For thousands of years, people have used plants to make medicines. They used different parts of the plants —the roots, the leaves, the flowers, and the bark (树皮). Today, doctors have rediscovered more medicinal (药用) values of some plants. Let’s look at some examples.

Foxglove is a common plant. People have used it to make the heart slow down. Recently scientists have developed another drug from it. This new drug helps prevent other heart problems.

In some areas, malaria has been a problem. Scientists have learned that the bark of a South American tree, the cinchona, can be made into a drug to prevent malaria. For a long time, the Chinese have known that a special plant, wormwood, can also fight malaria. Scientists have been working with it to develop new drugs against malaria.

In Germany, some scientists studied garlic (大蒜) for four years. They found that it helps prevent the build-up of plaque (血小板) because too much plaque is bad for health. This very common plant continues to be studied.

As we know, there are about 250,000 kinds of flowering plants in the world. Scientists have only studied little more than one percent of plants for their medicinal value. Maybe medicines for AIDS and cancer will be made from the other 99 percent.

1.What can foxglove be used for?

A．Studying plants.

B．Building up the plaque.

C．Treating AIDS and cancer.

D．Preventing heart problems.

2.What does the underlined word “malaria” in Paragraph 3 refer to (指的是)?

A．A drug.                               B．A plant.

C．An illness.                             D．An animal.

3.How many plants are mentioned in the passage?

A．3.               B．4.                C．5.               D．6

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

A．Past and future

B．Plants and medicine

C．Health and illness

D．Scientists and doctors

 

There was a beautiful garden. Every year the king would go to the garden to decide which flower was the most beautiful one.
For the last few years, the rose was always Number One. Because of this, the rose Gulaab became arrogant. It would never let birds stay on its flower. Then all the birds started staying away from Gulaab.
Behind Gulaab, there was a little yellow flower. People called it Junglee. Junglee wasn’t more beautiful than Gulaab, but it welcomed the birds to stay on its flower. All the birds in the garden liked it.
This year the king went to the garden as before. The gardener pointed at the rose and said to the king, “ Your favourite flower, my king.”
Of course, the king also saw the yellow flower behind it and asked, “What flower is that?”
“Oh! That’s Junglee, a wild flower.”
“ I didn’t see a flower like it before. There are so many birds on it. I think it’s much more beautiful than the rose. It will be the King Flower of this year!” said the king.
【小题1】From the passage, we can know that Junglee was _________.

A．famous

B．serious

C．friendly

D．smart

【小题2】What does the underlined word “arrogant” mean in Chinese?

A．傲慢的

B．粗心的

C．易怒的

D．开朗的

【小题3】What do you think this passage is?

A．An ad.

B．A story.

C．A diary.

D．A piece of news.

【小题4】Which of the following is TRUE according to the passage?

A．All the birds liked Gulaab.

B．The birds liked to stay on Junglee.

C．Gulaab was not beautiful this year.

D．The king didn’t like Junglee.

【小题5】What is the best title for the passage?

A．The king’s garden	B．The clever king
C．The flowers and the birds	D．The most beautiful flower

补全短文。（共10小题；每小题1分，计10分）
用方框内所给单词的适当形式填空，使短文完整、通顺。

thousand,  many,  change,  help,  make, in,  close,  they,  also,  little

Saving electricity and water is important in our life. There are 【小题1】　　　　 little things for us to do at home to help save the Earth. They’re small, but  【小题2】　　　　 of people do the same thing and  【小题3】　　　　 a great difference. By making some small 【小题4】　 　 to the way you do things at home, you are helping our planet day by day.
You can spend 【小题5】　　　　 and improve your health better at the same time, so
【小题6】　　　　 to save the environment is a good exercise!
You can use windows to make the house good to live in. You can keep windows and doors 【小题7】　　　　 to keep the house warm in winter and open in summer. The wind will often keep you as cool as 【小题8】　　　　 the open air.
And you must do something to save water. The water that you use in the kitchen can
【小题9】　　　　 be used to wash the rice or water the flowers, and it’s very good for 【小题10】　　　　. Please always remember to turn off the lights when you leave.

Many people who work in London prefer to live outside it, and to go in to their offices or schools every day by train, car or bus, even though this means they have to get up early in the morning and reach home late in the evening. 

One advantage of living outside London is that houses are cheaper. Even a small flat in London without a garden costs quite a lot to rent. With the same money, one can get a little house in the country with a garden of one's own.

Then, in the country one can really get away from the noise and hurry of busy working lives. Even though one has to get up earlier and spend more time in trains or buses, one can sleep better at night and during weekends and on summer evenings, one can enjoy the fresh, clean air of the country. If one likes gardens, one can spend one's free time digging, planting, watering and doing the hundred and one other jobs which are needed in a garden. Then, when the flowers and vegetables come up, one has got the reward together with those who have shared the secret of nature.

Some people, however, take no interest in country things: for them, happiness lies in the town, with its cinemas and theatres, beautiful shops and busy streets, dance-halls and restaurants. Such people would feel that their life was not worth living if they had to live it outside London. An occasional (偶尔的) walk in one of the parks and a fortnight's (two weeks) visit to the sea every summer is all the country they want: the rest of the country they are quite prepared to spend with those who are glad to get away from London every night.

1.Which of the following statements is NOT true?

   A. People who love nature prefer to live outside the city.

   B. People who work in London prefer to live in the country.

   C. Some people enjoying city life prefer to work and live inside London.

   D. Many nature lovers, though working in London, prefer to live outside the city.

2.One can use the same money for _______ to buy a little house with a garden in the country.

   A. getting a small flat with a garden

   B. having a small flat with a garden

   C. renting a small flat without a garden

   D. buying a small flat without a garden

3.When the flowers and vegetables in the garden come up, those who_______ have been rewarded.

   A. live in the country

   B. have a garden of their own

   C. are busy digging and planting

   D. have spent time working in the garden

4.People who think happiness lies in the town would feel that _______ if they had to live outside London.

   A. their life was meaningless

   B. their life was invaluable

   C. they didn't need a happy life

   D. they couldn’t sleep late in the morning

5.What does the writer think of the life in London?

   A. He likes living in the city centre.

   B. He prefers to live in the countryside.

   C. It isn’t mentioned in the passage.

   D. He enjoys working in the garden at weekends.

 

Once, a circle lost a piece of its own. The circle wanted to be whole, so it went around, looking for its   41   piece. But because it was not complete, it could only roll (滚) very slowly. It enjoyed the flowers and the sunshine   42   the way. It talked with worms. It found lots of different pieces, but   43   of them fit. So it left them all by the side of the road and kept on   44   for the lost piece. Then one day the circle found a piece that fit   45  . The circle put the piece into   46   . It could be whole with nothing lost. It was so happy and began to roll. As it was a perfect circle, it could roll very fast, too fast to see flowers or talk to worms. It realized how different the world was when it rolled so quickly. It felt so sad   47   it stopped, left its found piece by the side of the road and rolled very slowly.

         Sometimes we are perfect when we lose something. A man who   48   everything is poor in some ways. He will never have hopes, dreams or something   49  . He will never know someone loves him or someone is giving him something he has always wanted or never had.

         We couldn’t be perfect. But we must be brave enough to love, strong enough to forgive, kind enough to share   50   with others and clever enough to know there is enough love  around us and then we can always have a wonderful time in our life.

1.A. miss                               B. lose                                   C. missing           D. losing

2.A. at                                             B. of                             C. in                              D. along

3.A. none                             B. all                             C. every one               D. each

4.A. look                               B. looking                    C. to look                     D. looked

5.A. perfectly                      B. perfect                             C. part                          D. partly

6.A. it                                             B. itself                                  C. them                        D. themselves

7.A. which                                     B. whether                           C. that                          D. what

8.A. own                               B. has                                    C. owned                     D. have

9.A. bad                                B. worse                               C. good                        D. better

10.A. kindness                     B. sadness                            C. happiness               D. illness