She wrote a month ago, ______ we’ve heard nothing.

A. since when       B. before which     C. since that    D. after which 

We’ve heard about radiation from the damaged nuclear reactors in Japan reaching American shores. Experts say so far there is no reason to worry, and point out that we meet radiation every day. Where and how? NPR’s Renee Montagne posed that question to Peter Caracappa, a radiation safety officer and professor of nuclear engineering.
MONTAGNE: How many things emit radiation?
Dr CARACAPPA: Well, radiation and radioactive material is a part of nature. So everything that’s living has some amount of radiation coming from it—a very small amout. Plus there’s radiation in the ground and the air.
So the extremes are uranium in the soil to bananas?
Yes.
By the way, why do bananas have radiation?
Bananas have a lot of potassium(钾). And a small amount of potassium naturally is called potassium 40, which is radioactive
What’s the difference between radiation that’s harmful and not harmful?
Well, the term radiation can apply to a lot of different things. But the harmful radiation is ionizing(离子)radiation. It has enough energy that it can make chemical changes in material. We could get ionizing radiation from an X-ray, for example. It’s the kind of radiation that causes cancer.
The broader definition of radiation includes a lot of things that we call non-ionizing radiation. That includes everything like radio waves and visible light and your microwave.
So what then is the largest contributor of ionizing radiation?
For the natural sources of ionizing radiation, actually the biggest chunk of that tends to come from radon(氡), which is a radioactive material that is present in the air. It can become a concern when it builds up in low-lying areas of homes like basements.
Would it be fair to say that most people do not need to worry about the danger of being exposed to radiation?
I would say that the everyday exposure to radioation that we meet contributes an extremely tiny risk to our life or to our health compared to all of the other risks that we meet in our day-to-day life.
【小题1】We can infer from the first paragraph that radiation is______.

第二节 完形填空（共20小题；每小题1.5分，满分30分）

阅读下面短文，掌握其大意，然后从各题所给的四个选项中，选出最佳选项。

We’ve heard it before － we’ve heard it on the news, from teachers, from parents －children and teenagers today are growing up too fast. There are not too many people that will   _31  with that statement. Teenagers are faced with serious problems and decisions at an early   _32 . In fact most teenagers’ daily schedules（日程表）are as  33  as those of an adult’s.

    I have been working since I was thirteen, and always in  34  in which I was working with adults. I have had to learn to think and  35  like an adult to be taken seriously. So, I count myself as one who has grown up too fast. I just graduated from high school, and have recently spent some time reflecting（反思）on the  36  eighteen years － thinking about myself, what I have gained, and what  37  I have yet to achieve.

    We are expected to work hard, get excellent  38 , be in a good relationship, and know what we want to do  39 . The list goes on and on. But the  40  is clear: We live in a society today that is  41  our childhood. We no longer have many years to be careless and fancy-free. We are expected to  42  the strict school rules and to excel（擅长）in everything we do.

    I’ve known these things for a long time, and knew that they  43  me. But, I never really admitted it until last night, when I learned a  44  lesson, taught to me by my boss where I work. We had finished a job at a remote site. It was about 11:30 at night, and we had  45  to his house. We were talking about the  46  he had been making to his home. One of the things he said was “I  47  my basketball hoop（篮圈）. ”Then he threw a basketball to me.

    I hadn’t  48  a basketball in five years.

    We proceeded to shoot hoops for about 5 minutes. Both of us were terribly bad at it, but we spent the whole time  49  like children. Then I realized something: I am still a child. Oh, the law says I’m an adult. But, we are still really and truly children. We all need to have  50_   once in a while.

31. A. argue                        B. disagree                    C. satisfy                        D. discuss

32. A. age                                B. stage                          C. year                            D. grade

33. A. certain                B. busy                            C. careful                       D. perfect

34. A. companies              B. factories                         C. positions                   D. offices

35. A. study                        B. speak                         C. work                           D. act

36. A. last                                B. other                          C. rest                             D. coming

37. A. purposes                 B. success                      C. goals                          D. jobs

38. A. textbooks                B. grades                       C. teachers                    D. schools

39. A. in life                   B. in time                       C. for ages                     D. for ever

40. A. information       B. message                   C. notice                         D. idea

41. A. ruining                B. correcting                 C. envying                      D. shortening

42. A. respect               B. accept                        C. learn                           D. follow

43. A. inspired              B. disappointed            C. affected                     D. frightened

44. A. valuable                       B. serious                           C. important                 D. useful

45. A. walked                B. flown back                C. gone back                 D. driven

46. A. furniture                  B. improvements         C. equipment                D. arrangements

47. A. moved                 B. fixed                           C. sold                             D. broke

48. A. played                 B. caught                       C. seen                      D. held

49. A. laughing                   B. shouting                    C. running                      D. shooting

50. A. a rest                        B. a talk                          C. fun                              D. sports

    Eight years ago, my wife and I created the Wish You Well Foundation. Since its start, we’ve funded literacy(读写能力)programs in more than 30 states. We’ve heard unbelievable stories of determination and perseverance(毅力). In Pittsburgh, I met a 30-year-old man who tearfully related how he’d finally learned to read so he could help support his family. In Connecticut, a woman shared her story of finally learning how to read at 50 so she could be able to read to her grandchildren.

    We’ve also started a program called Feeding Body & Mind, operated jointly with Feeding America, which is the distributor for most of the nation’s food banks. The program collects books, then ships them to food banks around the country. That way people go home with food, which they need to live, as well as with books, which they need to change their lives.

    “The program seeks to address the connection between literacy, poverty, and hunger, ”explains Ross Fraser of Feeding America. “Anyone who lacks basic literacy skills will have a very difficult time finding employment that provides a living wage, making them destined(注定) for a lifetime of poverty. Our food banks have a saying, ‘A child who is hungry and cannot learn becomes an adult who cannot earn. ’”

    All of us can join in the fight against illiteracy. Become aware of the literacy rates in your state and county by going to the website at nces. ed. gov/naal, which shows this data. Send a letter to your representatives in Congress asking for increased funds and action. Reach out to local libraries and literacy organizations to learn about becoming a tutor and other volunteering opportunities.

    There is no greater gift than teaching someone to read. With that one skill, you help develop someone’s potential and make it as varied and endless as the stories still waiting to be told.

60. The underlined word “related” in Paragraph 1 probably means “_______”.

A. made a connection

B. learned by heart

C. brought back to one’s mind

D. told a story

61. From Paragraph 2, we can know that _______.

A. books are transported by bus

B. books can change people’s lives

C. Feeding Body & Mind produces food

D. Feeding Body & Mind publishes books

62. From the passage we can know literacy skills have an effect on _______ .

A. finding jobs

B. making friends

C. practicing determination

D. learning skills

63. What’s the purpose of the passage?

A. To call on more people to fight against illiteracy.

B. To encourage more people to visit a website.

C. To call on more people to donate books.

D. To inspire students to read more books.

We’ve heard about radiation from the damaged nuclear reactors in Japan reaching American shores. Experts say so far there is no reason to worry, and point out that we meet radiation every day. Where and how? NPR’s Renee Montagne posed that question to Peter Caracappa, a radiation safety officer and professor of nuclear engineering.

MONTAGNE: How many things emit radiation?

Dr CARACAPPA: Well, radiation and radioactive material is a part of nature. So everything that’s living has some amount of radiation coming from it—a very small amout. Plus there’s radiation in the ground and the air.

So the extremes are uranium in the soil to bananas?

Yes.

By the way, why do bananas have radiation?

Bananas have a lot of potassium(钾). And a small amount of potassium naturally is called potassium 40, which is radioactive

What’s the difference between radiation that’s harmful and not harmful?

Well, the term radiation can apply to a lot of different things. But the harmful radiation is ionizing(离子)radiation. It has enough energy that it can make chemical changes in material. We could get ionizing radiation from an X-ray, for example. It’s the kind of radiation that causes cancer.

The broader definition of radiation includes a lot of things that we call non-ionizing radiation. That includes everything like radio waves and visible light and your microwave.

So what then is the largest contributor of ionizing radiation?

For the natural sources of ionizing radiation, actually the biggest chunk of that tends to come from radon(氡), which is a radioactive material that is present in the air. It can become a concern when it builds up in low-lying areas of homes like basements.

Would it be fair to say that most people do not need to worry about the danger of being exposed to radiation?

I would say that the everyday exposure to radioation that we meet contributes an extremely tiny risk to our life or to our health compared to all of the other risks that we meet in our day-to-day life.

1.We can infer from the first paragraph that radiation is______.

2.The passage may be _______.

3.Whether radiation is harmful or not depends on______.

4.The purpose of writing this passage is to _______.