The illegal ivory(象牙) trade has been a major problem in Africa for decades. Poachers have killed hundreds of thousands of elephants to obtain ivory. Now, affected areas are taking action. The International Union for Conservation of Nature (IUCN) announced on Wednesday key African states where poaching takes place have promised to stop the ivory trade to protect elephants.
Over the past few days, top officials and experts from 30 states met at the African Elephant Summit. The conference, organized by the IUCN and the government of Botswana, was held in Gaborone, Botswana.
Conservation efforts will include China and Thailand, where much of the ivory is sent. “Now is the time for Africa and Asia to join forces to protect this universally valued species,” said Botswana President Ian Khama.
In the 1980s, as many as 1 million elephants across Africa were killed for their ivory. The ivory was used to make jewelry and other items. This continued until 1989, when the Convention on International Trade in Endangered Species (CITES) voted to ban all the trade in ivory. As a result, demand for ivory fell. Governments cracked down on poachers. 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. Data from the IUCN show even higher levels of illegal trade may have been reached in 2013. “With an estimated 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 extinction if the present killing rate continues.
At the African Elephant Summit , key African states where elephants make their home agreed to develop a “zerotolerance approach” to poaching. The deal calls for maximum sentences for poachers and hunters, and increased cooperation between affected states. Officials are committed to classifying wildlife trafficking (交易) 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 working together, there may yet be hope for elephants.The purpose of holding the African Elephant Summit is to _________.
| A．make new laws to punish poachers. |
| B．prevent elephants from being poached. |
| C．collect money for elephants’ protection |
| D．call for African countries to save elephants. |
Why are China and Thailand mentioned in the text?
| A．The ivory is illegally sold in these two countries. |
| B．Elephants need protecting in these two countries. |
| C．They know how to protect wildlife like elephants. |
| D．They prefer jewelry and other items made of ivory. |
What can we learn from Paragraph 5 ?
| A．The governments do nothing to protect animals. |
| B．Elephant poaching in Africa is out of control. |
| C．A large number of elephants have been killed. |
| D．Illegal ivory trading is to blame for the elephants’ extinction. |
What would be the best title for the text?
| A．Wild Animals Are at Risk | B．New Hope for Elephants |
| C．Elephants Need Our Help | D．Wildlife Protection in Africa |
C
In today's Internet age, online games can be a change from the pressure of school and work. However, they can also cause problems and unhealthy addictions. This is most clearly seen in the example of South Korea. This country has the world's highest percentage of high-speed Internet services. It has also a high number of game players who are addicted to online games.
In 2004, a young man died after playing online games almost nonstop for 86 hours. A 12-year-old boy stole $16,000 from his father to continue online games which he could not get away from. Such problems are spreading to other parts of Asia as well. In 2005, it was reported that about 80 percent of China's 13.8 million online game players were under 25.
And many of these were said to be addicted. Such numbers point toward a growing problem among Chinese youth.
Dr. Sue-Huei Chen, a psychologist (心理学家), discovered some signs of at-risk people. Such people often go online to escape from their problems. And they usually have no friendship or good social skills. They feel the need to spend more and more time online, so they may be absent from school or family. And they become upset if anyone tries to limit their online game playing.
64. The passage is mainly about _________
A. online game addiction B. problems caused by online games
C. computer problems in Asia D. problems caused by young people
65. In the passage, the writer tells us a fact that_________
A. South Korea has a large number of Internet schools
B. More and more young men are stealing money for online games
C. China's online game players are all under the age of 25
D. Online game addiction is a very common problem in South Korea
66. After reading the passage,, we know that in China_________
A. many young people are playing online games for fun
B. many young people are getting addicted to online games
C. only those under 25 like to play online games for long periods
D. 80 percent of the Chinese depend on online games to get relaxed
67. According to the passage, ____________are more likely to become addicted to online games.
A. people under great pressure from school and work
B. people well-known in the field of computer games
C. people with unsolved problems and few friends
D. people who'd like to take a risk in computer games
B
In 1605 some Englishmen planned to kill their king, James I, because they thought he was a bad man. They knew that on November 5th the King would go to the House of Lords(上议院)to talk with his nobles.
The men rented(租赁)a building next to the House of Lords. They dug through a wall and put many barrels of gunpowder in a cellar(地下室) of the House of Lords. They chose a man called Guy Fawkes to set fire to the gunpowder but something went wrong with their plan. One of the men had a relative who was coming to the House of Lords to meet the King. He warned his relative to stay at home. The relative spoke to other nobles and soon the King heard about the danger. Soldiers searched the cellars and found the gunpowder on November 4th ,Guy Fawkes was caught and killed.
Every year, on November 5th, English children remember Guy Fawkes. They collect old boxes, newspapers and rubbish so that they can make a big fire, which they call a bonfire. They put a pole in the middle of the fire and tie a “guy” to it. “The guy” is the figure of Guy Fawkes and is made of old clothes and paper. Sometimes they push their “guy” round the streets in a cart and ask for money so that they can buy fireworks.
In the evening they light the bonfire and let off many fireworks: crackers, rockets, bangers and many other kinds. November 5th is an exciting day for children in England. It is always a busy day for firemen and for hospitals. Sparks from the bonfires sometimes set fire to fences, trees or houses. Every year children are injured when fireworks exploded unexpectedly.
60. Some Englishmen planned to kill their king because___________.
A. they thought highly of him
B. they thought poorly of him
C. they thought much of him
D. they thought well of him
61.Something went wrong with their plan because one of the men_________.
A. told the King about it
B. told other nobles about it
C. told his relative about it
D. Guy Fawkes was killed
62.The phrase “let off many fireworks” in the passage means ________.
A. allow the fireworks to leave
B. cause the fireworks to explode
C. keep the fireworks off the bonfire
D. put the fireworks into the bonfire
63.November 5th is a busy day for firemen because _________.
A. fireworks are in great need
B. quite a few houses catch fire when fireworks explode
C. many children are injured by the unexpected explosion of fireworks
D. both B and C
第三部分：阅读理解（共20小题；每小题2分，满分40分）
A
BEIJING—Beijing is to spend up to us $ 20 billion to change the Chinese capital into a 21st century one for the 2008 Olympics.
The government manages to host the 2008 games. The general aim is for Beijing to have the same environmental standards as Paris, London or Washington by 2008.
Hundreds of millions of dollars will be spent to pipe natural gas to the city’s home, taking away dirty coal burning gradually while 60,000 buses will be changed to liquefied(液化的)gas.
The money also will be used for relocating(重新部署) the polluting factories and building green belts. By 2008 around 90 percent of Beijing’s waste will be treated, compared to only 40 percent at present.
Olympic officials have already announced that around 50 large projects are being dealt with to improve traffic congestion(拥堵) and cut down pollution. They include construction of Beijing’s first light railway, a 40.5-kilometer line which is expected to be completed in 2006.
Beijing, besides, plans to build an 82.25-kilometer-long subway to add to the existing 53 kilometers. Nine major roads will be rebuilt or widened.
Beijing also plans to build a 70-meter-wide green belt along the waterways to protect water quality as well as increase the green areas.
56．The government will pipe natural gas to the city’s home in order to_________.
A．solve the problem of being short of fuel
B．reduce the pollution of our capital
C．bring down the cost of daily life
D．keep up with the development of modern society
57．From the last three paragraphs we know the fact that _________.
A．lengthening the existing 53-kilometer subway is among the 50 large projects
B．a 40.5-kilometre line will be added to Beijing’s first light railway
C．the length of the subway will be up to 135.25 kilometers in 2006
D．a 70-meter-wide green belt will supply us with enough water
58．Which of the following is TRUE according to the passage?
A．The environment of London is better than Toronto.
B．In the first paragraph “a 21st century one” refers to a modern and advanced capital.
C．Beijing is badly polluted mainly by coal burning
D．Liquefied gas is more expensive than petrol.
59．This news report mainly talks about ___________.
A．how Beijing is becoming a 21st century city
B．how many projects are being dealt with to improve traffic of Beijing
C．how Beijing is being built into a first class Olympic host city
D．the use of the 20 billion US dollars
E
“How’s the basketball coming on?”
I put down my drink and looked across at the next table. I was curious about that because both the man and the woman were at least 65.
“Oh, I’m not playing much basketball these days,” the woman replied. “But I’m getting much better at golf.”
What’s this, I thought. I opened my packet of crisps, thoughtfully. “I’m still pretty hopeless at chess, I’m afraid,” the man said. “It beat me on level one this morning.”
The penny dropped. These two were the proud owners of computer games.
It’s very likely that one of the results of the development of the silicon chip(硅片) will be that a lot of people will have more exciting ways to spend their leisure time. It already has. Space invader machines are now a familiar sight everywhere. A lot of people play them, and some, particularly school children, get remarkably high scores. How, one wonders, do they find the time (and money) to become so good?
If you have your own computers, the possibilities are endless. You can play any active sports without stepping out of your living room.
You can become an expert at chess or backgammon without ever playing with another human being. Indeed, human beings aren’t needed at all.
So, what of the future? Will we see school children stealing or even robbing to feed space invader machines? Will football grounds lie empty as families sit at home playing video football, or watching the national video football championship? Perhaps, it won’t go that far. But we won’t have to wait long for the Video Olympics. I’m sure of that.
Back in the pub, I stood up, took out 20 pence, and went over to the space invader machine. I may not be much good at beating computers at backgammon, but any space invaders who arrive on Earth anywhere near me had better watch out.
72. The reason why the writer felt curious about the talk between the couple was that ____.
A. he thought they were too old to play basketball
B. they looked young for their age
C. the old seldom went to the bar
D. he didn’t believe they played basketball so well
73. The underlined sentence “The penny dropped.” in the fifth paragraph probably means ____.
A. his wallet was stolen
B. he dropped a penny into the space invader machine
C. he asked for another drink for a penny
D. he’s come to see what they meant
74. The text is mainly written to tell us that ____.
A. computers will make people have a better time in their leisure time
B. the writer was worried about the side effect of computers
C. the old couple were excellent at playing golf
D. school children shouldn’t play space invader machines so much
75. We can infer form the passage that ____.
A. we can do everything without leaving our home in the future
B. the writer was good at playing the space invader game
C. school children will certainly steal or rob to feed the space invader machines
D. the woman is better at playing chess than the man
D
Are you afraid of sharks? You shouldn’t be! Below we cleared up the main myths about one of the world’s most perfectly formed creatures …
All sharks are the same.
This is absolutely not true. There are nearly four hundred species of sharks and they vary widely in habitat, size, features, diet and lifestyle. They range from the cigar shark, which is about 15 centimetres long, to the whale shark, which can be up to about nine meters long. More than 50 percent of sharks are less than a metre long and more than 90 percent are less than two metres long. And their habitat ranges from shallow to deep water and from the Arctic to the Tropic.
___________________
This is not true, either. In fact, many shark populations are decreasing. The chief reason for this is that hundreds of thousands of them are caught in fishing nets. Depending on where they are caught. They are either killed for their fins(鳍), which are used in shark’s fin soup, or they are tossed back into the sea because they are unwanted. Almost all sharks which are discarded in this way die. Also, sharks mature late in life and produce very few young. If the current reduction in numbers continues, the ecological balance of the oceans will be severely threatened.
Sharks will always attack you
This is nonsense. The chances of being attacked by a shark are minimal. You are 250 times more likely to be killed by lightning than by a shark, and your chances of being killed by lightning are practically zero.
However, if you are planning to take a swim in shark territory, then follow these simple rules:
Avoid swimming at dawn or duck when visibility decreases.
Avoid areas where there are breaking waves. Turbulent(汹涌的) water makes it difficult for sharks to see and determine whether you are prey(猎物).
Do not wear jewellery in the water. Sharks are attracted to shiny fishes, and jewellery may resemble their scales(鳞片).
Do not swim near schools of small fish, which are the favorite food of some sharks.
68. The underlined word “myths” in the first paragraph means ____.
A. an idea or story that many people believe but which is not true
B. something that is impossible to understand or explain or about which little is known
C. a feeling of surprise
D. something that you are curious to know
69. From the passage we can learn sharks ____.
A. look alike B. are dangerous
C. usually live in deep sea D. hardly attack people
70. Which of the following is proper for the blank in the third paragraph?
A. Sharks’ fin soup is nutritious
B. There are too many sharks in the sea
C. Many shark populations are decreasing
D. Sharks produce many young
71. Which of the following rules should you follow when you’re going to swim in shark areas?
A. Don’t swim before day breaks.
B. Choose areas where there are big waves.
C. Wear something shiny when swimming.
D. Choose areas where there are many small fish.