Trees are useful to man in three very important ways: they provide him with wood and other products, they give him shade, and they help to prevent drought and floods.

  Unfortunately, in many parts of the world man has not realized that the third of these services is the most important. In his eagerness to draw quick profit from the trees, he has cut them down in large numbers, only to find that without them he has lost the best friends he had.

  Two thousand years ago a rich and powerful country cut down its trees to build warships, with which to gain itself an empire. It gained the empire but, without its trees, its soil became hard and poor. When the empire fell to pieces, the country found itself faced by floods and starvation.

  Even though a government realizes the importance of a plentiful supply of trees, it is difficult for it to persuade the villager to see this. The villager wants wood to cook his food with, and he can earn money by making charcoal or selling wood to the townsman. He is usually too lazy or too careless to plant and look after trees. So unless the government has a good system of control, or can educate the people, the forests will slowly disappear.

  This does not only mean that the villagers? sons and grandsons have fewer trees. The results are even more serious. For where there are trees their roots break the soil up—allowing the rain to sink in and also hold the soil, thus preventing it being washed away easily, but where there are no trees, the soil becomes hard and poor. The rain falls on hard ground and flows away on the surface, causing floods and carrying away with it the rich topsoil, in which crops grow so well. When all the topsoil is gone, nothing remains but a worthless desert.

63. The purpose that the writer wrote this article for is ____ .

 A. to tell people that trees are very useful to man

 B. to warn people not to cut down trees any more

 C. to warn that man mustn't destroy forests any more

 D. to explain how trees help to prevent drought and floods

64. In the writer's opinion, ____ , or the forests slowly disappear.

 A. measure must be taken                      B. people shouldn't draw benefit from the tree

 C. government must realize the serious results      D. unless trees never be cut down

65. According to the article we know it is ____ to prevent the forests from slowly disappearing.

 A. necessary but impossible                    B. necessary but difficult

 C. impossible and unimportant                  D. difficult and impossible

66. In the last two paragraphs the writer wanted to make it clear that ____ .

 A. where there are no trees, the soil becomes hard and poor

 B. where there are many trees, there are fewer floods

 C. where there are no trees, the land might become desert slowly

 D. floods will make the land become desert

With petroleum reserve(石油储量)decreasing, the search is on to replace gas with a cleaner, greener alternative. Though much eco-talk has centered on biofuels from corn and soybeans, the biofuel that looks more likely to replace petroleum comes from a most unlikely source: algae(藻类).
Algae, like corn, soybeans, and other crops, grow via photosynthesis(光合作用)and can be processed into fuel oil. However, they yield 30 times more energy than land crops such as soybeans, according to the U.S. Department of Energy. Many algae species also can grow in saltwater and polluted water—while corn and soy require arable(适于耕种的) land and fresh water that will be in short supply as the world’s population balloons.
“If you replaced all the diesel(柴油)in the U.S. with soy biodiesel, it would take half the land mass of the U.S. to grow those soybeans,” says Matt Caspari, chief executive of Aurora Biofuels, a Berkeley, Calif-based private firm that specializes in algae oil technology. On the other hand, the Energy Department says that if algae fuel replaced all the petroleum fuel in the United States, it would require only l5, 000 square miles, which is a few thousand miles larger than Maryland (12,407 squaree miles), the 42nd state in land area.
Another advantages: Because algae can be grown just about anywhere in a closed space, they’re being tested at several power plants across the nation as a carbon absorber. Smokestack emissions(烟囱排放物)can be pumped directly into the ponds, feeding the algae while keeping greenhouse gases out of the atmosphere.
Although processing technology for algae fuel—also known as “oilgae” in some environmentalist circles —is improving, it’s still years away from reaching your local gas pump. “It’s just a question of cost, because no large-scale facilities have been built yet,” Caspari says.
【小题1】The underlined word “yield” in Paragraph 2 can be replaced by “_______”.

A.controlB.requireC.produceD.grow
【小题2】Compared with corn and soybeans, algae_____.
A.may pollute water and soilB.can grow in poor conditions
C.provide much less energyD.need more special care
【小题3】According to Paragraph 3, one of the advantages of algae fuel is that ____.
A.it can be used more widelyB.it is easier to produce
C.it needs much less landD.it costs much less money
【小题4】Which of the following might be the best title for the text?
A.Environmental ProtectionB.Biofuels from Corn and Soybeans
C.The False Hope of BiofuelsD.A Promising Oil Alternative


“Eat local.” It’s one way to reduce human effect on the planet. Eating local means to try to buy and consume foods that are grown in places close to home. However, most of the food sold at supermarkets is not locally grown or produced. Trucks and planes deliver these foods from hundreds or thousands of miles away. During the transportation, greenhouse(温室)gases are produced, causing global warming. So the shorter the distance your foods must travel, the less the harm is done to the environment.
But how do you get local food if you live in a large city, hundreds of miles away from farms?Environmental health scientist Dickson Despommier and his students came up with the idea of a “vertical(垂直的)farm”.

A vertical farm is a glass-walled structure that could be built as tall as a skyscraper(摩天大楼). Since the garden is built upwards, rather than outwards, it requires much less space than an ordinary farm. The world is quickly running out of room for ordinary farming. Vertical farms could be a key to this situation. Despommier imagines a 30-story building with a greenhouse on every floor. The walls of the building would be clear, to allow crops to get as much sunlight as possible. Depending on a city’s water resources, Despommier thinks hydroponic(水培的) farming is another method for the vertical farm which needs no soil to grow plants.
Despommier says the hydroponic greenhouses would use a system that would use a city’s waste water and fill it with nutritions to make the crops grow. If this method works, it would provide food to a city and save millions of tons of water.
The idea of a vertical farm has attracted the attention of government officials around the world. Scott Stringer, a government official from New York City, thinks the city is suitable for the vertical farming. “Obviously we don’t have much land left for us,” Stringer said. “But the sky is the limit in Manhattan. ”
Despommier admits that there is still a lot of work to do to make vertical farms a reality. “But I think vertical farming is an idea that can work in a big way,” he says.
【小题1】Why are people advised to eat local?

A.Because it means convenience(方便) to people.
B.Because it can help people save a lot of money.
C.Because local food has more nutrition.
D.Because it is environmentally friendly.
【小题2】Which is one of the vertical farm’s benefits when compared with ordinary farming?
A.It produces healthier food.
B.It does less harm to the cities.
C.It needs less space of the city.
D.It requires less transport costs.
【小题3】By saying “the sky is the limit in Manhattan”, Stringer means _____.
A.people can make full use of vertical space of Manhattan
B.there is a limit for using empty land in Manhattan
C.the height of buildings in Manhattan is limited
D.Manhattan can spread as far as possible
【小题4】What can we learn about the vertical farming in the passage?
A.No soil is needed to grow plants in a vertical farm.
B.It has solved the problem of the food shortage in a big way.
C.It is a 30-story building with a greenhouse on every floor.
D.Crops are mainly grown in the rainwater in a vertical farm.

Farmers can produce more by planting several different crops in the same field.But their success depends on which crops they plant together and how they mix (混合) them in the filed.In the past, the only way the farmers could learn which crops grow best together is to plant them and wait for the results.Now, however, a computer can give them answers.A new computer program written by Dr John Vanderwell of Michigan University can tell a farmer which plants grow well together and which do not.It can tell him how to plant the different crops; if he should plant each in a separate row, or mix the crops in the same row.It can tell the farmer how changes in planting each of the crops will affect the production of all of them.And it can tell him which plants can help reduce losses (损失) from diseases.

1.Which of the following best gives the main idea of the passage?

A.Computer helps find the best program for mixing plants.

B.Computer helps produce more crops.

C.Computer helps protect against insects and diseases.

D.Computer helps grow different plants.

2.According to the passage, to get the best result, one needs to choose carefully ________.

A.the kinds of crops to be planted together

B.the way for different crops to be mixed

C.both A and B

D.either A or B

3.It seems the new computer program can NOT tell us ________.

A.whether we should grow cotton and tomato together

B.how we should plant cotton and tomato together

C.what will happen if we grow potato, instead of tomato, together with cotton

D.how we can grow rice in the tomato field

4.The new computer program seems most useful in saving us ________.

A.man power        B.seeds             C.time             D.land

5.Which of the following is NOT true?

A.Computers can tell farmers how many plants can grow together.

B.With the help of computers farmers don't have to do a lot of work.

C.With the help of computers farmers can get better results.

D.The change of one plant may cause a change in production.

 

Some myths are stories told since ancient times to explain the causes for natural happenings. The Greek myth that explains why there are changes of   21   is about Demeter, the goddess of the harvest. She had a daughter, Persephone, whom she loved very much. Hades, god of the underworld, fell in love with Persephone, and he asked Zeus, the   22   of the gods, to give Persephone to him as his   23  . Zeus did not want either to disappoint Hades or to upset Demeter, so he said he would not agree to the marriage, but neither would he   24   it. Hades, therefore, decided to take the girl without   25  . When Persephone was picking flowers in the garden, he seized her and took her to the underworld. When Demeter   26   what happened to Persephone, she became so   27   that she caused all plants to   28  . People were in   29   of starving. But Demeter was determined not to let crops grow   30   her daughter, Persephone, was returned to her.   31  , still not wanting to disappoint Hades, decided upon a condition for Persephone's   32  . She could go back to her mother if she had not   33   anything while she was in the underworld. Demeter   34   it because she did not know that Persephone had eaten several pomegranate (???) seeds in the underworld. When Zeus   35   this, he agreed that Persephone could spend part of the year with her   36  , but he added that since she had eaten the seeds, she must spend part of the year in the underworld. And so it   37   that when Persephone is in the underworld, Demeter is sad and therefore   38   not let the crops grow. That is   39   we have winter when plants do not grow. When Persephone returns, Demeter is   40  , it is spring, and plants begin to grow again.

 

1.A. periods           B. time                C. seasons                D. age

2.A. winner           B. ruler               C. advisor                D. fighter

3.A. wife               B. lover               C. partner                      D. daughter

4.A. accept         B. forgive            C. admit             D. forbid      

5.A. arrangement   B. warning           C. permission         D. reason      

6.A. let out            B. worked out         C. thought out         D. found out

7.A. excited           B. angry                    C. tired                  D. serious

8.A. grow fast        B. start growing         C. stop growing         D grow slowly

9.A. danger           B. hope                     C. turn                      D. case

10.A. since         B. until                  C. after                     D. when

11.A. Persephone  B. Zeus                        C. Demeter                   D. Hades

12.A. return           B. change                         C. marriage            D. journey

13.A. stolen           B. found                    C. eaten                     D. heard

14.A. understood    B. refused                     C. doubted                    D. accepted

15.A. discovered    B. studied                     C. forgot                   D. prepared

16.A. daughter              B. mother                         C. god                          D. ruler

17.A. works           B. remains                    C. happens                    D. starts

18.A. should          B. can                          C. dare                         D. will

19.A. where           B. because                    C. why                         D. how

20.A. happy           B. friendly                    C. fresh                  D. nice

 

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