The huge Florida wetland known as the Everglades is a slow-moving river 80 kilometres wide but only a few centimeters deep. People call the Everglades a “river of grass” because sawgrass covers most of it. Sawgrass is not really grass. It is a plant that has leaves edged with tiny sharp teeth that can easily cut through clothes—and skin!
Travel in the Everglades is difficult. You cannot walk through shallow water because the sawgrass will cut you. The water is too shallow for regular boats. So, we use an airboat. An airboat is a flat, open boat. Like an airplane, it has a big propeller to move it. The propeller is fixed on the rear of the boat. It makes a tremendous noise, but it does the job. The boat skims along the water’s surface. Although we can still get lost in an airboat, at least we are above the alligators(短吻鳄).
While hundreds of different kinds of animals live in the Everglades, the most famous is surely the alligator. Once endangered, alligators are now protected within Everglades National Park. Visitors are likely to see them both on land and in water.
For a long time, dangers have threatened the Everglades. Around 1900, some people felt this precious wetland should be drained (排干). They said it was just a big swamp and not good for anything. In the 1920s, there was a land boom in Florida. People wanted to build homes everywhere, including in the Everglades. They built canals, levees (防洪堤), and other water systems that stopped the rivers flowing into the Everglades. Factories were built near rivers that flowed into the wetland. These factories dumped poisonous waste that damaged the Everglades ecosystem.
People are now working to preserve the Everglades National Park for the future. Right now, one big problem is the paperbark tree. This tree is an invader from Australia.
Paperbark trees soak up a lot of water. In the early 1900s, people brought them to Florida because they thought they would help drain the Everglades. However, the invaders adapted too well. Paperbark trees have taken over hundreds of thousands of acres of the Everglades and killed other trees. Scientists are cutting down these invaders or spraying them with herbicides (除草剂) to kill them.Which helps to explain why it is difficult to travel in Everglades?
| A．Airboats may make a very big noise. |
| B．You may get lost when passing through. |
| C．Paperbark trees soak up too much water there. |
| D．Many different kinds of animals are to be protected. |
Why do people use airboats instead of normal boats?
| A．They have big propellers to move them faster than alligators. |
| B．The propeller makes loud noise so as to scare alligators. |
| C．Their flat bottom can skim along the water surface. |
| D．They can watch alligators without hurting them. |
The following measures were taken to drain the Everglades except that people______.
| A．built canals and levees to stop the rivers flowing into Everglades |
| B．built factories near rivers that flowed into the wetland |
| C．brought Paperbark to soak up water in Everglades |
| D．are cutting down these Paperbark trees |
The underlined word "invader" probably means something______.
| A．that moves in from another place |
| B．that enters and takes control |
| C．that has been brought in |
| D．that is in danger |
Without the atmosphere there would be no weather, no wind, rain, snow, or clouds. Air is all around us; we live at the bottom of a great ocean of air. It is invisible, but we can feel it when it moves. There are miles of air above us, pressing down with great weight on the earth and everything on it. Because air presses down on us from all directions at the same time, and because we are able to bear (忍受) this weight, we do not seem to feel it. But scientists have proved that air has this weight, and that anything that has weight creates(产生) a force called pressure. As changes in air pressure take place, they, make air move.
Air is a gas that expands(膨胀) when heated, gets lighter, and moves upward. When air is cooled, it gets heavier, sinks close to the earth's surface, and flows like water in a great river. As warn air rises, cold air rushes in to take its place. 'Thus winds originate (起源). The winds that blow high above us are caused by the warmer air running away from colder air. The wind we feel near the earth's surface is the heavy colder air trying hard to catch the warmer air. Changes in temperature cause the air to move. And of course there are many changes, so air movements are taking place practically all the time.The first paragraph mainly tells us the causes of
| A．why we don't feel air | B．why atmosphere is important to us |
| C．why there is air surrounding us | D．why there is air pressure |
Air moves under such conditions that
| A．there is air pressure | B．the air is heavy |
| C．air pressure doesn't remain the same all the time | D．air comes up and down |
Which of the following pictures best tells the movements of warm air and cold air?
According to the passage, in same areas if farmers who grow grapes (葡萄) light fires in the early morning, that is because the farmers want to________________．
| A．drive away warm air | B．prevent cold air from coming to harm their plants |
| C．cause more wind | D．stop warm air running away |
I stood up to speak and my mind went blank .Has this ever happened to you? You may be nervous in front of an audience（观众）.You may be worried that you didn’t prepare enough, You may have forgotten some of your facts. What can you do? Sometimes people prepare too much and become terrified if they can’t remember the words they have practised. It is a good idea to bring some notes to help you organize, but don’t memorize your speech. If you “go blank”,begin by explaining the purpose of your speech, and the test will probably follow. “Go blank” here means
| A．to be absent-minded | B．to think too much suddenly |
| C．to be afraid of the audience | D．not knowing what to say at the moment |
Before the listeners, the speakers who have pre-pared enough
| A．never go bland | B．never feel afraid |
| C．may forget the prepared words | D．may forget the opening speech |
A good way to make to made a good speech is
| A．to memorize the speech | B．to organize the audience well |
| C．to have some brief motes at hand | D．to have the audience take notes |
The man who goes blank in front of the listeners should .
| A．begin with the purpose of his speech | B．cut off the rest of his speech |
| C．see his notes right away | D．find some way to draw the audience’s attention |
A little girl was given so many picture books on her seventh birthday that her father. Who should have run his office and let her mother run the home, thought his daughter should give one or two of her new books to a little neighbor boy named Robert, who had visited their home sometimes.
Now, taking books, or anything else, from a little girl is like taking sweets from a baby, but the father of the little girl had his way and Robert got a couple of her books. “After all, that leaves you with nine,” said the father, who thought he was a child psychologist（心理学家）,and couldn’t shout his big stupid mouth on the subject.
A few weeks later, the father went to his library to look up “father” in The Oxford English Dictionary, eager to enjoy the praise of fatherhood through the centuries, but he couldn’t find volume（册）F-G and then he discovered that others were missing too. A-B,L-M, V-Z. He looked everywhere for them, and learned what had happened to the four missing volumes.
“A man came to the door this morning” said the little daughter, “and he didn’t know how to get from here to Torrington or from Torrington to Wintec, and he was a kind man, much nicer than Robert, and so I gave him four of your books After all, there are thirteen volumes in the Oxford English Dictionary, and that leaves you with nine.According to the writer’s opinion,
| A．a mother should keep house and father educate the children |
| B．A father should run the home as well as his office |
| C．A father should run his office and leave his children to his wife |
| D．A father shouldn’t only run his office but educate his children |
“The father of the little girl has his way” means
A.the father went out to work in his office
B. the father decided to the girl a lesson
C. the father still did what he wanted to. Considering himself a psychologist, the father
A.couldn’t stop discussing the subject
B. couldn’t helping（禁不住）talking about the subject
B.couldn’t refuse to listen to the subject
D. couldn’t give an explanation of he subjectWhat’s still unclear to us in the story?
| A．The exact number of the picture books the girl had received. |
| B．How many volumes the Oxford English Dictionary includes. |
| C．Whether each volume of the dictionary includes entries beginning with two letters. |
| D．Whether the father knew his daughter’s mind well |
What do we know about the little girl?
| A．She liked Robert very much. | B．She liked reading dictionary |
| C．She dislikes what her father did to her picture books. | |
| D．She is a kind and helpful girl. |
According to the American Automobile（car）Association, since 1964 all cars sold in the United States have been equipped with seat belts（带子）(They are also called safety belts) Many studies of car accidents have shown that safety belts can save lives. One study showed that forty percent of those killed in car accidents could have been saved if they have been wearing seat belts.
Unfortunately seat belts are worn only by a small number of drivers and passengersabout fifteen percent in cities and only nine percent in small towns. And safety belt can not protect people who do not wear them.
In order to find out what kinds of people do wear seat belts, a study was made in several cities in of the United States. The following facts were learned about those who use their safety belts.
1. They do not smoke while driving.
2. They had more education than less educated people
3. They know some one who was hurt(but not killed) in an accident
Advertisements based on these facts have been printed in newspapers and magazines in order to teach people the importance of using seat belt. But these advertisements have not helped much. Some people believe there should be a law ordering drivers and passengers to use safety belts. In Australia, where there is such a law, death in car accidents have reduced to twenty-four percent. Seat belts
| A．are safe clothes car drivers usually wear when they drive. |
| B．Are belts that are used to tie drivers’ hands when they drive |
| C．Have been worn by all drivers in the united States since 1964 |
| D．Are something that protect drivers from injury in car accidents. |
“One study showed that…” Here “study” means
| A．lesson | B．exam | C．research | D．education |
Which of the following sentences is NOT true？
| A．More drivers in the country wear seat belts. |
| B．More educated people in the United States wear seat belts. |
| C．Much has been done to advise drivers to wear safety belts. |
| D．About three-twentieths of the drivers wear seat belts. |
Which of the following is true?
| A．Most people who do wear seats smoke while driving. |
| B．When it is hot, people don’t have to wear their seat belts. |
| C．A law was made in Australia that only those who don’t smoke can drive a car |
| D．Some people agree that those who do not wear seat belts while driving should pay money for it. |
What is the best title of the passage?
| A．Seat belts | B．Who wear seat belts |
| C．A study on seat belts | D．A law and safety belts |
When Dean Arnold got his first job, he was miserable Each time he went to work, he coughed and he couldn’t breathe. Working in a bakery when you are allergic（过敏的）to flour can be painful.
But Arnold stayed with the National Biscuit Company for ten years. He was a businessman and he helped them improve production. At last his health problems became too serious. He left and formed his own company.
With his wife and mother, he founded Arnold Bakery. They tried new recipes,（调制法）,changing the kind and amount of flour used. This enabled Arnold to work there without too much pain The bread, made with unbleached（未漂白的）flour, was baked in brick oven.（烤箱）
They began by baking two dozen loaves. The bread was sold door to door for fifteen cents a loaf. Winning customers to his usual, old fashioned bread took time. But Arnold. Struggling against his allergy, built his bakery into one of the largest in the United States. According to context, the underlined word “miserable” means
| A．quite pleased | B．rather unhealthy | C．too lucky | D．very unhappy |
A good title for the passage would be
| A．A Sick Baker | B．A Brick Oven Bread Baker |
| C．An Old Fashioned Baker | D．How to Overcome Allergy |
Dean left the National Biscuit Company because he
| A．suffered from allergy to flour | B．didn’t like the job |
| C．wanted to form his own company | D．wanted to make more money |
Which of the following is not mentioned in the passage?
| A．Arnold’s bread was baked in a brick oven |
| B．Arnold’s bread was made with unbleached flour |
| C．Arnold’s bread was sold at a low price |
| D．Arnold’s bread was of poor quality |
From the passage we can conclude that Arnold was
| A．determined | B．brave | C．unusual | D．unhealthy |