Tanzania Tarangire is a national Park which lies in Tanzania．The park itself covers an area of around 2,850 square kilometers, making it the sixth largest park of its kind in the country．I recently visited Tarangire to see what it was like…．
One of the first sightings upon entering the park which I found was a huge herd（群）of elephants． Our guide told us that Tagrangire was probably the best place in Tanzania to find large herds of elephants, and that their population in the park was around 2,500．We continued to watch the elephants as they stood under trees and scratched themselves against the trees to hit the spot of an itch（痒处）．
To the right of the elephant herd, we noticed a big tree! Our guide informed us that this was a Baobab tree and that they could live for hundreds of years．Compared with this tree, the elephant just looked like dwarfs（侏儒）! We were informed that Tarangire was one of the best National Parks in Africa to see so many Baobab trees．
As we continued our drive through the park, we finally reached a watering hole．Our guide warned us that there were lions all around us．It took us all a while to find them, but there they were! Most of them are resting in the shade under brushes, but there was one that was drinking from the watering hole directly in front of us．We then noticed just to our right, there were a couple of fresh zebra corpses（尸体）— it seemed as if the lions which were resting had killed them! We were unlucky not to have seen the actual kill, as our guide had mentioned that the zebra corpses were fresh and the kill had occurred within the last hour．
Our final big sighting was one that none of us were expecting to see, even our guide! We pulled over to where there was a large gathering of cars, with a sleeping leopard（美洲豹）there! We took photos happily and excitedly and observed its surprising body before returning to our hotel as it was getting late．
So, I hope you enjoyed my description of Tarangire, and that I have inspired you to add this amazing park to your very own Tanzania travel route．
【小题1】Which statement is correct about the park?

 Andrew Ritchie, inventor of the Brompton folding bicycle, once said that perfect portable bike would be “like a magic carpet... You could fold it up and put it into your pocket or handbag". Then he paused: “But you'll always be limited by the size of the wheels. And so far no one has invented a folding wheel."

It was a rare --- indeed unique --- occasion when I was able to put Ritchie right. A 19th-century inventor, William Henry James Grout, did in fact design a folding wheel. His bike, predictably named the Grout Portable, had a frame that split into two and a larger wheel that could be separated into four pieces. All the bits fitted into Grout's Wonderful Bag, a leather case.

Grout's aim: to solve the problems of carrying a bike on a train. Now doesn't that sound familiar? Grout intended to find a way of making a bike small enough for train travel: his bike was a huge beast. And importantly, the design of early bicycles gave him an advantage: in Grout's day, tyres were solid, which made the business of splitting a wheel into four separate parts relatively simple. You couldn't do the same with a wheel fitted with a one-piece inflated(充气的)tyre.

So, in a 21^st-century context, is the idea of the folding wheel dead? It is not. A British design engineer, Duncan Fitzsimons , has developed a wheel that can be squashed into something like a slender ellipse(椭圆) . Throughout, the tyre remains inflated.

Will the young Fitzsimons's folding wheel make it into production? I haven’t the foggiest idea. But his inventiveness shows two things. First, people have been saying for more than a century that bike design has reached its limit, except for gradual advances. It’s as silly a concept now as it was 100 years ago: there's plenty still to go for. Second, it is in the field of folding bikes that we are seeing the most interesting inventions. You can buy a folding bike for less than £1,000 that can be knocked  down so small that can be carried on a plane ―― minus wheels, of course ―― as hand baggage.

Folding wheels would make all manner of things possible. Have we yet got the magic carpet of Andrew Ritchie's imagination? No. But it's progress.

69 We can infer form Paragraph 1 that the Brompton folding bike____.

A. was portable

B. had a folding wheel.

C. could be put in a pocket.

D. looked like a magic carpet

70. We can learn from the text that the wheels of the Group Portable_______.

A. were difficult to separate.

B. could be split into 6 pieces.

C. were fitted with solid tyres.

D. were hard to carry on a train.

71. We can learn from the text that Fitzsimons`s invention_______.

A. kept the tyres as whole piece.

B. was made into production soon.

C. left little room for improvement.

D. changed our views on bag design.

72Which of following would be best title for the text?

A. Three folding bike inventors.

B. The making of a folding bike

C. Progress in folding bike design

D. Ways of separating a bike wheel

D
In many societies, there is often greater acceptance of light skin than dark skin. Light skin may be seen as a mark of beauty, intelligence and success. These beliefs can lead to social pressure even within the same racial group. As a result, more and more people with dark skin are using skin-lightening products, even if they may face health risks.
Many people believe that having whiter skin will improve their lives. They think they will have a better chance of getting a job or marrying into a better family. Or they want to look like what their society generally considers beautiful.
Some beauty care products contain chemicals that make skin lighter. This process is also called bleaching (漂白). But some of the chemicals are extremely dangerous. One chemical has been linked to kidney (肾) damage and some kinds of cancer. It also causes low birth weight in babies when used by mothers-to-be.
At first, bleaching products make the skin color lighter. But after long-term use they can cause problems. The chemicals in the products block and break down the natural process that gives color to skin. The skin loses its natural barrier to protect against sunlight. Then the skin can become thick and discolored. Usually the person will use more of the product in an effort to correct the problem, but this only makes it worse.
Fatimata Ly treats skin problems in the Senegalese capital, Dakar. Doctor Ly says skin bleaching has become a problem throughout Senegal. She says the chemicals are now more dangerous because they are stronger. Some cases have resulted in blackened fingernails, infections and permanent skin damage.
And these are not the only risks. Experts say some people who change their skin color suffer emotional damage. They feel regret and sadness. They feel that instead of risking their health, they should have learned to love and accept their skin color as it was.
63. Why has skin lightening become popular all over the world?
A. There are many ways to help change skin color.
B. Many people with dark skin have no confidence.      
C. Light skin seems to bring more advantages than dark skin. 
D. People with dark skin are facing the pressure from their family.
64. According to the passage, people using bleaching products would risk         .
A. thinner skin      B. low weight          C. lung cancer       D. emotional damage
65. Which of the following is NOT true about bleaching products?
A. Some of them contain dangerous chemicals.
B. They will not make the skin color lighter. 
C. They may cause skin damage.          
D. They are likely to bring health risks.
66. The writer's attitude toward using bleaching products is ________.
A. supportive  B. positive      C. uncertain    D. negative

One day in January, my uncle, my cousin and I decided to go hunting．We left by car in the afternoon．It was a Range Rover with four-wheel drive．It took us three hours to get there．After we arrived at 5:15 p．m．, we fixed the tent, then made coffee and had a short rest．After that, we went hunting, using a falcon（猎鹰）．We spent two hours without finding anything．On our way back to the camp, my cousin saw a rabbit．I removed the falcon’s bead cover and let go of the aggressive falcon．When the rabbit saw the falcon, it ran fast, but my falcon was a professional hunter．He flew up and came down to trick the rabbit．After two minutes, the rabbit was caught．We took it back to the camp to cook our dinner．We ate the delicious food, drank Arabic coffee, and sat around the fire talking until 10:30 p．m．

We left the camp the next day at 7 o’clock in the morning．We went north．However, around 10:00 a．m．our car got stuck in the sand! We spent about three hours trying to pull out the car without any progress．Finally, we decided to walk．As it was hard for an old man or a young boy to walk more than 40km in the desert, I decided to get help myself．I took a bottle of water with me and started to walk south alone．I knew the way well, but it was a long way in the sand．I walked more than four hours without stopping．When I felt so tired and thirsty, I stopped to rest．I drank all the water and slept for around two hours．

When I got up, it was dark．I continued to walk south．I was worried about my uncle and cousin．Suddenly, I met a Bedouin man who was riding his camel．He took me to his house．When I had had enough rest, I asked him to take me to the road where I found a car．It took me to the city to get help．I had one day to get back to my uncle and cousin．When I got back to them, they were so happy because I had gotten help and they were able to see me again．

Which word can best describe the first evening of their hunting trip?

       A．Adventurous．     B．Enjoyable． 

       C．Stressful．            D．Exhausting．

How did the writer finally get out of the desert?

       A．He was picked up by a car．

       B．A camel took him to the road．

       C．A passer-by Bedouin helped him．

       D．His uncle and cousin found and rescued him．

What can be inferred from the story?

       A．It’s an easy job to walk 40km in the desert．

       B．The author loved to go hunting with his family．

       C．The hunting trip is much longer than expected．

       D．To hunt in the desert one must train a falcon well．

Thirteen vehicles lined up last March to race across the Mojave Desert, seeking a million in prize money. To win, they had to finish the 142-mile race in less than 10 hours. Teams and watchers knew there might be no winner at all, because these vehicles were missing a key part －drivers.

DARPA, the Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency, organized the race as part of a push to develop robotic vehicles for future battlefields. But the Grand Challenge, as it was called, just proved how difficult it is to get a car to speed across an unfamiliar desert without human guidance. One had its brake lock up in the starting area. Another began by throwing itself onto a wall. Another got tied up by bushes near the road after 1.9 miles.

One turned upside down. One took off in entirely the wrong direction and had to be disabled by remote (远距离的) control. One went a little more than a mile and rushed into a fence; another managed to go for six miles but stuck on a rock. The “winner,” if there was any, reached 7.8 miles before it ran into a long, narrow hole, and the front wheels caught on fire.

“You get a lot of respect for natural abilities of the living things,” says Reinhold Behringer, who helped design two of the car-size vehicles for a company called Sci-Autonics. “Even ants (蚂蚁) can do all these tasks effortlessly . It’s very hard for us to put these abilities into our machines.”

The robotic vehicles, though with necessary modern equipment such as advanced computers and GPS guidance, had trouble figuring out fast enough the blocks ahead that a two-year-old human recognizes immediately, Sure, that very young child, who has just only learned to walk, may not think to wipe apple juice off her face, but she already knows that when there’s a cookie in the kitchen she has to climb up the table, and that when she gets to the cookie it will taste good. She is more advanced, even months old, than any machine humans have designed.

Watchers doubted if any of the vehicles could finish the race because        .

A．they did not have any human guidance

B．the road was not familiar to the drivers

C．the distance was too long for the vehicles

D．the prize money was unattractive to the drivers

DARPA organized the race in order to         .

A．raise money for producing more robotic vehicles

B．push the development of vehicle industry

C．train more people to drive in the desert

D．improve the vehicles for future wars

From the passage we know “robotic vehicles” are a kind of machines that         .

A．can do effortlessly whatever tasks living thing can

B．can take part in a race across 142 miles with a time limit

C．can show off their ability to turn themselves upside down

D．can move from place to place without being driven by human beings

In the race, the greatest distance one robotic vehicle covered was          .

A．about eight miles    B．six miles

C．almost two miles     D．about one mile

In the last paragraph, the writer implies that there is a long way to go         .

A．for a robotic vehicle to finish a 142-mile race without any difficulties

B．for a little child who has just learned to walk to reach the cookie on the table

C．for a robotic vehicle to deal with a simple problem that a little child can solve

D．for a little child to understand the importance of wiping apple juice off its face