I Went Skydiving at 84!

As a young girl growing up in the 1930s, I always wanted to fly a plane, but back then it was almost unheard of for a woman to do that. I got a taste of that dream in 2001,when my husband arranged for me to ride in a hot air balloon for my birthday. But the experience turned out to be very dull. Around that time, I told my husband that I wanted to skydive. So when our retirement community(社区)announced that they were having an essay competition and the topic was an experience of a lifetime that you wanted to have, I decided to write about my dream.

In the essay, I wrote about my desire to skydive, stating George Brush Sr. did it at age 80. Why not me? I was just 84 and in pretty good health. A year went by and I heard nothing. But then at a community party in late April 2009, they announced that I was one of the winners. I just couldn’t believe it. Inspired by this, I decided to realize my dream, even though some of my family members and my doctor were against it.

On June 11, 2009, nearly 40 of my family and friends gathered in the area close to where I would land while I headed up in the airplane. My instructor, Jay, guided me through the experience. The plane was the noisiest one I had ever been in, but I wasn’t frightened—I was really just looking forward to the experience. When we reached 13,000 feet, Jay instructed me to throw myself out of the plane. When we first hit the air, the wind was so strong that I could hardly breathe. For a second I thought, “What have I gotten myself into?” But then everything got calmer. We were in a free fall for about a minute before Jay opened the parachute(降落伞), then we just floated downward for about five minutes. Being up in the clouds and looking at the view below was unlike anything I have ever felt—much better than the hot air balloon. I was just enjoying it.

Skydiving was really one of the greatest experiences of my life. I hope other people will look at me and realize that you don’t stop living just because you are 84 years old. If there’s something you want to experience, look into it. If it’s something that is possible, make it happen.

 

1.What happened to the author in 2001?

A. She flew an airplane              B. She entered a competition

C. She went on a hot air balloon ride   D. She moved into a retirement community

2.The author mentioned George Bush Sr. in her essay to       .

A. build up her own reputation        B. show her admiration for him

C. compare their health condition      D. make her argument persuasive

3.How did the author feel immediately after she jumped out of the plane?

A. Excited           B. Scared      C. Nervous        D. Regretful

4.What did the author enjoy most when she was skydiving?

A. The beautiful clouds     B. The wonderful view

C. The company of Jay     D. The one-minute free fall

5.Which word could be used to replace the word “instructor,” in Paragraph 3?

     A. doctor             B. conductor       C. pilot        D. trainer

 

第三部分阅读理解(共两节,满分40分)

第一节(共15小题;每小题2分,满分30分)

  阅读下列短文,从每题所给的四个选项(A、B、C和D)中,选出最佳选项,并在答题卡上将该项涂黑。

A

  Soon it may be harder to stop and smell the roses.

  Growing levels of air pollution from power plants and automobiles have reduced flower fragrances (芬芳) by up to 90 percent in the US.That is compared with pre-industrial levels,a new study has found.

  The trend is unpleasant for human noses,but may be life - threatening for bees and butterflies.

  "Many insects find flowers by folowing the scent(香味) produced by those flowers," said the studies lead author Jose D.Fuentes,an environmental scientist at the University of Virginia.

  "The increasing pollution makes it difficult for them to locate the flowers and feed on their nectar(花蜜)."

  Scientists have alrady known that flowers produce scent molecules(分子) that bond with pollutants.The process breaks down the plants' sweet smell.

  With more pollution in the air,the scent molecules don't remain effective as long and travel shorter distances on the wind.

  The new study suggests that in the mid - 19th century,when pollution levels were first recorded,scent molecules would have been able to travel some 1,000 to 1,200 meters.

  Today,in the polluted air found downwind of large cities,scentst may only make it some 200 to 300 meters.

  The report was recently published in the journal,Atmospheric Environment.

  Bee farmers have reported that bee populations are dropping dramatically in many parts of the world in recent years. Could these missing scents be a factor?

  Scientists trying to hind the cause of bee population declines have blamed bacteria,pesticides,and even cellphone radiation.

  Jay Evans,an entomologist(昆虫学者) at the US Department of Agriculture's bee research laboratory,was interested in the new study.But he says he hasn't seen bee behavior that suggests trouble with scents.

  "Over the last couple of summers I don't think the bees in this area were bringing in much less food,"he said.

  "It might be that they had to work harder,but it seems like as long as there were bees to collect food they were finding flowers somewhere."

  But Fuentes fears that the fading smell of flowers may stress insects that are already faced with other threats.

  "The effects shown in these studies will simply exacerbate whatever the bees are going through right now,"he said.

  "It's something that is really worthwhile paying attention to."

  56.What's the passage mainly about?

   A.How greatly air plooution affects our lives.

   B.Effects of air pollution on bee populations.

   C.Measures to fight air pollution.

   D.The rapid decline of bee populations in the world.

  57.According to the passage,Jay Evans probably agrees that ______ .

   A.bees are the insect that suffers most from air pollution

   B.bees are at risk of dying out owing to air pollution

   C.the fading smell of flowers doesn't affect bees so greatly as was thought

   D.as is often the case,bees fail to locate the flowers because of the missing scents

  58.The word"exacerbate" in the last paragraph but one probably means ______.

   A.worsen B.improve C.get rid of D.decrease

  59.Which of the following is NOT true according to the passage?

   A.The more air pollution there is in a region,the greater the destruction of the flower scents.

   B.Bacteria,pesticides,and cellphone radiation are blamed for causing the decline of bees.

   C.The scent molecules produced by flowers in a less polluted environment oculd travel longer and farther.

   D.Air pollution does more harm to insects such as bees and butterflies than human beings.

 

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