68. The holly plant has more spines on the lower leaves because most animals________.

　 A. are not tall enough　　　　　　　　　　　 B. like the lower leaves only

　 C. are not clever enough　　 　　　　　　　　D. can get the lower leaves easily

75. When the driver gets sleepy while driving, Driver Alert ______. A. moves more regularly B. stops working properly C. opens the window for the driver D. sounds more frequently and loudly

答案　 72.A　 73.D　 74.C　 75.D

Passage 75

(05·江苏D篇)

Animals can move from place to place, but plants cannot. When an animal is under attack, it

can run away or fight back.. Plants certainly cannot run away, and they lack teeth and claws. But

plants can defend themselves by using both physical and chemical means.

　　　 Some plants have their own ways to keep animals away. For example, the leaves of the holly plant have sharp spines (刺) that discourage grass-eating animals. Holly leaves on lower branches have more spines than leaves on upper branches. This is because the lower leaves are easier for most animals to reach..

　　　 Some plants, such as the oak tree, have thick and hard leaves that are difficult for animals to eat. Some grasses may contain a sandy material; eating such grasses wears down the animal's teeth.

　　　 Many plants also have chemical defenses. Some plants produce chemicals that taste bitter or cause an unpleasant reaction. Some plants may fight against an attack by increasing the production of these chemicals. When a caterpillar (毛虫) bites a tobacco leaf, the leaf produces a chemical messenger. This messenger sends to the roots the information to produce more nicotine. The higher levels of nicotine discourage the caterpillar.

　　　 Many plants depend on both physical and chemical defenses. A certain plant in China, for

instance, has prickly (多刺的) leaves, and each prickle contains poisonous venom (毒液) A single experience with this kind of plant will teach an animal to stay away from it in the future.

51. What would be the best title for the passage?

　　 A. Research over the Antarctic area.

　　 B. Warm period to last about 15, 000 years.

　　 C. Report on the eight ice ages in the past.

D. Hollywood movies and the global climate.

答案　 48.D　 49.D　 50.C　 51.B

Passage 74

(05·山东E篇)

A device that stops drivers from falling asleep at the wheel is about to undergo testing at Department of Transport laboratories and could go on sale within 12 months. 　 The system, called driver Alert, aims to reduce deadly road accidents by 20%-40% that are caused by tiredness. Airline pilots can also use it to reduce the 30% of all pilot-error accidents that are related to fatigue. 　 Driver Alert is based on a computerized wristband. The device, worn by drivers or pilots gives out a sound about every four minutes during a car journey. After each sound the driver must respond by squeezing the steering wheel(方向盘). A sensor in the wristband detects this pressing action and measures the time between the sound and the driver’s response. 　 Tiredness is directly related to a driver’s response time. Usually, a watchful driver would take about 400 milliseconds to respond, but once that falls to more than 500 milliseconds, it suggests that the driver is getting sleepy. 　 In such cases the device gives out more regular and louder sounds, showing that the driver should open a window or stop for a rest. If the driver’s response continues to slow down, the sounds become more frequent until a nonstop alarm warms that the driver must stop as soon as possible. 　 The device has been delivered to the department’s laboratories for testing. If these tests, scheduled for six months’ time, are successful, the markers will bring the product to market within about a year. 72. According to the text, Driver Alert ______. 　 A. aims to reduce tiredness-related accidents 　 B. has gone through testing at laboratories 　 C. aims to prevent drivers from sleeping 　 D. has been on sale for 12 months 73. How should a driver respond to the sounds from Driver Alert? 　 A. By sounding a warning　　　　　　　　　　　　　　 B. By touching the wristband 　 C. By checking the driving time　　　　　　　　　　 D. By pressing the steering wheel 74. We can learn from the text that the driver needs to stop for a break when his response time is

　 ______. A. About 400 milliseconds　　　　　　　　　　　　　　 B. below 500 milliseconds C. over 500 milliseconds　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　 D. about 400 minutes

50. We can infer from Eric Wolff's words that_______.

　　 A. there is something wrong with the data

　　 B. greenhouse effect is always a bad thing

　　 C. a new ice age will not come in the near future

　　 D. greenhouse gas will get thick in the future

49. The information of the global climate conditions in the past can be obtained through______.

　　 A. separating carbon dioxide from the air

　　 B. examining the growth rings of trees

　　 C. comparing temperatures in different areas

　　 D. studying the ice and air caught in each layer

48. In drilling through the ice in Antarctica, scientists, have found that______.

　　 A. the lowest temperature there is –40℃

　　 B. the depth of ice is 3,000 meters

　　 C. the ice has existed for 15,000 years

　　 D. snowfalls are kept in certain patterns

57．The country whose situation is similar to that of Tuvalu is　　　　　 .

A．Australia　　　　 B．New Zealan　　　 C．the Maldives　　 D．the United States

答案　 54.A　 55.A　 56.D　 57.B

Passage 73

(05·天津D篇)

The scene in the Hollywood movie The Day After Tomorrow, whem global warming could soon turn the global climate (气候) into a new ice age, may never occur, according to new research.

The next ice age could be 15,000 years away, say European scientists who last month announced a continuous record of 7.40,000 years of climate data (数据) obtained from the Antarctic ice.　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　

Scientists from 10 nations have now almost completely drilled through a 3,000-meter.depth of ice high in the Antarctic mainland. They figure out that the area where summer temperatures can fall to –40℃, has at least 900,000 years of snowfalls,, kept as neatly as the growth rings of a tree. And the ice and air caught in each layer(层) have begun to answer questions about the climates in the past..

The results show that there have been eight ice ages in the past 740, 000 years and eight warmer periods. And by comparing the pattern of global conditions today with those of the past, the researchers reported in Nature that the present warm period could last another 15, 000 years.

Research suggests that there is a very close connection between greenhouse gas levels and global average temperatures. It also shows that carbon dioxide (二氧化碳) levels are the highest for at least 440,000 years.　　　　　

"If people say to you: the greenhouse effect is a good thing because we would go into an ice age otherwise, our data say no, a new ice age is not hanging over our heads,”said Eric Wolff from the British Antarctic Survey. "Now we have eight examples of how the climate goes in and out of ice ages… and you can learn what the rules are that go into the climate models that tell us about the future."

Scientists found that whenever temperatures rose in the frozen record, so did carbon dioxide

level. "In 440,000 years we have never seen greenhouse gas get as thick as it is today," said Dr

Wolff.

56．Laupepa was not satisfied with the United States because it did not　　　　 .

A．agree to reduce its greenhouse gas emissions

B．sign an agreement with Tuvalu

C．allow Tuvaluans to move to the US

D．believe the problems facing Tuvalu were real

55．According to scientists ,the DIRECT cause of more and fiercer storms is　　　　　 .

A．greenhouse gas emissions in industrialized nations

B．higher surface water temperatures of the sea

C．continuous global warming

D．rising sea levels

54．The text is mainly about　　　　　 .

A．rapid changes in earth’s temperature

B．bad effects of global warming

C．moving of a country to a new place

D．reasons for lowland flooding