Like most July days, it was hot. I stepped into a tiny ice-cream shop to ?　1　? a chocolate ice-cream. It was a very ?　2　? store with little round tables and chairs.

As I entered, I found a very old woman bent ?　3　? a table near the door. Her ?　4　? was so badly bent by some sadness that her face nearly ?　5? the table top. I sat down facing her a couple of ?　6? away.

“Poor woman,” I thought. “What does she get ?　7　? life? Why does God let people live so long past their youth?”

As I thought, another aged lady entered the shop and sat down with her. Soon the two of them were ?　8　? childhood days. They talked of how little the shop had changed in 70 years. In minutes, the two of them were shaking with laughter.

I looked ?　9　? at the first woman, then in the ?　10　? on a nearby wall, catching a picture of myself. I was ?11　? a dirty shirt. She was well dressed in white, her ?　12　? shining with gold rings. I was ?13?.She was laughing, smiling. I was putting the ?　14? of my life together. She had millions of ?15? memories to recall. I sat alone. She was ?16　? the day with a good friend.　I was ?　17　? worried about getting old.　She was old, but it wasn't ?　18? her.

As I left the shop, I ?19　? my foolish question about God letting people live past their youth.?　20?,that woman was more alive, more sensitive to life, than I was. Age has not bent her spirit.

1.A.　warm up　　　　 B.　cool off　　 C.　freeze myself　　　　　　　　D.　enjoy myself

2.A.　old　　　　　　　　　　 B.　modern　　　　　　　　 C.　pretty　　　　　　　　　　D.　ugly

3.A.　under　　　　　　　　 B.　below　　　　　　　　　　C.　over　　　　　　　　　　 D.　above

4.A.　head　　　　　　　　 B.　chest　　　　　　　　　　　　　　C.　neck　　　　　　　　　　 D.　back

5.A.　connected　　　　 B.　touched　　　　　　　　 C.　hit　　　　　　　　　　　　 D.　joined

6.A.　tables　　　　　　　　 B.　miles　　　　　　　　　　 C.　kilometers　　　　　　 D.　inches

7.A.　for　　　　　　　　　　　　 B.　off　　　　　　　　　　　　C.　away from　　　　　　 D.　out of

8.A.　speaking　　　　　　 B.　talking about　　　　 C.　discussing　　　　　　 D.　debating

9.A.　sadly　　　　　　　　 B.　happily　　　　　　　　 C.　up　　　　　　　　　　　　 D.　again

10.A.　newspaper　　　　 B.　window　　　　　　　　 C.　mirror　　　　　　　　 D.　TV

11.A.　dressing　　　　　　B.　wearing　　　　 C.　putting on　　　　　　　　　　 D.　having on

12.A.　hands　　　　　　　　B.　neck　　　　　　 C.　arms　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　 D.　head

13.A.　happy　　　　　　 B.　surprised　　　　 C.　poor　　　　　　　　　　　　　　 D.　sad

14.A.　periods　　　　　　 B.　pieces　　　　　　 C.　points　　　　　　　　　　　　 D.　masses

15.A.　unhappy　　　　　　B.　old　　　　　　　　 C.　wonderful　　　　　　　　　　 D.　fresh

16.A.　sharing　　　　　　 B.　spending　　　　 C.　killing　　　　　　　　　　　　 D.　sparing

17.A.　really　　　　　　　　B.　mostly　　　　　　C.　publicly　　　　　　　　　　　　D.　secretly

18.A.　pleasing　　　　　　 B.　hurting　　　　　　C.　leaving　　　　　　　　　　　　 D.　punishing

19.A.　realized　　　　　　 B.　wondered　　　　C.　gave up　　　　　　　　　　　　D.　thought of

20.A.　When　　　　　　　　B.　How　　　　　　 C.　Why　　　　　　　　　　　　　　 D.　Whether

 The state of Florida is best known for its beaches and plam trees. But a good mass of it is swampland. The famous Everglades, a slow-moving sheet of water full of plants and alligators(短吻鳄), cover much of the southern part of the state. To the north, the Okefenokee, which is partly in Florida and mostly in neighboring Georgia, is a true swamp(沼泽) with its own alligatoers and snakes and even beautiful orchids.

It was formed when waters from an ancient ocean receded and a large sandbar blocked most of the water flow to the sea. Left behind was an 1,800-square-kilometer swamp.

There’s no big city within 200km, but tourists from all over the world manage to find it. They all want to know about its unusual name. Okefenokee is a Miccosukee Indian word meaning land of trtembling earth. Way back in the swamp are small, floating islands, called hammocks, which one can walk across. But they tremble. Standing on them is like trying to balance on a floating mattress(床垫).

The Okefenokee, which is already nearly filled with plants, would probably dry and become just another forest, were it not for range fires that come along every once in a while and burn out rotton vegetation（植被）. So the water in this protected National Wildlife Refuge keeps moving—slowly, very slowly.

45．According to the passage, Everglades lies__________.

  A．mainly in Georgia

  B．south of Okefenokee

  C．north of Florida

  D．near National Wildlife Refuge

46．The underlined word “receded”in the second pargaraph probably means__________.

A. dried up    B．floated away    C．poutred down    D．drew back

47．The third paragraph mainly tells us__________.

    A．where Okefenokee is located   

B. what the size of the Okefenokeeis

    C．how Okefenokee gets its special name

    D. how shaking islands come into being

48．What can be inferred according to the text?

  A．Range fires prevent Okefenokee from drying up.

  B．Hammocks tremble constantly but do not move.

  C．Okefenokee’s alliagtors attract many tourists.

 D. Florida and Georgia cover 1,800 km in total.

The Orkney Islands are about 14 kilometres from the north coast of Scotland. They are mostly low-lying, except for Hoy which has the highest sea cliff(峭壁) in Britain. The 　1 and the climate are good in Orkney, 2 there are a lot of farms.

To get to Orkney you have to fly or go by 3 . Ships bringing passengers come from Aberdeen every week. They also bring food, machines and so on. Most Orkney farmers 　4 cows or sheep. Because of this, grass is the most 5 crop on the islands. One of the islands has sheep which 6 sea plants 　7 grass---they are 8 , but very strong and healthy.

Many people in the Orkney Islands are fishermen. Some go a long way out to 9 to catch large fish, 　10 others catch 11 like crabs(螃蟹) and lobsters(龙虾)，near the shore. The islanders 12 the crab meat and then pack it and send it to the 13 . They do not cook the lobsters. They send them 14 to restaurants in many of the large 15 of Europe. Most of the islands have their own 16 but of course some of them are very small---with only one group of children from five to ten years old. In fact there are 17 young people at all on the quietest islands. Usually they go the main town of Kirkwall, 18 modern lives.

Some people come from other parts of Britain to find a 19 life on the islands. Everyone is very friendly and they all know each other. Things are changing slowly, but the old way of life 　20 continues.

1．A．land　　　 B．hill　　　　　 C．mountain　　　 D．forest

2．A．yet　　　　 B．but　　　 C．or　　　　 D．and so

20080801

3．A．train　　　　 B．bus　　 　 C．boat　　　　　 D．car

4．A．feed　　　 B．buy　　　 C．kill　　　　　 D．like

5．A．useless　　 B．harmful　 C．important　　 D．unimportant

1,3,5

6．A．drink　　　　 B．eat　　　 C．produce　 D．plant

7．A．instead of　　 B．instead　 C．for 　　　 D．with

8．A．small　　　　 B．big　　　 C．large　　　　 D．tall

9．A．field　　　　 B．sea　　　 C．sky　　　 D．space

10．A．when　　　　 B．since　　　　 C．while　　　　 D．for

11．A．birds　　　　 B．tigers　　　　 C．lions　　　　 D．shellfish

12．A．cook　　　　 B．burn　　　　　 C．sell　　　　　 D．buy

13．A．desert　　 B．ship　　　　　 C．island　　 D．mainland

14．A．alone　　　　 B．alive　　　　 C．about　　　　 D．asleep

15．A．libraries　　 B．lakes　　　　 C．cities　　　　 D．banks

16．A．zoos　　　　 B．colleges　　　 C．schools　 D．universities

17．A．very few　　 B．a lot of　 　 C．a great many D．a number of

18．A．live　　　　 B．to live 　 C．living　　 D．lives

19．A．happy　　 B．busy　　　　　 C．quiet　　　　 D．noisy

20．A．also　　　　 B．still　　　　 C．never　　　　 D．nearly

 

If your cellphone suddenly stops working, don’t blame the service provider．The malfunction（故障） might well have been caused by something bigger -- a solar storm．Experts expect that Earth will see more solar activity in the near future．The malfunction of electronic devices will just one of the effects．
Sunspots（太阳黑子） serve as an indicator of the sun’s activity．For the past two years, sunspots have mostly been missing．Their absence, the most prolonged in nearly 100 years, has taken even seasoned sun watchers by surprise．
When the number of sunspots drops at the end of each 11-year cycle, solar storms die down and all become much calmer. This “solar minimum” doesn’t last long. Within a year, sunspots and solar storms begin to build toward a new crescendo, the next solar maximum.
What’s special about this latest cycle is that the sun is having trouble starting the next solar cycle. The sun began to calm down in late 2007, so no one expected many sunspots in 2008. They should return in 2010. Scientists have predicted that the next solar cycle could be the most active on record: more sunspots and more solar storms. However, sunspots are mostly missing now.
Since the earth is in close contact with the sun, strong solar activities can bring trouble to our life. People of the 21st century rely on high-tech systems for the basics of daily life. Air travel and radio communications can be affected by strong solar activities. A big solar storm could cause 20 times more economic damage than Hurricane Katrina.
What the sun will do next is beyond our ability to predict. Most astronomers think that the solar cycle will go on but at low level. However, there is also evidence that the sun is losing its ability to produce sunspots. By 2015, they could be gone altogether.
【小题1】The sun watcher feel surprised at            .

A．the longest sunspots’ absence	B．the largest sunspot number
C．the malfunction of electronic devices	D．the serious damage by sunspots

【小题2】What does the underlined word “crescendo” in paragraph 3 most probably mean?

A．small number	B．high level
C．usual cycle	D．fresh start

【小题3】We can infer that in the past two years         .

A．solar activities have brought much trouble to our life

B．the number of sunspots has increased to a large extent

C．the solar minimum took the place of the solar maximum

D．our cellphones have seldom been interrupted by the solar storm

【小题4】Which statement does the text lead you to believe?

A．Solar activities do no harm to our daily life.

B．Hurricane Katrina is also a type of solar storms.

C．It’s difficult to predict sunspots.

D．From now on there’ re no sunspots.

【小题5】What is the passage mainly about?

A．The earth is in close contact with the sun.

B．Sunspots can cause trouble to our life.

C．Introduction of sunspots.

D．Introduction of the solar storm．

If your cellphone suddenly stops working, don’t blame the service provider．The malfunction（故障） might well have been caused by something bigger -- a solar storm．Experts expect that Earth will see more solar activity in the near future．The malfunction of electronic devices will just one of the effects．

Sunspots（太阳黑子） serve as an indicator of the sun’s activity．For the past two years, sunspots have mostly been missing．Their absence, the most prolonged in nearly 100 years, has taken even seasoned sun watchers by surprise．

When the number of sunspots drops at the end of each 11-year cycle, solar storms die down and all become much calmer. This “solar minimum” doesn’t last long. Within a year, sunspots and solar storms begin to build toward a new crescendo, the next solar maximum.

What’s special about this latest cycle is that the sun is having trouble starting the next solar cycle. The sun began to calm down in late 2007, so no one expected many sunspots in 2008. They should return in 2010. Scientists have predicted that the next solar cycle could be the most active on record: more sunspots and more solar storms. However, sunspots are mostly missing now.

Since the earth is in close contact with the sun, strong solar activities can bring trouble to our life. People of the 21st century rely on high-tech systems for the basics of daily life. Air travel and radio communications can be affected by strong solar activities. A big solar storm could cause 20 times more economic damage than Hurricane Katrina.

What the sun will do next is beyond our ability to predict. Most astronomers think that the solar cycle will go on but at low level. However, there is also evidence that the sun is losing its ability to produce sunspots. By 2015, they could be gone altogether.

1.The sun watcher feel surprised at            .

    A．the longest sunspots’ absence   B．the largest sunspot number

    C．the malfunction of electronic devices              D．the serious damage by sunspots

2.What does the underlined word “crescendo” in paragraph 3 most probably mean?    A．small number         B．high level

    C．usual cycle                      D．fresh start

3.We can infer that in the past two years         .

    A．solar activities have brought much trouble to our life

    B．the number of sunspots has increased to a large extent

    C．the solar minimum took the place of the solar maximum

    D．our cellphones have seldom been interrupted by the solar storm

4.Which statement does the text lead you to believe?

    A．Solar activities do no harm to our daily life.

    B．Hurricane Katrina is also a type of solar storms.

    C．It’s difficult to predict sunspots.

    D．From  now on there’ re no sunspots.

5.What is the passage mainly about?

    A．The earth is in close contact with the sun.

    B．Sunspots can cause trouble to our life.

    C．Introduction of sunspots.

    D．Introduction of the solar storm．