Five times in the earth’s history, some three-quarters of all living species disappeared forever-and within a short period of time. Those species losses stand for a major change in the planet’s ecology(生态学). Clues to these changes can be seen in the fossils(化石)and rock layers.
Today, human activities are driving species to die out at a rate never seen before. And this loss of species really does matter, said Anita Narwani. She works at the University of Michigan in Ann Arbor. That’s because the diversity(多样性)of species in an ecosystem provides people with all types of services we can’t do without.
Trees provide oxygen for us to breathe. At the same time, they remove carbon from the air which is a cause of global warming. Plants help clean air and water. Animals move seeds from one area to another. A broad range of living resources also provides people with food, shelter and medicine.
Narwani wanted to find out how important the diversity of species is for people. So she teamed up with other ecologists to review more than 1,700 studies. They found that more diverse parts of the earth tend to do well in things like removing carbon and providing us with wood and other natural resources. They were also better at keeping fisheries large and healthy so that they could feed many people.
Unfortunately, the diversity of species is in steep drop. It is too soon to say that the earth is undergoing a sixth mass extinction, Narwani said. She said a mass extinction means the loss of 75 percent of species over 2 million years or less. We haven’t lost that many – at least not yet. But according to her, if species losses continue so fast, such a mass extinction could occur in just 300 years.
The new findings highlight the potential for humans to use up many of the resources on which we now depend. As people learn more, however, they can take steps to lessen those risks. People should protect ecosystems so that they can continue to provide us with their services.What’s the writer’s purpose in giving the examples in Paragraph 3?
| A．To tell us how we get our food and resources. |
| B．To show the importance of the diversity of species. |
| C．To tell us the use of each species. |
| D．To show the writer is very learned. |
The underlined word “They ” in Paragraph 4 refers to .
| A．humans |
| B．Narwani and her team |
| C．natural resources |
| D．various species |
Narwani and her team found that .
| A．many people know the importance of protecting wildlife |
| B．many species die out because of human activities |
| C．making good use of natural resources benefits people |
| D．rich diversity of species greatly benefits people |
We can learn from Paragraph 5 that .
| A．the world’s species are dying out in a very fast rate |
| B．we’ll lose 75 percent of species on the earth |
| C．the earth is undergoing a sixth mass extinction |
| D．a mass extinction of species will occur in 300 years |
第三部分：阅读理解（共两节，40分）
第一节：（共15小题；每小题2分，共30分）
阅读下列短文，从每题所给的A、B、C、D四个选项中，选出最佳选项，并在答题卡上将该项涂黑。
A
Experience the Colorado River the Hualapai Way!
River Runners offers the ONLY One Day Whitewater trip ANYWHERE at the GRAND CANYON!
Since 1973, Hualapai River Runners has been conducting whitewater rafting (漂流) journeys on the Colorado River. Our experienced guides expertly sail along the river and share the history of the Canyon and the Hualapai people with you.
Visitors experience the excitement of whitewater rapids and then stop to enjoy the impressive beauty of Travertine Falls and a tasty lunch. No charge for children 2 years and under.
One-Day Trip
Retail $249.00 + $79.00 (helicopter and round-trip ground transportation)
Whitewater rafting tours begin in Peach Springs. Hualapai River Runners transports you to Diamond Creek, which is the starting point for the 37 mile rafting tour. Lunch is included and upon arrival at the rafting tour termination point, fly out of the Grand Canyon by helicopter to Grand Canyon West.
Two-Day Trip
Retail $549.00 + $79.00 (helicopter and round-trip ground transportation)
Two-day rafting trips with one night on the Colorado River. All supplies and meals are included. Two days in the Grand Canyon, on the Colorado River, allows more time to explore one of the Seven Wonders of the World.
Tours Include:
• Round-trip transportation from Peach Springs to the starting point and from the termination point back to Peach Springs.
• Snack, drinks and lunch (vegetarian meals available upon request)
• Waterproof dry bags for storing your cameras, sunscreen, dry clothes, etc.
The helicopter part of transportation is weather permitting. If the helicopter transportation is cancelled because of bad weather, the raft will continue an additional two hours to South Cove and a maximum $20.00 per customer will be given back.
Special Website booking rate 15% off rafting in April 2010. So book now!
Call us Toll Free Today! Tel: 1-888-868-9378
56. Where do whitewater rafting tours start?
A. Travertine Falls. B. Peach Springs.
C. Diamond Creek. D. Grand Canyon West.
57. We learn from the passage that ______.
A. Hualapai River Runners provides dry clothes
B. you will get $20 back if you are dissatisfied
C. the trip is free of charge for children under 2
D. online booking has a better offer all year round
58. What is the purpose of the passage?
A. To attract people to the sights.
B. To explore the Hualapai culture.
C. To explain how to make a rafting trip.
D. To introduce the history of the Colorado River.
C
Geniuses amaze us, impress us and make us all a little jealous．How do they differ from the average person? Scientists are working hard to figure out that answer．Tune in to the National Geographic Channel to find out about the discoveries they’re making in the series My Brilliant Brain.
When Marc Yu was only two years old, he began to play the piano．After a year, he started learning pieces by Beethoven．Now he’s a world-famous concert pianist at age eight．He learns newer and more difficult pieces with ease and can identify any note he hears．He seems to be specially designed for music．In Born Genius, National Geographic looks at the science behind child prodigies (神童) to explain why some children seem to be born without limits.
Genius didn’t come naturally to Tommy McHugh．His came only after he nearly died from bleeding in his brain．After recovering, McHugh’s head was filled with new thoughts and pictures．So, he began to express them in the form of poetry and art．Now, he’s a seemingly unstoppable creative machine．Sufferers of autism and brain injury have shown that great mental ability can sometimes come from damage or disease．Accidental Genius explores this puzzling relationship.
Can normal people be trained to be geniuses? Susan Polger has shown no signs of extraordinary intelligence．Yet, during her childhood, she studied thousands of chess patterns and learned to recognize them immediately．As a result, she was able to beat skilled adult players by age 10 and can now play up to five games at the same time without even seeing the boards．Make Me a Genius examines what it takes to turn an ordinary brain into that of a genius.
If becoming a genius were easy, we’d all be one．Yet, there is much more to super intelligence than simply being born lucky．Learn more about amazing brains this month on National Geographic’s My Brilliant Brain.
51．My Brilliant Brains is most probably from _______.
A．a website B．the radio C．a magazine D．a newspaper
52．The author takes Marc Yu as an example to show that a child prodigy is .
A．a person who learns something easily
B．a child who is eager to learn new things
C．a student who practices an instrument a lot
D．a kid who works hard to do well in school
53．Which of the following is NOT true according to the passage?
A．New things about the brain are still being discovered.
B．People without natural abilities can learn to do things well.
C．Some people naturally have more active brains.
D．People are usually smarter when they recover from brain injury.
54．From the passage, we know that ___________
A．scientists completely understand the brain
B．people can only be born as geniuses
C．there’s no such thing as a true genius
D．there are many factors in being a genius
55．The author develops the passage mainly by ___________.
A．providing typical examples
B．following the natural time order
C．presenting a cause and analyzing its effects
D．comparing opinions from different scientists
B
WASHINGTON – It’s a great achievement that inspires notions of robots with consciousness and independent minds.
When people or animals get hurt, they can usually compensate for minor injuries and keep limping along, but for robots, even slight damage can make them stumble and fall. However, a recently made robot has demonstrated a novel ability: it can heal its own damage.
The new robot, which looks like a splay – legged, four – footed starfish can sense injury to itself and adapt. That ability sets the new robot apart from earlier machines. Because the robot can recover from unfamiliar places. “There is a need for planetary robotic rovers to be able to fix things on their own,” says Josh Bongard, a professor in the University of Vermont, who is one of the device’s creator. “Robots on other planets must be able to continue their mission without human help if they are damaged and cannot communicate their problem back to Earth.”
A typical robot functions according to a computer program, but the new robot works differently. First, sensors in its four legs observe the robot’s movements and signals to its built – in computer. From the formation it collects, the robot creates its own programs that allow it to adapt to different situations. For example, when the researchers shortened one of the robot’s legs, the smart machine simply adjusted its way of walking – it used three legs instead of four.
The researchers are looking for other places to put the resilient robot to work. One pellicle spot is the ocean floor. That dark and dangerous undersea terrain might be a good choice for a robot the scientists call the Starfish. “We never officially named the robot, but we usually refer to it as the Starfish, even though a real starfish has five rather than four legs,” says Bongard. “Also, a real starfish is much better than our robot at recovering from injury, because it can actually grow its legs again.” Scientists have created robots that help humans in many ways: by exploring space, fighting fires, and even performing surgery.
46．The newly designed robot distinguishes itself from the former ones because it___________
A．can communicate with people on the earth about their problems
B．works according to a certain computer program
C．can find its problems and solve them automatically
D．can explore unfamiliar places
47．An example is given in the fourth paragraph in order to explain that the robot ___________
A．is used to create new programs
B．has typical robot functions
C．has sensors to observe its movements
D．can gather information and adapt to new conditions
48．The underlined word “resilient” in the last paragraph means the robot is ___________.
A．creative B．newly made C．able to recover D．informative
49．Which of the following is TURE about the robot “Starfish”?
A．It was spoken highly of by people for its special ability?
B．It will stumble and fall if damaged.
C．It can grow its legs again once they are broken.
D．It has started to work on the ocean floor.
50．What might be the best title of the passage?
A．How does the Starfish Robot work
B．Do – It – Yourself Robot Repair
C．Robots Designed to Work On Other Planets
D．New Robot Helping Us In Many Ways
III．阅读（共两节，满分40分）
第一节阅读理解（共15小题；每小题2分，满分30分）
阅读下列短文，从每题所给的A、B、C和D项中，选出最佳选项，并在答题卡上将该项涂黑。
A
Can you imagine a stranger will read your e – mails without your permission or scan the website you’ve visited or perhaps someone will casually glance through your credit card purchases or cell phone bills? All of the things may happen to you one day.
In fact，it’s likely that some of these things have already happened to you. Who would watch you without your permission? It might be a spouse, a girlfriend, a marketing company, a boss, a cop or a criminal. Whoever it is，they will see you in a way you never intended to be seen or even do something that may bring a disaster to you.
Psychologists tell us boundaries are healthy, and that it's important to reveal to friends, family and lovers at appropriate times. But few boundaries remain nowadays. The digital bread crumbs (碎屑) you leave everywhere make it easy for strangers to know who you are, where you are and what you like. In some cases, a simple Google search can leak the deepest thought in your mind. Like it or not, increasingly we live in a world where you simply cannot keep a secret.
The key question is：Does that matter? For many Americans, the answer apparently is “no”.
When opinion polls ask Americans about privacy, most of them say they are really concerned about losing it. And 60 percent of the respondents say they feel their privacy is “slipping away, and that bothers me”.
But people say one thing and do another．Only a small of Americans change any behaviors in an effort to preserve their privacy．Few people turn down a discount attollbooths (收费站)to avoid using the EZ—Pass system that can track automobile movements. Privacy economist Acquisti has run a series of tests that reveal people will give up personal information such as telephone number, address, or social security numbers just to get their hands on a pitiful 50-cents-off coupon(优惠券). But privacy does matter—at least sometimes．It's like health；when you have it，you don’t notice it．Only when it’s gone do you wish you’d done more to protect it. Without privacy, one will be naked in front of others.
41．What would psychologists advise on the relationships between friends?
A．Friends should open their hearts to each other．
B．Friends should always be faithful to each other．
C．There should be a distance even between friends．
D．There should be fewer quarrels between friends
42．Why does the author say “we live in a world where you simply cannot keep a secret”?
A．Modern society has finally developed into an open society．
B．People leave traces around when using modern technology．
C．There are always people who are curious about others’ affairs．
D．Many search engines profit by revealing people’s identities．
43．What do most Americans do about privacy protection?
A．They change behavior that might disclose their identity．
B．People turn down a discount at tollbooths to avoid using the EZ – Pass system.
C．They rely more and more on advanced technology.
D．They talk a lot but hardly do anything about it.
44．According to the passage，privacy is like health in that___________.
A．people will make every effort to keep it
B．its importance is hardly understood
C．It is something that can easily be lost
D．people don’t value it until they lose it
45．What would be the best title for the passage?
A．No privacy, no health.
B．Treasure your privacy.
C．Boundaries are important between friends.
D．The information age has its own shortcomings.
E
Computer mouse is no longer so strong. A Canadian engineer has invented a system that enables a computer user to push a cursor（光标）across a screen simply by moving his or her nose .He calls his nose-driven mouse a mouse.
The inventor ,Dmity Gorodnichy ,came up with the idea for the mouse while building computer software that would help astronauts operate the Canadarm—a long robotic arm on the U.S. space shuttle .His system employs a web-camera that recognizes a computer user’s nose from 25 pixels ,or points of light. Dmity chose the nose because its position remains relatively constant no matter which way the head moves .The system keeps track of the pixels, and the user matches the movements of his or her nose with the progress of the cursor across the screen.
The mouse keeps track of the eyes too. Two blinks（眨眼）are a “double click,” which turns the mouse on or off.
The mouse has received mixed comments from those who hold opposite opinions. One called it “a pointless waste of technology” . Another predicted that the nouse will fail to catch on because it makes users “look silly.” Dmity has already adapted the nouse for NousePong, a video game ,and NousePaint ,a drawing program.
He also predicts that the mouse will attract the people who have suffered from specific disease-pain ,senselessness ,or trembling in the hand caused by the frequent repetition of movements of the wrist and fingers ,such as typing at a computer keyboard .His next plan is to adapt the nouse for use by paralyzed（瘫痪）patients in hospitals .With two blinks of the eyes ,patients could double-click for help.
72．The best title for this passage is probably.
A．Mouse Driven by Nose
B．Cursor Moved Without fingers
C.New Computer System for Astronauts
D．New Type of Mouse for Patients
73．The nouse is a system working by means of .
A．keeping track of the points of light
B．moving one’s nose or blinking
C.moving cursor across the screen
D．matching the user’s nose with eyes
74．The underlined phrase “catch on” means “”.
A．become popular B．be used C.get improved D．be made
75．Dmity predicts that the nouse will be more used to help .
A．those who have eye trouble
B．develop a video game and drawing program
C.those traveling in space
D．the disabled with the hand and paralyzed patients