The African elephant, the largest land animal remaining on the earth, is of great importance to African ecosystem(生态系统). Unlike other animals, the African elephant is to a great extent the builder of its environment. As a big plant-eater, it largely shapes the forest-and-savanna(大草原) surroundings in which it lives, therefore setting the terms of existence for millions of other animals that live in its habitat.
It is the elephant’s great desire for food that makes it a disturber of the environment and an important builder of its habitat. In its continuous search for the 300 pounds of plants it must have every day, it kills small trees and underbushes, and pulls branches off big trees. This results in numerous open spaces in both deep tropical forests and in the woodlands that cover part of the African savannas(热带草原). In these open spaces are numerous plants in various stages of growth that attract a variety of other plant-eaters.
Take the rain forests for example. In their natural state, the spreading branches overhead shut out sunlight and prevent the growth of plants on the forest floor. By pulling down trees and eating plants, elephants make open spaces, allowing new plants to grow on the forest floor. In such situations, the forests become suitable for large hoofed plant-eaters to move around and for small plant-eaters to get their food as well.
What worries scientists now is that the African elephant has become an endangered species. If the elephant disappears, scientists say, many other animals will also disappear from vast areas of forest and savanna, greatly changing and worsening the whole ecosystem. What is the passage mainly about?
| A．Disappearance of African elephants. |
| B．Forests and savannas as habitats for African elephants. |
| C．The effect of African elephants’ search for food. |
| D．The eating habit of African elephants. |
What does the underlined phrase “setting the terms” most probably mean?
| A．Fixing the time. | B．Worsening the state. |
| C．Improving the quality. | D．Deciding the conditions. |
According to the passage, which of the following statements is TRUE?
| A．The African elephant is the largest animal on the earth. |
| B．African elephants have 300 pounds of plants every day, including small trees and underbushes. |
| C．The African elephant is in a way the builder of the environment like other land animals. |
| D．If the African elephant disappears, the whole ecosystem won’t be affected. |
The passage is developed mainly by .
| A．showing the effect and then explaining the causes |
| B．pointing out similarities and differences |
| C．describing the changes in space order |
| D．giving examples |
Greg Woodburn, a student at the University of Southern California, spends much time cleaning sneakers. Some once belonged tohim; some were his friends. But soon they will have new owners; underprivilegedchildren in the US and 20 other countries, thanks toWoodburn's Share Our Shoes (S. 0. S.) charity.
He was once a football star in high school. " I started thinkingabout all the things I got from running—the health benefits, thefriendships, the confidence, " he says. “And I realized there arechildren who don't even have shoes.”
Woodburn gathered up his own slightly worn sneakers, thenput out a call to teammates and the town. His goal was to have 100pairs by Christmas 2007. Surprisingly the count climbed to 500pairs. Back then, the sneakers came from donation boxes at the localsporting goods store and from door-to-door pickups. Woodburn hasnow set up collection boxes at two high schools. To date, S. 0. S. hascollected and donated over 3，000 pairs.
Woodburn has cleaned almost all of them. “People think of itas dirty work, “He says.”But I like doing it. As I work, I imaginewho will get each pair. “It takes three to five minutes to clean onepair, and he'll do up to 100 pairs at a time.
To ship the footwear, Woodburn teamed with Sports Gift, anonprofit organization that provides soccer and baseball equipmentto children around the world, whose founder and president saidGreg's running shoes were a nice addition. For many recipients, theshoes represent opportunity. Two boys in Southern California attended school on alternate(间隔的）days because they shared a pair of shoes. They were too big for one boy and too small the other. Thanksto S. 0. S. ，each brother received his own pair of shoes. The boysnow attend school daily. When they graduate, they say, they willhelp a stranger, just as Woodburn helped them. The underlined word “underprivileged" in Paragraph I mostprobably means __________.
| A．modest | B．poor |
| C．naughty | D．aggressive |
According to the passage, which of the following statement isfalse of Greg Woodburn?
| A．Greg Woodburn was a football star when he was a senior student. |
| B．Greg Woodburn is the founder of Share Our Shoes (S. 0. S.). |
| C．Greg Woodburn has donated more than 100 shoes so far. |
| D．Greg Woodburn spends a lot of time cleaning almost all theshoes. |
We can infer from Paragraph 3 that __________.
| A．many people support Woodburn's Share Our Shoes (S. 0. S.)charity |
| B．Greg Woodburn collects shoes only by setting up collection boxes |
| C．high school students don't value their sneakers |
| D．Greg Woodburn collected 3，000 shoes by Christmas 2007 |
In the last paragraph the author mainly wants to tell us __________
| A．Sports Gift is a department of Woodburn's S. 0. S. |
| B．there are so many poor families in Southern California. |
| C．the shoes from S. 0. S. are too big for some children. |
| D．the shoes from S. 0. S. play an important part in somechildren's life. |
According to the passage, which of the following words can bestdescribe Greg Woodburn?
| A．Do-nothing. | B．Hot-headed. |
| C．Warm-hearted. | D．Self-serving. |
We lived in a quiet neighborhood. One evening I heard a loudcrash. Earlier my wife had asked me to the store for soft drinks. Myteenage daughter Holly practiced her driving, so I sent her to thestore in my truck.
At dinner my son talked about how much he liked my truck. Ienjoyed having it, but I said ： “My heart is not set on that truck. Ilike it but it is just metal and won't last forever. Never set your hearton anything that won't last. "
After hearing the loud noise, the whole family ran outside. Myson shouted, ‘ Holly crashed your truck. ’
The accident had occurred in my own driveway. Holly hadcrashed my truck into our other vehicle, the family van. In her inexperience, she had confused the brake and the gas pedal. Holly wasunhurt physically, but she was crying, “Dad, I'm sorry. I know howmuch you love this truck. ，" I held her in my arms as she cried.
Later a friend asked what had happened to my truck. I told herthe whole story. She said, “That happened to me when I was a girl. I borrowed my dad's car and ran into a log that had fallen across theroad. I ruined the car. When I got home my dad knocked me to theground and began to kick me. “Over40 years later, she still felt thepain of that night. It was a deep wound on her soul.
I remembered how sad Holly was the night she crashed ourtruck, and how I comforted her. When Holly thinks back on herlife, I want her to know that I love her a thousand times more thanany piece of property.
I repaired the van, but the dent in my truck is still there to-day. Every day it reminds me of what really matters in my life. The reason why the author sent Holly to the store was that ____
| A．Holly liked soft drinks |
| B．he wanted to teach her a lesson |
| C．he was busy preparing the meal |
| D．it would be a good time to let her practice driving |
We can infer from the passage that __________.
| A．the truck is the only vehicle in the author's family |
| B．the author's son don't like driving the truck at all |
| C．we shouldn't blame someone after an accident |
| D．the friend admired the author's love to Holly |
From Paragraph 4 we can learn that __________ caused the crash.
| A．the lack of Holly's driving experience |
| B．something wrong with the brake |
| C．a log falling across the road |
| D．a van parking on the driveway |
Which of the following statements is right?
| A．When the author saw the crash, he was sorry for the damageto the truck. |
| B．The author shows love is more important than possessions bycomforting his daughter. |
| C．Holly suffered physical pain for a long time and lost courageto drive. |
| D．The friend's father kicked her out of the house. |
The best title for the passage is __________.
| A．Don't Let a Teenager Drive |
| B．An Accident in a Quiet Neighborhood |
| C．A Friend's Painful Stories |
| D．What Really Matters |
Junior Achievement is an international movement to educateyoung people about business and economics. The organization is thelargest of its kind. It reaches over eight million students each yearin more than 100 countries. Programs begin in elementary schooland continue through middle and high school. The education isbased on the ideas of market-based economics and entrepreneurship(企业家的身份）. It began in 1919 in Springfield, Massachusetts. For more than 50 years, Junior Achievement programs met afterschool. They began as a group of business clubs. The organizationstarted with a small number of children aged ten to twelve. But in1975，Junior Achievement began to offer classes during schoolhours. Many more young people joined the organization once it began to teach business skills as part of the school day.
Volunteers from the community teach about businesses, howthey are organized, and how products are made and sold. They alsoteach about the American and world economies and about industryand trade.
The Junior Achievement Company Program teaches young people how entrepreneurship works. They learn about business by operating their own companies.
The students develop a product and sell shares in their company. They use the money to buy the materials they need to make theirproduct , which then they sell. Finally, they return the profits to thepeople who bought shares in the company.
Junior Achievement says 287，000 volunteers support its pro-grams around the world. In the US alone, there are more than22，000 places that hold Junior Achievement events. According to the passage, the purpose of Junior Achievement isto help young people _________.
| A．prepare to succeed in a world economy |
| B．pass the exams about business and economics |
| C．operate their own companies |
| D．develop a product and sell shares |
The information about the Junior Achievement is true EXCEPT _________
| A．it is an international movement to educate young peopleabout business and economics |
| B．the Junior Achievement started in 1919 |
| C．since 1975，Junior Achievement has offered classes duringschool hours |
| D．it has 22，000 places to hold Junior Achievement eventsaround the world |
The Junior Achievement teaches the following EXCEPT _________
| A．how products are made and sold |
| B．how businesses are organized |
| C．how entrepreneurship works |
| D．how to become a volunteer from the community |
The Junior Achievement programs are taught by _________.
| A．volunteers around the world | B．famous enterprisers in the US |
| C．a group of business clubs | D．many young people |
（1）American schools are looking for ways to save money on bustransportation because of high fuel prices. （2）Some schools, especially in rural areas, are changing to a four-day week. （3）That meanslonger days instead of the traditional Monday through Friday schedule.
Beginning in the fall of 2008，students in the Maccray schooldistrict in Minnesota will be in school Tuesday through Friday. Eachschool day will be sixty-five minutes longer. The district expects to " save about 65，000 dollars a year in transportation costs. The districthas about 700 students living in an area of 900 square kilometers.
In Custer, South Dakota, students have been going to schoolMonday through Thursday since 1995. The change has saved an estimated one million dollars over just the past eight years.
But he sees other benefits, too. Students get more instructionaltime. And activities that used to interfere with classes are now heldon non-school days.
In the future, the growth of online classes could make it possible to require even fewer days in school. High fuel prices are driving college students to take more online classes. And in somestates, high school students can take them, too.
In New Mexico, the first school district changed to a four-dayweek in 1974 because of the Arab oil boycott. Now, 17 out of 89districts use it.
A four-day school week sounds like a great idea for studentsand teachers because they are too tired. But working parents mayhave to pay for child care for that fifth day. The Lake Arthur SchoolDistrict has just 160 students. Lake Arthur used a four-day schedulefor twelve years. But a few years ago it went back to five days. The following sentences can be added in Paragraph 1 _________. More children may have to walk, ride their bikes or find otherways to get to school. But, as another effect of the high prices, they may not have to go to school as often.
| A．at the beginning of （1） | B．between （1） and （2） |
| C．between（2） and （3） | D．at the end of （3） |
We can infer from Paragraph 2 that _________.
| A．students in the district will go to school four days a week be-sides Monday |
| B．the district will spend 65，000 dollars every year on transportation costs |
| C．students in the district will stay at school 260 minutes longerthan before |
| D．students in the district live near the school |
A four-day school week is a good idea because _________.
| A．the price of fuel is higher than before |
| B．there are so many students that the city streets are full of traffic |
| C．students and teachers are tired and students can get more instructional time |
| D．both A and C |
_________is carrying out a four-day schedule these days.
| A．The Lake Arthur School District |
| B．The Maccray school district in Minnesota |
| C．The school district in Custer, South Dakota |
| D．All the school districts in New Mexico |
Some farmers of irrigated rice in Asia, Africa and the Americasare using a production method called S. R. I. ，which is short for theSystem of Rice Intensification. It does not require new seeds. It onlyrequires changes in the ways that rice farmers manage plants, soil, water and nutrients.
With S. R. I, farmers use fewer seeds and transplant themearlier than usual. Leaving more room between plants lets the rootsand leaves spread more. Farmers also use less water. They keep thefieldsmoistbut do not continuously flood them. The use of chemicalfertilizer is also reduced.
Norman Uphoff is a big supporter of S. R. I, who was a professor in New York. He retired but still works from an office there tobring attention to the system.
A French priest developed S. R. I. in Madagascar(马达加斯岛)in the 1980s. Norman Uphoff learned about it fifteen yearsago while working there. He led field trials for the system for threeyears.
He says it usually doubles productivity. But during that time inMadagascar, it produced an average of eight tons per hectare. Thatwas four times the usual average. In the late 1990s, Professor Uphoffbegan trying to spread the word about S. R. I.
Supporters say there have been reports from many areas oflarge increases in productivity and profits. But not everyone is persuaded.
Kenneth Cassman is an agricultural expert. In his words, "There is no strong evidence that the S. R. I. is more effective thanthe best of conventional rice-growing methods. " But Norman Uphofflooks forward to more field trials in 2009 which he believes willconfirm the effectiveness of S. R. I. The following belong to the System of Rice Intensification EX-CEPT _________
| A．using fewer seeds | B．requiring new seed |
| C．replanting earlier than usual | D．leaving more room between plants |
The underlined word "moist " in Paragraph 2 can be replaced by _________
| A．damp | B．thirsty |
| C．deserted | D．fertile |
All of the following statements are true according to the text EX-CEPT _________.
| A．the founder of S. R. I. is a French priest |
| B．at present Norman Uphoff works in a university in the US |
| C．Norman Uphoff learned about S. R. I. in 1993 while workingin Madagascar |
| D．Norman Uphoff is trying to spread the word about S. R. I. |
The author's attitude to S. R. I. is _________.
| A．impersonal | B．negative |
| C．subjective | D．opposite |