A few years ago I was on a bicycle trip when I got off my bike for a rest. I sat down on the grass. A few seconds later, I was covered in ants. They were swarming all over me so I got up and brushed them off. It was a strange experience but I soon forgot about it.

A couple of years later, I was living in Jordan. I had just moved into a modern flat and was unpacking plates when I saw something move out of the corner of my eye. I looked over at the kitchen drawer and there was a cockroach (蟑螂) crawling (爬) out of it. I screamed. Then I grabbed a can of insecticide and sprayed (噴) it on the cockroach. He ran under the nearby bathroom door. It took me three days before I found the courage to open the bathroom door to see if he was still alive. He wasn’t.

Why did I react so violently to one lone insect when a closer encounter with hundreds of ants hardly affected me? The answer is easy: because cockroaches are creepy (令人毛骨悚然的) crawlies and ants aren’t. Creepy crawlies are those little bugs (蟲子) which cause feelings such as anxiety－they make your skin crawl.

Did you know that some people feel such a fear of bugs that it becomes a phobia (恐懼癥)? Psychologists have offered many explanations. Some say we associate them with dirt and disease. Or that these are life forms that are so alien to us, that we find them disgusting for their dissimilarity.

Insects, however, don’t follow our rules－they just do what they want and invade our space. Unfortunately, although insects and bugs have been a successful animal species up to now, many of them, like many other species nowadays, are under threat of dying out. Entomologists (昆蟲學(xué)家) warn that this could upset entire ecosystems and lead to all kinds of disastrous consequences.

So my advice to you is: the next time you feel the urge to stamp on, splatter or spray a creepy crawly, give a thought to the planet and stop.

77. Why did the author mention the ants in the beginning?

       A. Because the experience with the ants presents a sharp contrast to that with the cockroach later.

       B. Because the author wants to show her preference to the ants and her dislike for the cockroaches.

       C. Because both ants and cockroaches are creepy crawlies that the author dislikes.

       D. Because meeting the ants is an unusual experience that the author can hardly forget.

78. What does “insecticide” in the second paragraph probably mean?

       A. a kind of fruit juice.                            B. a kitchen knife.

       C. liquid for killing insects.                      D. cleanser for the bathroom.

79. How does the author feel about bugs like cockroaches?

       A. The author doesn’t mind the contact with those harmless small creatures.

       B. The author prefers cockroaches to ants and feels guilty for killing one.

       C. They invade our space and become a threat to humans.

       D. They still deserve a place for keeping the balance of the nature.

80. Which of the following statements about bugs is NOT true according to the passage?

       A. Some people may be frightened so much by bugs that it leads to a psychological barrier to some degree.

       B. People will feel they live in a cleaner living environment if more bugs like cockroaches are killed.

       C. Many bugs are in danger of dying out so we should not kill them due to fear or disgust.

       D. Some bugs are extremely unpleasant that people have a strong wish to destroy them.

The woman at the airline ticket counter in Munich, Germany, just shook her head. “I’m sorry, but there’s no more availability on this flight,” she said. God, I thought. My husband, Bob, and I had enjoyed every moment of our dream vacation, two weeks in Europe, but I was ready to go home to Shreveport, Louisiana, and sleep in my own bed. Bob could see how frustrated I was. “We’ll just have to try to get on the flight tomorrow,” he said. “Let’s enjoy the extra day.”

My son Joe, a First Lieutenant (中尉) in the Army 82nd Airborne Division (空降師), would be returning to Ft. Bragg in North Carolina for a short rest and recovery from his tour of duty in Baghdad, and we weren’t sure we’d be able to see him in the little time he’d be stateside. Plus, the time was so up in the air! Back at our hotel, I checked my e-mail to see if our daughter-in-law Monica had any news on when Joe was due to arrive. Sure enough, there was a message. “Joe’s been delayed again,” it read.

The next morning we made it onto our flight back to the States. Unfortunately, we had to stop in Atlanta. Our connecting flight there was delayed because of bad weather. The hours passed. I felt the frustration building. “That’s it!” I finally said. “I just want to get home!”

That’s when I saw a group of soldiers coming down the ramp(通道) from one of the gates. I thought of Joe. They’re coming back from a war, I reminded myself, while I’m coming back from vacation. What right do I have to be frustrated? Maybe the troops were God’s way of reminding me to trust in his time. Bob grabbed my arm. “Look at those soldiers coming down the ramp.”

“I see them,” I said. Bob persisted, “Do you see who’s in front?” Suddenly, all those delays across all those miles made perfect sense. I rushed toward my son Joe’s open arms.

73. Why did Bob say “Let’s enjoy the extra day”?

       A. To stay one day more.                           B. To cheer his wife up.

       C. To visit other attractions.                       D. To meet his son there.

74. In the second paragraph the author mainly tells us        .

       A. her son was a First Lieutenant in the Army 82nd Airborne Division

       B. when her son would return to the US for a short rest and recovery

       C. she didn’t know the exact time when her son would return to the US

       D. she saw if her daughter-in-law Monica knew when Joe would arrive

75. The author felt frustrated because        .

       A. their flight couldn’t land as a result of bad weather

       B. the bad weather caused their flight to be put off an hour

       C. they didn’t wait for their son Joe to match on the airport

       D. the bad weather had made their connecting flight delay

76. Where did the author happen to run into her son Joe?

       A. At the airport of Atlanta.                         B. At the airport of Shreveport.

       C. At the airport of Ft. Bragg.                     D. At the airport of Baghdad.

More and more schools are being designed and used in ways that are friendly to the environment. These so-called green schools use less energy, cost less to run and are good for students.

The newly renovated (翻修的) Sidwell Friends Middle School in the District has been awarded the highest rating by the U.S. Green Building Council for having a positive impact on the environment－a rare honor. Soon the school will treat and re-use its wastewater, saving hundreds of thousands of gallons of water per year.

The recycled water from sinks and toilets, which can’t be used for drinking, will be colored blue, “so we know it’s recycled, just in case it gets into the water fountains (噴泉)－not that it would,” joked Emily Bernstein, 14, a Sidwell student and building tour guide. Water fountains will still use fresh city water.

Sidwell students are studying the building itself in science classes to help them learn first－h(huán)and the positive impact of green buildings. It’s affecting how they view the world around them. “If you see a [building] being torn down, you think, ‘They’re going to fill up a whole landfill (垃圾填埋場) with that,’” said Matthew Malone, 13.

In Prince George’s County, Suitland Elementary has been so successful that another green school is being planned, in Laurel, for the 2008－09 school year.

At Suitland, a garden courtyard collects and uses rainwater; the roof is angled away from the sun to keep it cool; and skylights and tall windows let in lots of natural light.

“You don’t have to switch on the light switch all the time,” said Rupert McCave, the county official guiding these projects.

Green schools tend to be sunnier and more inviting than older buildings. In fact, a study done in Washington state showed that students at green schools performed better and were absent less.

69. From the text we learn that green schools         .

       A. not only benefit the environment but also win high awards

       B. contribute both to the environment and to students development

       C. treat and recycle water from sinks, toilets and water fountains

       D. make more use of solar power and save more electricity than older schools

70. From Matthew Malone’s words, we can see that         .

       A. Sidwell students don’t like building being torn down

       B. Sidwell students prefer green buildings to be set up

       C. Sidwell students are thinking green under the positive influence

       D. Sidwell students are equipped with knowledge of architecture

71. The word “inviting” in the last paragraph can be replace by        .

       A. attractive              B. interesting          C. smart               D. cool

72. The passage is mainly about         .

       A. green buildings                                   B. successful schools

       C. students going green                           D. environmentally－friendly schools

You’re walking down the street, minding your own business, when you see a snowball. No big deal, right? Except that the snowball is as tall as you are and weighs about a ton. Did we mention that it’s June?

That’s the experience thousands of Londoners had when they crossed paths with “Snowballs in Summer”, the brainchild (構(gòu)想) of artist Andy Goldsworthy. Goldsworthy makes sculpture from all sorts of things he finds outside－leaves, earth, and rocks, as well as ice and snow. He wanted to find out how busy city people would react to an unexpected snowball melting in their midst.

During the winter of 2005, he rolled 13 giant snowballs near his home in Scotland. He filled each one with a surprise in the center－such as pebbles, berries, feathers, or sheep’s wool  which would emerge as the snow melted. The finished snowballs were stored in a deep freeze until summer, then transported to London in refrigerated trucks. At midnight on June 21, 2006,   while the city slept, Goldsworthy and his co－conspirators rolled their snowballs into place.

People walking to work or school must have thought the sky was falling when they stumbled across snowballs of the size of baby elephants. Some of them had never even seen snow in real life, and they couldn’t resist poking (捅) the snowballs or even breaking off a chunk(大塊). As the snow started to melt, things got even more interesting. The perfectly round snowballs took on different shapes as the stuff inside began to poke through. Two days later, most of Goldsworthy’s snowballs were gone, and their fillings scattered. But Londoners were left with a really good story about that odd summer day when the snowballs came.

65. How long had the snowballs been stored before they were seen?

       A. For about half a year.                             B. For 21 days.

       C. For about a year.                                   D. For 13 months.

66. What is really special about the snowballs is that        .

       A. they lie in the street

       B. they are in the shape of baby elephants

       C. they have pebbles, berries, feathers in them

       D. they appear in June

67. What was Goldsworthy’s purpose in making the snowballs?

       A. To find out people’s reactions to them.

       B. To call up people’s memory of the cold winter.

       C. To show off his skills in sculpture.

       D. To let people experience the cold winter.

68. Why did Goldsworthy and his co-conspirators roll their snowballs into place at mid－night?

       A. Because they didn’t want to disturb other people.

       B. Because it was quiet at that time.

       C. Because they wanted to avoid the traffic jam.

       D. Because they wanted to give people a surprise.

Music for Little Mozarts is a programme designed to help your little ones develop a love of music. Learning music at an early age helps develop minds and expand cognitive (認(rèn)知的) ability. While listening to music can certainly help your youngster pick up songs, actually learning to play the piano can help your child’s development.

This programme focuses on little creatures that both entertain and teach. By grasping the attention of a young child’s mind and engaging them with stories along with hands on experience, you can provide them with a positive experience that may produce a little Mozart in later years.

Within this multi-book and multi-year lesson plan there are ten little characters that help draw the child into the lesson plan. These little creatures actually can be used to help the child grasp basic concepts in music. The series starts out in the preschool years and provides day by day lessons that can aid the child or a classroom of children right through early adolescence (青春期).

The series is designed for both classroom and preschool use and for those at home with homeschoolers. It contains a series of books along with audio CD’s, flash cards, and other visual aids that can help very young children develop an ear and an eye for music.

It can be hard to hold the attention spans of children for very long. However, with the right creativity and the proper attention along with simple, easy to master daily lessons, most children will not only grasp music rather quickly, they will also develop a love of real music, not just banging on a piano keyboard and making sounds.

The short, daily lessons are planned out so that children learn to play music by ear. They learn to play real songs and master real passages quickly and easily. This element keeps them involved. They also master playing by ear and then later by reading rather quickly.

61. Music for Little Mozarts is intended for          .

       A. children at home                                   B. children at school

       C. preschool students                                D. all of above

62. This programme teaches children          .

       A. how to sing songs                                 B. to master playing the piano quickly

       C. to learn some basic music knowledge      D. to experience the charm of music

63. We can infer that this programme was developed for          .

       A. children’s attention spans in mind            B. children’s intelligence spans

       C. preschool children’s interest                   D. school children’s music ability

64. The last two paragraphs mainly tell the reader          .

       A. what this programme offers

       B. the relationship between ear and musical ability

       C. it’s more important to play by ear than to learn to read music

       D. this programme is useful for developing children’s love of music quickly

Donnie was my youngest third－grader. His fear of   41    kept him from classroom games that other children played excitedly. He seldom answered questions he might be   42   . He seldom finished his work because he   43   checked with me to be   44   he hadn’t made a mistake.

I tried my best to build his self-confidence. But   45    changed until midterm, when Mary Anne, a student teacher, was assigned to our classroom. She was young and pretty, and she loved children. My pupils, Donnie included,   46    her. But even enthusiastic Mary was

   47   by this little boy who feared he might make a mistake.

Then one morning we were working math problems. Donnie had copied the problems with painstaking neatness and filled in answers for the first row.   48    with his progress, I left the children with Mary. But when I returned, Donnie was    49  . He’d missed the third problem.

Mary looked at me in despair. Suddenly her face   50   . From the desk we shared, she got a canister (小筒) filled with    51  .

“Look, Donnie,” she said, “I’ve got something to show you.” She removed the pencils and placed them on his desk. “See these pencils, Donnie?” she continued. “They   52    Mrs Lindstrom and me. See how the erasers are   53  ? That’s because we make    54   too. Lots of them. But we    55   the mistakes and try again. That’s what you must learn to do, too.”

She kissed him and continued, “I’ll leave one of these pencils on your desk so you’ll remember that   56    makes mistakes, even teachers.” Donnie   57    with love in his eyes and a smile on his face.

The pencil became Donnie’s prized possession. That, together with Mary Anne’s   58   

encouragement and praise for even Donnie’s small successes, gradually   59    him that it’s all right to make mistakes    60   you erase them and try again.

The earth, the moon, the other stars and the sun are just part of               (我們稱為宇宙). (call)

If you                  (曾經(jīng)問過他) when you saw him last time, you would know what to do now. (ask)

The fact is                  （他以前做的事情）is of  little use to our plan.（what）

He had no choice but                    （告訴她真相）.（truth）