阅读理解。
Many of the world's countries have reached or are approaching zero population growth (ZPG). Nearly all such lands are economically well developed. They include much of Europe (including Russia), the United States, Canada, Japan, and Australia. As the rate of natural increase (RNI) declines, two things happen. First, the population begins to decline if the loss is not balanced by immigration. Second, a country's population ages because there are fewer births.
Is achieving ZPG good or bad? What happens when a country's population begins to drop? Many people, after all, believe that population decline is a good thing. But is it good for everyone? Does everyone agree?
An aging population can create many problems. Senior citizens require more health care and medical attention. Rather than paying into retirement programs, they begin to draw from their pensions. In the US, the Social Security program, according to many experts, will be used up by 2018. It will pay out more money than it takes in. Additionally, a great number of jobs go begging in search of people willing or able to do them. Many of these jobs are entrylevel positions that pay low wages. With an aging population, who will fill them? At the other extreme, some positions require a large number of training and highly specialized skills. Who will fill these positions as retirees leave the workforce?
The answer to the problem of declining and aging population is simple: increased migration. Today many people, particularly those from less developed countries, are migrating in search of employment. Many are willing to take jobs that cannot (or will not) be filled by the_domestic_population. Others are well educated and highly skilled. Both groups contribute to a country's economy progress in many ways. Further, they add to the richness of a country's culture. Of greatest importance, perhaps, is the fact that they have become absolutely necessary to the economy of many lands. As you can see, for many countries and for most immigrants, migration is a winwin situation.
1.In the writer's view, which of the following statements is TRUE?
A．Not everyone agrees that achieving ZPG is absolutely good.
B．Achieving ZPG is every country's aim in spite of its side effects.
C．Achieving ZPG is bad for senior citizens.
D．Achieving ZPG is good for employment.
2.According to the passage, the best way to solve the problem of declining and aging population is ________.
A．to improve the health care system
B．to increase RNI
C．to increase employment
D．to increase migration
3.The underlined words “the domestic population” can be replaced by ________.
A．people within the country
B．people from developing countries
C．people without a college education
D．people living abroad
4.The main idea of the last paragraph is ________.
A．the advantages of increased migration
B．the problem of declining and aging population
C．how to increase migration
D．some ways to enrich a country's culture
阅读理解。
Life in 2060
Let us suppose it is now about A．D. 2060. Let's make believe (假装；虚构) it is about 45 years from now. Of course, things have changed and life is very different.
Voyages to the moon are being made every day. It is as easy to take a holiday on the moon today as it was for the people in 1960 to take a holiday in Europe. At a number of scenic spots on the moon, many hotels have been built. The hotels are airconditioned, naturally. In order that everyone can enjoy the beautiful scenery on the moon, every room has at least one picture window. Everything imaginable is provided for entertainment of young and old.
What are people eating now? People are still eating food. They haven't yet started to take on heir (继承) supply of energy directly as electrical current or as nuclear power. They may some day. But many foods now come in pill form, and the food that goes into the pill continues to come mainly from green plants.
Since there are several times as many people in the world today as there were a hundred years ago, most of our planet's surface has to be filled. The deserts are irrigated with water and crops are no longer destroyed by pests. The harvest is always good.
Farming, of course, is very highly developed. Very few people have to work on the farm. It is possible to run the farm by just pushing a few buttons now and then.
People are now largely vegetarians (素食者). You see, as the number of people increases, the number of animal decreases. Therefore, people have to be vegetarians and we are healthier both in our bodies and in our minds, and we know the causes and cure of disease and pain, and it is possible to get rid of diseases. No one has to be ill any more.
Such would be our life in 2060.
1.When was the passage written?
A．In about A．D. 2060. B．In about 1960.
C．In about 2014. D．In about 2015.
2.According to the passage, what will be on the moon in about A．D. 2060?
A．Many other animals. B．Many tourists.
C．Many plants. D．A sea.
3.What will people eat then according to the passage?
A．Biscuits in pill form. B．Foods in pill form.
C．Foods in water form. D．Foods in gas form.
4.The passage tells us that in 2060, ________ on the earth than now.
A．the crops are getting better
B．there are more pests
C．there are fewer people
D．there is less water
阅读理解。
Robots performing tasks according to a predetermined set of instructions are nothing new.But robots able to learn how to cook by watching videos are a completely different approach, which is conducted by a group of researchers at the University of Maryland.
If you have posted a video of your favorite recipe on the popular website YouTube, chances are that it will be used by a robot.University of Maryland's professor Yiannis Aloimonos, leader of the group, said “There exists a large amount of video information on the Internet that our robots can capitalize_on.”
“At present, the videos are fed electronically，”said research scientist Cornelia Fermuller.“Originally, we took our own videos, our cameras looking at us doing the cooking，”she explained.“And, as the robot advances, it reacts to good quality videos.And it will react to even lower quality homemade videos.”
So far, the robot named Julia can make a simple salad by breaking each task into basic parts, such as grasping a spoon, bringing it to the bowl, stirring the salad and observing the results.
But why teach a robot how to understand a video when it can easily follow a fixed program？Aloimonos believes predetermined instructions lack flexibility.He thinks one of the problems is how to make the robot understand and use what it learns during a certain task, the socalled feedback (反馈意见); another is the introduction of language.
“I believe it will take quite some time before the robots are able to understand metaphorical (比喻性的) language，”he added.“But，” he said，“we don't need that to create a new world where the robots will be working for us.”
1.The underlined phrase “capitalize on” in Paragraph 2 probably can be replaced by ________.
A．take hold of B．make use of
C．keep track of D．catch sight of
2.Aloimonos probably agrees that at present the robot ________.
A．can not fully digest what it learns
B．can not make a simple salad
C．can follow homemade videos
D．can understand metaphorical language
3.Robots are taught to understand a video mainly because ________.
A．they can easily follow fixed programs
B．they are smart enough to learn cooking
C．cooking videos are more interesting to watch
D．predetermined instructions are not flexible
4.Which of the following might best serve as the title of the passage?
A．Robots Creating a New World
B．Robots Making Cooking Videos
C．Robots Learning to Cook by Watching Videos
D．Robots Performing Tasks by Following Instructions
语法填空
Last Friday a storm swept through two villages in the New Territories, 1. (destroy) fourteen homes. Seven others were so badly damaged _2._ their owners had to leave them, and fifteen others had broken windows or roofs. One person was killed, several were 3. (serious) hurt and taken to hospital, and a number of other people received smaller hurt. Altogether over two hundred people were homeless after the storm.
A farmer, Mr. Tan, said that the storm began early 4._ the morning and lasted for over an hour.
“I 5._ (eat) with my wife and children，” he said, “when we heard a loud noise. A few minutes later our house fell down on top of us. We tried our best _6. (climb) out but then I saw that one of my children was _7._ (miss). I went back inside and found him, safe _8. very frightened.”
Mrs. Woo Mei Fong said that her husband had just left for work when she 9._ (feel) that her house was moving. She ran outside at once with her children.
Soldiers helped to take people out of the flooded area and the welfare department brought _10. (they) food, clothes and shelter.
完形填空
Mr.Jackson was blind from birth. He owned a fruit ______ on a very busy street. _______ he was visually disabled, he ran his business pretty handsomely. He could see nothing and he could only ______ the things within his reach. ______, he was able to handle it and was content with everything he had.
One day his son came to him. He told Mr. Jackson in ______ that he read in the newspaper of a ______who could operate on his eyes and allow him to see. The father and son traveled to the doctor and paid for the _______ .
After the operation, the doctor asked Mr.Jackson: “What is the first thing you are ______to see when I take the bandages off？” He replied, “I really want to see my beautiful ______ on my stand！”
The doctor and the son ______ Mr.Jackson down to the busy street where his fruit stand had been located for so many years. The doctor ______ unwrapped the bandages _______ he could lay his eyes on the beautiful fruit! Mr.Jackson was so full of _______ that he could finally see his life's work — taking care of his fruit! After a few hours of _______his beautiful fruit stand, he looked down the street both ways and saw there were quite a few fruit stands in both directions. He looked _______ the street and saw many other fruit stands. He spent so much time looking at other people's fruit stands and _______ the competition that soon his own business _______.
From Mr.Jackson's failure, we should know that everyone is a ______ individual with different fingerprints, DNA and thinking. What we need to do is just be ourselves and ______ everyone else to be who they are. Mind our own business and we should never be afraid of the _______.
1.A.stand B．company C．store D．center
2.A.Because B．As C．Although D．When
3.A.remember B．describe C．imagine D．feel
4.A.Therefore B．However C．Otherwise D．Besides
5.A.pride B．doubt C．excitement D．surprise
6.A.doctor B．nurse C．chemist D．volunteer
7.A.information B．medicine C．service D．operation
8.A.nervous B．lucky C．eager D．afraid
9.A.flowers B．vegetables C．fruit D．clothing
10.A.sent B．accompanied C．followed D．invited
11.A.suddenly B．curiously C．carefully D．firmly
12.A.so that B．in case C．even if D．if only
13.A.regret B．joy C．courage D．relief
14.A.enjoying B．checking C．judging D．making
15.A.above B．within C．through D．across
16.A.preparing for B．focusing on C．worrying abou D．taking up
17.A.improved B．failed C．appeared D．expanded
18.A.simple B．reliable C．unique D．perfect
19.A.force B．require C．persuade D．allow
20.A.competition B．change C．difference D．disability
完形填空
Beginning to learn gymnastics even before she could barely walk, Svetlana had always dreamed to enter the Olympics scene some day.
However, her ________ ended in the car on the winding road when a lorry appeared out of nowhere. The last thing she ________ was a blinding flash of light. In hospital, when told she would never ________ again, she couldn't believe it. Three months later, she was ________ out of hospital on a wheelchair. Then a friend came to her house to visit her with an old children's storybook. A bookmark in it made her________ to page 117. The name of the _________ was ‘The Day Clara Walked’. She was determined to return to stage whatever it might cost.
_________， after a year's hard exercise, Svetlana recovered and was able to display her gymnastics. While she was sitting on the green bench ________ the Athens Olympic Stadium, memories _________： first, the pain and the tears, the book under her pillow, the words of relatives full of advice and comfort, and the pity in those eyes that had once held _________ for her talent. Then followed the trips to the gym where everyone looked on ________， their disbelief transforming slowly to wonder, ________ she could balance the hoop (圈) as well as her teammates. She registered for the 2004 Olympic Games, and finally she received _________ from the Olympic Committee.
Her _________ was interrupted by the attendant who said, “It's time”， two words that she had been ________ to hear for so long. Smoothing her dress, she walked into the stadium, each ________ firm and steady. Everything was ________， and the applause rang loud in her ears, her heart beating ________ in her chest.
Later that night, Svetlana pulled the gold medal out of her pocket and placed it on the old ________on the shelf, which opened to page 117, to the chapter ‘The Day Clara Walked’， tears ________ her vision.
1.A.intention B．dream C．life D．career
2.A.remembered B．forgot C．experienced D．suffered
3.A.see B．dance C．sing D．walk
4.A.wheeled B．rocked C．thrown D．rushed
5.A.point B．relate C．open D．adapt
6.A.bookmark B．page C．story D．chapter
7.A.Fortunately B．Surprisingly C．Suddenly D．Certainly
8.A.outside B．inside C．beneath D．opposite
9.A.squeezed out B．faded away C．mixed up D．flooded in
10.A.fright B．admiration C．sympathy D．regret
11.A.cheerfully B．thankfully C．nervously D．doubtfully
12.A.until B．while C．as D．once
13.A.approval B．praise C．support D．access
14.A.plan B．thought C．attempt D．sight
15.A.eager B．content C．upset D．proud
16.A.breath B．wave C．step D．look
17.A.unexpected B．perfect C．awful D．finished
18.A.immediately B．swiftly C．properly D．fiercely
19.A.hoop B．letter C．book D．dress
20.A.rolling B．filling C．clouding D．rushing
