Kenya is losing an average of 100 of its 2,000 lions each year because of growing human settlements, increasing farming, climate change and diseases, according to the Kenya Wildlife Service (KWS).
“Lions have a special place in Kenyans’ life,” said Paul Udoto, a spokesman for the organization.  “Other than being the symbol of national strength, they are among the Big Five, a main attraction for visitors to Kenya.”
There were 2,749 lions in Kenya in 2002 and their population dropped to 2,280 by 2004 and to about 2,000 today, according to KWS figures.
“The fall of the lion population is worrying and every effort needs to be made to make sure that Kenya either protects its population of 2,000 lions at present or increases the numbers to an ecologically (生态上地) acceptable level,” said Mr. Udoto.
“There is no doubt that the numbers are in free fall. I’d be surprised if they even last as long as 20 years,” said Laurence Frank, project director of Living With Lions, a Kenya-based animal protection organization. “When I first came here 30 years ago, I would always hear lions roaring across the land at night and see their tracks in the morning. Now that is very rare.”
“The reason is simple. As the numbers of people grow and the numbers of cows increase, they take up much of the lion’s space. Alongside that there are other ways, including poisoning, to kill lions.”
Animal lovers are making a new strategy to save the animals. Part of the measures will include tracking lions fitted with radio collars (无线电项圈) in the Amboseli area in southern Kenya, close to the border with Tanzania.
Wildlife officials in Tanzania face similar challenges in protecting their lions, but there is far less human encroachment（侵犯) on the animals’ homeland there than in Kenya.
【小题1】The lion population is falling in Kenya for the following reasons EXCEPT __________.

In a recent announcement, Harvard and the Massachusetts Institute of Technology（MIT）said that they have joined forces to offer free online courses in an effort to attract millions of online learners worldwide.
Beginning this fall, a number of courses developed by teachers at both universities will be offered online through a new $60 million program, known as edX. “Anyone with an Internet connection anywhere in the world can use our online courses,” Harvard President Drew Faust said during a meeting to announce the plan.
MIT has offered a program called OpenCourseWare for ten years that makes materials from more than 2,000 classes free online. It has been used by more than 100 million people. In December, the school announced it also would begin offering a special certificate, known as MITx, for people who complete certain online courses. Harvard has long offered courses to a wider population through a similar program.
The MITx will serve as the foundation for the new learning platform.
MIT President Susan Hockfield said more than 120,000 people signed up for the first MITx course. She said Harvard and MIT hope other universities will join them in offering courses on the open-source edX platform.
“Fasten your seatbelts,” Hockfield said.
Other universities, including Stanford, Yale and Carnegie-Mellon, have been experimenting with teaching to a global population online.
The Harvard-MIT program will be monitored by a not-for-profit（非盈利的）organization based in Cambridge, to be owned equally by the two universities. Both MIT and Harvard have provided $30 million to start the program. They also plan to use the edX platform to research how students learn and which teaching methods and tools are most successful.
【小题1】According to this text, edX is _______.

The Intel Science Talent Search is the top science competition for high school students in the US. The 40 finalists were honored in Washington last week. They met with scientists and politicians. President Obama welcomed them to the White House.
These 40 students were selected from almost 2,000 contestants nationwide. They had to present original research to be judged by professional scientists. The students showed their research projects on large posters. The winners were announced on March 15^th, 2011.
Wendy Hawkins is executive director of the Intel Foundation, who says the 40 finalists represented excellence across many areas of science.
Selena Li is from Fair Oaks, California. She wanted to find a more effective treatment for liver cancer. She began her research four years ago. A scientist at the University of California, Davis, taught her how to design and do experimental work in the laboratory. Ms. Li placed 5th in the Intel Science Talent Search and was awarded 30,000 dollars.
Scott Boisvert lives near Phoenix, Arizona. He began using a laboratory at the University of Arizona at the age of 14. Over four years, he completed a project studying a fungus(真菌) linked to the decrease in amphibians（两栖动物）around the world. He was trying to find out if different chemicals and substances in the water could kill the fungus. He collected and tested water samples across Arizona. He says, “My results were able to identify a list of chemicals that were significant in the growth and in the movement of the fungus.” He placed10th in the Intel competition and was awarded 20,000 dollars.
Evan O’Dorney of Danville, California, won the top award of 100,000 dollars in this year’s Intel Science Talent Search. For his mathematical project, he compared two ways to estimate the square root of an integer (整数) , a number with no fractional parts.
Wendy Hawkins at the Intel Foundation says these young people represent the next generation of scientists who will help shape America’s future.
【小题1】According to the passage, if you want to win the Intel Science Talent Search, you must________.

BEIJING—Apple Inc. is one step closer to beginning sales of iPad2 tablet computers with cellular  network compatibility （兼容） for the first time in the Chinese mainland, where the consumer-electronics giant is in the midst of an aggressive expansion．
According to China’s Telecommunication Equipment Certification Center, a device by Apple with third-generation high-speed wireless data capabilities was issued the network access license needed for the company to begin official sales in China．The device, listed under model number “A1396”, is compatible with the 3G standard WCDMA, and would work with the cellular network operated by Apple’s local iPhone partner, China Unicom （Hong Kong） Ltd．
China Unicom declined  to comment．
Apple already offers the 3G iPad2 in Hong Kong through its partners, but currently only offers Wi-Fi versions of the device in the Chinese mainland．Still, consumers in China, which according to research firm IDC surpassed  the US as the world’s largest PC market in the second quarter, have been purchasing 3G tablets through unofficial channels．
Separately, Apple spokeswoman Carolyn Wu said Sept 6 that the company’s first Hong Kong store, set to open this quarter, will be located in the city’s central shopping and business district in the International Finance Center’s upscale （高档的） IFC mall, a commercial center and sightseeing spot along the city’s waterfront．Wu also said that Apple is planning a new store in Shanghai later this quarter, which will be its biggest store in China．She declined to give more details or to comment on the 3G iPad2．
Apple currently has four full-service Apple stores in the mainland, which receive the most traffic of any Apple stores in the world．The company otherwise relies on resellers to get its products into the market．
The new stores reflect Apple’s confidence in rising demand for its products such as smart phones and tablet computers．Sales in the Chinese mainland, Hong Kong and Taiwan helped boost （增长） the company’s third-quarter results, newly appointed Chief Executive Tim Cook said in July．China revenue （收益） surged （激增） six-fold to about $3．8 billion during the three months ended June 25．
“This has been a substantial （重大） opportunity for Apple and I firmly believe that we’re just scratching the surface right now,” Cook said at the time, referring to strong sales in China．“I see an incredible opportunity for Apple there．”
From China Daily 2011-09-08
【小题1】According to the news, which of the following statements is true?

A．six times

B．one-six

C．60 percent

D．2times

【小题1】What is Kelly Chan going to do?

London: It’s well known that Charles Darwin’s famous theory of evolution annoyed many people because it was against the Biblical view of creation. But few know that it also created problems for Darwin at home with his deeply religious wife, Emma.
“Darwin held back the publication of On the Origin of Species to avoid offending (触怒) his wife,” says Ruth Padel, the naturalist’s great – great – granddaughter. “Emma told him that he seemed to be putting God further and further off”, Padel says in her north London home. “But they talked it through, and Emma once said, ‘Don’t change any of your ideas for fear of hurting me.’”
As the world celebrates the 200th birthday of the man who changed scientific thought forever and the 150th anniversary of his book today, even his opponents admitted he was a giant figure.
Though opposition to his theory continues, it is the elegant explanation of how species evolutes through natural selection that makes his 200th birthday such a major event.
More than 300 celebrations have been planned in Britain alone, where Darwin's face graces (使增光)the 10-pound bill along with that of Queen Elizabeth II.
Shrewsbury, the central England town where Darwin was born and raised, is holding a month-long festival for its most famous son. Down House, his former home near London, will hold a permanent exhibition recreating some of his most famous experiments.
Many more events have been planned all over the world.
What would he be doing if he were alive today? Padel thinks he would properly be studying DNA and the immune system.
【小题1】The main purpose of the author is          .

To help the environment, many Americans have made the change from paper and plastic bags to reusable grocery bags. But a report by a Florida newspaper says that reusable grocery bags sold by some supermarkets contain high levels of lead(铅). Lead is a metal that can be harmful to humans, especially young children. Now, Senator Charles Schumer is asking the US government to investigate(调查) the use of lead in reusable shopping bags.
“When our families go to the grocery store looking for safe and healthy foods to feed their kids, the last thing they should have to worry about is poisonous bags.” Schumer said, “A quick investigation will allow everyone to make informed, timely decisions.” Schumer added.
Lead in the bags is not likely to rub off on food. But over time, paint on the bags can chip and the bags can wear out. When this happens, lead can be released(释放).
The Tampa Tribune newspaper said certain bags sold at Publix and Winn-Dixie supermarkets had lead levels that were a concern(担忧) to health officials. The affected bags were found in Florida. But Publix has more than 1,000 stores in Alabama, Florida, Georgia, Sough Carolina and Tennessee. Publix says that all of its bags are under current laws about lead content, but that they have asked the makers of the bags to reduce the lead levels in the product.
The bags with the highest levels of lead had fancy designs and many pictures. Plain reusable bags without decoration were found to contain little lead. Consumers worried about lead levels in reusable bags can change to cloth or string bags. Paper bags are also a good choice, since paper can be recycled(回收).
Since 2007, Publix supermarkets have sold more than 13 million reusable bags. The store says because shoppers have made the change to reusable bags, it has saved more than 1 billion paper and plastics bags.
【小题1】The shopping bags containing high levels of lead ________.

Chinese media and Internet users on Monday condemned lack of morals in society after a toddler was struck twice –by two different vans-and left bleeding on the road as more than a dozen bystanders did nothing to help the seriously injured girl．
The incident， captured by a surveillance camera and broadcast by Southern Television Guangdong （TVS），showed the two-year-old girl was knocked down and run over by a white van on a narrow market street on the afternoon of Oct．13，in Foshan City of Guangdong Province．
The driver fled the scene of the accident，leaving the girl to bleed on the sidewalk．Over the next six minutes，more than a dozen people walked by the girl，yet not one individual did anything to help her．The girl was then hit a second time by another van before an elderly trash collector came to her aid and brought the attention of the girl’s  mother，according to the video and eyewitnesses．
Doctors said that the girl，who was put on life support after being hospitalized，remains in a deep coma．The girl’s parents，who are migrants living in the city，are now with her．
Police said the drivers of both vehicles have been arrested．However，the apathy of the bystanders shown in the video has shocked the public，as Internet forums have seethed with anger， and people are questioning the morality of society．
High moral standards were once triumphed as national pride in China where individuals known for selflessly helping others were adored by the public．
But in recent years，the perception（观念）of a decline of morals has become a hot topic as profit and materialism are perceived to be affecting society’s values．
On Sept．2 an 88-year-old man in central China collapsed，his face striking the pavement．Yet，no one came to his aid，and he ended up choking to death on the blood from his nose．
Some have linked the absence of good Samaritans （模范人物）to a previous case in which a man trying to help an elderly woman who fell was accused of harming her．
A strong chorus of opinion on the Internet says laws should exempt（免除）Samaritans from liability（责任），yet laws themselves cannot solve society’s  morality dilemma．
Cao Lin，a China Youth Daily commentator，said in a signed article published on Monday that the worry of liability should not be an excuse for not helping，and this case exposes the decline of humanity in Chinese society．
【小题1】According to the passage，what would happen if someone helped others selflessly in the past?

Wen Jiabao arrived in Singapore yesterday for an official visit to the country. It is the first visit by a Chinese premier to Singapore in eight years. In the arrival statement, When said he is looking forward to the meeting with Singing pore on ways to deepen East Asian cooperation between two nations so as to contribute to the building of a peaceful, harmonious relationship.
Premier Wen Jiabao and Singapore Prime Minister Lee Hsien Loong agreed to jointly develop an environmentally friendly city in northeastern China. The city will be a model for sustainable development, a Singapore government statement said.The”Sino-Singapore Tjanjin Eco—city” will be developed by a joint venture formed by Chinese and Singapore companies.”This eco-city, to be built in Tianjin, well become another highlight in our relations,” When said after signing an agreement with Lee, who agreed,“On the Singapore side, on all levels,we’ll  give this project our full support.”
The two sides will share expertise and experiences in urban planning, environmental protection, resources conservation,recyeling,use of renewable resources and wastewater re-use. China’s  economil planning agency issued a set of guidelines earlier this month welcoming foreign investment in environmentally friendly areas such as recycling,”clean”industries and environmental protection.
Bilateral relations between China and Singapore have seen big progress even though the two countries established diplomatic ties only 17 years ago, When said during his talks with Lee.
China and Singapore have also kept close contact and coordination on regional issues, he added. When said China and Singapore are both important Asian countries that share common interests in many areas.
Title: Wen’s visit to Singapore

Now, it’s time for some brief news items.
Teens Go Online
Some 13 million European children under 18 use the Internet for schoolwork, games and music according to research done by Nielsen’s “Net-rating”. The study covered Britain, Germany, France, Italy and Spain. Experts advised parents to limit the time their kids spend on line and keep them away from chat rooms.
Chat to the magic Mum
British author J. K. Rowling, mother of magic boy Harry Potter, will do an Internet interview about her new book “Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince” on June 26. Before the event, children are invited to send their questions about Harry to the website. The book will hit stores in the US and UK on June 21 and will arrive in China in August.
School Soldiers
Russian school students will have to do basic military training in their final year of school, the government has decided. The lesson will include learning to fire guns, marching drills and how to deal with a chemical, nuclear or biological attack. The activity is seen as part of a drive toward the education of their love for their country.
Is it hard for you to get up early and get ready for classes? Some students at Winter Park High School just roll out of bed in their pajamas (睡衣) and go to class in their own bedrooms, Of course, their teachers and classmates do not see them because all their class work is on the computer. The Florida High School, the state’s only online school, has 250 students who are taking classes at home by computer. Students in this first online program take classes in algebra (代数), American government, chemistry, computer, economics, and web-page design. They also have to go to regular school to attend other classes.
【小题1】In the first news item, which country is NOT covered in the research?