Empty Deserts In the 19th century Americans from the eastern states moved out we

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Empty Deserts
In the 19^th century Americans from the eastern states moved out west to settle in the rich new lands along the Pacific coast. The most difficult part of their trip was crossing the “Great American Desert in the western part of the United States by horse and wagon.
The western desert can be very dangerous. There is little water and there are few trees. But the desert also has scenery of great beauty. Tall towers of red and yellow stone rise sharply from the flat sandy valley floor. The scene has been photographed many times and appears in movies and in TV.
In Arizona, man made dams across the Colorado River have made two large lakes in the middle of the dry desert country. At Lake Powell, the red stone arch of Rainbow Bridge rises high above the blue lake.
There are few roads. Many areas of Lake Powell’s shore can only be reached by boat or on foot. But hikers in this empty desert land sometimes find very old native American pictures, painted on the rocks.
In Death Valley, California, the summer temperature rises to 130 degrees. There is less than two inches of rain each year. Death Valley is the lowest place in America---- 925 meters below sea level. In the 1800s, many travelers died when they tried to cross this waterless valley in the terrible heat.
Although the desert is dry and seems empty, there is plenty of life if you look closely. Small insects, snakes and rats have learned how to live in the desert heat. They live under ground and come out at night, when it is cool. Plants such as cacti need very little water. When it does rain in the desert (sometimes only once or twice a year), plants grow quickly, and flowers open in a single day. For a short time, the desert is covered with brilliant colors.
小题1:In the 19^th century, Americans moved from the east to the west because they ______.

A．enjoy the trip	B．wanted to make their home there
C．wanted to find new grassland there	D．had no water to drink

小题2:From the passage, we can conclude that ______.

A．the western desert is a good place for people to live in

B．there is little water but there are many trees in the desert

C．the desert is dangerous but it is full of life

D．till now, people know little about the desert

小题3: If you want to find some old native American pictures painted on the rock you must go ______.

A．on foot

B．by boat

C．by car

D．by plane

小题4:In the 1800s many travelers died in Death Valley because of ______.

A．illness	B．high temperature
C．cold weather	D．poisonous water

小题5:In the desert, animals will die ______.

A．if they move about	B．if they cannot make holes underground
C．if they come out at night	D．if they drink much water

答案

小题1:B
小题2:C
小题3:A
小题4:B
小题5:B

解析

略

举一反三

As far back as 700 B. C, man has talked about children being cared for by wolves. Romulus and Remus, the legendary（传说的）twin founders of Rome, were said to have been cared for by wolves. It is believed that when a she-wolf loses her litter, she tries to get human child to take its place. This seemingly foolish and unreasonable idea did not become believable until the late nineteenth century when a French doctor actually found a ten-year-old boy having nothing on wandering in the woods. He didn’t walk upright, could not speak understandably, nor could he relate to people. He only growled（嗥叫）and stared at them. Finally the doctor won the boy’s confidence and began to work with him. After many long years of devoted and patient teaching, the doctor was able to get the boy to clothe and feed himself, recognize and say a number of words, as well as write letters and form words.
小题1:The French doctor found the boy ________.
　　A. wandering in the woods 　　　B at his doorstep
　　C. growling at him 　　　　　　 D. speaking understandably
小题2:In this passage, the word “litter” in line 3 most nearly means ________.

A．garbage

B．master

C．hair

D．baby animals

小题3:The doctor was able to work with the boy because ________.

A．the boy had never lost his mind	B．the boy trusted him
C．the boy liked to dress up	D．the boy worked very hard

小题4:Which of the following statements is not true?

A．She-Wolves have been said to replace human children for their lost litter.

B．Examples of wolves caring for human children can be found only in the nineteenth century.

C．The French doctor succeeded in training the boy to enjoy the human life somewhat.

D．The young boy never was able to speak perfectly.

小题5:In this passage, the word “relate to” most nearly means ________.

A．tell

B．understand

C．listen to

D．write to

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It’s amazing what a little free beer can accomplish. In 1997 the small Danish island of Samso, located in the Kattegat Strail, won a contest hosted by the Danish Ministry of Environment and Energy. Samso, then known for its dairy and pig farms, would become Denmark’s showcase for sustainable power, eventually going carbon-free. How that would happen, however, was far from clear, since the government initially offered no funding, tax breaks or technical expertise(专门知识).
Given that almost all its power came from oil or coal — and the island’s 4,300 residents didn’t know a wind turbine(风力发电机) from a grain silo(谷仓) — Samso seemed an strange choice. Soren Hermansen, though, saw an opportunity. A restless native son who grew up on a family farm, Hermansen was teaching environmental studies at a local school when he heard about Samso’s award. He volunteered to be the first — and only — participant. “I realized this could happen,” he says. “This was realistic.” He may have been the only one who thought so.
Hermansen knew Samso islanders were conservative, but that could be an advantage: once he convinced enough potential first movers to act, the rest would follow. So Hermansen showed up at every community or club meeting to campaign for the renewable-energy project. He pointed to the island’s unexplored potential for wind power and the economic benefits of making Samso energy-independent. He sometimes brought free beer.
It worked. The islanders bought shares in new wind turbines to build 11 large land-based turbines, enough to meet the entire island’s electricity needs. Not satisfied with that, they supported the constru

ction of 10 huge offshore turbines，which provide power that the island’s dependence on cars and ferries needs. Today Samso isn’t just carbon-free — it actually produces 10% more clean electricity than it uses, with the extra power fed back into the national electricity network at a profit.
Hermansen has become a green angel, traveling from country to country telling the story of Samso’s success when he’s not at home running the Energy Academy, a research center for clean power. But he’s the first to say that the real credit belongs to the islanders，and that Samso’s lesson is that environmental change can only come from the ground up.
小题1:What was Hermansen’t response to the Samso’s winning the contest?

A．He regarded it as a chance.

B．He was not satisfied with the award.

C．He thought it was strange.

D．He thought it was reasonable.

小题2:From the second paragraph we can learn that __________.

A．many Samso islanders participated in the green project actively

B．most Samso islanders were against the renewable energy project

C．Samso has a long history of making use of renewable energy

D．at first people showed little interest in the renewable energy project

小题3:Why did Hermansen show up at every community or club meeting?

A．It was his duty to keep the islanders informed of government policies.

B．He wanted to convince the islanders to use clean power instead of oil or coal.

C．He wanted to persuade the islanders to be involved in the wind power project.

D．He wanted to share his beer with other islanders.

小题4:What can we learn about Hermansen’s personality from the last paragraph?

A．He is practical.	B．He is courageous.
C．He is modest.	D．He is ambitious.

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Channel Islands tourist guide

Friendly communities, a rough coastline and gentle, untouched scenery make the islands ideal for anyone who wants to ‘get out there’ and explore on foot or by bike.
England tourist guide
England is the largest country in Britain, and home to the larges

t city in Europe, 600 miles of beautiful coastline, and a population almost three times that of Australia.
Isle of Man tourist guide
A country rich in natural history, beautiful scenery and first-class historical sites with attractions for all age groups and interests.
London tourist guide
London needs little introduction. This lively, multi-cultural capital is a world leading destination city．London is full of history, heritage and culture, yet one of the most fast-moving, cosmopolitan(世界性的) cities on the planet．
Northern Ireland tourist guide
Exciting cities with shopping, nightlife and festivals, outdoor activities, wonderful food and untouched peaceful and private places where you can relax．
Scotland tourist guide
Scotland is everything you imagine – whisky, golf and wealth of castles and historic sites. The Highlands area is one of the last wildernesses in Europe.
Wales tourist guide
Wales is different from other parts of Britain and just 2 hours from Heathrow Airport. With 400 castles,

yet only one official motorway, you have to take things at a gentle pace.
小题1:What is special about England?

A．It is the largest country in Europe．

B．It enjoys a beautiful coastline of 600 miles．

C．It is one of the last wildernesses in Europe．

D．It has a large population similar to Australia．

小题2:If you want to visit castles, you are supposed to go to _______．

A．Channel Islands and Isle of Man	B．Isle of Man and London
C．Northern Ireland and Wales	D．Wales and Scotland

小题3:The passage can be classified as .

A．an advertisement	B．a geography article
C．a report	D．a diary

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Most of the people who appear most often and most gloriously in the history books are great conquerors (统治者) and generals and soldiers, while the people who really helped civilization forward are often never mentioned at all. We do not know who first set a broken leg, or launched a seaworthy boat, or calculated the length of the year, or manured (施肥)a field; but we know all about the killers and destroyers.
People think a great deal of them, so much that on all the highest pillars (纪念柱)in the great cities of the world you will find the figure of a conqueror or a general or a soldier. And I think most people believe that the greatest countries are those that have beaten in battle the greatest number of other countries and ruled over them as conquerors. It is just possible they are, but they are not the most civilized. Animals fight; so do savages（野蛮人）; so to be good at fighting is to be good in the way in which an animal or a savage is good, but it is not to be civilized. Even being good at getting other people to fight for you and telling them how to do it most efficiently — this, a

fter all, is what conquerors and generals have done — is not being civilized. People fight to settle quarrels. Fighting means killing, and civilized peoples ought to be able to find some ways of settling their d

isputes other than by seeing which side can kill off greater number of the other side, and then saying that the side which has killed most has won. And not only has it won, but, because it has won, it has been in the right. For that is what going to war means; it means saying that power is right.
This is what the story of mankind has on the whole been like. Even our own age has fought the two greatest wars in history, in which millions of people were killed or mutilated (disabled). And while today it is true that people do not fight and kill each other in the streets — while, that is to say, we have got to the stage of keeping the rules and behaving properly to each other in daily life — nations and countries have not learnt to do this yet, and still behave like savages.
小题1:In the opening sentence, the author indicates that .

A．most history books were written by conquerors, generals and soldiers

B．history book tell us far more about conquerors, generals and soldiers than actual creators of civilization

C．those who rally helped human civilization forward is not mentioned in history books at all

D．conquerors, generals and soldiers should be least mentioned in history books

小题2:According to the passage, most people believe that the greatest countries are those that .

A．built the highest pillars for their conquerors

B．were ruled by the greatest number of conquerors

C．won the greatest number of battles against other countries

D．were beaten in battle by the greatest number of other countries

小题3:In the author’s opinion, the countries that conquered a large number of other countries are
.

A．certainly both the most powerful and most civilized.

B．neither the greatest nor the most civilized in any way.

C．possibly either the most civilized or the most powerful in a way.

D．likely the most powerful in some sense but not the most civilized.

小题4:The meaning of the last sentence in Paragraph 2 is that .

A．fighters believe that the winner is right and the loser wrong.

B．only those who are powerful have the right to go to war.

C．those who are right should fight against those who are wrong.

D．only powerful nations might win the right to rule weak ones.

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As late as 1800, women"s only place was in the home. The idea of women in the business world was unthinkable. Men were certain that no woman could do a good job outside her home. This was such a widely accepted idea that when the well-known Bronte sisters began writing books in 1864, they had to sign their books with men"s names instead.
Teaching was the first profession(职业)open to women soon after 1800. But even that was not an easy profession for women to enter because most schools and colleges were open only to men. Oberlin College in Ohio was the first college in America to accept women.
Hospital nursing became respectable work for women only after Nightingale became famous. Seeing that she was not only a nurse but also a rich and well-educated woman, people began to believe it was possible for women to nurse the sick and still be “ladies”. Miss Nightingale opened England"s first training school for nurses in 1860.
The invention of the typewriter(打字机)in 1867 helped to bring women out of the home and into the business world. By 1900. thousands of women were working at real jobs in schools, hospitals, and offices in both England and America. Some women even managed to become doctors or lawyers. The idea that women could work in the business world had been accepted.
63. Why couldn"t women become teachers easily? Because_______.
A. the first profession open to them was writing
B. most schools and colleges were open only to men
C. they wanted to be nurses instead D. they had to work in the business world
64. The article is mainly about_______.
A. women in the business world B. the famous Bronte sisters
C. schools and colleges in America D. rights for American women
65. Which fact does the article lead you to believe?
A. The Bronte sisters thought that they were men.
B. England"s first training school for nurses was in Ohio.
C. There are more men than women in professional job.
D. Women find it necessary to work harder than before.
66. Which of the following is TRUE.
A. The typewriter was made in the 1970"s.
B. Most Englanders are doctors or lawyers.
C. People"s ideas about women"s work have changed.
D. The 18th century saw a changing world for women.

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