阅读下面短文，根据短文内容，判断句子的正(T)误(F)。

　　Countries all over the world hold elections for various political offices every year． Even in countries where kings and queens hold the highest position of power, people may still have a voice in electing people into lower political offices． These elections may be limited to one city or area of a country, or the election may be a large national one． One of the largest elections in history happened in India in 1989． In this election, 543 seats in the Lower House of India’s national government were up for election． It was reported that 65 percent of the 500 million people who were able to vote did vote in the election． Many people were needed to help with the voting and watch out for any problems． Voters were able to vote at any of the 593 , 000 assigned voting places which employed 3． 5 million workers． The result of this election led to the start of a new government．

　　The most obvious illegal election in history took place in Liberia in 1927． In this election, after all of the voting was over, it was announced that President Charles King won the reelection by a vote of 234, 000 over the man who was running for office against him． The problem with this election was that there were only 15,096 voters in Liberia who were legally able to vote at the time of the election． However, the number of people who voted for Mr． King was much higher than this． President King won a number of votes 15 times greater than the number of people who were able to vote in the whole country !

1．In some countries where kings and queens control the power of the nation, few people may have a voice in election．

2．One of the largest elections in history happened in India in 1989 and the most obvious illegal election in history took place in Liberia in 1927．

3．The result of Liberia’ election led to the start of a new government．

4．President Charles King won the reelection by a vote of 15, 096 over the man who was running for office against him．

阅读下面短文，根据短文内容，判断短文后所给句子的正(T)误(F)。

　　The comforts and conveniences of modern life have brought with them problems that did not exist in the days of simpler living． Machinery which operates on electricity made by burning coal or petroleum is used to process raw materials taken from the earth． Gases from the burning fuels are sent into the air． Wastes from making raw material into finished products are sent both into the air and into the water．

　　As a result of these and of other pollutants some lakes and rivers have become so contaminated that the fish in them die． Besides the dangers to health from breathing polluted air, the waste gases have effects on the upper atmosphere, which may endanger life on earth．

　　These threats, as well as the depletion (耗尽) of natural resources (such as fuels, forests, and soil) by carelessly wasteful use, have worried scientists and other thoughtful people．

　　Such persons are also disturbed about the effects of chemical fertilizers and of poisons which farmers use in order to destroy insects and weeds． Above all, they are alarmed at the interference (冲突) with the natural balance of the environment, and its possible consequences (结果)．

　　As a result, there have been attempts to alert the public to these dangers and to control pollution, as well as to reduce the wasting of natural resources． One way of bringing these problems to the attention of the public is the yearly celebration of Earth Day, which began in 1970． There are also articles and books by environmentalists and organizations interested in ecology, the study of the interdependence of organisms and the environment．

　　The United States government’s Environment Protection Agency is studying various ways of avoiding danger to the population． For example, its scientists are making investigations to find out whether water pipes made of certain materials can have chemical effects on the water they transport, which might induce (引起) cancer or other diseases． By these and other antipollution studies and regulations, it is hoped that the environment can be prevented from deteriorating (恶化) further．

1．Raw materials taken from the earth is used to make electricity by burning coal or petroleum．

2．Scientists and other thoughtful people have worried about the depletion of natural resources by carelessly wasteful use．

3．Farmers are disturbed about the effects of chemical fertilizers and of poisons for destroying in-sects and weeds．

4．There are also articles and books by environmentalists and organizations which are interested in the study of the interdependence of organisms and the environment．

5．Water pipes made of certain materials have chemical effects on the water they transport, which induces cancer or other diseases．

阅读训练

阅读下面短文，判断句子的正(T)误(F)。

　　X-rays were first discovered by a German scientist, Wilhelm Konrad Rontgen, in 1895, almost by accident． He and several other scientists were experimenting with passing electric currents through certain gases in a special glass tube from which the air had been moved． One day Rontgen noticed that, even when the tube was covered with black paper, some strange kind of radiation was coming through and making a screen nearby glow． Rontgen could not see anything coming out of the tube, but then he discovered that if he put the screen in the next room on the other side of a closed door, the rays could pass not only through black paper but also through wood．

　　The next thing he found out was that if he put his hand between the rays and a photographic plate , the rays would print a shadow of the bony framework of his hand on the plate． In fact , the rays could pass as easily through the fleshy part of his hand as through the black paper, but hardly at all through the bone． So Rontgen made the first X-ray picture of a hand, showing just how the bones in the hand fit together．

1．What puzzled Rontgen one day during his experiment was the．black-paper-covered tube．

2．The screen didn't stop glowing even when it was moved to the next room．

3．Rontgen put his hand between the rays and a photographic plate to stop the radiation．

4．The rays proved to be unable to pass through wood．

5．From the passage , we know X-rays are invisible．

先阅读短文,然后判断正误并且讨论后面的问题：

　　Pre-reading

　　Imagine that you are sailing on the sea. How would you feel? Then suddenly there came a storm, and the boat was tossed up and down by the waves, how would you feel? Find out whether the sailors feel the same.

　　STRONG winds drove the angry seas to great heights. Waves of freezing water knocked against the boats, trying to sweep them away. Icy drops of water hurt the sailors' eyes. * Not only did they have to deal with storms, but whales and icebergs too. *

　　* Under such hard conditions, most people would have only the most basic of thoughts: survival. But for the 97 people competing in the round-the-world Volvo Ocean Race (VOR), the desire for victory means that speed is constantly (经常地)played against safety. *

　　During the sailing, sailors also regularly record data (资料)that help scientist get oceanic (海洋的 )conditions.“Climbers do the Qomolangma (珠穆朗玛峰), divers do the deep sea, and sailors do the Whitbread (called the VOR since 2001 - 2002)”, said sailor Paul Cayard during the 1997-98 race.

　　On September 23, 2001, eight boats left Southampton, England for the first VOR. For nine months, world-class racers battled against each other on the open seas (外海,公海).

　　Sailors spent weeks at a time driving their boats to the limit--24 hours a day. They had little sleep and no fresh food. When they reached the next pert, the race didn't stop. However, tired sailors did get a chance to rest and prepare for the next part.

　　After weeks of struggling at sea, the first things these tired men and women wanted were the most basic of human needs.

　　“The first things are a bottle of beer, followed by some nice fresh food, and then a hot shower,”said one team captain, Katie Pettibone. Everyone was short on sleep, so sleep was also a first choice.“But”, Pettibone said,“it's not al. ways easy to catch up.”

　　“You can' t fall asleep because your body is still on the working system,”she said. *“It takes a while to get that.”*

　　Stopovers (中途停留)were up to two and a half weeks long, so most of the crew members had a chance to get some real rest before their hard work began again.

　　Keeping healthy during the breaks was still important for the racers.“We keep working out to keep our fitness level high,”said Pettibone.

　　About a week before the start of the next part, they had to start getting ready again. They stored the boat with food, made race plans and tested new sails.

　　The nine-month race finally finished in Kiel, Germany, in June 2002. After more than 52,000 kilometres, four oceans, nine countries, and I0 ports, the German boat re- turned home as the winner of the first VOR.

　　Notes: 1. Southhampton: 南安普顿 (英国城市)

2. Kiel:基尔 (德国北部城市)

True or False

(1)During the race, the conditions are often challenging, so what the sailors think about is safety.

(2)The round-the-world sailing race in 1989-1990 was called VOR.

(3)When they reached the stopovers, every crew member could enjoy a deep and long sleep.

(4)The word“crew”in this story means sailor.

(5)This VOR event began and ended both in Germany.

Hurricanes

    在每年的6月到11月的飓风期间要发生6～8次“飓风”，2003年9月“伊莎贝尔”飓风在美国东海岸的北卡罗来纳州大举登陆。当地媒体报道说，时速高达160千米的大风和250毫米的降雨造成北卡罗来纳州和弗吉尼亚州南部41万多居民断电。飓风再一次让人类感受到它的威力。

    Early every summer, weather scientists in North America prepare for a new season of powerful ocean storms. These storms are called hurricanes. The word “hurricane” comes from the language of people who lived on islands in the Caribbean Sea (加勒比海) before the Europeans arrived. They experienced strong ocean storms usually caused by weather movements off the coast of North Africa. These weather events gather force as they move west toward the Caribbean and North America．

    A storm is called a hurricane when its wind speed becomes greater than 120 kilometers an hour. Some huge storms cause great loss of life and thousands of millions of dollars in damage. Understanding the movements of storms and hurricanes is the job of the National Hurricane Center in Miami (迈阿密), Florida. Today, many electronic tools make the job of weather scientists, or meteorologists (气象工作者) easier. Satellites observe weather from space. New radar (雷达) instruments gain information about weather movements. Also, airplanes can drop special instruments into storms that record large amounts of information about air movements. One computer program permits meteorologists to see all the information about weather that the National Hurricane Center collects.

   The National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration(美国海洋及大气管理局) has estimated (评估) the number of hurricanes for each year since 1998. NOAA expects six to eight hurricanes and nine to thirteen powerful Atlantic Ocean storms every year. Hurricane season in the Atlantic Ocean lasts from the beginning of June to the end of November.　　

Also, a weather event called El Nino (厄尔尼诺) will affect storms forming in the Atlantic Ocean. El Nino is caused by unusual warm currents of water in the eastern Pacific Ocean. It affects weather around the world.

Judge the following true (T) or false (F).

1. Hurricanes are a certain kind of powerful ocean storm.

2. The hurricane is not terrible and doesn't bring about deaths or do a lot of damage to the cities.

3. With the help of science and technology, it is not difficult for the scientists to know more about hurricanes today.

4. In the opinions of the NOAA experts, more than 20 hurricanes happen every year.

5. Hurricanes and El Nino make the weather warm around the world.

World Health Report 2002

    The life expectancy (平均寿命) of people around the world could increase by five to ten years if action against common health risks (冒险，风险) is taken．This is one of the findings in this year’s World Health Report released (发布) recently by the World Health Organization．The report is called “Reducing Risks，Promoting (促进) Life”．

    Researchers found that ten major threats to good health are common around the world．The chief of the World Health Organization，Gro Harlem Brundtland，called them the ten leading killers．They include unsafe sex，poor nutrition (营养)，high blood pressure，use of tobacco and alcohol，unsafe water and unclean living conditions．Also included are high levels of dangerous fat in the blood，indoor smoke from solid fuels，a lack of iron in the body and too much body weight，or obesity (肥胖)．Together，these ten health risks make up forty percent of the fifty-six million deaths worldwide each year．

    Doctor Brundtland called for reducing the ten main health risks by twenty-five percent within ten years．If this were done，life expectancy in industrial countries could increase by ten years．In developing countries，it could increase by five years．

Currently (通常地)，the number of life years lost because these health risks differ around the world．Doctor Brundtland says the differences these health risks create between rich and poor nations are shocking (骇人听闻的)．For example，about one-hundred-seventy-million children in poor countries are underweight. They do not weigh enough because they do not get enough food. However, more than one thousand millionお adults around the world are too fat. These people are mostly in rich, industrial countries.

Doctor Brundtland warns that the cost of inaction is serious. For e
\


xample, she says nine million deaths a year linked to smoking will be reported by two-thousand–twenty if steps are not taken soon. Currently, about five millionお people die each year from diseases related to smoking.

Doctor Brundtland says that AIDS (艾滋病) and the HIV virus (艾滋病病毒) are having a huge effect on the length of life in Africa. Currently, life expectancy at birth in southern Africa is forty-seven years. The WHO estimates (估计) that ninety-five percent of HIV infections (感染) in Africa were caused by unsafe sex. She says there is an urgent need for sex education and the use of condom devices (孕器具) to prevent the spread of HIV.

Judge the following sentences true (T) or false (F).

1.It is certain that life expectancy of people around the world could increase by five to ten years in future.

1.　　   Most of the deaths worldwide each year are due to (由于) the ten leading killers such as unsafe sex, poor nutrition, high blood pressure and so on.

3.From the passage, we can infer that so far people haven’t dealt with smoking effectively.

4.The length of life in Africa is affected most by AIDS.

The most obvious illegal election in history took place in Liberia in 1927. In this election, after all of the voting was over, it was announced that President Charles King won the reelection by a vote of 234,000 over the man who was running for office against him. The problem with this election was that there were only 15,096 voters in Liberia who were legally able to vote at the time of the election. However, the number of people who voted for Mr. King was much higher than this. President King won a number of votes 15 times greater than the number of people who were able to vote in the whole country!

1. In some countries where kings and queens control the power of the nation, few people may have a voice in electing people into lower political offices.(　　  )

2. The largest elections in history happened in India in 1989 and the most obvious illegal election in history took place in Liberia in 1927. (　　  )

3. The result of Liberia’s election led to the start of a new government. (　　  )

4. President Charles King won the reelection by a vote of 15,096 over the man who was running for office against him. (　　  )

Jackson and the Battle in New Orleans

    New Orleans was the battle of the war of1812; as a matter of fact, the war had been over for more than two weeks when the battle was fought. U.S. and British officials meeting in Ghent (根特), Belgium, signed a treaty (条约) on Dec．24, 1814, but the news didn’t cross the Atlantic until seven weeks later. Had news of the treaty arrived before the British attacked, there would never have been a battle of New Orleans and Jackson might never have been elected president of the United States. There were those, however, who did not think highly of Jackson’s victory. On March 31, 1815, a judge of the United States District Court of the city of New Orleans fined (罚款) Jackson $1,000 for contempt(轻视) because he had declared martial law(宣布军管) during his defense. Twenty - nine years later, on Jan. 8, 1844, the House of Representatives decided to return the money to Jackson with interest at 6%.

    根据短文判断正(T)误 (F):

1. Andrew Jackson became famous for his victory in the battle of New Orleans.

2. Because they were defeated in the New Orleans, the British signed a treaty with the U. S. and surrendered.

3. The U.S. people admired Jackson so much that he was twice elected president.

4. The war wouldn’t have come to an end if there had not been the battle in New Orleans.

5. The two sides decided to make peace and signed a treaty. But three weeks later, the battle of New Orleans broke out.

阅读理解

Hurricanes

    在每年的6月到11月的飓风期间要发生6～8次“飓风”，2003年9月“伊莎贝尔”飓风在美国东海岸的北卡罗来纳州大举登陆。当地媒体报道说，时速高达160千米的大风和250毫米的降雨造成北卡罗来纳州和弗吉尼亚州南部41万多居民断电。飓风再一次让人类感受到它的威力。

    Early every summer, weather scientists in North America prepare for a new season of powerful ocean storms. These storms are called hurricanes. The word “hurricane” comes from the language of people who lived on islands in the Caribbean Sea (加勒比海) before the Europeans arrived. They experienced strong ocean storms usually caused by weather movements off the coast of North Africa. These weather events gather force as they move west toward the Caribbean and North America．

    A storm is called a hurricane when its wind speed becomes greater than 120 kilometers an hour. Some huge storms cause great loss of life and thousands of millions of dollars in damage. Understanding the movements of storms and hurricanes is the job of the National Hurricane Center in Miami (迈阿密), Florida. Today, many electronic tools make the job of weather scientists, or meteorologists (气象工作者) easier. Satellites observe weather from space. New radar (雷达) instruments gain information about weather movements. Also, airplanes can drop special instruments into storms that record large amounts of information about air movements. One computer program permits meteorologists to see all the information about weather that the National Hurricane Center collects.

   The National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration(美国海洋及大气管理局) has estimated (评估) the number of hurricanes for each year since 1998. NOAA expects six to eight hurricanes and nine to thirteen powerful Atlantic Ocean storms every year. Hurricane season in the Atlantic Ocean lasts from the beginning of June to the end of November.　　

Also, a weather event called El Nino (厄尔尼诺) will affect storms forming in the Atlantic Ocean. El Nino is caused by unusual warm currents of water in the eastern Pacific Ocean. It affects weather around the world.

Judge the following true (T) or false (F).

1. Hurricanes are a certain kind of powerful ocean storm.

2. The hurricane is not terrible and doesn't bring about deaths or do a lot of damage to the cities.

3. With the help of science and technology, it is not difficult for the scientists to know more about hurricanes today.

4. In the opinions of the NOAA experts, more than 20 hurricanes happen every year.

5. Hurricanes and El Nino make the weather warm around the world.

阅读理解

World Health Report 2002

    The life expectancy (平均寿命) of people around the world could increase by five to ten years if action against common health risks (冒险，风险) is taken．This is one of the findings in this year’s World Health Report released (发布) recently by the World Health Organization．The report is called “Reducing Risks，Promoting (促进) Life”．

    Researchers found that ten major threats to good health are common around the world．The chief of the World Health Organization，Gro Harlem Brundtland，called them the ten leading killers．They include unsafe sex，poor nutrition (营养)，high blood pressure，use of tobacco and alcohol，unsafe water and unclean living conditions．Also included are high levels of dangerous fat in the blood，indoor smoke from solid fuels，a lack of iron in the body and too much body weight，or obesity (肥胖)．Together，these ten health risks make up forty percent of the fifty-six million deaths worldwide each year．

    Doctor Brundtland called for reducing the ten main health risks by twenty-five percent within ten years．If this were done，life expectancy in industrial countries could increase by ten years．In developing countries，it could increase by five years．

Currently (通常地)，the number of life years lost because these health risks differ around the world．Doctor Brundtland says the differences these health risks create between rich and poor nations are shocking (骇人听闻的)．For example，about one-hundred-seventy-million children in poor countries are underweight. They do not weigh enough because they do not get enough food. However, more than one thousand millionお adults around the world are too fat. These people are mostly in rich, industrial countries.

Doctor Brundtland warns that the cost of inaction is serious. For example, she says nine million deaths a year linked to smoking will be reported by two-thousand–twenty if steps are not taken soon. Currently, about five millionお people die each year from diseases related to smoking.

Doctor Brundtland says that AIDS (艾滋病) and the HIV virus (艾滋病病毒) are having a huge effect on the length of life in Africa. Currently, life expectancy at birth in southern Africa is forty-seven years. The WHO estimates (估计) that ninety-five percent of HIV infections (感染) in Africa were caused by unsafe sex. She says there is an urgent need for sex education and the use of condom devices (孕器具) to prevent the spread of HIV.

Judge the following sentences true (T) or false (F).

1.It is certain that life expectancy of people around the world could increase by five to ten years in future.

1.　　   Most of the deaths worldwide each year are due to (由于) the ten leading killers such as unsafe sex, poor nutrition, high blood pressure and so on.

3.From the passage, we can infer that so far people haven’t dealt with smoking effectively.

4.The length of life in Africa is affected most by AIDS.