Farmers use different kinds of soil protection methods to keep their land from being damaged by farming or the forces of nature. One important form of soil protection is the use of windbreaks. Windbreaks are barriers (障礙) formed by trees and other plants. Farmers plant these barriers around their fields.
There have been studies done on windbreaks in parts of West Africa, for example. They found that grain harvests can be twenty percent higher in fields protected by windbreaks ______________________ fields without such protection.
     But windbreaks seem to work best when they allow some winds to pass through them. If the wall of trees and plants block the wind completely, the violent air motions (移動(dòng)) will take place close to the ground. These motions will lift soil into the air where it will be blown away.
     For this reason, a windbreak is best if it has only sixty to eighty percent of the trees and plants needed to make a solid line. An easy rule to remember is that windbreaks can protect areas up to ten times the height of the tallest trees in the windbreak. There should be at least two lines in each windbreak. One line should be large trees. The second line, right next to it, can be shorter trees and other plants with leaves. Locally grown trees and plants are best for windbreaks.
     Windbreaks can stop the wind blowing soil away. They also keep the wind from destroying or damaging crops. They are very important for protecting grain crops.
Questions:  
1. List at least two advantages of windbreaks based on the text. (Please answer within 8 words.)
① ______________________________.  ② _________________________________.
2. What's the main idea of paragraph 4? (Please answer within 8 words.)
__________________________________________________________________________
3.Fill in the blank in paragraph 2 with proper words. (Please answer within 4 words.)
_____________________________________________________________________________
4.Which sentence in the text is the closest in meaning to the following one?
If the wind can't pass through the windbreaks, the strong air movements will happen close to the ground.
____________________________________________________________________________
                                                                                    
5.Translate the underlined sentence in paragraph 5 into Chinese.
_______________________________________________________________________

     The college entrance exam is on the way and all the teachers work very hard, encouraging us to build
(1)_____ our confidence and inspiring us to (2)i_____ our studies. Whenever we meet with difficulties,
they are (3)r to come to our help. Meanwhile, our school also (4)_____ (提供) great help for us students,
for example, the library stays (5)_____ in the evenings and even on the weekends. At home, our parents
take good care of (6)_____ so that we can always be full of energy. I'm very grateful for the (7)_____ (努
力) of our parents and teachers. I'm (8)_____ (決心) to try my best to prepare for the exam. I am sure that
(9)w_____ their timely help I'll be able to achieve my goal and be a useful person of our society in the near
(10)f_____.

     Maybe it is true that we do not know what we have got until we lose it, but it is also true that we do
not know what we have been missing until it arrives.
     It takes an hour to like someone, and a day to love someone, but it takes a lifetime to forget someone. Giving someone all your love is never an assurance that they will love you back. Do not expect love in
return; but if it does not, be content it has grown in yours. Do not rely on one's appearance; it can trick
you. Do not rely on wealth; even that fades away. Rely on someone who makes you smile, because it
takes only a smile to make a dark day seem bright.
     There are moments in life when you miss someone so much that you just want to pick them from your
dreams and hug them. Dream what you want to dream; go where you want to go; be what you want to
be, because you have only one life and one chance to do all the things you want to do.
     The brightest future will always be based on a forgotten past. You cannot go on well in life until you
let your past failures and heartaches go off. May you have enough happiness to make you sweet, enough
trails to make you strong, enough sorrow to keep you human, enough hope to make you happy. The
happiest of people do not necessarily have the best of everything; they just make the most of everything
that comes along their way. Happiness waits for those who cry, those appreciate the importance of
people who have touched their lives. Always put yourself in others' shoes. If you feel that it hurts you, it
probably hurts the other person, too.
     When you were born, you were crying and everyone around you was smiling. Live your life so that
when you die, you are the one who is smiling and everyone around you is crying.

1. In this passage, the writer wants to tell us ______.

A. what to do in our life
B. where to go with other persons
C. how to get on well with other persons
D. how to treat our life

2. Which of the following statements is true according to the passage?

A. We often don't know what we have lost until it comes someday.
B. If you give someone your love, you are sure to receive love in return.
C. It is wise not to rely on anybody because you are likely to be deceived.
D. If it takes you a short time to love someone, you will easily forget the person.

3. If you put yourself in another person's position, ______.

A. you should put on other people's shoes  
B. you shouldn't do what will hurt other people
C. you should believe in other people      
D. you should depend on your imagination

4. In the last paragraph the writer is actually telling us that a person in the world should be one who ___.

A. can accept the suggestions made by others
B. can live happily and forget the past
C. has made a lot of money for himself before he dies
D. does good for other people and is respected and loved by them

     For a while, my neighborhood was taken ever by an army of joggers (慢跑的人). They were there all
the time: early morning, noon, and evening. There were little old ladies in gray sweats, young couples in
Adidas shoes, middle-aged men with red faces. "Come on!" My friend Alex encouraged me to join him as
he jogged by my house every evening. "You'll feel great."
     Well, I had nothing against feeling great and if Alex could jog every day, anyone could. So I took up
jogging seriously and gave it a good two months of my life, and not a day more. Based on my experience,
jogging is the most overvalued form of exercise around, and judging from the number of the people who
left our neighborhood jogging army. I'm not alone in my opinion.
     First of all, jogging is very hard on the body. Your legs and feet a real pounding (沉重的腳步) ruining
down a road for two or three miles. I developed foot, leg, and back problems. Then I read about a nationally
famous jogger who died of a heart attack while jogging, and I had something else to worry about. Jogging
doesn't kill hundreds of people, but if you have any physical weaknesses, jogging will surely bring them out,
as they did with me.
     Secondly, I got no enjoyment out of jogging. Putting one foot in front of the other for forty-five minutes
isn't my idea of fun. Jogging is also a lonely pastime. Some joggers say, "I love being out there with just my
thoughts" Well, my thoughts began to bore me, and most of them were on how much my legs hurt.
     And how could I enjoy something that brought me pain? And that wasn't just the first week-it was
practically every day for two months. I never got past the pain level, and pain isn't fun. What a cruel way to
do it! So many other exercises, including walking, lead to almost the same results painlessly, so why jog?
     I don't jog any more, and I don't think I ever will. I'm walking two miles three times a week at a fast
pace, and that feels good. I bicycle to work when the weather is good. I'm getting exercise, and I'm enjoying
it at the same time. I could never say the same for jogging, and I've found a lot of better ways to stay in shape.

1. From the first paragraph, we learn that in the writer's neighborhood ______.

A. jogging became very popular
B. people jogged only during the daytime
C. Alex organized an army of joggers
D. jogging provided a chance to get together

2. The underlined word "them" (Paragraph 3) most probably refers to _____.

A. heart attacks
B. back problems
C. hundreds of people
D. physical weaknesses

3. From the writer's experience, we can conclude that______.

A. jogging can help people keep fit
B. many physical problems result from jogging
C. not everyone enjoys jogging
D. jogging makes people feel greater

     Sports shoes that work out whether their owner has done enough exercise to warrant time in front of
the television have been devised (發(fā)明;想出) in the UK.
     The shoes- named Square Eyes- contain an electronic pressure sensor and a tiny computer chip to
record how many steps the wearer has taken in a day. A wireless transmitter passes the information to
a receiver connected to a television, and this decides how much evening viewing time the wearer deserves, based on the day's efforts.
     The design was inspired by a desire to fight against the rapidly ballooning waistlines among British
teenagers, says Gillian Swan, who developed Square Eyes as a final year design project at Brunel
University in London, UK. "We looked at current issues and childhood overweight really stood out," she
says. "And I wanted to tackle that with my design."
     Once a child has used up their daily allowance gained through exercise, the television automatically
switches off. And further time in front of the TV can only be earned through more steps.
     Swan calculated how exercise should translate to television time using the recommended daily
amounts of both. Health experts suggest that a child take 12,000 steps each day and watch no more than
two hours of television. So, every 100 steps recorded by the Square Eyes shoes equals precisely(精確
地)one minute of TV time.
     Existing pedometers(計(jì)步器) normally clip onto a belt or slip into a pocket and keep count of steps
by measuring sudden movement. Swan says these can be easily tricked into recording steps through
shaking. But her shoe has been built to be harder for lazy teenagers to cheat. "It is possible, but it would
be a lot of effort," she says. "That was one of my main design considerations."

1. According to Swan, the purpose of her design project is to _____. 

A. keep a record of the steps of the wearer.
B. deal with overweight among teenagers.
C. enable children to resist(抵制) the temptation of TV.
D. prevent children from being tricked by TV programs.

2. Which of the following is true of Square Eyes shoes?  

A. They regulate(調(diào)整)a child's evening TV viewing time.
B. They determine a child's daily pocket money.
C. They have raised the hot issue of overweight.
D. They contain information of the receiver.

3. What is stressed(強(qiáng)調(diào)) by health experts in their suggestion?

A. The exact number of steps to be taken.
B. The precise number of hours spent on TV.
C. The proper amount of daily exercise and TV time.
D. The way of changing steps into TV watching time.

4.  Compared with other similar products, the new design ___. 

A. make it difficult for lazy teenagers to cheat.
B. counts the wearer's steps through shaking.
C. records the sudden movement of the wearer.
D. sends teenagers' health data to the receiver.

5. Which of the following would be the best title for the text? 

A. Smart Shoes Decide on Television Time
B. Smart Shoes Guarantee(保證)More Exercise
C. Smart Shoes Measure Time of Exercise
D. Smart Shoes Stop Childhood Overweight

     Ask a bachelor(單身漢) why he resists marriage even though he finds dating to be less and less
satisfying. If he is honest he will tell you that he is afraid of making a commitment. For commitment is in fact quite painful. The single life is filled with fun, adventure, excitement. Marriage has such moments, but they
are not its most distinguishing (顯著的) features.
     Couples with infant children are lucky to get a whole night's sleep or a three-day vacation. I don't know any parent who would choose the word fun to describe raising children. But couples who decide not to
have children never know the joys of watching a child grow up or of playing with a grandchild.
     Understanding and accepting that true happiness has nothing to do with fun is one of the most liberating realizations. It liberates (釋放) time: now we can devote more hours to activities that can genuinely
increase our happiness. It liberates money: buying that new car or those fancy clothes that will do nothing
to increase our happiness now seems pointless. And it liberates us from envy: we now understand that all
those who are always having so much fun actually may not be happy at all.

1. According to the author, a bachelor resists marriage chiefly because ________ .

A. he is reluctant to take on family responsibilities
B. he believes that life will be more cheerful if he remains single
C. he finds more fun in dating than in marriage
D. he fears it will put an end to all his fun adventure and excitement

2. Raising children, in the author's opinion is ________ .

A. a moral duty    
B. a thankless job
C. a rewarding task
D. a source of inevitable pain

3. From the last paragraph, we learn that envy sometimes stems from (起源于) ________ .

A. hatred          
B. misunderstanding
C. prejudice          
D. ignorance

4. To understand what true happiness is one must ________ .

A. have as much fun as possible during one's lifetime
B. make every effort to liberate oneself from pain
C. put up with pain under all circumstances
D. be able to distinguish happiness from fun

     "Have you ever heard the old saying, "Never judge a book by its cover"? This is a good rule to follow when you try to judge the cleverness of others by their looks and performance. Some people have minds
that shine only in certain situations. A young man with an unusual gift in novel writing may find himself
speechless before a pretty girl. But don't make the mistake of thinking he might not be that clever. With a
pen and paper, he can tell what he thought very well.
     Other people may fool you into mistakenly thinking they are clever by putting up a good front.
A student who listens carefully and takes notes in class is sure to make a good impression on his teachers. But when it comes to exams, he may get scores much lower than his classmates.
     We may conclude that: you can't judge someone by appearances. The only way to tell whether a
person is clever or not is to get to know him by observing(觀察) how he reacts to different situations. The more situations you observe, the more accurate your judgment is likely to be. So take your time. Don't
judge the book by its cover.

1. The best title for this passage is ______________.

A. Judging cleverness                
B. Choosing a book
C. A speechless young man          
D. Putting up a good front

2 The main idea of the passage is ___________.

A. don't judge a book by its cover    
B. don't judge a person's cleverness by appearance
C. people may fool you by putting up a good front
D. make sure you know someone well before observing him

3. The young man mentioned in the passage_____________.

A. is stupid              
B. is a good student  
C. is a good writer        
D. is successful with girls

4. According to the passage, true knowledge of a person's cleverness comes from___________.

A. the grades he gets in school        
B. his manners at parties
C. his outward appearance          
D. how he behaves in different situations

5. The passage suggests that in judging a person's intelligence we should_____________.

A. make quick judgments          
B. be creative
C. have patience and be careful      
D. give him a test

     Each year, road accidents kill a million people and injure millions more.The economic costs are
greatest for developing countries.Earlier this year, the United Nations called for a campaign to improve
road safety.
     One way to avoid accidents is better driving.Another is better roads and bridges.Engineers in the
United States have designed ten new concrete mixtures that they think could make bridges last longer.
     Professor Paul Tikalsky leads the experiments by a team at Pennsylvania State University.He says
bridges made of concrete now last about twenty－five to thirty－five years.But he says the new mixtures might extend that to seventy－five or even one－h(huán)undred years.
     Concrete is made of stone, sand, water and cement (水泥). The materials in the cement hold the
concrete together.Ancient Romans built with concrete.Yet strengthened concrete bridges did not appear
until the late 1800s.People keep looking for new ways to improve concrete.Professor Tikalsky says it is
one of the most complex of all chemical systems.
     The new mixtures designed by his team contain industrial waste products.He says these make the
concrete better able to resist damage from water and salt over time.One of the products is fly ash.This is
released into the air as pollution when coal is burned.
     Professor Tikalsky says particles (顆粒) of fly ash are almost exactly the same size and chemical
structure as Portland cement.This is the most costly material in concrete.So using fly ash to replace some
of it would save money.
     Over the next two years, engineers will study ten bridges in Pennsylvania.These were built from the
different cement mixtures designed by Professor Tikalsky's team.He says longer－lasting bridges could
save the state more than 35 million dollars a year.And he says the materials would be environmentally
friendly.
     The federal government is paying for part of the research.Engineers anywhere can use the technology.
Professor Tikalsky says some of the ideas have already been put to use in China, the Philippines and
other countries.

1. Why did the United Nations launch the campaign?

A. Because the United Nations wanted to reduce road accidents and economic costs.
B. Because two million people were killed in the accidents.
C. Because engineers wanted to design ten new concrete mixtures.
D. Because the United Nations made bridges of the new mixtures which could last for about
     20 to 35 years.

2. What does the underlined word "This" in the sixth paragraph refer to?

A. Fly ash.  
B. Portland cement.
C. Sand.  
D. Chemical.

3. Which of the following statements is TRUE?

A. Ten new concrete bridges have already been built in the United States.
B. A new concrete bridge could last 50 more years than an ordinary concrete one.
C. People didn't know how to build with cement until the late 1800s.
D. Water and salt won't do any damage to bridges over time.

4. What can we conclude from the passage?

A. Engineers have to pay a lot of money to use the new bridge technology.
B. Pennsylvania State University is paying all the money for the research.
C. Bridges built with fly ash are cheaper than common bridges.
D. Fly ash is much more expensive than Portland cement.

5. What does the passage mainly tell us?

A. The causes of road accidents.
B. The advantages of fly ash.
C. The measures of avoiding road accidents.
D. Latest information about long－life concrete bridges.