Recently, some concerns have been raised about the health of the world"s banana
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Recently, some concerns have been raised about the health of the world"s banana plants. Many media reports have said that bananas may completely disappear in the coming ten years.
Bananas are one of the world"s most important food crops. They are also the fourth most valuable export. Bananas do not grow from seeds. Instead, they grow from existing plants. Bananas are threatened by disease because all the plants on a farm are copies of each other. They all share the same genetic weaknesses.
For example, the Cavendish banana is most popular in American markets. It is an important export crop. However, some kinds of fungus (真菌) organisms easily infect the Cavendish. Black Sigatoka disease affects the leaves of Cavendish banana plants. The disease is controlled on large farms by putting chemicals on the plant"s leaves. Farmers put anti-fungal chemicals on their crops up to once a week.
Another fungal disease is more serious. Panama disease attacks the roots of the banana plant. There is no chemical treatment for this disease. Infected plants must be destroyed. Panama disease has affected crops in Southeast Asia, Australia and South Africa. There is concern that it may spread to bananas grown in the Americas. This could threaten an important export product for Central and South America.
The International Network for the Improvement of Banana and Plantain, whose headquarter lies in France, supports research on bananas. The group says that more research must be done to develop improved kinds of bananas.
The group says that fungal diseases mainly affect only one kind of banana. In fact, there are five-hundred different kinds of bananas. The United Nations Food and Agriculture Organization says the Cavendish banana represents only ten percent of world production.
The UN agency says farmers should grow different kinds of bananas. This protects against diseases that affect only one kind. Experts warn that disease may cause the Cavendish banana to disappear. This has already happened to one popular banana because of its genetic weakness against disease. (words: 335)
小题1:What does the passage mainly tell us?| A．Bananas are the world’s most important food crops. | | B．There are five hundred different kinds of bananas. | | C．The risk to a popular banana shows need to grow other kinds. | | D．How to grow bananas in different countries. |
小题2:Bananas are threatened by diseases because __________. | A．they have genetic weaknesses against disease. | | B．they are one of the most valuable exports. | | C．the only way to prevent it is to put chemicals on their leaves. | | D．they grow from the seed |
小题3:Panama disease__________. | A．doesn’t belong to fungal disease. | | B．has spread to bananas in the world. | | C．affects the leaves of banana plants. | | D．destroys the bananas more seriously than Black Sigatoka disease. |
小题4:We can infer from Paragraph 6 that ____________. | A．the center of the group is in the US. | | B．the key to solving the disease is to research all kinds of bananas. | | C．the Cavendish banana covers only a small part of the output of bananas. | | D．each fungal disease affects five hundred different kinds of bananas. |
小题5:According to the passage, which information is right?| A．The Cavendish banana can be mainly imported from North America and Europe. | | B．Fungal diseases mainly affect the Cavendish banana. | | C．The Cavendish banana won’t die out in the future. | | D．Panama disease affects the leaves of banana plants. |
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答案
小题1:C
小题2:A
小题3:D
小题4:C
小题5:B |
解析
试题分析：本文介绍了世界上香蕉产量所面临的危险，有一种Cavendish banana正受到病菌的影响，导致产量的减少。
小题1:C 主旨大意题。本文讲述了现在世界上的Cavendish banana收到病菌的影响，产量大减，我们需要有另外的品种的香蕉生产出来。故C项正确。
小题2:A 细节题。根据第二段最后两行Bananas are threatened by disease because all the plants on a farm are copies of each other. They all share the same genetic weaknesses.
说明这些香蕉都有同样的基因上的缺陷。故A正确。
小题3:D 细节题。根据第三段第三行Black Sigatoka disease affects the leaves of Cavendish banana plants.说明它影响的是香蕉的叶子，故D项正确。
小题4:C 推断题。根据文章倒数第六段最后一行the Cavendish banana represents only ten percent of world production. 说明这种香蕉只占世界产量的百分之10，那么它只占产量的少部分。故C正确。
小题5:B 细节题。根据第三段2,3行However, some kinds of fungus (真菌) organisms easily infect the Cavendish. Black Sigatoka disease affects the leaves of Cavendish banana plants.说明这种病菌只影响Cavendish banana。故B正确。
点评：本文介绍了世界上香蕉产量所面临的危险，有一种Cavendish banana正受到病菌的影响，导致产量的减少。以细节题的考查为主，要求考生仔细地阅读文章内容结合题目要求和选项内容作出适当的延伸和判断推理。 |
举一反三
A． “Better road design and training hold the key to cycle safety”, the new Transport Secretary said today as he pledged to restore Britain’s safety record. Patrick McLoughlin told Conservative Party Conference that while cycling was enjoying a post-Olympics boom, the number of casualties among cyclists was also rising. “But the number of accidents has gone up too. That means it needs better design and better education too.” Mr McLoughlin said in his first speech as Transport Secretary.
B. Cycling in the UK will become safer through “sheer weight of numbers,” the founder of one of the world’s leading cycle brands has said as he backed The Times’s Cyclesafe campaign. Simon Mottram, founder and chief executive of Rapha, has added his support to 40 cross-party MPs who have signed a letter urging David Cameron to use his speech at the Conservative Party Conference to promote measures to make the streets safer for cyclists.
C. Commuters who cycle to work face an increased danger as the casualty toll during peak hours rose by 10 percent last year. The rate at which cyclists were killed or seriously injured rose sharply last year, official figures showed yesterday.
D. In future decades, Londoners will look back on the way cyclists jostled with buses and lorries on major roads as an absurd anachronism. Some risks are unavoidable. But other risks survive only because we are too slow to embrace bold solutions. That is the message from designers who are proposing an ambitious plan to create cycle lanes suspended above London’s busiest streets. London is one of the most dangerous places in the world for cycling. “SkyCycle” would remedy that problem by attaching dedicated cycle paths to existing railway viaducts.
E. Money should be apportioned from the funding for major transport projects, such as the new Forth Crossing, to create a pot of cash for cycling, campaigners have told MSPs. Cycle groups have given warning that not enough money is being put into routes and promotion. They want the Scottish government to take a percentage of the funding allocated to key national projects and create an “active transport” fund to be distributed gradually.
F. We’d like you to tell us why you love cycling by sending a photo of yourself, a family member or friend with their bike and a note about why it is so brilliant. To take part, instagram your photo with the hashtag #ilovemybike or email it to us at ilovemybike@thetimes.co.uk. We’ll post the best pictures here ilovemybike.tumblr.com.
请阅读以下信息，并为他们匹配合适的新闻内容。
小题1:“Cycle lanes in the sky” answer to traffic danger
小题2:More cyclists are seriously injured on Britain’s roads
小题3:Share a picture of you and your bike and help us promote the fun and freedom of cycling
小题4:“Weight of numbers” will bring safe cycling
小题5:Transport Secretary calls for better road design and training to help cyclists |
It"s 10:30 pm, and 11-year-old Brandon Blanco is sound asleep at home. Suddenly, a loud noise wakes him up. Naturally, Brandon reaches for his cell phone. The message becomes clear: "R U awake?"
Brandon" s use of technology doesn" t stop there. He also has a computer, a TV and three video-game consoles (控制台 ) in his room. With so many choices, it" s no surprise that when he isn" t at school, he spends nearly every waking minute using one or more of these devices
Brandon is hardly alone. According to a recent study by the Kaiser Family Foundation, kids aged 8 to18 are spending more time than ever before using electronic devices. How much time? More than seven and a half hours a day on average, the study found.
The jump is the result of a huge explosion in mobile devices, says Victoria Rideout, the lead author of the study. Today, nearly seven out of ten kids have cell phones. Just five years ago, it was four out of ten.
Often, kids multitask, or use more than one device at a time. " If you’ve got a chance to do something on your computer and take a phone call and have the TV on in the background, why not?" media expert Cheryl Olson says.
Most experts agree technology has much to offer kids. But some worry the kids could be missing out on other activities like playing outside or hanging out with friends. " It" s a matter of balance," says Olson." You’ve got to work on it. "
Multitasking while doing homework is another concern. Some kids listen to music, watch TV or use the phone while doing their homework. "It" s important to make sure that you can stop and concentrate on one thing deeply, " says Rideout.
With new and exciting devices hitting stores every year, keeping technology use in check is more important than ever. " Kids should try," adds Rideout. " But parents might have to step in sometimes. "
小题1:Why do children spend more time in using electronic devices?| A．Because more electronic devices are available to them. | | B．Because electronic devices are more exciting than before. | | C．Because they have less other activities. | | D．Because they have less homework to do. |
小题2:It is known from the passage that ____.| A．Brandon Blanco feels very annoyed about his late-night text | | B．the teenagers using mobile devices have increased by 30% in the past five years | | C．Cheryl Olson is not surprised about kids" increasing use of mobile devices | | D．most experts think teenagers should not use electronic devices for their studies |
小题3:Which of the following is an example of multitasking according to the passage?| A．Watching TV while using the computer. | | B．Talking on the phone while staying with others. | | C．Playing video games on the Internet. | | D．Listening to music while relaxing. |
小题4:According to the passage, Victoria Rideout would probably agree that ____.| A．kids should do homework while surfing the Internet | | B．kids should do homework in a place without disturbance | | C．kids should spend more time on homework | | D．kids should have more homework than before |
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Spending as little as $5 a day on someone else could significantly boost happiness, the team at the University of British Columbia found.
Their experiments on more than 630 Americans showed they were measurably happier when they spent money on others even if they thought spending the money on themselves would make them happier.
“We wanted to test our theory that how people spend their money is at least as important as how much money they earn,” said Elizabeth Dunn, a psychologist at the University of British Columbia. They asked their 600 volunteers first to rate their general happiness, report their annual income and detail their monthly spending including bills, gifts for themselves, gifts for others and donations to charity.
“No matter how much income each person made, those who spent money on others reported greater happiness, while those who spent more on themselves did not,” Dunn said in a statement.
Dunn’s team also surveyed 16 employees at a company in Boston before and after they received an annual profit-sharing bonus of between $3,000 and $8,000. “Employees who devoted more of their bonus to prosocial spending experienced greater happiness after receiving the bonus, and the manner in which they spent that bonus was a more important predictor of their happiness than the size of the bonus itself,” they wrote in their report, published in the journal Science.
They gave their volunteers $5 or $20 and half got clear instructions on how to spend it. Those who spent the money on someone or something else reported feeling happier about it.
“These findings suggest that very minor changes in spending allocations-as little as $5 may be enough to produce real gains in happiness on a given day,” Dunn said.
小题1:What is the general idea of the passage? | A．The more you earn, the greater happiness you will get. | | B．Spending more money on yourself will make you happier. | | C．Money can buy happiness, but only if you spend it on someone else. | | D．You can spend only $5 a day on someone else to get happiness. |
小题2:The underlined work “boost” in the first paragraph probably means .| A．help to find | B．help to increase | C．help to bring | D．help to get |
小题3:Which of the following statements is NOT true according to the passage? | A．Those who spend more money on others can get much more bonus. | | B．People usually think spending money on themselves will make them happier. | | C．Very small changes in spending your money may be enough to gain happiness. | | D．Researchers think that how people spend their money is at least as important as how much money they earn. |
小题4:Dunn is .| A．a reporter in a journal | B．a volunteer in the experiment | | C．an employee in a company | D．a psychologist at a university |
小题5:It can be inferred from the 6th paragraph that .| A．the volunteers not given $5 or $20 spent their own money on themselves | | B．those who spent the money on someone or something else felt happier about it | | C．the volunteers were given $5 or $20 as a reward for the experiment | | D．half of the volunteers could spend the money as they liked |
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Can dogs and cats live in perfect harmony in the same home? People who are thinking about adopting a dog as a friend for their cats are worried that they will fight. A recent research has found a new recipe of success. According to the study, if the cat is adopted before the dog, and if they are introduced when still young (less than 6 months for cats, a year for dogs), it is highly probable that the two pets will get along swimmingly. Two-thirds of the homes interviewed reported a positive relationship between their cat and dog.
However, it wasn’t all sweetness and light. There was a reported coldness between the cat and dog in 25% of the homes, while aggression and fighting were observed in 10% of the homes. One reason for this is probably that some of their body signals were just opposite. For example, when a cat turns its head away it signals aggression, while a dog doing the same signals submission.
In homes with cats and dogs living peacefully, researchers observed a surprising behavior. They are learning how to talk each other’s language. It is a surprise that cats can learn how to talk ‘dog’, and dogs can learn how to talk ‘cat’.
What’s interesting is that both cats and dogs have appeared to develop their intelligence. They can learn how to read each other’s body signals, suggesting that the two may have more in common than we previously suspected. Once familiar with each other’s presence and body language, cats and dogs can play together, greet each other nose to nose, and enjoy sleeping together on the sofa. They can easily share the same water bowl and in some cases groom (梳理) each other.
The significance of the research on cats and dogs may go beyond pets — to people who don’t get along, including neighbors, colleagues at work, and even world superpowers. If cats and dogs can learn to get along, surely people have a good chance.
小题1:The underlined word “swimmingly” in Paragraph 1 is closest in meaning to “without _________”.| A．a message | B．a problem | C．introduction | D．delay |
小题2:Some cats and dogs may fight when _________.| A．they are cold to each other | | B．they look away from each other | | C．they misunderstood each other’s signals | | D．they are introduced at an early age |
小题3:What is found surprising about cats and dogs?| A．They eat and sleep each other. | | B．They observe each other’s behaviors. | | C．They learn to speak each other’s language. | | D．They know something from each other’s voices. |
小题4:It is suggested in Paragraph 4 that cats and dogs _________.| A．have common interests | | B．are less different than was thought | | C．have a common body language | | D．are less intelligent than was expected |
小题5:What can we human beings learn from cats and dogs?| A．We should learn to live in harmony. | | B．We should know more about animals. | | C．We should live in peace with animals. | | D．We should learn more body languages. |
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Here is the Eight O’clock News.
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Chinese people spent about 120 billion yuan during the first three days of the May Golden Week last year. This year it has increased to 140 billion yuan.
The children of Beijing No.2 Middle School sang with students from Toronto in Canada to celebrate the 20th anniversary. They had been sister schools since 1986. They spent about two weeks together in Beijing. They visited the Great Wall and the Summer Palace. They took a lot of photos in Beihai Park.
Have you ever got tired of heavy shopping bags? A new shopping assistant robot which was invented by a Japanese company could be the answer. The helpful robot can follow you around and carry several bags. The robot was tested at a shopping center in February 2006.
About 500 people from different countries were in the 2006 “Rock Paper Scissors (剪刀)” World Match in Canada. This event was founded in 1842. It is said that playing this game is fun, and also a good way to solve problems among people.
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And now it’s time for Morning Music.
小题1:The students from Canada and Beijing No. 2 Middle School didn’t _________.| A．take photos | B．visit places of interest | | C．sing songs | D．have a football match |
小题2:Which of the following is NOT talked about in the news?| A．The robot can help with shopping bags. | | B．A Japanese company invented the robot. | | C．The robot was tested at a shopping centre. | | D．There are such robots in people’s homes now. |
小题3:The underlined word “anniversary” means_________.| A．birthday | | B．yearly return of the date of an event | | C．university | | D．the new beginning of something important |
小题4:Which of the following is a game?| A．Shopping assistant robot. | B．May Golden Week. | | C．Rock Paper Scissors. | D．A visit to the school. |
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