Some kids start to drink alcohol （酒精） at a young age． They think it is part of becoming an adult．They also think drinking is not that bad because so many people do it．They feel it is not as bad as taking drugs （毒品）． It is easy for kids to get liquor（酒精饮料）by using fake identification （伪造证件）．
Parents may start to notice a change in their child’s behavior if the child starts drinking． Kids who drink sometimes stop doing things they normally liked to do．They may keep telephone calls and meetings a secret and not want anybody to touch their things．They act moody（喜怒无常） and do not have the same eating and sleeping habits．
Parents need to stay involved （牵涉） in their kids’ lives． They should talk to their children about their problems to be aware of any changes．
Parents can be the best protection． Children who get a lot of love can feel good about themselves． It helps them resist（抵抗） doing bad things even when other kids are doing them． Parents can also help set a good example by not drinking and driving． They can have firm rules in the home that everyone follows．
Give the children good ideas on how to say “no” to drinking, even when they are at a party． Try not to overreact or panic （惊慌） if the child tries alcohol． How you handle it can affect their attitude． It may be helpful to talk to other parents about setting up curfews （宵禁令） and rules about parties or other events．Which of the following is NOT the reason why some kids have an early start of drinking?
| A．They want to show their maturity （成熟） by drinking alcohol． |
| B．Drinking alcohol is much cooler than taking drugs． |
| C．They are affected by many other people around them． |
| D．They can get liquor easily． |
According to the passage, what changes may happen to the kids who start drinking?
| A．Nothing serious will happen to them． |
| B．They keep the same eating and sleeping habits． |
| C．They can control their moods quite well． |
| D．Sometimes they act secretly． |
According to the writer, if parents find their children try alcohol, they had better ________．
| A．punish them at once |
| B．ask the police for help |
| C．ask their children’s friends for help |
| D．set up curfews and rules about parties or other events with other parents |
Which is the main subject discussed in the passage?
| A．Teen health． | B．Teen education． |
| C．Teen drinking | D．Parents’ worries． |
President Bush may talk about a plan to Mars, but Bruce Jones thinks there is still a healthy thirst for exploration into underwater worlds on our own planet. After growing up with a grandfather in the marine construction①business, Jones quickly got a feel for the water. He started diving at age 9 and, by the 1980s, began offering advice for those interested in the submarine②business. By 1993, he was running his own company, U.S. Submarines, which designs and builds submarines for others.
Jones has $40 million spent in building a hotel where the most expensive rooms will be 50 feet under the sea off Eleuthera Island in the Bahamas. Unlike the Jules Undersea Lodge — the only undersea hotel now, just off the coast of Key Largo, Fla. — guests at the Poseidon won’t need to put on a wet suit to their rooms. They also won’t need to worry about changing pressure levels since the rooms will be kept at above-surface pressure. Instead, they can move easily to their $1,500-a-night underwater rooms by escalator③.
“I think there are a large number of people who would be interested,” said Jones, “including anyone who is looking for a different experience.”
Each room will feature strong walls that look out onto coral④gardens. There will be controls in each room that guests can use to change the lighting of the underwater worlds outside their windows and to provide food to fish swimming just outside. It sounds exciting— but will it happen? It’s hard to say.
“By now I envisioned⑤we’d have whole underwater cities,” Cooper said. “It’s about time some of these visions became reality.”
Notes:
① marine construction海洋建筑
② submarine adj. 海下的
③ escalator n.自动梯
④ coral n.珊瑚
⑤ envision v.展望
1. The first paragraph takes President Bush for example in order to ______.
A. praise President Bush’s plan to Mars
B. humorously introduce the main subject to readers
C. support President Bush’s plan to Mars
D. show Bruce Jones is against President Bush’s plan
2. According to the text, who had a great effect on Bruce Jones?
A. His father. B. His friends. C. His grandfather D. His grandmother
3. According to Bruce Jones’s undersea hotel, we know that ______.
A. fish outside can be seen through the hotel’s walls
B. the hotel has been built and came into use
C. it will be easy to swim into the underwater rooms
D. visitors will have to wear wet suits against water
4. According to Cooper’s words, his attitudes towards the underwater hotels are ______.
A. disappointed B. critical C. objective D. hopeful
A new study shows one of the largest glaciers①in Greenland is becoming smaller and speeding to the sea faster than scientists expected. If it continues, Greenland itself could become much smaller during this century and global seas could rise as much as 3 feet.
The rates②of change that we’re noticing are much higher than expected. If these rates continue, it is not unlikely that Greenland could shrink③by several tens of percent this century. However, it’s not known how quickly this coastal response of the Greenland ice sheet melting will have an effect on the vast inland ice.
Greenland is the world’s largest island, covering an area more than three times the size of Texas. Some 81 percent of it is covered by ice, and there are many glaciers. Glaciers are like slow-moving rivers of ice. Where a glacier meets the sea, its weight keeps it firmly resting on the bottom. A glacier’s front is the point where the water is deep enough that the glacier floats.
Since the 1970s, the front of Helheim stayed in the same place. Then it began melting rapidly, moving back 4.5 miles from 2001 through this past summer. It has also grown thinner, from top to bottom, by more than 130 feet since 2001. And over these past four years, its trip to the sea has sped up from about 70 feet per day to nearly 110.
The melting is driven by a warmer climate. Temperatures in Greenland have risen more than five degrees Fahrenheit in the last decade. Since most of Greenland’s ice is on land, seas will rise as the ice melts. If all Greenland’s ice sheet melted, oceans would be 15-20 feet higher. Nobody expects that to happen anytime soon.
Notes:
① glacier n.冰川
② rate n.比率
③ shrink v.缩小
1. Which of the following about the glaciers is TRUE?
A. Glaciers only lie in Greenland. B. Water in glaciers is more than sea water.
C. Glaciers sometimes float on the water. D. Glaciers can increase the water level of lakes.
2. According to the text, we know that Greenland ______.
A. belongs to Canada B. is the largest island in North America
C. is all covered with glaciers D. is sinking under the sea level
3. Which of the following may be the result of the disappearing of Greenland glaciers?
A. the climate of the world will be warmer.
B. the glaciers in other area will be bigger.
C. It will be easy for explorers to visit the island.
D. Some coastal cities may be under the sea.
The United States is one of the few countries in the world that has an official day on which fathers are honored by their children. On the third Sunday in June, fathers all across the United States are given presents, treated to dinner or otherwise made to feel special.
However, the idea for creating a day for children to honor their fathers began in Spokane, Washington. A woman by the name of Sonora Smart Dodd thought of the idea for Father’s Day while listening to a Mother’s Day sermon① in 1909. Having been raised by her father, Henry Jackson Smart, after her mother died, Sonora wanted her father to know how special he was to her. It was her father that made all the parental sacrifices② and was, in the eyes of his daughter, a selfless and loving man. Sonora’s father was born in June, so she chose to hold the first Father’s Day celebration in Spikane, Washington on the 19th of June, 1910.
In 1924 President Calvin Coolidge declared the third Sunday in June as Father’s Day. Roses are the Father’s Day flowers: red to be worn for a living father and white if the father has died.
When children can’t visit their fathers or take them out to dinner, they send a greeting card. Traditionally, fathers prefer greeting cards that are not too sentimental③. Most greeting cards are too special so fathers laugh when they open them. Some give heartfelt thanks for being there whenever the child needed Dad.
Notes:
① sermon v.布道
② sacrifices n.牺牲
③ sentimental adj.感伤的
1. The United States is special in Father’s Day because ______.
A. many people celebrate the day B. only America celebrates the day
C. America makes it an official day D. all men are honored in America
2. At first, Father’s Day was fixed on June 19th because ______.
A. Sonora honored her father on her father’s birthday
B. Sonora’s birthday was June 19
C. it was decided by the president at that time
D. her mother died on June 19
3. How many years has passed before Father’s Day became an official day since the father’s day was celebrated?
A. 4 B. 10 C. 14 D. 24
4. According to the passage, on Father’s Day, ______.
A. people will wear the same flowers to honor their fathers
B. only daughters wear red flowers to honor their fathers
C. children must go home to honor their fathers
D. fathers are often honored in different ways
5. According to the passage, we can infer that Henry Jackson Smart ______.
A. was very kind to anyone
B. did a lot for his daughter
C. was the first father honored in 1924
D. always help others by giving money
The dams① aimed at saving Venice from the waves have been backed greatly. After eight years of argument, it plans to build 79 gates across three channels connecting the lagoon around Venice with the Adriatic Sea. The gates would be open most of the time but would be closed if there is a danger to the city.
The project, though, has run into fears that it could worsen Venice’s problems. The city throws waste into the lagoon, and environmentalists fear the dams will cause this pollution to become worse if there is no tide to wash it out regularly. But if there is a tide, the flow can wash away about 550 million cubic meters of the lagoon in a single day, which means that by leaving the dam open for only a few hours, the waste should be cleaned out.
Another piece of good news is that British scientists are confident that the dams will be able to face an expected rise in sea levels caused by global warming. The gates are designed to stand a 22-centimetre rise in sea levels, but many scientists expect a global rise in sea levels of 31cm by 2100.
However, Trevor Davies and Isabel Trigo from University of East Anglia believe the dams are unlikely to broken. Climate change will weaken the local storms in the Adriatic that are the main cause of flood risk. Floodwaters are also a seasonal danger in Venice, usually because of a combination of spring tides and strong winds.
Venice, which rests on wooden piles driven into boggy③ ground, has been sinking for centuries, worsening the encroachment by the sea.
Notes:
① dam n.大坝
② lagoon n.泻湖
③ boggy adj.泥泞的
④ encroachment n.蚕食
Choose the best answers according to the above:
1. Which of the following is the main idea of the text?
A. Venice will not disappear into the sea.
B. Dams are designed to protect Venice.
C. Venice are facing dangers from the tides.
D. Global warming makes Venice worse and worse.
2. If the project comes into use, the waste in the lagoon ______.
A. will be washed away by the tides B. will be sent to the higher places
C. will be carried away by workers D. will have to be reused by humans
3. According to the idea of Trevor Davies, the dams won’t be broken because ______.
A. the dams are higher than the buildings in Venice
B. there will be no tides or floods in the future
C. the climate all over the world will soon be cold
D. the storms in the Adriatic will be weaker in the future
4. According to the text, we can infer that Venice ______.
A. has been sinking for hundreds of years
B. may suffer from spring tides and strong winds
C. will be under the sea sooner or later
D. will be a city with dams around except 78 gates
Only about half of this year’s high school graduates have the reading skills they need to succeed in college, and even fewer are prepared for college-level science and math courses, according to a yearly report from ACT, which produces one of the nation’s leading college admissions tests.
The report, based on scores of the 2005 high school graduates who took the exam, some 1.2 million students in all, also found that fewer than one in four met the college-readiness benchmarks①in all four subjects tested: reading comprehension, English, math and science.
ACT sets its college-readiness benchmarks — including the reading comprehension benchmark, which is new this year—by correlating②earlier students’ ACT scores with grades they actually received as college freshmen. Based on that data, the benchmarks indicate the skill level at which a student has a 70 percent likelihood③ of earning a C or better, and a 50 percent chance of earning a B or better.
Among those who took the 2005 test, only 51 percent achieved the benchmark in reading, 26 percent in science, and 41 percent in math; the figure for English was 68 percent. Results from the new optional ACT writing test, which was not widely taken this year, were not included in the report.
About 40 percent of the nation’s 2005 high school graduates took the ACT, and the average overall score was unchanged from the year before. Minority students make up 27 percent of all ACT test takers. Besides, there are also other worrying trends in the ACT report as well, including a continuing decline in the percentage of students planning to major in engineering, computer science and education.
Notes:
① benchmark n.基准
② correlate v.联系
③ likelihood n.可能性
1. The report from ACT mainly tells readers the problem that ______.
A. few minority students graduates took ACT
B. many who intend to go to college are not ready
C. the college-readiness benchmarks is high this year
D. the tests for some subjects are too difficult
2. According to the benchmarks in 2005, about how many students will not earn C?
A. 30 percent. B. 70 percent. C. 50 percent. D. 26 percent.
3. Which of the following pictures can correctly show the numbers of the students who achieve the benchmark in different subjects?
A. 
B.
C.
D. 
4. Which of the followings can be found in the report from ACT in 2005?
A. The report about the writing test is very objective.
B. More boy students are not good at science and math.
C. The percentage of students majoring science declined.
D. The average score of 2005 ACT participants changed greatly.