B
Many areas of cropland in Bangladesh(孟加拉国) are becoming unfit for farming. The land is becoming salty. It is a big problem for the small country. More than 155 million people live in Bangladesh. Growing crops is the most common way Bangladeshis support themselves.
Farmers in the country are learning to grow vegetables in so-called "vertical gardens." The soil in these gardens is better because heavy rains have removed much of the salt.
A vertical garden is easy to make. Villagers fill containers with good soil and natural fertilizers. They put the containers on bricks so they are off the ground. They add pieces of the bricks to the soil to help water flow and drain.
The farmers cut small holes into the sides of the containers. This permits vegetables with short roots a place to grow. Vegetables with long roots grow on top of the container. One bag of soil can produce up to eight kilograms of vegetables in one season.
Villagers also grow vegetables in containers made from large, thin pieces of plastic supported by bamboo. This "vertical tower" measures more than a meter wide. Each of these towers can produce more than 100 kilograms of vegetables. It costs about $12-$13 to build.
The village of Chandipur is in southwestern Bangladesh. Pumpkins and other gourds(葫芦) grow on vines on top of small homes. The vegetables get the food they need from soil placed in containers on the ground.
Shobitha Debna is a 35-year-old farmer in the village. Her garden space is very small. But she is able to grow hundreds of kilograms of vegetables each season.
She says she grows gourds, including pumpkin, as well as green beans, red amaranth, beets, carrots, cauliflower and more.
Ms. Debna depends on the vegetables to earn money. She makes a few dollars a day.
This kind of farming is new in Chandipur. But it may spread across the country.The reason why cropland is becoming unfit for farming is that________.
| A．the soil has been polluted |
| B．more and more land is used for planting trees |
| C．the land is becoming salty |
| D．there is too much rain |
Why the soil in vertical gardens is better_______?
| A．because there is much less salt in the soil |
| B．because there is much salt in the soil |
| C．because there is enough water in the soil |
| D．because there is many nutrients in the soil |
From paragraph 4, we can learn that_______?
| A．vegetables with long roots grow in the sides of the containers |
| B．vegetables with short roots grow out of the small holes in the sides of the containers |
| C．vegetables with short roots grow on top of the container |
| D．vegetables in vertical gardens are not productive |
Ms. Debna grows many kinds of vegetables EXCEPT________.
| A．gourds | B．carrots | C．pumpkins | D．cucumbers |
What can we infer from the passage__________?
| A．Many areas of cropland in Bangladesh(孟加拉国) are becoming unfit for farming |
| B．155 million people in Bangladesh are short of food |
| C．This kind of farming may spread across Bangladesh |
| D．Ms. Debna earns a lot of money through selling vegetables |
C
New York City was dealing with a growing public health threat Sunday after tests confirmed (证实) that eight students at a private Catholic high school had contracted（感染）the same strain of the AH1N1 flu that has ravaged (重创) Mexico . Some of the school’s students had visited Cancun on a spring break trip two weeks ago .
Officials reported 68 U.S. cases of AH1N1 flu in five states so far , with the latest in Ohio and New York . Unlike in Mexico , cases in the United State have been mild – and U.S. health authorities can’t yet explain why .
In New York City , Centers for Disease Control and Prevention confirmed that there were 45 cases , Mayor Michael Bloomberg said .
About 100 students at St. Francis Preparatory School complained of flu-like symptoms(症状) ; further tests will determine how many of those cases are AH1N1 flu. St. Francis is the largest private Catholic high school in the nation , with 2, 700 students . The school canceled classes on Monday and Tuesday in response to the outbreak .
Bloomberg stressed that the New York cases were mild and many are recovering , but said that some family members of students also had flu symptoms .
In Mexico , health officials say a strain of AH1N1 flu has killed up to 160 people and sickened over 2, 000 . New York officials said the flu strain discovered in the patients here is the same strain as in Mexico , though all the New York cases are mild .
AH1N1 flu is a respiratory (呼吸道) disease of pigs caused by type A flu viruses . Human cases are uncommon but can occur in people who are around pigs . It also can be spread from person to person . Symptoms include a high fever , body aches , coughing , sore throat and respiratory congestion .
49.The passage seems to suggest that _________ .
New York City hasn’t done enough to prevent the disease
the AH1N1 flu in the U.S. likely came from Mexico
people appear to have immunity (免疫力) to the virus
children are likely to be infected with the AH1N1 flu
50. What did St. Francis do in response to the outbreak ?
A. The school called off courses .
B. The school handed out masks to every student .
C. The school planned another trip to Cancun .
D. The infected students were required to stay at home .
51.Compared with cases in the U.S. cases in Mexico are _________ .
A. milder B. more typical C. more severe D. more gentle
52. Which is the main idea of the article ?
A. AH1N1 flu is spreading quickly globally .
B. Many people died of AH1N1 flu in Mexico
C. How does AH1N1 flu spread ?
D. AH1N1 flu is confirmed in New York City
B
News（March 6, 2008）that Microsoft was making a $44. 6 billion bid to buy Yahoo was greeted with heated discussion by many Internet users on Friday. Here are some responses:
Mark Galeassi of Kansas City, Missouri
This is the best move for both parties. Yahoo has the ideas and Microsoft has the money to finally market these ideas correctly. Microsoft and Yahoo are a perfect fit and the deal will be good for consumers.
Scott G. of New Jersey
I was a Yahoo user for years along with Hotmail from Microsoft. Then Google came along. . . Google Earth, Google Toolbar and Gmail. Google is so innovative（创新的）with everything they do. Yahoo and Microsoft. . . same old story. . . I don’t think the merger（合并）will do anything for either company except improve the Yahoo shareholders’ bank accounts:
Michael Glosser of Estero, Florida
Right now, Yahoo offers a lot of features and tools at no cost for all different levels of Internet users. Microsoft seeks nothing but profit. Undoubtedly, they’ll do nothing other than find ways to start removing Yahoo’s formerly non-priced features. Microsoft’s greed will ruin the great thing that Yahoo currently is.
Toni Suarez of Hacienda Heights, California
Perhaps it would bring better high technology innovations to e-mail and help in researching and developing a better Internet!
Antonio Simmons of Parkville, Maryland
Microsoft purchasing Yahoo would be nothing more than an attempt from Microsoft to further impose upon the users their poor-quality software and obtain more wealth for the company. In my opinion, they will never be able to compete with Google because Yahoo and Microsoft’s current search engines are too inferior（差的）to compete. Even if combined, they still lack.
45. Who is in favor of the merger of Microsoft and Yahoo?
A. Antonio Simmons B. Michael Grosser C. Mark Galeassi D. Scott G
46. In the opinion of Scott G. ,_______________.
A. Yahoo and Microsoft are lacking in innovation
B. the merger will contribute to Microsoft
C. the merger will allow Microsoft to overtake（超越）Google
D. Google is getting short of management experience
47. Michael Glosser is afraid that .
A. the merger will lead to Microsoft’s monopoly（垄断）of the market
B. the merger will cost Yahoo’s free features
C. Internet users will have to buy Microsoft’s costly software
D. the increased competition will force Google out of the game
48. What is Antonio Simmons’ attitude towards Google?
A. Doubtful B. Positive C. Negative D. Disapproval
第二部分阅读理解（共两节，满分50分）
第一节：阅读下面短文，从短文后各题所给的A、B、C、D四个选项中，选出最佳选项，并将答案写在答题卡上。（共20小题，每小题2分，满分40分）
A
O. Henry was a pen name used by an American writer of short stories. His real name was William Sydney Porter. He was born in North Carolina in 1862. As a young boy he lived an exciting life. He did not go to school for very long, but he managed to teach himself everything he needed to know. When he was about 20 years old, O. Henry went to Texas, where he tried different jobs. He first worked on a newspaper, and then had a job in a bank, when some money went missing from the bank O. Henry was believed to have stolen it. Because of that, he was sent to prison. During the three years in prison, he learned to write short stories. After he got out of prison, he went to New York and continued writing. He wrote mostly about New York and the life of the poor there. People liked his stories, because simple as the tales were, they would finish with a sudden change at the end, to the reader’s surprise.
41. In which order did O. Henry do the following things?
a. Lived in New York. b. Worked in a bank. c. Travelled to Texas.
d. Was put in prison. e. Had a newspaper job. f. Learned to write stories.
A. e. c. f. b. d. a B. e. b. d. c. a. f. C. c. e. b. d. f. aD. c. b. e. d. a f.
42. O. Henry went to prison because ___________.
A. people thought he had stolen money from the newspaper
B. people thought he had taken money that was not his
C. he wanted to write stories about prisoners
D. he broke the law by not using his own name
43. What do we know about O. Henry before he began writing?
A. He was very good at learning. B. He was not serious about his work.
C. He was devoted to the poor. D. He was well-educated.
44. Where did O. Henry get most material for his short stories?
A. His life inside the prison. B. The newspaper articles he wrote.
C. His exciting early life as a boy. D. The city and people of New York.
E
Here is a passage about learning a foreign language.
Outside of class, the most natural way of finding out if you are making mistakes is from other people’s responses. If the mistakes are too serious, your listeners will be asking you all the time what you mean. If they are not so serious, then people may be asking you whether you said such and such. That will tell you how close you are to speaking “cogently”.
Of course, there are other times when it is important to have errors pointed out. Your class assignments(作业) are probably marked in this way, in which case you need to spend time going over them to take advantage of the individual feedback. In some classes the teacher gets better and better at grammar because she does all the corrections, but the students make slow progress if, when an assignment is returned, they quickly stuff it into their folders without looking.
You are the person who should be connecting your error, even if the marker has signaled them, When you look at them, there are some steps to work through. One distinction that has been made about learners’ language is this. You make mistakes about rules that you already know but you make errors about points you haven’t learned yet. In other words, you can find your own mistakes, but not your errors. First, make sure you understand what you have written or said, or your correction will simply be another stab at the right answer. Next, decide on the best way of practicing the correct form. Would it help you to write out the sentence once more. Can you make up another similar sentence? Then you could test yourself in a few days time to see whether you have remembered the right form, Anyone can get it right immediately after being told. He challenge is to remember it and apply it later.
57．We can learn from the passage that__________in learning a foreign language.
A．making mistakes about rules can always be avoided
B．speaking is the only way to correct mistakes
C．getting and using responses is important
D．errors can be easily corrected
58．How can you know that you are making fewer mistakes when speaking a foreign language?
A．By following the suggestions the writer put forward.
B．By practicing the correct forms.
C．From the teacher’s getting better and better at grammar.
D．From your listeners responses.
59．The writer thinks some students make slow progress because__________.
A．they understand what they have written or said.
B．they have remembered the right form
C．they hardly pay attention to their marked assignments
D．they decide on the best way of practicing the correct form
60．Which of the following might be the most important to work through your mistakes?
A．Keeping the right form in mind and using it later.
B．Writing out the sentence once more.
C．Learning your mistakes by heart.
D．Correcting your mistakes and writing down the teacher’s words.
D
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53．FanStory. com is a website where you can__________
A．publish your poems B．tell your stories
C．easily win a lot of money D．put on all forms of your writing
54．How many benefits can a member get if the prices are not included?
A．5. B．7. C．9. D．11.
55．Which of the following prices is NOT mentioned in the passage?
A．Membership for two years. B．Membership for one year.
C．Membership for nine years. D．Magazine subscription.
56．The purpose of the passage is mainly to__________.
A．provide writers with more entertainment
B．introduce an online magazine to writers
C．encourage people to join FanStory. com
D．explain the reviews of writing skills