Australia’s koalas could be wiped out within 30 years unless urgent action is taken to stop the losing in population, according to researchers. They say development, climate change and bushfires have all combined to reduce the number of wild koalas sharply.
The Australian Koala Foundation said a recent survey showed the population could have dropped by more than half in the past six years. Previous estimates put the number of koalas at more than 100,000, but the latest calculations suggest there could now be as few as 43,000.
The foundation collected field data from 1,800 sites and 80,000 trees to calculate the numbers. In one area in northern Queensland estimated to have 20,000 koalas a decade ago, a team of eight people could not find a single animal in four days of searching.
The foundation said besides problems caused by cutting down forests, hotter and drier conditions because of global warming had reduced the nutritional value of their staple food, eucalyptus leaves, leading to poor nutrition for them.
Koalas, which live in the forests in Australia’s east and south, are very fussy (爱挑剔的) about what types of the leaves they eat.
Foundation chief Deborah Tabart said: “The koalas are missing everywhere we look. It’s really no tree, no me. If you keep cutting down trees you don’t have any koalas.”
She is hoping the new figures will persuade the government’s Threatened Species Steering Committee (TSSC) to list the koala as threatened. But committee chairman Bob Beeton said a decision was not likely recently and the koala’s status as one of the country’s favourite animals would not be a factor. “There’s a number of species which are attractive and people have special feelings towards them. We don’t consider that,” Mr Beeton was reported as saying by the AFP agency.
1.The writer gives the example of the area in northern Queensland in Paragraph 3 to show that _____.
A. the forests are being damaged heavily
B. the environment is being polluted seriously
C. koalas usually live in wild mountainous areas
D. the number of koalas is dropping quickly
2.Global warming is an important cause of koalas’ reduction because _____.
A. koalas can hardly stand the hot weather
B. the leaves koalas eat are losing nutritional value
C. koalas cannot get enough water to drink
D. the leaves koalas eat cannot grow in hot weather
3.According to Bob Beeton, _____.
A. koalas are his favourite animals
B. a decision will be made to protect koalas
C. they needn’t pay special attention to koalas
D. koalas needn’t be protected at all
假定你是李华，正是英国牛津参加短期语言培训，计划星期天去伦敦旅游。互联网上一则广告引起了你的注意，但一些具体信息不明确（箭头所指内容）。请给该旅行社发一封电子邮件，询问有关情况。
注意：
1. 词数100左右，信的开头和结尾已为你写好。
2. 可根据内容要点适当增加细节，以使行文连贯。
3. 参考词汇: 牛津------ Oxford 费用------ fee
Dear Sir/Madame,
I’m writing for more information about the day tour to London.
________________________________________________________________________________________
________________________________________________________________________________________
________________________________________________________________________________________
Yours,
Li hua
此题要求改正所给短文中的错误。对标有题号的每一行作出判断：如无错误，在该行右边横线上画一个勾（√）；如有错误（每行只有一个错误），则按下列情况改正：
此行多一个词：把多余的词用斜线（＼）划掉，在该行右边横线上写出该词，并也用斜线划掉。
此行缺一个词：在缺词处加一个漏字符号（∧），在该行右边横线上写出该加的词。
此行错一个词：在错的词下划一横线，在该行右边横线上写出改正后的词。
注意：原行没有错的不要改。
I used to love science class ---- all of them biology, chemistry, geography, physics. I think I liked those classes because I felt that it helped me understand what the world works. For example, when I was a child, the rain was a mystery. In one class, I learned it rained. I think science classes clear up memories. But then there is always more mysteries look into. What was my least favorite class? hat was maths! After learn the basics of the subject, nothing else seemed very practically to me. I never saw how I could use it in my daily life.
Getting your children to study can be a little like getting them to eat their vegetables.
1. Make a study time and have it at the same time every day. This will help your kids to learn to schedule their day and will give them a sense of control over how they spend their time.
Allow them to study in blocks of time, such as for half an hour with a five-minute break in the middle. 2. Ideal (理想的) study times are after dinner or right after school before dinner.
Never allow your children to study in front of the television, as that will encourage passive activity. 3.
You’ll also need to help your kids find the right place to study. After you’ve set up a good study time for little learners, set up a good place where they can get those creative juices flowing.
4. Make sure there is a table or a desk and a comfortable chair.
5. This includes helping them out with their homework sometimes and being there for them with the answers to any questions. The input you give your children during study periods will help form a bond and help make studying enjoyable.
A. Pick a place where your children can study properly.
B. Hold them to the schedule they create for themselves.
C. Finally, spend time with your kids when they’re studying.
D. Keep the atmosphere light and offer lots of encouragement, too.
E. Instead, use TV as a treat or a reward when the homework is completed.
F. Try to stop this bad habit by offering some sort of reward.
G. One of the best ways to form good study habits for your kids is to design a schedule that they keep to.
EDGEWOOD ---- Every morning at Dixie Heights High School, customers pour into a special experiment: the district’s first coffee run mostly by students with special learning needs.
Well before classes start, students and teachers order Lattes, Sappuccinos and Hot Chocolates.Then, durning the first period teachers call in orders on their room phones, and students make deliveries.
By closing time at 9.20 a.m., the shop usually sells 90 drinks.
“Whoever made the chi tea, Ms. Schatzman says it was good,” Christy McKinley, a second year student, announced recently, after hanging up with the teacher.
The shop is called the Dixie PIT, which stands for Power in Transition. Although some of the students are not disabled, many are, and the PIT helps them prepare for life after high school.
They learn not only how to run a coffee shop but also how to deal with their affairs. They keep a timecard and receive paychecks, which they keep in check registers.
Special-education teachers Kim Chevalier and Sue Casey introduced the Dixie PIT from a similar program at Kennesaw Mountain High School in Georgia.
Not that it was easy. Chevaliver’s first problem to overcome was product-related. Should school be selling coffee? What about sugar content?
Kenton County Food Service Director Ginger Gray helped. She made sure all the drinks, which use non-fat milk, fell within nutrition (营养) guidelines.
The whole school has joined in to help.
Teachers agreed to give up their lounge (休息室) in the mornings. Art students painted the name of the shop on the wall. Business students designed the paychecks. The basketball team helped pay for cups.
1.What is the text mainly about?
A. A special educational program.
B. A best selling coffee.
C. Government support for schools.
D. A new type of teacher-student relationship.
2.The Dixie PIT program was introduced in order to ________.
A. raisemoney for school affairs
B. do some research on nutrition
C. supply teachers with drinks
D. develop students’ practical skills
3.How did Christy McKinley know Ms. Schatzman’s opinion of the chi tea?
A. She met her in the shop.
B. She heard her telling others.
C. She talked to her on the phone.
D. She went to her office to deliver the tea.
4.We know from the text that Ginger Gray _________.
A. manages the Dixie PIT programin Kenton Country
B. owns the school’s coffee shop
C. teaches at Dixie Heights High School
D. sees that the drinks meet health standards
Imagine, one day, getting out of bed in Beijing and being at your office in Shanghai in only a couple of hours, and then, after a full day of work, going back home to Beijing and having dinner there.
Sounds unusual, doesn’t it? But it’s not that unrealistic, with the development of China’s high-speed railway system. And that’s not all. China has an even greater high-speed railway plan-----to connect the country with Southeast Asia, and eventually Eastern Europe.
China is negotiating to extend its own high-speed railway network to up to 17 countries in 10 to 15 years, eventually reaching London and Singapore.
China has proposed three such projects. The first would possibly connect Kunming with Singapore via Vietnam and Malaysia. Another could start in Urumqi and go through Kazakhstan and Uzbekistan, and possibly to Germany. The third would start in the northeast and go north through Russia and then into Western Europe.
If China’s plan for the high-speed railway goes forward, people could zip over from London to Beijing in under two days.
The new system would still follow China’s high-speed railway standard. And the trains would be able to go 346 kilometers an hour, almost as fast as some airplanes.
China’s bullet train (高速客车), the one connecting Wuhan to Guangzhou, already has the world’s fastest average speed. It covers 1,069 kilometers in about three hours.
Of course, there are some technical challenges to overcome. There are so many issues that need to be settled, such as safety, rail gauge (轨距), maintenance of railway tracks. So, it’s important to pay attention to every detail.
But the key issue is really money. China is already spending hundreds of billions of yuan on domestic railway expansion.
China prefers that the other countries pay in natural resources rather than with capital investment. Resources from those countries could stream into China to sustain development.
It’ll be a win-win project. For other countries, the railway network will definitely create more opportunities for business, tourism and so on, not to mention the better communication among those countries.
For China, such a project would not only connect it with the rest of Asia and bring some much-needed resources, but would also help develop China’s far west. We foresee that in the coming decades, millions of people will migrate to the western regions, where the land is empty and resources unused. With high-speed trains, people will set up factories and business centers in the west once and for all. And they’ll trade with Central Asian and Eastern European countries.
1. China’s new high-speed railway plan will be a win-win project because ____________.
A. China will get much-needed resources and develop its western regions
B. China and the countries involved will benefit from the project in various ways
C. China will develop its railway system and communication with other countries
D. the foreign countries involved will develop their railway transportation, business and tourism
2.According to the passage, the greatest challenge to the new high-speed railway plan is___________.
A. technical issues B. safety of the system
C. financial problems D. maintenance of railway tracks
3.Which of the following words best describes the author’s attitude towards China’s high-speed railway plan?
A. Critical. B. Reserved.
C. Doubtful D. Positive.
4.Which of the following might be the best title for the passage?
A. New Railway Standards
B. Big Railway Dreams
C. High-speed Bullet Trains
D. International Railway Network
