Wind , water, fire and ice-these powerful natural forces have shaped the land of America in the past. They are still changing it today.
The Colorado River slowly cut down through stone to make the Grand Canyon(大峽谷).
Long ago, ice sheets cut Yosemite Valley and the Great Lakes, and glaciers(冰川) are still on the move in Alaska.
Wind and rain storm hit the land from time to time. Fires sometimes burn down forests and destroy the homes of wild animals. This happened in Yellowstone Park in 1988.
Dead volcanic mountains such as Haleakala on Maui and Carter Lakein Oregon are beautiful to look at. But there are several active volcanoes in the US, especially along the Pacific Coast. There are also many earthquakes in this area. Scientists can do nothing to control earthquakes or volcanoes. This was shown clearly on May 18, 1980. At 8:32 that morning, Mount St Helens in Washington state broke out. The top of the mountain was blown off.
Over 60 people –campers, scientists, journalists, forest workers—were killed. Hundreds of square miles of forests were knocked down. In towns over 100 miles away, day suddenly became night. An ash cloud hid the sun for many hours. Towns and fields in Washington, Oregon, and Idaho were covered with dirty gray ash.
Scientists knew that Mt St Helens might erupt(爆發(fā)) soon. But no one could say when. And no one expected the terrible strength of the eruption. Many people were surprised and unready. Harry R. Truman, 84, owned a small hotel in Mt St Helens. Scientists had asked people to move away because the volcano was becoming dangerous.
But Harry Truman would not leave his home. Now it is covered with many feet of dirty ash. A small cross stands above the place where Harry probably died. Perhaps it is better that he did not see the destruction of Mt St Helens, the once beautiful lake, and the forests.
But slowly, life is returning to the dead area around the mountain. Grass and small plants are beginning to grow again. Deer and birds have been seen. The land will never be the same as it once was. Perhaps Mt St Helens will erupt again. But this is all part of nature’s pattern of change, and man has little power to control it.
【小題1】Choose the best title for this passage.

Prince Charles yesterday promised to reduce the royal impact on the environment through sweeping changes to his personal lifestyle and official schedule. The prince will replace carbon-heavy private jets and helicopters with scheduled flights and train services.
The move came as Prince Charles urged business leaders to publish the environmental pact of their activities.
He said, “Few accountants and business decision-makers ask, ‘How much of our critical natural resource is left? How many miles of polar ice cap has our business helped melt this year? By how many inches have we raised sea levels? How many species have we put at risk? How many homes will be flooded, how many people will die of thirst or starvation because of our activities? ’ These are not comfortable questions, but, by God, they need to be asked. ”
He added, “At the moment these costs do not appear in anyone’s books… Yet they are real, they are incurred now and in a relatively short time, the damage being caused may be beyond remedy. ” He said the world was “running up the biggest global credit card debt in history, but with little or no thought for how the bill will ever be paid”.
Flanked by the prime minister and business and community leaders at St James’ Palace, the prince said his new “accounting for sustainability” project would give consumers the power to choose products that caused less damage to the planet.
Duchy Originals, the prince’s food company, is taking steps to work out how much carbon dioxide and other green-house gases are emitted in growing, processing and distributing its products. The changes to the prince’s travel arrangements announced yesterday are part of a wider review of the carbon footprint associated with activities at all three of his residences. Clarence House in London, Highgrove and Birkhall on the Balmorals estate(莊園), as well as the activities of his 21 personal and 105 full-time staff. Measures include a review of electricity use, commuter and other staff travel and are intended to identify further reductions in carbon dioxide emissions. The review will report in June , when Clarence House will announce annual targets to reduce carbon emission.
【小題1】How does Prince Charles feel about business leaders in terms of environmental protection?

Vampires (吸血鬼), creatures of myth, have been around in one form or another for centuries. Terrifying but also attractive, they are as popular in the early 21 st century as ever, as the current popularity of Twilight series, and its hero Edward Cullen, show.
Vampires first appeared in fiction in the 1700s. in 1895 Irish novelist Bram Stoker published Dracula, introducing the world’s most famous vampire.
But just what is it about these drinkers of human blood that continues to fascinate us? Speaking to Eric Lewis of the Times and Transcript website, academic Deborah Wells said that vampires are “culturally adaptive”. “We create very different vampires to fit different times. Edward Cullen is not the same as Count Dracula,” she said.
Different as they are, Wells believes vampires are “the perfect containers into which we can pour our current cultural anxieties”, Bram Stoker’s Dracula is powerful, yet old and physically ugly. Stoker’s book dealt with fear of the fall of the British Empire, real fears in the day in which it was written.
According to the website Bookrags, today’s vampires have all our cultural desires, money, power and sexual attraction. Represented by Cullen, they are noble, handsome young men whom women find irresistible. What’s more, vampires challenge traditional ideas about death, science and parental authority. This may be why teenagers are drawn to vampire tales.
“In many ways, the vampire story shows up teenage concerns,” said wells. “The emotional intensity (強度) of the relationship with the vampire matches the intensity of how it feels to have your first real love affairs. Your first real love, it really feels like life and death.”
55．The best title for this passage should be_______.
A．Vampires may continue to drink our blood
B．Vampires have been around us for long
C．Why Twilight is so popular nowadays
D．We still like the story about vampires
56．What is the image of the vampire in Bram Stoker’s book?
A．Anxious but perfect.
B．Powerful, old and ugly.
C．Terrifying but also attractive.
D．Afraid of the fall of the British Empire.
57．According to the website Bookrages, today’s vampires_______.
A．desire money, power and sexual attraction
B．may not think highly of parental authority
C．dare to give up traditional ideas
D．a(chǎn)re likely to be resisted by women
58．Which of the following statements is true according to Wells?
A．People need different vampires in different times.
B．Our current cultural anxieties are hidden in vampires.
C．The vampire story reflects the conches of the teenagers.
D．The relationship with the vampire equals your first real love.

20．If a boy wants to improve the skill of writing poems he can call __________．

A．（415）744-6827               B．（415）557-4268

C．（415）557-4497               D．（415）557-4400

21．Who would be most likely to attend the event on Wednesday, January 9？

A．A science teacher              B．A retired worker．

C．A school headmaster．         D．A supermarket owner．

22．Which event doesn’t need booking in advance?

A．One-on-One Computer or Internet Training Session.

B．Beyond Journal Writing for Teens.

C．Power Panels and Films by World Savvy.

D．Business Counseling Sessions.

Tuvalu, north of Fiji, is a tiny country in the Pacific Ocean.
Storms and huge waves are a constant threat and none of Tuvalu's nine little islands is more than five metres above sea level. Salt water is already entering the country's drinking water supply, as well as damaging plants that produce fruit and vegetable.It fears it will be swallowed up by the sea. Without urgent help, the country's days are numbered.
But Tuvalu is not the first place to face sinking into the sea. Venice, a historic city in Italy best known for its canals, has sunk about 24cm over the past 100 years. Experts say that it will have sunk another 20-50cm by 2050. A century ago, St. Mark's Square, the lowest point in the city, flooded about nine times a year. Nowadays, it happens more than 100 times.
While Venice is slowly sinking into the mud on which it stands, Tuvalu's rising sea level is caused by global warming.
The average global temperature has increased by almost 0.5 centigrade degree over the past century; scientists expect it to rise by an extra 1-3 degrees over the next 100 years.
Warmer weather makes glaciers melt, adding more water to the ocean. The warmer temperatures also make water expand, so it takes up more space, causing the sea level to rise. The sea level has risen about 10-25cm in the last 100 years.
People have been increasing the greenhouse gases in the atmosphere, such as CO2, through burning coal, oil and gas. This adds to the power of the greenhouse effect, making the planet even warmer.
Many scientists believe that, if the warming is not stopped, there will be huge climate changes. The sea level could rise by one metre this century.
Should this come true, millions of homes would be swallowed up by the sea and the world will be flooded with "climate refugees" looking for somewhere else to live.
【小題1】 We can infer from Paragraph 2 that ______.