Coal burning deep underground in China，India and Indonesia is threatening the environment and human life, scientists have warned. These large-scale underground fires cause the ground temperature to heat up and kill surrounding vegetation, produce greenhouse gases and can even bring about forest fires, a panel（专门小组）of scientists told the annual meeting of the American Association for the Advancement of Science in Denver. They warned the resulting release of poisonous elements like arsenic （砷）and mercury（汞）can also pollute local water sources and soils “Coal fires are a global disaster,” said Associate Professor Glenn Stracher of East Georgia College in Swainsboro, U.S.A. But surprisingly few people know about them.
Coal can heat up on its own, and eventually catch fire and burn, if there is a continuous oxygen supply. The heat produced is not caused to disappear and under the right combinations of sunlight and oxygen, can trigger spontaneous（自然产生的）catching fire and burning. This can occur underground in coal stockpiles（煤堆）, abandoned mines or even as coal is transported. Such fires in China destroy up to 200 million tons of coal per year, delegates were told. In comparison, the U. S. economy consumes about one billion tons of coal annually, said Stracher, whose analysis of the likely effect of coal fires has been accepted for publication in the International journal of Coal Ecology. Once underway, coal fires can burn for decades, even centuries. In the process, they release large volumes of greenhouse gases, poisonous fumes and black particles into the atmosphere.
The members of the panel discussed the effect these fires may be having on global and regional climate change, and agreed that the underground nature of the fires makes them difficult to detect(发现). One of the members of the panel, Assistant Professor Paul Van Dijk of the International Institute for Geo-Information Science and Earth Observation in the Netherlands, has been working with the Chinese government to detect and monitor fires in the northern regions of the country.
The remote sensing and other techniques will allow scientists to estimate how much carbon dioxide these fires are emitting. One suggested method of controlling the fires was presented by Gary Colaizzi, of the engineering firm Goodson, which has developed a beat-resistant grout designed to be pumped into the coal fire to cut off the oxygen supply.
1.According to Paragraph 2, what will happen when the underground heat does not disappear? ________.
A.Coal heats up on its own and catches fire and burns.
B.The underground oxygen will be used up.
C.Poisonous fumes and greenhouse gases will be accumulated underground.
D.There will be an increase of abandoned mines.
2.What did Stracher analyze in his article published in the International Journal of Coal Ecology? ________.
A.Annual consumption of coal in US.
B.Annual consumption of coal in China.
C.How long coal fires have lasted in the northern region of China.
D.Coal fires may have an effect on the environment.
3.Which of the following statements about Paul Van Dijk is NOT true? ________.
A.He was one of the scientists who have warned against the threats of underground fires.
B.He has detected and monitored underground fires in the Netherlands.
C.He has worked with the Chinese government on the underground fires issue.
D.He works for a research institute in the Netherlands.
4.What is the suggested method to control underground fires in the passage? ________.
A.Using remote sensing technique.
B.Controlling the release of carbon dioxide.
C.Cutting off the oxygen supply.
D.Making the soil heat resistant.
On the 70th anniversary of the founding of the People's Republic of China, Chinese scientist Tu Youyou, winner of the 2015 Nobel Prize for the discovery of artemisinin, has been awarded China's Medal of the Republic. The medal is the country's highest honor for outstanding figures that have made great contributions to the construction and the development of the P.R.C.
Tu Youyou, born in 1930, has become the first Chinese woman to win a Nobel Prize, for her work in helping to create an anti-malaria medicine. The 84-year-old’s route to the honor has been anything but traditional. In China, she is being called the “three nos” winner: no medical degree, no doctorate, and she’s never worked overseas. In 1967, malaria, a then deadly disease, spread by mosquitoes was decimating Chinese soldiers fighting Americans in the jungles of northern Vietnam. A secret research unit “Mission 523” was formed to find a cure for the illness. Two years later, Tu Youyou was instructed to become the new head of “Mission 523”.
“Mission 523” read ancient books carefully for a long time to find historical methods of fighting malaria. When she started her search for an anti-malaria drug, more than 240,000 compounds(化合物)around the world had already been tested, without any success. Finally, the team found a brief reference to one substance, sweet wormwood(青蒿), which had been used to treat malaria in China around 400 A.D. The team took out one active compound in wormwood, and then tested it. But nothing was effective until Tu Youyou returned to the original ancient text. After another careful reading, she changed the drug recipe one final time, heating the compound without allowing it to reach boiling point.
After the drug showed promising results in mice and monkeys, Tu Youyou volunteered to be the first human recipient of the new drug. “In any case, Tu Youyou is consistently praised for her drive and passion”. One former colleague, Lianda Li, says Ms. Tu is “unsociable and quite straightforward”, adding that “if she disagrees with something, she will say it.”
Another colleague, Fuming Liao, who has worked with Tu Youyou for more than 40 years, describes her as a “tough and stubborn woman”. Stubborn enough to spend decades piecing together ancient texts, she applies them to modern scientific practices. The result has saved millions of lives.
1.According to Paragraph 2, we can learn that .
A.Tu is the first woman to win a Nobel Prize
B.Tu has a medical degree
C.Tu’s road to success is not traditional
D.Tu discovered a cure for malaria
2.The underlined word “decimating” in Paragraph 2 can be replaced by .
A.encouraging B.killing
C.annoying D.benefiting
3.Which of the following statements is true?
A.Tu first invented the idea of using sweet wormwood as a cure.
B.Tu was inspired by medical textbooks published in northern Vietnam.
C.The compound needs to be heated to the boiling point to be effective.
D.Over 240,000 compounds were proved ineffective before Tu’s search.
4.Tu Youyou can be best described as a person.
A.devoted and stubborn B.straightforward and mean
C.considerate and tough D.sociable and generous
Betty and Harold have been married for years .But one thing still puzzles (困扰) old Harold .How is it that he can leave Betty and her friend Joan sitting on the sofa ,talking ,go out to a ballgame ,come back three and a half hours later ,and they’re still sitting on the sofa ? Talking ?
What in the world ,Harold wonders ,do they have to talk about ?
Betty shrugs .Talk ? We’re friends .
Researching this matter called friendship ,psychologist Lillian Rubin spent two years interviewing more than two hundred women and men .No matter what their age ,their job ,their sex ,the results were completely clear :women have more friendships than men ,and the difference in the content and the quality of those friendships is “marked and unmistakable .”
More than two –thirds of the single men Rubin interviewed could not name a best friend. Those who could were likely to name a woman .Yet three-quarters of the single women had no problem naming a best friend ,and almost always it was a woman .More married men than women named their wife/husband as a best friend ,most trusted person ,or the one they would turn to in time of emotional distress （感情危机）.“Most women ,”says Rubin ,“identified （认定） at least one ,usually more ,trusted friends to whom they could turn in a troubled moment ,and they spoke openly about the importance of these relationships in their lives .”
“In general,”writes Rubin in her new book ,“women’s friendships with each other rest on shared emotions and support ,but men’s relationships are marked by shared activities.” For the most part ,Rubin says ,interactions （交往）between men are emotionally controlled –a good fit with the social requirements of “manly behavior .”
“Even when a man is said to be a best friend ,”Rubin writes ,“the two share little about their innermost feelings .Whereas a woman’s closest female friend might be the first to tell her to leave a failing marriage ,it wasn’t unusual to hear a man say he didn’t know his friend’s marriage was in serious trouble until he appeared one night asking if he could sleep on the sofa .”
1.What old Harold cannot understand or explain is the fact that .
A.he is treated as an outsider rather than a husband
B.women have so much to share
C.women show little interest in ballgames
D.he finds his wife difficult to talk to
2.Rubin’s study shows that for emotional support a married woman is more likely to turn to .
A.a male friend B.a female friend C.her parents D.her husband
3.Which of the following statements is best supported by the last paragraph ?
A.Men keep their innermost feelings to themselves.
B.Women are more serious than men about marriage.
C.Men often take sudden action to end their marriage.
D.Women depend on others in making decisions.
4.The research done by psychologist Rubin centers around________ .
A.happy and successful marriages
B.friendships of men and women
C.emotional problems in marriage
D.interactions between men and women
The White House is the most visited residence in the world. Tours may be scheduled through our Washington D.C. office. Due to security and scheduling procedures, there are a few things you should know before requesting a tour:
• Only groups of 10 or more may request a tour.
• Requests must be submitted with a minimum of one month’s advance notice from the date of the tour. Notice of whether your application is accepted will be given 10 days prior to（在…之前） the date requested. All tours, even after they have been confirmed, are subject to cancellation due to security interests.
• Tours are only conducted Tuesday through Saturday from 7:30 am to 11:30 am.
To process your request for a tour, please contact our Washington office at (202) 224-5521 and provide the following information:
• Date(s) requesting.
• Safety information for each person in your party, including: name as it appears on I.D. (I.D. required for ages 14 and up), date of birth, social security number, country of origin, and citizenship.
• A home address and daytime and evening phone numbers for the designated (指派的) leader of the group.
• A contact number while in DC for the designated leader of the group.
After your request is confirmed or denied, our office will contact you with further instructions.
1.This notice is to provide information about ________.
A.scheduling of Washington DC tours
B.the safety system of the White House
C.application for a tour of the White House
D.duties of a tour group leader
2.The White House is open to the public ________.
A.on weekdays only B.five days a week
C.every few days D.on weekends only
3.Application for a group tour of the White House must be submitted ________.
A.exactly on the date of application B.at least 30 days in advance
C.any day between Tuesday and Saturday D.10 days before the date of the tour
Many years later, I was sailing to Europe on a fine sailing ship across the Atlantic. For the greater part of the ________ we had pleasant weather, ________ towards the end of our crossing a terrible storm ________ and the ship would have sunk with all on ________ but for the efforts of the captain.
The ship started to leak and began to fill with water. The sailors were strong, able and willing. But after pumping for one whole night, they were losing the battle against the rising water and were on the ________of giving up.
The captain, as soon as he realized the ________, took charge. He ordered the sailors back to their pumps and encouraged them fiercely to ________ the ship. His strong will doubled their ________. How the men pumped like crazy! When the captain passed by me, I asked him whether there was any hope of saving the ship. He looked at me. “Yes sir.” he said. “While my feet remain standing above the water ________, there is hope. Neither I nor any of the sailors will leave the ship ________ it remains above the surface of the ________. We shall do everything we can to save the ship and if we should fail, it will not be our________.” Then he turned to all the passengers and shouted, “To the pumps, every one of you!”
Three times during that day when we almost wanted to give up, the captain's courage, determination and iron ________forced us to ________, and we went back to the pumps. “I will ________ you safe in Liverpool,” he cried. “If you will stay strong and firm with me.”
In the end the ship sank soon after it reached the port of Liverpool but the captain did land us safe. The captain stood at the edge of the ship once it was safely tied up to the wall of the port and ________the thanks of the passengers as they hurried off the ship. As I expressed to him my________, he held my hand firmly, looked into my eyes and said, “Sir, don’t you ________ me?” I told him that I did not. “The boy who you followed when he had so much difficulty in buying a geography book, some thirty years ago in Cincinnati?” “Why yes. I ________that boy very well. His name was William Hartley.” “I am that same William Hartley.” “Goodness!” I said, “What good fortune that I travelled with you as my captain! The ________that thirty years ago got you that geography book has today saved our lives.”
1.A.journey B.travel C.trip D.voyage
2.A.and B.but C.however D.so
3.A.came across B.came through C.came out D.came up
4.A.broad B.board C.abroad D.aboard
5.A.point B.edge C.time D.end
6.A.situation B.condition C.state D.stage
7.A.break B.leave C.save D.settle
8.A.effects B.efforts C.experiences D.hardships
9.A.height B.level C.altitude D.degree
10.A.so long as B.as far as C.as well as D.as soon as
11.A.river B.bank C.sea D.beach
12.A.mistake B.concern C.fault D.reason
13.A.hand B.attitude C.head D.will
14.A.insist B.remain C.last D.continue
15.A.make B.ship C.land D.sail
16.A.afforded B.achieved C.received D.admitted
17.A.encouragement B.guidance C.greeting D.gratitude
18.A.realize B.know C.recognize D.rescue
19.A.remind B.remember C.recover D.regard
20.A.choice B.courage C.determination D.decision
—What’s wrong with you yesterday?
—When I was playing football, my strength ___________ and I fell down.
A. gave up B. gave off C. gave out D. gave in
