Water costs money. In some places water is hard 31. What 32 when a town has these problems? A small town in California found a happy 33.

　　Very 34 rain ever fell there. The town had no water 35. The water it used was 36 from a river 300 miles away. As more people 37 live in the town, 38 water was needed. Now water 39 to be brought in from 600 miles away. All these cost 40 money.

　　The town 41 a plan. It found 42 to clean its “dirty” water. Once the cleaned water was reused 43 many ways. Five 44 lakes were built. Here people could swim and fish and go 45. They 46 have picnics in their new parks. Farmers had more water 47 their crops. New factories can be built, now that they have the promise of 48.

In most places, water is used and thrown 49. The town that saved 50 water has saved the town！

That predatory population increase to control other animals has long been known. Many years ago, the Hudson’s Bay Company records revealed that the fox population went up and down about a year after rabbit population had gone up and down.

Sometimes a situation occurs in which the predatory population is reduced to a level below which nature can readily replace. On Valcour Island in Lake Champlain, a costly campaign resulted in the elimination（消除）of predatory animals only to have birds and small animals increase for four years afterward. Then, lacking predator control, nature resorted to disease to cut down these populations.

Jamaica had an example of nature’s persistence in providing animals for existing habits. Sugar planters, about 75 years ago, imported mongooses（狐猴）to control rats. The mongooses killed off the rats, kids, puppies, and wildlife. Eventually, food became scarce and the mongoose’s population declines.

1. The fact that the number of predators has much to do with that of other animals 　　  .

A. is not recent knowledge　　　　　　　　　　　　　　    B.has just been learned

C.hasn’t been proved yet　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　  D.is not important now

2. When predator control fails, nature brings animal population into balance by       .

A. eliminating the number of predators

B.seeking the help of disease to reduce other animals

C.increasing the number of other animals

D.replacing the number of predators immediately

3. When the mongooses killed off the rats they 　　  .

A. became problems themselves　　　　　　　　　　　　 B.ate the sugar crop

C.attacked humans　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　   D.had nothing to eat

4. It is implied in this passage that 　　  .

A. sugar planter imported mongooses to control rats

B.man should never kill animals

C.man has complete control over nature

D.to upset the balance of nature can be troublesome

It is natural that children are curious (好奇的) about the world around them. For example, they want to know how their hearts beat. They want to know why the ocean water tastes salty.

　　As children grow up, they become curious about different kinds of things. When they are babies, they are interested in the parts of their bodies and in the smiles of their mothers. They become interested in the physical world around them: the plants, the animals, the sky. Later, they become interested in the things that people have made: wheels, bicycles, cars. And when they are adults, their curiosity continues. Sometimes this curiosity leads to a career (生涯、職業(yè)) in science.

　　Scientists spend their lives trying to find out about the world．Those who work with the earth sciences study the earth, the oceans, and the skies. Other scientists who study living things work with the biological sciences. A third group of scientists study the physical sciences, e. g. physics, chemistry .

　　These scientists have already discovered a lot about our world．For example, they tell us why your heart beats fast when you run. They say that when you are quiet, your heart normally beats sixty-five or seventy-five times a minute. Your heart is a pump (泵) that pumps blood to all parts of the body. The blood carries oxygen and nutrition. When you run, your muscles work very hard and use the nutrition that the blood carries to them. The muscles need oxygen, too . So your brain sends a signal to the heart. The signal means that the muscles need more nutrition and oxygen. Then the heart beats fast and sends blood quickly to the muscles. It may beat 90 to 140 times a minute.

　　Of course, scientists cannot answer all of our questions. If we ask, “Why does the ocean water taste salty” scientists will say that the salt comes from rocks. When a rock gets very hot or very cold, it cracks. Rain falls into cracks. The rain then carries the salt into the earth and into the rivers. The rivers carry the salt into the ocean. But then we ask , “What happens to the salt in the ocean? The ocean does not get saltier every year.” Scientists are not sure about the answer to this question.

　　We know a lot about our world, but there are still many answers that we do not have, and we are curious.

1.According to the passage, which of the following statements is true?

　 A. People are curious in the same way.

　 B. People in different countries are interested in different things.

　 C. Men and women are curious about different things.

　 D. People of different ages are interested in different things

2.Scientists who work with the biological sciences study____.

A. the earth , the oceans and the sky                 B. man-made things

C. plants and animals               D. ocean water

3.A rock cracks _____.

A. in wet regions                                     B. in dry regions

C. at very high or very low temperatures     D. when salty water falls in

4. People are always curious because ____.

A. they cannot explain many things B. they know nothing about the world

C. they know little about the world  D. they want to be scientists

第二節(jié)完形填空(共20小題；每小題2分，滿分40分)
閱讀下面短文，從短文后所給各題的四個選項(A、B、C和D)中，選出可以填入空白處的最佳選項。
About 10 years ago my daughter studied in Ayrlie Beach, about 2 500 kilometers from Newcastle. She rang me one day crying because of an emotional trauma(創(chuàng)傷) she was16. She told me that she needed17, and my arms around her would be the best thing!18I couldn’t do that at that exact moment, I asked her to describe her19to me and told her that if she hadn’t heard from me in about 30 minutes she should20me back.
After21up the phone, I just sat for a few seconds. After only a very short time a phone number22into my head. I rang the number and it was a23who had bought a house from me about 18 months before, when I24in Real Estate. To my surprise, my25words to her were these, “Oh, it’s you Liz, I have no idea26I’m calling you in particular, but my daughter is in27in Ayrlie Beach, and I just got the28to ring you and tell you that. Have you any idea why?”
“It could be because my29lives there,” says Liz.
“Oh really, that’s got to be it,” I said. “Do you30giving me his phone number, Liz?”
“Of course not, and I can only hope that he can be31!”
Liz gave me his mobile number and I rang straight away. 32, he answered immediately, and I told him the33of who I was, and why I’d rung.
I gave him the34of the place where my daughter was standing; and that she needed emotional support if he could find it in his heart to help out so unexpectedly like this.
“Oh yes, I can go and35her,” he said... “She’s right across the street from where I’m standing!” He walked across the street and told my daughter that her Dad had sent him to help her!
16.A.curing           B.facing         C.finding               D.treating
17.A.food              B.money        C.support                     D.clothes
18.A.If                  B.When          C.Whether             D.Because
19.A.surroundings  B.feelings       C.difficulties      D.problems
20.A.pay               B.send            C.follow                D.ring
21.A.hanging         B.looking              C.talking               D.putting
22.A.walked          B.jumped              C.divided                     D.turned
23.A.girl               B.man            C.woman               D.boy
24.A.visited           B.stopped       C.appeared            D.lived
25.A.kind              B.sweet          C.funny                 D.exact
26.A.how                     B.where         C.why                   D.what
27.A.silence           B.trouble        C.surprise              D.danger
28.A.thought         B.strength       C.decision             D.permit
29.A.son               B.daughter      C.husband             D.sister
30.A.mind             B.kind            C.sweet                 D.funny
31.A.brave            B.helpful        C.valuable             D.important
32.A.Clearly          B.Surely         C.Fortunately         D.Unluckily
33.A.story             B.trick           C.news                  D.lesson
34.A.examination   B.description  C.expression          D.condition
35.A.like               B.know          C.see                     D.punish

For thousands of years, mankind has produced plants and animals to create more desired and useful plants and animals. For example, modern com has been produced to such a large size that it is no longer able to reproduce without man’s assistance. Modern dairy cows produce too much milk and if they are not often emptied of milk, they could leak, burst, become infected, and possibly die. Besides, most dogs raised by people can not survive in the wild even with special training.

Since natural evolution is extremely slow and mankind’s selective production programs only take a few generations to produce a completely new species, natural evolution has already taken a back seat to mankind’s production programs. In addition, mankind has successfully killed off several species all together. For example, there are no more European wolves in existence and mammoths (猛犸象) probably died out because of mankind. Even certain diseases have been permanently got rid of from the planet, and dozens of other diseases will soon be too. Again, natural evolution did i»t cause most of the destruction during man’s rule of the world.

Currently, scientists are creating new species with desired characteristics in the lab significantly faster than natural evolution creates new species. In a single generation, new species can be created and destroyed by mankind, while natural evolution could take thousands of years to do the same but only accidentally. Scientists are even able to replace defective (有缺陷的) or damaged genes with different genes to attempt to cure genetic defects. This is something that natural evolution could possibly never correct.

Eventually scientists will even be able to improve the quality of people. For example, imagine not only correcting your eyesight with gene treatment, but also ensuring that all of your children do not receive your old genes of poor eyesight too. Scientists will one day be able to improve the memory and intelligence of your children, so that they will do better in school and achieve more in life. Doctors and scientists will be able to customize (訂制) babies before they are born just like picking options at a car store.

1.According to the first paragraph,______ .

A. man-made evolution has improved all species

B. man-made evolution has weakened some species

C man-made evolution can make up for all natural losses

D. natural evolution won’t happen without man’s assistance

2.What does the underlined part “taken a back seat to” in Paragraph 2 mean?

A. Become powerful assistance to.   

B. Become a huge barrier to.

C Speeded up the process of.   

D. Played a less important role than.

3.What does the third paragraph mainly talk about?

A. Why natural evolution happens so slowly.

B. The way scientists adopt to have genetic defects repaired.

C. The advantages of man-made evolution over natural evolution.

D. How scientists make use of man-made evolution to create new species.

4.What can we infer from the passage?

A. Near-sighted parents will be able to produce babies with good eyesight in the future.

B. Doctors and scientists will be responsible for mass production of babies in the future.

C. It is natural evolution that is to blame for the destruction of European wolves and mammoths.

D. Children can now have their memory and intelligence improved with the help of gene treatment.