Easter(复活节) is still a great day for worship, randy in baskets and running around the yard finding eggs, but every year it gets quite a bit worse for bunnies.
And no, not because the kids like to pull their ears. The culprit is climate change, and some researchers found that rising temperatures arc having harmful effects on at least five species of rabbit in the US.
Take the Lower Keys March rabbit, for instance. An endangered species that lives in the Lower Florida Keys, this species of cottontail is a great swimmer — it lives on the islands! — but it is already severely affected by development and now by rising levels. According to the Center for Biological Diversity, an ocean level rise of only 0. 6 meters will send these guys jumping to higher ground and a 0.9-meter rise would wipe out their habitat (栖息地) completely.
The snowshoe hare, on the other hand, has a color issue. Most of these rabbits change their fur color from white in the wintertime to brown in the summer, each designed to give them better cover from predators（捕食者）.  As the number of days with snow decreases all across the country, however, more and more bunnies arc being left in white fur during brown dirt days of both fall and spring, making them an easier mark for predators. Researchers know that the color change is controlled by the number of hours of sunlight, but whether the rabbit will be able to adapt quick enough to survive is a big question. The National Wildlife Federation has reported that hunters have noticed their numbers are already markedly down.
American pikas or rock rabbits, a relative of rabbits and hares, might be the firs' of these species to go extinct due to climate change. About 7-8 inches long, pikas live high in the cool, damp mountains west of the Rocky Mountains. As global temperatures rise, they would naturally migrate (迁徙) to higher ground — but they already occupy the mountaintops. They can't go any higher. The National Wildlife Federation reports that they might not be able to stand the new temperatures as their habitat beats up.
The volcano rabbit has the same problem. These rabbits live on the slopes of volcanoes in Mexico, and recent studies have shown that the lower range of their habitat has already shifted upward about 700 meters, but there are not suitable plants for them to move higher, so they are stuck in the middle. Scientists are concerned about their populations.
Native to the US, pygmy rabbits weigh less than 1 pound and live in the American West. They are believed to be the smallest rabbits in the world. Their habitats have been destroyed by development. Several populations, such as the Columbia Basin pygmy, almost went extinct and were saved by zoo breeding programs. Pygmy rabbits also rely on winter cover by digging tunnels through the snow to escape predators, but lesser snowfall is leaving them exposed.
All of this gives new meaning to dressing up in a giant bunny costume this Easter.
【小题1】The writer mentions Easter at the beginning of the passage in order to_______.

    Tony Wrench and his wife Faith, wearing the traditional woolly jacket, have set up their home in the shadows of Preseli Mountains.

    They built the house in the winter of 1997 with the dream of living what they call“low-impact lives”. Their dream is to get close to nature, have little pollution and prove they can change the world. But their action was stopped almost a year later by the local government. Eventually, a new rule about environment protection was brought and the government encouraged the couple to carry on their “low-impact lives”.

    The completed house is built around a frame of 200 firs(冷杉木)and made entirely of natural materials, in a style that is part-native American, part-ancient Celt. Mr. Wrench said this house was more like a sort of large basket.  The most expensive part of the building was the rubber (橡胶 ) pond-liner for the roof at ￡650—all in it cost a grand total of￡3, 000, the labor being supplied by the couple and a few good friends. The idea is to try to make the most of the natural resources around them, reducing their impact as much as possible on the environment.

    Electricity is generated from three solar panels on the roof and a small windmill. Food is mostly home-grown (自产的) and they even make their own wine from a vine（藤）on the roof. Drinking water comes from the mountain stream and hot water is more or less on-tap through a back-boiler system fixed up to the back of the fire by the old whisky barrel(桶).

    Waste is dealt with by being rotted, which in turn provides fertilizer for the corns and vegetables etc. . They are by no means tired of life; on the contrary they like it. Mr. Wrench in particular likes nothing better than a nice hot bath. They wait for enough wind to charge the laptop so they can watch a DVD in the evening.

    Their life is not a challenge of existence; they say—just an attempt to keep their footsteps on the planet as light as possible.

55. What can we know from the passage?

A. Mr. Wrench planned to run a wine factory when he was young.

B. Mr. Wrench and Faith love their house and have been in it for twenty years.

C. Mr. Wrench and Faith’s behavior once was forbidden by the local government.

D. Mr. Wrench and Faith can’t watch TV in their house because there’s no electricity.

56. From the text we learn that the couple’s house______.

A. cost them 3, 650 pounds in all

B. is only made of about 200 firs

C. is not strong enough to resist the wind

D. was built by them and some of their friends

57. The food that the couple eat is mostly______.

A. produced by themselves

B. bought from a supermarket

C. offered by the government

D. grown on the roof of their house

58. According to the passage, the waste is______.

A. dealt with to help crops grow better

B. thrown away

C. buried deeply

D. sold to other farmers

America is growing older. Fifty years ago, only 4 out of every 100 people in the United States were 65 or older. Today, 10 out of every 100 Americans are over 65. The aging of the population will affect （影响） American society in many ways — education, medicine, and business. Quietly, the graying of America has made us a very different society— one in which people have a quite different idea of what kind of behavior（行为）is suitable （合适）at various ages. A person's age no longer tells you anything about his/her social position, marriage or health. There's no longer a particular year in which one goes to school or goes to work or gets married or starts a family. The social clock that kept us on time and told us when to go to school ,get a job, or stop working isn't as strong as it used to be. It doesn't surprise us to hear of a 29-year-old university president or a 35-year-old grandmother, or a 70-year-old man who has become a father for the firs time. Public ideas are changing. Many people say, 'I am much younger than my mother - or my father - was at my age.' No one says ‘Act your age’ anymore. We've stopped looking with surprise at older people who act in youthful ways.

1.It can be learnt from the text that the aging of the population in America_________  .

A.has made people feel younger

B.has changed people's social position

C. has changed people's understanding of age

D. has slowed down the country's social development

2.The underlined word ‘one’ refers to_________.

A. a society        B. America                C. a place                 D. population

3.‘Act your age’ means people should_________.

A.be active when they are old

B.do the right thing at the right age

C. show respect for their parents young or old

D. take more physical exercise suitable to their age

4.If a 25-year-old man becomes general manager of a big firm, the writer of the text would most probably consider it ______.

A.normal            B.wonderful              C.unbelievable                   D.unreasonable

第三部：阅读理解 （共两节，满分40分）
第一节：阅读短文（共15小题，每小题2分，满分30分）
About 4 years ago, as a newly appointed general manager for a chemical plant near Toronto, I was faced with several leadership challenges. When I was first appointed as acting general manager, the plant was not even covering its costs and I was told that it would either be turned around or else!
I met with all employees and explained the severity(严峻)of the situation and that we would all need to do what we could to increse sales and improve performance or reduce operating expenses. They all appreciated my honesty although they were very nervous about their futures.
I then started working with each department head to determine how I could support their efforts. At first, they thought that I was looking to fix the blame for inefficiencies(无效率), but over time, they realized that I only wanted to help them find solutions.
They learned to trust me; as when things sometimes went poorly, I told my boss that I was the person in charge rather than pointing my finger at one of my members of staff. When we gained new busuness and it directly improved our bottom line, I praised the efforts of the entire team.
The plant workers became more and more motivated and now they all seem to really enjoy their jobs and I feel honored to be their leader. Do we still have challenges? Yes, but the strength of the team is such that we  all pull toghter to face them “as one”, kind of like a family facing life’s ups and downs.
56. When the author bacame the general manager, the plant _____.
A. could only make ends meet
B. had a strong management team
C. was really in bad situation
D. was planning to enter other fields
57. When the author came to the plant the firs time, he impressed the employees with his _____. 
A. practical attitude    B. Intelligence    C. diligence       D. politeness
58. Every time things didn’t go well, the author would _____.
A. take the blame himself
B. ask his staff to take responsibility
C. get very depressed
D. think of ways to increase sales.
59. The passage offers a good example of _____.
A. being a good employee
B. being a good leader
C. reducing operating expenses
D. The importance of honesty.

阅读下面短文，根据第73至第75小题的具体要求，简要回答问题。

Every January， Breckenridge hosts the International Show Sculpture Championships. Fourteen teams travel from all over the world to

Switzerland to compete. Teams sculpt for sixty-five hours over five days. Each team hopes that when the time is up， its sculpture will be judged the best

As the championship begins， the fourteen teams are faced with huge blocks of snow that weigh twenty tons each. The sculptors bring out their

vorite tools that work best on the hard iced snow， but they are not allowed to employ tools that use electricity.

Most teams are inspired by what they have seen in daily life. For example， one team carved a teapot with tea pouring out. Another team sculpted a little cat on its hind feed（后脚） reaching into a fish bowl complete with water ripples（涟漪） and a crab（螃蟹） trying to attack the cat. In 2006， Team USA sculpted a golden dog looking at its image reflected in a mirror. To create the effect that the little dog saw its reflection in the glass， the artists carved two dogs facing each other with their paws （脚爪） touching.

As the final hours of the competition tick by， exhausted team members add last-minute details. They use small brooms to brush off snow caught in tiny holes. One team member counts down the last five minutes while others are busy cleaning up the tools. If they leave any tools behind， they will be out. When the whistle blows， everyone must step away from the sculpture. The judges then vote on creativity， technical skill， and visual impact（视觉效果） of the designs

In 2006， Team USA took firs place for their golden dog sculpture titled “Discovery”。 But the competition is not just about medals and ribbon. “It‘s not about the prize，” said Rob Neyland， Team USA’s captain. “It‘s about touching the audience.”

Every year， as the championship ends， each team is already dreaming of the next masterpiece it will design.

What kind of tools are the sculptures NOT permitted to use？ （回答词数不超过6个）

What gives the sculptors ideas for their creative work？ （回答词数不超过9个）

Why did Team USA win the competition in 2006？ （回答词数不超过15个）