With the average temperature for January standing at -50C, it is no wonder the Russian village of Oymyakon is the coldest permanently inhabited settlement in the world. Known as the “Pole of Cold”, the coldest ever temperature recorded in Oymyakon was -71.2C. This is the lowest recorded temperature for any permanently inhabited location on Earth and the lowest temperature recorded in the Northern Hemisphere(北半球).

Ironically, Oymyakon actually means “non-freezing water” due to a nearby hot spring. Most homes in Oymyakon still burn coal and wood for heat and enjoy few modern conveniences.

Nothing grows there so people eat reindeer(驯鹿) meat and horsemeat. A single shop provides the town's bare necessities and the locals work as reindeer-breeders, hunters and ice-fisherman.

There are few modern conveniences in the village -- with many buildings still having outdoor toilets -- and most people still burn coal and wood for heat. When coal deliveries are irregular, the power station starts burning wood. If the power ceases, the town shuts down in about five hours, and the pipes freeze and crack.

Daily problems that come with living in Oymyakon include pen ink freezing, glasses freezing to people's faces and batteries losing power. Locals are said to leave their cars running all day for fear of not being able to restart them. Even if there was coverage for mobile phone reception, the phones themselves would not work in such cold conditions.

Another problem caused by the frozen temperatures is burying dead bodies, which can take anything up to three days. The earth must first have thawed(融解) sufficiently in order to dig it, so a bonfire is lit for a couple of hours. Hot coals are then pushed to the side and a hole couple of inches deep is dug. The process is repeated for several days until the hole is deep enough to bury the coffin.

Travel companies offer tourists the opportunity to visit the village and sample life in the freezing conditions.

66. Oymyakon gets its name because ______.

A. it is extremely cold there          B. its water is non-freezing

C. there is a hot spring nearby        D. it is known as the “Pole of Cold”

67. From the passage we can infer that people in Oymyakon _______.

A. seldom have fresh vegetables and fruits     B. prefer meat to any other kind of food

C. can buy anything in the shop              D. might row a boat to catch fish

68. Why do the locals have their cars running all day?

A. They have little awareness of saving       B. They want to keep warm in the car.

C. They have abundant oil resources.         D. They are afraid they can’t get the car started.

69. Mobile phones would not work in Oymyakon because ______.

A. batteries can’t be charged in such conditions           

B. the extreme coldness makes the batteries lose power

C. the butteries are of poor quality

D. there was no coverage for phone reception.

70. Which of the following is the first step when burying a dead body?

A. Hot coals have to be pushed to the side.     B. A bonfire has to be lit first.

C. The coffin must be put in place.           D. A hole couple of inches deep is dug.

Debate: Can stricter gun control laws decrease the rate of crimes involving guns?
    Yes, because with fewer weapons, you get fewer crimes.
       Take a look at the crime rates of countries like the United Kingdom. Their crime rate is very low, compared to ours here in the United States. Just by simply putting stricter laws in place on who can own them, it will greatly reduce the crimes involving guns.
      Posted by: 5h4yGlory

Past Practice

There was an assault weapon(攻击性武器) ban back in 1994 under Bill Clinton. Shootings and crime did not go down for the 10 years when this law was in effect. Criminals do not follow rules. The law only affects those who try to obey the law to arm them to protect themselves.
     Posted by: jb1988

Wake up, you Americans!
        It's hardly surprising that America has one of the highest gun related murder rates of all countries! And of course guns don't kill people, but the more people own guns, the easier it is to get access to one, the higher the chance of people using it to kill somebody is !
     In Germany, we have really strict gun laws and only a few people own guns, and obviously we don't need them. There's no reason that a normal citizen would need a gun! Guns are made for one reason only: killing.
      Posted by: cstephie13   

More gun control laws, fewer shootings 

On the same day as the Sandy Hook tragedy, a man in China entered a primary school with a knife and injured 22 students on December, 14. However, nobody was killed. Compare that to the 26 students and teachers killed at SandyHook in Connecticut with a powerful gun. We must leam something from this tragedy.
     Posted by: Jasonx986

Gun violence goes up with more gun control 

Criminals will take advantage of the situation. They will do whatever they want and take whatever they want and kill whoever gets in their way. They will get guns illegally. Crime rates go up as a result of more gun control, because criminals know you don't have one, and they will kill you as they like. Banning guns doesn't make any sense !
    Posted by: eebnflow
61. According to the first post, in the United Kingdom  ___________.
A. the crime rate is higher than America's     B. the crime rate is rising sharply

C. there is no gun control laws                 D. buying guns is very hard 

62. We can infer that jb1988___________.
A. is against gun control laws              B. was working under Bill Clinton 
C. is in favor of gun control laws                     D. has a gun                                

63. Which of the following does cstephie13 probably agree with?
A. The more people own guns, the more people will be killed by them.

B. The USA has one of the highest murder rates in the world.
C. People need guns to protect themselves in time of danger.
D. Guns are made to protect rather than kill.
64. What do we know about the Sandy Hook tragedy?
A. 22 students and teachers were killed by a powerful gun.
B. 22 students were injured without any deaths.
C. The tragedy took place on December 14 in Connecticut.
D. 26 primary students were killed by a knife.
65. Which of the following thinks that guns should not be controlled?
A.  Jasonx986       B. eebnflow           C. 5h4yGlory                 D. cstephie13     

       Family traditions were important in our house, and none was more appreciated than the perfect Christmas tree.

“Dad, can we watch when you trim (修剪) the tree?” My eldest son, Dan, nine, and his seven-year-old brother John, asked.

“I won’t be cutting this year,” my husband Bob said. “Dan, you and John are old enough to measure things. Do it all by yourselves. Think you boys can handle it?”

Dan and John seemed to grow six inches in their chairs at the thought of such an amazing responsibility. “We can handle it.” Dan promised. “We won’t let your down.”

A few years before Christmas, Dan and John rushed in after school. They gathered the tools they’d need and brought them out to the yard, where the tree waited. I was cooking when I heard the happy sounds as the boys carried the tree into the living room. Then I heard the sound that every mother knows is trouble: dead silence. I hurried out to them. The tree was cut too short. John crossed his arms tight across his chest. His eyes filled with angry tears.

I felt worried. The tree was central to our holiday. I didn’t want the boys to feel ashamed every time they looked at it. I couldn’t lower the ceiling, and I couldn’t raise the floor either. There was no way to undo the damage done. Suddenly, a thought came to my mind, which turned the problem into the solution.”

“We can’t make the tree taller,” I said. “But we can put it on a higher position.”

Dan nodded his head sideways. “We could put it on the coffee table, It just might work! Let’s try it!”

When Bob got home and looked at the big tree on top of the coffee table, Dan and John held their breath.

“What a good idea!” he declared. “Why didn’t I ever think of such a thing?”

John broke into a grin. Dan’s chest swelled with pride.

56. Who trimmed the Christmas tree this year?

A. Dan and John   B. The writer      C. Bob      D. The whole family

57. The underlined part “grow six inches (Para 4) implies the brothers felt _____,

A. scared    B. embarrassed     C. nervous      D. proud

58. What happened after the brothers moved the Christmas tree into the living room?

A. They got angry with each other.  .      B. They found the tree was cut short.

C. They rushed to school                D. They began to decorate the tree.

59. How could the short tree be turned into a perfect one?

A. By making the tree taller.          B. By lowering the ceiling.

C. By placing it on a coffee table.      D. By raising the floor.

60. What Bob said in the last but one paragraph showed_________.

A. he was too stupid to think of the idea     B. he was a little disappointed

C. he should not have given them the task    D. he appreciated what the brothers had done 

Many people think the search for cleaner energy leads only to renewable resources like sun, wind and water. But it __48__ leads to a fossil fuel. Natural gas is considered __49__ cleanest of the fossil fuels, the fuel created by plant and animal remains over millions __50__ years. Burning it releases fewer pollutants __51__ oil or coal. The gas is mainly methane (甲烷). It produces half the carbon dioxide of other fossil fuels. So __52__ may help cut the production of carbon gases linked to climate change.

Russia is first in __53__ are called "proved reserves" of natural gas. The United States is sixth. Over the years, big oil __54__ gas companies recovered much of the easily reached supplies of gas in America. They drilled straight down into formations where gas collects. __55___these supplies were used up, big drillers looked for similar formations in other countries.

It was the end of my junior year, the weekend before a party. I was __36__ around that night with some friends, and a bottle got passed around the car. Everyone was taking swigs (大口喝). Then the bottle got to me. I took a swig. That was the biggest __37__ of my life – I had to drive home later that night.

About a mile from my house, a policeman turned his light bar on and I pulled over and waited for him to come to my door. “Can I see your __38__ and registration please, Miss?” He took them and went back to his car for a while. When he returned, he asked if I had __39__.

“Yes sir.” I said. He asked me to step out of my car.

All of a sudden I felt cold metal on my wrists. He __40__ me right then and there. As I was sitting in the back seat of his car, all I could think was, “God, I’m in so much __41__ my parents are going to kill me.”

The cop drove me to a town twenty minutes from my home. Being arrested was so __42__. The next week I got a lawyer and I went to court two months after that. I got $ 700 in fines, forty hours of community __43__, and had to attend a MADD (Mothers Against Drunk Driving) meeting. I’ll be on probation (缓刑) for a year, and I have to __44__ driver’s education again. And I __45__ my license for a whole year!

This has been a huge learning experience for me. It opened my eyes to how easy it is to make a __46__ decision. I want everyone reading this to know that it’s not right to drink and drive, and it __47__ isn’t worth losing your license.

36．A．running         B．driving          C．riding          D. walking

37．A．problem         B．mistake         C．change         D．challenge

38．A．license          B．card            C．identity        D．passport

39．A．eaten           B．drunk           C．practiced       D. quarreled

40．A．forgave         B．scolded          C．arrested        D．fined

41．A．mess           B．trouble           C．wonder        D．confusion

42．A．common        B．different          C．scary          D．boring

43．A．communication   B．activity          C．service         D．survey

44．A．bring           B．give             C．take           D．make

45．A．held            B．got              C．kept          D．lost

46．A．happy          B．quick            C．difficult        D．stupid

47．A．gradually       B．necessarily        C．possibly        D．definitely

 A large amount of money ______ spent on the Hope Project and a good many schools ______ set up. 

A, are; has been    B. is; have been     C. are; have been       D. is; has been

 ______ time at Hunan Normal University, I’m very impressed with the quality of the teachers and students.

A. Having spent       B. Beijing spent     C. To spend      D. spending

 My tutor always teaches us “A man ______ fail many times, but he isn’t a failure until be began to blame somebody else.”

A. shall           B. must       C. would           D. can

If ever the occasion ______ when I want advice, you’re the first person I’ll come to.

A. will arise          B. has arisen        C. is arising       D. arises

After Queen Elizabeth officially opened the 2012 Summer Olympics, London become the first city ______ three Olympic Games in history.

A. to have hosted        B. hosting        C. hosted       D. having hosted