It’s always great to hear news about wildlife returning to where they once lived. For the first time in 8 years the small blue --- British’s smallest butterfly--- has been seen back at a nature reserve in Hertfordshire.
This nature reserve has had a lot of work done recently in order to help butterflies. Management of the land has included bringing in sheep to keep the grass under control in a more natural way and planting wild flowers for butterfly species. The nature reserve is home to a number of butterfly species. In fact the way that this reserve has been managed means that it is probably the best reserve in Hertfordshire to see butterflies with at least 25 species now living in the area.
There are a number of threats to British butterflies and the greatest threat is the loss of their habitat. Changing farming practice has affected British native butterfly species greatly with many more now being at risk. Butterflies are such an excellent species that they can clearly tell the situation of local environment because they are easily influenced by environmental changes, A wide species of butterflies will generally mean a healthy environment.
The type of land management at the nature reserve in Hertfordshire offers a hope for many species of butterfly to live as usual. Butterflies need all the help they can get at the moment. Although the number of butterflies is beginning to increase, many are still at risk.What has the nature reserve done to help butterflies return ?
a. changing the reserve place b. bringing in sheep
c. planting wild flowers d. changing farming practice
| A．a.b | B．c,d | C．a,d | D．b,c |
Why did the butterflies fly away eight years ago？
| A．The weather is changing | B．The flowers have died out |
| C．Their habitat has been lost. | D．The environment has changed |
What can we infer from the passage?
| A．The environment has changed healthier a lot than before. |
| B．All the butterflies have returned to the reserve. |
| C．There is no threat to the British butterflies. |
| D．Over 25 species is living in the reserve now. |
What does the underlined sentence mean?
| A．The butterflies changed as the environment changed. |
| B．Butterflies are very beautiful. |
| C．Butterflies are sensitive to the environment the live. |
| D．Butterflies can tell us what is happening. |
The united States has about 475,000 school buses — all painted yellow. Each day they carry more than 25,000,000 children, half of all schoolchildren in the country. But these buses, on average, use four liters of diesel (柴油) fuel to travel less than sixteen kilometers. When the school year began last fall, diesel averaged 55 cents a liter nationally. The price nearly doubled, to a dollar and 8 cents, by the end of school in June.
Bob Riley speaks for the American School Bus Council. He says fuel prices for schools are not much lower than others have to pay. As a result, schools are looking for ways to reduce transportation costs. Bus routes are being redrawn or, in some cases, canceled. Some areas are buying buses that use natural gas or other alternative fuels. Other steps include fewer field trips and less travel by sports teams. And some school districts may end any bus service not required by law.
Studies show that school buses are the safest form of transportation to and from school. The American School Bus Council says cuts in bus service are bad for children and possibly the environment. It says removing buses from the road will mean an increase in other vehicles transporting students. Spokesman Bob Riley says another concern is that reducing bus services might reduce attendance.
But it could also get more children to walk or bicycle to school. And that would surely make people happy at the National Center for Safe Routes to School. More kids walking or biking safely to school is the aim of a three-year-old federal program, part of an international movement. The goal is to increase physical activity and reduce air pollution. The United States will celebrate Walk to School Day on October eighth this year. But for some students, high fuel prices could make every day a walk-to-school day.What does this passage mainly tell us?
| A．High fuel prices’ influences on school buses. |
| B．New measures to transport school students. |
| C．The safest form of student transportation. |
| D．The origin of Walk to School Day. |
In order to cut down transportation cost, many schools take the following measures EXCEPT_____.
| A．changing some bus routes |
| B．stopping some bus routes |
| C．asking parents to drive children to and from school |
| D．using other types of fuels |
The National Center for Safe Routes to School encourages more children to walk or bike to school in order to ____.
| A．save more fuels and diesel for the country |
| B．keep the children safe on their way to school |
| C．make the children live a simple life |
| D．keep the children healthy and the environment clean |
Hank Viscardi was born without legs．He had not legs but stumps（残肢）that could be fitted with a kind of special boots, People stared at him with cruel interest．Children laughed at him and called him ‘Ape Man’ （猿人）because his arms practically dragged on the ground．
Hank went to school like other boys．His grades were good and he needed only eight years to finish his schooling instead of the usual twelve．After graduating from school, he worked his way through college．He swept floors, waited on table, or worked in one of the college offices．During all this busy life, he had been moving around on his stumps．But one day the doctor told him even the stumps were not going to last much longer．He would soon have to use a wheel chair．
Hank felt himself got cold all over．However, the doctor said there was a chance that he could be fitted with artificial legs（假腿）．Finally a leg maker was found and the day came when Hank stood up before the mirror, for the first time he saw himself as he has always wanted to be a full five feet eight inches tall．By this time he was already 26 years old．
Hank had to learn to use his new legs．Again and again he marched the length of the room, and marched back again．There were times when he fell down on the floor, but he pulled himself up and went back to the endless marching．He went out on the street．He climbed stairs and learned to dance．He built a boat and learned to sail it．
When World War II came, he talked the Red Cross into giving him a job．He took the regular training．He marched and drilled along with the other soldiers．Few knew that he was legless．This was the true story of Hank Viscardi, a man without legs．Children laughed at Hank and called him ‘Ape Man’ because．
| A．he didn’t talk to then |
| B．he kept away from them |
| C．his arms touched the ground when he moved |
| D．he couldn’t use his arms |
The sentence “he talked the Red Cross into giving him a job” implies that the Red Cross．
| A．was only glad to give him a job |
| B．gave him a job because he was a good soldier |
| C．gave him a job after he talked to someone whom he knew in the organization |
| D．was not willing to give him to job at first |
When Hank marched and drilled along with the other soldiers, he------
| A．did everything the other soldier did |
| B．did most of the things the other soldiers did |
| C．did most of the things the other soldiers did |
| D．took some special training |
The writer suggests that Hank Viscardi．
| A．had no friends |
| B．never saw himself as different from others |
| C．was very shy |
| D．was too proud to accept help from others |
Frank Woolworth was born in Rodman, New York, in 1852. His family were very poor farmers, and there was never enough to eat. Frank did not want to be a farmer. He took a short business course, and went to work as a salesman in a large city.
Woolworth realized he had a natural skill for showing goods to attract people’s interest, but he soon learned something more important. One day his boss told him to sell some odds and ends（小商品）for as much as he could get. Frank put all these things on one table with a sign which said “FIVE CENTS EACH’. People fought and pushed to buy the things and the table was soon cleared.
Soon afterwards, Woolworth opened his own store, selling goods at five and ten cents. But he had another lesson to learn before he became successful. That is, if you want to make money by selling low-price goods, you have to buy them in large quantities directly from the factories. Once, for example, Woolworth went to Germany and placed an order for knives. The order was so large that the factory had to keep running 24 hours a day for a whole year. In this way, the price of the knives was cut down by half.
By 1919, Woolworth had over 1000 stores in the US and Canada, and opened his first store in London. He made many millions and his name became famous throughout the world. He always ran his business according to strict rules, of which the most important was : ‘THE CUSTOMER IS ALWAYS RIGHT.”Frank took a short business course in order to __________.
| A．earn more money for his family |
| B．learn something from a salesman |
| C．get away from the farm |
| D．get enough to eat |
Frank sold the odds and ends quickly because ________.
| A．he knew how to get people to buy his goods |
| B．he cut down the price by half |
| C．he had put the goods on a table in a very nice way |
| D．the sign he put on the table was well designed |
The price of the knives was cut down by half because _________.
| A．the factory workers worked 24 hours a day |
| B．knives were ordered in large quantities directly from the factory |
| C．the knives were made in German, where labour was cheap |
| D．the knives were produced in one factory |
__________ make Woolworth a world-famous man.
| A．His business skills and his wealth |
| B．The low price of the goods he sold |
| C．His trip to Germany and his huge order of knives |
| D．His natural skill for showing things |
The belief that “The customer is always right” suggests that __________.
| A．whenever there is a quarrel between the customer and shop assistant, the customers are always right. |
| B．If you want to succeed, the rule is the only way |
| C．stores must always follow the customer’s orders if they want to make more money |
| D．stores should do their best to meet the customer’s needs if they want to be successful |
Nuclear radiation（核辐射）has a certain mystery, partly because it cannot be detected（探测） by human senses. It can’t be seen or heard, or touched or tasted, even though it may be all around us. There are other things like that. For example, radio waves are all around but we can’t detect them or sense them without a radio receiver. Similarly, we can’t sense radioactivity without a radiation detector. But unlike common radio waves, nuclear radiation is not harmless to human beings and other living things.
At very high levels, radiation can kill an animal or human being outright by killing masses of cells in important organs. Even the lowest levels can do serious damage. There is no level of radiation that is completely safe. If the radiation does not hit anything important, the damage may not be serious. This is the case when only a few cells are hit, and when they are killed outright. Your body will replace the dead cells with healthy ones. But if the few cells are only damaged, and if they reproduce themselves, you may be in trouble. They reproduce themselves in an unusual way. They can grow into cancer. Sometimes this does not show up for many years.
This is another reason for some of the mystery about nuclear radiation. Serious damage can be done without the knowledge of the person at the time that damage has occurred. A person can be irradiated（放射治疗）and feel fine, then die of cancer five, ten, or twenty years later as a result. A child can be born weak or easy to get serious illness as a result of radiation absorbed by its grandparents.According to the passage, the danger of nuclear power lies in __________.
| A．nuclear mystery | B．radiation detection |
| C．radiation level | D．nuclear radiation |
Radiation can lead to serious trouble even at the lowest level __________.
| A．when it kills a few cells |
| B．if it damages a few cells |
| C．though the damaged cells can repair themselves |
| D．unless the damaged cells can reproduce themselves |
Radiation can hurt us so much that it can ___________.
| A．kill large numbers of cells in main organs |
| B．replace cells which may grow into cancer years later |
| C．affect the healthy growth of our younger generation |
| D．A and C |
Which of the following can be best inferred from the passage?
| A．The importance of protection from radiation cannot be overemphasized（过度强调）. |
| B．The mystery about radiation has been solved. |
| C．Cancer is only caused by radiation. |
| D．Radiation can hurt those who do know about its danger. |
What would be the best title of the text?
| A．Radiation Can Hurt Us. |
| B．Radiation Is the Source of Cancer. |
| C．Radiation Is a Subject Scientists Work on. |
| D．Radiation Is a Mystery. |
Diao Weihao, a student who studies business English at the Chengdu campus of Sichuan International Studies University, was in his dormitory when the earthquake struck at 2:30 pm on Monday.
The 22-year-old felt that his chair was shaking. All of a sudden, the textbooks on the bookshelf began to fall to the floor. The glass in the window broke.
“It felt like our dormitory building was being hit by a tractor,” recalled Diao. “I wasn’t afraid.. I was even excited and curious. Now, looking back, it was a scary experience.”
Diao and his roommates kept their calm. They didn’t try to get out of the building until the shaking stopped. They were on the fifth floor and they feared there might be trouble if they didn’t remain calm.
“We’ve watched lots of disaster films, and that helped us keep cool,” he said. “Only one student sprained（扭伤） his ankle. He was escaping in a hurry. Most of us got outside quickly and safely.”
They were surprised to see so many students outside.
“I began to realize then what had happened,” he said. The college had warned them that in the event of an earthquake, they should leave the dormitory immediately. A few did rush in when it was safe to grab some clothes to keep warm.
Without any tents or bedding, the students stayed on the football field for the whole night. Rain started falling in the morning, but the students all kept in good order. They simply chatted and shared their feelings and comforted each other.
“Our students seemed to have self-control,” he said. “I heard that hospitals in Chengdu have lots of injured people who jumped out of buildings.”
Now, Diao is mostly worried about the people in Wenchuan County.
“It seems we won’t be able to have classes in one or two day’s time,” said Diao. “I want to become a volunteer at the damage-hit area, or donate my blood to the injured people in hospital. Also, I will write on my blog to keep people calm and encourage them to protect themselves during emergencies.”
Since the university is close to Dujiangyan, Diao and his classmates are still forbidden to return to their dorms or classrooms. However, they can eat in the canteen and get information about other parts of Sichuan by reading the newspapers.Where was Diao Weihao when the earthquake happened?
| A．He was in the campus. | B．He was in the football field. |
| C．He was in his dormitory | D．He was in his classroom. |
What did Diao Weihao feel when he realized what was happening?
| A．Afraid | B．Interesting | C．Moved | D．Calm |
When did Diao Weihao and his classmates rushed outside?
| A．During the quake |
| B．The moment they realized what was happening |
| C．After the quake |
| D．When they got warnings. |
Rearrange the following events in the proper order according to the passage.
a. They got out of buildings safely.
b. Diao Weihao was in his dormitory.
c. Diao Weihao wanted to be a volunteer.
d. Many classmates went out of the building.
e. An earthquake happened.
f. They stayed on the football field for the whole night.
| A．b→e→a→d→f→c | B．b→e→d→a→f→c |
| C．e→a→b→d→c→f | D．f→a→c→f→e→d |
From this passage, we know that Diao Weihao and his classmates are _________.
| A．energetic and strong in will | B．wise and caring |
| C．hardworking and learned | D．helpful and honest |