The goal of earthquake prediction is to give early enough warning. The U.S. Geological Survey conducts and supports research on the likelihood of future earthquakes. Scientists estimate earthquake probabilities in two ways: by studying the history of large earthquakes in a special area and the rate at which strain（拉力）accumulates（积累）in the rock.
Scientists study the past frequency of large earthquakes in order to determine the future likelihood of similar large shocks. For example scientists researched the large earthquakes in the San Francisco Bay region during the 75 years between 1836 and 1911. For the next 68 years, no earthquakes of magnitude (震级) 6 or large occurred in the region. Beginning with a magnitude 6 shock in 1979, the earthquakes in the region increased dramatically; between 1979 and 1989, there were four magnitude 6 or greater earthquakes, including a magnitude 7.1 earthquake. So scientists estimated that the probability of a magnitude 6.8 or larger earthquake occurring during the next 30 years in the region is about 67 percent.
Another way to predict earthquakes is to study how fast strain accumulates. When plate movements build the strain in rocks to a critical level, like pulling a rubber band too tight, the rocks will suddenly break and slip to a new position. Scientists measure how much strain accumulates along a fault (断层) each year, how much time has passed since the last earthquake, and how much strain was released in the last earthquake. This information is used to calculate the time required for the accumulating strain to build to the level that results in an earthquake. This simple model is so complicated that such detailed information about faults is rare. In the United States, only the San Andreas Fault System has adequate records for using this prediction method.
Scientific understanding of earthquakes is of vital importance to the Nation. As the population increases, expanding urban development and construction encroach (侵蚀) upon areas susceptible(易受影响的) to earthquakes. With a greater understanding of the causes and effects of earthquakes, we may be able to reduce damage and loss of life from this destruction.What does the passage mainly talk about?
| A．What an earthquake is like. |
| B．How to predict earthquakes. |
| C．Where earthquakes often happen. |
| D．When a fault is formed. |
That scientists study the history of large earthquakes in certain areas is to ultimately_________.
| A．do research on the past frequency of large earthquakes |
| B．estimate the magnitude of similar earthquakes |
| C．forecast the possibilities of similar earthquakes |
| D．judge the specific location of future earthquakes |
Which is TRUE according to the passage?
| A．There were four magnitude 6 earthquakes in the San Francisco Bay region between1979 and1989. |
| B．The accumulating strain of the fault to a certain level results in the earthquake. |
| C．About 68 years after 1911, no earthquakes occurred in the San Francisco Bay region. |
| D．The fast increasing population on the earth is the main cause of the earthquake. |
What is the critical factor of forming a fault?
| A．The material of rocks. |
| B．The existing time span of the rocks. |
| C．The plate movements around the rocks. |
| D．The amount of strain released in the last earthquake. |
According to the passage, we can know that the San Andreas Fault System____.
| A．has a greater understanding of the causes and effects of earthquakes |
| B．stores much more information about the history of large earthquakes |
| C．offers the potential for doing research on the faults where strain accumulates |
| D．illustrates specifically how rocks along a fault are formed |
Some recent surveys show that the health conditions of many white collar employees and office workers are rather dangerous. Death cases among white collar employees and office workers are increasing year by year and these cases are generally believed to have been caused by overwork and spending little time taking rest or doing exercise.
If their offices are within the distance of half an hour's walk, some office workers now choose to go to work on foot. Ms. Deng, who works in a foreign enterprise in Beijing, has been walking to her office for more than six months now. “ I usually have a tight work schedule and can't find time to do exercise. So I choose to walk to work. ” As she said, if the office is not far from home, most women would like to go to work on foot. Walking is good for their health and can help them to keep good figures as well.
Apart from walking to office，one can also find time to do exercise when one is at work. The simplest way is to desert the lift. Mr. Wei, who works in the Passenger Service Department at Shenzhen Airlines, is one of such men who frequently climb stairs. “ I only use the lift whenever I'm with my colleagues or my boss. Otherwise, I would climb stairs instead of taking the lift. ”
In addition, some office workers try to find time to go to a gym at the end of a day. Ms. Sang works in a law firm in Shenzhen. She goes to the gym several times a week when she has the time. “ I go to the gym every weekend. During the weekdays，I will also go there whenever I have the time. ” Ms. Sang and her husband both have a gym membership card for a whole year. The cards cost them 3000 yuan. However, they think it's worth it. Why are death cases among white collar employees and office workers increasing year by year?
| A．Because they overwork for a long time. |
| B．Because they are too busy to have time for a rest. |
| C．Because they hardly have time to do exercise after work. |
| D．All of the above |
How many ways that office workers use to keep healthy are mentioned in the passage?
| A．3. |
| B．4. |
| C．5. |
| D．6. |
If a white collar employee lives one kilometer away from her office , she had better __________ to keep healthy.
| A．walk to her office |
| B．run and then take the stairs to her office |
| C．take a taxi to her office |
| D．ride a bike |
Which of the following sentences can be added between Paragraph 1 and Paragraph 2?
| A．Then, what shall office workers do next to prevent death cases? |
| B．What will happen to office workers? |
| C．In order to keep themselves healthy, some office workers now take measures as follows ： |
| D．Walking on foot is the best way for office workers. |
The best title of the passage is __________.
| A．Health Is Very Important |
| B．Office Workers Try to Keep Healthy |
| C．How to Keep Healthy |
| D．Office Workers' Trouble |
British Newspapers
In Britain there are 11 national daily newspapers and most people read one of them every day. There are two kinds of newspapers. One is large in size and has many detailed articles about national and international events. These newspapers are called the serious papers or the quality papers. The other kind, called the tabloids , is smaller in size. They has more pictures and shorter articles, often about less important events or about the private lives of wellknown people. Although some people disapprove (反对)of the tabloids , more people buy them than buy the serious newspapers. The Sun, for example, which is a tabloid，is the biggest-selling newspaper in Britain. The tabloids are sometimes called the gutter press (低级趣味的报纸) And in 1997, some photograph reporters of the tabloids were said to be involved in (卷入)the tragic (悲剧的) death of Princess Diana in France and they were criticized as gossip (饶舌者)reporters by the public.
Most national newspapers in Britain express a political opinion and people choose the newspaper that they read according to their own political beliefs. Most of the newspapers are right-wing, which means they support the Conservative Party (保守党). These are The Daily Telegraph ( serious newspaper ) , The Daily Express，Daily Mail, Daily Star, The Sun and Today ( all tabloids) . Of the other serious newspapers, The Times，the oldest newspaper in Britain，did not formerly have one strong political view but it is now more right-wing. The Independent does not support any political party, and neither does The Financial Times, which concentrates on (集中)business and financial news. The Daily Mirror^ a tabloid) is the voice of the Labour Party. If a newspaper often publishes some articles long enough together with national and international events，we say it's a __________.
| A．financial paper |
| B．gutter press |
| C．tabloid |
| D．serious or quality paper |
The tabloids are __________ received than the serious papers.
| A．better |
| B．less |
| C．more poorly |
| D．worse |
In Britain, most national papers give their voices for __________.
| A．the Labor Party |
| B．the Conservative Party |
| C．neither of the two parties |
| D．both parties |
Some reporters of the tabloids were considered to be __________.
| A．devoted fellows |
| B．national heroes |
| C．radicals |
| D．gossip reporters |
The oldest paper for the Conservative Party in Britain is __________.
| A．The Sun |
| B．The Times |
| C．The Independent |
| D．not mentioned |
Why did the chicken cross the road? To get to the other side. Most people know this joke. But recently, some people have been much more worried about how the grizzly bear and mountain lion can cross the road.
“ Millions of animals die each year on the U. S. roads, ” the Federal Highway Administration reports. In fact, only about 80 ocelots , an endangered wild cat, exist in the U. S. today. The main reason? Roadkill.
“Eco-passages" may help animals cross the road without being hit by cars. They are paths both over and under roads. “ These ecopassages can be extremely useful，so that wildlife can avoid road accidents ,” said Jodi Hilty of the Wildlife Protection Society.
But do animals actually use the eco-passages? The answer is yes. Paul Beier of Northern Arizona University found foot marks left by mountain lions on an eco-passage that went under a highway. This showed that the lions used the passage.
Builders of eco-passages try to make them look like a natural part of an area by planting trees on and around them. Animals seem to be catching on. Animals as different as salamanders (火蜥蜴)and grizzly bears are using the bridges and underpasses.
The next time you visit a park or drive through an area with a lot of wildlife, look around. You might see an animal over-pass ！The writer uses the example of "ocelots" to show that __________.
| A．an increasing number of animals are killed in road accidents |
| B．the driving conditions have improved greatly |
| C．the measure for protecting wildlife fails to work |
| D．wild animals have become more dangerous |
From the passage, we know an eco-passage is __________.
| A．an underground path for cars |
| B．a fence built for the safety of the area |
| C．a path for animals to cross the road |
| D．a bridge for animals to get over a river |
When the writer says that animals seem "to be catching on" , he means __________.
| A．animals begin to realize the danger on the road |
| B．animals begin to learn to use eco-passages |
| C．animals are crossing the road in groups |
| D．animals are becoming safer |
The writer asks visitors and drivers to look around when they are traveling because __________.
| A．wild animals may cause danger |
| B．wild animals may jam the road |
| C．they may kill the animals |
| D．they may see wild animals on eco-passages |
This passage is written to __________.
| A．protect the endangered animals |
| B．call on drivers to be careful when they see animals on the road |
| C．introduce a new way to help protect wild animals |
| D．tell us the main reason for the killing of animals in the U. S. |
Scientists have learned a lot about the kinds of food people need. They say that there are several kinds of food that people should eat every day. They are :(1) green and yellow vegetables of all kinds. ( 2 ) citrus(柑橘)fruits and tomatoes； ( 3 ) potatoes and other fruits and vegetables；( 4 ) meat of all kinds, fish and eggs； (5) milk and foods made from milk ； ( 6 ) bread or cereal (谷类), rice is also in this kind of food ； ( 7 ) butter, or something like butter.
People in different countries and different places of the world eat different kinds of things. Foods are cooked and eaten in many different kinds of ways. People in different countries eat at different times of the day. In some places people eat once or twice a day ； in other countries people eat three or four times a day. Scientists say that none of the differences is really important. It doesn't matter whether foods are eaten raw(生的)or cooked, canned or frozen. It doesn't matter if a person eats dinner at 4 o'clock in the afternoon or at eleven o'clock at night. The important thing is what you eat every day.
There are two problems，then, in feeding the large number of people on earth. The first is to find some ways to feed the world's population so that no one is hungry. The second is to make sure that people everywhere have the right kinds of food to make them grow to be strong and healthy. According to the scientists, which of the following groups of food is the healthiest for your lunch?
| A．Chicken, apples, cereal and cabbages. |
| B．Potatoes, carrots, rice and bread. |
| C．Oranges，bananas，fish and tomatoes. |
| D．Beef, pork, fish and milk. |
It is important for people to eat __________.
| A．three times a day |
| B．dinner at twelve o'clock |
| C．cooked food all the day |
| D．something from each of the seven kinds of food every day |
People in different countries and different places of the world __________.
| A．have the right kinds of food to eat |
| B．cook their food in the same way |
| C．have their meals at the same time |
| D．eat food in different ways |
Which of the following is NOT true?
| A．People in some places don't have enough to eat. |
| B．There are too many people in the world. |
| C．One of the problems is that no one is hungry. |
| D．The scientists are trying to make people grow to be strong and healthy. |
If there is a Paragraph 4, what do you think is going to be talked about?
| A．When people eat their lunch. |
| B．What to do with the two problems. |
| C．How to cook food in different ways. |
| D．Why people eat different kinds of food. |
Arthur Miller( 1915 - 2005) is universally recognized as one of the greatest dramatists of the 20th century. Miller's father had moved to the USA from Austria-Hungary, drawn like so many others by “the Great American Dream". However, he experienced severe financial hardship when his family business was ruined in the Great Depression of the early 1930s.
Miller's most famous play, Death of a Salesman, is a powerful attack on the American system，with its aggressive way of doing business and its insistence on money and social status as indicators of worth. In Willy Loman, the hero of the play, we see a man who has got into trouble with this system. Willy is “ burnt out ” and in the cruel world of business there is no room for sentiment ： if he can't do the work，then he is no good to his employer，the Wagner Company, and he must go. Willy is painfully aware of this，and at a loss as to what to do with his lack of success. He refuses to face the fact that he has failed and kills himself in the end.
When it was first staged in 1949，the play was greeted with enthusiastic reviews, and it won the Tony Award for Best Play，the New York Drama Critics' Circle Award，and the Pulitzer Prize for Drama. It was the first play to win all three of these major awards.
Miller died of heart failure at his home in Roxbury, Connecticut , on the evening of February 10,2005 , the 56th anniversary of the first performance of Death of a Salesman on Broadway. Why did Arthur Miller's father move to the USA?
| A．He suffered from severe hunger in his home country. |
| B．He was attracted by"the Great American Dream". |
| C．He hoped to make his son a dramatist. |
| D．His family business failed. |
The play Death of a Salesman __________.
| A．exposes the cruelty of the American business world |
| B．discusses the ways to get promoted in a company |
| C．talks about the business career of Arthur Miller |
| D．focuses on the skills in doing business |
What can we learn about Willy Loman?
| A．He treats his employer badly. |
| B．He runs the Wagner Company. |
| C．He is a victim of the American system. |
| D．He is regarded as a hero by his colleagues. |
After it was first staged, Death of a Salesman __________.
| A．achieved huge success |
| B．won the first Tony Award |
| C．was warmly welcomed by salesmen |
| D．was severely attacked by dramatists |
What is the text mainly about?
| A．Arthur Miller and his family. |
| B．The awards Arthur Miller won. |
| C．The hardship Arthur Miller experienced. |
| D．Arthur Miller and his best-known play. |