One of Lewis Gordon Pugh’s first big attempts to put his cold-water skills to the test nearly ended in disaster. On a one-mile swim in Antarctica in December 2005, just yards from the finish, his body began to give in. The temperature inside his thigh muscle dropped to 87.8 degrees, the lowest ever measured in him. He was completely at the limits of his ability.
Despite what he called the “grueling (折磨人的)” Antarctic swim, Pugh scheduled an even more fearsome test for himself at the North Pole. Stepping off the way of the Russian icebreaker that had crunched(咯吱作响的穿过) through floating sea ice for five days to take him to the North Pole, Pugh walked across the ice to a pool of open water over one mile long and two and a half miles deep. The sea temperature was 29 degrees, only a little above the freezing point of salt water.
Pugh quickly took off his padded clothes. In only his bathing suit and cap, his skin already pink, he walked to the water’s edge. “The only place I’m getting out is at the end,” he told himself. Then he removed his earphones and dived in.
The pain was immediate. His entire body felt on fire. The doctor kept pace with him in a boat. Through iced-up goggles(护目镜), Pugh could see the armed guards keeping watch for bears.
His friend Becker had broken down the huge task into manageable parts, each one marked by a flag planted in the ice that represented a friend, family member, or teammate. Fog started to roll in as Pugh headed for the final marker, the flag of Great Britain. He imagined his late father standing beside it--- the man who had done so much to give him an interest in adventure. Then Pugh drove himself to the finish. After 18 minutes 50 seconds in the water, his body was not even hypothermic(体温过低的)..
Why did Lewis Gordon Pugh swim in Antarctica in December 2005?
| A．To train his determination. |
| B．To end a disaster. |
| C．To test his cold-water skills. |
| D．To check the temperature in Antarctica. |
.
. It can be inferred that in the pool at the North Pole Lewis Gordon Pugh __________.
| A．had to suffer from the cold water with his goal to achieve |
| B．dived to the depth of two and a half miles |
| C．broke the records that the Russian kept |
| D．spent nearly 19 minutes walking over one mile |
.
. To make sure of the successful test in the pool at the North Pole, __________.
| A．Lewis Gordon Pugh had to carry flags |
| B．Lewis Gordon Pugh was accompanied by his father |
| C．Pugh took measures to keep his body temperature |
| D．Pugh’s task was separated into several parts |
Life gets noisier every day and very few people can be free from noise of some sort or another. It doesn't matter where you live---in the middle of a modern city or a faraway village---the chances are that you’ll be disturbed by jet planes, transistor radios, oil-powered engines, etc. We seem to be getting used to noise, too. Some people feel quite lonely without background music while they’re working.
Scientific tests have shown that total silence can be a very frightening experience for a human being. However, some people enjoy listening to pop music which is very loud, and this can do harm to their eardrums(耳鼓). The noise level in some discos is far above the usual safety level for heavy industrial areas.
One recent report about noise and concentration suggested that although a lot of people say that any noise disturbs their concentration, what really influences their ability to concentrate is a change in the level of noise. It goes on to say that a background noise which doesn't change too much (music, for example) may even help people to concentrate..
According to this passage, the noise pollution______.
| A．has become the worst in the countryside |
| B．has become better in big cities |
C．has spread from cities to villages |
| D．has been controlled in modern cities |
.
What does background music refer to?
| A．Music played while people are working. |
| B．Music played in the backyard. |
| C．Noise that continues while you’re listening to other noises. |
| D．Music used to help people to concentrate. |
.
. Some people have their hearing harmed______.
| A．while listening to pop music | B．in complete silence |
| C．when speaking loudly | D．while watching TV |
Terraforming (Earth-forming) other planets, also known as planetary engineering (行星工程), seems like a task still centuries away for mankind to accomplish. However, it is a vigorous topic that attracts both popular and scientific interest. Why should the possibility of terraforming other planets be studied when it may be centuries before we know enough to even decide if it’s a good idea?
Mankind is getting more and more hard facts about other planets. The atmosphere of Venus has been explored; robots have surveyed the surface of Mars; Mercury, Jupiter and Saturn have been studied by spacecraft. Speculations have been answered; new questions have been raised, and enough hard data is right now becoming available to allow us to make the first attempt of planetary engineering.
In the past, people with excellent ideas about terraforming have kept them to themselves, or buried them in a desk drawer because they did not realize that anyone else was interested. But now, a wide circle of people has begun to do this kind of work. For instance, NASA funded a project on transforming Mars.
There are several strong reasons which demand that the possibilities of terraforming be studied carefully. First, it’s an exciting idea of a possible future for human beings. Such thinking has a valuable role in providing options for our future directions. Secondly, the techniques of terraforming will also help contemporary technologies in weather and climate control. Thirdly, such study may assist us in detecting any possible existence of extraterrestrial intelligence (SETI, The Search for Extraterrestrial Intelligence, 地外文明搜索) and alien (异己的) civilizations on other planets.
Though the mission is far beyond our reach at the moment, we should at least keep our options open. Through debate and study on this subject, the possibility of rebuilding other planets to make them suitable homes for people may come true some day in the future..
. According to the context, what’s the meaning of the word “speculation” in paragraph 2?
| A．The act of discussing something with a group of people. |
| B．The act of studying and researching. |
| C．The act of guessing without knowing all the facts about something. |
| D．The acting of writing letters to a certain organization. |
.
Why did people keep the idea of terraforming to themselves in the past?
| A．They thought no one else would show interest in the idea. |
| B．They gradually came to find the idea crazy. |
| C．They thought the idea would never come true. |
| D．They had few resources for further study on this topic. |
.
. Which is NOT the reason to support the study of terraforming?
| A．Even if we don’t succeed in terraforming, such study may help us to better understand technologies such as climate and weather control. |
| B．Such study may explore a new direction of development for human beings. |
| C．Such study may enable us to find the lives on other planets. |
| D．As the resources on Earth are being drained, it’s very urgent to study how to migrate (迁移) to other planets。 |
.
What’s the main idea of the article?
| A．It’s highly possible that terraforming other planets will come true so we should increase investing in this program. |
| B．Even if the idea of terraforming other planets may take centuries to realize, we have many reasons to support such studies. |
| C．Terraforming other planets is the best option for human being’s future. |
| D．More and more people are taking planetary engineering as their occupation. |
One of our biggest fears nowadays is that our kids might some day get lost in a “sea of technology” rather than experiencing the natural world. Fear – producing TV and computer games are leading to a serious disconnect between kids and the great outdoors, which will change the wild places of the world, its creatures and human health for the worse, unless adults get working on child’s play.
Each of us had a place in nature we go sometimes, even if it was torn down. We cannot be the last generation to have that place. At this rate, kids who miss the sense of wonder outdoors will not grow up to be protectors of natural landscapes. “If the decline in parks use continues across North America, who will defend parks against encroachment（蚕食）?” asks Richard Louv, author of Last Child in the Woods.
Without having a nature experience, kids can turn out just fine, but they are missing out a huge enrichment of their lives. That applies to everything from their physical health and mental health, to stress levels, creativity and cognitive（认知的）skills. Experts predict modern kids will have poorer health than their parents—and they say a lack of outside play is surely part of it; research suggests that kids do better academically in schools with a nature component and that play in nature fosters（培养）leadership by the smartest, not by the toughest. Even a tiny outdoor experience can create wonder in a child. The three – year – old turning over his first rock realizes he is not alone in the world. A clump of trees on the roadside can be the whole universe in his eyes. We really need to value that more.
Kids are not to blame. They are over – protected and frightened. It is dangerous out there from time to time, but repetitive stress from computers is replacing breaking an arm as a childhood rite（仪式）of passage.
Everyone from developers to schools and outdoorsy citizens, should help regain for our kids some of the freedom and joy of exploring, taking friendship in fields and woods that cement（增强）love, respect and need for the landscape. As parents, we should devote some of our energies to taking our kids into nature. This could yet be our greatest cause..
According to Paragraph 2, the writer thinks that_____.
| A．we are the last generation to experience nature. |
| B．the author of Last Child in the Woods don’t defend parks against encroachment |
| C．without having a nature experience, kids are missing out a huge enrichment of their lives |
| D．children should grow up to be protectors of nature |
.
According to the passage, children without experiencing nature will .
| A．keep a high sense of wonder |
| B．be over – protected by their parents |
| C．be less healthy both physically and mentally |
| D．change wild places and creatures for the better |
.
. According to the author, children’s breaking an arm is .
| A．the fault on the part of their parents |
| B．the natural experience in their growing up |
| C．the result of their own carelessness in play |
D．the effect of their re petitive stress from computers |
.
In writing this passage, the author mainly intends to .
A. blame children for getting lost in computer games
B. encourage children to protect parks from encroachment
C. show his concern about children’s lack of experience in nature
For thousands of years, the most important two buildings in any British village have been the church and the pub. Traditionally, the church and the pub are at the heart of any village or town, where the people gather together to socialize and exchange news.
As a result, British pubs are often old and well preserved. Many of them have become historic sites. The most famous example is the pub in the city of Nottingham called “Ye O
lde Trip to Jerusalem”, which dates back to the year 1189 AD and is probably the oldest pub in England.
However, British pubs are not just for kings and queens; they welcome people from all classes and parts of society. On a cold night, the pub’s landlord or landlady can always find a warm place for you by the fire. There is always honest and hearty food and plenty of drink available at an affordable price.
That’s how things used to be. Things are beginning to change. It is said that the credit crunch(信贷紧缩) is causing 39 British pubs a week to go out of busi
ness. People do not have enough spare money to spend on beer. Recently, the UK government banned smoking in all pubs, and that may also have affected the number of customers going to pubs.
This decline is happening despite the fact that in 2005 the UK government started to allow pubs to stay open after 1l pm. Previously, with 1l pm as closing time, customers would have to drink quite quickly, meaning they sometimes got more drunk than they would if allowed to drink slowly. The British habit of drinking a lot very quickly is known as “binge drinking”, and it causes long-term health problems for people and problems with violent crime for communities.
In order to save their businesses, pubs are trying to change with the market. British pubs now offer something for everyone. A lot of pubs used to be “Working Men's Clubs”, meaning that women could not usually enter. Today, however, women can freely enter 99% of pubs without experiencing any problems. Perhaps things are changing for the better after all.. The passage mainly tells us something about
| A．the past and present of British pubs | B．the decline of British pubs |
| C．the long history of British pubs | D．the importance of British pubs |
. Which may not be the cause of the decline of British pubs?
| A．The credit crunch. | B．The present closing time. |
| C．The ban of smoking. | D．Having no spare money. |
.. We can infer from the passage that
| A．British people used to like drinking slowly |
| B．closing the pubs early will reduce social problems |
| C．binge drinking means drinking less beer |
| D．British government aims to discourage people from binge drinking |
. We can see from the last paragraph that the author ________
| A．is against the admission of too many women to the pubs |
| B．holds an optimistic attitude towards the British pubs |
| C．thinks that women in the pubs will cause less social problems |
| D．thinks that British pubs should offer everything you need |
Modern inventions have speeded up people’s lives amazingly. Motor-cars cover a hundred miles in little more than an hour, aircraft cross the world inside a day, while computers operate at lightning speed. Indeed, this love of speed seems never-ending. Every year motor-cars are produced which go even faster and each new computer boasts (吹嘘) of saving precious seconds in handling tasks.
All this saves time, but at a price. When we lose or gain half a day in speeding across the world in an air
plane, our bodies tell us so. We get the uncomfortable feeling known as jet-lag; our bodies feel that they have been left behind in another time zone. Again, spending too long at computer results in painful wrists and fingers. Mobile phones also have their dangers, according to some scientists; too much use may transmit harmful radiation into our brains, a consequence we do not like to think about.
However, what do we do with the time we have saved? Certainly not rel
ax, or so it seems. We are so accustomed to constant activity that we find it difficult to sit and d
o nothing, or even just one thing at a time. Perhaps the days are long gone when we might listen quietly to a story on the radio, letting imagination take us into another world.
There was a time when some people’s lives were devoted simply to the cultivation of the land or the care of cattle. No multi-tasking there; their lives went on at a much gentler pace, and in a familiar pattern. There is much that we might envy about a way of life like this. Yet before we do so, we must think of the hard
tasks our ancestors faced: they farmed with bare hands, often lived close to hunger, and had to fashion tools from wood and stone. Modern machinery has freed people from that primitive existence. The new products become more and more time-saving because .
| A．the manufacturers boast a lot | B．time is limited |
| C．the prices are increasingly high | D．our love of speed seems never-ending |
What does “the days” in Paragraph 3 refer to?
| A．Simple life in the past. | B．Imaginary life. |
| C．Times of inventions. | D．Time for constant activity. |
. What is the author’s attitude towards the modern technology?
| A．Critical. | B．Optimistic. | C．Objective. | D．Negative. |
. What does the passage mainly discuss?
| A．The present and past times. | B．Modern technology and its influence. |
| C．Imaginations and inventions. | D．Machinery and human beings. |
It was a village in India. The people were poor. However, they were not unhappy. After all, their forefathers had lived in the same way for centuries.
Then one day, some visitors from the city arrived. They told the villagers there were some people elsewhere who liked to eat frog’s legs. However, they did not have enough frogs of their own, and so they wanted to buy frogs from other places.
This seemed like money for nothing. There were millions of frogs in the fields around, and they were no use to the villagers. All they had to do was catch them. Agreement was reached, and the children were sent into the fields to catch frogs. Every week a truck arrived to collect the catch and hand over the money. For the first time, the people were able to dream of a better future. But the dream didn’t last long.
The change was hardly noticed at first, but it seemed as if the crops were not doing so well. More worrying was that the children fell ill more often, and, there seemed to be more insects around lately.
The villagers decided that they couldn’t just wait to see the crops failing and the children getting weak. They would have to use the money earned to buy pesticides (杀虫剂）and medicines. Soon there was no money left.
Then the people realized what was happening. It was the frog. They hadn’t been useless. They had been doing an important job — eating insects. Now with so many frogs killed, the insects were increasing more rapidly. They were damaging the crops and spreading diseases.
Now, the people are still poor. But in the evenings they sit in the village square and listen to sounds of insects and frogs. These sounds of the night now have a much deeper meaning..
. From Paragraph 1 we learn that the villagers .
| A．worked very hard for centuries | B．dreamed of having a better life |
| C．were poor but somewhat content | D．lived a different life from their forefathers |
.
Why did the villagers agree to sell frogs?
| A．The frogs were easy money. | B．They needed money  to buy medicine. |
| C．They wanted to please the visitors. | D．The frogs made too much noise. |
.
. What might be the cause of the children’s sickness?
| A．The crops didn’t do well. | B．There were too many insects. |
| C．The visitors brought in diseases. | D．The pesticides were overused. |
.
What can we infer from the last
sentence of the text?
| A．Happiness comes from peaceful life in the country. |
| B．Health is more important than money. |
| C．The harmony between man and nature is important. |
| D．Good old days will never be forgotten. |
The need to feed a growing population is putting much pressure on the world’s supply of water. With 97% of the world’s water too salty to be drunk or used in agriculture, the worldwide supply of water needs careful management, especially in agriculture. Although the idea of a water shortage seems strange to someone fortunate enough to live in a high rainfall country, many of the world’s agricultur
al industries experience constant water shortages.
Although dams can be built to store water for agricultural use in dry areas and dry seasons, the costs of water redistribution (重新分配) are very high. Not only is there the cost of the engineering itself, but there is also an environmental cost to be considered. Where valleys are flooded to create dams, houses are lost and wildlife homes destroyed. Besides, water may flow easily through pipes to fields, but it cannot be transported from one side of the world to the other. Each country must therefore rely on the management of its own water to supply its farming requirements.
This is particularly troubling for countries with agricultural industries in areas dependent on irrigation. In Texas, farmers’ overuse of irrigation water has resulted in a 25% reduction of the water stores. In the Central Valley area of southwestern USA, a huge water engineering project provided water for farming in dry valleys, but much of the water use has been poorly managed.
Saudi Arabia’s attempts to grow wheat in desert areas have seen the pumping of huge quantities of irrigation water from underground reserves. Because there is no rainfall in these areas, such reserves can only decrease, and it is believed that fifty years of pumping will see them run dry..
. From t
he first two paragraphs we learn that __________.
| A．much of the world’s water is available for use |
| B．people in high rainfall countries feel lucky |
| C．water can be easily carried through pipes across the world |
| D．the costs of water redistribution should be considered |
.
. Which of the following is true?
| A．The underground water in Saudi Arabia might run out in 50 years. |
| B．Most industries in the world suffer from water shortages. |
C．The  water stores in Texas have been reduced by 75%. |
| D．Good management of water use resulted from the project in the Central Valley. |
.
The text is mainly about __________.
| A．water supply and increasing population |
| B．water redistribution and wildlife protection |
| C．water use management and agriculture |
| D．water shortages and environmental protection |
.
. What is most likely to be discussed in the paragraph that follows?
| A．Approaches to handling the pressure on water supply. |
| B．Ways to reduce the costs of building dams. |
| C．Measures to deal with worldwide water shortages. |
| D．Steps to improving water use management. |
Goldie’s Secret
She turned up at the doorstep of my house in Co
rnwall. No way could I have sent her away. No way, not me anyway. Maybe someone had kicked her out of their car the night before. “We’re moving house.” “No space for her any more with the baby coming.” “We never really wanted her, but what could we have done? She was a present.” People find all sorts of excuses for abandoning an animal. And she was one of the most beautiful dogs I had ever seen.
I called her Goldie. If I had known what was going to happen I would have given her a mo
re creative name. She was so unsettled during those first few days. She hardly ate anything and had such an air of sadness about her. There was nothing I could do to make her happy, it seemed. Heaven knows what had happened to her at her previous owner’s. But eventually at the end of the first week she calmed down. Always by my side, whether we were out on one of our long walks or sitting by the fire.
That’s why it was such a shock when she pulled away from me one day when we were out for a walk. We were a long way from home, when she started barking and getting very restless. Eventually I couldn’t hold her any longer and she raced off down the road towards a farmhouse in the distance as fast as she could.
By the time I reached the farm I was very tired and upset with Goldie. But when I saw her licking (舔) the four puppies (幼犬) I started to feel sympathy towards them. “We didn’t know what had happened to her,” said the woman at the door. “I took her for a walk one day, soon after the puppies were born, and she just disappeared.” “She must have tried to come back to them and got lost,” added a boy from behind her.
I must admit I do miss Goldie, but I’ve got Nugget now, and she looks just like her mother. And I’ve learnt a good lesson: not to judge people..
How did the author feel about Goldie when Goldie came to the house?
| A．Shocked. | B．Annoyed. | C．Sympathetic. | D．Upset. |
.
. In her first few days at the author’s house, Goldie .
| A．sat by the fire | B．was angry |
| C．ate a little | D．felt worried |
.
Goldie rushed off to a farmhouse one day because she .
| A．found her way to her old home | B．heard familiar barkings |
| C．wanted to leave the author | D．saw her puppies |
.
The passage is organized in order of .
| A．effectiveness | B．time | C．importance | D．complexity |
America
n cities are similar to other cities around the world. In every country, cities reflect the values of the culture. American cities are changig, just as American society is changing.
After World War Ⅱ, the population of most large American cities decreased; however, the population in many Sun Belt cities increased. Los Angles and Houston are cities where population shifts (转移) to and from the city reflect the changing values of American society. In the late 1940s and early 1950s, city residents became wealthier. They had more children so they needed more space. They moved out of their apartments in the city to buy their own homes. They bought houses in the suburbs.
Now things are changing. The children of the peop
le who left the cities in the 1950s are now adults. Many, unlike their parents, want to live in the cities. They continue to move to Sun Belt cities and older ones of the Northeast and Midwest. Many young professionals are moving back into the city. They prefer the city to the suburbs because their jobs are there; or they just enjoy the excitement and possibilities that the city offers.
This population shift is bringing problems as well as benefits. Countless poor people must leave their apartments in the city because the owners want to sell the buildings or make apartments for sale instead of for rent. In the 1950s, many poor people did not have enough money to move to the suburbs; now many of these same people do not have enough money to stay in the cities.
Only a few years ago, people thought that the older American cities were dying. Some city residents now see a bright, new future. Others see only problems and conflicts. One thing is sure: many dying cities are alive again..
What does the author think of cities all over the world?
| A．They are similar. | B．They are hopeless. |
| C．They are alive. | D．They are different. |
.
Why did American city residents want to live in the suburbs after World War Ⅱ?
| A．Because older American cities were dying. |
| B．Because they were richer and needed more space. |
| C．Because they could hardly afford to live in the city. |
| D．Because cities contained the worst parts of society. |
.
According to the 4th paragraph, a great many poor people in American cities __________
.
| A．are forced to move to the suburbs | B．are faced with housing problems |
| C．want to sell their buildings | D．need more money for daily expenses |
.
We can conclude from the text that __________.
| A．American cities are changing for the worse | |
| B．the population is decreasing in older American cities | C．many people are now moving from American cities |
| D．people have different views on American cities |
I would li
ke to tell you a story about my uncle Theo. He is my oldest uncle, a tall, thin, grey-haired man whose thoughts are always on learning and nothing else. He is quiet, gentle and absent-minded and with about as much sense as a child where money is concerned. Well, he applied a post in Camford University. It was a very good post and there were hundreds of candidates who applied for 
it, and about fifteen, including Theo, were asked to be interviewed.
Camford is a very small town; there is only one hotel in it, and it was so full that they had to put many of the candidates two in a room. Theo was one of these, and the man who shared the room with him was a self-confident fellow called Adams, about twenty years younger than Theo, with a loud voice, and a laugh that you could hear all over the hotel. But he was a clever fellow all the same and had a good post in Iscaiot College, Narkover. Well, the Dean, who was the head of the department of the University, and the committee interviewed all the candidates; and as a result of this interview, the number of the candidates was reduced to two, Uncle Theo and Adams. The committee couldn’t decide which of the two to take, so they decided to make their final choice after each of the candidates had given a public lecture in the college lecture-hall. The subject they had to speak on was “The Civilization of the Ancient Summerians”; and the lecture had to be given in three days’ time.
Well, for these three days Uncle Theo never left his room. He worked day and night at that lecture, writing it out and memorizing it, almost without eating or sleeping. 
Adams didn
’t seem to do any preparation at all. You could hear his voice and his laughter where he had a crowd of people around him. He came to his room late at night, asked Uncle Theo how he was getting on with his lecture, and then told him how he had spent the evening playing bridge, or at the music hall. He ate like a horse and slept like a log; and Uncle Theo sat up working at his lecture.
The day of the lecture arrived. They all went into the lecture hall and Theo and Adams took their seats on the platform. And then, Theo discovered, to his horror, that typewritten copy of his speech had disappeared! The Dean said they would call on the candidates on the alphabetical order, Adams first; and the despair in his heart, Theo watched Adams calmly take the stolen speech out of pocket and read it to the professors who were gathered to hear it. And how well he read it! Even Uncle Theo had to admit he couldn’t have read it nearly so eloquently himself, and when Adams finished there was a great burst of applause. Adams 
bowed and smiled, and sat down.
Now, it was Theo’s turn. But what could he do? He had put everything he knew into the lecture. His mind was too much upset to put the same thoughts in another way. With a burning face he could only repeat, word for word, in a low, dull voice, the lecture that Adams had spoken so eloquently. There was hardly any applause when he sat down.
The Dean and the committee went out to decide who the successful candidate was, but everyone was sure what their decision would be. Adams leaned across to Theo and patted him on the back and said, smilingly, “Hard luck, old fellow, but after all, only one of us could win”
Then the Dean and the committee came back, “Gentlemen”, the Dean said, “the candidate we have chosen is Mr. Hobdell.” Uncle Theo had won! The audience were completely taken by surprise, and the Dean continued, “ I think I ought to tell you how we arrived at the decision. We were all filled with admiration at the learning and eloquence of Mr. Adams. I was greatly impressed. But, you will remember, Mr. Adams read his lecture to us. When Mr. Hobdell’s turn came, he repeated that speech, word by word from memory, though, of course, he couldn’t have seen a line of it before. Now a fine memory is absolutely necessary for this post; and what a memory Mr. Hobdell must have! This is why we decided that Mr. Hobdell was exactly the man we wanted! ”
As they walked out of the room, the Dean came up to Uncle Theo, who was so confused but so happy that he hardly knew whether he was standing on his head or heels; and as he shook Theo’s hand he said, “Congratulations, Mr. Hobdell! But, my fellow, when you are on our staff, you must be more careful and not leave valuable papers lying about!”. Which of the followings best describes Uncle Theo?
| A．Good-mannered | B．Modest | C．Childish | D．Bookish |
What do we know about the post at Camford University?
A．The applicants ha d to sit for an examination. |
| B．There was much competition for the post. |
| C．The post requires a lot of teaching experience. |
| D．The post offered quite high salary. |
. Adams did not bother to do any preparation because______.
| A．he was quite familiar with the subject. |
| B．he knew the committee members well. |
| C．he had a well-thought-out plan. |
| D．he had full confidence in himself. |
When Uncle Theo’s turn came, _______.
| A．he felt so angry that he couldn’t see a word. |
| B．he felt so upset that he could not remember anything. |
| C．he had to put the same thoughts in another way. |
| D．he had to repeat the speech, word by word from memory. |
When the committee went out to make a decision, Adams _______.
| A．could not help feeling worried. |
| B．could hardly wait to show his joy. |
| C．felt sorry for Theo and tried to cheer him up. |
| D．felt ashamed and tried to chat with Theo. |
Theo became successful because _______.
| A．he had a better memory than Adams. | |
B．he was more experienced than Adams. |
C．the committee knew he was exactly the man they wanted. |
| D．the committee knew Adams had copied Theo’s speech. |
XI'AN - China's conservation work for the endangered crested ibis（朱鹮）is facing new challenges, including an increasing mortality rate due to inbreeding, and the conflict between the need to expand natural habitats and local communities' economic interests, bird experts have warned.
The crested ibis, once widespread in Japan, China, Russia and the Korean Peninsula, almost 
became extinct in the first half of the 20th century.
Before 1981, when seven crested ibis were accidentally found in Yangxian county, in Northwest China's Shaanxi province, academics thought the species had been extinct in China for almost 17 years.
Due to the huge effort put into species protection since 1981, the number of crested ibis in China has risen to an estimated 1,617, including 997 in the wild, the State Forestry Administration said at a meeting on crested ibis protection in Xi'an on Monday.
However, although the ibis population exceeds 1,000, the birds are still not free from the threat of extinction, said Fang Shengguo, director of the State Conservation Center for Gene Resources of Endangered Wildlife at Zhejiang University.
“Ornithologists used inbreeding in the early stages of protection so that numbers of the precious birds could increase quickly, but that method had conseque
nces,” Fang said.
"Studies have proved that as a result of inbreeding, crested ibis have the lowest genetic diversity of all endangered birds," Fan
g said.
"It means a high mortality rate and more physical defects for hatched chicks."
“The government should collect genetic information from all crested ibis and establish a genetic database as soon as possible, then design a scientific mating plan for the species,” Fang said.
So far, about 90 percent of crested ibis live in Shaanxi province, and fewer than 140 ibis live in three zoos in other parts of the country, including Beijing Zoo, according to Liu Dongping, an assistant researcher at the National Bird Banding Center of China, which is affiliated to the Chinese 
Academy of Forestry.
The bird has lost the ability to migrate, he said, adding that if an unexpected natural disaster occurred in Shaanxi province or an infectious disease spread through the area, the ibis population could be greatly reduced.
Experts also warned that the increased population of ibis, whether in the wild or in captivity, requires a 
larger and more varied natural habitat.
Rampant hunting, the massive loss of habitat caused by deforestation and the overuse of pesticides, which killed aquatic insects on which the ibis feed, are believed to be the main reasons for the sharp reduction in the ibis population before 1981.
So, in 1983, a State-level natural reserve was set up in Shaanxi province to protect the bird. But the struggle for living space between human and animal has never stopped, said Lu Baozhong, deputy director of the Shaanxi Crested Ibis Conservation Station.
"For example, ibis often look for loaches in farmers' rice fields. Sometimes their claws trample the rice seedlings. In another case, villagers discovered some land with abundant mineral resources which happened to be a habitat for ibis," said Lu, who has devoted 30 years to ibis protection.
A long-term win-win solution for ibis and local communities needs to be developed, one that would provide ecological compensation for local residents, Lu said.. What’s the best title for the passage?
| A．The Rare Bird in China | B．New Problems for the Crested Ibis |
| C．The Way to Save the Crested Ibis | D．The Reason for the Crested Ibis’s Extinction |
Which of the following statement is TRUE ?
| A．The crested ibis is a native of China. |
| B．Before 1981, the crested ibis was extinct in China. |
| C．The crested ibis is now free from the threat of extinction. |
| D．Most of the crested ibis are in Shaanxi province. |
. Why did the experts adopt the way of inbreeding to protect the crested ib
is?
| A．To increase the mortality rate. |
| B．To increase the number of the crested ibis. |
| C．To get more physical defects for hatched chicks |
| D．To have the lowest diversity of the endangered bird. |
. What may be the reason for the reduction in the population of the crested ibis before 1981?
| A．inbreeding | B．economic development |
| C．over hunting | D．sandstorm |
. What can we learn from the passage?
| A．Due to our great efforts, the crested ibis lives in the wild well. |
| B．Scientists will choose a better habitat for the crested ibis. |
C．The problems of the crested ibis have not been solved now. |
| D．The government has established a genetic database of the crested ibis. |
Being a mother is apparently not like it was in the good old days.
Today’s parents yearn for the golden age that their own mothers enjoyed in the 1970s and 1980s, researchers found. Mothers have less time to themselves and feel under greater pressure to handle work and family life than the previous generation. As a result, 88 per cent said they felt guilty about the lack of time they spent with their children.
The survey of 1,000 mothers also found that more than a third said they had less time to themselves than their mothers did – just three hours a week or 26 minutes a day. And 64 per cent said this was because they felt they ‘had’ to go out to work, while nearly a third (29 per cent) said they were under constant pressure to be the ‘perfect mother’, the report found.
Other findings showed social networking and parenting websites, as well as technology such as Skype, were important in providing help and support among female communities. Kate Fox, a member of the Social Issues Rese
arch Centre, which conducted the survey for Procter & Gamble, said: ‘With increasing pressure on 
mothers to work a “double shift” — to be the perfect mother as well as a wage-earner — support networks are more important than ever.
It comes as a separate report examining childcare in the leading industrialised nations found that working mothers in Britain spend just 81 minutes a day caring for their children as a ‘primary activity’. Mothers who stay at home, on the other hand, manage twice as much time – more than two and a half hours – looking after their offspring, according to the Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development.
Critics say the pressure on women to work long hours, and leave their offspring in the hands of nurseries or childminders, is putting the well-being of their children at risk.
The study also reveals that, despite the fact that more and more modern mothers go out to work, the burden of childcare still falls on them - even if their husband is not in work. A father who is not in work tends to spend just 63 minutes a day looking after his child - 18 minutes less than a mother who goes out to work. Working fathers spare less than three quarters of an hour with their children.. What does the passage mainly talk about?
| A．The good old days of mothers in the 1970s and 1980s. |
| B．The great sufferings of today’s children. |
| C．The statistics of working mothers and full-time mothers. |
| D．The big problems that today’s working mothers face. |
. What does the underlined phrase “yearn for” probably means ___________.
| A．hate | B．miss | C．abandon | D．control |
Which of the following problems is NOT mentioned in the passage?
| A．Today’s mothers have less time left for their children and themselves. |
| B．The working mothers can hardly strike the balance between work and family. |
| C．Most of the mothers can not control their husbands nowadays. |
| D．Modern fathers do not spend enough time with their children. |
From para. 4, we can infer that ___________.
| A．working mothers can seek help on line |
| B．Skype is a very famous expert in studying social issues |
| C．working mothers’ double shift is to be a wife and a mother |
| D．Kate Fox has opened a website offering help to working mothers |
. What critics say means that _____________.
| A．it is wise for working mothers to put their kids in nurseries or childminders |
| B．too much time in nurseries or childminders is bad for kids’ mental and physical health |
| C．nurseries or childminders are dangerous places for children |
| D．children do not like nurseries or childminders at all |
In a surprising discovery about where higher life can survive, scientists have found a shrimp -like creature and a jellyfish 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 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 that nothing’s there.” said NASA ice scientist Robert Bindschadler. “It was a shrimp you’d enjoy havin
g on your plate.”
“We were just gaga (狂热的) over it,” he said when talking about the 7.5cm long, orange creature starring in their two-minute video. Technically, it’s not a shrimp. It’s a Lyssianasid amphipod, which is distantly related to the shrimp.
The video is likely to inspire experts to rethink what they know about life in harsh 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 fascinating. 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 20 cm-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 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.. Scientists had believed that harsh environments could only have been populated by ______ .
| A．jellyfish | B．mammals | C．microbes | D．shrimp-like creatures |
According to Kim, the shrimp-like creature _________ .
| A．swam great distances to Antarctic | B．has always lived in the area |
| C．gradually evolved from shrimps | D．has nothing in common with shrimps |
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 environments |
| D．it shows that Lyssianasid amphipod is closely related to shrimps |
. 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 creatures |
C．scientists know very little about the planet they live o n |
| D．further research will be done about what the creatures live on |
There is a boy called Bill in my gym class who has unbearably yellow teeth that almost make everyone feel unpleasant. Recently another boy told Bill that he should “go Ajax” his teeth. Bill was crushed. If the other boy had been thinking, he would have realized that there is a better way to handle such a situation. He could have dealt with it with tact. He could have showed this hurtful truth in a more careful, sensitive way—that’s “tact”.
If a person isn’t sensitive to another’s feelings, there is no way he or she can be tactful. Yesterday, my 5-year-old brother proudly announced that he had cleaned the screen on our television set. Unfortunately, he used furniture polish, which produced an oily film on the television screen. My mother smiled arid thanked him for his efforts—and then showed how to clean the screen properly. Her sensitivity enables my brother to keep his self-respect. Yet, sensitivity alone does not make tact.
“Tactfulness” also requires “truthfulness”. Doctors, for example must be truthful. If a patient has just been disabled in an accident, a tactful doctor will tell the truth—but express it with sensitivity. The doctor may try to give the patient hope by telling them curing techniques under study or about advanced equipment now available. Doctors must use tact with patients’ relatives as well. Instead of bluntly saying, “Your husband is disabled,” a doctor might say, “I’m sorry, but your husband has lost feeling in his legs and. . .”
Tact should not be confused with trickery. Trickery occurs when a nurse is 
about to give a patient an injection（注射） and says, “This won’t hurt a bit. ” Instead of trickery, the nurse might guarantee the patient that the discomfort of the injection is a small thing compared to the benefits of it. It would also be thoughtful for the nurse to tell the patients about some of these benefits.
Tact is a wonderful skill to have, and tactful people are usually admired and respected. Without tact our society would become an intole
rable place to live in. .
The underlined word “crushed” in the first paragraph probably means .
| A．surprised | B．cheated | C．regretful | D．painful |
.
According to the author, his mother’s praise for the brother is .
| A．sensitive and tactful | B．sensitive but not tactful enough |
| C．truthful but not tactful enough | D．sensitive but trickish |
.
Which of the following shows the structure of the passage?
 |
| A． | B． | C． | D． （The numbers stand for the paragraphs） |
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