You might think that “global warming” means nothing more than a rise in the worl

题型：不详难度：来源：

You might think that “global warming” means nothing more than a rise in the world’s temperature. But rising sea levels caused by it have resulted in the first evacuation of an island nation. The citizens of Tuvalu will have to leave their homeland.
During the 20th century, sea level rose 8~12 inches. As a result, Tuvalu has experienced lowland flooding of salt water that has polluted the country’s drinking water.
Paani Laupepa, a Tuvaluan government official, reported to the Earth Policy Institute that the nation suffered an unusually high number of fierce storms in the past ten years. Many scientists connect higher surface water temperatures resulting from global warming to greater and more damaging storms.
Laupepa expressed dissatisfaction with the United States for refusing to sign the Kyoto Protocol, an international agreement calling for industrialized nations to reduce their greenhouse gas emissions（导致温室效应的气体排放）,which are a main cause of global warming. “By refusing to sign the agreement, the US has effectively taken away the freedom of future generations of Tuvaluans to live where their forefathers have lived for thousands of years.” Laupepa told the BBC.
Tuvalu has asked Australia and New Zealand to allow the gradual move of its people to both countries.
Tuvalu is not the only country that is vulnerable （易受影响的）to rising sea levels. Maumoon Gayoon, president of the Maldives, told the United Nations that global warming has made his country of 311,000 an “endangered nation”.
小题1:. The text is mainly about_________.

A．rapid changes in earth’s temperature

B．bad effects of global warming

C．moving of a country to a new place

D．reasons for lowland flooding

小题2:.. What is the probable meaning of the underlined word in the first paragraph?

A．撤离

B．危险

C．淹没

D．消失

小题3:. According to scientists, the DIRECT cause of more and fiercer storms is_________.

A．greenhouse gas emissions in industrialized nations

B．continuous global warming

C．higher surface water temperatures of the sea

D．rising sea levels

小题4:. Laupepa was not satisfied with the United States be

cause it did not_________.

A．believe the problems facing Tuvalu were real

B．sign an agreement with Tuvalu

C．allow Tuvaluans to move to the US

D．agree to reduce its greenhouse gas emissions

小题5:. The country whose situation is similar to that of Tuvalu is_________.

A．Australia

B．New Zealand

C．the Unit

ed States

D．the Maldives

答案

小题1:.B
小题1:.A
小题1:.C
小题1:.D
小题1:.D

解析

略

举一反三

Many Americans take their summer vacations in August. President Obama and his family are among them. This August the first family visited the Florida Gulf Coast. The president wants to promote tourism in the area after the BP oil spill (漏油). The first family took a ten-day vacation on Martha’s Vineyard, an island off the coast of Massachusetts.
Martha’s Vineyard is known for the sailing, sunsets and its tall cliffs overlooking the Atlantic Ocean. The island is about 13 kilometers off the coast and is less than 260 square kilometers. Homes designed like those of earlier times line the streets of Edgartown, Oak Bluffs and Vineyard Haven. These are the major towns on Martha’s Vineyard.
For most of the year, the population of Martha’s Vineyard is about 15 000. In summer, more than 100 000 people crowd the island. In addition to the Obamas, you might see some Hollywood stars and other rich and famous people. Many visitors return year after year.
During warm weather the Vineyard is a good place for many different activities. People can play golf or catch fish. They can rid

e in sailboats or motor boats. They can waterski and swim. They can take quiet walks along sandy beaches and among the thick green trees.
One of the popular places for families with children is the Flying Horses Carousel in Oak Bluffs. It is the oldest continually operated merry-go-round ride in the United States. The colorful wood horses that turn in a circle were created in 1876. One of the best places for children to swim is the Joseph A. Sylvia state beach. The water there is warmer and calmer. Families also enjoy the Felix Neck Wildlife Sanctuary where they can observe much of the island wildlife.
Visitors watch the sunsets sitting on the beach and on rocks in the fishing village of Menemsha. As the sun goes down in the sky it paints yellow, red, and other colors on the clouds. Fishing boats rise and fall with the waves. Bells sound to help guide the boats to land as darkness covers the water.
Historians say British mapmaker Bartholomew Gosnold first made a map of the island for the rulers of England in 1602. Gosnold named the island to honor his baby daughter, Martha. The Vineyard part of the name came from the many wild grape vines Gosnold found on the island. Later, King Charles of England gave the island to businessman Thomas Mayhew of the Massachusetts Bay Colony, whose son established the first European settlement on the island in 1642. By the middle of the nineteenth century, ships from the

American mainland began bringing visitors to the island. Big hotels were built near the edge of the water. Martha’s Vineyard was on its way to becoming the visitors center that it is today.
小题1:.
We can infer that ______.

A．the BP oil spill has a negative effect on the tourism along the Florida Gulf Coast

B．the BP oil spill has contributed to the tourism along the Florida GulfCoast

C．President Obama went to the Florida Gulf Coast to deal with the BP oil spill

D．this was the first time that President Obama and his family had taken the vacation on Martha’s Vineyard

小题2:.
Which month is the peak time for tourism in Martha’s Vineyard?

A．January.

B．August.

C．December.

D．March,

小题3:.
If children want to see wild animals, the family should go to ______.

A．the Flying Horses Carousel	B．the Sylvia state beach
C．the fishing village of Menemsha	D．the Felix Neck Wildlife Sanctuary

小题4:.
Bartholomew Gosnold named the island Martha in honor of _______.

A．his mother	B．the king of England
C．his daughter	D．his father

题型：不详难度：| 查看答案

ERATH WEEK---A DIARY OF THE PLANET
Enduring Storms
Several more rounds of severe storms, tornadoes and flash flooding struck many parts of the American Midwest and Northeast as bad weather continued across the US for a second month.

Monsoon Storms
A south-west monsoon has caused havoc in parts of Sri Lanka. Government meteorologists said that unexpected monsoonal winds blew directly across the country from the Southern Hemisphere at about 100km/h, p

roducing several rounds of stormy weather. Nearly 250 houses in the capital Colombo were damaged.
Mt. Etna Erupts
Sicily’s Mount Etna volcano erupted shortly after midnight on July 1, shooting “bombs” of lava nearly 1.5 meters in diameter on the eastern side of the mountain. The 30-minute eruption could be seen for several miles, but did not threaten any nearby villages.
Hurricane
Hurricane Blas lost strength as it moved over cooler waters in the Pacific Ocean to the west of Mexico. Blas formed off southwest Mexico during the previous week, but squalls on the outer fringes of the storm lashed western Michoacan State, killing four people when their wood and cardboard home collapsed.
Monkey Repellent
After years of unsuccessful attempts to keep crop-eating monkeys out of Japanese fields, a Tokyo research team believes that it may have finally found a way to prevent the damage caused by the monkeys. Animal raids on crops were successfully prevented by shooting chilli powder into the air, irritating the e

yes and noses of monkeys that passed in front of carefully-placed warning sensors. “We’ve tried al kinds of preventive measures, but the monkeys are smart enough t

o outwit the tricks, “said Toshiaki Wada, Director of the Tokyo Forestry Experiment Station in western Tokyo.
小题1:.
. According to the information, which of the following statements is TURE?
A. The eruption of Mt. Etna lasted thirty days.
B. Hurricane Blas was formed off the coast of Italy.
C. The American Midwest had fine weather throughout July 1998.
The eruption of Mt. Etna did not destroy local villages.
小题2:.
. According to the information, the monkeys in the Japanese fields ________.

A．destroy crops	B．kill unsuspecting humans
C．spread eye diseases to humans	D．stop farmers from working

小题3:.
. The information in the “Earth Week” diary _______.

A．predicts future weather patterns

B．gives advice on dealing with monsoons

C．shows that weather can be unpredictable

D．shows the effects that storms have on animals

题型：不详难度：| 查看答案

What do you know about the sea? You may have seen it. Some of us have swum or bathed in it. It looks beautiful on a fine sunny day and it can be very rough when there is a strong wind. What other things do we know about it? Of course, the sea is very large. In the world there is more sea than land. The sea covers three quarters of the earth. The sea is also very deep in some places. It is not deep everywhere, some pa

rts of it are very great. At one spot, near Japan the sea is nearly 11 kilometers deep! Just think of it, the highest mountain in the world is only about 9 kilometers high! If you have swum in the sea, you know that the water is salty. Rivers carry salt from the land into the sea. Some parts of the sea are more salty than other parts. Do you know the Dead Sea in Arabia? It is very salty. Swimmers cannot sink in it! Fish cannot live in the Dead Sea. It is a strange sea. In most parts of the sea, there are a lot of fishes and plants. Some live near the top of the sea. Others live deep down. No sunlight can reach the depth of the sea. So it is completely dark. Strange fishes live there. Some are blind. Some have their own lights. Some have great jaws. With their great jaws, they swallow fish larger than themselves. The sea can be very cold. Deep sea divers know this well. At the top of the water may be warm. Then as the divers go down, the sea becomes colder and colder.
Many scientists are now making a study of animal and plant life in the sea. They hope to find new resources for mankind.
小题1:. Which of the following statements is NOT true?

A．Land covers one fourth of the are

a of the earth.

B．The depths of the sea are different in different places.

C．The depth of a sea at one spot near Japan is nearly the height of the highest mountain.

D．The salt in the sea mainly comes from the land.

小题2:.. The Dead Sea is lifeless because ___.

A．the water in it is too cold	B．the water in it is too salty for anything to grow
C．the water in it never flows	D．no sunlight can reach the bottom of the lake

小题3:. We can see the underlined word “rough” in this passage means ___.

A．ugly

B．noisy

C．cold

D．not calm

小题4:.. Which of the following statements is true?

A．Some of the fish living in the depth of the sea can not see by themselves.
B．Some fish give out light for themselves.
C．Some fish live on other fish.	D．All of the above

小题5:.. What does the writer intend to tell us in the last paragraph?

A．The necessity of the study of the sea.	B．The purpose of man’s further study of the sea.
C．Man’s limited knowledge of the sea.	D．The importance of new resources for man.

题型：不详难度：| 查看答案

Death Valley is one of the most famous deserts in the United States, covering a wide area with its alkali sand Almost 20 percent of this area is well below sea level, and Badwater, a salt water pool, is about 280 feet below sea level and the lowest point in the United States.
Long ago the Panamint Indians called this place “Tomesha”— the land of fire. Death Valley’s present name dates back to 1849, when a group of miners coming across from Nevada became lost in its unpleasantness and hugeness and their adventure turned out to be a sad story. Today Death Valley has been declared（宣告）a National Monument（纪念碑）and is crossed by several well-marked roads where good services can be found easily. Luckily the change created by human settlement has hardly ruined the special beauty of this place.
Here nature created a lot of surprise, almost like the sights on the moon, ever-changing as the frequent（频繁的）wind moves the sand about, showing the most unusual colors. One of the most surprising and variable（多变的）parts of Death Valley is the Devil’ s Golf Course, where it seems hard for one to tell reality from terrible dreams. Sand sculptures（沙雕）stand on a frightening ground, as evening shadows move and lengthen.
小题1:.. _______ is the lowest place in the desert.

A．Tomesha

B．Death Valley

C．Nevada

D．Badwater

小题2:.. The present name of the valley comes from _______.

A．an Indian name	B．the death of the miners
C．the local people	D．a National Movement

小题3:.. From the passage we can learn that _______.

A．no one had ever known the desert before the miners

B．it’s still not easy to travel across the desert

C．people can find gas-stations, cafes and hotels in the desert

D．people have changed the natural sight of the desert

小题4:. Devil Golf Course is famous for _______.

A．the frequent wind	B．the colors of the sand
C．dream-like sights	D．the sand sculptures

小题5:. From the passage we can see that the writer _______ the Death Valley.

A．appreciates

B．is fearful of

C．dislikes

D．is tired of

题型：不详难度：| 查看答案

If there is one thing I’m sure about, it is that in a hundred years from now we will still be reading newspapers. It is not that newspapers are a necessity. Even now some people get most of their news from television or radio. Many buy a paper only on Saturday or Sunday. But for most people reading a newspaper has become a habit passed down from generation to generation.
The nature of what is news may change. What basically makes news is what affects our lives—the big political stories, the coverage of the wars, earthquakes and other disasters, will continue much the same. I think there will be more coverage of scientific research, though. It’s already happening in areas that may directly affect our lives, like genetic(基因)engineering. In the future, I think there will be more coverage of scientific explanations of why we feel as we do—as we develop a better understanding of how the brain operates and what our feelings really are.
It’s quite possible that in the next century newspapers wil

l be transmitted(传送)electronically from Fleet Street and printed out in our own home. In fact, I’m pretty sure how it will happen in the future. You will probably be able to choose from a menu, making up your own newspaper by picking out the things you want to read—sports and international

news, etc. .
I think people have got it wrong when they talk about competition between the different media. They actually feed off each other. Some people once foresaw that television would kill off newspapers, but that hasn’t happened. What is read on the printed page lasts longer than pictures on a screen or sound lost in the air. And as for the Internet, it’s never really pleasant to read something just on a screen.
小题1:.
. What is the best title for the passage?
A The Best Way to Get News
B The Changes of Media
C Make Your Own Newspaper
D The Future of Newspaper
小题2:.
In the writer’s opinion, in the future,_____.
A. more big political affairs, wars and disasters will make news
B. newspapers will not be printed in publishing houses any longer
C newspapers will cover more scientific research
D more and more people will watch TV
小题3:.
From the passage, we can infer____.
A newspapers will win the competition among the different medi

a
B newspapers will stay with us together with other media
C television will take the place of newspaper
D the writer believes some media will die out
小题4:.
. The phrase “feed off” in the last paragraph means____.
A depend on B compete with C fight with D kill off

题型：不详难度：| 查看答案