Last night’s meteor(流星)shower left many people in the community dissatisfied and demanding answers. According to Gabe Rothschild, Emerald Valley’s mayor, people gathered in the suburbs of the city, carrying heavy telescopes, expecting to watch the brightly burning meteors passing through the sky. What they found instead was a sky so brightened by the city’s lights that it darkened the light of the meteors passing overhead.
“My family was so frustrated, ”admitted town resident Duane Cosby. “We wanted to make this an unforgettable family outing, but it turned out to be a huge disappointment.”
Astronomers—scientists who study stars and planets—have been complaining about this problem for decades. They say that light pollution prevents them from seeing objects in the sky that they could see quite easily in the past. They call on people and the government to take measures to fight against it.
There is yet a population besides professional and amateur star observers that suffers even more from light pollution. This population consists of birds, bats, frogs, snakes, etc. For example, outdoor lighting severely affects migrating birds. According to the International Dark-Sky Association.“100 million birds a year throughout North America die in crashes with lighted buildings and towers.”
Countless more animal casualties(伤亡)result from the use of artificial lighting. Clearly, people enjoy the benefits of lighting their evenings, but some scientists think it can be harmful for humans, too. They worry that exposure to light while sleeping can increase a person’s chances of getting cancer.
Emerald Valley is only one community that is becoming aware of the negative effects of light pollution. For years, Flagstaff, Arizona, has enforced lighting regulations in its city in order to assist astronomers at the Lowell Observatory. Similar efforts have been made worldwide, and a movement is underway to remind us to turn off lights when we are not using them, so that other creatures can share the night.
It happened last night that .
| A．the city’s lights affected the meteor watching |
| B．the meteors flew past before being noticed |
| C．the city light show attracted many people |
| D．the meteor watching ended up a social outing |
What do the astronomers complain about?
| A．Meteor showers occur less often than before. |
| B．Their observation equipment is in poor repair. |
| C．Light pollution has remained unsolved for years. |
| D．Their eyesight is falling due to artificial lighting. |
What is the author concerned about according to Paragraph 4?
| A．Birds may take other migration paths. |
| B．Animals’ living habits may change suddenly. |
| C．Varieties of animals will become sharply reduced. |
| D．Animals’ survival is threatened by outdoor lighting. |
What message does the author most want to give us?
| A．Saving wildlife is saving ourselves. |
| B．Great efforts should be made to save energy. |
| C．Human activities should be environmentally friendly. |
| D．New equipment should be introduced for space study. |
The HOPE IS A GAME--CHANGER PROJECT will deliver unbreakable soccer balls to kids who, all too often, see things horrible, broken and not survive the simplest of circumstances. The project started taking form well before anyone knew where it would lead –which is to test the power of like-minded people working together to turn inspiration into action.
Four years ago Bobby was in Rwanda offering help to the people there and taking photos of a child soldier named Moise with his “soccer ball”，which was a pile of rubbish tied together with a string. This “ball” was the only thing Moise could call his own --- no family, no home, no place to go. Forced to fight in the Congo and having killed three people at the unbearably young age of seven, the boy’s spirit was broken. And Bobby knew, as he took one photo after the next, that he’d never forget him. In fact, he returned the following year to tell Moise he had stayed deep within his heart ---but he was gone.
I recently helped Bobby launch his new book The Power of the Invisible Sun which features a photo of Moise, his ball, and kids from war-torn areas around the world. All of his earnings go towards the HOPE IS A GAME-CHANGER PROJECT for the kids he visited over the past decade. They caught the emotional landscape from heartbreak to joy, but share the undeniable longing for recovery and hope.
Bobby and I share the unchangeable belief that delivering hope is really a game-changer, especially to a child. We believe that each indestructible ball will come to represent a lasting symbol of hope. A light no matter how small---The Power of the Invisible Sun.
This holiday season, I ask you to think about whether you are doing enough to help someone else in the world. Or as Bobby likes to put it, consider “taking a concrete baby step”, which added together, can create transformational change. It’s my great hope that the HOPE IS A GAME-CHANGER PROJECT will change the lives of children in the world over --- one book, one ball at a time.
59．In the first sentence of the passage, the writer implies that .
A．kids live an unsafe life in parts of the world
B．the balls sent to kids should be of good quality
C．young kids can not overcome the difficulties
D．kids intend to break their toys into pieces
60．How may Bobby feel about Mosie?
A．He was very proud of Mosie’s bravery.
B．He felt sorry for Mosie’s ruined childhood.
C．He thought money could solve Mosie’s problem.
D．He felt happy to tell him what was in his heart.
61．Which of the following about Bobby’s new book is TRUE?
A．It earned a lot of money to help kids like Mosie.
B．The photos inside reflected the kids’ hopeless life.
C．Its title shows the author’s belief to change the world.
D．It changed the life of the kids recorded in the book.
62．The underlined part in the last paragrph probably means .
A．starting the first step as a baby does
B．taking an active action from now on
C．making great changes step by step
D．doing some small but good deeds
Can you believe your eyes? A recent experiment suggests that the answer to that question may depend on your age.
Martin Doherty, a psychologist at the University of Stirling in Scotland, led the team of scientists. In this experiment, Doherty and his team tested the perception(观察力) of some people, using pictures of some orange circles. The researchers showed the same pictures to two groups of people. The first group included 151 children aged 4 to 10, and the second group included 24 adults aged 18 to 25.
The first group of pictures showed two circles alone on a white background. One of the circles was larger than the other, and these people were asked to identify the larger one. Four-year-olds identified the correct circle 79 percent of the time. Adults identified the correct circle 95 percent of the time.
Next, both groups were shown a picture where the orange circles, again of different sizes, were surrounded by gray circles. Here’s where the trick lies in. In some of the pictures, the smaller orange circle was surrounded by even smaller gray circles — making the orange circle appear larger than the other orange circle, which was the real larger one. And the larger orange circle was surrounded by even bigger gray circles — so it appeared to be smaller than the real smaller orange circle.
When young children aged 4 to 6 looked at these tricky pictures, they weren’t fooled — they were still able to find the bigger circle with roughly the same accuracy as before. Older children and adults, on the other hand, did not do as well. Older children often identified the smaller circle as the larger one, and adults got it wrong most of the time.
As children get older, Doherty said, their brains may develop the ability to identify visual context. In other words, they will begin to process the whole picture at once: the tricky gray circles, as well as the orange circle in the middle. As a result, they’re more likely to fall for this kind of visual trick.
55．Doherty and his team of scientists did an experiment to evaluate .
A．children’s and adults’ eye-sight
B．people’s ability to see accurately
C．children’s and adults’ brains
D．the influence of people’s age
56．When asked to find the larger circle, .
A．children at 6 got it wrong 79 % of the time with no gray ones around
B．only adults over 18 got it right 95% of the time with gray ones around
C．children at 4 got it right about 79 % of the time with gray ones around
D．adults got it right most of the time with gray ones around
57．Visual context may work when children get older than .
A．4 B．6 C．10 D．18
58．Why are younger children not fooled?
A．Because they are smarter than older children and adults.
B．Because older people are influenced by their experience.
C．Because people’s eyes become weaker as they grow older.
D．Because their brain can hardly notice related things together.
On September 22, 1986, Jay Brunkella, a police officer in the Rogers Park district in Chicago, was shot during a drug arrest and died. Shortly afterwards, fellow officer Ken Knapcik, a 20-year veteran（老警官）of the force, returned home after work to find a note from his 15 year old daughter on the dining table.
Dad—This poem came directly from my heart. I love you so much! It scares and amazes me that you go out every day and risk everything to provide us with all that we have. I wrote this to express how much I love you and how much lost I’d be without you ---Laura. PS: Hey, let’s be careful out there.
Titled The Ultimate Cop, Laura’s poem was dedicated “To all the cops in the world who have daughters who love them with all their hearts. And especially to my dad”. It was about a police officer’s daughter who sees on the night time news that her father has been shot. Part of poem: “Daddy, my Daddy, can you hear me cry? Oh, God, I need my Daddy, please don’t let him die.”
Ken Knapcik stood alone as he read the poem. “It took me several minutes,” he said. “I’d get through part of it and have to stop before I could go on. I was weeping. She had never told me she was scared.” He took the poem to work the next day and showed it to his fellow officers. I’ve never seen so many grown men cry. Some couldn’t finish it.”
Knapcik keeps Laura’s poem in the pocket of his police jacket. He takes it with him every time he leaves the house for a new shift. “I don’t want to be out there without it,” he said. “I’ll probably carry it with me forever.”
51. Laura wrote the poem ____________.
A. in memory of her father who was shot in the drug arrest
B. to show her great sorrow in losing her father
C. to show her respect to all the cops who lost their lives
D. to tell Officer Ken Knapcik how much she loved him
52. All the officers cried because ____________.
A. Jay Brunkella was shot and died
B. they were greatly touched by the poem
C. the poem was so sad that they couldn’t hold back their tears
D. they thought of their dangerous life
53. Knapcik keeps Laura’s poem in his pocket ______________.
A. to treasure her daughter’s love and to value his own life
B. to keep it from getting lost
C. because he can’t go out without it
D. to mourn over the death of Officer Jay Brunkella
54. Which of the following is the best title for the passage?
A. Poem for a cop B. An officer’s death
C. A cop’s daughter D. Love my job, love my daughter
How men first learned to invent words is unknown, in other words, the origin of language is a mystery. All we really know is that men, unlike animals, somehow invented certain sounds to express thoughts and feelings, actions and things, so that they could communicate with each other; and that later they agreed upon certain signs, called letters, which could be combined to represent those sounds and which could be written down. Those sounds, whether spoken, or written in letters, we call words.
The power of words, then, lies in their association—the thing they bring up before our minds. Words become filled with meaning for us by experience; and the longer we live, the more certain words recall to us the glad and the sad events of our past; and the more we read and learn, the more the number of words that mean something to us increase.
Great writers are those who not only have great thoughts but also express these thoughts in words which appeal powerfully to our minds and emotions. This charming and telling use of words is what we call literary style. Above all, the real poet is a master of words. He can convey （表达，传递）his meaning in words which sing like music, and which by their position and association can move men to tears. We should, therefore, learn to choose our words carefully and use them accurately, or they make our speech silly and vulgar.（粗俗的）
48. Which of the following about a real poet is NOT true?
A. He is less than a master of words.
B. His style is always charming.
C. His poem can move men to tears.
D. He can express his ideas in words that sing like music.
49. Where does the real power of the words come from?
A. From the words themselves.
B. From their characteristics.
C. From their curiosity.
D. From their association.
50. What is the main idea of the passage?
A. The importance of choosing words.
B. Where the real power of words come from.
C. What great writers are like.
D. We should learn to choose words carefully.
Rules for the University Entrance Examination
●You must be at the examination center ten minutes before the examination starts. If you are more than ten minutes late, you may not enter the examination center. The examination takes place at the same time in different states.
●You must have proof of your name and grade as well as official examination number. Show these when you come to the examination center.
●Depending on which examination you are taking, you may bring certain items into the examination center. Mathematics examinations may allow you to use electronic calculators (计算器). Other subjects may allow you to use dictionaries and other reference material. Please read the notes sent with your timetable carefully.
●You must bring your own pencils. None will be provided for you. The following items are not allowed in the examination center: walkmans and radios, head sets, any food or drink, schoolbags, electronic equipment (unless specifically permitted for various subjects), and mobile phones.
●Once in the center, you must sit at the desk with your examination number on it. When you sit down, place your examination number at the top corner of your desk.
●You must remain silent during the examination. You must not disturb other people who are taking the test.
●If you need a drink or toilet break, you should raise your hand and wait for the supervisor (监督者) to speak to you. You will be given water or the supervisor will take you to the bathroom. You are not allowed to talk with anyone during the break.
●You must write your answers in the official answer sheet. Your supervisor will provide extra paper if you wish to make notes.
●You may leave the examination room at any time if you do not plan to return. If you finish early and want to leave, please move well away from the examination center.
●The supervisor will warn you fifteen minutes, five minutes and one minute before the end of the examination. When the supervisor says that the time is up, you must put down your pencil and wait at your desk until your paper is collected.
44. What kind of examination are these rules probably for?
A. A local exam.B. A final exam.
C. A college exam. D. A national exam.
45. What are you allowed to have with you when you take mathematics examination?
A. Related material.B. Proof of yourself.
C. A cell phone.D. A dictionary.
46. What should you do if you finish the test early and want to get a better result?
A. Take some notes carefully. B. Leave the room immediately.
C. Remain in your seat and check again.
D. Raise your hand to inform your teacher.
47. What can be provided for you during the exam?
A. Pencils. B. Food and drink. C. Extra paper.D. Calculators.