Rare birds in the UK have been living far better than the more common birds over the last decade due to the efforts of conservation organisations, according to a new assessment.
The research shows almost 60% of the 63 rare birds that live in the UK have increased over the last 10 years.
By contrast, only about one third of common species have increased over the same period. Just 28% of rare birds have decreased over the same period, compared with four out of every 10 common birds. The rare birds described in the assessment with increasing populations include the osprey (鹗) and corncrake (秧鸡). All of these birds are subject to conservation action.
The declining common birds include the nightingale, swift (雨燕), house sparrow and red grouse (苏格兰雷鸟). These are suffering declines for a variety of reasons, including changes in farming practices.
Dr David Noble, from the British Trust for Ornithology, said: “That some of our rarer birds have responded to targeted conservation action is great news. It shows just what can be achieved. What we need to do now is to continue the good work and use some of the lessons we have learned to help our more common birds.”
Dr Mark Avery, the conservation director of the Royal Society for the Protection of Birds (RSPB), said: “Over the last decade we've enjoyed some great conservation successes, including removing some threatened species from the World Conservation Union's Red List of Thratened Animals and increasing the populations of red kite, osprey, etc. However, these successes are countered (抵消) by continued declines of some widespread species.”
The overview of 210 native birds has been produced by a group of conservation organisations, to mark the publication of The State of the UK's Birds report, which is in its l0th year. The report was published by the RSPB for a group of conservation organisations. Which of the following is TRUE according to the passage?
| A．The decline of widespread birds is not worrying for the UK. |
| B．The UK has got some practical experience of bird conservation. |
| C．Changes in farming practices contribute to the increase of rare birds. |
| D．Half of common birds have decreased in the past ten years in the UK. |
We can learn from the passage that Dr David Noble .
| A．hopes that conservation organisations will change the way they work |
| B．is quite disappointed with the result of the new assessment |
| C．is losing confidence in conservation organizations’ action |
| D．has high hopes for the increase in bird population in Britain |
Which of the following can best explain Dr Mark Avery's words?
| A．The UK should not be satisfied with what they have achieved. |
| B．The UK should share their experience with other countries. |
| C．What conservation organisations do is far from satisfactory. |
| D．The RSPB is responsible for the decrease of common birds. |
The passage is most likely to be found in a book about .
| A．popular science | B．historical events |
| C．nature | D．society |
The author's purpose of writing this article is to tell people .
| A．some good ways to protect rare birds |
| B．the differences between rare birds and common birds |
| C．the number of rare birds has increased over the last decade |
| D．some widespread birds in the UK are in great need of help |
第二部分阅读理解（共20小题，每小题2分，满分40分）
It was graduation day at Etihad Training Academy, where the national airline of the United Arab Emirates holds a seven-week training course for new flight attendants.
Despite her obvious pride, Ms. Fathi, a 22-year-old from Egypt, was amazed to find herself here. “I never in my life thought I’d work abroad,” said Ms. Fathi, who was a university student in Cairo when she began noticing newspaper advertisements employing young Egyptians to work at airlines based in the Persian Gulf.
A decade ago, unmarried Arab women like Ms. Fathi, working outside their home countries, were rare. But just as young men from poor Arab nations poured into the oil-rich Persian Gulf states for jobs, more young women are doing so.
Flight attendants have become the public face of the new mobility for some young Arab women, just as they were the face of new freedoms for women in the United States in the 1950s and 1960s. They have become a subject of social anxiety and fascination in much the same way.
For many families, allowing a daughter to work may call her virtue into question. Yet this culture is changing, said Musa Shteiwi, a sociologist at Jordan University in Amman. “We’re noticing more and more single women going to the gulf these days,” he said. “It’s still not exactly common, but over the last four or five years it’s become quite an observable phenomenon.”
Many of the young Arab women working in the Persian Gulf take delight in their status as pioneers, role models for their friends and younger female relatives. Young women brought up in a culture that highly values community, have learned to see themselves as individuals. The experience of living independently and working hard for high salaries has forever changed their beliefs about themselves, though it can also lead to a painful sense of separation from their home countries and their families.
—From New York Times (December 22, 2008)
56. It can be inferred from the passage that young Arab women _________.
A. go to work abroad after American women’s example
B. didn’t start to work abroad until the late 20th century
C. are commonly used to living and working separately
D. expect to take the same family responsibilities as men
57. According to the passage, the Arab women flight attendants can be described as _________.
A. proud, homesick or independent B. honest, outstanding or optimistic
C. mature, enthusiastic or energetic D. painful, desperate or conservative
58. How do the public respond to young Arab women’s new mobility?
A. The public think highly of it.B. The public care very little about it.
C. The public show both interest and anxiety. D. The public are strongly against it.
59. The author intends to tell the readers that __________.
A. Arab women can hardly find any work
B. flight attendants are badly needed in the gulf
C. flight attendants lead quite a different life
D. young Arab women’s values are changing
For a while, my neighborhood was taken over by an army of joggers. They were there all the time: early morning, noon, and evening. There were little old ladies in gray sweats, young couples in Adidas shoes, middle-aged men with red faces. "Come on!" My friend Alex encouraged me to join him as he jogged by my house every evening. "You'll feel great."
Well, I had nothing against feeling great and if Alex could jog every day, anyone could. So I took up jogging seriously and gave it a good two months of my life, and not a day more. Based on my experience, jogging is the most overvalued form of exercise around, and judging from the number of the people who left our neighborhood jogging army, I'm not alone in my opinion.
First of all, jogging is very hard on the body. Your legs and feet will be a real pounding ruining down a road for two or three miles. I developed foot, leg, and back problems. Then I read about a nationally famous jogger who died of a heart attack while jogging, and I had something else to worry about. Jogging doesn't kill hundreds of people, but if you have any physical weaknesses, jogging will surely bring them out, as they did with me.
Secondly, I got no enjoyment out of jogging. Putting one foot in front of the other for forty-five minutes isn't my idea of fun. Jogging is also a lonely pastime. Some joggers say, "I love being out there with just my thoughts." Well, my thoughts began to bore me, and most of them were on how much my legs hurt.
And how could I enjoy something that brought me pain? And that wasn't just the first week: it was practically every day for two months. I never got past the pain level, and pain isn't fun. What a cruel way to do it! So many other exercises, including walking, lead to almost the same results painlessly, so why jog?
I don't jog any more, and I don't think I ever will. I'm walking two miles three times a week at a fast pace, and that feels good. I bicycle to work when the weather is good. I'm getting exercise, and I'm enjoying it at the same time. I could never say the same for jogging, and I've found a lot of better ways to stay in shape.
67. From the first paragraph, we learn that in the writer's neighborhood ____.
A. jogging became very popular B. people jogged only during the daytime
C. Alex organized an army of joggers D. jogging provided a chance to get together
68. What was the writer's attitude towards jogging in the beginning?
A. He felt it was worth a try. B. He was very fond of it.
C. He was strongly against it. D. He thought it must be painful.
69. Why did the writer give up jogging two months later?
A. He disliked doing exercise outside. B. He found it neither healthy nor interesting.
C. He was afraid of having a heart attack. D. He was worried about being left alone.
70. From the writer's experience, we can conclude that ____.
A. not everyone enjoys jogging
B. he is the only person who hates jogging
C. nothing other than jogging can help people keep fit
D. jogging makes people feel greater than any other sport
Although women lead healthier, longer lives, the cruel opinion that they become "old” sooner than men is widespread in the workplace, research shows.
A survey of more than 2,600 managers and personnel professionals showed that age discrimination is not only common in the workplace, but is shot through with inconsistencies (矛盾).
Six in ten managers reported being a victim of age discrimination -- usually because they were turned down for a job for being too old or too young. Yet more than a fifth admitted that they used age as an important standard.
Although the survey found widespread agreement that older workers were better than younger colleagues when it came to reliability, commitment (承担义务), loyalty (忠诚) and customer service, these qualities were not necessarily considered to be worthy of advancement.
A large number of persons believed that workers between 30 and 39 had the best promotion chances, with only 2 per cent giving examples of 50-year-olds or above.
There was evidence that people were considered old at different ages in different jobs. A young man working in IT said he was considered too old by the age of 28.
In fact there was no evidence to suggest that older workers were less valuable to companies than younger workers, in fact the opposite was often true because older workers often brought experience.
The findings also suggested that the Government's ideas on age in the workforce may also be out of step with reality.
63.Which is the discrimination mentioned in this passage?
A. The healthier women are, the sooner they will lose their jobs.
B. Society knows women should be respected, but it doesn't offer them any jobs.
C. Female managers respect male workers, but male managers don't respect female workers.
D. victims of age discrimination consider age as an important standard.
64.Older workers are better than younger colleagues because they have many advantages except that they are _____.
A. dependable B. married C. faithful D. helpful
65.Why does the writer mention a young man working in IT?
A. Because the writer thinks it a pity that this young man is old.
B. Because it's an example of different age standards in different jobs.
C. Because IT industry is developing too fast.
D. Because the writer doesn't think the young man is old.
66. Which statement is true according to the writer's attitude?
A. The present age standard doesn't go with reality.
B. The present age standard is reasonable.
C. women should work longer than men.
D. Young workers should learn from old workers.
WASHINGTON--President Bush plans to meet next week with top Pentagon and State Department officials, and hopes to offer a revised Iraq plan within two weeks, aides (政府官员的副手)said Friday.
White House spokeswoman Dana Perino said today Bush wants to give a major speech on Iraq before Christmas, "but that is not set in stone."
At a morning meeting with congressional leaders, Bush said, "We talked about the need for a new way forward in Iraq."
Bush will visit the State Department on Monday and meetings with military officials will follow over the next two days, according to a tentative White House schedule. All are involved in an ongoing administration review of the situation in Iraq.
"These are deliberative(慎重的) meetings and discussions," said Gordon Johndroe, a spokesman for the National Security Council. "They will inform the president's thinking, and he will inform their thinking."
Bush said he is also reviewing the Iraq Study Group report released Wednesday. Its suggestions include withdrawing US troops by early 2008, conditions permitting, and a new diplomatic(外交的) effort including Iraq's neighbors, Iran and Syria.
The president said he also wanted the troops home too, but not until the new Iraq government can sustain(支撑) itself. He expressed skepticism(怀疑态度) about possible talks with Iran and Syria, saying they must stop efforts to undermine(削弱) Iraq's fledgling(年轻的) democracy.
60. The word “revised” in Paragraph One can be replaced by "_______".
A. rewriting B. changed C. important D. directed
61. The word "that" in Paragraph Two refers to ________.
A. President Bush plans to meet next week with top Pentagon and State Department officials
B. the thing that President Bush hopes to offer a revised Iraq plan within two weeks
C. what White House spokeswoman Dana Perino said today
D. the thing that President Bush wants to give a major speech on Iraq before Christmas
62. The last paragraph shows us that _____.
A. President Bush wants to have a talk with Iraq's neighbors, Iran and Syria
B. Bush will make his troops go home unless the new Iraq government can sustain itself
C. Bush will make his troops go home if the new Iraq government can sustain itself
D. President Bush is sure to have a talk with Iraq's neighbors, Iran and Syria
第二部分 阅读理解 (共15小题；每小题2分，满分30分)
Each time I see a balloon, my mind flies back to a memory of when I was a six-year-old girl. It was a rainy Sunday and my father had recently died. I asked my mom if Dad had gone to heaven. "Yes, honey. Of course," she said.
"Can we write him a letter?"
She paused, the longest pause of my short life, and answered, "Yes."
My heart jumped. "How? Does the mailman go there?" I asked.
"No, but I have an idea." Mom drove to a party store and returned with a red balloon. I asked her what it was for.
"Just wait, honey. You'll see." Mom told me to write my letter. Eagerly, I got my favorite pen, and poured out my six-year-old heart in the form of blue ink. I wrote about my day, what I learned at school, how Morn was doing, and even about what happened in a story I had read. For a few minutes it was as if Dad were still alive. I gave the letter to Mom. She read it over, and a smile crossed her face.
She made a hole in the corner of the letter where she looped(缠绕) the balloon string. We went outside and she gave me the balloon. It was still raining.
"Okay, on the count of three, let go. One, two, three."
The balloon, carrying my letter, darted(猛冲) upward against the rain. We watched until it was swallowed by the mass of clouds.
Later I realized, like the balloon, that Dad had never let his sickness get him down. He was strong. No matter what he suffered, he'd persevere, dart up, and finally transcend(超越) this cold world and his sick body. He rose into sky and became something beautiful. I watched until the balloon disappeared into the gray and white and I prayed that his strength was hereditary(遗传的). I prayed to be a balloon.
56. When the girl asked her mother if they could write to her father, her mother ______.
A. felt it hard to answer B. thought her a creative girl
C. believed it easy to do so D. found it easy to lie
57. When the girl was told that she could send a letter to her father, she ______.
A. jumped with joy B. became excited
C. started writing immediately D. was worried that it couldn't be delivered
58. In the eyes of the author, what was the rain like?
A. An incurable disease. B. An unforgettable memory.
C. The hard time her father had. D. The failures her father experienced.
59. What would be the best title for the passage?
A. The strong red balloon B. An unforgettable experience
C. Fly to paradise D. A great father