Farmers may not be able to prevent natural disasters, but they can at least try their best to reduce losses.
For example, they can plant crops that are more likely to survive extreme weather. In north-central Vietnam, people with small farms do not plant rice between September and December. Seasonal rains might destroy the rice. So instead, they plant lotus seeds on raised beds. The United Nations Food and Agriculture Organization says the lotus seeds bring a good price in local markets.  
Farmers in the Philippines are showing new interest in crops like winged beans, string beans, arrowroot and cassava. The Asian Disaster Preparedness Center says traditional crops like these can survive the fierce storms that often strike the islands.
The United Nations says some African farmers grow bambara groundnuts during long dry periods. The seeds of this drought-resistant plant can be boiled for eating or for making flour.
In some parts of the world, farmers grow vetiver grass. Researchers in Thailand wrote about vetiver in 2007 in the journal Science Asia. They noted that the grass can absorb and control the spread of harmful waste waters, like those from pig farms.
Agricultural expert and author William Rivera says vetiver resists difficult conditions. It reduces damage from heavy rains. And vetiver planted on earthen dams may strengthen them against breaks and flooding.
William Rivera also speaks approvingly of alfalfa. Its deep roots can find and take up groundwater. Those roots also help hold the soil against winds. And alfalfa can be a valuable food source for animals.
The deep and extensive roots of sunflowers make them another good candidate for resisting extreme conditions. The tall plants have brightly colored heads that provide seeds and oil.
North Dakota grows more hectares of sunflowers than any other American state. But North Dakota is better known as a top wheat producing state.
Hans Kandel works at the North Dakota State University Extension Service in Fargo. He says farmers in some parts of North Dakota plant wheat that is ready to harvest in only about one hundred days. That way it can grow before the hot, dry months of July through September.
67．The underlined part “bring a good price in local markets” in the 2nd paragraph implies that lotus seeds _______.
A. can bring the local farmers more profit
B. will satisfy the needs of the local people
C. are what the local farmers eat every day
D. don’t sell very well because of their high prices
68．Vetiver grass is planted because it can _______.
A. be a valuable food source for animals             B. survive the fierce storms in summer
C. provide seeds and oil                                    D. be useful in many aspects
69．From the last paragraph we can see that the farmers in North Dakota _______.
A. are not hardworking so they are suffering from poverty                            
B. are good at taking advantage of the weather conditions
C. don’t have enough knowledge of weather and farming
D. plant more sunflowers than wheat
70．From this passage we may safely conclude that _______.
A. weather conditions are always decisive factors in agriculture
B. some crops can help farmers to fight against extreme weather
C. the species of the world are changing quickly
D. agriculture is developing fast in the world

I have come to believe that a great teacher is a great artist and that there are as few as there are any other great   41  . It might even be the greatest of the art   42   it’s the medium between the human mind and spirit.

I shall speak only of my first 43 because in addition to the other things, she 44  discovery.

She aroused us to shouting, book waving discussions. She had the   45   class in school and she didn’t even seem to know it. We could   46   stick to the textbooks. She   47   curiosity into us so that we found facts or truths   48   in our hands like captured fireflies.

She was fired and perhaps 49 so, for failing to teach fundamentals. Such things must be   50 . But she left us a passion for the pure  51  world and she filled me with a 52 which has never left. I could not do simple math but   53   her I sensed that mathematics was very much like music.

When she was fired,  54   came over us but the light did not   55  . She left her signature for us, the literature of the teacher who wrote on our   56  . I suppose that to a larger extent I am the   57   manuscript(手稿) of the high school teacher. What deathless power   58   the hands of such a person.

I can tell my son who looks forward with   59   to fifteen years of unpleasant study that somewhere in the dusty dark a magic   60   happen that will light up the years … if he is very lucky.

Farmers may not be able to prevent natural disasters, but they can at least try their best to reduce losses.

For example, they can plant crops that are more likely to survive extreme weather. In north-central Vietnam, people with small farms do not plant rice between September and December. Seasonal rains might destroy the rice. So instead, they plant lotus seeds on raised beds. The United Nations Food and Agriculture Organization says the lotus seeds bring a good price in local markets.  

Farmers in the Philippines are showing new interest in crops like winged beans, string beans, arrowroot and cassava. The Asian Disaster Preparedness Center says traditional crops like these can survive the fierce storms that often strike the islands.

The United Nations says some African farmers grow bambara groundnuts during long dry periods. The seeds of this drought-resistant plant can be boiled for eating or for making flour.

In some parts of the world, farmers grow vetiver grass. Researchers in Thailand wrote about vetiver in 2007 in the journal Science Asia. They noted that the grass can absorb and control the spread of harmful waste waters, like those from pig farms.

Agricultural expert and author William Rivera says vetiver resists difficult conditions. It reduces damage from heavy rains. And vetiver planted on earthen dams may strengthen them against breaks and flooding.

William Rivera also speaks approvingly of alfalfa. Its deep roots can find and take up groundwater. Those roots also help hold the soil against winds. And alfalfa can be a valuable food source for animals.

The deep and extensive roots of sunflowers make them another good candidate for resisting extreme conditions. The tall plants have brightly colored heads that provide seeds and oil.

North Dakota grows more hectares of sunflowers than any other American state. But North Dakota is better known as a top wheat producing state.

Hans Kandel works at the North Dakota State University Extension Service in Fargo. He says farmers in some parts of North Dakota plant wheat that is ready to harvest in only about one hundred days. That way it can grow before the hot, dry months of July through September.

67．The underlined part “bring a good price in local markets” in the 2nd paragraph implies that lotus seeds _______.

A. can bring the local farmers more profit

B. will satisfy the needs of the local people

C. are what the local farmers eat every day

D. don’t sell very well because of their high prices

68．Vetiver grass is planted because it can _______.

       A. be a valuable food source for animals             B. survive the fierce storms in summer

       C. provide seeds and oil                                    D. be useful in many aspects

69．From the last paragraph we can see that the farmers in North Dakota _______.

       A. are not hardworking so they are suffering from poverty                            

B. are good at taking advantage of the weather conditions

C. don’t have enough knowledge of weather and farming

D. plant more sunflowers than wheat

70．From this passage we may safely conclude that _______.

       A. weather conditions are always decisive factors in agriculture

    B. some crops can help farmers to fight against extreme weather

       C. the species of the world are changing quickly

       D. agriculture is developing fast in the world

Farmers may not be able to prevent natural disasters, but they can at least try their best to reduce losses.

For example, they can plant crops that are more likely to survive extreme weather. In north-central Vietnam, people with small farms do not plant rice between September and December. Seasonal rains might destroy the rice. So instead, they plant lotus seeds on raised beds. The United Nations Food and Agriculture Organization says the lotus seeds bring a good price in local markets.

Farmers in the Philippines are showing new interest in crops like winged beans, string beans, arrowroot and cassava. The Asian Disaster Preparedness Center says traditional crops like these can survive the fierce storms that often strike the islands.

The United Nations says some African farmers grow bambara groundnuts during long dry periods. The seeds of this drought-resistant plant can be boiled for eating or for making flour.

In some parts of the world, farmers grow vetiver grass. Researchers in Thailand wrote about vetiver in 2007 in the journal Science Asia. They noted that the grass can absorb and control the spread of harmful waste waters, like those from pig farms.

Agricultural expert and author William Rivera says vetiver resists difficult conditions. It reduces damage from heavy rains. And vetiver planted on earthen dams may strengthen them against breaks and flooding.

William Rivera also speaks approvingly of alfalfa. Its deep roots can find and take up groundwater. Those roots also help hold the soil against winds. And alfalfa can be a valuable food source for animals.

The deep and extensive roots of sunflowers make them another good candidate for resisting extreme conditions. The tall plants have brightly colored heads that provide seeds and oil.

North Dakota grows more hectares of sunflowers than any other American state. But North Dakota is better known as a top wheat producing state.

Hans Kandel works at the North Dakota State University Extension Service in Fargo. He says farmers in some parts of North Dakota plant wheat that is ready to harvest in only about one hundred days. That way it can grow before the hot, dry months of July through September.

63. The underlined part “bring a good price in local markets” in the 2^nd paragraph implies that lotus seeds _________.

A. will satisfy the needs of the local people

B. are what the local farmers eat every day

C. can bring the local farmers some profit

D. don’t sell very well because of their high prices

64. Vetiver grass is planted because it can _________.

A. be a valuable food source for animals　　

B. survive the fierce storms in summer

C. provide seeds and oil　　　　　　　　　　　　　　

D. be useful in many aspects

65. From the last paragraph we can see that the farmers in North Dakota _________.

A. are good at taking advantage of the weather conditions

B. don’t have enough knowledge of weather and farming

C. are not hardworking so they are suffering from poverty

D. plant more sunflowers than wheat

66. From this passage we may safely conclude that _________.

A. weather conditions are always decisive factors in agriculture

B. some crops can help farmers to fight against extreme weather

C. agriculture is developing fast in the world

D. the species of the world are changing quickly

If you were to walk up to Arthur Bonner and say, “ Hey, Butterfly Man,” his face would break into a smile. The title suits him. And he loves it.

Arthur Bonner works with the Palos Verdes blue butterfly(蝴蝶), once thought to have died out. Today the butterfly is coming back — thanks to him. But years ago if you’d told him this was what he’d be doing someday, he would have laughed, “ You’re crazy.” As a boy, he used to be “ a little tough guy on the streets”. At age thirteen, he was caught by police for stealing. At eighteen, he landed in prison for shooting a man..

“ I knew it had hurt my mom,” Bonner said after he got out of prison. “ So I told myself I would not put my mom through that pain again.”

One day he met Professor Mattoni, who was working to rebuild the habitat(栖息地) for an endangered butterfly called El Segundo blue.

“ I saw the sign ‘ Butterfly Habitat’ and asked, ‘ How can you have a habitat when the butterflies can just fly away?’” Bonner recalls. “ Dr. Mattoni laughed and handed me a magnifying glass(放大镜) , ‘Look at the leaves.’ I could see all these caterpillars(蝴蝶的幼虫) on the plant. Dr Mattoni explained, ‘ Without the plant, there are no butterflies.’”

Weeks later, Bonner received a call from Dr. Mattoni, who told him there was a butterfly that needed help. That was how he met the Palos Verdes blue. Since then he’s been working for four years to help bring the butterfly back. He grows astragalus, the only plant the butterfly eats. He collects butterflies and brings them into a lab to lay eggs. Then he puts new butterflies into the habitat.

The butterfly’s population, once almost zero, is now up to 900. For their work, Bonner and Dr. Mattoni received lots of awards. But for Bonner, he earned something more: he turned his life around.

For six years now Bonner has kept his promise to stay out of prison. While he’s bringing back the Palos Verdes blue, the butterfly has helped bring him back, too.

41. When he was young, Arthur Bonner _______.

   A. broke the law and ended up in prison         B. was fond of shooting and hurt his mom

   C. often laughed at people on the streets          D. often caught butterflies and took them home

42. Bonner came to know the Palos Verdes blue after he _______.

   A. found the butterfly had died out                 B. won many prizes from his professor

   C. met Dr. Mattoni, a professor of biology             D. collected butterflies and put them into a lab

43. From the last sentence of the text, we learn that raising butterflies has _________.

   A. made Bonner famous                               B. changed Bonner’s life

   C. brought Bonner wealth                            D. enriched Bonner’s knowledge

44. Which of the following would be the best title for the text?

   A. A Promise to Mom                                         B. A Man Saved by Butterflies

   C. A Story of Butterflies                                     D. A Job Offered by Dr. Mattoni