Water is very important to living things. Without water there can be no life on the earth. All animals and plants need water. Man also needs water. We need water to drink, to cook our food and to clean ourselves. Water is needed in offices, factories and schools. Water is needed everywhere.
There is water in seas, rivers and lakes. Water is found almost everywhere. Even in the desert part of the world, there is some water in the air. You can not see or feel it when it is a part of the air. The water in the seas, rivers and lakes is a liquid, the water in the air is a gas, and we call it water vapour (蒸氣).
Clouds are made of water. They may be made of very small drops of water. They may also be made of snow crystals(結(jié)晶體). Snow crystals are very very small crystals of ice. Ice is frozen water. It is a solid. There can be snow and ice everywhere in winter.
Water may be a solid or a liquid or a gas. When it is a solid, it may be as hard as a stone. When it is a liquid, you can drink it. When it is a gas, you can not see or feel it.
【小題1】Where can we find water?

A．We can find water when it turns into vapour.

B．Water is only in seas and rivers.

C．We can see water in deserts here and there.

D．Water can be found almost everywhere.

【小題2】 We can drink water when it is       

A．a(chǎn) solid	B．a(chǎn)liquid
C．in the air	D．turned into ice

【小題3】Clouds are made of           

A．seas, rivers and lakes

B．blocks of ice

C．very small drops of water or snow crystals

D．solid, liquid and gas

【小題4】Water has three states(狀態(tài)). They are              

A．solid, liquid and gas

B．solid, vapour, snow

C．drops of water, blocks of ice and crystals of water

D．ice, snow and air

Modern man has cleared the forests for farmland and for wood, and has also carelessly burned them. More than that, though, he has also interfered （干涉） with the invisible bonds between the living things in the forests. There are many examples of this kind of destruction. The harmfulness of man’s interference can be seen in what happened many years ago in the forest of the Kaibab plateau （凱亞巴布高原） of northern Arizona. Man tried to improve on the natural web of forest life and destroyed it instead.
The Kaibab had a storybook forest of large sized pine, Douglas fir, white fir, blue and Engelmann spruce. In 1882 a visitor noted, "We, who ... have wandered through its forests and parks, have come to regard it as the most enchanting region it has ever been our privilege （特權(quán)） to visit.” This was also the living place of the Rocky Mountain mule deer. Indians hunted there every autumn to gather meat and skins. The forest also had mountain lions, timber wolves and bobcats that kept the deer from multiplying too rapidly.
Then, in 1906, President Theodore Roosevelt made the Kaibab a national game preserve. Deer hunting was forbidden. Government hunters started killing off the deer’s enemies. In 25 years’ time, 6,250 mountain lions, wolves and bobcats were killed. Before the program, there were about 4,000 deer in the Kaibab, by 1924, there were about 100,000.
The deer ate every leaf and twig they could reach. But there was not nearly enough food. Hunting of deer was permitted again. This caused a slight decrease in the deer herd （鹿群），but a far greater loss resulted from starvation （饑餓） and disease. Some 60 percent of the deer herd died in two winters. By 1930 the herd had dropped to 20,000 animals. By 1942 it was down to 8,000.
【小題1】 The destruction of the environment of the Kaibab resulted from    

A．interfering with natural cycle of forest life

B．turning the forest into cultivated land

C．forest fires caused by man’s carelessness

D．cutting the trees for building materials

【小題2】 "Engelmann spruce"（Para. 2） is most likely the name of .

A．a(chǎn)n animal

B．a(chǎn) tree

C．a(chǎn) mountain

D．a(chǎn) game

【小題3】 The number of the deer in the Kaibab had increased enormously in    years’ time.

A．25

B．6

C．12

D．18

【小題4】 Years later, large numbers of deer in the Kaibab died mainly because of .

A．the cold	B．the organized kill
C．the poor management	D．the shortage of food

Annealing is a way of making metal softer by heating it and then letting it cool very slowly. If metal is heated and then cooled very quickly , for example by dipping it in water , it will be very hard but also very brittle(脆)---that is , It will break easily. Metal that has been annealed is soft but does not break as easily . It is possible to make metal as hard or as soft as is wished, by annealing it. The metal is heated, and allowed to cool slowly , for a certain length of time. The longer the heated metal takes to cool slowly , the softer it becomes . Annealing can also be used on other materials, such as glass.
【小題1】 Annealing can make metal _______________.

A．hard and tough (韌)	B．hard but brittle
C．soft but tough	D．soft and brittle

【小題2】 Why do people put hot metal in water ? ____________

A．To make it hard	B．To make it soft
C．To make it cool	D．To make it brittle

【小題3】 As suggested by the text , how can glass be made less brittle ?____________

A．It can be heated and then cooled quickly

B．It can be cooled and then heated slowly

C．It can be heated and then cooled slowly

D．It can be cooled and then heated quickly

根據(jù)短文內(nèi)容，從短文后的選項中選出能填入空白處的最佳選項。選項中有兩項為多余選項。
Each year there is an increasing number of cars on roads and streets as millions of new cars and trucks are produced. One out of every six Americans works at putting together the parts of cars, driving trucks, building roads or filling cars and trucks with gas.  1  
Most Americans would find it hard to imagine what life would look like without cars. 2 . The polluted air becomes poisonous and dangerous to health.
 3 . That’s what several of the large car factories have been trying to do. But to build a clean car is easier said than done. Progress in this field has been slow.
Another way is to take the place of the car engine by something else.  4 . Many makers believe that it will take years to develop a practical model that pleases man.
To prevent the world from being polluted by cars, we’ll have to make some changes in the way many of us live. Americans, for example, have to cut down on the number of their total cars. They are encouraged to travel and go to work by bicycle. Bicycling is thought to help the air clean. But this change does not come easily. A large number of workers may find themselves without jobs if a car factory closes down.  5 .
Although cars have led us to a better life, they have also brought us new problems.

A．Thus the problem of air pollution would become less important than that of unemployment.

B．Americans know cars very well.

C．However, some have realized the serious problems of the air pollution that is caused by cars.

D．One way to get rid of the polluted air is to build a car that does not pollute.

E. However, the number of vehicles has continued to increase in recent years.
F. Americans won’t live without cars!
G. Inventors are now working on steam cars as well as electric cars.

Britain’s seed(種子) bank, the only one in the world aiming to collect all of the planet’s wild plant species, has reached its goal of banking 10 percent by 2010.
The Millennium Seed Bank Project, run by Kew Gardens—one of the oldest botanical(植物的)  gardens—will officially place the 24,200th species on Thursday, a pink, wild banana from China.
More than 50 countries are now on board with Kew's giant task but vast places of the globe, including India and Brazil, still need to join in and donate seeds, director Paul Smith said.                                                                                                                                                            
The seed bank is one of the largest and most diverse(多樣的) in the world with more than 1.5 billion seeds. Its goal is to help protect the planet’s bio-diversity during a time of climate change.
The wild banana seed is under threat of extinction(滅絕) in southwest China from agricultural development. It is a vital food source for Asian elephants and important for growing bananas for human eating.
Stored at minus-20 degrees centigrade, so they can last for thousands of years, the seeds await the day that scientists hope never comes—when the species no longer exist in the wild.
It is a race against time, Smith said, because in the last ten years alone, 20 plants held in the bank have already been wiped out in the wild. He estimates that between a third and a quarter will become extinct this century.
"It is pressing and it is happening now. An area, the size of England, is cleared of primary vegetation（植被）every year." Smith said.
Because most of the world's food and medicines come from nature, protecting wild plant species is quite important, scientists say. There are already many other seed banks safeguarding food crops, which only account for 0.6 percent of plant diversity.
For Kew's next goal—to collect a quarter of wild varieties（種類）by 2020—the botanists need 10 million pounds a year, or a further 100 million pounds on top of the 40 million they have already been granted.
【小題1】What’s the final purpose of the Britain’s seed bank?

A．To collect enough money for the project.	B．To safeguard food crops.
C．To protect wild plants from extinction.	D．To help scientists study wild plants.

【小題2】We can learn from the passage that _______.

A．the seeds in the bank can be used now and then all over the world

B．India and Brazil haven’t joined in the Seed Bank Project at present

C．there is only one seed bank in the world at present

D．the wild plants in places like India and China will never die out

【小題3】What does the underlined word “it” in paragraph 7 refer to?

A．The extinction of plant species.

B．The Millennium Seed Bank Project.

C．Britain’s seed bank.

D．Kew Gardens’ next goal.

【小題4】Which of the following isn’t spoken about in the passage?

A．The global partnership of collecting wild plant species.

B．The temperature condition of the wild plant species in the bank.

C．The government’s support for the seed bank project by giving money.

D．Scientists’ concern on the extinct wild plant species.

Next Stop: Planet Mars
Fly me to the moon? That’s not far enough. On September 14, 2011, NASA released designs for a superrocket, the Space Launch System (SLS). This time the final destination will be Mars.
The SLS is a huge, liquid-fuelled rocket. If it is fully developed, it will be the most powerful rocket ever built. Its lift capability will be much bigger than that of the space shuttle of Saturn 5, the rocket that sent the Apollo missions to the moon.
NASA is planning to launch its first unmanned test flight in 2017. It is hoped that the first crew will fly in 2021 and astronauts will make it to a nearby asteroid(小行星) in 2025. NASA hopes to send the rocket and astronauts to Mars from the asteroid by the 2030s, according to the Associated Press (AP).
NASA used liquid rockets to send Apollo, Gemini and Mercury into space, but later changed to solid rockets boosters(助推火箭) because they were cheaper. Tragically, however, a booster flaw(缺陷) caused the space shuttle Challenger to crash in 1986. The new project plans to return to liquid fuel.
According to AP, the rockets will at first be able to carry 77 to 110 tons of payload(凈載重量). Eventually they will be able to carry 143 tons into space, maybe even as many as 165 tons, NASA officials said. By comparison, the Saturn 5 booster could lift 130 tons and the space shuttle just 27 tons.
However, unlike reusable shuttles, these powerful rockets are mostly one use only. New ones have to be built for every launch. This will be very costly.
NASA estimates that it will cost about $3 billion (19 billion yuan) per year, or $18 billion until the first test flight in 2017. NASA hopes to make money by allowing private companies to send astronauts to the International Space Station like giant taxi services, so that the program can be “sustainable”.
“This is perhaps the biggest thing for space exploration in decades,” said Senator Bill Nelson, a former astronaut. “The goal is to fly humans safely beyond low-Earth orbit(軌道) and deep into outer space where we cannot only survive, but one day also live.”
【小題1】What is the outstanding feature of the SLS?

A．It’s equipped with an advanced control system.

B．It’s the first unmanned space shuttle in the world.

C．It’s the only vehicle that can fly astronauts to the moon.

D．It can send a lot more goods and passengers into space.

【小題2】What is Saturn 5?

A．An aircraft that had a deadly flaw and crashed in 1986.

B．A series of rockets that once sent astronauts to the moon.

C．An unmanned space shuttle that was once famous in the world.

D．A kind of launch vehicle that will be used to carry astronauts to Mars.

【小題3】NASA plans to use liquid fuel in the new project because ______ than solid rockets boosters.

A．it is less costly

B．it is much safer

C．it can last longer

D．it is more environmentally friendly

【小題4】According to NASA’s schedule, it will take ______ years to fully complete the SLS program.

A．a(chǎn)bout 6	B．a(chǎn)bout 10
C．less than 14	D．more than 19

【小題5】It can be inferred from the passage that ______.

A．the SLS program is planning to make reusable rockets

B．the goal of the SLS program is to enable humans to live on the moon

C．the US government may not have provided enough money for the SLS program

D．NASA will use SLS as a space taxi between the Earth and Mars

Natural disasters such as earthquakes, tsunamis, and floods can often come at the least expected time．Others, such as hurricanes are increasing in severity and destruction．Typically, those poor countries are the worst hit for they have the least resources to deal with the destruction and rebuild their home．This part of the globalissues．org website looks at some of these issues．
Japan Earthquake, Tsunami and Nuclear Crisis
The earthquake off the coast of Japan on March 11, 2011 was one of the biggest recorded, measuring 9 on the Richter scale（里氏震級）．
It was the resulting tsunami, however, that caused the most destruction．It devastated the northeast of Japan, leaving many thousands dead or missing, and -hundreds of thousands homeless or leaving the area．In addition, various power generators（發(fā)電機組） failed．Some older nuclear power stations risked meltdown and suffered explosions and radioactive leaks．Workers battled for weeks to try and bring the situation under control．Radioactive material was detected in various places．
It is thought that the cost of the earthquake and tsunami could be over $ 300 billion-the world's most expensive natural disaster on record．
Hurricane Katrina
Hurricane Katrina was a destroyed category 4（四級） hurricane, the highest category, that hit the Gulf of Mexico and various Southern regions of the United States at the end of August, 2005, causing the worst damage in that country's history, estimated at $ 100 billion．The famous New Orleans city and surrounding areas were worst hit as much of it sits some 6 feet below sea level．City defenses, such as banks, only designed for categary 3 type hurricanes, gave way, leading to enormous flooding and associated damage, death and displacement of around 100, 000 people who either chose to say the course, or could not afford to flee．
【小題1】Where would this passage most probably appear?

A．In a textbook．

B．In a magazine．

C．In a paper．

D．In a website．

【小題2】Why are those poor countries the worst hit by natural disasters?

A．Because they are lazy and poor．

B．Because they desire help from rich countries．

C．Because they lack resources to deal with the destruction and rebuild their home．

D．Because they never think of protecting their home．

【小題3】What is the meaning do the underlined word "devastated" in the paragraph 3?

A．Built．

B．Completed．

C．Discovered．

D．Destroyed．

【小題4】In the disaster happening in 2011 in Japan, what caused the most destruction?

A．Radioactive material．	B．Tsunami．
C．Earthquake．	D．Power generators' explosion．

【小題5】What can we infer from the last paragraph?
A．Hurricane Katrina also hit the northern part of the USA．
B．Hurricane Katrina caused the second the worst damage in the history of the USA．
C．All parts of New Orleans city were below sea level．
D．City defenses in New Orleans couldn't deal with Hurricane Katrina．

Fish have different personalities which change as they experience life’s highs and lows．a(chǎn)ccording to British biologists．
Researchers identified different“personalities” in their fish by observing the boldness or shyness of individuals，according to The Nature．Like people，some fish are very confident in the face of novelty(新奇事物)or conflict；while others are silent and fear．
The scientists selected particularly bold and shy rainbow trout，and tested whether they changed their outlook depending on what life threw at them．They arranged some fish to fight and others to  watch to  see how both the participants  and  observers  responded to victories  and defeats．Winning or losing a fight，or even watching fellow fish overcome the difficulties influenced the future behavior of the creatures studied in the lab．
The researchers made fish compete with much larger or smaller opponents．to ensure that they would win or lose their fights．These bold fish that won their fights tended to be even bolder when later presented with  a novel food  item；losing their fight caused them to be  much more cautious．
Fish also learn by watching others．Bold fish watching a shy fish exploring a mystery object were much more nervous when later given a novelty item for themselves．
Predictably，shy fish that won a fight also gained more confidence，but surprisingly，shy fish that lost their fights also grew bolder when exploring strange new food，Sneddon said，adding that this could be due to what she calls a“desperado effect”(亡命徒效應(yīng))．
The new research suggests that animals can gradually adapt their personalities．The results echo the effects that life experience can have on human．
【小題1】What does．the underlined word“creatures’’probably refer to?

A．Fish．

B．Participants．

C．Observers．

D．Researchers．

【小題2】The third paragraph of the text is mainly about—————．

A．a(chǎn) conclusion of the research

B．a(chǎn)n explanation of fish characters

C．a(chǎn) statement of the experiment

D．a(chǎn) description of fish fights

【小題3】What can we know from the research?

A．Bold losing fish become—e bolder when presented With a novel food item．

B．Losing their fights causes the bold fish to be much more courageous．

C．Bold fish watching a shy fish exploring a mystery get less nervous．

D．Shy fish losing fights grow more confident in exploring new food．

【小題4】What’s the main idea of the text?’   

A．Fish have stress in the fierce fights．

B．Fish care about winning or losing a fight．

C．Fish have adaptable personalities．

D．Fish can learn a lot by watching others．

Three—quarters of a million tourists flock to the white beaches every year，but this booming industry has come at a price．Poisonous smoke rising from open fires，rubbish made up of plastic bottles，packets…it’S a far cry from the white sands，clear waters and palm trees that we associate with the Maldives(馬爾代夫)，the paradise island holiday destination set in the Indian Ocean．
of its 200 inhabited islands，which are spread across an area of"35，000 square miles，99 are good resorts(旅游勝地)．So many tourists come every year，more than double the local population．Of these，over l 00，000 travel from the U K．The capital，Mal6，is four times more densely populated than London．Given these facts，it’S hardly surprising that the Maldives has a waste disposal problem．
Y ears a90，when the tourists left，the government had to deal with a stream of rubbish．Their solution was to turn one of the islands into a dumping ground．Four miles west of Mal6 is the country’s dumping ground，Thilafushi．What you are seeing here is a view of the Maldives on which no honeymooners will ever clap eyes．Each visitor produces 3．5 kg of waste per day．The country dumps more than 330 tons of rubbish on the island every day．
Now，since many waste boats，fed up with waiting seven hours or more，directly offload their goods into the sea，the government of the Maldives has banned the dumping of waste on the island．S0，the waste boats ship the rubbish to India instead．
【小題1】What is the main cause of the waste disposal problem?

A．The big local population．	B．Too many waste boats．
C．The large number of tourists．	D．Open fires on the islands．

【小題2】The underlined part can probably be replaced by“——”．

A．it’s quite similar to	B．it’S a long distance from
C．it’s a loud shout from	D．it’S totally different from

【小題3】What can we learn from the text?

A．It iS much more crowded in Mal6 than in London．

B．Another island will be used as a dumping ground．

C．No honeymooners are willing to visit the Maldives．

D．Waste on islands will be offloaded directly into the sea．

【小題4】What’S the author’S purpose in writing the text?

A．To attract more tourists to the Maldives．

B．To state the waste disposal problem in the Maldives．

C．To call on us to protect the environment．

D．To explain the causes of pollution in the Maldives．

In a little-known part of the counter-terrorism（反恐怖主義） world, one of the most effective detection systems is a 600-pound animal that works for about 20 pounds of fish a day.
Since the 1960s, the United States and a handful of other countries have trained dolphins and sea lions to detect sea mines and swimmers, to recover inert torpedoes（魚雷）and to test objects used in Naval exercises.
Program officials estimate that the sea lions in the Marine Mammal Program have recovered millions of dollars of U.S. Naval torpedoes and instrumentation dropped on the sea floor.
The U.S. Navy kept its Marine Mammal Program a secret until the 1990s, and this spring CNN became one of only a handful of media outlets to see firsthand how the program works.
The program has trained about 75 Pacific bottlenose dolphins, with natural biosonar (生物聲納) that tracks better than any manmade device; and 35 California sea lions, with superb underwater eyesight.
Not only do these trained marine mammals track and retrieve millions of dollars in U. S. military equipment, they are also helping to save lives.
The Navy won't disclose whether the dolphins and sea lions have effectively intercepted （阻攔）terrorists attempting to do harm to any U.S. facilities.
"Either way, it serves as a deterrent（阻礙） effect." says Christian Harris, operations supervisor for the program. The mammals can be deployed（調(diào)動） via C-130 cargo aircraft to perform their missions anywhere in the world within 72 hours. They have been used in exercises from Alaska to Hawaii, operating in great temperature and environmental ranges. They also have the capability to operate off vessels.
Dolphins most recently were deployed in the Iraq war, performing mine detection and clearance operations in the Persian Gulf to ensure safe passage for humanitarian ships delivering aid. Some of these Iraq war "veterans" are now back home, tasked with a new mission: guarding nuclear submarines in their homeports of Bremerton, Washington, and Groton, Connecticut.
【小題1】The underlined word "retrieve" in Paragraph 6 can be replaced by ________.

A．find out

B．recover

C．save

D．detect

【小題2】Which is NOT the purpose of the Marine Mammal Program?

A．To detect sea mines and swimmers.

B．To save lives of people.

C．To recover inert torpedoes.

D．To help the U.S. Naval test equipment.

【小題3】What can be inferred according to the text?

A．These trained marine mammals eat pounds of fish a day.

B．The U.S. Navy performed the Marine Mammal Program for about 30 years secretly.

C．These mammals can carry out a task everywhere.

D．A lot of countries will train dolphins and sea lions for anti-terrorism.

【小題4】What would be the best title for the passage?

A．The Special Skills of Marine Mammals	B．The U.S. Anti-terrorism Program
C．Exceptional Anti-terrorism Member	D．Trained Marine Mammals