By 2012,the world may need to cope with as many as 50 million people who have fled their homeland,not for political or economic reasons but because the environment has been so badly changed that it cannot support life. The statement has been released by the United Nations to mark UN Disaster Reduction Day.
More people are made homeless by environmental disasters than by war,according to the research by the Red Cross. That reality is proved by the earthquake in Pakistan.
The widely publicized disaster has brought aid from the global community,according to Janos Bogardi,director of the United Nations University Institute for Environment and Human Security. “If we can move swiftly in and give them a new start where they are,then they may stay in the area. Otherwise,they become environmental refugees. Environmentalrelated migrations are most acute in SubSaharan Africa,but they also affect millions of people in Asia and India. Meanwhile,the United States is witnessing increased pressure from victims of mismanaged and worsening soil and water conditions in Mexico and Latin America.” he says. Janos Bogardi says these refugees suffer from the impact of gradual environmental change—global warming,sea level rise,air and water pollution and more intense storms,floods and droughts that degrade the land. This is a slow process,but unfortunately a process that is very difficult to go backwards once final damage is done.
Janos Bogardi says they are calling on the global community to recognize the serious situation of environmental refugees and to work together to lessen the impact of environmental disaster.What may be the best title of the passage?
A.50 Million environmental refugees by 2010 |
B.Environmental refugees—an international problem |
C.The cause of environmental disasters |
D.Global aid pouring in |
Janos Bogardi’s attitude towards solving the problem is that of being ________.
A.constructive | B.compromising |
C.controversial | D.conservative |
According to the passage,the following are the main reasons for migrations except ________.
A.earthquake | B.water conditions |
C.global community | D.worsening soil |
What is implied in the passage?
A.People all over the world have realized the impact of environmental disasters on refugees. |
B.It is time for us to take some measures to solve the problem of environmental refugees. |
C.The damaged soil can recover soon if people take care of it. |
D.It is good for people to go elsewhere to make a living. |
Our spiritual intelligence quotient (精神智商),or SQ, helps us understand ourselves, and live fuller, happier lives.
Though we're all born with SQ, most of us don’t even realize that we have it. Fortunately, you don't have to sign up for classes to learn how to improve your SQ. Here are some simple steps that can lead you to this new level of understanding.
Sit Quietly. The process of developing spiritual intelligence begins with solitude (独处) and silence. To tune in to your spirit, you have to turn down the volume (强度) in your busy, noisy, complicated life and force yourself to do nothing at all. Start small by creating islands for silence in your day. In the car, instead of listening to the music, use the time to think. At work, shut the door to your office between meetings, take a few breaths and let them out very, very slowly. Enjoy the stillness in your home after the kids are finally in bed.
Step Outside. For many people, nature sets their spirit free. Go outside to watch a beautiful sunset. If you are walking with the dog, take the time to admire flower in bloom; follow the light of a bird and watch clouds float overhead.
Ask Questions of Yourself. Ask open-ended questions, such as "What am I feeling? What are my choices? Where am I heading?"
But don't expect an answer to arrive through some supernatural form of e-mail. "Rarely do I get an immediate answer to my question," says Reverend Joan Carter, a Presbyterian minister in Sausalito, California. “But later that day I suddenly find myself thinking about a problem in a perspective(角度) I never considered before.”
Trust Your Spirit. While most of us rely on gut(本能的) feeling to realize danger, spiritual intelligence pushes us, not away from, but towards some action that will lead to a greater good.
68. The passage is mainly about .
A. what your SQ is and in what way it can benefit our life
B. what your SQ is and in what way it can be improved
C. the relationship between your SQ and your life
D. advantages and disadvantages of SQ
69. The underlined phrase "tune in to your spirit" in the third paragraph probably means to _____.
A. get your spirit relaxed B. keep up your spirit
C. keep seated quietly D. change your spirit
70. The author mentions the example of Reverend Joan Carter to show that .
A. there are no immediate answers to your questions
B. e-mails can't keep working out a problem
C. the more questions you ask, the better answers you'll get
D. changing your way of thinking might help you solve a problem
71. From the passage, we can know that the most important thing to improve your SQ is .
A. a peaceful mind B. deep thought C. spare time and hobbies D. good spirits
SPECIAL EVENTS THIS WEEKEND
Captain Good Fellow Do you enjoy interesting stories, funny games and exciting dances? Captain Good Fellow will be ready to teach all these things to children of all ages at the City Theatre on Saturday morning at 10:00, free. |
Walking Tour of the Town Forget your worries on Saturday morning. Take a beautiful walk and learn about the local history. Meet at the front entrance of City Hall at 9:30. Wear comfortable shoes! |
Films at the Museum Two European films will be shown Saturday afternoon at the Museum Theatre. See Broken Window at 1:30. The Workers will be at 3:45. For further information, call 4987898. |
International Picnic Are you tired of eating the same food every day? Come to Central Park on Saturday and enjoy food from all over the world. Delicious and inexpensive. From noon to 5:00 p.m. |
Take me out to the Ballgame It’s October, and tonight is the last chance to see the Redbirds this year. Get your tickets at the gate. It might be cold …. Don’t forget sweaters and jackets. |
Do you want to hear “the Zoo”? “The Zoo”, the popular rock group from Australia, will give their first U.S. concert tomorrow night at 8 at Rose Hall, City College. |
64. You can probably eat Chinese, Italian, and Arab food at ________.
A. Central Park on Saturday B. the ballgame outside
C. 5:00 in the afternoon D. the front entrance of City Hall
65. You can see movies at ________.
A. the City College B. the Central Park
C. the City Theatre D. the Museum Theatre
66. If you are going on the Walking Tour, don’t forget ________.
A. your worries B. your comfortable shoes
C. your beautiful walk D. your learning about local history
67. “The Zoo” is ________.
A. a park with lots of animals B. a first concert from the US
C. a music group from Australia D. a popular rock band from Europe
Which gender is the most talkative? No matter what you answer, you are partially right.
A recent Gallup Poll showed that both men and women believe that women possess the gift of talking and some even believe women are biologically built for conversation, but all of that is challenged in a research published in the November issue of Personality and Social Psychology Review.
In a recent research by Campbell Leaper and Melanie Ayres, they collected all of the available evidence from decades of scientific study and systematically combined the findings into an overall picture of the differences between men and women regarding talkativeness.
They found a small but reliable tendency(趋势) for men to be more talkative than women in certain cases, such as when they were conversing with their wives or with strangers. Women talked more to their children and to their college classmates.
The type of speech was also explored in the research. The researchers discovered that, with strangers, women were generally more talkative when it came to using speech to ensure her connection to the listener, while men’s speech focused more on an attempt to influence the listener. With close friends and family, however, there was very little difference between genders in the amount of speech.
60.This passage mainly talks about a research conducted by _______ .
A. Gallup Poll B. Personality and Social Psychology Review
C. Campbell Leaper and Melanie Ayres D. the author
61.Which of the following statements describes the main idea of the passage?
A. Women are born more talkative than men.
B. Men are born more talkative than women.
C. Women and men are talkative in different cases.
D. Women are no more talkative than men.
62.The underlined word gender means _______.
A. people B. nationality C. culture D. sex
63.Talking with strangers, ________.
A. women are more talkative than with people they know
B. men are more talkative than with their wives
C. women prefer to listen more rather than speak more
D. men speak a lot to have their opinions accepted
第三部分阅读理解(共20小题;每小题2分,满分40分)
第一节阅读下面的短文,从每题所给的四个选项 (A,B,C,D) 中,选出最佳选项。
Once upon a time in a land far away, there was a wonderful old man who loved everything:animals, spiders, insects...
One day while walking through the woods the nice old man found a cocoon(茧)of a butterfly. He took it home. A few days later, a small opening appeared; he sat and watched the butterfly for several hours as it struggled to force its body through that little hole. Then it seemed to stop making any progress. It appeared as if it had gotten as far as it could and it could go no farther. Then the man decided to help the butterfly, so he took a pair of scissors and snipped off the remaining bit of the cocoon.
The butterfly then emerged(露出) easily.
But it had a swollen body and small, shriveled wings. The man continued to watch the butterfly because he expected that, at any moment, the wings would enlarge and expand to be able to support the body, which would contract(收缩) in time. Neither happened! In fact, the butterfly spent the rest of its life crawling around with a swollen body and shriveled wings.
It never was able to fly.
What the man in his kindness and haste did not understand was that the restricting cocoon and the struggle required for the butterfly to get through the tiny opening were Nature's way of forcing fluid from the body of the butterfly into its wings so that it would be ready for flight once it achieved its freedom from the cocoon.
Sometimes struggles are exactly what we need in our life. If we were allowed to go through our life without any obstacles, it would cripple us. We would not be as strong as what we could have been.
And we could never fly.
56. What did the old man find when walking through the woods?
A. A cocoon of a butterfly. B. A butterfly.
C. A spider. D. A pair of scissors.
57. What would have happened to the butterfly without the old man’s help?
A. It would have died in the cocoon.
B. It would have become a true butterfly.
C. It would have been strong enough to go farther.
D. It would have stopped struggling through the cocoon.
58. The underlined word “cripple” in Paragraph 7 probably means ______.
A. disable B. climb C. enable D. beat
59. What can we learn from this story?
A. Man can never go against nature.
B. It’s necessary to live with some difficulties.
C. One cannot help others without thinking twice.
D. Mankind should take good care of insects.
Who’s in control of your life? Who is pulling your string? For the majority of us, it’s other people—society, colleagues, friends, family or our religious community. We learned this way of operating when we were very young, of course. We were brainwashed. We discovered that feeling important and feeling accepted was a nice experience and so we learned to do everything we could to make other people like us. As Oscar Wilde puts it, “Most people are other people. Their thoughts are someone else’s opinions, their lives a mimicry(模仿), their passions a quotation.”
So when people tell us how wonderful we are, it makes us feel good. We long for this good feeling like a drug—we are addicted to it and seek it out wherever we can. Therefore, we are so eager for the approval of others that we live unhappy and limited lives, failing to do the things we really want to. Just as drug addicts and alcoholics live worsened lives to keep getting their fix (一剂毒品). We worsen our own existence to get our own constant fix of approval.
But, just as with any drug, there is a price to pay. The price of the approval drug is freedom—the freedom to be ourselves. The truth is that we cannot control what other people think. People have their own agenda, and they come with their own baggage and, in the end, they're more interested in themselves than in you. Furthermore, if we try to live by the opinions of others, we will build our life on sinking sand. Everyone has a different way of thinking, and people change their opinions all the time. The person who tries to please everyone will only end up getting exhausted and probably pleasing no one in the process.
So how can we take back control? I think there’s only one way—make a conscious decision to stop caring what other people think. We should guide ourselves by means of a set of values---not values imposed(强加)from the outside by others, but innate values which come from within. If we are driven by these values and not by the changing opinions and value systems of others, we will live a more authentic, effective, purposeful and happy life. What Oscar Wilde says implies that _____________.
A.we have thoughts similar to those of others |
B.most people have a variety of thoughts |
C.other people’s thoughts are more important |
D.most people’s thoughts are controlled by others |
What does the author try to argue in the third paragraph ?
A.Changing opinions may cost us our freedom. |
B.We may lose ourselves to please others. |
C.We need to pay for what we want to get. |
D.The price of taking drugs is freedom. |
In order to live a happy, effective and purposeful life, we should _________.
A.care about others’ opinions and change opinions all the time |
B.guide ourselves by means of values from the outside |
C.stick to our own values |
D.persuade others to accept our opinions |
It can be concluded from the passage that __________.
A.it’s better to do what we like | B.we shouldn’t care what others think |
C.we shouldn't change our own opinions | D.it’s important to accept others’ opinions |