Starving polar bears are eating one another in the Arctic. Flowers are blooming too soon and die. The ice caps are melting so fast that rising water levels will threaten coastal towns along Florida within several decades. These are just a few examples of the terrible consequences of climate change supported by a new analysis in Nature.

   In the past three decades, average global temperatures have risen about 0. 6°C and are projected to jump by about 1. 7°C by the end of the century, says Cynthia Rosenzweig, who leads the Climate Impacts Group at NASA’s Goddard Institute for Space Studies at Columbia University in New York. “We’ve already seen that a relatively low amount of warming,” she says, “can lead to a broad range of changes. ”

   The unnatural warming caused by man-made greenhouse gases, especially carbon dioxide produced by cars and coal-powered plants, brings trouble for entire ecosystems. In North America alone, scientists have identified 89 species of plants, such as the American holly that have flowered earlier in the spring. In Spain, apple trees bloom 35 days ahead of schedule in response to the higher temperatures. Other wildlife, like the insects that use certain plants for food and the birds that feed on the insects, must then move forward their seasonal stirrings(萌动) and mating(交配) patterns to survive.

   To try to follow this time shift, some birds such as robins, the classic symbol of winter’s thaw(解冻时期), are returning to Colorado from their migrations some two weeks earlier than in years past. All these changes can throw a food chain in disorder. Some bird species that arrive before the insects reappear may starve to death.

   “Around the world, plants and animals are waking up to an earlier alarm clock than they used to,” says Terry Root, a biologist from Stanford University.  

The underlined word “projected”(in Paragraph 2) probably means “____”.

       A. forced           B. presented         C. indicated       D. predicted

According to the third paragraph, as a result of climate change ____ .

       A. the warm weather wakes animals up earlier

       B. certain trees bloom a season ahead of time

       C. the birds need to change patterns of living

       D. the American holly will flower in late spring

What can we know about robins according to the passage?

       A. Farmers depend on them to tell the time.

      B. They used to come back when spring came.

      C. They used to predict the change of weather.

      D. They usually migrate when seasons change.

What would be the best title for the passage?

       A. Man is to blame for global warming     

       B. Great changes take place on Earth

      C. Bird migration and climate change

       D. Global warming changing nature’s clock

Without proper planning, tourism can cause problems. For example, too many tourists can crowd public places that are also enjoyed by the inhabitants of a country. If tourists create too much traffic, the inhabitants become annoyed and unhappy. They begin to dislike tourists and to treat them impolitely. They forget how much tourism can help the country’s economy. It is important to think about the people of a destination country and how tourism affects them. Tourism should help a country keep the customs and beauty that attract tourists. Tourism should also advance the well-being (health and happiness) of local inhabitants.
Too much tourism can be a problem. If tourism grows too quickly people must leave other jobs to work in the tourism industry. This means that other parts of the country’s economy can suffer.
On the other hand, if there is not enough tourism, people can lose jobs. Businesses can also lose money. It costs a great deal of money to build large hotels, airports, air terminals, first-class roads and other support facilities needed by tourist attractions. For example, a major international-class tourism hotel can cost as much as 50 thousand dollars per room to build. If this room is not used most of the time, the owners of the hotel will lose money.
Building a hotel is just a beginning. There must be many support facilities as well, including roads to get to the hotel, electricity, sewers to handle waste, and water. All of these support facilities cost money. If they are not used because there are not enough tourists, jobs and money are lost.
【小题1】 Which of the following has most probably been discussed in the paragraph that goes before the passage?

A.It is extremely important to develop tourism.
B.Building roads and hotels is essential.
C.Support facilities are highly necessary.
D.Planning is of great importance to tourism.
【小题2】Too much tourism can cause all these problems EXCEPT        .
A.a bad impact on other industries
B.a change of tourists’ customs
C.over crowded of places of interest
D.pressure on traffic
【小题3】 Not enough tourism can lead to         .
A.an increase of unemployment
B.a decrease in tourist attractions
C.the higher cost of support facilities
D.a rise in price and a fall in pay
【小题4】 The word “handle” in the last paragraph most probably means       .
A.carry awayB.pick upC.get inD.take down

As any homemaker who has tried to keep order at the dinner table knows, there is far more to a family meal than food. Sociologist Michael Lewis has been studying 50 families to find out just how much more.

Lewis and his co-workers carried out their study by videotaping(录像) the families while they ate ordinary meals in their own homes. They found that parents with small families talk actively with each other and their children. But as the number of children gets larger, conversation gives way to the parents’ efforts to control the loud noise they make. That can have an important effect on the children. “In general, the more question-asking the parents do, the higher the children’s IQ scores,” Lewis says. “And the more children there are, the less question-asking there is. ”

The study also provides an explanation for why middle children often seem to have a harder time in life than their siblings(兄弟姐妹). Lewis found that in families with three or four children, dinner conversation is likely to center on the oldest child, who has the most to talk about, and the youngest, who needs the most attention. “Middle children are invisible,” says Lewis. “When you see someone get up from the table and walk around during dinner, chances are it’s the middle child.” There is, however, one thing that stops all conversation and prevents anyone from having attention: “When the TV is on,” Lewis says, “dinner is a non-event.”

1.The writer’s purpose in writing the text is to ______.

A.report on the findings of a study

B.teach parents ways to keep order at the dinner table

C.show the relationship between parents and children

D.give information about family problems

2.Parents with large families ask fewer questions at dinner because ______.

A.they are busy serving food to their children

B.they have to pay more attention to younger children

C.they are busy keeping order at the dinner table

D.they are tired out having prepared food for the whole family

3.By saying “Middle children are invisible” in paragraph 3, Lewis means that middle children ______.

A.have to help their parents to serve dinner

B.find it hard to keep up with other children

C.are often kept away from the dinner table

D.get the least attention from the family

4.Which of the following statements would the writer agree to?

A.Parents should talk to each of their children frequently.

B.It is a good idea to have the TV on during dinner.

C.It is important to have the right food for children.

D.Elder children should help the younger ones at dinner.

 

It might sound ridiculous that goal setting could actually hold you back from completing tasks and dreams you may have. But it seems like everyone tells you should be setting goals for everything you want to accomplish, short term and long term. Goals can help you sometimes, but in some cases they just lead to constant frustration and they actually bring you down.

Let's look at this a little closer with an example. A lot of people might set forth as a goal. Many people jump online and are looking to start a business online as a way to make money from home and let's say they set a goal to make $10,000 in their first month. They do this because they seem tons of people making large sums of money in very little time so they think, $10,000 a month, that shouldn't be too hard.

But what happens when you only bring in $1,000 in your first 30 days online? If this is pure profit you might still be happy but this is nowhere near reaching the goal you originally set out to meet. So naturally you would feel like you failed to reach your goal and you may be a little disappointed in yourself.

If you continue not to reach this goal month in month , it starts to add up and really weighs on you. I'm not saying that they are bad and you shouldn't set them but you need to realize that you should not be emotionally attached to your goals.

An alternative approach would be to set certain milestones for when you want to accomplish things and start out small. Build your confidence by accomplishing smaller feats and if you overproduce, then it will be a nice surprise. You have to have some sort of end result in mind but break it down in to a day by day task. It makes it a lot easier for you to handle by just knowing everyday you have to complete a few small tasks and over time the snowball will roll into great things.

1.The purpose of the passage is to _______.

A.show that it’s necessary to set goals

B.prove the disadvantages of setting goals

C.suggest way of setting goals to reach success

D.introduce how to reach success by setting high goals.

2.In Paragraph 2 , the writer used the example to _______.

A.persuade readers not to be greedy for money

B.prove that goals often result in frustration.

C.show goal setting sometimes stops you realizing your dreams

D.advise readers not to set goals to avoid frustration

3.According to the passage, always sticking to our goals is ______.

A.important

B.unnecessary

C.ridiculous

D.natural

4.What belief does the writer most probably hold?

A.The higher goals we set, the more success we’ll achieve

B.Goal setting is not always necessary and helpful

C.We shouldn’t set higher goals than other people

D.Goals should be set for short term and long term.

5.What information will probably be provided following the last paragraph?

A.Another helpful tip for setting goals

B.Benefits of setting small goal

C.Side effects of goal setting

D.Success achieved without goal setting.

 

A healthy amount of sunshine may be the secret to staying young. British scientists have discovered.

    Vitamin D is produced naturally by the skin in response to(对…的反应) sunlight and may help to slow the ageing process and protect against heart disease, according to the study.

    Researchers from King’s College London studied 2,160 women aged between 18 and 79, looking at their telomeres--- a biological marker of ageing found in DNA. As people get older, their telomeres get shorter and they become more susceptible(易受伤害的) to certain illnesses.

    But the study found women with high levels of vitamin D had comparatively longer telomeres--- a sign of being biologically younger and healthier.

    The study suggests vitamin D may help to slow down the ageing process of DNA, and therefore the ageing process as a whole.

    Lead researcher Dr Brent Richards said, “These results are exciting because they show for the first time that people who have higher levels of vitamin D may age more slowly than people with lower levels of vitamin D.” This could help to explain how vitamin D has a protective effect on many ageing related diseases, such as heart disease and cancer.”

Professor Tim Spector, a co-author of the report, added, “Although it might sound absurd

(荒唐的), it’s possible that the same sunshine which may increase our risk of skin cancer may also have a healthy effect on the general ageing process.”

    Vitamin D made by the action of sunlight on the skin accounts for 90 percent of the body’s supply, but lower levels can also be got through food such as fish, eggs and breakfast cereals(粥).

    Other studies have suggested the vitamin plays a key role in protecting against cancer and heart disease.

1. A certain amount of sunshine helps people stay young because _____.

A. people feel happy and energetic in the sun          

B. sunshine protects people against heart disease

C. vitamin D makes one’s skin look young and healthy 

D. vitamin D may help to slow the ageing process

2.From Brent Richards, we know that _____.

    A. sunlight causes skin cancer to people with high level of vitamin D

    B. the study generally has a healthy effect on the general ageing process

    C. vitamin D can only be got from fish, eggs and breakfast cereals

    D. the higher levels of vitamin D people have, the more slowly people may age

3.What can we infer from the passage?

    A. Telomeres are important signs of ageing of the DNA.

    B. Sunlight can be dangerous as it causes skin cancer.

    C. Sunlight does a great deal of good to our health.

    D. Vitamin D can also be gained from food.

4. What is the best title of the passage?   

A. Secret of Staying Young                  B. Vitamin D Helps Slow Ageing

C. Sunlight and Vitamin D                   D. Sunlight and Health

 

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