Sharks are among the oldest animals on Earth. There are hundreds of kinds of sharks. Most are about two meters long. The dogfish shark, however, is less than twenty centimeters in length. A shark has an extremely good sense of smell. It can find small amounts of matters in water, such as blood, body liquids and chemicals produced by animals. These powerful senses help sharks find their food. Sharks eat fish, other sharks, and plants that live in the ocean.

Sharks grow slowly. About forty percent of all sharks lay eggs. The others give birth to live young. Some sharks carry their young inside their bodies as humans do. Some sharks are not able to reproduce until they are twenty years old. Most reproduce only every two years. And they give birth to fewer than ten young sharks. For this reason, over-fishing of sharks is of special danger to the future of the animal.

Sharks are important for the world’s oceans. They eat injured and diseased fish. Their hunting activities mean that the numbers of other fish in ocean waters do not become too large. This protects the plants and other forms of life that exist in the oceans.

People hunt sharks for sport, food, medicine and their skin. Experts say the international market for some kinds of sharks has increased because many parts of a shark are valuable. Collectors pay thousands of dollars for the jaws of a shark. Shark liver oil is a popular source of Vitamin A. The skin of a shark can be used like leather.

In Asia, people enjoy a kind of soup made from shark fins. Experts say a fisherman can earn a lot of money for even one kilogram of shark fins. Sharks are among the oldest animals on Earth, but some sharks are in danger of disappearing from Earth. If too many sharks in one area are killed, that group of sharks may never return to normal population levels.

1.Which of the following words best describes the situation sharks are in?

A．Good.            B．Expensive.         C．Powerful.         D．Endangered.

2.Sharks eat other fish, __________.

A．which is a threat to all other forms of life in the oceans

B．which is a protection for plants and other forms of life in the oceans

C．which helps prevent diseases from spreading

D．which helps the number of other fish to grow

3.According to the passage, many parts of a shark are valuable EXCEPT ________.

A．its jaws           B．its liver           C．shark fins          D．shark teeth

4.The author thinks that______.

A．sharks are valuable to us and we can make full use of them

B．oceans will become safer with fewer sharks swimming around

C．measures should be taken to protect sharks

D．the shark population is increasing slowly

 

  Earlier this month, the Obama Administration called for increased protection of the world’s most southern continent, Antarctica. Scientists say climate change and human activity have increasingly led to the melting of massive pieces of Antarctic ice. The disappearance of ice will not only affect wildlife in the area such as seals and penguins. The melting will also cause oceans and seas around the world to rise.

   This represents a major threat, especially to coastal areas. For example, the ancient city of Venice, Italy has long been threatened by rising sea levels. The situation is made worse by the fact that its ancient buildings, built on a body of water called a lagoon( 淡水湖), are slowly sinking. When the city was founded about 1,600 years ago, the level of the Adriatic Sea was almost two meters lower than it is today.

Rising sea levels are not the only threat. The salty water is also destroying Venice’s famous buildings and artworks. The Italian government is trying to fix the problem with the construction of a seven-billion-dollar system of moving flood barriers.

Climate change is also leading to the melting of ice in other areas, such as Mount Kilimanjaro in northeastern Tanzania. It is the highest point in Africa, measuring almost 6,000 meters. The mountain supports five vegetation zones and many kinds of animals.

The ice glaciers on the mountain are disappearing very quickly. This will have a bad effect on the mountain’s ecosystems and on Tanzania’s travel industry. Also, a valuable record of thousands of years of weather history will also be lost if the ice melts. Scientists study pieces of glacier to understand weather patterns from thousands of years ago.

In the United States, the icy masses in Glacier National Park in Montana may soon completely disappear because of climate change. In 1850, there were an estimated 150 glaciers in the more than 400,000 hectare park.

There are 26 glaciers remaining today. Scientists estimate that the glaciers will be gone by 2030. Warming temperatures are also threatening the many kinds of plants and animals that live in this mountain ecosystem.

The writer developed the passage mainly by______.

   A. giving examples                   B. listing reasons

   C. making comparisons                    D. using quotations

How many glaciers disappeared since 1850 in Glacier National Park?

   A. 150.            B. 26.               C. 400,000.        D. About 124.

According to the passage, what has been affected in Italy by rising sea levels?

   A. Many kinds of plants and animals died out in Italy.

   B. Venice’s famous buildings and artworks are being destroyed completely.

   C. The ice glaciers on the mountain are disappearing very quickly.

   D. Its ancient buildings could be drowned.

What could be the best title for the passage?

   A. Climate Change

   B. The Melting of Massive Pieces of Antarctic Ice

   C. Visiting Endangered Places around the World

   D. The disappearing of the Ice Glaciers

The Oxford Mal, England
Most prisons are the kind of place you’d be desperate to escape from, not somewhere you’d possibly conceive of escaping to.
But this former Oxford prison has been converted into a boutique hotel by the fashionable Malmaison chain and offers the kind of luxurious living that former convicts could only have dreamed of.
Rates: Double room £140 (US$233). Breakfast £12.95 per person
Jules’ Undersea Lodge, United States
Originally a research laboratory, the world’s only underwater hotel sits at the bottom of the Emerald Lagoon in Florida, and can only be reached by scuba diving down six meters.
The lodge can accommodate two couples and is kitted out with showers, a microwave and a fridge.
The real attractions are the fish; the lodge is like a goldfish bowl in reverse, where you sit and watch angelfish, parrotfish, barracuda and snappers peering in at you through the window.
Rates: From US$400
Das Park Hotel, Austria
Stay overnight in a concrete sewer pipe on the banks of the River Danube.
The drainpipes are two meters in diameter and two and a half meters long, with a porthole to look out of, a front door to close and a cozy nest to snuggle into, which includes a low-slung futon, bedside lamp, woolly blanket and light sleeping bag.
Rates: You pay as much, or as little, as you want.
Sant` Angelo Luxury Resort, Italy
“Four-star boutique cave-hotel” is the proud boast of the Sant’Angelo in the city of Matera, which is famous for its sassi-houses dug into the rock. Matera is the only place in the world where people can boast to be still living in the same houses as their ancestors did 9,000 years ago. The rooms have been fashioned from old sassi stables and workshops. There are two restaurants, a bar and an art gallery.
Rates: A three-night package costs from US$560 per person including some meals, a walking tour and car hire, but not flights.
La Balade Des Gnomes, Belgium
A truly out-of-this-world experience, this hotel makes you feel like you’re on the moon.
You can sleep in a moon buggy, bathe in a lunar capsule, and the walls and ceilings are covered in twinkling stars and planets.
Other themed rooms include a newly opened Trojan Horse, a Troll Forest, a South Seas sailing ship and a Wine Room.
Rates: From ?115 (US$170) per double
【小题1】Das Park Hotel is different from the other hotels in that __________.

A．it is underwater	B．you decide the pay
C．it used to be a prison	D．it is not in Europe

【小题2】If you want to experience the life on the moon, most probably you will choose to stay in __________.

A．Jules’ Undersea Lodge, United States	B．La Balade Des Gnomes, Belgium
C．Das Park Hotel, Austria	D．The Oxford Mal, England

【小题3】If Mr. and Mrs Smith put up at the Oxford Mal for one night and have breakfast there, they will have to pay at least _____________.

A．£165.9

B．£152.95

C．£258.9

D．£305.9

The box ____ two meters by two meters and ____ a ton.

A. measures; is weighed         B. is measured; is weighed  

C. is measured; weighs          D. measures; weighs

 

阅读下面短文，按照句子结构的语法性和上下文连贯的要求，在空格处填入一个适当的词或使用括号中词语的正确形式填空。

An 8.8­magnitude earthquake struck Chile on 27 Feb,2010.More than 300 people are reported __36__(kill) in Chile after a magnitude 8.8 earthquake hit the South American nation early Saturday，__37__(cause)considerable destruction as well，and creating tsunami warnings across the Pacific Ocean.

Rescuers worked frantically for hours to help survivors of the quake __38__centered 100 kilometers from the city of Concepcion but caused damage and deaths in several parts of Chile.

Homes，buildings and bridges collapsed or caught fire，cars __39__(overturn)，and the main international airport had to be shut down because of damage. One survivor said it was terrible. She said she thought she was not __40__(scare)of earthquakes but then，she says，it looked as if everything was going to collapse. There were at least eight aftershocks and tidal waves of up __41__ two meters that hit Chile’s coast. Residents in lowlying areas and living on islands off the mainland tried to flee __42__higher ground. Chile experiences many earthquakes but the early Saturday natural disaster was __43__of its most severe (剧烈的). Thorne Lay，a geophysicist at the University of California，Santa Cruz，said it was much stronger than __44__one that caused devastation(废墟)in Haiti last month，but probably less __45__(destroy)，because of where it was centered.