The huge Florida wetland known as the Everglades is a slow-moving river 80 kilometres wide but only a few centimeters deep. People call the Everglades a “river of grass” because sawgrass covers most of it. Sawgrass is not really grass. It is a plant that has leaves edged with tiny sharp teeth that can easily cut through clothes—and skin!

Travel in the Everglades is difficult. You cannot walk through shallow water because the sawgrass will cut you. The water is too shallow for regular boats. So, we use an airboat. An airboat is a flat, open boat. Like an airplane, it has a big propeller to move it. The propeller is fixed on the rear of the boat. It makes a tremendous noise, but it does the job. The boat skims along the water’s surface. Although we can still get lost in an airboat, at least we are above the alligators(短吻鳄).

   While hundreds of different kinds of animals live in the Everglades, the most famous is surely the alligator. Once endangered, alligators are now protected within Everglades National Park. Visitors are likely to see them both on land and in water.

   For a long time, dangers have threatened the Everglades. Around 1900, some people felt this precious wetland should be drained (排干). They said it was just a big swamp and not good for anything. In the 1920s, there was a land boom in Florida. People wanted to build homes everywhere, including in the Everglades. They built canals, levees (防洪堤) , and other water systems that stopped the rivers flowing into the Everglades. Factories were built near rivers that flowed into the wetland. These factories dumped poisonous waste that damaged the Everglades ecosystem.

? People are now working to preserve the Everglades National Park for the future. Right now, one big problem is the paperbark tree. This tree is an invader from Australia.

    Paperbark trees soak up a lot of water. In the early 1900s, people brought them to Florida because they thought they would help drain the Everglades. However, the invaders adapted too well. Paperbark trees have taken over hundreds of thousands of acres of the Everglades and killed other trees. Scientists are cutting down these invaders or spraying them with herbicides (除草剂) to kill them. ?

Which helps to explain why it is difficult to travel in Everglades?

     A. Airboats may make a very big noise.

     B. You may get lost when passing through.

     C. Paperbark trees soak up too much water there.

     D. Many different kinds of animals are to be protected.

Why do people use airboats instead of normal boats?

     A. They have big propellers to move them faster than alligators.

     B. The propeller makes loud noise so as to scare alligators.

     C. Their flat bottom can skim along the water surface.

     D. They can watch alligators without hurting them. ?

The following measures were taken to drain the Everglades except that people______. ?

     A. built canals and levees to stop the rivers flowing into Everglades?

     B. built factories near rivers that flowed into the wetland?

     C. brought Paperbark to soak up water in Everglades?

     D. are cutting down these Paperbark trees?

The underlined word "invader" probably means something______. ?

     A. that moves in from another place     B. that enters and takes control?

     C. that has been brought in?                     D. that is in danger?

Chinese reports say the country’s vast pool of cheap labor is getting smaller, which could hurt an economy that heavily depends on labor-intensive manufacturing.
The academy’s research shows that China’s rural labor surplus, the source of migrant workers for the country’s factories, is about 50 million people—far less than the previously estimated 150 to 200 million.
Jonathan Unger, director of the Contemporary China Center at the Australian National University, says fewer rural residents are willing to leave their farms today. This is partly because there are more employment opportunities in rural areas, and because agricultural prices have gone up.
“And at the same time taxes in the countryside, fees in the countryside have gone down because of new sets of government policies,” he explained. “So people are not eagerly forced in the way they were five, six years ago to leave the farm in order to earn enough money for their families.”
The Chinese Academy of Social Sciences says another reason for the reduced labor pool is the country’s population policy, which allows city residents to have just one child, and farmers up to two if the first one is a girl.
A UN study predicts that China’s workforce will reach its top in 2015 and then gradually drop. Some of China’s major manufacturing areas, such as Guangdong Province, already face labor shortages.
Some economists think these shortages are, at least for now, a regional rather than a national problem. Sun Mingchun, an economist with investment bank Lehman Brothers in Hong Kong, points out that there are still millions of people in China who can not find work.
57. According to the academy’s research, China’ rural labor surplus today is about _______.
A. 150 million      B. 50 million      C. 200 million      D. 175 million
58. The reason why many rural residents don’t leave their farms today is ________.
A. the farmers are older than before.
B. the farmers are lazier than before
C. the farmers have much more money
D. there are more employment opportunities and agricultural prices have gone up
59. Which of the following is TURE according to the passage?
A. A study of UN estimates China’s workforce will come to the top in 2015.
B. No a study shows millions of people can’t find work in China.
C. The country’s population policy isn’t a reason for the reduced labor.
D. Five years ago, few farmers left their homes to earn money for supporting their families.
60. According to some economists, the shortage of Chinese workforce __________.
A. is a national problem                     B. is a regional problem
C. is not a problem                         D. can be solved easily

An allergy is a strong reaction to a substance. Many things can cause allergies. The most common cause is pollen (花粉), which is usually produced by trees in the spring, grasses in the summer and weeds in the fall, as part of their reproductive process.

Other causes include organisms, chemicals, plants and dead skin particles from dogs and cats can also cause allergic reactions. So can insect stings and some food.

The most common kind of allergic reactions is itchy (痒的) , watery eyes and a blocked or watery nose. Allergies can also cause red, itchy skin. Some reactions can be life-threatening, for example, when breathing passages become blocked.

It is not always easy to avoid allergies. Drugs may offer an effective treatment. Another treatment used in some cases is called immunotherapy. A patient is injected with small amounts of the allergy-causing substance. The idea is that larger and larger amounts are given over time until the patient develops resistance in his body.

In the United States, experts estimate that up to 8% of young children have food allergies. Every year these allergies cause about 30,000 cases with severe reactions that require immediate treatment. It can result in breathing trouble and in some cases death. It is said that about 100 to 200 people will die. It is said that most of the reactions are caused by peanuts and tree nuts like walnuts.

People can also be allergic to medicines. The American Academy of Allergy, Asthma and Immunology says about 10％ of bad reactions to commonly used medicines are allergic. In other words, a person’s immune system overreacts and produces an allergic reaction. The most common reactions include skin rashes, itching, breathing problems and swelling in areas such as the face.

1.Allergies seldom occur in winter because ________.

A. plants don’t usually flower in cold weather

B. people usually wear thick clothes

C. pollen is active below freezing point

D. the weather is too cold for viruses

2.What will happen if one’s breathing passages get blocked?

A. It is nothing serious.                B. One’s life is at risk.

C. One has to be sent to hospital.                D. One is sure to breathe easily.

3.According to immunotherapy, the patient is supposed to________.

A. take some medicines to produce antibodies

B. have immediate operations

C. be given the allergy-causing substance until the patient develops resistance

D. be exposed to enough allergy-causing substances

4.The best title would be _______.

A. The ABCs of Allergies               B. The Cause of Allergies

C. The Treatment of Allergies          D. The Prevention of Allergies

Your body, which has close relations with the food you eat, is the most important thing you own, so it needs proper treatment and proper nourishment (营养).The old saying “An apple a day keeps the doctor away ”is not as silly as some people think. The body needs fruit and vegetables because they contain vitamin C. Many people take extra vitamins in pill form, believing that these will make them healthy.
But a good diet is made up of nourishing food and this gives all the vitamins you need. The body doesn’t need or use extra vitamins, so why waste money on them?
In the modern western world, many people are too busy to bother about eating properly. They throw anything into their stomachs, eating hurriedly and carelessly. The list of illnesses caused or made worse by bad eating habits is frightening,
【小题1】“Your body has close relations with the food you eat.” It really means that ______.

What makes one person more intelligent than another? What makes one person a genius, like the brilliant Albert Einstein, and another person a fool? Are people born intelligent or stupid, or is intelligence the result of where and how you live? These are very old questions and the answers to them are still not clear.
We know, however, that just being born with a good mind is not enough. In some ways, the mind is like a leg or an arm muscle. It needs exercise. Mental (done with the mind) exercise is particularly important for young children. Many child psychologists (心理学家) think that parents should play with their children more often and give them problems to think about. The children are then more likely to grow up bright and intelligent. If, on the other hand, children are left alone a great deal with nothing to do, they are more likely to become dull and unintelligent.
Parents should also be careful with what they say to young children. According to some psychologists, if parents are always telling a child that he or she is a fool or an idiot, then the child is more likely to keep doing silly and foolish things. So it is probably better for parents to say very positive (helpful) things to their children, such as “That was a very clever thing you did.” or “You are such a smart child.”
36. The words “intelligent” and “brilliant” in the first paragraph probably mean _______ while “dull” in the second paragraph means ________.
A. bright and splendid; slow in thinking and understanding
B. pretty and handsome; ordinary-looking
great and important; common
D. hopeful and helpful; careless
37. According to the context we can guess that a genius is ________ while an idiot is ________.
A. a normal person; a funny person
B. a strong person; a weak person
a highly intelligent person; a foolish or weak-minded person
D. a famous person; an ordinary person
38. A person ________ is more likely to become a genius.
A. whose parents are clever
B. often thinking about difficult problems
often helped by his parents and teachers
D. born with a good brain and putting it into active use
39. It is better for parents ________.
A. to praise and encourage their children more often
B. to be hard on their children
to leave their children alone with nothing to do
D. to give their children as much help as possible
40. Which of the following is NOT true according to the article?
A. Parents play an important part in their children’s growth.
B. The less you use your mind the duller you may become.
C. Intelligence is obviously the result of where and how you live.
D. What makes a person bright or stupid is still under discussion.