The War Against Sand

Imagine living on the edge of a vast desert, which is moving quietly closer to your village every day and covering your fields. The desert is on the move. This is called desertification.

Desertification occurs in regions close to an already existing desert.     71     The first is over-use of water in the area. There is not enough water in any case, and if it is not carefully used, disaster can follow. As time goes on, water shortages make farming more and more difficult. In some places, locals can remember local lakes and marshes which were once the homes for all kinds of fish and birds.     72     Farmers leave the land, and fields are replaced by deserts.

The second cause is misuse or over-use of the land.     73     Ploughing(耕) large fields and removing bushes and trees means that the wind will blow away the soil. Once the soil is lost, it is hard to replace, and if there is rain, it has nowhere to go, and brings no benefit.

    74     Every spring, the skies over some of eastern cities, thousands of kilometers away from the deserts, can be darkened by sandstorms. Dust from deserts can have a great effect on weather systems. While desertification is perhaps being partly caused by global warming, these sandstorms can make global warming worse by adding to what is known as the greenhouse effect.

What can be done to slow down or stop the process of desertification? A great deal of work is already under way. Obviously first steps are to find new water sources.     75     Some types of grass also hold the soil together, and stop the wind taking it. Without these efforts, it will be harder and harder to stop the world’s deserts in their tracks, and more and more farmers will give up and head for cities. The lesson to be learnt lies beneath the sand.

A. It generally arises from two related causes.

B. It is not only the farmers and villagers who suffer.

C. They have been completely buried by the sand now.

D. Scientists are doing the research on the cause of desertification.

E. They destroy the land, as the soil dries out and is then blown away.

F. Tree planting can help, by providing barriers between desert and rich field.

G. This means that the wrong crops are planted, and need more water than is available.

What exactly is intelligence? There aren’t any easy answers. Despite the progress that has been made in genetics and psychology, human intelligence has remained one of the most controversial areas of modern science，until now, that is, for the discovery of a gene(基因) linked to intelligence has made the experts think again.

Robert Plomin of the Institute of Psychiatry in London and his colleagues in the US have been looking into genetic make-up. From their research, they have discovered that a slightly different gene is more common in those with a high IQ. Plomin analyzed DNA from two groups of 51 children aged between 6 and 15. What he found was that the first group had an IQ of 136, putting them in the top 5% of the population, while the other group had an average IQ of 103. An analysis of their genes showed that 32% of children in the higher group had the gene in question, while only 16% in the second group did. However, there is a lot more research to be done, and Plomin himself is cautious at this early stage. He suggests that there are probably many genes that contribute to intelligence, rather than just one.

Several studies have shown a strong link between IQ and career success, although some psychologists remain unconvinced about this. Professor Michael Rowe, who has written a book called Genius Explained, is one of these. “The people with the highest IQs are not usually the ones who do best in their careers.”

Many psychologists now believe that when it comes to intelligence, IQ isn’t everything. Many alternative views have been put forward recently. One example is the idea of multiple intelligences, which was developed in the 1980s by Harvard psychologist Howard Gardner. This offers a much broader view than the IQ theory, including creativity and communication skills as relevant factors(因素) in intelligence.

Tony Buzan, brain expert and author of Master your Memory, is enthusiastic about this belief, arguing that true geniuses(天才) do indeed appear to combine high levels of each type of intelligence. He lists Alexander the Great, Pablo Picasso and Albert Einstein as examples. At the same time, Buzan believes that everyone can develop their intelligence, only if they take the trouble to exercise their brain. Perhaps there’s hope for us all!

67. What is the topic of the passage?

A. The relationship between genes and intelligence.

B. IQ benefits a lot from high intelligence.

C. How to develop intelligence.

D. What makes intelligence.

68. Why does the author use data in Paragraph 2?

A. To make a suggestion.             B. To draw a conclusion.

C. To prove an idea.                    D. To give an example.

69. What can we learn from the passage?

A. Robert Plomin confirms genes have something in common.

B. Howard Gardner thinks intelligence includes various factors.

C. Michael Rowe approves of a strong link between IQ and career.

D. Tony Buzan agrees geniuses exercise brain to improve intelligence.

70. What does the underlined word “This” in Paragraph 4 refer to?

A. The development of intelligence.

B. The idea of multiple intelligences.

C. IQ isn’t everything for intelligence.

D. Alternative views have been put forward.

Mark Rothko, one of the greatest painters of the twentieth century, was born in Daugavpils, Latvia in 1903. His family immigrated to the United States in 1913, after a 12-day voyage.

Mark moved to New York in the autumn of 1923 and found employment in the garment trade and settled down on the Upper West Side. It was while he was visiting someone at the Art Students League that he saw students painting a model. According to him, this was the start of his life as an artist. He was twenty years old and had taken some art lessons at school, so his initial experience was far from an immediate calling.

In 1936, Mark Rothko began writing a book, which he never completed, about the similarities in the children’s art and the work of modern painters. The work of modernists, which was influenced by primitive art, could, according to him, be compared to that of children in that “Child art transforms itself into primitivism, which is only the child producing a copy of himself.” In this same work, he said that “The fact that one usually begins with drawing is already academic. We start with colour.”

It was not long before his multiform developed into the style he is remembered for. In 1949 Rothko exhibited these new works at the Betty Parsons Gallery. For reviewer Harold Rosenberg, the paintings were unique and primitive. Rothko had, after painting his first multiform, separated himself from the world in East Hampton on Long Island, only inviting a very few people, including Rosenberg, to view the new paintings. The discovery of his works’ specialty came at a period of great sorrow: his mother Kate died in October 1948. As part of this new uniformity of artistic vision, his paintings no longer had individual titles. From this point on they were simply untitled, numbered or dated. However, to assist in distinguishing one work from another, traders would sometimes add the primary colours to the name. Additionally, for the next few years, Rothko painted in oil only on large vertical tents. This was done to surround the viewer, or, in his words, to make the viewer feel enveloped within the picture.

63. When did Rothko want to be an artist?

A. When he immigrated to the U.S.A.

B. When he watched students drawing.

C. When he moved to the Upper West Side.

D. When he joined the Art Students League.

64. What did Rothko think of modern art?

A. It could be produced by children.

B. It could be compared to child work.

C. It was a certain kind of primitive art.

D. It was academic from the very beginning.

65. Why does the author mention Rothko’s uncompleted book?

A. To prove Rothko’s concentration on painting.

B. To show Rothko’s research on the modern art.

C. To suggest Rothko’s unique personal painting style.

D. To explain the inspiration of Rothko’s painting style.

66. Rothko’s distinctive style ______.

A. took shape in 1948

B. was affected by Rosenberg

C. resulted from his boyhood experience                          

D. was rooted in the separation from the world

When expanded families­­—children, parents, grandparents, aunts and uncles­­—lived in the same town and sometimes in the same house, a relative of the working parents took care of the children. But beginning with the Industrial Revolution, people moved away from farms and small towns to find better job chances in larger cities. Gradually nuclear families are often seen in the society, but there also appears the immediate family, with either the mother or the father living with the children because of divorce. Another variation is the mixed family, the result of a marriage between a previously married man and woman who combine the children from their former marriages into a new family.

Since 1950s and 1960s, a trend that has appeared is the sharing of child-care responsibilities between husband and wife. More and more women are working outside the home. Around 70 percent of women with children under 18 have other jobs besides that of mother and homemaker. Most are employed in traditional fields for females, such as sales, education, and service. Some are engineers, politicians, doctors, lawyers, and scientists. And at the end of twentieth century, even a few have begun to occupy vital positions in business, government, and banking, breaking through the so-called glass ceiling.

Money matters influence women to work. Some are employed full time, some part time, and some seek creative solutions such as flex-time work schedules and job sharing. Many are single mothers, in single-parent family, raising children by themselves. But in most cases, one income in the household is simply not enough, so both parents must work to support the family. The men are no longer the only breadwinners.

So who watches the children while the parents work? Answers to this question are varied. Some parents put children in day-care centers. Some parents put children in informal day-care centers in private homes. Companies and hospitals are realizing that providing day care at the workplace makes for happier and more productive employees. Some wealthy families can have a nanny, a woman who comes to care for the children in their own home. Many of these child-care workers are from other areas, e.g. South America and Eastern Europe.

From the last decade, the accessibility of technology­­—computers, faxes, teleconferencing­­—has made it easier for at-home workers to be constantly in touch. Will this new flexibility in the work force bring a positive change for taking care of children? Only time will tell.

59. What is an immediate family according to the passage?

A. An expanded family.                B. A mixed family.

C. A nuclear family.                     D. A single-parent family.

60. What can be inferred from Paragraph 2?

A. Women can get to the top positions easily.

B. Educated women are employed in many fields.

C. Women have more and more chances to work outside.

D. More and more women have children at very young age.

61. Employers make their employees more productive by ______.

A. putting their children in private centers

B. offering office equipments to workers

C. providing day care at the workplace

D. allowing them to work at home

62. Which of the following could be the best title of the passage?

A. Who Takes Care of Children?          B. Why do Women Work Outside?

C. What Benefits Single Parents?          D. How do People Support Families?

Goddington Theater

The Goddington Theater Ticket Office is open from 10 a.m. until 4 p.m. Monday to Friday, and for half an hour in the evening before the advertised start time of each performance.

Telephone bookings

²        Your tickets are held at the Ticket Office for you to collect or, if you prefer, a charge of 35 cents is made to post them to you if you pay by cash. We’ll post them to you for free if you book by credit card. No extra charge.

Postal bookings

²        You can write to the Ticket Office requesting tickets, or to confirm a reservation.

Where to find Goddington Theater

²        Goddington Theater can be found within the Goddington University site, next to the car park, which is available for public use after 5 p.m. on weekdays and all day on weekends.

If travelling by car

²        Coming from the south end of Princes Street, you will see the library on your right. Next to the library is Goddington University. Take the next turning on the right, then first right into the car park gate straight ahead of you, stopping as close as possible to the orange machine. Put a $ 1 coin in the machine and the gate will rise.

If travelling by train/bus/ taxi

²        You will need to allow 30 minutes to walk from the train station. Taxis are available from the front of the station.

²        The University is a 5 to 10 minutes’ walk from the main bus station.

²        When ordering a taxi from the theater, ask to be picked up at the bottom of North Street. Taxis will not come into the car park because of the entrance charge.

56. You can book your tickets ________.

A. at 9 a.m. on Monday          B. at 5 p.m. on Wednesday

C. at noon on workdays           D. at lunch time on weekends 

57. Where is the Goddington Theater?

A. In the Goddington university.

B. On the right of the Ticket Office.

C. To the south of Princes Street.

D. At the bottom of North Street.

58. What can we learn from the passage?

A. You can find a free parking place in the university.

B. You have to collect your tickets if you pay by credit card.

C. Tickets paid by cash will be posted to you at no extra charge.

D. Taxi drivers are unwilling to pick up customers inside the car park.

Little Bit

“Meow, meow, meow,” is what I heard as I walked through the alley. I approached the noise and noticed a tail sticking out from under a piece of wood. Under the wood was a   36   black and white cat. I picked him up and   37   he must be freezing to death. I   38   home with the cat held in my jacket.

My new best friend, who soon became known as Little Bit, received his name because he was almost   39   when I held him in my hands. He stood about five inches tall. Little Bit’s small size had a great advantage — he   40   perfectly in the pocket of my jacket, which made   41  him everywhere very easy. Any time I was home, he wouldn’t leave my   42  . He was always eager to play with me. When I fell asleep at night, he would always   43   up around my head to ensure that I was warm.

Unfortunately, I grew up. My teenage life   44   my relationship with Little Bit. I lived at such a fast pace that I stopped   45   time for him. My free time was spent with my friends instead. I would come in the house on my phone and not   46   him at all. His meows became an annoyance to me, but it wasn’t his   47   that he wanted his best friend back.

Time had caused a   48   to Little Bit. His body began   49   down and by the time I realized something was wrong with him, he had already lost his balance. He lay there and looked at me, and   50   this day I still remember the   51   look in his bright green eyes. I took him to the vet (兽医), but there was nothing he could do. The last time I   52   him he wasn’t the same tiny cat I had found ten years before. Little Bit filled my arms and he was put to sleep that day.

Little Bit’s   53   made me realize how much he meant to me. He was always there for me when I needed him. I   54   our last years together and I feel sorry for not always being there for him. I will always   55   the special memories we made.

36. A. lovely                 B. tiny                   C. pretty                D. friendly

37. A. agreed                B. insisted              C. realized             D. proved

38. A. left                            B. stayed               C. drove                D. hurried

39. A. weightless           B. useless              C. breathless          D. hopeless

40. A. grew                  B. fitted                 C. played               D. existed  

41. A. showing              B. keeping             C. taking               D. guiding

42. A. mind                   B. heart                 C. body                 D. side

43. A. rise                     B. stand                 C. wake                D. roll

44. A. weakened            B. fastened            C. deepened           D. sharpened

45. A. making               B. losing                C. wasting             D. gaining

46. A. overlook             B. interrupt            C. acknowledge     D. recognize

47. A. desire                 B. purpose             C. fault                  D. greed

48. A. fear                    B. loss                   C. delay                 D. concern

49. A. dropping             B. tearing               C. calming             D. shutting

50. A. on                      B. to                            C. in                            D. for

51. A. shameful             B. hateful               C. harmful             D. sorrowful

52. A. helped                 B. protected           C. held                  D. cured

53. A. illness                 B. death                 C. sadness             D. pressure

54. A. regret                 B. bother               C. confuse             D. dream

55. A. treasure                     B. admire               C. evaluate             D. explore  

 Sam remembered several occasions in the past ______ he had experienced a similar feeling.

A. what                    B. which                      C. where                      D. why

 Has it ever struck you ______ it would be like to have no one you could trust?

A. that                      B. who                         C. which                      D. what

 Many of the students who hope to enter the university will be disappointed because only one third ______ for admission will be accepted.

A. apply                    B. to apply                    C. applied                     D. applying

— I don’t think I want to live in the dormitory next year.

— But check out the cost first. I wouldn’t be surprised if you ______ your mind.

A. changed B. will change C. have changed D. would have changed