It is obvious that such a grand project will do a great deal of good. The most important is flood control. By building a dam instead of new coal plants to meet its growing demand for electricity. China will give off much less poisonous gases into the air.

However, some scientists don’t agree to the project. They say that Chongqing and dozens of other cities along the river will put much waste into the reservoir(水库) ,which can do harm to people, fish, and other living things that depend on the river. Sedimentation(沉积) ,the damage of a breach(决口) are problems, too.

The Three Gorges Dam could be considered, when it is finished in 2009,a new eighth wonder of the world as to size alone.

1. Which is not the purpose to build such a huge dam?

A. To make electricity.　　　　　　　　    B. To prevent floods.

C. To improve navigation. 　　　　　　　　　　　　　　 D. To make it a wonder.

2. Where does the dam lie?

A. Near Chongqing.　　　　 　　　　　　　　　　    B. Near Yichang.

C. In Chongqing.　　　　 　　　　　　　　　　　　   D. In Wuhan.

3. Some scientists fear that when the dam is built,__________.

A. the balance of nature may be proved

B. large ships will destroy the dam

C. the Yangtzi River may be too crowded

D. the river might be polluted

4. According to the passage, which of the following statements is NOT right?

A. China will depend on the Yangtzi River, the third largest river in the world, for electricity.

B. Some scientist have considered the effects on the environment after the dam is set up.

C. It will take many years to build the dam because people want to see whether it will be safe and strong enough.

D. Chongqing will become the largest seaport in the world when the dam is finished.

When Kathy and Victor reached the edge of the meadow, flames(火焰) were shooting more than five meters into the air.

Kathy couldn’t believe what she was seeing. One glance told her they needed medical attention immediately. She questioned Justin，“Is there anyone in the plane?”

“No,” he said.

“Where are you able to radio for help?”

“There was no time.”

“I’m a long distance runner,” Kathy said, “I’ll go for help.” Looking at the two seriously injured men, she said, “It may take me several hours to get out.” She started out.

When she was 23,Kathy set a woman’s course record in a marathon. She had run 42 kilometers. But now she was running the race of her life. She had nearly 30 kilometers of hard wilderness to cover to get help.

Kathy had been running for more than two hours. This was far back into the wilderness. The trail(=path) grew vague(=not clearly seen, felt, understood). She stopped to take a quick compass(指南针) reading. She had run for more than 20 kilometers. Her heart fell, her muscles(肌肉) aching.

Finally she saw her car in the distance.

She jumped into the car and sped away. She reached a holiday house and called the police.

During the wait, she walked around, relaxing her legs and drinking water. It took almost two hours for a helicopter(直升飞机) to reach her at the trail head. They needed her for one more task.

1. “But now she was running the race of her life.” What does this sentence mean in the story?

A. She was running to set a new record.

B. She couldn’t depend on Victor this time.

C. She had narrow escape.

D. She was running for the lives of others.

2. Why did she walk around, relax her legs and drink water?

A. Because she wanted to regain lost energy.

B. Because she was too tired.

C. Because she felt thirsty.

D. Because nothing else could be done then.

3. What do you think Kathy’s final task was?

A. Giving the injured food and drinks.

B. Taking them to the nearest hospital.

C. To show the police the crash site.

D. To go back to put the big fire.

4. Kathy stopped to have a look at her compass because__________.

A. she had lost her way

B. of the wilderness

C. she didn’t trust her memory

D. the trail grew vague

On 17 July, a piece four kilometers wide enters the Earth’s atmosphere 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 kilometer high, rushes towards Southern Africa at 800 kilometers 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, an Francisco 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 fame end?

1. What is mainly described in the passage?

A. A historic discovery.　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　   B. An event in imagination.

C. A research on space.　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　  D. A scientific adventure.

2. When the first piece hits the South Atlantic, it causes__________.

A. an earthquake  　　   　　　　　　　　　　　　    B. damages to cities

C. an Earth explosion　　　　 　　　　　　   　　D. huge waves

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 age was an invented story

C. the human beings will die out in 2094

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

One night I felt so powerless that I got down my knees and pleaded for help. “Please, God, I can’t do anything more for my son. I’m at the end of my rope. I’m giving the whole thing up to you.”

I was at work when I got a phone call. A man introduced himself as the headmaster. “I want to talk to you about Karl’s absences.” Before he could say another word, I choked up and all my disappointment and sadness over Karl came pouring out into the ears of this stranger. “I love my son but I just don’t know what to do. I’ve tried everything to get Karl to go back to school and nothing has worked. It’s out of my hands.” For a moment there was silence on the other end of the line. The headmaster seriously said, “Thank you for your time,” and hung up.

Karl’s next report card showed a marked improvement in his grades. Finally, he even made the honor roll. In his fourth year, I attended a parent-teacher meeting with Karl. I noticed that his teachers were astonished at the way he had turned himself around. On our way home, he said, “Mum, remember that call from the headmaster last year?” I nodded. “That was me. I thought I’d play a joke but when I heard what you said, it really hit me how much I was hurting you. That’s when I knew I had to make you proud.”

1. By saying “Karl became withdrawn”, the author means that the boy changed entirely and __________.

A. preferred to stay alone at home

B. lost interest in his studies

C. refused to talk to others

D. began to dislike his mother

2. There was silence on the other end of the line because__________.

A. the speaker was too moved to say anything to the mother

B. the speaker waited for the mother to finish speaking

C. the speaker didn’t want the mother to recognize his voice

D. the speaker was unable to interrupt the mother

3. The sentence “…he even made the honor roll” means that “__________”.

A. he was even on the list to be praised at the parent-teacher meeting

B. he was even on the list of students who made progress in grades

C. he was even on the list of students who had turned themselves around

D. he was even on the list of the best students at school

4. What is the main idea of this passage?

A. Children in single-parent families often have mental problems.

B. Mother’s love plays an important role in teenagers’ life.

C. Being understood by parents is very important to teenagers.

D. School education doesn’t work without full support from parents.

Email is a form of communication that is changing, for the worse, the way we write and use language, say some communication researchers. It is also changing the way we interact(交流)  and build relationship. These are a few of the recently recognized features of email, say experts, which should cause individuals and organizations to rethink the way they use email.

“Email has increased the spread of careless writing habits,” says Naomi Baron, a professor of linguistics(语言学) at an American university. She says the poor spelling, grammar, punctuation and sentence structure of emails reflect(反映)  a growing unconcern about the way we write.

Baron argues that we shouldn’t forgive and forget the poor writing often shown in email. “The more we use email and its tasteless writing, the more it becomes the normal way of writing,” the professor says.

Others say that despite its poor writing, email has finished what several generations of English teachers couldn’t: it has made writing fashionable again.

“Email is a critical new communication technology,” says Ian Lancashire, a professor of English at Toronto University.

“It fills the gap between spoken language and the formal methods of writing that existed before email. It is the purest form of written speech.”

Lancashire says email has the mysterious ability to get people who are usually scared by writing to get their thought flowing easily onto a blank screen. He says this is because of e-mail’s close similarity to speech. “It’s like a circle of four or five people around a campfire,” he says.

Still, he accepts that this new-found freedom to express themselves often gets people into trouble. Emails sent in a day almost exceed(超过)  the number of letters mailed in a year. But more people are recognizing the content of a typical email message is not often exact.

1. From what Baron says in the third paragraph we can see that__________.

A. careless people use email more than careful people

B. email requires people to change their native language

C. professors in universities don’t need to use email

D. people communicate by email full of mistakes

2. What does the underlined word “it”(in Paragraph 4)  refer to?

A. The poor writing. 　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　 B. Email.

C. The good writing. 　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　    D. A new communication technology.

3. In Lancashire’s opinion, email is a wonderful technology because__________.

A. it can be useful all over the world

B. it is the fastest way to communicate

C. we can express ourselves in a free way

D. we can save a lot of paper

4. This passage mainly shows us that__________.

A. people should stop using email to communicate

B. experts hold different opinions about email writing

C. Americans only use email to communicate

D. email makes people lose interest in English

5. Which of the following is Not true about email?

A. It is changing the way of communication.

B. It is used more than letters in the US.

C. It helps us write better.

D. It causes was to write more.

Similarly, Americans do not usually give special farewell or hand shake to each person who they leave a party or business meeting. They will often just wave goodbye to the whole group or perhaps say, “Well, so long everybody, I will see you tomorrow.” They then will leave. No hand shakes.

Americans seem either totally hurried and hard-working or totally informal and at ease. Often you will see men working at office desks without their suit coats and ties. They may lean far back in their chairs and even put their feet up on the desk while they talk on the telephone. This is not meant to be rude. Once Americans leave the busy streets, they are easy and informal.

1. According to the author, Americans are __________.

A. impolite　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　  B. too informal

C. rude to others　　　　　　　　　　　　　　  D. none of the above

2. On meeting a stranger in the business world, Americans __________. 

A. often use a more formal hand shake

B. often give a smile and say “Hi”

C. do not use the stranger’s first name

D. shake hands with the strangers

3. Which of the statements is Not True?

A. Americans usually say “Good-bye” at the end of a party.

B. Americans do not seem to use “Good- bye” when they leave a business meeting.

C. As they are used to informality, Americans leave a party by waving to the whole group.

D. To Americans, “well, so long” is the same as “good-bye”.

4. In the third paragraph, the author gives some examples to suggest that__________.

A. Americans are hurried and hard-working, but they are easy and informal

B. Americans are not hard-working

C. Americans are too hurried to be polite

D. Americans are at ease either in the busy streets or in their office

5. The best title for the passage may be__________.

A. Be Polite

B. Manners in Different Countries

C. How to Greet People

D. American Informality

I think it necessary that you should try your best to use English. We study English, not study about English. That person knows a set of grammatical rules and a lot of English words does not mean that he has mastered English. A students’ mastery of English is ultimately measured by how well he can use it, not by how much he knows about it. I believe that learning English is just like learning to play the piano. So you should also have such a purpose —you are able to use English.

Using English consists of speaking English and writing compositions in English. In order to improve your spoken English, you’d better take an active part in the teacher’s lectures, answer his questions in English, and try to speak as much English as you can after class.

Writing English journals(日记) is the best way to improve your writing. At the same time, you should listen to and read more English.

1. “We study English, not study about English. ” This sentence implies __________.

A. that we study the English language in order to use English, not only to grasp some grammatical rules

B. that we needn’t study English grammatical rules

C. that we should study English grammatical rules very well

D. that we study the English language in order to grasp some grammatical rules

2. Which is the True statement according to the passage?

A. Mr. Wang has a good mastery of the English language, so we come to the conclusion that he knows a set of grammatical rules and a lot of English words.

B. Mr. Zhang knows a set of grammatical rules and a lot of English words, so he has mastered English.

C. Xiao Wang knows a lot of English words and a set of grammatical rules, so that he speaks English well.

D. Xiao Zhang knows much about English, so he can use English.

3. From the author’s point of view, __________.

A. learning English is very important because of the grammatical rules

B. English is of importance to us Chinese

C. learning English is not like learning to play the piano

D. a student’s mastery of English is not measured by how much he knows about it

4. According to the passage, we__________.

A. want to be able to get good results in English exams

B. should try our best to use English

C. should have the same purpose as a student of the piano lessons

D. should study English well because of its importance

5. __________is the best way to improve your spoken English.

A. Knowing a lot of English words

B. Answering the teacher’s questions in English

C. Trying to speak as much English as you can after class

D. B and C

We all love new inventions. They are exciting, amazing(惊人的) and can even change our lives. Every week, School Edition carries a story on Page 6 of some great new invention. Remember the smart home, the magic see-through-coat and robots searching Mars?

 But have all these developments really improved the quality of our lives?

You are rushing to computer to finish your homework. Suddenly the computer goes blank and you lose all your work. Now you have to stay up all right to get it done. How calm and happy do you feel?

 Inventions have speeded up our lives so much that they often leave us feeling stressed and tired. Why do you think people who live far away from noisy cities, who have no telephones, no cars, not even any electricity often seem to be happier? Perhaps because they lead simpler lives.

Our family in the UK went “back in time” to see what life was like without all the inventions we have today.

 The grandparents, with their daughter and grandsons Benjamin, ten and Thomas, seven, spent nine weeks in a 1940s house.

They had no washing machine, microwave, computer or mobile phones.

The grandma Lyn, said, “It was hard physically, but not mentally.”

She believed life was less materialistic(物质享受的) . “The more things you have, the more difficult life becomes,” she said.

The boys said they fought less. Probably they said, because there was less to fight over, such as their computer. Benjamin also noticed that his grandmother had changed from being a “trendy, beer-drinking granny, to one who cooked things”.

Here are some simple ways to beat the stress often caused by our inventions!

(1) Don’t be available all the time. Turn off your mobile phone at certain times of the day. Don’t check your emails every day.

(2) Don’t reply to somebody as soon as they leave a text message just because you can. It may be fun at first, but it soon gets annoying(烦人的) .

(3) Make sure you spend more time talking to your family. Set aside one evening a week when you don’t turn on the television. Play cards and chat instead.

(4) Get a low-tech hobby. Every day, do something in the old fashioned way, such as walking to have a face-to-face meeting instead of using the email or telephone, or making a birthday card.

1. The writer uses the quote(引语)  at the beginning of the story to __________.

A. share a truth about life

B. tell us what was like long ago

C. point out that whatever time you live in, you experience some big problems and they may be the same

D. make us wonder what causes such a thing to happen

2. Why did the family choose to spend some time in a 1940s house?

A. Because they loved to live simple lives.

B. Because they were curious about how people lived without modern inventions.

C. Because they were troubled by modern inventions.

D. Because living in a different time would be a lot of fun for them.

3. The writer gives the example of “a family in UK back in time” to __________.

A. show the new inventions also bring people some problems

B. show the life in the past is better than that of today

C. explain why new inventions are so useful

D. test the life without new inventions is terrible

4. What do you think the underlined word “available” in the first suggestion offered by the writer means?

A. Able to be found by others. 　　　　　　　　　　   B. Online.

C. Free. 　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　 D. Busy.

5. According to the passage, the writer seems to think that__________.

A. technology brings us nothing but bad effects

B. technology sometimes makes people feel stressed and tired

C. the problems that technology brings can not be avoided

D. human beings are still not able to deal with the problems that the technology brings

The importance of environment in determining an individual’s intelligence can be shown by the case of the identical twins, Peter and Mark X. Being identical, the twins had identical brains at birth, and their growth processes were the same. When the twins were 3 months old, their parents died, and they were placed in separate homes. Peter was brought up by parents of low intelligence in an isolated(孤立的) community with poor educational opportunities. Mark was brought up in the home of well-to-do parents who had been to college. He was read to as a child, sent to good schools, and given every opportunity. The difference continued until the twins were in their late teens, when they’ve given tests to measure their intelligence. Mark’s IQ was 125.25 points higher than the average and fully 40 points higher than his identical brother. Given equal opportunities, the twins, having identical brains, would have tested at roughly the same level.

1.This selection can best be titled__________.

A. Measuring Your Intelligence

B. Intelligence and Environment

C. The Case of Peter and Mark

D. How the Brain Influences Intelligence

2. Of the following statements, which best gives the main idea of the passage?

A. Human brains differ greatly.

B. The brain the person is born with is important in determining his intelligence.

C. Environment is vital in determining a person’s intelligence.

D. Persons having identical brains will have roughly the same intelligence.

3. We can infer that people who are “identical”__________.

A. look exactly alike

B. don’t look alike

C. are brought up in the same family

D. are born in the same family

4. The case mentioned in the passage seems to support the conclusion that__________.

A. individuals with identical brains seldom test at the same level

B. an individual’s intelligence is determined only by his environment

C. children brought up under average conditions possess average intelligence

D. lack of opportunity prevents the growth of intelligence

5. The passage suggests that an individual’s IQ__________.

A. can be increased by education

B. is passed down from his parents

C. stays the same throughout his life

D. can be predicted at birth

But being immediate and the speed of production that goes with it mean also that much of what appears in a newspaper has no more than transient(短暂的) value. For all these reasons, no two people read really the same paper: What each person does is to put together out of the pages of that day’s paper, his own selection and sequence(结果) ,his own newspaper. For all these reasons, reading newspaper efficiently, which means getting what you want from them without missing things you need and without wasting time, demands skill and self-awareness(自我觉察) as you are using your techniques of reading.

1. A modern newspaper is extraordinary for all the following EXCEPT its__________.

A. speed in reading news　　　　　　　　　　　　 B. wide coverage

C. popularity　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　 D. uniform(一致的) style

2. According to the passage, the reason why no two people really read the “same” newspaper is that__________.

A. different people prefer different newspapers

B. people look through it for the news they are interested in

C. people have different views about what a good newspaper is

D. people are seldom interested in the same kind of news

3. It can be concluded from the passage that newspaper readers__________.

A. use their reading techniques skillfully

B. appreciate the variety of a newspaper

C. usually read a newspaper selectively

D. jump from one newspaper to another

4. A good newspaper offers “a variety” to readers because__________.

A. it tries to serve different readers

B. readers are difficult to please

C. readers like to read different newspapers

D. it has to cover things that happen in a certain locality

5. Which of the following can be the best title for the passage?

A. Some suggestions on How to Read a Newspaper

B. The Importance of Newspaper Topicality

C. The Variety of a Good newspaper

D. The characteristics of Good Newspaper