It is generally believed that we are getting cleaned when we step under a shower. We are, but we’re also giving a home to lots of tiny little creatures we didn’t even know about. A showerhead carries thousands of bacteria called Mycobacterium．These can cause problems like coughs and tiredness, and a general feeling of poorliness (身体不舒服). When you turn on the water, the bacteria go from the showerhead onto and into your body.
This is a finding of Norman R. Pace and his team at the University of Colorado, in the US. The scientists investigated bacteria in all kinds of human environment, including showers．Pace's team looked at 45 showerheads in nine American cities. They discovered that 30 percent of them had large amounts of flying Mycobacterium.
But Pace said that they pose few threats to the health．Only those with a weak immune system might need to worry．He told the New York Times that the bacteria are not as unpleasant as might be thought．He said that having a shower is no more dangerous than anything else we do in the morning．
But for those who feel sick about the idea of all those microorganisms (微生物), he had some advice. Let the water run for 30 seconds before getting into the shower. Why? The number of bacteria is smaller than that when the water is just turned on. If that seems like a waste of water, he added that you could also change your showerhead every few months.
However, Pace had good news too. He has also been testing the air in US subways. Apart from iron particles (粒子), which are ground off the track by the wheels of trains, subway air is fresh. The reason is that a train’s movement pumps fresh outdoor air into the tunnels.
Pace explained that he wanted to understand the natural microbial environments of public places. This kind of knowledge might help discover the microbes to be used in a bioterrorist (生物恐怖分子) attack.From the finding of Norman R. Pace, after taking a shower, we might cough or feel tired because .
| A．it’s easy to get a cold when taking a bath |
| B．the showerhead carries many bacteria causing illness |
| C．we don’t get cleaned while showering |
| D．we don’t get a weak immune system |
According to the passage, which of the following is TRUE?
| A．Hot water could kill most of bacteria in showerheads. |
| B．Of 45 showerheads surveyed in nine cities, 30 carried large amounts of Mycobacterium. |
| C．Changing showerheads is the only way to avoid microorganisms. |
| D．Shower water contains much less bacteria after being left to run for 30 seconds. |
We can learn from the third paragraph that .
| A．having a shower in the morning is more dangerous than at other time |
| B．the bacteria always threat people’s health |
| C．there is no reason to fear microorganisms for people with strong immune system |
| D．it is better to do some exercise in the morning than have a shower |
The underlined word “pose” in the third paragraph probably means “______”．
| A．cause | B．avoid | C．describe | D．promise |
What contributes to fresh air in US subways?
| A．The train’s movement. | B．Iron particles． |
| C．Train wheels. | D．Air conditioners on the trains． |
The kids at Shute Country Primary School in Devon are surprisingly quiet when it’s time to go home in the afternoon, instead of the usual shouting and running you can hear them asking each other, “ Are the lights all off?”, “Shall we check the taps in case they are dripping （滴水）?”, “How many paper towels did we use today?”
But it’s not unusual here．The kids have declared a war on waste．
“We’ve never made the children do anything,” explains Liz Templar, the school’s head teacher, “they came up with all ideas themselves．They’re doing this because they want to．”
If you take a look around the school you won’t see anything thrown away unnecessarily．Everything is collected and reused, or sent to be recycled．
Shute School started its green_revolution_two years ago．They looked carefully at every party of school life－from the teaching to the cleaning．They looked at the way stationery（文具） was used－especially photocopying, the way cleaning was carried out, and how food was used and wasted!
Even parents were looked at: how many children came in each car? Did they use unleaded petrol? Could they bring more children in fewer cars?
High on the list was the waste of paper．Next came unfriendly cleaning products．Paper towels were replaced with recycled paper．But the hardest thing for the kids was when they found out how much rubbish was created by the chocolate, crisps and other snacks（小吃） eaten at lunch time．Of their own accord（自愿地）, the children gave them up．Now they bring apples and home-made snacks．
The school has its own garden where they grow vegetables and flowers so that they can learn about the environment．They also use this area for their recycling store-large containers to collect aluminum, bottles, plate and fabric（织物）．
Even the school’s play area is made from recycled things．
Since the children started, the school’s heating and lighting bills have fallen obviously and the number of rubbish bags has gone down from seven a week to two or three．
Everywhere in Shute School there are bright posters asking everyone to take their rubbish home, to save energy and paper and to keep the green flag flying．
1．Which of the following best describes the writer’s idea?
A．The pupils at Shute School are fighting against pollution．
B．The pupils at Shute School are learning to save things．
C．The pupils at Shute School have declared a war on waste．
D．The pupils at Shute School have found a way to recycle waste things．
2．We can infer from the text that “green revolution” means _______．
A．beautifying schoolyard B．activity against waste
C．planting green plants D．throwing away waste
3．What do the children think creates the most waste?
A．Paper towels． B．Cleaning products．
C．Snacks． D．Paper．
4．We learn from the text that the children’s behavior ____________．
A．has brought arguments
B．has saved the school’s cost
C．was against by their parents
D．was forced by their head teacher
WILD WEATHERMAN
Name: Sam Champion
Hot job: TV Weatherman
Where: WABC-TV, New York City
When you were a child, did you plan to forecast wind, rain, and snow on TV?
I wanted to be a foreign journalist．I took courses in weather science at Eastern Kentucky University, but I majored in broadcasting news．
How did you finally become a weatherman?
My first job in the early 80’s was at the local TV station in Paducah, Kentucky．I did everything from turning on the lights in the morning to writing and delivering morning news．I put together weather forecasts, and became interested in them．
Back then, how did you forecast weather?
Independent companies collected computer information that showed, for example, how a single weather system might split into snow or snow mixed with rain．The information was often opposite and the job of a weatherman was to study the information and make the best educated guess about the storm．
Has weather forecasting changed much with new technology?
Advanced computers, satellites, and Doppler radar （sound waves used to track storms） have made forecasting more exact．But we still know very little about how weather is shaped．So far, we just have theories．
Any advice for children who’d like to become weather scientists?
To me, weather is the most exciting field in the world．There are still so many more questions about weather than answers．After all, if we can’t foresee floods or hurricanes, how safe a society are we? Weather forecasting is wide open for scientists who love to solve puzzling problems．The next generation of meteorologists （weather scientists） will unlock many of Earth’s weather secrets．So get a general knowledge of Earth science, and study meteorology （weather science） in college．
Thanks, Sam．
1．Judging from the writing style, the text is ________．
A．a diary B．an interview C．a news story D．an announcement
2．As a child, ABC-TV’s Sam Champion wanted to be a ________．
A．space scientist B．weatherman C．news reporter D．meteorologist
3．Present weather forecasting technology ________．
A．has made weather report more exact than ever
B．is still not perfect
C．hasn’t changed much in the last 50 years
D．both A and B
4．The study of weather science is called ________．
A． meteorology B． forecasting C ．geography D． earth science
Do dogs understand us?
Be careful what you say around your dog．It might understand more than you think．
A border collie named Rico recognizes the names of about 200 objects, say researchers in Germany．The dog also appears to be able to learn new words as easily as a 3-year-old child．Its word-learning skills are as good as those of a parrot or chimpanzee．
In one experiment, the researchers took all 200 items that Rico is supposed to know and divided them into 20 groups of 10 objects．Then the owner told the dog to go and fetch one of the items and bring it back．In four tests, Rico got 37 out of 40 commands right．As the dog couldn't see anyone to get clues, the scientists believe Rico must understand the meanings of certain words．
In another experiment, the scientists took one toy that Rico had never seen before and put it in a room with seven toys whose names the dog already knew．The owner then told Rico to fetch the object, using a word the dog had never heard before．
The correct object was chosen in seven out of ten tests, suggesting that the dog had worked
out the answer by process of elimination（排除法）．A month later, Rico remembered half of the new names, which is even more impressive．
Rico is thought to be smarter than the average dog．For one thing, Rico is a border collie, a breed （品种）known for its mental abilities．In addition, the 9-year-old dog has been trained to fetch toys by their names since the age of nine months．
It's hard to know if all dogs understand at least some of the words we say．Even if they do, they can't talk back．Still, it wouldn't hurt to sweet-talk your dog every now and then．You might just get a big, wet kiss in return!
1．From paragraph 2 we know that __________．
A．animals are as clever as human beings
B．chimpanzees have very good word-learning skills
C．dogs are smarter than parrots and chimpanzees
D．dogs have similar learning abilities as 3-year-old children
2．Both experiments show that_____________．
A．Rico is smart enough to get all commands right
B．Rico can recognize different things including toys
C．Rico has developed the ability of learning mathematics
D．Rico won't forget the names of objects once recognizing them
3．Which of the following statements is true?
A．Rico has a better memory partly because of its proper early training．
B．The purpose of the experiments is to show the border collie's mental abilities．
C．The border collie is world-famous for recognizing objects．
D．Rico is born to understand its owner's commands．
4．What does the writer want to tell us?
A．To train your dog． B．To talk to your dog．
C．To be careful with your dog． D．To be friendly to your dog．
第二部分阅读理解（共20小题：每小题2分，满分40分）
阅读下列短文，从每题所给的四个选项（A、B、C、 D和E）中，选出最佳选项，并在答题卡上将该项涂黑。
Scott Langteau has this message for kids: Spend less time playing video games．
It’s a message that many a mom and dad have tried to impress upon many a youngster （and some not-so-youngsters） who spend perhaps a bit too much time with game controllers in hand．
But the 40-year-old Langteau isn’t a parent．He’s experienced at video games — one who played producer on three “Medal of Honor” games and co-founded his own game development company．
Langteau has just published a children’s book called “Sofa Boy,” which tells the story of a kid who spends too much time sitting on the couch with controller held in hand and the rather terrible consequences that follow．
It’s a fairy tale plucked straight from Langteau's own experiences as a lad with a fondness for video games and his own bouts with a bit of game addiction．But first, Langteau would like to make one thing clear: “I’m not saying that you shouldn’t play video games．I think video games are great, I think they do great things for kids．Instead, Langteau says his book is all about a little something called “moderation．（克制）”
_“It’s_about_being_well_rounded,” he says．“Just like with anything else, we all need to make sure that there’s a variety in what we do．”
Video gamers can be rather bad-tempered when it comes to accepting criticism about their favorite entertainment．And understandably so．After all, most people who go around talking about the dangers of playing video games tend to be outsiders — people who don’t play video games and certainly don’t understand that they can be a valuable and healthy form of entertainment．
But Langteau and “Sofa Boy” seem to be in a unique position to deliver a message of gaming moderation that the young game-savvy masses might actually listen to．After all, this is a
man who understands what it means to be a kid with a passion for games．His early experience has taught him a lesson．
1．Scott Langteau published “Sofa Boy” to_____________．
A．share his great skills on games
B．warn kids against game addiction
C．tell about his fairy tale as a kid
D．deliver a message for games
2．We can learn from the passage that____________．
A．Langteau advises the young to play games within limits
B．Langteau advises the young not to play games
C．playing video games ruins the future of kids
D．playing video games is of no benefit to kids
3．By saying “It’s about being well rounded” Langteau thinks____________．20090506
A．games do great things for kids
B．gamers are usually fat and round
C．games should be viewed from all sides
D．gamers are to blame for their behaviors
4．What topic will be discussed in the following paragraph?
A．His idea to create “Sofa Boy”．
B．His great achievement in games as a kid．
C．His hard times to set up his game company．
D．His enthusiasm for games when he was a small boy．
A thief returned a mobile phone and thousands of yuan he had stolen from a woman after receiving 21 text messages from her, a local newspaper reported.
Pan Aiying, a Chinese teacher at Wutou Middle School in Qihe County, in East China’s Shandong Province, didn’t think her text messages would help to get her belongings(财物) back.
A young man riding a motorcycle robbed her of her bag, in which there was her mobile phone, bank cards and 4,900 yuan, as she was riding her bicycle home on Saturday evening.
Pan said at first she considered calling the police, but then decided to try to persuade（说服）the young man to return her bag. Pan called her lost phone with her friend’s, but couldn’t get through. So she began sending messages.
“Hey, I’m Pan Aiying, a teacher from Wutou Middle School. You must be going through a difficult time. If so, I will not blame you.” Wrote Pan in her first text message, which got no answer. “Keep the 4,900 yuan if you really need it, but please return the other things to me. You are still young. To make mistakes is human. Correcting your mistake is more important than anything.” Pan wrote in another message.
She gave up hope after sending 21 text messages without any answer and planned to call the police the next morning. However, as she left her home on Sunday morning, Pan found her stolen bag lying in the courtyard. Nothing was lost.
“Pan: I am sorry. I made a mistake. Please forgive me. You are so kind even though I stole from you. I’ll correct my ways and be an honest person,” said a letter left with the bag.
1. Where was Pan Aiying robbed?
A. In the school. B. At home. C. In the courtyard. D. on her way home
2. Why didn’t Pan Aiying call the police at first?
A. Because she thought the police wouldn’t help her.
B. Because it was too late at that time.
C. Because she wanted to communicate with the thief first.
D. Because her friend asked her not to.
3. How long was Pan Aiying’s bag missing?
A. About two days. B. About 12 hours.
C. About one day and a half. D. About 24 hours.
4. From the news we can learn that ____________.
A. the young man would not steal any more
B. Pan Aiying didn’t give up hope after sending 21 text messages
C. the young man would pay a visit to Pan Aiying personally
D. Pan Aiying teaches English in a middle school in Shandong Province