On April 24th, another natural disaster-the oil spill(泄露)in the Gulf of Mexico, happened. Millions of dollars have been used to help stop the spill and to clean up the animals, beaches, and land spoiled by the oil. Unfortunately, when many of these chemicals are used, more damage is caused to the environment, especially to lives in the sea.
But governments seem to accept the risk of transporting mil-lions of tons of oil by ship every day so that we can fill up our cars and drive around and cause even more environmental damage. Interestingly, the biggest companies in the world produce cars, and the next biggest supply the gasoline to make them run.
Of all of today's environmental disasters, an oil spill may actually be one of the least serious. Although oil is poisonous, it is a natural material. In the end, it breaks down naturally. In 1967 the tanker Torrey Canyon sank off the Scilly Isles near the coast of England and spilled 120,000 tons of oil into the ocean. If you go there today, you will find it hard to see any sign that it ever happened.
However, we should be thinking more about reducing our dependency on oil. Governments should be encouraging research into new technologies, such as cars run by solar power, electricity, hydro-gen, and so on. Much of this research, in the past, was stopped by the oil, gas, and coal.
If the world's millions of cars were 10% more efficient (高效的),we would need many fewer tankers crossing the oceans each year. If this happened, the risks of oil spills would be reduced, and the air we breathe would be cleaner and fresher, too.What is the passage mainly talking about?
A.Oil spills pollution. |
B.What oil pollution is. |
C.Oil tanker accidents. |
D.How to reduce oil pollution. |
How does the author support the idea that oil spills are not as serious as people believe?
A.By giving a description. |
B.By making an argument. |
C.By giving an example. |
D.By drawing a diagram(图表). |
Which suggestion is made for reducing oil tankers according to the passage?
A.We should build safer tankers in the near future. |
B.We should develop new technologies to cut oil use. |
C.Tankers should not be allowed to sail near the coastlines. |
D.Countries should build more oil pipelines under the sea. |
Where can you read this article?
A.In a story book. | B.In a science magazine. |
C.In a novel. | D.In a brochure. |
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Having friends may well keep you healthier and help you deal with stress better. Some studies show that people with close friends have a greater ability to fight disease than people who are alone.
Make friendship a priority(优先). Find the time to be with friends even if it means letting the lawn go unmowed(未割草) or the dishes unwashed for a while. When you can’ t get together, use the phone to keep in touch.
Open up to close friends. Maintaining a deep friendship requires a level of heartfelt intimacy(亲密). Don’t be afraid to express your inner fears and disappointments. Listen to your friends when they have problem, but offer advice only when it’s wanted. Help raise friends’ self-esteem when they are shaken by a job loss, or other such events.
Have different friends for different activities, such as going to the movies, singing in a choir(合唱), and joining in a bowling league.
Don’t wait for a friend to ask a favor. When a friend has the flu, offer to go to the store or drive his or her children to their after-school activities.
Never take a friendship for granted. Like a good marriage, friendship needs care and patience. Become a joiner. Find a group that matches your interests.
Talk to strangers. Conversations started in museums, laundry rooms, or bookstores can lead to firm friendship.
Enroll in an adult-education course. A classroom is an ideal place to meet others with similar interests.
60. People with close friends have a ____ ability to fight disease than people who are alone.
A. less B. greater C. poorer D. little
61. What we should do to have friends according to the author?
A. Make friendship a priority. B. Open up to close friends.
C. Never take a friendship for granted D. All the above.
62. Which of the statements is TRUE according to the passage?
A. You should have different friends for the same activities.
B. You should wait for a friend to ask a favor.
C. You should avoid talking with stranger in museums, laundry rooms of bookstores.
D. You should never take a friendship for granted.
63. . The underlined word “ enroll” in the last paragraph means _____.
A. give B. join C. get D. catch
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第三部分:阅读理解(共20小题,每小题2分,满分40分)
My family couldn’t afford to send me to school when I was 16. When my mother took me out of school, I really lost heart about my life and didn’t know what I was going to do.
I worked to help my mother sell newspapers and that was all I could do at the time. When I was 18 years old, my mother started telling me that I would have to live on my own. I felt very frightened of the future. One night while I was watching television, a piece of news about joining the army caught my eyes. I had admired soldiers since I was very young. Now the chance came and I felt pleased. The next day I called the number on the news and set up an appointment to meet the recruiter(征兵人员), an elderly officer. When he heard that I didn’t graduate from high school, he told me that I had a slim(微小的) chance. I explained to him that I would study to improve myself and work hard. At last, he agreed to try to help me.
About a month later he asked me to go to his office and explained to me that he would get me in the service(服役) but I had to promise him that I would make the best of this chance he was trying to create for me and I did. He was able to help me join the army and I kept my promise by doing eight years and receiving an Honorable Discharge (光荣退伍证) from the service. After that, I have worked as a guard with good pay.
56. Why did the author drop out of high school?
A. Because he wanted to help his mother.
B. Because his mother wanted him to work.
C. Because he lost interest in study.
D. Because his family was too poor.
57. When the author got out of school, he felt _______.
A. relaxed B. hopeless C. bored D. frightened
58. How did the author succeed in joining the army?
A. Through his mother’s encouragement and his luck.
B. Through his great performance before the recruiter.
C. Through his sincere(真诚的) request and an officer’s help.
D. Through his optimistic attitude and serious promise.
59. We can infer from the text that _________.
A. people can achieve success if they don’t give up
B. a person’s achievements depend mainly on other’s help
C. failure in one field doesn’t mean failure in another
D. people should be confident in the face of difficulties
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His first fight was for the equal rights of black people in South Africa.Then, as the first black president he fought to unite the country and organize the government. Now Nelson Mandela has set his sights on a new enemy, AIDS.
On March 19 the 82-year-old, former president, hosted his second AIDS-awareness concert. He warned that 25 million people in Africa were already infected with the fatal disease.
Mandela was born in a small village in South Africa in 1918.He was adopted by the chief of his tribe (部族) and could have been a chief himself and lived a happy country life. But he refused to be a chief when his people lived under racial discrimination (种族歧视). He decided to fight for equal rights for all the people in South Africa.Before 1990, under the country's Racial Segregation Law , coloured and white people lived separately. Black people were treated unfairly even when taking a bus. Blacks had to stand at the back of the bus to make room for white people even when there were only a few of them on board.
For his opposition (反对) to the system Mandela was arrested and spent 27 years in prison. He was freed in 1990 and became the president of the country after the first elections were held in which everyone could vote.
Mandela was not only a political fighter who attacked with speeches. He was also a trained boxer (拳击手) and fought in the ring when he was young.
"Although I did not enjoy the violence of boxing, I was interested in how one moved one's body to protect oneself, how one used a strategy both to attack and retreat (撤退)," he wrote in his autobiography.
As a skilful fighter, he chose music as his weapon against AIDS. He hopes to win another victory against AIDS.
57.Nelson Mandela succeeded in doing the following EXCEPT _____.
A.winning the equal rights for the black people in South Africa
B.uniting South Africa
C.organizing a government in South Africa
D.controlling the spread of AIDS
58.If Nelson Mandela hadn’t fought against racial discrimination, he _____.
A.could easily have been the president of South Africa
B.could still have lived a happy life
C.could have been in a difficult situation
D.would have been an excellent boxer
59.It can be inferred that Nelson Mandela _____.
A.continues to help the black people with the political struggle
B.is taking a position in a music group
C.is taking on the world’s greatest fight against AIDS
D.is preparing for the next election of president
60.Which statement can best describe the life of Nelson Mandela?
A.Struggle is his life. B.Sports make his fame.
C.Fight for equal rights. D.Great fighter against government.
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LEEDS, England-A Leeds University psychology professor is teaching a course to help dozens of people forgive their enemies.
“The hatred (憎恨) we hold within us is a cancer,”Professor Ken Hart said, adding that holding in anger can lead to problems such as high blood pressure and heart disease.
More than 70 people have become members in Hart’s first 20-week workshop in London—a course he says is the first of its kind in the world.
These are people who are sick and tired of living with a memory. They realize their bitterness is a poison they think they can pour out, but they end up drinking it themselves, said Canadian-born Hart.
The students meet in groups of eight to ten for a two-hour workshop with an adviser every two weeks
The course, ending in July, is expected to get rid of the cancer of hatred in these people.“People have lots of negative attitudes towards forgiveness,” he said.“People confuse(把……混同)forgiveness with forgetting. Forgiveness means changing from a negative attitude to a positive one”.
Hart and his team have made instructions to provide the training needed.
“The main idea is to give you guidelines on how to look at various kinds of angers and how they affect you, and how to change your attitudes toward the person you are angry with,”said Norman Claringbull, a senior expert on the forgiveness project, Hart said he believes forgiveness is a skill that can be taught, as these people“want to get free of the past”.
53.From this passage we know that_________.
A. high blood pressure and heart disease are caused by hatred
B. high blood pressure can only be cured by psychology professors
C. without hatred, people will have less trouble connected with blood and heart
D. people who suffer from blood pressure and heart disease must have many enemies
54.If you are angry with somebody, you should_________.
A. try your best to defeat him or her
B. never meet him or her again
C. persuade him or her to have a talk with you
D. relax yourself by not thinking of him or her any more
55.In Hart’s first 20-week workshop, people there can_________
A. meet their enemies B. change their minds
C. enjoy the professor’s speech D. learn how to quarrel with others
56. If you are a member in Hart’s workshop, you’ll_________.
A. pay much money to Hart B. go to the workshop every night
C. attend a gathering twice a month D. pour out everything stored in your mind
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Dear Abby,
This is my first letter to you, although I have been reading your column for many years. I need an outside opinion.
I am a grandmother in my 70s and have just returned from visiting my daughter, her husband and their three dearly loved children--all under the age of 5--and I'm upset with some of their parenting ways.
For example: They lock the doors to their children's bedrooms at night because the children might get out of their beds and wander around the house, and we may not hear them."
If one child should get punishment, all three are punished, and if one child says a naughty
word, all three are given hot sauce (辣酱汁) in the mouth. I know these parents love their children very much, but are these ways of disciplining them wise? Please understand, it is not my aim to interfere (干涉).
--- Gram
Dear Gram,
Children's bedroom doors should not be locked. Should a flash fire break out, it would be a nightmare (噩梦).Punishing all the children when only one has earned the punishment is a good way to make them grow up to hate each other. Children who use "naughty" words should not be punished with hot sauce in the mouth-they should be taught the proper and acceptable word to use instead of the "naughty" word.
--- Abby
49. Gram's daughter _____________.
A. is very strict with her children B. does not love her three children
C. always punishes her children at night D. often gives her children hot sauce
50. The passage doesn't say so, but from the lines you'll find that __________.
A. Gram likes writing letters B. Gram likes watching children
C. Gram likes reading newspapers D. Gram likes visiting her daughter
51. Gram writes the letter in order to ____________.
A. disclose her daughter's ways as a mother
B. criticize her daughter's ways as a mother
C. express her anger about her daughter s ways as a mom
D. get others' opinion about her daughter's ways as a mom
52. Which of the following is NOT true according to the passage?
A. Gram seems to care for her grand children very much.
B. Gram is against some of her daughter's ways as a mom.
C. Abby is for only one of Gram's daughter's ways as a mom.
D. Abby agrees with Gram about her daughter's ways as a mom.