Whenever human populations have lived in forest areas, they have always cut down trees which they used for a number of purposes, for housing and ships and served as a source of heating fuel and timber. Growth of cities often meant expansion into forest areas, while even more trees were removed to provide space for agriculture. With the growing demand for paper, vast quantities of trees have also been cut down for paper production. These factors, along with many others, have been contributing to a dangerous phenomenon known as deforestation.

In the last 5,000 years, humans have reduced forest from roughly 50 percent of the earth’s land surface to less than 20 percent. Most of this original, or old growth, forest cover is concentrated in three large areas: the Canadian and Alaskan boreal forest, the boreal forest of Russia, and the tropical forest of the northwestern Amazon Basin and the Guyana Shield. These areas comprise almost 70 percent of the world’s remaining original forest cover. In most places, the rate of deforestation is increasing, with the alarming result of 16 million hectares disappearing worldwide every year.

Loss of forest does not just mean the decline of natural resources. There are several other factors that make deforestation seriously harmful to both the human and natural worlds. One of them is changes in the global climate. For example, forest clearance is releasing substantial volumes of carbon dioxide (CO₂) into the atmosphere as vegetation is burnt or decays. It has been suggested that this is a significant factor in global warming. Moreover, about 10 percent of the world’s tree species are in danger of extinction as a result of deforestation. Deforestation also threatens biological diversity through the destruction of wildlife habitats, which endangers a number of animal species and leads to their potential disappearance. Species are particularly easy to extinction in tropical rainforests because many species have few individuals per unit area, which makes reproduction more difficult. Finally, since forests play an important role in storing water and stabilizing soil, deforestation and the resulting change in land use cause soil erosion (腐蚀) and other forms of land degradation.

The passage discusses all of the following EXCEPT the ________.

    A. causes of deforestation              B. consequences of deforestation

    C. management of deforestation          D. rate of deforestation

   The word “diversity” in the last paragraph probably means “________”.

    A. variety                              B. expansion       

    C. development                      D. advantage

Why does the author mention fuel and timber in Paragraph 1?

    A. To explain the rate of deforestation.

    B. To compare them with housing and ships.

    C. To show the dangers of deforestation.

    D. To illustrate the causes of deforestation.

Which of the following sentences summarizes Paragraph 3 best?

    A. Deforestation threatens biological diversity.

B. Deforestation has many harmful consequences.

    C. Deforestation causes changes in global climate.

    D. Deforestation should be stopped.

Shams and delusions are esteemed for soundest truths, while reality is fabulous. If men would steadily observe realities only, and not allow themselves to be deluded, life, to compare it with such things as we know, would be like a fairy tale and the Arabian Nights’ Entertainments. If we respected only what is inevitable and has a right to be , music and poetry would resound along the streets. When we are unhurried and wise, we perceive that only great and worthy things have any permanent and absolute existence, --that petty fears and petty pleasure are but the shadow of reality. This is always exhilarating and sublime. By closing the eyes and slumbering, by consenting to be deceived by shows, men establish and confirm their daily life of routine and habit everywhere, which still is built on purely illusory foundation. Children, who play life, discern its true law and relations more clearly than men, who fail to live worthily, but who think that they are wiser by experience, that is, by failure. I have read in a Hindoo book, that “there was a king’s son, who, being expelled in infancy from his native city, was brought up by a forester, and, growing up to maturity in that state, imagined himself to belong to the barbarous race with which be lived. One of his father’s ministers having discovered him, revealed to him what he was, and the misconception of his character was removed, and he knew himself to be a prince. So soul, from the circumstances in which it is placed, mistakes its own character, until the truth is revealed to it by some holy teacher, and then it knows itself to be Brahme.” We think that that is which appears to be. If a man should give us an account of the realities he beheld, we should not recognize the place in his description. Look at a meeting-house, or a court-house, or a jail, or a shop. Or a dwelling-house, and say what that thing really is before a true gaze, and they would all go to pieces in your account of them. Men esteem truth remote, in the outskirts of the system, behind the farthest star, before Adam and after the last man. In eternity there is indeed something true and sublime. But all these times and places and occasions are now and here. God himself culminates in the present moment, and will never be more divine in the lapse of all ages. And we are enabled to apprehend at all what is sublime and noble only by the perpetual instilling and drenching of the reality that surrounds us. The universe constantly and obediently answers to our conceptions; whether we travel fast or slow, the track is laid for us. Let us spend our lives in conceiving then. The poet or the artist never yet had as fair and noble a design but some of his posterity at least could accomplish it.

The writer’s attitude toward the arts is one of

[A]. admiration. [B]. indifference. [C]. suspicion. [D]. repulsion

The author believes that a child.

[A]. should practice what the Hindoos preach.

[B]. frequently faces vital problems better than grownups do.

[C]. hardly ever knows his true origin.

[D]. is incapable of appreciating the arts.

. The author is primarily concerned with urging the reader to

[A]. look to the future for enlightenment. [B]. appraise the present for its true value.

[C]. honor the wisdom of the past ages. [D]. spend more time in leisure activities.

The passage is primarily concerned with problem of

[A]. history and economics. [B]. society and population.

[C]. biology and physics. [D]. theology and philosophy.

23．This is the second time Nie Haisheng ______ to be the astronaut who took the glorious task.

A．has been chosen     B．had been chosen　C．was chosen      D．Chose

Armed only with iPhones, the inventive rock band Atomic Tom has gone viral（广为流传） by way of the New York subway． The band has scored an Internet hit with the video to the song “Take Me Out．”

Singer Luke White says the production was a top-secret operation．

“We didn't tell anyone about this． It was completely top-secret from our family, from our friends, from our label, our management, everybody． So the first time that people saw this video was last Friday when we put it on YouTube,” explained White．

Since uploading the video to YouTube, band members have spent several days refreshing the page to watch the number of hits rise．

The video has also made its way around Twitter as many people have shared it with their friends．

“I mean, it still hasn't quite hit． It's just kind of blowing our minds right now that we're getting this: many people are fond of it, and they're sharing it with their friends． We don't know what it's like really to have something that's viral, so all of this is very new to us．” said Eric Espiritu, the lead guitarist of the band．

White explains how the video came together:

“We did our research with the applications（ 应用程序） and found applications that worked out really well with the instruments and then we plugged them all into, plugged our phones into mini-battery powered amplifiers（扩音器） that we put underneath our seats, and we did a lot of, you know, practices, in terms of figuring out what the balance of the sound and like who was overpowering, who was too loud or who was too soft．”

The idea for the video came from Espiritu's younger brother Benjamin． The younger Espiritu directed the video from his initial concept through the final edit and upload to the Internet．　

“I've seen a lot of the music applications come out, and I've never actually had the chance to play with them," says Ben Espiritu． "When I started hearing about how they sound and everything, I thought it might be unique to take it one step further and then create an entire band just performing solely（单曲） on the iPhones, and I thought it would be a pretty cool idea．”

Ben says the success of the band’s music video is a credit to the talent and ability of the musicians, but it's also a sign of the times．

“It really comes down to seeing something different, seeing something unique, and I think that that's always, in any type of art form, what will speak to people, and I think it does reflect the times that we live in, taking a smart phone and then being able to turn it into an instrument, not only just an instrument, but making it sound really good．”

Who first saw the video of the song “Take Me Out”?

   A． Their friends       B． The people on line

    C． Their family        D． Their management

What is the band members’ attitude towards the sudden fame?

   A． They are thrilled．

   B． They are quite used to it．

   C． They are kind of confused．

   D． They are so excited as to tell everyone they know．

How did the video come into being?

   A． The band copied from it other musicians．

   B． It had already existed in the iPhones before they bought them．

    C． The band created it with the help of the applications in the iPhones．

    D． The band made full use of the traditional instruments to make the song．

What is the significance of the success of the band's music video?

    A． It has introduced us several talented musicians．

    B． It has made the musicians into millionaires．

    C． It teaches the young a big lesson．

    D． It reflects the talent and ability of the musicians and the times that we live in．

In June,2007,a group of students from eight high schools in Winnipeg,the capital of Canada’s Manitoba province,will begin test-launching(试发射)a satellite the size of a Rubik’s cube.

The one-kilogram Win-Cube satellite,named for its home city and its shape,will be put into low orbit.Once in space,it can perform for a few months or up to several years,communicating information that could help find the early signs of earthquakes.

There are 80 similar satellite projects worldwide,but this is the first high-school based program of its kind in Canada.30 Manitoba high school students are having a hand in designing and building the satellite,in cooperation with aerospace(航空航天的)experts and 10 students from the University of Manitoba,and with support from two other organizations.

The Win-Cube project is not something that goes on a piece of paper,it is real-world engineering,allowing high school students to have an opportunity to learn more about the exciting world of engineering through their participation in this challenging program.It is also taken as a wonderful example of the unique partnerships within Manitoba.Designing,building and lauching a satellite with high-school participation will bring this world-class educational project into reality and Manitoba closer to space.

“These Manitoba high school students deserve congratulations for their enthusiasm, innovation(创新)，and a strong love for discovery,”said Education,Citizenship and Youth Minister Peter Bjornson.“We want to make science more relevant(相关的),interesting and attractive to high school students by showing them how classroom studies can relate to practical experience in the workplace or,in this case,in space,”Bjornson added.

The Win-Cube program is mainly aimed at inspiring a strong desire for discovery on the part of the students.It also shows Manitoba’s devotion to research and innovation and the development of a skilled workforce—all important drivers of knowledge-based economic growth.

According to the passage,the Win-Cube satellite is_______.

A.named after Manitoba and its shape

B.intended for international communication

C.designed like a Rubik’s cube both in shape and size

D.challenged by university students around the world

According to Mr.Bjornson,_______.

A.those Manitoba high school students are worth praising

B.the study of space can be practically made in classroom

C.Manitoba high schools are famous for the sutdy of space

D.scientific research is too far away from high school students

The primary purpose of the project is to_______.

A.find the early signs of earthquakes

B.relate studies to practical experience

C.help high school students study real-world engineering

D.inspire a strong desire for discovery among the students

The best title for this passage may be_______.

A.Manitoba School                                           B.Win-Cube Program

C.Space Cooperation                                        D.Satellite Launching