explained .
| A．she was Catholic | B．Catholic ate meat on Fridays |
| C．Catholic ate fish on Fridays | D．she liked brown bread |
The underlined word “divine” in Paragraph 8 means .
| A．delicious | B．bad | C．typical | D．hot |
What might be the best title for the passage?
| A．My grateful mother | B．My considerate teacher |
C．My boring lunch | D．A thrilled student |
第三部分：阅读理解（共两节，满分40分）
第一节：选择题（共15小题，每小题２分，共30分）
阅读下列短文，从每题所给的A、B、C、D四个选项中，选出最佳答案，并在答题卡上将该项涂黑。
A month after Hurricane Katrina, I returned home in New Orleans．There lay my house, reduced to waist-high ruins, smelly and dirty．
Before the trip, I’d had my car fixed．When the office employee of the garage was writing up the bill, she noticed my Louisiana license plate．“You from New Orleans?” she asked．I said I was, “No charge,” she said, and firmly shook her head when I reached for my wallet．The next day I went for a haircut, and the same thing happened．
As my wife was studying in Florida, we decided to move there and tried to find a rental house that we could afford while also paying off a mortgage（抵押贷款）on our ruined house．We looked at many places, but none was satisfactory．We’d begun to accept that we’d have to live in extremely reduced circumstances for a while, when I got a very curious e-mail from a James Kennedy in California．He’d read some pieces I’d written about our sufferings for Slate, the online magazine, and wanted to give us (“no conditions attached”) a new house across the lake from New Orleans．
It sounded too good to be true, but I replied, thanking him for his exceptional generosity, that we had no plans to go back．Then a poet at the University of Florida offered to let his house to me while he went to England on his one-year paid leave．The rent was rather reasonable．I mentioned the poet’s offer to James Kennedy, and the next day he sent a check covering our entire rent for eight months．
Throughout this painful experience, the kindness of strangers has done much to bring back my faith in humanity．It’s almost worth losing your worldly possessions to be reminded that people are really nice when given half a chance．
56．What do we know about James Kennedy?
A．He was a writer of an online magazine．
B．He was a poet at the University of Florida．
C．He offered the author a new house free of charge．
D．He learned about the author’s sufferings via e-mail．
57．It can be inferred from the text that ______．
A．the author’s family was in financial difficulty
B．rents were comparatively reasonable despite the disaster
C．houses were difficult to find in the hurricane-stricken area
D．the mortgage on the ruined house was paid off by the bank
58．The author learned from his experience that ______．
A．worldly possessions can be given up when necessary
B．generosity should be encouraged in some cases
C．people benefit from their sad stories
D．human beings are kind after all
Everyone knows we must exercise regularly to maintain good health．Indeed, staying physically fit is a big part of our culture．We consider （and rightly so） that healthy people are attractive people．Since most of us want to be attractive, there is no shortage of exercise clubs, training videos, magazines, and books offering to help us stay physically fit．
Unfortunately, however, our culture does not place the same emphasis on mental fitness．Although we admire and love men and women with strong and healthy-looking bodies, we don’t have the same degree of respect or attraction for smart, educated and mentally healthy people．This is a shame, because there are immense rewards for people who have developed the ability to think well．
If your mind is well trained and flexible, you will be able to understand a great deal of what happens around you．And if you are also well educated--- that is, if you understand basic science, mathematics, music, art, literature, history and so on--- you will find it much easier to make good decisions throughout your life．Over the long run, this leads to a sense of control over your destiny and a much better life than otherwise．
People who are poorly educated or who don’t think well--- that is, people who are not mentally fit see things differently．Their world is controlled by mysterious, but often malevolent (恶意的) forces．Such people live within a system they will never master, forced to follow the rules they will never understand．Although it may not be obvious, most people spend their lives being manipulated (控制) by others．They are told what to do, what to think, how to spend their money, and what they should and should not aspire (渴求) to in life．
In my opinion, if you want to live well, you must be able to use your mind well．For this reason, I want you to be able to concentrate, solve problem, understand complex ideas, and think clearly and quickly．Such skills will make it easier for you to make informed decisions, understand current events, choose good friends, manage your money well, make wise long-term decisions, and appreciate music, art and literature．
The key to developing such skills is to enjoy learning, and to have the ability and motivation to teach yourself．
67．The writer of the passage feels disappointed that______________．
A．some people have not the skill to make good decisions
B．the world of the physically healthy people is controlled by mysterious forces
C．mentally healthy people are not as popular as physically people
D．too much has been done to help people stay physically fit
68．The underline word “this” refers to___________．
A．the understanding of a great deal of what goes on around you
B．the understanding of basic science and mathematics
C．good training in body and mind
D．being able to make good decisions in life
69．The writer of the passage thinks that those who are not mentally fit___________．
A．live a poor and mysterious life B．can’t control over their life
C．often do what others do D．enjoy being fooled and ruled
70．The best title of the passage will most probably be______________．
A．Mind Helps You More B．Train Your Mind
C．Make Informed Decisions D．Learn More to Help Yourself
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