The Atlantic Ocean is one of the oceans that separate the Old World from the New. For centuries it kept the America from being discovered by the people of Europe.

　　The Atlantic Ocean is only half as big as the pacific, but it is still very large. It is more than 4,000 miles (6,000 km) wide where Columbus crossed it. Even at its narrowest it is about 2,000 miles (3,200 km) wide.

　　There is so much water in the Atlantic that it is hard to imagine how much there is. But suppose no more rain fell into and no more water was brought to it by rivers. It would take the ocean about 4,000 years to dry up. On the average the water is a little more than 2 miles (3.2 km) deep, but in some places it is much deeper. The deepest spot is near Puerto Rico. This "deep" measures 30,246 feet --- almost six miles (9.6 km).

　　Several hundred miles eastward from Florida there is a part of the ocean called the Sargasso Sea. Here the water is quiet, for there is little wind. Today the Atlantic is a great highway. It is not, however, always a smooth and safe one. Storms sweep across it and pile up great waves. Icebergs float down from the Far North across the paths of ships. We now have such fast ways of travelling that this big ocean seems to have grown smaller. Columbus sailed for more than two months to cross it. A fast modern steamship can make the trip in less than four days. Airplanes fly from New York to London in only eight hours and from South America to Africa in four!

From the third paragraph, we can learn that ______ .

A. the Atlantic will dry up in 4,000 years' time

B. no river flows into the Atlantic ocean　　　

C. it's hard to imagine how much water there is in the Atlantic ocean

D. the Ocean floor is rather flat

Suppose it's February 27th, 2000. You take a steamship to cross the Atlantic to North America, when will you probably get there?

A. On March 2nd　         B. On March 3rd 　　

C. On February 28th 　　　  D. In eight hours' time

What can you learn from the last paragraph of the passage ?

A. The Atlantic has grown smaller than it used to be.

B. The Atlantic had grown wider than it used to be.

C. Fast ways of travelling make the ocean grow smaller.

D. Fast ways of travelling make the ocean seem to grow smaller.

Fish Ears Tell Fish Tales

　 Fish have ears. Really. They’re quite small and have no opening to the outside world carrying sound through the body. For the past seven years, Simon Thorrold, a university professor, has been examining fish ears, small round ear bones called otoliths (耳石).

　 As fish grow, so do their otoliths. Each day, their otoliths gain a ring of calcium carbonate (碳酸钙). By looking through a microscope and counting these rings, Thorrold can determine the exact age of a young fish. As a fish gets older, its otoliths no longer get daily rings. Instead, they get yearly rings, which can also be counted, giving information about the fish’s age, just like the growth rings of a tree.

　 Ring counting is nothing new to fish scientists. But Thorrold has turned to a new direction. They’re examining the chemical elements (元素) of each otolith ring.

　 The daily ring gives us the time, but chemistry tells us about the environment in which the fish swam on any given day. These elements tell us about the chemistry of the water that the fish was in. It also says something about water temperature, which determines how much of these elements will gather within each otolith ring.

　 Thorrold can tell, for example, if a fish spent time in the open ocean before entering the less salty water of coastal areas. He can basically tell where fish are spending their time at any given stage of history.

　 In the case of the Atlantic croaker, a popular saltwater food fish, Thorrold and his assistant have successfully followed the travelling of young fish from mid-ocean to the coast, a journey of many hundreds of miles.

　 This is important to managers in the fish industry, who know nearly nothing about the whereabouts of the young fish for most food fish in the ocean. Eager to learn about his technology, fish scientists are now lending Thorrold their ears.

1.What can we learn about fish ears from the text?

　A. They are small soft rings.

　B. They are not seen from the outside.

　C. They are openings only on food fish.

　D. They are not used to receive sound.

2.Why does the writer compare the fish to trees?

　A. Trees gain a growth ring each day.

　B. Trees also have otoliths.

　C. Their growth rings are very small.

　D. They both have growth rings.

3.Why is it important to study the chemistry of otolith rings?

　A. The elements of the otoliths can tell the history of the sea.

　B. Chemical contents of otoliths can tell how fast fish can swim.

　C. We can know more about fish and their living environment.

　D. Scientists can know exactly how old a fish is.

4.How would you understand “fish scientists are now lending their ears”?

　A. They are very interested in Thorrold’s research findings.

　B. They want to know where they can find fish.

　C. They lend their fish for chemical studies.

　D. They wonder if Thorrold can find growth rings from their ears.　

In a city of south India lived a young man who was always dreaming of becoming rich. He often heard about some traders in his city who gathered a great deal of   1    in the course of their travels across the world. He believed he could also make a great achievement although he didn’t have any   2   in business at all. So, one fine day, the young man set out on a long   3

in search of trade opportunities.

   4    though, he did not become as rich as he had thought he would. Worse, he spent more money on his travels than he   5    in the course of his trade. All this made him feel confused and   6   , but he refused to return home without   7   .

One day, while he was wandering on the shore in a seaside town, his eyes   8    on　an object which he thought should be a large ship at a distance.

“When I become rich, I shall buy a ship just like that one and   9    around the world,” he said ambitiously. Then he waited to see the ship enter the harbor. As the ship got closer, it lost its   10    dimensions(规模) and looked more like a small boat. When the boat reached the   11   , the young man let out a big heavy sigh because he discovered that it was only a bunch of logs tied together. He was terribly   12   to see such a raft(木筏).

Finally he understood. Just as he   13    a lot of time on fruitless speculation(猜想) about the “ship”, his expectations of getting   14    was also without any real basis. Therefore, he decided to return home and    15     up a more practical job.

1. A. energy               B. knowledge            C. resource                 D. fortune

2. A. expectation        B. experience             C. interest                   D. ambition

3. A. journey             B. partnership           C. vacation                 D. period

4. A. Unreasonably      B. Unbelievably         C. Unconsciously         D. Unfortunately

5. A. begged             B. borrowed            C. earned                   D. adopted

6. A. uncertain            B. excited                 C. patient                    D. indifferent

7. A. hesitation           B. success                 C. problem                 D. income

8. A. depended          B. focused                 C. insisted                D. lived

9. A. show                 B. turn                      C. sail                   D. fly

10. A. correct          B. formal                C. real                     D. grand

11. A. bank              B. shore                    C. ocean                   D. bottom

12. A. disappointed     B. pleased                 C. puzzled               D. astonished

13. A. saved               B. valued                C. wasted                       D. created

14. A. rich               B. learned                 C. smart                D. strong

15. A. set                B. gave                     C. made                     D. took

完形填空(共15小题；每小题2分，满分30分)

阅读下面短文，掌握其大意，然后从1~15各题所给的四个选项(A、B、C和D)中，选出最佳选项，并在答题卡上将该项涂黑。

In a city of south India lived a young man who was always dreaming of becoming rich. He often heard about some traders in his city who gathered a great deal of   1    in the course of their travels across the world. He believed he could also make a great achievement although he didn’t have any   2   in business at all. So, one fine day, the young man set out on a long   3

in search of trade opportunities.

   4    though, he did not become as rich as he had thought he would. Worse, he spent more money on his travels than he   5    in the course of his trade. All this made him feel confused and   6   , but he refused to return home without   7   .

One day, while he was wandering on the shore in a seaside town, his eyes   8    on　an object which he thought should be a large ship at a distance.

“When I become rich, I shall buy a ship just like that one and   9    around the world,” he said ambitiously. Then he waited to see the ship enter the harbor. As the ship got closer, it lost its   10    dimensions(规模) and looked more like a small boat. When the boat reached the   11   , the young man let out a big heavy sigh because he discovered that it was only a bunch of logs tied together. He was terribly   12   to see such a raft(木筏).

Finally he understood. Just as he   13    a lot of time on fruitless speculation(猜想) about the “ship”, his expectations of getting   14    was also without any real basis. Therefore, he decided to return home and    15     up a more practical job.

1. A. energy               B. knowledge            C. resource                 D. fortune

2. A. expectation        B. experience             C. interest                   D. ambition

3. A. journey             B. partnership        C. vacation                 D. period

4. A. Unreasonably      B. Unbelievably         C. Unconsciously         D. Unfortunately

5. A. begged             B. borrowed                 C. earned                 D. adopted

6. A. uncertain            B. excited                 C. patient                    D. indifferent

7. A. hesitation           B. success                 C. problem                 D. income

8. A. depended          B. focused                 C. insisted                D. lived

9. A. show                 B. turn                      C. sail                   D. fly

10. A. correct          B. formal                C. real                     D. grand

11. A. bank              B. shore                    C. ocean                   D. bottom

12. A. disappointed     B. pleased                 C. puzzled               D. astonished

13. A. saved               B. valued                C. wasted                       D. created

14. A. rich               B. learned                 C. smart                D. strong

15. A. set                B. gave                     C. made                     D. took

If you asked high school girls to name their favorite sports, most would probably say basketball or volleyball. I happen to be one of the few girls who would 　36　:surfing. But isn’t that a boy thing? Some people 　37　.Most certainly not.?
I started surfing about five years ago and　38　in love with the sport on the very first day. Riding that first 　39　 was the best feeling I had ever experienced.?
When I try to 　40　 surfing with other things, I find it very difficult because, in my ___41_　,there’s nothing like it. It involves body,　42　,and soul. There’s sand between my toes and cool, salt water all 　43　 us. The feeling I get when I’m surfing across that 　44　,becoming one with the 　45　,is like I’m weightless.?
The one thing I can 　46　 from surfing and not any other sport is endless challenge. You can never be the “best surfer” because the ocean 　47　 an uncountable variety of waves that nobody can ever master. The variations of surfing styles are wonderful. Some surfers are free and flowing; others are very aggressive and 　48　.All of these things attract me to surfing and make it ?　49　 ? from any other sport.?
I’ve 　50　 to tell every girl I know to do something that people don’t think girls can do. It’s part of being human to advance to new 　51　,so shouldn’t it be expected that girls should step up and start 　52　 the limits of things boys and men used to dominate??
There’re women 　53　 side by side with the President of our country, so why not side by side with the boys 　54　 the football team or out in the water surfing? Give girls a chance to __55　, and they will.?