You might have noticed that the cost of food has gone up.In fact the price of wheat and rice has nearly doubled in the past few years.It’s thought that right now，850 million people—that’s more than 10 times the population of the UK—are short of food because it’s too expensive or there’s not enough of it.
The price of basic food such as wheat and corn has stayed the same for quite a long time，about 30 years.But as the world’s population is getting bigger，there’s more pressure to feed more people，plus there’s less land and water to go round.
Another reason is climate（气候）change.Droughts and floods make it hard to grow crops like rice and grain.The price of oil has gone up and that makes it more expensive for farmers to run their tractors and to transport the food they make.And lots of fields are being used to grow crops to make other things that can’t be eaten—which is bad news for hungry people.
The main losers are poor people who live in cities in poor countries，who are facing higher prices for food.Some people are doing well out of the food crisis（危机） though.Farmers in rich countries like the US，Canada and Australia are getting record prices for their harvests.
World leaders are meeting in the Italian capital Rome to talk about the problem of rising food prices.Some countries are helping out with the cost of foods and international aid agencies have called for more money for food production in poor countries.The price of food goes up because all of the following EXCEPT _____.
| A．there are more and more people in the world. |
| B．American farmers are getting richer and richer. |
| C．many farm lands are used to make other things rather than food. |
| D．climate change makes it harder to grow food. |
Who lose the most because of the food crisis?
| A．Farmers in rich countries. |
| B．Farmers in developed countries. |
| C．Poor people in cities in poor countries. |
| D．Poor people in cities in developed countries. |
What does the food crisis mean to farmers in Canada?
| A．They can get a lot of money from the government. |
| B．They have to save a lot of money. |
| C．They can make more money from the high price. |
| D．They are losing a lot of money. |
What is the best title for this passage?
| A．Why is the Price of Food Going Up？ |
| B．How Many People are Short of Food? |
| C．What Can We Learn from the Food Crisis? |
| D．Who Can Benefit（受益） from the Food Crisis? |
| New books this month |
||
| The Long Night This is David Reilly’s first book. David became a writer after teaching English for several years. Maha is a nurse in northern Australia. She works in a small hospital. One day a baby is so ill that Maha has to drive all night to get her to the nearest big city. They have a lot of problems getting there and…  |
Hard Work This exciting story is Joanna’s twentieth. Hard Work is about Sombat. He works with his father, a carpenter, in Thailand. They work long, hard hours making tables and chairs, but they do not have any money. Then one day a man dressed all in black buys the most beautiful table in the shop…  |
Hospital or Cinema Marcie Jacome, who studies English in London, wrote this story earlier this year. Tina is a young Indian woman whose dream is to become a doctor. She goes to London to study English and medicine, but one day she meets a man who asks her to go to the USA with him to become a film star…What will Tina do?  |
The story of Hard Work happened in _________.
| A．Australia | B．Thailand | C．India | D．England |
From the passage we can see Tina is ________.
| A．a doctor | B．a film star | C．a writer | D．a college student |
__________is about a difficult journey.
| A． Hospital or Cinema | B．Hard Work | C．The Long Night | D．Harry Potter |
A lift is wonderful. It is really only a small room. Rooms usually stay in one place. Lifts travel up and down all day long.
Sometimes a worker stands in the lift. He or she operates it up and down. In modern lifts there is no worker. The people walk in. They know what floor they want. They push a button and the lift goes to that floor. It is all very fast and easy.
Lifts are very important to us. Why? Think about a tall building. Maybe it has twenty floors. Maybe it has fifty or more. Who can walk up all the stairs? Maybe people can climb them one time. Can someone climb thirty floors to an office every day? Can small children walk up to their room on the twenty-fourth floor? Can their mother and father carry food up all those stairs? Of course not.
We can have high buildings because we have lifts. We could not have all the beautiful tall buildings in the world without lifts. They are really wonderful.Which of the following is true?
| A．A modern lift has no buttons. |
| B．A modern lift has a worker to operate it. |
| C．A modern lift can go up and down with no worker in it. |
| D．A modern lift knows what floor people want. |
If you want to go to the floor you want, you_______.
| A．ask for help | B．open the door of the lift |
| C．ring the bell | D．push the right button |
Why do people have to use lifts? Because________.
| A．they have tall buildings |
| B．they can't walk up and down |
| C．old people and children need them |
| D．lifts are wonderful |
请认真阅读下面短文，并根据短文内容回答问题。
Whether summer or winter, holiday time can mean travel. A few years ago, some people moved from California to Maryland with their birds. Traveling with birds is a very unusual experience. But everything can go well with a little planning. There are some good tips for you.
★ The first thing you have to decide is what cage your birds will use. You should make sure that the cage is neither too small nor too big, and can be put into the car easily. If you find that you need a travel cage, get it a few weeks before the trip, so you can give your birds time to get used to it.
★ If your car has the airbag, do not put the cage in the front seat. The force of the airbag even in a little accident could easily damage any cage and even injure or kill the bird inside. The cage should be held in the car with seatbelts.
★ If your trip takes several days, you need to make some stops at pet-friendly hotels. When you stop at hotels during the trip, you must put lots of newspapers under the cage to help control the rubbish.
★ If your travel or moving plans bring you to areas with hot weather, remember that the car will become very hot in a short time in the sun. Never leave your birds in the car alone.
Traveling with birds can be stress-free, and a little planning can make it a pleasant experience.What is the first thing you have to decide?
____________________________________________________How should the cage be held in the car?
____________________________________________________Why must we put lots of newspapers under the cage at hotels?
____________________________________________________ What is the passage mainly about?
____________________________________________________What do you think of traveling with birds? (请自拟一句话作答)
____________________________________________________
Welcome to the 2012 London Olympic Games!
Who invented the sport of badminton?
| A．Indians. | B．British | C．Chinese. | D．Koreans. |
Which of these sports appeared earliest at the Olympics?
| A．Archery. | B．Badminton. | C．Taekwondo. | D．Football. |
Which of the following pictures shows the sport of "Taekwondo"?
Sometimes people come into your life and you know at once that they were sure to be there. They serve some sort of purpose, teach you a lesson or help find out who you are or who you want to become. You never know who these people may be: your classmate, neighbor, teacher, long-lost friend or even a real stranger. But you know that every moment they will affect your life in some serious ways.
Sometimes things happen to you. At the time they may seem terrible, painful (痛苦的) and unfair. But later you realize that without getting over those difficulties you would have never realized your further ability and strength. Everything happens for a reason and nothing happens by chance or with good or bad luck.
The people you meet affect your life, and the successes and failure (失败) you experience, create who you are. Even the bad experiences can be learned from. In fact, they are probably the most poignant and important ones.
Enjoy every day even every moment and take from it everything that you possibly can, for you may never be able to experience it again. Talk to people you have never talked to before, and really listen. You should set your sights high, hold your head up, tell yourself you are a great one and believe in yourself.
You can make your life anything you wish. Create your own life and then go out and live it.The people we meet.
| A．all know where to find us | B．serve us on no purpose |
| C．won't become our neighbor | D．will change us in some way |
From the passage, we know that bad things can make us.
| A．terribly meet bad luck | B．realize our further ability |
| C．find no serious success | D．possibly enjoy every moment |
The underlined word "poignant" in the passage means " ".
| A．平淡的 | B．明显的 | C．深刻的 | D．艰苦的 |
The writer's suggestion is that we should .
| A．try not to talk to strange people |
| B．learn as much as we can each day |
| C．avoid failure in our life |
| D．not believe in others but ourselves |