.
Scientific experiments can sometimes go wrong and when they do, the results may range from the disastrous to the troubling. One such experiment took place in South America about fifty years ago. Whether its final consequences will cause serious damage or nothing more than a small trouble still remains to be seen.
The story began in 1956 when an American scientist working in Brazil decided to solve the problem of increasing the productivity of that country’s bees. He imported a very active type of African bee from Tanzania and mated (交配) it with the more easygoing native variety to produce a new kind of bees. The new bees worked harder and produced twice as much honey. It seemed that Professor Kerr, for that was the scientist’s name, had a total success on his hands.
Then things began to go wrong. For some reason as yet unseen, but perhaps as a result of something in their environment, the new bees began to develop extremely attacking personalities. They became bad-tempered and easy to be angry, attacked the native bees and drove them from their living places.
But worse was to follow. Having taken over the countryside, the new bees, with their dangerous stings (叮) , began to attack its neighbors—cats , dogs, horses, chickens and finally man himself. A long period of terror began that has so far killed a great number of animals and about 150 human beings.
This would have been enough if the bees had stayed in Brazil. But now they are on the move, heading northwards in countless millions towards Central and North America, and moving at the alarming speed of 200 miles a year. The countries that lie in their path are naturally worried because it looks as if nothing can be done to stop them.
60. Which of the following statements is right?
A. The results of the South American experiment have caused a serious trouble.
B. Scientific experiments in South America have proved to be wrong.
C. The results of the South American experiment are not yet certain.
D. It’s clear that scientific experiments in South America are not important.
61. The experiment mentioned in this passage was designed to _________.
A. increase the amount of honey in Brazil
B. make Brazilian bees more easy-going
C. increase the number of bees in Brazil
D. make African bees less active
62. Which of the following may be the cause of the new bees attacking personalities?
A. Their production of honey. B. Their hard work.
C. Their living environment. D. Their bad temper.
63. The last paragraph implies that __________.
A. the bees have been driven to Central and North America
B. The bees may bring about trouble in more countries
C. the bees must be stopped from moving north
D. the bees prefer to live in Brazil
There is very simple way of measuring the height of a water-tower, which we cannot measure by climbing.
Suppose, for example, that we wish to find out the height of the water-tower, AB, in a factory. We first of all go to where the water-tower is standing and measure a distance of, say, 25 feet from it. Then we take a stick, and stand it in the ground at the spot we have just marked.
Let us suppose the stick we are using is 4 feet in height. We now walk farther away from the water –tower in the same straight line as when we measured off the distance of 25 feet. We go from the water-tower until we come to point E, where with our head on the ground, we see the top of the stick and the top of the water-tower in the same height line---that is, the top of the stick just covers the highest part of the water-tower. Every schoolboy can work out the height of the water-tower now.
Suppose that the line CE is five feet. We know that the stick is 4 feet high and the distance BE is 30 feet. Thus, 5 is to 4 as 30 is to AB.If we want to know how high a tall tree is,_______.
A. we have to climb up the tree
B. we have no way out
C. we must cut down the tree
D we needn’t climb up the tree According to the passage, which of the following is correct?

It is clear from this that the problem can be settled by _________.
| A.a child |
| B.the boy who has little schooling |
| C.everyone |
| D.a girl at middle school |
To measure a water-tower in this way, _________.
| A.no tool is needed |
| B.Besides a stick, tape-measure (卷尺) or at least a ruler is necessary. |
| C.we have to use nothing but a stick |
| D.we have to prepare a set of expensive tools |
When John Weston awoke that morning, he remembered that his mother was going into hospital. He hadn’t worked out quite what was wrong with her. He knew, though that she hadn’t been well for some time now, and it had become almost familiar to him to see her eyes narrowed in a sudden attack of pain, and her hand pressing against her heart. Their own doctor, who she had finally gone to for advice, had sent her to an expert who knew all about these things. He had told her that just as soon as there was a bed for her, she would have to come into his hospital where he could look after her himself.
During the weeks since then the pains had come even more frequently, and the narrowed eyes became an almost permanent part of her expression. Always rather sharp, she began losing her temper over little things so that John’s father kept his thoughts to himself more and more. John, as ready as possible to make allowances, tried to think what it would be like to have toothache all the time and how bad-tempered that would make you.
So his mother would go into hospital for a few days. He was going to stay with his Aunt Daisy till she came back, and his father would stay on at home by himself. John’s cousin, Mona, was to come in and make the bed and wash the pots and dust round now and again. That was the arrangement, and John didn’t care much for it. Apart from missing his mother(and he was glad she was going away because they would make her better), he wasn’t very fond of his Aunt Daisy because she was even more bad-tempered than his mother.Mrs Weston went to see her doctor_________.
| A.as soon as she realized that something was wrong |
| B.only after her husband advised her to |
| C.a long time after the trouble began |
| D.when John asked what was wrong with her |
what did Mrs Weston’s own doctor decide to do?
| A.he decided to send her to hospital |
| B.he decided to get an expert to examine her |
| C.He decided to treat her himself |
| D.He advised her to wait for a few weeks. |
how did John react to his mother’s bad temper?
| A.he tried to imagine himself in her place. |
| B.He tried not to notice it. |
| C.He pretended that he had toothache. |
| D.He behaved himself as well as possible. |
John regarded ______as most bad-tempered.
| A.his father | B.his mother | C.his cousin Mona | D.his aunt Daisy |
Having a husband means an extra seven hours of housework each week for women, according to a new study. For men, getting married saves an hour of housework a week. “It’s a well-known pattern,” said lead researcher Frank Stafford at University of Michigan’s Institute for Social Research. “Men usually work more outside the home, while women take on more of the housework.”
He points out that differences among households (家庭) exist. But in general, marriage means more housework for women and less for men. “And the situation gets worse for women when they have children.” Stafford said.
Overall, times are changing in the American home. In 1976, women busied themselves with 26 weekly hours of sweeping-and-dusting work, compared with 17 hours in 2005. Men are taking on more housework, more than doubling their housework hours from six in 1976 to 13 in 2005.
Single women in their 20s and 30s did the least housework, about 12 weekly hours, while married women in their 60s and 70s did the most – about 21 hours a week.
Men showed a somewhat different pattern, with older men picking up the broom more often than younger men. Single men worked the hardest around the house, more than that of all other age groups of married men.
Having children increases housework even further. With more than three, for example, wives took on more of the extra work, clocking about 28 hours a week compared with husbands’ 10 hours.According to the “well-known pattern” in Paragraph 1, a married man ________.
| A.takes on heavier work |
| B.does more housework |
| C.is the main breadwinner |
| D.is the master of the house |
How many hours of housework did men do every week in the 1970s?
| A.About 28 | B.About 26 | C.About 13 | D.About 6 |
What kind of man is doing most housework according to the text?
| A.An unmarried man. |
| B.An older married man. |
| C.A younger married man. |
| D.A married man with children. |
The Maldives faces the threat of extinction from rising sea levels, but the government said on Thursday it was looking to the future with plans to build homes and a golf course that float.
An increase in sea levels of just 18 to 59 centimeters would make the Maldives -- a nation of tiny coral islands in the Indian Ocean -- virtually uninhabitable by 2100, the UN’s climate change panel has warned.
President Mohamed Nasheed has vowed a fight for survival, and last month he signed a deal with a Dutch company to study proposals for a floating structure that could support a convention centre, homes and an 18-hole golf course. “It is still early stages and we are awaiting a report on the possibility,” a government official said.
The company, Dutch Docklands, is currently building floating developments in the Netherlands and Dubai. There was no immediate comment from the firm but its website said it undertook projects that make “land from water by providing large-scale floating constructions to create similar conditions as on land”.
The Maldives began work on an artificial island known as the Hulhumale near the crowded capital island of Male in 1997 and more than 30,000 people have been settled there to ease congestion. The city, which has a population of 100,000, is already protected from rising sea levels by a 30-million-dollar sea wall, and the government is considering increasingly imaginative ways to combat climate change.
Nasheed, who staged the world’s first underwater cabinet meeting in October to highlight his people’s dilemma , has even spoken of buying land elsewhere in the world to enable Maldivians to relocate if their homes are flooded. He has also pledged the Hulhumale to turn his nation into a model for the rest of the world by becoming “carbon neutral” by 2020. His plan involves ending fossil fuel use and powering all vehicles and buildings from “green” sources.What’s the main idea of the passage?
| A.The Maldives plans to build floating homes for the rising sea level. |
| B.The Maldives’s president signed a deal with a Dutch company. |
| C.The Maldives staged the first underwater cabinet meeting. |
| D.The Maldives is considering ways to fight against the global warming. |
Which statement is true about the Hulhumale?
| A.The Hulhumale is a natural island near the capital of Male. |
| B.The Hulhumale is an artificial island to be built near the capital. |
| C.The Hulhumale was built in 1997 and has settled over 30,000 people. |
| D.The Hulhumale is protected by a 30-million-dollar sea wall. |
According to the passage, the underlined word congestion means _______.
| A.being endangered | B.being crowded |
| C.being flooded | D.being disappearing |
Which of the following is NOT Nasheed’s idea?_______
| A.To purchase land elsewhere in the world to help Maldivians to relocate if their homes are flooded. |
| B.To make his nation a model for the rest of the world by becoming “carbon neutral” by 2020 |
| C.To stop using fossil fuel and power all vehicles and buildings from “green” sources. |
| D.To build more artificial islands for people to settle there. |
The United States is one of the few countries in the world that has an official day on which fathers are honored by their children.On the third Sunday in June, fathers all across the United States are given presents, treated to dinner or otherwise made to feel special.
However, the idea for creating a day for children to honor their fathers began in Spokane, Washington.A woman by the name of Sonora Smart Dodd thought of the idea for Father’s Day while listening to a Mother’s Day sermon in 1909.Having been raised by her father, Henry Jackson Smart, after her mother died, Sonora wanted her father to know how special he was to her.It was her father that made all the parental sacrifices(牺牲) and was, in the eyes of his daughter, a selfless and loving man.Sonora’s father was born in June, so she chose to hold the first Father’s Day celebration in Spikane, Washington on the 19th of June, 1910.
In 1924 President Calvin Coolidge declared the third Sunday in June as Father’s Day.Roses are the Father’s Day flowers: red to be worn for a living father and white if the father has died.
When children can’t visit their fathers or take them out to dinner, they send a greeting card.Traditionally, fathers prefer greeting cards that are not too sentimental(伤感的).Most greeting cards are too special so fathers laugh when they open them.Some give heartfelt thanks for being there whenever the child need Dad.The United States is special in Father’s Day because ______.
| A.many people celebrate the day | B.only America celebrates the day |
| C.America makes it an official day | D.all men are honored in America |
At first, Father’s Day was fixed on June 19th because ______.
| A.Sonora honored her father on her father’s birthday |
| B.Sonora’s birthday was June 19 |
| C.it was decided by the president at that time |
| D.her mother died on June 19 |
How many years has passed before Father’s Day became an official day since the father’s day was celebrated?
| A.4 | B.10 | C.14 | D.24 |
According to the passage, we can infer that Henry Jackson Smart ______.
| A.was very kind to anyone |
| B.was the first father honored in 1924 |
| C.did a lot for his daughter |
| D.always help others by giving money |