Getting close to active or erupting volcanoes can be dangerous. But for Michael Rampino, it’s all in a day’s work. Rampino is a volcanologist, a scientist who studies volcanoes and how they affect our planet. Rampino has been close to red-hot lava flows (熔岩流) in Hawaii and explosive volcanoes in Indonesia. He knows when to get close to an active volcano and when to back away.

Rampino wasn’t always a volcanologist. He worked for NASA for seven years. He studied rocks until he began to research climate change and the effects that volcanoes have on climate. He became interested in the subject. “Once I started working with volcanoes,” Rampino said, “I was hooked.”

Rampino is a professor at New York University. As part of his job, he travels to areas where volcanoes have been active. “Active” means they have erupted within the past few centuries and probably will erupt again. Rampino studies the deposits (沉积物) of ash and other materials from the eruptions. The ash may hold clues to what happened to the Earth in the distant past. It may also help scientists predict what could happen to Earth’s climate in the future.

Rampino doesn’t work alone. He works with a team of scientists who use computers to stimulate (模拟) the effects volcanoes have on Earth’s atmosphere.

Being a volcanologist may be hard work, but it’s also fun. “It’s cool traveling the world studying “to understand the events that have shaped Earth’s history.”

1.To Rampino, being close to active volcanoes is _____.

A．scary but necessary                     B．adventurous but meaningful

C．impossible and unnecessary               D．dangerous but urgent

2.The underlined word “hooked” in Paragraph 2 probably means “_____”.

A．trapped           B．touched           C．attracted          D．frightened

3.Rampino’s study on volcanoes might help _____.

A．warn people to protect the environment

B．support the study of Earth’s future climate

C．tell the future eruption time of the volcanoes

D．reduce the possibility of the volcanoes’ eruptions

4.In which part of a newspaper could we find this text?

A．People.           B．History.           C．Climate.           D．Business.

Robert Frost was one of America’s best known and most honored serious writers. But his fame came late in his life.

He was born in San Francisco, California in 1874. He lived in California during his early  childhood. He was named after the chief Southern general in America’s Civil War. The general’s name was Robert Edward Lee. The poet was named Robert Lee Frost, because his father wanted to honor the general.

    Someone once asked another American writer, Ernest Hemingway, how to become a writer. The best thing, he said, was to have an unhappy childhood. If this is true, Robert Frost’s childhood was unhappy enough to make him a very good writer. Robert Frost’s father was a reporter who wanted to be a politician. He often drank too much wine and became angry. Robert was the victim (受害者) of his anger.

    Robert Frost finished high school in 1891. After high school, Robert’s grandfather offered to pay his costs at Dartmouth College. But Robert left the school after a few months. He did not like it. He spent the next few years working at different jobs. At one time, he worked in a factory. Later, he repaired shoes. He was a teacher. He was a reporter. Always, he wrote poetry.

    Robert Frost attended Harvard University for two years. After that, he returned to the many jobs  he held before. For a while, Frost tried to take care of a farm in the state of New Hampshire. He was not a successful farmer. And he continued to write poetry. He said that until 1930, he earned only about ten dollars a year from writing.

    In 1912, he decided to try to make a new start. He took his family to Britain. The cost of living was low. In Britain, Frost found a publisher for his first book of poems. The book was called A Boy’s Will. When it appeared in 1913. Frost received high praise from British readers. Praise was something he had not received in his own country.

    Ezra Pound, another American poet living in Britain, read the poems and liked them very much. He wrote a magazine article about Frost. He also helped get Frost’s second book of poems published in America. That book was called North of Boston.

1.The followings are writers EXCEPT ________.

A. Robert Edward Lee                 B. Robert Lee Frost

C. Ernest Hemingway                  D. Ezra Pound

2.The passage wrote about Hemingway in order to show that

A. he had great influence on Frost’s poetry and life

B. Frost’ s poetry style was the same as Hemingway’s

C. Frost was unhappy because he was the victim of his father

D. Frost spent his childhood unhappily

3.What can we learn from the passage?

A. Once Frost’s first book was published he gained great praise in his country.

B. After leaving Harvard University, he began to learn to write poetry.

C. Frost was found lo have a gift in poetry while he studied in high school.

D. Robert Frost’s father was angry and drank a lot because he didn’t realize his dream.

4.What’s the passage mainly about?

A. Robert Frost’s unhappy childhood. B. Robert Frost’s first and second book.

C. Robert Frost’s family and jobs.  D. Robert Frost’s life and poetry.

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

  F . Scott Fitzgerald, born on September 24,1896, an American novelist, w  as once a student of St.Paul Academy, the Newman School and attended Princeton. University for a short while. In 1917 he joined the army and was posted in Alabama, where he met his future wife Zelda Sayre. Then he had to make some money to impress her.

  His life with her was full of great happiness, as he wrote in his diary :“ My own happiness in the past often approached such joy that I could share it even with the person dearest to me but had to walk it away in quiet streets and take down parts of it in my diary.”

  This side of paradise, his first novel, was published in 1920. encouraged by its success, Fitzgerald began to devote more time to his writing. Then he continued with the novel the Beautiful and Damned (1922), a collection of short stories Thales of the Jazz Age (1922), and a play The Vegetable (1923). But his greatest success was The Great Gatsby, published in 1925,which quick brought him praise from the literary world. Yet it failed to give him the needed financial security. Then, in 1926, he published another collection lf short stories All the Sad Young Men.

However, Fitzgerald’s problems with his wife Zelda affected his writing. During the 1920s he tried to reorder his life, but failed. By 1930, his wife had her first breakdown and went to a Swiss clinic. During this period he completed novels Tender Is the Night in 1934 and The love of the last Tycoon in 1940. while his wife was in hospital in the United States, he got totally addicted to alcohol. Sheila Graham, his dear friend, helped him fight his alcoholism.

56. How many novels written by Fitzgerald are mentioned in the passage ?

A. 5            B. 6            C. 7               D. 8

57. Which of the following is the correct order to describe Fitzgerald’s life according to the passage?

a. He became addicted to drinking.

b. He studied at St.Paul Academy.

c. He published his first novel This Side of Paradise.

d. The Great Gatsby won high praise.

e. He failed to reorder his life.

f. He joined the army and met Zelda.

A.f-c-e-a-b-d       B. b-e-a-f-c-d        C. f-d-e-c-b-a      D. b-f-c-d-e-a

58. We can infer from the passage that Fitzgerald            .

A. had made some money when he met Zelda in Alabama.

  B. was well educated and well off before he served in the army

  C. would have completed more works if his wife hadn’t broken down

D. helped his friend get rid of drinking while his wife was in hospital

59. The passage is probably followed by a concluding paragraph about          .

A. Zelda’s personal life

 B. Zelda’s illness and treatment

 C. Fitzgerald’s friendship with Graham

 D. Fitzgerald’s contributions to the literary world

Here is an unusual story: a diamond ring was recently found in an egg. The magician, Liu Qian, discovered it, in front of an audience of millions at CCTV`s Spring Festival Gala. Liu`s magic tricks have made the centuries-old art of magic fashionable (时髦的)once again, and made him the hottest magician in China.

 As a seasoned (老练的) young magician from Taiwan, Liu is popular worldwide for his magic shows. Countries he has performed in include the United States, Japan, South Korea and the UK.

 Witnessing (目击)something impossible happen right before your eyes is the root of people`s love for magic.

 Liu is known for his interaction(互动) with his audiences. He has a special understanding of performing skills.

 “It is actually thinking , rather than one`s performing skills, that is more important to achieve a successful magic show. We think carefully about how to design the shows creatively，to make them appear more attractive.” Liu said.

 Liu Qian`s success dates back to his childhood. Born in 1976 in Taiwan, he found himself attracted to a magic toy in a shop when he was seven years old. At the age of 12, he won Taiwan`s Youth Contest, which was judged by the great American magician, David Copperfield.

 Yet, Liu never planned on becoming a professional magician. He studied Japanese literature at university and only hoped to be an amateur (业余的) magician in his spare time. However, his failure to find a decent (体面的) job after graduation pushed him towards magic as a career.

 To improve his performing skills, he has performed on streets, roads and fields, for passers-by, policemen and farmers.

 “Street shows are the biggest challenge for us magicians. We have to deal with unexpected situations and tough(难对付的) crowds.” Liu said.

The story is about _________.

A. how Liu Qian became China`s hottest magician

B. why people love magic

C. what magic tricks are

D. what fashionable magic is

People love to watch magic because __________.

A. they can`t figure out the secret of magic

B. it arouses their curiosity

C. they love watching magicians make the impossible happen

D. it is a centuries-old art

Which of the following is the key reason that Liu Qian decided to make magic his career?

A. He was interested in magic when he was little

B. He had won Taiwan`s Youth Magic Contest

C. He became an amateur magician in his spare time

D. He couldn`t find a decent job after graduation

From the story, we know that________.

A. Liu Qian competed in many magic competitions

B. Liu Qian often invites audiences to be in his magic shows

C. Liu Qian performs on streets in order to increase his fame 

D. Liu Qian does street shows to make money    

I Don’t Think I Wrote Wrong
Lao Yang was born in a small town. He liked reading when he studied at school. He thought the writers were respected(尊敬) and could get a lot of money. He wrote a lot of stories and posted them to the editorial departments (编辑部) but didn’t receive any answers.
Now he works in a factory. He’s busy at work. When he’s free, he always reads something. He always remembers he hoped to be a writer when he was young. One day, Xiao Ping, his ten-year-old daughter, came back. She looked worried and didn’t eat anything. She said Miss GAO, her Chinese teacher, told them to write a solicit article(征文) “My Father” that evening. But she did not know what to write.
“That’s easy,” said Lao Yang. “Let me help you.”
Then he sat down to write the solicit article at once. He easily finished it on time. He was sure Miss GAO would like it. But one afternoon he asked his daughter if the article had been chosen to post to the editorial department.
“My teacher said your article digressed from the subject(离题),” said the girl.
“I don’t think so,” Lao Yang shouted angrily. “I described(描写) just my father!”
【小题1】.. Lao Yang wrote a lot of stories because _______.