On April 10, 1815, Mount Tambora in Indonesia erupted with great force. Fifty cubic kilometers of magma (岩浆) flew from its peak (山顶) and a blanket of ash as thick as one centimeter fell over more than 500,000 square kilometers of Indonesia and the Java Sea. The eruption destroyed Tambora’s peak and formed a hole six by seven kilometers wide. The eruption and resulting tsunamis killed 10,000 people. The agricultural loss and disease brought about by the thick ash caused the deaths of 82,000 more.

Indonesia was rocked again in 1883. On August 26, a small volcano on an uninhabited island between Sumatra and Java, erupted. The eruption produced an ash cloud 80 kilometers high and was heard in Australia—4,800 kilometers away. The eruption also caused a tsunami, which pounded (击打) the shores of Java and Sumatra—killing 36,000 people.

In 1902, St. Pierre was a thriving (兴盛的) community and the largest town on the French colony of Martinique in the Caribbean Sea. Mont Pelee cast a shadow over the town from where it stood, eight kilometers to the north. The townspeople were used to the light continuous sounds of the mountain, but in May, 1902 Pelee started to get really unstable. Clouds of steam and ash poured from the volcano and on May 8, Pelee erupted. Superheated gas and steaming volcanic ash flew out, pouring down the mountain at high speed. Within seconds, the deadly gas cloud had destroyed the town of St. Pierre and incinerated everyone in it — except one prisoner in a basement cell. It was the worst volcano disaster of the 20th century.

1.How many people died because of the eruption on April 10, 1815 ?

2.The underlined word “incinerated” in the last paragraph can be replaced by “_____”.

3.Only one prisoner survived the volcano eruption of Mont Pelee on May 8 because _____.

4. We can know from this article that _____.

On April 10, 1815, Mount Tambora in Indonesia erupted with great force. Fifty cubic kilometers of magma (岩浆) flew from its peak (山顶) and a blanket of ash as thick as one centimeter fell over more than 500,000 square kilometers of Indonesia and the Java Sea. The eruption destroyed Tambora’s peak and formed a hole six by seven kilometers wide. The eruption and resulting tsunamis killed 10,000 people. The agricultural loss and disease brought about by the thick ash caused the deaths of 82,000 more.
Indonesia was rocked again in 1883. On August 26, a small volcano on an uninhabited island between Sumatra and Java, erupted. The eruption produced an ash cloud 80 kilometers high and was heard in Australia—4,800 kilometers away. The eruption also caused a tsunami, which pounded (击打) the shores of Java and Sumatra—killing 36,000 people.
In 1902, St. Pierre was a thriving (兴盛的) community and the largest town on the French colony of Martinique in the Caribbean Sea. Mont Pelee cast a shadow over the town from where it stood, eight kilometers to the north. The townspeople were used to the light continuous sounds of the mountain, but in May, 1902 Pelee started to get really unstable. Clouds of steam and ash poured from the volcano and on May 8, Pelee erupted. Superheated gas and steaming volcanic ash flew out, pouring down the mountain at high speed. Within seconds, the deadly gas cloud had destroyed the town of St. Pierre and incinerated everyone in it — except one prisoner in a basement cell. It was the worst volcano disaster of the 20th century.

1. 1.

   How many people died because of the eruption on April 10, 1815 ?

   1. A.
      About 10,000.
   2. B.
      More than 82,000.
   3. C.
      About 36,000.
   4. D.
      More than 92,000.
2. 2.

   The underlined word “incinerated” in the last paragraph can be replaced by “_____”.

   1. A.
      brought up
   2. B.
      burned up
   3. C.
      woke up
   4. D.
      shut up
3. 3.

   Only one prisoner survived the volcano eruption of Mont Pelee on May 8 because _____.

   1. A.
      he was on a ship then
   2. B.
      he was kept underground
   3. C.
      he stayed in the water
   4. D.
      he was hidden in a well
4. 4.

   We can know from this article that _____.

   1. A.
      no measures can be taken to protect people from a volcano eruption
   2. B.
      volcanoes usually caused a series of earthquakes
   3. C.
      sometimes a volcano can completely destroy a city
   4. D.
      volcanoes are much more violent than the earthquakes

Madame Curie ,the youngest of five children ,was born in Warsaw ,Poland in 1867. Marie Curie's maiden name was Manya. Her parents were teachers,and she learned the importance of education at an early age. No higher education was offered to women in Poland at that time,so Manya took a job as a governess(女家庭教师). She sent part of her income to Paris to help pay for her older sister's medical studies. Her sister qualified as a doctor and married a fellow doctor in 1891. Manya went to join them in Paris ,changing her name to Marie. She entered the Sorbonne(now the Universities of Paris)and studied physics and mathematics, graduating at the top of her class. For the research she wanted to do , she was introduced to another young scientist, Pierre Curie. Later they fell in love with each other . After their marriage, they worked together on radioactivity.

Fame troubled Marie Curie and also her husband, because science was their world and in this world of science fame and honor to persons had no value. One day when a writer for a newspaper tried to ask Marie about herself and her thoughts and her beliefs, she answered him, “In science we must be interested in things,not in persons.” Much of the real character and spirit of this unusual woman was found in these few words,which she was later often to repeat. One evening, at a big party,a friend asked if she would like to meet the King of Greece,who was also a guest.She answered in her simple manner, “I don't see the value of it.” Then,seeing that she had hurt the feelings of her friend, she quickly added, “But …but…of course,I shall do whatever you please. Just as you please.”
【小题1】What did Marie Curie once do to help pay for her older sister's medical studies?

阅读理解

　　Radioactivity is dangerous. It may cause skin burns; it may destroy good tissues (组织) and it may cause illness that could be passed on to our children and grandchildren, In case of exposure (暴露) it may even cause death.

　　In the early days of radioactivity, scientists did not realize these dangers, Marie and Pierre Curie, after having worked for a while with radioactive materials, noticed that their fingers were reddened and swollen (红肿) and the skin was peeling off. Henry Becquered carried a small tube with radium in it in his waistcoat pocket, and was surprised to find a burn on his chest. Other early workers also reported burns and harm of different kinds.

　　The strange fact that it can harm without causing pain is the warning signal we expect from harmfulness. Pain makes up pull back our hands from a fire or a hot object, but a person carrying radioactive materials had no way of telling whether he is touching something too “hot” for safety. Besides, the “burns” or other harmfulness that radioactivity produces may not appear for weeks. A person may have been hurt without knowing it for some time .

1．Which is the topic sentence?

[　　]

A．Radioactivity May Even Cause Death.

B．Radioactivity Does Great Harm to Children.

C．Radioactivity May Do Harm to People without Being Known.

D．Radioactivity is Dangerous.

2．A few people were mentioned in the passage .They ________.

[　　]

A．were all famous scientists of great achievements

B．died of radioactivity

C．knew little about radioactivity

D．did experiments on themselves to find the danger of radioactivity

3．According to the point of the passage , pain ________.

[　　]

4．The latter part of the passage is mainly written about ________.

[　　]

A．the danger to be with the radioactive materials

B．how scientists are selflessly devoted to science, in face of danger

C．the danger of radioactivity lies mainly in its being unseen and unknown for a time

D．burns and harm of all kinds that may dangerously happen around us

5．The sentence in the fourth line of the second paragraph, “the skin was peeling off” means “the skin was ________”.

[　　]

UK

Attention, Harry Potter fans: The sixth novel in J.K. Rowling’s Harry Potter stories, Harry Potter and the Half-Blood, will go on sale in the United States, Canada, Britain and Australia on July 16, 2005

Italy

According to a recent study, there are now more dogs and cats in Italian homes than children. There are at least 14.5 million dogs cats in Italian homes compared with 8.7 million children under the age of 15．Italy has one of the lowest birth rates in Europe. A psychologist said that pets were loved by many young Italians who could not have or did not want to have children. In Italy, spending on pets has increased by 20 percent in the past five years.

US

The start of a new years is time when many Americans like to think about ways to make improvements for the future. But this year, instead of the usually New Year’s resolution(决心) to lose weight, quit smoking or exercise more, the US Department of Homeland Security is urging Americans to create a family emergency plan for any terror attack.

France & Iraq

The two French journalists who had been held hostage(扣为人质) in Iraq for 124 days were freed last week. Christian Chesnot, 37 and Georges Malbunot, 41, were kidnapped along with their Iraqi driver on Aug, 20 in Iraq. French Prime Minister, Jean-Pierre Raffarin, said that the French government had not paid ransom(赎金) for their release.

1.From the news above we know that health is usually most being talked about in _________

2.The content order of the passage is___________

3.Which is the suitable title for the second passage?

4.The two journalists were held hostage on ___________.