As the railroads and the highways shaped the American West in the past centuries, a new electrical generating(发电)and transmission (输送) system for the 21^st century will leave a lasting mark on the West, for better or worse. Much of the real significance of railroads and highways is not in their direct physical effect on the scenery, but in the ways that they affect the surrounding community. The same is true of big solar plants and the power lines that will be laid down to move electricity around.
The 19 ^th century saw land grants(政府拨地) offered to railroad companies to build the transcontinental railroads, leaving public land in between privately owned land. In much of the West, some of the railroad sections were developed while others remained undeveloped, and in both cases the landownership has presented unique challenges to land management. With the completion of the interstate highway system, many of the small towns, which sprang up as railway stops and developed well, have lost their lifeblood and died.
Big solar plants and their power lines will also have effects far beyond their direct footprint in the West. This is not an argument against building them. We need alternative energy badly, and to really take advantage of it we need to be able to move electricity around far more readily than we can now.
So trade-offs will have to be made. Some scenic spots will be sacrificed. Some species(物种) will be forced to move, or will be carefully moved to special accommodations. Deals will be struck to reduce the immediate effects.
The lasting effects of these trade-offs are another matter. The 21^st century development of the American West as an ideal place for alternative energy is going to throw off a lot of power and money in the region. There are chances for that power and money to do a lot of good. But it is just as likely that they will be spent wastefully and will leave new problems behind, just like the railroads and the highways.
The money set aside in negotiated trade-offs and the institutions that control it will shape the West far beyond the immediate footprint of power plants and transmission lines. So let’s remember the effects of the railroads and the highways as we construct these new power plants in the West.
【小题1】What was the problem caused by the construction of the railways?

Donna is 19 years old and loves animals, which is why I’m always happy to leave my dog with her when I go on holiday. Donna also helps to train hunting dogs, but recently, her boyfriend told me, she returned home from a farm in tears after being told to hit some dogs.

  “She wasn’t being asked to hit them because they didn’t behave well,” he said. “She was told to punch these puppies with a closed fist simply to let them know who is the boss,” Donna refused. Good for Donna. In my view, you hit an animal for only two reasons: as a way to teach it an important lesson to protect it from danger, such as not into the road; or because you like hurting animals.

  Last summer, I attended a horse race. I don’t know much about horses, but I was alarmed when I saw a horse with a huge ulcer (溃疡) on its legs. “Surely this horse won’t race?” I asked. I was very surprised that nobody in the crowd seemed concerned.

  The horse began the race, but later it fell heavily. It had broken its leg. The next thing I saw was its dead body in a bag, being driven past. No one seemed to care, except those who had bet on it. I know people care for horse racing, but do they really care for horses? I doubt it.

  Oh, but it’s a tradition, I hear you say. Wouldn’t the world be a boring place if we didn’t occasionally hit, shoot and chase animals? Traditions are made by man and can be unmade. It was once acceptable to kill servants when their master died, to visit the mental hospitals to laugh at the patients or to watch public execution (执行死刑).

  Nor should it be forgotten that in our progress to a more civilized world, animals have played an important role: they have fed us, carried us, worked for us, rescued us, died for us and sometimes just saved us from loneliness. Surely by now they deserve our kindness. At the very least, they deserve our respect.

1.Donna was asked to hit the young dogs because ________.

A. they misbehaved                                    

B. their owner disliked them

C. people on the farm enjoy hurting them     

D. it was a way to train them to obey people

2.What does the underlined word in paragraph 2 probably mean?

A. strike        B. stroke        C. scold        D. pump

3.What is the author’s purpose in telling the readers the story about the horse?

A. To explain the traditional horse race to readers.

B. To prove that the weak horse can’t win in the race.

C. To show that animals are treated unfairly by humans.

D. To say that people care more for horses than horse racing.

4.Which of the following is NOT true?

A. People no longer watch killing criminals in public.

B. The author cannot accept anyone who hits the animals.

C. It was a traditional practice to kill servants for their dead master.

D. The author thinks it is possible to change the traditions made by man.

5.What’s the best title of the passage?

A. No One Cares for Animals Nowadays.     

B. Let’s Protect the Endangered Animals.

C. Show Animals the Respect They Deserve.           

D. The Stories Between Animals and People.

第一节：完形填空（共10小题;每小题2分，满分20分)       

阅读下面短文，从短文后所给各题的四个选项 (A、B、C和D) 中

选出能填入相应空白处的最佳选项。

Exercise is often said to be good for everyone．But a new study has shown that exercise could be _  21     especially for people past middle age．The study was done with mice．It showed that although mild exercise   22       a good effect on the muscles of young mice, it   23           the muscles of mice past middle age．

The three groups of mice in the experiment were _ 24        __in age at young, middle-aged, and elderly humans．The mice were__25     _on a thread-mill (踏车) 30 minutes a day for a five-week period．At the end of that time, the young mice’s leg muscles had increased almost 30 percent in weight, but those of the old mice were reduced by 25 percent．No  26            pattern showed for the middle-aged mice．

David Gershon, an expert who carried out the experiment, explained that the older mice’ muscles were probably already_ 27      _down and that exercise worsened the _ 28       _．An earlier study by Gershon showed that middle-aged mice benefited from exercise if they started exercising young and continued it．

It’s clear that because the tests were done on mice, drawing conclusions about humans is too early．But the studies do not totally _ 29       _the theory that exercise is good under any conditions．Let’s use the tests on mice as a _ 30         _ for other studies．

21．A．beneficial        B．friendly          C．tiring               D．unhealthy

22．A．made               B．took             C．had                 D．brought

23．A．harmed            B．helped         C．improved         D．reduced

24．A．aimed              B．connected     C．indicated          D．represented

25．A．directed           B．driven           C．hung               D．placed

26．A．clean               B．clear            C．proper             D．visible

27．A．breaking          B．failing           C．letting             D．slowing

28．A．body               B．condition               C．situation          D．state

29．A．appreciate        B．assist            C．promote           D．support

30．A．bridge             B．means             C．proposal          D．warning

—What about the protection?

—Let’s keep the surface         dirt by putting a cover over it.

    A．far from B．free from    C．apart from   D．away from

The gasoline        . Let’s fill the car up at the next gas station.