阅读理解

　　Last Wednesday, Agriculture Secretary Ann Veneman announced the first case of mad cow disease in the United States. A test seemed to show bovine spongiform encephalopathy, or B-S-E, in a cow from Washington state. The next day, a laboratory in Waybridge, England, confirmed (proved) the case.

　　Within hours of the news, Japan, Mexico and South Korea had banned(禁止) imports(进口) of American beef. More than thirty nations have now banned American beef imports. The restrictions(限制) affect about ninety percent of American beef exports worth about three-thousand-million dollars a year.

　　American agriculture officials say that the nation's supply of beef is safe. They note that only the brain and nerve(神经) matter from the cow can carry B-S-E. They say infected(受感染的) parts of the cow were not processed(加工) for use as food for people.

　　On Saturday, the top animal doctor for the United States Agriculture Department said the infected cow came from Alberta, Canada. Ron De Haven said the cow was in a group of seventy-four animals bought from Canada two years ago. But a Canadian official noted that Canada's records do not match the American ones. He said there was no clear evidence(证据) that the infected cow came from Canada.

　　So far, almost five-thousand kilograms of beef have been seized. American officials have temporarily(暂时) closed two farms where the infected cow had been kept and where its half is believed to be.

　　The situation is harming American beef producers. In May, Canadian officials reported a single case of B-S-E in Alberta. Many nations, including the United States, banned Canadian beef. That ban cost Canada one-million dollars a day.

　　American beef prices are quickly dropping. An American delegation went to Japan to try to ease fears. Japan has suggested that the United States should expand its B-S-E testing program. Japan tests every cow for the disease.

　　B-S-E is widely known as mad cow disease. It is caused by deformed proteins(蛋白质) called prions. B-S-E spreads when animals eat food containing processed brains or nervous tissue of infected animals.

　　A form of B-S-E, Cruetzfeldt-Jakob disease, infects people. Reports say about one hundred and fifty people have died from the disease, mostly in Britain, since B-S-E was first identified in nineteen eighty-six.

1．Where did America's first case of mad cow disease come from?

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2．What effects does mad cow disease have on America's exports?

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A．So far no country has banned the imports of American beef.

B．More than 30 countries have banned the imports of American beef.

C．No American beef will be imported into any foreign country.

D．it will cause American beef exports a great loss of about 3,000 million dollars a month.

3．Which of the following statements is NOT true?

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A．It is believed that now American supply of beef is still safe.

B．The brain and nerve matter of an infected cow is mostly like to carry B-S-E.

C．American beef prices will not drop quickly.

D．Cruetzfeldt-Jakob disease can do great harm to people's health.

4．What does the underlined word “ease” mean in the last but two paragraph?

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A．To reduce pain or worry.

B．To make somebody happy.

C．To become less troublesome or difficult.

D．To take away pain or worry.

Are Baiji Dolphin Extinct?

       Does the Yangtze River still have baiji the graceful, grey dolphin with tiny eyes and a long narrow beak?

    Since November 6, a team of scientists from China, Switzerland, the United Kingdom, the United States, Germany and Japan have been searching for any sign of the freshwater dolphin on the middle and lower sections of the river．After six weeks, they came back empty-handed．

    Wang Ding, of the Chinese Academy of Sciences, who is the head of the team, said．he has seen a sharp decline in the baiji population over the past few decades． However, he is still unwilling to call the species extinct, and adds, "We will try every effort to save them as long as they are not found to be extinct．"

    The baiji is shy and nearly blind and is, one of the world's oldest．'dolphin species． It dates back some 20 million years and is found only in the Yangtze．It's listed as one of the  12 most endangered animal species in the world．

       Around 400 baiji were believed to be living in the Yangtze until the 1980s．A 1997 survey spotted 13．Two years later their numbers were down to two．

    The rapid disappearance of this dolphin over the past two decades coincided with（与……同时）the rapid expansion of economic development along the river． Research on some dead baiji collected in recent years showed that more than 90 percent of the deaths were caused by human activities．

   One reason is that over-fishing has cut the dolphin's food sources．Dams built along the river and neighboring waterways have also kept them from swimming into and out of their habitats． Meanwhile, waste discharge（排放） has seriously polluted the river． And heavy river traffic has greatly reduced their living space．

    The disappearance of the baiji would be the first instance of a large aquatic mammal（水生哺乳动物）being driven to extinction since hunting killed off the monk seal（僧海豹）around                                                                      1952．

56．Bajji dolphin used to live in        of the Yangtze River.

       A．upper sections                                         B．middle sections

       C．lower sections                                         D．middle and lower sections

57．The first paragraph shows writer's          .

       A．love of baiji                                                B．eagerness to write the passage

       C．anger for not having a baiji                           D． dissatisfaction with our government

58．Which of the following countries didn't join the action to search for baiji?

       A．England．               B．America．           C．Japan．             D．India

59． How many baiji dolphins were left by the end of last century?

       A．400                        B．13                 C．Atmost2              D．2

60．Which of the following reasons doesn't lead to the rapid disappearance of baiji dolphins? 

     A． Over-fishing．                                         B． Heavy Road Traffic．                 

       C． Dams built along the river．                      D． Waste discharge．

第二节：完型填空（共20小题，每小题1.5分，满分30 分）
阅读下面短文，掌握其大意，然后从21--40各题所给的四个选项（A、B、C、D）中，选出能填入空格中的最佳答案，并在答题卡上将该项涂黑。
The cultures of the East and the West really distinguish（区别）each other a lot. This is because the culture systems are two separate systems____21___.
The origin of the eastern cultures is mainly from two countries: China and India. Both of the two cultures are gestated(孕育) by ___22___. In China, the mother river is the Yellow River___23___ the Indian one is the Hindu River. These two cultures were ___24___ for several thousand years and formed their own styles. Then in Tang Dynasty of China, the Chinese culture___25___ went overseas to Japan, ___26___ into the Japanese society and ___27___ the Japanese culture nowadays. Though a bit different from the Chinese one, it ___28___ to the same system.
When the two mother rivers gave ___29___ to the eastern culture, another famous culture was brought up on the Mesopotamian Plain--- the Mesopotamian Civilization. This civilization later on developed into the cultures of the Ancient Greece and Ancient Rome. And these two are well- known as the ___30___ of the European culture. ___31___ the Chinese culture, the European one also ___32___waters. When the colonists of England ___33___down in America, their culture went with them over the Atlantic Ocean. So the American culture doesn’t ___34___ from the European one a lot.
At the same time, the ___35___ of the language systems adds to the cultural differences. In the East, most languages belong to the pictographic languages while the Western languages are ___36___ based on the Latin system, for example, the one I ‘m using to write this paper.
Other factors like human race difference ___37___ as well. However, ____38___ the far distance and the steep areas between the East and West, the two cultures seldom ___39__ until recent centuries.___40___ they grew up totally in their own ways with almost no interference (干扰) from the other.
21. A. above all            B. on the whole      C. in all                        D. first of all
22. A. mountains           B. plains                C. lakes               D. rivers
23. A. since          B. when         C. while               D. as
24. A. developed      B. improved          C. created             D. protected
25. A. suddenly             B. quietly                     C. gradually         D. naturally
26. A. mixed          B. flowed        C. moved               D. forced
27. A. expanded       B. enriched       C. influenced         D. shaped
28. A. comes           B. belongs       C. amounts           D. adds
29. A. birth                  B. way           C. root               D. origin
30. A. characteristics   B. sign          C. base                  D. content
31. As                  B. Unlike         C. With              D. Like
32. A. passed               B. spread         C. crossed           D. formed
33. A. fell            B. went         C. broke             D. settled
34. A. separate        B. grow         C. move             D. distinguish
35. A. difference            B. use               C. appearance        D. change
36. A. properly        B. partly          C. simply                  D. mostly
37. A. include         B. counts        C. depends           D. worked
38. A. in terms of      B. due to              C. as to              D. in case of
39. A. help            B. connect       C. communicate       D. meet
40. A. But            B. Because       C. So                      D. Yet