A Seeing a volcano erupt is a wonderful experience,and you can really feel the heat by climbing to the summit of Pacaya for a closeup view. There are guided tours every?day up this highly active volcano from Antigua,giving travellers a chance to see Mother Nature at her most power.

Pacaya is an easy drive from Antigua,a beautiful city with many colourful houses along its old streets that are turned into artworks during its Holy Week festival. No matter when you come to Antigua,you won't miss the Pacayatour companies.

But climbing Pacaya is no easy job. It is 2 ,560 metres high,and reaching the summit takes two to three hours of seemingly one-step-forward and two-step-back move?ments. As you climb,you hear the dull sounds of erup?tions high above. Steaming,hot remains from recent eruptions begin to line the path as you near the active summit:the McKenney Cone (火山锥) .Just as though you were going to walk over to the edge of the cone,the road turns to the left and up to the relative safety of the old,inactive summit.

Many tours are timed so that you arrive at the cone of the volcano in plenty of time for sunset and the full contrast between the erupting red lava and the darkening sky. On a good day the view from the summit is extremely exciting. The active mouth boils,sending the red lava over its sides,and once in a while shoots hot streams up to 100 metres into the air. There is a strong bad smell in the air even if you take care to be upwind of the cone. As evening turns deeper into the night,the burning lava quietly falls down the side of the vo卜cano. For you,too,it is time to get down.

16. What is the main purpose of this passage?

   A. To attract tourists to Pacaya.

   B. To describe the beauty of Pacaya.

   C. To introduce guided tours to Pacaya.

   D. To explain the power of nature at Pacaya.

17. Antigua is a city         .

   A. where people can enjoy cultural festivals

   B. where the daring Pacaya tour starts

   C. that gives a closeup view of Pacaya

   D. that is famous for its tour companies

18. Climbing to the McKenney Cone,people will         .

   A. walk directly to the active summit

   B. hear the continuous loud noise from above

   C. make greater efforts than to other summits

   D. see a path lined with remains of earlier eruptions

19. Many tours are timed for people to         .

   A. get down the mountain in time when night falls

   B. avoid the smell from the upwind direction of the cone

   C. enjoy the fantastic eruption against the darkening sky

   D. appreciate the scenery of the 2 ,560-metre-high mountain

 Today's American high school students are far likelier than those in the 1970s to believe they're much more likely to claim they are " straight A” students with high IQs— even though other research shows that today's students do less homework than those in the 1970s. The findings sup?port the idea that the " selfesteem" movement popular among today's parents and teachers may have gone too far.

"What this shows is that confidence has crossed over into overconfidence”,said Jean Twenge,a professor. Twenge stressed that youthful confidence isn't necessarily bad. " Young people have always had some degree of dreamy optimism,and that's probably a good thing. And setting goals for yourself is a good thing. It's just when those goals are wildly unrealistic,then that can cause trouble for everyone."

For example,young people entering the workforce may score well in job interviews if they show selfconfi?dence,but that can quickly sour if a new employer doesn't provide them with the promotions they feel they deserve. "They don't set the right goals for themselves,because they are overconfident―and that's when it blows up in their faces”,Twenge said.

The blame for all this may lie with wellintentioned adults. " These kids didn't raise themselves;they got these ideas from somewhere," Twenge said. With parents handing out endless praise,kids today readily believe they are somehow superior,she said. And teachers aren't blameless,either: high school teachers now give out an "A" grade more easily than those in the 1970s,even though today's high school students report doing less homework than students from that period.

Not everyone interpreted the new findings in the same way,however. Jennifer Crocker is a professor of psychol?ogy. Based on available academic data,today's young Americans might be right to be more selfconfident. "The fact is that we are all getting smarter―IQ is going up quite dramatically over this same period of time," Crocker noted. "Students may believe that they are getting trained better than they used to,and that they are learning skills that they didn't use to have."

23. Why does Twenge worry about overconfident teenag?ers?

   A. Because they don't do homework any more.

   B. Because the real world doesn't always meet their expectations.

   C. Because their parents don't support the " selfesteem" movement.

   D. Because their teachers expect the best performance from them.

24. What causes teenagers to have too much confidence in themselves?

   A. They were born confident in themselves.

   B. The students got the confidence from somewhere in the media.

   C. Their parents are constant to praise them for their performance.

   D. School teachers are reluctant to prize students with an "A" grade.

25. The underlined part "when it blows up in their faces" in Paragraph 3 may mean "       ”,

   A. when their goals seem more important

   B. when they encourage themselves at once

   C. when they give up their goals immediately

   D. when it suddenly goes wrong

26. Jennifer Crocker seems to think that         .

   A. it is reasonable for students to be selfconfident

   B. students are full of dreams about something unre?alistic

   C. the American students have higher TQs than those in other countries

   D. teenagers are too ready to believe they are some?how superior

"It's warm,it's fun and it won't break the bank (耗尽资源) "goes the ad for a wellknown package holiday group. The top billing given to temperature in the slogan illustrates just how im?portant climate is to holidaymakers. It's one of the first things you notice when you step off the plane―part of the " sense of place" which academics talk about.

Australia is a big country,stretching from the tropics to the roaring forties,and it has a correspondingly wide range of climates. There's something to suit everyone!Scubadivers like the warm waters off the tropical Queensland coast;sunlovers feel at home in central Australia's hot,dry climate. The cool temperate climate of the Australian Alps in the southeast of the conti?nent attracts skiers in winter and walkers in summer.

What is the best time of year to visitAustralia? It depends on what part of the country you will be visiting and what you would like to do. If you can stay for several months,you can plan your trip to catch the best weather everywhere.

Australia can be divided into six main climatic regions or zones on the basis of air tempera?ture and humidity. Our map shows where each region is. A description of each region's climate is given below,from the viewpoint of someone accustomed to a temperate climate. People from tropical climates will tolerate the heat better than indicated in the zone descriptions,but will feel less comfortable in the cooler parts of the country. The climate zones are:

(   ) 1. In which of the following media does this passage mostly appear?

   A. Fiction. B. TV programme. C. Newspaper. D. Website.

(   ) 2. When is the best time of year to visit Australia?

   A. In summer. B. It depends.

   C. In winter. D. All the year around.

(   ) 3. Which part of Australia attracts ski lovers in winter?

   A. TheAustraliaAlps. B. The southwest of the continent.

   C. The southeast of centralAustralia. D. The northeast ofAustralia.

(   ) 4. What is the best title for this passage?

   A. Travelling inAustralia   B. Climate Tips for Travellers inAustralia

   C. Welcome toAustralia   D. The Best Time to VisitAustralia

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