If the crust (外壳) of the earth were not pretty solid (坚固的),it would be shaking about and moving up and down frequently. However,there are places in the rocks of the earth’s crust where it isn’t strongly held together—where faults exist. Along the faults,one rock might push against another with great force. The energy is changed to vibration in the rocks,so they begin to shake and we have an earthquake!
The most famous one in North America was the San Francisco earthquake of 1906. Seven hundred people died and property(财产)damage amounted to about $425,000,000.The greatest destruction came from the fires that followed the quake.
One of the most famous earthquakes in Europe took place in Lisbon,Portugal,in 1755.The city was destroyed and at least thirty thousand people were killed. In 1908,in Calabria and Sicily,a quake killed about seventy-five thousand people. In 1915,in central Italy,hundreds of towns and villages were damaged and thirty thousand people were killed.
Two great earthquakes that caused great damage in Asia took place in Tokyo,Japan,and in Gansu Province in China. The Tokyo quake of 1923 killed more than one hundred thousand people and destroyed the city and the city of Yokohama,too. The Chinese quake in 1920 covered more than three hundred square miles and killed about two hundred thousand people.The first paragraph mainly tells us .
A.where earthquakes happen |
B.how earthquakes happen |
C.the damage caused by earthquakes |
D.famous earthquakes in the world |
Which of the following is the correct order of the years when the earthquakes happened?
①the San Francisco earthquake
②the earthquake in Lisbon,Portugal
③the earthquake in Calabria and Sicily
④the earthquake in central Italy
⑤the earthquake in Gansu Province
⑥the Tokyo quake
A.③④⑤⑥②① | B.⑤⑥②①③④ |
C.②①③④⑤⑥ | D.①③④②⑤⑥ |
According to the passage,the earthquake that killed the most people happened in .
A.Portugal | B.Italy | C.Japan | D.China |
(D)
Mozart was one of the greatest composers who ever lived. He was born in Salzburg,
Austria, in 1756. Even when he was very young, Mozart loved music. His father, who was the leader of an orchestra, was very happy that his son was so interested in music. When Mozart was three years old, he learned to play the harpsichord, which is a kind of piano. Mozart began to compose music at the age of five, and his father took him to play in front of the kings and queens of Europe.
At one concert, one of the violinists was missing from the orchestra. Mozart picked up a violin and played the music without a mistake. Mozart’s father and the other players in the orchestra were surprised. Mozart had never been taught to play the violin! Mozart continued travelling around Europe with his father, who was his teacher in everything. He composed many pieces for the piano, the violin, and later for full orchestra.
Mozart could write down a piece of music even if he had heard it only once. One day, he went to hear a group of people singing in a big church in Rome. The song was very special. The church leader said that people could sing the song only once a year, and only in his church. No one else was allowed to have the music. Mozart listened to the song. Although it was very difficult and long, Mozart went back home and wrote down the whole piece from memory. The head of the church heard about this, and instead of being angry with Mozart, he gave him a prize.
When Mozart grew up, people were not so interested in him. He worked as a teacher and pianist, but he did not make much money. In 1791, at the age of 35, he died. He was so poor that there was not enough money for him to have a proper grave. No one knows where he is buried.
43. The story is mainly about ____.
A. Mozart and his music
B. a leader of an orchestra
C. the life of a great composer
D. the head of a church in Rome.
44. Mozart’s father helped Mozart a lot by ____.
A. teaching him about music
B. giving him a violin to play with
C. sending him to a music school
D. giving him a lot of money
45. When Mozart was only three years old, he ____.
A. went to Rome B. began to sing C. began to compose music D. played the harpsichord.
46. Mozart had a very good _____.
A. violin B. grave C. memory D. orchestra
47. Although Mozart was one of the world’s greatest composer, ____.
A. he died poor B. he did not teach anyone.
C. he did not know many famous people
D. he couldn’t play the piano or violin
(C)
Thanksgiving Day is a very special day for people in the United States. In that country they celebrate Thanksgiving Day on the fourth Thursday in November. Canadians also celebrate Thanksgiving Day, but they do it on the second Monday of October. In Britain, where the festival is called “ Harvest Festival”, people celebrate earlier in the year, in September.
A harvest is the fruit you take from the trees and the crops you take from the ground. In North America, Europe, and England, harvest time for most fruit and crops is in the special day of the year. They thank God for the good things that have happened during the year and for the good harvest they have had. People usually take small boxes of fruit, flowers, and vegetables to their churches to show their thanks.
The first thanksgiving service in North America took place on 4 December 1610 when 38 English people arrived in America to make their home in the new country. They held this service not to thank God for the harvest, but to thank God for their safe journey. The next year, many more English people arrived. They had a bad winter, but fortunately the harvest was good. They decided to celebrate with a big meal. They shot and killed small animals to eat and cooked everything outside on large fires. About 90 Indians also came to the meal. Everyone ate at tables outside their houses and played games together. The festival lasted three days.
A Thanksgiving Day celebration was held every year for a long time, but not always on the same day of the year. Then, in 1789, President George Washington named 26 November as the Day of Thanksgiving. Almost a hundred years later, President Abraham Lincoln changed the date, and said that the last Thursday in November should be Thanksgiving Day.
Nowadays, North Americans around the world get together with their families on this day to eat good food and have a happy time.
39. The story is about ____.
A. festivalsB. an American festival
C. English people in AmericaD. giving thanks for everything
40. The last Thursday in November in November is ____.
A. a festival in every country in the world
B. Thanksgiving Day in the United States
C. the day farmers pick fruit from the trees
D. the day the first English People came to America
41. On thanksgiving Day people ____.
A. plant their crops.B. celebrate a safe journey
C. thank God for a good harvest D. harvest their fruit and crops.
42. At the first thanksgiving service in North America, the people ____.
A. shot a lot of small animals
B. thanked God for a safe journey
C. thanked God for a good harvest
D. had a big dinner outside their houses.
(B)
Stories about Kites in Japan
People have flown kites in Japan for more than 1000 years. There are many different kinds of kites there. Some look like bats; others look like birds. Most have pictures on them.
There are many interesting stories about kites in Japan.
One story tells us about a thief who used a kite to fly. He wanted to steal the gold from the top of an old tower. The thief and his friends made a large kite. One dark windy night, the thief caught hold of(抓住) the kite. His friends raised the kite into the air. Then they moved the kite near the top of the tower. The thief was able to steal the gold.
Another story tells about a father and a son who were on a small lonely island in the middle of the Japanese sea. There were no bouts or ships. They couldn’t go back to the mainland. So they made a big kite. His son flew on it back to Japan.
There is a K-Day in Japan. The young men of Japan have kite matches. When the kites are flying the match starts. The young men try to break each other’s kite string(细线). The last kite left in the sky is the winner.
35. Most kites in Japan ____.
A. are very large B. are very small C. look like bats D. look nice with pictures.
36. In the kite match, the young men try to ____.
A. make their kites fly high
B. stop each other’s kites from flying in the sky
C. make very large kites themselves
D. draw beautiful pictures on their kites.
37. The father in the passage made a big kite to help his son to ____.
A. return home B. fly over Japan C. win the match D. steal the gold.
38. which of the following is NOT true?
A. The last kite left in the sky is the winner in the kite match.
B. The thief stole the gold from the top of an old tower.
C. The father and the son in the story were dead in the sea at last.
D. There is K-Day in Japan.
第二部分:阅读理解(共两节,满分40 分)
第一节(共17小题,满分34分)
(A)
The word “cool”
“Cool” is a word with many meanings. Its old meaning is used to express a temperature that is a little cold. As the world has changed, the word has had many different meanings.
“Cool” can be used to express feelings or interest in almost anything.
When you see a famous car in the street, maybe you will say “It’s cool.” You may think “He’s so cool.” You can use it instead of many words such as “new” or “surprising”. Here an interesting story we can use to show the way the word is used. A teacher asked her students to write about the waterfall they had visited. On one student’s paper was just the one sentence, “It’s cool.” Maybe he thought it was the best way to show what he saw and how he felt.
But the story also show a scarcity(缺乏) of words. Without “cool”, some people have no words to show the same meaning. Can you think of any other words that make your life as colorful as the word “cool”? I can. And I think they are also very cool.
31. We know the word “cool” has had ____.
A. many different meanings B. only one meaning C. the same meaning D. no meaning
32. If you are ____ something, you may say “It’s cool.”
A. afraid of B. unhappy with C. interested in D. angry with
33. The sentence “It’s cool.” On the student’s paper may mean “It looks really ____.”
A. careful B. wonderful C. thankful D. painful
34. The writer takes an example to show he ____ the way the word is used.
A. strange to B. pleased with C. worried about D. excited at
LONDON ( Reuters)-- Ecotourism ( 生态旅游) is causing a lot of damage to wildlife and may be endangering the survival(生存) of the very animals people are flocking to see, according to researchers.
Biologists and conservationists ( 自然环境保护论者) are worried because polar bears, dolphins, penguins and other creatures are getting stressed and losing weight and some are dying.
"Evidence is growing that many animals do not react well to tourists in their backyard,” New Scientist magazine said.
The immediate effects researchers have noticed are changes in behavior, heart rates, or stress hormone levels but they fear it could get much worse and over the long term "could endanger the survival of the very wildlife they want to see".
Although money produced through ecotourism, which has been growing at about 10--30 percent a year, has major benefits for poor countries and people living in rural areas, the Swiss-based World Conservation Union and some governments fear not all projects are audited (审计) and based on environmentally friendly policies, according to the magazine,
"The transmission(传播) of disease to wildlife, or small changes to wildlife health through disturbance of daily life or increased stress levels, while not obvious to the casual observer, may translate to lower survival and breeding ,"said Philip Seddon, of the University of Otago in Dunedin, New Zealand.
Scientists have noticed that bottleneck dolphins along the northeastern coast of New Zealand become nervously excited when tourist boats arrive. Similar changes in behavior have been observed in polar bears and yellow-eyed penguins in areas visited by ecotourists are producing smaller babies.
Conservationists are now calling for more research into the effect of ecotourism on animals and say the industry must be developed carefully. They also want studies done before new ecotourism projects are started.
“The animals’ welfare should be very important because without them there will be no ecotourism,”said Rochelle Constantine of the University of Auckland in New Zealand.
72. What's the text mainly about?
A. Many animals are dying because of lack of money.
B. There will be no ecotourism without animals.
C. Ecotourism could endanger the survival of the wildlife people want to see.
D. More research should be done on ecotourism.
73. We may learn from the text that __
A. ecotourism must be developed properly
B. polar bears are losing weight without enough food
C. all the poor countries have stopped ecotourism
D. money produced through ecotourism should be spent on wildlife
74. Which of the following is NOT mentioned in the text?
A. Many animals do not react well in their backyard..
B. Polar bears in areas visited by ecotourists are producing smaller babies.
C. Ecotourism has been growing at about 10--30 percent a year.
D. Studies should be done before new ecotourism projects are started.
75. What Rochelle Constantine said in the last paragraph implies that __
A. if people want to get high income, they must develop ecotourism
B. animals have rights to live their own life
C. animals are people’s good friends
D. people should take good care of wildlife