The devastation caused by Hurricane Katrina is a wake-up call. It is a call for every American to pay attention to the destruction we risk by allowing human-induced(导致的) climate change to continue. It is impossible to prove that Hurricane Katrina was caused by global warming, or even that human activities made the storm more severe. However, a paper published in the scholarly journal Nature reports that the force of dangerous hurricanes has increased by 50% during the last 50 years. It also reports that a global warming-induced rise in temperature near the ocean’s surface has probably contributed to this increase in dangerous storms, and thus to property(财产) damage and human death.
On August 30, the Los Angeles Times summed up(总结) the view of many scientists who agree that if the frequency of hurricanes does not decrease in the next few years, then we will be fairly certain that humans, and not natural storm cycle, are at the root of the problem. I believe there is at least a chance that by reducing U.S. reliance on fossil fuels for energy, we can prevent future tragedies like Hurricane Katrina. Let the change begin now.
There are many ways to reduce the volume of greenhouse gas emissions. My family drives the most fuel-efficient car we can afford, but I prefer to take public transportation whenever possible. My family buys locally grown food instead of produce that was transported thousands of miles on fuel-burning vehicles. We also replaced our incandescent light bulbs（白炽灯泡）with more energy-efficient compact fluorescents（荧光灯）. This might sound like a trivial move, but the Union of Concerned Scientists reports that if every household in the United States replaced one incandescent bulb with a compact fluorescent, it would have the same effect on U.S. carbon-dioxide emissions as removing 7.5 million cars from the roads. Now think if every household replaced not just one but all of their incandescent bulbs!
The United States, with just five percent of the world’s population, is responsible for close to one quarter of greenhouse gas emissions worldwide, yet our country is doing far less than most European nations to fight global warming. We don’t have to sacrifice our lifestyles; Europeans enjoy the same standards of living as Americans. So what are we waiting for? It is time to act.
【小题1】 Which of the following is a fact?

Increasingly, over the past ten years, people--- especially young people –have become aware of the need to change their eating habits, because much of the food they eat, especially processed food(加工过的食品), is not good for the health. As a result, there has been a growing interest in natural foods: foods which do not contain chemical additives(添加剂) and which have not been affected by chemical fertilizers(化肥), widely used in farming today.
Natural foods, for example, are vegetables, fruit and grain which have been grown in soil that is rich in organic matter. In simple words, this means that the soil has been nourished(给…营养) by unused vegetable matter, which provides it with vitamins and minerals. This in itself is a natural process compared with the use of chemicals and fertilizers, the main purpose of which is to increase the amount—but not the quality—of foods grown in commercial farming area.
Natural foods also include animals which have been allowed to feed move freely in healthy pastures(牧场). Compare this with what happens in the mass production of poultry(家禽)：there are battery farms, for example, where thousands of chickens live crowded together in one building and are fed on food which is little better than rubbish. Chickens kept in this way are not only tasteless as food; they also produce eggs which lack important vitamins.
There are other sides of healthy eating which are now receiving increasing attention from experts on diet. Take, for example, the question of sugar. This is actually unnecessary food. It is not that sugar is harmful in itself. But it does seem to be addictive: the quantity we use has grown steadily over the last two centuries and in Britain today each person consumes an average of 200 pounds a year! Yet all it does is provide us with energy, in the form of calories. There are no vitamins in it, no minerals, and no fibre.
【小题1】People have become more interested in natural foods because______.

Scientists in Mexico have just begun a new study of one of the world’s biggest pyramids: the Pyramid of the Sun, north of Mexico City. They’re putting lots of small, high-tech machines under the pyramid to try to unlock some of its secrets. For thousands of years, people have tried to uncover the secrets of the pyramids.
The people who built the pyramids made lots of secret doors and rooms to stop robbers from finding the treasures inside. However, there always have been some smart thieves in history. Now, almost all of Egypt’s pyramids have been robbed, including the Great Pyramid of Khufu, which is the largest pyramid in the world. It is the only one of the ancient wonders of the world that is still standing.
In AD 820, an Arab king named Abdullah AL Manum got a group of workers to dig their way into the Great Pyramid and have a look. Inside the pyramid, they found three rooms --- the Queen’s Chamber, the Grand Gallery and the King’s Chamber. But to their surprise, the men didn’t find the treasures they wanted. The Queen’s and King’s Chambers were both empty! Where were the King’s mummy and his treasures? Had someone already taken them away? The huge stone doors at the pyramid’s entrance were still closed when AL Manum’s men went inside. How had the thieves got in and out?
Since then, many people have gone inside the Great Pyramid to have a look or to try to take things. But still, no other chambers or walkways have been found.
In 2002, an American team made the most recent visit to the Great Pyramid. Scientists sent a robot into the pyramid, but they only found a mysterious locked stone door.
【小题1】The first two paragraphs were written to show that ________.

       Every day we experience one of the wonders of the world around us without even realizing it. It is not the amazing complexity of television, nor the impressive technology of transport. The universal wonder we share and experience is our ability to make noises with our mouths, and so transmit ideas and thoughts to each other’s minds. This ability comes so naturally that we tend to forget what a miracle (奇迹) it is.
Obviously, the ability to talk is something that marks humans off from animals. Of course, some animals have powers just as amazing. Birds can fly thousands of miles by observing positions of the stars in the sky in relation to the time of day and year. In Nature’s talent show, humans are a species of animal that have developed their own special act. If we reduce it to basic terms, it’s an ability for communicating information to others, by varying sounds we make as we breathe out.
Not that we don’t have other powers of communication. Our facial expressions convey our emotions, such as anger, or joy, or disappointment. The way we hold our heads can indicate to others whether we are happy or sad. This is so-called “body language”. Bristling (直立的) fur is an unmistakable warning of attack among many animals. Similarly, the bowed head or drooping tail shows a readiness to take second place in any animal gathering.
Such a means of communication is a basic mechanism that animals, including human beings, instinctively acquire and display. Is the ability to speak just another sort of instinct? If so, how did human beings acquire this amazing skill? Biologists can readily indicate that particular area of our brain where speech mechanisms function, but this doesn’t tell us how that part of our bodies originated in our biological history.
【小题1】According to the passage, the wonder we take for granted is          .

①Isaac Stern was more than a great violin player. He was one of the most honored musicians in the world. He was an international cultural ambassador. He was a major supporter of the arts in America and in other countries. He was a teacher and activist.
②Issac Stern was born in 1920 in what is now Ukraine. His parents moved to San Francisco, California the following year. His mother began teaching Isaac the piano when he was six. He began taking violin lessons after hearing a friend play the instrument. Later, he began studying music at the San Francisco Conservatory (音乐学院). He progressed quickly. When he was 16, he played with the San Francisco Symphony Orchestra. The next year, he performed in New York City and was praised by music critics.
③During World War II, Mr Stern played for thousands of American soldiers. It was the first time many of them had heard classical music. After the war, he was the first American violinist to perform in a concert in the Soviet Union. He also supported young musicians and cultural organizations in Israel.
④In 1979, Isaac Stern visited China. He met with Chinese musicians and students. He taught them about classical Western music. His visit was made into a film, which is called From Mao to Mozart: Isaac Stern in China. It won an Academy Award for best documentary film.
⑤In 1984, Isaac Stern received the Kennedy Center Honors Award for his gifts to American culture through music. He expressed his thoughts about the part that music plays in life. He said he believed that music makes life better for everyone, especially children.
⑥Mr Stern supported and guided younger classical musicians. They include violinists Itzhak Perlman and Pinchas Zukerman, cellist Yo-Yo Ma, and pianist Yefim Bronfman.
⑦Isaac Stern died in 2001 at eh age of 81. He was a major influence on music in the 20th century. He leaves the world richer with his many recordings.
1. Which of the following is the RIGHT time order for these events in Stern’s life?
a. He began learning music in an institution.
b. He received the Kennedy Center Honors Award.
c. He visited the Soviet Union.
d. He met with Chinese musicians.
e. He performed for American soldiers.
A. a,e,c,d,b     B. a,e,b,c,d     C. e,a,b,c,d     D. e,a,c,d,b
2. Paragraph 2 is mainly about ______.
A. how Stern began to learn music   B. how Stern began his musical career
C. Stern’s early education          D. Stern’s achievement in music
3. Which of the following statements about Stern is TRUE?
A. He was an activist in opposing war.
B. He was active in cultural exchanges between countries.
C. He had an interest in both playing music and making films.
D. He made a lot of money from music.
4. The Underlined word “cellist” in Paragraph 6 may refer to ________.
A. someone who supports young musicians
B. someone who wants to be a musician
C. someone who has a gift for music
D. someone who plays a certain kind of instrument
5. Which of the following shows the RIGHT structure of the text?
A.       ①                              B.       ①
↓                                         ↓
②③④⑤                                ②③④⑤⑥
↓                                         ↓
⑥⑦                                      ⑦
C. ①②③④⑤⑥                            D.    ①②③
↓                                           ↓
⑦                                      ④⑤⑥⑦