As we enjoy the summer ocean waves along the beaches, we may think nervously about Steven Spielberg's Jaws and the great fear that sharks inspire in us.Yet we are happy to see global efforts to protect the declining number of sharks.The world has realized that we need the species, like sharks, to keep a balanced ecosystem.

Sharks, in particular, are “in” these days.Thanks to good public policy and famous stars such as Jackie Chan and Ang Lee, killing sharks for fin soup is no longer cool.

The demand for shark fins has been rising for decades, threatening sharks with extinction -- up to 100 million sharks are killed each year just for their fins.But we have started to reverse the trend, particularly in many areas of the United States and overseas where restaurants once proudly provided delicious shark fins on the menu.

In California, a ban on the sale and possession of shark fin soup has gone into effect this year through the efforts of Wild Aid and other organizations.

Overseas marketing and public efforts featuring posters on public transportation systems and TV ads have been underway for the past few years.These efforts all show signs of success, on both the supply side and the demand side of trade in shark fins.

Actually, stopping the killing of sharks is part of a broader movement to stop the killing of wild animals and the buying and selling of wildlife products.These products come from hunting elephants, tigers and rhinos, besides killing marine life.

Whether it is shark fin soup or ivory piano keys, killing animals is big business.The hunting of elephants in search of ivory tusks for luxury(奢侈的)goods has become a full-scale war.The decrease of African elephant populations is alarming.Together with international partners, the United States is leading the worldwide effort to reduce demand for high-end products that rely on killing animals.

1.The underlined word “reverse” in Paragraph 3 probably means _______.

A. follow

B. keep

C. change

D. show

2.From the passage, we know _______.

A. a lot of wild animals have been killed for products

B. Jackie Chan and Ang Lee make fin soup popular

C. Steven Spielberg's Jaws inspires us to protect sharks

D. the number of African elephants has been increased

3.What can we infer from the passage?

A. People have kicked the habit of having shark fin soup.

B. Shark fins will not be available any more in restaurants.

C. Global efforts have succeeded in stopping killing wild animals.

D. More animals for high-end products will be saveD.

Like any good mother, when Karen found out that another baby was on the way, she did what she could to help her three-year-old son, Michael, prepare for a new baby.They found out that it was going to be a girl, and day after day, night after night, Michael ________to his sister in Mommy’s tummy(肚子).He was building a bond of love with his little sister before he even met her.

The pregnancy progressed ________for Karen until the labor pains came.Soon it was every five minutes ...every minute.But something serious ________during delivery.Finally, Michael’s little sister was born.But she was in serious ________ .With siren(警报) howling in the night, the ambulance________the infant(婴儿) to the Intensive Care unit at St.Mary’s Hospital in Knoxville, Tennessee.

The days passed by.The little girl got________ .The doctors told the parents, "There is very little hope."Karen and her husband contacted a local cemetery (墓地) about a burial plot.They had ________a special room in their home for the new baby — now they planned a funeral(葬礼).

After two weeks in Intensive Care, it looked as if a funeral would come ________the week was over.Michael, kept begging his parents to let him see his sister, “I want to sing to her,” he saiD. Kids were never ________ in Intensive Care.But Karen made up her mind to take Michael ________they liked it or not.If he didn’t see his sister now, he may never see her alive.

She________ him in an oversized suit and ________him into ICU.He looked like a walking laundry basket, but the head nurse ________him as a child, “Get that kid out of here now!” The mother rose up strong in Karen, and the usually________ lady glared steel-eyed right into the head nurse’s face, saying in a ________tone of voice, “He is not leaving until he sings to his sister!” Karen towed Michael to his sister’s bedside. He gazed at the tiny baby ________the battle to live.And he began to sing.________the pure hearted voice of a 3-year-old, Michael sang:

“You are my sunshine, my only sunshine, you make me happy when skies are gray…”

________the baby girl responded. The pulse rate began to________down and became steady.

“Keep on singing, Michael.” encouraged Karen.“You never know, dear, how much I love you.Please don’t take my sunshine away…”As Michael sang to his sister, the baby's breath became as smooth as a kitten’s purr.

“Keep on singing, Michael.” “The other night, dear, as I lay sleeping…” Michael’s little sister relaxed as rest, healing rest, seemed to sweep over her.

Funeral plans were________.The next day — the very next day — the little girl was well enough to go home!

The medical staff just called it a miracle.Karen called it a miracle of God’s love!

1.A. sang B. talked C. played D. whispered

2.A. quietly B. toughly C. normally D. hopefully

3.A. rose B. raised C. arose D. aroused

4.A. condition B. place C. situation D. position

5.A. took B. rushed C. carried D. sent

6.A. worse B. better C. conscious D. awake

7.A. made up B. fixed up C. built up D. set up

8.A. until B. when C. after D. before

9.A. asked B. admitted C. allowed D. acknowledged

10.A. no matter B. even if C. whether D. as if

11.A. dressed B. put C. wore D. fit

12.A. forced B. marched C. hid D. followed

13.A. required B. replied C. recognized D. regarded

14.A. mild-mannered B. well-managed C. warm-hearted D. cold-blooded

15.A. tough B. strong C. hard D. firm

16.A. lost B. losing C. lose D. having lost

17.A. In B. On C. At D. With

18.A. Finally B. Patiently C. Instantly D. Interestingly

19.A. quiet B. calm C. slow D. fast

20.A. changed B. prepared C. abandoned D. switched

Two people have died after two separate university shootings in Texas and Arizona, just hours apart. One person was killed and three injured in the first shooting at Northern Arizona University early on Friday. Later that morning a shooting at a student complex near Texas Southern University left one person dead.

In Arizona, police named the gunman there as Steven Jones, an 18-year-old first year student at Northern Arizona University.Mr. Jones told police he was approached by a group of men and attacked. He fled, produced a gun from his pocket and opened fire when the men caught up with him, Arizona police said. Witnesses told police that the victims were unarmed.

The second shooting in Texas happened later on Friday morning at the University Courtyard Apartments on the edge of the Houston campus. One student was killed, a freshman at the school, the university confirmed, and another person was wounded. Two people have been arrested as suspects and a third is still at large, said Houston police spokeswoman Jodi Silva.

The attacks came as President Barack Obama visited families of victims of a college shooting in Oregon. On arriving in Oregon, he was jeered(嘲笑) by gun rights activists who oppose calls he made for tougher gun laws after nine people were killed at Umpqua Community College, Roseburg, last week.

After a private meeting with families, Mr Obama said he had "strong feelings" about gun control, adding: "We are going to have to come together as a country to see how we can prevent these issues from taking place.”

On the edge of this little American town, a few hundred protestors gathered to tell their president he was not welcome. Many were openly carrying handguns to hammer home their message. The demonstrators blamed the shooting here last week on two things: a failure to treat mental health problems and the designation of Umpqua Community College as a gun-free zone. Many of those we spoke to said they had travelled to Roseburg from elsewhere in Oregon to make their voices hear. The hostility to the Democratic president here in Republican rural Oregon was not just political, it was personal.

1.How many people were dead in these two recent university shootings?

A. One.

B. Two.

C. Three.

D. Four.

2.Which of the following is right about the Northern Arizona University shooting?

A. The gunman was about to graduate.

B. It was the victims who started the fight.

C. The gunman shot the victims out of hatrd.

D. The victims attacked the gunman with knives.

3.Mr. Obama probably agreed that ____________.

A. gun control is too strict in most parts of America, especially in universities

B. designation of Umpqua community college as a gun-free zone is a wrong decision

C. Americans should be united to prevent criminal shooting from happening so frequently

D. A failure to treat mental health problems caused the shooting at Umpqua Community College

4.The underlined words in the last paragraph is closest in meaning to ____________.

A. emphasize

B. digest

C. commit

D. respond

In 2012, the Tower of London welcomed two new inhabitants: a pair of ravens(乌鸦) named Jubilee and Grip. Their arrival celebrated the bicentenary(二百周年) of Charles Dickens’s birth. This Grip was the third of the Tower ravens to be named after the novelist’s own pet birD. One of his predecessors(前辈) was resident during World War Two; he and his mate Mabel were the only ravens to survive a bombing attack on the Tower.

Dickens’s Grip, who had an impressive vocabulary, appears as a character in the author’s fifth novel, Barnaby Rudge. On 28 January 1841, Dickens wrote to his friend George Cattermole: “my notion is to have [Barnaby] always in company with a pet raven, who is immeasurably more knowing than himself. To this end I have been studying my bird, and think I could make a very distinctive character of him.”

Unfortunately, just a few weeks after Dickens wrote that letter, Grip died, probably as a result of having stolen and eaten paint some months earlier. The bird had developed a strange habit – tearing sections off painted surfaces (including the family's carriage) and even drinking a quantity of white paint out of a tin. Dickens mourned his loss and wrote a humorous letter to his friend, the illustrator Daniel Maclise, about the raven’s death.

He related how, when Grip began to show signs of sickness, the vet was called and “administered a powerful dose of castor(蓖麻) oil”. Initially this seemed to have a positive effect and the author was thrilled to see Grip restored to his usual personality when he bit the coachman (who was used to the raven and took it in good humor). The following morning, Grip was able to eat “some warm porridge”, but his recovery was short liveD.

As Dickens wrote to Maclise, “On the clock striking twelve he appeared slightly upset, but soon recovered, walking twice or thrice along the coach-house, stopped to bark, exclaimed ‘Hello old girl’ (his favorite expression) and dieD. He behaved throughout with a decent manner, which cannot be too much admireD. .. The children seem rather glad of it. He bit their ankles. But that was play.”

1.Which of the following is right about Dickens’s pet Grip?

A. he liked painting a lot.

B. he could speak English fluently.

C. he was quite ill before his death.

D. he and Mabel survived a bombing attack.

2.Why did Dickens study his bird Grip?

A. Because the bird was very strange looking.

B. Because Dickens liked the bird immeasurably.

C. Because Barnaby needs a companion who was always with him.

D. Because Dickens wanted to base one character of his novel on him.

3.What caused the death of Dickens’s Grip?

A. His old age.

B. His strange diet.

C. The killing of the coachman.

D. His bad habit of biting people.

4.Which of the following can be the best title of the passage?

A. A bird in a novel.

B. The writer’s birD.

C. The death of a birD.

D. Dickens and his bird

The clock struck eleven at night. The whole house was quiet. Everyone was in bed except me. Under the strong light, I looked sadly before a huge pile of troublesome stuff they call “books”.

I was going to have my examination the next day. "When can I go to bed?" I asked myself. I didn’t answer, in fact I dared not.

The clock struck 12"Oh, dear!" I cried, "ten more books to read before I can go to bed!” We pupils are the most wretched creatures in the worlD. Dad does not agree with me on this. He did not have to work so hard when he was a boy ."

The clock struck one. I was quite ho peless now. I forgot all I had learnt. I was too tired to go on. I did the only thing I coulD. I prayed, “Oh, God, Please help me pass the exam tomorrow. I do promise to work hard afterwards, Amen.” My eyes were heavy, so heavy that I could hardly open them. A few minutes later, with my head on the desk, I fell asleep.

1.When the author was going over his lessons, all the others in the house were_____ .

A. asleep

B. working in bed

C. outside

D. quietly laughing at him

2.Reviewing his lessons didn’t help him because ________.

A. it was too late at night

B. he was very tired

C. his eyes l ids were so heavy that he couldn’t keep them open

D. he hadn’t studied hard before the examination

3. What do you suppose happened to the author?

A. He went to a church to pray again

B. He passed the exam by luck

C. He failed in the exam

D. He was punished by his teacher

4.The best title for the passage would be __________ .

A. The Night Before the Examination

B. Working Far into the Night

C. A Slow Student

D. Going Over My Lessons

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