Death Valley is the lowest, hottest, driest area in North America．This California National Park has less than 5 cm of rainfall a year and temperature up to 53℃ in summer．That's enough to keep Americans away during the hottest months from June to August．But it is the high temperature and terrible heat that draw their most crazy fans, the foreign tourists．From all over the world, they come to the valley floor in cars, carrying maps and water bottles, and fanning themselves with newspapers to keep cool．
About 13 million visetors enter the park each year, from June through August．90％ of them are foreigners．They go there to experience the summer heat that gives Death Valley its name．The average high in July is53.2℃ and the low 30℃．For August, the average high si 52.2℃ and the low 29.4℃．
So what do Americans think of the foreign visitors who arrive for the heat, just when locals from the United States try to avoid it? Park manager Brenda Henson says, “ The foreigners want to experience the heat in Death Valley．We think it's crazy．”
In fact, Death Valley is a series of salt flats(盐滩)225 km long and 6 km to 26 km wide．Birds and animals are largely absent, and only the hardiest plants have some chance of existence in this extreme place．
One tourist from Paris concluded, “ We come to it because we can tell all our friends and family that we've been to the hottest place in the world．”
(1)
The real attraction of Death Valley for foreigners is that ________．
[ ]
A．
summer heat keeps Americans away
B．
experiencing the heat in it is cool
C．
it is a series of salt flats
D．
it is a famous place in the world．
(2)
What does the underlined word “ hardiest” in Paragraph 4 mean?
[ ]
A．
Most difficult．
B．
Most energetic．
C．
Strongest．
D．
Best．
(3)
Which of the following is NOT true according to the passage?
[ ]
A．
The hottest time in Death Valley is from June to August．
B．
Not all the visitors to Death Valley are foreigners．
Jane Austen, a famous English writer, was born at Steventon, Hampshire, on December 16,1775,and died on July 18,1817．She began writing early in life, although the prejudices of her times forced her to have her books published anonymously(匿名)．
But Jane Austen is perhaps the best known and best loved of Bath's many famous local people and visitors．She paid two long visits here during the last five years of the eighteenth century and from 1801 to 1806, Bath was her home．Her deep knowledge of the city is fully seen in two of her novels, Northanger Abbey and Persuasion, which are largely set in Bath．The city is still very much as Jane Austen knew it, keeping in its streets and public buildings the well-ordered world that she described so well in her novels．Now the pleasure of learning Jane Austen’s Bath can be enhanced(增强)by visiting the Jane Austen Centre in Gay Street．Here, in a Georgian town house in the heart of the city, you can find out more about Bath in Jane Austen’s time and the importance of Bath in her life and work．
The Centre has been set up with the help and guidance of members of the Jane Austen Society．After your visit to the Centre, you can look round the attractive shop, which offers a huge collection of Jane Austen related books, cards and many specially designed gifts．Jane Austen quizzes are offered to keep the children busy．
You can also have walking tours of Jane Austen’s Bath, which is a great way’ to find out more about Jane Austen and discover the wonderful Georgian city of Bath．The tour lasts about one and a half hours．The experienced guides will take you to the places where Jane lived, walked and shopped．
(1)
Jane Austen paid two long visits to Bath ________．
[ ]
A．
in her early twenties
B．
in her early teens
C．
in her late twenties
D．
in her late teens
(2)
What can we learn about Bath from the passage?
[ ]
A．
Bath has greatly changed since Jane Austen’s death．
B．
The city has changed as much as Jane Ansten knew it．
C．
Bath remains almost the same as in Jane Austen's time．
D．
No changes have taken place in Bath since Jane Austen's time．
(3)
The author writes this passage in order to ________．
[ ]
A．
attract readers to visit the city of Bath
B．
ask readers to buy Austen’s books
C．
tell readers about Jane Austen’s experience
D．
give a brief introduction to the Jane Austen Society
(4)
It takes you about one and a haft hours ________．
[ ]
A．
to gut to the Jane Austen Centre in Gay Street
B．
to buy Jane Austen related books, cards and gifts
C．
to find a guide to take you to the Centre
D．
to look around the city of Bath on foot
阅读理解：
Our boat floated on, between walls of forest too thick to allow us a view of the land we were passing through, though we knew from the map that our river must from time to time be passing through chains of hills which crossed the jungle plains．Nowhere did we find a place where we could have landed：where the jungle did not actually spread right down into the river, banks of soft mud prevented us going ashore．In any case, what would we have sailed by landing?The country was full of snakes and other dangerous creatures, and the jungle was so thick that one would be able to advance only slowly, cutting one’s way with knives the whole way．So we stayed in the boat, hoping we reached the sea, a friendly fisherman would pick us up and take us to civilization．
We lived on fish, caught with home-made net of string(we had no hooks), and fruits and nuts we could pick up out of the water．As we had no fire, we had to eat everything, including the fish, raw I had never tasted raw fish before, and I must say I did not much enjoy the experience; perhaps sea fish which do not live in the mud are less tasteless．After eating my raw fish, I lay back and dreamed of such things as fried chicken and rice, and ice-cream．In the never-ending damp heat of the jungle, ice-cream was a particularly frequent dream．
As for water, there was a choice：we could drink the muddy river water, or die of thirst．We drank the water．Men who had just escaped what had appeared to be certain death lose all worries about such small things as diseases caused by dirty water．In fact, none of us suffered from any illness as a result．
One day we passed another village, but fortunately nobody saw us．We did not wish to risk being taken prisoners a second time：we might not be so lucky to escape in a stolen boat again．
(1)
What they could see in the boat was only ________．
[ ]
A．
high wall
B．
villagers from time to time
C．
vast land
D．
heavy woods
(2)
They couldn’t land because ________．
[ ]
A．
the mud on the shore was too soft
B．
the forest was too thick to let them go through
C．
they could not find the mark on the map
D．
they could not find anyone to lead them out of the forest
(3)
The passage infers that the forest was ________．
[ ]
A．
rich of fruits and animals to be served as food
B．
not very thick as they could advance slowly by cutting the branches
C．
full of various dangerous beings
D．
full of ancient trees
(4)
The most proper title for this passage might be ________．
[ ]
A．
Escape
B．
Scenes of a River
C．
How to Survive on a boat
D．
A New Experience
阅读理解：
Our boat floated on, between walls of forest too thick to allow us a view of the land we were passing through, though we knew from the map that our river must from time to time be passing through chains of hills which crossed the jungle plains．Nowhere did we find a place where we could have landed：where the jungle did not actually spread right down into the river, banks of soft mud prevented us going ashore．In any case, what would we have sailed by landing?The country was full of snakes and other dangerous creatures, and the jungle was so thick that one would be able to advance only slowly, cutting one’s way with knives the whole way．So we stayed in the boat, hoping we reached the sea, a friendly fisherman would pick us up and take us to civilization．
We lived on fish, caught with home-made net of string(we had no hooks), and fruits and nuts we could pick up out of the water．As we had no fire, we had to eat everything, including the fish, raw I had never tasted raw fish before, and I must say I did not much enjoy the experience; perhaps sea fish which do not live in the mud are less tasteless．After eating my raw fish, I lay back and dreamed of such things as fried chicken and rice, and ice-cream．In the never-ending damp heat of the jungle, ice-cream was a particularly frequent dream．
As for water, there was a choice：we could drink the muddy river water, or die of thirst．We drank the water．Men who had just escaped what had appeared to be certain death lose all worries about such small things as diseases caused by dirty water．In fact, none of us suffered from any illness as a result．
One day we passed another village, but fortunately nobody saw us．We did not wish to risk being taken prisoners a second time：we might not be so lucky to escape in a stolen boat again．
(1)
What they could see in the boat was only ________．
[ ]
A．
high wall
B．
villagers from time to time
C．
vast land
D．
heavy woods
(2)
They couldn’t land because ________．
[ ]
A．
the mud on the shore was too soft
B．
the forest was too thick to let them go through
C．
they could not find the mark on the map
D．
they could not find anyone to lead them out of the forest．
(3)
The passage infers that the forest was ________．
[ ]
A．
rich of fruits and animals to be served as food
B．
not very thick as they could advance slowly by cutting the branches
C．
full of various dangerous beings
D．
full of ancient trees
(4)
The most proper title for this passage might be ________．
[ ]
A．
Escape
B．
Scenes of a River
C．
How to Survive on a boat
D．
A New Experience
阅读理解
Tsunami(海啸)Death Toll to Rise Greatly
A senior UN official has described the Indian Ocean earthquake and tsunami as among the worst-ever natural disasters(灾难)．The United Nations'top emergency(紧急事件)relief(救济)official, Jan Egeland, says the death toll from the December 26 tsunami may rise much higher as more information becomes available from the isolated(孤立的)western coast of Sumatra．Mr．Egeland says relief workers are now focusing on the western coast of northern Sumatra．He says they are just beginning to fully grasp the level of destruction caused by the earthquake and tsunami in that area．“The coast is low．It takes the full blast(冲击波)of the tsunami which was at its highest and many, many of these villages are gone ,”he said．“There is no trace(踪迹)left of them．They had hardly roads before．Now they have nothing．The death toll will grow highly on the west coast of Sumatra．What will be the final toll, we will never know．But we may be talking of tens of thousands of further deaths in this area．The town of Meulaboh, nearly 50,000 inhabitants(居民)，has perhaps been the most destructed of any town anywhere, even much more than Banda Aceh．”Mr．Egeland describes reaching the isolated parts of Sumatra as a nightmare(噩梦)．Mr．Egeland said international response to the disaster has been, in his words “greatly positive”．He said much of the aid is being directed at the water and sanitation sectors(卫生设备)in the worst-hit countries．
(1)
In this news report, the phrase“death toll”means ________．
[ ]
A．
dead body
B．
dead people
C．
dead creatures
D．
the number of people who died
(2)
We will never know the final toll because ________．
[ ]
A．
the tsunami is still on
B．
people are continuing to die
C．
information is difficult to get
D．
too many people have died
(3)
Relief workers are focusing on the western coast of northern Sumatra because ________．
[ ]
A．
the coast there is low
B．
it takes the full blast of the tsunami
C．
it has perhaps been the most destructed
D．
many of these villages are gone
(4)
“International response to the disaster has been greatly positive”means ________．
[ ]
A．
the people of the world take an active part in the fight against tsunami
B．
many countries in the world have given much aid to the area
C．
the disaster has spread all over the world
D．
many international organizations have come to the rescue
