John doesn't like to go to school. His mother is worried about him.

　　　　One morning she goes into John's room, turns on the light and says to him, "It's time to get up. You can't stay in bed all day. "

　　　　But John doesn't want to get up. He turns the light off.

　　　　"Don't go to sleep again. You'll be late for school again, " his mother says.

　　　　Fifteen minutes later, John comes into the kitchen（厨房）and sits down at the table.

　　　　"Hurry, it's eight o'clock, " his mother says to him.

　　　　"There's no hurry, " John tells his mother. " I'm not going to school. "

　　　　"Why not? Is it a holiday? "

　　　　"No, it's not a holiday. "

　　　　His mother sits next to him and takes his hand.

　　　　"John, tell me what's wrong. Why do you hate（恨）school so much? "

　　The son doesn't say anything. A few minutes later he says, "The teachers don't like me, and neither do the students. "

　　　　"John, " his mother says, " I'm sorry about it, but you cannot stay at home. "

　　　　"Why not? "

　　　　"Because（因为）dear, there are two very good reasons（理由）.

　　First, you are thirty-five years old. Second. you are the school headmaster（校长）, " says his mother.

　　根据短文内容，选择最恰当的答案。

　　1. Why is John's mother worried about him?　　

[　　]

　　A. He cries a lot.　　　　B. He cannot do his homework.

　　C. He sleeps all day.　　 D. He does not like to go to school

　　2. Why doesn't John want to go to school?　　

[　　]

　　A. He is ill.　　　　　　　　B. He likes to stay in bed.

　　C. He is not happy there.　　D. It is a holiday.

　　3. When does John's mother leave his room?　　

[　　]

　　A. 8:00　　B. 7:45

　　C. 8:15　　D. Fifteen minutes later.

　　4. What does John do at the school?　　　　

[　　]

　　A. He is a student.　　　　　　　B. He is an English teacher.

　　C. He is the school headmaster.　D. He doesn't do anything.

　　5. How old do you think John is before you read the last part of the story?

[　　]

　　A. He is about ten.　　 　B. He is thirty-five.

　　C. He is two years old. 　D. He is over sixty.

You thought the Dark Ages are well behind us? Think again. As we speak, the world is getting darker. Without sunlight, oxygen (氧气) levels will drop, and there won’t be enough food. In the end, we’ll die a horrible death. Probably, we will have forgotten what kind of a sunny planet Earth once was.

It is the thick clouds that are causing all the trouble. They bounce back (弹回) the sunlight into space, preventing it from reaching the Earth’s surface and its people. The result: darkness, and cold. So, who put those clouds up there in the first place? Well, blame (归咎于) yourself: you did. You guessed it: it’s those humans and their pollution again.

Already, the Earth is a bit darker than it should have been. An agricultural biologist (农业生物学家), Gerald Stanhill, first discovered Global (全球的) Dimming in Israel in the 1980s. The sun shines about 22 percent less in Israel than it did in the 1950s. It is as if someone is slowly turning off the lights! In fact, global dimming may have made its first victims (受害者) already. In the 1980s, about a million Africans in the Sahel died during a massive drought (大面积干旱). It was global dimming’s doing: the sun simply didn’t shine hard enough to ‘power up’ the system that should have given the Sahel its rainy season.

But isn’t the world getting warmer, instead of colder? How about global warming? Many facts show that the world is indeed getting warmer. But it’s also getting darker. In fact, many scientists believe that global dimming puts the brakes on the warming of our planet. Without global dimming, global warming would be much, much worse! And there’s no telling which will win in the end, heat or cold.

So, what do you prefer? Would you like to get roasted, or would you rather die in the dark? Hmm...Perhaps it’s a better idea to cut down a little on both pollution and greenhouse gases, after all.　

54. Why is the world getting darker?

A. Because oxygen levels on the earth are dropping quickly.

B. Because the thick clouds stop the sunlight reaching the earth.

C. Because the thick clouds are covering a large area of the earth.

D. Because the earth is becoming colder and colder.

55. What does the phrase “puts the brakes on” in Para. 4 probably mean?

A. puts out　　　 　　　　　　 B. breaks down　　 C. slows down　　 D. catches up with　　

56. According to the passage, which of the following statements is true?

A. The earth used to be sunnier and warmer.

B. We are responsible for global dimming.

C. Africa suffers most from global dimming.

D. Global warming is better than global dimming.

When you look up into the sky at night, have you ever felt that your eyes are playing tricks on (捉弄) you? It seems that the stars are moving all the time.

Actually, there is nothing wrong with your eyes. This twinkling effect is called scintillation (交光). Scintillation happens because of air movements in the earth’s atmosphere (大气). Light is “bent (弯曲的)” when it travels through different parts of the earth’s atmosphere. As the air in the earth’s atmosphere is moving all the time, the light from the stars looks as if it is moving too.

The same thing also happens to things on the ground. On a very hot and shiny day, if you look at the road, the image in the distance is not clear and things move slightly. You can also see the same effect if you drop a rock into water. The rock appears a little unclear under the moving water.

This twinkling effect causes a lot of problems for astronomers (天文学家) since they cannot observe the stars clearly. A telescope (望远镜) was sent into space so that the air movements in the atmosphere could be avoided (避免). It took a long time to build the space telescope but finally in 1990, a huge space telescope called the Hubble Space Telescope was successfully sent into space. Since then, astronomers have many important observations that have helped people understand space better.

根据短文内容，选择最佳选项。 （10分）

(　 )36. What happens to the light from the stars we see when the air in the earth’s atmosphere is moving?

　　 　　 A. It looks even brighter.　　　

B. It looks as if it is bent.

　　 　　 C. It looks as if it is moving.　　

D. It looks like drops of rain.

(　 )37. Scintillation also happens on 　　　　 according to the passage.

　　 　　 A. rainy days 　　 B. shiny days

　　 　　 C. cloudy days 　 D. windy days

(　 )38. What can you see when you drop a rock into the water?

　　 　　 A. The rock gets broken.　　　　

B. The rock becomes unclear.

　　 　　 C. The water becomes much polluted.

D. The water does not move anymore.

(　 )39. The underlined word “observe” means “　　　　”.

　　 　　 A. watch　　　 　 B. listen　　　 　 C. draw　　　 　 D. explain

(　 )40. Why is scintillation a problem for astronomers?

　　 　　 A. The stars never stay still.

B. It makes the stars too dark to see.

　　 　　 C. It makes astronomers feel too hot to work.

　　 　　 D. Astronomers cannot observe the stars clearly.