MONTREAL (Reuters)-Crossing the US-Canada border (边界) to go to church on a Sunday cost a US citizen $ 10 000 for breaking Washington's strict new security(安全) rules.

  The expensive trip to church was a sur-prise for Richard Albert, who lives right on the Canadian border. Like the other half-doz-en people of Township 15, crossing the bor-der is a daily occurrence for Albert. The nearby Quebec village of St. Pamphile is where they shop, eat and go to church.

  There are many such situations in these areas along the largely unguarded 5 530-mile border between Canada and the US-which in some cases actually runs down the middle of streets or through buildings.

  As a result, Albert says he did not expect any problems three weeks ago when he returned home to the US after attending church in Cana-da, as usual. The US customs (海关) station in this area is closed on Sundays, so he just drove around the locked gate, as he had done every weekend since the gate appeared last May, fol-lowing a tightening of border security. Two days later, Albert was told to go to the customs office, where an officer told him he had been caught on camera crossing the border illegally(非法).

  Ottawa has given out special passes to some 300 US citizens in that area so they can enter the country when Canadian customs stations are closed, but the US stopped a similar program last May. That forces the people to a 200-mile detour along hilly roads to get home through another border check-point.

  Albert has requested that the customs office change their decisions on the fine, but he has not attended a Sunday church since. “I feel like I'm living in a prison, ”he said.

(1) We learn from the text that Richard Al-bert is ________ .

[  ]

A.an American living in Township 15

B.a Canadian living in a Quebec village

C.a Canadian working in a customs station

D.an American working in a Canadian church

(2) Albert was fined because he ________.

[  ]

A.failed to obey traffic rules

B.broke the American security rules

C.worked in St. Pamphile without a pass

D.damaged the gate of the customs office

(3) The underlined word “ detour ” in Para-graph 5 means ________ .

[  ]

A.a drive through the town

B.a race across the fields

C.a round about way of travelling

D.a journey in the mountain area

(4) What would be the best title for the text?

[  ]

A.A Cross-country Trip.

B.A Special Border Pass.

C.An Unguarded Border.

D.An Expensive Church Visit.

阅读理解

  MANILA, Philippines(AP)-Villagers and veteran hunters have captured a one-ton saltwater crocodile which they plan to make the star of a planned ecotourism park in a southern Philippine town, an official said Monday.

  Mayor Edwin Cox Elorde said dozens of villagers and experts captured the 21-foot(6.4-meter)male crocodile along a creek in Bunawan township in Agusan del Sur province after a three-week hunt.It could be one of the largest crocodiles to be captured alive in recent years, he said, quoting local crocodile experts.

  Elorde said the crocodile killed a water buffalo in an attack witnessed by villagers last month and was also suspected of having attacked a fisherman who went missing in July.

  He said he sought the help of experts at a crocodile farm in western Palawan province.

  "We were nervous but it's our duty to deal with a threat to the villagers," Elorde told The Associated Press by telephone."When I finally stood before it, I couldn't believe my eyes."

  After initial sightings at a creek, the hunters set four traps, which the crocodile destroyed.They then used sturdier traps using steel cables, one of which finally caught the enormous reptile late Saturday, he said.

  About 100 people had to pull the crocodile, which weighs about 2,370 pounds(1,075 kilograms), from the creek to a clearing where a crane lifted it into a truck, he said.

  The crocodile was placed in a fenced cage in an area where the town plans to build an ecotourism park for species found in a vast marshland(沼泽地)in Agusan, an impoverished region about 515 miles(830 kilometers)southeast of Manila, Elorde said.

  "It will be the biggest star of the park," Elorde said, adding that villagers were happy that they would be able to turn the dangerous crocodile "from a threat into an asset."

  Despite the catch, villagers remain cautious because several crocodiles still roam the outskirts of the farming town of about 37,000 people.

  They have been told to avoid venturing into marshy areas alone at night, Elorde said.

(1)

What can we infer from the passage?

[  ]

A.

The villagers captured the crocodile by chance.

B.

The crocodile the villagers have captured is the largest crocodile captured in recent years.

C.

The town has already built an ecotourism park for the crocodile.

D.

Not all the crocodile live in saltwater.

(2)

What can we know about the crocodiles in this area according to the passage?

[  ]

A.

The crocodiles in the area are very friendly to the villagers.

B.

The crocodiles usually wander about in the center of the town.

C.

The crocodiles in the town have become a threat to the villagers.

D.

The capture of the male crocodile took three months.

(3)

What happened to the crocodile after it was captured?

[  ]

A.

It was sent to the ecotourism park for species found in a vast marshland.

B.

It was sent back to the wilderness.

C.

It was kept in a fenced cage.

D.

It became the biggest star in the park.

(4)

When Elorde finally stood before the crocodile, how did he feel?

[  ]

A.

Nervous.

B.

Proud.

C.

Shocked.

D.

Happy.

(5)

In Elorde’s opinion, the existence of the crocodile in the wild in this area is ________.

[  ]

A.

threatening

B.

puzzling

C.

reasonable

D.

suspecting

An annoying problem for humans, who like to boast (夸耀) about all the distant planets and moons we have explored, is that we've never taken a good look right under our noses.The inside of the earth is relatively close but how can we get there?

The deepest oil well enters a mere six miles into the crust (地壳)  (the center of the earth is about 4,000 miles deeper).Russian scientists dug the deepest hole in Siberia," but bottomed out at about 7.5 miles below the surface.The Mohole project, a U.S.plan in the 1950s, called for drilling a hole 25 miles down to the boundary be??tween the hard rocks of the crust and the soft mantle (地幔).Sadly the project involved govern??ment supporting.

It gets harder and harder to drill deep into the earth because rocks get softer and softer. Hard but easily broken at the surface, rocks become plastic at depth, and the pressure caused by the weight of the overlaying crust — about 52,800 pounds per square inch at a depth of ten miles, makes further drilling impossible.

What little we know about the inside of the earth (like the fact that there' s a crust, a mantle, and a core) comes from indirect evidence, such as the analysis of earthquakes.

So maybe it' s time for a thorough new method to explore the earth's inside.Scientist David Stevenson says we should forget about drilling holes.Instead, we should open a crack (裂缝). 

Stevenson suggests digging a crack about a half mile long, a yard wide, and a half mile deep (not with a shovel) but with an explosion on the scale of a nuclear bomb.Next, he'd pour a few hundred thousand tons of molten (融化的) iron into the crack, along with a robot.The iron, thicker than the surrounding crust, would move downward at about 16 feet per second, carrying the robot with it and opening the crack deeper and deeper.The iron mass would drop for about a week and 2,000 miles to the outer edge of the earth core, the robot sending out data to the sur??face.

Stevenson compares his idea to space explo??ration."We're going somewhere we haven't been before," he says."In all possibility, there will be surprises."

This idea can probably be put in.the drawer marked with Isn't Going To Happen.The robot would have to survive temperatures that would melt pretty much anything.But Stevenson's idea may inspire a new look at an old problem.Great things can come from what seems like impossible ideas.

Going inside the earth is ________ than going into space.

A.more interesting B.more possible    C.easier            D.more challenging

How deep have we gone into the earth until now?

A.6 miles.         B.4,000 miles. C.7.5 miles.        D.25 miles.

Which of the following is TRUE about David Stevenson's idea?

A.It is an inspiring but not practical idea now.

B.It is a practical proposal that has come into use now.

C.It is a good proposal that will soon be put into practice.

D.It is a false theory that cannot be carried out at all.

What might be the most suitable title for the text?

A.An Annoying Problem for Humans

B.To the Center of the Earth

C.The Mohole Project

D.David Stevenson' s Proposal

   
SPIRIT LAKE, Iowa -- Towering more than 12 stories above a school playground, a pair of wind turbines(涡轮机) transform the usts blowing over the lakes and ridges sur-rounding this northern Iowa town into power that provides about half of the school district' s electrical needs.

     Students here can "look right out the back door" to see the giant turbines capture the wind and learn how they can produce power. More than 80 schools across the USA have installed some type of wind turbine, says Ian Baring - Could, senior engineer in a wind technology center at the National Renewable Energy Laboratory in Golden, Colo.

      Now, a program called Wind for Schools is aiming to bring smaller turbines to six states:Colorado, Idaho, Kansas, Montana, Nebraska and South Dakota. The program, sponsored by the U.S. Department of Energy' s Wind Powering America program at the National Renewable Energy Laboratory, is the first program to use smaller turbines with a mission of educating students and the cmmnunity about wind power.

      In Faith, S. D. , home to one of the schools hoping to build a small wind turbine in the next couple of years, a fierce wind blows across the plains most days. Angela King, who teaches science in grades 7 to 12 in Faith, believes a turbine wiI1 give students learning about wind energy the chance to "see it happening, rather than just reading it in a book. "

      Much of the first year of the three - year program has been spent identifying schools hoping to join the program. South Dakota, for instance, announced its eight school districts over the summer. About five schools in Kansas have the turbines, and schools in Montana, Idaho and South Dakota are now preparing sites and will have them installed during this school year.Now, the goal is to add wind turbines at about five schools per year in each state, for a total of about 30 per year overall, Baring - Gould says.

 

61. According to the first paragraph, we know wind turbines are installed __  

      A. to produce wind                              B. to generate electricity

      C. for students to play with                   D. to attract visitors

62. What' s the real purpose of the program?   

      A. To sell smaller wind turbines to six states.

      B. To warn the school of the danger from wind.

      C. To teach the students to learn about wind power.

      D. To encourage the students to operate wind turbines.

63. According to Angela King, __  

     A. it is better to learn from one' s experience

     B. it is a waste of money to install wind turbines

     C. students should not learn from reading books

     D. students should be given the chance to play

64. We can conclude from the passage __  

     A. the program will last five years altogether

     B. more and more schools will resist the program

     C. some schools are forced to install wind turbines

     D. more and more schools will join the program

65. This passage talks about the program in order to tell us __  

     A. watching turbines can make students clever

     B. watching turbines at school can help build bodies

     C. programs like this can help schools educate students

     D. installing wind turbines can improve our environment

Her name may be 501, but she’s more than just a number. The lovely sea otter(水獭) is the star of Otter 501, a new film from Sea Studios Foundation.

Otter 501 was just a few days old when she lost her parents in June 2010. Washed onto a beach along California’s Big Sur coast, the pup(幼崽) could have died. Instead, she got a second chance at life after being taken to an aquarium(水族馆). There she learned from an adoptive otter mom how to be an otter. In the film, it’s Katie Pofahl who finds the troubled pup on the shore. Through the young volunteer’s eyes, we follow 501’s journey from the day of her rescue to her release into the wild in Elkhorn Slough. But while the fluffy star’s story has a happy ending, the film reminds us of the threats that remain against California’s sea otters.

Mark Shelley is the executive director of Sea Studios and producer of Otter 501. He hopes the movie will encourage more young people to get involved in protecting the otter’s ocean habitat. Time For Kids (TFK) spoke with Shelley and Pofahl about sharing the otter’s tale.

TFK:      How much of the film is fact, and how much is fiction?

Shelley:   The story of 501 and the explanation of the natural history of the sea otter are fact. But we needed a good storyteller to tell the story. That’s where Katie Pofahl’s character came in. Katie’s story in the film is partly fictionalized. She is a trained biologist from the Midwest who moved out here, like her character, so all that is true. She wasn’t really a volunteer at the aquarium, but she did go through the training for the film.

Pofahl:    I was one of the last people to get involved in the project. Mark and Sea Studios put out a casting call for a marine biologist. I responded with a little video, and the team liked it. So, I was brought on to help tell 501’s story.

TFK:       What did you learn about otters during filming that you didn’t know before?

Pofahl:    I’m a zoologist, and I love studying animals. I came onto this project thinking that I knew almost everything there was to know about otters. But I learned some things. Otters keep busy because they live in such cold waters. Unlike other marine mammals, they do not have blubber(鲸油,鲸脂) to keep warm. So, they are constantly moving and eating. And they are a keystone(基本的) species, which means they help to structure the environment they live in. There are endless things to learn. That’s what I love about this job.

TFK:       What do you hope people will take away from the film?

Pofahl:    We have an amazing opportunity to help people become aware of how they impact the world. People will watch the movie to see this lovely otter, but it can also be an entry point into conservation. We want to show people that these animals are amazing and that they are at risk and that they are worth protecting. We also want to show people, especially young women, anyone can get involved in science. It’s been an amazing experience for me.

59. We can conclude from the text that sea otters ________.

A. prefer to live in warm ocean waters

B. stay quiet most of the time and don’t eat much

C. are a dangerous species faced with extinction(灭绝)

D. are a key element in the marine life environment

60. Which of the following statements about the film Otter 501 is TRUE according to the text?

A. The film is about the tragic story of an otter that lost its parents.

B. The character of Katie Pofahl is based completely on a real life person.

C. The director of the film is worried about the trouble faced by California’s sea otters.

D. The movie was shot to raise awareness about the natural history of otters.

61. Which of the following is the right order of events?

a. Otter 501 got an adoptive otter mom at the aquarium.

b. Otter 501 was rescued at the Big Sur coast.

c. Otter 501 lost its parents.

d. Katie Pofahl got involved in the project of Otter 501.

e. Otter 501 was released into the wild in Elkhorn Slough.

A. c-d-b-a-e                 B. b-c-a-e-d                  C. c-b-a-d-e                D. b-a-c-e-d

违法和不良信息举报电话:027-86699610 举报邮箱:58377363@163.com

精英家教网