John is the tallest boy in the class, _______ according to himself.

A．five foot eight as tall as                  B．as tall as five foot eight

C．as five foot eight tall as                   D．as tall five foot eight as

Erik Weihenmayer was born with an eye disorder. As a child his  eyesight became worse and then, at the age of 13, he lost his sight  completely. However, he did not lose his determination to lead a  full and active life  Erik became an adventurer. He took up parachuting, wrestling and scuba diving. He competed in long-distance biking, marathons and  skiing. His favorite sport, thought, is mountaineering.  As a young man, Erik started to climb mountains. He reached the summit of Mount McKinley in 1995 and then climbed the dangerous  1000-metre rock wall of EI Capitan. Two years later, while climbing   Mount Kilimanjaro in Kenya with his girlfriend, they stopped for a  time at 13,000 feet above sea level－in order to get married. In 1999, he climbed Aconcagua, the tallest mountain in South America.  And then , on May 25, 2001, at the age of 33, Erik successfully completed the greatest mountaineering challenge of all. He climbed Mount Everest, the highest mountain in the world. Erik invented his own method for climbing mountains. He carries two long poles: one to lean on and the other to test the way ahead of  him. The climber in front of him wears a bell to guide him. Erik is  a good team member. He does his share of the job, such as setting up tents and building snow walls.  Although he could not enjoy the view, Erik felt the excitement of  being on the summit of Everest. He hopes that his success will change how people think about the blind. “When people think about a  blind person or blindness, now they will think about a person standing on the top of the world.
【小题1】When was Erik born?

John is the tallest boy in the class, ________ according to himself．

1. A.
   five foot eight as tall as
2. B.
   as tall as five foot eight
3. C.
   as five foot eight tall as
4. D.
   as tall five foot eight as

Ed Viesturs grew up in Rockford, Illinois, where the tallest thing on the ground was the water tower. But on Thursday, Viesturs became the only American to climb to the top of the world’s 14 highest mountains.

His last hike was up Mount Annapurna, in Asia’s snowcapped Himalayas. At 26,545 feet, its top is the 10th highest in the world. It is the mountain that inspired him to start climbing.

“It seems to be the most difficult, the most dangerous,” said Viesturs. “There’s no simple way to climb it. There are threatening avalanches (雪崩) and ice falls that protect the mountain.”

In high school, Viesturs read French climber Maurice Herzog’s story of climbing the icy Annapurna. Herzog’s story was of frostbite (冻伤) and difficulty and near-death experiences. Viesturs was hooked right away.

Viesturs got his start on Washington’s Mount Rainier in 1977, guiding hikes in the summer. Fifteen years ago, he set out to walk up to the world’s highest tops. Finally, he’s done.

The pioneering climber talks about mountains as if they were living creatures that should be treated with respect. “You have to use all of your senses, all of your abilities to see if the mountain will let you climb it,” said Viesturs. “If we have the patience and the respect, and if we’re here at the right time, under the right conditions, they allow us to go up, and allow us to come down.”

What’s next for a man who can’t stop climbing? “I’m going to hold my wife and kids and enjoy the summer,” says Viesturs. But for a man who has climbed the world’s 14 tallest mountains, he will probably soon start another adventure.

The author used Viestures’ words in Paragraph 6 to support an opinion that       .

A. mountain climbing is a dangerous sport

B. mountains should be regarded as living creatures

C. mountain climbing needs more skills than physical energy

D. those who like mountain climbing won’t stop climbing

The underlined word “hooked” in Paragraph 4 can be replaced by ________.

A. frightened       B. discouraged      C. interested        D. upset

What’s the next probable plan of Viestures?

A. Stopping climbing and staying with his family.

B. Climbing to the top of the world’s 14 tallest mountains again.

C. Writing down the experiences about his adventure.

D. Climbing another one of the highest mountains.

Mauritius, with its full name the Republic of Mauritius, an island country, lies 1,200 miles off the southeastern coast of Africa, and just east of Madagascar, another African island country, which is larger by far than Mauritius. It covers 788 square miles and has a population of 1,100,000, about 750,000 Indians, 300,000 Chinese and 20,000 Whites included. They are living together peacefully, although they share such different beliefs as Hindu, Roman Catholic, Muslim and so on. 

The country can be divided into many parts with different climates all because of its peculiar terrains (地形). In the center there are volcanoes (火山) several thousand feet high, and 90% of its arable land is covered with sugarcane.

There were no people living on the island before the Dutch landed on it in 1638. The Dutch relinquished it in 1710, and five years later, the French came and succeeded in planting sugarcane there. It was conquered (征服) by Britain in 1818. As a result, its official language is English. The main big cities are Beau-Bassin and Mahebourg, with Port Louis as its capital.

Mauritius has many rare and unique animals, such as the snakes, parrots and lizards. The giraffe is a type of animal with a very long neck and legs and yellow skin with dark spots. It is the tallest of all living animals.

Mauritius was extremely poor when it declared its independence in 1968. In the past ten years, obvious economic prosperity (繁荣) has shown itself in this island country. Nowadays its business, culture and tourism are developing rapidly. Every year, thousands of millions of people rush there to enjoy the silver sad beach and song and dance performances with native national characters.

The underlined word “relinquished” in the third paragraph means _______.

A. took its place          B. gave it up

C. left for it              D. held it out

The right order that shows the history of Mauritius should be _______.

a. seized by the French          b. became its master

c. ruled by the Dutch            d. conquered by the British

A. b, a, c, d                B. a, c, d, b

C. d, c, a, b                D. c, a, d, b

According to the passage all of the following statements are TRUE except ________.

Arable land covers 90% of the country’s total area   

It was the rule of foreigners that made the Mauritius people live in poverty

More than half of Mauritius population are Indians

Britain ruled the island longer than French and Dutch