Rising levels of carbon dioxide in the atmosphere are a major cause of climate change, and now a new study has confirmed that atmospheric CO₂ is also affecting the ocean chemistry and potentially harming sea life.

Montana State University scientist Robert Dore has been researching the water in the Pacific Ocean for almost two decades. We've been going to the same spot in the Pacific Ocean, and we try and characterize long-term change in the open ocean environment. And one of the key things that we measure is CO₂ levels. And we've been able to record this increasing quantity of atmospheric CO₂ into the ocean.

Scientists expected that as atmospheric CO₂ increased, more and more of the carbon dioxide would be absorbed into the ocean, affecting the chemical balance of the sea water, with a potentially harmful impact on shellfish and coral in particular.

"As carbon dioxide dissolves（溶解） in the water, or seawater in this case, it forms a weak acid, carbonic acid," Dore explains. "And therefore, as the concentration of CO₂ in the atmosphere goes up and that exchanges with the surface seawater, it drives the PH down, and makes it more acidic."

The seawater Dore and his colleagues have analyzed confirms what the theory predicts.

The effect was particular striking at about 250 meters down, and again at 500 meters. Dore and his colleagues came up with two possible explanations. It could be that surface water picked up CO₂ and then moved to those depths. Or there could be a biological explanation.

"It's important to realize that the oceans are really becoming acidic. And it can have negative（消极的） impacts on a whole variety of sea life from fish to coral. It's potentially catastrophic."

1.What can be the best title of the passage?

    A．Sea Life Facing Danger          

B．Scientist Researching Seawater

    C．Oceans Becoming More Acidic     

D．Climate Change Affecting Seawater

2.With the increase of atmospheric CO₂，         .

    A．more corals will appear in the sea

    B．the surface water is becoming warmer

    C．the chemical balance of the seawater is affected

    D．the PH of the ocean out here has been increasing

3.Which of the following shows the process of the impact of atmospheric CO₂ on sea life?

    a．Sea life is endangered．

    b．CO₂ goes into the surface water．

    c．The ocean chemistry is affected．

    d．CO₂decreases the PH and makes the seawater more acidic．

e．CO₂ levels in the atmosphere go up．

4.Scientist Robert Dore came to the conclusion based on        .

    A．his research and analysis

    B．the expectation of other scientists

    C．some former theory

    D．a major cause of climate change  

 

Dan Bebber is a senior research fellow at the University of Exeter in Britain. He says research has shown that wild plants and animals are moving toward Earth's North and South poles as the planet warms.

Mr Bebber wanted to know if the same thing was happening with organisms that attack agricultural crops. He examined reports of first sightings of new insects and diseases around the world. The records came from CABI - the Centre for Agricultural Bioscience International. He says the group began collecting information from developing and industrialized countries years ago.

Dan Bebber and his research team studied 612 different organisms - from viruses and bacteria to insects like beetles and butterflies. They found that since 1960, crop pests and diseases have been moving toward the poles at an average rate of about 3 kilometers each year. Mr Bebber says this puts the most productive farmland in the world in danger.

"As new species of pests and diseases evolve and potentially the environment for them becomes more amenable at higher latitudes, the pressure on the breadbaskets of the world is going to increase."

Farmers face other threats. Invasive species passed through trade are also causing problems. Gene Kritsky is an Entomologist at the College of Mount St. Joseph in Ohio. He specialises in the study of insects. He says climate change may improve conditions for some invasive species.

“It means that species in other parts of the world that might do well in warmer temperatures can now do well in the breadbasket of America.”

Another Entomologist Christian Krupke of Purdue University says the effects of these changes will depend very much on the crop, the insect and the disease. But he says the research is a warning sign that people should care about climate change and do something about it.

1.The purpose of Dan Bebber’s research was to find ______.

A. if farmland could be moved to colder places thanks to global warming

B. if diseases and insects harmful to crops were going towards colder areas

C. if organisms were moving to the north and south poles

D. if the number of crop pests was increasing

2.According to Dan Bebber, if crop pests keep moving towards the poles, ______.

A. it will be hard for farmers to kill them

B. the most productive farmland will produce more crops

C. the earth will not produce enough food to support the world

D. the conditions for some crops may be improved

3.Which of the following is not a threat that farmers have to face?

A. Climate change helps crop pests to adapt to new environment.

B. Foreign species are brought in by trade.

C. Invasive species doing well in warmer places might do well in America.

D. The impacts of the climate and species changes on crops are not easy to determine.

4.The underlined word “amenable” in the fourth paragraph most probably means ______.

A. agreeable     B. terrible      C. unfriendly     D. changeable 

 

We are not who we think we are.

The American self-image is spread with the golden glow of opportunity. We think of the United States as a land of unlimited possibility, not so much a classless society but as a place where class is mutable—a place where brains, energy and ambition are what counts, not the circumstances of one's birth.

The Economic Mobility Project, an ambitious research led by Pew Charitable Trusts, looked at the economic fortunes of a large group of families over time, comparing the income of parents in the late 1960s with the income of their children in the late 1990s and early 2000s. Here is the finding: "The 'rags to riches' story is much more common in Hollywood than on Main Street. Only 6 percent of children born to parents with family income at the very bottom move to the top.

That is right, just 6 percent of children born to parents who ranked in the bottom of the study sample, in terms of income, were able to bootstrap their way into the top . Meanwhile, an incredible 42 percent of children born into that lowest are still stuck at the bottom, having been unable to climb a single rung of the income ladder.

It is noted that even in Britain---a nation we think of as burdened with a hidebound class system-children who are born poor have a better chance of moving up. When the studies were released, most reporters focused on the finding that African-Americans born to middle-class or upper middle-class families are earning slightly less, in inflation-adjusted dollars, than did their parents.

One of the studies indicates, in fact, that most of the financial gains white families have made in the past three decades can be attributed to the entry of white women into the labor force. This is much less true for African-Americans.

The picture that emerges from all the quintiles, correlations and percentages is of a nation in which, overall, "the current generation of adults is better off than the previous one", as one of the studies notes.

The median income of the families in the sample group was $55,600 in the late 1960s; their children's median family income was measured at $71,900. However, this rising tide has not lifted all boats equally. The rich have seen far greater income gains than have the poor.

Even more troubling is that our nation of America as the land of opportunity gets little support from the data. Americans move fairly easily up and down the middle rungs of the ladder, but there is "stickiness at the ends" —four out of ten children who are born poor will remain poor, and four out often who are born rich will stay rich.

1.What did the Economic Mobility Project find in its research?

A. Children from low-income families are unable to bootstrap their way to the top.

B. Hollywood actors and actresses are upwardly mobile from rags to riches.

C. The rags to riches story is more fiction than reality.

D. The rags to riches story is only true for a small minority of whites.

2.It can be inferred from the undertone of the writer that America, as a classless society, should ________.

A. perfect its self-image as a land of opportunity

B. have a higher level of upward mobility than Britain

C. enable African-Americans to have exclusive access to well-paid employment

D. encourage the current generation to work as hard as the previous generation

3.Which of the following statements is TRUE according to the passage?

A. The US is a land where brains, energy and ambition are what counts.

B. Inequality persists between whites and blacks in financial gains.

C. Middle-class families earn slightly less with inflation considered.

D. Children in lowest-income families manage to climb a single rung of the ladder.

4.What might be the best title for this passage?

A. Social Upward Mobility.                                     

B. Incredible Income Gains.

C. Inequality in Wealth.                                          

D. America Not Land of Opportunity.

 

第四部分任务型阅读(共10小题；每小题1.5分,满分15分)

请认真阅读下面短文,并根据所读内容在文章后表格中的空格里填入最恰当的单词,每空限填一词。

Recently we asked how you felt about calculators (计算器) at school. We heard from about thirty people in twelve countries, including a large number of Chinese.

Turbo Zhang writes, "My brain is slow because I have a calculator everywhere, on my mobile phone, on my computer, etc. New technology makes us use everything except our brains."

Joony Zhu says calculators can provide us with answers we may not completely understand. As a student at an engineering college in China, he calls using a calculator "a kind of laziness".

Khaled Hamza from Cairo says calculators have a bad effect because "you don’t need to make an effort to get a result."

Hemin, a math teacher in Kurdistan-Iraq, says good math skills are life skills. So he believes in solving problems with a pencil until high school. "You should take the trouble to work out problems without calculators. Then you come to respect the power of these machines."

But He Wenbo from China says calculators reduce careless mistakes. "When I was young we couldn’t use calculators. But when I entered high school we had to solve a lot of math problems. The calculator made my homework easier."

Michel says, "My handheld calculator has been important in my studies and even in my life." But he also advises, "As we’re enjoying using calculators, be careful to avoid their bad effects."

Finally, Thomas, a student in China, wants to tell us he likes a special calculator which he does not know how to use. In English we call it an abacus (算盘).Title: A Survey on the Use of (66)______ Disadvantage Turbo ZhangMy brain is slow (67)______ I have calculators everywhere. Joony ZhuIf you use calculators, you will become (68)______.Khaled Hamza Calculators have bad (69)______ because students don’t have to make an effort. Hemin Good math skills are (70)______ in life.(71)____He Wenbo Calculators (72)______ careless mistakes. A calculator makes homework (73)______.Michel They are important in our studies and lives. But take (74)______ to avoid their bad effects .Thomas He likes a special calculator (75)______ an abacus.

 

完型填空（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，并在答题卡上涂黑。

My mother attended college during the day while my sister was in school and I was in daycare．One day at daycare I   36   a tired mother attempt to   37   her daughter．The mother refused her little girl's request to go to McDonalds for dinner and the daughter immediately  38  over the floor, kicking and screaming, "I want to go to McDonalds．"_39_her mother tried stopped her crying．Finally her mother gave in, the girl stopped crying and they left．To say I was amazed would be   40   ,I was delighted that 41   I wanted could be got in the same way．

That day my mother picked me up early from daycare  42   we were collecting our - Christmas shopping．As we walked through the toy section, I saw a  43  I had to have．It was a white and red telephone whose bells   44   as it was pulled along on a string．

45   lovingly at my mother, I asked, "Mama,   46   I have that telephone?" She replied, "Not now, but if you are a good girl maybe Santa will bring it to you．" As I insisted, her eyes narrowed and her hand 47   on mine．

By now we were standing in the long line, and I figured it was _48_．I lay down on the ground and began screaming．"I want that telephone．" Tired Christmas shoppers looked as my mother   49 said, "Becky, you 'd better get up by the count of three  50  ．"

Nothing happened．So then she lay   51   me on the floor, and began kicking and screaming, "I want a new car, I want a new house, I want some jewelry, I want…" _52_ , I stood up．

    "Mama, stop．Mama, get up," I   53   said．

She stood, and   54   herself off．At first astonished, the others waiting in line began to clap．And as they were leaving, they said with a smile, "Your mom got your good．I bet you'll never try that again．"

And I didn't, because it left a lasting mental picture more effective than any   55 _ mark．

1.A．looked             B．found            C．observed             D．watched

2.．A．pick up          B．hold up          C．make up          D．hang up

3.．A．knocked          B．fell             C．came             D．took

4.．A．Anything         B．Something        C．Nothing          D．Everything

5.A．enough             B．abrupt           C．impossible       D．inaccurate

6.A．however            B．whenever         C．whatever         D．whichever

7.A．where              B．because         C．though           D．after

8.A．toy                B．bell             C．ring             D．doll

9.A．hung               B．burst            C．stayed           D．rang

10.A．Looking up        B．Holding up       C．Carrying on      D．Going through

11.A．must              B．can't           C．shall           D．will

12.A．tended            B．accumulated      C．tightened        D．approved

13.A．more or less      B．again and again  C．now and then     D．now or never

14.A．calmly            B．angrily          C．anxiously        D．disappointedly

15.A．at length         B．and so on        C．or something     D．or else

16.．A．beside          B．against          C．besides          D．over

17.A．Shocked           B．Excited          C．Angry            D．Amused

18.A．excitedly         B．tearfully        C．smilingly        D．jokingly

19.A．lift              B．polished         C．breathed         D．brushed

20.A．arbitrary         B．worthy           C．physical         D．Necessary