Earlier this month, the Obama Administration called for increased protection of the world’s most southern continent, Antarctica. Scientists say climate change and human activity have increasingly led to the melting of massive pieces of Antarctic ice. The disappearance of ice will not only affect wildlife in the area such as seals and penguins. The melting will also cause oceans and seas around the world to rise.
This represents a major threat, especially to coastal areas. For example, the ancient city of Venice, Italy has long been threatened by rising sea levels. The situation is made worse by the fact that its ancient buildings, built on a body of water called a lagoon( 淡水湖), are slowly sinking. When the city was founded about 1,600 years ago, the level of the Adriatic Sea was almost two meters lower than it is today.
Rising sea levels are not the only threat. The salty water is also destroying Venice’s famous buildings and artworks. The Italian government is trying to fix the problem with the construction of a seven-billion-dollar system of moving flood barriers.
Climate change is also leading to the melting of ice in other areas, such as Mount Kilimanjaro in northeastern Tanzania. It is the highest point in Africa, measuring almost 6,000 meters. The mountain supports five vegetation zones and many kinds of animals.
The ice glaciers on the mountain are disappearing very quickly. This will have a bad effect on the mountain’s ecosystems and on Tanzania’s travel industry. Also, a valuable record of thousands of years of weather history will also be lost if the ice melts. Scientists study pieces of glacier to understand weather patterns from thousands of years ago.
In the United States, the icy masses in Glacier National Park in Montana may soon completely disappear because of climate change. In 1850, there were an estimated 150 glaciers in the more than 400,000 hectare park.
There are 26 glaciers remaining today. Scientists estimate that the glaciers will be gone by 2030. Warming temperatures are also threatening the many kinds of plants and animals that live in this mountain ecosystem.
1. The writer developed the passage mainly by______.
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A．giving examples |
B．listing reasons |
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C．making comparisons |
D．using quotations |
2. How many glaciers disappeared since 1850 in Glacier National Park?
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A．150. |
B．26. |
C．400,000. |
D．About 124. |
3. According to the passage, what has been affected in Italy by rising sea levels?
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A．Many kinds of plants and animals died out in Italy. |
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B．Venice’s famous buildings and artworks are being destroyed completely. |
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C．The ice glaciers on the mountain are disappearing very quickly. |
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D．Its ancient buildings could be drowned. |
4. What could be the best title for the passage?
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A．Climate Change |
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B．The Melting of Massive Pieces of Antarctic Ice |
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C．Visiting Endangered Places around the World |
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D．The disappearing of the Ice Glaciers |
Imagine yourself on a boat looking out at the horizon and all you can see is the water meeting the sky with no land in sight and you are sailing straight ahead to meet the world. Jesse Martin does not have to imagine: he is living in it.
On Dec. 7, 1998, at 17 years old, Jesse set sail from Melbourne, Australia on his boat, attempting to become the youngest person to sail alone and nonstop around the world. He sailed south of New Zealand, through the South Pacific, around South America, north on the Atlantic, back south past Africa, through the Indian Ocean and back to Melbourne.
Even as a young child, Jesse had been an adventurer who traveled all over Europe and Asia with his parents. Born in Munich, Germany in 1981, he moved to Australia with his family when he was only two years old. They moved close to a rainforest in Cow Bay, about 3500kms north of Melbourne, where they built a small house with no electricity or running water. Jesse grew up at the beach enjoying the outdoors to its fullest.
At 14, he sailed for the first time with his father and brother, Beau. It was after this trip that he began to dream about sailing around the world.
Jesse’s family played an important role. “I was made to believe I could do anything.” he says. Although, he says, there were others that were not so encouraging or supportive, “People that I looked up to, respected and trusted told me I couldn’t. Thankfully, I trusted myself. There were people that said that the boat couldn’t be ready by the time I had to leave.” However, through perseverance and belief in himself he was able to do what many told him was impossible.
On Oct.31, 1999, more than 10 months after he set sail, Jesse Martin went down in history as the youngest person to sail around the world alone, nonstop and unassisted.
1. What’s the author’s purpose in encouraging the reader to imagine a sailing experience?
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A．To show how difficult it is to be a sailor. |
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B．To show how wonderful Jesse’s sailing is. |
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C．To describe what Jesse’s sailing is like. |
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D．To describe what a sailor’s life is like. |
2. Jesse Martin was at the end of his voyage when he _______.
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A．sailed on the South Pacific. |
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B．sailed on the Indian Ocean. |
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C．sailed past Africa |
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D．sailed past South America. |
3. Which of the following made Jesse decide to sail alone around the world?
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A．His childhood adventure experiences. |
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B．His journeys to Europe. |
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C．His first sailing trip with his family. |
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D．His love for outdoor activities. |
4. What can we learn from Jesse Martin’s story?
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A．Interest leads to success. |
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B．A strong belief will make a person stronger. |
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C．Life is an unusual adventure we should enjoy. |
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D．Failure is the mother of success. |
完形填空 (共 20 小题; 每小题 1.5 分, 满分 30 分)
阅读下面短文,从短文后各题所给的四个选项(A、B、C和D)中,选出可以填入空白处的最佳选项,并在答题卡上将该项涂黑。
Jerry is a restaurant manager who is always in a good mood and always has something positive to say.
One day I went up to Jerry and asked him, “I don’t get 36 ! You can’t be a __37__ person all of the time. How do you do it?” Jerry replied, “Each morning I wake up and say to myself you have two __38__ today. You can choose to be in a good mood 39 you can choose to be in a bad mood. I choose to be in a good mood. It’s your choice __40__ you live life.”
Several years later, I heard that Jerry did something you are never __41__ to do in the restaurant business…. He __42__ the back door open one morning and was held up at __43__ point by three armed robbers. He was shot by them while trying to fight back. __44__, Jerry was found relatively quickly and __45 to the local trauma(外伤) center. After 18 hours of surgery and weeks of intensive care, Jerry was released 46
the hospital with fragments of the bullets 47 in his body.
I saw Jerry about six months after the __48 . Jerry told me something happening in the ER( 急诊室). He said, “… the paramedics were great. They kept telling me I was going to be fine. But when they wheeled me into the ER and I saw the 49 on the faces of the doctors and nurses, I got really 50 . In their eyes, I 51 ‘he’s a dead man.’ I knew I needed to take 52 .” “What did you do?’ I asked. “Well, there was a nurse shouting questions at me,” said Jerry. “She asked 53 I was allergic to anything. ‘ Yes’ I replied. The doctors and nurses stopped working as they waited for my reply. I took a deep breath and yelled, ‘BULLETS!’ Over their 54 , I told them, ‘I am choosing to live. Operate on me as if I am alive, not dead’.” Jerry lived thanks to the skill of his doctors, but also because of his amazing attitude. I learned from him that every day we have the choice to live fully.
Attitude, 55 , is everything.
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19..
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A．laughter |
B．disappointment |
C．excitement |
D．joy |
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One of the most important things in education is to let students ____ positive emotions and experience in the process of their learning.
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A．require |
B．acquire |
C．demand |
D．clarify |
––– I felt left out at the party last night.
––– Really? ____, you should have said something.
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A．If possible |
B．If so |
C．If necessary |
D．If any |
Where were you at supper time? I ____ for you to join me.
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A．waited |
B．had waited |
C．have been waiting |
D．was waiting |
