68.What is the main purpose of this passage?

A.To attract tourists to Pacaya.

B.To describe the beauty of Pacaya.

C.To introduce guided tours to Pacaya.

D.To explain the power of nature at Pacaya.

63.What does Paul Davies think of human existence on Mars?

A.Humans will have to bring all they need from the Earth.

B.Humans will find Mars totally unsuitable for living.

C.Humans can produce everything they need.

D.Humans can live longer in the colony on Mars.

答案　 60.B　 61.B　 62.A　 63.C

Passage 32

(08·重庆D篇)

Seeing a volcano erupt(喷发) is a wonderful experience,and you can really feel the heat by climbing to the summit(山顶) of Pacaya for a close-up view.There are guided tours every day up this highly active volcano from Antigua.Giving travelers a chance to see Mother Nature at her most powerful.

Pacaya is an easy drive from Antigua,a beautiful city with many colorful houses along its old streets that are turned into art-works during its Holy Week festival.No matter when you come to Antigua,you won’t miss the Pacaya-tour companies.

But climbing Pacaya is no easy job:it is 2,560 metres high,and reaching the summit takes two to three hours of seemingly one-step-forward and two-step-back movements.As you climb,you hear the dull sounds of eruptions high above.Steaming,hot remains from recent eruptions begin to line the path as you near the active summit:the McKenney Cone(火山锥).Just as though you were going to walk over to the edge of the cone,the road turns to the left and up to the relative safety of the old,inactive summit.

Many tours are timed so that you arrive at the cone of the volcano in plenty of time for sunset and the full contrast between the erupting red lava(熔岩) and the darkening sky.On a good day the view from the summit is extremely exciting.The active mouth boils,sending red lava over its sides,and once in a while shoots hot streams up to 100 metres into the air.There is a strong bad smell in the air even if you take care to be upwind of the cone.As evening turns deeper into the night,the burning lava quietly falls down the side of the volcano.For you,too,it is time to get down.

62.Paul Davies points out that　　　　 .

A.humans need only a one-way ticket to Mars

B.two-way trips to Mars will be made safe soon

C.it is easy to reduce the danger and cost of flights to Mars

D.it is cheap to build an everlasting human settlement on Mars

61.Which of the following best states Donal Trollop’s idea?

A.There is a plan to send humans to Mars.

B.There are many reasons for going to Mars.

C.Scientists become famous by doing research on Mars.

D.It is possible to build an Earth-like environment on Mars.

60.The main purpose of Steve Minear’s writing is　　　　 .

A.to report his classmates’ discussion

B.to invite an answer to his question

C.to explain the natural state of Mars

D.to show his agreement on going to Mars

56.Which of the following would be the best title for the text?

A.Codeine:A New Medicine

B.Chocolate May Cure Coughs

C.Cough Treatment:A Hard Case

D.Theobromine Can Cause Coughs

答案　 53.D　 54.C　 55.B　 56.B

Passage 31

(08·重庆B篇)

While all my classmates seem to be crazy about a one-way ticket to Mars(火星),

I’d rather say Mars is totally unsuitable for human existence.People won’t have enough food supplies there,and the terrible environment would make it impossible for them to live a long life.Besides,the journey won’ anybody explain to me just why people would go to Mars,never to return?

Steve Minear,UK

Here are the things you can think of:the desire to explore a foreign and unique environment,the excitement of being the first humans to open up a new world,the expectation of fame and glory....For scientists there is another reason.Their observations and research will probably lead to great scientific achievements.

Donal Trollop,Canada

There are already too many people on the Earth.I think that sometime before the end of the century,there will be a human colony(殖民地) on Mars.It will happen when people finally realize that two-way trips to the red planet Mars are unnecessary.Most of the danger of space flight is in the launches(发射) and landings.Cutting the trip home would therefore reduce the danger of accidents,save a lot of money,and open the way to building an everlasting human settlement in another world.

Enough supplies can be sent on ahead.And every two years more supplies and more people will be sent to the new colony.Mars has all the materials for a colony to produce or make everything it needs,and Mars is far more pleasant than the other planets in the outer space.

Paul Davies,USA

55.We learn from the text that volunteers in the experiment　　　　 .

A.were patients with bad coughs

B.were divided into three groups

C.received standard treatments

D.suffered little side effects

54.What was used in the experiment to cause coughing?

A.Theobromine.　　　　　　 B.Codeine.　　　　　　 　　 C.Capsaicin.　　　　　 　　 D.Placebo.

53.According to Professor Barnes,theobromine　　　　 .

ot be as effective as codeine

be harmful to people’s health

ot be separated from chocolate

be a more effective cure for coughs

47. What is the passage mainly about?

　 A. A popular way of forecasting weather.

　 B. A new research effort in predicting storms.

　 C. Biologists’ interest in the secrets of sharks.

　 D. Lauren Smith’s devotion to scientific research.

答案　 44.B　 45.A　 46.D　 47.B

Passage 30

(08·全国ⅡD篇)

Something in chocolate could be used to stop coughs and lead to more effective medicines,say UK researchers.

Their study found that theobromine,found in cocoa,was nearly a third more effective in stopping coughs than codeine,which was considered the best cough medicine at present.

The Imperial College London researchers who published their results online said the discovery could lead to more effective cough treatments.“While coughing is not necessarily harmful(有害的) it can have a major effect on the quality of life,and this discovery could be a huge step forward in treating this problem,”said Professor Peter Barnes.

Ten healthy volunteers(志愿者) were given theobromine,codeine or a placebo,a pill that contains no medicine,her the volunteers nor the researchers knew who received which pill.The researchers then measured levels of capsaicin,which is used in research to cause coughing and as a sign of how well the medicines are stopping coughs.

The team found that,when the volunteers were given theobromine,the capsaicin needed to produce a cough was around a third higher than in the placebo group.When they were given codeine they needed only slightly higher levels of capsaicin to cause a cough compared with the placebo.

The researchers said that theobromine worked by keeping down a nerve activity(神经活动),which causes coughing.They also found that unlike some standard cough treatments,theobromine caused no side effects such as sleepiness.