句子填空（共10小题；每小题1分，满分10分）

Dear Nicolaus Copernicus,

I am a s______ studying astronomy and I would very much like to read your new theory about the solar s_____

I hope you will p______it for several reasons.

   I understand the problems with the present theory. The way the plants move is not what you would expect if the earth was the center of the u_______. It is also odd that the brightness of some s____seems to change. So I agree with you that we need a new theory.

   I know your observations have been very carefully c_____out over many years. Now you must have the courage to publish them. S______ can never advance unless people have the courage of their beliefs. I know you worry about what will h_____ if you publish your new theory. No m_______ how people oppose it, time will show w_____your ideas are right or wrong.

   So I hope you will feel you can publish your new theory.

                                                    Yours sincerely,

                                                                  Li Hua

We all know what it is like to be unable to turn your head because of a cold in the muscles (肌肉) of your neck, or because an unexpected twist（扭曲）has made your neck ache. The slightest move makes you jump with pain. Nothing could be worse than a pain in the neck.

That is why we use the phrase to describe some people who give you the same feeling. We have all met such people.

One is the man who always seems to be clapping his hands—often at the wrong time—during a performance in the theater. He keeps you from hearing the actors.

Even worse are those who can never arrive before the curtain goes up and the play begins. They come hurrying down to your row of seats. You are comfortably settled down, with your hat and heavy coat in your lap. You must stand up to let them pass. You are proud of yourself-control after they have settled into their seats…Well, what now…God, one of them is up again. He forgot to go to the men’s room, and once more you have to stand up, hanging on to your hat and coat to let him pass. Now, that is “a pain in the neck”.

Another, well—known to us all, is the person sitting behind you in the movies. His mouth is full of popcorn (爆米花); he is chewing（嚼）loudly, or talking between bites to friends next to him. None of them remain still. Up and down, back and forth, they go—for another bag of popcorn, or something to drink.

Then, there is the man sitting next to you at lunch, smoking. He wants you to enjoy it too, and blows smoke across your food into your mouth.

We must not forget the man who comes into a bus or subway and sits down next to you, just as close as you will let him. You are reading the newspaper and he gets closer so that he can read the paper with you. He may even turn the paper to the next page before you are ready for it.

We also call such a person a “rubber neck”, always getting close to where it does not belong, like neighbors who watch all your visitors. They enjoy learning about your personal business. People have a strong dislike for “rubber necks”. They hate being watched secretly.

1．Where can you find this passage?

A. In a medicine dictionary.                    B. in a kids’ story book.

C. In a social science book.                D. In a science textbook.

2．According to the passage, how do you feel when late comers walk back and forth in front of you in a cinema?

A.disturbed.           B.bored.                C.ignored.       D. relaxed.

3．A “rubber neck” often __________________ .

A. says bad words behind people.                B. quarrels face to face with neighbors.

C. bargains with salespeople over the price D. asks about other people’s business

4．Which of the following persons CANNOT be described as a “pain in the neck”?

A. Someone who often claps at the wrong time during a performance.

B. Someone who feels ache in his neck due to a cold in the muscles.

C. Someone who sits next to you smoking, which you never enjoy.

D. Someone who keeps eating or talking all through the movies.

5．What is the main purpose of the author?

A. To tell people what might be bad manners in public.

B. To criticize (批评) the people who might be a “pain in the neck”

C. To show anger to those who are described as a “pain in the neck”.

D. To tell people how to stop the pain in the neck.

With only about 1, 000 pandas left in the world, China is desperately trying to clone(克隆) the animal and save the endangered species(物种). That’s a move similar to what a Texas A & M University researchers have been undertaking for the past five years in a project called “Noah’s Ark”.

Noah’s Ark is aimed at collecting eggs, embryos(胚胎), semen and DNA of endangered animals and storing them in liquid nitrogen. If certain species should become extinct, Dr. Duane Kraemer, a professor in Texas A & M’s College of Veterinary Medicine, says there would be enough of the basic building blocks to reintroduce the species in the future.

It is estimated that as many as 2, 000 species of mammals, birds reptiles will become extinct in over 100 years. The panda, native only to China, is in danger of becoming extinct in the next 25 years.

This week, Chinese scientists said they grew an embryo by introducing cells from a dead female panda into the egg cells of a Japanese white rabbit. They are now trying to implant the embryo into a host animal.

The entire procedure could take from three to five years to complete.

“The nuclear transfer(核子移植) of one species to another is not easy, and the lack of available(capable of being used) panda eggs could be a major problem,” Kraemer believes. “They will probably have to do several hundred transfers to result in one pregnancy (having a baby). It takes a long time and it’s difficult, but this could be groundbreaking science if it works. They are certainly not putting any live pandas at risk, so it is worth the effort,” adds Kraemer, who is one of the leaders of the Project at Texas A& M, the first-ever attempt at cloning a dog.

“They are trying to do something that’s never been done, and this is very similar to our work in Noah’s Ark. We’re both trying to save animals that face extinction. I certainly appreciate their effort and there’s a lot we can learn from what they are attempting to do. It’s a research that is very much needed.”

The aim of “Noah’s Ark” project is to _______.

A. make efforts to clone the endangered pandas

B. save endangered animals from dying out

C. collect DNA of endangered animals to study

D. transfer the nuclear of one animal to another

According to Professor Kraemer, the major problem in cloning pandas would be the lack of _______.

A. available panda eggs                B. host animals

C. qualified researchers                D. enough money

The best title for the passage may be _______.

A. China’s Success in Pandas Cloning   

B. The First Cloned Panda in the World

 C. Exploring the Possibility to Clone Pandas

 D. China —the Native Place of Pandas Forever

From the passage we know that _______.

A. Kraemer and his team have succeeded in cloning a dog

 B. scientists try to implant a panda’s egg into a rabbit

 C. Kraemer will work with Chinese scientists in clone researches

 D. about two thousand of species will probably die out in a century

When nature is left alone, a balance is reached among the animals and plants living in one area. But when man starts his work in nature, the balance is likely to be destroyed. He grows a crop and takes it away to eat ;then there are no dead leaves to fall on the ground, holding water while it sinks into the surface, or decaying (腐烂) and adding humus (腐殖质) to the soil. Unless a farmer acts with knowledge and skill, he is therefore most likely to make the land poorer. To take the place of the useful matter in the crops that he removes, he uses some kind of fertilizer (肥料). Chemical fertilizers are of great help, but the waste products of animals and decaying remains of plants should also be put on the land. In some places, it is a habit to burn waste material lying about, but such burning destroys the useful matter in the dead plants. Although the ashes that are left are valuable when put on the land, a better practice is to bury the waste so that it decays and increases the humus in the soil.

In the past, when the world population was much lower than it is now, a man had little difficulty in ordinary times in growing the food that was needed. When a field had been used some years and had become tired, the farmer could move to another place. The tired land then slowly recovered. By and by grasses and other plants would appear on it and its productive power would slowly return to normal through their decay. But nature, left alone, would take a long time to bring back the land to its former state; the length of time required would depend on local conditions, but it might well be ten years.

It is a bad practice to grow the same crop in a field year after year. If the crop is changed, the land will suffer less because it is treated and used in a different way. Different plants have different effects on the soil. Therefore, a change of crop will do less harm than the growing of the same crop year after year and a regular change to grass will do good to the soil. Much will therefore be gained if different crops are grown one after another, a method known as the rotation (轮作) of crops.

According to the passage, the land will become poorer (   )

A. if all the dead leaves are cleared away        B. if the humus is increased after the harvest

C. if dead leaves decay in the soil by themselves  D. if waste plant material lying about is buried

We can learn from the passage that the tired land has slowly recovered (   )

A. when grasses and other plants appear again

B. when the treatment is given by nature alone

C. after new grasses and other plants have decayed again

D. after nature has been left alone for several months

A modern farmer can hardly move to another place as he did before because (   )

A. the productive power of a new field isn't higher than that of an old one

B. there are few free fields left for him to do farming

C. it takes a farmer more than ten years to start farming in a new field

D. there will be too many grasses in a new field to grow crops

It is most likely that the author will go on to (   ) in the paragraph following the passage above.

A. introduce other methods of planting crops     B. deal with how to prevent land getting tired

C. start another topic of how to make use of land  D. further explain what the rotation of crops is

GUATEMALA CITY（Reuters）---- A fish that lives in mangrove swamps（红树沼泽）across the Americas can live out of water for months at a time, similar to how animals adapted（适应）to land millions of years ago, a new study shows.

   The Mangrove Rivulus, a type of small killifish, lives in small pools of water in a certain type of empty nut or even old beer cans in the mangrove swamps of Belize, the United States and Brazil. When their living place dries up, they live on the land in logs（圆木）, said Scott Taylor, a researcher at the Brevard Endangered Lands Program in Florida .

   The fish, whose scientific name is Rivulus marmoratus, can grow as large as three inches. They group together in logs and breathe air through their skin until they can find water again.

   The new scientific discovery came after a trip to Belize.

   “We kicked over a log and the fish just came crowding out,” Taylor told Reuters in neighboring Guatemala by telephone. He said he will make his study on the fish known to the public in an American magazine early next year.

   In lab tests, Taylor said he found the fish can live up to 66 days out of water without eating.

   Some other fish can live out of water for a short period of time. The walking catfish found in Southeast Asia can stay on land for hours at a time, while lungfish found in Australia, Africa and South America can live out of water, but only in an inactive state. But no other known fish can be out of water as long as the Mangrove Rivulus and remain active, according to Patricia Wright, a biologist at Canada’s University of Guelph.

   Further studies of the fish may tell how animals changed over time.

   “These animals live in conditions similar to those that existed millions of years ago, when animals began making the transition（过渡）form water onto land, ” Wright said.

49. The Mangrove Rivulus is a type of fish that ________.

   A. likes eating nuts

   B. prefers living in dry places

   C. is the longest living fish on earth

   D. can stay alive for two months out of water

50. Who will write up a report on mangrove Rivulus?

   A. Patricia Wright.

   B. Researchers in Guatemala.

   C. Scientists from Belize.

   D. Scott Taylor.

51. According to the text, lungfish can __________.

   A. breathe through its skin

   B. move freely on dry land

   C. remain alive out of water

   D. be as active on land as in water

52. What can we say about the discovery of Mangrove Rivulus?

   A. It was made quite by accident.

   B. It was based on a lab test of sea life.

   C. It was supported by an American magazine.

   D. It was helped by Patricia Wright.