The rapid growth of cities worldwide over the next two decades will cause significant risks to people and the global environment, according to analysis.
Researches from Yale and Stanford predict that by 2030 urban areas will expand by 590,000 square miles—nearly the size of Mongolia—to meet the needs of 1.47 billion more people living in urban areas.
“It is likely that these cities are going to be developed in places that are the most biologically diverse,” said Karen Seto, a famous scientist at Yale University. “They are going to be growing and expanding into forests, biological hotspots, savannas(热带稀缺大草原), coastlines—sensitive and vulnerable places.”
Urban areas, they found, have been expanding more rapidly along coasts. “Of all the places for cities to grow, coasts are the most sensitive. People and buildings along the coast are at risk of flooding and other environmental disasters,” said Seto.
The study provides the first estimate of how fast urban areas globally are growing and how fast they may grow in the future. “We know a lot about global patterns of urban population growth, but we know significantly less about how urban areas are changing,” she said. “Changes in land cover associated with urbanization lead to many environmental changes, from habitats loss and agricultural land conversion(转化) to changes in local and regional climate.”
The researchers examined studies that used satellite data to map urban growth and found that from 1970 to 2000 the world’s urban footprint had grown by at least 22,400 square miles—half the size of Ohio.
“This number is numerous, but, in actuality, urban land expansion has been far greater than what our analysis shows because we only looked at the published studies that used satellite data,” said Seto. “We found that 48 of the most populated urban areas have been studied using satellite data, with findings in journals. This means that we’re not tracking the physical expansion of more than half of the world’s largest cities.”
Half of urban land expansion in China is driven by a rising middle class, whereas the size of cities in India and Africa is driven primarily by population growth. “Rising incomes translate into rising demand for bigger homes and more land for urban development, which has a great effect on biodiversity conservations, loss of carbon sinks and energy use.”According to the passage, the most dangerous place for city expansion is the _____.
| A．forest | B．desert | C．savannas | D．coastline |
The underlined word “vulnerable” (in Para. 3) probably means “____”.
| A．diverse in plants | B．beautiful in scenery |
| C．easily damaged | D．very productive |
From Para. 5, we can infer that ____.
| A．urbanization is a good way to improve people’s standards of living |
| B．cities develop very fast and more and more people come to live in cities |
| C．more and more agricultural farmlands are used to make room for local animals |
| D．in the past, researchers focused their attention on the expanding urban areas |
Cities in Africa become bigger and bigger mainly because of their ____.
| A．growing population | B．rising middle class |
| C．unique living patterns | D．economic development |
三：阅读理解（共15小题，每小题2分，满分30分）
第一节：阅读下面的短文，从每题所给的四个选项中选出最佳选项，并在答题卡上将该项涂黑。
As is known to all, in daily conversation modern people like to use simple words and simple sentences, especially some sentences with some parts left out. Here is an interesting example from the conversation between Henry, a fisherman, and his wife Sylvia. Do you know what they are talking about?
Sylvia: Going?
Henry: Been.
Sylvia: Any?
Henry: Some.
Sylvia: Big?
Henry: Small.
36. Which of the following is TRUE according to the conversation?
A. Sylvia got some fish for Henry.B. Henry didn’t catch any fish.
C. Sylvia has cooked some fish.D. Henry has just been back with some fish.
37. The text is mainly about.
A. catching fish in the sea B. spending holidays
C. short forms in daily talksD. joy in daily life
38. The writer wants to tell us simple words and sentences are ________ in daily conversation.
A. terrible B. popular C. out of date D. out of sight
It is difficult for doctors to help a person with a damaged brain. Without enough blood, the brain lives for only three to five minutes. More often the doctors can’t fix the damage. Sometimes they are afraid to try something to help because it is dangerous to work on the brain. The doctors might make the person worse if he operates on the brain.
Dr Robert White, a famous professor and doctor, thinks he knows a way to help. He thinks doctors should make the brain very cold. If it is very cold, the brain can live without blood for 30 minutes. This gives the doctor a longer time to do something for the brain.
Dr White tried his idea on 13 monkeys. First he taught them to do different jobs, then he operated on them. He made the monkeys’ blood go through a machine. The machine cooled the blood. Then the machine sent the blood back to the monekys’ brains. When the brain’s temperature was 100C, Dr White stopped the blood to the brain. After 30 minutes he turned to blood back on. He warmed the blood again. After their operations the monkeys were like they had been before. They were healthy and busy. Each one could still do the jobs the doctor had taught them.
1.The biggest difficulty in operating on the damaged brain is that __________.
A.the time is too short for doctors B.the patients are often too nervous
C.the damage is extremely hard to fix D.the blood-cooling machine might break down
2.The brain operation was made possible mainly by__________.
A.taking the blood out of the brainB.trying the operation on monkeys first
C.having the blood go through a machine D.lowering the brain’s temperature
3.With Dr White’s new idea, the operation on the damaged brain__________.
A. can last as long as 30 minutes
B. can keep the brain’s blood warm
C. can keep the patient’s brain healthy
D. can help monkeys do different jobs
4.What is the right order of the steps in the operation?
a. send the cooled blood back to the brain b. stop the blood to the brain
c. have the blood cooled down d. operate on the brain
A.a,b,c,d B.c,a,b,d C.c,b,d,a D.b,c,d,a
Over 1，400 university students from 37 countries and regions came to China for the 2008’s WorldMUN meeting（世界大学生模拟联合国大会）. The meeting was held in Peking University from January 5th to 11st, 2008.
The idea of the WorldMUN began in 1991. A group of students at Harvard（哈佛）University wanted to make a new meeting to bring together the students who were interested in the world. They wanted to discuss different problems around the world. The WorldMUN is based on understanding, compromise, learning and friendship. The first meeting was held in Poland in 1992. After that, it is held in spring every year. Last year, it was held in Scotland.
This was the first time the WorldMUN meeting was held in Asia. It was also the biggest one in history. The students came from the best universities around the world. During the five-day meeting, they did everything that people in the UN do. Though their skin colors and cultures were different, they had the same wish to make the world better.
1.The 2008’s WorldMUN meeting was held in .
A. Scotland B. Harvard University C. Beijing University D. Thailand
2.The word “compromise” in the passage means in Chinese.
A. 友谊 B. 理解 C. 和解 D. 同情
3. Which of the following is NOT true?
A. The students want to travel around the world.
B. The students are interested in the world.
C. The students want to discuss different problems.
D. one world, one wish !
4.The best title of the passage is .
A. The First WorldMUN Meeting B. The WorldMUN Meeting
C. University Student D. A warm welcome to Beijing
A young man was going to join the army and had to take a medical examination. The doctor was sitting at a desk when he went in. He said to the man. “Take your coat and shirt off, and sit on the chair.” The young man did so. The doctor looked at him for a moment without getting up from his chair and then said, “ All right. Put on your clothes again.”
“ But you haven’t examined me at all!” the young man said in surprise.
“There is no need to do so,” the doctor said with a smile. “When I told you to take your coat and shirt off, you heard me all right, so there is nothing wrong with your ears. You saw the chair, so your eyes are good. You could take your clothes off and sit on the chair, so you must be in good health. And you understand what I told you to do and did it without a mistake, so you must be clever enough for the army.”
1. The young man went to the doctor because __________.
A. he wanted to take part in the exam
B. he wanted to have a medical check—up
C. he did not want to join the army
D. he did not feel well
2. The doctor told the young man to take his coat and shirt off in order to______.
A. test his listening ability
B. see whether his eyes were wrong with him
C. see what was wrong with him
D. examine him
3. The doctor thought that __________ .
A. the young man would not be a good soldier
B. the young man must not join the army
C. The Youngman would not do something wrong in the army
D. the young man could join the army
4. At first the young man __________ .
A. did not understand what the doctor mean
B. did not do as he was told to do
C. realized why the doctor told him to do something
D. understood what the doctor meant
Johnny was a cashier (收银员) in a large store. Every night when he came home from work, he would find a saying for the day and print it out on fifty pages of paper. Johnny would cut out each saying and sign his name at the bottom of each one. Then he would put them in a paper bag and put the bag beside him at work. Each time he finished bagging someone’s purchases, he would put one of his saying pieces in the customer’s bag as well. It touched me to think that this young man —with a job that most people thought not important —had made it important by creating precious memories for all of his customers. A month later the store manager called me and said, "Barbara, you won’t believe what happened today. When I went up to where the cashiers were, I found Johnny’s line was three times longer than anyone else’s! So I got more cashiers out there and opened more lanes (通道), but no one would move. They all said they wanted Johnny’s saying for the day." The store manager continued, "I got a lump in my throat when a woman came up to me and said, 'I used to shop at your store only once a week, but now I come in every time I go by for Johnny’s sayings.’" A few months later, the store manager called me again. "Johnny has changed our store completely," he said. "All of our cashiers now have their own personal signatures (签名). Everyone’s having a lot of fun creating good memories. Our customers are talking about us in a good way and are coming back with their friends."
1. How did Johnny deal with his saying pieces?
A. He put them in customers’ pockets.
B. He had others hand them to customers.
C. He put them in customers’ shopping bags.
D. He handed them to customers before they left.
2. With those sayings Johnny ___________.
A. drew the other cashiers’ attention to himself
B. got paid more than before
C. made good memories for his customers
D. encouraged himself to work harder
3. What did the store manager see a month later?
A. All of his cashiers had their own personal signatures.
B. Many customers chose Johnny’s lane to pay for their goods.
C. The store went out of order because there were too many customers.
D. Customers asked for Johnny’s sayings instead of buying goods.
4. The underlined part in the passage showed the store manager _________.
A. didn’t know why this happened
B. felt a little uncomfortable
C. felt extremely sad
D. was moved by what Johnny had done