A “blogger” is a person who writes on an Internet computer web site called a “blog”．The word “blog” is a short way of saying web log, or personal web site．Anyone can start a blog, and they can write about anything they like．
There are millions of blogs on the Internet today．They provide news, information and ideas to many people who read them．They contain links to other web sites．And they provide a place for people to write their ideas and react to the ideas of others．
A research company called Perseus has studied more than 3,000 web logs．It says that blogs are most popular with teenage girls．They use them to let their friends know what is happening in their life．The study also says that more than 100,000 bloggers stopped taking part in the activity after a year．
However, some people develop serious blogs to present political and other ideas．For example, the Republican and Democratic parties in the southern state of Kentucky recently started their own blogs．And American companies are beginning to use blogs to advertise their products．
At the same time, some long-standing blogs have ended．Last week, blogging leader Dave Winer closed his free blog service, weblogs．com．He says the site became too costly to continue．He started the blog four years ago, and thousands of people had written on it．
One blog that is still going strong is called Rebecca’s Pocket．It involves much useful information for readers．Rebecca Blood created the web site in 1999．She wrote about the history of blogs on the site．That article led to a book called “The Weblog Handbook”．It has been translated into four languages so far．
Ms Blood says Rebecca’s Pocket gets about 30,000 visitors a month．She writes about anything and everything----politics, culture and movies．She recently provided medical advice．And she wrote about how to prevent people from stealing money from online bank accounts．
【小题1】The text is written mainly to _____

C
A new study in West Africa shows how farm irrigationsystems powered by the sun can pro-duce more food and money for villagers． The study-in Benin found that solar - powered pumpsare effective in 8upplying water, especially during the long dry season．
Sub - Saharan Africa is the part of the world with the least food security． The United Na-tions Food and Agriculture Organization estimates that more"than one biillion of the world' s peo-ple faced hunger last year．Around 265 million of them live'south of the Sahara Desert:  Lack of  rainfallis one oftheir main causes offood shortages．．
Jennifer Bumey from Stanford University in Califomia led the study．The research team helped build three solar - powered drip irrigation -（滴灌） ,systems in northem Benin． Between 30 and 35 women used each system to pump water from the ground or a stream．Each woman was responsible for farming her own 120 sqrurre meters of land． They also farmed other land  collectively．
The solar - powered irrigation systems produced an average of nearly two tons of vegetables per montb． During the first year, the women．kept a monthly average of almost rune kilograms of vegetables for home use．They sold the surplus produce at local markets． The eamings greatly increased their ability to buy food during the dry season which can last six to nine months． Peo- ple in the'two villages with the systems were able to eat three to five more servingsof yegetables per day．But making the surplus available at markets also had a wider effect．
The study compared the villages with two others where women farmed with traditional methods like carrying water in buckets． The amount of vegetables eaten in those villages also  increased, though not as much．The researchers note that only four percent of the croplamd in sub - Saharan Africa is irrigated． Using solar power to pump water has higher costs at first． But    the study says it can be more economical in the long term than using fuels like gasoline,  diesel  or kerosene． And solar power is environmentally friendly．
66．Food security in Sub - Saharan Africa is insufficient mainly because of
A．lack of rainfall         B．limitation of farmland
C． a small crop variety   D．little sunlight
67．From the third paragraph we know that _______．
A．water is wasted by using the system
B． the farmers imgate the land together
C． all farmers use irrigation systems in northem Benin
D． the solar - powered systems take up more manpower
68．The underlined word "surplus" in the 4th paragraph most probably means_______
A．special             B．unnecessary      C．extra      D．abandoned
69．Usinf．solar power to pump water has advantages EXCEPT that
A．solar energy has higher cost at first
B．solar power helps to protect environment
C．solar power helps farmers increase eanungs
D． solar energy can be more economical in the long run
70．What can be the best title for the text?
A．Manpower affects rainfallin Africa
B．Irrigation by carrying water in buckets
C．Solar - powered pumps aid African farmers
D．Vegetable supply increased in African villages

Most schools forbid chewing gum, but in a few years they might consider changing that rule. Why? Scientists are finding evidence that gum chewing may be good for your health. It may even help improve your test scores.
This exciting research is just beginning. And in the meantime, companies are also experimenting with adding vitamins, minerals, medicines, and other substances that could give gum the power to cure headaches and fight everything from serious diseases to bad breath.
Other researchers are finding that gum might work better than a pill to deliver medicines and other substances into the bloodstream. That’s because the lining (膜) of our cheeks can absorb certain substances more quickly than our stomachs and intestines (肠) can.
That discovery could help other researchers develop medicine-containing gums that fight colds, ease headaches, battle nervousness, and more. Scientists might even create antimicrobial (抗菌的) gums that cure bad breath.
Those projects may take years, but gum scientists have already had at least one recent success: They’ve created a gum that could help us stay awake.
Researchers have produced a gum called Stay Alert. Each stick has as much caffeine as a cup of coffee. It can take an hour for the caffeine in coffee to have its full effect, but the caffeine in Stay Alert hits in just a few minutes.
The gum is easy to transport and it’s stable in cold and hot climates. Unlike a pill, it doesn’t require water to swallow. Those qualities make it easy for soldiers to use.
For now, Stay Alert is available only to the military (军队). The manufacturer may one day offer it for sale to the public. People who work at night, such as truck drivers and medical personnel who ride in ambulances, might benefit from a product like Stay Alert.
【小题1】 The passage mainly talks about _____.

C
An oasis (绿洲) is an island of life in an ocean of temperature extremes．Any oasis always contains one or more springs Oases make it possible to survive through the desert．In large deserts such as the Sahara．towns are located around sources of water such as oases and rivers．
What causes an oasis? An oasis is actually a spot in the desert where the altitude is low enough that the water table is fight below the surface，resulting in the presence of springs．Even in a desert, it rains occasionally，and this produces a water table just above the bedrock，usually several hundred feet below the surface．Sand is very porous (可渗透的)，so most water runs right
through it and down to the bedrock．
Deserts consist of many millions of tons of sand．There is only one natural force capable of moving it in noticeable amounts：the wind．Although，in an average dust storm，ten cubic feet of air only holds about an ounce of sand，a cubic mile of air can move about 4,600 tons of it，leading to erosion (侵蚀)．A severe storm is capable of moving as much as 100 million tons of sand and dust．
In certain areas where large quantities of sand are moved by storms，erosion digs all the way down to the water table，putting it just beneath the surface Seeds planted in the ground there are capable of extending roots into the moist land，producing an oasis．
Sometimes．the oasis produced by the wind can be very large when vast tracts of desert are wiped clean by storms．The great Kharga oasis in the Sahara，for example，is over 100 miles long and 12 to 50 miles in width. The oasis was produced when erosion caused the edges of the hollow places to sink down to the water table.    
63．What does “it” in Paragraph 4 refer to_______．
A．erosion        B．water table          C．sand                      D．storm
64．How many conditions of the oasis formation are mentioned in the passage without considering
The wind and seeds?
A．3                B．4                        C．5                           D．6
65．We can infer from the passage ________．
A．there is at least one spring on an oasis
B．the bedrock is usually just right below the surface
C．the great Kharga oasis is the biggest oasis in the world
D．the great Kharga oasis is at a low altitude
66．In the last paragraph，the author mentions the great Kharga oasis as an example to_______．
A．introduce the great oasis to the readers
B．tell how the oasis was produced by rain
C．show the oasis produced by the wind can be very large
D．tell it’s easy to form oases in the desert after storms

Most schools forbid chewing gum, but in a few years they might consider changing that rule. Why? Scientists are finding evidence that gum chewing may be good for your health. It may even help improve your test scores.
This exciting research is just beginning. And in the meantime, companies are also experimenting with adding vitamins, minerals, medicines, and other substances that could give gum the power to cure headaches and fight everything from serious diseases to bad breath.
Other researchers are finding that gum might work better than a pill to deliver medicines and other substances into the bloodstream. That’s because the lining (膜) of our cheeks can absorb certain substances more quickly than our stomachs and intestines (肠) can.
That discovery could help other researchers develop medicine-containing gums that fight colds, ease headaches, battle nervousness, and more. Scientists might even create antimicrobial (抗菌的) gums that cure bad breath.
Those projects may take years, but gum scientists have already had at least one recent success: They’ve created a gum that could help us stay awake.
Researchers have produced a gum called Stay Alert. Each stick has as much caffeine as a cup of coffee. It can take an hour for the caffeine in coffee to have its full effect, but the caffeine in Stay Alert hits in just a few minutes.
The gum is easy to transport and it’s stable in cold and hot climates. Unlike a pill, it doesn’t require water to swallow. Those qualities make it easy for soldiers to use.
For now, Stay Alert is available only to the military (军队). The manufacturer may one day offer it for sale to the public. People who work at night, such as truck drivers and medical personnel who ride in ambulances, might benefit from a product like Stay Alert.
【小题1】The passage mainly talks about _____.

A．stay Alert is not easy to store

B．stay Alert needs water to swallow

C．stay Alert is available to the public now

D．we can’t buy gums that cure bad breath now