Are some people born clever, and others born stupid? Or is intelligence developed by our environment and our experiences? Strangely enough, the answer to both these questions is yes. To some extent our intelligence is given us at birth, and no amount of special education can make a genius out of a child born with low intelligence. On the other hand, a child who lives in a boring environment will develop his intelligence less than one who lives in rich and varied surroundings. Thus the limits of a person's intelligence are fixed at birth, but whether or not he reaches those limits will depend on his environment. This view, now held by most experts, can be supported in a number of ways.
It is easy to show that intelligence is to some extent something we are born with. The closer the blood relationship between two people, the closer they are likely to be in intelligence. Thus if we take two unrelated people at random from the population, it is likely that their degrees of intelligence will be completely different. If on the other hand we take two identical twins they will very likely be as intelligent as each other. Relations like brothers and sisters, parents and children, usually have similar intelligence, and this clearly suggests that intelligence depends on birth.www.examda.com
Imagine now that we take two identical twins and put them in different environments. We might send one, for example, to a university and the other to a factory where the work is boring. We would soon find differences in intelligence developing, and this indicates that environment as well as birth plays.
This conclusion is also suggested by the fact that people who live in close contact with each other, but who are not related at all, are likely to have similar degrees of intelligence.
【小題1】Which of these sentences best describes the writer's point in Paragraph 1?

A．To some extent, intelligence is given at birth.

B．Intelligence is developed by the environment.

C．Some people are born clever and others born stupid.

D．Intelligence is fixed at birth, but is developed by the environment.

【小題2】 It is suggested in this passage that_______.

A．unrelated people are not likely to have different intelligence

B．close relations usually have similar intelligence

C．the closer the blood relationship between people, the more different they are likely to be in intelligence

D．people who live in close contact with each other are not likely to have similar degrees of intelligence

【小題3】Brothers and sisters are likely to_______.

A．have similar intelligence	B．have different intelligence
C．go to the same university	D．go to the same factory

【小題4】The best title for this article would be_______.

A．On Intelligence	B．What Intelligence Means
C．We Are Born with Intelligence	D．Environment Plays a Part in Developing Intelligence

If your cellphone suddenly stops working, don’t blame the service provider．The malfunction（故障） might well have been caused by something bigger -- a solar storm．Experts expect that Earth will see more solar activity in the near future．The malfunction of electronic devices will just one of the effects．
Sunspots（太陽黑子） serve as an indicator of the sun’s activity．For the past two years, sunspots have mostly been missing．Their absence, the most prolonged in nearly 100 years, has taken even seasoned sun watchers by surprise．
When the number of sunspots drops at the end of each 11-year cycle, solar storms die down and all become much calmer. This “solar minimum” doesn’t last long. Within a year, sunspots and solar storms begin to build toward a new crescendo, the next solar maximum.
What’s special about this latest cycle is that the sun is having trouble starting the next solar cycle. The sun began to calm down in late 2007, so no one expected many sunspots in 2008. They should return in 2010. Scientists have predicted that the next solar cycle could be the most active on record: more sunspots and more solar storms. However, sunspots are mostly missing now.
Since the earth is in close contact with the sun, strong solar activities can bring trouble to our life. People of the 21st century rely on high-tech systems for the basics of daily life. Air travel and radio communications can be affected by strong solar activities. A big solar storm could cause 20 times more economic damage than Hurricane Katrina.
What the sun will do next is beyond our ability to predict. Most astronomers think that the solar cycle will go on but at low level. However, there is also evidence that the sun is losing its ability to produce sunspots. By 2015, they could be gone altogether.
【小題1】The sun watcher feel surprised at            .

A．the longest sunspots’ absence	B．the largest sunspot number
C．the malfunction of electronic devices	D．the serious damage by sunspots

【小題2】What does the underlined word “crescendo” in paragraph 3 most probably mean?

A．small number	B．high level
C．usual cycle	D．fresh start

【小題3】We can infer that in the past two years         .

A．solar activities have brought much trouble to our life

B．the number of sunspots has increased to a large extent

C．the solar minimum took the place of the solar maximum

D．our cellphones have seldom been interrupted by the solar storm

【小題4】Which statement does the text lead you to believe?

A．Solar activities do no harm to our daily life.

B．Hurricane Katrina is also a type of solar storms.

C．It’s difficult to predict sunspots.

D．From now on there’ re no sunspots.

【小題5】What is the passage mainly about?

A．The earth is in close contact with the sun.

B．Sunspots can cause trouble to our life.

C．Introduction of sunspots.

D．Introduction of the solar storm．

LONDON: What could possibly be wrong with planting trees? The benefits are obvious; they  firm the soil, soak up (攝取) extra water and take carbon dioxide (二氧化碳) out of the atmosphere.
However, it now turns out that planting trees could add to global warming.
Tree roots do a great job of keeping soil firmly on the ground and out of the wind’s power. The problem is that some of those dust clouds play an important part in taking in carbon dioxide.
Huge dust storms blow out over the oceans from dry parts of North Africa and central Asia. Tons of dust are lifted and left as a thin film over the ocean surface. The dust fuels oceanic life.
Dust from China is carried east and left in the Pacific Ocean. If a tree-planting programme there is successful and the dust supply reduced, the final result may be that less carbon dioxide gets locked away in the ocean.
Andy Ridgwell, an environmental scientist from the University of East Anglia, has spent the past few years studying dust and says his work “shows clearly the complexity of the system and the importance of not tinkering(粗劣地修補) with it without understanding the results. For this reason the need is to focus(集中) on cutting carbon dioxide giving off rather than monkeying (瞎弄) about with the land surface.”
An American scientist, Robert Jackson, has shown that when native grassland areas are invaded(侵入) by trees, carbon is lost from the soil. “We are studying why the soil carbon disappears, but one theory is that trees do a lot more of their growing above ground compared to grasses, so less carbon goes directly into the soil from trees, ” says Jackson.
In wet areas of the world, the gain from trees absorbing carbon dioxide above ground seems to be outweighed(超過) by the loss of carbon from the soil below ground. Countries that plan to combat global warming by planting trees may have to think again.
Solutions to environmental problems are often more complex than they first appear, and understanding the Earth’s climate is a very great challenge.
【小題1】People usually hold the opinion that_____________.

A．huge dust storms can destroy carbon dioxide

B．huge dust storms can destroy the oceans on the earth

C．huge dust storms can’t do anything beneficial for man

D．planting trees is the only way to control huge dust storms

【小題2】 Andy Ridgwell, the environmental scientist, believes that_____________.

A．dust plays a more important part than trees

B．trees shouldn’t have been planted in dry places

C．carbon dioxide is harmful to everything on the earth

D．environmental problems are more complex than expected

【小題3】 Robert Jackson’s experiment proves that_____________.

A．grassland areas should be covered by forests

B．trees hold more carbon than grasses

C．carbon can turn grass into dust

D．less carbon can make trees grow faster

It was a village in India. The people were poor. However, they were not unhappy. After all, their forefathers had lived in the same way for centuries.
Then one day. Some visitors from the city arrived. They told the villagers there were some people elsewhere who liked to eat frog’s legs. However, they did not have enough frogs of their own, and so they wanted to buy frogs from other places.
This seemed like money for nothing. There were millions of frogs in the fields around, and they were no use to the villagers. All they had to do was catch them. Agreement was reached, and the children were sent into the fields to catch frogs. Every week a truck arrived to collect the catch and hand over the money. For the first time, the people were able to dream of a better future. But the dream didn’t last long.    
The change was hardly noticed at first, but it seemed as if the crops were not doing so well. More worrying was that the children fell ill more often, and, there seemed to be more insects around lately.
The villagers decided that they couldn’t just wait to see the crops failing and the children getting weak. They would have to use the money earned to buy pesticides(殺蟲劑) and medicines. Soon there was no money left.
Then the people realized what was happening. It was the frog. They hadn’t been useless. They had been doing an important job---eating insects. Now with so many frogs killed, the insects were increasing more rapidly. They were damaging the crops and spreading diseases.
Now, the people are still poor. But in the evenings they sit in the village square and listen to the sounds of insects and frogs. These sounds of the night now have a much deeper meaning.
【小題1】From paragraph I we learn that the villagers __________.

A．worked very hard for centuries

B．dreamed of having a better life

C．were poor but somewhat content

D．lived a different life from their forefathers

【小題2】Why did the villagers agree to sell frogs?

A．the frogs were easy money

B．They needs money to buy medicine

C．they wanted to please the visitors

D．the frogs made too much noise

【小題3】 What might be the cause of the children’s sickness?

A．the crops didn’t do well

B．there were too many insects

C．the visits brought in diseases

D．the pesticides were overused

【小題4】What can we infer from the last sentence of the text?

A．Happiness comes from peaceful life in the country

B．Health is more important than money

C．The harmony between man and nature is important

D．good old day will never be forgotten

Recreational tree climbing is taking root in the ecotourism industry, and it's sending guys like Tim Kovar to far off reaches of the globe. Kovar, a tree-climbing instructor, recently returned to the U.S. from Brazil, where he spent time developing a tree-climbing operation thanks to the "slow travel" movement.
Slow travel, is like the slow food movement, the practice of giving fast food in favor of homegrown cooking—the kind that takes hours to prepare and enjoy. Likewise, slow travel urges visitors to experience a place's natural surroundings and learn about the ecology in a way not afforded by extreme games.
"Tree climbing is a slow activity," says Kovar. "It's not something you do quickly and then you're on to the next thing or event." There is no such thing as a quick climb, especially for beginners. This wasn't a race against the clock or the fellow climbers. In fact, tree climbing is unlikely to ever become a feature of the extreme games. Many climbers refuse competition. There has already been so much competition in the world.
"When you stand below the tree, it can be amazing," Rusel DeMaria says, looking affectionately up at Michael's Triumph, a 150-foot-tall tree. But reaching the treetop, he adds, is an entirely different feeling. Likewise, his wife, Viola Brumbaugh, kneels on the ground and asks Michael's Triumph for permission to climb. "It goes a lot smoother that way, "She says.
And climbing has been included into many educational programs. New Tribe offers guided climbs through its school, Tree Climbing Northwest, where "we teach enough tree biology and forest ecology to raise awareness in our students," says New Tribe present Sophis Sparks. "We know that the tree climbing experience deepens personal appreciation for trees. After climbing, people value trees more and are motivated to support preservation. This is not just to preserve their playground."
Perhaps that is why he struggles with the term "recreational tree climbing," saying, "I prefer to call it inspirational tree climbing."
【小題1】What do slow travel and the slow food movement have in common?

A．They take people a long time.	B．They are related to the eco-tourism industry.
C．They advocate protecting nature.	D．They cost people little money

【小題2】What do we know about tree climbing from the passage?

A．People compete to see who can climb to the top first.

B．It favors the experience of enjoying nature.

C．It is a kind of extreme sport and needs a lot of effort.

D．People view it as a challenge to climb the tallest tree in a forest.

【小題3】Brumbaugh kneels on the ground before climbing trees to ___________________.

A．beg for the safety of climbing	B．Expect to climb faster than her husband
C．Show respect for the tree	D．a(chǎn)sk for permission of her husband

【小題4】Sophia Sparks prefers the term "inspirational tree climbing" because it ____________.

A．provide people with more chances to play outside

B．bring a lot of pleasure to life

C．Deepens personal love between each other

D．Makes people realize they should protect trees

【小題5】What's the best title for the passage?

A．Tree-climbing travelling	B．Slow travel movements
C．Dangers of climbing	D．Respect for nature

Parents are often amazed at how fast their child grows and develops. New research has determined that the ability to quantify may develop much sooner than most parents realize.
Kristy Vanmarle, professor of the University of Missouri, has determined that contrary to what previous studies have shown, infants（嬰兒）are able to quantify substances（物質(zhì)）—like sand or water—as early as 10 months. As long as the difference between the two substances is large enough, infants will choose the larger amount, especially when it comes to food.
With the assistance of her team researchers, Vanmarle tested the quantifying skills of babies by presenting them with two cups: one containing a small amount of food, and one containing a larger amount. Consistently, the babies chose the larger amount.
“Several studies throughout the last 15 years have shown that infants are very good at telling how many objects they see; however, infants don’t seem to count things like water or sand,” Vanmarle said. “What we’re saying is that they can quantify substances; it’s just much harder. The infants can see how much food goes into each cup and compare that in their memories. They decide which amount is larger, and they almost always select the larger one.”
“This information further refutes（駁斥）the long-held idea that babies know nothing of the world,” Vanmarle said.
“Since psychologists have begun studying infants with sensitive measures, we’ve discovered a lot of early abilities. I think for parents, it should be exciting to know that there’s somebody in there that has some fundamental and basic knowledge of the world, and that knowledge is guiding their development,” Vanmarle said.
In the future, Vanmarle says this kind of study could be linked to a child’s progress in math-related skills, although programs marketed to increase those abilities, such as “Baby Einstein,” still have mixed reviews when it comes to academic study.
【小題1】 The quantifying ability refers to the ability to     .

A．choose between different substances	B．describe the quantity of something
C．get much knowledge of the world	D．obtain math-related skills

【小題2】 What is mainly talked about in Paragraph 4?

A．The process of doing research.	B．The final choice of infants.
C．The scientific findings.	D．The observation of infants’ behavior.

【小題3】 Babies choose the larger amount of food     .

A．through their natural abilities	B．with the help of parents
C．on personal preference	D．by saying numbers

【小題4】We can learn from the text that     .

A．some parents don’t care about their kids

B．scholars disagree on baby-training programs

C．little research has been done on infants

D．people used to think the world is known to babies

【小題5】What’s the best title of the text?

A．Unique Quantifying Methods	B．Amazing Baby-training Ideas
C．Early Human Abilities	D．Breakthrough in Baby Studies

Malaria, the world’s most widespread parasitic (寄生蟲引起的)disease, kills as many as three million people every year—almost all of whom are under five, very poor, and African. In most years, more than five hundred million cases of illness result from the disease, although exact numbers are difficult to assess because many people don't (or can’t) seek care. It is not unusual for a family earning less than two hundred dollars a year to spend a quarter of its income on malaria treatment, and what they often get no longer works. In countries like Tanzania, Mozambique, and the Gambia, no family, village, hospital, or workplace can remain unaffected for long.        
Malaria starts suddenly, with violent chills, which are soon followed by an intense fever and, often, headaches. As the parasites multiply, they take over the entire body. Malaria parasites live by eating the red blood cells they infect. They can also attach themselves to blood vessels in the brain. If it doesn’t kill you, malaria can happen again and again for years. The disease is passed on to humans by female mosquitoes infected with one of four species of a parasite. Together, the mosquito and the parasite are the most deadly couple in the history of the earth and one of the most successful. Malaria has five thousand genes, and its ability to change rapidly to defend itself and resist new drugs has made it nearly impossible to control. Studies show that mosquitoes are passing on the virus more frequently, and there are more outbreaks in cities with large populations. Some of the disease's spread is due to global warming.
For decades, the first-choice treatment for malaria parasites in Africa has been chloroquine, a chemical which is very cheap and easy to make. Unfortunately, in most parts of the world, malaria parasites have become resistant to it. Successful alternatives that help prevent resistance are already available, but they have been in short supply and are very expensive. If these drugs should fail, nobody knows what would come next.  
【小題1】According to paragraph 1, many people don’t seek care because ________.

A．they are too poor

B．it is unusual to seek care

C．they can remain unaffected for long

D．there are too many people suffering from the disease

【小題2】People suffering from malaria ________.

A．have to kill female mosquitoes	B．have ability to defend parasites
C．have their red blood cells infected	D．have sudden fever, followed by chills

【小題3】Which of the following may be the reason for the wide spread of the disease?

A．Its resistance to global warming.

B．Its ability to pass on the virus frequently.

C．Its outbreaks in cities with large populations.

D．Its ability to defend itself and resist new drugs.

【小題4】 It can be inferred from the passage that ________.

A．no drugs have been found to treat the disease

B．the alternative treatment is not easily available to most people

C．malaria has developed its ability to resist parasites

D．nobody knows what will be the drug to treat the disease

“NOW I just don’t believe that.” Surely all of us, at some point, have watched a movie and thought: It’s simply badly researched, or, the makers must think we’re idiots (白癡). Recently, the British newspaper The Daily Telegraph ran a humorous piece on unconvincing tech moments from some top movies. Let’s see what all the fuss is about.
Telegraph writer Tom Chiver’s first example is from the end-of-the-world movie Independence Day, in which a character comes up with a virus capable of destroying Windows, the computer system the alien spacecraft uses. “It’s a good thing they didn’t have Norton Antivirus (諾頓防火墻)”, jokes Chivers.
It’s just one case of a movie that takes a lot of license with its science. Another one Chivers mentions is from Star Wars, where glowing beams of light traveling through space look very impressive. The problem is that in space there are no air particles for the light to reflect off. In reality, they’d be invisible, which wouldn’t look so cool on the big screen.
Chiver’s second piece of Star Wars nonsense is the sound the fighters make in the movies: “the bellow (咆哮) of an elephant mixed with a car driving on a wet road”. But sound needs a medium to travel through, like air. In space, there wouldn’t actually be any sound at all.
Few people would deny that the mind-bending Matrix films make for great viewing, but for Chivers, the science in the movies is a little silly. He comments “…the film is based on the idea that humans are kept alive as electricity generator. This is not just unlikely – it’s fundamentally impossible. They would need more energy to stay alive than they would produce. It’s like saying you’ll power your car with batteries, and keep the batteries charged by running a dynamo (發(fā)電機) from the wheels.”
And finally, as Chivers points out, DNA is not replaceable. But this bit of elementary genetics passed the makers of the 2002 Bond film Die Another Day by. In the film the bad guy has “gene therapy” to change his appearance and his DNA, which is completely impossible.
【小題1】What does the underlined sentence mean?  

A．The virus created by the character is capable of destroying spacecrafts.

B．Aliens’ using Windows system is totally unconvincing plot.

C．The spacecraft should have Norton Antivirus.

D．Norton Antivirus can stop a virus.

【小題2】 We can learn from the example of the Star Wars that       .

A．in space, you can not hear anything

B．light beams travel via air particle in space

C．Chiver thinks the sound of the fighters is vivid

D．the invisible light beams are impressive in the movies

【小題3】Chiver uses the example of car batteries in Matrix to imply that       .

A．the basic idea of the film is rather ridiculous

B．the science in the movies is very convincing

C．the idea that humans can be kept alive as electricity generator is right

D．humans would stay alive as long as they would produce enough energy

【小題4】We can learn from the movie Die Another Day that       .

A．the idea of gene therapy is creative

B．the element of DNA should not be used

C．the makers of the 2002 Bond use the genetic technology

D．DNA can be replaced but in the real world it is impossible

【小題5】Why did Chiver write this passage?

A．To prove all these films are making mistakes.

B．To show his great concern for the movie industry.

C．To joke about some movies in the movie industry.

D．To call for the audience to find out mistakes from the movies.

China’s government has been trying all measures to reduce pollution in the past few years. Now people can enjoy a fresh environment everywhere. The following two graphs are adopted from the column of “City Information” on the webpage of Beijing Review.
Graph 1: Olympic Cities Air Quality Report

City	Date	API	Major Pollutant	Air Quality Degree	Quality Condition
Beijing	Sep. 8	37	N/A	Ⅰ	Very good
Qinhuangdao	Sep. 8	52	PM10	Ⅱ	Good
Qingdao	Sep. 8	68	PM10	Ⅱ	Good
Shanghai	Sep. 8	67	PM10	Ⅱ	Good
Shenyang	Sep. 8	88	PM10	Ⅱ	Good
Tianjin	Sep. 8	54	PM10	Ⅱ	Good

 
Graph 2: Chinese National Standard

API Values	Levels of health concern	Colors
When the API is in this range:	...air quality conditions are:	...as symbolized by this color:
0 to 50	Very good	Blue
51 to 100	Good	Green
101 to 150	Slight pollution	Yellow
151 to 200	Moderate pollution	Orange
201 to 250	Medium pollution	Red
251 to 300	High pollution	Purple
301 to 500	Hazardous	Brown

Notes:
**API stands for Air Pollution Index(指數(shù)).
**Particulate matter (PM10) is a major component of air pollution that threatens both our health and our environment. It consists of very small liquid and solid particles floating in the air.
**Sulfur dioxide(SO2) acts as an acid．Inhalation(吸入) results in labored breathing, coughing, or a sore throat and may cause permanent lung damage.
【小題1】According to Graph 1, which of the following cities has the worst air pollution?

A．Qinhuangdao.	B．Tianjin.
C．Qingdao	D．Shenyang. .

【小題2】 If your city is symbolized by either red or purple, the pollution in your city is     .

A．Moderate or high.	B．Moderate or slight.
C．Medium or high.	D．Medium or slight.

【小題3】Which of the following statements is TURE?

A．With API value below 150 the air is free from being polluted.

B．The colors from purple to Yellow indicate the air quality is becoming much worse.

C．When there are floating solid particles and dust in the air, it is dangerous pollution.

D．On September 8th the color-symbol of Beijing City’s air quality is ‘Blue’.

【小題4】When more citizens are beginning to have labored breathing soon after they are in the open air, it suggests that            .

A．there is a large amount of sulfur dioxide in the air

B．it is so cold that they may have caught a cold

C．they are starting to cough or have a fever

D．they must be infected with permanent lung disease

Some scientists say that animals in the oceans are increasingly threatened by noise pollution caused by human beings.
The noise that affects sea creatures comes from a number of human activities. It is caused mainly by industrial underwater explosions, ocean drilling, and ship engines. Such noises are added to natural sounds. These sounds include the breaking of ice fields, underwater earthquakes, and sounds made by animals themselves.
Decibels (分貝) measured in water are different from those measured on land. A noise of one hundred and twenty decibels on land causes pain to human ears. In water, a decibel level of one hundred and ninety-five would have the same effect.
Some scientists have proposed setting a noise limit of one hundred and twenty decibels in oceans. They have observed that noises at that level can frighten and confuse whales.
A team of American and Canadian scientists discovered that louder noises can seriously injure some animals. The research team found that powerful underwater explosions were causing whales in the area to lose their hearing. This seriously affected the whales' ability to exchange information and find their way. Some of the whales even died. The explosions had caused their ears to bleed and become infected.
Many researchers whose work depends on ocean sounds object to a limit of one hundred and twenty decibels. They say such a limit would mean an end to important industrial and scientific research.
Scientists do not know how much and what kinds of noises are harmful to ocean animals. However, many scientists suspect that noise is a greater danger than they believed. They want to prevent noises from harming creatures in the ocean.
【小題1】 According to the passage, which of the following is increasingly dangerous to sea creatures?

A．The man-made noises.	B．The noises made by themselves.
C．The sound of earthquakes.	D．The sound of the ice-breaking.

【小題2】 Which of the following is discussed in the third paragraph?

A．Different places with different types of noises.

B．The very human ears sensitive to all types of noises.

C．The same noise measured differently on land and in the ocean.

D．The ocean animals' reaction to noises.

【小題3】As to the influence of noises on whales, which of the following statements is true?

A．They are deaf to noises.

B．Noises at a certain level may hurt them.

C．They are easily confused by noises.

D．Noises will limit their ability to reproduce.

【小題4】According to the passage, what will scientists most probably do in the future?

A．They will try their best to decrease noise.

B．They will work hard to cut down noise pollution.

C．They will study the effect of different noises.

D．They will protect animals from harmful noises.