According to the dictionary definition of“create, ordinary people are creative every day”.To create means“to bring into being, to cause to exist something each of us does daily”.
We are creative whenever we look at or think about something in a new way. First, this includes an awareness of our surroundings. It means using all of our senses to become aware of our world. This may be as simple as being aware of color and texture(質(zhì)地),as well as taste, when we plan a meal. Above all, it is the ability to notice things that others might miss.
A second part of creativity is an ability to see relationships among things. If we believe the expression,“There is nothing new under the sun, the creativity is remaking or recombining(重組) the old in new ways.”For example, we might do this by finding a more effective way to study or a better way to arrange our furniture, or we might make a new combination of camera lenses and filters to create an unusual photograph.
A third part of creativity is the courage and drive to make use of our new ideas, to ask for them to achieve some new results. To think up a new idea is one thing; to put the idea to work is another.
These three parts of creativity are included in all the great works of geniuses, but they are also included in many of our day-to-day activities.
【小題1】“There is nothing new under the sun” really implies that _________.

A．a(chǎn) new thing can only be created at the basis of earliest things

B．a(chǎn) new thing is only a tale

C．we can seldom create new things

D．we can hardly see really new things in the world

【小題2】What does the author think about the relationship between a new thought and its being put into practice?

A．It’s more difficult to create a new thought than to use it in practice.

B．To find a new thought will clearly lead to the production of a new thing.

C．A man with an excellent ability of practice can easily become an inventor.

D．One may come up with a new thought, but can not put it into practice.

【小題3】The best title for this passage is__________.

A．How to Develop One’s Creativity	B．What Is Creativity
C．The Importance of Creativity	D．Creativity, a Not Faraway Thing

All plant cells are capable of taking up（吸收）water. Even dead ones do to a certain degree. Absorption（吸收）of water by dead cell walls makes wood become larger.
In common land plants, the living cells of roots take upmost of the water. Land plants without roots do exist, however. Those greenish-yellow lichens（苔蘚）you see on rocks in the high mountains have no roots. Half a billion years ago, when water plants started to enter the land, the first land plants did not have roots.
Even among the flowering plants, one finds rootless forms. These flowering plants are “the higher plants” because they evolved（進(jìn)化）recently and are thus considered higher on the evolutionary scale（進(jìn)化度）.
In the Peruvian desert, there grows one of these rootless higher plants, a bromeliad. It is a relative of the pineapple. Even if this plant had roots, they would be of no use, because where the plant grows, it never rains. The plant gets its water only from the dew（露水）it collects at night, when its leaves cool off. Such rootless plants, of course, can be moved with ease, but they will only grow when they are placed out in the open. If they are placed too near a house, the radiation from the heat of the house prevents the leaves from cooling and so prevents dew from forming, and the plant dies.
In the southern United States and in Puerto Rico, one sees bromeliads growing high above the streets on the insulation（絕緣物）of electric wires. These plants get their water from rain, and the only soil they ever come in contact with is the dust that may blow on their leaves.
【小題1】Wood becomes larger because of       .

A．dead cell walls	B．water entering dead cells
C．the growth of cells	D．the death of cells

【小題2】From the passage we know that the evolutionary scale is graded according to      .

A．evolutionary cycles	B．heights and depths
C．time	D．kinds

【小題3】The “bromeliad” is a plant that     .

A．has no roots	B．is a pineapple
C．can grow anywhere	D．takes up water through its leaves

【小題4】The most suitable title for this passage is “      ”.

A．Absorption of water by plants	B．Rootless plants in America
C．Plants in the desert	D．Higher plants

Let’s pretend we’re sailing down the Rhine River on a pleasure boat. The Rhine is one of the main waterways of Germany, and the river traffic is heavy. It’s interesting to watch the many boats going up and down the river. But the river traffic is not nearly so interesting as the beautiful scenery along the banks and hillsides. The boat is passing many old castles. We can see people working in the vineyards (葡萄園) on the hillsides. There are vineyards as far as the eye can see. Wine from the Rhine Valley is famous all over the world.
Suddenly our boat slows down and begins to turn a little. We are coming to a sharp bend in the river. On our right we can see a rocky cliff over 400 feet high. At first it looks quite ordinary, but there is nothing ordinary about it. There are many stories, poems, and songs about the cliff. We are looking at the Lorelei. Then someone on the boat begins to sing in German, the song of the Lorelei. It is a song about a beautiful siren (妖婦) who has lured(引誘) many sailors to their deaths.
The siren is supposed to sit on the rock combing her long golden hair and singing. The sailors who hear her forget to steer（掌舵）, and the current of river hurls (掀翻) their boats on the rocks and dashes（猛撞）them to pieces.
Soon other people on the boat begin to sing. The beautiful song adds to special magic to the moment, and you begin to realize why so many people have made this trip down the Rhine to see the rock of the Lorelei.
【小題1】The most interesting thing to those who are sailing down the Rhine River on a pleasure boat is     .  

A．to watch many boats going up and down the river

B．to see the beautiful scene along the banks and hillsides

C．to hear a song about beautiful siren

D．to see a beautiful siren combing her golden hair

【小題2】 Which of the following is famous all over the world?

A．The Rhine River.	B．The River Traffic.
C．Wine from the Rhine Valley.	D．The Lorelei.

【小題3】We can see a rocky cliff over 400 feet high     .

A．on our right when coming to a sharp bend	B．on the Rhine hillsides
C．from the Rhine Valley	D．on the boat

【小題4】 The song of the Lorelei is about     .

A．The Rhine wine

B．a(chǎn) rocky cliff

C．the beautiful scenery along the Rhine River

D．a(chǎn) beautiful and dangerous siren

Gene technology to benefit people
Among all the fast growing science and technology, the research of human genes, or biological engineering as people call it, is drawing more and more attention now. Sometimes it is a hot topic discussed by people.
The greatest thing that gene technology can do is to cure serious diseases that doctors at present can almost do nothing with, such as cancer and heart disease. Every year, millions of people are murdered by these two killers. And to date, doctors have not found an effective way to cure them. But if the gene technology is applied, not only these two diseases can be cured completely, bringing happiness and more living days to the patients, but also the great amount of money people spend on curing their diseases can be saved, therefore it benefits the economy as well. In addition, human life span(壽命) can be prolonged.
Gene technology can help people to give birth to more healthy and clever children. Some families, with the English imperial(皇室) family being a good example, have hereditary(遺傳的) diseases. This means their children will for sure have the family disease, which is a great trouble for these families. In the past, doctors could do nothing about hereditary diseases. But gene technology can solve this problem perfectly. The scientist just need to find the wrong gene and correct it and a healthy child will be born.
Some people are worrying that the gene research can be used to manufacture human beings in large quantities. In the past few years, scientists have succeeded in cloning a sheep; therefore these people predict that human babies would soon be cloned. But I believe cloned babies will not come out in large quantities, for most couples in the world can have babies in very normal way. Of course, the governments must take care to control gene technology.
【小題1】 What does "these two killers" in the second paragraph refer to? 

A．Gene technology and another treatment of the two diseases.

B．The two murderers who killed the cloned baby

C．The two diseases of cancer and heart disease

D．Hereditary diseases and cancer

【小題2】What’s the main idea of the third paragraph?

A．How gene technology can be applied in the field of treating hereditary diseases.

B．Gene technology can be used to clone human babies.

C．Gene technology can help people to give birth of a baby.

D．Gene technology can help the English imperial family out

【小題3】In what way gene technology can help to treat hereditary diseases?

A．Using gene technology, people with hereditary diseases can have more living days.

B．Using gene technology, scientist finds the wrong gene and corrects it.

C．Using gene technology, human babies can be cloned.

D．Doctors can cure cancer and heart disease with the help of gene technology.

【小題4】 What is the main purpose of writing this passage?

A．Expressing the writer’s idea that gene technology will benefit people

B．Telling people the advantages of gene technology

C．Telling the readers that gene technology will not benefit people

D．Explaining that gene technology will also do harm to the humanity

A green house is a building made of glass which is used for keeping warm when the outside temperature is low. In a similar way there are several gases in the atmosphere (mixture of gases that surround the earth) which trap the heat produced by the sun and prevent it from escaping. These gases are known as “greenhouse gases”. And the way in which they trap heat in the atmosphere is called the “greenhouse effect”. This is not simply air pollution. Most of the main greenhouse gases exist naturally in small amounts in our atmosphere, and without them the earth would be 30 degrees colder and human life would not exist. In other words, the greenhouse effect is a natural course which is to some degree helpful to us.
The problem is that in the last century and a half, we have been putting too many of these gases into the earth’s atmosphere by burning large quantities of coal and oil and by cutting down forest. The rapid increase in greenhouse gases is making the world warmer. The world’s temperature has already gone up by half a degree this century, and the sea level has risen by 10 centimetres. If the amount of carbon dioxide in the atmosphere doubles, there will probably be a rise in the earth’s temperature of between I and 4℃;. This may seem a small increase, but it would be enough to cause major changes in geography and agriculture. Large areas of the world would be flooded, and some areas would become dry and unable to produce crops. It is important, too, to consider that there may be a delay of about 30 years in the greenhouse effect. This means that we are probably experiencing only now the effect of the gases put into the atmosphere before the 1960s. Since then, our use of these gases has greatly increased.
【小題1】 According to the passage, we can know “greenhouse effect” means_______.  

A．the way in which gases are used for keeping plants warm

B．a(chǎn) natural course that is to a certain degree useful to us

C．the way “greenhouse gases” trap heat on the earth

D．the whole course in which greenhouse gases prevent heat

【小題2】 If there were no greenhouse effect,_______.

A．a(chǎn)ll plants would not grow on our planet

B．soil would reduce the temperature by 30 degrees

C．man would breathe the cleaner air

D．people couldn’t live in the earth

【小題3】 Which of the following is not true?

A．Burning too much coal and oil produces lots of greenhouse gases.

B．It has become warm on the earth now than in the past.

C．Gases put into the atmosphere now will affect the earth years later.

D．The temperature in a greenhouse is as high as that in the atmosphere.

【小題4】 Suppose the earth’s temperature rose by 3 degrees, _______. 

A．great harm will be done to mankind

B．the sea level would go up by 10 centimeters

C．a(chǎn)ll the land in the world would be flooded

D．crops would be unable to grow on the earth

【小題5】 This passage mainly deals with ________.

A．the concept (概念) and the harm of the greenhouse

B．the relation between greenhouse gases and man

C．the concept and change of greenhouse effect

D．the effect of the rise of the earth’s temperature

  Some of the planet’s most precious animals and plants are disappearing, according to the World Conservation Union (IUCN). The group, based in Switzerland, works with governments and experts to protect threatened species. On September 12, the IUCN released its Red List, a list of species at greatest risk of extinction.
The list includes 41,415 animals and plants. The IUCN says that habitat destruction, hunting and other causes threaten one in four mammals, one in eight birds and one in three amphibians(兩棲動物).
Who is to blame?
Scientists believe that 99 percent of threatened species are at risk because of human activity. “We are losing animals and plants at a high rate,” says Julia Marton-LefEevre, director general of the IUCN. “We need to change our behavior.” Warmer oceans and over-fishing are changing sea life. This year for the first time corals(珊瑚) made their appearance on the list. The gharial, a crocodile living in India and Nepal, has lost almost 60 percent of its population in the last 10 years. It is a victim（受害者）of habitat destruction.
Still, the news is not all bad. Thanks to efforts made to protect it, the Mauritius echo parakeet, a bird once endangered, has seen an increase in its population. “This shows that protection methods can work,” says Marton-LefEevre. “That’s the message we want to send to young people.”
In China the new reserve（保護(hù)區(qū)）itself is part of green efforts that have seen more than 2,400 nature reserves of various kinds being set up, covering more than 15 percent of the nation’s land area, official figures showed.
"The country’s natural resources(資源) have benefited from conservation," said Lei Guangchun, director of the nature reserve department of Beijing Forestry University. "It is a big increase nowadays compared with other countries." Lei said.
The total areas of China’s natural reserves have covered 1.38 million km2, which accounts for 15.4% of China’s area, higher than both the world average（平均水平） of 11% and the rate in most developed countries.
Li Zhong, an official in charge of the nature reserves office with the State Forestry Administration, thought it was important to increase investment（投資） in such reserves at all levels.
【小題1】What do we know about the IUCN?

A．A union for listing animals and plants on the earth

B．A group of volunteers who are interested in wildlife

C．An organization concerning the protection of rare species’ survival

D．A government made up officials, scientists and experts

【小題2】What can be concluded from the passage?

A．All the protection methods can’t work.

B．The IUCN does most of the protection.

C．The efforts China makes has paid off.

D．Enough is done in wildlife protection.

【小題3】 Which of the following is not the cause of the disappearance of the animals?

A．Bad weather

B．Over-hunting

C．Warmer oceans

D．Habitat destruction

【小題4】Which of the sentence is NOT true?

A．China has been paying great attention to protecting the natural resources.

B．China has set up a lot of natural reserves.

C．The natural reserves in China cover more than 15 percent of the nation’s land area.

D．The rate of China’s natural reserves is lower than the average of the world.

The green turtle is listed as endangered by the International Union for the Conservation of Nature. Under the U．S. Endangered Species Act of 1973, the green turtle was listed as threatened except for the breeding populations in Florida and on the Pacific coast of Mexico, where it is listed as endangered.
Green turtles continue to be caught for money by humans, and the destruction and loss of nesting and foraging(覓食)sites is a serious problem. Humans have already caused the decrease of large green turtle populations, including those that once nested in Bermuda and Cayman Islands. The situation of green turtle populations is difficult to determine because of our lack of knowledge about their life cycles. The number of nests in Florida appears to be increasing, but we don’t know whether this is due to an increase in the number of nests or because we have started to monitor(監(jiān)控)nesting beaches more closely.
The green turtle is the largest hard­shelled sea turtle. Adults of this species commonly reach 100 cm in length and 150 kg in mass. The average size of a female nesting in Florida is 101.5 cm straight in length, with an average body mass of 136 kg.
Growth rates of green turtles have not been measured under natural conditions. Green turtles grow slowly.
In the southern Bahamas, green turtles grow from 30 to 75 cm in 17 years, and according to Bjorndal and Bolten, growth rates decrease with increasing length. Growth rates measured in green turtles from Florida and Puerto Rico fall within the range of growth rates measured in the southern Bahamas. Based on growth rate studies of wild green turtles, the researchers Balazs, Frazer and Ehrhart estimate the age of sexual maturity(成熟)can range anywhere from 20 to 50 years.
【小題1】The main idea of the passage is to tell us________.

A．something about an endangered animal

B．how green turtles got extinct

C．how heavy a green turtle is

D．how long a green turtle can live

【小題2】Which of the following is NOT a reason why green turtles are endangered?

A．Humans catch them to get profit.

B．They lose their nests.

C．They have fewer places to find food.

D．People like to keep them as pets.

【小題3】According to the passage, the green turtle________.

A．can reach 100 cm in length in 17 years

B．lives in the sea and grows very slowly

C．lives only in Florida and on the Pacific coast of Mexico

D．can grow from 30 to 75 cm in 17 years in southern Florida

【小題4】Why is it hard for us to know the number of green turtles?

A．Because it is difficult for us to be close to them.

B．Because we have limited knowledge about them.

C．Because we haven’t measured their growth rates.

D．Because they grow too slowly.

In the 1960s Professor Bolin predicted that the “greenhouse effect”, caused by an increase in the amount of carbon dioxide (CO₂) in the atmosphere, would lead to important changes in the Earth’s climate. At the time his prediction were regarded as science fiction. But it is now gradually agreed that the amount of carbon dioxide in the atmosphere will double from 0.03% to 0.06% in the next 50 years and that temperatures worldwide will rise by 2°Celsius.
Although a temperature rise of 2°may not seem significant, the local effects may be much greater: in polar regions a rise of 10°by 2025 is expected and in Northern Europe a rise of 4°. Indeed the first effects were expected to be felt before the end of the 20^th century,
But how does the “greenhouse effect”operate and why should such a tiny proportion（比例）of CO₂ have such a harmful effect? When living creatures breathe out or when things are burned, CO₂ enters the atmosphere. Until recently all of this was absorbed by plants, which converted it back into oxygen.
However, the balance of nature has been disturbed. In power stations, in factories and in our cars, we are burning more and more fossil fuels( coal, oil and natural gas ) and this produces huge quantities of CO₂---18 billion tons of it enter the atmosphere every year. Added to this, the destruction of forests means that less CO₂ can be converted into oxygen by plants. So, the amount of CO₂ in the atmosphere is increasing every year.
【小題1】Which of the following statements is true according to the passage?

A．Professor Bolin’s predictions were taken seriously in the first place

B．Only a small portion of the atmosphere consists of carbon dioxide

C．No changes in climate will become noticeable for 50 years or more

D．The rise in temperature will probably be 2 degrees in every part of the world.

【小題2】The amount of CO₂ in the atmosphere is increasing every year because       .

A．Carbon dioxide is produced when we breathe

B．Carbon dioxide is produced when we burn things

C．More forests are destroyed and more fossil fuels are burned

D．The global temperature keeps rising

【小題3】The “greenhouse effect”refers to         

A．the problem of the rising global temperature

B．the problem of increasing population worldwide

C．the problem of decreasing population worldwide

D．the problem of air pollution

【小題4】The underlined word“operate”in the third paragraph most probably means“      ”.

A．play

B．move

C．manage

D．function

Radio, TV, film, and new video technology bring to mind visions of bright, exciting, high-paying careers. Many young people are attracted to wonder: Is there a place for me in the broadcast media field?
People in the business warn that the road to a successful broadcast media career can be very rocky. They point out that getting started in the field is often difficult. To begin with, competition for most broadcast jobs can be fierce. Then, once on the job, the pressure is often big. Many jobs in broadcasting require long working hours, including nights and weekends. In most cases, the salaries are not very high.
What can you do to prepare for a career in broadcast media? Getting some kind of broadcasting experience during high school or college can be extremely important. Because the field is so popular, many employers are in a position to select beginners with developed skills.
You can start by becoming familiar with media while still in high school. If there is a media resource department in your school, volunteer to do anything. If there is no media department, take photos of games and social events. Work on the drama productions or write for the school newspaper.
Many beginners in broadcasting start at small local radio or TV stations. Such stations are usually more willing than the networks to take on people with little or no experience. Here, you have a chance to be involved in many aspects of the broadcast industry and get trained on the job.
【小題1】According to the writer, jobs with the TV networks ________.

A．require experience with local stations

B．a(chǎn)re harder to find than jobs with local stations

C．a(chǎn)re learned through training programs

D．pay high salaries

【小題2】What is the result of the high demand for jobs in broadcasting?

A．Applicants(申請者) with experience are preferred.	B．There are fewer jobs.
C．Training programs are limited.	D．Higher pay is being offered.

【小題3】 A student who follows the advice in the article would ________.

A．start broadcasting	B．give up broadcasting
C．gain experience	D．choose a special skill

We live in a digital world now, and a student’s technology needs have changed. For the early years, when you are in primary school, you can get by with no technology at all. Even if you have a computer, it’s a good idea to get children familiar with libraries. At this age, trips to the library are like family outings.
As you get closer to middle school, a computer with Internet access becomes more of a necessity. Teachers will often give assignments that require a student to use the Internet for research. After a computer, technology choices for students become more difficult to make – especially when it comes to cell-phones. Kids will beg their parents for a cell-phone, especially in middle school. For many parents, it’s a safety issue: They want to know that their kids can reach them quickly if necessary. For teachers, cell phones can be used to record lessons when students are absent. But many teachers dislike cell-phones. Some kids send messages or have talks in the class. Sending messages also raises the problem of cheating on exams. More and more schools are now forbidding the use of cell-phones.
Many kids see iPods as necessary things to have. IPods are great for music, but do they do anything good for your children’s education? Maybe they do. That’s the opinion of Doug Johnson, an educator for 30 years. Johnson says that educators should accept all new forms of technology in the classroom, including iPods. “Some do more with their cell- phones than we can do with our laptops,” he jokes. “I don’t think we should be afraid. The truth is that it’s easier to change the way we teach than to change the technology habits of an entire generation.”
【小題1】According to author, primary school children should___.

A．use the computer and the Internet regularly

B．a(chǎn)sk their parents to buy them cell-phones

C．buy iPods to listen to music

D．go to libraries to read more books

【小題2】Why do parents agree to buy their children cell-phones?

A．They want their children to be cool.

B．They think cell-phones be helpful to their study.

C．They want to keep in touch with their children.

D．They want their children to keep up to date.

【小題3】The following are all reasons why many teachers dislike cell-phones EXCEPT ____.

A．cell-phones can be used to cheat on exams

B．schoolchildren will send messages during class

C．cell-phones can be used to record lessons

D．schoolchildren might talk on them during class

【小題4】 What does the underlined word “that” refers to?

A．iPods can be used to listen to music.

B．iPods can be helpful for children’s education.

C．iPods can be used to play games.

D．iPods are necessary for children’s lives.

【小題5】We can infer from what Doug Johnson said that _____.

A．cell-phones are not useful to students

B．teachers should let students use cell-phones

C．it’s better for teachers to change their teaching methods

D．schoolchildren should follow the trends(潮流) of fashion