Life on earth depends on water, and there is no substitute for it. The current assumption is that our basic needs for water — whether for drinking, agriculture, industry or the raising of fish will always have to be met . Given that premise (前提), there are two basic routes we can go: more equal access to water or better engineering solutions.
Looking at the engineering solution first, a lot of my research concentrates on what happens to wetlands when you build dams in river basins, particularly in Africa. The ecology of such areas is almost entirely driven by the seasonal changes of the river — the pulse of the water. And the fact is that if you build a dam, you generally spoil the downstream ecology. In the past, such problems have been hidden by a lack of information. But in the near future, governments will have no excuse for their ignorance.
The engineers’ ability to control water flows has created new kinds of unpredictability, too. Dams in Africa have meant fewer fish, less grazing and less floodplain (洪泛区) agriculture — none of which were expected. And their average economic life is assumed to be thirty years. Dams don’t exist forever, but what will replace them is not clear.
The challenge for the future is to find new means of controlling water. Although GM technology (转基因) will allow us to breed better dry-land crops, there is no market for companies to develop crops suitable for the micro-climates of the Sahel and elsewhere in Africa. Who is going to pay for research on locally appropriate crops in the Third World?
【小题1】What’s the main idea of this passage?

A．The engineering solutions to water resource and their limitation.

B．The challenge for the future.

C．The basic means of controlling water.

D．The challenge for developing crops.

【小题2】 Which of the following statements is NOT true for meeting our basic needs for water?

A．Water resource should be used more reasonably.

B．More dams should be built in river basins.

C．More wetlands should be protected from destruction.

D．More dry-land crops could be developed in Africa.

【小题3】 The author suggests that governments will have no excuse for their careless ignorance in the future because        .

A．The ecological destruction will be known to the public by researchers

B．The ecological destruction will no longer be a problem in the future

C．The future is an information age

D．Governments will face greater challenge in the future

【小题4】The author mentions all the problems caused by dams EXCEPT          .

A．fewer fish	B．less grazing land
C．less floodplain agriculture	D．less farming land

【小题5】The last sentence probably implies that          .

A．No one will invest in developing locally appropriate crops in Africa

B．Researchers have no interest in developing dry-land crops

C．Research on locally appropriate crops in the Third World may be profitable

D．There is less water resource in the Third Worldk*s*5u

To wash yourself, you take a bath(洗澡) or a shower. Animals need to keep clean, too. How do animals clean themselves?
Cats lick（舔）themselves to keep their fur clean. Have you ever watched a pet cat clean itself?
Elephants take baths much as you do. But instead of jumping into the tub（浴缸）, they walk into a river or lake.
Pigs also like to roll around in water. This keeps them clean and cool. If there is no clean water, they will roll in mud（泥）on a hot day. They do this to cool off. Pigs do not really like mud. They are happier in a nice, clean pond(水池).
Bats have a funny way to keep clean. They lick their thumbs to clean their ears!
Guess how polar bears clean themselves. They use snow, of course!
Some animals take baths in dust instead of water! The wombat(毛鼻袋熊) is an Australian animal with lots of fur. To get clean, it lies down. Then it covers itself with sand!
Birds clean themselves in many ways. Sometimes they wash in water. That’s why some people put birdbaths in their yard. At other times birds take dust baths, just like wombats. Birds also use their beaks（喙）to keep their feathers clean. They use their beaks the way you use a comb.
Sometimes a bird has itchy bugs（发痒的虫子）in its feathers. Birds may use ants to help them clean off the bugs. A bird will lie down on an ant nest. Then the ants will crawl on the bird. The ants make a kind of bug spray（喷雾）on the feathers;. Then the itchy bugs die!
Birds take baths in something else besides dust and ants! Some birds take “smoke baths” They sit on chimneys. They wave their wings in the smoke!
【小题1】This passage mainly tells us       .

A．why some people put birdbaths in their yard	B．why birds allow ants to crawl on their body
C．how animals cool off on hot days	D．how some animals keep clean

【小题2】 What is a pig’s favorite way to get clean?

A．Licking itself.	B．Lying down on ants.
C．Rolling in nice, thick mud.	D．Taking a bath in clean water.

【小题3】Which of the following animals use dust to clean themselves?

A．Cats.

B．Bats.

C．Wombats.

D．Ants.

Fish Ears Tell Fish Tales
　 Fish have ears. Really. They’re quite small and have no opening to the outside world carrying sound through the body. For the past seven years, Simon Thorrold, a university professor, has been examining fish ears, small round ear bones called otoliths (耳石).
　 As fish grow, so do their otoliths. Each day, their otoliths gain a ring of calcium carbonate (碳酸钙). By looking through a microscope and counting these rings, Thorrold can determine the exact age of a young fish. As a fish gets older, its otoliths no longer get daily rings. Instead, they get yearly rings, which can also be counted, giving information about the fish’s age, just like the growth rings of a tree.
　 Ring counting is nothing new to fish scientists. But Thorrold has turned to a new direction. They’re examining the chemical elements (元素) of each otolith ring.
　 The daily ring gives us the time, but chemistry tells us about the environment in which the fish swam on any given day. These elements tell us about the chemistry of the water that the fish was in. It also says something about water temperature, which determines how much of these elements will gather within each otolith ring.
　 Thorrold can tell, for example, if a fish spent time in the open ocean before entering the less salty water of coastal areas. He can basically tell where fish are spending their time at any given stage of history.
　 In the case of the Atlantic croaker, a popular saltwater food fish, Thorrold and his assistant have successfully followed the travelling of young fish from mid-ocean to the coast, a journey of many hundreds of miles.
　 This is important to managers in the fish industry, who know nearly nothing about the whereabouts of the young fish for most food fish in the ocean. Eager to learn about his technology, fish scientists are now lending Thorrold their ears.
【小题1】What can we learn about fish ears from the text?

A．They are small soft rings.

B．They are not seen from the outside.

C．They are openings only on food fish.

D．They are not used to receive sound.

【小题2】Why does the writer compare the fish to trees?

A．Trees gain a growth ring each day.

B．Trees also have otoliths.

C．Their growth rings are very small.

D．They both have growth rings.

【小题3】Why is it important to study the chemistry of otolith rings?

A．The elements of the otoliths can tell the history of the sea.

B．Chemical contents of otoliths can tell how fast fish can swim.

C．We can know more about fish and their living environment.

D．Scientists can know exactly how old a fish is.

【小题4】How would you understand “fish scientists are now lending their ears”?

A．They are very interested in Thorrold’s research findings.

B．They want to know where they can find fish.

C．They lend their fish for chemical studies.

D．They wonder if Thorrold can find growth rings from their ears.

In July 1994 Jupiter, the largest planet in our solar system, was struck by 21 pieces of a comet（彗星）. When the fragment（碎片）landed in the southern part of the giant planet, the explosions were watched by scientists here on earth. But what if our own planet was hit by a comet?
The year is 2094. It has been announced that a comet is heading towards the Earth. Most of it will miss our planet, but two fragments will probably hit the southern part of the Earth. The news has caused panic.
On 17 July, a fragment four kilometers wide enters the Earth’s atmosphere with a huge explosion. About half of the fragment is destroyed. But the major part survives and hits the South Atlantic at 200 times the speed of sound. The sea boils and an enormous wave is created and spreads. The wall of water rushes towards southern Africa at 800 kilometers an hour. Cities on the African coast are totally destroyed and millions of people are drowned. The wave moves into the Indian Ocean and heads towards Asia.
Millions of people are already dead in the southern part of the Earth, but the north won’t escape for long. Tons of broken pieces are thrown into the atmosphere by the explosions. As the sun is hidden by clouds of dust, temperatures around the world fall to almost zero. Crops are ruined. Wars break out as countries fight for food. A year later civilization has collapsed. No more than 10 million people have survived.
Could it really happen? In fact, it has already happened more than once in the history of the Earth. The dinosaurs（恐龙）were on the Earth for over 160 million years. Then 65 million years ago they suddenly disappeared. Many scientists believe that the Earth was hit by a space fragment. The dinosaurs couldn’t survive in the cold climate that followed and they became extinct. Will we meet the same end?
【小题1】 Which of the following is NOT TRUE according to the author’s description of the disaster in 2094?
The whole mankind becomes extinct.
All the coastal cities in African are destroyed.
The whole world becomes extremely cold.
The visit of the comet results in wars.
【小题2】Why does the author mention dinosaurs at the end of the passage?

A．Because they could only live in the warm climate.

B．Because they once dominated the Earth.

C．Because dinosaurs and humans never live in the same age.

D．Because their extinction indicates future disasters

【小题3】 In writing the passage, the author intends to __________.

A．give an accurate description of the possible disaster in the future

B．warn of a possible disaster in the future

C．tell the historical development of the Earth

D．prove that humans will sooner or later be destroyed

【小题4】It can be concluded that the passage is most probably part of a(n) __________.

A．horror story	B．news report
C．article of popular science	D．research paper

Scientists studying the impact of climate change on the Arctic need to consider ways to reduce their own carbon footprints(碳排放量), says Ryan Brook, a researcher who regularly flies north to study the health of caribous(驯鹿).He calls on scientists to show leadership by examining and sharing ways to reduce the impact of working in polar regions.
“The importance of the research is not at question here. It is important to our understanding of and adapting to climate change. But we need to think about better approaches,” says Brook.
“This is an issue for all scientists, though polar researchers often travel particularly long distances using commercial air travel. We also rely extensively on small aircraft, icebreakers, and snowmobiles, all of which produce large amounts of carbon.”
Brook studies the health of caribou herds in Nunavut and Northwest Territories. He works with northern wildlife managers. This work typically takes him north five or six times per year and when he calculated his own carbon footprint, he was not happy with the result.
“My research footprints are about the same as the annual footprints of an average Toronto resident. Basically, I have two footprints — my own personal life, which is moderate, and my research footprint.”
Climate scientists can rightly argue that Arctic research is a specialized field and the community of scientists who travel north is relatively small. Even if all scientists working in the north reduced their carbon emissions, it would not make a big impact on the global scale. For Brook, it’s the option that matters.
There are ways researchers can reduce the amount of carbon they use. Some helicopters use less fuel than others. Solar and wind power are alternatives to gas-fired generators. And while carbon offsets(抵消) don’t reduce the amount of carbon emitted, they are an easy first step.
“There aren’t necessarily any easy answers, but we need to start talking about it,” says Brook. “This is particularly important for the next generation of scientists being trained and I hope to see them become leaders in this issue.”
【小题1】What did Brook find when he calculated his own carbon footprints?

A．His carbon footprints are more than the annual footprints of a Toronto resident.

B．His personal life footprints are more than the annual footprints of a Toronto resident.

C．His research footprints are about the same as his personal life footprints.

D．His personal life footprints are more than his research footprints.

【小题2】 Brook’s opinion is challenged by the statement that       .

A．arctic research is very important

B．the Arctic is a special environment

C．the footprints of Arctic scientists are small

D．Brook’s situation is a common phenomenon

【小题3】We can infer from the last paragraph that         .

A．we should take actions immediately instead of just talking

B．it’s easy to start talking about the problem of carbon emissions

C．it’s necessary now to pay attention to the problem of research footprints

D．the next generation of scientists are more interested in research footprints

【小题4】What’s the main idea of the text?

A．The importance of arctic research is not at question.

B．Climate change becomes worse because of arctic research.

C．Brook suggests ways of reducing the use of carbon.

D．Scientists must look at their own carbon footprints.

The temperature of the sun is over 5000 degrees Fahrenheit at the surface, but it rises to perhaps more than 16 million degrees at the center．The sun is so much hotter than die earth that matter can exist only as a gas, except at the core．In the core of the sun, the pressures are so great against the gases that, despite the high temperature, there may be a small solid core．However, no one really knows, since the center of the sun can never be directly observed．
Solar astronomers do know that the sun is divided into five layers or zones．Starting at the outside and going down into the sun, the zones are the corona, chromosphere, photosphere, convection zone and finally the core．The first three zones are regarded as the sun's atmosphere．
But since the sun has no solid surface, it is hard to tell where the atmosphere ends and the main
body of the sun begins．
The sun's outermost layer begins about 10000 miles above the visible surface and goes outward for mllions of miles．This is the only part of the sun that can be seen during an eclipse（日食） such as the one in February 1979．At any other time, the corona can be seen only when special instruments are used on cameras and telescopes to shut out the glare of the sun's rays．
The corona is a brilliant, pearly white, filmy light, about as bright as the full moon．Its beautiful rays are a sensational sight during an eclipse．The corona's rays flash out in a brilliant fan that has wispy spikelike（一束束穗状） rays near the sun's north and south poles．The corona is thickest at the sun's equator．
The corona rays are made up of gases streaming outward at tremendous speeds sad reaching a temperature of more than 2 million degrees Fahrenheit．The rays of gas thin out as they reach the space around the planets．By the time the sun's corona rays reach the Earth, they are weak and invisible．
【小题1】Matter on the aim can exist only in fee form of gas because of the sun's ___．

A．size

B．age

C．location

D．temperature

【小题2】All of the following are parts of the sun's atmosphere EXCEPT the ___．

A．corona

B．chromosphere

C．photosphere

D．core

【小题3】According to the passage, as the corona ra5,'s reach -die plaasts, they become ___．

A．hotter

B．clearer

C．thinner

D．stronger

【小题4】Which of 'die following do the paragraphs following the passage most likely discuss?

A．The remaining layers of the sun．

B．The evolution of the sun to its present form．

C．The eclipse of February 1979．

D．All the above．

       If you’re a male and you’re reading this, congratulations! You’re a survivor. According to statistics，you’re more than twice as likely to die of skin cancer than a woman，and nine times more likely to die of AIDS. Assuming you make it to the end of your natural term，about 78 years for men in Australia，you’ll die on average five years before a woman.
There're many reasons for this--typically，men take more risks than women and are more likely to drink and smoke but perhaps more importantly, men don’t go to the doctor.
“Men aren't seeing doctors as often as they should，” says Dr. Gullotta.“This is particularly so
for the over-40s, when diseases tend to strike. According to a recent survey, 95％of women aged between 15 and early 49s see a doctor once a year, compared to 70％of men in the same age group.
“A lot of men think they’re unbeatable，”Gullotta says．“They only come in when a friend drops dead on the golf course and they think, Geez, if it could happen to him …”
Then there’s the ostrich（鸵鸟）approach．“Some men are scared of what might be there and would rather not know,” says Dr. Ross Cartmill.
“Most men get their cars serviced more regularly than they service their bodies,” Cartmill says. He believes most diseases that commonly affect men could be addressed by preventive check-ups.
“Prevention is cheaper in the long run than having to treat the diseases．Besides, the final cost is far greater，it’s called premature death.”
【小题1】Why does the author congratulate male readers at the beginning of the passage?

A．They can live longer than they expected．

B．They are sure to enjoy a longer and happier life.

C．They have lived long enough to read this article.

D．They are more likely to survive serious diseases now．

【小题2】Which of the author’s statements is the most important reason that men die five years earlier on average than women according to the passage?

A．Men drink and smoke much more than women.

B．Men don’t seek medical care as often as women.

C．Men are more likely to suffer from deadly diseases.

D．Men aren’t as cautious as women in face of danger.

【小题3】Which of the following best completes the underlined sentence “Geez, if it could happen to him…” （in Para 4） ?

A．it could happen to me，too.

B．it would be a big misfortune.

C．I should avoid playing golf.

D．I should consider myself lucky.

【小题4】What does Dr．Ross Cartmill mean by“the ostrich approach”（in Para 5）?

A．A casual attitude towards one’s health conditions.

B．A new treatment for certain psychological problems．

C．Refusal to get medical treatment for fear of the pain involved.

D．Unwillingness to find out about one’s disease because of fear.

Toucans(巨嘴鸟), a kind of tropical birds known for its colorful beak, are very smart. In Mexico, my dad became friends with a toucan that was in a “walk in and see the birds” cage. The toucan was so smart that it knew how to get out. It just needed some human to help it. It almost flew out while we were leaving!
I also noticed that all toucans have different beaks! They also have very long unique beaks with an extremely long tongue. It struts(大摇大摆地走) around with its chest sticking out and beak pointed forward. The toucan is a beautiful bird! The beak has a red tip (different shades on every one), but sometimes there is a little turquoise on the bottom half. Then, right where the beak separates there is a splotch of yellow. And the rest of the beak is green. The toucan takes very much pride of itself.
The toucan eats fruit and seeds. The ramphastidae(the toucan family) is known for its long beak, and 37 species. Toucans also feed on insects, small lizards, bird nestlings and eggs. They nest in hollow trees where they incubate and care for their young.They are found in the woody areas.
Of the various toucan facts, here is an odd one. Citizens of Central and South America associate the toucans with evil spirits. They think the birds can be the personification of evils. Where couvades(父代母育) is practiced, the father of a new child must not eat toucan flesh as it is believed to bewitch the new-born child. Yet the toucan can also be a tribal totem(图腾). So the medicine men use it as a symbol to fly to the spirit world.
60. 【小题1】Which of the following words is NOT suitable to describe toucans?

A．Intelligent

B．Confident

C．Dangerous

D．Colorful

61. 【小题2】The second paragraph mainly talks about _______.

A．where toucans strut around	B．how toucans get food
C．what toucans look like	D．when toucans lay eggs

62. 【小题3】What does the underlined word“incubate”probably mean in paragraph 3?

A．Hatch eggs

B．Take cover

C．Gather strength

D．Keep warm

63. 【小题4】We can learn from the last paragraph that _______.

A．all citizens of Central and South America are afraid of toucans

B．the toucans can also be used as medicine to cure diseases

C．a new child must not eat toucan flesh because it is poisonous

D．some people believe toucans can bring them misfortune

Damage to Ozone Layer Gets Worse
In the middle of winter, when snow is falling in many parts of the United States, scientists have sounded a warning to people who plan to spend many hours in the sun this summer．The warning: The sun's summertime rays are more dangerous than once thought.
A team of scientists from 80 nations recently reported to the United Nations that a layer of ozone（臭氧层）in the atmosphere, which protects humans from harmful levels of ultraviolet（紫外线）radiation, will be thinner over the United States this summer．The thinner layer allows more ultraviolet rays from the sun to reach Earth．The extra amount of ultraviolet radiation could cause an increase in the number of cases of skin cancer.
Scientists first became concerned about the layer in the mid-1980s when a hole was discovered in the layer above Antarctica during the winter．The hole was caused in chemicals used in refrigerators and air conditioners．When these chemicals are sent out into the atmosphere, they produce gases that destroy the ozone.
Concern about the protective ozone layer rose more recently when data from satellites and ground stations showed that ozone levels were dropping over areas other than Antarctica．Low ozone levels were recorded in the spring and summer over the United States and over other populated areas in the world.
Although many countries have already begun stopping the use of ozone-destroying chemicals, the new findings are expected to advance the timetable for a total ban of the chemicals.
【小题1】The scientists have observed the ozone layer ______．

A．since 1980	B．since last winter
C．for more than 20 years	D．for about one year

【小题2】The ozone layer in the atmosphere can ______.

A．do a lot of good to human beings in many ways

B．protect humans from diseases caused by bad weather

C．do a lot of harm to human beings in the summer-time

D．protect humans from harmful levels of ultraviolet radiation

【小题3】Scientists first found that there was a hole in the ozone layer ______.

A．above Arctic during the winter in the mid-1980s

B．above Antarctica during the winter in the mid-1980s

C．over somewhere in the north of the equator in 1980

D．over the USA in the summertime in the mid-1980s

【小题4】The damage to the ozone layer was caused by ______.

A．the changeable weather	B．ozone-destroying chemicals
C．chemicals from refrigerators	D．chemicals from air conditioners

Sometime early in the next century, human beings will move to Mars．They will live there for about a year, and then will be replaced with another group of pioneers．Building the base on Mars will advance our knowledge of the solar system and aid in our understanding of the earth．
We already know that Mars resembles the earth in many aspects: general size, presence of water, length of day, range of temperatures．These resemblances have caused many people to consider a centuries-long project: to terraform Mars．Terraforming means altering a planet’s surface so that Earth’s life forms can survive there．This concept, previously found only in science fiction is now being seriously considered by scientists．
Terraforming Mars is theoretically simple: add nitrogen and oxygen to the atmosphere; pump water to the surface; and add the earth’s plants and animals in the order in which they developed on Earth．But it will take at least 300 years．
Some people think that such a project is too huge for humans to undertake, but there are very good reasons to make the attempt．The earth now contains some 6 billion people, and no one has any idea of how many humans the earth can support．Our very existence and numbers are threatening many other species．We also have had some experience with terraforming our own planet: altering the landscape, the atmosphere and the climate．Currently terraforming Earth has become a wiser activity as we try to control global warming, air and water pollution, and preserve some natural living places．
Small as the possibility of such a project is, it is not impossible．Even if earth-bound societies come and go in the next 300 years, the project can continue through the work of the Mars settlers without the need for constant backing from the earth．
The future existence of all the people in our world may very well depend upon our ability to terraform Mars．
【小题1】What would be the best title for this passage?

A．Terraforming Mars．	B．Saving the Earth．
C．Travelling to Mars．	D．A Newly-found Place．

【小题2】What does the underlined word “altering” mean in the second paragraph?

A．Warming．

B．Changing．

C．Planting．

D．Building．

【小题3】According to the passage the main purpose of terraforming Mars is to _____．

A．do some scientific research work

B．find out its similarity to Earth

C．avoid the dying away of many other species

D．find on Mars living place for the increasing human beings

【小题4】The main reason for causing many people to consider terraforming Mars is that _____．

A．there are some resemblances between Earth and Mars

B．terraforming Mars is theoretically simple

C．we have had some experience with terraforming our own planet: Earth

D．the development of science and technology is very rapid