Laws to stop tigers, camels, zebras and snakes being used as performing animals in circuses have been announced by the government.
The environment minister, Jim Paice, hoped the laws would be brought in before the end of the parliament in 2015, which is the main law-making institution of the UK. At present between 35 and 50 wild animals are thought to be used by circuses in England and Defra offered to help find new homes for the retired performers.
The announcement follows a campaign by animal charity organization for the ban (禁令), which became worse when a video appeared last year of a circus elephant being beaten by a worker. Campaigners were angry when Paice previously announced tougher licensing instead.
Circus Mondao, whose website shows zebra and camels, said it would probably challenge the suggested ban. The circus is a member of the European Circus Association, which previously challenged Austria's ban, saying there was no scientific evidence (证据) that the animals were harmed by the travelling or conditions. On its website, Mondao says that when it travels animals are the last to be loaded and the first to be unloaded; they are moved to tents within an hour of arriving, and are usually moved 20-50 miles.
Animal charities welcomed the move, but called for ministers to speed up the laws. Asked why circuses would be banned from keeping wild animals but not domestic animals such as horses, a Defra spokesman said a key difference was that domesticated animals were more used to conditions such as travelling. "Wild animals aren't domesticated: we feel it's not right ethically (伦理上) for wild animals to perform," he said.
【小题1】What is the proper order of the following events ?
a. Tougher licensing was announced by the environment minister.
b. A campaign for a ban was launched by an animal charity.
c. Laws were announced by the government.
d. The suggested ban was challenged by Circus Mondao.

A．b, d, c, a

B．c, b, a, d

C．b, a, c, d

D．c, a, d, b

【小题2】According to the text, which of the following is TRUE?

A．Retired performers are taken good care of in their new homes.

B．The environment minister expected to introduce the law during the present parliament.

C．Austria’s ban has been seriously challenged by all the European circuses.

D．Animal charities were not satisfied with the suggested laws at all.

【小题3】“Domestic animals ” are probably      .

A．animals that provide meat for people

B．animals that are introduced from other countries

C．animals that are well trained by a circus

D．animals that live on farm or in people’s home

Do you know that many clowns go to school to learn how to be funny? How would you like to go to that school? You could learn how to walk and talk like a clown. Then you could make people laugh.
Clowns may go to school for a year. There they learn to move in funny ways. They learn to run and jump like different animals. They also learn how to fall down in a special way. They make sure they don’t get injured. They make every move look easy. But really it’s hard work.
In a school clowns decide how they will look. They make funny pants and tops. Then clowns have their funny long shoes made. They also learn to make up their faces. Clowns carefully put special paint on, so they look silly.
They start by making every part of their feces white. Then they use red paint around their mouths to make them look big. Clowns may paint re spots on each side of their faces, too. Big red noses are added. They put on funny hair or funny hats.
Now they look silly. They are ready to go to work! You can see clowns at the circus or parade. They do funny things to surprise people. Ten big clowns may get out of a very small car. Or they may walk on a high rope. Then they almost fall. The faces they make when they try to stand up again make people laugh.
【小题1】The word “clown” in this passage refers to ____.

A．a person who tries to make people laugh by this funny looks, clothes and tricks and actions

B．a person who copies others in speaking, actions and way of walking

C．a person who gives performances only to make people laugh.

D．a person whose job is very easy to do.

【小题2】Which of the following is NOT mentioned in the passage?

A．Clowns learn to be funny at school to make people laugh

B．Clowns wear strange pants and tops and funny long shoes.

C．Clowns don’t feel frightened when they walk on a high rope.

D．Clowns put on funny hair and hats and make faces

【小题3】 From the passage, we can learn that clowns play at ____.

A．a parade

B．the circus

C．school

D．both A and B

【小题4】From the passage, we can infer that _______.

A．there are quite a number of clown schools in the world

B．people laugh when they watch clowns play at the circus

C．clowns like animals very much so they jump like different animals

D．clowns make people laugh but they seldom laugh

A New Zealand volcano dormant for more than a century has erupted，sending up ash clouds，disturbing flights and closing roads．
Mount Tongariro, one of three volcanoes in the centre of the North Island, became active just before midnight local time, with reports of loud explosions，pouting rocks and steam.
The 1, 978m peak is in a national park popular with hikers. No damages have been reported after the eruption.
Witnesses described a dramatic scene as the volcano erupted.
“I saw this beautiful. big cloud and I thought: ‘Gee that looks like a volcanic plume’. Just as I thought that there was a great big orange flash,” truck driver Bryn Rodda told New Zealand National Radio. “It was quite impressive.”
Mount Tongariro last erupted 115 years ago. And scientists said they did not yet know if this eruption was a single event.
Experts said they were caught by surprise—they had recorded some activity like an earthquake in recent weeks but were not expecting an eruption．
“This might just be a quiet period and we should expect it to start again at any time. So we are watching things Very closely,” volcanologist Michael Rosenberg told TVNZ.
Eruption activity has currently reduced, New Zealand media said．Meteorologists(气象学家)said the ash was blowing east towards the Pacific Ocean.
A number of inland flights from the North Island to the South Island had been affected by the volcanic activity, Air New Zealand said.
Police said highways that had been closed because visibility was affected after the eruption are now open.
Some residents in the nearby areas had temporarily left their homes. Officials have not ordered an evacuation(撤离), but advised those affected by the ash cloud to stay indoors and close their doors and windows.
【小题1】What effect did the eruption cause?

A．Flood.

B．Road block.

C．Strong wind.

D．Air crash.

【小题2】What does the underlined word“dormant”in the first paragraph probably mean?

A．Inactive.	B．Movable.
C．Silent.	D．Covered.

【小题3】Which of the following is true of the passage?

A．Some international flights were cancelled after the eruption.

B．All residents had to move away from their homes after the eruption.

C．Some witnesses thought it was very interesting and attractive.

D．Loud explosions caused great damage to the highways and airports.

【小题4】What do the experts expect might happen next?

A．Another eruption.

B．An earthquake.

C．Diseases caused by the ashes.

D．An overall evacuation.

【小题5】Which of the following can be the best title of the passage?

A．National Park in New Zealand Damaged

B．Nothing Is Impossible.

C．Volcano or Earthquake?

D．Sudden Eruption of a Volcano in New Zealand.

完形填空

阅读下面短文，掌握其大意，然后从以下各题所给的四个选项中(A、B、C、D)中，选出最佳选项。

　　Science is based upon observation. However, observation 1 is not science. Scientists 2 state a problem, which then guides them in their observations. But without observation people generally are not 3 of a problem. This then raises a question 4 comes first, the observation or the problems?

　　Curiosity awakens a need 5 observation. Observation will usually 6 specific questions in the mind of a scientist. To 7 his curiosity he begins to make observations. 8 , he formulates a specific statement that can be tested. This statement is called a hypothesis (假设). It is the starting point for an experiment.

　　 9 experimenting, the scientist tries to show or prove that the hypothesis is true or false. He 10 use good 11 to create an experiment that 12 the problem. The experiment must produce valid information or data. The date 13 during the experiment are observations.

　　Observations can be made directly and indirectly. For direct observation, instruments are 14 used. Some instruments used by modern scientists are quite simple; others are very 15 .

　　To complete his experiment, the scientist must state his observations in numerical 16 . This means that he has to make measurements. With the results from these he can make more 17 comparisons or descriptions to 18 his hypothesis. The results of a scientific experiment 19 on a valid hypothesis can often 20 a better understanding of the world and the universe.

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I lost my sight when I was four years old by falling off a box car in a freight yard in Atlantic City and landing on my head. Now I am thirty two. I can slightly remember the brightness of sunshine and what color red is. It would be wonderful to see again, but a calamity(灾难) can do strange things to people. It occurred to me the other day that I might not have come to love life as I do if I hadn't been blind. I believe in life now. I am not so sure that I would have believed in it so deeply, otherwise. I don't mean that I would prefer to go without my eyes. I simply mean that the loss of them made me appreciate the more what I had left.
Life, I believe, asks a continuous series of adjustments to reality. The more readily a person is able to make these adjustments, the more meaningful his own private world becomes. The adjustment is never easy. I was totally confused and afraid. But I was lucky. My parents and my teachers saw something in me--a potential to live, you might call it--which I didn't see, and they made me want to fight it out with blindness.
The hardest lesson I had to learn was to believe in myself. That was basic. If I hadn't been able to do that, I would have collapsed (崩溃) and become a chair rocker on the front porch for the rest of my life. When I say belief in myself I am not talking about simply the kind of self confidence that helps me down an unfamiliar staircase alone. That is part of it. But I mean something bigger than that: an assurance（确信） that I am, despite imperfections, a real, positive person; that somewhere in the sweeping, intricate（错综复杂的） pattern of people there is a special place where I can make myself fit.
It took me years to discover and strengthen this assurance. It had to start with the simplest things. Once a man gave me an indoor baseball. I thought he was making fun of me and I was hurt. "I can't use this." I said. "Take it with you," he urged me, "and roll it around." The words stuck in my head. "Roll it around! "By rolling the ball I could hear where it went. This gave me an idea how to achieve a goal I had thought impossible: playing baseball. At Philadelphia's Overbrook School for the Blind I invented a successful variation of baseball. We called it ground ball.
All my life I have set ahead of me a series of goals and then tried to reach them, one at a time. I had to learn my limitations. It was no good to try for something I knew at the start was wildly out of reach because that only invited the bitterness of failure. I would fail sometimes anyway but on the average I made progress.
【小题1】We can learn from the beginning of the passage that _______

A．the author lost his sight because of a car crash.

B．the author wouldn't love life if the disaster didn't happen.

C．the disaster made the author appreciate what he had.

D．the disaster strengthened the author's desire to see.

【小题2】What's the most difficult thing for the author?

A．How to adjust himself to reality.

B．Building up assurance that he can find his place in life.

C．Learning to manage his life alone.

D．How to invent a successful variation of baseball.

【小题3】According to the context, "a chair rocker on the front porch" in paragraph 3 means that the author __________

A．would sit in a rocking chair and enjoy his life.

B．would be unable to move and stay in a rocking chair.

C．would lose his will to struggle against difficulties.

D．would sit in a chair and stay at home.

【小题4】According to the passage, the baseball and encouragement offered by the man _____

A．hurt the author's feeling.

B．gave the author a deep impression.

C．directly led to the invention of ground ball.

D．inspired the author.

【小题5】What is the best title for the passage?

A．A Miserable Life	B．Struggle Against Difficulties
C．A Disaster Makes a Strong Person	D．An Unforgetable Experience