Man is a land animal, but he is also closely tied to the sea. Throughout history the sea has served the needs of man. The sea has provided man with food and a convenient way to travel to many parts of the world. Today, nearly two-thirds of the world’s population lives within 80 kilometers of the sea coast.
In the modern technological world, the sea offers many resources to help mankind survive. Resources on land are beginning to be used up. The sea, however, still can be expected to supply many of man’s needs.
The list of riches of the sea yet to be developed by man’s technology is impressive. Oil and gas explorations have been carried out for nearly 30 years. Valuable amounts of minerals exist on the ocean floor ready to be developed.
Fish farming promises to be a good way to produce large quantities of food. The culture of fish and shellfish is an ancient skill practiced in the past mainly by eastern people.
Besides oil and gas, the sea may offer new sources of energy. Experts believe that the warm temperature of the ocean can be used in a way similar to the steam in a steamship. Ocean and waves offer possible use as a source of energy.
Technology is enabling man to explore even more deeply under the sea. The development of strong, new materials has made this possible.
The technology to harvest the sea continues to improve. Experts believe that by the year 2020 the problems that prevent us from exploiting fully the food, minerals, and energy sources of the sea will be largely solved.Which of the following are the types of resources that sea offer man?
| A．fish, shellfish and oil |
| B．food, gas and oil |
| C．warm temperature and ocean currents |
| D．food, energy sources and minerals |
How can the warm temperature of the ocean be used as a possible source of energy?
| A．It can be used as a huge air-conditioner to warm the ship. |
| B．It can work in a way similar to the steam in a steamboat. |
| C．The heat of the warm ocean can be transported to factories. |
| D．The heat of the warm ocean can be stored and delivered. |
We can conclude from this passage that ______.
| A．the sea resources have largely been used up |
| B．the sea in the broad sense, has not yet been developed |
| C．the problems stopping us from developing the sea have been solved |
| D．modern technology is good enough to exploit all the sea resources |
The following statements are true except ______.
| A．Over half of the world’s population lives within 80 kilometers of the sea coast. |
| B．Resources on land are used up while the sea still can be developed to supply man’s needs. |
| C．Oil and gas explorations have been carried out for nearly 30 years. |
| D．Previously, fishing is an old skill practiced mainly by eastern people. |
The best title for this passage is ______.
| A．Harvesting the sea with technology |
| B．Supplying Sea Food |
| C．Technology for Developing the Sea |
| D．Man and the Sea |
D
HOLIDAY HOMES IN MALLORCA
Holiday houses in Mallorca sailing and fishing port - quiet even in summer season．Beautifully situated houses with sights of sea and mountains, yet near to shops and restaurants．Cars and bicycles for hire．Sailing and sports clubs nearby．
ITALY IN COMFORT
Luxury coach trips of Italy, out of normal holiday season．21 days to visit five Italian cities starting from London 1st May, 1st September．The trips are guided by Professor Martin Davis, Head of Italian Studies, London University．See the arts and culture of historic Italy．
KIBBUTZ HOLIDAYS IN ISRAEL
Working holidays on a kibbutz （co-operative farm） in Israel．All nationalities welcome for one to three months, if prepared to work morning with kibbutz members．Accommodation, food and trips to historic sights all provided free - you pay only for the special low-cost return flight．
TWO WEEKS ON A CARIBBEAN ISLAND
Two-week holidays in the Hotel Splendid, on a lovely beach with golden sands and deep-blue sea．Tennis, golf, sailing and all water sports, trips around the island arranged．Near to town of Castries with lively evening entertainment - dancing．
1st November - 31st March =￡720 per person
1st April - 30th October =￡850 per person
Jack and his wife Mary, who have recently retired, want to see places of cultural and historic interest abroad, but Mary hates flying．
Peter and Maria, university students, want to travel as far as possible on little money, and would like to get to know a country by working there for three months with other young people．
Michael, a young computer programmer, has been working hard and needs a holiday to relax in winter．He would like to go somewhere warmer and sunny, where he can swim in the sea, and he enjoys sports and dancing．
Henry and Kate, both teachers, and their two sons, have to take their holiday during the school summer holidays．There must be plenty for the boys to do, although Harry and Kate just want to have beautiful scenery, good food and wine- and peace．
57．Michael would most probably go to _______ for his holiday．
A．Italy B．Israel C．Mallorca D．a Caribbean island
58．The best holiday for Jack and Mary would be _______．
A．the 21 - day coach trip of Italy
B．the 2 -week stay in the Hotel Splendid
C．the 14 -day trip around a Caribbean island
D．the working holidays for 1 -3 months on a kibbutz in Israel
59．Henry and Kate and their sons would like _______．
A．a holiday working on a kibbutz in Israel
B．a holiday visiting cities by coach in Italy
C．a holiday house in the fishing port in Mallorca
D．a holiday hotel on a lovely beach on a Carribean Island
60．You can find this passage most probably in _______．
A．a school library B．a tourist agency C．the post office D．the museum
C
In the 1920s demand for American farm products fell, as European countries began to recover from World War I and started austerity （紧缩） programs to reduce their imports．The result was a sharp drop in farm prices．This period was more disastrous for farmers than earlier times had been, because farmers were no longer self-sufficient．They were paying for machinery, seed, and fertilizer, and they were also buying consumer goods．The prices of the items farmers bought remained constant, while prices they received for their products fell．These developments were made worse by the Great Depression, which began in 1929 and extended throughout the 1939s．
In 1929, under President Herbert Hoover, the Federal Farm Board was organized．It established the principle of direct interference （干预） with supply and demand, and it represented the first national commitment to provide greater economic stability for farmers．
President Hoover's successor attached even more importance to this problem．One of the first measures proposed by President FranklinD．Roosevelt when he took office in 1933 was the Agricultural Adjustment Act, which was later passed by Congress．This law gave the Secretary of Agriculture the power to reduce production through voluntary agreements with farmers who were paid to take their land out of use．A deliberate shortage of farm products was planned in an effort to raise prices．This law was declared unconstitutional （违背宪法的） by the Supreme Court on the grounds that general taxes were being collected to pay one special group of people．However, new laws were passed immediately that achieved the same result of resting soil and providing flood-control measures, but which were based on the principle of soil conservation．The Roosevelt Administration believed that rebuilding the nation’s soil was in the national interest and was not simply a plan to help farmers at the expense of other citizens．Later the government guaranteed loans to farmers so that they could buy farm machinery, hybrid （杂交） grain, and fertilizers．
53．What caused the problem in the demand for American farm products?
A．The effect of the Great Depression．
B．The shrinking of overseas markets．
C．The destruction caused by the First World War．
D．The increased exports of European countries．
54．The word “successor” refers to ______．
A．President Hoover B．US Secretary of State
C．President Franklin D．US Secretary of Agriculture
55．The Agricultural Adjustment Act encouraged American farmers to ______．
A．reduce their scale of production B．make full use of their land
C．adjust the prices of their farm products D．be self-sufficient in agricultural production
56．The Supreme Court rejected the Agricultural Adjustment Act because it believed that the Act ______．
A．might cause greater shortage of farm products
B．didn't give the Secretary of Agriculture enough power
C．would benefit neither the government nor the farmers
D．benefited one group of citizens at the expense of others
B
The world is not coming to an end on December 21, 2012, the US space agency insisted Monday in a rare campaign to dispel widespread rumors fueled by the Internet and a new Hollywood movie．
The latest big screen offering from Sony Picture, 2012, arrives in theaters on Friday, with a 200-million-dollar production about the end of the world supposedly based on myths backed by the Mayan calendar．It is claimed that the end of time will come as a Planet X---or Nibiru---heads toward or collides with the Earth．
Some websites accuse NASA of hiding the truth on the planet’s existence, but the US space agency condemned such stories as an “Internet hoax”．“There is no factual basis for these claims,” NASA said in a question-and-anwser posting on this website．“If such a collision were real, astronomers would have been tracking it for at least the past decade, and it would be visible by now to the naked eye．Obviously, it does not exist．Credible scientists worldwide know of no threat associated with 2012,” it insisted．“After all, our planet has been getting along just well for more than four billion years,” added NASA．
There is another planet, Eris, floating in space．But the small planet similar to Pluto will remain safely fixed in the outer solar system and it can come no closer than four billion miles to the Earth, according to NASA．
Earlier theories set the disaster for May 2003, but when nothing happened the date was moved forward to the winter in 2012 to coincide with the end of a cycle of the ancient Mayan calendar．
NASA insisted the Mayan calendar in fact does not end on December 21, 2012, as another period begins immediately afterward．
And even if the planets were to line up as some have forecast, the effect on our planet would be “negligible（unimportant）”, NASA said．
“And while comets and asteroids （小行星） have always hit the Earth, big hits are very rare,” NASA noted．The last major impact was believed to be 65 million years ago, resulting in the end of dinosaurs．
“We have already determined that there are no threatening asteroids as large as the one that killed the dinosaurs,” the space agency said．
49．______ played a key role in the spread of the rumors．
A．A new book B．The Internet and a new Hollywood movie
C．NASAD．An Indian calendar
50．We can infer that ______．
A．people didn’t take the rumor seriously
B．Planet X --- or Nibiru does exist
C．astronomers have been tracking Planet X for over ten years
D．the rumor caused a panic among some people
51．NASA thinks that Eris ______．
A．might have a threat to the Earth B．doesn’t have any threat to the Earth
C．is too far away to be visible D．is similar to our planet, where life might exist
52．Which of the following is the best title?
A．New Hollywood movie 2012
B．December 21, 2012, Not the end of the world
C．End of the ancient Mayan calendar
D．How rumors came into being
第二部分阅读理解（共两节，满分 40分）
第一节（共15小题；每小题2分，满分30分）
阅读下列四篇短文，从每小题后所给的A、B、C、D四个选项中，选出最佳选项。并在答题卡上将该选项涂黑。
A
Fun-loving Paul Johnson earned the title of the Scarborough Evening News Teacher of the Year 2008．Mr Johnson, of Hinderwell School, was presented with the award after four of his pupils nominated（recommended） him for the prestigious title．
Evening News editor Ed Asquith presented Mr Johnson with his certificate — and a cheque for £100．His class is also set to enjoy a free trip to the Sea Life Centre which includes being picked up by a complimentary Shoreline Suncruisers open-top bus．
The 30-year-old, who lives in Hunmanby, said: “I am just so shocked．I have been nominated for this award for a few years and I never thought I would win it．It is fantastic．It is completely out of the blue．”
Mr Johnson has worked as a Year 5 teacher at the school for seven years．He also works as an advanced teacher, which involves visiting other schools in the county once a week to offer cross-curricular teaching．
He was chosen as the winner because of his dynamic but educationally engaging approach to teaching, and based on the real way he has demonstrated that every child matters．Each term he picks a theme for his class and the curriculum is based around it．This term they are studying medieval times — and his classroom has a castle in one corner．He also treated his class to a three-day trip to London earlier this year．
His nominators were Lucy and Emily Desborough, Rachel Laverick and Rebecca Miller．Classmate Callum Macdonald, 10, said: “He is the best teacher in the world and he deserves this．He is brilliant with us and he is just so funny．He tells lots of jokes which always make us laugh．” Beth Lawty, nine, added: “Our classroom is the best ever．We have really enjoyed being in his class and I will miss him next year．”
46．Paul Johnson visits other schools in the county to ______．
A．show his teaching experience B．learn from other teachers
C．improve his teaching skills D．offer a different course
47．Why is there a castle in one corner of Paul Johnson’s classroom?
A．It is used to train the students’ imagination．
B．It is a prize from the Scarborough Evening News
C．The students can play in it after class．
D．It is probably a symbol of medieval times．
48．The underlined part “out of the blue” probably means ______．
A．of surpriseB．frustrating
C．of great fame D．within easy reach
E
The earth is getting warmer．The planet is suffering．But what can you do about it? Reduce the amount of waste you generate．Use cleaner energy sources and go greener today, starting with these steps:
1．Get a reusable water bottle
Americans buy about 25 billion single-serving plastic water bottles each year．That's an average of 83 bottles per person per year．Plastic bottles take plenty of resources to produce, including fuel for transportation and petroleum to make the plastic．Even recycling bottles uses energy．
2．Eat less meat
You don't need to become a vegetarian to help save the planet．Eating meat just one day less a week can reduce your negative impact on the environment．More water, energy and land are required to produce meat than to produce grain．
3．Switch to energy-efficient light bulbs
Most households use standard incandescent （白炽的） bulbs．But compact fluorescent （荧光的） light bulbs, or CFLs, use 66 percent less energy than standard bulbs, produce just as much light, last up to 10 times longer and don't need to be replaced as often．If every household in the United States replaced just one incandescent light bulb with a CFL bulb, it would equal removing one million cars from the road．
4．Buy organic and local food
Did you know that only 1 percent of pesticides （杀虫剂） applied to crops reach the pests they target? The rest enter the environment．Organic food is grown without the use of pesticides．Organic farming can use 50 percent less energy than traditional farming methods．Buying local food saves on the fuel used to transport food grown elsewhere, thousands of miles across the country or around the world．
5．Recycle your electronics
Everyone knows the importance of recycling glass and plastic, but what about cell phones, computers, CDs and batteries? Electronics are responsible for about 40 percent of toxic （有毒的） heavy metals such as lead and mercury．Check with your city's recycling facilities to see if they take electronics．
72．The readers of this passage are called on to ______．
A．help reduce global warming B．use water in a wise way
C．donate money for charity D．keep a balanced diet
73．What is an advantage of CFLs according to the passage?
A．They use more energy but produce more light．
B．They can last longer so don't need to be replaced often．
C．They cost less than standard incandescent bulbs．
D．They are as energy-efficient as incandescent bulbs．
74．Which of the following figures is correct according to the passage?
A．Every year an American buys 63 plastic water bottles on average．
B．Eating meat one day less a week helps cut environment costs．
C．99% of the pesticides used on crops is effective in practice．
D．Electronics account for half of poisonous heavy metals on the earth．
75．Which can be the best title for this passage?
A．Why is the earth getting warmer?
B．What can we do about pollution?
C．How can you lead a greener life?
D．Who is to blame for global warming?