For more than ten years John Grimshaw has been pioneering a gentle revolution. He aims to get us going by bike on Britain’s network of disused railways. He works as an engineer for Sustrans, a Bristol-based charity.
He believes that there is no benefit or logic behind the building of bigger and faster roads that only encourage people to use cars more extravagantly(过分地). Britain’s roads being built ignore all but the motorists while miles of railway tracks no longer used by trains lie wasted.
His organization started work in 1994 with a
modest five mile track from Bristol to Bath, and cyclists and walkers now make a million journeys a year on the path. Sustrans has since completed a further 150 miles throughout Britain with the help of volunteer workers.
Building such paths is not easy or cheap. Sustrans buys or leases(租借) land from British Rail and the paths can cost from 6,000 pounds up
to 8, 0000 pounds per kilometer to build. Money comes from central and local government, charity bodies and gifts from individuals.
To encourage more walkers and cyclists along its paths, Sustrans plans to construct a work of art on every mile of path it builds. Most of their tracks quickly transport people from the city to the countryside. The latest route runs from the heart of Glasgow to Loch Lomond. Relics (遗迹)of the great railway age litter the routes—station houses, signals boxes and even steam trains.
Some might consider John Grimshaw a traveler from the past, out of touch with the modern world, but for many he is preparing the way for an alternative for a car-mad world. The aim of Sustrans is to _________.
a. encourage people to use cars more efficiently
b. use old railway lines for leisure purposes
c. provide a cycling network across Britain
d. build 
better and faster roadsHow does Sustrans finance its work?
a. with a mixture of money from the government and donations
b. with money from British Rail
c. by leasing its land
d. by using volunteer workersWhich of the following is TRUE?
a. Sustrans will not build any more tracks after Glasgow to Loch Lomond
b. Sustrans will have to clear the track of relics
c. Sustrans makes the countryside more accessible to the public
d. Sustrans believes more drivers will use their tracks.
Sports play an important role in British life. The most popular sport is football. Cricket is also popular in England, but is less important in the other home nations. Rugby union and rugby league are the other major team sports. Tennis is the most important sport for the two weeks of the Wimbledon Championships(温布尔登网球锦标赛)
Football
The modern global game of football developed from traditional British football games in the 19th century. Club football is organized separately in each of the home nations. English football has a league system which combines thousands of clubs. Scotland has a similar but smaller club football structure. The top level league in Wales is the league of Wales. In Northern Ireland the main league is the Irish Football League.
Each season the most successful clubs from each of the home nations qualify for(使…具有…的资格) the two Europe wide club competitions organized by UEFA(欧足联), the UEFA Champions League and the UEFA Cup.
Cricket
Cricket was invented in England. It is regarded as England’s national summer game and it is probably the second most widely covered sport.
There are eighteen professional country clubs, seventeen of them in England and one in Wales. Each summer the country clubs compete in the first class Country Championship, which consist of two leagues of nine teams and in which matches are played over four days.
Rugby
Like football, rugby union and rugby league both developed from traditional British football games in the 19th century. For much of the 20th century there was great antagonism between rugby leagues, which was a mainly working class game based in the industrial areas of northern England, and rugby union, which is a mainly middle class game in England, and is also popular in the other home nations.
Tennis
Tennis is yet another sport which originated in the United Kingdom and the governing body of the sport is the LTA(草地网球协会). However, no British man has won Wimbledon since 1936 and no British woman since 1977. The only British players of either sex to reach the world top 50 in recent years are Greg Rusedski, who learnt his tennis in Canada, and Tim Henman and Andrew Murray ,who did not pass through the LTA system either.What do we know about football?
| A．The top clubs represent the UK in the two Europe competitions. |
| B．Football is a newly-invented game in England |
| C．The top level league in England is the Irish Football League |
| D．Club football is an organized union in the UK. |
From the passage we can learn .
| A．There exist all professional county clubs in England. |
| B．Rugby leagues was enjoyed by middle class |
| C．Tennis is in the charge of LTA |
| D．Greg Rusedski did not pass through the LTA system. |
The underlined “antagonisim” in the sixth paragraph probably means .
| A．preference | B．friendliness | C．similarity | D．opposition |
From what can we read the passage?
| A．tour guidebook | B．book review |
| C．news report | D．news magzine |
“Old wives’ tales” are beliefs passed from one generation to another. For example, most of us remember our parents’ telling us to eat more of certain foods or not to do certain things. Is there any truth in these teachings? Some of them agree with present medical thinking, but others have not passed the test of time.
Did your mother ever tell you to eat your carrots because they are good for your eyes? Scientists now report that eating carrots can help prevent a serious eye disease called macular degeneration. Eating just one carrot a day can reduce the possibility of getting this disease by 40%. Garlic(蒜) is good for you, too. It can kill the type of virus that causes colds.
Unfortunately, not all of Mom’s advice passed the test of medical studies. For example, generations of children have been told not to go swimming within an hour after eating. But research suggests that there is no danger in doing so. Do sweets cause tooth problems? Well, yes and no. Sticky sweets made with grains tend to cause more problems than sweets made with simple sugars.
Even though science can tell us that some of our traditional beliefs don’t hold water, there is still a lot of truth in the old wives’ tales. After all, much of this knowledge has been accumulated(积累) from thousands of years of experience in family health care. We should respect this body of knowledge even as we search for clear scientific support to prove it true or false.The author develops the third paragraph mainly .
| A．by cause and effect | B．by order in space |
| C．by examples | D．by order in time |
Which of the following is TRUE according to the text?
| A．Eating garlic is good for our eyes. |
| B．Carrots prevent people from catching colds. |
| C．Swimming after a meal is dangerous. |
| D．Sticky sweets are damaging to our teeth. |
What is the author’s attitude toward “old wives’ tales” in the text?
| A．Objective. | B．Subjective. | C．Dissatisfied. | D．Curious. |
The phrase “hold water” in the last paragraph most probably means “.”
| A．to be valuable | B．to be believable |
| C．to be admirable | D．to be suitable |
Fish have different personalities which change as they experience life’s highs and lows．according to British biologists．
Researchers identified different“personalities” in their fish by observing the boldness or shyness of individuals，according to The Nature．Like people，some fish are very confident in the face of novelty(新奇事物)or conflict；while others are silent and fear．
The scientists selected particularly bold and shy rainbow trout，and tested whether they changed their outlook depending on what life threw at them．They arranged some fish to fight and others to watch to see how both the participants and observers responded to victories and defeats．Winning or losing a fight，or even watching fellow fish overcome the difficulties influenced the future behavior of the creatures studied in the lab．
The researchers made fish compete with much larger or smaller opponents．to ensure that they would win or lose their fights．These bold fish that won their fights tended to be even bolder when later presented with a novel food item；losing their fight caused them to be much more cautious．
Fish also learn by watching others．Bold fish watching a shy fish exploring a mystery object were much more nervous when later given a novelty item for themselves．
Predictably，shy fish that won a fight also gained more confidence，but surprisingly，shy fish that lost their fights also grew bolder when exploring strange new food，Sneddon said，adding that this could be due to what she calls a“desperado effect”(亡命徒效应)．
The new research suggests that animals can gradually adapt their personalities．The results echo the effects that life experience can have on human．What does．the underlined word“creatures’’probably refer to?
| A．Fish． | B．Participants． | C．Observers． | D．Researchers． |
The third paragraph of the text is mainly about—————．
| A．a conclusion of the research |
| B．an explanation of fish characters |
| C．a statement of the experiment |
| D．a description of fish fights |
What can we know from the research?
| A．Bold losing fish become—e bolder when presented With a novel food item． |
| B．Losing their fights causes the bold fish to be much more courageous． |
| C．Bold fish watching a shy fish exploring a mystery get less nervous． |
| D．Shy fish losing fights grow more confident in exploring new food． |
What’s the main idea of the text?’
| A．Fish have stress in the fierce fights． |
| B．Fish care about winning or losing a fight． |
| C．Fish have adaptable personalities． |
| D．Fish can learn a lot by watching others． |
The London 20120lympics are being praised as a sporting and logistical(后勤)success，but the influence on economy is far less certain．Some London tourist attractions，businesses and hotels reported that their business actually fell during the Games．But as Olly Barratt reports from London，the overall UK economy is looking for long-term results．
Showing an Olympic-sized party like this cost the UK almost l 5 billion dollars．But while spectators went to east London’S Olympic Park，central London has been much quieter than。normal． Arthur lRason，a central London stallholder，said，“Am I taking less? Yeah，I’m taking less．There’S no question about it．”
Restaurants were among businesses that reported lower takings than normal at this time of year．And one tourism trade association says a survey of its members found the Games had had a negative influence all over the UK．But during the recent recession(不景气)，British officials still insist the Games were worth it．Boris Johnson，Mayor of London said，“I think it’S been an amazing display of what you can do if you plan and you work for years and years on a project．
And I think it’s a great advertisement for British engineering and British industry．" The government hopes the Games will be a great help to the British brand worldwide，and they are also an opportunity to sweet-talk potential investors from all over the world．And a fall in takings for some attractions should not have come as a surprise．Where is the London’S Olympic Park located?
| A．Central London． | B．East London． |
| C．West London． | D．Outside London． |
Mayor of London thinks the Games’effect on British economy is——．
| A．positive | B．disappointing |
| C．negative | D．uncertain |
What can we learn from the text?
| A．The British government did badly in organizing the Games． |
| B．Businesses in central London were improved during the Games． |
| C．Most British businessmen thought poorly of the London Games． |
| D．Most British officials were worried about the future of British economy． |
Three—quarters of a million tourists flock to the white beaches every year，but this booming industry has come at a price．Poisonous smoke rising from open fires，rubbish made up of plastic bottles，packets…it’S a far cry from the white sands，clear waters and palm trees that we associate with the Maldives(马尔代夫)，the paradise island holiday destination set in the Indian Ocean．
of its 200 inhabited islands，which are spread across an area of"35，000 square miles，99 are good resorts(旅游胜地)．So many tourists come every year，more than double the local population．Of these，over l 00，000 travel from the U K．The capital，Mal6，is four times more densely populated than London．Given these facts，it’S hardly surprising that the Maldives has a waste disposal problem．
Y ears a90，when the tourists left，the government had to deal with a stream of rubbish．Their solution was to turn one of the islands into a dumping ground．Four miles west of Mal6 is the country’s dumping ground，Thilafushi．What you are seeing here is a view of the Maldives on which no honeymooners will ever clap eyes．Each visitor produces 3．5 kg of waste per day．The country dumps more than 330 tons of rubbish on the island every day．
Now，since many waste boats，fed up with waiting seven hours or more，directly offload their goods into the sea，the government of the Maldives has banned the dumping of waste on the island．S0，the waste boats ship the rubbish to India instead．What is the main cause of the waste disposal problem?
| A．The big local population． | B．Too many waste boats． |
| C．The large number of tourists． | D．Open fires on the islands． |
The underlined part can probably be replaced by“——”．
| A．it’s quite similar to | B．it’S a long distance from |
| C．it’s a loud shout from | D．it’S totally different from |
What can we learn from the text?
| A．It iS much more crowded in Mal6 than in London． |
| B．Another island will be used as a dumping ground． |
| C．No honeymooners are willing to visit the Maldives． |
| D．Waste on islands will be offloaded directly into the sea． |
What’S the author’S purpose in writing the text?
| A．To attract more tourists to the Maldives． |
| B．To state the waste disposal problem in the Maldives． |
| C．To call on us to protect the environment． |
| D．To explain the causes of pollution in the Maldives． |