1 . The Great Wall of China winds across the country like a giant stone snake. It is 1,500 miles long, the Wall crosses mountains and rivers. It reaches from the ocean on the east to the desert on the west. The Chinese began their Wall more than 2,000 years ago. They worked on it for hundreds of years. The Chinese wanted to keep out their enemies. At the bottom, the Wall is 25 feet wide. At the top it is about 15 feet wide. The sides of the wall are made of stone and brick, while the inside is filled with earth. Parts of the Wall rise as high as three-storey buildings. Every 100 yards along the Great Wall there is a watchtower where soldiers used to stand to watch for enemies approaching(到来). The road on top of the Wall is wide enough for two wagons(马车) to pass. If we were to build such a Wall now, we would use modern machines. But the Chinese had to build the Wall all by hand. If the Wall were in our country, it would reach from the state of New York to Nebraska. The Great Wall of China is the longest wall ever built.
1. The passage does not say so, but it makes you think that the Great Wall _____.| A．has a gate every 100 yards | B．is used as a road today |
| C．is still as useful today as it was | D．is as high as three-storey buildings |
| A．It stops the wind from blowing. | B．It can move. |
| C．It looks like a snake. | D．It is very long. |
| A．The Great Wall China was built with modern machinery. |
| B．The Great Wall goes from New York to Nebraska. |
| C．There are many snakes inside the Great Wall. |
| D．The writer of the passage is an American. |
2 . An international group of coffee experts has considered Ethiopia’s coffee as the best in the world.Coffee is a top export (出口物) of the country. But at home, it is seen as national pride. Ethiopians feel good about their coffee, and enjoying a drink with friends is a long tradition.
Some people say the climate produces quality beans. Morton Wennersgarrd is a coffee importer. He said, “Ethiopia has different ancient types of coffee. They are planted in places with perfect soil, perfect altitude (海拔), and climates that are really suitable for coffee processing.”
Finding the best quality beans is often an issue of taste. The process is known as cupping — tasting and comparing coffee from different roasted beans, grading and then pricing them. But before international experts come to taste, coffee beans are studied in small coffee laboratories. Helen Assefa, a lab technician, describes the process, “When the coffee comes to the lab, we assess (评价) its quality first by recording the details.Then we weigh the moisture (水分) level and we examine the beans for analysis. After that we grind (磨碎) the coffee beans and taste the samples. In the end, we check for defective (有瑕疵的) beans.” Mubarik Abaoli is a lab worker.He says that testing is a very difficult and long process. “We select out the defects by hand. And we select out the defect according to the defect types.”
Ethiopia has got a lot of money by exporting coffee to more than 120 countries. The country has an export revenue (税收) of more than 840 million a year. But not all the best coffee leaves Ethiopia. Forty percent of the coffee grown in the country stays there. It remains an important part of everyday life at work, at home and at ceremonies.
1. Ethiopians’ attitude towards coffee may best be described as .| A．proud | B．relaxed |
| C．brave | D．doubtful |
| A．the ways of making coffee |
| B．the process of assessing the coffee |
| C．the tips on planting the best coffee |
| D．the influence of the coffee |
| A．More than 120 countries export coffee to Ethiopia. |
| B．Coffee plays an important role in Ethiopians’ life. |
| C．40% of the coffee grown in Ethiopia is exported. |
| D．Ethiopians earn their living by exporting coffee. |
| A．To advertise the coffee in Ethiopia. |
| B．To comment on coffee experts’ work. |
| C．To introduce the best coffee in the world. |
| D．To recommend tourists activities in Ethiopia. |
3 . Coal burning deep underground in China，India and Indonesia is threatening the environment and human life, scientists have warned. These large-scale underground fires cause the ground temperature to heat up and kill surrounding vegetation, produce greenhouse gases and can even bring about forest fires, a panel（专门小组）of scientists told the annual meeting of the American Association for the Advancement of Science in Denver. They warned the resulting release of poisonous elements like arsenic （砷）and mercury（汞）can also pollute local water sources and soils “Coal fires are a global disaster,” said Associate Professor Glenn Stracher of East Georgia College in Swainsboro, U.S.A. But surprisingly few people know about them.
Coal can heat up on its own, and eventually catch fire and burn, if there is a continuous oxygen supply. The heat produced is not caused to disappear and under the right combinations of sunlight and oxygen, can trigger spontaneous（自然产生的）catching fire and burning. This can occur underground in coal stockpiles（煤堆）, abandoned mines or even as coal is transported. Such fires in China destroy up to 200 million tons of coal per year, delegates were told. In comparison, the U. S. economy consumes about one billion tons of coal annually, said Stracher, whose analysis of the likely effect of coal fires has been accepted for publication in the International journal of Coal Ecology. Once underway, coal fires can burn for decades, even centuries. In the process, they release large volumes of greenhouse gases, poisonous fumes and black particles into the atmosphere.
The members of the panel discussed the effect these fires may be having on global and regional climate change, and agreed that the underground nature of the fires makes them difficult to detect(发现). One of the members of the panel, Assistant Professor Paul Van Dijk of the International Institute for Geo-Information Science and Earth Observation in the Netherlands, has been working with the Chinese government to detect and monitor fires in the northern regions of the country.
The remote sensing and other techniques will allow scientists to estimate how much carbon dioxide these fires are emitting. One suggested method of controlling the fires was presented by Gary Colaizzi, of the engineering firm Goodson, which has developed a beat-resistant grout designed to be pumped into the coal fire to cut off the oxygen supply.
1. According to Paragraph 2, what will happen when the underground heat does not disappear? ________.| A．Coal heats up on its own and catches fire and burns. |
| B．The underground oxygen will be used up. |
| C．Poisonous fumes and greenhouse gases will be accumulated underground. |
| D．There will be an increase of abandoned mines. |
| A．Annual consumption of coal in US. |
| B．Annual consumption of coal in China. |
| C．How long coal fires have lasted in the northern region of China. |
| D．Coal fires may have an effect on the environment. |
| A．He was one of the scientists who have warned against the threats of underground fires. |
| B．He has detected and monitored underground fires in the Netherlands. |
| C．He has worked with the Chinese government on the underground fires issue. |
| D．He works for a research institute in the Netherlands. |
| A．Using remote sensing technique. |
| B．Controlling the release of carbon dioxide. |
| C．Cutting off the oxygen supply. |
| D．Making the soil heat resistant. |
4 . The United States has a vast network of National Parks spread all around the country. Here are some National Parks for you.
Arches National Park, Utah
More than 2,000 natural stone arches make Arches National Park a special place in Utah. Travelers from around the world come to see brilliant sunsets that light up the sky each night. Hikers and rock climbers will love the endless options for exploring, while more low-key visitors are sure to love the camping.
Acadia, Maine
Super close to Bar Harbor, one of Maine's most beloved tiny towns, Acadia National Park tops travel guides for the Vacation State. Before making your way to Mt. Desert island, dine on the country's most famous fish and lake advantage of the opportunity to go whale watching on the Atlantic Ocean. When visiting Acadia, set aside some time to hike and go boating.
Mount Rainier, Washington
We couldn't leave the park with you slowly moving ice off the list. Washington's Mount Rainier National Park, found southeast of Seattle, has 25 of them (along with the famous volcano) as its attention-catching sight. The National Park says it's "the snowiest place on earth where snow is measured regularly." If snowcapped peaks aren't your thing, plan to visit the park when the weather is warmer.
Great Sand Dunes (沙丘), Colorado
You probably imagine the Rocky Mountains when you think about Colorado, but did you know that the Centennial state is also home to the United States' largest sand dunes? See them for yourself at Great Sand Dunes National Park, where you can go sand boarding or "fat biking". Though June temperatures are said to be some of Southern Colorado's best, a warm winter day can be an equally enjoyable time to see the dunes.
1. What do Arches National Park and Acadia have in common?| A．Tourists can hike in the parks. | B．They are located in tiny towns. |
| C．Both of the parks offer sea food. | D．They offer free guide to travellers. |
| A．Sunsets. | B．Whales. |
| C．Ice. | D．Sands. |
| A．Arches National Park, Utah | B．Acadia, Maine |
| C．Mount Rainier, Washington | D．Great Sand Dunes, Colorado |
5 . In the middle of the Pacific Ocean lies the tiny island nation of Tuvalu，the fourth smallest country in the world. This group of four islands and five atolls (islands made from coral) is famous for its sandy beaches and turquoise (蓝绿色的) waters and has long been a popular tourist destination for nearby New Zealanders. However, the nation of Tuvalu is at risk of soon no longer existing; not because of war or political change, but because it will be covered by the rising ocean.
Tuvalu is experiencing the harmful effects of global warming. As global temperatures rise, so does the ocean temperature. Due to the scientific law of “thermal expansion,” when water heats it get bigger.
Even before Tuvaluans began to suffer from the effects of climate change, lift on Tuvalu was tough.
More serious than Tuvalu’s lack of home-grown food has been its lack of drinking water.
Tuvalu’s problems have led some of its 11, 000 inhabitants to consider migrating to Australia or New Zealand.
| A．It was a desperate situation and, but for emergency shipments from New Zealand and Australia, many Tuvaluans would have died. |
| B．This is largely due to the geological makeup of atolls. |
| C．Unlike normal islands, atolls have no rivers or streams, which means that most of Tuvalu has no groundwater to use for drinking. |
| D．Tuvalu’s representatives demanded that nations should take a more responsible rote in reducing gas emissions. |
| E．Therefore, sea levels are rising and for low-lying Tuvalu, this spells disaster. |
| F．However, they ate not willing to abandon the land of their forefathers so easily. |
| G．And as a member of the United Nations, they are doing just that. |
6 . Mars on Earth
Devon Island has always been a cold and uninhabited(无人居住的) place in the Canadian Arctic. Day after day there are high winds and the temperature is below freezing. But for the first time, despite the terrible weather conditions, Devon Island is the new home for a group of explorers from NASA. They are living here for a few months in order to train and learn how to live and work on Mars. The group’s members come from various backgrounds and nationalities, but they all have the same purpose: to find out how people can live on Mars in the future.
They have chosen Devon Island because the environment and landscape is similar in many ways to Mars. The surface is freezing cold and the ground is rough. However, there are some differences on Mars, where the atmosphere is poisonous to breathe. Devon Island is easier to travel to and it has its own dangers that you won’t find on Mars. For example, you might meet a hungry polar bear on Devon Island!
One thing the team wants to develop is suitable clothing for Mars. This includes a space suit. The suit they are testing at the moment is strong enough but it’s too difficult to put on and take off. It’s very big and bulky, which means that just walking around is very difficult and tiring. In addition, people will need to do experiments on Mars while wearing the suit so they have to be able to move around easily. One team member, Andy Overbeeke, specializes in space suit engineering. He explains, “You have to think about what they’re really going to operate in.”
Another part of daily life on Mars will be meals and food. Creating a new home on Mars requires a lot of food. So the big question is: can you grow plants in order to survive? Scientists believe that growing plants on Mars might be possible. Mars and Earth have many similarities. They both have about the same amount of dry land and a 24-hour day. However, the atmosphere on Mars is totally different, so Canadian scientist Alain Berinstain is attempting to grow plants in a special greenhouse that you could also build on Mars. The greenhouse needs to run 365 days a year, so it uses a combination of solar energy and wind power.
People living on Mars will also want their own transportation. For this, the team on Devon Island have built the “Martian Rover”. It’s a huge heavy vehicle that can travel over rocks and rough terrain. This kind of testing takes many days but so far the work has been valuable and effective. As a result, the whole team now believes their work is crucial and that it’s possible for humans to land on the planet Mars and create a home there. Addy Overbeeke adds: “We know that it’s man’s destiny to go out and do space exploration. It’s always time to think about what you want to do in the future.”
1. The explorers are living on Devon Island to ________.| A．receive a training in astronomy |
| B．set up an advanced research lab |
| C．learn how to live and work on Mars |
| D．make a living in an uninhabited land |
| A．create a new home |
| B．improve the atmosphere |
| C．build special greenhouses |
| D．reduce the area of dry land |
| A．man may live on Mars in the future |
| B．Martian Rover has failed to stand the test |
| C．Mars and Devon Island have the same soil condition |
| D．scientists have mastered the method to grow plants on Mars |
7 . “I could see a huge flow (流动) of water, coming down fast from very high. I had no idea of shape, or situation, or anything. It was just so big.”
These are the words of the great English writer Charles Dickens. He wrote them when he was visiting Niagara Falls. This waterfall is on the border (边界) of the United States and Canada. It is one of the largest in the world, and the largest in North America.
Niagara Falls is on the Niagara River. The river divides just before the waterfall, and there are actually three waterfalls. On the American side are American Falls and Bridal Veil Falls. Horseshoe Falls is mostly on the Canadian side. The name comes from its shape — like a horseshoe, in a half circle. Horseshoe Falls is the widest of the three.
People mainly know about Niagara Falls because of its size and natural beauty. However, the Niagara River is also an important source of electricity.
In the 1890s, the Westinghouse Electric Company built a large power system (电力系统) on the river. Many other companies also hoped to use the land for factories and power systems. However, around the same time, many people began to work to protect the natural area. Soon, the governments of the United States and Canada got involved with it. They protected the land around Niagara Falls. They made parks — green, natural areas. No one could buy this land for factories. For hundreds of years, millions of people have visited Niagara Falls to enjoy its beauty.
1. From Paragraph 1, we can know Charles Dickens was shocked by Niagara Falls’ __________.| A．speed | B．color |
| C．size | D．beauty |
| A．It has three waterfalls. |
| B．It’s on the Niagara River. |
| C．It’s on the border of two countries. |
| D．It’s the widest waterfall in the world. |
| A．shape | B．sound | C．history | D．location |
| A．The Niagara River is badly polluted. |
| B．There are no factories around Niagara Falls. |
| C．Visitors can learn how Niagara Falls produces electricity. |
| D．Many companies built power systems around Niagara Falls in the 1890s. |
8 . Ship tourism to Antarctica is on the rise: More than 35,000 tourists are expected to visit Antarctic this summer. In 1992-1993, 6,750 visited Antarctica, according to the Antarctica Treaty. All of this tourism, however, is putting both tourists and the environment in great danger.
Among the tourist ships that visit the continent, the Explorer, a Canadian ship, was one of the first. Put to use in 1969, it was built to carry tourists to Antarctica. Last week, however, it became the first commercial passenger ship to sink beneath the waters. Fortunately, all of the passengers and crew members were rescued from the ship. However, the sunken ship endangered the Antarctic’s fragile(脆弱的) environment. The ship was estimated to be holding 48,000 gallons of fuel.
The accident was not unexpected. Both the US and UK had warned a conference of the Antarctic Treaty member countries in May that the tourism situation in this area was a potential disaster. The US said in a paper, people “should take a hard look at tourism issues now, especially those related to ship safety.” Although the Antarctic seas are relatively calm, floating ice causes a potential threat to ships. The owner of the Explorer blamed the sinking on a fist-like hole in the ship created by ice.
Many of the other large ships now visiting Antarctica are not designed especially against thick ice. Such ships generally can only come to the continent in summer. But the tourist rush is pushing ships into dangerous situations. “The increasing number of ships operating in Antarctic means that the ship are under great pressure to get there in time for the key visiting sites,” the British government wrote in a paper at the meeting of member countries.
As a natural frontier, Antarctica is in a messy legal situation. There are no obvious answers as to who is responsible for dealing with the threat that tourist may cause to human life and the environment.
There is no coast guard for Antarctica. Do we want it to become Disneyland, or do we need some controls?
1. Which of the following is true according to this passage?| A．Antarctica tourism has a history of about 17 years. |
| B．The number of tourists to the Antarctic is over 5 times as large as that of 17 years ago. |
| C．The tourism boom has caused holes in the floating ice in the Antarctic. |
| D．The Antarctica Treaty is responsible for the environmental problems. |
| A．led to a conference about the tourism situation in the Antarctic. |
| B．was caused by the rough seas |
| C．had been predicted |
| D．did harm to the Antarctic. |
| A．people had better not make a tour of the Antarctic |
| B．ships to the Antarctic should be built strong enough |
| C．there should be legal controls over tourism in the Antarctic |
| D．the Antarctic’s environment is fragile to be protected |
9 . One picture in the Wonder Book of knowledge I had as a little boy showed a man reading a book while floating in the Dead Sea. What a miracle! How would it feel to lie back in water so thick with salt that it was impossible to sink?
Fed by the Jordan River and smaller streams, the Dead Sea is the lowest point on the earth’s surface, and its water is ten times saltier than the Mediterranean. With evaporation its only outlet, salt and other minerals become super-concentrated.
Earlier this year, I drove down the long, steep hill to realize my dream. The shoreline was a broad area of bare salt-mud, but the water edge was far out of sight. Had somebody pulled the Dead Sea’s plug? I wondered. Eli Dior, an Israeli official, explained the problem: “The Dead Sea is drying up. Every year, the surface drops about one meter, and as the water level falls, shadow areas are left high and dry.”
Over the last half-century, the five neighboring countries have collectively diverted nearly all the water flowing into the Dead Sea to meet human and agriculture needs. Result: the Dead Sea is being emptied.
With population in the region set to double at least in the next 50 years, there is little hope of restoring the water being diverted for human consumption. No country has a drop to spare for the Dead Sea, where they know it will just evaporate. To dream of opening the dams and restoring natural balance is plainly unrealistic.
Yet one ambitious high-tech dream may turn out to be not only the salvation of the Dead Sea but also a ticket to peace around its shores. The “Red-Dead” is a proposed $5 billion project to bring sea water some 240 kilometers by pipeline and canal from the Red Sea to the Dead Sea. The Red-Dead may be the only solution, but even if the project is carried out successfully, the Dead Sea will be 10 to 20 meters lower than now and two thirds of its current size.
Whatever the future holds, the Dead Sea’s magical mix of sun, mud, sea and salt will surely survive. Many might complain that the Dead Sea is half empty—but for me the Dead sea will always be half full.
1. What’s the passage mainly about?| A．Dead Sea – miracle of the world. |
| B．Save the environment of the Dead Sea. |
| C．Slow shrinking of the Dead Sea. |
| D．Why is the Dead Sea so salty. |
| A．a severe reduction of the water flowing into the sea |
| B．rapid evaporation of the water in the Dead Sea area |
| C．the increasing quantity of water drawn from the sea |
| D．very low annual rainfall in the Dead Sea Area |
| A．With no outlet to any ocean, the Dead Sea has become by evaporation most dense waters on earth. |
| B．Though burdened with the growing population, the neighboring countries haven’t cut off the sources of the Dead Sea. |
| C．All the countries in the area will consider diverting less water from the Jordan River. |
| D．The Red-Dead Project has not only brought water to the Dead Sea, but peace to the area as well. |
| A．If the Dead Sea dried up, great natural disasters would happen in the region. |
| B．The Dead Sea will not survive no matter what people do to save it. |
| C．The five neighboring countries should stop diverting water from the Jordan River. |
| D．Though the Dead Sea is shrinking gradually, it will not die. |
10 . History of Alaska State
The existence of mankind in Alaska can be traced back to 16, 000 B.C. to 10, 000 B.C., when the Paleolithic(旧石器时代) families crossed the Bering Land Bridge and formed settlements in the western part of Alaska. At this point of time, Alaska was inhabited by the Inuit tribes(部落) and American Indians.
In the 18th century. the Russians began to regularly travel down to the Aleutian Islands, near the coastline of Alaska.
In some places, the Russian fur traders were able to establish very peaceful relations with the native tribes. However, in some places, the settlers and the tribes engaged in constant conflicts.
On October, 1867, the flag of the United States of America was raised for the first time in the history of Alaska. During the World War Il, three Aleutian Islands were occupied by the Japanese forces. Some of the villagers were taken to Japan as captives. The islands were regained by the United States forces in 1943.
Today, as a part of the United States of America, Alaska is considered to be one of the most beautiful states in the country.
| A．It is a favorite tourist destination. |
| B．The Russians never fully colonized Alaska. |
| C．Several expeditions were sent to claim the coasts. |
| D．The travelers were basically fur traders and hunters. |
| E．Even today, some of these tribes exist. |
| F．Britain started expanding its trade into the interiors of Alaska. |
| G．Fights were often seen between the Russians and the Aleut tribes. |
