CONCORD， N.H.—Torrential rain forced hundreds of people from their homes in parts of New England on Sunday， as water flowed over dams and washed out roads.

The governors of New Hampshire and Massachusetts declared states of emergency. Maine’s governor also declared a state of emergency for one county. “It’s a very serious situation，” said New Hampshire Governor John Lynch， adding that forecasters were predicting 12 to 15 inches of rain by the end of the storm in parts of southern New Hampshire. “It continues to change and the situation continues to worsen.”

In some towns， police and fire crews used boats to get people out of their homes and stranded cars after hundreds of roads were damaged. Others got around in kayaks(皮船). Some towns shut down， not letting anyone pass except emergency vehicles. “The town is cut right in half，” said Glenn Laramie， police chief in Andover， N.H.

A dam in Milton， N.H.， was in danger of failing， which could send a 10-foot wall of water downstream， the National Weather Service said in a bulletin. People downstream were being evacuated from the town.

In Massachusetts， cars were pulled from flooded streets in downtown Peabody， about 20 miles north of Boston， and about 300 people were evacuated from an apartment complex for seniors. Businesses stacked sandbags at their doors， trying to prevent damage from water that at one point rose to waist-deep.

Some parts of New Hampshire had seen 7 inches of rain by midday Sunday and forecasters said up to 5 more inches might come during the day. About 100 residents were evacuated from their homes in Wakefield， N.H.， because of concerns about two dams in the area.

Flooding in New Hampshire in October killed seven people， carried off homes and washed away miles of roads down to bedrock.

In Maine， flooding was reported on 60 roads in the southern part of the state， said governor’s spokeswoman Crystal Canney. More than 50 homes in Sanford and several in Kennebunk also were evacuated， state officials said.

Which is NOT true according to the article？

A. The situation in N. H. is very serious.

B. New England is a region of the U.S.

C.A state of emergency was declared in three whole states.

D. Seven people lost their lives in New Hampshire in October.

What is the main idea of the passage？

A. Two dams failed in New Hampshire.

B. Flood in New Hampshire.

C. State of emergency in New England.

D. Severe floods in three U.S. states.

In paragraph 4， the underlined word “evacuate” most probably means“　　　　”.

A. rescue   B. trapped  C. send away   D. wash away

Which is NOT a part of New Hampshire？

A. Peabody   B. Concord   C .Milton   D. Andover

What was mentioned to cope with the situation？

A. Some towns shut down.    B. Some dams were open.

C. People all left their homes.  D. Some temporary houses were built.

Last spring, members of Alaska’s Troop 34, based in Fairbanks, trudged (跋涉) out into the snowy wilderness to take part in their state’s Take a Kid Trapping program. In many parts of the state, beavers （海狸）are pests and need to be controlled.
The 10－to－12－year－old girls found out where beavers lived, set traps, and skinned the two animals they caught. The girls hope to catch ten more beavers so that the entire troop can make mittens and hats with the fur. They also want to cook beaver meat.
Troop leaders and members say the Scouts are doing a good deed by helping control the state’s beaver population. But animal－rights activists say trapping is cruel. They want the Girl Scouts to stop in their tracks.
Beavers aren’t only causing a problem in Alaska. Residents in Sampson County, N.C. , have turned to a local committee to help them battle the growing beaver population there.
County landowners are frustrated after the county spent more than $ 50,000 in eight years trying to reduce the beaver population through a government program. The joint state and federal program included paying money to trappers for every beaver carcass  they trapped.
Many local residents say that the program didn’t work because there were too few trappers. That’s why the county set up its own committee to investigate other ways to control the area’s beaver population.
The county will rely on its own beaver－trapping program. It has hired a trapper to set traps in various areas. The county will pay $10 for every beaver carcass.
Why do many people say that beavers are a nuisance? For beavers to survive, they need lots of water. Water provides the large rodent （啮齿动物）with a place to hide from meat – eating animals. Beavers also store food underwater for the winter. When there’s not enough water in a particular area, beavers get busy building dams.
Beaver dams can cause major flooding and damage to the surrounding countryside as the animals cut down trees to use in their construction projects. Beavers build canals to transport heavy objects.
59．What is Alaska’s Troop 34?
A．A team of the Boy Scouts.     B．An army.
C．A team of the Girl Scouts.     D．A sports team.
60．Why does the troop hope to catch ten more beavers?
A．To fulfill their task.        B．To sell them for money.
C．To get enough fur.   D．To exchange them for mittens and hats.
61．Which of the following statements is true?
A．Sampson County has to find a new way to control the beaver population there.
B．The government program in Sampson County has proved to be a success.
C．The local government has controlled the number of beavers in the County.
D．More and more trappers now start to set traps in Sampson County.
62．Local residents hate beavers because they can ___________.
A．cause damage to dams
B．block up canals with heavy objects.
C．do great harm to construction projects.
D．badly damage the environment and cause floods.

A Charlotte, N.C., man was charged with first-degree murder of a 79-year-old woman whom police said he scared to death. In an attempt to evade policemen after a bank robbery, the Associated Press reports that 20-year-old Larry Whitfield broke into the home of Mary Parnell. Police say he didn’t touch Parnell but that she died after suffering a heart attack that was caused by terror. Can the guy be held responsible for the woman’s death? Prosecutors(公诉人) said that he can under the state’s murder rule, which allows someone to be charged with murder if he or she causes another person’s death while committing or fleeing from a severe crime like robbery—even if he or she doesn’t kill someone on purpose.

But, medically speaking, can someone actually be frightened to death? We asked Martin Samuels, chairman of the neurology department at Brigham and Women’s Hospital in Boston.

Absolutely, no question about it.

The body has a natural protective method called the fight-or-flight response(战或逃反应), which was originally described by Walter Cannon，the chairman of Harvard University’s physiology department from 1906 to 1942. If, in the wild, an animal is faced with a life-threatening situation, the autonomic nervous system responds by increasing heart rate, increasing blood flow to the muscles, and slowing digestion, among other things. All of this increases the chances of succeeding in a fight or running away from an aggressive beast. This process certainly would be of help to primitive humans. However, in the modern world there is obvious decline of the fight-or-flight response.

The autonomic nervous system uses the chemical messenger to send signals to various parts of the body to activate the fight-or-flight response. This chemical is toxic in large amounts; it damages the organs such as the heart, lungs, liver and kidneys. It is believed that almost all sudden deaths are caused by damage to the heart. There is almost no other organ that would fail so fast as to cause sudden death. Kidney failure, liver failure, those things don’t kill you suddenly.

By the way, any strong positive or negative emotions such as happiness or sadness can cause the same result. There are people who have died in intercourse or in religious passion. There was a case of a golfer who hit a hole in one, turned to his partner and said, “I can die now”, and then he dropped dead. For about seven days after the 9/11 terrorist attacks on the World Trade Center and Pentagon there was an increase of sudden cardiac death among New Yorkers.

1.Why the Charlotte, N.C., man was charged?

A. Because he threatened the policemen to kill an old woman.

B. Because he caused an old woman’s terror and she died.

C. Because he beat an old woman and caused her heart attack

D. Because he murdered an old woman while robbing a bank.

2. What is Martin Samuels’ attitude to the possibility of being frightened to death?

A. Approval.              B. Disapproval.                  C. Doubtful.          D. Indifferent.

3.Which of the following about the fight-or-flight response is true?

A. The fight-or-flight response was raised and proved by Martin A. Samuels.

B. It is a natural protective method that can’t be found in all creatures but humans.

C. The ancient humans had a superior fight-or-flight response than modern ones.

D. The fight-or-flight response is beneficial to both our actions and organs.

4. What activity can we infer is less likely to damage the organs?

A. Winning a big lottery.                               B. Missing a dead family.

C. Watching a horror movie.                            D. Listening to a sweet song.

5.The purpose of the passage is_________.

A. to explain why people will die of a heart attack

B. to offer some advice on protecting us from heart failure

C. to compare different kinds of feelings to cause a death

D. to show strong emotions can cause a sudden death

It doesn't take a rocket scientist long time to figure out that there are better things you could do for your health than take deep breaths on a smoggy（烟雾的）day. A growing pile of research suggests that even relatively low levels of air pollution may be more harmful than previously realized, to both heart and lungs(肺). The latest articles from researchers, published this week in the New England Journal of Medicine, focuses on how particulate (微粒) matter from air pollution affects lung function.
“The effect of low levels of particulate pollution found in many urban areas is not unlike secondhand smoke,” experts say. Studies show that short-term effects from particulates include diminished（减少） lung function, coughing, wheezing, and heart attacks. Long-term exposure can also slow normal lung growth, damage lung airways, and increase the risk of dying from lung cancer.
Certain populations, such as the very old and the very young, are the most vulnerable to air pollution. However, even the most alarming studies conducted in the most polluted areas suggest that the average person's individual risk from exposure (暴露) is very slight. Relative risk numbers often seem more frightening than they actually are. For example, an earlier study published in the New England Journal of Medicine found that short-term exposure to traffic fumes tripled ( 成为3倍) the risk of heart attacks in heart-attack survivors.
Short of moving to the countryside or at least away from busy roads, shielding yourself from the effects of air pollution is not easy. Masks won't work. “At the very least,” suggests Murray Mittleman, a cardiologist at Harvard University, “people who regularly exercise outdoors near highways may want to consider remapping their route.”
66. What does the underlined sentence in the first paragraph mean?
A. Rocket scientists are making researches on people’s health.
B. It's obvious that air pollution has a bad effect on people’s health.
C. People aren't sure whether taking deep breaths on a smoggy day is bad.
D. People often have a hard time when taking deep breaths on a smoggy day.
67. The word "vulnerable" in Paragraph 3 probably means _________.
A. easy to be hurt            B. easy to be protected
C. easy to be used            D. easy to be saved
68. The main idea of Paragraph 3  is _________.
A. that even small risk from particulate causes big problems
B. that air pollution often leads to heart attack
C. who are most likely to get affected
D. that we shouldn't worry about the average low risk
69. In order to be healthier, you'd better _________.
A. take deep breaths         B. wear a mask   
C. live in a countryside       D. clean the busy road
70. The passage is written in a(n) _________ tone.
A. subjective         B. humorous     C. doubtful      D. objective

A major earthquake rocked Haiti at 4:53 pm local time on Jan.12, 2010, killing possibly thousands of people but no official figure has been released so far.

The quake, which struck about 15km (10 miles) south-west of the capital, Port-au-Prince, was quickly followed by two strong aftershocks. In the space of a minute, numerous buildings fell down. A five-story U.N. building was also brought down by the 7.3 magnitude quake, the most powerful to hit Haiti in more than 200 years according to the U.S. Geological Survey.

As night fell, the whole city is in total darkness. You can see thousands of people sitting in the streets with nowhere to go. There are people running, crying, screaming. Describing the earthquake as a "catastrophe", Haiti’s president said the cost of the damage could run into billions.

Haiti became the first independent Caribbean state in the early 19th century. Haiti's location, history and attracting climate once made it a tourist hot place. However, decades of poverty, environmental pollution and violence have left it as the poorest nation in the Americas. It has suffered a lot, including four hurricanes and storms in 2008 that killed hundreds.

1.The great earthquake happened to the _______ of the capital city.

2. What can we infer from the underlined sentence?

3. What’s the meaning of the word in bald “catastrophe”?

4.Which statement about Haiti is NOT true?