A fresh and gentle wind on your face, soft sand under your feet and blue waters as far as the eye can see. Is there any other Olympic sport that is played in such pleasant conditions as beach volleyball?
“I've gone to a lot of beautiful places, and met a lot of beautiful people. That wouldn't have happened if I had been playing another sport,” said Randy Stoklos, America's most famous beach volleyball player.
The sport began as a four-a-side game on beaches in Southern California in the 1920s. The first recorded two man game took place there in 1930, and the first tournament was held in Los Angeles 18 years later. The winners were awarded a case of Pepsi. In the 1950s, women started playing and the sport soon spread to Europe and South America. Yet at that time, beach volleyball was more an entertainment show than a sport, with beauty contests included. The Association of Volleyball Professionals was founded in 1983 and beach volleyball developed into a fast, athletic sport. Its worldwide popularity won beach volleyball a place at the 1996 Olympics in Atalanta, where 24 male teams and 16 female teams took part. At present, the US and Brazil are the best in the world at beach volleyball.
The game came to China in the early 1990s and there have been national tournaments since 1994. It became an official event at the Eighth National Games in1997. China's You Wenhui and Wang Lu finished ninth in the women's beach volleyball world championships in Brazil.
1.The passage is mainly about _________.
A.the history of beach volleyball
B.how to play beach volleyball
C.the importance of beach volleyball
D.women's beach volleyball in China
2.According to the passage, which of the following statements is TRUE?
A.Beach volleyball was first played like other Olympic sports.
B.Beach volleyball began on beaches in Southern California.
C.Beach volleyball has always been an entertainment show rather than a sport.
D.Women started playing beach volleyball in South America in 1945.
3.When did beach volleyball officially become an Olympic event?
A.In 1948. B.In 1950.
C.In 1996. D.In 1997.
4.According to the passage, we can learn that ________.
A.in 1996, beach volleyball became an official event in China
B.China's beach volleyball team is the best in the world
C.China's beach volleyball players won the first place in Brazil
D.beach volleyball came to China in the early 1990s
Tht Healthy Habits Survey（调查）shows that only about one third of American seniors have correct habits. Here are some findings and expert advice.
1.How many times did you brush your teeth yesterday?
·Finding：A full 33% of seniors brush their teeth only once a day.
·Step：Remove the 300 types of bacteria in your mouth each morning with a battery-operated toothbrush. Brush gently for 2 minutes, at least twice a day.
2.How many times did you wash your hands or bathe yesterday?
·Finding：Seniors, on average, bathe fewer than 3 days a week. And nearly 30%wash their hands only 4 times a day-half of the number doctors recommend.
·Step：We touch our faces around 3,000 times a day-often inviting germs（病菌）to enter our mouth, nose, and eyes.Use toilet paper to avoid touching the door handle. And, most important, wash your hands often with hot running water and soap for 20 seconds.
3. How often do you think about fighting germs?
·Finding：Seniors are not fighting germs as well as they should.
·Step：Be aware of germs. Do you know it is not your toilet but your kitchen sponge（海绵）that can carry more germs than anything else? To kill these germs, keep your sponge in the microwave for 10 seconds.
1.What is found out American seniors?
A.Most of then have good habits.
B.Nearly 30%of then bathe three days a week .
C.All of then are fighting germs better than expected .
D.About one third of them brush their teeth only once a day
2.Doctors suggest that people should wash their hands_________ .
A.twice a day B.three times a day
C.eight times a day D.four times a day
3.The text probably comes from ________.
A.a guide book B.a popular magazine
C.a book review D.an official document
阅读下面短文，根据其内容写一篇60词左右的内容概要。
Of the thousands of different kinds of animals that exist in the world man has learned to make friends with an enormous number. Some are pets，and offer him companionship; some give protection，and some do hard work which man cannot do for himself. Dogs，which serve man in all three capacities，are found in various species in all countries of the world. The Husky can live in the cold polar regions，and the Saluki is at home in the hottest parts of Central Africa. The people of certain countries are dependent for their very lives on the camel. In the West Indies the little donkey，strong and sure－footed，carrying heavy loads even in mountainous places，is a familiar sight.
Trained and tamed for many generations，domestic (驯养的)animals are not accustomed to wandering in search of food and shelter. They look to their masters to provide for their needs，and as long as these are supplied，they are content to do what their masters require.
All domestic animals need proper food. It must be suitable for them，enough in quantity，fresh and clean. Some people feed a pet dog or cat on odds and ends of table scraps (吃剩的东西)，and then wonder why the animal seems tired and dull. The quantity of food depends on the size of the animal and the amount of exercise it takes. Overfeeding is as bad as underfeeding. Containers for food and water must be washed regularly if the animal is to maintain good health.
Even well－cared for animals may sometimes fall ill. If this happens，the wise master seeks the best advice he can get. All sorts of medicines and treatments are available for sick animals，and in some countries organizations exist to provide them free or at a cheap price. Useful，friendly，hardworking animals deserve to have some time and money spent on their health.
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There was one thought that air pollution affected only the area immediately around large cities with factories and heavy traffic. At present，we realize that although these are the areas with the worst air pollution， the problem is really worldwide. On several occasions over the past decade，a heavy cloud of air pollution has covered the east of the United States and brought health warnings in distant areas away from any industrial cities. In fact，the very climate of the entire earth may be infected by air pollution. Some scientists consider that the increasing concentration of carbon dioxide in the air resulting from the burning of fossil fuels (coal and oil) is creating a “greenhouse effect” —keeping heat reflected from the earth and raising the world’s average temperature. If this view is correct and the world’s temperature is raised only a few degrees，much of the polar ice cap will melt and cities such as New York，Boston，Miami，and New Orleans will be in water.
Another view，less widely held，is that increasing particular matter in the atmosphere is blocking sunlight and lowering the earth’s temperature—a result that would be equally disastrous. A drop of just a few degrees could create something close to a new ice age，and would make agriculture difficult or impossible in many of our top farming areas. Today we do not know for sure that either of these conditions will happen. Perhaps，if we are lucky enough，the two tendencies will offset each other and the world’s temperature will stay about the same as it is now. Driven by economic profits，people ignore the damage on our environment caused by the “advanced civilization”. Maybe the air pollution is the price the human beings have to pay for their development. But is it really worthwhile?
1.People used to think that air pollution________.
A.caused widespread damage in the countryside
B.affected the entire eastern half of the United States
C.had a very bad effect on health
D.existed merely in urban and industrial areas
2.As to the greenhouse effect，the author________.
A.shares the same view with the scientists
B.is uncertain of its occurrence
C.rejects it as being ungrounded
D.thinks that it will destroy the world soon
3.The underlined word “offset” in the second paragraph could be replaced by “________”.
A.counteract B.break from
C.get along D.communicate
4.If the world’s temperature lowered just a few degrees________.
A.it would not do much harm to life on earth
B.it would lead major farming areas to disaster
C.particular things would increase greatly in the atmosphere
D.seas and oceans would flood many cities
单句语法填空
1.You had better book rooms at the hotel in advance in case you should find no room on your ____________ (arrive).
2.Almost all job applicants are determined to leave a good ____________ (impress) on a potential employer.
3.The closure of the factory will cause severe damage ____________ the local economy.
4.She found herself in conflict ____________ her parents over her future career.
5.With the help of the old man，the criminals were ____________ arrest.
6.The number of employees has already decreased ____________ twenty percent after the manager laid off them.
单词拼写
1.We have taken ________ (措施) to avoid such things happening again.
2.She ________ (拍打) me on the back and joked with me.
3.The kind grandmother lent us some soft orange ________ (毯子).
4.The two stories ________ (冲突)，so I did not know which to believe.
5.The crime rate in this city has ________ (减少) in the last decade.
6.It had been raining for a week and the streets were ________ (淹没).
7.People had to stand in a ________ (行列) for hours to buy a ticket.
8.The ________ (海关) men went through our luggage carefully.
