第三部分：阅读理解（共20小题，共40分）
第一节（共15题, 每小题2分，满分30分）
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。
We often hear the phrase: “You have a greater chance of being struck by lightning．”It is used to describe something that hasn’t got much chance of happening．However, the common saying undermines（掩盖）the very real dangers of lightning．
Last Friday, at least 5 people were killed by lightning in Nepal（尼泊尔）．
Lightning strikes are the second most common cause of deaths during natural disasters in the US．The first is floods．Around 400 people nationwide are struck by lightning each year, and of those, 70 people die．That is, more people are killed by lightning than by tornadoes and hurricanes．
Because lightning kills only one or two people at a time, its danger does not receive as much attention as other disasters．
“If you hear thunder, you are in danger from lightning, ”said Rocky Lopes, a disaster educator at the American Red Cross．
“Thunder means that lightning is close enough to hit you at any time, so you should move indoors immediately and stay there until the storm has ended．The most important thing to remember is to seek shelter,”Lopes said．
Summer is the peak time for lightning storms, so when lightning strikes across the sky, remember these safety tips:
*Stop working, fishing, swimming or playing in open fields．
*Do not stand under a tree．
*Get off bicycle and motorcycles．
*Crouch down（蹲下）if there is no shelter．
*Avoid open spaces, wire fences, metal objects and electrical objects such as hair driers．
56．Of the people who are struck by lightning each year in the U．S．A．, about ____ people are lucky enough to continue to live．
A．400 B．330 C．70 D．5
57．If you hear the thunder, the most important thing you do is to _____．
A．find shelter to hide in B．stand still in the open spaces
C．stand under a tree D．stop working in the fields
58．Which of the following is NOT true?
A．If you hear the thunder, you needn’t move indoors right away．
B．Fewer than 70 people are killed by tornadoes and hurricanes each year in the U．S．A．
C．People don’t pay as much attention to the danger of lightning as that of floods．
D．Floods are the first most common cause of deaths during natural disasters in the U．S．A．
History Has Arrived
Nine-year-old Barack Obama was looking through a magazine But the African-American boy was shocked by a series of photos. The pictures were of a black man who destroyed his skin with chemicals that promised to make him white.
For the first time, the boy began to doubt who he was. “I stood in front of the mirror and wondered if something was wrong with me,” Obama said.
However, now the boy who used to struggle with his identity doesn’t see it as a problem any more, but an advantage for his career. In January, 2009, Obama made history by being elected as the first black president of the US. He defeated John MaCain in a landslide(压倒性的) victory.
Obama’s story starts in opposite corners of the world. His white mother was born in the heartland of the US. His black father grew up in a tiny village in Kenya. They met in Hawaii, but his father left the family 
when Obama was just two years old and his mother moved to Indonesia.
At 10, Obama moved back to live with his white grandparents in Hawaii where his sense that he didn’t belong grew. At his class a white boy asked Obama if his father ate people. Out of embarrassment, Obama lied to his classmates that his father was prince. “I kept asking who I am and I ended up trying drugs and drinking,” Obama recalled.
Things came to change after the young man made friends with those with a similar background at college. Their experiences back in Africa helped Obama to finally face up to his African origin. He worked hard to become a star at Harvard Law School an
d the third black senator(参议员) in US history.
At the beginning of his campaign for the White House, few people viewed Obama favorably(赞同地).Many doubted his unusual 
background, which left him neither “ black” enough nor white enough.
But Obama turned his pain of growing up into a tool to make Americans believe: “There is not a black America, an Asian America. There’s the United States of America.”
Barack Obama’s victory is “a historic victory that promised change and overcame centuries of prejudice(偏见)。 His success fulfilled Martin Luther King’s dream that a man be judged not by the color of his skin, but by the content of his character,” wrote ABC news.
60. From the above passage we can know that Barack Obama was born in _____.
A. Kenya, Africa B. Hawaii, the USA C. Indonesia, Asia D. an unknown city, in Latino America
61. He lied to his classmates that his father was prince because _______.
A. he felt ashamed of his African origin B. he had unusual background—neither black nor white
C. his black father deserted him when he was very young
D. he didn’t have the sense of belonging
62. Put the following things in order of time.
a. Obama is the third black senator in US history
b. Obama’s mother settled down in Indonesia with Barack Obama
c. Obama stood out among his classmates in Harvard Law School
d. Obama lived with his white grandparents in Hawaii.
e. Obama’s balck father left him and his mother.
A. c,d,a,b,e B. e, d, b, c, a C. d, b, a, e, c D. e, b, d, c, a
63. What does the title “History has arrived” probably mean?
A. Barack Obama eventually defeated his white opponent, John MaCain in a landslide victory.
B. Barack Obama’s victory has given blacks and other minorities a true national role model.
C. Barack Obama has become the first African-American President, overcoming centuries of prejudice(偏见).
D. Through his great efforts, Barack Obama became the third black senator in the US history.
IV. 阅读理解：
Farris Hassan, a 16-year-old high school student from Florida, decided to visit Iraq and left for
the country on December 11th, 2005 alone, without having informed his parents.
After catching a connecting flight in Amsterdam, he arrived in Kuwait City on December 13th. He called his parents on the telephone and informed them of where he was and his intention to visit Iraq. This was the first time his parents learned of his plans. He then attempted to cross the Kuwait –Iraq border by taxi, because of tight security for the upcoming elections he was unable to pass though and spent a week in Beirut, Lebanon. Then on December 25th, he flew to Baghadad International Airport. Relatives picked him up from the airport and put him at a hotel known to frequently house American citizens.
He paid for the trip and made all the arrangements himself with money that he had saved up. The inspiration for his journey was the result of attending a class on “step into journalism” at his school. He was working on an assignment on the war in Iraq and he wished to experience his subject matter first-hand.
Hassan’s parents were born in Iraq, but he does not speak any Arabic, making him easily stand out as a foreigner in Iraq, where kidnappings(绑架)of Americans and violence are an everyday occurrence. His parents planned to take him to see Iraq once the war was over.
He turned in his assignment via e-mail and was due to be back home over the New Year’s Day weekend.
56. From the passage, we can know _____.
A. Farris Hassan can speak only a little Arabic
B. Farris Hassan’s parents have learned of his plan before
C. Farris Hassan successfully finished his assignment
D. Farris Hassan made arrangements for his trip with the help of his teacher
57. The underlined word “house” in the second paragraph probably means “_____”
A. a building for people to live in B. all the visitors living together
C. provide a place for people to live in D. provide a place for people to visit
58. Why did Farris Hassan travel to Iraq?
A. Because his parents wanted him to do so
B. Because he wanted to experience the war in Iraq
C. Because he wanted to get some information for his assignment
D. Because he had saved enough money for his journey to Iraq.
59. What’s the passage mainly about?
A. An American teenager’s life in Iraq
B. A brave American teenager in Iraq
C. The best way to complete an assignment is to experience it
D. An American teenager’s experience about trying to go to Iraq
第三部分：阅读理解（共15小题，每小题2分，满分30分）.
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。
IN a surprising discovery about where higher life can survive, scientists have found a shrimp-like creature and a jellyfish (水母) swimming beneath an Antarctic ice sheet.
About 180 meters below the ice where no light can get through, scientists had figured nothing much more than a few microbes (微生物) could exist.
That’s why a NASA team was surprised when they lowered a video camera to get the first long look at the underbelly (下腹部) of an ice sheet in Antarctica. A curious shrimp-like creature came swimming by and then parked itself on the camera’s cable. Scientists also pulled up a tentacle (触须) they believe came from a jellyfish.
“We were operating on the presumption (假定) that nothing’s there,” said NASA ice scientist Robert Bindschadler. “It was a shrimp you’d enjoy having on your plate.”
“We were just gaga (狂热的) over it,” he said of the 7.5cm long, orange creature starring in their two-minute video. Technically, it’s not a shrimp. It’s a Lyssianasid amphipod (片脚类动物), which is distantly related to the shrimp.
The video is likely to inspire experts to rethink what they know about life in harsh (苛刻的) environments. And it has scientists thinking that if shrimp-like creatures can live below 180 meters of Antarctic ice in freezing dark water, what about other cold places? What about Europa, a frozen moon of Jupiter?
Cynan Ellis-Evans, a scientist of the British Antarctic Survey called the finding intriguing (吸引人的). He said it was possible the creatures swam in from far away and don’t live there permanently.
But Kim, who is a co-author of the study, doubts it. The site in West Antarctica is at least 19 km from open seas. Bindschadler drilled a 20cm-wide hole and was looking at a tiny amount of water. That means it’s unlikely that two creatures swam from great distances and were captured randomly in that small of an area, she said.
Yet scientists were puzzled at what the food source would be for these creatures. While some microbes can make their own food out of chemicals in the ocean, complex life like the shrimp can’t, Kim said.
So how do they survive? That’s the key question, Kim said.
“It’s pretty amazing when you find a huge puzzle like that on a planet where we thought we know everything,” Kim said.
56. Scientists had believed that harsh environments could only have been populated by ______.
A. jellyfish B. mammal C. microbes D. shrimp-like creature
57. According to Kim, the shrimp-like creature ______.
A. swam great distances to Antarctic B. has always lived in the region
C. gradually evolved from shrimp D. has nothing in common with shrimp
58. The finding is significant in that ______.
A. it marks NASA’s first Antarctic biological study
B. it proves there is marine life in the Antarctic
C. it could inspire further study of life in harsh environment
D. it shows that Lyssianasid amphipod is closely related to shrimp
59. The last three paragraphs suggest that ______.
A. researchers will look at the places the creatures came from
B. ice scientists will drill deeper to find more creature
C. scientists know very little about the planet they live on
D. further research will be done about what the creatures live on
It's hardly surprising that weather is a favourite topic for so many people around the world -- it affects where we choose to five, what we wear, our moods, and perhaps even our national characteristics. Studies have shown that changeable weather can make it difficult to concentrate, cloudy skies slow down reaction, and high humidity with hot, dry winds makes many people bad-tempered.
If you live in a place like Britain, where the weather seems to change daily if not hourly, you could be forgiven for thinking that the weather is random (任意的，随机的). In fact the weather is controlled by systems which move around areas of the globe. In the UK the weather depends on depressions, often called lows, and anticyclones, also known as highs. These systems staff in the Atlantic Ocean, and make their way across the British Isles from the west to the east.
Highs bring sunny weather, while lows bring rain and wind. In modern times, human activities seem to be changing weather patterns. Gases produced by heavy industry, change the temperature of the Earth's surface, and affect cloud formation. Some researchers say that factories in Europe and North America may have been one of the causes of the droughts in Africa in the 1980s.
The human race has always tried to guess the weather, especially in areas of the world where there are frequent changes. Traditional rhymes point to early attempts to identify weather patterns, popular poems include:
Red sky at night, shepherds' delight; Red sky in the morning, shepherds' warning.
Flies will Swarm before a storm,
Rain before 7, clear by 11.
While folk wisdom can still provide a guide to help forecast weather, today's methods of prediction increasingly rely on technology. Satellites, balloons, ships, aircrafts and weather centres with sensitive monitoring equipment, send data to computers. The data is then processed, and the weather is predicted. However, even this system cannot predict weather for longer than about a week.
64. When weather keeps changing, ________.
A. people become bad - tempered B. people's reaction slows down
B. people find it hard to focus on their work D. people become hungrier
65. The weather in Britain is ________.
A. random B. moist (湿润的) C. depressing D. satisfying
66. According to a traditional rhyme, if there is a red sky at night, the next day will be __________.
A. windy B. rainy C. fine D. snowy
67. Which of the following statements is tree?
A. Anticyclones often bring rain and wind.
B. Weather forecasting has been done for a long time.
C. Weather could never be predicted.
D. Modem methods of weather prediction are developed from folk wisdom.
Whenever the sun dropped and the blue sky came up, my father and I used to climb the mountain near my house. Walking together, my father and I used to have a lot of conversations through which I learned lessons from his experiences. He always told me, “You should have goals like climbing the mountain.” Without the mountain-climbing that we both enjoyed ，we couldn’t have enough time to spend together because my father was very busy. I really got a lot from mountain-climbing. It gave me time to talk with my father and to be in deep thought as well as develop my patience (耐力).
Once we climbed a very high mountain. It was so challenging for me because I was only ten years old. During the first few hours of climbing . I enjoyed the flowers and trees, and the birds’ singing, but as time passed, I got a pain in both of my legs. I wanted to quit climbing. In fact, I hated it at that mountain, but my father said to me, “You can always see a beautiful sky at the top of the mountain, but you can’t see it before you reach the top. Only there at the top, can you see all of the nice things, just like in life.”
At that time, I was too young to understand his words. But later after that, I got new hope and confidence. I found myself standing at the top of the sky, which was as clear as crystal (水晶).
66. The passage tells us that mountain-climbing was _____for Father and Son.
A. hard B. enjoyable C. painful D. comfortable
67. The word “quit” in the passage means “______”.
A. carry on B. put off C. give up D. pick up
68. Which of the following is the closest (最接近的) in meaning to the father’s words in the second paragraph?
A. You will get all you need at the top of the mountain.
B. The sky is always as clear as crystal.
C. You can find life is full of nice things. D. Never give up half-way.
69. We can infer (推断) from the last paragraph that ______.
A. the writer was very successful in his life. B. the writer reached the top of the mountain.
C. thought the writer was young, he could understand his father.
D. the writer used to stop half-way when he climbed the mountain.
70. The best title (题目) for the passage is “______”.
A. Reaching the Top of the Mountain B. Standing at the Top of the Mountain
C. Conversations between Father and Son D. How to Get to the Top of the Mountain
.
第八部分：阅读与表达（共3小题，每小题2分，共6分）。
Making friends can be difficult, especially these days with so much peer pressure(同龄人之间的压力). If you want to develop a more pleasing personality and make friends, become genuinely(真诚地) interested in other people. Show kindness. You may be wearing the latest designer label clothes, the hottest brand shoes, and the coolest jewelry, but if you display sourness and selfishness, you'll have a battle ahead of you to make good friends.Smile, smile and continue to smile. It costs nothing, enriches those who receive it, and happens in a flash but the memory lasts forever, it creates happiness in the home and classroom. A smile can not be bought, begged or borrowed; it comes from the heart. If you want other people to like you, make the other person feel important - and do it sincerely!Choose your friends carefully. If others try to persuade you to smoke, take illegal drugs, steal,gamble, fight etc. dare to say NO. Doing the wrong thing is the quickest way to lose friends,especially honest, good and upright friends.
Being mentally strong is not always easy, but let me assure you that the more you practice it,__________. Soon those who thought they were trendy will want to dress like you, talk like you and be with you, because you have a personality which is different. People like being different!By being an individual with your own personality, you can achieve the very best experiences in your life.
You may not ever have many friends, but let me tell you that it is better to have one good friend than ten dishonest friends who will stab(伤害)you in the back at the very first opportunity that arises.
根据短文内容回答问题。将答案写在后面答题纸上相对应的题号后。
26, What's the passage mainly about?( Please answer within 5 words)
_____________________________________________________________________________
27. List three ways the passage has told about the topic.
_____________________________________________________________________________ 28. Fill in the blank in Paragraph 4 with proper words.( Please answer within 5 words)
.
第二部分:阅读理解(共20小题；每小题2分，满分40分)
第一节 阅读下面短文，从每小题所给的A、B、C、D四个选项中，选出最佳选项。
A car needs gas to run and your body also needs food to work for you. Eating the right kind of food is very important. It can help your body grow strong to take care of what you eat.
There are four main food groups altogether. The dairy group has food like milk, cheese and sour milk. The other three groups are the meat and fish group, the fruit and vegetable group, and the bread and rice group. Each meal should have at least one food from all four main groups. With all these food together, you will be given enough energy during the day.
It is easy to get into bad eating habits. You may eat your breakfast in a hurry to get to school on time. Or you may not have time for a good lunch. It may seem easy to finish your supper with fish and chips all the time. But you will find yourself tired in these days and you can not think quickly.
Watching what you eat will help keep your body healthy and strong. It is also good to take some exercise. It will help you eat more if you take a walk or play games in the open air. Having a good eating habit with some exercise is the key to your health.
41. Which of the following diets do you think is the best one?
Eggs, tomatoes and chicken.
B. Milk, bread, cabbages and beef.
Corn, fish, cream and pork.
D. Rice, beancurd（豆腐）, apples, fish and chicken.
42. Which of the following is a good eating-habit?
A. Going to school without any breakfast
B. Eating fish and chips for supper all the time..
C. Having at least one food from all four groups each meal.
D. Having different food from all four food groups.
43. In this passage the writer mainly tells us that _____.
A. every person needs food to grow well
B taking exercise can keep your body strong
C. the right kind of food with exercise will keep you healthy
D. enough energy helps people think more quickly
44. The best title for this passage is _____.
A. The Four Food Groups B. A Healthy Diet
C. Your Body And Food D. Food And Your Health
.
Newspapers are not nearly as popular today as they were in the past．There are not very many people who seriously read a newspaper every day. Most people read only the sports pages，the advice or the gossip columns，the comics, and perhaps the classified advertisements．Most people don’t take the time to read the real news. Newspapers attempt to catch the reader’s interest with pictures and exciting headlines. These techniques are used on the front page because it is the first thing you see when you pick up the paper．The first page attracts attention and encourages the reader to look through the rest of the paper. This is why editors always look for a good first page story and headline to make them stop and look．If the headline is horrible enough or frightening enough or wild enough，perhaps they will go on to read the front page．However，they may just read the headlines，but that is all，then they turn to the sports page，or comics，or advertisements. It seems that people do not want the news from a newspaper anymore. They say they get the news on the television now．
More people watch television news because it is easier and more interesting than reading a newspaper．What about you? Do you read news from a newspaper? Do you think it is easier to get the news from television? Or do you care about news at all? Would you mind if there were no news?
50．According to the passage，newspaper are ．
A．inure popular today B．less popular today
C．as popular as before D．getting more and more popular
51．We can know from the passage that the newspaper editors think the important part of the newspaper is ．
A．the front page B． the sports page
C．the headlines D． the classified advertisements
52．According to the author，which of the following newspapers will most probably attract the reader’s attention?
A．The ones with interesting pictures and exciting headlines on the front page．
B．The ones with sports news on the front page．
C．The ones with classified ads on the front page．
D．The ones with gossip columns on the front p
.
Parents and kids today dress alike, listen to the same music, and are friends. Is this a good thing? Sometimes, when Mr. Ballmer and his 16-year-old daughter, Elizabeth, listen to rock music together and talk about interests both enjoy, such as pop culture, he remembers his more distant relationship with his parents when he was a teenager.
“I would never have said to my mom, ‘Hey, the new Weezer album is really great. How do you like it?’ ” says Ballmer. “There was just a complete gap in taste.”
Music was not the only gulf. From clothing and hairstyles to activities and expectations, earlier generations of parents and children often appeared to move in separate orbits.
Today, the generation gap has not disappeared, but it is getting narrow in many families. Conversations on subjects such as sex and drugs would not have taken place a generation ago. Now they are comfortable and common. And parent-child activities, from shopping to sports, involve a feeling of trust and friendship that can continue into adulthood.
No wonder greeting cards today carry the message, “To my mother, my best friend.”
But family experts warn that the new equality can also result in less respect for parents. “There’s still a lot of strictness and authority on the part of parents out there, but there is a change happening,” says Kerrie, a psychology professor at Lebanon Valley College. “In the middle of that change, there is a lot of confusion among parents.”
Family researchers offer a variety of reasons for these evolving roles and attitudes. They see the 1960s as a turning point. Great cultural changes led to more open communication and a more democratic process that encourages everyone to have a say.
“My parents were on the ‘before’ side of that change, but today’s parents, the 40-year-olds, were on the ‘after’ side,” explains Mr. Ballmer. “It’s not something easily accomplished by parents these days, because life is more difficult to understand or deal with, but sharing interests does make it more fun to be a parent now.”
46. Which of the following shows that the generation gap is disappearing?
A. Parents help their children develop interests in more activities.
B. Parents put more trust in their children’s abilities.
C. Parents and children talk more about sex and drugs.
D. Parents share more interests with their children.
47. The change in today’s parent-child relationship is _________.
A. more confusion among parents
B. new equality between parents and children
C.1ess respect for parents from children
D. more strictness and authority on the part of parents
48. By saying “today’s parents, the 40-year-olds, were on the ‘after’ side.” the author means that today’s parents _________.
A. follow the trend of the change B. can set a limit to the change
C. fail to take the change seriously D. have little difficulty adjusting to the change
49. The purpose of the passage is to _________.
A. describe the difficulties today’s parents have met with
B. discuss the development of the parent—child relationship
C. suggest the ways to handle the parent—child relationship
D. compare today’s parent—child relationship with that in the past
.
第二部分 阅读理解（共20小题。第一节每小题2分，第二节每小题1分；满分35分）
第一节 阅读下列短文，从每题所给的四个选项（A、B、C、D）中，选出最佳选项，并在答题卡上将该项涂黑。
The business executive was deep in debt and could see no way out. Creditors (债主) were closing in on him. Suppliers were demanding payment. He sat on the park bench, head in hands, wondering if anything could save his company from bankruptcy (破产).
Suddenly an old man appeared before him. “I can see that something is troubling you.” he said. After listening to the executive, the old man said: “I believe I can help you.”
He asked the man his name, wrote out a check, and pushed it into his hand saying: “Take this money. Meet me here exactly one year from today, and you can pay me back at that time.” Then he turned and disappeared as quickly as he had come.
The business executive saw in his hand a check for $500,000, signed by John D. Rockefeller, then one of the richest men in the world!
“I can settle all my debts in a moment!” he realized. But instead, the executive decided to put the uncashed check in his safe, just knowing it would give him the strength to work out a way to save his business.
With renewed optimism, he made better deals and extended terms of payment. He closed several big deals. Within a few months, he was out of debt and making money once again.
Exactly one year later, he returned to the park with the uncashed check. At the agreed-upon time, the old man appeared. But just as the executive was about to hand back the check and share his success story, a nurse came running up and grabbed the old man.
“I’m so glad I caught him!” she cried. “I hope he hasn’t been bothering you. He’s always escaping from the rest home and telling people he’s John D. Rockefeller.” And she led the old man away by the arm.
56. What was the executive worried about?
A. He couldn’t produce enough for the suppliers.
B. The creditors wouldn’t lend him any money.
C. His products didn’t sell well.
D. He might run into bankcruptcy.
57. Which of the following statements about the old man is TRUE?
A. The old man had known the executive was in trouble before he came.
B. The old man’s way of helping the executive worked out well.
C. The check he wrote was far from enough for the executive.
D. In fact the old man didn’t want to have his money back.
58. The executive didn’t cash the check because ____________.
A. He was afraid that the bank didn’t have so much money.
B. The check gave him a lot of strength and encouragement.
C. He was uncertain if he could ever pay back the money.
D. He knew the old man wasn’t John D. Rockefeller at all.
.
Fatimah Bamun dropped out of Balizenda Primary School in the first grade, when her father refused to buy her pencils and paper. Only after her teachers said to him that his daughter showed unusual promise(有希望) did he change his mind. Today, Fatimah, 14, tall and slender, studies math in a dirt-floored fourth-grade classroom.
Whether she will reach the fifth grade is another matter. Fatimah is facing the realities of a school with no toilet, no water, no hope of privacy (隐私) other than the shadow of a bush, and no girlfriends with whom to share feelings. Fatimah is the only girl of the 23 students in her class. In fact, in a school of 178 students, she is one of the only three girls who have made it past the third grade.
“I have no friend in the class,” she said. “Most of my friends have dropped out to get married. So during the break, I just sit in the classroom and read.”
Her father, however, now says he is fully behind her. “The people from the government are all the time telling us to send our daughters to school, and I am listening to these people,” he said.
But in many cases, parents don’t listen. Parents think that if the girls stay home, they can help with the harvesting, fetch the water and collect the firewood. So they take them out of school.
In a region where poverty, tradition and ignorance make about 24 million girls not even have an elementary school education. There are many other barriers (障碍) that prevent girls going to school, such as the lack of school toilets and water.
The issue is not only equality. The World Bank thinks that if women in sub-Saharan Africa had equal education, land and other wealth, the region’s economy could improve greatly. There is a connection between growth in Africa and sex equality. It is of great importance but still ignored by so many people.
68. The author’s purpose in writing the passage is to _______.
A. find the cause of Africa’s poverty
B. describe the poor education conditions of African girls
C. prove the inequality in African society
D. reform the present schooling systems in Africa
69. Which of the following statements is NOT true according to the passage?
A. Fatimah is a girl who shows signs of success for the future.
B. Fatimah’s father is now giving a lot of support to her.
C. Fatimah is the only girl who has made it past the fifth grade in her school.
D. Fatimah has no friends at school because they most of them have dropped out to get married.
70. It can be inferred from the passage that _______.
A. most African girls are treated equally in society
B. African governments don’t care whether girls go to school or not
C. most African girls would rather get married than go to school
D. African girls can’t enjoy equal chances for education
.
For millions ofpeople，the American dream ofowning a home seems to be slipping out of
reach．
“Maybe young couples can no longer afford to buy a ready-made house as their parents did,'’
says 40-year-old building instmctor Pat Hennin．“But they can still have a home．Like their pioneer ancestors，they can build it themselves，and at less than half the cost of a ready-made house．”
The owner-builders came from every occupational group，although surprisingly few are professional building workers．Many take the plunge with little or no experience．“l learned how to build my house from reading books，”says John Brown，who built a six-room home for$25，000 in High Falls，New Jersey．“If you have patience and the carpentry(木匠)skill to make a bookcase，you can build a house．”An astonishing 50 percent of these owner builders hammer every nail．1ay every pipe，and wire every switch with their own hands．The rest contraet(承包)for some parts of the task．But even those who just act as contractors and finish the insides of their homes can save from 30 percent to 45 percent ofwhat a ready-made home would cost．
One survey revealed that 60 percent ofowner-builders also design their homes．Many others
buy commercial house plans for less than $100 or use plans available from the U．S． Department ofAgriculture．
49．What does the passage mainly tell us?
A．The cost of having a house built．
B．A comparison between young couples and their parents．
C．The life of owner-builders in America．
D．The American dream of owning a house．
50．It can be inferred from the passage that many Americans find it difficult to _______
A．build a house B．find aready-made house
C．have a good job D．buy a house
51．The underlined phrase“take the plunge”most probably means“_______”
A．decide to build a house B．decide to pull down a house
C．decide to buy a house D．decide to rent a house
52．From the passage we learn that_______．
A．Many house plans are offered free of charge．
B．Most of the house plans arc offered by building instructors
C．Fifty percent of the Amedcan young couples build houses．
D．Must of the owner．builders design their homes．
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Saving the Planet with Earth-Friendly Bamboo Products
Jackie Heinricher’s love with bamboo started in her backyard. “As a child, I remember playing among the golden bamboo my dad had planted, and when there was a slight wind, the bamboos sounded really musical.”
A fishing biologist, Heinricher, 47, planned to work in the industry in Seattle, where she lived with her husband, Guy Thornburgh, but she found it too competitive. Then her garden gave her the idea for a business: She’d planted 20 bamboo forests on their seven-acre farm.
Heinricher started Boo-Shoot Gardens in 1998. She realized early on what is just now beginning to be known to the rest of the world. It can be used to make fishing poles, skateboards, buildings, furniture, floors, and even clothing. An added bonus: Bamboo absorbs four times as much carbon dioxide as a group of hardwood trees and releases 35 percent more oxygen.
First she had to find a way to mass-produce the plants—a tough task, since bamboo flowers create seed only once every 50 to 100 years. And dividing a bamboo plant frequently kills it.
Heinricher appealed to Randy Burr, a tissue culture expert, to help her. “People kept telling us we’d never figure it out,” says Heinricher. “Others had worked on it for 27 years! I believed in what we were doing, though, so I just kept going.”
She was right to feel a sense of urgency. Bamboo forests are being rapidly used up, and a United Nations report showed that even though bamboo is highly renewable, as many as half of the world’s species are threatened with dying out. Heinricher knew that bamboo could make a significant impact on carbon emissions (排放) and world economies, but only if huge numbers could be produced. And that’s just what she and Burr figured out after nine years of experiments—a way to grow millions of plants. By placing cuttings in test tubes with salts, vitamins, plant hormones, and seaweed gel, they got the plants to grow and then raised them in soil in greenhouses.
Not long after it, Burr’s lab hit financial difficulties. Heinricher had no experience running a tissue culture operation, but she wasn’t prepared to quit. So she bought the lab.
Today Heinricher heads up a profitable multimillion-dollar company, working on species from all over the world and selling them to wholesalers. “If you want to farm bamboo, it’s hard to do without the young plants, and that’s what we have,” she says proudly.
72. What was the main problem with planting bamboo widely?
A. They didn’t have enough young bamboo.
B. They were short of money and experience.
C. They didn’t have a big enough farm to do it.
D. They were not understood by other people.
73. What does Heinricher think of bamboo?
A. Renewable and acceptable B. Productive and flexible.
C. Useful and earth-friendly. D. Strong and profitable.
74. The underlined word “renewable” in Paragraph 6 probably means “________”.
A. able to be replaced naturally B. able to be raised difficultly
C. able to be shaped easily D. able to be recycled conveniently
75. What do you learn from the passage?
A. Heinricher’s love for bamboo led to her experiments in the lab.
B. Heinricher’s determination helped her to succeed in her work.
C. Heinricher struggled to prevent bamboo from disappearing.
D. Heinricher finally succeeded in realizing her childhood dream.
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California is the most populous state in the United States, and the third largest by land area, after Alaska and Texas. California is located on the West Coast of the United States, bordered by Oregon to the north, Nevada to the northeast, Arizona to the southeast, the Mexican state of Baja California to the south, and the Pacific Ocean to the west. Its four largest cities are Los Angeles, San Diego, San Jose, and San Francisco. The state is home to the nation’s second and sixth largest census statistical areas as well as eight of the nation’s fifty most populous cities. California has a varied climate and geography, and a diverse population.
California’s geography ranges from the Pacific coast to the Sierra Nevada mountain range in the east, to Mojave desert areas in the southeast and the Redwood — Douglas fir forests of the northwest. The center of the state is dominated by the Central Valley, one of the most productive agricultural areas in the world. California is the most geographically diverse state in the nation, and contains the highest (Mount Whitney) and lowest (Death Valley) points in the contiguous United States. Almost 40% of California is forested, a high amount for a relatively arid state.
Beginning in the late 18th century, the area known as Alta California was colonized by the Spanish Empire. In 1821, Mexico, including Alta California, became the First Mexican Empire, beginning as a monarchy, before shifting to a republic. In 1846 a group of American settlers in Sonoma declared the independence of a California Republic. As a result of the Mexican-American War, Mexico ceded California to the United States. It became the 31st state admitted to the union on September 9, 1850.
In the 19th century, the California Gold Rush brought about dramatic social, economic, and demographic change in California, with a large influx of people and an economic boom that caused San Francisco to grow from a hamlet of tents to a world-renowned boomtown. Key developments in the early 20th century included the emergence of Los Angeles as center of the American entertainment industry, and the growth of a large, state-wide tourism sector. In addition to California’s prosperous agricultural industry, other important contributors to the economy include aerospace, petroleum, and information technology. If California were a country, it would rank among the ten largest economies in the world, with a GDP similar to that of Italy. It would be the 35th most populous country.
46. Which of the following is TRUE about California?
A. The population in California is larger than that in any other state in the US.
B. A state of Mexico lies to the southeast of California.
C. Eight biggest cities in California are among the most developed ones in North America.
D. Few races of people live in California except the white and black people.
47. What is the second paragraph mainly about?
A. California’s culture B. California’s history
C. California’s location D. California’s geography
48. How did the United States admit California as its 31st state?
A. By occupying the land. B. By colonizing the land.
C. By winning a war against Mexico. D. By offering aids to Mexico.
49. Why did San Francisco grow from a hamlet of tents to a world-famous boomtown?
A. Because it became the center of the American entertainment industry.
B. Because it had the best growth of a large, state-wide tourism.
C. Because a large number of people rushed there in search of gold.
D. Because it developed many such important contributors to economy as IT.
50. What if California were a country?
A. It would be richer than Italy, a European country.
B. It would be one of the ten richest countries.
C. Its population would be larger than that of 34 countries.
D. It would have a better economy than it has now.
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