Most of us are used to seasons. Each year, spring follows winter, which follows autumn, which follows summer, which follows spring. And winter is colder than summer. But the earth goes through temperature cycles over much longer periods than those that we experience. Between 65,000 and 35,000 years, the planet was much colder than it is now .During that time the temperature also changed a lot, with periods of warming and cooling. Ice melted during the warm periods, which made sea levels rise. Water froze again during the cold periods.
A new study from Switzerland throws light on where ice sheets(冰川)inched during the ice age. It now seems that the ice melted at both ends of the earth, rather than just in either northern or southern regions.
This surprised the researchers from the University of Bern. Scientists have long assumed(假设)that most of the ice that melted
was in the Northern hemisphere(半球)during the 30,000-year long ice age. That belief was held because the North Pole is surrounded by land, while the South Pole is surrounded by the Antarctic Ocean. It is easier for ice sheets to grow on land .If surrendered by sea the ice can easily just slip into the ocean instead of building up.
The researchers used a computer model to look at ways the ice could melt and how it might affect sea levels. They compared these results to evidence of how temperatures and currents actually changed during that time. The model showed that if it was only in the Northern hemisphere that ice melted, there would have been a bigger impact(影响)on ocean currents (洋流)and sea temperatures than what actually happened. Studies suggest that melting just in the Southern hemisphere would have been impossible, too. The only reasonable conclusion, the scientists could make, was that ice melted equally in the North and the South.
It is still a mystery as to what caused the temperature changes that caused the ice to melt.
57.The North Pole is surrounded by land ,while the South Pole is surrounded by the Antarctic Ocean. So scientists thought that ______ .
A.most of the ice melted in the Northern hemisphere
B.most of the ice melted in the Southern hemisphere
C.The North Pole is colder than South Pole
D.The South Pole is colder than North Pole
58.We can learn from the passage ______ .
A.the ice can easily just slip into the ocean
B.volcanoes caused the ice to melt
C.melting just in the Northern hemisphere would have been impossible
D.researchers often use the computer models to help their research work
59.The scientists are not sure ______ .
A.how long the ice age lasted
B.where ice sheets melted during the ice age .
C.what caused the temperature changes
D.what the earth is made up of
60.Which of the following is NOT right ?
A.The researchers want to know how the melting of ice might affect sea levels by the
computer model.
B.Studies show ice melted equally in the North and the South during the ice age.
C.Most of the ice melted in the Northern hemisphere(半球)during the 30,000-year long
Ice age.
D.The temperature changes caused the ice to melt.
A little old couple walked slowly into McDonald’s one cold winter evening. They were so old that they looked out of place amid the young families and young couples eating there that night.
Some of the customers looked admiringly at them. You could tell what the admirers were thinking. “Look, there is a couple who has been through a lot together, probably for 60 years or more!”
The little old man walked right up to the cash register, placed his order with no hesitation and then paid for their meal. The couple took a table near the back wall and started taking food off the tray. There was one hamburger, one order of French fries and one drink. The little old man unwrapped the plain hamburger and carefully cut it in half. He placed one half in front of his wife. Then he carefully counted out the French fries, divided them in two piles and neatly placed one pile in front of his wife. He took a sip of the drink, his wife took a sip and then set the cup down between them.
As the man began to eat his few bites of hamburger the crowd began to get restless. Again you could tell what they were thinking, “That poor old couple. All they can afford is one meal for the two of them.”
As the man began to eat his French fries one young man stood and came over to the old couple’s table. He politely offered to buy another meal for the old couple to eat. The old man replied that they were just fine. They were used to sharing everything.
Then the crowd noticed that the little old lady hadn’t eaten a bite. She just sat there watching her husband eat and occasionally taking turns sipping the drink.
Again the young man came over and begged them to let him buy them something to eat. This time the lady explained that, no, they were used to sharing everything together.
As the little old man finished eating and was wiping his face neatly with a napkin the young man could stand it no longer. Again he came over to their table and offered to buy some food.
After being politely refused again, he finally asked a question of the little old lady. “Ma’am, why aren’t you eating? You said that you share everything. What is it that you are waiting for?”
She answered, “ The teeth”.
46.The underlined phrase in the first paragraph most probably means ______________.
A. looked helpless B. looked romantic
C. looked unsuitable D. looked cheerful
47.Why did some of the customers admire them?
A.Because they walked in hand in hand.
B.Because they come to McDonald’s together.
C.Because they have been together for many years
D.Because they come in such a cold winter evening
48.How much food did the man get?
A.One hamburger, one French fries and one cup of tea
B.One hamburger, two French fries and two cups of tea
C.One hamburger, one French fries and two cups of tea
D.One hamburger, two French fries and one cup of tea
49.How did the young man feel about what he saw in the old couple?
A. Admiring B. Bad C. Good D. Guilty
50.Why didn’t the old lady eat her portion of meal?
A.Her artificial teeth didn’t fit her well.
B.She forgot to bring her teeth with her.
C.Her husband had not finished using the teeth.
D.She was waiting for someone to get her teeth for her.
Daniel Defoe (about 1660~1731) was an important novelist in the English literature(文学). When he was young, he served as a soldier and had been to Spain, Italy, France and Germany. At the same time, he went in for politics. He cared much about the development of capitalism(资本主义). He had written a lot of articles against it and he was put into prison twice for that. It was not until that he was nearly sixty that he began to write the famous novel “Robinson Crusoe”, which was published in May, 1709. It spread so rapidly that the story was known to every hosehold very soon.
“Robinson Crusoe” can be divided into three parts. The first part is about Crusoe’s three voyages, the second part about his hunting, hiding in caves farming and his hard struggles against nature on a small island, the third about the things which happened after his return from the island. The second part is the body of the novel, in which Robinson’s characters are clearly shown.
Defoe wrote his novel in a simple style and his language is easy to understand. His novel writing set a milestone of the modern English novel. In his later part of life, He was in poor health and lived very poorly. He died on April 24, 1731.
6. Deniel Defoe was ______ and the writer of ______.
A.an Englishman, “A Tale of Two Cities” B.an American, “A Million Pound Note”
C.a French, “The Lost Necklace” D.an English, “Robinson Crusoe”
7. How old was he when he began to write his famous novel Robinson Crusoe?
A.He was in his sixties. B.He was in his fifties.
C.He was over 60. D.He was sixty.
8. Robinson Crusoe can be divided into ______ parts and the first is about _______.
A.two, his lonely life B.three, his characters
C.three, his journeys by sea D.four, his fame
9. “Every household” in this passage means ______.
A.all members of a family B.all people
C.every building D.persons living in the same house
10. What was Defoe’s contribution to the English literature?
A.He wrote a very interesting story.
B.He made people happy while reading his story.
C.He set a milestone of the modern English novel.
D.He was active in politics and was against capitalism.
七.阅读理解 (20分)
Mark Twain tells a boy’s story in The Adventure of Huckleberry Finn. Huck is a poor child, without a mother or home. His father drinks too much alcohol and always beats him.
Huck’s situation has freed him from the restriction of society. He explores in the woods and goes fishing. He stays out all night and does not go to school. He smokes.
Huck runs away from home. He meets Jim, a black man who has escaped from slavery(奴隶制). They travel together on a raft(木筏) made of wood down the Mississippi River.
Mark twain started writing “Huckleberry Finn” as a children’s story. But it soon became serious. The story tells about the social evil of slavery, seen through the eyes of an innocent child. Huck’s ideas about people were formed by the white society in which he lived. So, at first, he does not question slavery.Huck knows that important people believe slavery is natural, the law of God. So, he thinks it is his duty to tell Jim’s owners where to find him.
Later, Huck comes to understand that Jim is a good man. He finds he cannot carry out his plan to inform Jim’s owners of his whereabouts(下落). Instead, he decides to help Jim escape. He decides to do this, even if God punished him.
1. What is the passage mainly about?
A. The outline (概要) of The Adventure of Huckleberry Finn.
B. The childhood of Huckleberry.
C. The reason why Mark Twain wrote the story.
D. The effect of slavery.
The underlined word “restriction” probably means _________.
A. something that you are expected to do.
B. something that you are not allowed to do.
C. something that you are able to do.
D. something that you look forward to.
3. The underlined expression “he does not question slavery” means that ________.
A. he is sure about everything of slavery.
B. he has no question to ask the owner of the slaves.
C. he thinks that slavery is reasonable.
D. he believes that slavery is wrong.
4. What can he inferred from the text?
A. Huck is a white boy.
B. Huck’s childhood is a reflection(反映) of that of Mark Twain’s.
C. It ’s Huck’s situation that makes him decide to travel with Jim.
D. Huck will be punished by God for what he does.
5. Why does Huck change his mind at last?
A. He has made friends with Jim.
B. He finds out the weakness of slavery.
C. God tells him to do so.
D. He finds that Jim is a good man
But I wonder about my Momma sometimes, and all the other Negro (blacks) mothers who got up at 6 a.m. to go to the white man’s house with sacks (鞋套) over their shoes because it was so wet and cold. I wonder how they managed it. They worked very hard for the man, they made his breakfast and they scrubbed his floors and they took care of his babies. They didn’t have too much time for us.
I wonder about my Momma, who walked out of a white woman’s clean house at midnight and came back to her own where the lights had been out for three months, and the hot-water pipes were frozen and the wind came in through the holes in the wall. She’d have to deal with the mice: leave some food out for them so they wouldn’t bite the doors or the babies. The roaches(蟑螂)?Oh, they were just like part of the family!
I wonder how she felt telling those white kids she took care of to brush their teeth after they ate, to wash their hands after they finished bathroom. She could never tell her own kids because there wasn’t soap or water back home.
I wonder how my Momma felt when we came home from school with a list of vitamins and pills the school nurse said we had to have. Momma would cry all night , and then go out and spend most of the rent (房租) money for pills. A week later, the white man would come for his eighteen dollars’ rent and Momma would beg him to wait until tomorrow. She had to lie to him that she had lost her wallet, or make up some other excuses. Tomorrow I’d be hiding in the closet (橱柜) because there should be only two kids in the flat, and I could hear the rent man shout at my Momma and call her a cheat. And when he finally went away, Momma put the sacks on her shoes and went off to the rich white man’s house to dress the rich white kids so their mother could take them to a special baby doctor.
66. Mother got up at 6 a.m. every day, because _________.
A. she had to cook breakfast for her children
B. she had to catch the first bus to the factory
C. she had to work in the white man’s house
D. she had to go to see a special baby doctor
67. What does the underlined word “scrubbed” mean in the text?
A. mopped B. cleared C. painted D. built
68. Mother never told us to brush our teeth or to wash our hands because ___________ .
A. she thought we didn’t need to B. we didn’t like washing hands
C. we had done everything very well D. there was no soap or water in our home
69. Why did the writer hide in the closet when the owner of the flat came for rent?
A. The closet could only hold two kids.
B. Only two kids were allowed to live in the house.
C. They should pay more rent for two kids.
D. There was only one bedroom for the two kids.
70. What does the writer mainly tell us?
A. Black people lead a hard life.
B. Black people don’t have enough rent money.
C. White people lead an expensive life.
D. White people have special baby doctors.
It is possible to do many simple tricks with numbers. Here is one trick. It has seven steps.
First, write down your house number. For example, if your address is 73 Lemon Street, you would write down 73.
Next, double it. In other words, multiply(乘) it by two. Then, add five to this doubled number. For example, if your address was 73 and you doubled it, you would get 146. Then, if you added five, you’d get 151.
So, to repeat the first three steps, write down your house number, double it, and add five.
Fourth, multiply this number by 50. In our example here, if you multiply 151 by 50, you’ll get 7550.
The fifth step is to add your age to this total. For example, if you’re 26 years old, you should add 26 to this total. In our example here, the result would be 7550 plus 26, you’ll get 7576.
Sixth, you have to add the number of days in a year, which is 365. In our example here, 365 added to 7576 is 7941.
The seventh and final step is this: subtract(减) 615 from the number that you have. In our example, 7941 minus 615 is 7326.
The result here, 7-3-2-6, is the trick. The first part of the number is the address and the last part of the number is the age of the person. That is, 73 is the address that we started with, and 26 is the age that we used.
If you follow these seven steps with any address and the age of any person. You will get the same result.
73 According to the trick, what number can you get if you are 16 years old and your house number is 85?
A. 1685 B. 8516 C. 8165 D. 1658
74. How can your age number appear at the last part of the result?
A. It’s really a trick.
B. By taking all the steps except Step1 and Step 2.
C. By taking Step 6 and Step 7.
D. By taking all the steps.
75. What’s the secret of the trick?
A. It’s impossible to know.
B. By taking Step 2 and Step 4, we get the formula(公式):your address number ×2×50.
C. By taking all the steps except 1 and 2, we get the formula: 5×50+your age number+365-615="your" age number.
D. Both B and C.