The Pacific island nation of Nauru used to be a beautiful place. Now it is an ec

The Pacific island nation of Nauru used to be a beautiful place. Now it is an ec

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The Pacific island nation of Nauru used to be a beautiful place. Now it is an ecological disaster area. Nauru’s heartbreaking story could have one good consequence — other countries might learn from its mistakes.
For thousands of years, Polynesian people lived the remote island of Nauru, far from western civilization. The first European to arrive was John Fearn in 1798. He was the British captain of the Hunter, a whaling ship. He called the island Pleasant Island.
However, because it was very remote, Nauru had little communication with Europeans at first. The whaling ships and other traders began to visit, bringing guns and alcohol. These elements destroyed the social balance of the twelve family groups on the island. A ten-year civil war started, which reduced the population from 1,400 to 900.
Nauru’s real troubles began in 1899 when a British mining company discovered phosphate (磷酸盐)on the island. In fact, it found that the island of Nauru was nearly all phosphate, which a very important fertilizer for farming. The company began mining the phosphate.
A phosphate mine is not a hole in the ground; it is a strip mine. When a company strip-mines, it removes the top layer of soil. Then it takes away the material it wants. Strip mining totally destroys the land. Gradually, the lovely island of Nauru started to look like the moon.
In 1968, Nauru became one of the richest countries in the world. Every year the government received millions and millions of dollars for its phosphate.
Unfortunately, the leaders invested the money unwisely and lost millions of dollars. In addition, they used millions more dollars for personal expenses. Soon people realized that they had a terrible problem — their phosphate was running out. Ninety percent of their island was destroyed and they had nothing. By 2000, Nauru was financially ruined. Experts say that it would take approximately $433,600,000 and more than 20 years to repair the island. This will probably never happen.
小题1:What might be the author’s purpose in writing the text?
A.To seek help for Nauru’s problems.
B.To give a warning to other countries
C.To show the importance of money
D.To tell a heartbreaking story of a war.
小题2:What was Nauru like before the Europeans came?
A.Rich and powerful B.Modern and open
C.Peaceful and attractive D.Greedy and aggressive
小题3:The ecological disaster in Nauru resulted from _______.
A.soil pollutionB.phosphate overmining
C.farming activity D.whale hunting
小题4:Which of the following was a cause of Nauru’s financial problem?
A.Its leaders misused the money
B.It spent too much repairing the island
C.Its phosphate mining cost much money
D.It lost millions of dollars in the civil war.
小题5:What can we learn about Nauru from the last paragraph?
A.The ecological damage is difficult to repair.
B.The leaders will take the experts’ words seriously.
C.The island was abandoned by the Nauruans
D.The phosphate mines were destroyed

答案

小题1:B
小题2:C
小题3:B
小题4:A
小题5:A
解析
本文是一篇记叙文。太平洋岛国瑙鲁曾经是一个美丽富饶的海岛,但是,由于内战和岛上磷酸盐矿的过度开采,很快使之成为一个生态灾难的贫瘠的海岛。作者写这一骇人听闻的故事,旨在提醒其他国家要引以为戒。
小题1:考查作者写作意图。根据第一段Nauru’s heartbreak story could have one good consequence—other countries might learn from its mistakes.可知,作者认为瑙鲁的故事可以让其他国家从他们的错误中学到一些东西,作者的目的是警示其他国家。
小题2:考查细节理解。根据第二段中的…lived on the remote island of Nauru和第五段最后一句中的Gradually, the lovely island of Nauru started to look like the moon可知,瑙鲁以前是一个平静美丽的小岛。
小题3:考查细节理解。瑙鲁岛上的生态灾难是因为对磷酸盐的过度开采。由第五段中的Strip-mining totally destroy the island和Gradually, the lovely island of Nauru started to look like the moon可知B正确。
小题4:考查细节理解。由第七段中的Unfortunately, the leaders invested the money unwisely and lost millions of dollar可知,***投资的不明智,加上还要把更多的钱用在个人消费上,所以导致了财政问题。
小题5:考查判断推理。根据文中最后一段的“Experts say that it would take approximately $433,600,000 and more than 20 years to repair the island. This will probably never happen. ”可知,瑙鲁的生态灾难几乎很难恢复。所以A正确。
举一反三

Big Brothers Big Sisters is based on the simplicity and power of friendship.It is a program which provides friendship and fun by matching vulnerable young people (ages 7-17) with a volunteer adult who can be both a role model and a supportive friend.
  Volunteer tutors come from all walks of life—married, single, with or without children. Big Brothers and Big Sisters are not replacement parents or social workers. They are tutors: someone to trust, to have fun with, to talk and go to when needed.
A Big Sister and Little Sister will generally spend between one and four hours together three or four times each month for at least twelve months. They enjoy simple activities such as a picnic at a park, cooking, playing sport or going to a football match. These activities improve the friendship and help the young person develop positive self-respect, confidence and life direction.
Big Brothers Big Sisters organizations exist throughout the world. It is the largest and most well-known provider of tutor services internationally and has been operating for 25 years.
Emily and Sarah have been matched since 2008. Emily is a 10-year-old girl who has experienced some difficulties being accepted by her schoolmates at school. “ I was pretty sure there was something wrong with me.”
Emily’s mum came across Big Brothers Big Sisters and thought it would be of benefit to Emily by “providing different feedback (反馈) about herself other than just relying on schoolmates to measure her self-worth.
Sarah wanted to get involved in a volunteer program. “I googled it and found out how to be a part of it. I thought it would be fun for me to get involved in making time to do something because sometimes it is all work and no play.”
Big Brothers Big Sisters has been of great benefit and enjoyment to both Emily and Sarah. They love and look forward to their time together and the partnership has certainly helped Emily be more comfortable in being the wonderful, happy and unique girl she is!
小题1:What is the aim of Big Brothers Big Sisters?
A.To offer students public services.
B.To help students improve their grades.
C.To organize sport activities for young people.
D.To provide partnership and fun for young people.
小题2:A volunteer is usually expected to work within a year for at least______.
A.24 hoursB.36 hoursC.48 hoursD.72 hours
小题3:According to Emily’s mother, this program may provide Emily with______.
A.advice from her teachers
B.a new way to assess herself
C.a new way to judge her schoolmates
D.more comments from her schoolmates
小题4:Why did Sarah want to get involved in the program?
A.She used to be a volunteer.
B.She needed a part-time job.
C.She felt a bit bored with her life.
D.She wanted to get a challenging job.
小题5:According to the passage, “vulnerable young people” are probably those who are _________.
A.popular at schoolB.rather weak physically
C.easily hurt emotionallyD.confident in themselves

题型:不详难度:| 查看答案

If Confucius(孔子)were still alive today and could celebrate his September 28 birthday with a big cake, there would be a lot of candles. He’d need a fan or a strong wind to help him put them out.
While many people in China will remember Confucius on his special day, few people in the United States will give him a passing thought.  It’s nothing personal.  Most Americans don’t even remember the birthdays of their own national heroes.
But this doesn’t mean that Americans don’t care about Confucius.  In many ways he has become a bridge that foreigners must cross if they want to reach a deeper understanding of China.
In the past two decades, the Chinese studies programs have gained huge popularity in Western universities.  More recently, the Chinese government has set up Confucius Institutes in more than 80 countries.  These schools teach both Chinese language and culture.  The main courses of Chinese culture usually included Chinese art, history and philosophy(哲学).  Some social scientists suggest that Westerners should take advantages of the ancient Chinese wisdom to make up for the drawbacks of Westerners philosophy.  Students in the United States, at the same time, are racing to learn Chinese.  So they will be ready for life in a world where China is an equal power with the United States.  Businessmen who hope to make money in China are reading books about Confucius to understand their Chinese customers. 
So the old thinker’s ideas are still alive and well.
Today China attracts the West more than ever, and it will need more teachers to introduce Confucius and Chinese culture to the West.
As for the old thinker, he will not soon be forgotten by people in the West, even if his birthday is.
小题1:The opening paragraph is mainly intended to ________
A. provide some key facts about Confucius
B.attract the readers’ interest in the subject
C.show great respect for the ancient thinker
D.prove the popularity of modern birthday celebrations
小题2:We can learn from Paragraph 4 that American students______
A. have a great interest in studying Chinese
B.take an active part in Chinese competitions
C.try to get high scores in Chinese exams
D.fight for a chance to learn Chinese
小题3:What is the best title for the passge?
A.Forgotten Wisdom in America
B.Huge Fans of the Chinese Language
C.Chinese Culture for Westerners
D.Old Thinker with a Big Future
小题4:The passage is likely to appear in ___________.
A.a biography
B.a history paper
C.a newspaper
D.a philosophy textbook

题型:不详难度:| 查看答案
阅读下面短文,从短文后各题的ABCD四个选项中,选出合适填入对应空白处的最佳选项,并在答题卡上将该选项涂黑。
In a land far away, once upon a time there was great poverty (贫困),and only the rich could manage without great _36_. Three of those rich men and their servants were_37_together on a road when they came to a very_38_village.
The first could not stand seeing the poverty, _39  he took all the gold and jewels from his wagons (四轮载重马车) and shared _40 out among the villagers. He wished them all the best of luck, and he left.
The second rich man, seeing the _41  situation, stopped for a short time and gave _42  all his food and drink, since he _43  see that money would be of little _44  to them. He made sure that they each _45   their fair share and would have enough food to _46  for some time. Then, he left.
The third rich man, on seeing such poverty, _47   and went straight through the _48   without stopping. The two other rich men saw this from a distance and commented with each other_49  the third rich man lacked sympathy. It was _50  that they themselves had been there to offer help.
However, three days later, they   51 the third rich man, who was coming in the opposite direction. He was 52 travelling quickly, but his wagons,  53  the gold and valuables they had been  54  ,were now full of farming tools and bags of  55  . He was rushing back to help them out of poverty.
小题1:
A.lossB.expectationsC.successD.problems
小题2:
A.standingB.travellingC.gatheringD.running
小题3:
A.farawayB.poorC.differentD.ancient
小题4:
A.unlessB.becauseC.soD.if
小题5:
A.themB.anythingC.nothingD.those
小题6:
A.curiousB.worryingC.dangerousD.puzzling
小题7:
A.the villagersB.his servantsC.the othersD.the rest
小题8:
A.couldB.mightC.shouldD.must
小题9:
A.interestB.concernC.useD.attraction
小题10:
A.returnedB.gainedC.offeredD.received
小题11:
A.remainB.lastC.supplyD.share
小题12:
A.turned backB.set outC.showed offD.speededup
小题13:
A.villageB.landC.fieldD.road
小题14:
A.whetherB.howC.whereD.when
小题15:
A.goodB.certainC.trueD.strange
小题16:
A.welcomedB.metC.acceptedD.persuaded
小题17:
A.stillB.alreadyC.alwaysD.indeed
小题18:
A.except forB.instead ofC.apart fromD.along with
小题19:
A.loadingB.treasuringC.carryingD.earning
小题20:
A.foodB.jewelsC.moneyD.seeds

题型:不详难度:| 查看答案
You are busy filling out the application form for a position you really need; let’s assume you once actually completed a couple of years of college work or even that you completed your degree. Isn’t it tempting to lie just a little, to claim on the form that your diploma(毕业文凭) represents a Harvard degree? Or that you finished an extra couple of years back at State University?
More and more people are turning to an utter deception(欺骗)  like this to land their first job or to move head in their careers. For personnel officers, like most Americans, value degrees from famous schools. A job applicant may have a good education anyway, but he or she assumes that chances of being hired are better with a diploma from a well-known university. Registrars(注册主任)at most well-known colleges say that they deal with dishonest claims like these at the rate of about one per week.
Personnel officers do check up on degrees listed on application forms. If it turns out that an applicant is lying, most colleges are unwilling to accuse the applicant directly. One lvy League school refers to them as “special cases”, One well-known West Coast school, in perhaps the most delicate phrase of all, says these claims are made by “no such people”.
To avoid complete lies, some job seekers claim that they “attended” or “were associated with” a college or university. After careful checking, a personnel officer may discover that “attending” means being dismissed after one semester. It may be that “being as sociated with” a college means that the job-seeker visited his younger brother for a football weekend. One school that keeps records of false claims says that the practice dates back at least to the turn of  the century—that’s when they began keeping records, anyhow.
If you don’t want to lie or even stretch the truth, there are companies that will sell you a fake diploma. One company, with offices in New York and on the West Coast, will put your name on a diploma from any number of non-existent colleges. The price begins at around twenty dollars for a diploma from “Smoot State University”. The prices increase rapidly for a degree from the “University of Purdue”. As there is no Smoot State and the real school in Indiana is properly called Purdue University, the prices seem rather high for one sheet of paper.
小题1:The writer mainly wants to tell us that _______.
A.college degrees can now be purchased easily
B.it is very hard for people to find jobs
C.lying about college degrees is becoming a widespread problem
D.employers are no longer interested in applicants’ actual performances
小题2:The underlined word “utter” in the second paragraph means “______”.
A.thoroughB.carefulC.incompleteD.spoken
小题3:Once finding applicants with false diplomas, most colleges would _________.
A.keep the records of themB.drive them out of college
C.avoid direct conflicts with themD.accuse them of such behavior
小题4:We can learn from the passage that ________.
A.US employers value their job applicants with a degree from top universities
B.University of Purdue and Purdue University are the same school
C.people with fake diplomas can get their first jobs in the US easily
D.people pay the same price for a fake diploma from different universities

题型:不详难度:| 查看答案
If cars had wings, they could fly and that just might happen, beginning in 2012. The company Terrafugia, based in Woburn, Massachusetts, says it plans to deliver its car-plane, the Transition, to customers by the end of 2012.
“It’s next ‘wow’ vehicle,” said Terrafugia vice president Richard Gersh. “Anybody can buy a Ferrari, but as we say, Ferraris don’t fly.”
The car-plane has wings that unfold for flying-a process the company says takes one minute-and fold back up for driving. A runway is still required to take off and land.
The Transition is being marketed more as a plane that drives than a car that flies, although it is both. The company has been working with FAA to meet aircraft regulations, and with the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration to meet vehicle safety regulations.
The company is aiming to sell the Transition to private pilots as a more convenient and cheaper way to fly. They say it saves you the trouble from trying to find another mode of transportation to get to and from airports: You drive the car to the airport and then you’re good to go. When you land, you hold up the wings and hit the road. There are no expensive parking fees because you don’t have to store it at an airport-you park it in the garage at home.
The car-plane is designed to fly primarily under 10,000 feet. It has a maximum takeoff weight of 1,430 pounds, including fuel and passengers. Thrrafugia says the Transition reduces the potential for an accident by allowing pilots to drive under the bad weather instead of flying into marginal(临界的) conditions.
The Transition’s price tag: $194,000. But there may be additional charges for options like a radio, , a transponder or a GPS. Another option is a full-plane parachute.
“If you get into a very awful situation, it is the necessary safety option.” Gersh said.
So far, the company has more than 70 orders with deposits. “We’re working very closely with them, but there are still some remaining steps,” Brown said.
小题1:We can learn from the first two paragraphs that _________.
A.car-planes will be popular in 2012-4-6
B.people might drive a car-plane in 2012
C.both the Transition and Ferrari can take off and land
D.Richard Gersh is the vice president of Massachusetts
小题2:It takes the car-plane one minute to _________.
A.fold and unfold its wingsB.unfold wings for flying
C.land in the airportD.meet flying safety regulations
小题3:According to the passage, which of the following is NOT true?
A. The car-plane needs a runway to take off and land.
B. To meet aircraft regulations, the company has been working with FAA.
C. The car-plane may fly as high as normal planes.
D. People can park the car-plane in the garage at their home.
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