Monitoring global warming usually requires a Ph. D. and enough maths to glaze your eyes. But that Francisco Lopez and Ruby Nostrant track（记录）what climate change is doing to five different plants in Tucson, Arizona and they are only in the second grade.
“We are collecting data because the weather is changing and the plants are blooming,” Ruby explained.
Scores of other students at Borton Primary Magnet School and Sunnyside High School in Tucson are heading outdoors to be part of a new scientific push to figure out how the biological timing of the earth is changing. It’s a research project that the average person, even a kindergartner, can join in.
The National Phenology（生物气候学）Network is calling on volunteers to help track early spring blooms and eventually changes in animals caused by global warming. It’s called Project Budburst. When it was first open to the public last year, thousands of people participated in 26 states.
“All people can contribute to it by tracking the timing of flowering events or leaf-out events for plants and animals in their backyard,” said Phenology Network director Jake Weltzin. He calls the volunteers “citizen-scientists.”
The idea is that tracking flowers blooming—especially lilacs（丁香）; which everyday people have helped track for decades—is fairly simple. The Website http://www.Windows.ucar.edu/ citizen_science/budburst/index.html gives directions on what to look for in different parts of the country.
University of Maryland professor David Inouye said it’s so easy to figure out what’s blooming that a lack of special knowledge isn’t a problem.
University of Arizona ecology graduate student Lisa Benton coordinated（协调）the Tucson high school students as they looked at plants five minutes from their high school. Each student has specific guidelines and she’s been happy so far with the data she is getting. For his part, second-grader Francisco said he had fun helping out.
“I like going out in the desert,” he said. “I want to be an Einstein.”Francisco Lopez and Ruby Nostrant are monitoring global warming by __________.
| A．watching early spring blooms and changes in animals |
| B．studying the biological timing of earth |
| C．collecting data of the local weather |
| D．tracking the early spring blooms of some local plants |
Those who participate in Project Budburst are mostly ___________.
| A．ecology college graduates | B．high school students |
| C．common people | D．experts |
What David Inouye says suggests that ____________.
| A．the study carried out by students is convincing |
| B．the students still need special training to study climate change |
| C．it is difficult to study climate change |
| D．to figure out what’s blooming needs special knowledge |
Who is primary school student joining in the Project Budburst?
| A．Lisa Benton. | B．David Inouye |
| C．Francisco Lopez. | D．Jake Weltzin. |
We can conclude from the passage that _______.
| A．changes in animals caused by global warming happen earlier than those in plants |
| B．the biological timing of earth is changing because of climate change |
| C．the effect of climate change in Tucson, Arizona can be hardly noticed |
| D．all the plants in Tucson, Arizona are blooming earlier because of climate change |
Beyond the Factory: Child Labor in the Cities
At the beginning of the nineteenth century, factory owners faced few restrictions on the way they employed their children workers, who were between the age of 7 and 12. Gradually laws came into being.
The first child-labor laws were passed at the state level in America and usually focused on both required education and a minimum age for employment. And added rules limited the length of the workday for children. Pennsylvania, for example, limited the workday to 10 hours for children under 12. However, government officials cared little whether businesses followed the law. In fact one group of children was left entirely unprotected by labor laws -- the children of immigrant families.
By the beginning of the twentieth century, piecework appeared, for which people were paid by the piece. Significant numbers of women sewed baby dresses or men's neckties and made the artificial flowers used to decorate hats. Piecework turned homes into factories that were free from the law, and countless children worked long hours alongside their mothers and old sisters.
Manufactures exploited the system shamelessly and paid the lowest wages they could. Embroidering (刺绣) a silk dress, which was a 10-day job, might generate a five-dollar payment. In the case of "willowing", workers needed to add more strands to ostrich feathers used on hats to make them longer and more graceful. The first willowers were paid 15 cents per inch, but a few months later, the pay was reduced to 13 cents. Within three years, willowers were earning only three cents per inch.
In order to survive under these circumstances, pieceworkers had even their youngest children help them. In one Italian neighborhood, a three-year-old girl helped her mother sew clothes. In another case, a child of eight who had lived in New York for three years had never been to school at all and could speak almost no English. Slowly child labor laws brought these abuses to an end.
31. The first child-labor laws required ______.
A. workplace safety and conditions
B. minimum payment and age
C. education and working time
D. minimum payment and schooling
32. Manufactures who hired women to do piecework ______.
A. were kind and concerned employers
B. were sometimes called "willowers"
C. usually paid the lowest salary
D. forced children to turn home into factories
33. "Willowing" was a kind of ______.
A. handwork activity B. workplace
C. payment requirement D. workers
34. By raising the example of the three-year-old girl's experience in the last paragraph, the author intended to ______.
A. show how poor the situations were for children workers
B. blame those adult pieceworkers for allowing children to work
C. attract attention to protect young children
D. emphasize the importance of educating young children
35. Which of the following sentences best summarizes the passage?
A. The first child-labor laws were limited due to working at the state level.
B. Early child-labor laws offered no protection to children who worked at home.
C. Some immigrant children did not learn English because of their piecework.
D. Child-labor laws should have come into being before children became workers.
II.阅读（共两节，满分50分）
第一节阅读理解（共20小题；每小题2分，满分40分）
阅读下面短文，从每题所给的A、B，C和D项中选出最佳选项，并在答题卡上将该项涂黑。
Like all other mothers who have small children, I, too, have to steal time-from my own children at home and from the children who know me as their teacher-just to put a few words down on paper. Many times I've wanted to write for myself, for other women, for my parents, for my husband, and especially for my children. I would have liked to leave a legacy (遗产) of words explaining what it has meant to have twins. One reason that there is not a great deal written about being a mother of a new baby is that there is seldom a moment to think of anything else but the baby's needs.
With twins, I did not have a spare hand to write with.
Before my twins were born, my days were long and I had nothing to write about. After the twins' birth I did have something to write about, but I found myself facing not a pen and paper but milk bottles.
Some nights, friends would visit. They would leave at 11 p.m., heading for bed, and for us the night was only just beginning. With twins, there is really no night. Each feeding lasts a long time. At 1:00 a.m., each of them would begin crying from hunger. At 4:00am, when I finally put them down, I felt exhausted.
Two years have passed since then and we've managed to live through it all. My days are still very full and even now there isn't one evening when I put the twins down for the night that I don't have a break. At last a little time for myself.
26. When did the writer have time but she didn't feel like writing anything?
A. Before the birth of her twins.
B. When she faced bottles of milk.
C. After her friends visited her home.
D. When she had to think about the babies' needs.
27. What does the writer mainly write about?
A. Her role as a wife. B. Her work as a writer.
C. Her experience as a mother. D. Her feeling as a woman.
28. Why did the writer say the night was just beginning (in the 4th paragraph)?
A. Because her friends left her house too late.
B. Because she started to take care of the twins even at night.
C. Because her babies often cried and she woke up.
D. Because she could not sleep till four in the morning.
29. This passage is probably from a(n) ______.
A. blog B. newspaper C. guidebook D. advertisement
30. What can we learn from the passage?
A. The writer was unhappy because of no time for writing.
B. The writer cared her babies more than her own interests.
C. The writer hated to be a mother of twins.
D. The writer could steal a little time at night.
The Zhoukoudian Beijing Man Site is one of the most important world heritage sites in China. Since the discovery, which changed China’s knowledge of its history, was made in the 1920s, Zhoukoudian has become an important place for archaeologists from all over the world. At the site in the south-west suburb of Beijing, there is, for example, the earliest evidence of the use of fire by humans. It has also been proved that people lived there continuously between 500,000 and 10,000 years ago.
Today, however, Zhoukoudian is in serious danger. Parts of the cave have been badly affected by rain and exposure to the air. Some areas are almost completely covered in weeds, causing serious damage. Pollution from nearby cement factories has also contributed to the problem.
The site is extremely expensive to maintain and it will cost between three and five million yuan to repair it. At the moment, visitors are not allowed to visit the caves.
Zhoukoudian is on the World Cultural Heritage List, organized by UNESCO, the United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization. The list is constantly checked. Any site which is seriously damaged or which is not properly protected is an endangered heritage, and UNESCO is very quick to do something about situations like this. They have recommended that the site be closed and repaired. If nothing is done to repair it, it could be removed from the list.
This is a very serious matter and the Chinese Academy of Sciences is trying to raise public awareness about it. They have suggested that the general public be encouraged to help with the problem. A professor at the Academy has proposed that a fund be established to raise money.
Dr Zhu Ming of the Academy said, “ We have requested that the government get involved, but we also need assistance from ordinary people. They can help by contributing to the cost of repairing the caves. They are a precious part of our cultural heritage—it is of vital importance that we do something. If not, it will be a catastrophe.”
36. Why is Zhoukoudian of great importance in China?
A. Because the site tells some information about how man lived in the old times.
B. Because it has brought in lots of money as a place of interest.
C. Because it is the only place in China on the World Cultural Heritage List.
D. Because it changed our knowledge of China’s history of the 1920’s.
37. What is the second paragraph about?
A. Zhoukoudian’s discovery B. Zhoukoudian’s future
C. Zhoukoudian’s in danger D. Zhoukoudian’s protection
38. The following has caused the damage of the site except________________.
A. Weeds B. Rain C. Fire D. Cement factories
39. The passage suggests that to repair Zhoukoudian, Chinese Academy of Sciences is seeking help from_________.
A. Archaeologists from all over the world B. Government and the public
C. Experts from UNESCO D. Visitors
40. Which of the following can replace the underlined word “catastrophe”?
A. case B. worry C. wonder D. disaster
Phys ed (physical education) is making a comeback as a part of the school core curriculum(核心课程)， but with a difference. While group sports are still part of the curriculum, the new way is to teach skills that are useful beyond gym class. Instead of learning how to climb a rope, children are taught to lift weights, balance their diets and build physical endurance(忍耐力). In this way，kids are given the tools and skills and experiences so they can lead a physically active life the rest of their life.
Considering that 15 percent of American children 6 to 18 are overweight, supporters say more money and thought must be put into phys ed curriculum. In many cases, that may mean not just replacing the old gym-class model with fitness programs but also starting up phys ed programs because school boards often "put P.E. on the chopping block(砧板), cutting it entirely or decreasing its teachers or the days it is offered," says Alicia Moag-Stahlberg, the executive director of Action for Health Kids. The difference in phys ed programs is partly due to the lack of a national standard. "Physical education needs to be part of the core curriculum," she added.
The wisdom of the new approach has some scientific support. Researchers at the University of Wisconsin have showed how effective the fit-for-life model of gym class can be. They observed how 50 overweight children lost more weight when they cycled and skied cross-country (越野)than when they played sports. The researchers also found that teaching sports like football resulted in less overall movement, partly because some reluctant students were able to sit on the bench.
Another problem with simply teaching group sports in gym class is that only a small percentage of students continue playing them after graduating from high school. The new method teaches skills that translate to adulthood.
31.According to the passage, what is usually taught in the old gym class?
A. Lift weights B. Climb a rope C. Cycle D. Have a balanced diet
32. What does Alicia Moag-Stahlberg mean by saying “some school boards put P. E. on the chopping block”?
A. Schools do not pay enough attention to P. E..
B. Schools welcome P. E. but do not have time for it.
C. Schools put P.E. in the first place.
D. Schools cut down other subjects’ time for P.E..
33. Which is NOT the reason to carry out phys ed programs according to the passage?
A. More teenagers are overweight.
B. Traditional group sports teaching is not effective.
C. Students need to learn some skills to help them lead a physically active life.
D. Phys ed programs need less money to support.
34. How many problems are mentioned in the passage with simply teaching group sports?
A. Two B. Three C. Four D. One
35. What’s the difference between the come-back phys ed and the ordinary gym-class model？
A. The Phys ed teaches group sports.
B. The Phys ed provides more fitness programs.
C. The Phys ed teaches tools and skills which could be used in the future life.
D. The Phys ed has more support from the government.
II阅读(共两节, 满分50分)
第一节阅读理解(共20小题；每小题2分，满分40分)
阅读下列短文，从每题所给的A、B、C和D项中，选出最佳选项，并在答题卡上将该项涂黑。
How I Turned to Be Optimistic
I began to grow up that winter night when my parents and I were returning from my aunt's house, and my mother said that we might soon be leaving for America. We were on the bus then. I was crying, and some people on the bus were turning around to look at me. I remember that I could not bear the thought of never hearing again the radio program for school children to which I listened every morning.
I do not remember myself crying for this reason again. In fact, I think I cried very little when I was saying goodbye to my friends and relatives. When we were leaving I thought about all the places I was going to see-—the strange and magical places I had known only from books and pictures. The country I was leaving never to come back was hardly in my head then.
The four years that followed taught me the importance of optimism, but the idea did not come to me at once. For the first two years in New York I was really lost—having to study in three schools as a result of family moves. I did not quite know what I was or what I should be. Mother remarried, and things became even more complex for me. Some time passed before my stepfather and I got used to each other. I was often sad, and saw no end to "the hard times."
My responsibilities in the family increased a lot since I knew English better than everyone else at home. I wrote letters, filled out forms, translated at interviews with Immigration officers, took my grandparents to the doctor and translated there, and even discussed telephone bills with company representatives.
From my experiences I have learned one important rule: almost all common troubles eventually go away! Something good is certain to happen in the end when you do not give up, and just wait a little! I believe that my life will turn out all right, even though it will not be that easy.
26.How did the author get to know America?
A. From her relatives. B. From her mother.
C. From books and pictures. D. From radio programs.
27.Upon leaving for America the author felt_______.
A. confusedB. excited
C. worried D. amazed
28.For the first two years in New York, the author _________.
A. often lost her way B. did not think about her future
C. studied in three different schools D. got on well with her stepfather
29.What can we learn about the author from Paragraph 4?
A. She worked as a translator.
B. She attended a lot of job interviews.
C. She paid telephone bills for her family.
D She helped her family with her English.
30.The author believes that______.
A. her future will be free from troubles
B. it is difficult to learn to become patient
C. there are more good things than bad things
D. good things will happen if one keeps trying