Do your spirits soar (猛增) on a sunny day? Do you relax at the sound of flowing water?

    Some scientists suggest that these contacts with nature are good for your health. In one study, hospital patients with a view of trees had shorter hospital stays and less need for pain medications. Another study indicated that prisoners with a view of the outdoors had fewer doctor visits.

    “Why do we desire nature? Maybe we’re programmed to need it, since our ancestors’ survival was so dependent on their connection with nature,” suggests biologist E.O. Wilson.

    Want to find out if contact with nature improves your outlook on life? Try a few of these ideas.

    Hang out a bird feeder and watch the birds that visit it.

    Sit down in the backyard or a nearby park. Close your eyes. What do you hear? Birds singing? The wind in the trees? Crickets (蟋蟀) chirping?

    Find an anthill. Sit down and watch the ants work.

    Take a walk right after a rainstorm. What looks different? Smells different?

    Go barefoot on a sandy beach.

    Open the curtains and the window, if the weather allows it.

    On a windy day, watch the trees.

    Go to a creek, river or park fountain. Listen to the sound of water in motion.

    Camp out in the backyard or at a nearby state park. Use a tent or sleep on the ground.

    Find a wide-open space to study the stars. Learn about the different constellations (星座).

    Raise a garden. Or plant some seeds in a flowerpot.

    Go hiking with your family. Talk about all of the colors you see in nature.

    Take a camera and capture your nature experience.

From Paragraph 2 we can learn that ______.

A. prisoners don’t like to go to the doctor when ill   B. trees can be used as pain medications

C. prisoners should often get out of prison to come into contact with nature

D. contacts with nature are very helpful for hospital patients

According to E.O. Wilson, we desire nature probably because ______.

A. it can help us feel relaxed

B. we have inherited (继承) from our ancestors who were dependent on nature

C. people have lived with nature for thousands of years

D. contacts with nature can improve a person’s outlook on life

The author gives us many ideas in order to let us ______.

A. find out if contacts with nature improve our outlook on life

B. hear birds sing and watch ants work

C. talk about the colors we see in nature   D. capture our experience in nature

From the passage, we can learn that ______.

A. studying the constellations is important to everyone

B. you can know all the colors only by going hiking

C. nature is quite important to us    D. walking in a rainstorm can be very helpful

What is the best title of the passage?

A. Go hiking with your family.   B. Let nature nurture you.

C. Visit your doctor less.        D. Watch the trees more often.

动词填空  (用动词的正确形式填空)（共10小题，每小题1分，满分10分）

1.Fear prevented him from moving when he heard the sound of footsteps _______(approach).

2.Both the driver’s carelessness and the bad condition of the road that day _______(lead) to the accident.

3.The housing price ______(rise) in the past several months.

4.Those of poor immunity(免疫力), especially children and old people, should go to public places less to avoid _______ (affect) by the bird flu.

5.I hope that you will keep us ______(inform) how you are getting on with the work.

6.No wonder she looked so tired today. She _______ (surf) the Internet at 11 o’clock last night.

7.The box which ______(weigh) as much as 20 kilos is too heavy for the little boy to carry.

8.______(reduce) the risk of getting burnt, you should stay away from fire.

9.By the time the soldiers arrived at the airport, their enemies _______(take) control of it

already.

10.The child slipped(滑倒) and fell, _______ (hit) his head against the door.

On Thursday afternoon Mrs. Clarke, dressed for going out, took her handbag with her money and her key in it, pulled the door behind her to lock it and went to the over 60s Club. She always went there on Thursdays. It was a nice outing for an old woman who lived alone.
At six o’clock she came home, let herself in and at once smelt cigarette smoke. Cigarette smoke in her house? How? How? Had someone got in? She checked the back door and the windows. All were locked or fastened, as usual. There was no sign of forced entry.
Over a cup of tea she wondered whether someone might have a key that fitted her front door — “a master key” perhaps. So she stayed at home the following Thursday. Nothing happened. Was anyone watching her movements? On the Thursday after that she went out at her usual time, dressed as usual, but she didn’t go to the club. Instead she took a short cut home again, letting herself in through her garden and the back door. She settled down to wait.
It was just after four o’clock when the front door bell rang. Mrs. Clarke was making a cup of tea at the time. The bell rang again, and then she heard her letter-box being pushed open. With the kettle of boiling water in her hand, she moved quietly towards the front door. A long piece of wire appeared through the letter-box, and then a hand. The wire turned and caught around the handle on the door-lock. Mrs. Clarke raised the kettle and poured the water over the hand. There was a shout outside, and the skin seemed to drop off the fingers like a glove. The wire fell to the floor, the hand was pulled back, and Mrs. Clarke heard the sound of running feet. 
【小题1】Mrs. Clarke looked forward to Thursday because       .

It was only 5 o’clock in the morning. The house was quiet and Tim' s mother was still asleep. Only the sound of the big freezer broke the quiet. He’d dreamt of the cave last night. The purring (轻微颤动声) of the freezer had been the sea.                                         
Tim pulled on a sweater and put some apples into his schoolbag. It was too early for breakfast. He' d eat after he' d been through the cave, sitting on the rocks and staring at the sea.
He wished he had a proper pack. His schoolbag would have to do. What else? Sandwiches-but his mother might wake up if he started pulling out bread for sandwiches, she’d want to know why he had to leave so early. He settled for some biscuits, and left a note stuck to the table:
Gone to Michael’s. Back tonight, Tim.
The sky was high and soft and light outside, though the sun still wasn't up. Even the highway up the hill was quiet as he made his way down the street. The wind from the sea was fresh and sweet.
The sand hills still breathed heat from yesterday’s sun, though the top of the sand was cool. He ran down to the beach impatiently, but there was no one, just dry sand dancing in the early wind and seabirds marching up and down watching the waves.
The light changed suddenly. The first rays of sunlight stretched (延伸) across the sea. The sun was pushing its way over the edge of the world.
Over the first rocks, along to the point, Tim glanced back. The beach was still empty. The sun sailed higher in the sky.
He could see the cave now, even darker in the morning light. The sand turned silver then dark gold as the water flowed away from it. He had to force himself to go closer. Why was it so much more mysterious (神秘的) now? But it would be silly to go back now after so much trouble. He needn't go in all the way...
【小题1】What did Tim do at the beginning of the story?

Our plan was to drive into Cambridge, catch the 7:34 train to Liverpool Street Station, then to separate and meet again for lunch．We should have arrived at Liverpool at 9:19, but due to a typical London fog, the train had to move along so slowly that it wasn’t until 10:30 that it got there．In spite of our late arrival, Joan, my wife’s sister, decided that she would go to see the Crown Jewels in the Tower of London while we went shopping．It was only after her sister had disappeared into the fog that my wife realized that we hadn’t decided where we should meet for lunch．Since I had our three tickets for the concert in my pocket, this was indeed a problem．There seemed to be nothing we could do except taking a taxi to the Tower of London, and try to find her there．Needless to say, we didn’t find her.
It was now one o’clock, and the concert began at 2:30．“Perhaps she will think of waiting outside the concert hall,” suggested my wife hopefully．By this time the fog was so thick that road traffic had to stop, and the only way to get there was by underground railway．Hand in hand we felt our way along the road to where we thought the nearest station should be．An hour later we were still trying to find it．Just as I was about to lose my temper completely when we met a blind man tapping his way confidently through the fog．With his help we found Tower Hill tube station just fifty yards down the road.
By now it was far too late even to try to get to the concert hall before the performance began at 2:30, so we decided to return to Cambridge．It took seven long hours instead of the usual two to make that journey．Nor were we able to get any food and drink on the train．Tired and hungry we finally reached home at ten, opening the door to the sound of the telephone bell．It was Joan; she had seen the Crown Jewels, had managed to get another ticket for concert, and had had a wonderful dinner at a restaurant near the hotel where she decided to stay for the night．Now she was ringing to discover whether we had had an equally successful day.
1．Why was Joan separated from her sister and her brother-in-law?
A．they could not see each other because of the fog.
B．Joan had not seen Crown Jewels.
C．They planned to do different things until lunch time.
D．The writer didn’t want to go to the concert.
2．What did the writer plan to do in the afternoon?
A．Go to the concert.                      B．See the Crown Jewels.
C．Return to Cambridge.                    D．Go shopping.
3．The reason why they didn’t all meet for lunch was that _______.
A．They lost their way in the fog
B．they forgot to make necessary arrangement
C．they waited at different places and didn’t meet each other
D．the couple couldn’t find the underground station
4．It’s quite clear that for Joan the trip to London had been ________.
A．spilt by the fog                      B．quite tiring  
C．rather disappointing               D．very enjoyable