1 . Throughout history, many species of animals have been threatened with extinction. When Europeans first arrived in North America, more than 60 million buffalo (水牛) lived on the continent. Yet hunting the buffalo was so popular during the 19th century that by 1900 the animal’s population had fallen to about 400 before the government stepped in to protect the species. In some countries today, the elephant faces a similar challenge, as illegal hunters kill the animals for the ivory in their tusks.
Yet not all animals with commercial value face this threat (威胁).The cow, for example, is a valuable source of food, but no one worries that the cow will soon be extinct. Why does the commercial value of ivory threaten the elephant. while the commercial value of beef protects the cow?
The reason is that elephants are a common resource, while cows are private goods. Elephants wander freely without any owners. The hunter has a strong motivation to kill as many elephants as he can find. Because illegal hunters are numerous, each has only a slight motivation to preserve the elephant population. By contrast, cattle live on farms that are privately owned. Each farmer makes great effort to maintain the cattle population on his farm because he harvests the benefit of these efforts.
Governments have tried to solve the elephant’s problem in two ways. Some countries, such as Kenya and Uganda, have made it illegal to kill elephants and sell their ivory. Yet these laws have been hard to put into effect, and elephant populations have continued to dwindle. By contrast, other countries, such as Malawi and Namibia, have made elephants private goods and allowed people to kill elephants, but only those on their own property.
With private ownership and the profit motive now on its side, the African elephant might someday be as safe from extinction as the cow. The ancient Greek philosopher Aristotle pointed out the problem with common resources: “What is common to many is taken least care of, for all men have greater regard for what is their own than for what they possess in common with others.”
1. Why does the author mention buffalo in paragraph 1?| A．To introduce a similar threat to elephants. |
| B．To provide an example of species extinction. |
| C．To offer an explanation for government policies. |
| D．To present the statistics of the buffalo in America. |
| A．They are under different law protection |
| B．They attract different groups of hunters |
| C．They contain different commercial value |
| D．They represent different ownership types |
| A．Bans on killing elephants for ivory |
| B．Effective laws for elephant protection. |
| C．Methods of making elephants private goods |
| D．Government policies on the elephant’s problem |
| A．People hold little regard for others’ property |
| B．People want to profit from common resources |
| C．People care more about their own possession |
| D．People tend to take what they own for granted |
2 . Around the country and around the world, there is no shortage of human suffering. Poverty, disease, violence, hurricanes, wildfire and more are constantly troubling humanity, and even our best efforts thus far can’t address all of everybody’s needs. Many are looking for places to cut funding, and one of the first places that comes up in conversation is excessive spending on space exploration. What good is it to conduct microgravity experiments repeatedly when children are starving? Why launch so many space-related projects when nuclear war threatens our planet?
This is a line of thinking that has been coming up throughout history. Yes, it’s short-sighted, in that it fails to recognize that our greatest problems require long-term investment, and that society’s greatest advances come about through hard work, research, development of decades after that is made. Investing in science is investing in the betterment of humanity.
Over these years, much of the results of the space research have been adapted to be applicable to our daily lives. For example, NASA’s advancements in the areas of robotics have given manufacturers an additional basis for the development of more advanced artificial limbs. Additionally, certain nutritional enrichment ingredients that were developed by NASA have been integrated into baby food formula.
Space technology has also helped improve economies. Within the next three years, the space exploration and space tourism industry are expected to be valued at 3 trillion USD. It is true that for every dollar we spend on the space program, the US economy receives about $8 of economic benefit. Space exploration can also serve as amotivation for children to enter the fields of science and engineering.
To many people, the idea of space travel may still seem far from practical. However, I believe that it is important that we keep going forward or we’ll risk delaying further discoveries and technological advancements that will be beneficial for us.
1. According to paragraph 1, what do some people think of space exploration?| A．Useless. | B．Wasteful. |
| C．Beneficial. | D．Harmful. |
| A．The advance. | B．The development. |
| C．The investment. | D．The problem. |
| A．By providing a foundation. |
| B．By adding certain materials. |
| C．By acting as a driving force. |
| D．By helping realize the mass production. |
| A．The payback of space programs is very high. |
| B．Space travel appears to be within people’s reach. |
| C．More and more children are interested in science. |
| D．New technological discoveries have been delayed. |
3 . Part of the reason that English has grown as a world language is that it easily adjusts to (适应) change. However, this means that what one was taught as a child in school may be out of date many years later. When words or phrases change, it can make speakers feel “wrong” because they were taught that something else was “right.”
One example of this is a term connected to school itself. Today, it is common for people to say that they “graduated high school” or college. The word “graduate” has two common meanings. One is to mark off a series. The other meaning is closely related. As you move through school, you cross off a series of achievements: grade school, middle school, high school, and college. So, in a way, school itself is “graduated.”
So, when people used to speak of getting a degree, they said they “graduated from college.” “To graduate college” would have meant to mark it off by year — the first year, the second year etc. Similarly, “to graduate to college” would have meant to complete high school and move up to the next level.
But as happens often in English, when people understand your meaning, smaller words can disappear. “I graduated college” is now easy to say. This may distress people who were taught that you had to use “from” to be correct. But this is not the first time this phrase has been simplified. It used to be that you said, “I was graduated from college，” instead of, “I graduated from college.”
You can't know what English will keep and what it will lose. Who could imagine that we would still say we “dial” a phone number when we now push buttons on our cellphone? Yet we know what it means.
1. What do we know about the word “graduate”？| A．It has two similar meanings. |
| B．There was a change in its meanings. |
| C．It had nothing to do with school at first. |
| D．It got an extra meaning during its development. |
| A．I was graduated from college. | B．I was to graduate to college. |
| C．I graduated from college. | D．I graduated college. |
| A．change | B．correct | C．worry | D．hurt |
| A．Right or wrong? |
| B．Words come and go in English |
| C．English is a very changeable language |
| D．How should English be taught in school? |
4 . Where am I? What am I doing? If you're one of my 500 friends online, you'll always be the first to know. My phone and laptop are never out of touching distance, so I'm endlessly checking through all my social networking apps - whether I'm having a coffee, on my way to school, watching TV. . . even when I'm in the shower. I have a never - ending flow of messages and updates from all the people I associate with online. Yet the truth of the matter is: I feel lonely
I'm not the only person who feels this way. According to research, over two-thirds of young people find it easier to make friends online than it is “in real life”. I'm a shy person, but I'm wired up (上线) every day, like most of my friends. On the surface, phones bring us closer together. But in reality, my mind is always a million miles away.
I often feel depressed, dissatisfied and alone. Since I spend so much time socializing online, I even become a procrastinator (拖延者) . I keep postponing things that are important in my real life: homework, tasks, connecting with my friends and family members in a meaningful way. It's funny that my friends and I chatter away online so much, but we end up having nothing to say when we meet.
What is rally worrying is that no one I know, including myself could go cold turkey. I can't even imagine going without social networking for a week - think of all the important appointments, invitations and news updates you would miss! Alcoholics (酗酒者) who want to quit drinking can avoid drinks, but how do we give up our phones? After all, I need it for my studies because my teachers and classmates need to contact me at any time. So, that's the problem with social networking. We're hard-wired in, but we're more disconnected than ever.
1. The author always uses his phone and laptop to __________ .| A．avoid feeling a sense of loneliness |
| B．explore ways of enriching his social life |
| C．follow the updates on his online social network |
| D．receive help with his addiction to online socializing |
| A．He is an alcohol addict | B．He is a poor web chatter |
| C．He is a mild procrastinator | D．He is a heavy social media user |
| A．social media have created many offline problems |
| B．it's difficult to break away from online socializing |
| C．people are unwilling to interact face to face anymore |
| D．the benefits of social networking are too good to miss |
| A．So Close, Yet So Far |
| B．The Young Never Felt More Alone |
| C．Social Networking Worsens Relationships |
| D．More Social Media, Better Online Socializing |
