Do you want to see the effects of global warming? Then head north. Will Steger is going to take all of us there.
Steger, 64, the first person to make a dogsled trip to the North Pole, is a very famous and admired polar explorer. He’s at home in frozen parts of the world where few humans ever step on. Steger is also a devoted environmentalist who was early to ring the alarm bell on global warming. He saw its effects firsthand in frequent polar expeditions to the Arctic and Antarctica.
Now Steger is about to lead a team of six young adventurers on a 1,400-mile, 60-day-long dogsled trip across Ellesmere Island, in the Canadian Arctic. The sea ice in that region should still be frozen. “We want to take our audience to the front lines of global warming,” says Steger. The team will be uploading videos, stories and photos to the website globalwarming101.com as they march along, allowing armchair adventurers and kids in classrooms to follow their progress day to day. “We can actually bring the audience up there,” Steger says.
Steger’s team will include some already-famous young explorers. Sam Branson, the 22-year-old son of British airline tycoon (大亨) Richard Branson, is an experienced Arctic traveler. Also on the journey will be 27-year-old Norwegian Sigrid Ekran. Last year, Ekran became only the second woman in history to win Rookie (新秀) of the Year for the Iditarod Sled Dog Race.
What they will see may be very surprising. Even Steger doesn’t know exactly what to expect. Climate change has already reshaped the geography of the Arctic. “Within a decade or less, it’s going to be impossible to reach the North Pole by dog team without flotation (漂浮),” says Steger.
Climate change is happening, but people can change too. Their willingness to change will determine the shape of the Earth’s future.Why is Steger about to organize the adventure to the Arctic?
| A．To collect evidence for his scientific research. |
| B．To develop the young people’s adventurous spirit. |
| C．To let more people enjoy its natural beauty. |
| D．To let people realize the bad effects of global warming. |
How can people learn about the progress of Steger’s journey?
| A．Through radio programs. |
| B．By watching TV. |
| C．On the Internet. |
| D．By reading his journals. |
According to Steger, people can save the earth by _____.
| A．changing their harmful way of life |
| B．learning more about the environment |
| C．willingly giving up their comfortable life |
| D．getting used to the present changes of the earth |
What would be the best title for the passage?
| A．The Arctic is in danger |
| B．Sledding through the Arctic |
| C．Discoveries of the Arctic |
| D．Consequences of global warming |
It may help you to know that there is no such thing as a perfect speech. At some point in every speech, every speaker says something that is not understood exactly as he has planned. Fortunately, the moments are usually not obvious (明显的) to the listeners. Why? Because the listeners do not know what the speaker plans to say. They hear only what the speaker does say. If you lose your place for a moment, wrongly change the order of a couple of sentences, or forget to pause at a certain point, no one will be any the wiser. When such moments occur, don’t worry about them. Just continue as if nothing happened.
Even if you do make an obvious mistake during a speech, that doesn’t really matter. If you have ever listened to Martin Luther King’s famous speech — “I Have a dream”, you may notice that he stumbles (结巴) his words twice during the speech. Most likely, however, you don’t remember. Why? Because you were fixing your attention on his message rather than on his way of speech-making.
People care a lot about making a mistake in a speech because they regard speech–making as a kind of performance rather than as an act of communication (交流). They feel the listeners are like judges in an ice-skating competition. But, in fact, the listeners are not looking for a perfect performance. They are looking for a well-thought-out speech that expresses the speaker’s ideas clearly and directly. Sometimes a mistake or two can actually increase a speaker’s attractiveness by making him more human.
As you work on your speech, don’t worry about being perfect. Once you free your mind of this, you will find it much easier to give your speech freely.The underlined part in the first paragraph means that no one will ______.
| A．be smarter than you | B．notice your mistakes |
| C．do better than you | D．know what you are talking about |
It can be inferred from the passage that _____.
| A．giving a speech is like giving a performance |
| B．one or two mistakes in a speech may not be bad |
| C．the listeners should pay more attention to how a speech is made |
| D．the more mistakes a speaker makes, the more attractive he will be |
What would be the best title for the passage?
| A．How to Be a Perfect Speaker |
| B．How to Make a Perfect Speech |
| C．Don’t Expect a Perfect Speech |
| D．Don’t Expect Mistakes in a Speech |
Winter is dangerous for drivers because it is so difficult to know what is going to happen and accidents take place easily. Bad weather can be waiting to meet you. Ice might be hiding under the snow, waiting to send you off the road. The car coming towards you might suddenly move across the road. Here are two rules for driving safely on icy roads:
Rule Number One is to drive smoothly. Irregular movements can make a car very difficult to manage. So each time you turn the wheel, touch the brake or increase your speed, you must be as gently and slow as possible. Just imagine you are driving with a full cup of hot coffee on the seat next to you. You should drive carefully enough in order that you would not get the coffee out of the cup.
Rule Number Two is to pay attention to what might happen. The more ice there is, the farther you have to look down the road. Test how long it takes to stop by gently braking. Remember that you may be driving more quickly than you think. Generally speaking, allow double your normal stopping distance when the road is wet, three times this distance on snow, and even more on ice. Try to stay in control of your car at all times, or you will get into trouble.Which of the following can be used to explain why driving in winter is very dangerous?
| A．People drive more gently and slowly. |
| B．People drive three times faster than usual. |
| C．Unexpected things may often take place. |
| D．Drivers usually have too much coffee. |
What is the main idea of Rule Number One?
| A．To increase the driving speed. |
| B．To drive smoothly on icy roads. |
| C．To manage your car irregularly. |
| D．To drive fast on snowy roads. |
Why does the writer want to take an example “a full cup of hot coffee” in Paragraph 2?
| A．Because drinks are necessary for drivers. |
| B．Because he wants to remind drivers to take a rest. |
| C．To enjoy the driving with a cup of coffee. |
| D．To explain the importance of careful and smooth driving. |
Which of the following is the best title for the passage?
| A．Traffic Accidents. | B．Careless Driving. |
| C．Bad Weather. | D．Winter Driving. |
You know you have to read “between the lines” to get the most out of anything. I want to persuade you to do something equally important in the course of your reading. You have to “mark between the lines”. By marking you can make the most efficient kind of reading.
There are two ways in which one can own a book. The first is the property (财产) right you have by paying for it, just as you pay for clothes and furniture. While full ownership comes only when you have made it a part of yourself and the best way to make yourself a part of it is by writing marks on it.
Why is marking up a book indispensable to reading? First, it keeps you awake. Second, active reading is thinking, and thinking tends to express itself in words. Finally, marking helps you remember the thoughts you had, or the thoughts the author expressed.
Reading a book should be like making a conversation, a conversation between you and the author. Although he knows more about the subject than you do, don’t let anybody tell you that a reader is only on the receiving end. Understanding is a two-way operation. Reading doesn’t mean being a passive empty receiver, the reader has to question himself and question the author. And marking a book can show his own judgment on author’s opinion: agreement or difference.The author thinks “marking between the lines” is ______.
| A．the most important of all |
| B．more important than “reading between the lines” |
| C．as important as “reading between the lines” |
| D．not so important as “reading between the lines” |
“To own a book” in the most important sense means “______”.
| A．to absorb its content and make it a part of yourself |
| B．to have property right by paying for it |
| C．to write many words of sentences on it |
| D．to make a conversation with the author |
The underlined word “indispensable” most probably means “______”.
| A．troublesome | B．difficult | C．useless | D．necessary |
By saying “Understanding is a two-way operation” the author means_______.
| A．a reader will receive everything the book presents |
| B．the author should understand readers |
| C．a reader should have his own judgment of the author’s opinion |
| D．the author should help readers understand better |
What can be the best title for the passage?
| A．How to Own a Book | B．Mark Between the Lines |
| C．How to Understand Author | D．Read Between the Lines |
In 1909 an English newspaper offered £ 1,000 to the first man to fly across the English Channel in an aeroplane. Today, modern jets cross it in minutes. But at that time it still seemed a good distance. The race to win the money soon became a race between two men. Both were very colourful.
One was Louis Bleriot. He owned a factory in France that made motor car lamps. He was already well known as a pilot because he had had accidents several times. Some people laughed at him. One man said, “He may not be the first to fly across the Channel but he will certainly be the first to die in an accident!” But Bleriot was really a good and brave pilot. He also had many good ideas about aeroplane design.
The other man was Hubert Latham. He was half French and half English. He took up flying when his doctors told him he had only a year to live. “Oh, well,” he said, “if I’ m going to die soon, I think I shall have a dangerous and interesting life now.” Latham was the first to try the flight across the Channel. Ten kilometres from the French coast, his plane had some trouble. It fell down into the water and began to sink under the water. A boat reached Latham just in time. He was sitting calmly on the wing and was coolly lighting a cigarette. Bleriot took off six days later. He flew into some very bad weather and very low cloud. He somehow got to the English side and landed in a farmer’s field. When he did so, a customs (海关) officer rushed up to his plane. Planes have changed since then, but customs officers have not. “Have you anything to declare(报关)?” The officer demanded.Bleriot was well known as a pilot because ____ .
| A．he was unusually brave |
| B．he was quite rich |
| C．he had many good ideas about aeroplane design |
| D．he had had a few accidents |
Why did Hubert Latham want to fly across the Channel?
| A．He thought he could manage it easily. |
| B．He wanted to be the first one to cross the Channel. |
| C．He knew he only had a year to live. |
| D．He had always been interested in flying. |
Which of the following is NOT true?
| A．Latham became a pilot on the doctor’s advice. |
| B．He was told he could live another year. |
| C．His plane had some trouble. |
| D．He was saved by a boat when his plane was sinking. |
I found out one time that doing a favor for someone could get you into a lot of trouble. I was in the eighth grade at the time, and we were having a final test. During the test, the girl sitting next to me whispered something, but I didn’t understand. So I leaned over her way and found out that she was trying to ask me if I had an extra pen. She showed me that hers was out of ink and would not write. I happened to have an extra one, so I took it out of my pocket and put it on her desk.
Later, after the test papers had been turned in, the teacher asked me to stay in the room when all the other students were dismissed(解散). As soon as we were alone she began to talk to me about what it meant to grow up; she talked about how important it was to stand on your own two feet and be responsible for your own acts. For a long time, she talked about honesty and emphasized the fact that when people do something dishonest, they are really cheating themselves. She made me promise that I would think seriously about all the things she had said, and then she told me I could leave. I walked out of the room wondering why she had chosen to talk to me about all those things.
Later on, I found out that she thought I had cheated in the test. When she saw me lean over to talk to the girl next to me, it looked as if I was copying answers from the girl’s test paper. I tried to explain about the pen, but all she could say was it seemed very very strange to her that I hadn’t talked of anything about the pen the day she talked to me right after the test. Even if I tried to explain that I was just doing the girl a favor by letting her use my pen, I am sure she continued to believe that I had cheated in the test.The girl wanted to borrow a pen, because ____ .
| A．she had not brought a pen with her | B．she had lost her own on her way to school |
| C．there was something wrong with her pen | D．her own had been taken away by someone |
The teacher saw all this, so she asked the boy ____ .
| A．to go on writing his paper | B．to stop whispering |
| C．to leave the room immediately | D．to stay behind after the exam |
The thing(s) emphasized in her talk was(were) ____ .
| A．honesty | B．sense of duty | C．seriousness | D．all of the above |
The boy knew everything ____ .
| A．the moment he was asked to stay behind | B．when the teacher started talking about honesty |
| C．only some time later | D．when he was walking out of the room |