“BANG! BANG!” Setting off firecrackers(爆竹), which has been the most typical custom on the Spring Festival, is the happiest part of the Festival for most Chinese kids. They light the fuse(导火线) nervously, run away in a hurry, cover their ears with their hands and watch the colorful display with a big smile on their faces. Faced with the beautiful scene, they feel they are the happiest ones in the world as if they had never had a more exciting experience.

While setting off firecrackers can bring kids so much fun, these firecrackers can also be dangerous. Therefore, many Chinese big cities including Beijing began to ban them in the 1980s. Such an activity was completely or partially forbidden in big cities because the government took security, noise and pollution factors into consideration. As a replacement, some buy tapes with firecracker sounds to listen to, some break little balloons to get the sound too, while others buy firecracker handicrafts to hang in the living room.

This year good news came for teens in Beij ing. The ban on firecrackers was cancelled on September 9, 2008. It will add much fun to the coming Spring Festival in tile capital. Hearing the news, many kids were wild with joy.

According to Chinese custom, lighting firecrackers is a must during the Spring Fesrival. People believe the sound of the firecrackers drives away demons(恶魔) and bad luck for the coming year. Their beautiful colours and sound also bring much excitement during this most important traditional Chinese festival.

Since the ban, people complained that the Spring Festival was too quiet and not traditional enough. Children lost the fun and grown-ups lost their childhood memories.

Some even worried that if the ban continued, the next generation would only know the custom of lighting firecrackers through books. This would be a great loss for tradition.

Everybody knows that we can’t give up eating for the slight risk of choking(因噎废食). So in recent years, many cities have resumed the old custom at the request of local residents. This year Beijing kids will also be able to join in.

However, every year there are kids injured by setting off fireworks in a dangerous way. So while enjoying yourself, please bear safety in mind.

Don’t light fireworks among crowds, inside a bottle or with a part of your body right over it.

No matter how much fun firecrackers are, the most important thing is to keep away from danger. We wish every kid an exciting and safe Spring Festival!

Title：Firecrackers back in Beijing on the Spring Festival

“BANG! BANG!” Setting off firecrackers(爆竹), which has been the most typical custom on the Spring Festival, is the happiest part of the Festival for most Chinese kids. They light the fuse(导火线) nervously, run away in a hurry, cover their ears with their hands and watch the colorful display with a big smile on their faces. Faced with the beautiful scene, they feel they are the happiest ones in the world as if they had never had a more exciting experience.
While setting off firecrackers can bring kids so much fun, these firecrackers can also be dangerous. Therefore, many Chinese big cities including Beijing began to ban them in the 1980s. Such an activity was completely or partially forbidden in big cities because the government took security, noise and pollution factors into consideration. As a replacement, some buy tapes with firecracker sounds to listen to, some break little balloons to get the sound too, while others buy firecracker handicrafts to hang in the living room.
This year good news came for teens in Beij ing. The ban on firecrackers was cancelled on September 9, 2008. It will add much fun to the coming Spring Festival in tile capital. Hearing the news, many kids were wild with joy.
According to Chinese custom, lighting firecrackers is a must during the Spring Fesrival. People believe the sound of the firecrackers drives away demons(恶魔) and bad luck for the coming year. Their beautiful colours and sound also bring much excitement during this most important traditional Chinese festival.
Since the ban, people complained that the Spring Festival was too quiet and not traditional enough. Children lost the fun and grown-ups lost their childhood memories.
Some even worried that if the ban continued, the next generation would only know the custom of lighting firecrackers through books. This would be a great loss for tradition.
Everybody knows that we can’t give up eating for the slight risk of choking(因噎废食). So in recent years, many cities have resumed the old custom at the request of local residents. This year Beijing kids will also be able to join in.
However, every year there are kids injured by setting off fireworks in a dangerous way. So while enjoying yourself, please bear safety in mind.
Don’t light fireworks among crowds, inside a bottle or with a part of your body right over it.
No matter how much fun firecrackers are, the most important thing is to keep away from danger. We wish every kid an exciting and safe Spring Festival!
Title：Firecrackers back in Beijing on the Spring Festival

第一节：阅读表达（共5小题；每小题2分，满分10分）

阅读下面短文，并根据短文的要求答题（请注意问题后的字数要求）

[1]Every year there are changes in climate in different parts of the world. Some of these changes are due to natural causes. However, some climate changes are caused by air pollution and there changes may increase.

[2]If the pollution affects the level of carbon dioxide in the atmosphere, the results are likely to be serious. Carbon dioxide takes up only a small part of the atmosphere. But it performs an important function in keeping the balance between radiation from the sun entering the atmosphere and radiation leaving the Earth. Some radiation is absorbed by the Earth and some is radiated back into the atmosphere. Carbon dioxide in the atmosphere prevent some radiation from leaving the atmosphere. Thus the heat remains in the atmosphere and carbon dioxide help to prevent the temperature.

[3]If the proportion of carbon dioxide in the atmosphere is increased as a result of air pollution, the temperature of the atmosphere may rise. This might cause the ice in the North Pole to melt. If this happened, the sea level could rise and parts of Earth would be flooded. This happening is not quite likely but the possibility exists.

[4]There is also a fairly strong possibility that the level of dust in the atmosphere will rise _____________________ . This dust pollution from industry will reflect sunlight back into space. If this happens, less sunlight will reach the Earth and the temperature will fall.

[5]Another danger comes from the destruction of the Earth’s vegetation such as the forests of Brazil, which are being cleared away for farmland and cities. Trees use carbon dioxide and the destruction may disturb the balance of carbon dioxide in the atmosphere.

1. What is the tile of the passage?(no more than 5 words)

_____________________________________________________.

2. Complete the following statement with proper words.(no more than 2 words)

Some __________ can lead to some climate changes in some parts of the world.

3. Fill in the blank in Paragraph 4 with proper words.(no more than 5 words)

___________________________________________.

4. What important part does carbon dioxide play from this passage?(no more than 10 words)

_________________________________________________________.

5. What does the word “it”(line 3, paragraph 2) probably refer to?(no more than 2 words)

_____________________________________________.

    Despite the high technology and investment (投资) in flood defenses by the Environment Agency (环保局), there is no way to stop all flooding -- sooner or later nature will produce something that will beat even the strongest defenses.

    Warning people of tiffs danger is very important if we are to prevent the great loss of life seen fifty-three years ago. Indeed if the Flood Warming System that currently exists had been around on that cold, stormy night in January 1953, many lives would have been spared.

    The Environment Agency took over the role of flood warning in 1995 from the police who had to go door to door or sound alarms to get the news out. The service is being constantly improved and a combination of better technology and increased investment following the Easter Floods of 1998 has led to the creation of Floodline and an automatic (自动) messaging system that can warn thousands of people in very little time.

    Floodline 0845 988 1188 offers information and advice 24 hours a day and if warnings are in place, callers can get information either from local updates or by using a quick dial code for their area.

    The Flood Warning team in Kent has also sent letters to the people living close to the rivers or the sea and invited them to join the AVM (automated voice messaging) system. Anyone choosing to take up this free service will receive a recorded message directly to their home, business or pager telling them of tile level of warning, giving them as much time as possible to carry out their flood plan and save items that cannot be replaced if lost or damaged, such as photographs or children's favorite toys.

72. Choose the correct statements from tile following according to the passage.

     a. Many people lost their lives in the flood in 1953.

     b. The Flood Warning system was already in use in 1953.

     e. Flood defenses can stop all flooding.

     d. The Environment Agency began to warn people of flood ill 1995.

     e. Floodline was created after the Easter Floods of 1998.

   A. a, b, c     B. b, c, d       C. a, c, e        D. a, d, e

73. What does the underlined word "pager" mean in tile passage?

   A. A boy employed to carry luggage in hotels.

   B. A piece of equipment designed to receive and show messages.

   C. A page of papers written to offer messages.

   D. A person, invited to write pages of messages.

74. People can easily get information and advice about flood any time of the day from ________.

 A. automatic messaging system           B. Floodline 0845 988 1188

   C. the Flood Warning team in Kent      D. automated voice messaging system

75. The best title for this passage may probably be __________.

   A. Environment Agency             B. Technology In Flood Defenses

   C. Flood Warning System            D. Easter Floods

任务型阅读（共10小题；每小题1分，满分10分）

认真阅读下面短文，并根据所读内容在文章后表格中的空格里填入最恰当的单词。

(注意：每空填1个单词。)

“BANG! BANG!” Setting off firecrackers(爆竹), which has been the most typical custom on the Spring Festival, is the happiest part of the Festival for most Chinese kids. They light the fuse(导火线) nervously, run away in a hurry, cover their ears with their hands and watch the colorful display with a big smile on their faces. Faced with the beautiful scene, they feel they are the happiest ones in the world as if they had never had a more exciting experience.

While setting off firecrackers can bring kids so much fun, these firecrackers can also be dangerous. Therefore, many Chinese big cities including Beijing began to ban them in the 1980s. Such an activity was completely or partially forbidden in big cities because the government took security, noise and pollution factors into consideration. As a replacement, some buy tapes with

firecracker sounds to listen to, some break little balloons to get the sound too, while others buy firecracker handicrafts to hang in the living room.

This year good news came for teens in Beij ing. The ban on firecrackers was cancelled on September 9, 2008. It will add much fun to the coming Spring Festival in tile capital. Hearing the news, many kids were wild with joy.

According to Chinese custom, lighting firecrackers is a must during the Spring Fesrival. People believe the sound of the firecrackers drives away demons(恶魔) and bad luck for the coming year. Their beautiful colours and sound also bring much excitement during this most important traditional Chinese festival.

Since the ban, people complained that the Spring Festival was too quiet and not traditional enough. Children lost the fun and grown-ups lost their childhood memories.

Some even worried that if the ban continued, the next generation would only know the custom of lighting firecrackers through books. This would be a great loss for tradition.

Everybody knows that we can’t give up eating for the slight risk of choking(因噎废食). So in recent years, many cities have resumed the old custom at the request of local residents. This year Beijing kids will also be able to join in.

However, every year there are kids injured by setting off fireworks in a dangerous way. So while enjoying yourself, please bear safety in mind.

Don’t light fireworks among crowds, inside a bottle or with a part of your body right over it.

No matter how much fun firecrackers are, the most important thing is to keep away from danger. We wish every kid an exciting and safe Spring Festival!

Title：Firecrackers back in Beijing on the Spring Festival

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