The heart of Mexico is a high, oval valley surrounded by mountains. Once, forests covered the mountainsides, and broad, shining lakes covered nearly all the valley floor. Now, the mountains are bare and scarred with erosion（侵蚀）, and much of the valley floor is dry and dusty.

Cortez and his Spanish soldiers were the first Europeans to enter this valley. They saw the thriving Aztec city of Tenochtitlan rising from an island in one of the lakes. Surrounding it were green floating gardens. The Spaniards said it was as beautiful as a dream. Then the conquest  began. 

By 1521, when the Spaniards had conquered the fierce Aztecs, the island city was in ruins. Cortez decided to rebuild it after the pattern of European cities. Using the conquered Aztecs as slave laborers, Cortez built the new city, now Mexico City, in just four years.

“But a generation had scarcely passed after the conquest before a sad change came over these scenes so beautiful,” writes one historian. The broad, shining lakes began to dry up.

Modern historians believe that Cortez began the destruction of the valley’s lakes when be ordered the city rebuilt. A great deal of charcoal was needed to burn the limestone (石灰石) from which cement (水泥) and mortar were made. Wood was needed to finish the interiors of the buildings.

The mountainside forests were destroyed to provide the charcoal and wood. Once the sloped were bare, rainfall o longer seeped (渗漏) slowly into the earth to feed the springs that filled the valley’s lakes. Instead, rainfall poured off the mountainsides the city from floods, later rulers made a cut through the mountains so that the water drained away into another valley. Mexico City, once an island, had become a city of a dry plain.

The underlined word “thriving” in the second paragraph means _______.

A. developing successfully          B. increasing

C. failing                         D. growing little

Which statement does this article lead you to believe?

Keeping nature’s balance is not important any more.

Men thought nature’s resources would last forever.

New forests always automatically replace old ones.

The Aztecs didn’t begin to flourish until Cortez came.

Why did later rulers cut through the mountains ?

They wanted to fill the city with rainwater.

They wanted the valleys to flood regularly.

They wanted to plant more trees.

They wanted to protect the city from floods.

One the whole, the article tells about ______.

Mexico as it looked when it was a European city

Modern historians who write about Mexico City

Mexico city before and after the Spaniards came

The beautiful scenery in Mexico

What is the author’s purpose of writing this article?

A .To tell the beauty and ugliness of Mexico City

B. To introduce the terrible change of Mexico City

C. To explain how Mexico City changed

D. To make people aware of the importance of nature balance

This is time of year when we think about giving and receiving presents. Can you find a little extra to give? On this page we suggest a few organizations you might like to help.

       Littleton Children’s Home

       We don’t want your money, but children’s toys, books and clothes in good condition would be very welcome.

       Also—we are looking for friendly families who would take our children into their homes for a few hours or days as guests. You have so much—will you share it?

       Phone Sister Thomas on 55671.

       Children’s Hospice

       We look after a small number of very sick children. This important work needs skill and love. We cannot continue without gifts of money to pay for more nursing staff. We also need story books and toys suitable for quiet games.

       Please contact The Secretary, Little Children’s Hospice, Newby Road.w.^w.k.s.5*u.c.#o@m

       Street Food

       In the winter weather, it’s no fun being homeless. It’s even worse if you’re hungry. We give hot food to at least fifty people every night. It’s hard work, but necessary. Can you come and help? If not, can you find a little money? We use a very old kitchen, and we urgently need some new saucepans. Money for new ones would be most welcome indeed.

       Contact Street Food, c/o Mary’s House, Elming Way, Littleton. Phone 27713.

       Littleton Youth Club

       Have you got an unwanted chair?—a record player?—a pot of paint?

       Because we can use them!

       We want to get to work on our meeting room!

       Please phone 66231 and we’ll be happy to collect anything you can give us.

       Thank you!

       The Night Shelter

       We offer a warm bed for the night to anyone who has nowhere to go. We rent the former Commercial Hotel on Green Street. Although it is not expensive, we never seem to have quite enough money. Can you let us have a few pounds? Any amount, however small, will be such a help.

       Send it to us at 15, Green St, Littleton. Please make check payable to Night Shelter.

Reading the passage, you might like to help these organizations which work for     

       A．homeless and sick children    

       B．less fortunate members of our society   

       C．hungry people who have no beds to sleep in 

       D．friendly members of our society to help others

If you like children and can offer a happy family to a homeless child, you may go to      .

A．Street Food  B．Night Shelter     C．Children’s Home   D．Children’s Hospice

We can infer that       .

       A．there are too many social problems in this country      

       B．people are very poor during the time for giving presents     

       C．warm-hearted people like to give away money     

       D．this passage is taken from a local newspaper

If your child has grown up, you may take the child’s things to        .         

       A．Children’s Home and Children’s Hospice  B．Youth Club and Children’s Home     

       C．Children’s Hospice and Night Shelter     D．Youth Club and Night Shelter

This is time of year when we think about giving and receiving presents．Can you find a little extra to give? On this page we suggest a few organizations you might like to help．

       Littleton Children’s Home

       We don’t want your money, but children’s toys, books and clothes in good condition would be very welcome．

       Also, we are looking for friendly families who would take our children into their homes for a few hours or days as guests．You have so much—will you share it?

       Phone Sister Thomas on 55671．

       Children’s Hospice

       We look after a small number of very sick children．This important work needs skill and love．We cannot continue without gifts of money to pay for more nursing staff．We also need story books and toys suitable for quiet games．

       Please contact The Secretary, Little Children’s Hospice, Newby Road．

       Street Food

       In the winter weather, it’s no fun being homeless．It’s even worse if you’re hungry．We give hot food to at least fifty people every night．It’s hard work, but necessary．Can you come and help? If not, can you find a little money? We use a very old kitchen, and we badly need some new saucepans．Money for new ones would be most welcome indeed．

       Contact Street Food, c/o Mary’s House, Elming Way, Littleton．Phone 27713．

       Littleton Youth Club

       Have you got an unwanted chair?—a record player?—a pot of paint?

       Because we can use them!

       We want to get to work on our meeting room!

       Please phone 66231 and we’ll be happy to collect anything you can give us．

       Thank you!

       The Night Shelter

       We offer a warm bed for the night to anyone who has nowhere to go．We rent the former Commercial Hotel on Green Street．Although it is not expensive, we never seem to have quite enough money．Can you let us have a few pounds? Any amount, however small, will be such a help．

       Send it to us at 15, Green St, Littleton．Please make check payable to Night Shelter．

Reading the passage, you might like to help these organizations which work for

       A．homeless and sick children

       B．less fortunate members of our society

       C．hungry people who have no beds to sleep in

       D．friendly members of our society to help others

We can infer that       ．

       A．there are too many social problems in this country

       B．people are very poor during the time for giving presents

       C．warm-hearted people like to give away money

       D．this passage is taken from a local newspaper

If your child has grown up, you may take the child’s things to        ．

       A．Children’s Home and Children’s Hospice

       B．Youth Club and Children’s Home

       C．Children’s Hospice and Night Shelter

       D．Youth Club and Night Shelter

This is time of year when we think about giving and receiving presents. Can you find a little extra to give? On this page we suggest a few organizations you might like to help.
Littleton Children’s Home
We don’t want your money, but children’s toys, books and clothes in good condition would be very welcome.
Also—we are looking for friendly families who would take our children into their homes for a few hours or days as guests. You have so much—will you share it?
Phone Sister Thomas on 55671.
Children’s Hospice
We look after a small number of very sick children. This important work needs skill and love. We cannot continue without gifts of money to pay for more nursing staff. We also need story books and toys suitable for quiet games.
Please contact The Secretary, Little Children’s Hospice, Newby Road.w.^w.k.s.5*u.c.#o@m
Street Food
In the winter weather, it’s no fun being homeless. It’s even worse if you’re hungry. We give hot food to at least fifty people every night. It’s hard work, but necessary. Can you come and help? If not, can you find a little money? We use a very old kitchen, and we urgently need some new saucepans. Money for new ones would be most welcome indeed.
Contact Street Food, c/o Mary’s House, Elming Way, Littleton. Phone 27713.
Littleton Youth Club
Have you got an unwanted chair?—a record player?—a pot of paint?
Because we can use them!
We want to get to work on our meeting room!
Please phone 66231 and we’ll be happy to collect anything you can give us.
Thank you!
The Night Shelter
We offer a warm bed for the night to anyone who has nowhere to go. We rent the former Commercial Hotel on Green Street. Although it is not expensive, we never seem to have quite enough money. Can you let us have a few pounds? Any amount, however small, will be such a help.
Send it to us at 15, Green St, Littleton. Please make check payable to Night Shelter.
【小题1】Reading the passage, you might like to help these organizations which work for     

D
This is a time of year when we think about giving and receiving presents. Can you find little extra to give? On this page we suggest a few organizations you might like to help.
Littleton Children’d Home
We DON’T want your money, but children’s toys, books and clothes IN GOOD CONDITION would be very welcome.
Also,we are looking for friendly families who would take our children into their homes for a few hours or days as guests. You have so much —will you share it?
Phone Sister Thomas on 55671.
Children’s Hospice
We look after a small number of very sick children. This important work needs skill and love. We cannot continue without gifts or money to pay for more nursting staff(职员). We also need story books and toys suitable for quiet games.
Please contact :The Seeretary, Little Children’s Hospice, Newly Road.
Street Food
In the winter weather, it’s not fun being homeless. It’s even worse if you’re hungry. We give hot food to at least fifty people every night. It’s hard work, but necessary. Can you come and help? If not, can you find a little money? We used a very old kitchen, and we need some new saucepans. Money for new ones would be most welcome indeed.
Contact Stree Food, c/o Mary’s House, Elming Way. Littleton Phone 55823.
Littleton Youth Club
Have you got an unwanted chair?record player? a pot of paint?
Because we use them!
We want to get to work on our meeting room!
Please phone 55231and we’ll be happy to collect anything you can give us!
Thank you !
The Night Shelter
We offer a warm bed for the night to anyone who has nowhere to go. We rent the former Commercial Hotel on Green Street. Although it is not expensive,we never seem to have enough money. Can you let us have a few pounds ? Any amount, however small, will be such help.
Send it to us 15, Greet St, Littleton. Please make check payable to Night Shelter.
58．Reading the passage, you might like to help these organizations while working for       .
A．homeless and sick children        
B．less fortunate members of our society
C．hungry people who have no beds to sleep in     
D．friendly members of our society to help others
59．We can infer        .
A．there are too many social problems in this country
B．people are very poor during the time for giving
C．warm-hearted people like to give away money
D．this passage is taken from a local newspaper
60．If your children have grown up, you my take the children’s things to     .
A．Children’s Home and Children’s Hospice     
B．Youth Club and Children’s Home
C．Children’s Hospice and Night Shelter
D．Youth Club and Night Shelter