Americans can travel almost anywhere they choose. But to protect its people, the government lists a few dangerous places where Americans cannot go. These places are unfriendly countries or countries at war. There, the travelers might not be safe. These countries are listed in a small book called a passport(护照).
This passport is a government request for the safety of its traveling people. It is also a government’s pledge(保证) that the people will obey the rules of the host country. To receive a passport from the government, a traveler must prove that he is an American citizen. An American cannot go abroad without a passport. Only certain close countries such as Canada and Mexico do not ask for passports
Stuck(贴) inside the passport is the traveler’s picture. Children traveling with their parents are included in one parent’s book.
Thousands of people from the United States visit other countries every year. An American traveler might carry plane tickets, money, clothing and many other things. But the most important thing that he carries in another country is his passport.Why does a traveler need a passport?
A.It helps the country to protect the people |
B.It helps the traveler to know where he will go |
C.He needs to have his picture taken more often |
D.He needs something more to carry when he travels |
A passport is not needed when an American goes to_____.
A.European countries | B.Dangerous areas |
C.Canada or Mexico | D.Russia and China |
It can be inferred from the text that_____.
A.Americans abroad need nothing except a passport |
B.children can’t travel to foreign countries |
C.a traveler is not safe in most countries |
D.Americans travel abroad a lot |
Which is best supported by the text?
A.A passport is needed whenever an American is traveling |
B.Everyone in American can get a passport from the American government |
C.The American travelers abroad must obey the rules of foreign countries |
D.The American government allows its people to work in dangerous countries |
根据对话内容,从对话后的选项中选出能填入空白处的最佳选项。选项中有两项为多余选项。
-Mary, do you want to see the pictures of my holiday in Italy?
-61
-Ah, it was great! The food was great! The wine was great! But the traffic was terrible!
-62
-Those Italians are crazy drivers! I don’t want to think about it!
— 63
-Yes, so here’s a picture of the Tower of Pisa.
-How nice!
-It was raining that day, but it was still wonderful. We climbed to the top!
-64
-That’s a photo of the Arno River. That’s the “Ponte Vecchio”, the old bridge.
-65
-It was very interesting. There were beautiful old buildings in the city, and lots of wonderful museums.
-That’s nice.
A.And what’s this? |
B.Why was it so bad? |
C.Yes, it was wonderful. |
D. What was Florence like? |
E.Let’s return to the good parts.
F.Sure, what was your holiday like?
G. Well, did you like your hotel there?
President Bush may talk about a plan to Mars, but Bruce Jones thinks there is still a healthy thirst for exploration into underwater worlds on our own planet. After growing up with a grandfather in the marine construction①business, Jones quickly got a feel for the water. He started diving at age 9 and, by the 1980s, began offering advice for those interested in the submarine②business. By 1993, he was running his own company, U.S. Submarines, which designs and builds submarines for others.
Jones has $40 million spent in building a hotel where the most expensive rooms will be 50 feet under the sea off Eleuthera Island in the Bahamas. Unlike the Jules Undersea Lodge — the only undersea hotel now, just off the coast of Key Largo, Fla. — guests at the Poseidon won’t need to put on a wet suit to their rooms. They also won’t need to worry about changing pressure levels since the rooms will be kept at above-surface pressure. Instead, they can move easily to their $1,500-a-night underwater rooms by escalator③.
“I think there are a large number of people who would be interested,” said Jones, “including anyone who is looking for a different experience.”
Each room will feature strong walls that look out onto coral④gardens. There will be controls in each room that guests can use to change the lighting of the underwater worlds outside their windows and to provide food to fish swimming just outside. It sounds exciting— but will it happen? It’s hard to say.
“By now I envisioned⑤we’d have whole underwater cities,” Cooper said. “It’s about time some of these visions became reality.”
Notes:
① marine construction海洋建筑
② submarine adj. 海下的
③ escalator n.自动梯
④ coral n.珊瑚
⑤ envision v.展望
1. The first paragraph takes President Bush for example in order to ______.
A. praise President Bush’s plan to Mars
B. humorously introduce the main subject to readers
C. support President Bush’s plan to Mars
D. show Bruce Jones is against President Bush’s plan
2. According to the text, who had a great effect on Bruce Jones?
A. His father. B. His friends. C. His grandfather D. His grandmother
3. According to Bruce Jones’s undersea hotel, we know that ______.
A. fish outside can be seen through the hotel’s walls
B. the hotel has been built and came into use
C. it will be easy to swim into the underwater rooms
D. visitors will have to wear wet suits against water
4. According to Cooper’s words, his attitudes towards the underwater hotels are ______.
A. disappointed B. critical C. objective D. hopeful
A new study shows one of the largest glaciers①in Greenland is becoming smaller and speeding to the sea faster than scientists expected. If it continues, Greenland itself could become much smaller during this century and global seas could rise as much as 3 feet.
The rates②of change that we’re noticing are much higher than expected. If these rates continue, it is not unlikely that Greenland could shrink③by several tens of percent this century. However, it’s not known how quickly this coastal response of the Greenland ice sheet melting will have an effect on the vast inland ice.
Greenland is the world’s largest island, covering an area more than three times the size of Texas. Some 81 percent of it is covered by ice, and there are many glaciers. Glaciers are like slow-moving rivers of ice. Where a glacier meets the sea, its weight keeps it firmly resting on the bottom. A glacier’s front is the point where the water is deep enough that the glacier floats.
Since the 1970s, the front of Helheim stayed in the same place. Then it began melting rapidly, moving back 4.5 miles from 2001 through this past summer. It has also grown thinner, from top to bottom, by more than 130 feet since 2001. And over these past four years, its trip to the sea has sped up from about 70 feet per day to nearly 110.
The melting is driven by a warmer climate. Temperatures in Greenland have risen more than five degrees Fahrenheit in the last decade. Since most of Greenland’s ice is on land, seas will rise as the ice melts. If all Greenland’s ice sheet melted, oceans would be 15-20 feet higher. Nobody expects that to happen anytime soon.
Notes:
① glacier n.冰川
② rate n.比率
③ shrink v.缩小
1. Which of the following about the glaciers is TRUE?
A. Glaciers only lie in Greenland. B. Water in glaciers is more than sea water.
C. Glaciers sometimes float on the water. D. Glaciers can increase the water level of lakes.
2. According to the text, we know that Greenland ______.
A. belongs to Canada B. is the largest island in North America
C. is all covered with glaciers D. is sinking under the sea level
3. Which of the following may be the result of the disappearing of Greenland glaciers?
A. the climate of the world will be warmer.
B. the glaciers in other area will be bigger.
C. It will be easy for explorers to visit the island.
D. Some coastal cities may be under the sea.
The United States is one of the few countries in the world that has an official day on which fathers are honored by their children. On the third Sunday in June, fathers all across the United States are given presents, treated to dinner or otherwise made to feel special.
However, the idea for creating a day for children to honor their fathers began in Spokane, Washington. A woman by the name of Sonora Smart Dodd thought of the idea for Father’s Day while listening to a Mother’s Day sermon① in 1909. Having been raised by her father, Henry Jackson Smart, after her mother died, Sonora wanted her father to know how special he was to her. It was her father that made all the parental sacrifices② and was, in the eyes of his daughter, a selfless and loving man. Sonora’s father was born in June, so she chose to hold the first Father’s Day celebration in Spikane, Washington on the 19th of June, 1910.
In 1924 President Calvin Coolidge declared the third Sunday in June as Father’s Day. Roses are the Father’s Day flowers: red to be worn for a living father and white if the father has died.
When children can’t visit their fathers or take them out to dinner, they send a greeting card. Traditionally, fathers prefer greeting cards that are not too sentimental③. Most greeting cards are too special so fathers laugh when they open them. Some give heartfelt thanks for being there whenever the child needed Dad.
Notes:
① sermon v.布道
② sacrifices n.牺牲
③ sentimental adj.感伤的
1. The United States is special in Father’s Day because ______.
A. many people celebrate the day B. only America celebrates the day
C. America makes it an official day D. all men are honored in America
2. At first, Father’s Day was fixed on June 19th because ______.
A. Sonora honored her father on her father’s birthday
B. Sonora’s birthday was June 19
C. it was decided by the president at that time
D. her mother died on June 19
3. How many years has passed before Father’s Day became an official day since the father’s day was celebrated?
A. 4 B. 10 C. 14 D. 24
4. According to the passage, on Father’s Day, ______.
A. people will wear the same flowers to honor their fathers
B. only daughters wear red flowers to honor their fathers
C. children must go home to honor their fathers
D. fathers are often honored in different ways
5. According to the passage, we can infer that Henry Jackson Smart ______.
A. was very kind to anyone
B. did a lot for his daughter
C. was the first father honored in 1924
D. always help others by giving money
The dams① aimed at saving Venice from the waves have been backed greatly. After eight years of argument, it plans to build 79 gates across three channels connecting the lagoon around Venice with the Adriatic Sea. The gates would be open most of the time but would be closed if there is a danger to the city.
The project, though, has run into fears that it could worsen Venice’s problems. The city throws waste into the lagoon, and environmentalists fear the dams will cause this pollution to become worse if there is no tide to wash it out regularly. But if there is a tide, the flow can wash away about 550 million cubic meters of the lagoon in a single day, which means that by leaving the dam open for only a few hours, the waste should be cleaned out.
Another piece of good news is that British scientists are confident that the dams will be able to face an expected rise in sea levels caused by global warming. The gates are designed to stand a 22-centimetre rise in sea levels, but many scientists expect a global rise in sea levels of 31cm by 2100.
However, Trevor Davies and Isabel Trigo from University of East Anglia believe the dams are unlikely to broken. Climate change will weaken the local storms in the Adriatic that are the main cause of flood risk. Floodwaters are also a seasonal danger in Venice, usually because of a combination of spring tides and strong winds.
Venice, which rests on wooden piles driven into boggy③ ground, has been sinking for centuries, worsening the encroachment by the sea.
Notes:
① dam n.大坝
② lagoon n.泻湖
③ boggy adj.泥泞的
④ encroachment n.蚕食
Choose the best answers according to the above:
1. Which of the following is the main idea of the text?
A. Venice will not disappear into the sea.
B. Dams are designed to protect Venice.
C. Venice are facing dangers from the tides.
D. Global warming makes Venice worse and worse.
2. If the project comes into use, the waste in the lagoon ______.
A. will be washed away by the tides B. will be sent to the higher places
C. will be carried away by workers D. will have to be reused by humans
3. According to the idea of Trevor Davies, the dams won’t be broken because ______.
A. the dams are higher than the buildings in Venice
B. there will be no tides or floods in the future
C. the climate all over the world will soon be cold
D. the storms in the Adriatic will be weaker in the future
4. According to the text, we can infer that Venice ______.
A. has been sinking for hundreds of years
B. may suffer from spring tides and strong winds
C. will be under the sea sooner or later
D. will be a city with dams around except 78 gates