Since Edmund Hillary and Tenzing Norgay climbed Mount Everest, Mount Qomolangma’s peak is no longer a lonely place and is turning into a trash heap.
So far, more than 350 climbers have successfully reached the peak. And they have complained about waiting for hours in the bottlenecks (狭窄路段) on the way to the peak, a situation that isn’t just uncomfortable — it’s cold and windy up there — but downright dangerous. If bad weather strikes, climbers can and do die.
As a matter of fact, the dangerous crowds aren’t the only problem on Qomolangma. All those climbers need to bring a lot of gear—and much of them ends up being left on the mountain, sometimes even the peak itself. Mount Qomolangma is becoming the world’s largest dump. Here’s mountaineer Mark Jenkins writing in National Geographic about the state of Qomolangma: “The two standard routes, the Northeast Ridge and the Southeast Ridge, are disgustingly polluted with oxygen cans and torn tents everywhere.”
But the good news is that some mountaineers are taking it upon themselves to clean up Qomolangma. Mountianeer Paul Thelen and his friend Eberhard Schaaf are part of the annual Eco Everest Expedition, which has been cleaning up rubbish from base camps to the peak since 2008. So far they’ve collected over 13 tons of garbage.
Some of that rubbish is even being used for a higher purpose. As part of the Mount Everest 8844 Art Project, a group of 15 artists from Nepal collected 1.5 tons of garbage brought down the mountain by climbers. They’ve transformed the cans and oxygen tanks—and in one case, part of the remains of a helicopter—into 74 pieces of art that have already gone on exhibition in Nepal’s capital. Part of the profit from sales will go to the Everest Peakers Association, which has helped collect tons of rubbish on the slopes of the mountain.What does the underlined word “gear” mean?
| A．Equipment for climbing mountains. |
| B．The food climbers brought onto the mountain. |
| C．Some important machines used for the bottlenecks. |
| D．Some rubbish found on the mountain. |
The group of 15 Nepali artists_________.
| A．created works of art using rubbish from Qomolangma |
| B．were employed by the Everest Peakeers Association |
| C．climbed Qomolangma and collected 1.5 tons of trash |
| D．painted 74 beautiful pictures of Mount Qomolangma’s peak |
What can be the best title for the text?
| A．Eco Everest Expedition Proves Successful |
| B．Qomolangma Has Become A Huge Mess |
| C．Test Yourself Against Qomolangma |
| D．Recycle Rubbish On Qomolangma |
My House
My mother moved a lot when she was growing up on account of Grandpa being in the army. She hated having to adjust to new schools and make new friends. That’s why I thought she was joking when she put forward the idea of moving. But she was completely serious. “For just the two of us,” my mother said, “an apartment in the city will suit our needs much better.” Personally, I think she’s lost her mind. I guess I can understand why she would want to move, but what about me and what this house means to me?
I suppose if you l
ooked at my house, you might think it was just another country house. But to me it is anything but standard. I moved into this house with my parents ten years ago. I can still remember that first day like it was yesterday. The first thing I noticed was the big front yard. To me it seemed like an ocean of grass—I couldn’t wait to dive in. The backyard was full of gnarled (扭曲的, 粗糙的) and scary trees that talk on windy nights. But I grew to like them and the shadows they cast in my room. My father and I even built a small tree house, where I often go to remember all the wonderful times we had before Father’s death.
This house is special—maybe only to me—but special nevertheless. It’s the little seemingly insignificant things that make this house so special to me: the ice-cold tile floors that make me tremble on midnight snack runs; the smell of my father’s pipe that still exists; the towering bookcases of my mother; the view outside my bedroom window.
This house holds too many memories, memories which would be lost if we gave it up.Why did the author’s mother decide to move?
| A．Because she hated the countryside. |
| B．Because Grandpa was on constant move. |
| C．Because Dad’s death made her lose her mind. |
| D．Because she thought a city flat more fit for them. |
What impressed the author when she first moved into the house?
| A．The tree house. | B．The big trees. | C．The cold floors. | D．The green grass. |
How did the author let us feel that the house was special to her?
| A．By arguing whether the house was standard. |
| B．By explaining why the house suited their needs. k.&s~5*u |
| C．By describing the small things related to her house. |
| D．By comparing the differences between country and city life. |
My mother moved a lot when she
was growing up because of ________.
| A．Grandpa being in the army. | B．their family’s liking moving |
| C．the life’s need | D．Mother’s work |
In the 1960s, medical researchers Thomas Holmes and Richard Rahe developed a checklist of stressful events. They appreciated the tricky point that any major change can be stressful. Bad events like "serious illness of a family member" were high on the list, but so were some helpful life-changing events like marriage.
When you take the Holmes-Rahe test you must remember that the score does not show how you deal with stress －it only shows how much you have to deal with. And we now know that the way you deal with these events dramatically (戏剧性的) affects your chances of staying healthy. By the early 1970s, hundreds of similar studies had followed Holmes and Rahe. And millions of Americans who work and live under stress worried over the reports. Somehow the research got boiled down to a memorable message. Women's magazines ran titles like "Stress causes illness".
If you want to stay physically and mentally healthy the articles said avoid stressful events. But such simplistic advice is impossible to follow. Even if stressful events are dangerous , many — like the death of a loved one — are impossible to avoid. Moreover, any warning to avoid all stressful events is a prescription (处方) for staying away from chances as well as trouble. Since any change can be stressful, a person who wanted to be completely free of stress would never marry, have a child, take a new job or move. The idea that all stress makes you sick also takes no notice of a lot of what we know about people. It supposes we' re all vulnerable and not active in the face of the difficult situation. But what about human ability and creativity? Many come through periods of stress with more physical and mental strength than they had before. We also know that a long time without change or challenge can lead to boredom and physical and mental pressure.
41. The result of Holmes-Rahe’s medical research tells us _________________.
A. the way you deal with major events may cause stress
B. what should be done to avoid stress
C. what kind of event would cause stress
D. how to deal with sudden changes in life
42. The studies on stress in the early 1970s led to ___________________.
A. popular avoidance of stressful jobs
B. great fear over the mental disorder
C. a careful research into stress-related illnesses
D. widespread worry about its harmful effects
43. The score of the Holmes-Rahe test shows ________________.
A. how you can deal with life-changing events
B. how helpful events can change your life
C. how stressful a major event can be
D. how much pressure you are under
44. Why is “such simplistic advice” (Line 1, Paragraph 3) impossible to follow?
A. No one can stay on the same job for long.
B. No prescription is effective in reducing stress.
C. People have to get married someday.
D. You could be missing chances as well.
45. According to the passage people who have experienced ups and downs may become _______.
A. nervous when faced with difficulties B. physically and mentally tired
C. more able to deal with difficulties D. cold toward what happens to them
In bringing up children, every parent watches eagerly the child's acquisition (学会) of each new skill m the first spoken words, the first independent steps, or the beginning of reading and writing. It is often tempting to hurry the child beyond his natural learning rate, but this can set up dangerous feelings of failure and states of worry in the child. This might happen at any stage. A baby might be forced to use a toilet too early, a young child might be encouraged to learn to read before he knows the meaning of the words he reads. On the other hand, though, if a child is left alone too much, or without any learning opportunities, he loses his natural enthusiasm for life and his desire to find out new things for himself.
Parents vary greatly in their degree of strictness towards their children. Some may be especially strict in money matters. Others are severe (严格的) over time of coming home at night or punctuality for meals. In general, the controls represent the needs of the parents and the values of the community as much as the child's own happiness.
As regards the development of moral standards in the growing child, consistency is very important in parental teaching. To forbid a thing one day and excuse it the next is no foundation for morality (道德). Also, parents should realize that "example is better than precept". If they are not sincere and do not practice what they preach (说教), their children may grow confused when they grow old enough to think for themselves, and realize they have been to some extent fooled.
A sudden awareness of a marked difference between their parents' principles and their morals can be a dangerous disappointment.
36. Eagerly watching the child’s acquisition of new skills, _________________.
A. should be avoided
B. is universal among parents
C. sets up dangerous states of worry in the child
D. will make the child lose interest in learning new things
37. In the process of children’s learning new skills, parents _________________.
A. should encourage them to read before they know the meaning of the words they read
B. should expect a lot of the children
C. should achieve a balance between pushing them too hard and leaving them on their own
D. should create as many learning opportunities as possible
38. The second paragraph mainly tells us that _________________.
A. parents should be strict with their children
B. parental controls reflect only the values of the community
C. parental restrictions vary, and are not always for the benefit of the children alone
D. it’s parents’ and society’s duty to control the children
39. The word “precept” in Paragraph 3 probably means “_________________”.
A. opinion B. punishment C. behavior D. instruction
40. In terms of moral matters, parents should _____________________.
A. follow the rules themselves
B. be aware of the huge difference between adults and children
C. forbid their children to follow hook teachings
D. always ensure the security of their children
In the past ten years, America’s National Basketball Association (NBA) has grown increasingly dependent on the rest of the world to supply players.
When Michael Jordan and Larry Bird won gold in Barcelona in 1992, the Americans were praised for teaching the world how to play basketball. This season, however, 20 percent of NBA rosters（花名册） will be filled by non-Americans. NBA commissioner David Stem happily embraces the trend. On a visit to Paris in October, Stern outlined his vision for the future, which is likely to see Europe hosting NBA games by 2010.
The NBA is now planning to take China by storm.
“Our experience in China has been that it is going to be explosive in its growth,” said Stern. The strategy（战略，策略） in China is television. “We’ve made 14 deals in China with local and national networks on cable and satellite.” The success of Chinese centre Yao Ming has paved the way for the NBA marketing blitz in China. The NBA, which is broadcasted in more than 200 countries in 42 languages, will put that to the test in October 2004 when the Houston Rockets play two pre-season games against the Sacramento Kings in Beijing and Shanghai. The NBA knows that it needs a global market to compensate for tough times on home soil.
“It doesn’t matter where the players come from, all the NBA teams now know that they have to scout（寻找，觅得） internationally,” said Terry Lyons, the NBA’s vice-president of international public relations. “It has increased the level of competition here.” As Frenchman Tony Parker and Argentine Emanuel Ginobili showed in winning championship rings with the San Antonio Spurs last season, many people can earn the respect of their American peers. Others, such as the Houston Rockets’ Chinese centre Yao Ming — number one draft pick in 2002 — and the Detroit Pistons’ 18-year-old Serb Darko Milicic — number two overall in this year’s draft — are icons（偶像）in-waiting. It is the ultimate（最后的，根本的） revolution — the rest of the world teaching the US how to play basketball.
31. According to the report, .
A. Michael Jordan is still playing a very important role in NBA
B. the part played by the foreign players in NBA will be great
C. Yao Ming is to play two pre-season games in NBA
D. European countries will host the 2004 NBA games
32. The underlined phrase “take China by storm” has the meaning of _______ ___.
A. NBA intends to make China its “marketing center”
B. NBA is planning to set up some training centers in China
C. there’ll be a big storm when NBA comes to China to play against the Sacramento Kings
D. the NBA’s live basket games will be broadcasted on all the TVs in China
33. What seems to be the biggest change that is happening to NBA?
A. NBA is expecting more foreign players to join the league.
B. China’s rapid development in sports affects NBA.
C. Yao Ming has taken the place of Michael Jordan.
D. The NBA will stop teaching the world how to play basketball.
34. When the writer talked of “home soil”, he was referring to _ _.
A. farms in the States
B. native Americans
C. the NBA training center
D. the USA
35. Which of the following can be used as the best title for the passage?
A. The Non-American Basketball Players
B. NBA Is Coming to China
C. The Foreign Ties That Bind the NBA
D. NBA Is Making Big Progress
Ⅱ阅读(共两节，满分50分)
第一节阅读理解(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和D项中，选出最佳选项，并在答题卡上将该项涂黑。
Even plant can run a fever, especially when they’re under attack by insects or disease. But unlike human, plants can have their temperature taken from 3, 000 feet away straight up. A decade ago, adopting the infrared （红外线）scanning technology developed for military purposes and other satellites, physicist Stephen Paley came up with a quick way to take the temperature of crops to determine which ones are under stress. The goal was to let farmers precisely target pesticide （杀虫剂）spraying rather than rain poison on a whole field, which invariably includes plants that don’t have pest （害虫）problems.
Even better, Paley’s Remote Scanning Services Company could detect crop problems before they became visible to the eye. Mounted on a plane flown at 3, 000 feet at night, an infrared scanner measured the heat emitted by crops. The data were transformed into a color-coded map showing where plants were running“fevers”. Farmers could then spot-spray, using 50 to 70 percent less pesticide than they otherwise would.
The bad news is that Paley’s company closed down in 1984, after only three years. Farmers resisted the new technology and long - term backers were hard to find. But with the renewed concern about pesticides on produce, and refinements in infrared scanning, Paley hopes to get back into operation. Agriculture experts have no doubt the technology works. “This technique can be used on 75 percent of agricultural land in the United States, ” says George Oerther of Texas A & M. Ray Jackson , who recently retired from the Department of Agriculture, thinks remote infrared crop scanning could be adopted by the end of the decade. But only ff Paley finds the financial backing which he failed to obtain 10 years ago.
26．Plants will emit an increased amount of heat when they are______________.
A. sprayed with pesticides
B. facing an infrared scanner
C. in poor physical condition
D. exposed to excessive sun rays
27．In order to apply pesticide spraying precisely, we can use infrared scanning to____________.
A. estimate the damage to the crops
B. measure the size of the affected area
C. draw a color-coded map
D. locate the problem area
28．Farmers can save a considerable amount of pesticide by______________.
A. resorting to spot-spraying
B. consulting infrared scanning experts
C. transforming poisoned rain
D. detecting crop problems at an early stage
29．The application of infrared scanning technology to agriculture met with some difficulties
_______________.
A. the lack of official support
B. its high cost
C. the lack of financial support
D. its failure to help increase production
30．Infrared scanning technology may be brought back into operation because of_____________.
A. the desire of farmers to improve the quality of their produce
B. growing concern about the excessive use of pesticides on crops
C. the forceful promotion by the Department of Agriculture
D. full support from agricultural experts