阅读下面短文，简要回答同题。

　　Children are in need of adoption because some birth parents are unable to provide enough for the needs of their chilD．There are a lot of reasons for making an adoption plan Birth parents may feel they cannot take on responsibility of an unplanned child because they are too young or because they are financially or emotionally unable to provide proper care．They don't feel ready to be good parents．

　　In other cases children are in need of adoption because courts have decided that their birth parents are unable to function adequately．Many of these children are victims of abuse．Regardless of how children come to need adoption,they are put with adoptive parents through private or public social service agencies．Other adoptions may be arranged independently,as when birth parents and adoptive parents come to know each other outside of an agency and then complete the adoption according to the laws and regulations of their states of residence．

　　In the early 1970s there was a dramatic increase in the number of families seeking to adopt,a condition which persists today．F0r this reason,the number of those who wish to adopt regularly exceeds(超过)the number of babies available Reasons for this dramatic increase are varied．A maior factor has been the choice of many people to delay the start of a family until later in life．Many of these people,in turn,have found themselves to be less fertile at that time,and so they have decided that their desire to have children might best be fulfilled through adoption．

　　In every state,however,there are children who are legally free to be adopted but are desperately waiting for parents．The children in this group are usually older and often have special needs．They may require additional care from a parent because of their physical,emotional,or mental disabilities．Because of their special needs,these children are challenging to bring up．In fact,adoption experts believe that people who adopt these children need special training and preparation in order to successfully bring up the child and to integrate(使融入)the child into the family and eventually into society．

1．what is the most important reason for the adoption boom in the 1970s?(回答词数不超过10个)

2．What does the author suggest by saying “there are children who are legally free to be adopted but are desperately waiting for parents”?(回答词数不超过15个)

3．What is the author's primary concern of writing this passage?(回答词数不超过8个)

阅读短文,根据所读内容在文后1-10的空格里填土适当的单词或短语。注意：每空不超过3个单词。

　　It' easy to see how the sawfish got its name．These frightful creatures can grow to be more than 6 meters long．Their bodies are flat and winged, like ;underwater airplanes．And their noses are shaped like chainsaws．

　　Sawfish are food hunters of the sea．When a sawfish is hungry, it waves its sharp-toothed snout(口鼻部)through a group of fish．Then, it lifts its nose and uses its mouth to draw the injured victims．

　　Hardy(艰难的)populations of sawfish thrived in warm waters along coastlines around the world for thousands of years．Over the past 200 years, however, human actions have severely endangered sawfish．Threats include fishing nets that trap the huge animals, often by mistake．

　　Some people collect sawfish snouts as prizes：One snout recently sold for nearly＄1,600 online．In some Asian cultures, the toothy snouts are used in ceremonies to drive evils and disease away．And sawfish are also delicious．A growing demand in Asia for the animal's fins for a pricey soup has contributed to the fish's disappearance．Compared with other fish, sawfish give birth late in life and at slow rates, which makes it hard for them to recover from overfishing．

　　New efforts now aim to restore sawfish populations．Beginning next month, an international agreement will provide protection for all seven of the world's sawfish species．Scientists are hoping that it's not too late to save the sawfish．

　　Until 1998,“this fish had never been formally studied in the United States,”says Tonya Wiley of the Mote Marine Laboratory in Sarasota, Fla．“We didn't know such basic things as where they live, what habitat they use, how often they breed, how many young they have－even what age sawfish are when they begin breeding．”

　　Through historical studies and field research, scientists have become aware of how much the fish's numbers have decreased．Today, there may be 90 percent fewer sawfish than there used to be．Wiley estimates that only 3,000 to 6,000 sawfish remain in U S waters．

阅读以下短文，根据各小题的具体要求，简要回答问题。

　　Researchers in the United States have discovered that the combination of daily exercise and a cup of coffee may help prevent skin cancer．

　　The scientists at Rutgers University in New Jersey say a low to moderate intake of caffeine combined with exercise can be good for health and prevent damage caused by the Sun's ultraviolet rays(紫外线)．

　　They have arrived at this conclusion after conducting a study on mice and suggest that a duo of caffeine and exercise appears to collude to kill off precancerous cells whose DNA has been damaged by radiation from the sun's UVB-rays．

　　Skin cancer is one of the most common cancers and is becoming more prevalent across the world；each year in the US, there are 1000, 000 new cases of non-melanoma skin cancer and 2000 deaths；in Britain, there are more than 65, 000 new cases of skin cancer．These cases are nearly curable if caught early enough．

　　For the study the researchers used groups of hairless mice, whose skin is as a result far more vulnerable(易受攻击的)to the sun．

　　One group were given caffeine to drink, equal two cups of coffee for humans, another group exercised on running wheel, while a third group both drank caffeine and ran；a fourth group, which served as a comparison, neither ran nor drank caffeine．

　　All of the mice were then exposed to lamps producing UVB radiation that damaged the DNA in their skin cells．

　　They were then examined for evidence of programmed cell death, also known as apoptolic(细胞凋亡), the process by which cells with badly damaged DNA destroy themselves as a natural defence against illness and infection．

　　The team of researchers found that compared with the UVB-exposed control group, the caffeine drinkers showed an increase of about 95 per cent in UVB-induced(诱发的)apoptosis, the exercisers showed a 120 per cent increase, while the mice that were both drinking and exercising showed a nearly 400 per cent increase．

　　One of the study's authors Dr．Allan Conney says if apoptosis takes place in a sun-damaged cell, its progress toward cancer will be aborted(夭折)．

　　The team say drugs which induce apoptosis are currently being researched as a method of preventing different types of cancer, but the combination of caffeine and exercise appears to have a similar protective effect．

1．Find in the passage a word closest in meaning to the underlined word“duo”．

2．Why didn't a group of mice exercise or drink caffeine?(回答词数不超过9个)

3．What is the purpose of writing the article?(回答词数不超过10个)

阅读短文，根据所读内容在文后的空格里填上适当的单词或短语。注意：每空不超过3个单词。

　　According to a new study, preschool boys perform better on tests that measure learning and other important skills when they are in classes that have more girls than boys．This doesn’t seem to apply to girls, though．For preschool girls, the presence or absence of boys does not affect learning．

　　“The study raises questions about having all-boy or all-girl classes for preschool”, says psychologist Arlen Moller, who led the study．She added,“Previous researches have shown that high-school girls may study better in all-girl schools．In middle school, however, the effects of same-sex schooling are unclear, and even less is known for very young kids．”To find out, researchers studied 70 preschool classes with a total of 806 children who were between 3.5 and 6 years old．For each class, teachers recorded the student’s progress over a 6.5-month school year．

　　Their data included scores of motor skills, social skills and thinking skills．Researchers found that boys developed each of these skills more quickly when there were more girls in the class than boys．

　　In majority-girl classrooms, boys developed at the same rate as girls．But in classes where boys were the majority, boys developed more slowly than girls．Girls tended to advance in classrooms which had any combination of boys and girls．

　　The study is one of the first to look at how the proportion of boys and girls in a class affects learning．Because it’s a new finding, researchers don’t know why this difference exists．

　　“This is an exciting topic, but it’s too early to draw any conclusion because this area is so under-explored,”says psychologist Lean Malofeeva of the High/Scope Educational Research Foundation in Ypsilanti, Michigan．

阅读下面短文，根据文后各题的具体要求回答问题。

　　The curtain on the 2008 US presidential election finally rose last month as John McCain and Barack Obama were formally nominated(提名)as candidates of the two major parties．This may be one of the hardest decisions voters have to make between two appealing candidates．

　　The big question for voters, as they face both an economic downturn and international threats, is：who will they elect?A young first-term senator promising change and new ideas, or a longtime senator with strong military experience and a reputation as a maverick(特立独行的人)?

　　American voters have never seen a candidate quite like Obama．He has a white mother from the US and a black father from Kenya who left the family when Obama was very young．He spent part of his youth in Indonesia．

　　His supporters say Obama’s childhood gives him the advantage to repair the recent damage done to America’s image abroad．His opponents focus on his inexperience, noting he hasn’t finished his first term in the Senate．

　　However, McCain has a very different life story．He grew up in a Navy family and was a pilot during the Vietnam War in the 1960s．When Obama was in kindergarten in Indonesia, McCain’s plane was shot down over Vietnam and he became a prisoner of war, where he was held for five years unless he disowned America, but he refused．

　　So in the end, the election may hinge on(以…为转移)several factors that are hard to judge：Will Obama’s race matter to a significant number of voters?Will working-class whites who tended to support his primary opponent, Hillary Clinton, vote for Obama?And perhaps most important of all, will swing(摇摆)voters be more drawn to Obama’s vision(远景规划)or to McCain’s experience?

　　Whatever happens, one thing is clear：Whoever walks into the White House on January 20, 2009, will find enormous challenges waiting for him in the Oval Office(美国总统办公室), both at home and abroad．

1．Why was McCain taken in prison in Vietnam?(回答词数不超过8个)

2．What made the result of the election hardest to predict according to the author?(回答词数不超9个)

3．What do the underlined words“enormous challenges”refer to according to the passage?(回答词数不超过7个)

阅读短文，根据所读内容在文后1-10的空格里填上适当的单词或短语。注意：每空不超过3个单词。

　　Windows are no longer considered just a part of your home that protects you from the elements, but they are also an effective means of promoting the look of your home．Windows are also efficient in maintaining and controlling the room temperature．As fuel prices continue to rise, a lot of people are switching to double-glazed(双层玻璃的)windows as energy-saving measures that can be used for the purpose of insulation(隔绝)．

　　However, before purchasing double-glazed windows certain things have to be considered．

　　The best choice for an energy conscious customer is to go for double-glazed windows that reduce heat loss by about 50%．This can have a positive effect on reducing your heating bills as you are using a more energy efficient and natural way of heat conservation．That way on a cold night, a double-glazed window will give you more comfort than a single-glazed window．In double-glazed windows, the air between the glass sheets is thoroughly dried and will therefore give you better insulation．

　　Another important advantage of using double-glazed windows is that they give better security to your house．As there are two layers of glass, the chances that both of these layers are smashed by an intruder are less．When purchasing double-glazed windows, you should always look for windows with frames that can be securely locked．

　　Double-glazed windows also represent style and fashion and therefore a lot of house owners are careful to choose the right windows for their homes．They are available in different types and styles and therefore they are quite suitable for promoting the appearance of the home．

简答题

　　The more time scientists spend designing computers, the more they wonder at human brain．Tasks that puzzle the most advanced supercomputer-recognizing a face, reading a handwritten note-are child’s play for the 3-pound organ．Most important,unlike any ordinary computer, the brain can learn from its mistakes．Researchers have tried for years to program computers to imitate the brain’s abilities, but without success．Now a growing number of designers believe they have the answer：if a computer is to work more like a person and less 1ike an over-grown calculator it must be built more like a brain, which distributes information across a vast interconnected web of nerve cells or neurons．

　　Ordinary computers work by following a chainlike sequence of detailed instructions．A1though very fast, their processors can perform only one task at a time．This approach works best in solving problems that can be broken down into simpler logical pieces．The processors in a neural-network computer,by contrast,form a network much like the nerve cells in the brain．Since these artificial(人造的)．neurons are interconnected,they can share information and perform tasks at the same time．This two-dimensional approach works best at recognizing patterns．

　　Instead of programming a neural-network computer to make decisions, its maker trains it to recognize patterns in any solution to a problem by repeatedly feeding examples to the machine．

　　Neural networks come in all shapes and sizes．Until now most exist as software simulations(模拟品)because redesigning computer chips took a lot of time and money．By experimenting with different approaches through software rather than hardware, scientists have been able to avoid costly mistakes．

1．What does the expression“this two-dimensional approach”in Paragraph 2 refer to?(回答字数不超过6个)

__________________________________________________

2．According to the passage, what is the main difference between human brain and ordinary computers?(回答字数不超过10个)

__________________________________________________

3．Why do scientists use software instead of hardware in their experiments?(回答字数不超过8个)

__________________________________________________

任务型阅读

请认真阅读下列短文，并根据所读内容在文章后表格中的空格里填入一个最恰当的单词。

注意：每个空格只填1个单词。请将答案写在答题卡上相应题号的横线上。

　　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 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 seabed．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, San 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(恐龙)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?

阅读短文，根据所读内容在文后1～10的空格里填上适当的单词或短语。注意：每空不超过3个单词。

　　According to a new study, preschool boys perform better on tests that measure learning and other important skills when they are in classes that have more girls than boys．This doesn’t seem to apply to girls, though．For preschool girls, the presence or absence of boys does not affect learning．

　　“The study raises questions about having all-boy or all-girl classes for preschool”, says psychologist Arlen Moller, who led the study．She added,”Previous researches have shown that high-school girls may study better in all-girl schools．In middle school, however, the effects of same-sex schooling are unclear, and even less is known for very young kids．”To find out, researchers studied 70 preschool classes with a total of 806 children who were between 3.5 and 6 years old．For each class, teachers recorded the student’s progress over a 6.5-month school year．

　　Their data included scores of motor skills, social skills and thinking skills．Researchers found that boys developed each of these skills more quickly when there were more girls in the class than boys．

　　In majority-girl classrooms, boys developed at the same rate as girls．But in classes where boys were the majority, boys developed more slowly than girls．Girls tended to advance in classrooms which had any combination of boys and girls．

　　The study is one of the first to look at how the proportion of boys and girls in a class affects learning．Because it’s a new finding, researchers don’t know why this difference exists．

　　“This is an exciting topic, but it’s too early to draw any conclusion because this area is so under-explored,”says psychologist Lean Malofeeva of the High/Scope Educational Research Foundation in Ypsilanti, Michigan．

阅读下面短文，根据文后各题的具体要求回答问题。

　　The curtain on the 2008 US presidential election finally rose last month as John McCain and Barack Obama were formally nominated(提名)as candidates of the two major parties．This may be one of the hardest decisions voters have to make between two appealing candidates．

　　The big question for voters, as they face both an economic downturn and international threats, is：who will they elect?A young first-term senator promising change and new ideas, or a longtime senator with strong military experience and a reputation as a maverick(特立独行的人)?

　　American voters have never seen a candidate quite like Obama．He has a white mother from the US and a black father from Kenya who left the family when Obama was very young．He spent part of his youth in Indonesia．

　　His supporters say Obama’s childhood gives him the advantage to repair the recent damage done to America’s image abroad．His opponents focus on his inexperience, noting he hasn’t finished his first term in the Senate．

　　However, McCain has a very different life story．He grew up in a Navy family and was a pilot during the Vietnam War in the 1960s．When Obama was in kindergarten in Indonesia, McCain’s plane was shot down over Vietnam and he became a prisoner of war, where he was held for five years unless he disowned America, but he refused．

　　So in the end, the election may hinge on(以…为转移)several factors that are hard to judge：Will Obama’s race matter to a significant number of voters?Will working-class whites who tended to support his primary opponent, Hillary Clinton, vote for Obama?And perhaps most important of all, will swing(摇摆)voters be more drawn to Obama’s vision(远景规划)or to McCain’s experience?

　　Whatever happens, one thing is clear：Whoever walks into the White House on January 20, 2009, will find enormous challenges waiting for him in the Oval Office(美国总统办公室), both at home and abroad．

1．Why was McCain taken in prison in Vietnam?(回答词数不超过8个)

2．What made the result of the election hardest to predict according to the author?(回答词数不超9个)

3．What do the underlined words”enormous challenges”refer to according to the passage?(回答词数不超过7个)