The “balance of nature”is not an empty phrase. Nature provides a population to occupy a suitable environment and cuts down surplus population to fit the available food supply. One means of reducing surplus population is predators; others are parasitic diseases. Also, population density produces nervous disorders and even drives animals to mass migrations(移民群),like the lemmings of Norway who plunge（冲入）into the sea.

That predatory population increase to control other animals has long been known. Many years ago, the Hudson’s Bay Company records revealed that the fox population went up and down about a year after rabbit population had gone up and down.

Sometimes a situation occurs in which the predatory population is reduced to a level below which nature can readily replace. On Valcour Island in Lake Champlain, a costly campaign resulted in the elimination（消除）of predatory animals only to have birds and small animals increase for four years afterward. Then, lacking predator control, nature resorted to disease to cut down these populations.

Jamaica had an example of nature’s persistence in providing animals for existing habits. Sugar planters, about 75 years ago, imported mongooses（狐猴）to control rats. The mongooses killed off the rats, kids, puppies, and wildlife. Eventually, food became scarce and the mongoose’s population declines.

1. The fact that the number of predators has much to do with that of other animals 　　 .

A. is not recent knowledge　　　　　　　　　　　　　　 B.has just been learned

C.hasn’t been proved yet　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　 D.is not important now

2. When predator control fails, nature brings animal population into balance by .

A. eliminating the number of predators

B.seeking the help of disease to reduce other animals

C.increasing the number of other animals

D.replacing the number of predators immediately

3. When the mongooses killed off the rats they 　　 .

A. became problems themselves　　　　　　　　　　　　 B.ate the sugar crop

C.attacked humans　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　 D.had nothing to eat

4. It is implied in this passage that 　　 .

A. sugar planter imported mongooses to control rats

B.man should never kill animals

C.man has complete control over nature

D.to upset the balance of nature can be troublesome

Do you enjoy listening to records? I find records are often ______ or better than an actual performance.

A.
as good as
B.
as good
C.
as well as
D.
as well

Many of us have heard of the saying: everything is possible if you can just believe. But few of us really know the power of faith and perseverance(坚定). South African swimmer Natalie du Tiot embodies(体现)those virtues.

Du Tiot, 24, became the first swimmer to compete in both the Olympic Games and the Paralympics (残奥会)in Beijing. Although she finished 16^th in the tough 10km marathon in the able-bodied Games, she has collected three golds in the Paralympics so far.

One of the most successful disabled athletes of all time, Natalie du Tiot was already a promising swimmer when she lost her leg in a motorcycle accident in 2001, at just 17.

“There are a lot of dark moments,” she said, “There are some days when I cry. But I try to remember that better days are ahead. You just go on.”

Within a few months, she was back in the swimming pool.

She still completes and still succeeds. The only difference is she has switched to longer events—from 200m and 400m individual medley to 800m and 1,500m freestyle—to make up for her loss of speed with only one leg. But she made no adjustment to her mental look(精神面貌).

“Going out in the water, it feels as if there’s nothing wrong with me. It doesn’t matter if you look different. You’re still the same as everybody else because you have the same dream.”

She is the owner of many world records, and she also won gold when competing against able-bodied swimmers in the 1,500m freestyle at the All African Games in 2007.

But there is no magic recipe(秘诀) for success. It all comes down to hard work and determination. “She is stubborn, which is good and bad,” said her coach Karoly Von Toros. “Good for the swimming, but bad for the coach.”

There is a poem that hangs on her wall that reads:

The tragedy (悲剧)of life does not lie in not reaching your goals;

The tragedy of life lies in not having goals to reach for.

Natalie du Tiot is a vivid example that____________________.

A. you are what you believe

B. your biggest enemy is yourself

C. results are not so important as the process

D. you must set reasonable goals or you will fail

According to the text , Natalie du Tiot became________________.

A. the first athlete to compete with able-bodied swimmers in the world

B. the youngest disabled swimmer to break the world record in the 1,500m freestyle

C. the youngese disabled swimmer to collect three golds in a single Paralympics

D. the first swimmer to compete in both the Olympic Games and the Paralympics

Which of the following is the correct order of the events that happened to Natalie du Tiot？

a. She won gold at the All Africa Games.

b. She finished 16^th in the tough 10km marathon in the Olympics

c. She adjusted herself to long events.

d. A motorcycle accident disabled her.

A. cdab B. dcba C. dcab D.dacb

In dark moments it was_______________ that pushed her on.

A. her coach B. her family C. hope and faith D. her love of swimming

I was feeling a little blue because my mother had been laid off from her job and she had lots of bills to pay. It left me wondering what was going to happen to us now.

I got off the college shuttle bus and started walking. That’s 36 I heard piano music and singing rising above the noise of the people and the traffic. I walked a little slower so that I could 37 where it was coming from. 38 the crowd I saw a young lady sitting at a piano with a carriage next to her. She was singing songs about love, keeping on trying, and not underestimating (低估) the power within yourself. The way she was singing 39 me a bit. I stood there watching her play for about fifteen minutes, thinking that it must 40 to perform alone in the middle of a crowded place.

She must have felt my 41 because she would 42 look in my direction. Then I walked over and put some 43 in her carriage and she said, “Thank you”. Instead of continuing my way home, I said to her, “I have been 44 a rough time lately, but you’ve made me 45 again.”

“I’m happy that I could help,” she replied. “Why are you so sad?”

“Well, my mum told me she had got 46 from her job, and that made me sad. I’m not so sure what to do …”

“You see, here’s the problem,” she explained. “While you were 47 , your head was down. Don’t look 48 , because 49 comes in different ways and if your head were down, you might lose it.”

She also explained to me that she saw a lot of 50 people in the world and she tried to bring more 51 by sharing motivational (鼓舞人心的) music. She told me that when she wasn’t making music she studied 52 . So, that was how she knew some of the things she was telling me.

I 53 a little wider because I knew that she was doing a good thing. So, after we 54, my heart was 55 and lightened by a musical soul!

1. A．where B．why C．which D．when

2. A．turn out B．take in C．find out D．get in

3. A．Across B．Through C．Between D．Above

4. A．comforted B．annoyed C．scared D．reminded

5. A．take time B．take turns C．take action D．take courage

6. A．absence B．performance C．presence D．regret

7. A．angrily B．occasionally C．generally D．faithfully

8. A．cards B．food C．books D．money

9. A．going through B．getting up C．taking over D．running towards

10. A．curious B．eager C．sad D．hopeful

11. A．hired B．promoted C．paid D．fired

12. A．running B．driving C．walking D．riding

13. A．proud B．defeated C．absorbed D．puzzled

14. A．opportunity B．trouble C．difficulty D．dream

15. A．positive B．active C．energetic D．negative

16. A．records B．poverty C．positivity D．indifference

17. A．politics B．psychology C．biology D．art

18. A．smiled B．changed C．influenced D．sighed

19. A．responded B．parted C．agreed D．understood

20. A．hit B．sunk C．tied D．touched

Patti discovered the meaning of running when she was 23. At that time she was smoking two packs of cigarettes a day and had 36 over 50 pounds. “I decided to 37 ,” she says. She took a clock and started 38 what she did every day, and then she 39 an hour a day as a “be nice to Patti” hour. “I started having bubble（泡沫）baths with a candle 40 , because Cosmopolitan Magazine 41 that this would be good for me. But I got 42 of that soon,” Patti remembers. She wanted to do something really pleasant. She found that the 43 times in her life were times when she was physically active. So she took up 44 .

She decided to start 45 the next day. She ran for an hour, 46 a total of 7 miles on her first run. “I couldn’t walk for 2 weeks 47 I felt painful all over!” Patti recalls. “But I felt so wonderful!” Patti wasn’t crazy about running yet, but she was in 48 with the after effects of it.

Within seven months, Patti had run her first marathon, qualified for the Boston Marathon, and placed 25th in the world for 49 distance runners. Over the next years, she 50 records and set standards for women in the sport. She was the first American woman to run a marathon 51 than 2 hours 30 minutes, and then broke another two records 52 an 8-month period.

Patti believes that, if we can 53 standards for ourselves, we can pull ourselves out of the most difficult 54 and come out on top. “Everybody has to be a/an 55 and everybody has that in them.”

1.A. lost B. gained C. earned D. reduced

2.A. change B. move C. walk D. cry

3.A. remembering B. collecting C. sharing D. recording

4.A. set out B. set up C. set aside D. set about

5.A. lit B. swung C. surrounded D. burnt

6.A. spoke B. said C. wrote D. went

7.A. afraid B. fond C. tired D. ashamed

8.A. happiest B. saddest C. loneliest D. luckiest

9.A. smoking B. bathing C. dieting D. running

10.A. only B. right C. even D. again

11.A. overcoming B. spreading C. passing D. covering

12.A. but B. although C. since D. because

13.A. peace B. line C. love D. touch

14.A. men B. women C. adult D. children

15.A. kept B. held C. broke D. cleared

16.A. faster B. more C. slower D. rather

17.A. for B. over C. at D. on

18.A. set B. follow C. require D. seek

19.A. pleasures B. pities C. challenges D. purposes

20.A. expert B. runner C. athlete D. champion

Do you enjoy listening to records? I find records are often ______ or better than an actual performance.

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