Sincethegene,calledDAF16inworm-优题课

Global warming threatens to hold back human progress, and make unachievable all UN targets to reduce poverty, according to some of the world’s leading international and development groups.
In a report published today, Oxfam, Greenpeace, Christian Aid, Friends of the Earth, WWF and 15 other groups say rich governments must immediately address climate change to avoid even “unbearable levels” of worldwide poverty.
“Food production, water supplies, public health and people’s living environment are already being damaged,” the report says. “The world must meet its promise to achieve poverty reduction and also deal with climate change.”
The report, which draws on UN predictions of the effects of climate change in poor countries over the next 50 years, says poor countries will experience more flooding, declining food production, more disease and the worsening or disappearing of entire ecosystems(生态系统)on which many of the world’s poorest people depend.
“Climate change needs to be addressed now. The poor will bear the burden of it. The frontline experience of many of us working in international development indicates that communities are having to fight against more extreme weather conditions.”
Climate change will play havoc(浩劫)with agriculture and water supplies and will increase diseases. “By 2025 the proportion of the world’s population living in countries of great water stress will almost double, to 6 billion people. Tropical and sub-tropical areas will be hardest hit — those countries already suffering from food shortage”.
Poor countries mostly do not need high-tech solutions, but would most benefit from education, research and being shown how to farm better. The report says unchecked global warming, more than wars or political confusion, will displace millions of people and destabilize (不安定) many countries.
9. ________ should play a leading role in resisting the more extreme weather conditions according to the report.
A. International groups B. Poor countries
C. Rich countries D. Tropical and sub-tropical countries
10. Which of the following is not the effect of global warming according to the report?
A. More natural disasters and starvation. B. Increasing the world’s population.
C. Making millions of people move to other places.
D. Shaking the foundation of a country.
11. Which of the following is not true according to the text?
A. Poverty and climate change are closely linked.
B. More and more people will suffer from the water stress and food shortage.
C. What the poor countries need badly is high technology.
D. International communities have to take steps to resist the bad climate.
12. What is the best title of the passage?
A. International Development Brings in Climate Change
B. Global Warming Is a Bigger Threat to Poor
C. International Groups Work Together to Reduce Poverty
D. Worldwide Poverty Shall Be Avoided

He was once referred to as the Picasso of poetry. Beloved by Chileans of all classes, he is one of the most widely read and respected poets in history. And this year is the 100th birthday of Pablo Neruda (1904-1973).
Born with the name Neftali Ricardo Reyes Basolto, he was a tall, shy and lonely boy. He loved to read and started to write poetry when he was ten. The American poet Walt Whitman, whose framed picture Neruda later kept on his table, became a major influence on his work.
However, his father did not like the idea of having a poet for a son and tried to discourage him from writing. To cover up the publication of his first poem, he took the pen name Pablo Neruda.
In 1924 Neruda gained fame with his most widely read work “Twenty Love Poems and a Song of Despair’’. Yet his rich experience as a diplomat and exile made him go beyond the theme of love. His work also reflected the political struggle of the left and development of South America. He was awarded the Nobel Prize for Literature in 1971.
Neruda loved the sea which he saw as creative, destructive and forever moving. He found inspiration in the power and freedom of the waves and the seabirds on the coast. “I need the sea because it teaches me,” he wrote. “I move in the university of the waves.” He loved how the sea forever renewed itself, a renewal echoed in his work.
5. The underlined word “Picasso” can probably be replaced by “________”.
A. most important person B. famous person from Picasso
C. freedom fighter in Picasso D. poem fan
6. Neftali Ricardo Reyes Basolto took the pen name Pablo Neruda because ________.
A. literary greats usually used the pen name
B. his father encouraged him to use the name
C. he wanted to prevent his father knowing the publication
D. he was greatly influenced by other poets
7. Which of the following is not the theme of his works?
A. Love. B. Political struggle. C. Social reform. D. Development of South America.
8. The last paragraph mainly tells us ________.
A. the sea gave Neruda vast writing inspiration B. the beautiful scenery along the Chile coast
C. Neruda’s poems were widely read overseas D. Neruda loved to write his poems near the sea

NASA’s Mars detector (探测器), Opportunity, succeeded in finding signs that water once existed on the planet. Opportunity landed on Mars in January. Scientists now believe that the planet could once have supported life.
This discovery was chosen by Science, one of the world’s leading magazines, as the most important scientific achievement of 2004 last Friday.
“This little, wheeled, one-armed box went around another planet and has done something no human has ever managed,” according to Science. “It has discovered another place in the universe where life could once have existed.”
“Although we still can’t say that life could have existed in this environment, it is now certain that there was water on Mars,” said Steve Squyres, one of the scientists working on the Mars mission. The evidence comes from pictures and chemical readings taken by Opportunity. It includes marks on rocks like those caused by flowing water on Earth and salty chemicals like those found in dried-out sea-beds. Scientists said the new evidence proved beyond doubt that water has been existed on Mars. But it is still unknown whether the water on Mars was like an ocean or just ice.
While Opportunity has not found any signs of life, the presence of water means life is possible. “In everything we know about life on Earth, there is no example without liquid water,” Squyres said. “So water is important for the search for life on Mars.”
Researchers agree that a future mission (任务) should bring back physical samples (样品). But some scientists worry about the risk that this could introduce dangerous foreign creatures to Earth. “The problem here is how to get the samples back,” Squyres replied. “I think it is our responsibility to limit any risk.”
1. ________ prove that water existed on Mars.
A. The physical samples with salty chemicals B. The marks on rocks and salty chemicals
C. Scientific achievements of 2004 D. Creatures from Mars
2. Which of the following is true according to the text?
A. It is now certain that there was water on Mars.
B. The water on Mars was like an ocean.
C. Evidence of life on Mars has been found.
D. Search for life on Mars is a great risk to humans.
3. How did scientists draw the conclusion that there was water on Mars?
A. The world’s leading magazine has announced the fact.
B. Scientists have taken many pictures and chemical readings on the Mars.
C. Astronauts have got some rocks from Mars.
D. Scientists have made a study of the pictures and readings sent back by Mars detector.
4. It can be inferred that, if the creatures from Mars came to Earth, ________.
A. they would be kind to humans B. they would be cruel to humans
C. they would be a great danger to Earth
D. it would be hard to say whether it would be a good news or bad news

WASHINGTON, Sept. 23 — The House of Representatives, which prides itself on being " the People’s House" has been turning into, a rich men’s club.
The representatives newly elected in 1984 were almost four times as wealthy as the first term lawmakers elected only six years before, according to a new study on the members’ financial reports.
Behind this remarkable swing, the study says, there are two main factors: a court decision that outlawed limits on what candidates could give to their own campaigns, and the enormous growth in the cost of pursuing a seat in Congress. As a result, it is increasingly difficult for candidates of modest means, particularly women to amount successful challenges to entrenched office holders.
One solution, the authors contend, is a system of public financing for campaigns, but Congress seems in no mood to change the political rules any time soon.
"The lower chamber is going upper class," said Mark Green, the President of the Democracy Project, a public policy institute based in New York. ".But this evolution from a House of Representatives to a House of Lords denies the diversity of our democracy. It establishes a de facto property qualification for office that increasingly says: The people with low and middle income need not apply. "
The Democracy Project produced the study in cooperation with the United States Public Interests Research Group, a similar institute situated in Washington. But their research was not entirely theoretical. In 1980 Mr. Green was the unsuccessful Democratic candidate for Congress in New York’s 15th District, in Manhattan. The winner was. Bill Green, one of the wealthiest members of Congress.
5. What can we know from the passage?
A. The House of Representatives is poor men’s club.
B. The House of Representatives was made up of people with low and middle income.
C. The House of Representatives, was rich men’s club;
D. The House of Representatives is made up of people with low and middle income.
6. What does "this remarkable swing" in the third paragraph refer to?
A. The House of Representatives prides itself on being" the people’s House".
B. The new study based on the members’ financial reports.
C. A court decision that outlawed limits on what candidates could give to their own campaigns.
D. The representatives elected now are much wealthier than those elected a few years ago.
7. Which of the following is wrong according to the study?
A. Any honest man can become a representative of the House.
B. Women are more difficult than men to be an entrenched office holder.
C. Limits on what a candidate could give to his campaign are outlawed.
D. One must spend much money getting a seat in the Congress.
8. What is the United States Public Interests Research Group like?
A. The House of Representatives.
B. A public policy institute based in New York.
C. A public policy institute based in Washington.
D. The House of Lords.
9. What does the writer think of the study?
A. Doubtful.B. Believable. C. Opposed. D. Normal.

Most British telephone cards are just plain green, but card collecting is becoming a popular hobby in Britain and collectors even have their own magazine, International Telephone Cards. One reason for their interests is that cards from around the world come in a wide variety of different and often very attractive design. There are 100, 000 different cards in Japan alone, and there you can put your own design onto a bank card simply by using a photograph or a business card.
The first telephone cards, produced in 1976, were Italian. Five years later the first British telephone cards appeared, and now you can buy cards in more than a hundred countries. People usually start collecting cards because they are attractive, small and light, and they do not need much space. It is also a cheap hobby for beginners, although for some people it becomes a serious business. In Paris, for example, there is a market where you can buy only telephone cards, and some French cards cost up to 4,000 pounds. The first Japanese card has a value of about 28,000 pounds. Most people only see cards with prices like these in their collectors’ magazine.
1. The passage is mainly about ______.
A. the history of phone cardsB. phone cards collecting as a hobby
C. reasons for phone cards collecting D. the great variety of phone cards
2. When did people in Britain begin to use phone cards?
A. In 1971. B. In 1975. C. In 1976. D. In 1981.
3. The main reason for most people to collect phone cards is that ______.
A. they find the cards beautiful and easy to keep
B. they like to have something from different countries
C. they want to make money with cards
D. they think the cards are convenient to use
4. The writer mentions a market in Paris in order to show that
A. card collecting is popular among young people
B. French and Japanese cards are the most valuable
C. people can make money out of card collecting
D. card collectors’ magazines are very useful