Today, nearly 400 animals are listed as threatened or endangered animals in the United States. Many are at risk of becoming extinct or disappearing permanently. Unless efforts to save these vulnerable(易受攻击的) animals succeed, many of the country's greatest creatures will be lost forever. From the facts listed, guess which animals are endangered. Click on the picture to find out more about each of these animals in trouble.
American Crocodile
●American crocodiles are about 12 feet long. They live on land and in shallow water, swamps and marshes.
●American crocodiles like to float in the water with only their eyes and noses above the water surface.
●American crocodiles eat mostly small animals, which they grab with their strong jaws and sharp teeth.
●American crocodiles lay eggs. They hide their eggs under twigs and leaves, or bury them in the sand.
●Some crocodiles help their young hatch, and then carry them to the water in their mouth.
Habitat
Southern Florida, Mexico, Central and South American, Caribbean islands.
Why It's Endangered
Overhunted for its skin and habitat destruction.
Peninsular Bighorn Sheep
●Bighorn sheep can weigh as much as 280 pounds and stand about 3 feet tall.
●They live in dry, desert mountain ranges, near rocky cliffs.
●Bighorn sheep eat grass, twigs and leaves.
●Male sheep are called rams and can be recognized by their huge, brown horns. The horns curl back over the ears, down，and up past the cheeks.
●They live in herds or groups. The male sheep with the biggest horns are usually in charge. Male horns can weigh as much as 30 pounds.
●Males will use their massive horns to fight. The fights can last as long as 24 hours.
●Females are called ewes. They are smaller than rams and have shorter, smaller horns.
Habitat
Nevada and California to west Texas and south into Mexico.
Why It's Endangered
Loss of habitat, hunting illegally, drought and disease.Where can the article be found according to the passage?
| A．Newspaper. | B．Website. |
| C．Student book. | D．Magazine. |
Which of the following is NOT true according to the description about American crocodiles?
| A．American crocodiles live on land and in swamps and marshes. |
| B．American crocodiles hide their eggs under leaves, or bury them in the sand. |
| C．American crocodiles grab small animals with their strong jaws and sharp teeth. |
| D．American crocodiles like to float with their eyes and nose below the water surface. |
Where can we find both American crocodiles and Bighorn sheep according to the passage?
| A．Southern Florida. | B．California. |
| C．Mexico. | D．West Texas. |
Rams make use of their massive horns to ________.
| A．master the herds | B．show their beauty |
| C．fight with others | D．hunt for food |
What can be the best title?
| A．Animals in Danger |
| B．American Crocodile |
| C．Peninsular Bighorn Sheep |
| D．How to Save Animals in Danger |
Throughout history, people have been interested in knowing how languages first began, but no one knows exactly where or how this happened. However, we do know a lot about languages, the languages of today and also the languages of earlier times. There are probably about 3,000 languages in the world today. Chinese is the language with the most speakers. English, Russian and Spanish are also spoken by many millions of people. On the other hand, some languages in the world have less than one hundred speakers.
There are several important families of languages in the world. For example, most of the languages of Europe are in one large family called Indo-European. The original (最初的) language of this family was spoken about 4,500 years ago. Many of the present day languages of Europe and India are modern forms of the language of 4,500 yeas ago.
Languages are always changing. The English of today is very different from the English of 500 years ago. In time some even died out completely. About 1,000 years ago, English was a little-known relative of German spoken on one of the borders of Europe.
If a language has a large number of speakers or if it is very old, there may be differences in the way it is spoken in different areas. That is, the language may have several dialects. Chinese is a good example of dialect differences. Chinese has been spoken for thousands of years by many millions of speakers. The differences between the dialects of Chinese are so great that speakers of Chinese from some parts of China can’t understand speakers from other parts.
1 The first paragraph mainly tells us that ____ .
A. most people in the world speak Chinese
B. there are thousands of languages in the world today
C. man has much knowledge about languages
D. some people know several languages
2 According to the passage, most European and Indian languages ____ .
A. will soon die out completely B. were once a relative of English
C. are no longer spoken D. come from the same family
3 According to the passage, ____ has the most speakers.
A. Chinese B. English C. Spanish D. German
4 According to the passage, ____ seems to have changed a lot.
A. German B. English C. Spanish D. Chinese
5The underlined word dialect in the last paragraph probably means ____ .
A. a special language spoken by Chinese
B. the sign used by the Chinese people in a special area
C. the difference between the old and today’s Chinese
D. the form of a language used in one part of the country
第二部分阅读理解 (满分35分)
第一节 语篇阅读 (每小题2分)
阅读理解下面的短文，然后根据短文内容，指出能完成所给句子或回答所提问题的最佳答案。
Astronomy (天文学) is the oldest science known to man. Thousands of years ago man looked at the stars and wondered about heavens (天堂). But the six planets that he could see with his eyes alone limited man.
The Greeks studied astronomy over 2,000 years ago. They could see the size, color, and brightness of a star. They could see its place in the sky. They watched the stars move as the seasons changed. But the Greeks had no tools to help themselves study the heavens.
Each new tool added to the field of astronomy helped man reach out into space. Until there were telescopes (望远镜), man did not know much about the moon. He did not know that the planet called Saturn (土星) had rings around it. His sight was so limited that he could not see all the planets. In the early 1700s, people thought there were only six planets. Pluto (冥王星), the last of the nine planets to be discovered was seen until 1930.
Before the spectroscopes (分光镜), man didn’t know what kind of gas was in the sun or other stars, without radio telescopes (射电望远镜), we did not know that radio noise came from far in space.
Today, astronomy is a growing science. We have learned more in the past fifty years than in the whole history of astronomy.
1Thousands of years ago, man watched ____ with his eyes.
A. the moon B. the stars C. the universe D. all the planets
2 When the Greeks watched the stars, they could ____ .
A. know what the stars were made of B. not see their places in the sky
C. help themselves study the heavensD. watch the stars move as the seasons changed
3Until there were ____ , man knew very little about the moon.
A. telescopes B. spectroscopes C. radio telescopes D. spaceships
3People didn’t know about Pluto until ____ .
A. the 1700sB. 2,000 years ago C. 1930D. thousands of years ago
5____ people began to do research on astronomy.
A. 50 years ago B. 90 years agoC. In the early 1700s D. Over 2,000 years ago
In every language, there are words or phrases that have some interesting stories behind them. The word “sandwich”, for example, is very common in English. If we want to know the story behind it, we must know something about an English nobleman (贵族) called Sandwich.
Sandwich lived in the 18th century. He liked to play cards for money. He often played for twenty four hours, and not even stop to have his meal. He ordered his servants to bring some meat and bread, and he played while eating. He put the meat between two pieces of bread, and he held the food in his left hand while he played with his right hand. People liked Sandwich’s idea and began to eat bread and meat in this way.
From the name of the man Sandwich, we have the word “sandwich” today.
1 Sandwich is very popular food today, which comes from ____ .
A. a man’s name B. people’s idea C. a servant’s name D. a nobleman’s play
2 What did Sandwich play cards for?
A. Pleasure. B. Living. C. Food. D. Pounds.
3Which of the following can best explain the reason why Sandwich did not stop to have his meals?
A. He played cards with his right hand.
B. He put the meat between two pieces of bread.
C. He played cards for twenty four hours.
D. He played cards while eating.
4 The best title for the passage should be “____”.
A. How Sandwich Played Cards
B. How the Word “Sandwich” Came into Use
C. A Bright Idea
D. An Interesting Story
Now I’d like to talk to you about your final exam. The exam will be held next Thursday, the last day of the exam week. Remember to bring two or three pens in case you run out of ink. And unlike the midterm exam, this test will not include multiple-choice questions; it will consist (由…组成) entirely of essays (文章). You’ll have to answer three of the five essay questions. The exam will be comprehensive (理解性的), which means you’ll be responsible (负责) for all of the subject matters we covered in class this term. I would suggest you review your midterm exam as well as textbooks and your class notes. The research project will count as 20 percent and the midterm exam 30 percent. I’ll be in my office almost all day next Tuesday. If you run into any problems, please drop in. Gook luck to you and I’ll see you on Tuesday.
1 The final exam take place on a ____ .
A. Tuesday B. Wednesday C. Thursday D. Friday
2 What will be included in the exam?
A. There will be only multiple-choice questions.
B. The exam will contain both multiple-choice and essay questions.
C. The exam will have an oral and written section.
D. There will be only essay questions.
3 Why does the teacher call the exam comprehensive?
A. Because it will be easy to understand.
B. Because it will cover topics from a variety (多种多样) of subjects.
C. Because students will be tested on all the material discussed in class.
D. Because students must complete all parts of it.
4 The underlined phrase run into probably means ____ .
A. meet somebody unexpectedly B. go into
C. come across (偶然遇见) D. come up against something with force
Dear Mom and Dad,
I’m afraid I have some very bad news for you. I have been very naughty and the school master is very angry with me. She is going to write to you. You must come and take me away from here. She does not want me in the school any longer.
The trouble started last night when I was smoking a cigarette in bed. As I was smoking, I heard footsteps coming towards the room. I did not want a teacher to catch me smoking, so I threw the cigarette away. Unfortunately, the cigarette fell into the waste--paper basket. It caught fire. There was a curtain near the waste --paper basket. It caught fire too. Soon the whole room was burning. The master phoned the fire brigade（消防队）. The school is a long way from the town and before the fire brigade arrived, the whole school was on fire. The master said that the fire was all my fault and I must pay for the damage. She will send you a bill for about a million dollars.
I’m very sorry for this.
Much love, Sarah
1 What did Sarah write to his parents for?
A. He was tired of studying, and wanted to leave school.
B. He told his parents what he had done in school.
C. He thought he was old enough to help them do something.
D. He missed them a lot for they hadn’t seen each other for a long time.
2 Where did Sarah smoke?
A. In the classroom. B. In the street.
C. In the dormitory. D. In the Dinning hall.
3 Why was the school master angry with him?
A. Because he was too naughty. B. Because he was too lazy.
C. Because he caused a big fire. D. Because he stole something at school.
4 According to the passage, the students should not ____ .
A. smoke because smoking is dangerous to them
B. dance because dancing would waste a lot of money
C. make friends because making friends would take them absent
D. wear expensive clothes because they would waste a lot of money