The increase in tuition fees has led to a “clear drop” in the number of English students applying for university places this autumn. There are 15,000 “missing” applicants（申请人） this academic year, according to the Independent Commission on Fees. Chairman Will Hutton said: “We’re asking our young men and women to have more debt than any other country in the world — it’s higher than the average debt in the US. It’s not clear whether those lost students this year will return next year, or if it’s a storm warming of a worrying trend.”
But the commission’s report says there does not seem to be an impact on poorer communities. The commission found there was no significant change in the application rate to the key universities, such as Oxford or Cambridge. The decline（下降） in England has not been mirrored（再现） in other parts of the UK where fees have not been raised, and the drop can only partly be explained by falling numbers of young people in the population. Students from Scotland attending Scottish universities do not pay fees, while the Welsh Assembly says it will pay fees above ￡3,465 for Welsh students attending UK institutions.
The average tuition fee at English universities this year is ￡ 8,385, rising to ￡ 8,507 next year. UK and EU students have access to government-backed loans to pay the fees. And the survey of 1,000 pupils aged 15-18, carried out this April, found that the majority expected to go on to higher education as people continue to understand that university remains a good long term investment（投资） in their future.
A spokeswoman at the Department for Business, Innovation and Skills which is responsible for universities, said: “Students shouldn’t be forced to put off going to university for financial reasons. Most students will not have to pay in advance, and no one will have to start paying back their student loan until they start to earn at least ￡ 2l,000 per year.”From the first paragraph, we know that .
| A．the rising tuition fees have a great effect on English students |
| B．many English students are missing the final examinations |
| C．the lost English students will find their way back |
| D．it’s a trend that English students are dropping out of school |
Why is there still a drop of applicants though fees have not been raised?
| A．Because the students live in poor communities. |
| B．Because education is free for Scottish students. |
| C．Because there are less young students in the area. |
| D．Because Welsh students will pay fees above￡3,465. |
What’s the students’ attitude to universities in the survey?
| A．They will stop applying for university places this autumn. |
| B．They feel universities takes up too much time. |
| C．They are anxious to go to a key university. |
| D．Most of them are willing to go to university. |
The spokeswoman in the last paragraph advises students to .
| A．put off going to university |
| B．pay for the fees in advance |
| C．reduce the anxiety about the rising fees |
| D．pay back their loan soon aller graduation |
The world itself is becoming much smaller by using modern traffic and modern communication means （通讯设备）.Life today is much easier than it was hundreds of years ago, but it has brought new problems. One of the biggest is pollution. To pollute means to make things dirty. Pollution comes in many ways. We see it, smell it, drink it and even hear it.
Man has been polluting the earth. The more people, the more pollution. Many years ago, the problem was not so serious because there were not so many people. When the land was used up or the river was dirty in one place, Man moved to another place. But this is no longer true. Man is now slowly polluting the whole world.
Air pollution is still the most serious. It’s bad for all living things in the world, but it is not the only one kind of pollution. Water pollution kills our fish and pollutes our drinking water. Noise pollution makes us angry more easily.
Many countries are making rules to fight pollution. They stop people from burning coal in houses and factories in the city, and from putting dirty smoke into the air.
Pollution by carbon dioxide is now the most dangerous kind of air pollution. It is caused by heavy traffic. It is true that if there are fewer people driving, there will be less air pollution.
The earth is our home. We must take care of it. That means keeping the land, water and air clean. And we must take care of the rise in population at the same time..
. Hundreds of years ago, the pollution was _________it is today.
| A．much easier than | B．as easy as | C．as hard as | D．much less than |
.
Our world is becoming much smaller_________.
| A．because the earth is being polluted day and night |
| B．because science is developing |
| C．because of the rise in population |
| D．because the earth is blown away by the wind every year |
.
Air pollution is the most serious kind of pollution because_________.
| A．it does harm to all living things in the world | B．it makes much noise |
| C．it makes our rivers and lakes dirty | D．it makes us angry more easily |
.
Which of the following is NOT the possible way to reduce air pollution?
| A．Stop people from burning coal in the houses and factories in the city |
| B．Stop putting dirty smoke into the air |
| C．Encourage people to go to work by bike or on foot instead of driving a car |
| D．Don’t throw rubbish into the river. |
.
Which of the following is NOT true?
| A．The problem of pollution is not so serious because there are not so many people living on the earth. |
| B．The pollution of the earth grows as fast as the world’s population does. |
| C．If people could go to work by bike ,it would be helpful against the problem of carbon dioxide. |
| D．Many countries are making rules to fight against pollution. |
People have smoked cigarettes for a long time now. The tobacc
o which is used to make cigarettes was first grown in what is now part of the United States. Christopher Columbus, who discovered America, saw the Indians smoking. Soon the dried leaves were transported to Europe . In the late 1800s, the Turks made cigarettes popular.
Cigarette smoke contains at least two harmful substances, tar and nicotine. Tar, which forms as the tobacco burns, damages the lungs and therefore affects breathing. Nicotine, which is found in the leaves, causes the heart to beat faster and increases the breathing rate. Nicotine in large can kill a person by stopping a person’s breathing muscles. Smokers usually take in small amounts that the body can quickly break down.
Nicotine can make new smokers feel dizzy(头晕) or sick to their stomachs. The heart rate for young smokers increases 2 to 3 beats per minute. Nicotine also lowers skin temperature and reduces blood flow in the legs and feet. It plays an important role in increasing smokers’ risk of heart disease and stroke.
Smoking cigarettes is dangerous. Cigarette smoking was the cause of lung cancer and several other deadly diseases. .
Tobacco first appeared in_________.
| A．Asia | B．Africa |
| C．Europe | D．America |
.
What is the main purpose of the first paragraph?
| A．To tell us the bad effects caused by smoking cigarettes |
| B．To introduce the history of smoking |
| C．To let us know what the cigarettes are made from |
| D．To tell the readers that Columbus found the Indians smoking |
.
._________doesn’t make one’s heart beat as usual.
| A．Tar | B．Nicotine |
| C．Lung disease | D．Leave |
.
The following effects are caused by Nicotine EXCEPT that________.
| A．It can make new smokers feel dizzy or sick to their stomachs |
| B．It lowers skin temperature |
| C．It causes the heart to beat less fast |
| D．Nicotine will probably kill a person if a smoker takes in too much of it. |
.
What’s the main idea of this passage?
| A．Where did cigarettes come from? |
| B．The effect of smoking on your body. |
| C．How to smoke is healthy? |
| D．Who is the first smoker? |
Paricutin was born in Mexico in February, 1943. At that time, Paricutin was 500 feet high, and it is now over 9,000 feet high. Today Paricutin is asleep.
What is Paricutin? It was the first volcano (火山) in the world which was seen from its birth right up to the present day. On February 20, 1943, a peasant and his wife set out to work in their corn fields from the Mexican village of Paricutin. They were surprised to find the earth warm under their feet. Suddenly they heard noise deep in the earth and a small hole appeared in their field. In the afternoon there was a sudden loud noise and stones were thrown high in the air. The peasants ran from the field and turned to watch. They saw the birth of a volcano.
Large quantities of stone and lava broke out and a little hill began to form. By evening this hill was 100 feet high and hot ashes (灰烬) were falling on the village. At night the strong light of the hot lava lit up the countryside. The trees near the village were killed and the villagers had to leave their houses. When the villag
e was destroyed, its name was given to the volcano. The news quickly reached Mexico City, far to the east. Many people came to watch the scene. The volcano grew and grew for ten years and hundreds of square miles of forests were destroyed. Then Paricutin went to sleep..
What was destroyed in the growing up of the volcano?
| A．The little hill of stone. | B．The villagers living close by. |
| C．The forests and fields around Paricutin. | D．The Mexican peasant and his wife. |
.
Put the following sentences into the right order according to the birth of Paricutin:①they heard noise deep in the earth and a small hole appeared in their field
②there was a sudden noise
③A peasant and his wife set out to work in their field
④they found the earth warm under their feet
⑤stones were thrown high in the air
⑥the peasants ran from the field and turned to watch the birth of a volcano.
| A．①⑤②③④⑥ | B．③①⑤②④⑥ | C．③④①②⑤⑥ | D．③②④①⑤⑥ |
.
We can infer that after around____ the volcano began to go to sleep.
| A．1943 | B．1953 | C．1963 | D．Not known |
.
In this passage the writer is trying to _________.
| A．tell us an interesting happening |
| B．explain a scientific theory |
| C．make us believe something |
| D．make up an interesting lie |
.
. What can we learn about volcanoes from this passage?
| A．New volcanoes may appear in place where people do not expect them to be. |
| B．Volcanoes are always growing. |
| C．Volcanoes are active from time to time. |
| D．New volcanoes are active for only ten years. |
You might think that “global warming” means nothing more than a rise in the world’s temperature. But rising sea levels caused by it have resulted in the first evacuation of an island nation. The citizens of Tuvalu will have to leave their homeland.
During the 20th century, sea level rose 8~12 inches. As a result, Tuvalu has experienced lowland flooding of salt water that has polluted the country’s drinking water.
Paani Laupepa, a Tuvaluan government official, reported to the Earth Policy Institute that the nation suffered an unusually high number of fierce storms in the past ten years. Many scientists connect higher surface water temperatures resulting from global warming to greater and more damaging storms.
Laupepa expressed dissatisfaction with the United States for refusing to sign the Kyoto Protocol, an international agreement calling for industrialized nations to reduce their greenhouse gas emissions（导致温室效应的气体排放）,which are a main cause of global warming. “By refusing to sign the agreement, the US has effectively taken away the freedom of future generations of Tuvaluans to live where their forefathers have lived for thousands of years.” Laupepa told the BBC.
Tuvalu has asked Australia and New Zealand to allow the gradual move of its people to both countries.
Tuvalu is not the only country that is vulnerable （易受影响的）to rising sea levels. Maumoon Gayoon, president of the Maldives, told the United Nations that global warming has made his country of 311,000 an “endangered nation”..The text is mainly about_________.
| A．rapid changes in earth’s temperature |
| B．bad effects of global warming |
| C．moving of a country to a new place |
| D．reasons for lowland flooding |
.. What is the probable meaning of the underlined word in the first paragraph?
| A．撤离 | B．危险 | C．淹没 | D．消失 |
.According to scientists, the DIRECT cause of more and fiercer storms is_________.
| A．greenhouse gas emissions in industrialized nations |
| B．continuous global warming |
| C．higher surface water temperatures of the sea |
| D．rising sea levels |
. Laupepa was not satisfied with the United States be
cause it did not_________.
| A．believe the problems facing Tuvalu were real |
| B．sign an agreement with Tuvalu |
| C．allow Tuvaluans to move to the US |
| D．agree to reduce its greenhouse gas emissions |
.The country whose situation is similar to that of Tuvalu is_________.
| A．Australia |
| B．New Zealand |
C．the Unit ed States |
| D．the Maldives |
Twenty-fiv
e years ago if you made a trip to the local library and searched for articles on globing warming, you’d probably come up with a few from the leading magazines in the world. As an Internet search on global warming now shows, the subject has become as rooted in people’s mind as Madonna or microwave cooking.
With the possible exception of another world war, a giant planet, or an incurable disease, global warming may be the largest danger to our planet. For decades human factories and cars have sent billions of tons of greenhouse gases into the atmosphere, and the climate has begun to show some signs of warming. If steps are not taken soon to reduce the amount of carbon dioxide sent into the atmosphere, the result could terribly affect human life. We have already seen growing destruction, such as drought and death in Sudan, flooding in Asia, bush fires in Indonesia, and fierce winter storms in central Europe.
The Republic of Maldives is barely above sea level. Its 250, 000 citizens are scattered across 1,200 islands in the Indian Ocean. A strong typhoon could spell the end for the entire country, as sea levels could continue rising. The entire population would have to be moved away as the country disappears under the sea.
The greenhouse effect is a naturally occurring phenomenon that keeps our planet at a comfortable temperature averaging 60°F. Since the mid-nineteenth century, however, carbon dioxide in the atmosp
here has increased nearly 30% because of the increased use of fossil fuels to run cars, heat homes and power factories. Without controlling, the amount of carbon-dioxide by 2100 may increase by 30%-150% and could lift the average global temperature by up to 2.5° F the next 50 years. .
With the first paragraph, the author intends to.
| A．scold people for not paying enough attention to global warming |
| B．draw people’s attention to global warming |
| C．how to search for the articles on global warming |
| D．point out the serious effect of global warming |
.
Global warming could affect human life in the following ways EXCEPT.
| A．producing more greenhouse gases | B．causing more floods |
| C．making winter storms fiercer | D．starting more bush fires |
.
The Republic of Maldives.
| A．has moved away their citizens |
| B．will be more likely to be destroyed by a strong typhoon than by the rising sea level |
| C．is mostly likely to be destroyed by the rising sea level |
| D．will have to move away most of their population |
.
. Why is the Republic of Maldives especially mentioned in the passage?
| A．Because smaller countries are easier to be affected by global warming. |
| B．Because seaside countries are in danger of disappearing. |
| C．Because it’s necessary to rescue a country before the sea level rises. |
| D．Because the serious result of global warming could end a whole country. |
.
. From the last paragraph, we can in
fer that greenhouse effect.
A．can only affect t he earth in an unfavorable way |
| B．is something easy to control |
| C．is caused by human act |
| D．will be good to us if it remains at a proper level |