La Gomera is the only place in the world that has a whistle language. We do not know how and why it began because we do not know the complete history of the island. But we can certainly imagine the reasons for the beginning of the whistle language. There are many deep valleys on the island. A person on one side of a valley can not easily shout to a person on the other side. But he can whistle and be heard. Some of the best whistlers can be heard from four miles away and the record is seven miles.
The people who live on the island usually have good teeth, and this helps them to whistle well. They must also have good ears so that they can hear other whistlers.
We can understand why the whistle language continues. It is very useful on the island, and quite easy to learn. When somebody is hurt or ill, the whistle language takes the place of telephone. If the sick person is quite far away from the town, people pass the message from one to another. A boy guarding cattle on a hillside whistles to a man fishing from his boat. The last one is able to describe the trouble fully and exactly to the doctor in town. People help one another in the same way when a car breaks down or a cow is lost.
The whistle language is hundreds of years old, and probably it will continue to live on for hundreds of years more. Radio and TV often kill the special ways of speaking in different parts of a country. But on La Gomera you are nobody if you cannot whistle. Perhaps soon after TV arrives on the island, people there will be whistling the news and other facts and opinions.
1. If a person on La Gomera is ill, ______.
A. the whistle language will help pass the message to the doctor
B. people will take him to town by carriage
C. his family will take him to the hospital
D. others will phone the doctor in town
2. La Gomera is special because ______.
A. we don’t know its complete history
B. people have to shout if they want to communicate
C. people there have good teeth and ears
D. people there use the whistle language to communicate with each other
3. Which of the following is NOT true according to the passage?
A. The whistle language has been used for hundreds of years on the island, but will not be used any longer.
B. The whistle language can only be found on La Gomera.
C. It is not easy for a person to live on La Gomera if he cannot whistle.
D. The record shows that one best whistler can be heard by others from seven miles away.
4. Which of the following will be the best title of this passage?
A. The Secret Language
B. Do You Know the Whistle Language?
C. The Life of Islanders
D. La Gomera－a Mystery
Winter begins in the north on December 22nd. People and animals have been doing what they always do to prepare for the cold months. Squirrels, for example, have been busy gathering nuts from trees. Well, scientists have been busy gathering information about what the squirrels do with the food they collect.
They examined differences between red squirrels and gray squirrels in the American state of Indiana. The scientists wanted to know how these differences could affect the growth of black walnut trees. The black walnut is the nut of choice for both kinds of squirrels. The black walnut tree is also a central part of some hardwood forests.
Rob Swihart of Purdue University did the study with Jake Goheen, a former Purdue student now at the University of New Mexico. The two researchers estimate that several times as many walnuts grow when gathered by gray squirrels as compared to red squirrels. Gray squirrels and red squirrels do not store nuts and seeds in the same way. Gray squirrels bury nuts one at a time in a number of places. But they seldom remember where they buried every nut. So some nuts remain in the ground. Conditions are right for them to develop and grow in the following spring. Red squirrels, however, store large groups of nuts above ground. Professor Swihart calls “death traps for seeds”.
Gray squirrels are native to Indiana. But Professor Swihart says their numbers began to decrease as more forests were cut for agriculture. Red squirrels began to spread through the state during the past century.
The researchers say red squirrels are native to forests that stay green all year, unlike walnut trees. They say the cleaning of forest land for agriculture has helped red squirrels invade Indiana. Jake Goheen calls them a sign of an environmental problem more than a cause.
1.The study done by Rob Swihart and Jake Goheen is to ________.
A. find out the living conditions for squirrels
B. do something to get rid of squirrels
C. learn squirrels’ influence on black walnut trees
D. save the forests in the American state of Indiana
2.The difference between gray squirrels and red squirrels mainly lies in ________.
A. the way they gather the walnut
B. the place they store the walnuts
C. the number of the nuts they can collect
D. the fact that the gray squirrels have a bad memory
3.When Professor Swihart says “death traps for seeds”, he actually means that ________.
A. nuts above the ground will not develop into plants
B. red squirrels eat more nuts than gray squirrels
C. gray squirrels and red squirrels will have severe fights
D. seeds can be traps for other animals in the forest
4.According to the passage, which of the following is true?
A. Gray squirrels do more harm to the forest than red squirrels.
B. Red squirrels and gray squirrels have helped the spread of walnut trees.
C. The cleaning of forest land benefits gray squirrels directly.
D. Human beings should bear some responsibility for the decreasing number of gray squirrels.
I went to the Tsavo National Park in northern Kenya for a film. We set off early for a distant water hole. A huge elephant covered with dry mud, drank calmly and deeply. He might have traveled 50 km to reach the water. He wasn’t going to hurry now. He’d drink a while and rest in the shade, and then drink again or so we thought. What actually happened was that he drank deeply and stepped away. Then he suddenly fell down. Within minutes he was dead.
We called animal doctor Jeremiah Poghon immediately. He removed the head of a poisoned arrow from the elephant’s body, and let out over 100 liters of pus (胺)－the result of the elephant’s meeting with a poacher（偷猎者）months before.
Today's poacher shoots from a blind. He fires an arrow, covered with poison, into the body of an elephant. If the poacher is lucky, the elephant might die in an hour or two; if not, he might have to follow the elephant for days before it dies. Often the arrow head fails to kill the elephant at once－it doesn't mean the poison won't finally kill the elephant, but it will be a slow death.
Living in Tsavo through these times, I could see the results of poaching from time to time. When I think about the death of that elephant, what stays with me is the extraordinary silence after the shocking sound of his body hitting the ground. I took some comfort from the knowledge that as the dead body returned to the soil, some animals would benefit－but I couldn't escape the feeling that with the death of such a large animal, the world seemed to be a poorer and emptier place.
1. While filming near the water hole, the author and his team ________.
A. knew the elephant was injured
B. found the elephant acted violently
C. tried their best to save the elephant
D. thought the elephant was in good condition
2. Further examination showed that the dead elephant________.
A. had suffered an hour or two
B. was killed by a poisonous needle
C. had suffered a lot
D. had had a good fight with a poacher
3. How does the author feel when thinking about the elephant s death?
A. empty. B. comfortable.
C. upset. D. relieved.
4. Why did the author write the text?
A. To introduce African elephant.
B. To show the cruelty of poaching.
C. To describe his filming experience.
D. To ask readers to protect wild animals.
假如你是高三学生李华，毕业后想去康奈尔大学（Cornell University）深造。请结合以下要点给康奈尔大学的负责人写一封电子邮件，希望获得奖学金。
1. 自我介绍，包括英语水平、独立生活的能力以及与人沟通的能力；
2. 希望获得奖学金；
3. 希望得到答复。
注意：1. 词数100左右，开头和结尾已给出，不计入总词数；
2. 可以适当增加细节，以使行文连贯。
Dear Sir or Madam,
I’m Li Hua. ____________________________________________________________________
__________________________________________________________________________________
Yours sincerely,
Li Hua
假如英语课上老师要求同桌之间交换修改作文，请你修改你同桌的以下作文。文中共有10处语言错误，每句中最多有两处；每处错误仅涉及一个单词的增加，删除或修改。
增加：在缺词处加一个漏字符合(^)，并在其下面写出该加的词。
删除：把多余的词用斜线(\)划掉。
修改：在错的词下划—横线，并在该下面写出修改后的词。
注意：1.每处错误及其修改均仅限一词；
2.只允许修改10处，多者（从第11处起）不计分。
I always think my mother is also your good friend. When I lose my first tooth, when I found a friend, and when I fell off from my bike, she was there. She was proud when I succeeded but supportive when I failed. She always listened me. She seemed to know when I was asking for advices and when I just needed a good cry. We actual shared experiences, hopes, sadness and fears. She made me felt that my opinions were never small and silly. She never forgot to tell me what she believed in me. Now my mother is facing with some difficulties in life. I want to tell her everything will be OK and I believe in her, too.
阅读下面材料，在空白处填入适当的内容（1个单词）或括号内单词的正确形式（不多于3个单词）。
What do people do with their old, out of date but still useful computers? Most people don’t know 1. to do with them. Many old computers are put away in homes. Many more 2. (throw) away as rubbish.
Finally, some companies are thinking of ways 3. (bring) down the number of old computers. Sony has agreed to help recycle old Sony products. Dell, Hewlett Packard and other 4. (company) now also take back some old computers.
In some countries, laws have been passed, too. Computer companies have to pay for collecting and 5. (recycle) their used products. And 70% of computer waste must be recycled. The idea behind the laws 6. (be) that computer companies themselves should pay for the cost. That will encourage them to make computers 7. (easy) to repair and upgrade (升级).
Yet while many people are throwing away good computers, others cannot afford 8. at all. Hundreds of organizations are working to solve this problem. They collect and repair old computers. Some also teach others how to repair computers. 9. computers then go to schools, charities (慈善团体) and people who need them. Giving a used computer to one of these organizations can turn one person’s rubbish 10. someone else's useful things and cut down waste, too.
