The African elephant, the largest land animal remaining on 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 under-bushes, 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. 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 does the underlined phrase “setting the terms” most probably mean?
| A．Improving the quality. |
| B．Deciding the conditions. |
| C．Fixing the time. |
| D．Worsening the state. |
The passage is developed mainly by_________.
| A．giving examples |
| B．showing the effect and then explaining the causes |
| C．pointing out similarities and differences |
| D．describing the changes in space order |
What is the passage mainly about?
| A．Forests and savannas as habitats for African elephants. |
| B．The eating habit of African elephants. |
| C．Disappearance of African elephants |
| D．The effect of African elephants’ search for food |
What do we know about the open spaces in the passage?
| A．They are home to many endangered animals. |
| B．They are attractive to plant-eating animals of different kinds. |
| C．They result from the destruction of rain forests. |
| D．They provide food mainly for African elephants. |
三、阅读理解（共20 小题;每小题 2分，满分40分）
After giving a talk at a high school, I was asked to pay a visit to a special student. An illness had kept the boy home, but he had expressed an interest in meeting me. I was told
it would mean a great deal to him, so I agreed.
During the nine-mile drive to his home, I found out something about Matthew. He had muscular dystrophy (肌肉萎缩症). When he was born, the doctor told his parents that he would not live to five, and then they were told he would not make it to ten. Now he was thirteen. He wanted to meet me because I was a gold-medal power lifter, and I knew about overcoming obstacles（克服困难） and going for（努力实现） my dreams.
I spent over an hour talking to Matthew. Never once did he complain（抱怨）or ask, “Why me?” He spoke about winning and succeeding and going for his dreams. Obviously, he knew what he was talking about. He didn’t mention（提到） that his classmates had made fun of him because he was different. He just talked about his hopes for the future, and how one day he wanted to lift weights with me. When we had finished talking, I went to my briefcase（公事包） and pulled out the first gold medal I had won and put it around his neck. I told him he was more of a winner and knew more about success and overcoming obstacles than I ever would. He looked at it for a moment, then took it off and handed it back to me. He said, “You are a champion（冠军）. You earned that medal. Someday when I get to the Olympics and win my own medal, I will show it to you.”
Last summer I received a letter from Matthew’s parents telling me that Matthew 
had passed away（去世）. They wanted me to have a letter he had written to me a few days before:
Dear Dick,
My mum said I should send you a thank-you letter for the picture you sent me. I also want to let you know that the doctors tell me that I don’t have long to live any more, but I still smile as much as I can.
I told you someday that I would go to the Olympics and win a gold medal, but I know now I will never get to do that. However, I know I’m a champion, and God knows that too. When I get to Heaven（天堂）, God will give me my medal and when you get there, I will show it to you. Thank you for loving me.
Your friend,
Matthew
36. The boy looked forward to meeting the author because _________.
A. he was also good at weight lifting
B. he wanted to get to the Olympics and win a medal
C. the author was handsome
D. he admired the author very much
37. The underlined sentence（划线的句子） in the third paragraph probably means that _______.
A. the boy never complained about how unlucky he was to have this disease
B. the boy never complained about not being able to go to school
C. the boy never complained why the author had never come to see him before
D. the boy never complained about not getting a medal
38. From the pass
age we learn that _________.
A. Matthew was an athlete
B. Matthew was an optimistic and determined boy
C. The author used to have the same disease as Matthew had
D. Matthew became a champion before he died
39. Matthew didn’t accept the author’s medal because _________.
A. he thought it was too expensive
B. he was sure that he could win one in the future
C. he thought it was of no use to him as he would die soon
D. he would not be pitied by others
40. What would be the best title for this passage?
A. A sick boy. B. A special friend.
C. A real champion. D. A famous athlete.
Many years ago, when I was first out of school and working in Danver, I was driving to my parents’ home in Messouri for Christmas. I stopped at a gas station about 50 miles from Okiahoma City, where I was planning to stop and visit a friend. While I was standing in line at the cash register（收款台）, I said hello to an old couple who were also paying for gas. I took off, but had gone only a f
ew miles 
when black smoke poured from the back of my car. I stopped and wondered what I should do. A car pulled up behind me. It was the couple I had spoken to at the gas station. They said they would take me to my friend’s. We chatted on the way into the city, and when I got out of the car, the husband gave me his business card.
I wrote him and his wife a thank-you note for helping me. Soon after, I received a Christmas present from them. Their note that came with it said that helping me had made their holidays meaningful.
Years later, I drove to a meeting in a nearby town in the morning. In late afternoon I returned to my car and found that I’d left the lights on all day, and the battery(电池) was dead. Then I noticed that the Friendly Ford shop(a shop selling cars)was right next door. I walked over and found two salesmen in the showroom.
“Just how friendly is Friendly Ford?” I asked and explained my trouble. They quickly drove a pickup truck to my car and started it. They would accept no payment; so when I got home, I wrote them a note to say thanks, I received a letter back from one of the salesmen. No one had ever taken the time to write him and say thank-you, and it meant a lot, he said.
“Thank you”-- two powerful words. They’re easy to say and mean so much.
57. The author planned to stop at Oklahoma City___________.
A. to visit a friendB. to see his parents
C. to pay at the cash register D. to have more gas for his car
58. The words “took off” underlined in Paragraph 2 mean “___________ ”
A. turned offB.moved off C. put up D. set up
59. What happened when the author found smoke coming out of his car?
A. He had it pulled back to the gas station.
B.The couples sent him a business card.
C. The couple offered to help him.
D. He called his friend for help.
60.By telling his own experiences, the author tries to show__________.
A. how to write a thank-you letter B. how to deal with car problems
C. the kindheartedness of old people D. the importance of expressing thanks
The fact that blind people can see things using other parts of their bodies apart from their eyes may help us to understand our feelings about color. If they can sense color differences, then perhaps we, too, are affected by color without knowing it. Salesmen have discovered by experience over a long period of time that sugar sells badly in green wrappings, that blue foods are considered not agreeable to the taste ,and that cosmetics (化妆品) should never be packed in brown. These discoveries have grown into a whole subject of color psychology (心
理学).
Some of our preferences（偏爱）are clearly psychological. Dark blue is the color of the night sky and therefore connected with calm, while yellow is a day color connected with energy and en
couragement. Experiments have shown that colors, partly because they are connected with psychology, also have a direct effect on people’s mind. People in bright red surroundings show an increase in breathing speed, heartbeat and blood pressure. Red i
s exciting. Pure blue has exactly the opposite effect; it is a calming color. Being exciting, red was chosen as the signal for danger, but a closer study shows that a bright yellow c
an produce a more basic state of alarm, so fire engines in some advanced areas are now rushing around in bright yellow colors that stop buses,
trucks and cars.
53. The passage tells us that salesmen have _______.
A. found out that colors affect sales
B.discovered the relationship between color and psychology
C. tried colors on blind people
D. developed a special subject of color psychology
54. If people are exposed to (置身于) pure blue, _______.
A. their body pressure rises B.they won’t easily feel nervous
C. they want to taste blue foods D. they will feel like buying things
55. The most effective color in the passage for warning people is _____.
A. red B.bright yellow C. dark blue D. green
56. Which of the following do you think is the best title of the passage?
A. Color and FeelingsB.Colors and Sales
C. The B
lind and Colors D. Preferences for Colors
Everybody knows that words can carry messages. People communicate with words. Books, magazines, TV, radio and films all help us to communicate with others. They all help us to know what is going on in the world and what other people are thinking about.
Do you think you can communicate without words? A smile on your face shows you are happy or friendly. Tears in your eyes tell others that you are sad. When you put up your hand in class, the teacher knows you want to say something or ask a question. You shake your head, and people know you are saying “No”. You nod and people know you are saying “Yes’.
Other things can also carry messages. For example, a sign at the bus stop helps you to know which bus to take. A sign on the wall of your school helps you to find the library. Signs on doors tell you where to go in or out. And an arrow is often used to show people the direction. Have you ever noticed that there are a lot of signs around you and that you receive messages from them all the time?
People can communicate in many ways without words. For example, an artist can use his drawings to tell about beautiful mountains, about the sea and many other things.
50. Which of the following statements is NOT true?
A. It is a most popular way for man to communicate with words.
B.Words are the only way for 
man to communicate.
C. Using radio is one of the ways to communicate.
D. TV can help people know the world better.
51. Which of the following signs is usually used to show you the direction?
A. A picture B.A number C. A kind of color D. An arrow
52. How does an artist often carry messages to people?
A. He writes articles. B.He gives reports.
C. He sings songs. D. He draw pictures.
第二部分：阅读理解（共15小题;每小题2分，满分30分）
阅读下列短文，从每题所给的四个选项A、B、C、D中，选出最佳选项。
A farmer was put in prison. One day, he got a letter from his wife.
“I am worried about our farm,” she wrote. “It’s time to plant potatoes, but I can’t do all the digging by myself.”
The farmer thought over and then had an idea. He wrote to his wife, “Don’t dig the fields. This is where my gold is. Don’t plant potatoes until I come home.”
A few days later, the farmer got another letter from his wife. It said, “Two days ago, about ten prison guards came to our fields. It looked as if they were looking for something. They have dug our fields.”
The farmer wrote to his wife at once. “Now you can plant our potatoes.” he wrote.
46. Why was the farmer put in prison? ________.
A. Because he had done something wrong
Because he had a lot of gold in the fields
C. The writer didn’t say anything about why the farmer was put in prison
D. For nothing
47. The farmer told his wife ____ first.
A. not to dig the fields B.to dig the fields
C. to ask the prison guards for help D. to find the gold in the fields
48. Why did the prison guards dig the farmer’s fields?________.
A. They wanted to help the farmerB.Their leader ordered them to do so
C. The farmer asked them to do so D. They wanted to find out the gold
49. Why did the farmer ask his wife to plant potatoes at once ? Because _____.
A. their fields had been dug
B.the gold was found out
C. the prison guards asked him to do so
D. the prison guards were digging the fields