Stepping into a pool of water is common enough, but who could ever imagine stepping into a pool of fish? In February of 1974, Bill Tapp, an Australian farmer, saw a rain of fish that covered his farm. How surprised he must have been!
What caused this strange occurrence? This is a question that had long puzzled people who study fish. The answer turned out to be a combination of wind and storm.
When it is spring in the northern part of the world, it is fall in Australia. Throughout the autumn season, terrible storms arise and rains flood the land. The strong winds sweep over Australia like huge vacuum cleaners (吸尘器), collecting seaweed, pieces of wood, and even schools of fish. Strong winds may carry these bits of nature for many miles before vacuum dropping them on fields, houses, and astonished people.
Although they seem unusual, fish-falls occur frequently in Australia. When Bill Tapp was asked to describe the scene of fish, he remarked, “They look like millions of dead birds falling down.” His statement is not surprising. The wonders of the natural world are as common as rain. Nature, with its infinite wonders, can create waterfalls that flow upward and fish that fall out of the sky.
What is this passage about?
A.A sad story. | B.Australia’s northern part. |
C.A rain of fish.![]() |
D.The damage done by floods. |
Fish-falls occur in Australia __________.
A.quite often | B.on large farms |
C.only in winter | D.when the air is calm |
The underlined word “infinite” is closest in meaning to “__________”.
A.easy | B.difficult | C.countless | D.dangerous |
Standing alone at Browns party,Anna Mackintosh thought about her husband Edward,establishing him clearly in her mind’s eye. He was a thin man,forty-one years of age,with fair hair that was often untidy.In the seventeen years they’d been married he had changed very little:he was still nervous with other people,and smiled in the same shy way,and his face was still almost boyish.
She believed she had failed him because he had wished for children and she had not been able to supply any.She had been annoyed for this fact over the years and in the end,quite some time ago now,she had consulted Dr.Abbat at Edward’s request.
In the Browns’rich living room,its walls and ceilings giving out a bright light with a metallic surface of imitation gold,Anna listened to dance music coming from a tape recorder and continued to think about her husband.
In a moment he would be at the party too,since they had agreed to meet there,although by now it was three quarters of an hour later than the time he had planned to come.
The Browns were people he knew in a business way,and he had said he thought it wise that he and Anna should attend this gathering of theirs. She had never met them before,which made it more difficult for her,having to wait about,not knowing a soul in the room.
When she thought about it she felt herself unfairly treated,for although Edward was kind to her and always had been,it was far from thoughtful to be as late as this. Because of her nervous condition she felt afraid and had developed a sickness in her stomach.She looked at her watch and sighed.What made Anna feel that she had failed her husband,Edward?
A.Her bad relationship with her husband. |
B.Her husband's youthful appearance |
C.Her inability to have children |
D.Her nervousness at parties |
Why did Anna stand alone at the party?
A.Her husband’s nervousness affected her |
B.She didn’t like the Browns. |
C.She wanted to enjoy the music. |
D.She didn’t know anybody in the room |
Anna started to get angry because
A.she wasn’t feeling well |
B.her husband had usually been more thoughtful |
C.she hated to see the Browns' wealth |
D.she came to know that Mr.Brown was only a businessman |
Why did Edward want Anna to attend the party?
A.He knew that he was going to be late. |
B.He believed she would impress the Browns. |
C.He thought it clever for her to associate with the Browns. |
D.He wanted her to learn how to do business from the Browns |
Which of the following statements is NOT true?
A.Edward had changed very little in character and appearance in the seventeen years after he got married. |
B.Anna went to the Btowns’ house alone. |
C.Anna was very anxious to meet her husband |
D.It was exactly half an hour after the party began that Edward arrived at the Browns’party. |
Practice,practice,and practice! That’s Tiger Woods became a champion golfer.
Tiger Woods golf when he was very young. with other children of his age,he showed special interest in golf.Finding that his son had a for this game,Tiger’s father decided to him on his own.To his father’s surprise,Tiger was a(n) golfer even at the age of 6.
However,being a child,Tiger couldn’t focus all the time, he never gave up. Tiger listened to soft music to improve his . His father helped him learn to focus inspite of the .Sometimes his father stood in front of Tiger and said,“I'm a tree in your way,”He would have to hit the ball his father.Sometimes his father would dance and sing when it was Tiger’s turn to hit and Tiger had to focus on the .
The training helped him.Once a made a loud noise while Tiger was playing. He Said he never heard the broadcast because he was so on the game. Tiger cannot losing. If he loses,he will go out and even harder in order not to make the same mistake.
In the year 2000,when he was 24 years old,he four major golf competitions—the US Open,the US Amateur,the British Open and the British Amateur. But during the 2008 season it became clear that Tiger was pain in his knee.In April his knee was operated on and he the PGA(美国职业高尔夫球协会)tour season.After an eight-month period of he returned to play again in February 2009. He didn’t make his fans .He won again.
He is so much better than the other golfers that some say he is the greatest golfer to ever play the game.
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Spanish explorers called them Las Encantadas, the Enchanted Isles, and Charles Darwin used his studies of the islands as the foundation for his theory of natural selection. The Galapagos are among the world's most important scientific treasures, a group of volcanic islands surrounded by deserted beaches and inhabited by unique varieties of giant tortoise, lizards, and birds.
Yet life on this United Nations world heritage site has turned sour. Battles have broken out between fishermen and conservationists. Ecuador, which owns the islands, has sent a naval patrol (海军巡逻队) to put down disturbances.
The controversial director of the Galapagos National Park—which controls 97 percent of Galapagos land and the reserve extending to 40 miles offshore—has been fired, while an air of uneasy tension hangs over the islands, as the islanders prepare for election when they pick their representatives in Ecuador’s national assembly.
“It’s a very tense situation,” said Leonor Stjepic, director of the London-based Galapagos Conservation Trust, which raises money to help projects on the islands. “We are watching it with concern.”
The violence has been triggered by an alarming growth in the islands’ population. Puerto Ayora, on Santa Cruz island, housed just 45 inhabitants in the 50s. Today there are more than 10,000, while the islands' total population is more than 19,000 and growing by 6 percent a year, despite recently introduced a law to limit waves of immigrants fleeing the poor areas of Ecuador for a life “in paradise (天堂)”. On top ofthis, more than 100,000 tourists visit the islands every year.
Such numbers have put the islands, special ecology under intense pressure. Conservationists backed by the Ecuador government, have replied by exercising strict controls to protect the islands* iguanas, blue-footed boobies, and giant tortoises.
These moves have angered many local people, however. They want to exploit (开发利用) the islands’ waters and catch its protected species of sharks, lobsters and sea cucumbers, which can fetch high prices in Japan and South Korea.
Angry fishermen surrounded the Charles Darwin research station on Santa Cruz last February, threatened to kill Lonesome George—the last surviving member of the Pinta Island species of the Galapagos giant tortoise.
The situation got improved after the Ecuador government made concessions (让步) by increasing fishing quotas (配额), which angered conservationists. “It is tragic, the short-term gain of a few fishermen versus the long-term survival of the Galapagos,” said John McCosker of the California Academy of Sciences. “They are killing the golden goose.”
Then, the Ecuador government appointed Fausto Cepeda as the national park's new director, a post that has become a political football for the mainland government. There have been nine directors in the past 18 months.
This appointment was particularly controversial, however. Cepeda was known to have close ties with the fishing industry, and the rangers (管理员),who run the national park and reserve, rebelled.
More than 300 staged a sit-in at the park’s headquarters and prevented Cepeda from taking up his post. A battle broke out, and at least two people suffered serious injuries. Eventually, Cepeda—with the fishermen’s help- entered the park. “I am in office, i am in control. And I am trying to lower the tension,” he announced.
The Ecuador government took no chances, and sent a patrol boat to maintain the peace. A few days later, Ecuador Environment Minister Fabian Valdivicso met representatives of rangers. After discussions, he told newspapers that he had decided to remove Cepeda from the post.
However, as the population continues to rise, the long-term pressures on the islands are serious and will not disappear that easily.
“We have to balance its special environment with the needs of local people. In that sense, it is a microcosm (缩影) for all the other threatened parts of the world. So getting it right here is going to be a very, very important trick to pull off,” said Stjepic.What does the underlined word “this” in Paragraph 5 refer to?
A.The island’s swelling population. |
B.The law to limit waves of immigrants. |
C.A life in paradise. |
D.The tourists’ visiting the islands every year. |
How significant were the islands for Charles Darwin?
A.He based his theory on his studies there. |
B.He built the Charles Darwin research center there. |
C.He advocated the balance between ecology and people there. |
D.He found the last surviving giant tortoise there. |
What is the primary contributing factor to the conflict between conservationists and fishermen?
A.The dismissal of the previous director of the Galapagos National Park. |
B.The exploitation of the islands. |
C.The government's support of Galapagos Conservation Trust. |
D.Cepeda’s close tie with the fishing industry. |
We can learn from the passage that _______.
A.the projects of Galapagos Conservation Trust on the islands are profitable |
B.conservationists get angry when fishermen are killing a goose |
C.politicians from the mainland government play football on the islands |
D.the government is trying to ease the tension |
In Paragraph 13, what does the author mean by “The Ecuador government took no chances”?
A.The government did not seize opportunities. |
B.The government made no compromises. |
C.The government did not run risks. |
D.The government shrank from responsibilities. |
First lady Michelle Obama turns 50 on Friday, Jan. 17, 2014.
Michelle Obama has spent the first half-century of her life breaking barriers and checking off a series of firsts. Now, as she reaches her milestone birthday Friday, the nation will be watching to see in what other areas she will leave her mark.
Five years after moving into the White House, and without a re-election campaign to worry about, she has more room to relax in her role and, political watchers say, possibly become more vocal (声音的) on political issues in the three years left in office.
So far, critics have complained about Michelle’s silence on issues where they expected to hear her voice: Last year, at the start of her husband's second term, she disappointed advocates for tighter gun-control measures after she failed to push harder on the issue in response to the massacre (残杀) at Sandy Hook Elementary School in Newtown, Conn. She also disappointed some feminists (女权主义者) who wanted her to defend their causes instead of falling back on her self-described role as the nation’s “mom-in-chief.” Nor did she handle racial issues during her second term, as some had expected.
“The most important thing to remember is, whether you are black, white or Hispanic, you’re the first lady and the president of all the people in the United States. That’s a huge melting pot, so to reinforce (强化)that she's African American over anything else would not be wise,” said Anita McBride, who directs programming and national conferences on the legacies (遗产) of America’s first ladies and their historical influence at American University.
Valerie Jarrett, a top White House adviser and a close friend of the Obamas, said the first lady doesn't want to “spread herself too thin.”
“She really wants to have a maximum impact and to do that in fewer areas,” Jarrett told the Associated Press. “That, she said, “is better than trying to take on every single possible cause.”
But Robert Watson, a Lynn University professor, said he expects Obama to “go a little harder at issues” over the next several years. “Second-term first ladies usually feel more at ease to speak more forcefully about issues close to their heart,” he said.
Myra Gutin, a Ryder University communications professor and frequent lecturer on first ladies, said she expects Obama to continue making both of them a priority in her remaining years in the White House, given their success. Michelle launched the “Let’s Move” campaign in 2010. It in particular has gained widespread support, ranging from the National Football League to the Sesame Street franchise (特许), which even gave permission to the produce industry to use its licensed characters for free on fruits and vegetables.
“There’s no such thing as a traditional first lady, not anymore in this technology-filled world. Is Mrs. Obama cutting edge? Is she an activist? No. As first ladies go, I think she’s been politically careful because she does not want there to be a major flare-up that would require her husband to use his political capital to clean up,” she said. “But she’s not exactly just sitting in the White House pouring tea and having receptions, either.”Critics were disappointed with Michelle because _______.
A.she didn’t put gun-control measures into effect |
B.she failed some feminists to stand out to be a career woman |
C.she didn’t solve some racial problems |
D.she failed to voice her opinion on some issues |
According to the professors or advisers, which of the following statements is NOT true?
A.It’s not wise to reinforce Michelle is African American over anything else. |
B.It’s better for Michelle to have a maximum impact than to take on every possible cause. |
C.It's expected for Michelle to go a little harder at issues. |
D.It’s a tradition for first ladies to stay out of political issues. |
What does the underlined phrase “spread herself too thin” in Paragraph 6 mean?
A.Try to do a lot of work at the same time. |
B.Get very tired. |
C.Try to improve physical fitness. |
D.Move herself away from others. |
In Paragraph 9, the campaign “Let’s Move” might be aiming to help people _______..
a. gain widespread support
b. become more physically active
c. have access to healthier foods
d. raise awareness about gun control
A.a, c | B.a, b | C.b, c | D.c, d |
Air pollution is a leading cause of cancer and classified among Group 1,or top, human carcinogens (致癌物质), said the International Agency for Research on Cancer (IARC), which is the World Health Organization's (WHO) cancer agency, on Oct 17,2013.
The most widely used system for classifying carcinogens comes from the IARC, which places them into five groups. Group 1 carcinogens definitely cause cancer in humans. Group 2A is probably carcinogenic to humans, Group 2B is possibly carcinogenic, the carcinogenicity of Group 3 in humans is unclassifiable, and Group 4 is probably not carcinogenic to humans. Only a little more than 100 are classified as Group 1 cancer-causing substances, including ultraviolet radiation and tobacco smoke.
“Our task was to evaluate the air everyone breathes rather than focus on specific air pollutants,” the lARC's Dana Loomis said in a statement. “The results from the reviewed studies point in the same direction: the risk of developing lung cancer is significantly increased in people exposed to air pollution.”
In 2010, lung cancer resulting from air pollution killed 223,000 people worldwide, and there was also convincing evidence that it increases the risk of bladder (膀腕) cancer, according to the IARC.
Air pollution is already known to raise risks for a wide range of illnesses, including respiratory and heart diseases.
Air pollution is global, although the levels of it vary over space and time.
Loomis said people in Asia, eastern North America, some places in Central America and Mexico, as well as North Africa have relatively high exposure. Developing countries with large populations and booming manufacturing sectors, such as China, are particularly at risk.
Many cities in China, such as Beijing, frequently see smog. This week, Harbin, the capital city of Heilongjiang province, became the first Chinese city to officially suspend classes due to serious smog
Many developed countries face similar problems, although to a lesser degree than most developing nations. In Europe, levels of many pollutants have fallen. But between 91 and 96 percent of Europeans living in cities are exposed to levels of PM2.5—tiny particles with a diameter of less than 2.5 micrometers—that are higher than the WHO safety limits, says a report published by the European Environment Agency on Oct 15.
Although both the composition and levels of air pollution can vary dramatically from one location to the other, the 1ARC said its conclusions apply to all regions of the world.
“Given the scale of the exposure affecting people worldwide, this report should send a strong signal to the international community to take action without further delay,” said Christopher Wild, director of the IARC.What might be the best title of the passage?
A.Signals of air pollution |
B.Safety limits of air pollution |
C.Air pollution, cancer risk |
D.Air pollution, smog risk |
What’s the main task of IARC?
A.To focus on cancer-causing substances. |
B.To evaluate the air quality. |
C.To study the developing risk of cancer. |
D.To send signals to the international community. |
Why should the international community take action without further delay?
A.The composition and levels of air pollution vary from place to place. |
B.More and more people in developing countries are exposed to air pollution. |
C.Developed countries face air pollution, the level of which is higher than the safety limits. |
D.A large number of people worldwide are exposed to air pollution. |