Death Valley is a land of beautiful yet dangerous extremes. Death Valley can be dangerously cold during the winter months. Storms in the mountains can produce sudden flooding on the floor of the Valley.
The air temperature during the summer has been as high as fifty- seven degrees Celsius. The sun can heat the ground so that the temperature of the rocks and soil can be as high as seventy -four degrees Celsius.
Death Valley contains evidence of several ancient volcanoes that caused huge explosions. Evidence of one of these explosions is called Ubehebe Crater. The explosion left a huge hole in the ground almost a kilometer and a half wide. In many areas of Death Valley it is easy to see where the ground has been pushed up violently by movement deep in the Earth. This movement has created unusual and beautiful rock formations. Some are red. Others are dark brown, gray, yellow or black.
The area was named by a woman in 1849. Thousands of people from other parts of the ountry traveled to the gold mining areas in California. They were in a hurry to get there before other people did. One group trying to reach California decided to take a path called the Old Spanish Trail. By December they had reached Death Valley. They did not have to survive the terrible heat of summer, but there was still an extreme lack of water. There were few plants for their work animals to eat.
The people could not find a pass through the tall mountains to the west of the Valley, Slowly, they began co suffer from a lack of food. To survive, they killed their work animals for food and began to walk out of the Valley. As they left, one woman looked back and said, "Good -bye, death valley. ” The name has never been changed.
Almost everyone who visits Death Valley visits a huge house called Scotty' s Castle. The building design is Spanish, with high thick walls to provide protection from the fierce heat.
The castle is named for Walter Scott , called Scotty. by his friends. He was a gold miner. He told everyone that he built the house with money he made from his gold mine. Many people believed him. But it was not really the truth.
1. The first two paragraphs discuss Death Valley' s ________.
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A．geography |
B．climate |
C．location |
D．size |
2.The volcanoes mentioned in the third paragraph proved ________.
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A．a valley that is formed by explosions |
B．a place where volcanoes are still active |
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C．a good example of the violence of nature |
D．a symbol of rock formations in history |
3.The woman who named Death Valley intended to ________.
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A．explore the mystery of the valley |
B．find an area with plants for animals |
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C．experience the terrible heat of summer |
D．look for gold in California |
4.If the passage continues, it will be about ________.
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A．the truth about Scotty's Castle |
B．why Spanish built the castle |
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C．when the castle was built |
D．where the castle lies in |
5.The main idea of the passage is about ________.
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A．the interesting place in Death Valley |
B．the facts about Death Valley |
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C．the origin of Death Valley |
D．the route to visit Death Valley |
When you get in your car, you reach for it. When you're at work, you take a break to have a moment alone with it. When you get into a lift, you play with it.
Cigarette? Cup of coffee? No, it's the third most addictive thing in modem life, the cell phone. And experts say it is becoming more difficult for many people to curb their longing to hug it more tightly than most of their personal relationships.
The costs are becoming more and more evident, and I don't mean just the monthly bill. Dr. Chris Knippers, a counselor at the Betty ford Center in Southern California, reports that the overuse of cell phones has become a social problem not much different from other harmful addictions: a barrier to one-on-one personal contact, and an escape from reality. Sounds extreme, but we' ve all witnessed the evidence: The person at a restaurant who talks on the phone through an entire meal, ignoring his kids around the table; the woman who talks on the phone in the car, ignoring her husband; the teen who texts messages all the way home from school, avoiding contact with kids all around him. Jim Williams, an industrial sociologist based in Massachusetts, notes that cell - phone addiction is part of a set of symptoms in a widening gulf of personal separation. He points to a study by Duke University researchers that found one-quarter of Americans say they have no one to discuss their most important personal business with. Despite the growing use of phones, e - mail and instant messaging, in other words, Williams says studies show that we don't have as many friends as our parents. " Just as more information has led to less wisdom, more acquaintances via the Internet and cell phones have produced fewer friends," he says.
If the cell phone has truly had these effects, it's because it has become very widespread. Consider that in 1987, there were only l million cell phones in use. Today, something like 300 million Americans carry them. They far outnumber wired phones in the United States.
1. From the first two paragraphs, we can know________.
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A．cell phones have become as addictive as cigarettes |
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B．cell phone addiction is good for building personal relationships |
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C．people are longing to have their own cell phones |
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D．cell phones are the same as cigarettes |
2.Cell phone addiction has caused the following effects EXCEPT________ .
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A．a barrier to personal contact |
B．fewer friends |
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C．an escape from reality |
D．a serious illness |
3. The underlined word "curb" in Paragraph 2 means “________. ”
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A．ignore |
B．control |
C．develop |
D．rescue |
4.The example of a woman talking on the phone in the car supports the idea that________ .
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A．women Use cell phones more often than men |
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B．talking on the phone while driving is dangerous |
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C．cell phones do not necessarily bring people together |
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D．cell phones make one - on - one personal contact easy |
5.Which of the following is the best title for the passage?
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A．Cell phones Are the New Cigarettes |
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B．Cell phones Are Harmful to the Society |
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C．The New Report about the Cell phone |
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D．The Disadvantages of the Cell phone |
Not long ago the movie 2012 came into screen. The people were threatened by those scenes of destroying flood, severe earthquake, terrifying hurricane and constructions representing human civilization being destroyed and even swallowed by disaster. Luckily, they are just the director' s imagination, but the present situation is not heading a positive direction, either.
Take my own experience in Alaska as an example. Once I took a trip to the glacier. Along the way there stood signposts marking the snow lines of different years. They started from the foot of the mountain, but it was at the top when I finally saw melting glaciers(融化的冰川). My heart ached seeing the beautiful blue ice melting at every second.
Sad but true, they are the effects of global warming and the result of our human impact. Furthermore, each year the rising sea level will kill 56 million people, and that’s about the population of the entire Italy. According to studies, if the temperature keeps on rising like this, by the year 2050, some islands and coastal cities including New York, Shanghai, Tokyo and Sydney will be drowned in water.
Our fortune is in our own hands. It depends on us to shape our future, to reduce future human impact and find ways to form a peaceful relationship with our environment. Therefore, it's time for actions to be taken right now. Contribute a little to energy saving by using more efficient light bulbs and less hot water. Let recycle become our habit by thinking twice before throwing something away. Let us take public transportation as our first choice when going to a certain place. It might cost more time for now, but it' s to the benefit of a permanent future. Take care of every tree and grass around us by watering them or simply just avoid destroying them.
In a word, small drops of water make a big ocean. The earth does not belong to us. On the contrary, we belong to the earth. Please bear in mind that the earth is our home. It is our responsibility to build a brighter and better future of our planet and prevent what happened in the movie 2012 from becoming reality.
1. Why does the author talk about the movie 2012 in the passage ?
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A．To give example. |
B．To lead into the topic. |
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C．To make prediction. |
D．To provide the evidence. |
2.How did the author feel when he took a trip to the glacier?
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A．Worried. |
B．Puzzled. |
C．Scared. |
D．Bored. |
3.It can be inferred from the third paragraph that________ .
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A．56 million people in Italy have been killed owing to the rising sea level |
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B．Some islands and coastal cities will be drowned in water by the year of 2050 |
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C．Human being will be in danger if we don't take actions to prevent the global warming |
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D．It is certain that what happened in the movie 2012 will come into reality |
4.According to the passage, you are advised to ________.
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A．drive our own private cars instead of taking buses to some place |
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B．recycle everything that is used |
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C．go to see the movie 2012 at once |
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D．work together to take good care of our planet |
5. What does the author mean by saying "small drops of water make a big ocean"?
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A．Think twice before taking action. |
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B．It's our duty to protect the ocean. |
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C．Everyone together can make a difference. |
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D．It's important to save every drop of water. |
Some Chinese new-rich like eating shark fin soup because they think it shows their class. However, for the Chinese NBA idol Yao Ming, doing so is unacceptable as the practice has led to the overfishing of sharks.
When Yao and his wife Ye Li got married in 2007, they publicly announced that they would not allow shark fin soup to be served at their wedding banquet.
Actually, Yao had been saying no to shark fins since 2006, when he was appointed as the Goodwill Ambassador for wild life protection.
Now, the 226-cm big guy is resorting to his personal influence to encourage more to say no to eating the soup and to raise awareness of animal protection. "Sharks are friends of human beings. They are not our food," Yao said.
Other celebrity athletes like Olympic champions Li Ning and Kong Linghui are following on the heels of Yao, throwing themselves into serving the public as Goodwill Ambassadors for wild animal rescue. Recent reports about Yao's retirement have saddened tens of thousands of basketball fans both at home and abroad. Yet Yao's influence goes far beyond the basketball courts.
Yao has engaged himself in charity and public welfare services for quite a while. When the devastating 8.0-magnitude earthquake hit Wenchuan in southwest China in 2008, Yao donated 2 million yuan . "When I was a little boy, my parents and teachers told me to help others and to be a good man," Yao recalled. "But I could not donate then because I had not much pocket money. After I moved to Houston, I got involved in quite a number of community service activities and I felt a strong sense of achievement when I got people together," Yao said.
Like Yao, newly crowned French Open champion Li Na has showed her willingness to donate. Li gave 480,000 yuan of her prize money from the open, plus 20,000 yuan from her own pocket, to a local nursing home in her hometown. Another Chinese sports icon, hurdler Liu Xiang, has also been actively involved in charity for years.
1.The reason why some Chinese new-rich like eating shark fin soup is that they think _______ .
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A．it is very delicious |
B．it is very cheap and healthy |
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C．it is very popular in society |
D．it can show their status |
2.Yao Ming is against eating shark fin soup because ________ .
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A．too many sharks are killed |
B．he dislikes eating sharp fin |
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C．it is too expensive |
D．sharks are dangerous animals |
3. Which of the following statements is NOT TRUE?
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A．Li Na donated 500,000 yuan to a local nursing home in her hometown. |
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B．Yao Ming donated 2 million yuan after the earthquake of Wenchuan. |
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C．Yao Ming has encouraged more people to stop eating shark fin soup and protect animals. |
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D．Yao Ming was appointed as the Goodwill Ambassador for protecting wild life in 2007. |
4.What words can be used to describe Yao Ming according to the passage?
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A．Rich and generous. |
B．Influential and warmhearted. |
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C．Energetic and optimistic. |
D．Popular and confident. |
5.From the passage , we can learn that________.
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A．most athletes don't like eating shark fin soup |
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B．Yao Ming has been donating money to charity since he was a child |
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C．Yao Ming has an influence on not only the basketball courts but also charity and public welfare services |
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D．Yao Ming has taken part in many community service activities when he was in China |
One evening I was resting in a cafe. I wore a pair of newly bought white leather shoes, 1. were rather expensive. Then a boy came to me.
He was in 2. old and not fit shirt, looking pale and about eleven. No sooner had I begun to speak than he opened the box in his hand and 3. (take) out the tools of shoe-polishing. He was busy doing his work 4. heavy rain began to pour down. People rushed to the café for protection from the rain. More and more people crowded in and gradually separated the boy from me.
Hours passed, and 5. turned dark. I had no shoes on my feet and wondered where the boy had been. I thought I would have to go home on my bare feet. When it was near midnight, the café was to be closed. I had to move to the door, just as I went to the gate, I 6. (surprise) found that a boy of about eleven, 7. (look) very familiar, was sleeping at the door with his head leaning 8. a box. I shook him slightly and woke him up. He opened the package hurriedly, gave me my leather shoes, and apologized to me shyly. I paid him and wrapped him with his 9. (fit) shirt. On my way home, the image 10. the boy stayed in my mind.
Recently, I experienced a wonderful lesson that little things still mean a lot. I live on the Big Island of Hawaii. About a month ago, when I started my car and I 1 down at the roadside, a piece of paper caught my eye. I picked it up and 2 it carefully.
The form turned out to be a 3 from the State Motor Vehicle Division, documenting the owners’ 4 of their vehicle’s registration fees. Quickly, I put myself in their 5 and figured：no one would throw this out, 6 if it was current.
Although the form had been blown here, where in the busy, 7 parking lot would I find the owner? So I checked the date and noted the name of the 8 , who must be in our town. I thought that the best and easiest step to 9 was to put the form in an envelope addressed to the couple and 10 it by post. So I did it.
On the weekend, a 11 couple called at my house and brought me a big 12 . They said they had panicked and searched for the receipt(收据) 13 everywhere before giving up. Without it they would 14 $8, 000. It felt great to know I’d helped someone 15 a major trouble by doing something which at first glance seemed minor.
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