Sitting across from his teacher, Edgar Martinez repeated the word he couldn't quite pronounce: "situation"．The teacher, LisaMojsin, hired to help Martinez reduce his accent, said the word slowly; "Sit-chew-a-shun．" "I wish he had taught me this 20 years ago．" said Martinez, 37, who comes from Mexico and lives in Los Angeles．In private tutoring classes throughout the nation, immigrants are focused on sounding more American．

    Accent reduction classes have been around for years, but experts say．"As our workforce becomes more and more global, these classes are becoming more and more popular．" Private tutors said they answer calls almost daily from students, when just a few years ago the phones rang only occasionally．Author Amy Gillett said that sales of her book and CD set, "Speak English Like an American", have increased three times in the last few years．Judy Ravin, President of the Accent Reduction Institute, said she has hundreds of students who follow her program, "Lose Your Accent in 28 Days"．

    Though there is a general tolerance for diversity, experts said, reality has made some immigrants who sound different feel unwelcome．If someone speaks with an accent associated with an Asian language, they may work as engineers or computer scientists．If someone speaks with certain Spanish accents, people may think they are recent immigrants working in landscaping or the hospitality industry （招待性行业）．A French accent gives images of romance．An Australian accent brings to mind adventure and fun．

    Accent reduction students said they are aware of how they sound and whether their accents limit their job opportunities or spoil their social lives．Jennie Lo, aged 43, said her accent has been an embarrassment．Sometimes people couldn't even understand her when she said her name．While in college in Oklahoma, Lo said she didn't make many friends, tearing that no one could make out her words．Lo is now taking accent reduction classes and hopes to apply for a manager position at work．"I just want to feel good about myself," she said．"If I really work hard, if I practice every day, I can't be perfect．But I can be better．"

1.In the whole passage, the first paragraph serves as a（n） _____．

    A．introduction                         B．comment          

    C．explanation                          D．background

2.What does the author want to express in the second paragraph?

    A．The effect that popular accent reduction classes have．

    B．The fact that accent reduction classes become popular．

    C．The steps how accent reduction classes become popular．

    D．The reasons why accent reduction classes become popular．

3.If someone speaks with certain Asian accents, people may think _____．

    A．they are romantic                    B．they are hospitality workers

    C．they are computer scientists         D．they love adventure and fun

4.What is Jennie Lo's attitude towards her taking accent reduction classes?

    A．Confident．          B．Helpless．         

    C．Proud．              D．Anxious．

E
Every year farmers in areas which often suffer flood in Southeast Asia lose millions of tons of rice to high water that kills their crops. That large amount of waste may soon be a thing of the past: SUBIA, a gene discovered by researchers which the International Rice Research Insitule (IRRI) and the University of California, allows rice palnts carrying the gene to live completely under water for two weeks.
Flood – resistant(抗水浸) rice turned up among the 110,000 types of seed stored at the institute. It produced disappointingly low yields(产量) , but scientistis were able to transfer the gene into more bountiful varieties. These have shown promising results in tests by growers in India and Bangladesh over the past two years.
This rice success story would not have been possible without the treasure of genetic diversity hidden in the IRRI’s vault (underground room). As the world faces new agricultural challenge – charging climate, bugs and diseases that have developed resistance(抵抗力) to old defenses – such genetic resources are likely to become increasingly valuable. Fortunately, the IRRI is one of more than 1,000 organizations around the world working to protect crop genes. Most plant species grown for food have an associated bank that stores thousands of samples; seeds of landraces, wild relatives, and varieties that are rare, old, or adapted to very specific envionments. The banks ensure that it will be possible to develop new varieties in the future.
The need for these botanical libraries has its roots in modern agricultural practices. According to the U. N. Food and Agriculture Organization, 75 percent of plant diversity has been lost over the last century. Of more than 30,000 eatable species, humans grow just 200 for food; 60 percent of plant calories in our diet comes from wheat, rice, and corn.
72．Accordint to the second paragraph, what can we learn about the flood – resistant rice?
A．It produces a small amount of rice.
B．Scientists have developed many more varieties of it.
C．Sientists have managed to improve its output.
D．It can produce more rice than the other 110,000 types at the institute.
73．From the passage we can infer that        .
A．the newly – discovered gene will bring hope to the farmers in the areas often suffering flood
B．scientists will not be able to change the fact that rice plants carrying the gene produce low yields
C．the tests by growers in India and Bangladesh were hopeless
D．110,000 types of seed stored at the Institute are flood -  resistant
74．What’s the main idea of the third paragraph?
A．The world faces new agricultural challenges.
B．Such genetic resources are likely to become valuable.
C．Scientists set up banks to store thousands of seed samples.
D．We should owe the rice success story to the seed banks.
75．As to the botanical libraries, the writer thinks they are            .
A．useless      B．unnecessary      C．needful     D．needless

Dinner was almost ready when the killing happened．When Don Wise walked into the living room of his home，his ten-year-old son，Mike，and a 12-year-old friend were sitting in front of a large-screen television set．They were playing a video game they had rented(租赁), called Golden eye 007，one of the top-selling titles of 2007．
Standing behind the boys，Wise saw that one boy pushed the button and shot the character in the face．Blood splattered(喷溅)the lab coat of the character as he circled and fell．“You’re down!”the boy said，laughing．
Frightened by the child’s obvious fun，Wise ordered the boys to turn the game off．“This game is terrible．“he said seriously．“I don’t want you to play with this any more．”
Video games have become pervasive form of entertainment since the 1990s．Today about 69 percent of American families own or rent video and computer games．Most are harmless entertainment，but in far too many of the most popular ones，kids are acting out realistic violent experiences on their TV and computer screens．“These are not just games any more，”says Rick Dyer，president of the San Diego-based Virtual Image Productions.“These are learning machines．We’re teaching kids in the most incredible way what it’s like to pull the trigger(扳机)．The focus is on the thrill，enjoyment and reward．What they’re not realizing are the real-life results.“
Such video games introduce kids to a fantasy world that features amazingly lifelike characters，detailed images of brutality(野蛮)。 Unlike movies and television，where you watch the violence，the video game lets you feel the sensation（感觉） of taking violent actions． When you’re into the game，you’re in the game． 
“The technology is becoming more engaging（吸引人的） for kids，”says David Walsh，president of the National Institute on Media and the Family(NIMF)，a watchdog group in Minneapolis，“and a part of the games features anti-social themes of violence，sex and rude language．Unfortunately，it’s a part that seems particularly popular with kids between ages 8 to15．”
57．Which of the following best summarizes the main idea of this passage?
A．Video game violence is very harmful to kids．
B．Video game is a common form of entertainment．
C．Video game violence is popular with children．
D  Video game is the reflection of the real—life violence．
58．We can infer from the passage that the_____________．
A．NIMF is characteristic for its social justice
B．NIMF is a political organization in Minneapolis
C．NIMF promotes(推崇) video games and other media products
D．NIMF detects（侦查） the media industry’s illegal actions（违法行为）
59．The underlined word“pervasive”in Paragraph 4 most probably means____________．
A．worldwide        B．instructive       C．widespread      n harmful
60．Which of the following statements would Rick Dyer agree with?
A  Video games with some violence teach kids to experience real life．
B．Video games are realistic ways to learn more about the real life  world．
C．Video games with fantastic features are loved by most kids in the US．
D  Violence video games have a negative influence on children．

完形填空（共20小题，每小题1.5分,满分30分）

阅读下面短文，掌握其大意，然后从36—55题各题所给的四个选项（A、B、C和D）中，选出可以填入空白处的最佳选项。

Most people make treehouses using a pile of wood, a hammer, and some nails. Mitchell Joachim, an architect from the Massachusetts Institute of Technology, has a(n) _36_ vision. He pictures a day when homes will be created from __37__.

Joachim's vision ___38__ an idea called pleaching (编织), where tree branches are grown so that they __39__ weave together. Since the growth patterns of trees are  _40_ by wind and sunlight, it may be __41_ to control the way a tree develops.

These Fabricated Tree House Habitats would use trees grown into shapes as housing. One of the __42_ of these designs is that trees would not have to be cut down __43_.

"A 100 percent treehouse would take _44_ to create," Joachim said．__45_ the climate, a house could take anywhere from 5 to 30 years to grow. Fortunately, there's a way to __46_ the process. Joachim suggests including __47_ materials such as sod (草皮), grasses and living branches in the housing designs. "This material would be able to move __48_ the house grows," Joachim said．

A home would become an actual ecosystem, a community of plants, animals, and bacteria working together. The trees would also give off water vapor that would assist in _49__ the homes. Solar panels and wind would help provide  _50__. The tree homes might even have soil pockets, __51_ plants could grow from the structure itself.

Work has already __52_ on Joachim's first design—a house made from 50 percent recycled and 50 percent living things. Joachim is confident about the __53__ of his work, as he uses natural products _54_ nature.

"The environment and its study are very important. We need to respect nature, don’t _55_," he said．

36．A．similar     B．excellent C．strange     D．different

37．A．living trees      B．small trees       C．living things     D．wild plants.

38．A．agrees with      B．is considered as      C．is based on     D．comes up with

39．A．luckily    B．naturally        C．partly      D．separately

40．A．effected   B．affected  C．attempted        D．intended

41．A．possible   B．impossible       C．important        D．necessary

42．A．designers        B．purposes C．disadvantages D．advantages

43．A．on purpose      B．for wood C．by chance        D．at ease

44．A．troubles   B．great efforts    C．a few months   D．years

45．A．Depending on B．Judging by      C．Protected from       D．Suffering from

46．A．speed up B．carry on   C．slow down       D．smooth away

47．A．compound       B．chemical C．ecological       D．industrial

48．A．for    B．as     C．so     D．because

49．A．cleaning   B．heating    C．cooling    D．lighting

50．A．food        B．energy     C．beauty     D．charming

51．A．where      B．which      C．that D．and

52．A．stopped    B．completed       C．controlled       D．begun

53．A．pleasure    B．happiness        C．benefit     D．importance

54．A．going against   B．without destroying C．by destroying     D．coming from

55．A．think you are it       B．do it ourselves        C．take it for granted    D．put it like this