E

       Imagine growing a home from living trees instead of building a home from wood. Mitchell Joachim, at the MIT Media Lab's Smart Cities Group, along with ecological engineer Lara Greden and architect Javier Arbona, have proposed a system of homes that are actually a living ecosystem.

       Joachim's vision is based on a gardening method known as pleaching, which involves weaving branches together to form living lattice(格子) walls. Since the growth patterns of trees are affected by wind and sunlight, it may be possible to manipulate the way a tree develops.

       This idea is an extreme, yet simple and beautiful, form of green building. Not only does it not cause direct harm to the environment, but it is actually part of the environment. The house, which is a network of trees, would clean the air and also provide a home for animals and birds. "Not only does it do zero damage, but it will hopefully clean the air," says Joachim.

       "A 100 percent treehouse would take years to create," Joachim said. Depending on the climate, a house could take anywhere from 5 to 30 years to grow. Fortunately, there's a way to speed up the process.

       Ecological materials, Joachim suggests, should be included in the housing designs. For example, windows can be made from soy－based plastics that would flex (折曲) with the home as it grows.

       So what happens when a home and the great outdoors are one and the same? A home would become an actual ecosystem, a community of plants, animals, and bacteria working together. The trees would also give off water vapor that would assist in cooling the homes. Solar panels and wind would help provide energy. Straw and clay could be used to insulate(使絕緣) the structures. The tree homes might even have soil pockets, where plants could grow from the structure itself.

       Joachim's project is called MatScape, designing a house in California that will be constructed from 50% recycled and 50% living elements. He sees it as an experimental step toward the final living house.

57．The best title for this passage would be______.

       A．Trees Find Its New Use                               B．Scientists Create New Houses

       C．Grow Your Home Out of Trees                        D．People Begin Living in Trees

58．The underlined word "manipulate" in Paragraph Two can be best replaced by      .

       A．build                      B．influence                C．weave                     D．provide

59．It can be inferred from this passage that__________.

       A．treehouses will replace traditional buildings

       B．pollution problem will be solved once for all

       C．many Californians may be building their own treehouses

       D．some ecological materials may move as the house grows

60．If this passage is continued, what would probably be discussed?

       A．A final living house.                                          B．Joachim's MatScape project.

       C．More information about pleaehing.               D．Some more ecological materials.

6．－How did the robber get in?

   －        an open window on the first floor.

       A．Across                    B．From                      C．Over                      D．Through

   The patient will have to remain in hospital for another week ____ the recent medical report.

A. on behalf of          B. on the basis of          C. on the side of           D. on top of

30．They can’t afford to buy the latest equipment at present．_______，they keep trying new ways to improve efficiency．

       A．On the contrary       B．In contrast   C．Nevertheless       D．Furthermore

33．— We should recycle everything we can．

— Absolutely．These may seem little things，but they’re not__________it comes to saving the

       environment．

     A．since           B．when                  C．while                     D．As

35. —You mean the position is still vacant?   —Yes, but you must know our job is very demanding.

    —_______.

With pleasure  B. I don’t mind         C. Don’t mention it  D. That’s all right

Being the boss might mean more money and challenging work but it can also cause damage to physical and mental well-being, according to a Canadian study.

For years studies have shown people in lower-status jobs generally have higher rates of heart disease and other illnesses and die earlier than those in higher-status positions while job authority has shown no relationship with workers’ health.

But University of Toronto researchers, using data from 1,800 US workers, found the health of people in higher positions is affected by work as they are more likely to report conflicts with co-workers and say work disturbs their home life.

However, the positive aspects of having a power position at work, such as higher status, more pay and greater independence, seemed to cancel out the negative aspects when it came to people’s physical and psychological health.

These latest findings, reported in the journal Social Science & Medicine, suggest that the advantages and disadvantages authority positions basically cancel each other out, giving the general impression that job authority has no health effects.

For the study, the researchers surveyed participants about various aspects of their work, life and well-being. Job authority was judged based on whether a person managed other employees and had power over hiring, firing and pay.

Physical health complaints included problems like headaches, body aches, heartburn and tiredness. Psychological complaints included sleep problems, difficulty concentrating and feelings of sadness, worry and anxiety.

“This isn’t to suggest that having authority is ‘bad’—in fact, we show it has benefits ... but it is important to identify the negative sides and deal with them.” researcher Scott Schieman said.  

Schieman said conflicts with co-workers or involvement of work into home life may destroy at physical and mental well-being by creating stress.

“These are key stressors that can tax individuals’ ability to function effectively,” Schieman said.

56. Work will have a negative effect on job authority’s health probably because __________.

A. they are not fit for their work

   B. they have power over hiring and pay

   C. they are faced with severe competition

   D. they don’t get on well with their co-workers

57. Most people don’t see that bosses have health effects because __________.

   A. their health problems are not serious enough to see

   B. they have enough money to keep themselves healthy

   C. their problems are quite different from those of workers  

   D. the advantages and disadvantages of their status work against each other

58. From the passage we can infer that the study aims to _________.

  A. warn people not to be a boss for ever

  B. remind the boss to deal with the bad effects of their work

  C. show that having authority is harmful to one’s health

  D. prove that being a boss can benefit a lot 

59. The best title for this passage might be ________.

  A. Lower-status can affect health                    B. Authority can affect health

  C. Positive aspects of a power position            D. Disadvantages of being a boss

C

In tough economic times, school counselors (顧問) don’t just wait for students to come to their offices in search of college brochures, health pamphlets or other help. These days, they are looking for at-risk kids to prevent personal or academic troubles before they arise. Nowadays, students and families need the guidance more than ever.

Counselors play a steadying role in schools as the economy weighs on families, college admission becomes even more competitive, immigration continues to reshape the population and state-testing pressures many students. They use computers to search through attendance data, grades and standardized test scores for kids who might need extra help.

Schlatter, director of guidance and counseling at Prince William County’s Woodbridge Senior High School, has checked attendance records against grades and test results to start peer groups (同年齡群體) for students who are failing classes but not skipping them. She said group counseling is another way to reach more students though it can be difficult. “Kids really do start helping and sharing with each other.”

At Fairfax High School, counselors found through surveys that students who transferred (轉(zhuǎn)學(xué)) to the school after ninth grade enjoyed school significantly less than those who had been there all four years. The counseling staff set up a special program and group for new arrivals in response, said Marcy Miller, the school’s director of student services. Counseling staff members also have started small study groups for students to prepare for state Standards of Learning exams, which Miller said have helped raise test scores. She said that some of the newest counselors have had some of the freshest ideas.

63. We can learn from the passage that __________.

A. counselors don’t wait for kids to come to ask for help now

B. counselors are trying to help people with economic problems

C. counselors have made college admission less competitive

D. counselors are trying to reach more kids in need of help

64. The author uses the example of Fairfax High School to show that ________.

A. counseling work is obviously effective

B. many students transfer there for help

C. new arrivals will no longer skip classes

D. counseling means little to new arrivals

65. What would the author most probably discuss in the following part?

A. What assistance they can offer.

B. The significance of their counseling job.

C. Other approaches to counseling at-risk kids.

D. The barriers of counseling the students with troubles.

66. Which of the following is the most suitable title for this passage?

A. Guiding Hands Find New Ways                         B. Small Study Groups Raise Test Scores

C. Transferred Students Need More Help            D. Tough Times See More At-risk Kids

第三部分 任務(wù)型閱讀（共兩節(jié)，滿分35分）

When Carla Fisher and her husband announced plans to travel the globe with their young daughters for a year, some friends called them crazy.

    Seven years later, with wonderful memories and a book documenting their world travel, the Fishers now seem like global trailblazers (先驅(qū)者).

    “It’s really encouraging to hear that many other people want to educate their kids in that manner,” said Fisher.

Some parents are trying to raise knowledgeable and open-minded “world citizens”. Others want to give their children the skills they’ll need to compete globally.

“There is a huge amount of interest in spending time abroad at all stages of life and increasingly, as a family with children,” said Maya Frost, author of “The New Global Student…”. She knows American families in every corner of the globe who have made that choice.

    “There’s so much more to education than school,” said Tessa Hill, who recently returned to her Houston-area home, after driving her family across North and Central America and Europe in a motor home for 13 months. “World travel is an education in people, cultures, language, travel skills, street smarts and in how lucky we are to live in the United States.”

    When Hill and her husband began considering extended global travel, their middle child, Charles, 13, was surprised. “My first reaction was ‘well, are we really going to do this?’” Charles said. “But it did sound like great fun.”

    Charles said missing his friends was the hardest part. He stayed in touch via e-mail and made some new friends along the way, playing soccer with kids in France and learning about rugby from youths in Ireland.

“I’d definitely recommend this to other kids,” Charles said. “It was such a great opportunity to see different countries and learn geography a different way.”

To make re-entry smoother, most school officials prefer that families work out an educational plan before they leave town.

“It sounds out-of-date, but it really opens up your mind and your eyes to the world,” said Robbin Goodman, 17, a senior student who spent his junior year skateboarding across Beijing, China, when he wasn’t studying Chinese history and other core subjects.

Had he not already taken a school-sponsored spring break trip with his mom to China in 2007, Robbin said he probably would not have been able to convince his parents to let him go alone for a year. “I knew I would learn Chinese and all that, but my goal was to have a great time,” Robbin said. 

“The biggest problem for those seriously considering going abroad is dealing with those who are against the idea,” said Frost.

“They gain the ability to take risks and to have confidence in themselves,” said Liz Pearlstein, founder of a global education consulting firm. “When we came home from London, my daughter, who had been painfully shy before we left, said ‘Mom, now I know there’s nothing I can’t do.’”

No one knows exactly how many American families are choosing the global education path,

but global education consultants say a growing number of parents are traveling for a year or more with their children.

第一部分 語言知識運用

第一節(jié)    單項填空（共15小題，每小題1分，滿分15分）

 —Mike, you’ve got a “D” in physics. ________?

    —Well. I find the subject hard and I think I’ll drop it for History next term.

What if                B. How come             C. Why not      D. So what