I suddenly heard an elephant crying as though frightened. Looking down, I immediately recognized that something was wrong, and ran down to the edge of the near bank. There I saw Ma Shwe with her three-month-old calf struggling in the fast-rising water, and it was a life-and-death struggle. Her calf was floating and screaming with fear. Ma Shwe was as near to the far bank as she could get, holding her whole body against the rushing water, and keeping the calf pressed against her huge body. Every now and then the rushing water would sweep the calf away. There was a sudden rise in the water and the calf was washed clean over the mother's body and was gone. Ma Shwe turned quickly to reach it and pressed the calf with her head and trunk(象鼻) against the rocky bank. Then with a huge effort, she picked it up in her trunk and tried until she was able to place it on a narrow shelf of rock.
Just at this moment, she felt back into the river. If she were carried down, it would be certain death. I knew, as well as she did, that there was one spot (地点) where she could get up the bank, but it was on the other side from where she had put her calf. While I was wondering what I could do next，I heard the sound of a mother’s love．Ma Shwe had crossed the river and got up the bank and was making her way back as fast as she could，roaring(吼叫)all the time，but to her calf it was music．The moment the author got down to the river bank he saw ．
| A．the calf was about to fall into the river |
| B．Ma Shwe was placing the calf on the rock |
| C．the calf was washed away by the rising water |
| D．Ma Shwe was holding the calf against the rushing water |
How did Ma Shwe manage to save her calf from the fast-flowing water?
| A．By putting it on a safe spot． |
| B．By pressing it against her body． |
| C．By taking it away with her． |
| D．By carrying it on her back |
How did the calf feel about the mother elephant’s roaring?
| A．It Was a musical note． |
| B．It was a sign of danger． |
| C．It was a call for help. |
| D．It was a great comfort |
What can be the best title for the text?
| A．A Mother’s Love | B．A Brave Act |
| C．A Deadly River | D．A Matter of Life and Death |
We already know the fastest, least expensive way to slow climate change: Use less energy. With a little effort, and not much money, most of us could reduce our energy diets by 25 percent or more—doing the Earth a favor while also helping our wallets.
Not long ago, My wife, PJ, and I tried a new diet—not to lose a little weight but to answer an annoying question about climate change. Scientists have reported recently that the world is bending up even faster than predicted only a few years ago, and that the consequences could be severe if we don’t keep reducing emissions（排放）of carbon dioxide（CO2）and other greenhouse gases that are trapping heat in our atmosphere.
We decided to try an experiment. For one month we recorded our personal emissions of CO2. . We wanted to see how much we could cut back, so we went on a strict diet. The average US household（家庭）produces about 150 pounds of CO2 a day by doing common-place things like turning on air-conditioning or driving cars. That’s more than twice the European average and almost five times the global average, mostly because Americans drive more and have bigger houses. But how much should we try to reduce?
For an answer, I checked with Tim Flannery, author of The Weather Makers: How Man Is Changing the Climate and What It Means for Life on Earth. In his book, he had challenged readers to make deep cuts in personal emissions to keep the world from reaching extremely important tipping points, such as the melting（融化）of the ice sheets in Greenland or West Antarctica. “To stay below that point, we need to reduce CO2 emissions by 80 percent,” he said.
Good advice, I thought. I’d opened our bedroom windows to let in the wind. We’d gotten so used to keeping our air-conditioning going around the clock. I’d almost forgotten the windows even opened. We should not let this happen again. It’s time for us to change our habits if necessary.
1. Why did the author and his wife try a new diet?
A. To take special kinds of food B. To respond to climate change.
C. To lose weight D. To improve their health
2 The underlined words “tipping points” most probably refer to________.
A. freezing points B. burning points C. melting points D. boiling points
3. It can be inferred from the passage that_________
A. it is necessary to keep the air-conditioning on all the time
B. it seems possible for every household to cut emissions of CO2
C. the average US household produces about 3,000 pounds of CO2 a month
D. the average European household produces about 1,000 pounds of CO2 a month
4. Which of the following would be the title for this passage?
A. Saving Energy Starts at Home
B. Changing Our Habits Begins at Work
C. Changing Climate Sounds Reasonable
D. Reducing Emission of CO2 proves Difficult
When a close friend dies, it often forces you to consider your own death. The more you have in common with the friend, the more his death will make you wonder about your own. Sometimes you will naturally say to yourself, "It could just as easily have been me." Such a death has a way of reminding us how fragile life is, and it may cause you to reassess（重新评价） the direction of your own life.
Jack's story is a good example. A successful businessman making a lot of money, Jack didn't spend as much time with his family as he wanted. His job required him to work long hours. But three years ago one of his best friends, a man who worked in the same office, had a heart attack. He died while celebrating his daughter's eighteenth birthday in a restaurant. He was only fifty years old.
Not long after his friend's death, Jack started to have a chest pain. Finally he had a good physical check-up. He received a clean bill of health. But the chest pain continued. He kept thinking of the death of his friend. Jack thought about how much his friend missed in life and he saw how hard it was for his friend's family to manage after he passed away.
Jack realized that he didn't want to end up his life that way. He talked his feelings over with his wife and children, and decided to change his way of life. The family moved to a small town where he started a simple life. Now he is running a small art gallery（画廊）. He is relaxed, and says he has never been so happy in his life, and he has got no more chest pain.
1. Your close friend's death is __________________ to you.
A. a warning B. common C. a direction of life D. an example
2. The underlined sentence in the third paragraph means "________________".
A. The doctor didn't write a word on his bill
B. The doctor didn't want Jack to pay for the bill
C. The doctor didn't find anything wrong with him
D. The doctor didn't want to treat his pain
3． His friend's death made Jack ________________.
A. lose much interest in life
B. realize that he missed the friend very much
C. doubt his way of life
D. ill for some time
4. While living in the small town Jack ________________.
A. earns less money B. gets more time
C. has a happier life D. does all these mentioned above
Stephen William Hawking was born on January 8th, 1942 in Oxford, England. His parents’ house was in North London, but during the Second World War Oxford was considered a safer place to have babies. When he was eight, his family moved to St Albans. At eleven Stephen went to St. Albans School, and then on to University College, Oxford, his father’s old college. Stephen wanted to do math, although his father would have preferred medicine. Math was not available at University College, so he did physics instead.
Stephen then went on to Cambridge to do research in Cosmology (宇宙论). After gaining his Ph.D. （哲学博士）he became first a Research Fellow, and later on a Professorial Fellow at Gonville and Caius College. After leaving the Institute of Astronomy in 1973, Stephen came to the Department of Applied Math and Theoretical Physics (理论物理), and since 1979 has held the post of Lucasian Professor of math.
Stephen Hawking has worked on the basic laws which rule the universe. With Roger Penrose he showed that Einstein’s General Theory of Relativity implied space and time would have a beginning in the Big Bang and an end in black holes. These results show it was necessary to unify（统一）General Relativity with Quantum Theory （量子论）. One result of such a unification that he discovered was that black holes should not be completely black, but should give off radiation and disappear in the end.
1. Which of the following is NOT suitable for describing Stephen Hawking?
A. He once studied at the same college that his father studied at.
B. At one time he did research in Cosmology in Oxford.
C. He preferred math to medicine at college.
D. He contributed to the unification of General Theory of Relativity and Quantum Theory.
2. The underlined word “available” in the first paragraph probably means “________”.
A. able to be had B. allowed to study
C. easy to understand D. limited to learn
3. Why did Stephen Hawking’s parents move to Oxford from North London?
A. Because they liked it better than North London.
B. Because there was a world-famous university there.
C. Because they were tired of living in North London.
D. Because it was safer to give birth to a baby in Oxford.
4. Which of the following would be the best title for the passage?
A. Einstein and Stephen Hawking
B. Big Bang, a great theory
C. Stephen Hawking, a great British scientist
D. The unification of two theories
OTTAWA — Canada’s western city of Calgary is the world’s best city when it comes to healthy living, local press reported Monday.
According to an international survey by Mercer Human Resource Consulting, a London-based consulting firm, Calgary was put at the top of a list of 144 cities. It scored 121 points, just above Honolulu’s score of 120. Helsinki（赫尔辛基，芬兰首都） and Ottawa followed at 119.5 and 118.5 respectively.
Three other Canadian cities came in the top 20. Montreal and Vancouver tied for ninth and Toronto came in at 18th.
The scores are based on air pollution levels, availability and quality of hospitals and medical supplies, as well as the efficiency of waste removal and sewage systems.
In America, the lowest scoring city was Atlanta, which was ranked 76th. Athens was the lowest scoring city in Western Europe, ranking 120th because of its air pollution. London was ranked 59th.
1. How many Canadian cities are in the top 20?
A. 3.B. 4. C. 5. D. 6.
2. Which of the following is NOT taken into account when the cities were scored?
A. Weather conditions. B. Air quality.
C. Waste removal.D. Medical supplies.
3. Among the following cities, which is the lowest scoring one?
A. Atlanta. B. Athens. C. London. D. Helsinki.
It seems that politicians around the world are thinking about the health of their countries. While in China, Chen Zhu has announced his plans for a universal health service and reform across health services. Gordon Brown, the UK Prime Minister, has also announced he is planning to make some changes in our health service.
The crux（问题的中心） of Mr. Brown's proposals are related to giving the NHS (National Health Service) a greater focus on prevention, rather than just curing patients.
He is planning to introduce increased screening for common diseases such as heart disease, strokes, and cancer, for example, breast cancer. In Britain there are 200,000 deaths a year from heart attacks and strokes, many of which might have been avoided if the condition had been known about.
Initially, the diagnostic (诊断的) tests will be available for those who are vulnerable, or most likely to have the disease. One example is a plan to offer all men over 65 an ultrasound（超声波） test to check for problems with the main artery (动脉), a condition which kills 3,000 men a year.
The opposition have criticized Mr. Brown's proposals, saying that they are just a trick, and claiming that there is no proper timetable for the changes. They also say that Mr. Brown is reducing the money available for the treatment of certain conditions while putting more money towards testing for them.
The NHS was founded in 1948, and is paid for by taxation. The idea is that the rich pay more towards the health service than the poor. However in recent years there has been a great increase in the use of private healthcare, because it’s much quicker. NHS waiting lists for operations can be very long, so many people who can afford it choose to pay for medical care themselves.
1. The underlined word vulnerable in the fourth paragraph probably means ________.
A. sick B. weak C. wounded D. old
2. Which of the following is the reason for the increasing private healthcare?
A. People are paying more attention to their own health.
B. People are well off enough to pay their healthcare.
C. The NHS was not available for most of the people.
D. It’s not so convenient for people to go to the NHS for their healthcare.
3. According to the passage, the purpose of the health reform plan in the UK is to _______
A. encourage more private healthcare.
B. focus on the prevention rather than on curing the patient.
C. deal with the main artery problems.
D. fight against the opposition in the UK.
4. The author of this passage intends to tell us _________.
A. the NHS should be reformed right away.
B. more and more people are dying from diseases.
C. the plan to reform the NHS in the UK.
D. the criticism of Mr. Brown's proposals.