Many people think the search for cleaner energy leads only to renewable resources like sun, wind and water. But it also leads to a fossil fuel. Natural gas is considered the cleanest of the fossil fuels, the fuel created by plant and animal remains over millions of years. Burning it releases fewer pollutants than oil or coal. The gas is mainly methane (甲烷). It produces half the carbon dioxide of other fossil fuels. So it may help cut the production of carbon gases linked to climate change.
Russia is first in what are called "proved reserves" of natural gas. The United States is sixth. Over the years, big oil and gas companies recovered much of the easily reached supplies of gas in America. They drilled straight down into formations where gas collects. As these supplies were used up, big drillers looked for similar formations in other countries.
But now the industry is taking a new look. Companies are developing gas supplies trapped in shale (页岩) rock two to three thousand meters underground. They drill down to the shale, then go sideways and inject high-pressure water, sand or other material into the rock. This causes the rock to fracture, releasing the gas. Huge fields of gas shale are believed to lie under the Appalachian Mountains, Michigan and the south-central states. Gas shale exploration is being done mainly by small to medium sized companies. Eric Potter, a program director, says more than half the gas in the United States is now coming from these new reserves.
But hydraulic (液压的) fracturing can also produce debate and anger over the risk of groundwater pollution. This method of drilling is not federally supervised under the Safe Drinking Water Act. Some in Congress want to end that exemption (豁免) from the law.
Natural gas provides Americans with about one fourth of their energy. And, unlike oil, most of it is produced in America. Gas producers invested heavily in reaching new supplies when prices were high. But prices are down sharply now because the depression cut demand for energy. So energy expert Eric Potter says it is too early to know how the changing market prices will affect the market for gas shale exploration.
68. We can learn from the first paragraph that ________.
A. natural gas releases methane and carbon dioxide
B. natural gas is considered as the cleanest energy
C. natural gas is more environmentally friendly than other fossil fuels
D. natural gas is a renewable source of energy
69. The word “fracture” in Paragraph 4 probably means _______.
A. create B. break C. change D. decrease
70. Gas shale exploration may cause disagreement because ______.
A. it may cause water pollution B. it brings too high profits
C. it breaks the law D. it is out of states’ control
71. According to Eric Potter, the new gas shale exploration ______.
A. will provide America with about one fourth of their energy
B. will increase demand for energy
C. will make gas producers invest a big sum of money
D. may be influenced by the changing market prices
When children learn a language, they learn the grammar as well as words or vocabulary. No one teaches them; children just “pick them up”.
Before babies begin to produce words, they produce sounds. Some of these sounds will remain if they occur in the language being learned, and others will disappear. This is called the “babbling stage”.
A child does not learn the language “all at once”. The child first speaks only one-word “sentences”. After a few months, the two-word stage arises. During this stage, the child puts two words together. These two-word sentences have definite patterns and express grammatical and meaningful relationships. Still later, in the telegraphic stage, the child will produce longer sentences. These longer sentences are mainly made up of content words. The child’s early grammar lacks many of the rules of the adult grammar, but gradually it will become perfect.
All normal children everywhere learn language. This ability is not dependent on race, social class, geography, or even intelligence (智力). This ability is uniquely (独特的) for human.This passage is mainly about ___________.
| A．differences between a child’s language and an adult’s |
| B．ways of teaching babies to talk |
| C．children’s learning of the mother language |
| D．the importance of learning foreign languages |
The phrase “pick them up” means____________.
| A．raise them from the ground |
| B．learn them without much effort |
| C．use hands to help carry them |
| D．study very hard and remember them |
During the “babbling stage”, babies ___________.
| A．can only produce sound |
| B．learn to work without falling over |
| C．can understand people’s talk |
| D．begin to produce two-word sentences |
The two-word sentences produced by babies __________.
| A．are simpler than those produced in the “babbling stage” |
| B．are much more difficult than those produced in the telegraphic stage |
| C．are strictly grammatical |
| D．are meaningful and have function |
The passage implies that any children can learn a language as long as he is ___________.
| A．well-educated | B．clever enough |
| C．unique | D．physical normal |
One day a few years ago a very funny thing happened to a neighbour of mine. He is a teacher at one of London’s big medical schools. He had finished his teaching for the summer term and was at the airport on his way to Russia to give a lecture.
He had put a few clothes and his lecture notes in his shoulder bag, but he had put Rupert, the skeleton (人体骨架) to be used in his lecture, in a large brown suitcase. At the airport desk, he suddenly thought that he had forgotten to buy a newspaper. He left his suitcase near the desk and went over to the shop.
When he got back he discovered that someone had taken his suitcase by mistake. He often wonders what they said when they got home and found Rupert.Who wrote the story?
| A．Rupert’s teacher. | B．The neighbour’s teacher. |
| C．A medical school teacher. | D．The teacher’s neighbour. |
Why did the teacher put a skeleton in his suitcase?
| A．He needed it for the summer term in London. |
| B．He needed it for the lecture he was going to give. |
| C．He wanted to take it to Russia for medical research. |
| D．He wanted to take it home as he had finished his teaching. |
What happened at the airport?
| A．The skeleton went missing. |
| B．The skeleton was stolen. |
| C．The teacher forgot his suitcase. |
| D．The teacher took the wrong suitcase. |
Which of the following best tells the teacher’s feeling about the incident?
| A．He is very angry. | B．He thinks it rather funny. |
| C．He feels helpless without Rupert. | D．He feels good without Rupert. |
Which of the following might have happened afterwards?
| A．The teacher got back the suitcase but not Rupert. |
| B．The teacher got back neither the suitcase nor Rupert. |
| C．The teacher got back Rupert but not the suitcase. |
| D．The teacher got back both the suitcase and Rupert. |
If music makes you smarter and exercise helps you to think, surely exercising to music can turn you into an intelligent person.
A team of scientists from Ohio State University did experiments on 33 volunteers who were getting better from heart disease following operation. They found that people who exercised while listening to Italian musician Antonio Vivaldi’s “The Four Seasons” did much better on language ability tests than without music.
“Facts suggest that exercise improves the learning ability of people with heart disease,” said the psychologist Charles Emery, who led the study. “And listening to music is thought to enhance understanding. We just wanted to put the two results together,” he added.
The volunteers said they felt better emotionally and physically after working out with or without the music. But their improvement on the test doubled after listening to music during exercise. Scientists have proved that music can be good for health, education and well-being. It helps reduce stress, sadness and nervousness; encourages relaxation or sleep; wakes up the body and improves memory and thoughts.
In medical fields, music is used widely for patients who have had head hurts before and after operation. “The Four Seasons” was used because of its moderate tempo（舒缓的节拍）and positive results in earlier research. “Exercise seems to cause positive changes in the nervous system(神经系统) and these changes may have a direct result on learning ability,” Emery said.
Scientists have been studying the results of music on understanding since the early 1950s. By 2000, psychologists were using Mozart’s music, especially his violin pieces, to help children with speech disorders. Mozart was chosen because his music is not overexciting and has clear structures. A study showed students who listened to Mozart went on to score higher marks in an intelligence test. With important exams drawing near, your parents will not probably allow you to listen to music. But perhaps now you have good reasons to argue with them.
| A．impress | B．improve | C．provide | D．produce |
| A．music and exercise lead to relaxation or sleep |
| B．33 volunteers work on music in medical fields |
| C．exercising to music makes people healthy and bright |
| D．scientists give suggestions on choosing music to exercise to |
| A．you are supposed to follow your parents’ words |
| B．students should not listen to music before exams |
| C．you have some good reasons to exercise to music |
| D．music might help you to get higher grades in tests |
| A．Exercise seems to cause negative changes without music. |
| B．Exercise reminds people with head hurts of what they’ve learned. |
| C．Scientists often use Mozart’s music, for it is not too exciting. |
| D．“The Four Seasons” is used to help children with speech disorders. |
On a hill 600 feet above the surrounding land, we watch the lines of rain move across the scene, the moon rise over the hills, and the stars appear in the sky. The views invite a long look from a comfortable chair in front of the wooden house.
Every window in our wooden house has a view, and the forest and lakes seldom look the same as the hour before. Each look reminds us where we are.
There is space for our three boys to play outside, to shoot arrows, collect tree seeds, build earth houses and climb trees.
Our kids have learned the names of the trees, and with the names have come familiarity and appreciation. As they tell all who show even a passing interest, maple（枫树）makes the best fighting sticks and white pines are the best climbing trees.
The air is clean and fresh. The water from the well has a pleasant taste, and it is perhaps the healthiest water our kids will ever drink. Though they have one glass a day of juice and the rest is water, they never say anything against that.
The seasons change just outside the door. We watch the maples turn every shade of yellow and red in the fall and note the poplars’（杨树）putting out the first green leaves of spring. The rainbow smelt fills the local steam as the ice gradually disappears, and the wood frogs start to sing in pools after being frozen for the winter. A family of birds rules our skies and flies over the lake.
| A．The scenes are colorful and changeable. |
| B．There are many windows in the wooden house. |
| C．The views remind us that we are in a wooden house. |
| D．The lakes outside the windows are quite different in color. |
| A．the kids like playing in trees |
| B．the kids are very familiar with trees |
| C．the kids have learned much knowledge |
| D．the kids find trees useful learning tools |
| A．The change of seasons is easily felt. |
| B．The seasons make the scenes change. |
| C．The weather often changes in the forest. |
| D．The door is a good position to enjoy changing seasons. |
| A．To describe the beauty of the scene around the house. |
| B．To introduce her children’s happy life in the forest. |
| C．To show that living in the forest is healthful. |
| D．To share the joy of living in the nature. |
San Francisco has its cable cars. Seattle has its Space Needle. And, Longview has its squirrel bridge. The bridge, which has attracted international attention, is now a local landmark.
The Nutty Narrows Bridge was built in 1963 by a local builder, Amos Peters, to give squirrels a way to cross the busy road without getting flattened by passing cars.
The original bridge was built over Olympia Way on the west edge of the library grounds. Before the bridge was built, squirrels had to avoid traffic to and from the Park Plaza office building where office staff put out a nutty feast for the squirrels. Many times, Peters and others who worked in and near Park Plaza witnessed squirrels being run over.
One day Peters found a dead squirrel with a nut still in its mouth, and that day’s coffee break discussion turned into squirrel safety. The group of businessmen cooked up the squirrel bridge idea and formed a committee to ask the blessing of the City Council(市政会).The Council approved, and Councilwoman Bess LaRiviere named the bridge “Nutty Narrows.”
After architects designed the bridge, Amos Peters and Bill Hutch started Construction, They built the 60-foot bridge from aluminum and lengths of fire hose(消防水带). It cost 1,000.
It didn’t take long before reports of squirrels using the bridge started. Squirrels were even seen guiding their young and teaching them the ropes. The story was picked up by the media, and Nutty Narrows became know in newspapers all over the world.
In 1983, after 20 years of use, Peters took down the worn-out bridge. Repairs were made and crosspieces were replaced. The faded sign was repainted and in July 1983, hundreds of animal lovers attended the completion ceremony of the new bridge.
Peters died in 1984, and a ten-foot wooden squirrel sculpture was placed near the bridge in memory of its builder and his devotion to the project.
| A．offer squirrels a place to eat nuts |
| B．set up a local landmark |
| C．help improve traffic |
| D．protect squirrels |
| A．The committee got the Council’s blessing. |
| B．The squirrel bridge idea was born |
| C．A councilwoman named the bridge |
| D．A squirrel was found dead. |
| A．passing them a rope |
| B．Directing them to store food for winter |
| C．Teaching them a lesson |
| D．Showing them how to use the bridge. |
| A．It was replaced by a longer one. |
| B．It was built from wood and metal |
| C．it was rebuilt after years of use |
| D．It was designed by Bill Hutch. |
| A．He is remembered for his love of animals. |
| B．He donated $1,000 to build the bridge |
| C．He was a member of the City Council |
| D．He was awarded a medal for building the bridge. |