More than 12 300 people were killed and tens of thousands left homeless after a powerful undersea earthquake unleashed giant tsunami waves that crashed into the coasts of south and southeast Asia.
The 8.9 magnitude earthquake that struck off the Indonesian island of Sumatra early on Sunday was the biggest in 40 years.It triggered waves that reared up into walls of water as high as 10 meters(30 feet) as they hit coastlines in Indonesia,Sri Lanka,India and Thailand.
Aid agencies rushed staff,equipment and money to the region,warning that bodies rotting in the water were already beginning to threaten the water supply for survivors.
Rescue workers also spoke of bodies still caught up on trees after being flung inland by the waves.
“I just couldn’t believe what was happening before my eyes,”Boree Carlson said from a hotel in the Thai resort of Phuket.
“As I was standing there,a car actually floated into the lobby and overturned because the current was so strong,”said the 45-year-old Swede.
“I heard an eerie sound that I have never heard before.It was a high pitched sound followed by a deafening roar,”said a 55-year-old Indian fisherman who gave his name as Chellappa.
“I told everyone to run for their life.”
In Indonesia,an archipelago of 17 000 islands,one official said nearly 4500 people had died.The worst affected area was Bands Aceh,the capital of Aceh Province,where 3000 were killed.More than 200 prisoners escaped from a jail when the tsunami knocked down its walls.In Sri Lanka（斯里兰卡）,the death toll also reached 4500 and 1 million people,or 5 percent of its population,were affected.It was the worst natural disaster to hit Sri Lanka.Hundreds of thousands of Sri Lankans sheltered in schools and temples overnight,and officials expected the death toll to rise further once rescuers resumed searches after daybreak.In southern India,where at least 3000 were estimated to have died,beaches were littered with submerged cars and wrecked boats.Shanties on the coast were under water.
Thai government officials said at least 392 bodies had been retrieved and they expected the final toll to approach 1000.
The earthquake,of magnitude 8.9 as measured by the U.S. Geological Survery (news-web sites),struck at 7:59 a.m.(1959EST).It was the world’s biggest since 1964,said Julie Martinez at the USGS(news-web sites).
The tsunami was so powerful it smashed boast and flooded areas along the east African coast,3728 miles away.What does the underlined word “tsunami” probably mean?
| A．Tidal wave. | B．Wave. |
| C．Earthquake. | D．A man who kills many persons. |
What does the passage mainly talk about？
| A．Asian tsunami kills many people,and many more become homeless. |
| B．An earthquake happens. |
| C．The tsunami was so powerful that it smashed boats and people. |
| D．It was the biggest earthquake in 40 years. |
The sea waves hit coastlines in _________.
| A．Indonesia | B．Sri Lanka | C．India and Thailand | D．All of above |
On Saturday nights, A.J.Coston doesn’t get a lot of sleep. Usually three or four times a night, a loud bell rings, a red light flashes, and he has to jump out of his bed. That’s because he’s a weekend volunteer firefighter（消防员）with Loudoun County Fire and Rescue Station 13 in Northern Virginia. During the week, he lives at home with his mom, dad and sister and does his main job which is going to high school.
“I have always wanted to get into firefighting since I was a little kid watching fire trucks go by,” he says. “One day on the Internet I noticed that Loudoun County offered a junior firefighter program.” He was only 16, but he got it.
Fighting fires is dangerous work. Firefighters never stop practicing the skills they need to stay safe. Once Coston learned those skills, he was allowed to work inside burning buildings.
“Teamwork is most important,” he says. “It’s the whole team that puts the fire out.”
Firefighters feel great about helping people. “My most unbelievable call was probably the time four kids were struck by lightning,” says Coston. He will be off to college next fall, building on his dream job. “I’ll get my degree in emergency（紧急情况） medical care. and then work in a fire and rescue company for a while. I want to be a flight doctor on a helicopter in the end, but I will never forget the days as a firefighter. These are my unforgettable experiences,” he says. Coston can’t sleep well on Saturday nights because _____.
| A．he has to work part-time at weekends |
| B．he has some sleeping problems |
| C．he has to do his job as a volunteer firefighter |
D．he alway s worries that there may be a fire |
What do we learn about Coston from the passage?
| A．He doesn’t like studying at school. | B．He will go to college next year. |
| C．He dreams to be a great hero one day. | D．He is only sixteen years old. |
In Coston’s opinion, what is the key thing in putting out a fire?
| A．Skills. | B．Teamwork. | C．Courage. | D．Equipment. |
All of the following are true EXPECT that _____.
| A．Coston wanted to be a firefighter when he was a kid |
| B．Coston tried several times before he became a volunteer firefighter |
| C．firefighters feel proud that they can help people |
D．firefig hters have to practice skills all the time to stay safe |
Scientists in Canada say big fish have almost disappeared from the world since the start of
industrial（产业的） fishing in the 1950s. The scientists found the numbers of some kinds of large fish have dropped by ninety percent in the past fifty years.
The study took ten years. The researchers gathered records from fishing businesses and governments around the world. The magazine Nature published the findings.
The scientists say the common method called long line fishing ravages the populations of large fish. This method involves many fishing lines connected to one boat. These wires can be nearly one hundred kilometers long. They hold thousands of sharp metal hooks to catch fish.
Long line fishing is especially common in the Japanese fishing industry. Records showed that Japanese boats used to catch about ten fish for every one hundred hooks. But long line fishing boats now might only catch one fish per hundred hooks.
The scientists say industrial fishing can destroy groups of fish much faster than in the past. The study suggests that whole populations can disappear almost completely from new fishing areas within ten to fifteen years.
Ransom Myers and Boris Worm of Dalhousie University in Nova Scotia led the study with the University of Kiel in Germany. Worm says the destruction could lead to a complete reorganization of ocean life systems. Meyers says the decreased num
bers of large fish are not the only worry. He says even populations that are able to reproduce do not get the chance to live long enough to grow as big as their ancestors. He says not only are there fewer
big fish, but also they are smaller than those of the past.
It’s the end of this program ,Thank you for your listening. What’s the best title for the passage?
| A．Big fish are disappearing | B．Long—line fishing in Japan |
| C．The harm of industrial fishing | D．Stop killing big fish |
Which of the following DOESN’T show that the populations of big fish are smaller than before?
| A．Fish can disappear almost completely from new fishing areas. |
| B．Now long—line fishing boats might catch one fish per hundred hooks. |
| C．Fish now don’t have the chance to grow big enough. |
| D．Scientists spent ten years studying the populations of large fish. |
What can we learn from the passage?
| A．The number of big fish started to drop greatly about fifty years ago. |
| B．The study was started by Boris Worm of Dalhousie alone. |
| C．There will be no big fish left in fifty years . |
| D．Japaneses people have stopped catching big fish. |
Adults（成年人）usually do not remember most of the things that are taught by their teachers at school. But this story is one such lesson that I will never forget. Every time I drift off course, I think of this story.
It was a normal Monday morning, and my teacher was teaching us on important things in life and about devoting ourselves to what is important to us. This is how the story went:
An old man lived in a certain part of London, and he would wake up every morning and go to the subway. He would get onto the train right to Central London, and then sit at the street corner and beg（乞讨）. He would do this every single day of his life. He sat at the same street corner and begged for almost 20 years.
His house was dirty, and a stench (恶臭) came out of the house and it smelled terrible. The neighbors could not stand the smell any more, so they called for the police officers to clear the place. The officers knocked down the door and cleaned the house. There were small bags of money all over the house that he had collected over the years.
The police counted the money, and they soon realized that the old man was a millionaire (百万富翁). They waited outside his house expecting to share the good news with him. When the old man arrived home that evening, one of the officers told him that there was no need for him to beg any more as he was a rich man now, a millionaire.
But the old man 
said nothing at all; he went into his house and locked the door. The next morning he woke up as usual, went to the subway, sat at the street corner and continued to beg.
Clearly, this old man had no great plans, dreams or anything significant (有意义的) for his life. We learn nothing from this story other than（除了）staying focused on（专心于）the things we enjoy doing. The underlined part in the first paragraph may mean ______.
| A．I get tired of learning my subjects |
| B．I fail to listen to lessons attentively |
| C．I go in the wrong direction of life |
| D．I wouldn’t like to go to school |
The neighbor called the police because ______.
| A．the old man kept begging money from them every day |
| B．there was something dangerous in the old man’s house |
| C．the old man wouldn’t buy tickets for the train |
| D．they couldn’t bear the smell from the old man’s house |
When the old man knew he was a millionaire, he ______.
| A．remained calm | B．became excited |
| C．felt worried | D．became nervous |
What lesson do we learn from the story?
A．Make great pla ns for your life. |
| B．Keep on doing what you like. |
| C．Do something that is good to society. |
| D．Depend on yourself rather than others. |
People need to relax and enjoy themse1ves．One way they can have a good time is to watch a baseball game or another sports event．Even thousands of years ago，groups of people gathered（聚集） to watch skilled athletes（运动员）．
Over 2000 years ago in Greece，certain days in the year were festival days．These were holidays when people stopped work and enjoyed themselves．They liked to watch athletes take part in races and other games of skill．
The most important festival was held every four years at the town of Olympia．It was held in honor of the Greek god Zeus（Zus）．For five days，athletes from all parts of the Greek world took part in the Olympic Games．At the Olympic 
Games，people could watc
h them box，run，jump and so on．There was a relay race between two teams of men in which a lighted torch（火矩）was passed from runner to runner．The Olympic Games were thought to be so important that cities which were at war with one another had to stop fighting．People were allowed to travel to the games safely．Thousands of people came to Olympia from cities in Greece and from her colonies（殖民地）in Africa，Asia and Italy．They met as friends to cheer their favorite athletes and to enjoy themselves．What happened in Greece over 2000 years ago？
| A．People stopped work and enjoyed themselves． |
| B．The cities there were often against one another． |
| C．People watched baseball games． |
| D．People didn’t go to any games at all． |
What were those countries in Africa？
| A．Friends． | B．Enemies． |
| C．Colonies． | D．Other cities． |
What did people do at the games？
| A．They fought． | B．They just talked to friends． |
| C．They cheered for good athletes． | D．They tried to find friends． |
The best title for the story is“_____”．
| A．Greece at War | B．Together for the Games |
| C．Stop Fighting | D．Sport |
Dear Mom and Dad ,
I'm afraid I have some very bad news for you . I have been very naughty（淘气的） and the school master is very angry with me . She is going to write to you . You must come and take me away from here . She does not want me in the school any longer . The trouble started last night when I was smokin
g a cigarette（香烟）in bed . As I was smoking , I heard footsteps（脚步）coming towards the room .I did not want a teacher to catch me smoking , so I th
rew the cigarette away . Unfortunately（不幸地） , the cigarette fell into the waste--paper basket . It caught fire .
There was a curtain near the waste --paper basket . It caught fire too . Soon the whole room was burning . The master phoned the fire brigade（消防队）. The school is a long way from the town and before the fire brigade arrived , the whole school was on fire . The master said that the fire was all my fault（过错） and I must pay for the damage
（损坏）. She will send you a bill for about a million dollars .
I'm very sorry for this .
Much love
SarahWhy did Sarah write to his parents ?
| A．He missed them very much for they hadn’t seen each other for a long time. |
| B．He told his parents what he had done in school. |
| C．He was tired of studying, and wanted to leave school. |
| D．He thought he was old enough to help them do something. |
Where did S
arah smoke?
| A．in the classroom. | B．in the Dinning hall . |
| C．in the street. | D．in the dormitory（宿舍）. |
Why was the school master angry with him?
| A．because he was too naughty. | B．because he was too lazy. |
| C．because he caused a big fire. | D．because he stole something from the school. |
According to the passage, what should the students not do?
| A．they should not smoke, because smoking is dangerous to them. |
| B．they should not dance, because dancing would waste a lot of money. |
| C．they should not make friends, because making friends would make them absent. |
| D．they should not wear expensive clothes because they would waste a lot of money. |