Snow falls in the Earth’s extreme North and South throughout the year. However， the heaviest snowfalls have been reported in the mountains of other areas during winter. Snow is even known to fall near the Equator (赤道)，but only on the highest mountains.
Snow contains much less water than rain, but much of the water the world uses comes from snow. Melting snow provides water for rivers, electric power stations and agricultural crops. In the western United States, mountain snow provides up to seventy-five percent of all surface water supplies.
Snowfall helps to protect plants and some wild animals from winter weather. Fresh snow is made largely of air trapped among the snow crystals (晶体). Because the air has trouble moving, the movement of heat is limited. Snow also influences the movement of sound waves. The surface of the snow takes in, or absorbs, sound waves. As snow grows older or if there have been strong winds, it can become hard and flat. Then, the snow，s surface will help to send back sound waves.
Snow may be beautiful, but it can be deadly. It is responsible for the deaths of hundreds of people. Many people die in traffic accidents on roads covered with snow and ice or from being seriously stuck in the winter storm. Others die from heart attacks caused by too much physical activity out in the cold.
People may not be able to avoid living in areas where it snows often. However, they can avoid becoming victims of snowstorms. People should stop driving and stay at home until the storm has passed. People living in these areas should carry emergency supplies in their vehicle. These include food，emergency medical supplies，and extra clothing to stay warm and dry.
【小题1】Mountain snowfall _____.

Driving cars, trucks and motorcycles is an important part of our lives. We do it every day to get to work, to school or to friends' houses.

Traffic accidents declare millions of lives every year worldwide. In Taiwan alone, over seven people are killed in accidents every day. The annual death rate from traffic accidents in Taiwan is twice that of Japan.

To allow traffic to move smoothly and safely, everybody must follow the rules. Before you drive, learn all the traffic laws. That way of driving is safe, convenient and even fun!

1.The underlined sentence “Traffic accidents declare millions of lives worldwide” in the passage means “_______”.

  A. Traffic accidents make some people become millionaires

  B. Many people die from traffic accidents

  C. Millions of people say they themselves have had traffic accidents

  D. Millions of people remain healthy after traffic accidents

2.According to the passage, driving can be safe if _______. 

  A. you are patient                    B. you obey all the traffic rules

  C. you don't cut another car off         D. you wait in line at a red light

3.Which of the following may be the best title for this passage? _______.

  A. Traffic Safety                    B. A Careful driver

  C. How To Drive A Car                 D. A Traffic Accident

This is a dangerous world we live in. The numbers of murders goes up every year； people are dying of cancer；more people contract（感染）HIV；more teens are using drugs；etc. You know this because you’ve heard all the statistics on the news. But do you really have an accurate idea what they mean? The numbers are going up, but how do they compare to the growth in population? Are more cases of these diseases being reported because of better testing techniques, or are the diseases more common? The fact is that without knowing the background, statistics mean very little.
This growing trend of reporting only part of the information is becoming dangerous.
For example, several years ago a high school student reported dangers of the chemical known as dihydrogen monoxide. This chemical, found in most cancerous tumors（肿瘤）， is found in the blood of people drunk on alcohol, and causes complete physical and mental dependence for those who take the chemical even once. After reading his report, more than 75% of his Advanced Placement Chemistry class voted to forbid this dangerous chemical! Every one of the above statements is true, yet this chemical is necessary to all life on earth. The students made the mistake because they voted knowing only a few statements and statistics, rather than the chemical’s full background.
The point of this article is that one should be aware of what is and is not being said. When one finds a new fact or number, one should try to consider other important information before forming an opinion with only half-truths. Always remember that the author is trying to convince you of his or her own view, and will leave out information that is different to his view. For example, look again at the statistics that suggest skiing is safe. Only 32 people may die each year when skiing, while 897 die from lightning strikes, but which is really more dangerous? If you think about it, you will realize far fewer people go skiing each year than the number of people who are in danger of a lightening strike. When you think about it, skiing is more dangerous than you might at first think when looking at statistics. If we teenagers are to be left in this world, we had better be able think critically, and form our own views. rather than be easily persuaded by another’s. To be warned is to be prepared.
59．In the first paragraph, what problem does the writer want to warn us?
A. We are now living in a dangerous world.
B. We got a lot of false statistics from the media.
C. There are around us more and more murders, diseases etc.
D. Statistics alone without full background don’t give us an accurate picture of things.
60．Why does the writer use the example in the second paragraph?
A. To show the danger of reporting only part of the information.
B. To argue that high school students are easily persuaded.
C. To prove what is necessary to us might be dangerous.
D. To warn us of the harmful substances（物质）around us.
61．Relative information is often left out because__________
A. relative information is not that important
B. the author is trying to show what he or she says is true
C. too much information will make readers feel confused
D. readers are not able to analyze so much information at once
62．What is the main idea of this passage?
A. Some measures must be taken to protect our dangerous world.
B. We should learn to think critically and look at problems from all sides.
C. The growing trend of reporting only half-truths is getting out of control.
D. Teenagers ought to improve their ability of telling right from wrong.

A small dog should be belly-up after eating a handful M＆M’s, at least according to conventional wisdom. But watching “Moose”, a friend’s five-pound Chihuahua, race around a living room after his sweet snack makes one wonder: Is chocolate truly poisonous to dogs?
Dogs and humans have similar tastes. But unlike humans, our companions experience dangerous effects from eating chocolate — it can poison them and in some cases is fatal. Chocolate’s danger to dogs depends on its quality.
Chocolate is processed from the bitter seeds of the cocoa tree, which contain a family of compounds known as methylxanthines（一种衍生物）. This class of substances includes caffeine and the related chemical theobromine(可可碱). Chocolate contains a significant amount of theobromine and smaller amounts of caffeine. These chemicals can cause a dog’s heart to race up to twice its normal rate, and some dogs may run around as if “they drank a gallon of espresso,” according to Hackett.
Dogs are capable of handling some chocolate, but it depends on the animal’s weight and the type of chocolate it eats. Unsweetened baking chocolate contains more than six times as much theobromine as milk chocolate, although amounts vary between cocoa beans as well as different brands of chocolate. Less than four ounces of milk chocolate is potentially fatal for Moose and other small dogs.
Around every confection-centered holiday — Valentine’s Day, Easter and Christmas — at least three or four dogs are hospitalized overnight in the animal medical center at Colorado State. But in 16 years, Hackett has seen just one dog die from chocolate poisoning, and he suspects it may have had an underlying disease that made it more exposed to chocolate’s heart-racing effect.
1. The underlined expression “belly-up” probably means______.
A. dead            B. poisonous                 C. running around  D. having a headache
2. All of the following are true EXCEPT______.
A. chocolate’s danger to dogs depends on its quantity and quality
B. people buy lots of chocolate around Valentine’s Day
C. an ounce of unsweetened baking chocolate is safe for Moose
D. there must be some theobromine or caffeine in espresso
3. What can we learn about Hackett?
A. He is an animal doctor.         B. He is a pet shop owner.
C. He is the owner of Moose       D. He is a doctor in a small hospital.
4. It can be inferred from the passage that Hackett believes that__________.
A. chocolate is truly deadly to dogs 
B. it’s OK to give chocolate to a big dog
C. pets are usually ignored around confection-centered holidays
D. a healthy dog probably could survive a chocolate poisoning
5. The passage is mainly about__________.
A. the poisoning of Moose   
B. the compounds of different chocolates
C. a handful M＆M’s chocolate is poisonous
D. the relation between methylxanthines and chocolate poisoning

The legal age for drinking alcohol in the Unite States is twenty-one. Underage drinking is a crime but also a common part of college social life. This week in our Foreign Student Series, we look at alcohol rules at American colleges and universities. These rules differ from school to school, but many schools have been moving to strengthen their rules.

The United States has more than 17,000,000 students in higher education. Each year, 1700 of them die from alcohol-related road crashes and other injuries. 600,000 more are injured while under the influence of alcohol. And almost 700,000 are attacked by another drunken.

One behavior that college officials are trying to prevent is too much drink. Some researchers have found that students who think binge drinking(狂饮) is normal often think extremely how much other students really drink. A person can die of alcohol poisoning. At Oklahoma University, a nineteen-year-old student died from drinking heavily at a party in 2005.

Now alcohol is banned from all sorority houses(联谊会会馆) and university housing. Student organizations can serve alcohol at events but only on Friday and Saturday nights. Other new requirements include an alcohol education program that first-year students take online.

The rules govern behavior on campus(大学校园)and off. With a first violation(违犯)，students pay seventy-five dollars and their parents are told. They must also take an alcohol education class. For a second “strike”, they have to pay one hundred fifty dollars. A third strike means that they have to be suspended school for at least one semester.

Since 2005,363 students have had a first strike. 30 have had a second strike-and only one hasn’t allowed to go to school for one semester. The president at Oklahoma tells us the aim is not just to punish but to change the behavior and culture at the university.

1.The first paragraph mainly tells us that            .

2.Every year the number of the students who die or are injured because of alcohol in the USA adds up to about        .

3.If a student has a third strike, he or she should            .

4.Which of the following is TRUE?

5.From the last paragraph we can infer that         .