Below is a discussion on http://www.TalkingPoints.com/.
Stuck on a desert island?
Started on 23rd April by Steve                   Posts 1 – 7 of 42
Post 1
Steve
USA Hi, everyone. What would you miss most and least if you were stuck on a desert island? For me, it would be the changing seasons in New England. I guess this will sound stupid but I’d probably miss the rain, too. I would not miss getting up at six every day to go to work, though! What about you?
Post 2
Tomas
Germany Good question. Steve, I think I’d miss different types of bread, and shopping at the supermarket. I’d miss the food most. What would I miss least? My mobile phone---I’d like to be completely quiet --- at least for a little while
Post 3
Paola
Italy I would miss the company of people because I know I’d like to have someone to share experiences with. I’d go mad on my own. And I sure would not miss junk (垃圾)mail--- I hate coming home every evening and a pile of junk mail in my post box.
Post 4
Miko
Japan Hi, I would miss Manga cartoon, the internet and Japanese food, like sushi. I’d also miss TV shows and shopping for clothes… In fact, I’d miss everything.
Post 5
Roger
UK I would miss my daily newspaper and listening to the news on TV and radio. I’d feel very cut off if I didn't know what was happening in the world. What I’d miss least would be traffic jams in the city, particularly my journey to work.
Past 6
Jayne Why hasn't anyone mentioned their family? I’d be lost without my husband and two kids. They’re the most important for me. And I can’t get started in the morning without a cup of black coffee. I wouldn't miss doing the housework! 
Post 7
Jaime
Mexico It would have to be music. I couldn't live without my music. I wouldn't miss going to school at all or doing homework!
【小题1】Who would miss his or her family most?

In the sea, there are many islands. In its warm waters there are some little ones. We call them "Coral Islands".
A coral island is very nice to look at. It looks like a ring of land with trees, grass and flowers on it.
One part of the ring is open to the water. There is a little round lake inside the island. If you look into this lake, you'll see beautiful coral. You may think they are flowers. If you look at a piece of coral, you'll see thousands of little holes in it. In each of those holes, a very small sea animal has lived. These sea animals make the coral.
They began to build under the water. Year after year, the coral grew higher and higher. At last it grew out of the water. Then the sea brought to it small trees and other things. After some years, these things changed into earth. Sometimes the wind brought seeds to the earth. Sometimes birds flew over it and brought seeds to the island. The little seeds grew. In a few years, there were plants all over the islands. In a few more years there were trees growing there.
So you see, these islands were built little by little. The workers were very small. Don't they teach us a lesson? What do you know the lesson is?
48. What does a coral island look like? It looks like ________.
A. a desert                                            B. a ring of land
C. trees, grass and flowers                      D. a colourful lake
49. There are          sea animals living in the holes of the coral.
A. thousands of                                      B. 1,000
C. quite a few                                       D. only one
50. ________ in the sea.
A. We can see many flowers                    B. There are lots of big trees
C. There are some coral islands               D. The water is always warm
51. How were seeds of trees, grass and flowers mainly brought to the coral islands?
A. Fishes brought them there.                 B. The water brought them there.
C. People brought them there.               D. None of the above.                                            

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，从短文后各题所给的四个选项（A、B、C和D）中，选出可以填入空白处的最佳选项，并在答题卡上将该项涂黑。                 

Early in the morning, I was taken in a nylon bag into a truck. I felt horrible as well as    36  . What would she do with me? She was almost mad after the   37   of her husband.

A few minutes later, I heard the truck   38   its engine and move fast. I kept making sounds to show my protest, but failed to make any   39  . Finally she put me down in a   40   place. Maybe she didn’t want me to die from lack of air; she untied the bag.

I   41   out and looked up, only to see many strange faces and fingers pointing at me.

It turned out that my owner meant to   42   me. I saw my owner on the truck, which was going farther and farther away. So I cast my head   43   the direction of the truck. The days we spent together were like a movie playing in front of my eyes as I ran after the truck. I saw my male owner, who suffered liver cancer, looked at me with his sad eyes. I saw myself   44   my owner everywhere; I saw him lie in his dying bed, she all   45  .

I ran as fast as I could. And the   46   I saw her wave to me, my eyes became wet. I wouldn’t blame her for treating me like this for she was such a (an)   47   lady. She seemed even somewhat   48   at his leaving her alone, trying many ways to   49   the pains of losing him. She   50   his pictures and clothes, she redecorated the whole house. Now I was the only    51   thing to remind her of him.  52   later, I am pretty sure that she would realize how mad she was to do this...

The truck finally stopped when I was almost   53  . She ran up to me and hugged me    54  . I heard her   55 : “I know you are a present he left to me.”

36. A. frightened                        B. excited                           C. delighted                       D. puzzled

37. A. death                                B. absence                         C. separation                             D. departure

38. A. run                                    B. begin                              C. start                               D. operate

39. A. sense                                B. difference                       C. effort                              D. trouble

40. A. usual                                 B. dark                                C. familiar                          D. strange

41. A. struggled                         B. walked                           C. ran                                 D. rushed

42. A. desert                              B. harm                                C. punish                            D. sell

43. A. into                                   B. at                                    C. in                                     D. to

44. A. guide                                  B. follow                             C. support                           D. bring

45. A. in peace                           B. in silence                       C. out of breath                D. in tears

46. A. time                                  B. way                                  C. direction                      D. moment

47. A. cruel                                 B. unfortunate                            C. unfavorable                  D. unfriendly

48. A. depressed                       B. sad                                   C. angry                              D. calm

49. A. prevent                             B. remove                          C. bear                                D. kill      

50. A. burned                                       B. kept                                C. sold                                 D. hid

51. A. walking                              B. moving                            C. existing                          D. blessing

52. A. But                                    B. And                                 C. Thus                               D. Then

53. A. made out                          B. knocked out                  C. left out                           D. worn out

54. A. tightly                               B. patiently                        C. desperately                   D. sadly

55. A. shout                B. whisper                C. speak                         D. talk               

Can storms in Africa cause asthma(哮喘) in the Caribbean(加勒比)? Islanders point to the desert insects that land on beaches after a 5,000-kilometer flight across the Atlantic. If they can use winds to get from one continent to another, so can clouds of dust that carry disease.

Scientists think that as Africa becomes drier, dust from expanding deserts is being blown away into Caribbean islands. A study in Barbados shows that asthma has increased 17 times since Africa’s drought(干旱) began in 1973.

Other forms of life are suffering, too. Among them are the Caribbean’s famous coral reefs( 珊瑚礁), which began dying in large numbers in the 1900s. Eugene Shinn of the U.S. Geiological Sudrvey(USGS) in Florida went to the virgin Islands to study the reefs. The tests he and his colleagues carried out showed that the coral was dying of disease caused by Africa microbes(微生物) from across the ocean.

William Sprigg of the University of Arizona is studying the problem as part of a major UN project. He says that dust is causing problems in the U.S., too.

“We are just beginning to collect the evidence of airborne(空气传播的) dust influences on human health,” he told The Washington Post.

Which of the following can be the best title for this passage?

  A. Dangerous Dust                                        B. Dangerous Disease

C. Changing Weather                               D. Developing Technology

Where does the dust talked about in this passage come from?

  A. America.                     B. Africa.                            C. The Atlantic.             D. The Pacific.

The increase of asthma in the Caribean is probably related to _____ according to scientists.

  A. desert insects         B. strong winds             C. airborne dust            D. dry weather

Which of the following is NOT true about the Caribbean coral reefs?

  A. They are in Florida. 

B. They used to be very beautiful.

  C. They began dying in the past decades. 

D. The African microbes have bad effect on them.

Which of the following is TRUE about William Sprigg?

  A. He is a member of UN.

B. He thinks African dust also affects the US.

  C. He has collected enough evidence about dust influences.

  D. He is a reporter from The Washington Post.

Deserts are found where there is little rainfall or where rain for a whole year falls in only a few weeks’ time. Ten inches of rain may be enough for many plants to survive if the rain is spread throughout the year. If it falls within one or two months and the rest of the year is dry, those plants may die and a desert may form.

Sand begins as tiny pieces of rock that get smaller and smaller as wind and weather wear them down. Sand dunes（沙丘）are formed as winds move the sand across the desert. Bit by bit, the dunes grow over the years, always moving with the winds and changing the shape. Most of them are only a few feet tall, but they can grow to be several hundred feet high.

There is, however, much more to a desert than sand. In the deserts of the southwestern United States, cliffs（悬崖）and deep valleys were formed from thick mud that once lay beneath a sea more than millions of years ago. Over the centuries, the water dried up. Wind, sand, rain, heat and cold all wore away at the remaining rocks. The faces of the desert mountains are always changing—very, very slowly—as these forces of nature continue to work on the rock.

Most deserts have a surprising variety of life. There are plants, animals and insects that have adapted to life in the desert. During the heat of the day, a visitor may see very few signs of living things, but as the air begins to cool in the evening, the desert comes to life. As the sun begins to rise again in the sky, the desert once again becomes quiet and lonely.

Many plants may survive in deserts when ________.

    A．the rain is spread out in a year                     B．the rain falls only in a few weeks

C．there is little rain in a year                           D．it is dry all the year round

Sand dunes are formed when _______.

    A．sand piles up gradually                                B．there is plenty of rain in a year

C．the sea has dried up over the years         D．pieces of rock get smaller

The underlined sentence in the third paragraph probably means that in a desert there is ______.

    A．too much sand                                            B．more sand than before

C．nothing except sand                                    D．something else besides sand

It can be learned from the text that in a desert _______.

A．there is no rainfall throughout the year

B．life exists in rough conditions

C．all sand dunes are a few feet high

D．rocks are worn away only by wind and heat