No one knows yet the accurate number of lives which have been lost in this terrible fire .But reports suggest that it is more than one hundred .
A wall of flames fifty feet high and at least one hundred and fifty miles wide is now racing towards the forests and rich farmlands of southern Victoria . Towns less than one hundred miles from Melbourne will be in danger unless the wind changes . People are rushing excitedly into the streets . The police have warned them not to see the fire but many people are doing so .
The cause of the fire is unknown . No rain has fallen in this part of Australia for three months , and the hot , north-west wind from the great central desert is blowing at more than thirty miles an hour .
The firefighters are travelling to the fire by road , rail and air . But it is not easy to get there . Flames and fallen trees have cut off or blocked roads and railway lines . The thick smoke often prevents them from finding the air strips (飞机跑道).
It is said that the fire has brought the greater danger to the country since the Second World War .
【小题1】By the time the article was written , the fire        .

A．had just broken out	B．had been put out
C．was spreading violently	D．was coming to an end

【小题2】The writer wrote this article mainly to tell people        .

A．the fire was terrible and dangerous

B．it was impossible to put out the fire

C．more than one hundred people died of the fire

D．to join in the fight against the fire

【小题3】In the 4th paragraph , the writer suggested that        .

A．the fire would soon be controlled by the firefighters

B．it would be very difficult to put out the fire

C．the government was paying great attention to the fire

D．the fire had caused great losses and the airport was in ganger

【小题4】The underlined word “ accurate” in the first sentence has the same meaning as        .

A．recent

B．whole

C．rough

D．exact

The quality of drinking water in Shanghai will meet European Union standard by 2010 and, a decade later, citizens in Shanghai will drink the best water in the world.
These were the goals set out by the Shanghai Water Authority. With the city’s population expected to increase only slightly and the economy to boom by 2020, Chen Yin, an official in the water authority, said Shanghai’s water consumption will not increase from its present amount.
Zhang Yue, director of the Urban Construction Division under the Ministry of Construction, said, “Shanghai is the first city in the country to publicize these ambitions. They will not be easy to achieve.” He said water saving will help keep the sustainable development of China’s economy.
Saving one cubic meter of water means saving the city’s infrastructure（基础设施）costs by 10,000 Yuan. Last year, Shanghai saved 300 million cubic meters of water either from readjustment of industrial structure or the employment of new technology.
“The aim is to arouse public awareness of the seriousness of water shortages,” Chen said. “The abundant surface water and amount of rain of the city are so misleading that they result in improper use of water.”
Shanghai lacks drinkable water. The Huangpu River, which supplies 80 percent of the city’s drinkable water, is nearing exhaustion. The city, therefore, has been exploring new sources from the Yangtze River and growing forests along it to conserve quality water.
Besides penning regulations, the authority is popularizing technology among the public to efficiently cut the amount of water used.
At present, the city has 600,000 family toilets, each using 13 liters of water per flush. These are to be renovated（整修）to use only 9 liters of water per flush. The authority is renovating the first 200 toilets for households – at a cost of Yuan each. In three years, all the toilets will be renovated, which saves the city nearly 15 million Yuan every year in water conservation.
Another task the city is engaged in is the treatment of sewage（污水）to improve the water environment. At present the city can only treat 44 percent of its daily 5.04 million tons of waste water. To meet the total demand, 27 more sewage treatment factories are to be established with an estimated investment of 18 billion Yuan.
【小题1】People in Shanghai get their daily water mainly from _______now.

A．the underground	B．the Huangpu River
C．the rain	D．the Yangtze River

【小题2】According to the passage, some people have the wrong opinion of using water because      .

A．the renovating of family toilets will save plenty of water

B．about half of waste water has been treated already

C．there is plenty surface water and large amount of rain at present

D．advanced technology makes people use water as much as possible

【小题3】Which group of measures are all mentioned in the passage to save water?
a．improve drinking water quality
b．change some industrial structure
c．introduce or use some new technology
d．speed the economic development of Shanghai
e．renovate some family toilets
f．build more sewage treatment factories

A．a, b, c, d	B．a, b, e, f
C．b, c, d, e	D．b, c, e, f

【小题4】We can infer from the passage that          .

A．not everyone today in Shanghai is aware of water shortage

B．citizens today in Shanghai drink the best quality of water in the world

C．the boom of economy will need a larger amount of water in the future

D．all the family toilets will be renovated to save water within 3 years

Movie makers at one time worried that they might be put out of business by television. Recently, however, more and more people have been going to the movies. This may be partly because the economic situation in America has worsened. When at the movies, people forget their troubles, as they get involved in the story on the screen. Also, directors have recently been producing pictures that large numbers of people want to see.
Americans in the millions are returning to their love affair with the movies. Motion picture industry experts see two main factors responsible for this: an increased need by Americans to escape from economic worries and a large number of new movies with broad audience appeal.
Movie makers admit that their rising popularity is partly the result of poor economic conditions, which traditionally bring an increase in theater attendance. “When people are fearful about the future, they look for escape,” comments Jack Valenti, president of the Motion Picture Association of America. “In a shaded theater, with a 65-foot screen, you lose yourself for two and a half hours and people find this beneficial.”
【小题1】What did movie makers worry about before?

A．That people preferred watching TV to seeing films.

B．That movies couldn’t be a business any more.

C．That their movies might be played on television.

D．That no one would go to the cinema.

【小题2】Why are so many people going to see movies now?

A．Because people now have much more money.

B．Because people wanted to escape from real life.

C．Because people have troubles.

D．Because watching movies is now much cheaper than watching TV.

【小题3】What does the underlined word “worsened” mean in the first paragraph?

A．become attractive	B．become amazing
C．become bad	D．become popular

【小题4】The main topic of American movies is about          .

A．economy

B．love

C．tradition

D．not mentioned

A painting by Chinese artist Qi Baishi set a record for modern art and calligraphy (书法) on the mainland when it sold for 425.5 million yuan at an auction (拍卖) on May 22. The sale was a  milestone (里程碑) in the auction of modern and contemporary artworks.
The price meant its value had risen more than 2,000 per cent in six years . The work , Eagle standing on pine tree with four-character coupleti（对联）, measures about 2.6 metres by 1 metre . It was the second highest price paid for an artwork on the mainland . A Song dynasty work by Huang Tingjian was sold for 436.8 million yuan in 2010 . Qi’s painting was finished in 1946 when Qi was 86 , and was his largest work . With a starting price of 88 million yuan , it attracted nearly 50 bids（出价）in half an hour . Shanghai businessman Liu Yiqian said that the work had belonged to him and had cost less than 20 million yuan in 2005 . The auction company said the work was brought back to the mainland after being bought from a private owner in San Francisco six years ago .
China ranked first in global art sales last year , ahead of the United States and Britain . Four Chinese artists were among the top 10 in worldwide sales : Qi Baishi , Zhang Daqian , Xu Beihong and Fu Baoshi . Qi’s works ranked second in sales to Pablo Picasso’s last year . Qi was born into a peasant family in Hunan in 1864 . He taught himself to paint and focused on nature including plants , insects , birds and fish . He is mostly well-known for his paintings of shrimps . In 1953 , he was elected president of the Association of Chinese Artists . He died in Beijing in 1957 .
【小题1】What’s the best title of the text ?

A．Qi Baishi’s Painting Was Discovered .

B．Qi Baishi’s Painting Was Brought Back .

C．Qi Baishi’s Painting Sets an Auction Record .

D．The Value of Qi Baishi’s Paintings Is on the Increase .

【小题2】Whose artwork sold for the highest price on the mainland ?

A．Qi Baishi’s .	B．Huang Tingjian’s .
C．Xu Beihong’s .	D．Zhang Daqian’s .

【小题3】The auction price of Qi’s painting was        million yuan higher than the starting price in the auction .

A．337.5 .

B．348.8 .

C．50 .

D．11.3 .

【小题4】Which of the following is TRUE ?

A．Qi finished the painting when he was young .

B．The painting was once stolen by an American .

C．The owner of this painting Liu Yiqian gained a lot of money .

D．Pablo Picasso’s works ranked second in sales to Qi’s last year .

【小题5】 The text is most probably taken from a        .

A．computer book	B．library guide
C．technology magazine	D．newspaper report

Eight-year-old Jesse Arbogast was playing in the sea late one evening in July when a 7-foot bull shark attacked him and tore off his arm. Jesse’s uncle jumped into the sea and dragged the boy to shore. The boy was not breathing. His aunt gave him mouth-to-mouth resuscitation(人工呼吸) while his uncle rang the emergency services. Pretty soon, a helicopter arrived and flew the boy to hospital. It was a much quicker journey than the journey by road.
Jesse’s uncle, Vance Folsenzier, ran back into the sea and found the shark that had attacked his nephew. He picked the shark up and threw it onto the beach. A coastguard shot the fish four times and although this did not kill it, the shark’s jaws relaxed so that they could open them, and reach down into its stomach, and pull out the boys’ arm.
At the Baptist Hospital in Pensacola, Dr Ian Rogers spent eleven hours reattaching Jesse’s arm. “It was a complicated operation,” he said, “but we were lucky. If the arm hadn’t been recovered in time, we wouldn’t have been able to do the operation at all. What I mean is that if they hadn’t found the shark, we wouldn’t have had a chance.”
According to the local park ranger Jack Tomosvic, shark attacks are not that common. “Jesse was just unlucky,” he says, “evening is the shark’s feeding time. And Jesse was in an area without lifeguards. This would never have happened if he had been in an area where swimming is allowed.”
When reporters asked Jesse’s uncle how he had had the courage to fight against a shark, he replied, “I was mad and you do some strange things when you’re mad.”
【小题1】What was the boy doing when the accident happened?

A．Feeding a hungry shark.

B．Jumping into the rough sea.

C．Dragging a boy to the shore.

D．Swimming in a dangerous area.

【小题2】 In which way did the boy’s uncle help with the operation?

A．By finding his lost arm.

B．By making a phone call.

C．By flying him to hospital.

D．By blowing into his mouth.

【小题3】How was his uncle in time of danger?

A．Careful.

B．Brave.

C．Optimistic.

D．Patient.

【小题4】According to Jack Tomosvic, _______.

A．people are often attacked by sharks

B．sharks never attack people

C．Jesse was unlucky to have been attacked by a shark

D．Jesse was swimming in a safe area at the moment

Deep in the Amazon forest, thousands of people still live in isolation from the rest of the world.
In a recent press release, the Brazilian government confirmed the existence of another isolated tribe of about 200 people living in the Vale do Javari reservation. The 200 people living in the Vale do Javari reservation. The reservation, located near the Peruvian border, is about the size of Portugal. At least another 14 isolated tribes, with a total population of about 2000, call the area home.
The newly observed group lives on four large straw-roofed buildings and grows corn, peanut and other crops.
Brazil’s National Indian Foundation (BNTF) first noticed the reservation in the forest using satellite maps, but it wasn’t until April that an airplane expedition was able to confirm the tribe’s existence. “The work of finding and protecting isolated groups is part of Brazilian public policy,” said the BNIF officer for Vale do Javari, Fabricio Amorim. “To confirm something like this takes years of hard work.”
BNIF estimates there are 68 isolated tribes living in the Amazon. The organization uses airplanes to avoid disturbing the tribes through personal contact, but that doesn’t mean others are so respectful of their right to privacy.
Illegal fishing, woodcutting and hunting bring people into the protected area. Oil exploration on the Peruvian side of the border is another threat. All kinds of criminals also invade the lands of the local groups, said Amorim. The outsiders can damage the land and influence the cultures of indigenous(土著的)peoples. They can also bring diseases which can wipe out the whole population that still lack even basic antibiotics(抗生素).
Brazil’s indigenous peoples won the legal right to their traditional lands in Brazil’s 1988 Constitution, which stated that all indigenous lands shall be divided and turned over to tribes within five years. Indigenous groups now control 11 percent of Brazil’s territory, including 22 percent of the Amazon.
Allowing indigenous groups the right homelands is not just a matter of human rights. The rest of the world can benefit from their knowledge. Mark Plotkin has spent years living with the people of the Amazon and learning from their traditional healers. In his lecture, he pointed out that many useful materials and knowledge, including numerous drugs, can be gained from listening to the indigenous groups of the Amazon. Besides this, they are also more effective at protecting the land, and less expensive, than hired rangers(护林人).
【小题1】The underlined word in the first paragraph probably means “a state of            ”.

A．separation	B．interaction
C．satisfaction	D．excitement

【小题2】From the passage we can learn that the tribes in the Amazon forest             .

A．only live on a reservation designated for them

B．prefer straw-roofed buildings to wooden ones

C．keep contact with the outside world through airplanes

D．have the legal right to the land they live on

【小题3】Which of the following is TRUE according to Amorim?

A．Privacy violation is common among the Amazon tribes.

B．The laws dividing the lands of the tribes are far from enough.

C．Modern civilization endangers the tribes and their cultures.

D．It is hard to make public policy to protect primitive tribes.

【小题4】The last paragraph is mainly about              .

A．the lost human rights of the indigenous peoples

B．the benefits of protecting the primitive tribes

C．the value of traditional healing

D．the indigenous peoples as guardians of the Amazon forest

The deadly earthquake and tsunami (海啸) that struck Japan on March 11 damaged two nuclear power stations. Officials are now working to prevent dangerous radiation from poisoning the air in the area surrounding the Fukushima Daiichi plant. The Japanese government has ordered people living within 12 and a half miles of the plant to evacuate, and asked those living 12 and a half to 20 miles away to stay indoors.
Nuclear power plants create energy using a chemical reaction that produces large amounts of heat. Reactors(反应堆)in Japan have many long, thin rods, called fuel rods(棒), which must be kept cool.
If the reactor’s fuel rods aren’t cooled, the reaction can burn out of control. That’s what happened at the two Japanese plants after the quake caused a power failure and the cooling systems malfunctioned(发生故障). This overheating could cause radiation to escape and sicken many people.
Japan’s 54 nuclear reactors are built to withstand the many small or moderate earthquakes the country faces each year. But Friday’s earthquake was one of the most severe earthquakes ever recorded.
People exposed to unsafe levels of radiation have a higher than normal risk of getting cancer. The Japanese government has been distributing potassium iodide(碘化钾)pills to people in the surrounding areas to protect those who may have come in contact with radiation from the power plant. The pills flood the body with healthy potassium iodide. The potassium iodide works to crowd out “bad” iodine in the body that may have been poisoned by radiation.
On Tuesday morning, 750 workers left the Fukushima Daiichi plant. However, 50 workers stayed behind to use sweater to cool the fuel rods. These dedicated employees are risking their own lives to save many others.
On Thursday, officials used helicopters, fire trucks, and water cannons to spray water on the reactors to cool the fuel rods. But it’s not clear whether these efforts were successful. Officials are now working on a power line to restore electricity to the plant. They hope this will help restart the plant’s cooling system and stop the fuel rods from leaking radiation.
【小题1】The underlined word “evacuate” in Paragraph 1 probably means            .

A．help

B．rest

C．stop

D．leave

【小题2】What can we learn from the text?

A．The local people are scared and ready to run away.

B．The earthquake led to many deaths and caused damage to roads.

C．The Japanese government has found a kind of pill that can treat cancer.

D．The two stations were damaged because their cooling systems didn’t work.

【小题3】In the last paragraph, the author mainly states            .

A．lack of help

B．international aids

C．the government’s efforts

D．the result of the disaster

【小题4】This text is most probably taken from            .

A．a research paper

B．a newspaper report

C．a class presentation

D．a chemistry textbook

Norm Pethrick, a 36-year-old man in Australia’s northern city Darwin, was praised on Thursday for jumping onto a crocodile’s back to save his wife Wendy at Litchfield National Park, a popular tourist spot southwest of Darwin, a local newspaper reported.
Ms Pethrick was standing on a river bank Wednesday afternoon when the saltwater crocodile lunged (扑), locking its jaws on both her legs as it tried to drag her underwater.
Norm Pethrick, who with his wife had been collecting water, immediately went to help her. He jumped onto the back, poked (戳) the eyes of the crocodile and finally got his wife free.
Ms Pethrick was later taken to Royal Darwin Hospital for a medical treatment. The doctors said she was suffering eight puncture wounds (伤口) in her right leg, a puncture wound in her left leg and a serious cut to one of her fingers.
“This could have been a fatal and tragic situation,” said the general manager of Royal Darwin Hospital (RDH), Dr Len Notaras, according to a local report.
He said Ms Pethrick was saved by her husband’s “quick and diligent actions”.
Dr Notaras also said she would remain in hospital for three to four days and have an operation to clean the wounds, which are easy to get infected because of bacteria (细菌) on the teeth of the crocodile.
【小题1】This passage is most likely to be found in _____.

A．a travel guide

B．a newspaper

C．a textbook

D．a novel

【小题2】The crocodile attacked Ms Pethrick when she was ______.

A．standing on the river bank

B．swimming in the river

C．watching the crocodile

D．fishing in the water

【小题3】Which of the following statements is TRUE about Ms Pethrick?

A．Her eyes were badly poked.

B．She had eight wounds altogether.

C．One of her fingers also got hurt.

D．One of the crocodile’s teeth was found in her leg.

【小题4】 According to the passage, Norm Pethrick can be described as following EXCEPT _______.

A．brave

B．diligent

C．quick

D．humorous

【小题5】 Which of the following would be the best title for this passage?

A．A man saves wife’s life from crocodile’s jaws

B．The husband should save the wife

C．A crocodile is not so dangerous as people imagine

D．Human beings can beat crocodiles sometimes

Somali pirates(海盗) robbed three Thai fishing ships with 77 sailors on board nearly l, 200 Miles off the Somali coast, the farthest-off-shore attack to date, an officer said Tuesday.
Pirates have gone farther south and east in answer to increased patrols(巡逻)by warships off the Somali shore. The robbing of the three ships Sunday was about 600 miles outside the normal operation area for the international force, said a spokesman.
The spokesman said the attack so far out at sea was a clear sign that the international patrols against pirates were having a “marked effect on pirate activity in the area”.
“Once they start attacking that far out, you’re not even really talking about the Somali basin or areas of water that have any connection with Somalia,” said an officer, Roger Middleton. “Once you’re that far out, it's just the Indian Ocean, and it means you’re looking at trade going from the Gulf to Asia, from Asia to South Africa. ”
“This is the farthest robbing to date. They are now operating near the Maldives and India,” said another officer.
The three ships--the MV Prantalay 11, 12, and l 4—had 77 members on board in total. All of them are Thai, the spokesman said. Before the Sunday robbing, pirates held l l ships and 228 sailors.
Pirates have increased attacks over the past year in hopes. of catching more dollar payments. Because of increased patrols and defenses on board ships, the success rate(率)has gone down, though the number of successful attacks has stayed the same year over year.
【小题1】The pirate attack reported in the text happened __________.

A．far out in the Indian Ocean

B．in the normal patrol area

C．near the Somali, coast

D．in the south of Africa

【小题2】According to the text, which can best describe the situation of the pirate problems?

A．More goods on board are lost.

B．Pirate attacks happen in a larger area now.

C．The number of attacks has stayed the same these years.

D．Pirate attacks are as serious as before along the Somali coast.

【小题3】Which is true about the warship patrols according to the text?

A．The patrols are of little effect.

B．The patrols are more difficult.

C．More patrols are quite necessary even in Asia.

D．The patrols only drive the pirates to other areas.

【小题4】How many sailors were held by the pirates up to the time of the report?

A．228.

B．77.

C．383.

D．305.

In the year 1986 there was a terrible explosion(爆炸). The explosion was at a nuclear power plant(核电站) in Ukraine. The radiation(辐射) caused a lot of damage. It polluted the soil and other things. People were living in the area when the explosion happened. More than twenty years later those people are still suffering. The influence of the explosion will go on for a long time.
Over two million people still live in that area. Only 56 people died from the explosion but many other problems have been caused because of it. Some types of cancer are more than 200 times above the world average(平均水平). Many children have cancer now and children born with problems have doubled since the accident.
Some people in the United States are worried about the children living in the explosion area. One group has been trying to raise money. They are called the Chenobyl Children’s Project. They want to bring children from Ukraine to the U.S. each summer.
A spokesperson for the group says that radiation is the highest in the summertime so it is a good time to get the children out of the country. They want to help the children get away for a little while. The Project wants them to be safe from radiation.
It costs $1,500 to bring each child to the United States for six weeks. The group raised enough money to bring 28 children to the United States last year. The children were able to do lots of fun things. They enjoyed clean air, healthy food, and plenty of outdoor fun. One little nine-year-old girl who got to come to the United States said that she likes America.
The spokesperson says that the children that come to America during the summer miss less school when they return home because they have a long summer vacation.
【小题1】What can we learn about the explosion that happened in 1986?

A．Children suffering from cancer have doubled since the accident.

B．More than 200 people died in the accident.

C．The influence of the explosion will last for more than 20 years.

D．Millions of people still live in the area where the explosion happened.

【小题2】Why does the group bring children to the U.S. in summer?

A．Because the radiation is the highest in summer.

B．Because children have a long summer vacation.

C．Because the U.S. is the most beautiful in summer.

D．Because traveling in the U.S. in summer costs the least.

【小题3】Which of the following is TRUE about the Project?

A．It brings 28 children to the U.S. every summer.

B．It lets children stay in the U.S. for six weeks.

C．It teaches children useful outdoor skills.

D．It mainly raises money in Ukraine.

【小题4】What does the underlined word in Paragraph1 mean?
A. effort     B affect    C. offer     D. effect