Parts of Africa are covered by a dark cloud. But this is no rain cloud. It is a living cloud made of billions of locusts(蝗虫) that are traveling across the continent eating everything in their path.
And now in the battle to stop this disaster, a radio station in Senegal, West Africa, is offering listeners 50 kilograms of locusts. “We think this idea will get more people to take part in the war on the locusts.” said Abdoulaye Ba, from Sud-Fm, a radio station in one of Senegal’s worst affected area.
This is West Africa’s biggest locust disaster in 15 years, and it is moving east, causing huge damage to crops. As they move they produce young and increase their number and will soon threaten Sudan in the northeast of Africa. Some say it could reach Asia.
Experts say the harmful effect on crops in areas already suffering from food shortage and war could cast many people to go hungry. Governments in the areas are not well equipped to fight the pest.
Although leaders of 12 countries have agreed on a plan, it is not expected to be enough. “We are now treating 6,000 hectares per day with pesticide(杀虫剂), but we need to treat 20,000 hectares per day in order to have any hope of controlling this disaster,” said Mohamed Adballahi Ould Babah, director of locust control in Mauritania.
Requests are being made for international aid, which is the only way to limit the disaster, the UN’s Food and Agriculture Organization warned.By using “dark cloud” to describe locusts in the first paragraph, the author mainly meant to______.
A.show the size, speed and damage of the mass of locusts |
B.suggest the high speed that locusts travel at |
C.warn that locusts would sweep the continent severely |
D.hint that they look like dark monster |
The story is mainly about______.
A.West Africa’s united effort in fighting a disaster |
B.the difficulty in controlling locusts |
C.the great damage locusts caused to West Africa |
D.a struggle to fight against a disaster brought by locusts in West Africa |
According to the text we learn that the locust disaster______.
A.can be even more serious in Asia |
B.is then out of control |
C.has affected greatly most areas |
D.cannot be stopped unless twice as much pesticide is provided for the affected areas |
Which of the following is WRONG?
A.Sud-Fm offered a reward for fighting locusts so that more people would join in the effort. |
B.Senegal is to southwest of Sudan. |
C.The locusts can cause such damage mainly because it has no natural enemy in West Africa. |
D.12 countries affected by locusts have untied but still lack pesticide. |
Shedding tears(流泪) is a natural way of making us feel more comfortable.When our eyes are made uncomfortable by some small pieces of pollution, or when we are cutting onions, or when we are exhausted(精疲力竭; 疲劳) and have “red-eyes” from overwork and late hours, tears form in our eyes to clean and refresh them.
Tears are also a sign of strong emotion.We cry when we are sad and we cry when we are happy.
And tears seem to be uniquely (惟独) human.We know that animals also experience emotion ——fear, pleasure, loneliness——but they do not shed (流) tears.From this, we can conclude that tears are closely related to the emotional and biological make-up(结构;组成) of the human species.
Biologically speaking, tears are actually drops of saline fluid, which is a little bit salty, produced by a gland (腺) in the body.Because salt is an important component, tears may actually constitute the most conclusive evidence that the human animal is the end product of a long evolutionary process that began in the sea.
And it is clear that, in addition to (除了) the emotional benefits (好处), the shedding of tears has a specific biological function as well.Through tears, we can eliminate from our body certain chemicals which build up in response to stress and create a chemical imbalance(不平衡) in the body.Crying actually makes us feel better by correcting that imbalance and making us feel good again.And thus the emotional and biological functions of tears merge (合并) into one and make us even more “human” than we would otherwise be.
60、According to the passage, human beings may have originated (起源于) in_______.
A. the sea B. the salt C. chemicals D. animals
61、Which of the following is NOT a function of tears?
A. Biological B. Emotional C. Political D. Chemical
62、The underlined word “eliminate” probably mean_______.
A. add B. produce C. replace D. remove
63、Which of the following is the best title of the passage?
A. Tears are a sign of strong emotion.
B. Tears are always making us feel more comfortable.
C. Tears are uniquely human.
D. Tears have certain biological function.
第三部分阅读理解(共15小题;每小题2分,满分30分)
请认真阅读下列短文,从短文后各题所给的A、B、C、D四个选项中,选出最佳选项,并在答题卡上将该项涂黑。
Marco Polo was born in Venice in 1254.He was the most famous Westerner to visit Asia during the Middle Ages.He wrote a book about his travels.In his book he wrote about all the things he saw and heard.Many people read the book, but few believed what Marco Polo said.He spoke of strange people and places that nobody knew about at that time.But, he even said, “What I have written down is only half of what I have seen.”
As a young man, Marco Polo decided to travel together with his father.It took them more than three years to travel to China.He became the Chinese emperor’s (皇帝)friend.He learned the Chinese language when he traveled around and talked to many people.Before he reached the age of 30 he was made a Chinese official.After nearly 17 years in the east, Marco and his father prepared to return home.When they finally arrived in Venice, their family and friends were surprised to see them again.They had been away for almost 25 years and everybody thought that they must have died a long time ago.
56、What did Marco Polo write about in his book?
A. About Venice. B. About the Chinese emperor.
C. About what he saw and heard in Asia. D. About how he returned home.
57、What did Marco Polo learn Chinese for?
A.To become a Chinese official.
B.To become the Chinese emperor’s friend.
C.To become a translator for his father.
D. To travel around conveniently in China.
58、Which is NOT true according to the text?
A. Marco Polo and his father had been in China for 17 years.
B. Marco Polo and his father spent nearly 5 years returning home.
C. Marco Polo’s father died on the way home.
D. Marco Polo spent more than three years traveling from Venice to China.
59、By saying “What I have written down is only half of what I have seen…”, Marco Polo meant that_________.
A.he only saw half of the country during his stay in China
B.there were still a lot more he couldn’t write down
C. half of the people went to China during that time
D. he wanted to write down the other half of what he saw in China
Harald Kaas was sixty. His back became rounded, and he bent a little. His forehead, always of the broadest-no one else’s hat would fit him - was now one of the highest, that is to say, he had lost all his teeth, which were strong though small, and blackened by smoking. Now, instead of “deuce take it” he said “deush take it”. He had always held his hands half closed as though grasping something; now they stiffened so that he could never open them fully. The little finger of his left hand had been bitten off. According to Harald’s version of the story, the fellow swallowed the piece on the spot.
He was fond of showing off the left part, and it often served as an introduction to the history of brave adventures, which became greater and greater and greater as he grew older and quieter. His small sharp eyes were deep set and looked at one with great intensity. There was power in his individuality. He has no lack of self-respect.
His house, raised on an old foundation, looked out to the south over many islands; farther out were more islands and the open sea. Its eastern wing was barely half furnished, and the western inhabited by Harald Kaas. These wings were connected by a gallery, behind which were the fields and woods to the north.
In the gallery itself were heads of bears, wolves, foxes and lynxes and stuffed birds from land and sea. Skins and guns hung on the walls of the front room. The inner rooms were also full of skins and filled with the smell of wild animals and tobacco-smoke. Harald himself called it “man-smell”; no one who had once put his nose inside could ever forget it. Valuable and beautiful skins hung on the walls and sat, and walked on skins, and each one of them was a subject of conversation. Harald Kaas, seated in his log chair by the fireside, his feet on the bearskin, opened his shirt to show the scars on his hairy chest (and what scars they were) which had been made by a bears teeth, when he had driven his knife, right up to the end, into the monster’s heart. All the tables, and cupboards, and carved chairs listened in their silence.
68.Who or what most probably bit harald Kaass’ little finger off?
A.On of his fellow hunters
B.An adversary in a boxing match
C.A wild animal
D.One of his hunting dogs
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69.Which of the following pictures shows the right description of Harald Kaas’ home?
Sports medicine experts have observed for years that athletes such as long distance runners, especially women athletes, often display a lack of iron. Now a new study by a team of Purdue University researchers suggests that even moderate exercise may lead to reduced iron in the blood of women.
"We found that women who were normally inactive and then started a program of moderate exercise of middle degree showed sings of iron loss," says Roseanne M. Lyle, associate professor at Purdue. Her study of 62 formerly inactive women who began exercising three times a week for six months was published in the journal Medicine & Science in Sports & Exercise.
Iron deficiency is very common among women in general, affecting one in four female teenagers and one in five women aged 18 to 45, respectively. But the ratio is even greater among active women, affecting up to 80 percent of female endurance athletes. This means, Lyle says, that "too many women ignore the amount of iron they take in". Women of child-bearing age are at greatest risk, since their monthly bleeding is a major source of iron loss. Plus, many health-conscious women increase their risk by rejecting red meat, which contains the most easily absorbed form of iron. And because women often restrict their diet in an effort to control weight, they may not consume enough iron-rich food, and are liable to experience a deficiency.
Exercise can result in iron loss through a variety of mechanisms. Some iron is lost in sweat, and, for unknown reasons, intense endurance exercise is sometimes associated with bleeding of the digestive system. Athletes in high-impact sports such as running may also lose iron through a phenomenon where small blood vessels in the feet leak blood.
There are three stages of iron deficiency. The first and most common is having low iron reserves, a condition that typically has no symptoms. Fatigue and poor performance may begin to appear in the second stage of deficiency, when not enough iron is present to form the molecules(分子) of blood protein that transport oxygen to the working muscles. In the third and final stage, people often feel weak, tired, and out of breath - and exercise performance is severely compromised.
"People think that if they're not at the third stage, nothing is wrong, but that's not true," says John L. Beard, who helped design the Purdue study. "You're not stage 3 until your iron reserves go to zero, and if you wait until that point, you're in trouble."
Beard and other experts say it’s advisable for people to have a yearly blood test. If iron levels are low, talk with a physician to see if the deficiency should be corrected by changing your diet and taking iron-rich foods or by taking iron-added pills.
“Select breads and cereals with the words ‘iron-added’ on the label,” writes sports diet expert Nancy Clark. “This added iron supplements the small amount that naturally occurs in grains.” Clark also recommends cooking in iron pans, as food can obtain iron from the pan during the cooking process.
64.Which of the following may be the title for the passage?
A.Science, sports and exercise
B.Correct iron deficiency
C.Women, Iron and exercise
D.Women, health and exercise
65.The third paragraph is developed mainly by________ .
A.organizing the details according to the order of time
B.presenting the result followed by specific causes
C.beginnign with details followed by a general statement
D.making comparisons ad contrasts
66.What does it mean when you are in the third stage of iron defieiency?
A.Nothing serious though you don’t have much iron stored in the body.
B.There is not enough iron to form the molecules of blood protein to transport oxygen.
C.The small blood vessels in your reet are beginnig to leak blood.
D.No iron is left in your body and you would be in trouble without urgent measures.
67.What is the writer’s attitude in writing this passage?
A.Defensive. B.Persuasive. C.Supportive. D.Objective.
Nothing says love like a dozen long – stemmed roses on Valentine’s Day. More than a million roses will be sold during this festival for lovers, the biggest day of the year for the nation’s rose industry. It’s going to remain the most popular flower because love never goes out of style.
Yes, a rose is a rose is a rose. But selling them is no longer a beautiful experience for traditional flower shops. Supermarkets now offer convenience to the busy and discount rose shops help those hopelessly in love save money. Roses only is a good example of a discount rose retailer that was transformed from a traditional shop to answer the challenge in the’ 90s.
Inside this store on Sixth Avenue near 40 th Street, contemporary white furniture and wall – to – wall mirrors give it an expensive look. Customers move about freely among the counters, looking eagerly at the roses in more than 50 colors from shelf to shelf. Some customers say it’s the high quality of the roses that attracts them there. “I spent $ 20 but the flowers looked like I paid 60 or 70 dollars,” says one customer.
Studies show more people are buying roses in ones, two and threes these days. In fact, more than half of all roses are sold in bunches of fewer than a dozen. But Roses Only's low prices encourage people to spend. Even on Valentine's Day, when the price of a dozen roses and delivery can soar as high as $150, 12 of Roses Only's most expensive flowers sell for just $35. The company's key to success is to hold prices down by controlling every link in the rose chain. It grows its own roses in the sunshine of the Andes Mountains. In addition, the company also sells other items such as ballons and stuffed animals.
While discount rose retailers are witnessing their business bloom, U.S. rose growers aren’t able to compete with the fierce foreign competition. More than 57% of roses sold in the USA are grown in other countries. The biggest foreign producers are Colombia and Ecuador, which accounted for almost 90% of the total imported last year. The trend has hurt domestic rose growers such as Johnson Flowers of California, considered to be this country's leading producer.
Now, instead of fighting overseas rivals, the Johnsons are trying to work with them. "We have a few big fighting overseas rivals, the Johnsons are trying to work with them. “We may also widen our business to include the service area and be a representative for overseas flower producers.”
As a result of severe competition, those in the rose business long for the good old days, whereas ordinary people benefit from the low price.
60.What is the central theme of this text?
A.The US rose business is going from bad to worse in spite of the efforts made.
B.The rose will remain the most popular flower as love never goes out of date.
C.The rose business is trying to meet the challenges in the market to succeed.
D.The rose industry plays an important role in American economy.
61.How does Roses Only obtain success in the discount rose retailing field?
A.By setting up more chain stores across the country.
B.By selling roses in supermarkets.
C.By selling high quality roses at a low price.
D.By selling roses by the dozen.
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62.Which of the following shows the structure of the passage?
(①to ⑦ represent paragraphs 1 to 7)