Scientists from the United States say they have found fish and other creatures living under key waters in Antarctica. They made the announcement after completing three months of research at the Ross Ice Shelf, the world’s largest floating ice sheet.
The researchers hoped to find clues to explain the force of the melting ice and its effect on sea level rise. Reed Scherer and Ross Powell are with Northern Illinois University in DeKalb, Illinois. They just finished up their research on our southernmost continent. Money for the project came from America’s National Science Foundation.
“We chose a study site where, in the first year ,We went into the subglacial (冰川下的)lake and tried to understand the environment in there, both ecologically and in terms of the ice dynamics about how the lake operates ,and how the sediment(沉淀物) underneath the ice sheet operates, as well, because it’s the water and the sediment underneath the ice that controls how fast the ice is flowing into the ocean” says Ross Powell, who led the investigation. The team included scientists ,engineers, machinery and other supplies across the ice from the main U.S. scientific base at Mc Murdo Station to the researcher’s camp .The camp was near a subglacial lake ,where an earlier study took place,
Ross Powell says the latest study may provide evidence that can help predict the effect of climate change on rising sea levels.
“What we have found is that these are very sensitive areas to the stability of how dynamic the ice is and how fast the ice may react to increases of melting both from the ocean and the atmosphere.”
Among the new instruments built for the project was a powerful hot water drill. The researchers used the drill to dig down some 740 meters. They collected water ,sediment and other material from the grounding zone.
Working around the clock before the deep hole refroze, they sent a video camera down to the 400-square-meter undersea area.
Reed Scherer says the video images they saw in the Command Center were a total surprise.
“It’s a very mobile environment. The bottom is changing constantly. And so the things that we saw were all very mobile organisms, things that swim and some things that crawl. And obviously they are getting enough nutrition that they can thrive, Some of the little crustacean-like creatures called amphipods that we saw swam quite quickly and were quite active.”
This is the farthest south that fish have ever been seen. How did the creatures get here? What do they feed on? And what effect will the retreating ice have on them?
Ross Powell says the ice and sediment cores taken from the grounding zone can offer clues.
“We know that the ice is melting there at the moment and so by opening up the cores once they get back, we hope to be able to understand what the ice was doing in the past ,relative to what it is doing now. And because it is melting so fast or seems to be melting fast at the moment, we anticipate that there will he some differences that we’ll see in the history of the ice sheet from the sediment cores, once we open them up .”But Ross Powell says the work raises more questions than it answers.Scientists conducted the three-month research at the Ross Ice Shelf with the intention of .
| A．predicting how climate change influences rising sea levels. |
| B．finding out whether there are life forms existing deep under Antarctic ice. |
| C．proving the speed of ice flowing into the ocean is controlled by water. |
| D．discovering an explanation of the effect the melting ice has on sea level rise. |
What made the researchers surprised when they saw the video images?
| A．Researchers saw fish in the farthest south for the first time. |
| B．A video camera was able to work well under deep icy waters. |
| C．Sediment cores present differences in the history of the ice sheet. |
| D．The drill should dig down 740 meters to collect things. |
From sediment cores taken from the grounding zone, scientists will probably know .
| A．what the ice will do in the near future |
| B．the ice in the grounding zone is melting at the moment |
| C．some differences rarely exist in the history of the ice sheet |
| D．something about the creatures under icy water in Antarctic. |
What can be inferred from the passage?
| A．Scientists will conduct a follow-up study on the frozen continent. |
| B．No creatures once appeared or lived in icy water in Antarctica. |
| C．America’s National Science Foundation is in complete charge of the research. |
| D．Researchers have found how the sediment underneath the ice sheet operates. |
第三部分阅读理解(共10小题；每小题2分,满分20分)
How many times have you laughed today? Have you ever wondered what makes you laugh? In the whole animal kingdom, only we humans are capable (有能力的) of laughter. On average, we laugh about 17 times a day.
Laughter is a spontaneous reaction of the body to some-thing funny or pleasant. Have you noticed that when you laugh, many parts of your body respond (反应)? Your face changes expression, your breathing changes, and muscles throughout your body are affected.
An interesting story dates back to 1962. In a school in Tanganyika, in Africa, a group of schoolgirls started laughing uncontrollably over a joke. This laughter became epidemic (传染的), jumping from one person to the next, spreading across communities, and lasting for six months! So strong was the "laughter epidemic" that schools had to shut down till it ended.
How we laugh remains a mystery. Whatever the reasons, laughter, as the saying goes, "is the best medicine." In fact, science has proven that being happy and laughing can not only keep us healthy and fit but help deal with serious illnesses.
Laughing exercises all the important muscles, and keeps you fit. People have started forming laughter clubs that use laughter to treat illnesses. They meet at specific places at fixed times and laugh together. Laughter spreads, so this exercise works best in groups; once one person starts laughing, others automatically (自动地) join in.
56. The underlined word "spontaneous" in the second paragraph probably means "______".
A. perfect B. strange C. naturalD. terrible
57. People have formed laughter clubs to ______.
A. kill time B. relax C. meet others D. keep healthy
58. The best title for the passage would be ______.
A. A Laughter Epidemic
B. Laughter, What It Is, and What It Can Do
C. The Relationship Between Laughter and Health
D. How Laughter Helps Cure Disease
59. The passage is probably taken from a(n) ______.
A. ad B. novel C. magazine D. medical book
Robots are smart。 With their computer brains, they help people work in dangerous places or do difficult jobs。 Some robots do regular jobs。Bobby, the mail carrier, brings mail to a large office building in Washington, D。C。 He is one of 250 mail carriers in the United States。
Mr。 Leachim, who weighs two hundred pounds and is six feet tall, has some advantages as a teacher。 One is that he does not forget details。 He knows each child’s name, the parents’ names and what each child knows and needs to know。 In addition, he knows each child’s pets and hobbies。 Mr。 Leachim does not make mistakes。 Each child goes and tells him his or her name, then dials an identification (身份证明) number。 His computer brain puts the child’s voice and number together。 He identifies the child with no mistakes。 Then he starts the lesson。
Another advantage is that Mr。 Leachim is flexible。 If the children need more time to do their lessons they can move switches。 In this way they can repeat Mr。 Leachim’s lesson over and over again。 When the children do a good job he tells them something interesting about their hobbies。 At the end of the lesson the children switch Mr。 Leachim off。
58。 The first paragraph of the passage tells us _______。
A。 human beings are not as smart as robots
B。 robots will take the place of man to rule the earth
C。 we can only use robots to do some regular jobs
D。 robots can help people in many different ways
59。 Mr。 Leachim’s ______ makes him a good teacher。
A。 knowledge B。 appearance C。 advantage D。 energy
60。 The word “flexible” in the last paragraph means _______。
A。 not strict B。 not hard C。 suitable D。 changeable
Growing numbers of people are becoming addicted to text messaging（手机信息）, a German doctor warned recently。
Psychotherapist(采用精神疗法的医生) Andreas Herter estimated that there were some 380,000 sufferers in Germany。 Herter based his prediction（预测）on the growing number of manic mobile phone users among patients arriving at his Hanover clinic （诊所）for addiction treatment。
“Text message addiction is a real and serious illness because it causes mental and financial damage,” said Herter。 “The problem leads to depression and personality disorders, not to mention skyrocketing （飞涨的）phone bills。”
For example, a teenage boy spent 8,900 euros (US$11,000) texting people he didn’t even know and a married couple could only communicate by text message, even when they were sitting side by side。
55。 The passage is mainly to tell us ______。
A。 why people like text messaging B。 text messaging has many advantages
C。 overusing text message does great harm D。 text messaging does no good
56。 Herter thinks text message addiction is ______。
A。 acceptable B。 easy to deal with C。 unreasonable D。 worrying
57。 The examples given in the last paragraph are used to show ______。
A。 text message addiction is a serious diseas
B。they care about nothing else but text message
C。 sending text message is their only hobby
D。 they are very rich
Switzerland(瑞士) is famous for its watches。 However, this country didn’t invent the watch。It was the British who did it。 Here is a story of how the watch was brought to Switzerland。
Many years ago , an Englishman was travelling to Italy 。 On his way he stopped in a small town in South Switzerland。 This Englishman travelled in a carriage(马车) inside which there was a carriage watch。 This was the earliest kind of watch。 A native shop assistant (售货员) happened to see the watch 。 He wondered what it was and asked the Englishman about it。 “ It is a carriage watch 。” said the man 。 This machine tells the time but now it isn’t working 。
At once the shop assistant offered to try to repair it 。 So the traveller handed him the watch。 The assistant was a very wise man 。 So it was not surprising that he managed to repair it 。 He even remembered how it was made。 As soon as the traveller had gone on his way , he made a watch exactly the same type。
Thus the watch-making was started in Switzerland。 Today Swiss watches are sold in stores all over the world。
50 Switzerland is famous for ____________。
A 。making watches B selling watches C inventing watches D the carriage watch
51。It was ______who brought a watch to Switzerland earliest 。
A a SwissB an Italian C an Englishman D a shop assistant
52。 The earlist watches were made in __________。
A SwitzerlandB EnglandC ItalyD a small town
53 The first Swiss watch was made by ___________。
A an Italian shop assistant
B an English shop assistant
C a man who came from Switzerland
D。 a man who was travelling to Italy。
54。 The carriage watch was a machine which __________。
A was put in the carriageB wasn’t working
C told people timeD had to be repaired
第三部分：阅读理解（共20小题；每小题2分，满分40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。
Long long ago, there was an old merchant who had three sons。 “To which one shall I leave my fortune?” he wondered。 “It must be to the cleverest son。 But which one is the cleverest?”
He called his three sons to him。 “Here is some money,” he told them, “you must each take one coin to buy something that will fill this room。 Anyone who can do this shall have my fortune。”
“It is a big room,” said the eldest son。
“One coin will not buy very much,” said the second son。
But the youngest son said nothing。 He stood and thought, and then he smiled, “Come, brothers,” he said, “let us go to the market。”
The eldest son bought straw with his coin。 But one coin bought only a bit of straw。 Even when he had spread it as much as he could, the straw covered only a corner of the room。
The second son bought sand with his coin。 But one coin bought only a bit of sand。 Even when he had spread it as much as he could, the sand covered only half of the floor。
“What did you buy?” the eldest son angrily asked the youngest son。 “You don't have any straw。”
“Yes, what did you buy?” the second son asked angrily。 “You don't have any sand。”
“I bought this,” said the youngest son。
“A candle！” cried his brothers。 “What good is a candle?”
“Watch”, said the youngest son。
He lit the candle, and all at once the room was filled from wall to wall, from ceiling to floor。 It was filled with light!
“Although you are the youngest, you are indeed the cleverest of my sons,” the old merchant said。
And that is how, the old merchant left his fortune to his youngest son, the one who could fill a room with light。
46。 Who would get father's fortune according to his requirement?
A。 The oldest son。 B。 The richest son。
C。 The cleverest son。 D。 The silliest son。
47。 The merchant left his fortune to the son
A。 who would fill the room by using something which is worth one coin
B。 who would take care of him when he became old
C。 who wanted to get his fortune
D。 who got married first
48。 How do you think of the youngest son?
A。 He is very clever。 B。 He is very lazy。
C。 He is very mean。 D。 He is very diligent。
49。 The youngest son used _____ to fill the room。
A。 straw B。 candle C。 sand D。 water