.

The African elephant, the largest land animal remaining on earth, is of great importance to African eco-system. Unlike other animals, the African elephant is to a great degree the builder of its environment. As a big plant-eater, it largely shapes the forest-and-savanna（大草原）surroundings in which it lives, therefore setting the terms of existence for millions of other animals and live in its habitat.

It is the elephant’s great desire for food that makes it a disturber of the environment and an important builder of its habitat. In its continuous search for the 300 pounds of plants it must have every day, it kills small trees and under-bushes, and pulls branches off big trees. This results in numerous open spaces in both deep tropical forests and in the woodlands that cover part of the African savannas. In these open spaces are numerous plants in various stages of growth that attract a variety of other plant-eaters.

Take the rain forests for example. In their natural state, the spreading branches overhead shut out sunlight and prevent the growth of plants on the forest floor. By pulling down trees and eating plants, elephants make open spaces, allowing new plants to grow on the forest floor. In such situations, the forests become suitable for large hoofed（有蹄的）plant-eaters to move around and for small plant-eaters to get their food as well.

What worries scientists now is that the African elephant has become an endangered species. If the elephant disappears, scientists say, many other animals will also disappear from vast areas of forest and savanna, greatly changing and worsening the whole eco-system.

66. What’s the passage mainly about?

A. Disappearance of African elephants.

B. Forests and savannas as habitats for African elephants.

C. The effect of African elephants’ search for food.

D. The eating habit of African elephants.

67. What does the underlined phrase “setting the terms” in the first paragraph most probably mean?

A. fixing the time.            B. worsening the situation.

C. Improving the quality.      D. Deciding the conditions.

68. What do we know about the open spaces in the passage?

A. They result from the destruction of rain forests.

B. They provide food mainly for African elephants.

C. They are home to many endangered animals.

D. They are attractive to plant-eating animals of different kinds.

69. According to the passage, which of the following statements is TRUE?

A. The African elephant has become extinct.

B. African elephants have 300 pounds of plants every day, including small trees and under-bushes.

C. The African elephant is in a way the builder of the environment like other land animals.

D. If the African elephant disappears, the whole eco-system won’t be affected.

70. The passage is developed mainly by _________.

A. presenting figures                      

 B. pointing out similarities and differences

C. describing the changes in the order of space     

 D. giving examples

.

第二節(jié) 寫作（滿分30分）

假如你是李明，西湖中學(xué)高二在讀。五月份美國(guó)一中學(xué)，組織部分學(xué)生到你校參觀交流。Peter將在你家居住15天，作為東道主，你給Peter發(fā)一封Email，內(nèi)容如下：

1．你的基本情況；

2．你的計(jì)劃打算；

3．征求對(duì)方意見。

注意：1．詞數(shù)120-150；

2．可適當(dāng)增加細(xì)節(jié)。

______________________________________________________________________           

______________________________________________________________________           

______________________________________________________________________           

______________________________________________________________________           

.

—What’s that? It smells great!

—It’s just milk tea．Would you like __________?

       A．this   B．one   C．it      D．some

It is good to ________, for people will always believe in you.

     A. keep your word                                   B. hold your breath

C. take a chance                                          D. play jokes

.

 Every April as a tradition, as many as 30,000 runners ________ the street of London for the grand London Marathon.

   A. reach             B. flood            C. rush               D. arrive

.

A survey of the opinions of experts_________that three hours of outdoor exercise a week

       _________good for one’s health.

       A．show; are                B．shows; is                 C．show; is                  D．shows; are

.

Why __________ put the meat in the fridge ? It’ll stay fresh for several days.

   A. not           B. not you       C. you           D. do you

.

STEVE Wayne, 16, who worked this summer as a lifeguard and swim teacher in Idaho Falls, was thrilled to see an extra $20 in his paycheck when the federal minimum wage increased in July.

    “When you’re getting paid minimum wage, anything helps, ” Wayne said.Wayne is one of several hundred thousand American teenagers who earn the minimum wage. The last of three recent increases that took the minimum from $5.15 an hour in 2007 to $7.25.U.S. Secretary of Labor Hilda Solis says the minimum-wage increase will pump an extra $5.5 billion into the economy over the next year, which is helpful at a time when the economy is hurting.

"You're giving people who spend money a raise," says Kai Filion of the Economic Policy Institute. "Those people will go out and spend that money, and it will circulate through the economy."

But other economists say raising the minimum wage actually hurts the very people it's designed to help. A higher hourly minimum, they say, could force businesses to cut workers' hours, or even lay people off.

"What matters for people earning minimum wage is how much money they take home, in total, in their paycheck," explains Rajeev of Georgia State University's Economic Forecasting Center. "Their hourly rate may go up, but their number of hours may come down, so it's not an overall increase."

Business owners also say that raising the minimum wage exerts（施加）upward pressure on other wages. "If the minimum wage is $7 and I have to pay $8 or $9 to hire a dishwasher, then the cooks are going to say they want more," sayd Cleveland restaurant owner Rick. "How much can I charge for that hamburger?"

Another argument is that it makes it more expensive for businesses to hire new workers. For many businesses already struggling to make ends meet in these tough times, it will be simply too expensive to keep or to hire new people.

55．Steve Wayne was excited that_____________ .

       A．his hard work had paid off

       B．he had received a big wage increase

       C．he has more money due to an increase in minimum wage

       D．the wages of American teenage workers have been increased

56．According to the text, the US federal government has increased minimum wage with the aim of__________

      A．decreasing unemployment

       B．promoting economic recovery

       C．increasing American teenagers’ wage

       D．narrowing the gap between the rich and the poor

57．What matters most to people in need of help is_____________.

       A．a(chǎn) higher hourly minimum       B．more working hours

       C．a(chǎn) minimum-wage increase      D．a(chǎn)n increase in total income

58．Some are against the increase in minimum wage because they say_____________.

       A．only very few workers will be helped

       B．they have to cut down working hours

       C．many business owners can’t afford to employ new workers

       D．minimum wage workers will expect more pay rises in the future

.

第二部分：閱讀理解（共兩節(jié)，滿分50分）

第一節(jié)（共20小題，每小題2分，滿分40分）閱讀下列短文，從每題所給的四個(gè)選項(xiàng)A、B、C、D中選出最佳選項(xiàng)。

Judging from recent surveys, most experts in sleep behaviour agree that there is virtually an epidemic （流行�。﹐f sleepiness in the nation. “I can’t think of a single study that hasn’t found Americans getting less sleep than they ought to,” says Dr. David. Even people who think they are sleeping enough would probably be better off with more rest.

The beginning of our sleep-deficit crises can be traced back to the invention of the light bulb a century ago. From diary entries and our personal accounts from the 18th and 19th centuries, sleep scientists have reached the conclusion that the average person used to sleep about 9. 5 hours a night. “The best sleep habits once were forced on us, when we had nothing to do in the evening down on the farm, and it was dark.” By the 1950s and 1960s, the sleep schedule had been reduced dramatically, to between 7. 5 and 8 hours, and most people had to wake to an alarm clock. “People cheat in their sleep, and they don’t even realize they’re doing it,” says Dr. David. “They think they’re okey because they can get by on 6. 5 hours, when they really need 7. 5, 8 or even more to feel ideally energetic. ”

Perhaps the most merciless robber of sleep, researches say, is the complexity of the day. Whenever pressures from work, family, friends and community increase, many people consider sleep the least expensive item on their programme. “In our society, you’re considered dynamic if you say you need only 5. 5 hours’ sleep. If you’ve got to get 8. 5 hours, people think you lack drive and ambition. ”

To determine the consequences of sleep-deficit, researchers have put subjects through a set of psychological and performance tests requiting them, for instance, to add columns of numbers or recall a passage read to them only minutes earlier. “We’ve found that if you’re in sleep deficit, performance suffers,” says Dr. David. “Short-term memory is weakened, as are abilities to make decisions and to concentrate. ”

41. What is the main topic of the passage?

A. Research on the causes and consequences of sleep-deficit.

B. The epidemic of sleepiness in the modern times.

C. The history of people’s sleeping patterns.

D. The minimum of our sleeping hours.

42. Which of the following is Dr. David’s opinion?

A. People who think they are sleeping enough are better off than those who don't.

B. Some people can remain energetic with only 6. 5 hours’ sleep a night.

C. If they get 8. 5 hours’ sleep, people will be full of drive and ambition.

D. People’s metal power suffers if they are lacking in sleep.

43. People in the 18th and 19th centuries slept about 9. 5 hours a night because _______.

A. they were forced by their parents to do so

B. they knew what was best for their health

C. they had no electricity

D. they were not so dynamic and ambitious as modern people are

44. What does the word “subjects” in paragraph 4 mean?

A. Persons or things being discussed or described.

B. Branches of knowledge studied in a school.

C. Persons or things being treated in a certain way or being experimented on.

D. Any member of a state apart from the the supreme ruler.

.

. ——you hate lee ,don’t you?

——__________，I just think he’s a bit annoying ,that’s all.

  A Certainly  B I suppose so  C  Not really  D  That’s right