单词：根据中文提示或单词首字母提示，填入恰当的单词，使句子完整。（共10小题，每小题1分，满分10分）

56. She won a prize again yesterday. It's ___________ (难以置信的)how lucky she's been.

57. After he called 120, the ambulance arrived ___________ (在……之内) 10 minutes. 

58. It's a method of education that is ___________ (独一无二的)to this school. 

59. Though he has made a mistake, I still ___________ (尊敬) him for his honesty.

60. The boy was asking his teacher something about Darwin's ___________ (理论) of Evolution.

61. Every nation, big or small, has its s___________ and weaknesses.

62. We all know that Shakespeare was a famous writer, but what n___________ was he?

63. I'd love to join you in the party, but u___________ I have to work that day.

64. The crosses on the map r___________ churches.

65. The flight was delayed for the heavy rain. The pilot a___________ to passengers for that.

“If you talk to the plants, they will grow faster and the effect is even better if you’re a woman.” Researchers at Royal Horticultural Society carried out an experiment to find that the voice of a woman gardener makes plants grow faster.
The experiment lasted a month and by the end of the study scientists managed to discover that tomato plants grew up two inches taller when women gardeners talked to them instead of male.
Sarah Darwin was the one making the plants the best growth. Her voice was the most “inspiring” for plants than those of nine other gardeners when reading a passage from The Origin of Species. The great-great-granddaughter of the famous botanist （植物学家）Charles Darwin found that her plant grew about two inches taller than the plant of the best male gardener.
Colin Crosbie, Garden Superintendent at RHS, said that the finding cannot yet be explained.He says that women have a greater range of pitch and tone（音高和音色）which might have a certain effect on the sound waves that reach the plant. “Sound waves are an environmental effect just like rain or light ,”said Mr Grosbie.
The study began in April at RHS Garden Wisley in Survey. Scientists started with open auditions(听力) for the people who were asked to record passages from John Wyndham's The Day of the Triffids, Shakespeare’s A Midsummer's Night Dream and Darwin's The Origin of Species.
Afterwards researchers selected a number of different voices and played them to 10 tomato plants during a period of a month. Each plant had headphones connected to it. Through the headphones the sound waves could hit the plants. It was discovered that plants that “listened” to female voices grew taller by an inch in comparison to plants that heard male voices.
【小题1】What does the passage talk about?

　In his youth, Darwin was an average student.__1__ he was a big reader. He also was an eager __2__， especially of beetles and butterflies. (He once carried two beetles, one in each hand, and then saw a __3__ so interesting that he decided to put it in his mouth.)

__4__ it came time for higher education, Darwin went to Edinburgh in Scotland to study medicine. But he soon found that he couldn't __5__ the sight of blood. So he left and went to school at the University of Cambridge in England __6__. He was preparing to become a minister, a profession in which blood shouldn't be a(n) __7__.

His heart was not in __8__， though. He spent his time at Cambridge collecting __9__ bugs and talking about science with people like the geologist Adam Sedgwick and the botanist John Stevens Henslow. Henslow saw that Darwin could be a __10__， and helped him get the chance to go on a long sea __11__ of exploration on a ship called the Beagle.

__12__ that ship's five－year trip around the world, Darwin observed many __13__ of life and various geological formations and fossils in South America and islands in the Pacific Ocean.__14__ the time the voyage ended, in 1836, Darwin knew more about life than anybody else.

During this trip, Darwin sent __15__ back to England. So he was well known as a scientist when he __16__. But __17__ becoming a professor, Darwin moved to the __18__. For some reason he was almost always __19__ with a stomach disorder. Doctors couldn't help him. (Even today, experts __20__ what disease he might have had.) So he lived an isolated life with his wife and family. He did experiments, studied plants and animals, read books and wrote papers in the comfort of his country home.

1. A. And         B. So             C. Or            D. But

2. A. collector   B. learner        C. instructor    D. farmer

3. A. larger      B. third          C. beetle        D. second

4. A. Before      B. Although       C. When         D. Until

5. A. meet        B. like           C. catch        D. stand

6. A. yet         B. instead        C. too          D. soon

7. A. sight       B. operation      C. problem      D. necessary 

8. A. religion    B. study          C. research     D. science

9. A. fewer       B. more           C. rarer        D. bigger

10. A. scientist    B. minister      C. geologist    D. learner

11. A. discoveries  B. voyage        C. fishing      D. passage 

12. A. Before       B. After         C. Until        D. During

13. A. forms        B. sizes         C. heights      D. years

14. A. In           B. After         C. By           D. During

15. A. reports      B. application   C. news         D. bugs

16. A. started out  B. came back     C. passed away  D. sailed out

17. A. fond of      B. content with  C. rather than  D. sticking to

18. A. city         B. university    C. office       D. countryside

19. A. disturbed    B. content       C. concerned    D. curious

20. A. know about   B. argue about   C. find out     D. care about

CALCUTTA, India Mar 24, 2006 (AP) — One of the world’s oldest creatures, a giant tortoise believed to have been about 250 years old, has died in the Calcutta zoo where it spent more than half its long life.

Addwaita, which means “the one and only” in the local Bengali language, was one of four Aldabra tortoises brought to India by British sailors in the 18th century. Zoo officials say he was a gift for Lord Robert Clive of the East India Company, who was instrumental in establishing British colonial^① rule in India, before he returned to England in 1767. Long after the other three tortoises died, Addwaita continued to thrive^②, living in Clive’s garden before being moved to the zoo in 1875.

“According to records in the zoo, the age of the giant tortoise, Addwaita, who died on Wednesday, would be about 250 years,” said zoo director Subir Chowdhury. That would have made him much older than the world’s oldest documented^③ living animal: Harriet, a 176-year-old Galapagos tortoise who lives at the Australia Zoo north of Brisbane, according to the zoo’s Web site. She was taken from the island of Isla Santa Cruz by Charles Darwin in the 19th century.

Aldabra tortoises come from the Aldabra atoll^④ in the Seychelle islands in the Indian Ocean, and often live to more than 100 years of age. Males can weigh up to 550 pounds. Addwaita, the zoo’s biggest attraction, had been unwell for the last few days, said local Forest Minister Jogesh Burman.

“We were keeping a watch on him. When the zoo keepers went to his enclosure on Wednesday they found him dead,” Burman said.

Notes:

colonial  adj. 殖民的

thrive  v. 茁壮成长

documented  adj. 备有证明文件的

atoll  n. 环礁

Choose the best answers according to the above:

According to the passage, Addwaita ________.

      A. was sent to India as a gift by British government

      B. was sent to India by British sailors in 1767

      C. lived together with three other Aldabra tortoises in India

      D. belonged to Lord Robert Clive for some time

By now, the oldest animal in the world is about at ________.

      A. 176 years old      B. 100 years old       C. 250 years old      D. 200 years old

In the last few days before Addwaita died, he ________.

A. had been sent to hospital for treatment         

B. had been playing with travelers

C. had been found not better than before          

D. had stayed in his enclosure for days

What would be the best title for the passage?

A. An Old Aldabra Tortoise Died in India    

B. A Remarkable Life: Tortoise Dies at 250

C. A Special Kind of Tortoise — Addwaita   

D. The Oldest Animal Aldabra Tortoise Died

阅读下列短文，从每题所给的四个选项中选出最佳选项。

　　Darwin was a great scientist．He studied living things in the world．

　　He said，“There are thousands of different living things．But in the past，the number was smaller．In the far past，a still smaller number．And at the be-ginning，perhaps only one．”

　　Darwin waited a long time before he put these things into a book．He always tried to add more and more facts；he wanted his ideas about evolution（进化）to be right．

　　It took him many years to write the book．At the beginning，people bought every copy．However，men of churches fought against Darwin's ideas．His story of the world was different from theirs．So either Darwin or the men of the churches must be wrong．But the churches didn't bring any new facts，or better ideas．They only brought angry words．

　　Later，Darwin wrote a book about the evolution of man．He said that man is also a kind of animal．And again，Darwin didn't just write down his own ideas，he filled his book with facts to support his theory．We know now that he was right．It's now widely believed that there have been mankind on our earth for more than a million years．We have found some of the palaeoanthropic（远古人的）bone fossils（化石）and those of other living things millions of years ago．These bone fossils have told us about the evolution of living things．

　　Like any other animal，man has slowly evoluted through time．But we can't find the bone of man like us from a few million years ago．The world's animals were different then．

　　But the bones can take us backwards（向后）through time into the past．And

they can help us with our study of the evolution of life．

1．Darwin believed that ________．

[　　]

A．there were living things in the past

B．there would be a small number of living things in the future

C．the number of living things had always been growing

D．there were one thousand living things in the past

2．The men of the churches ________．

[　　]

A．had new facts

B．had better ideas

C．agreed with Darwin

D．were angry with Darwin's theory

3．There were ________in Darwin's book．

[　　]

A．only view points

B．only facts

C．both viewpoints and facts

D．angry words

4．The men's bone fossils are important because ________．

[　　]

A．they help us with the study of the evolution of life

B．they prove that everything Darwin said was true

C．they show what men looked like in the past

D．they tell us that there were men a few million years ago