1 . In the spring and summer months, thunderstorms are common.
It was reported that a man was struck by lightning when he was making a phone call under a tree. He died at once. You may not know it, but nearly 1,800 thunderstorms are happening at any moment around the world.
If you are indoors during a thunderstorm:
*Stay away from anything that is metal because lightning can come into the house through it.
*Don’t stand near the windows.
*Don’t take a shower or bath. Lightning can travel through water.
* Never use the phone.
If you are caught in a thunderstorm outdoors:
*
*Do not go under a tree because the lightning could hit the tree and travel through the tree to hit you.
* Never use a cell phone.
| A．Try to get home as soon as possible. |
| B．Go into a nearby building or car right away. |
| C．But it is very important for us to learn about lightning. |
| D．In fact, many people are killed by lightning every year. |
| E．Lightning could travel through the phone line and hit you. |
| F．Since they happen often, some people don’t take them seriously. |
| G．But you can reduce those chances by following these safety rules. |
2 . Christmas was approaching. I still hadn’t prepared a gift for my wife Donna. However, Donna was good at
We had just moved to Italy and were still
Northern Italy is usually
Donna’s daily calls continued, and so did my daily visits. I still didn’t mention the
When approaching our home, Donna shouted, “You give me the best Christmas gift!” I was
| A．decorating | B．recycling | C．evaluating | D．planning |
| A．thoughtful | B．cheap | C．common | D．similar |
| A．exercising | B．unpacking | C．wandering | D．arguing |
| A．library | B．house | C．store | D．clinic |
| A．horribly | B．abnormally | C．reasonably | D．rarely |
| A．freeze | B．escape | C．starve | D．move |
| A．replaced | B．advocated | C．ruined | D．enriched |
| A．collection | B．treatment | C．approval | D．description |
| A．reward | B．topic | C．proposal | D．assistance |
| A．turn in | B．turn out | C．turn on | D．turn away |
| A．complaint | B．schedule | C．disappearance | D．prediction |
| A．proudly | B．silently | C．angrily | D．blindly |
| A．analyze | B．get | C．break | D．publish |
| A．frightened | B．thrilled | C．inspired | D．confused |
| A．purpose | B．theory | C．adventure | D．example |
| A．How to use the bathroom in school. |
| B．How to increase water supply. |
| C．How to save water. |
| A．Cloudy. | B．Snowy. | C．Rainy. |
5 . The winter migration (迁徙) season has arrived. With the cold wave heading down south, migratory birds from faraway places such as Siberia have begun to arrive at Dongting Lake, central China for the winter.
Dongting Lake in central China’s Hunan Province is the country’s second-largest freshwater lake. When the temperature rises after a short cold time, locals call the 10th lunar month “Indian summer.” During this time, the lake’s water level drops and sedges (莎草) grow, allowing wintering birds to plentiful food.
Song Yucheng, deputy chief engineer of East Dongting Lake National Nature Reserve, is proud of their protection work. According to him, the Eurasian spoonbills are the first to arrive at the heart of East Dongting Lake National Nature Reserve. They line up and use sideways sweeps of their beaks to filter (过滤) out tiny fish and shrimp. When they fly to another spot looking for food, people can only see the vast expanse of a white sky.
“Now the weather is also very good, the sky is very clear, with green grass, clear water and white spoonbills wandering for hunting. It’s a beautiful picture of nature,” said Song.
For the villagers living in the East Dongting Lake National Nature Reserve, their farm fields are still full of busy and active fellows after harvest because there are about 100 swans settled down there. To provide these birds with an quiet and safe environment, the local government has stopped the vehicles and visitors from entering the area.
“Firecrackers are not allowed, and loud noises are also not allowed in the surrounding area,” said Long Yong, a villager from the Hehua Village, citing the local government.
1. The birds migrate to Dongting Lake not because _____.| A．Siberia is cold at winter. |
| B．It is the nearest to Siberia. |
| C．The protection work there goes great. |
| D．The warm temperature and plentiful food. |
| A．an engineer | B．a kind of bird |
| C．migration destination | D．birds food |
| A．Weather is always good here. |
| B．More birds are coming here. |
| C．The environment is beautiful here. |
| D．It’s good to draw pictures here. |
| A．government measures |
| B．fields harvest |
| C．village life |
| D．how to observe birds in nature |
It was Monday. I was standing in the doorway of my room at The Seeing Eye (a guide dog school), anxiously waiting to hear my instructor call my name. All sorts of questions ran through my mind, and on the top was the fear that I was making an awful mistake — To adopt (领养) a guide dog when I had been afraid of dogs all my life? Crazy!
I wanted to bite my nails. I changed from one foot to the other and sighed frequently. Finally, shocking me out of my own thoughts, I heard my instructor say, “Shannon!”
“Shannon,” she said, “This is George.”
Two huge paws touched my knees.
“Down, George,” my instructor said, and the dog obeyed immediately.
We were taken back to my room where the door was closed, being left alone. I petted him. He put up his paw to shake my hand, and he sat so nicely, as if to say, “I’m a good boy, I promise.”
However, several minutes later, George got bored with me and went to the door, crying out for the lady who had trained him. I was at a complete loss as to what to do next.
Sometime later, my instructor took George and me on a walk outside. I took the handle of George’s harness (项圈) and stumbled (跌跌撞撞走) around that path instead of walking, and I kept stepping on poor George’s feet, but he never stopped and neither did I. Still, I was worried. If this stumbling around was what I could expect, maybe this guide dog wasn’t for me.
In the school, we were taught to walk with our dogs. We were also taught to feed, water and care for our dogs without any sighted help. We had to master all things before we left the school. Sometimes, it was easy, and sometimes it was not.
I struggled hard in order to pass the last day exam, where I would walk along an unfamiliar street with George. If we arrived at the destination safely, I could take George home.
注意：1. 续写词数应为150左右；
2. 请按如下格式在答题卡的相应位置作答。
Finally the big moment came.
_______________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________
Then came my instructor’s words, “You did it!”
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7 . People have different ways of dealing with waste paper, specifically used newspapers. Some put them in the recycling area, while others keep them as wrappers (包装纸). While these are both good measures, a Japanese publishing company had a better idea for their end use.
The Mainichi Newspapers Co., Ltd. invented the “Green Newspaper”, which allows people to grow plants with it. This unique newspaper was published on Greenery Day, which is focused on environmental news and made of green paper with seeds placed into it. What makes it even more special is the ink (油墨) used to print words and photos, which is made from plants. The publisher advises readers to tear the used newspaper into small pieces and plant them in a container with soil. They should water them, like they would do for any plant. Within a few weeks, the seeds will grow into plants.
This brilliant concept was invented by Dentsu Inc., one of Japan’s most famous advertising agencies, which works with the publishing company on the initiative (倡议). The publisher’s belief is environmental sustainability (持续性). As its mission statement says, “The Mainichi doesn’t take action only through information, but also by solving global issues.” With joint efforts, this initiative has reached the corners of Japan and sold around millions of copies daily. Other such initiatives producing plantable paper are also seen in India and the US.
About 95 million trees are lost for producing newspapers every year. The Internet, the number of whose users stands for 62.5 percent of the population worldwide, has influenced how people read news and the print readership has dropped greatly. However, the reinvention and reimagination of this newspaper will bring about a change in the publishing industry as well as having an environmental influence.
1. What do we know about the “Green Newspaper”?| A．It uses high-tech materials. |
| B．It provides energy for seeds. |
| C．It’s printed with plant-based ink. |
| D．It’s published to celebrate Greenery Day. |
| A．It’s easier said than done. |
| B．Everything comes to him who waits. |
| C．Many hands make light work. |
| D．Actions speak louder than words. |
| A．Doubtful. | B．Supportive. |
| C．Indifferent. | D．Negative. |
| A．About 59 million trees are lost for producing newspapers. |
| B．The Internet has changed the way people read news totally. |
| C．The popularity of the Internet leads to the fall of the print readership. |
| D．The “Green Newspaper” will encourage more people to protect the environment. |
8 . Antarctica
Weather
Antarctica lies in the most southern part of the world. It is the coldest area on Earth. There isn’t much rain, but there is a lot of snow and wind. The lowest temperature was on 21 July in 1983 at -89.2℃!
Population
Nobody lives in Antarctica all the time! The first people to stay there for a while were fishermen in 1786. Now there are about 5,000 scientists and researchers there in the summer.
History of exploration (探险)
During 1907-1909, British explorer Earnest Shackleton explored Antarctica on foot. In 1911, two explorers — a British man named Scott and a Norwegian named Amundsen — raced 1,400 kilometers to the South Pole (南极). Amundsen arrived first.
Animals and birds
There aren’t any large animals in Antarctica. Polar bears live at the North Pole. But there are a lot of penguins and seabirds. Every spring there are over 100 million seabirds in Antarctica.
1. When did the lowest temperature appear in Antarctica?| A．In 1786. | B．In 1907. | C．In 1911. | D．In 1983. |
| A．Fishermen. | B．Scientists. | C．Researchers. | D．Explorers. |
| A．Britain. | B．Norway. | C．The South Pole. | D．The North Pole. |
A rainforest is an area
In the past hundred years, humans
Rainforests are often called the world’s drug store. More than 25％ of the medicines we use today come from plants in rainforests. However, fewer than l％of rainforest plants have been examined for their
10 . Desertification (沙漠化) is a course that has caused much concern over the past few years — and it’s a major problem for the ancient land of Egypt, where 96% of the country’s land is desert.
So why is it that — if you drove a car 10 miles west of the Suez Canal — you would see a large number of forests outlined against the orange sand and blue sky of the Sahara?
The Serapium Forest is the richest of Egypt’s 36 areas that make up a program to fight desertification by creating sustainably managed commercial forests fed completely by wastewater. The 500-mile forest is only a short distance from the 400, 000 people living in the Egyptian city of Ismailia, who produce millions of tons of wastewater every year.
After a dozen-mile journey to the Serapium Forest, the wastewater is then stored underground where oxygen is fed in to speed up the bacterial purification process. A system of pipes then spreads the wastewater throughout the forest. And human wastewater is still rich in chemicals even after being treated.
The government’s effort, called the National Program for Safe Use of Treated Sewage Water for Afforestation is going a long way toward achieving the country’s goals voiced in the 1992 UN Rio conference on climate change.
The research was supported by ForestFinance, a German company that has already planted near-natural forests in Panama and Vietnam to help those countries with their development and wildlife protection. ForestFinance wants to increase the number of species grown in Serapium by including a forest on the site. That way, the biodiversity (生物多样性) of the commercial forest would be able to support a greater number of species, and hopefully bring in money as well. Although the Serapium Forest faces a lot of difficulties, it’s still growing — a 500-acre green wall to join the others in the world in preventing the sands of the world’s deserts from spreading.
1. What is the purpose of the first paragraph?| A．To voice a different idea. |
| B．To present research findings. |
| C．To offer background information. |
| D．To introduce a problem-solving approach. |
| A．It was built by the people of Ismailia. |
| B．It was planted to fight climate change. |
| C．It is in danger of being destroyed. |
| D．It is the smallest forest in Egypt. |
| A．The influence of green space on cities. |
| B．The value of the newly-founded Serapium Forest. |
| C．The way of using wastewater to feed the Serapium Forest. |
| D．The preparation for the government setting up the program. |
| A．It raises serious doubts. |
| B．It will bring great benefits. |
| C．It has been going smoothly. |
| D．It encourages the government to take action. |
