Because of the development of agriculture, the area of land affected by sand has gradually increased. During the 1950s and 1960s the land affected by sand expanded on average into 1,600 square kilometers per year. By the 1990s, the area had reached 2,500 square kilometers per year. This kind of situation is particularly serious in many regions upwind(逆风的) from Beijing. Fengning City in Hebei Province and Duolun City in Inner Mongolia lie to the north of Beijing, and in the last 50 years the population of these two cities has grown by 2 to 3 times. In order to obtain more resources, the inhabitants have been busy with heavy farming, tree-cutting and keeping animals. The result is that the soil which has sustained damage, and the sand layer below the earth is now exposed on the ground and the ground is rapidly being controlled by the spread of sand.
China has already noticed this problem, and has take measures to save the land. Nowadays, some land used for farming has returned to forestland and grassland. The Chinese government announced that it would invest more than RMB 600,000,000 to control Beijing’s sandstorms in the coming years. Only by decreasing the damage caused
by man and restoring the natural environment will it be possible to well control the sources of the sand and dust. We hope in the not-distant future, we will solve the problem successfully and effectively.
63. Compared with 50s and 60s, the land affected by sand increased by _____ square kilometers by the 1990s.
A. 1,600 B. 2,500 C. 900
D. 1,100
64. Which of the following is NOT the cause of the damaged land?
A.People use the resources too much.
B.People keep animals which need more grain.
C.People prepare too much land to grow crops.
D.People cut a lot of forests and raise animals.
65. The major measure that Chinese government has taken is _____.
A.controlling the growth of the population
B. making better use of natural resources
C. killing fewer animals and cutting fewer trees
D. returning some land to forestland and grassland
66.According to the passage, it can be inferred that _____ was the major factor of the environmental damage.
A. man B. animal C. nature D. desert
More than 20,000 drivers and front seat passengers are killed or seriously injured each year. At a speed of only 30 miles per hour it is the same as falling from a third floor window. Wearing a seat belt saves lives; it reduces your chance of death or serious injury by more than half.
Therefore drivers or front seat passengers over 14 most vehicles must wear a seat belt. If you do not, you could be fined up to $50. It will not be up to the drivers to make sure you wear your belt. But it will be the driver’s responsibility to make sure that children under 14 do not ride in the front unless they are wearing a seat belt of some kind.
However, you do not have to wear a seat belt if you are reversing(倒退) your vehicle; or you are making a local delivery or collection using a special vehicle; or if you have a valid（正当的） medical certificate（证书）which excuses you from wearing it. Make sure these cases supply to you before you decide not to wear your seat belt. Remember you may be taken to court for not doing so, and you may be fined if you cannot prove to the court you have been excused from wearing.
1. This passage is probably taken from ______.
A. medical magazine B. a legal document
C. a textbook D. a government information booklet
2. Wearing a seat belt in a vehicle ______.
A. reduces road accidents by more than half
B. reduces the death rate in traffic accidents
C. saves lives while driving at a speed up to 30 miles per hour
D. saves more than 16,000 lives each year
3. It is the driver’s responsibility to ______.
A. make the front seat passenger wear a seat belt
B. make the front seat children under 14 wear a seat belt
C. stop children from riding in the front seat
D. wear a seat belt each time he drives
4. For some people, it may be better to ______.
A. pay a fine rather than wear a seat belt
B. wear a seat belt for health reasons
C. (not to) wear seat belt for health reasons
D. get a valid medical certificate before wearing a seat belt
第三部分：阅读理解（共20题；每小题2分，共40分）
阅读下列短文，从每题中所给的A、B、C、D四个选项中，选出最佳选项。
You have heard the expression “horse sense”. As you may imagine, it came from the time when the majority of people traveled in vehicles drawn by horses. A horse does have a lot of common sense, and there are many true stories about horses having saved their drivers from danger of death.
Today for the most part, people travel by train, ship, airplane, and car, but very little by the use of horses. Modern vehicles are propelled by engines, and an engine does not have any sense. In case of danger, many horses could be depended on to help. Not so with the engine; the driver must do all the things.
In recent years, the speed of travel has increased greatly. With the increased speed comes greatly increased danger. The driver of a powerful engine needs to be careful. A moment of being careless may cost a life. In order to drive today, a person must be able to see clearly, and he must learn and follow carefully the rules for safety on the road. Greater attention is the price we pay for using a machine instead of a horse.
1. The passage mainly talks about ______.
A. engines B. safe driving C. using horses D. modern machines
2. The underlined word “propel” in the second paragraph means ______.
A. repair B. raise C. push forward D. made
3. It can be inferred from the passage that ______.
A. a driver must know the rules of safety
B. a driver needs to be able only to tell red from green
C. an eye test is an important part of a driver’s examination
D. greater attention is needed for a driver while driving a machine
4. Which of the following is NOT true?
A. A driver must be able to see and hear well.
B. The driver of a car must follow the rules of safety.
C. Horses are known to have saved their drivers from injury.
D. It is better for vehicles to be pulled by horse than to be pushed by engine.
Everybody hates rats. But in the earthquake capitals of the world – Japan, Los Angeles, Turkey – rats will soon be man’s new best friends.
What happens after an earthquake? We send in rescue dogs. Why? Because they can smell people. Dogs save lives. They help rescuers to find living people. But dogs are big and they can’t get into small spaces. So now a new research project is using a smaller animal to save lives: the rat.
How does it work? First , the rat is trained to smell people. When this happens, the rat’s brain gives a signal（信号）.This is sent to a small radio on its back, and then the rescuers follow the radio signals. When rat’s brain activity jumps, the rescuers know that someone is alive. The rat has smelled that person.
Although there are already robots which can do this job, rats are better. Christian Linster at Cornell University, New York, says, “Robots’ noses don’t work well when there are other smells around. Rats are good at that. ” Rats can also see in the dark. They are cheaper and quicker to train than dogs, and unlike robots, they don’t need electricity!
The “rat project” is not finished, but Julie Ryan of International Rescue Corps in Scotland says, “It would be fantastic. A rat could get into spaces we couldn’t get to, and a rat would get out if it wasn’t safe.” Perhaps for the first time in history, people will be happy to see a rat in a building（but only after an earthquake, of course.）
1．In the world earthquake capitals, rats will bee man’s best friends because they can .
A．take the place of man’s rescue jobs
B．find the position of people alive who are trapped in buildings
C．serve as food for people alive who are trapped in buildings
D．get into small spaces
2．From the third paragraph we know the rescuers can judge a person is alive by .
A．the noise made by the rat
B．the rat’s unusual behaviour
C．the signal sent by the radio on the rat’s back
D．the smell given off by the person
3．In doing rescue jobs, .
A．rats smell better than dogs
B．dogs don’t need to be trained to smell people
C．robots’ sense of smell can be affected by other smells around
D．rats can see in the dark and smaller than robots
4．Rats have all the following advantages except that .
A．they are more fantastic than other animals
B．they are less expensive to train than dogs
C．they don’t need electricity
D．they are small and can get into small places
5．After reading the passage we can know .
A．at present rats have taken the place of dogs in searching for people
B．the “rat project” has been finished
C．people are now happy to see a rat in a building
D．now people still use dogs and robots in saving people
Parking has long been a major headache for drivers in Shanghai. The Transportation Department is mapping out a new plan for the city’s parking system. There are one million cars on the road in Shanghai but only enough public parking space to provide room for 15percent of them. It is no wonder that local drivers get so worried trying to find a place to park.
The city is seeing a rise in private car owners. In March, the city sent out 2,000 private car licenses, the highest number of licenses ever sent out in a month. And prices rose to 14,600 yuan, 500 more than in February. Industry experts say this suggests that local people have a strong, active interest in buying cars.
By the year 2020, the number of automobiles in Shanghai will probably reach two million. If one parking lot is for each car, then a lot of parking space should be built for these vehicles.
Downtown Shanghai is most short of parking space. However, experts point out that simply building more parking lots in downtown areas is not practical and doesn’t provide an ideal solution. The idea of “ Park & Ride” system has been suggested. This means that drivers can leave their vehicles in car par nearby subway or bus stations and ride public transport to go downtown. Based on this idea, the city will limit the number of parking lots in downtown areas and demand higher parking fees but build more parking areas near main subway and bus stops.
1.The underlined phrase “ mapping out ” in the first paragraph means __________.
A. making B. arguingC. controlling D. inspiring
2. About __________ drivers can find places to park their cars in Shanghai now.
A. 850,000 B. 1,000,000 C. 150,000 D. 2,000,000
3. What does the second paragraph mainly tell us ?
A. The city sent out more private licenses in February.
B. Less and less people bought cars in March.
C. The city sent out less private licenses in March.
D. More and more people are going to buy cars.
4. According to the idea of a “ Park & Ride ” system, the city will __________.
A. send out more private car licenses
B. build more parking lots near bus stops
C. encourage people to buy more cars
D. build more parking areas in downtown
In Vietnam(越南), Tet-trung-Thu, or Mid- autumn Festival, is one of the most popular holidays. It is held on the 15th day of the 8th month in lunar calendar
Vietnamese families plan their activities around their children on this special day. In a Vietnamese story, parents were working so hard to prepare for the harvest that they left the childen playing by themselves. To make up for the lost time, parents would use the Aid-Autumn Festival as a chance to show their love and than for their children.
As a result, the Mid- autumn Festival is also called the Children’s Festival. In the USA, this tradition continues in many Vietnamese- American families. Tet-trung-Thu, activities are often centered on Children and education. Parents buy lanterns for their children so that they can take part in a lantern parade at dawn. Lanterns mean brightness, while the parade means success in school. Vietnamese markets sell different kinds of lanterns, but the most popular children’s lantern is the star lantern. Other children’s activities includes arts and crafts(手工艺) in which children make face mas and lanterns. Children also perform traditional Vietnamese dances for grown-ups and take part in contests for prizes and scholarships. Unicorn(麒麟) dancers are also very popular at Tet-trung-Thu festivities.
Like the Chinese, Vietnamese parents tell their children folk stories and serve moon-cakes and other special treats under the bright moon. A favorite folk story is about a carp(鲤鱼) that wanted to bee a dragon. The carp worked hard and finally changed itself into a dragon. Parents use this story to encourage their children to work hard so that they can bee whatever they want to be.
1. The Tet-trung-Thu Festival is held ________.
A. in China and other Asian countries. B. in Vietnamese-American families.
C. all over the world, except Vietnam. D. Across the United States.
2.In Both Vietnam and China, on Mid-autumn Festival people would ___________.
A. eat moon-cakes B. buy lanterns for children.
C. take part in contests. D. buy a carp
3.What is the center of the Mid-Autumn festival in Vietnam?
A. Family get-together. B. Children on education.
C. Relaxation and fun in the middle of the year.
D. parents having more time with their children.
4.According to the passage, parents tell their children folk stories, because __________.
A. children like listening to folk stories in the evening.
B. parents want to show their love for their children.
C. parents want to teach the children to work hard.
D. parents want to make up for the lost time.