With only fish and birds for company, Eric Erden has been rowing across the Pacific Ocean to Australia in his 23-foot-long boat since he left California on July 10, 2009.
But crossing the Pacific is only part of his incredible journey. Eric has decided to go all the way around the world using only his own energy. He will row, bike, and walk without help from any motors at all. Oh, and his plan includes climbing the tallest peak on six of the continents along the way, to honour the memory of a fellow climber.
He says he is doing this to show kids that they can achieve any goal, but he hopes to have some great adventures along the way.
As a solo traveller, Eric has already faced disappointments and challenges. Because he has to row about ten hours a day, he brought along an MP3 player to listen to music and pass the time. Unfortunately, the nearly daily tropical rain for several months has forced him to keep his player packed away where it's safe and dry.
Storms and huge wave wind regularly force him in the wrong direction and even threaten to overturn his boat. “Sometimes I really feel scared,” says a somewhat embarrassed Eric. “But that’s all part of the journey. I knew this wouldn’t be easy when I started. That's why I gave myself two years to finish.”
Protein bars（蛋白棒） give him energy, and he boils water to heat freeze-dried meals on a one-burner stove. A solar-powered machine removes salt from ocean water so he can drink it, but only when the sun shines. When that fails he sometimes tries to collect rainwater in buckets.
He’s not bothered by any of the hardships. Eric sees the world as a laboratory where there is much to learn. And when his trip around the world takes him across land, he enjoys meeting people - especially children. He has already visited several schools and shared his story.
1.Why is Eric making this trip?
A. To encourage children to reach for their goal.
B. To learn more about the world around us.
C. To have many great adventures in strange lands.
D. To honour the memory of a fellow climber.
2.What does Eric plan to do on each of the six continents he will visit?
A. Visit schools to share his story.
B. Study the culture of the local people.
C. Climb the tallest mountain.
D. Cycle from one end to the other.
3.When does Eric expect to finish his journey?
A. July 2009. B. June 2010.
C. January 2011.D. July 2011.
4.Which of the following words best describes Eric’s character?
A. Determined. B. Intelligent.
C. Fearless.D. Lonely.
Fishing is a popular activity and every fisherman knows the rule: Keep the big ones, throw the smaller ones back. The idea behind Lt is simple - the larger fish are probably older. If you keep the smaller ones, they won’t be able to reproduce, and the fish population is in danger.
But fishing out the largest fish from a population has an unwanted effect: Over time, fewer adult fish get really big. If only the smaller fish reproduce（繁殖）, then future generations become smaller. This is an example of evolution（进化） in action.
One scientist, Dr David Conover has spent the last decade studying the effects of the “keep the big ones” rule and if they can be reversed（颠倒）.
To set up his experiment, Conover and his team caught hundreds of silverside fish and divided them into six groups. For two groups, Conover followed the “keep the large ones” rule and took out the biggest fish. For two other groups, he removed only the small fish.
For the last two groups, he removed fish at random (随意的).
After five years, he measured the fish in each group. In the two groups where the largest fish were regularly removed, the average fish size was smaller than the average size in the other groups. Here was evolution in action: If only small fish survive to reproduce, then future generations of fish will also tend to be small.
For the second five years of his experiment, Conover changed the rules and took fish randomly from each group. At the end of the experiment, he found that the fish that were in the “keep the large ones” group for the first five years had started to get larger again, although he calculated it would take at least 12 years for the fish in that group to return to their original size.
In other words, it takes less time to shrink(变小) than it does to recover.
1. The underlined word “it” (Line 2) refers to “ ”
A. the activityB. the fish
C. the ruleD. the fisherman
2.Why do many people follow the “keep the big ones, throw the small ones back” rule?
A. It helps to protect fish numbers.
B. It helps to protect fish size.
C. It is the custom in most countries.
D. They will be punished if they don’t.
3.What did Conover find after the first five years of his experiment?
A. The “keep the big ones” rule made no difference to fish size.
B. The “keep the big ones” rule made fish smaller on average.
C. The “keep the big ones” rule made the fish bigger on average.
D. The “keep the big ones” rule affected all fish populations in the same way.
4. What is the author’s intention in writing this article?
A. To encourage people to fish more carefully.
B. To urge governments to change the rules of fishing.
C. To describe the results of a scientific experiment.
D. To introduce the rules of fishing to readers.
For hundreds of years, Japan has been hit, from time to time, by enormous (巨大的) tsunamis（海啸）. These awful sudden risings of the sea are caused by earthquakes or underwater volcanic actions. The story of the boy Yuuki is the story of such a disaster.
Yuuki lived with his family in a seaside village, below a small mountain. One day, as he played on top of the mountain, Yuuki felt a small earthquake but it was not strong enough to frighten anybody and passed quickly. Soon after, however, Yuuki noticed the sea darken and begin running away from the shore very fast, leaving behind wide stretches of beach that had never been seen before.
With a grasp, Yuuki remembered reading that just before a terrible tsunami, the sea suddenly and quickly rolls backward. He ran to the beach, warning the villagers who had gathered to admire the new beach land.
“Get back!” shouted the boy, “There is a terrible danger!”
But no one listened. They laughed at him and continued playing in the new sand and watched the sea roll backward even more.
Desperate, Yuuki could think of only one thing to do. He lit a tree branch, raced to the rice fields and began burning the harvested rice. Then he called out, “Fire! Fire! Everyone run to the mountain! Now!”
When everyone reached the mountain-top, a villager cried out, “Yuuki is mad! I saw him set the fire.” Yuuki hung his head in shame, but said nothing as the villagers cursed him. Just then, someone shouted, “Look!”
In the distance what seemed to be a huge dark line was speeding towards the shore. As it got nearer the people realized the long thin line of darkness was the returning sea, towering like a mountain.
The villagers watched in terror as the water struck the shore, smashing over their homes then tearing out the land as it receded.
On the mountain everyone stared speechlessly at the destruction below.
“I'm sorry I burned the fields,” said Yuuki, his voice trembling.
“Yuuki,” village-chief answered. “You saved us all.”
The villagers cheered and raised Yuuki into the air. “We were going to
celebrate our rice harvest tonight,” said one, “but now we’ll celebrate that we’re all still alive!”
1.Where was Yuuki when the earthquake struck?
A. On the beach.
B. On the mountain.
C. In the rice fields.
D. At his family home.
2. In what order did the following events take place?
a. Yuuki set fire to the rice fields.
b. The villagers laughed and played on the beach.
c. The land was torn away by the water.
d. Yuuki ran to warn the villagers.
e. The villagers stared at the destruction.
f. The people were cursing Yuuki.
A. d, b, e, a, c, f
B. b, a, d, e, c, f
C. d, b, a, f, c, e
D. a, d, b, e, f, c
3.How did Yuuki save the villagers from the disaster?
A. He told them about the earthquake.
B. He explained why the sea was flowing out.
C. He told the village chief to warn the people.
D. He set fire to the rice field.
4.What were the people planning to do before the tsunami struck their village?
A. Harvest the rice crop.
B. Play on the beach.
C. Climb the mountain.
D. Celebrate the rice harvest.
To my family and friends,
As some of you know, I have just started my tour in the remote mountain area. Everything is going really well, so no .The land is beautiful but unfortunately it has a lot of too. I have received several emails asking what I need while I'm here .so I decided to write you all and let you know that I don’t need anything. At least not for me. I’m asking all of you to send me a few to help the local children. Let me explain.
On 12 May 2009, in a small village here, 120 school age girls were by a gas leak（煤气泄漏）. Most have but 6 are still in hospital. Even though the local government speaks about the of education for both boys and girls but most of these kids only attend school for four hours a day if they are even allowed to go. They are so excited and to learn, but then have to things like being sprayed（喷射） with acid or poisoned. Most of these kids are poor and can’t a pencil, pen or even paper to write on. So my co-workers and I are planning a trip to several schools to promote and to give these kids some of the they need. That is where all of you come in. If you can, please whatever school supplies you currently have .
That would be a huge help.
I know how busy you are so thank you for taking the to do this and I will post pictures of this after we go.
Thank you again.
Todd Tucker
1.A. wonderB. worriesC. problemD. way
2.A. surprises B. attractionsC. problems D. mysteries
3.A. emails B. booksC. itemsD. dollars
4.A. surprised B. confusedC. discouragedD. poisoned
5.A. recovered B. diedC. goneD. returned
6.A. fairness B. importanceC. possibilityD. absence
7.A. afraid B. unwillingC. ableD. eager
8.A. receive B. challengeC. sufferD. return
9.A. find B. affordC. prepareD. expect
10.A. Information B. Education C. communicationD. medication
11.A. supplies B. Clothes C. knowledgeD. awareness
12.A. send over B. send upC. send away D. send for
13.A. lost B. foundC. usedD. available
14.A. time B. chanceC. responsibilityD. lead
15.A. Advertisement B. emailC. donationD. event
In one's life, one usually has little understanding of oneself. When you succeed, you may be very proud. When you __you may lose heart. If you don't get a thorough understanding of yourself, you may miss lots of in life.
To get a thorough understanding of yourself is to know_ about yourself. You may realize your strong points and weak_ .You may hope for a wonderful future, but be sure not to expect too much because not all dreams can be . You may be confident enough to meet challenges, but first you should know_ .
To get a thorough understanding of yourself needs self-appreciation. Maybe you think you are not a tall tree_ just small grass, but as long as you get full confidence, you are sure to face any trouble.
To get a thorough understanding of yourself also means to_ yourself.
When you are angry, find a quiet place so that you won't be hurt. When you
are sad, tell your friends about it to _ the mood(心情) into a good one. When you are tired, get a good sleep. If you don't take good care of yourself, you _be able to stay away from illness.
So if you get a thorough understanding of yourself, and you will get a full control of yourself and find your life full of color.
1.A. fail B. winC. beatD. have
2.A. lessons B. problemsC. chancesD. choose
3.A. little B. wellC. badlyD. worse
4.A. one B. ones C. itD. those
5.A. realized B. rememberedC. repliedD. receive
6.A. where to do B. when to doC. what to doD. how to do
7.A. or B. butC. andD. if
8.A. take after B. run afterC. look afterD. see after
9.A. change B. cutC. throwD. show
10.A. will B. won'tC. needD. may
He has already gone home. But before he left, he__________ all the mistakes in his translation.
A. had correctedB. has corrected
C. correctedD. would correct
