As the railroads and the highways shaped the American West in the past centuries, a new electrical generating(发电)and transmission (输送) system for the 21^st century will leave a lasting mark on the West, for better or worse. Much of the real significance of railroads and highways is not in their direct physical effect on the scenery, but in the ways that they affect the surrounding community. The same is true of big solar plants and the power lines that will be laid down to move electricity around.

The 19 ^th century saw land grants(政府拨地) offered to railroad companies to build the transcontinental railroads, leaving public land in between privately owned land. In much of the West, some of the railroad sections were developed while others remained undeveloped, and in both cases the landownership has presented unique challenges to land management. With the completion of the interstate highway system, many of the small towns, which sprang up as railway stops and developed well, have lost their lifeblood and died.

Big solar plants and their power lines will also have effects far beyond their direct footprint in the West. This is not an argument against building them. We need alternative energy badly, and to really take advantage of it we need to be able to move electricity around far more readily than we can now.

So trade-offs will have to be made. Some scenic spots will be sacrificed. Some species(物种) will be forced to move, or will be carefully moved to special accommodations. Deals will be struck to reduce the immediate effects.

The lasting effects of these trade-offs are another matter. The 21^st century development of the American West as an ideal place for alternative energy is going to throw off a lot of power and money in the region. There are chances for that power and money to do a lot of good. But it is just as likely that they will be spent wastefully and will leave new problems behind, just like the railroads and the highways.

The money set aside in negotiated trade-offs and the institutions that control it will shape the West far beyond the immediate footprint of power plants and transmission lines. So let’s remember the effects of the railroads and the highways as we construct these new power plants in the West.

1.What was the problem caused by the construction of the railways?

A．Small towns along the railways became abandoned.

B．Land in the West was hard to manage.

C．Some railroad stops remained underused.

D．Land grants went into private hands.

2.What is the major concern in the development of alternative energy according to the last two paragraphs?

A．The use of money and power.

B．The transmission of power.

C．The conservation of solar energy.

D．The selection of an ideal place.

3.What is the author’s attitude towards building solar plants?

A．Disapproving.      B．Approving.         C．Doubtful.          D．Cautious.

4.Which is the best title for the passage?

A．How the Railways Have Affected the West

B．How the Effects of Power Plants Can Be Reduced

C．How Solar Energy Could Reshape the West

D．How the Problems of the Highways Have Been Settled

As the railroads and the highways shaped the American West in the past centuries, a new electrical generating(发电)and transmission (输送) system for the 21st century will leave a lasting mark on the West, for better or worse. Much of the real significance of railroads and highways is not in their direct physical effect on the scenery, but in the ways that they affect the surrounding community. The same is true of big solar plants and the power lines that will be laid down to move electricity around.

The 19 th century saw land grants(政府拨地) offered to railroad companies to build the transcontinental railroads, leaving public land in between privately owned land. In much of the West, some of the railroad sections were developed while others remained undeveloped, and in both cases the landownership has presented unique challenges to land management. With the completion of the interstate highway system, many of the small towns, which sprang up as railway stops and developed well, have lost their lifeblood and died.

Big solar plants and their power lines will also have effects far beyond their direct footprint in the West. This is not an argument against building them. We need alternative energy badly, and to really take advantage of it we need to be able to move electricity around far more readily than we can now.

So trade-offs will have to be made. Some scenic spots will be sacrificed. Some species(物种) will be forced to move, or will be carefully moved to special accommodations. Deals will be struck to reduce the immediate effects.

The lasting effects of these trade-offs are another matter. The 21st century development of the American West as an ideal place for alternative energy is going to throw off a lot of power and money in the region. There are chances for that power and money to do a lot of good. But it is just as likely that they will be spent wastefully and will leave new problems behind, just like the railroads and the highways.

The money set aside in negotiated trade-offs and the institutions that control it will shape the West far beyond the immediate footprint of power plants and transmission lines. So let’s remember the effects of the railroads and the highways as we construct these new power plants in the West.

1.What was the problem caused by the construction of the railways?

A．Small towns along the railways became abandoned.

B．Land in the West was hard to manage.

C．Some railroad stops remained underused.

D．Land grants went into private hands.

2.What is the major concern in the development of alternative energy according to the last two paragraphs?

A．The use of money and power.

B．The transmission of power.

C．The conservation of solar energy.

D．The selection of an ideal place.

3.What is the author’s attitude towards building solar plants?

A．Disapproving.      B．Approving.         C．Doubtful.          D．Cautious.

4.Which is the best title for the passage?

A．How the Railways Have Affected the West

B．How the Effects of Power Plants Can Be Reduced

C．How Solar Energy Could Reshape the West

D．How the Problems of the Highways Have Been Settled

At one time or another most farmers have problems with mice. This is especially true for grain farmers. Mice eat a lot of grain. They also carry diseases(疾病), which people can get from eating or touching grain the mice have made dirty. Farmers can use special grain storage building or they can kill the mice. However, both methods can be costly. Farmers must buy materials to build the special grain storage buildings or chemical poisons to kill the mice.
Here is a way to kill mice without spending a lot of money. It is a simple but effective king of mouse trap. The method is first used by some farmers in the west African country of Mali. An agricultural expert in Mali reported about the Mali mouse trap in a magazine. The expert reported that his gardener caught 150 mice in just one night. The gardener used four traps. The trap is easy to make. First, remove the top from a 20 liter metal or plastic container(容器). Put it n a hole in the ground. The top edge of the container should be the level with the surface of the ground. Fill the container with water to within eight centimeters of the top. Add tiny pieces of grain wastes. They should float on the water. Also put some wastes on the ground near the trap. During the night, mice will come out to eat the grain wastes. They will fall into the container and drown. Replace the food in the trap every night.
56. According to the passage,       used the mouse trap first.
A. an agricultural expert in the west Africa      B. farmers in the United States
C. an American gardener                    D. farmers in Mali
57. What does the passage mainly tell us?
A. A simple and effective method used by farmers to kill mice.
B. Methods used by farmers to kill mice.
C. Farmers have problems with mice.
D. How to kill mice.
58.      is not needed in making the mouse trap.
A. Water                            B. A container
C. chemical poison                    D. Food
59. Which of the following can’t protect grain from being eaten by mice?
A. A special grain storage building.          B. Chemical poisons.
C. A mouse trap.                        D. A hole in the ground.

阅读下面的短文，然后按照要求写一篇150词左右的英语短文。
In one way of thinking, failure is a part of life. In another way, failure may be a way towards success. The “spider story’’ often told, Robert Bruce, leader of the Scots in the 13 th century, was hiding in a cave from the English. He watched a spider spinning a web. The spider tried to reach across a rough place in the rock. He tried six times without success. On the seventh time he made it and went to spin his web. Bruce is said to have taken heart and to have gone on to defeat the English. Edison, the inventor of the light bulb, made hundreds of models that failed before he found the right way to make one. Abraham Lincoln, the famous American president, lost elections more times than he won them! He never gave up in the face of failure but kept trying and was eventually elected to Congress and then the presidency.
So what? First, always think about your failure. What caused it? Were conditions right? Were you in top from yourself? What can you change so things will go right next time?
Second, is the goal you’re trying to reach the right one? Try to do some thinking about what your real goals may be. Think about this question. “If I do succeed this time, where will it get me?’’ This may help you prevent failure in things you shouldn’t be doing anyway.
The third thing to bear in mind about failure is that it’s part of life. Learn to “live with yourself” even though you may have failed. Remember, “You can’t win them all.”
【写作内容】
1、概括短文的内容要点，该部分字数大约30词左右；
2、以“Is Failure a Bad Thing”为题写一篇文章，包含以下内容要点，该部分的字数大约120词左右。
⑴失败是生活中的常事
⑵人们对失败所持的不同态度
⑶你对失败的认识
【写作要求】
1、可以使用实例或其他论述方法支持你的观点，也可以参照阅读材料的内容，但不要抄袭阅读材料中的句子
2、作文中不能出现真实姓名和学校名称。
                                                                      
                                                                      
                                                                      
                                                                      
                                                                      
                                                                  

There was once a famous king whose name was Tamerlane. Like Alexander the Great, he   36  to become the master of the whole world. So he raised a great   37  and made war on other countries. He conquered(征服，打败） many kings and   38  many cities. But at last his army was beaten; and Tamerlane escaped alone from the field of   39 .

For a long time he wandered in   40  from place to place. His enemies were   41  him. He was about to lose all hope.

One day he was   42   under a tree, thinking of his failure. He had now been a wanderer for twenty days. He couldn’t   43  any longer. Suddenly he saw a small object climbing up the trunk (树干) of the tree. He looked more   44  and saw it was an ant,  45  a grain of wheat（麦粒） as large as itself.

There was a   46  in the tree only a little way above, and that was the home of the ant.

“You are   47  , Mr. Ant,” he said, “but you are carrying something that is too heavy for you.” Just as he   48 , the ant lost its footing and fell to the ground. But it   49  held on to the grain of wheat. Tamerlane 50  the little insect. It tried the second time, the third time ... the twentieth time — but always with the same  51  . Then it tried the twenty-first time.   52 , one little step at a time, it climbed across the rough place where it had   53  so often. The next minute it climbed   54  into its home, carrying the grain of wheat. “Well done!” said Tamerlane, “you’ve taught me a lesson. I, too, will try, try again,   55  I succeed.”

And this he did.