.
Birds in cities are damaging their health by trying to sing above the noise of urban life．
New research shows that male birds are trying to compete against traffic and city sounds．They are now singing louder and at higher frequencies，which could harm their vocal cords．Some birds are choosing to sing at night instead of dudng the day．This makes them more open to attack and also creates stress and exhanstion．
“The difference between urban and rural birdsong is becoming so big that the two groups could now be unable to communicate．This could lead to inbreeding and a weak gene pool．”said Dr Sue Anne Zollinger of the University of St Andrews．
According to Zollingar,a bird group with a small geae pool might adapt less quickly to new diseases and could be wiped out．
A study of the dawn chorus found that birds in Berlin sang up to 14 decibels(分贝)louder than those in the forest．The birds sang loudest on weekday momings．
“By trying to sing over the sound of the city,birds are rising vocal injury,”said Zollinger．“All this puts the sarne strain on a bird’s vocal cords as when ahuman need to shout to be heard—except the birds are doing it all day,every day,”she said．
“Singing under such pressure means birds have less control over the sound they produce． Their songs may lose quality and become more rough—sounding．”said Zollinger．This could make them appear less attractive to female birds．
Mark Constantine，author of The Sound Approach to Birding，said：“Birdsong is important for our quality of life and has been proved to reduce our blood pressure．When we live in the centre of large，urban areas，we get stressed and it's extremely good to have birdsong around us．The impact on humans of birdsong is massive．It harms us，as well as the birds，if their songs become louder and simpler
53．Some birds in cities now choose to sing at night time because_______．
A．they want to attract more birds of opposite sex
B．they are more likely to be discovered by their family
C．they can’t adapt to the loud noises during the daytime
D．they have to frighten their enemy away
54．According to the passage，urban and rural birds might not be able to_______．
A．recognize each other
B communicate with each other
C live with each other
D．compete against each other
55．It requires greatest efforts for birds in cities to sing o_______．
A．Monday nights B．Wednesday afternoons
C．Saturday Evenings D．Friday momings
56．According to Dr Sue Anne Zollinger,birds singing louder might eventually lead to_______．
A．the harm done to man’s health
B the dying out of a species
C．the serious damage to the bird’s vocal cords
D．the decrease ofthe birth rate ofa bird group
370 S. Perry St., Denver, Colorado
Price: $164,500 For sale by: Resale Homes by Owner
Bedrooms: 3 Bathroom: 1 Garage: 1
Square Feet: l, 003 Lot Size: 2
Year Built: —
School District: —
Open House Date: —
Open House Time: —
Date Posted: January 21, 2007
Best value in Denver: This Garden style home is equipped with a grape vine that wraps around the front of the house. There is a small-unfinished basement, attic (阁楼) and an additional room in the garage. It is zoned (划成区域) R2 (two families can live here) and positioned at the back of the double sized lot (plenty of room to build) It is fully landscaped (美化) with sprinkler (洒水装置) system and privacy (独处而不受干扰) fence. It is 5 minutes from downtown. The neighbors are great, and security is good. Viewing anytime.
Home Features: Carpeted Floors ● Dishwasher ● Patio
Community Features: Public Transportation ● Wheelchair Access
64. If one dollar equals 8 Yuan, one square feet equals 0.093 square meters, how much does one square meter of the house cost?
A. About 15,140 Yuan. B. About 13,120 Yuan.
C. About 13,160 Yuan. D. About 14,150 Yuan.
65. During summer time, the front of the home may look _________.
A. green B. White C. redD. black
66. Which of the following statements about the house is NOT true?
A. You will spend extra money to build a room in the garage after buying the house.
B. You can have enough room to enlarge your house after you buy it.
C. You don’t need to water the plants in the garden by yourself.
D. If you buy the house, you can also have the dishwasher and carpet.
67. What does the “Wheelchair Access” probably mean?
A. It’s a kind of sidewalk built for disabled people.
B. It’s an entrance to a house built for the disabled people.
C. It’s a street built for the disabled people to have a walk.
D. It’s a special path for the disabled people to get to the garage.
After years of hearing drivers complain ab
out scratches on their cars, Japan’s Nissan Motor Company has officially announced the next big thing — a paint that not only resists scratches and scrapes, but actually repairs itself within a few days.
The new material, developed by Nippon Paint Company, contains an elastic rubbery-like resin (弹性树脂) that is able to heal minor marks caused by car wash equipment, parking lot encounters, road debris (石头碎片) or even on-purpose destruction.
The automaker admits its results vary depending on the temperature and the depth of the damage, but adds this is the only paint like it in the world, and tests prove it works.
Minor scratches, the most common type, are said to slowly fade over about a week. And once they’re gone, there is no trace that they were ever there.
The special paint is said to last for at least three years after it is first applied, but there is no word yet on whether more can be added after that period.
N
issan claims car washes are the worst offenders for this type of damage, accounting for at least 80 percent of all incidents.
But the complete auto-healing won’t come without scratching your wallet. The vehicle maker notes the special paint adds about $100 US to the price of a car.
It plans to use its new chemical mixture only on its X-Trail SUVs in Japan for now, as it looks for a more widespread presentation. And while plans to offer the feature overseas haven’t been made yet, if it’s a hit there, you can be almost sure market forces w
ill drive it to these shores, as well.
60. From the article, we can find that _________.
A. the paint has already been used on cars by now
B. it beats other products of its kind in its lengthy effect
C. car damage is mainly caused by scratches and scrapes
D. marketing this paint in Europe is not under way
61. The paint used on cars can _________.
A. last 3 years before it is reapplied again
B. fade only in a few days
C. help to protect minor paint damage
D. reduce car scrape incidents to 20 percent
62. What does the underlined part refer to?
A. certain models of Nissan B. name for one kind of paint
C. some
where in Japan D. a word standing for a car-dealer store
63. What can be inferred from the article?
A. The paint was developed by Nissan Motor Company.
B. The paint might work better in summer than in winter.
C. The mark on the car could disappear as soon as the pain is applied.
D. The paint is
very popular in Japan.
第三部分：阅读理解（共20小题；每小题2分，满分40分）
阅读下列短文，从每题所给
的A、B、C、D四个选项中，选出最佳选项，并在答题卡上将该项涂黑.
Along a long path we came to a deep valley, on the far side of which the path led into some very thick bushes. Rather than push through up again and rejoin the path on the far side of the bushes.
As I climbed down into the valley a bird flew off h rock on which I had put my hand. On looking at the spot from which the bird had risen, I saw two eggs. They were the kind that I did not have in my collection, so I placed them carefully in my bag, wrapped in a little dry grass.
As we went further down the valley the sides became steeper and not far from where I had entered. It came to drop of about twelve to fourteen feet. The water that rushed down all these small valleys in the rainy season had worn the rock as glass. As it was too deep to climb down, I handed my gun to one of the men and slid down it. My feet had hardly touched the sandy bottom when the two men jumped down, one on each side of me. They quickly gave me the gun and asked me if I had heard the tiger. In fact, I had heard nothing; possibly because of the noise I made sliding down the rock. The men said they had heard a tiger growling somewhere nearby, but they did not know from which direction the noise had come.
56. According to the text we know that __________.
A. the writer decided to push through the thick bushes
B. the writer decided to walk along the valley
C. the writer wanted to stop climbing
D. the writer tried to find two eggs
57. When the writer found the eggs, he ________.
A. wrapped them in dry grass and put them aside
B. wrapped them in dry grass and took them with him
C. tried to find the bird
D. made the bird fly off
58. At the end of the story, the writer knew that ____________.
A. a tiger had run away B. a tiger was close to them
C. the men had seen a tiger D. a tiger had seen them
59. Which of the following orders is RIGHT about what happened in their travel?
A. hear the sound of tiger→find eggs→push through the bushes→climb down into the valley
B. 
climb down into the valley→push through the bushes→hear the sound of tiger→find eggs
C. push through the bushes→climb down into the valley→find eggs→hear the sound of tiger
D. find eggs→climb down into the valley→hear the sound of tiger→push through the bushes
Many people believe the glare from snow causes snow blindness. Yet, with dark glasses or not, they find themselves suffering from headaches and watering eyes, and even snow blindness, when exposed to several hours of “snow light”.
The United States army has now determined that glare from snow does not cause snow blindness in troops in a snow-covered country. Rather, a man’s eyes often find nothing to focus on in a broad space of snow-covered without-grass land. So his gaze continually moves and jumps back and forth over the entire landscape in search of something to look at. Finding something, hour after hour, the eyes never stop searching and the eyeballs become tired and the eye muscles ache. Nature makes up for this discomfort by producing more and more fluid (液体) which covers the eyeball. The fluid covers the eyeball in
increasing quantity until it makes eyes difficult to see clearly, and the result is total, even though for a short time, snow blindness.
Experiments lead the Army to a simple method of overcoming this problem. Scouts (侦察员) ahead of the troops are trained to shake snow from evergreen bushes, creating a dotted line as they cross completely snow-covered landscape. Even the scouts themselves throw lightweight, dark-colored objects ahead on which they can focus too. The men following can then see something. Their gaze is arrested. Their eyes focus on a bush and having found something to see, stop searching the snow-blanketed landscape. By focusing their attention on one object at a time, the men can cross the snow without becoming hopelessly snow-blind or lost. In this way the problem of crossing a continuous white land is overcome.
68. To prevent snow blindness caused by the strong light from snow, wearing glasses or not _________.
A. depends on whether the snow is white enough
B. makes no difference
C. makes much difference
D. depends on whether the snow is thick
69. When the eyes are tired, tears flow out __________.
A. to clear the visionB. to make the eyes stop searching
C. to make the vision unclear D. to produce more and more liquid
70. Snow blindness can be prevented by ___________
A. moving one’s gaze back and forth
B. walking ahead and keeping looking around
C. making up for the discomfort of one’s eyes
D. providing the eyes with something to focus on
71. What is the probable meaning of the underlined part “Their gaze is arrested.”?
A. They get something to look at. B. They can only look at one spot.
C. Their eye
s are clear. D. They can’t see freely.
After years of hearing drivers complain ab
out scratches on their cars, Japan’s Nissan Motor Company has officially announced the next big thing — a paint that not only resists scratches and scrapes, but actually repairs itself within a few days.
The new material, developed by Nippon Paint Company, contains an elastic rubbery-like resin (弹性树脂) that is able to heal minor marks caused by car wash equipment, parking lot encounters, road debris (石头碎片) or even on-purpose destruction.
The automaker admits its results vary depending on the temperature and the depth of the damage, but adds this is the only paint like it in the world, and tests prove it works.
Minor scratches, the most common type, are said to slowly fade over about a week. And once they’re gone, there is no trace that they were ever there.
The special paint is said to last for at least three years after it is first applied, but there is no word yet on whether more can be added after that period.
N
issan claims car washes are the worst offenders for this type of damage, accounting for at least 80 percent of all incidents.
But the complete auto-healing won’t come without scratching your wallet. The vehicle maker notes the special paint adds about $100 US to the price of a car.
It plans to use its new chemical mixture only on its X-Trail SUVs in Japan for now, as it looks for a more widespread presentation. And while plans to offer the feature overseas haven’t been made yet, if it’s a hit there, you can be almost sure market forces w
ill drive it to these shores, as well.
60. From the article, we can find that _________.
A. the paint has already been used on cars by now
B. it beats other products of its kind in its lengthy effect
C. car damage is mainly caused by scratches and scrapes
D. marketing this paint in Europe is not under way
61. The paint used on cars can _________.
A. last 3 years before it is reapplied again
B. fade only in a few days
C. help to protect minor paint damage
D. reduce car scrape incidents to 20 percent
62. What does the underlined part refer to?
A. certain models of Nissan B. name for one kind of paint
C. some
where in Japan D. a word standing for a car-dealer store
63. What can be inferred from the article?
A. The paint was developed by Nissan Motor Company.
B. The paint might work better in summer than in winter.
C. The mark on the car could disappear as soon as the pain is applied.
D. The paint is
very popular in Japan.