A victim of climate change
A polar bear's dead body found on the Arctic island of Svalbard, the northernmost part of Norway, has shocked experts who say climate change may be to blame for the death. The starved polar bear in Norway was said to be in good bones by the time a group of explorers came across its body in July．
The bear is thought to have been heading north in a desperate search for sea ice that would allow it to hunt for seals．"From his lying position in death, the bear appears to simply have starved to health in April when the Norwegian Polar Institute examined and labeled it． However, the animal was reduced to skin and bones and died where he dropped," polar bear expert Dr. Ian Stirling, a professor at the University of Alberta said, "He had external suggestion of any remaining fat, having been reduced to little more than skin and bone．"
Stirling believes the bear starved to death as a result of a lack of sea ice which the animals use as a platform for hunting seals． That may also explain why the 16-year-old male bear was found about 155 miles north of where it was seen in April．
Arctic sea ice reached a record low in 2012, according to a report released this week by the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration that pointed to continued signs of climate change．
The International Union for Conservation of Nature currently classifies polar bears as vulnerable on its Red List of Threatened Species．How did Stirling know the reason for the death of the polar bear?
| A．By the food he ate． | B．By doing further experiments． |
| C．By observing other polar bears． | D．By his lying position in death． |
The underlined word "vulnerable" probably means _____．
| A．easily hurt | B．difficult to hunt |
| C．dangerous | D．amazing |
What is the author's attitude to the incident?
| A．Favorable． | B．Uncaring． |
| C．Doubtful． | D．Concerned． |
Where does this text probably come from?
| A．A novel． | B．A guidebook． |
| C．A news report． | D．An advertisement． |
D
Reading poems is not exactly an everyday activity for most people．In fact, many people never read a poem once they get out of high school．
It is worth reminding ourselves that this has not always been the case in America．In the nineteenth century, a usual American activity was to sit around the fireside in the evening and read poems aloud．It is true that there was no television at the time, nor movie theaters, nor World Wide Web, to provide diversion．However, poems were a source of pleasure, of self-education, of connection to other people or to the world beyond one’s own community．Reading them was a social act as well as an individual one, and perhaps even more social than individual．Writing poems to share with friends and relations was, like reading poems by the fireside, another way in which poetry has a place in everyday life．
How did things change? Why are most Americans no longer comfortable with poetry, and why do most people today think that a poem has nothing to tell them and that they can do well without poems?
There are, I believe, three factors：poets, teachers, and we ourselves．Of these, the least important is the third: the world surrounding the poem has betrayed us more than we have betrayed the poem．Early in the twentieth century, poetry in English headed into directions unfavorable to the reading of poetry．Readers decided that poems were not for the fireside or the easy chair at night, and that they belonged where other difficult-to-read things belonged．
Poets failed the reader, so did teachers．They want their students to know something about the skills of a poem, they want their students to see that poems mean something. Yet what usually occurs when teachers push these concerns on their high school students is that young people decide poems are unpleasant crossword puzzles．
53. Reading poems is thought to be a social act in the nineteenth century because___________．
A. it built a link among people B. it helped unite a community
C. it was a source of self-education D. it was a source of pleasure
54. The underlined word “diversion” most probably means “___________”．
A. concentration B. change C. amusements D. stories
55. According to the passage, what is the main cause of the great gap between readers and poetry?
A. Students are becoming less interested in poetry．
B. Students are poorly educated in high school．
C. TV and the Internet are more attractive than poetry．
D. Poems have become difficult to understand．
56. In the last paragraph, the writer question___________．
A. the difficulty in studying poems B. the way poems are taught in school
C. students’ wrong ideas about poetry D. the techniques used in writing poem
C
“Can I see my baby?” asked the happy new mother. The bundle (婴儿包) was placed in her arms and when she moved the fold of cloth to look upon his tiny face, she held her breath—the baby had been born without ears. Time, however, proved that the baby’s hearing was perfect except his appearance.
One day when he rushed home from school and threw himself into his mother’s arms, he cried out bitterly, “A boy, a big boy … called me—a f-…freak.” She sighed, knowing that his life was to be endless of heartbreaks.
He grew up, handsome for his misfortune. A favorite with his fellow students, he might have been class president but for that. He developed a gift for literature and music.
The boy’s father had a talk with the family doctor. Could nothing be done? “I believe we could transplant on a pair of outer ears, if they could be donated ,” the doctor decided. So the search began for a person who would make such a sacrifice for a young man. Two years went by. Then, “You’re going to the hospital, son. Mother and I have someone who will donate the ears you need. But it’s a secret.” said the father.
The operation was brilliantly successfull. His talents blossomed into genius. School and college became a series of successes. Later he married and entered the diplomatic(外交) service. “But I must know!” he urged his father. “Who gave so much for me? I could never do enough for him.”
“I do not believe you could,” said the father, “but the agreement was that you are not to know … not yet.” The years kept the secret, but the day did come … one of the darkest days that ever pass through a son. He stood with his father over his mother’s casket(灵柩). Slowly and tenderly, the father stretched forth a hand and raised the thick, reddish-brown hair to let out the secret.
49.The story is mainly about _______.
A．how a boy had new ears through an operation
B．what a devoted parent privately did for the child
C．how a disabled boy turned into a useful person
D．why a donator made a sacrifice to a bright boy
50.From the first paragraph we know that the mother _______.
A．was determined to donate her ears to perfect her son
B．kept her husband unknown about the baby’s situation
C．felt shocked and disappointed to see her new baby
D．complained of her bad luck to have a disabled child
51.What can be inferred from the passage?
A．The agreement was between the donator and the family.
B．The boy was so popular that he was made class president.
C．Finally the boy came to know who the donator was.
D．The mother donated her ears to her son after she died.
52.What moral lesson can we draw from this reading?
A．Real love lies in what is done unknown rather than what is done known.
B．It is up to parents to help their children heart and soul.
C．True beauty lies only in the heart not in appearance.
D．It is a virtue for young generations to learn to be grateful.
B
When I asked my daughter which item she would keep; the phone, the car, the cooker, the computer, the TV, or her boyfriend, she said “the phone”. Personally, I couldn’t do without the phone entirely, which makes me unusual, Because the telephone is changing our lives more than any other piece of technology.
Point 1 The telephone creates the need to communicate, in the same way that more roads create more traffic. My daughter comes home from school at 4:00 pm and then spends an hour on the phone talking to the very people she has been with at school all day. If the phone did not exist, would she have anything to talk about?
Point 2 The mobile phone means that we are never alone. “The mobile saved my life,” says Crystal Johnstone. She had an accident in her Volvo on the A45 between Otley and Skipton. Trapped inside, she managed to make the call that brought the ambulance to her rescue.
Point 3 The mobile removes our secret. It allows marketing manager of Haba Deutsch, Carl Nicolaisen, to ring his sales staff all round the world at any time of day to ask where they are , where they are going, and how their last meeting went.
Point 4 The telephone separates us. Antonella Bramante in Rome says, “We worked in separate offices but I could see him through the window. It was easy to get his number. We were so near——but we didn’t meet for the first two weeks!”
Point 5 The telephone allows us to reach out beyond our own lives. Today we can talk to several complete strangers simultaneously (同时地) on chat lines (at least my daughter does. I wouldn’t know what to talk about). We can talk across the world. We can even talk to astronauts (if you know any) while they’re space-walking. And, with the phone line hooked up to the computer, we can access the Internet, the biggest library on Earth.
45．How do you understand ‘Point 1 —The telephone creates the need to communicate,…’？
A．People don’t communicate without telephone.
B．People communicate because of the creating of the telephone.
C．People communicate more since telephone has been created.
D．People communicate more because of more traffic.
46．Which points do you think support the idea that phones improve people’s life?
a．Point 1． b．Point2． c．Point3． d．Point 4． e．Point 5．
A．c, d B．a, e C．a, c D．b, e
47．It is possible to talk to several complete strangers simultaneously through .
A．the TV screen B．a fax machine
C．the phone line hooked up to the computer D．a microphone
48．The best heading for the passage is .
A．Phone Power B．Kinds of Phone
C． How to Use Phones D．Advantage of Phones
第二部分阅读理解（共25小题，第一节每小题2分，第二节每小题1分；满分45分）
第一节，阅读下面短文，从每题所给的四个选项（A、B、C和D）中，选出最佳选项，并在答题卡上将该项涂黑。
A
Bollworms are a traditional threat to cotton crops．Young ones feed on the boll，the part of the cotton plant that contains the seeds．
A bacterium known as Bt is able to kill bollworms and some other pests．Bt is the short form for Bacillus thuringiensis．It was discovered in the early twentieth century．Farmers began using Bt as a natural pesticide(杀虫剂)．
Then，in the 1990s，researchers found a way to grow cotton plants that contain a Bt gene．The genetically improved cotton plant produces liquid that kills bollworms．Farmers around the world are now growing an estimated fourteen million hectares of Bt cotton．
Cotton bollworms also attack other crops．But scientists in China recently reported that Bt cotton may help prevent bollworm in other crops growing nearby．
The study involved crops grown in six provinces of northern China between 1992 and 2008．The study area contained three million hectares of cotton and twenty-two million hectares of corn，peanuts，soybeans and vegetables．
The researchers say the study suggested that Bt cotton not only controls bollworm on the transgenic cotton，but also may reduce its existence on other crops．And that reduction，they say，may decrease the need for insecticide use in general．
But the researchers also pointed out concerns．They say bollworms could develop resistance to the cotton plants designed to resist them．And they noted that insects called mirids have become “key pests” of cotton in China．They said this is because of a decrease in pesticide use made possible by Bt cotton．
The researchers say they do not believe that Bt cotton alone can solve all insect problems．Instead，they say farmers in China should consider it just one part of pest management systems．
41．What is Bt in this passage?
A．It's a kind of hi-tech invention． B．It's a natural bacterium．
C．It's a kind of pest． D．It's a man-made pesticide．
42．Bt cotton has all the advantages EXCEPT that ________．
A．it resists bollworms
B．it does good to other crops growing around
C．it reduces the use of insecticide
D．it helps to develop new insects
43．The underlined word “ones” in the first paragraph refers to ________．
A．bollworms B．cotton crops C．cotton seeds D．pests
44．From the passage，we can infer ________．
A．farmers around the world are now growing a large area of Bt cotton
B．researchers are probably now searching for new ways to solve other cotton problems C．bollworms could not exist in Bt cotton any longer
D．Chinese scientists found the way to grow Bt cotton
E
I find it pleasant to be alone the greater part of the time; to be in company, even with the best, is soon tiresome and wasteful, and I never found a companion so companionable as solitude (独处).
We are for the most part more lonely when we go abroad than when we stay in the meeting-rooms, for solitude is not measured by the miles of space between a man and his fellows.
The farmer, who can work alone all day without feeling lonesome, but must do something with others to get pleasure at night, wonders how the student can sit alone at night; he does not realize that the student, though in the house, is actually at work in his field and cutting his wood as the farmer was in his.
Society is commonly too cheap：We meet at very short intervals (间隔) ,not having had time to get any new value for each other; we meet at meals three times a day and give each other a new taste of that unpleasant old cheese; we live thick and are in each other’s way, and I think that we thus lose some respect for one another.
We have had to agree on a certain set of rules, called etiquette and politeness, to make this frequent meeting tolerable (可忍受的); certainly less frequency would be enough for all important and hearty communications between men.
It would be better if there were but one to live within a square mile, as where I live ,for as the value of a man is not in his skin, we need not touch him.
72．The writer uses the example of the farmer and the student to show that _____.
A．men need to do something for pleasure after their work.
B．men are not lonely when they are working.
C．solitude is necessary for a student.
D．people have different ideas of solitude.
73．When the writer says：“Society is commonly too cheap” he means that ______.
A．we meet not frequently enough so we don’t understand each other well.
B．we eat cheap food and live a simple life so we don’t feel very happy.
C．our lives are too regular for us to find any happiness in them.
D．people don’t have enough hearty communication to realize the value in others
74．The writer’s opinion on the value of a man is that _____.
A．it is made too low by the rules of etiquette and politeness.
B．it can be discovered through frequent physical touch.
C．it can be found in a man’s appearance.
D．it doesn’t lie in physical touch.
75．The writer almost believes that ______.
A．a student and a farmer have no idea of solitude.
B．the same life we live every day is the cause of man’s loneliness.
C．etiquette and politeness are rules that make frequent meetings tolerable.
D．less frequent meetings can make us more clear about the value of men.