The illegal ivory trade has been a major problem in Africa for decades. Poachers(偷猎者) and hunters have killed off hundreds of thousands of elephants to obtain this precious material. Now, affected areas are taking action. The International Union for Conservation of Nature (IUCN) announced on Wednesday that key states where poaching takes place have promised to stop the ivory trade and protect Africa’s elephants.
In the 1980s, as many as 1 million elephants across Africa were killed for their ivory tusks. This continued until 1989, when the Convention on International Trade in Species (CITES) voted to ban all trade in ivory. With trade choked off, demand for ivory fell. Elephant populations slowly began to increase. However, this progress was short-lived.
According to the IUCN, 2011 saw the highest levels of poaching and illegal ivory trading in at least 16 years. Around 25,000 elephants were killed in Africa that year. Preliminary data from the IUCN shows even higher levels of illegal trade may have been reached in 2013. “With about 22,000 elephants illegally killed in 2012, we continue to face a critical situation,” said John E. Scanlon, CITES Secretary-General. “Current elephant poaching in Africa remains far too high, and could soon lead to local extinctions if the present killing rate continues.”
At the African Elephant Summit, key African states where elephants make their home agreed to develop a “zero-tolerance attitude” towards poaching. The deal calls for maximum sentences for poachers and hunters, and increased cooperation between affected states. Officials are determined to classifying wildlife trading as a serious crime — and to making sure that the people who commit it are punished. All participants at the conference agreed to sign the deal. With these states coming together, there may yet be hope for elephants. (293 words)What’s the best title for this passage?
| A．New Hope for Elephants. | B． Elephants are dying. |
| C．Elephants are valuable. | D． How to protect elephants |
The underlined phrase “choked off” in Paragraph 2 can be replaced by “________”.
| A． appreciated | B． prevented | C． admitted | D． explored |
Which of the following statements is NOT true according to the passage?
| A．The CITES has helped to improve elephants’ situation ever since 1989. |
| B．Around one million elephants across Africa were killed for their ivory tusks in the 1980s. |
| C．The poaching and illegal ivory trading in 2011 were very serious. |
| D．The situation of elephants in 2012 was still terrible. |
All of the following measures will be taken to protect elephants EXCEPT ________.
| A．to identify wildlife trading a serious crime |
| B．to punish those who buy or sell wildlife belongings |
| C．to sentence all wildlife poachers and hunters to death |
| D．to work together to fight against wildlife hunting |
What’s the main idea of this passage?
| A．The illegal ivory trade has been a major problem in Africa. |
| B．Elephants in Africa may die out because of the illegal poaching. |
| C．Hunting elephants will be recognized as a very serious crime. |
| D．A new agreement aims to develop a “zero-tolerance attitude” towards poaching. |
Driving cars, trucks and motorcycles is an important part of our lives. We do it every day to get to work, to school or to friends' houses.
Traffic accidents declare millions of lives every year worldwide. In Taiwan alone, over seven people are killed in accidents every day. The annual death rate from traffic accidents in Taiwan is twice that of Japan.
To allow traffic to move smoothly and safely, everybody must follow the rules. Before you drive, learn all the traffic laws. That way of driving is safe, convenient and even fun! The underlined sentence “Traffic accidents declare millions of lives worldwide” in the passage means “_______”.
A．Traffic accidents make some people become mi llionaires |
| B．Many people die from traffic accidents |
| C．Millions of people say they themselves have had traffic accidents |
| D．Millions of people remain healthy after traffic accidents |
According to the passage, driving can be safe if _______.
| A．you are patient | B．you obey all the traffic rules |
| C．you don't cut another car off | D．you wait in line at a red light |
Which of the following may be the best title for this passage? _______.
| A．Traffic Safety | B．A Careful driver |
| C．How To Drive A Car | D．A Traffic Accident |
The common cold is the world's most widespread illness, which is a plague that man receives.
The most widespread mistake of all is that colds are caused by cold. They are not. They are caused by viruses passing on from person to person. You catch a cold by coming into contact directly or indirectly, with someone who already has one. If cold causes colds, it would be reasonable to expect the Eskimos to suffer from them forever. But they do not. And in isolated Arctic regions, explorers have reported being free from colds until coming into contract again with infected people from the outside world by way of packages and mail dropped from airplanes.
During the First World War, soldiers who spent long periods in the 
trenches, cold and wet, seldom caught colds.
In the Second World War, prisoners at Auschwitz concentration camp, naked and starved, were astonished to find that they seldom had colds.
At the Common Cold Research Unit in England, volunteers took part in experiments in which they gave themselves to the discomforts of being cold and wet for long stretches of time. After taking hot baths, they put on bathing suits, allowed themselves to be with cold water, and then stood about dripping wet in a room. Some wore wet socks all day while others exercised in the rain until close to exhaustion. Not one of the volunteers came down with a cold unless a cold virus was actually dropped in his nose.
If then, cold and wet have nothing to do with catching colds, why are they more frequent in winter? Despite the most hard research, no one has yet found out the answer. One explanation offered by scientists is that people tend to stay together indoors more in cold weather than at other times, and that makes it easier for cold viruses to be passed on.
No one has yet found a cure for the cold. There are drugs and pain-killers such as aspirin, but all that they do is to relieve the symptoms.The writer offered ___ examples to support his argument.
| A．4 | B．5 | C．6 | D．3 |
Arctic explorers may catch colds when___.
| A．they are working in the isolated Arctic regions |
| B．they are writing reports in terribly cold weather |
| C．they are free from work in the isolated Arctic regions |
| D．they are coming into touch again with the outside world |
Volunteers taking part in the experiments in the Common Cold Research Unit___.
| A．suffered a lot | B．never caught colds |
| C．often caught colds | D．became very strong |
The passage mainly discusses___.
| A．the experiments on the common cold |
| B．the fallacy about the common cold |
| C．the reason and the way people catch colds |
| D．the continued spread of common colds |
Dubai boasts(夸口) that it has just built a “new global landmark”---the Dubai Tower, which stands 512.1 meters high now and has just become the tallest building in the world.
The Dubai Tower now surpassesTaiwan’s Taipei 101, which is 508 meters tall, and has 141 storeys, more than any other building in the world.
The Dubai Tower, being built by South Korea’s Samsung Corporation and scheduled for completion next year, is one of a series of great projects taking shape in Dubai. The final projected height of the tower has remained a secret since the project was launched in January 2004; however, it is rumored that the tower will be more than 700 meters tall and have more than 160 storeys.
The Dubai Tower has become the tallest building in the world in just 1,276 days, leaving behind other tall buildings.
The Dubai Tower will house 30,000 apartments in addition to the world’s largest shopping mall. It is the centerpiece(重要工程) of the 20-billion-dollar venture. Another venture gradually emerging across the desert sands is Dubailand, a series of multi-billion-dollar projects claimed to be the Middle East’s very own Orlando. Dubai also paid 100 million dollars to buy the Queen Elizabeth II, one of the world’s superb cruise liners(游轮), which it plans to turn into a luxury floating hotel.
Faced with decreasing oil wealth, the Western-oriented emirate(酋长国) has raced to turn itself into a business and leisure hub and it aims to more than double the number of tourists to 15 million by 2015. The underlined word “surpasses” in the second paragraph means____.
| A．is equal to | B．matches | C．is left behind by | D．is higher than |
Which building was the tallest in the world before the Dubai Tower began to be built?
| A．Dubai land | B．Orlando | C．Taiwan’s Taipei 101 | D．The Twin Towers |
Why has the Western-oriented emirate paid more attention to becoming a business and leisure center?
| A．Because it wants to attract more tourists to its places of interest. |
| B．Because it produces less oil than ever. |
| C．Because it aims to race with other countries to show its wealth. |
| D．Because it wants to set a new world record. |
Which of the following statements about the Dubai Tower is TRUE according the passage ?
| A．The Dubai Tower is 508 meters tall and has more than 141 storeys. |
| B．The final height of the Dubai Tower is over 700 meters tall. |
| C．Samsung Corporation has completed building the Dubai Tower. |
| D．The Dubai Tower has apartments and a shopping mall. |
That year , in the local school, there was a new math teacher, as well as some new pupils. One of the new kids was the stupidest child anyone had ever seen. It made no difference how quickly or how slowly they tried explaining numbers to him; he would always end up saying something enormously stupid. Like two plus two was five, seven times three was twenty-seven, or a triangle had thirty corners……
Before this boy arrived, math lessons had been the most boring of all. Now they were great fun. Encouraged by the new teacher, the children would listen to the pieces of nonsense spouted by the new kid, and they would have to correct his mistakes.
Whenever the new teacher asked questions, the stupid kid would stand up but made the wrong answers, the other students all wanted to be the first to find his mistakes, and then think up the most original ways to explain them. To do this they used all kinds of stuff : sweets, playing cards, oranges, paper planes, etc. It didn’t seem like any of this bothered the new kid.
However, Little Lewis was sure that it was bound to make him feel sad inside. Lewis was sure he would see him crying. So, one day, he decided to follow the new kid home after school. On leaving school, the new kid walked a few minutes to a local park, and there he waited for a while, until someone came along to meet him……
It was the new teacher!
The teacher gave the new kid a hug, and off they went, hand in hand. Following from a distance, Lewis could hear they were talking about math.根据短文第二三段描述，可知这位新老师的工作很有创造性，故选A。
根据短文最后一段Following from a distance, Lewis could hear they were talking about math.描述，可知选B，这个所谓的最蠢的学生其实比其它学生知道的多。
根据Lewis was sure he would see him crying. So, one day, he decided to follow the new kid home after school.描述，可知选B。
联系上文To do this they used all kinds of stuff :可知选C。
The math lessons became interesting again because of the new teacher’s ___________.
| A．creativity | B．imagination | C．responsibility | D．curiosity |
The passage implies that the stupidest child____________________________.
| A．was in great need of math teacher’s help after class |
| B．knew much more about math than other classmates |
| C．had no much gift for math and was slow to learn it |
| D．disliked both the new math teacher and his lessons |
According to the passage, Lewis followed the stupidest in order to ______________.
| A．learn about where he lived | B．find out if he felt upset |
| C．say something to comfort him | D．make friends with him |
What does the underlined word “this” in the third paragraph refer to ?
| A．To find the stupidest kid’s mistakes. |
| B．To think up the most original ways to explain. |
| C．To use all kinds of stuff. |
| D．To follow him home after school. |
“I never expected that I would be so busy. Why can’t there be 25 hours in a day?” complained Liu Ran in Hong Kong as mid-term exams were going on.
The 18-year-old was Shandong Province’s top scorer in this year’s college entrance examination. After graduating from Tai’an No.1 High School, she chose the Chinese University of Hong Kong(香港中文大学) ， although both Peking University and Tsinghua University promised her a place.
“I want to experience a more international school and social life in Hong Kong. I’m majoring in journalism, so Hong Kong will surely help widen my horizons,” Liu said.
It is two months since Liu first set foot on Hong Kong. She missed home a lot at the beginning, because of the food and language problems.
“The canteen offers mostly Western or Guangdong food, but it’s convenient to cook for ourselves in our dorm if we like. People speak Cantonese and almost all classes are in English,” Liu explained.
Her English and Cantonese are now both improving, but she still needs more time to adapt to the new environment.
“I’m happy that I made the right decision to study here. With a mix of the Eastern and Western cultures, there is so much to discover and learn,” she said.
Liu has 18 credit hours(学分) of classes every week and 23 non-credit hours every other week. She has signed up for four associations including the Chinese Language Debating Team and the drama club. Essays, book reports and presentations also take plenty of time to prepare. And , of course, there are various parties to attend.
“I wasn’t a party animal before, but that may be interesting part of college. I sense myself changing,” Liu said.Liu Ran chose the Chinese University of Hong Kong, because___________.
| A．she couldn’t be admitted to Peking University |
| B．Hong Kong is a good place |
| C．she wants to be far from her homeland |
| D．the Chinese University of Hong Kong can widen her horizons |
According to the last paragraph, we can infer______________________________.
| A．now Liu Ran is an animal |
| B．Liu Ran hates the busy life in the Chinese University of Hong Kong |
| C．Liu Ran likes the food there |
| D．the busy and full life makes Liu Ran feel good |
Liu Ran had to overcome the difficulties in many aspects EXCEPT_______________.
| A．food | B．language | C．missing home | D．no friends |