The dams① aimed at saving Venice from the waves have been backed greatly. After eight years of argument, it plans to build 79 gates across three channels connecting the lagoon around Venice with the Adriatic Sea. The gates would be open most of the time but would be closed if there is a danger to the city.

The project, though, has run into fears that it could worsen Venice’s problems. The city throws waste into the lagoon, and environmentalists fear the dams will cause this pollution to become worse if there is no tide to wash it out regularly. But if there is a tide, the flow can wash away about 550 million cubic meters of the lagoon in a single day, which means that by leaving the dam open for only a few hours, the waste should be cleaned out.

Another piece of good news is that British scientists are confident that the dams will be able to face an expected rise in sea levels caused by global warming. The gates are designed to stand a 22-centimetre rise in sea levels, but many scientists expect a global rise in sea levels of 31cm by 2100.

However, Trevor Davies and Isabel Trigo from University of East Anglia believe the dams are unlikely to broken. Climate change will weaken the local storms in the Adriatic that are the main cause of flood risk. Floodwaters are also a seasonal danger in Venice, usually because of a combination of spring tides and strong winds.

Venice, which rests on wooden piles driven into boggy③ ground, has been sinking for centuries, worsening the encroachment by the sea.

Notes:

① dam  n.  大坝

② lagoon  n.  泻湖

③ boggy  adj.  泥泞的

④ encroachment  n.  蚕食

Choose the best answers according to the above:

1. Which of the following is the main idea of the text?

  A. Venice will not disappear into the sea.

  B. Dams are designed to protect Venice.

  C. Venice are facing dangers from the tides.

  D. Global warming makes Venice worse and worse.

2. If the project comes into use, the waste in the lagoon ______.

  A. will be washed away by the tides               B. will be sent to the higher places

  C. will be carried away by workers                D. will have to be reused by humans

3. According to the idea of Trevor Davies, the dams won’t be broken because ______.

  A. the dams are higher than the buildings in Venice

  B. there will be no tides or floods in the future

  C. the climate all over the world will soon be cold

  D. the storms in the Adriatic will be weaker in the future

4. According to the text, we can infer that Venice ______.

  A. has been sinking for hundreds of years

B. may suffer from spring tides and strong winds

  C. will be under the sea sooner or later

  D. will be a city with dams around except 78 gates

假如你是中学生李华，你的美国朋友Jack在上次给你的电子邮件中抱怨自己最近眼睛近视了。请你给他用英语回一封电子邮件，内容如下：

1．介绍一下你们班同学的情况；  2．分析一下造成你们班这种情况的原因；

3．帮Jack出点儿保持眼睛健康的主意。

注：1．字数120-150；邮件的开头和结尾已为你写好。

2．近视：shortsighted  adj.  shortsightedness n.

Dear Jack，

Yours sincerely          

Li Hua   

假设你班最近举行了一次班会，讨论怎样使英语学习变成一件快乐的事。请你根据下表所提示的信息，为某英语网站写一篇短文，谈谈你们的讨论情况并提出你的建议。

书面表达（20分）
假定你是某市居民，名叫李华。你觉得该市出租车行业问题较多，请写一封信给该市市长，内容应包括：

第三节：书面表达（满分30分）

以An outstanding woman –Madam Curie为题按下列表格的内容写一篇介绍居里夫人的80-100字的短文。

参考词汇：诺贝尔物理（化学）奖 The Nobel Prize for Physics (Chemistry)

镭元素 (radium element)