1 . With only about 1,000 pandas left in the world, China is desperately trying to clone the animal and save these in a dangerous situation. That's a move similar to what a Texas A & M University researchers have been undertaking for the past five years in a project called "Noah's Ark".
Noah's Ark is aimed at collecting eggs, embryos(胚胎), semen and DNA of these animals and storing them in liquid nitrogen. If certain species should become extinct, Dr. Duane Kraemer, a professor in Texas A & M's College of Veterinary, Medicine, says there would be enough of the basic building blocks to reintroduce the species in the future.
It is estimated that as many as 2, 000 species of mammals, birds and reptiles will probably become extinct in over 100 years. The panda, native only to China, is in danger of becoming extinct in the next 25 years. This week, Chinese scientists said they grew an embryo by introducing cells from a dead female panda into the egg cells of a Japanese white rabbit. They are now trying to implant the embryo into a host animal. The entire procedure could take from three to five years to complete. "The nuclear transfer of one species to another is not easy, but the lack of available panda eggs could be a major problem," Kraemer believes. "They will probably have to do several hundred transfers to result in one pregnancy (having a baby). It takes a long time and it's difficult, but this could be groundbreaking science if it works. They are certainly not putting any live pandas at risk, so it is worth the effort," adds Kraemer, who is one of the leaders of the Project at Texas A&M, the first-ever attempt at cloning a dog.
"They are trying to do something that's never been done, and this is very similar to our work in Noah's Ark. We're both trying to save animals that face extinction. I certainly appreciate their effort and there's a lot we can learn from what they are attempting to do. The cooperation between us is very much needed."
1. The final aim of "Noah's Ark" project is to ___________.

A．make efforts to clone the endangered pandas

B．save endangered animals from dying out

C．collect DNA of endangered animals to study

D．transfer the nuclear of one animal to another

2. According to Professor Kraemer, ___________.

A．the long time lasting cloning research could be successful.

B．the eggs transfers immediately result in having a baby.

C．the lack of nuclear transfer could be a major problem to have new pandas.

D．if species should die out, basic building blocks would heal them.

3. The best title for the passage may be ________.

A．China's Success in Pandas Cloning

B．Helping Ways to Avoid Extinction

C．Exploring the Possibility to Clone Pandas

D．The Practice in Noah's Ark

4. From passage we know that ________.

A．Kraemer and his team have succeeded in cloning a panda

B．scientists try to implant a panda's egg into a rabbit

C．Kraemer will work with Chinese scientists in clone researches

D．about two thousand species are to die out in a century

2 . The huge Florida wetland known as the Everglades is a slow-moving river 80 kilometres wide but only a few centimeters deep. People call the Everglades a “river of grass” because sawgrass covers most of it. Sawgrass is not really grass. It is a plant that has leaves edged with tiny sharp teeth that can easily cut through clothes—and skin!
Travel in the Everglades is difficult. You cannot walk through shallow water because the sawgrass will cut you. The water is too shallow for regular boats. So, we use an airboat. An airboat is a flat, open boat. Like an airplane, it has a big propeller to move it. The propeller is fixed on the rear of the boat. It makes a tremendous noise, but it does the job. The boat skims along the water’s surface. Although we can still get lost in an airboat, at least we are above the alligators(短吻鳄).
While hundreds of different kinds of animals live in the Everglades, the most famous is surely the alligator. Once endangered, alligators are now protected within Everglades National Park. Visitors are likely to see them both on land and in water.
For a long time, dangers have threatened the Everglades. Around 1900, some people felt this precious wetland should be drained (排干). They said it was just a big swamp and not good for anything. In the 1920s, there was a land boom in Florida. People wanted to build homes everywhere, including in the Everglades. They built canals, levees (防洪堤), and other water systems that stopped the rivers flowing into the Everglades. Factories were built near rivers that flowed into the wetland. These factories dumped poisonous waste that damaged the Everglades ecosystem.
People are now working to preserve the Everglades National Park for the future. Right now, one big problem is the paperbark tree. This tree is an invader from Australia.
Paperbark trees soak up a lot of water. In the early 1900s, people brought them to Florida because they thought they would help drain the Everglades. However, the invaders adapted too well. Paperbark trees have taken over hundreds of thousands of acres of the Everglades and killed other trees. Scientists are cutting down these invaders or spraying them with herbicides (除草剂) to kill them.
1. Which helps to explain why it is difficult to travel in Everglades?

A．Airboats may make a very big noise.

B．You may get lost when passing through.

C．Paperbark trees soak up too much water there.

D．Many different kinds of animals are to be protected.

2. Why do people use airboats instead of normal boats?

A．They have big propellers to move them faster than alligators.

B．The propeller makes loud noise so as to scare alligators.

C．Their flat bottom can skim along the water surface.

D．They can watch alligators without hurting them.

3. The following measures were taken to drain the Everglades except that people______.

A．built canals and levees to stop the rivers flowing into Everglades

B．built factories near rivers that flowed into the wetland

C．brought Paperbark to soak up water in Everglades

D．are cutting down these Paperbark trees

4. The underlined word "invader" probably means something______.

A．that moves in from another place

B．that enters and takes control

C．that has been brought in

D．that is in danger

3 . Businesses are witnessing a difficult time, which has in turn produced influence on consumers, desire to go green. However, shoppers are still laying stress on environmental concerns.

Two thirds of customers say that environmental considerations inform their purchases to the same degree as they did a year ago, while more than a quarter say that they are now even better aware of the environmental effect on what they buy.

This may help to influence how shops store goods on their shelves. And the companies should still make efforts to become more environmentally friendly. Two out of three people think it is important to buy from environmentally responsible companies, with about one in seven saying that they had even decided to take their custom elsewhere if they felt a company’s environmental reputation was not good enough.

Harry Morrison, chief executive (主管) of the Carbon Trust, sympathizes: “I understand this situation where survival is very important now. But from environmental considerations, the clock is ticking — we don’t have much time. In addition, cutting carbon has an immediate effect as costs drop and a medium-term benefit for the brand.”

Larger companies have an extra motivation to look at reducing their carbon footprint, as new rules next year will require businesses to buy carbon allowances to make up for their emissions (排放). Those that have taken early action will have a head start. More than two thirds of consumers are not clear about which companies are environmentally responsible. This suggests that firms that are able to relay clearly their message to the public will be in a pole position to attract shoppers.

The Carbon Trust believes that it can help by informing customers about the good work companies are doing. “When companies are granted (授予) the standard, they can use a logo (标识) in all their marketing which makes it clear that they are working towards cutting emissions,” Mr. Morrison said.

1. What’s the main idea of the passage?

A．Businesses are finding ways to send their message to the shoppers.

B．Companies will soon get information about cutting carbon emissions.

C．Firms are making efforts to encourage customers to keep goods at home.

D．Firms are urged to cut carbon emissions by shoppers, environmental awareness.

2. The underlined word “inform” in Paragraph 2 probably means “      ”.

A．affect	B．change
C．disturb	D．reject

3. According to Harry Morrison, businesses       .

A．will benefit from cutting carbon emissions

B．should buy carbon allowances for shoppers

C．are required to make up for their carbon emissions

D．have encouraged shoppers to take their custom elsewhere

4. We can learn from the passage that businesses will       .

A．have a strong desire to reduce costs

B．use the same logo in their marketing

C．gain advantages by taking early action

D．attract more shoppers by storing goods

4 . The energy crisis (危机) has made people aware of how the careless use of the earth’s energy has brought the whole world to the edge of disaster. The over – development of motor transport, with its increase of more cars, more traveling, has contributed to the near – destruction of our cities and the pollution not only of local air but also of the earth’s atmosphere.
Our present situation is unlike natural disasters of the past. Worldwide energy use has brought us to a state where long – range planning is vital. What we need is not a continuation of our present serious state, which endangers the future of our country, our children, and our earth, but a movement forward in order to work rapidly and effectively on planetary problems.
This country has been falling back under the continuing exposures of loss of morality and the revelation (揭露) that lawbreaking has reached into the highest place in the land. There is a strong demand for morality to turn for the better and for some devotion that is vast enough and yet personal enough to enlist the devotion of all. In the past it has been only in a way in defense of their own country and their own benefits that people have been able to devote themselves wholeheartedly.
This is the first time that we have been asked to defend ourselves and what we hold dear in cooperation with all the other people of this planet, who share with us the same endangered air and the same endangered oceans. There is a common need to reassess our present course, to change that course and to employ new methods through which the world can survive. This is a priceless opportunity.
To grasp it, we need a widespread understanding of nature if the crisis we and the world are facing is no passing inconvenience, no byproduct of the ambitions of the oil – producing countries, no environmentalists’ only fears, no byproduct of any present system of government. What we face is the result of the invention of the last four hundred years. What we need is transformed life style. This new life style can flow directly from science and technology, but its acceptance depends on a sincere devotion to finding a higher quality of life for the world’s children and future generation.
1. Which of the following has nearly destroyed our cities?

A．The loss of beliefs and ideas.	B．More of law – breaking.
C．Natural disasters in many areas.	D．The rapid growth of motors.

2. By comparing past problems with present ones, the author draws our attention to the             .

A．seriousness of this crisis	B．ineffectiveness of laws
C．similarity of the past to the present	D．hopelessness of the situation

3. Which of the following is used as an example to show the loss of morality?

A．Disregard for law.	B．Lack of devotion.
C．Lack of understanding.	D．Destruction of cities.

4. The author wrote the passage in order to               .

A．make a recommendation for a transformed life style

B．limit ambitions of the people of the whole world

C．demand devotion to nature and future generation

D．encourage awareness of the decline of morality

5 .    

How to get rid of waste is a great problem for the world today. Waste must be treated _______ it does not become a danger to life. _______, in some countries, waste from factories is still poured straight into rivers. People who use the water from one of these rivers often get_______ The water may become so polluted that it _______ all the fish in the river. When these rivers finally reaches the _______, it pollutes the ocean.

In many countries with _______, human waste is piped directly into the sea without being dealt with. This is not _______. Although the sea itself can break up the waste, beaches_______become polluted. _______ scientists suggest people take the waste far out to sea in ships where the wind and waves break it down.

In 1989 an international law was passed to ________ people putting waste into the sea. It is now against the ________ to put anything into the sea nearby. Such rubbish as plastics may not be thrown________the sea anywhere. Other waste may be put into the sea, either 19 or more than 40 kilometers from land, ________ the nature of the materials.

The ________ of dealing with waste has become so great that several international organizations have been ________ to protect the world and control pollution.

1.

A．as if

B．so that

C．ever since

D．now that

2.

A．Luckily

B．Happily

C．Unfortunately

D．Hopefully

3.

A．sick

B．hope

C．rich

D．fun

4.

A．raises

B．feeds

C．kills

D．breaks

5.

A．pool

B．lake

C．spring

D．sea

6.

A．grassland

B．plains

C．sea coasts

D．deserts

7.

A．safe

B．useful

C．dirty

D．wrong

8.

A．need

B．may

C．can’t

D．needn’t

9.

A．So

B．Because

C．Since

D．But

10.

A．stop

B．suggest

C．keep

D．find

11.

A．school

B．organization

C．factory

D．law

12.

A．out of

B．away from

C．into

D．above

13.

A．depending on

B．feeding on

C．leading to

D．connecting to

14.

A．news

B．method

C．problem

D．disadvantage

15.

A．punished

B．set up

C．refused

D．called at

6 . E

City officials are hoping to use the power of dog droppings. San Franciscans already recycle more than 60% of their dogs’ droppings, but in this dog-friendly town, such wastes make up nearly 4% of residential waste, or 6,500 tons a year.

Within the next few months, Norcal Waste, a company that collects San Francisco’s wastes, will begin a trial program under which it uses biodegradable (生物分解的) bags and dog-waste carts to pick up droppings at a popular dog park.

The droppings will be thrown into a machine called a methane digester (沼气处理机), which is basically a tank in which bacteria feed on droppings for weeks to create methane gas.

The methane could then be piped directly to a gas stove, a steam heater, an air turbine or anything else powered by natural gas. It can also be used to produce electricity.

Someone doubts whether this plan is practical. But Norcal Waste spokesman, Robert Reed points to San Francisco’s creative food composting (混合肥料) program, which began 10 years ago. It is a proof that an unusual idea can work in this forward-thinking city. Norcal Waste collects 300 tons of food left over after meals per day from homes and restaurants and changes it into a rich fertilizer sold to grape farms and organic farms.

Methane digesters are nothing new. The technology was introduced in Europe about 20 years ago, and more than 600 farm-based digesters are in operation there. Nine are in use on California cow farms, and chicken and pig farms elsewhere in the United States also use them.

“The main obstacle is probably getting communities around the country the courage to collect dog droppings, to give value to something we’d rather not talk about,” Brinton, a recycling and composting consultant, said. “San Francisco is probably the king of pet cities. This could be an advantage of it, which is very important.”

Some other experts believe energy production from dog droppings must become more attractive economically before it gets popular. Landfill space is relatively cheap, and natural gas and electricity also remain fairly inexpensive. However, Reed said confidently, “Now, the city authorities asked us to look at dog waste specifically.”

1. How many dogs’ droppings can be recycled at present per year in San Francisco?

A．About 6,500 tons.	B．About 169,000 tons.
C．About 260 tons.	D．About 3,900 tons.

2. It can be inferred from the passage that ________.

A．there are many pets that are treated well in San Francisco

B．Norcal Waste is a company of refuse (垃圾) treatment, which collects dog wastes only

C．most of the farms in Europe use Methane digesters

D．Brinton doesn’t feel optimistic about the collection of dog droppings in San Francisco

3. The underlined word “obstacle” in Paragraph 7 most probably means ________.

A．interest

B．effect

C．difficulty

D．purpose

4. Which of the following is TRUE according to the passage?

A．San Francisco is a city full of innovation.

B．Dog droppings can be changed into methane gas in several days.

C．It is the first time to utilize animal waste in San Francisco.

D．Utilizing dog droppings presently is more economical than the landfill.

5. Which the following can be the best title of this passage?

A．Animal wastes collection by Norcal Waste

B．Changing dog droppings into energy

C．Methane digester technology in San Francisco

D．A dog droppings composting program

7 . Melissa Poe was 9 years old when she began a campaign for a cleaner environment by writing a letter to the then President Bush. Through her own efforts, her letter was reproduced on over 250 donated billboards across the country.

The response to her request for help was so huge that Poe established Kids For A Cleaner Environment (Kids F.A.C.E.) in 1989. There are now 300,000 members of Kids FACE worldwide and is the world's largest youth environmental organization.

Poe has also asked the National Park Service to carry out a "Children's Forest" project in every national park. In 1992, she was invited as one of only six children in the world to speak at the Earth Summit in Brazil as part of the Voices of the Future Program. In 1993, she was given a Caring Award for her efforts by the Caring Institute.

Since the organization started, Kids F.A.C.E. members have distributed and planted over 1 million trees! Ongoing tree-planting projects include Kid's Yards – the creation of backyard wildlife habitats (栖息地) and now Kids F.A.C.E. is involved in the exciting Earth Odyssey, which is a great way to start helping.

"Starting the club turned out to be a way to help people get involved with the environment. Club members started doing things like recycling, picking up litter and planting trees as well as inviting other kids to join their club."

"We try to tell kids that it's not OK to be lazy," she explains. "You need to start being a responsible, environmentally friendly person now, right away, before you become a resource-sucking adult."

1. Kids F.A.C.E is _____.

A．a program to help students with writing

B．a project of litter recycling

C．a campaign launched by President Bush

D．a club of environmental protection

2. What can we learn about Poe?

A．She was awarded a prize in Brazil.

B．She donated billboard across the country.

C．She got positive responses for her efforts

D．She joined the National Park Service.

3. Kid’s Yards is _____.

A．established in a national park.

B．started to protect wildlife

C．a wildlife- raising project

D．an entertainment park for kids.

4. Which of the following can be inferred from the text?

A．Adults are resource-sucking people

B．Poe sought help from a youth organization

C．Kids F.A.C.E members are from the U.S.

D．Kids are urged to save natural resources.