阅读理解

　　A new study warns that about thirty percent of the world's people may not have enough water by the year 2025.

　　A private American organization called Population Action International did the new study. It says more than three－hundred－thirty－five－million people lack enough water now. The people live in twenty－eight countries. Most of the countries are in Africa or the Middle East.

　　P－A－I researcher Robert Engelman says by the year 2025, about three－thousand－million people may lack water. At least 18 more countries are expected to have severe water problems. The demand for water keeps increasing. Yet the amount of water on Earth stays the same.

　　Mr. Engelman says the population in countries that lack water is growing faster than in other parts of the world. He says population growth in these countries will continue to increase.

　　The report says lack of water in the future may result in several problems. It may increase health problems. Lack of water often means drinking waters not safe. Mr. Engelman says there are problems all over the world because of diseases, such as cholera, which are carried in water. Lack of water may also result in more international conflict. Countries may have to compete for water in the future. Some countries now get sixty percent of their fresh water from other countries. This is true of Egypt, the Netherlands, Cambodia, Syria, Sudan, and Iraq. And the report says lack of water would affect the ability of developing to improve their economies. This is because new industries often need a large amount of water when they are beginning.

　　The Population Action International study gives several solutions to the water problem. One way, it says, is to find ways to use water for more than one purpose. Another way is to teach people to be careful not to waste water. A third way is to use less water of agriculture.

　　The report also says long－term solutions to the water problem must include controls on population growth. It says countries cannot provide clean water unless they slow population growth by limiting the number of children people have.

1．According to the author's opinion, the first serious problem caused by lack of water is ________.

[　　]

2．Robert Engelman may be ________.

[　　]

3．________ may have severe water problem among the following countries.

[　　]

4．Which of the following is not the way to solve the water problem?

[　　]

A．To control population growth.

B．To teach people not to waste water.

C．To find ways to use water for only one purpose.

D．To use less water of agriculture.

5．Which of the following is the main idea of the passage?

[　　]

A．How to get more water in the future.

B．Problems caused by water.

C．World water shortage.

D．A new study on water.

阅读理解

　　Bicycle tour and race

　　A bike tour and race will be held on August 26 and 27 (Sat. & Sun. )At 5:30 a. m. The riders will leave Tian' anmen Square and ride the first 35 kilometers as a training leg. Then the nest 55 kilometres leg, from Yanjiao to Jixian, will be the first competitive part of the tour. The riders and their bikes will then be taken from Jixian to Changli.

　　The second racing leg of the tour will be from Changli to the seaside of Nandaihe, covering a distance of 20 kilometres. Saturday night includes the stay at Nandaihe and supper. Sunday morning is free for play at the seaside. At noon all the people and their bikes will be taken back to Beijing.

　　Cost：200 yuan

　　Telephone：4675027

　　Brazilian football players

　　The Brazilian Football Club will play Beijing Guo'an Team at the Workers Stadium on August 26．The club has four national teams players. Also coming is the 1994's World Cup star Romario who has promised to play for at least 45 minutes.

　　Ticket prices：60, 100 or 150 yuan

　　Time/Date：4:30 p. m. August 26(Sat. )

　　Telephone：5012372

　　TicRock climbing

　　The Third National Rock Climbing Competition will be held on August 26 and 27 at the Huairou Mountain－climbing Training Base. More than 10 teams from Beijing, Wuhan, Dalian, Jilin and other places will take part in it. A Japanese team will give an exhibition climbing. Free for spectators(观众). Take a long－distance bus from Dongzhimen to Huairou.

　　Time/Dates：9－12 a. m. August 26 and 27.

　　Telephone：7143177, 7144850, Wang Zhenghua

1．The main purpose of announcing the above events is to give information about ________.

[　　]

A．visiting teams

B．famous players

C．things to do for the weekend

D．prices to pay for the sports events

2．If you take part in the bike tour, you will ride for ________.

[　　]

3．What is special about the rock climbing competition?

[　　]

A．A foreign team takes part in it.

B．You can watch it without paying.

C．You don't have to be a sportsman to take part in.

D．The bus trip to the place of the competition is free.

阅读理解

　　We know that many animals do not stay in one place. Birds, fish and other animals move from one place to another at a certain time. They move for different reasons：most of them move to find food more easily, but others move to get away from places that are too crowded.

　　When cold weather comes, many birds move to warmer places to find food. Some fishes give birth in warm water and move to cold water to feed. The most famous migration(迁移)is probably the migration of fish, which is called “salmon”. This fish is born in fresh water but it travels many miles to salt water. There it spends its life. When it is old, it returns to its birthplace in fresh water. Then it gives birth and dies there. In northern Europe, there is a kind of mouse. They leave their mountain homes when they become too crowded. They move down to the low land. Sometimes they move all the way to the seaside, and many of them are killed when they fall into the sea.

　　Recently, scientists have studied the migration of a kind of lobster(龙虾). Every year, when the season of bad weather arrives, the lobsters get into a long line and start to walk across the floor of the ocean. Nobody knows why they do this, and nobody knows where they go.

　　So, sometimes we know why humans and animals move from one place to another, but at other times we don't. Maybe living things just like to travel.

1．Most animals move from one place to another at a certain time to ________.

[　　]

A．give birth

B．enjoy warmer weather

C．find food more easily

D．find beautiful places

2．The fish called “salmon” spends a long life in ________.

[　　]

3．The mouse in northern Europe move when ________.

[　　]

A．they give birth

B．the weather is bad

C．the place gets too crowded

D．they haven't enough food

4．What is the main idea of the passage?

[　　]

A．Animals move in order to find food more easily.

B．The migration of the fish called “salmon” is the most famous migration.

C．Living things move from one place to another because they like to travel.

D．Sometimes we know why and how living things move from one place to another, but sometimes we don't.

阅读理解

　　A poet published a collection of his newly－written poems. He, of course, was proud of his success. But to his disappointment, few people would buy his book. He was troubled. The poet told a friend of his about it. “The problem is,” said his friend, “that nobody has ever heard of you. You should become popular and win acclaim, then your book will sell well.” “I see,” said the poet, “but what can I do?”

　　“You bookworm! Why not put an advertisement in the newspaper?” said his friend with a smile on his face.

　　“But I can't put an advertisement saying I'm a bright poet and my book is worth reading.”

　　“No, but don't worry, I can help you with it.”

　　What his friend said brought him some relief. And after that he looked in the newspapers every day, paying special attention to the columns of advertisements. But to his disappointment, he had never found any advertisements of his poems. And as time went by, he almost forgot all about the matter.

　　One morning, the poet was having breakfast. The door bell rang. He got up and answered it. When he opened the door, he saw a big man with a big dog standing in front of him.

　　“I've come for the reward!” the big man said in a bad－tempered voice.

　　“What reward is it?” said the poet, “perhaps you mistake me for someone else.”

　　“Nonsense!” said the man, “Two pounds you offered to pay for the dog!”

　　“But I don't want any dog,” said the poet.

　　“Aha! you don't want the dog!” in an impatient voice the big man said. “You let me come here all the way for nothing!” He was ready for a fight.

　　“I'm too weak, and that fellow is so strong,” the poet thought. “I can't be his match…” so he had no choice but to buy the dog for two pounds.

　　Having fed some meat to the dog and locked it in the kitchen, the poet went back to his work. It was not long before the door bell rang again.

　　He looked out through the window and found at least six men with six dogs in front of his door. “What's the matter?” he said to himself.

　　And all of a sudden, he thought of the advertisement. He picked up a pile of newspaper and began to look through them one by one. And suddenly one of the Found and Lost advertisements caught his eyes.

　　It read:

　　“Mr. Cock offers ￡ 2 reward for the return of his faithful dog that first awakened the ideas of writing his new book of poems.”

1．How did the poet feel after his newly written poems came out?

[　　]

2．The reason why few people would buy his book was that ——。

[　　]

A．the book was too badly written

B．he was unknown

C．he hadn't put an advertisement for the book

D．readers didn't like to read poems

3．Why did many people come to his house with dogs one morning? Because ________.

[　　]

A．they came for the reward referred in the advertisement

B．they were his relatives

C．they returned the dogs to him

D．they wanted to sell their dogs to the writer

4．________ had put the advertisement in the newspaper.

[　　]

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

[　　]

A．Seeking popularity(知名度)

B．A poet and his friend

C．An advertisement

D．Looking for a faithful dog.

阅读理解

　　In a society such as the United States or Canada, which has many national, religious and cultural differences, people highly value individualism－the differences among the people. Teachers place a lot of importance on the qualities that make each student special. The educational systems in these countries show these values. Students do not memorize information. Instead, they work on their own and find answers themselves. There is often discussion in the classroom. At an early age, students learn to form their own ideas and opinions.

　　In most Asian societies, by contrast, the people have the same language, history and culture. Perhape for this reason, the educational system in these Asian countries reflects society's belief in group goals and purpose rather than individualism. Children in China, Japan and Korea often work together and help one another on assignment(作业).

　　There are advantages and disadvantages to both of these systems of education. For example, one advantage to the system in Japan is that students there learn much more maths and science than American students do by the end of high school. They also study more hours each day and more days each year than North Americans do. The system is difficult, but it prepares students for a society that values discipline and self－control. There is, however, a disadvantage. Memorization is an important learning method in Japanese schools, yet many students say that after an exam, they forget much of the information that they have memorized.

　　The advantage of the educational system in North American, on the other hand, is that students learn to think for themselves. The system prepares them for a society that values creative ideas. There is, however, a disadvantage. When students graduate from high school, they haven't memorized as many basic rules and facts as students in other countries have.

1．Why do American teachers stress the importance of individualism?

[　　]

A．Because they are required to do so by the government of the United States.

B．Because the students in the United States are too lazy to memorize any information.

C．Because the United States is a country of many different cultures, religions.

D．Because the students in the United States works individually.

2．Which of the following is most likely to be a description of Asian methods of education?

[　　]

A．Each student in the classroom draws a different picture.

B．Students have to find information and the answers to the questions by themselves.

C．Students are prepared for a society that values discipline.

D．Teacher serve as a guide in discussion.

3．We can learn from the passage that the author might believe ________.

[　　]

A．different educational systems are based on the development level of different countries

B．students from Western countries are creative but selfish

C．Asian students are merely interested in maths and science

D．the two different educational systems could be combined together

4．In this passage the author mainly discusses ________.

[　　]

A．how Western school systems mirror the value of individualism

B．the advantages and disadvantages of the two educational system

C．what Asian schools should do to make students more creative

D．the differences in culture, religion, etc, between the east and west

阅读理解

　　Language learning begins with listening. Children are greatly different in the amount of listening they do before they start speaking, and later starters are often long listeners. Most children will “obey” spoken instructions some time before they can speak, though the word “obey” is hardly exact as a description of the eager and delighted co－operation(合作)usually shown by the child. Before they can speak, many children will also ask questions by gestures, and by making questioning noises.

　　Any attempt to study the development from the noises babies make to their first spoken words lead to considerable difficulties. It's agreed that they enjoy making noises, and that during the first few months one or two noises sort themselves out as particular expression like delight, pain, friendliness and so on. But since these can't be said to show the baby's intention to communicate, they can hardly be regarded as early forms of language. It is agreed too, that from about three months they play with sounds for enjoyment, and that by six months they are able to add new words to their store. This self－imitation (自我模仿)leads out to deliberate(有意的)imitation of sounds made or words spoken to them by other people. The problem then arises to the point at which one can say that these imitations can be considered as speech.

　　It is a problem we need to get our teeth into. The meaning of a word depends on what a particular person means by it in a particular situation and it is clear that what a child means by a word will change as he gains more experience of the world. Thus the use, at seven months, of “mama” as a greeting for his mother cannot be dismissed as a meaningless sound simply because he also uses it at another time for his father, his dog, or anything else he likes. Playful and meaningless imitation of what other people say continues after the child has begun to speak for himself. I doubt, however, whether anything is gained when parents take advantage of his ability in an attempt to teach new words.

1．Children who start speaking late ________.

[　　]

A．may have problems with their listening

B．probably do not hear enough language spoken around them

C．usually pay close attention to what they hear

D．often take a long time in learning to listen properly

2．A baby's first noises are ________.

[　　]

A．an expression of his moods and feelings

B．an early form of language

C．an imitation of the speech of adults

D．a sign that he means to tell you something

3．The problem of deciding at what point a baby's imitation can be considered as speech ________.

[　　]

A．is important because words have different meanings for different people

B．is not especially important because the change takes place gradually

C．is one that should be ignored(忽略)because children's use of words is often meaningless

D．is one that can never be properly understood because the meaning of words changes with age

4．The speaker implies that ________.

[　　]

A．even after they have learnt to speak, children still enjoy imitation

B．children who are good at imitating learn new words more quickly

C．children no longer imitate people after they begin to speak

D．parents can never hope to teach their children new sounds

阅读理解

　　What do you know about the sea? You may have seen it. Some of us have swum or bathed in it. It looks beautiful on a fine sunny day and it can be very rough when there is a strong wind. What other things do we know about it? Of course, the sea is very large. In the world there is more sea than land. The sea covers three quarters of the earth. The sea is also very deep in some places. It is not deep everywhere, some parts of it are very great. At one spot, near Japan the sea is nearly 11 kilometres deep! Just think of it, the highest mountain in the world is only about 9 kilometres high! If you have swum in the sea, you know that the water is salty. Rivers carry salt from the land into the sea. Some parts of the sea are more salty than other parts. Do you know the Dead Sea in Arabia? It is very salty. Swimmers cannot sink in it! Fish cannot live in the Dead Sea. It is a strange sea. In most parts of the sea, there are a lot of fishes and plants. Some live near the top of the sea. Others live deep down. No sunlight can reach the depth of the sea. So it is completely dark. Strange fishes live there. Some are blind. Some have their own lights. Some have great jaws. With their great jaws, they swallow fish larger than themselves. The sea can be very cold. Deep sea divers know this well. At the top the water may be warm. They as the divers go down, the sea becomes colder and colder.

　　Many scientists are now making a study of animal and plant life in the sea. They hope to find new resources for mankind.

1．Which of the following statements is NOT true?

[　　]

A．Land covers one fourth of the area of the earth.

B．The depths of the sea are different in different places.

C．The depth of a sea at one spot near Japan is nearly the height of the highest mountain.

D．The salt in the sea mainly comes from the land.

2．The Dead Sea is lifeless because ________.

[　　]

A．the water in it is too cold

B．the water in it is too salty for anything to grow

C．the water in it never flows

D．no sunlight can reach the bottom of the lake

3．We can see the underlined word rough in this passage means ________.

[　　]

4．What does the writer intend to tell us in the last paragraph?

[　　]

A．The necessity(必要性)of the study of the sea.

B．The purpose of man's further study of the sea.

C．Man's limited knowledge of the sea.

D．The importance of new resources for man.

阅读理解

　　The sea is the largest unknown part of our world. It covers seventy－one per cent of the earth. There is still much to be discovered about working to explain its mysteries(神秘).

　　Some are studying ways of bringing the ocean's huge supply of water to the deserts of the world. Others hope to control the weather by learning more about the exchange of heat and moisture(潮湿) between the ocean and the air. Others are studying the ways in which sound travels and is affected by water and heat.

　　One of the most interesting projects in oceanography(海洋学) is the work of mapping the ocean floor. Only a very small part of it has been mapped. This was not important when only surface ships sailed the world's ocean, but it can mean the difference between life and death to men in submarines(潜水艇).

　　Long ago there was only one way to find out how deep the ocean was. A seaman could throw a weighted rope over the side of his ship. Then he pulled the rope up after it had reached the bottom. But this was not a very exact way of measuring.

　　In the 20th century a better way was found. Sound was used to measure the ocean. Seamen did an experiment. They dropped a number of devices that would burst with a loud noise when they hit the bottom. And a little instrument measured the time it took for the sound to reach the ship. This has helped the scientists to map the ocean floor.

　　Underwater photography is also important in mapping parts of the ocean floor.

　　Around the edges of the continents the ocean floor is flat and the water does not become much deeper for about 30 miles.

　　The area near the continents, where the water is not so deep, is the place where the ocean's greatest riches in marine(海洋的) life are found. Below these living creatures and plants are the largest unknown quantities of mineral.

　　At the end of the flat part the sea floor suddenly drops down forming deep hollows which are shaped like bowls. These huge hollows hold most of the world's water.

1．The sea covers ________.

[　　]

A．less than a quarter of the earth

B．one third of the earth

C．about half of the earth

D．almost three quarters of the earth

2．Scientists are studying the oceans. In the passage, which of the following is not mentioned?

[　　]

A．How to control the weather.

B．How sound travels and is affected by water and heat.

C．Why people depend on the sea so much.

D．How to irrigate the deserts of the world with the ocean's huge supply of water.

3．Measuring the depth of the ocean with a weighted rope is ________.

[　　]

A．exact

B．a new way

C．false

D．nearly correct but no exact

4．Another aid to the mapping of the ocean floor has been in the ________.

[　　]

5．The ocean's greatest riches are found ________.

[　　]

A．in deep hollows

B．in the flat part of the sea

C．close to the continents

D．around islands

阅读理解

　　The year is 2094. It has been announced that a comet(彗星) is heading towards the Earth. Most of it will miss our planet, but two pieces will probably hit the southern half of the Earth.

　　On 17 July, a piece four kilometers wide enters the Earth' s atmosphere(大气层) with a massive explosion. About half of the piece is destroyed, but the remaining part hits the South Atlantic at 200 times the speed of sound. The sea boils and a huge hole is made in the sea bed. Huge waves are created and spread outwards from the hole. The wall of water, a kilometre high, rushes towards southern Africa at 800 kilometres an hour. Cities on the African coast are totally destroyed and millions of people are drowned.

　　Before the waves reach South America, the second piece of the comet lands in Argentina. Earthquakes and volcanoes are set off in the Andes Mountains. The shock waves move north into California and all around the Pacific Ocean. The cities of Los Angeles, San Francesco and Tokyo are completely destroyed by earthquakes. Millions of people in the southern half of the earth are already dead, but the north won't escape for long. Because of the explosions, the sun is hidden by clouds of dust, temperatures around the world fall to almost zero. Crops are ruined. The sun won't be seen again for many years. Wars break out as countries fight for food. A year later, no more than 10 million people remain alive.

　　Could it really happen? In fact, it has already happened more than once in the history of the Earth. The dinosaurs 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 piece of object in space. The dinosaurs couldn't live through the cold climate that followed and they died out. Will we meet the same end?

1．What is mainly described in the passage?

[　　]

A．A historic discovery.

B．An event of imagination

C．A research on space.

D．A scientific adventure.

2．When the first piece hits the South Atlantic, it causes ________.

[　　]

3．Why can't the northern half of the earth escape for long?

[　　]

A．Because the land is covered with water.

B．Because the light and heat from the sun can not reach the earth.

C．Because people there can not live at the temperature of zero.

D．Because wars break out among countries.

4．By giving the example of dinosaurs, the author tries to prove ________.

[　　]

A．animals could not live in the cold climate

B．what happened 65 million years ago was an invented story

C．the human beings will die out in 2094

D．the Earth could be hit by other objects in space

阅读理解

　　One of the greatest killers in the Western world is heart disease. The death rate(率) from the disease has been increasing at an alarming speed for the past thirty years. Today in Britain, for example, about four hundred people a day die of heart disease. Medical experts know that people can reduce their chances of getting heart disease by exercising regularly, by not smoking, by changing their diets, and by paying more attention to reducing stress(压力) in their work.

　　However, Western health－care systems are still not paying enough attention to the prevention of the disease. There is a need for more programs to educate the public about the causes and prevention of heart disease. Instead of supporting such programs, however, the US healthcase system is spending large sums of money on the surgical(外科的) treatment of the disease after it develops. This emphasis(强调) on treatment clearly has something to do with the technological advances that have taken place in the past ten to fifteen years. In this time, modern technology has enabled doctors to develop new surgical techniques. Many operations that were considered impossible or too risky(有风险的) a few years ago are now performed every day in US hospitals. The result has been a huge increase in heart surgery.

　　Although there is no doubt that heart surgery can help a large number of people, some people point out that the emphasis on the surgical treatment of the disease has three clear disadvantages. First, it attracts interest and money away from the question of prevention. Second, it causes the costs of general hospital care to rise. After hospitals buy the expensive equipment that is necessary for modern heart surgery, they must try to recover the money they have spent. To do this, they raise costs for all their patients, not just those patients whose treatment requires the equipment. The third disadvantage is that doctors are encouraged to perform surgery－even on patients for whom an operation is unnecessary－because the equipment and expert skills are there. A government office recently stated that major heart surgery was often performed even though its chances of success were low. In one type of heart surgery, for example, only 15 percent of patients improved their conditions after the surgery. However, more than 100,000 of these operations are performed in the United States every year.

1．What effect has modern technology had on medicine?

[　　]

A．It has reduced the costs of medical treatment.

B．It has helped save the lives of most patients.

C．It has encouraged doctors to do more heart surgeries.

D．It has helped educate people about the prevention of heart disease.

2．“To do this” (in Paragraph 3) means ________.

[　　]

A．to help patients recover

B．to increase the number of heart surgeries

C．to get back the money spent on the equipment

D．to buy new equipment for the treatment of heart disease

3．The author would agree that ________.

[　　]

A．more money should be spent on the prevention of heart disease

B．heart surgery has helped most patients improve their conditions

C．modern technology has made heart surgery more risky than before

D．the public have known a great deal about the causes of heart disease

4．What would be the best title for the passage?

[　　]

A．The Greatest Killer in the West

B．Heart Disease, Treat or Prevent

C．Modern Technology and Heart Surgery

D．Heart Surgery; Advantages and Disadvantages