Would it surprise you to learn that, like animals, trees communicate with each other and pass on their wealth to the next generation?
UBC Professor Simard explains how trees are much more complex than most of us ever imagined .Although Charles Darwin thought that trees are competing for survival of the fittest, Simard shows just how wrong he was. In fact, the opposite is true: trees survive through their co-operation and support, passing around necessary nutrition “depending on who needs it”.
Nitrogen（氮） and carbon are shared through miles of underground fungi（真菌） networks, making sure that all trees in the forest ecological system give and receive just the right amount to keep them all healthy. This hidden system works in a very similar way to the networks of neurons（神经元）in our brains, and when one tree is destroyed, it affects all.
Simard talks about “mother trees”, usually the largest and oldest plants on which all other trees depend .She explains how dying trees pass on the wealth to the next generation, transporting important minerals to young trees so they may continue to grow .When humans cut down “mother trees” with no awareness of these highly complex “tree societies” or the networks on which they feed, we are reducing the chances of survival for the entire forest.
“We didn't take any notice of it .” Simard says sadly. “Dying trees move nutrition into the young trees before dying, but we never give them chance.” If we could put across the message to the forestry industry, we could make a huge difference towards our environmental protection efforts for the future.
1.The underlined sentence “the opposite is true” in Paragragh2 probably means that trees________.
A. compete for survival
B. depend on each other
C. provide support for dying trees
D. protect their own wealth
2.“Mother trees” are extremely important because they________.
A. look the largest in size in the forest
B. know more about the complex “tree societies”
C. pass on nutrition to young trees
D. seem more likely to be cut down by humans
3.The underlined word “it” in the last paragraph refers to .
A. how “tree societies” work
B. how trees grow old
C. how forestry industry develops
D. how young trees survive
4.What would be the best title for the passage?
A. Old Trees Communicate Like Humans
B. Young Trees Are In Need Of Protection
C. Trees Contribute To Our Society
D. Trees Are More Awesome Than You Think
It was once common to regard Britain as a society with class distinction. Each class had unique characteristics.
In recent years, many writers have begun to speak the “decline of class”and “classless society”in Britain. And in modern day consumer society everyone is considered to be middle class.
But pronouncing the death of class is too early. A recent wide-ranging society of public opinion found 90 percent of people still placing themselves in particular class; 73 percent agreed that class was still a vital part of British society; and 52 percent thought there were still sharp class differences. Thus, class may not be culturally and politically obvious, yet it remains an important part of British society. Britain seems to have a love of stratification.
One unchanging aspect of a British person’s class position is accent. The words a person speaks tell her or his class. A study of British accents during 1970s found that a voice sounding like a BBC newsreader was viewed as the most attractive voice, Most people said this accent sounded “educated” and “soft”. The accents placed at the bottom in this study, on the other hand, were regional（地区的）city accents. These accents were seen as “common” and “ugly”. However, a similar study of British accents in the US turned these results upside down and placed some regional accents as the most attractive and BBC English as the least. This suggests that British attitudes towards accent have deep roots and are based on class prejudice.
In recent years, however, young upper middle-class people in London, have begun to adopt some regional accents, in order to hide their class origins. This is an indication of class becoming unnoticed. However, the 1995 pop song “Common People” puts forward the view that though a middle-class person may “want to live like common people” they can never appreciate the reality of a working-class life.
1.A recent study of public opinion shows that in modern Britain ________.
A. it is time to end class distinction
B. most people belong to middle class
C. it is easy to recognize a person’s class
D. people regard themselves socially different
2.The word stratification in Paragraph 3 is closest in meaning to ________.
A. division B. variety
C. authority D. qualification
3.The study in the US showed that BBC English was regarded as _________.
A. regional B. educated
C. unattractive D. prejudiced
4. What is the main idea of the passage?
A. The middle class is expanding
B. A person’s accent reflects his class
C. Class is a key part of British society
D. Each class has unique characteristics.
The kids in this village wear dirty, ragged clothes. They sleep beside cows and sheep in huts made of sticks and mud. They have no school. Yet they all can chant the English alphabet, and some can make words.
The key to their success : 20 tablet computers(平板电脑) dropped off in their Ethiopian village in February by a U.S. group called One Laptop Per Child.
The goal is to find out whether kids using today’s new technology can teach themselves to read in places where no schools or teachers exist. The Massachusetts Institute of Technology researchers analyzing the project data say they’re already amazed. “What I think has already happened is that the kids have already learned more than they would have in one year of kindergarten,” said Matt Keller, who runs the Ethiopia program.
The fastest learner—and the first to turn on one of the tablets—is 8-year-old Kelbesa Negusse. The device’s camera was disabled to save memory, yet within weeks Kelbesa had figured out its workings and made the camera work. He called himself a lion, a marker of accomplishment in Ethiopia.
With his tablet, Kelbasa rearranged the letters HSROE into one of the many English animal names he knows. Then he spelled words on his own. “Seven months ago he didn’t know any English. That’s unbelievable,” said Keller.
The project aims to get kids to a stage called “deep reading,” where they can read to learn. It won’t be in Amharic, Ethiopia’s first language, but in English, which is widely seen as the ticket to higher paying jobs.
1.How does the Ethiopia program benefit the kids in the village?
A. It trains teachers for them.
B. It helps raise their living standards
C. It contributes to their self-study.
D. It provides funds for building schools.
2.What can we infer from Keller’s words in Paragraph 3?
A. They need more time to analyze data.
B. He is confident about the future of the project.
C. More children are needed for the research.
D.The research should be carried out in kindergartens.
3.It amazed Keller that with the tablet Kelbesa could _______.
A. learn English words quickly.
B. draw pictures of animals.
C. write letters to researchers.
D. make phone calls to his friends.
4.What is the aim of the project?
A. To offer Ethiopians higher paying jobs.
B. To make Amharic widely used in the world.
C. To help Ethiopian kids read to learn in English.
D. To assist Ethiopians in learning their first language.
Choose Your One-Day-Tours!
Tour A—Bath &Stonehenge including entrance fees to the ancient Roman bathrooms and Stonehenge —￡37 until 26 March and ￡39 thereafter.
Visit the city with over 2,000 years of history and Bath Abbey, the Royal Crescent and the Costume Museum, Stonehenge is one of the world’s most famous prehistoric monuments dating back over 5,000 years.
Tour B—Oxford & Stratford including entrance fees to the University St Mary's Church Tower and Anne Hathaway's —￡32 until 12 March and ￡36 thereafter.
Oxford: Includes a guided tour of England's oldest university city and colleges. Look over the “city of dreaming spires(尖顶）”from St Mary’s Church Tower. Stratford: Includes a guided tour exploring much of the Shakespeare wonder.
Tour C—Windsor Castle &Hampton Court including entrance fees to Hampton Court Palace —￡34 until 11 March and ￡37 thereafter.
Includes a guided tour of Windsor and Hampton Court, Henry VIII’s favorite palace. Free time to visit Windsor Castle(entrance fees not included).With 500 years of history, Hampton Court was once the home of four Kings and one Queen. Now this former royal palace is open to the public as a major tourist attraction. Visit the palace and its various historic gardens, which include the famous maze(迷宫)where it is easy to get lost!
Tour D—Cambridge including entrance fees to the Tower of Saint Mary the Great—￡33 until 18 March and ￡37 thereafter.
Includes a guided tour of Cambridge, the famous university town, and the gardens of the 18th century.
1. Which tour will you choose if you want to see England’s oldest university city?
A. Tour A B. Tour B C. Tour C D. Tour D
2.Which of the following tours charges the lowest fee on 17 March?
A. Windsor Castle & Hampton Court
B. Oxford & Stratford
C. Cambridge
D. Bath & Stonehenge
3.Why is Hampton Court a major tourist attraction?
A. It is a world-famous castle
B. It used to be a well-known maze
C. It is the oldest palace in Britain
D. It used to be the home of royal families
书面表达最近，英国一个名为Gives Me Hope的网站火了，网友分享的一些小故事，给人带来了希望。假定你是李华，请你给在英国的网友Joe推荐这个网站。请根据要求给他写一封邮件，内容要点：
●网站名称和内容 (www. Givesmehope. com)；
●自己看完故事的感受；
●鼓励Joe到网站上分享故事。
注意：
(1)词数：100字左右；
(2)可根据内容要点适当增加细节，以使行文连贯；
(3)书信格式及开头均已给出 (不计入总词数)。
Dear Joe,
How are you going recently?
_________________________________________________________________________
_________________________________________________________________________
_________________________________________________________________________
_________________________________________________________________________
_________________________________________________________________________
_________________________________________________________________________
Best wishes!
Yours,
Li Hua
短文改错
文中共有10处错误, 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号（^）, 并在其下面写出该加的词。
删除：把多余的词用斜钱（\）划掉。
修改：在错的词下划一横线, 并在该词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。
Dear Jim,
I am so exciting that you will come to China．I will free from December 18 and will have a plenty of time to be together with you．I'll meet you at the airport and then you will take Bus No．8 for my home．You worry about the weather here in your email．In fact, the weather here is quite different from it in your city. It isn't very cold, but you needn't bring many clothes with you. During your stay here, I'll take you to some places of interests and you can taste some local snacks．I am sure we will have greatly fun together.
Looking forward to meeting you soon.
John
