Trees are useful to man in three very important ways: they provide him with wood and other products;they give him shade;and they help to prevent drought and floods.
Unfortunately, in many parts of the world, man has not realized that the third of these services is the most important. In his eagerness to draw quick profit from the trees, he has cut them down in large numbers, only to find that without them he has lost the best friends he had.
Two thousand years ago, a rich and powerful country cut down its trees to build warships, with which to gain itself an empire. It gained the empire but, without its trees, its soil became hard and poor. When the empire fell to pieces, the country found itself faced by floods and starvation.
Even though a government realizes the importance of a plentiful supply of trees, it is difficult for it to persuade the villager to see this. The villager wants wood to cook his food with, and he can earn money by making charcoal(木炭) or selling wood to the townsman(城市居民). He is usually too lazy or too careless to plant and look after trees. So unless the government has a good system of control, or can educate the people, the forests will slowly disappear.
This does not only mean that the villager’s sons and grandsons have fewer trees. The results are even more serious. For where there are trees their roots break the soil up—allowing the rain to sink in and also hold the soil, thus preventing it being washed away easily, but where there are no trees, the soil becomes hard and poor. The rain falls on hard ground and flows away on the surface, causing floods and carrying away with it the rich topsoil, in which crops grow so well. When all the topsoil is gone, nothing remains but a worthless desert.The purpose that the writer wrote this article is to _________.
A.tell people the use of wood |
B.tell people the function of tree roots |
C.warn that man mustn’t destroy forests any more |
D.explain how trees help man live a better life. |
In the writer’s opinion, _________, or the forests will slowly disappear.
A.measures must be taken |
B.people shouldn’t draw benefit from the tree |
C.government must realize the serious results |
D.unless no trees are cut down. |
According to the article we know it is ________ to prevent the forests from slowly disappearing.
A.necessary but impossible | B.necessary but difficult |
C.impossible and unimportant | D.difficult and impossible |
In the last two paragraphs the writer wanted to make it clear that _________.
A.where there are no trees, the soil becomes poor but soft |
B.where there are many trees, there are more floods |
C.where there are no trees, the land might become desert slowly |
D.floods will make the land become desert |
Beauty has always been regarded as something admirable .Almost everyone thinks that attractive people are happier and healthier; they have better marriages and have more respectable jobs. Personal consultants(顾问)give them better advice for finding jobs. Even judges are softer on attractive persons. But in the executive circle, beauty can become a liability.
While attractiveness is a positive thing for a man’s rise, it is harmful to a woman’s .Handsome male executives were considered as having more honesty than plainer men; effort and ability were thought to be the reasons for their success .Attractive female executives were considered to have less honesty than unattractive ones; their success was attributed not to ability but to factors such as luck. All unattractive women executives were thought to have more honesty and to be more capable than the attractive female executives.
Why are attractive women not thought to be able? An attractive woman is thought to be more feminine(女性的)and an attractive man more masculine(男性的)than the less attractive ones. Thus , an attractive woman has an advantage in traditionally female jobs, but an attractive woman in a traditionally masculine position appears to lack the “masculine”qualities required.
This is true even in politics. Anne Bowman recently published a study on the effects of attractiveness on political candidates(候选人).She asked 125 undergraduate students to rank two groups of photographs, one of men and one of women ,in order of attractiveness. The students were told the photographs were of candidates for political offices. They were asked to rank them again, in the order they would vote for them.
The results showed that attractive males completely defeated unattractive men , but the woman who had been ranked most attractive always received the fewest votes.In traditionally female jobs, attractiveness __________________ .
A.strengthens the feminine qualities required |
B.makes women look more honest and capable |
C.is of great importance to women |
D.often enables women to succeed quickly |
Bowman’s experiment shows that when it comes to politics, attractiveness _____________________.
A.turns out to be an obstacle to men |
B.affects men and women alike |
C.has as little effect on men as on women |
D.is more of an obstacle than a benefit to women |
It can be inferred from the passage that people’s views on beauty are often ____________ .
A.practical | B.old-fashioned | C.prejudiced(偏见的) | D.serious |
The author writes this passage to_______________________ .
A.discuss the negative aspects of being attractive |
B.give advice to job-seekers who are attractive |
C.demand equal rights for women |
D.emphasize the importance of appearance |
Jurassic Park could become a reality with dinosaurs making a comeback after a discovery last week. Scientists found remains of a dinosaur’s blood vessels(血管)and cells .In theory, DNA from these cells could be used to clone the longdead dinosaur.
A team from North Carolina State University found the remains in a fossil(化石)of the leg bone of a Tyrannosaurus rex(暴龙)in Montana, US.
The last dinosaurs on Earth died some 65 million years ago, but they left bits of themselves behind wherever they lived. Around the world ,dug-up bones and fossils have given scientists many ideas about what the animals were like.
Preserved by minerals, the newly discovered leg bone was hard. So the scientists used a liquid to dissolve(溶解)the minerals. A week later, the remaining material was soft and stretchy(有弹性的),which surprised the researchers.
Some of the materials appeared to be a network of blood vessels. Out of these, the researchers were able to squeeze(挤出)tiny , round, dark-red and deep-brown structures that seemed to be ancient blood cells.
Scientists are overjoyed by this discovery because most fossils come from hard body parts, like bones and shells, which last a long time. Soft tissues, like skin, muscle, and organs are very hard to find because they tend to break down more quickly.
Scientists think that the new discovery will help them to better understand how fossils form. Future finds should also help flesh out how the dinosaurs lived.
They were also very excited by the possibility of having some dinosaur DNA.From that scientists could create a real life “Jurassic Park”.
In the Hollywood movie, scientists reproduced dinosaurs from the DNA they found in a mosquito fossil and disaster soon followed.Scientists are excited _________________________ .
A.because they have got dinosaur DNA |
B.about making a movie called “Jurassic Park” |
C.because they found the liquid to dissolve fossils |
D.because it,s very hard to find soft tissues in fossils |
The latest discovery can tell us .
A.what the animals were like | B.how fossils form |
C.how the dinosaur lived | D.how to get dinosaur DNA |
What does the underlined phrase“flesh out”mean in the article?
A.add more details or information to | B.take more photos of |
C.make the public know more about | D.find the answer to |
Why is the latest discovery very important?
A.It could make it possible to make dinosaurs return to the former position. |
B.It could throw light on how dinosaurs lived many years ago. |
C.It could prove what dinosaurs were like. |
D.It could explain why dinosaurs died some 65 million years ago. |
It seems that Great Wall is the place to rock. There will be two parties held on the Great Wall this month.
Great Wall Ⅰ
The latest Great Wall party is sponsored(主办)by the Club and electrobeat and held at Jinshanling. Local DJ Mark ,as well as guest Slab from Australia ,Usami and Bobby from Hong Kong will spin the sounds. All drinks are priced at 20 yuan($2.4).
Tickets:200 yuan($24), including bus ride there and back plus entrance fee to the Great Wall.
T/D: 8 p.m. to 2 a. m., Sept.20.
Pre-sale tickets are available at: Public Space: 6416-0759 Neo Lounge: 6416-1077
Location: Buses leave at 5 p.m. on Saturday ,Sep. 20 from Neo Lounge, 99 Xinfuncun Zhonglu, Sanlitun, Chaoyan District.
For more info: www. elektrobeat.com
Great Wall Ⅱ
The other party at the end of this month at Jinshanling will be kick-started with live performances by Askar, Brain Failure, Longkuan, Supermarket, Mr.Zhou, Beijing Talking and the Yi band.
Dance till dawn to the groovy(绝妙的)sounds of DJs Ben ,Mickey Zhang ,Will, Cheese, Gao Hu and Huang Weiwei.
T/D: 8 p.m. to 2 a.m. ,Sept. 27.
Tickets: 350 yuan($42)or 300 yuan($36) for groups of 10 or more, 500 yuan ($60) at the door and VIP tickets 800 yuan($72), transportation included..
Location: Buses depart from the north gate of Workers, Stadium at noon, 2 p.m., 4 p.m., Sept. 27.
For more info: contact Li Zhenhua at lzh@msgp.org or call 133-2119-1731. Which is true according to the text?
A.You have to pay extra money for entering the Great Wall with a ticket. |
B.You have to use a computer to get the details about Great Wall Rock. |
C.You have to pay extra money for bus ride with a ticket. |
D.It is at least 4 hours, ride from Neo Lounge to Jinshanling. |
What day of the week is September 27?
A.Saturday . | B.Sunday. | C.Weekday. | D.It can’t be known. |
A dozen people want to attend Great Wall Ⅱ.They should pay at least _________ for the tickets.
A.$504 | B.$432 | C.$720 | D.$864 |
If you want to go Great Wall Rock , _______________________.
A.you’ll have to get up early to catch the bus |
B.you’ll have to spend a whole day on the bus |
C.you can take a bus at any time from 8 p.m. to 2 a.m. |
D.you can’t take a morning bus to get there |
The public commonly associates steroid use with big-time athletics. But the drugs may be even more of a menace to teenagers. The synthetic hormones can stunt a young person’s growth by prematurely closing the ends of the long bones in the skeleton. That means a 1.7 metre, 15-year-old high school student who uses steroids “might get bigger but won’t get any taller”, according to a US doctor.
Nearly seven percent of boys in the US try steroids before the end of high school, according to a 1988 study by professors Charles Yesalis and William Buckley, of Penn State University. The estimate comes from a poll of 3,400 seniors in 46 public and private schools across the US.
“Abusers of Steroids did it to improve their appearance and to excel at sports,” Professor Yesalis said. “Parents, teachers and coaches make boys believe that to be an ideal male you need to have these. Then they say: ‘you can’t play games to have fun; you play games to win.’”
“Such attitudes put many high school athletes at high risk of becoming abusers of steroids,” said Mike Gimbel, director of Baltimore County Office of substance Abuse. “For these athletes, the pressure to perform is incredible,” he said. “It was inevitable that it would seep down to high school level.”The word “big-time” in Paragraph 1 most nearly means “________”.
A.long time | B.good time | C.top rank | D.modern |
Why are steroids even more of a threat to teenagers?
A.Because they make teenagers grow too tall. |
B.Because they make teenagers get too big. |
C.Because they prevent teenagers from getting taller and taller. |
D.Because they give teenagers too much pressure. |
Which of the following statements is implied but not mentioned?
A.School athletes have too much pressure. |
B.Steroids can help people have lots of muscles. |
C.The pressure chiefly comes from parents, teachers and coaches. |
D.Girls are not interested in steroids. |
Which of the following is a good title for this passage?
A.Drugs and Sports |
B.The Pressure to School Boys are Too Much |
C.School Boys are Interested in Drugs |
D.School Athletes Risk Damage from Drugs |
After a fortnight of extraordinary type, the much-feared computer virus that was supposed to strike the globe’s hard drives last Friday simply fizzled. So many warnings were sounded that most computer owners either fed anti-virus programs into their systems or refused to turn the power on during the dreaded M-day. They dodged one disease, but more strains are on the way. The eponymous Friday-the-13th virus is due to strike this week, and the Maltese Amoeba may detonate on March 15.
Who creates these things? A disproportionate number seems to originate in Bulgaria or Russia, where writing the smallest, most elegant virus programs has become a matter of quirky pride. Viruses are transmitted either by shared disks (as was Michelangelo) or over telephone lines. The virus program hides in a computer until, activated by a date, time, or some other trigger, it springs to life. The most common virus, Stoned, makes your screen announce: “Your computer is now stoned. Legalize marijuana. ” (Regardless of your politics, you don’t want this one around; it can damage your files inadvertently.) Solution: either keep your computer isolated—no trading disks, no on-line communication—or else install one of a dozen or so commercially available anti-virus programs that detect and delete the little time bombs. If they can come up with a virus that is hidden, will they next try to extort a business?—as in, pay me $1 million or my virus will destroy your system.
In the meantime, money is being made by firms selling anti-virus programs. Egghead software stores logged a 3,000 percent jump in anti-virus sales. Was the threat overblown by the companies that make millions selling anti-virus software? Thanks to the media blitz, no one will ever know what might have happened—an unallied number of computer owners discovered and deleted Michelangelo before it was supposed to strike—on the artist’s birthday.The much-feared M-day was ________.
A.Friday-the-13th when the eponymous virus was due to strike |
B.Friday-the-15th when the Maltese Amoeba would be activated |
C.the previous Friday when Michelangelo virus was due to strike |
D.the previous Friday which coincided with the artist's birthday |
Computer viruses are ________.
A.diseases spread from one computer to another by shared disks |
B.viruses hidden in a computer’s instructions by the designers |
C.little time bombs hidden in a computer waiting to be triggered |
D.just those computer programs created by malevolent designers |
Which of the following sayings fits the Michelangelo virus?
A.A burnt child dreads the fire. | B.The bug’s bark was worse than its bite. |
C.A barking dog seldom bites. | D.Once bitten, twice shy. |
The author implies that in days to come the viruses might be used ________.
A.to destroy data | B.to commit crimes |
C.to commit mischief | D.to create confusion |