The U.S. bought Alaska from Russia about 100 years ago. The U.S. paid less than two cents an acre (英亩). One Alaskan island is only two miles 1 a Russian island. The nearest state is Washington, 500 miles 2 .

　　Alaska is more than twice as big as Texas. It has many different kinds of 3 . In some areas the temperature can go as 4 as 57° below zero. It can also go as 5 as 38° above zero.

　　Alaska has a longer coastline than 6 the other states together. The ocean bottom is 7 of sea life. Alaska’s fish catch is one of the biggest of all the states. 8 of the land there is still 9 by the U.S. government-not by people or businesses.

　　Alaska is the 10 state, but it has the fewest people. Towns are far apart. Long roads cost a lot to build in 11 wild country. So there aren’t very many roads. Many people use planes to travel in the state. 12 travel in boats along the coast. Rivers freeze in winter, but 13 travel on them when summer comes.

　　Many people go to Alaska to 14 big and small animals. Fishermen and skiers(滑雪者) and people who 15 beautiful country visit the state too.

1. A. from　　 B. on

   C. into　　 D. down

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2. A. away　　 B. near

   C. long　　 D. farther

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3. A. weather    B. air

   C. sky　　    D. atmosphere

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4. A. short　　  B. low

   C. little　　 D. cold

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5. A. tall　　 B. high

   C. hot　　  D. boiling

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6. A. many　　 B. every

   C. whole    D. all

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7. A. plenty　　 B. enough

   C. rich　　   D. full

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8. A. More　　    B. Most

   C. Little　　  D. Less

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9. A. owed　　　　 B. earned

   C. brought　　  D. owned

[　　]

10. A. poorest　　    B. biggest

    C. coldest　　    D. smallest

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11. A. so　　   B. such

    C. just　　 D. thus

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12. A. Another　　   B. Other

    C. Many　　　　  D. Others

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13. A. trains　　　　 B. buses

    C. boats　　　　  D. bikes

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14. A. search   B. explore

    C. find　　 D. hunt

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15. A. like　　  B. admit

    C. welcome   D. see

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　　It's 7 am Kyoto (东京), Japan, and the taxi company has just called a second time to say they can't find my house.　　1　　I tell him directions. even a blind person can　　2　 , look impatiently at my watch, and wait. Only two hours remain until my　　3　　leavesand it's an hour-and-a-half trip to Osaka airport.

　　The telephone rings　　4　 .“Terribly sorry,”begins the clerk. Then I　　5　　what's happened: flooded with　　6　 , the company is too busy. I've heard this happens when the weather gets　　7　 . I shout into the　　8　　that I have a plane to catchI must be in Seoul　　9　　and I'll meet the　　10　　a few hundred meters away on a bridge over the Kamo River.

　　Standing in the heavy　　11　 , I look up and down. No　　12　　From the other direction a white car comes up, then stops. A young man opens the door, signing to me to　　13　 . Shaking with cold and　　14　 , I climb inside.

　　In the most　　15　　Japanese, the man explains to me that he is the person with whom I have spoken　　16　　this morning. He apologizes again and again, but does not explain why a taxi could　　17　　except to say they are“very, very busy”this morning.

　　A few hours later, seated into my seat as the storm-delayed 727　　18　 , I open the　　19　 . My eyes wander to the headline (标题) of a short article:“Taxi Strike Begins this Morning in　　20　 .”

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With fears of a possible nuclear meltdown(核反应堆堆芯的熔毁) in Japan building up, evidence has come to light that the nation received warnings over the stability of its power plants from an international watchdog more than two years ago.

　　As the Telegraph is reporting, an official from the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) said in December 2008 that safety rules were out of date, and strong earthquakes would cause a “serious problem” for the power stations.

　　A U.S. embassy document, by quoting（引用）an unnamed expert, states: “He (the IAEA official) explained that safety guides for earthquakes have only been updated three times in the last 35 years and that the IAEA is now re-examining them. Also, the presenter noted recent earthquakes in some cases have gone beyond the design basis for some nuclear plants, and that this is a serious problem that is now driving earthquake safety work.”

　　The Telegraph also reports that the government responded to the warnings by building an emergency response center at the Fukushima Daiichi plant designed to resist magnitude-7.0 earthquakes. Friday's earthquake, originally named a magnitude-8.9 shock, has since been upgraded to magnitude-9.0.

　　Other nuclear experts state IAEA officials had willingly ignored lessons from the Chernobyl disaster to protect the nuclear industry's expansion, reports Bloomberg. “After Chernobyl, all the force of the nuclear industry was directed to hide this event, for not creating damage to their reputation,”Russian nuclear accident specialist Iouli Andreyev tells Reuters, before noting that radiation from spent fuel rods（棒）stored close to reactors at Fukushima looked like an example of putting profit before safety. “The Japanese were very greedy, and they used every square inch of the space. But when you have a dense(密集的) placing of spent fuel in the basin, you have a high possibility of fire if the water is removed from the basin.”

1. From the passage, we know that ____________.

A. people fear that the nuclear meltdown will possibly become more and more serious in Japan

B. people are becoming more and more afraid of a possible nuclear meltdown in Japan

C. Japan made no response to the warnings over the safety of its power plants

D. Iouli Andreyev warned Japan not to store spent fuel rods close to reactors

2. Which of the following is true according to the passage?

A. Japan was warned of the stability of its power plants when they were built over 2 years ago.

B. Safety guides for earthquakes should be updated three times in 35 years.

C. The emergency response centre at the Fukushima Daiichi plant can not resist Friday’s  

     earthquake.

D. IAEA officials advised Japan to ignore lessons from the Chernobyl disaster.

3. IAEA officials were willing to ignore lessons from the Chernobyl disaster because they want ________.

A. to put profit before safety.         B. the nuclear industry to develop

   C. to protect the reputation of Japan        D. every inch of land to be made good use of

4.The writer develops this passage mainly by__________.

A. making comments              B. providing facts

C. quoting what experts say             D. analysing what happened

With fears of a possible nuclear meltdown(核反应堆堆芯的熔毁) in Japan building up, evidence has come to light that the nation received warnings over the stability of its power plants from an international watchdog more than two years ago.
　　As the Telegraph is reporting, an official from the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) said in December 2008 that safety rules were out of date, and strong earthquakes would cause a “serious problem” for the power stations.
　　A U.S. embassy document, by quoting（引用）an unnamed expert, states: “He (the IAEA official) explained that safety guides for earthquakes have only been updated three times in the last 35 years and that the IAEA is now re-examining them. Also, the presenter noted recent earthquakes in some cases have gone beyond the design basis for some nuclear plants, and that this is a serious problem that is now driving earthquake safety work.”
　　The Telegraph also reports that the government responded to the warnings by building an emergency response center at the Fukushima Daiichi plant designed to resist magnitude-7.0 earthquakes. Friday's earthquake, originally named a magnitude-8.9 shock, has since been upgraded to magnitude-9.0.
　　Other nuclear experts state IAEA officials had willingly ignored lessons from the Chernobyl disaster to protect the nuclear industry's expansion, reports Bloomberg. “After Chernobyl, all the force of the nuclear industry was directed to hide this event, for not creating damage to their reputation,”Russian nuclear accident specialist Iouli Andreyev tells Reuters, before noting that radiation from spent fuel rods（棒）stored close to reactors at Fukushima looked like an example of putting profit before safety. “The Japanese were very greedy, and they used every square inch of the space. But when you have a dense(密集的) placing of spent fuel in the basin, you have a high possibility of fire if the water is removed from the basin.”
【小题1】 From the passage, we know that ____________.

A．people fear that the nuclear meltdown will possibly become more and more serious in Japan

B．people are becoming more and more afraid of a possible nuclear meltdown in Japan

C．Japan made no response to the warnings over the safety of its power plants

D．Iouli Andreyev warned Japan not to store spent fuel rods close to reactors