AccordingtotheUSGeologicalSurv-优题课

A dense wave of smog began in the Chinese city of Harbin and the surrounding Heilongjiang, Jilin, and Liaoning Provinces on 20 October 2013. Unseasonably warm temperatures with very little wind across northeastern China coincided with the smoke from local farmers’ burning straws and the start-up of Harbin’s coal-powered central heating system．
Record densities of fine particulates（微粒）were measured in the city. In Harbin, the levels of PM2.5 （particulate matter） rise to 1,000 micrograms per cubic meter, worse than Beijing’s historic highs．Visibility was reduced to below 50m in parts of Harbin, and below 500m in most of the neighbouring Jilin Province. On Fa Yuen Street in Harbin, visibility of less than 5m was reported. The smog reduced after October 23, 2013 and completely broke up on October 28, 2013 by the first local snow and icy rain due to a cold front moving in from Russia．
Harbin lies in the north of China where winter temperatures can drop to -40℃, demanding a six-month heating season. Daily particulate levels of more than 40 times the World Health Organization recommended maximum level were reported in parts of Harbin. The smog remained till 23 October, when almost all monitoring stations in Heilongjiang, Jilin,and Liaoning Provinces reported readings above 200μg/m³for PM2.5. PM 2.5 is the amount of particulate matter less than 2.5 micrometers in diameter in the air, with the WHO recommending a maximum 24-hour mean （平均值） of 25 micrograms per cubic meter （μg/m³）．On the morning of 25 October, PM2.5 measurements in Harbin had fallen to an average of 123μg/m³.
All highways in the surrounding Heilongjiang Province were closed. In Harbin, all primary and middle schools were closed for three days and authorities stopped flights at the airports. Hospitals reported a 23 percent increase in admissions for breathing problems. However, this smog will have no influence on Harbin Ice Festival events later in December 2013.
Air pollution in Chinese cities is of increasing concern to China’s leadership. Particulates in the air can affect human health and also have influences on climate and rainfall. Pollution from the burning of coal has reduced life expectancy by 5．5 years in the north of China, as a result of heart and lung diseases.
One cause of the heavy smog in the northeastern Chinese cities may be _____．

A．the lasting cold weather

B．farmers’ burning of forests

C．too much strong wind

D．the start-up of heating system

One serious influence of the heavy smog was that_____．

A．Harbin Ice Festival would be cancelled

B．highways in Heilongjiang were free of charge

C．all flights at the airport were cancelled

D．doctors in hospitals were kept from working

The harmful smog was most serious on ______．

A．October 20	B．October 23
C．October 25	D．October 28

What measure might be practical to reduce the happening of heavy smog?

A．Forbidding people to own their private cars．

B．Advocating people having one meal a day．

C．Using natural gas to cook instead of coal．

D．Encouraging family’s coal-fired heating．

Canadian short story writer Alice Munro won the Nobel Prize for Literature. Eighty-two-year-old Munro is only the 13th woman to win the 112-year-old prize．
Munro didn’t publish her first collection of short stories until she was 37 years old, but her stories have always been well-received. Lots of her stories share similar themes and characters, but each story has its own twists and turns．
Even though she’s won Canada’s most famous literary award, the Giller Prize, twice, winning the Nobel Prize for Literature is the cherry on top of Munro’s career. “It brings this incredible recognition, both of her and her career, and of the dedication to the short story,” said one person．
Along with the well-respected title comes 1．3 million dollars．Munro said everything was “so surprising and wonderful” and that she was “dazed by all the attention and affection that has been coming my way．”
Munro knew she was in the running-she was named the second-most likely person to win this year’s prize, after Haruki Murakami（村上春树）of Japan-but she never thought that she would win．
Munro’s win also represents the long way Canadian writers have come．“When I began writing there was a very small community of Canadian writers and little attention was paid by the world．Now Canadian writers are read, admired and respected around the globe,” Munro said on Thursday．
She is technically not the first Canadian to win the Nobel Prize for Literature, but many like to think that she is．In 1976 Saul Bellow, who was born in Quebec but moved to Chicago when he was still a child, won the prize．Even though he was born in Canada, he is mostly considered to be an American writer．
“This is a win for us all．Canadians, by our very nature, are not very nationalistic,” said Geoffrey Taylor．“But things like this suddenly make you want to find a flag．”
She wasn’t sure if she would keep writing if she won the prize, saying that it would be “nice to go out with a bang．But this may change my mind．”
What is the feature of Munro’s stories?

A．They have their own complicated （复杂的）contents．

B．They have similar story backgrounds．

C．They have specific themes for children．

D．They have the same characters in each book．

For Munro, the Nobel Prize is an award for______．

A．her love for Canadian culture

B．her devotion to the short story

C．her special form of writing

D．her career of editing short stories

What is implied in the sixth paragraph?

A．Canadian writers paid little attention to the prize．

B．Canadian writers are just a small community．

C．Canadian writers have long been ignored．

D．Canadians have a long way to win the prize．

What does the passage mainly tell us?

A．How Alice Munro wins the Nobel Prize

B．An introduction to the Nobel Prize in Literature

C．Alice Munro wins the Nobel Prize in Literature

D．A world famous writer, Alice Munro

D

Ms．Rossi owns the Roadside Motel（汽车游客旅馆），which has 50 units．She wishes to keep a handy record of the number of units occupied（占用）．To do this she uses a calendar and writes the number of units occupied in a small box in the right-hand square of each date．The following questions are based on the occupancy rate（率） for July．
The total number of units occupied during the week of July 14 through July 20 was ______．

A．234

B．239

C．240

D．244

The average（平均） occupancy rate for Thursday was ________．

A．29

B．31

C．27

D．28

Ms．Rossi regards a 90% occupancy rate as excellent．On how many days during the month did the Roadside Motel have a 90% or better rate of occupancy?

A．6．

B．5．

C．4．

D．1．

After the Summer Olympics are over, when all the athletics have gone home and the television audience has switched off, another group of athletics and fans will arrive at the host city, and another competition will begin．These are the Paralympics, the games for athletes with a disability．But in Beijing in 2008, for the first time, one of the greatest Paralympics will not be taking part．
She is a British athlete by the name of Tanni Grey-Thormpson．Born with spina bifida （脊椎裂） which left her paralyzed from the waist down．Tanni used a wheelchair from the age of 7．At first, she was not keen on sport, apart from horse-riding, which gave her a sense of freedom．But in her teens, she started taking sports more seriously．She tried swimming, basketball and tennis．Eventually
she found athletics, and never looked back．
Indeed, Tanni’s athletic career took off．In 1984, when she was 15, she pulled off a surprise victory in the 100metres at the Junior National Wheelchair Games．
In 1988, Tanni went to her first Paralympic Games in Seoul．She won bronze in the 400 metres．Even greater success followed at the 1992 Barcelona．Paralympics．Tanni won gold in the 100, 200, 400 and 800 metres relay, setting two world records in the process．In the same year she achieved the first of her six London Wheelchair Marathon victories．
Tanni’s enduring success had been part motivation（动机）, part preparation, “The training I do that enables me to be a good sprinter（短跑运动员） enables me to be good at a marathon too．I train 50 weeks of the year and that keeps me prepared for whatever distance I want to race．I am still competing at a very high lever, but as I get older things get harder and I want to retire before I fall apart．”
Indeed Tanni retired finally after the Visa Paralympic World Cup in 2007．Her wish is to coach young athletes for Beijing 2008 Olympic Games．
In spite of ups and downs, she never take her fate lying down．In her splendid life, she has won an amazing eleven gold medals, four silvers and one bronze in series of Paralympics--- a top lever athletic career covering two decades．She has won the London Wheelchair Marathon six times, more than any other competitor, and she has set over thirty world records．
What advice does she have for young athletes? “Work hard at your studies, and then train, train and train again．”
Which of the following sports did Tanni like before thirteen?

A．Basketball	B．Swimming．
C．Tennis．	D．Horse-riding．

When did Tanni win her first Olympic gold medal?

A．In 1984．	B．In 1988．
C．In 1992．	D．In 2007．

The underlined word “that” in the 5th paragraph refers to _______．

A．fifty weeks’ training

B．being a good sprinter

C．training almost every day

D．part motivation and part preparation

What’s the right order of the events related to Tanni?
a．She works as a coach．
b．She took up athletics．
c．She won four gold medals in Barcelona．
d．She competed in her first Paralympic Games．
e．She achieved a victory in her first London Wheelchair Marathon．

A．b,d,c,e,a	B．a,d,b,c,e
C．a,d,c,e,b	D．b,d,a,e,c

What can we learn from Tanni’s success?

A．Union is strength．

B．Never too late to learn．

C．Well begun is half done．

D．No pains, no gains．

I would never forget the time when we were standing at the top of a church tower．My father had brought me to this spot in a small town not far from our home in Rome．I wondered why．
“Look down, Elsa，” Father said．I gathered all my courage and looked down．I saw the square in the center of the village．And I saw the crisscross （纵横交错） of streets leading to the square．“See, my dear，” Father said gently．“There is more than one way to the square．Life is like that．If you can't get to the place where you want to go by one road, try another．”
Now I understood why I was there．Earlier that day I had begged my mother to do something about the awful lunches that were served at school．But she refused because she didn't believe the lunches were as bad as I said．
When I turned to Father for help, he would not interfere （干涉）．Instead, he brought me to this high tower to give me a lesson．By the time we reached home, I had a plan．
At school the next day, I secretly poured my lunch soup into a bottle and brought it home．Then I asked our cook to serve it to Mother at dinner．The plan worked perfectly．She swallowed one spoonful and sputtered, “The cook must have gone bad！” Quickly I told what I had done, and Mother stated firmly that she would deal with the matter of lunches at school the next day!
In the following years I often remembered the lesson Father taught me．I began to work as a fashion designer two years ago．I wouldn't stop working until I tried every possible means to my goal．Father's wise words always remind me that there is more than one way to the square．
The author's father took her to the top of a church tower to ________．

A．find out how many ways lead to the square

B．enjoy the beautiful scenery of the whole town

C．help her forget some unpleasant things earlier that day

D．inspire her to find out another way to solve her problem

What did the author want her mother to do earlier that day?

A．Do something delicious for lunch．

B．Speak to the school about lunch．

C．Taste her awful lunch．

D．Dismiss the cook．

The underlined sentence in the fifth paragraph means ________．

A．the cook agreed to serve the soup to Mother

B．the matter of lunch was successfully settled

C．her father persuaded her mother successfully

D．the method the author thought of was effective

A．likely to suffer	B．frequent to explore
C．regular to measure	D．impossible to experience

A．stay where you are	B．hide under a big tree
C．avoid power lines	D．sit on the ground