Life on earth depends on water, and there is no substitute for it. The current assumption is that our basic needs for water—whether for drinking, agriculture, industry or the raising of fish—will always have to be met. Given this premise (前提), there are two basic routes we can go; more equal access to water or better engineering solutions.

Look at the engineering solutions first. A lot of my research concentrates on what happens to wetlands when you build dams in river basins, particularly in Africa. The ecology of such areas is almost entirely driven by the seasonal changes of the river—the pulse of the water. And the fact is that if you build a dam, you generally spoil the downstream ecology. In the past, such problems have been hidden by a lack of information. But in the near future, governments will have no excuses for their ignorance.

The engineers’ ability to control water flows has created new kinds of unpredictability, too. Dams in Africa have meant fewer fish, less grazing and less floodplain (洪泛区) agriculture, none of which were expected. And there average economic life is assumed to be thirty years. Dams don’t exist forever, but what will replace them is not clear.

The challenge for the future is to find new means of controlling water. Although GM technology(转基因) will allow us to breed better dry-land crops, there is no market for companies to develop crops suitable for the micro-climates of the Sahel and elsewhere in Africa. Who is going to pay for research on locally appropriate crops in the Third World?

1.What’s the main idea of this passage?

A．The engineering solutions to water resource and their limitation.

B．The challenge for the future.

C．The basic means of controlling water.

D．The challenge for developing crops.

2.The author suggests that governments will have no excuse for their careless ignorance in the future because _____.

A．The ecological destruction will be known to the public by researchers

B．The ecological destruction will no longer be a problem in the future

C．The future is an information age

D．Governments will face greater challenge in the future

3.Which of the following statements is NOT true for meeting our basic needs for water?

A．Water resource should be used more reasonably.

B．More dams should be built in river basins.

C．More wetlands should be protected from destruction.

D．More dry-land crops could be developed in Africa.

4.The last sentence probably implies that _____.

A．No one will invest in developing locally appropriate crops in Africa

B．Researchers have no interest in developing dry-land crops

C．Research on locally appropriate crops in the Third World may be profitable

D．There is less water resource in the Third World

 

Our class _______ of thirty-two boys and twenty-three girls.

A．is consisted

B．concludes

C．consists

D．contains

 

I am a psychologist. I first met Timothy, a quiet, overweight eleven-year-old boy, when his mother brought him to me to discuss his declining grades. A few minutes with Timothy were enough to confirm that his self-esteem(自尊) and general happiness were falling right along with them. I asked about Timothy’s typical day. He awoke every morning at six thirty so he could reach his school by eight and arrived home around four thirty each afternoon. He then had a quick snack, followed by either a piano lesson or a lesson with his math tutor. He finished dinner at 7 pm, and then he sat down to do homework for two to three hours. Quickly doing the math in my head, I found that Timothy spent an average of thirteen hours a day at a writing desk.

What if Timothy spent thirteen hours a day at a sewing machine instead of a desk? We would immediately be shocked, because that would be called children being horribly mistreated. Timothy was far from being mistreated, but the mountain of homework he faced daily resulted in a similar consequence —he was being robbed of his childhood. In fact, Timothy had no time to do anything he truly enjoyed, such as playing video games, watching movies, or playing board games with his friends.

Play, however, is a crucial part of healthy child development. It affects children’s creativity, their social skills, and even their brain development. The absence of play, physical exercise, and free­from social interaction takes a serious toll on many children. It can also cause significant health problems like childhood obesity, sleep problems and depression.

Experts in the field recommend the minutes children spend on their homework should be no more than ten times the number of their grade level. As a fifth­grader, Timothy should have no more than fifty minutes a day of homework (instead of three times that amount). Having an extra two hours an evening to play, relax, or see a friend would soundly benefit any child’s life quality.

1.What does the underlined word “them” in the first paragraph probably refer to?

A. Timothy’s parents.                                                        B. Timothy’s grades.

C. Psychologists.                                                              D. The students.

2.What did the writer think of Timothy after learning about his typical day?

A. Timothy was very hard­working.

B. Timothy was being mistreated.

C. Timothy had a heavy burden.

D. Timothy was enjoying his childhood.

3.Which of the following statements best describes the writer’s opinion?

A. Children should be allowed enough time to play.

B. Playing board games works better than playing video games.

C. The more they play, the more creative children will become.

D. The depression caused by homework makes children unwilling to play.

4.According to the passage, how long should a third­grader spend a day doing homework?

A. About ten minutes.

B. No more than twenty minutes.

C. No more than thirty minutes.

D. About fifty minutes.

 

“Well, what did I say？Buck’s a real fighter, all right,” said Francois the next morning when he discovered that Spitz had disappeared and that Buck was covered in blood．

“Spitz fought like a wolf,” said Perrault, as he looked at the bites all over Buck．

“And Buck fought like ten wolves,” answered Francois. “And we'll travel faster now. No more Spitz，no more trouble.”

Francois started to harness the dogs. He needed a new lead-dog, and decided that Solleks was the best dog that he had. But Buck jumped at Solleks and took his place．

“Look at Buck！” said Francois，laughing. “He's killed Spitz，and now he wants to be lead-dog．Go away, Buck！”

He pulled Buck away and tried to harness Solleks again．Solleks was unhappy too. He was frightened of Buck, and when Francois turned his back，Buck took Solleks’ place again. Now Francois was angry．

“I'll show you! ” he cried，and went to get a heavy club from the sledge．

Buck remembered the man in the red coat，and moved away. This time，when Solleks was harnessed as lead-dog，Buck did not try to move in．He kept a few meters away and circled around Francois carefully. But when Francois called him to his old place in front of Dave, Buck refused．He had won his fight with Spitz and he wanted to be lead－dog．

For an hour the two men tried to harness him．Buck did not run away，but he did not let them catch him．Finally，Francois sat down，and Perrault looked at his watch．It was getting late. The two men looked at one another and smiled. Francois walked up to Solleks，took off his harness， led him back and harnessed him in his old place．Then he called Buck. All the other dogs were harnessed and the only empty place was now the one at the front. But Buck did not move．

“Put down the club,” said Perrault．

Francois dropped the club, and immediately Buck came up to the front of the team．Francois harnessed him, and in a minute the sledge was moving．

Buck was an excellent leader. He moved and thought quickly and led the other dogs well. A new leader made no difference to Dave and Solleks; they continued to pull hard．But the other dogs had had an easy life when Spitz was leading．They were surprised when Buck made them work hard and punished them for their mistakes. Pike，the second dog，was usually lazy；but by the end of the first day he was pulling harder than he had ever pulled in his life. The first night in camp Buck fought Joe，another difficult dog，and after that there were no more problems with him．The team started to pull together，and to move faster and faster．

“I've never seen a dog like Buck!” cried Francois, “Never! He's worth a thousand dollars. What do you think, Perrault? ”

Perrault agreed．They were moving quickly，and covering more ground every day. The snow was good and hard，and no new snow fell．The temperature dropped to 45°C below zero, and didn't change．

This time there was more ice on the Thirty Mile River, and they crossed in a day．Some days they ran a hundred kilometers，or even more. They reached Skagway in fourteen days; the fastest time ever．

1.The writer mentioned “the man in the red coat” in the passage to show that____.

A．the man in the red coat once beat Buck severely with a club.

B．Buck remembered Francois was the man in the red coat.

C．the man in the red was quite friendly to Buck in his memory.

D．Buck remembered Francois was a friend of the man in the red coat.

2.Why did Buck fight Joe the first night in camp?

A．He wanted to get rid of Joe.

B．He wanted to make some trouble.

C．He was interested in fighting with others.

D．He wanted to teach Joe a lesson.

3.According to the passage, which of the following is true about the other dogs?

A．Dave stood in the second position in the team.

B．Joe was always quite lazy in the team.

C．Pike was a trouble-maker in the team.

D．Solleks was hard-working in the team.

4.What did Francois think of Buck at the end of the passage?

A．annoying          B．admirable         C．aggressive         D．average

5.Which of the following best shows that Buck was an excellent leader?

A．He killed Spitz at the beginning of the story.

B．He punished them for their mistakes.

C．He fought Joe the first night in camp.

D．They reached Skagway in the fastest time ever.

6.Which of the following is the best title for the passage?

A．The Fight with Dogs                      B．The New Lead-dog

C．A Dog Called Buck                       D．A Real Fighter

 

For six hours we shot through the landscape of the Karoo desert in South Africa. Just rocks

and sand and baking sun. Knowing our journey was ending, Daniel and I just wanted to remember all we had seen and done. He used a camera. I used words. I had already finished three notebooks and was into the fourth, a beautiful leather notebook I’d bought in a market in Mozambique.

Southern Africa was full of stories. And visions. We were almost drunk on sensations. The roaring of the water at Victoria Falls, the impossible silence of the Okavango Delta in Botswana . And then the other things: dogs in the streets, whole families in Soweto living in one room, a kilometre from clean water.

As we drove towards the setting sun, a quietness fell over us. The road was empty -- we  hadn’t seen another car for hours. And as I drove, something caught my eye, something moving   next to me. I glanced in the mirror of the car; I glanced sideways to the right, and that was when I saw them. Next to us, by the side of the road, thirty, forty wild horses were racing the car, a cloud of dust rising behind them -- brown, muscular horses almost close enough to touch them, to   smell their hot breath. I didn’t know how long they had been there next to us.

I shouted to Dan: “Look!”, but he was in a deep sleep, his camera lying useless by his feet.   They raced the car for a few seconds, then disappeared far behind us, a memory of heroic forms   in the red landscape. When Daniel woke up an hour later I told him what had happened.

“Wild horses?” he said. “Why didn’t you wake me up?”

“I tried. But they were gone after a few seconds.”

“Are you sure you didn’t dream it?”

“You were the one who was sleeping!”

Typical, he said. “The best photos are the ones we never take.”

We checked into a dusty hotel and slept the sleep of the dead.

1. During their journey in Africa, the two travelers______.

A．made friends with local residents

B．complained about the poor living conditions

C．enjoyed the sunset in the Karoo desert most

D．recorded their experiences in different ways

2. What did Daniel think when he woke up and was told what had happened?

A．He always missed out on the best thing.

B．He had already taken beautiful pictures.

C．A sound sleep was more important.

D．The next trip would be better.

3. What is the passage mainly about?

A．How to view wildlife in Africa.

B．Running into wildlife in Africa.

C．Tourist attractions in southern Africa.

D．Possible dangers of travelling in the desert.