“Amphetamines are often used by the workers, such as long-distance truck drivers, to increase endurance(耐久力) or delay sleep, ”the official said.

“About 1 to 3 percent of the population of the world use amphetamine, ”experts said. In Britain, among young people between ages 16 and 19, fourteen percent of them have used amphetamines.

“In Korea, Japan, Denmark, Philippines and Australia, amphetamines are more widely used than heroin or cocaine, ”a reporter said. The problem is also wide spread in the United States, Western and Eastern Europe.

1. In which column can this passage appear in a newspaper?

A. Science Report.

B. Today’s World.

C. People’s Life.

D. World Organization.

2. From what the official said, we can guess that ________________.

A. as time goes on, the international focus is changing

B. amphetamine is more valuable than cocaine

C. the poorer a country is, the more serious the problem is

D. the older a person is, the more he uses amphetamine

3. Which of the following is true?

A. People in Britain never use heroin.

B. Truck drivers don’t know how to use heroin.

C. Amphetamine is made of cocaine.

D. The problem of using drugs becomes more serious.

4. WHO ________________.

A. pays no attention to the use of stimulants

B. thinks the problem is serious

C. only cares for rich people

D. only worries about the truck drivers

Mark knew he couldn’t finish the climb alone, but his friend Peter, an expert rock climber, would be there to lend a helping hand. He and Mark thought it would take seven days to reach the top.

Peter climbed about 100 feet up and hammered a piton(岩钉） into the rock. Fastening one end of a 165-foot rope to the piton, he let one end of the rope fall down. Mark caught the rope and fastened it to his belt with a special instrument. This instrument would allow Mark to move upward, but would prevent him falling even as much as a single inch. He next reached above his head and fastened a T shaped bar to the rope, using the same kind of instrument.

Mark took a deep breath, pushed the T-bar up almost as far as his arms could reach, and began the first of 7 000 pull-ups needed to reach the top. High above, Peter let out a cheer, “You are on your way. ”

Seven years before, at the age of twenty-one, he had fallen while mountain climbing, injuring his backbone. The fall cost him the use of his legs, but he never lost his love of adventure or his joyful spirit.

For the first four days the two men progressed steadily upward without incident. But on the fifth day an unbearably high wind began to blow, and as time went by, it became stronger and stronger, causing Mark to sway violently on his rope. But Mark kept on determinedly pushing up the T-bar and pulling himself up. In spite of that, he had to admit that he felt a lot better when the wind finally died down and his body touched solid rock again.

It took them one day more than they had expected, but on July 26th at 1:45 in the afternoon the crowd of people waiting on the top went wild with joy as the two heads appeared. Mark Wellman had shown that if you set your heart and mind on a goal, no wall is too high, no dream impossible.

1. What had Mark Wellman long desired to do?

A. To finish one of the most difficult rock climbs in the world.

B. To be the first to climb El Captain.

C. To climb the highest mountain in California.

D. To help his friend climb El Captain.

2. How did Mark climb the mountain?

A. He fastened the rope to his wheelchair.

B. He hammered in pitons so that he had something to hold on to.

C. He held on to the T-bar and Peter pulled him up.

D. He pulled himself up using a T-bar and special equipment.

3. How did Mark lose the use of his legs?

A. He lost his footing and fell from the side of a mountain.

B. He fell during his first attempt on El Captain.

C. His legs were broken by falling rocks.

D. While working out in the gym, he injured his backbone.

In medical school, most doctors learn that people with chronic(长期的) conditions should take their medicine regularly. “It’s a terrible way to treat disease, ”says Dr. Richard Martin. For example, asthmatics(气喘患者) are most likely to suffer during the night. Yet most patients try to keep a constant level of medicine in their blood day and night, whether by breathing in on an inhaler(吸入器) four times a day or taking a pill each morning and evening. In recent studies, researchers have found that a large midafternoon dose of a bronchodilator(支气管扩张剂) can be as safe as several small doses, and better for preventing night time attacks.

If the night belongs to asthma, the dawn belongs to high blood pressure and heart disease. Heart attacks are twice as common at 9 a. m. as at 11 p. m. Part of the reason is that our blood pressure falls at night, and then rises as we start to work for the day. “Doctors know that, ”says Dr. Henry Black of Chicago's Medical Center, “but until now, we haven’t been able to do anything about it. ”Most blood pressure drugs provide 18 to 20 hours of relief(减缓). But because they’re taken in the morning, they’re least effective when most needed. “You take your pill at 7 and it’s working by 9, ”says Sr. William White of the University of Connecticut Health Center. “But by that time you’ve gone through the worst four hours of the day with no protection. ”Bedtime medicine would prevent high blood pressure, but it would also push blood pressure to dangerously low levels during the night.

1. According to the passage, how do human bodies keep balance?

A. They make some changes timely according to their physical conditions.

B. People increase or lower the body temperature by sweating.

C. People’s hearts keep beating when the blood pressure goes up.

D. Both B and C.

2. Researchers are finding that ________________.

A. heart disease and cancer are the most common killers of human beings

B. blood pressure and brain function are decided by cycles of sun, moon and seasons

C. the functions of human bodies have much to do with nature

D. any change in human bodies goes with changes in the surroundings

3. According to the author, it is best for asthmatics to take their medicine ________________.

A. at certain time

B. each morning and evening

C. when the disease occurs

D. at midafternoon

4. Which of the following statements is NOT true?

A. Doctors know more about illness than before.

B. Doctors in the U. S. used to be thirsty to know more about the new medical field.

C. The researchers’ insights are providing new methods to prevent common killers.

D. The correct use of time in medicine attracts more attention in medical circle in the U. S. A.

There’re various kinds of apples, but a very few make up the majority of those grown for sale. The three most common kinds grown in the United States are Delicious, Golden Delicious and Mcintosh.

Apples are different in color, size,  and taste. The color of the skin may be red, green, or yellow. They have various sizes, with Delicious apples being among the largest. The taste may be sweet or tart(酸的). Generally, sweet apples are eaten fresh while tart apples are used to make applesauce(苹果酱).

Apple trees may grow as tall as twelve meters. They do best in areas that have very cold winters. Although no fruit is yielded during winter, the cold period is good for the tree.

1. Cold winter weather is good for ________________.

A. the growth of apple trees

B. producing large apples

C. improving the taste of apples

D. the increase of water in apples

2. China, France and the United States are considered to ________________.

A. be large producers of applesauce

B. be large producers of apples

C. have the longest history in apple production

D. have the coldest winter among apple producing countries

3. The word “yielded” in the last sentence means “________________”.

A. improved　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　 B. increased

C. sold　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　    D. produced

Actors and directors, costume(服装)designers and songwriters, make-up artists and sound engineers, among others, all have the chance to win an Oscar.

The awards themselves are small statuettes(小雕像), around 34cm tall and weighing just over 3. 5 kg. The golden statuettes are all the same—they show a man(with no clothes on!)holding a sword and standing on a reel of film.

Sadly for the winner, the statue is not solid gold, but just goldplated. In actual value it is only worth around $250. However, although the statuette itself is not worth very much, winning one can be worth millions of dollars to the film studios.

Winning an Oscar means that the worldtop film makers liked your work. It is the best publicity any film can get. If a film can have “Academy Award Winner” under its title, many more people will go to see it.

The Academy was first formed in May 1927, and the awards have been given every year since then. This ceremony, when the awards are presented to the winners, is the highlight of the Hollywood calendar. It is the most glamorous(富有魅力的)and star-studded(星光灿烂的)evening of the whole year, and is shown on television in 90 countries around the world and watched by over 500 million people.

Everyone who is famous in the film world attends the awards ceremony. Most arrive in huge limousines, wearing wonderful clothes. The Oscar ceremony is the one night when Hollywood really is as glamorous as it appears.

For the first few years of the Academy, the Academy Awards themselves were simply called “The Statuettes”. There are various stories which explain why they were at last given the nick mane “Oscars”. The most popular is that the Academy librarian, Margaret Herrick, exclaimed when she saw the golden statuette, “He looks just like my Uncle Oscar!” and the name stuck.

Whatever the reason, it is certainly easier to say “Oscar”, than to say “Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences Awards of Merit”, so the little golden man is now on a first name basis with everyone.

1. The passage is really about________________.

A. Hollywood

B. an award in the film industry

C. an award ceremony

D. a famous film star, Oscar

2. One story says that the Oscars are named after________________.

A. Oscar Hammerstein

B. the man who invented them

C. the Academy librarian’s uncle

D. one of the “Oscar” winners

3. The awards were first simply called________________.

A. Oscars

B. The Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences Awards of Merit

C. Uncle Oscars

D. The Statuettes

4. A reader can learn from the text that________________.

A. only actors can have the chance to win Oscars

B. an Oscar is made completely of gold

C. winning an Oscar is worth millions of dollars to film studios

D. the Academy Awards are given every four years

5. The best title for the passage would be________________.

A. Everybody’s Favorite Uncle

B. Great American Films

C. Winning is Not Important

D. History of Film Industry

Jerry Springer could easily be considered the king of “rubbish talk”. The contents on his show are as surprising as can be. For example, the show takes the ever-common talk show titles of love, sex, cheating, and hate, to a different level. Clearly, the Jerry Springer show is about the dark side of society, yet people are willing to eat up the troubles of other people’s lives.

Like Jerry Springer, Oprah Winfrey takes TV talk show to its top, but Oprah goes in the opposite direction. The show is mainly about the improvement of society and different quality(质量)of life. Contents are from teaching your children lessons, managing your work week, to getting to know your neighbors.

Compared to Oprah, the Jerry Springer show looks like poisonous waste being poured into society. Jerry ends every show with a “final word”. He makes a small speech about the entire idea of the show. Hopefully, this is the part where most people will learn something very valuable.

Clean as it is, the Oprah show is not for everyone. The show’s main viewers are middleclass Americans. Most of these people have the time, money, and ability to deal with life’s tougher problems. Jerry Springer, on the other hand, has more of a connection with the young adults of society. These are 18-to -21-year-olds whose main troubles in life include love, relationship, sex, money and drug. They are the ones who see some value and lessons to be learned through the show’s exploitation.

1. Compared with other TV talk shows, both the Jerry Springer and the Oprah Winfrey are________________.

A. more interesting

B. unusually popular

C. more detailed

D. more formal

2. Though the social problems Jerry Springer talks about appear unpleasant, people who watch the shows________________.

A. remain interested in them

B. are ready to face up to them

C. remain cold to them

D. are willing to get away from them

3. Which of the following is likely to be a topic of the Oprah Winfrey show?

A. A new type of robot.

B. Nation hatred.

C. Family income planning.

D. Street accident.

4. We can learn from the passage that the two talk shows________________.

A. have become the only ones if its kind

B. exploit the weaknesses in human nature

C. appear at different times of the day

D. attract different people

Being a teenager, she found a job in a parachute packing factory during World War Ⅱ. A picture of young Ms Mortenson in a magazine led her into modelling. Hoping to move from modeling into acting, the young woman began trying out for acting jobs with several movie studios in Hollywood. She finally got a one-year contract(合同)with Twentieth Century-Fox. However, Ms Monroe’s career as an actress did not start well. She was given small parts in several films which did not do very well at the box office, and the studio decided to drop her contract. With no money and no work, the actress agreed to let a photographer take pictures without any clothes on for a calendar, for which she was paid $50.

In 1951, with the help of a friend, Ms Monroe got a seven-year contract with the same studio again. The studio began putting the actress in movies playing a “dumb blonde”and Ms Monroe became a hit. After playing “dumb blonde” in six more movies, she got her first lead role in the movie Niagara in 1953, which did well in box office. She proved that she could sing and dance in her own sexy way in movies like Gentlemen Prefer Blondes and How to Marry a Millionaire. She also showed that she could perform as a comic actress.

While her movie career went on well, her private life was not quite as successful. She had got married for three times, but all her marriage didn’t last long. Probably due to her addiction to alcohol and sleeping pills, she was difficult to work with and was fired. Two months later, she was found dead from an overdose.

1. How long did she stay in the field of the movie?

A. 5 years. 　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　 B. 15 years.

C. 10 years. 　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　   D. 20 years.

2. According to the passage, which is true?

A. Ms Monroe’s career as an actress did start very well.

B. Her private life was as successful as her movie career.

C. In spite of her wonderful acting, she never won any major acting awards.

D. As critics may not have thought highly of her acting ability, her movies were not well received.

3. What did Ms Monroe do before she became an actress?

A. She made a calendar.

B. She worked in a factory.

C. She designed clothes.

D. All of the above.

4. In which movie did Ms Monroe have her first staring role?

A. Niagara.

B. How to Marry a Millionaire.

C. Gentlemen Prefer Blondes.

D. Some like It Hot.

5. We can infer from the passage that________________.

A. what she was after were fame and fortune

B. what she liked most were alcohol and sleeping pills

C. she couldn’t get on well with others

D. she didn’t feel happy in spite of her fame and fortune

Erosion(侵蚀)of the white cliffs along the south coast of England has always been a problem but it has become more serious in recent years. Dozens of homes have had to be rejected as the sea has crept farther and farther inland. Experts have studied the areas most affected and have drawn up a map for local people, forecasting(预测)the year in which their homes will be swallowed up by the hungry sea.

Angry owners have called on the Government to set up sea defenses to protect their homes. Government surveyors have pointed out that in most cases, this is impossible. New sea walls would cost hundreds of millions of pounds and would merely make the waves and currents go further along the coast, transferring the problem from one area to another. The danger is likely to continue, they say, until the waves reach an inland area of hard rock which will not be eaten as limestone is. Meanwhile, if you want to buy a cheap house with an uncertain future, apply to a house agent(代理商)in one of the threatened areas on the south coast of England. You can get a house for a knockdown price but it may turn out to be a knockdown home.

1. What is the cause of the problem that people living on parts of the south coast face?

A. The rising of the sea level.

B. The washing-away of limestone cliffs.

C. The experts’ lack of knowledge.

D. The disappearance of hotels, houses and gardens.

2. The erosion of the white cliffs in the south of England________________.

A. will soon become a problem for people living in central England

B. has now become a threat to the local residents (居民)

C. can be stopped if proper measures are taken

D. is quickly changing the map of England

3. The experts’ study on the problem of erosion can________________.

A. warn people whose homes are in danger

B. help to its final solution

C. provide an effective way to slow it down

D. lead to its final solution

4. It is not feasible(可行的)to build sea defenses to protect against erosion because ________________.

A. house agents along the coast do not support the idea

B. the government is too slow in taking action

C. it is too costly and will endanger neighboring areas

D. they will be easily knocked down by waves and currents

RTCA, an organization which advises the aviation(航空) industry, has recommended that all airlines ban such devices from being used during “critical” stages of flight, particularly take-off and landing. Some experts have gone further, calling for a total ban during all flights. Currently, rules on using these devices are left up to individual airlines. And although some airlines prohibit passengers from using such equipment during take-off and landing, most are reluctant to place a total ban, given that many passengers want to work during flights.

The difficulty is predicting how electromagnetic fields might affect an aircraft’s computers. Experts know that portable devices give out radiation which affects those wavelengths which aircraft use for navigation(导航) and communication. But, because they have not been able to reproduce these effects in a laboratory, they have no way of knowing whether the interference might be dangerous or not.

The fact that aircraft may be damaged by interference raises the risk terrorists may use radio systems in order to damage navigation equipment. As worrying, though, is the passenger who can’t hear the instructions to turn off his radio because the music’s too loud.

1. The passage is mainly about ______.

A. effective safety measures for air flight

B. a possible cause of aircraft crashes

C. the faults of electronic devices

D. a new regulation for all airlines

2. Few airlines want to place a total ban on their passengers using electronic devices because ______.

A. they have other effective safety measures to fall back on

B. they don’t believe there is such a danger as radio interference

C. the harmful effect of electromagnetic interference is yet to be proved

D. most passengers refuse to take a plane which bans the use of radio and cassette players

3. Why is it difficult to predict the possible effects of electromagnetic fields on an airplane’s computer?

A. Because experts lack adequate equipment to do such research.

B. Because it is extremely dangerous to conduct such research on an airplane.

C. Because it remains a mystery what wavelengths are easier to be interfered with.

D. Because research scientists have not been able to produce the same effects in labs.

4. It can be inferred from the passage that the author ______.

A. hasn’t formed his own opinion on this problem

B. has overestimated the danger of electromagnetic interference

C. regards it as unreasonable to exercise a total ban during flight

D. is in favor of prohibiting passengers’ use of electronic devices completely

One in every ten thousand males has the most common kind of hemophilia. It’s extremely rare for females to have it. Patients can be treated with the missing clotting substance. They generally can lead normal lives.

Scientists say gene treatment may be a possible way to cure hemophilia in the future. Researchers consider hemophilia the best disease for gene treatment because it is caused by a single fault gene. Also, only a small increase in the missing clotting substance could provide good results. They tested gene treatment in six patients with severe hemophilia.

First, they removed skin cells from the patients’ arms. The researchers grew the cells in the laboratory. They added copies of the needed gene taken from healthy people. Then they created hundreds of millions of genetically changed cells. They placed these cells into the patients’ stomachs. After four months, the amount of blood clotting substance in the blood increased in four of the six patients. Some of the patients reported a decrease in bleeding problems. However, ten months later, the clotting substance was no longer in the patients’ blood. It is not clear if the implanted cells died or the added genes stopped working.

The researchers say the study showed that gene treatment is safe for people with the most common kind of hemophilia. But others expressed concern about the treatment because the effects were only temporary.

1. Which of the following statements is NOT true about hemophilia?

A. It is caused by a fault gene and is passed from parents.

B. It suffers uncontrolled bleeding.

C. People with hemophilia don’t have any physical damage and can lead normal lives.

D. It doesn’t succeed in making protein needed for blood to form into clots.

2. People with hemophilia can live normally when______.

A. they are treated with the missing clotting substance

B. they accept the scientists’ help

C. good copies of gene are placed in their bodies

D. they place some genetically changed cells into their stomachs

3. By carrying out the experiment, scientists conclude that______.

A. the effects of treatments are excellent and last long

B. gene treatment is a safe and possible way to treat hemophilia

C. people with hemophilia can recover completely with gene treatment

D. hemophilia is a disease that can be treated easily

4. Which of the following can be the title of the passage?

A. Whether people with hemophilia can live a normal life

B. How to control the bleeding for the patients

C. How the researchers remove skin cells from patients and place these cells into the patients

D. The gene treatment to the hemophilia