In 1970, at the age of 35, my father was diagnosed with Parkinson’s disease. There was not much      done at that time and my father had to rely on the medication and treatment that were      at that time. But one thing was      , my father was not a quitter. He was a teacher who       children with special educational needs in Chicago Public High School. Every day we would hear      about “his kids”. These “kids” did not usually      my sister and I.

One day, my father arrived at his school and walked up the     for his first period. He was having a very       day because the disease was really taking everything out of him. He       once and bruised (擦伤) his knee but he still kept going.       did he know that someone was watching.

As the day      his steps began to get a little lighter. At the end of the day, he was about to leave      a young girl entered his office. He had met her in the hallway but she was not one of his      . He asked what he could do for her and she said, “I just wanted to thank you for     my life.”

He looked at her and couldn’t       what he had done. She then went on      . “When I got up this morning, I felt as if I was at the end of my      and ready to kill myself. But when I saw you trying to go up the stairs and then you fell, I felt    and the feeling of sadness just kept getting     . And now you are walking as      as ever. It’s really true that everything will get better as the days go on.”

1.A. information                      B. research                            C. knowledge             D. experience

2.A. favorable                     B. believable                        C. reasonable            D. available

3.A. obvious                       B. special                         C. natural              D. strange

4.A. abandoned              B. followed                           C. taught              D. attended

5.A. stories                              B. jokes                 C. songs                       D. humors

6.A. connect                      B. change                     C. mean                       D. defeat

7.A. mountains                B. stairs                                 C. ladders        D. streets

8.A. normal                   B. pleasant                           C. simple              D. difficult

9.A. fell                            B. stood               C. happened         D. appeared

10.A. Few                          B. Little              C. Seldom             D. Never

11.A. arrived                          B. progressed         C. broke               D. stopped

12.A. until                                 B. before                C. when                      D. while

13.A. students                             B. friends             C. teachers               D. workers

14.A. losing                     B. giving               C. passing     D. saving

15.A. write down                 B. figure out                         C. cut off               D. put up

16.A. responding             B. admitting                          C. explaining           D. complaining

17.A. rope                B. wall               C. road                 D. work

18.A. sorry                B. bad               C. lucky                 D. proud

19.A. lower                  B. weaker           C. higher             D. stronger

20.A. carefully             B. quickly           C. lightly              D. slowly

"It's this time of year when the weather starts warming up and frogs start breeding - but they haven't been breeding," says John Wilkinson, research and monitoring officer at the Amphibian and Reptile Conservation Trust (ARC).
Amphibians (两栖动物) are just one of the groups of animals that nature observers fear may have problems reproducing this year, as groundwater levels are even lower now than in the infamously dry summer of 1976, according to the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs (Defra). According to the UK's Centre for Hydrology and Ecology the average rainfall so far this winter has been the lowest since 1972.
"If ponds dry up totally," says Mr. Wilkinson, "you could have lots of dead tadpoles." Drier and windier conditions could also make it more difficult for juvenile amphibians to survive their journeys between wet habitats.
But Peter Brotherton, the biodiversity manager for Natural England, says that "drought is part of nature's cycle", and, at present, a lot of animals, plants and insects are still in hibernation. This means that the population picture is unclear. "However, when we get extreme events, we get animals dying," he says. "And what is worrying is that normally at this time of year we expect soil to be near saturation（湿润）after winter."
Charlie Kitchin, the RSPB's site manager of the Nene Washes in Cambridgeshire, says the 2,000-acre wetland and grassland area is now struggling following two winters with relatively little winter rain and no flooding. One species that could suffer, he says, is the black-tailed godwit（黑尾豫）. "There are only 50 breeding pairs in the country, and we have 40 of them, and everything is bone-dry," Mr Kitchin says.
But one bad nesting season, he says, is "not the end of the world". "One of the features of flood plains is that they're volatile anyway," he adds. "But if they fail to breed another year, the population is likely to dip again."
【小题1】According to the passage animals may have problems reproducing this year mainly due to _____.

阅读下面的短文，从短文后各题所给的四个选项（A、B、C和D）中，选出可以填入空白处的最佳选项，并在答题卡上将该项涂黑。

A teacher teaching maths to seven-year-old Laiq asked him, “If I give you one apple and one apple and one apple, how many apples will you have?”

Within a few seconds, Laiq      confidently, “Four!”

The confused teacher was expecting a(n)       correct answer, three. She was disappointed. “Maybe the child did not listen      ” she thought. She     “Laiq, listen carefully. If I give you one apple and one apple and one apple, how many apples will you have?”

 Laiq had seen the      on his teacher’s face. He     again on his fingers. But within him he was also      the answer that would make the teacher happy. This time hesitatingly he replied, “Four.”

The disappointment stayed on the teacher’s face. Suddenly she    that Laiq liked strawberries. She thought maybe he didn’t like apples and that was why he couldn’t answer the question. This time with an excitement in her     she asked, “If I give you one strawberry and one strawberry and one strawberry, then how many you will have?”

Seeing the teacher   , young Laiq calculated on his fingers again. There was no pressure on him. But a little on the teacher. She wanted her new    to succeed.    a hesitating smile young Laiq replied, “Three?”

The teacher now had a      smile. Her approach had succeeded. She wanted to      herself. But one last thing remained.      she asked him, “Now if I give you one apple and one apple and one more apple how many will you have?”

Confidently Laiq answered, “Four!” The teacher was     , “How Laiq, how?” she demanded in a little impatient voice.

In a voice that was      and hesitating young Laiq replied, “Because I already have one      in my bag.”

The story tells us:      someone gives you an answer that is      from what you expect, don’t think they are wrong. There shall be an angle that you may not have thought about yet.

1.A. told            B. added C. replied D. wrote

2.A. worthless   B. effortless       C. careless         D. selfless

3.A. possibly         B. actively       C. attentively     D. strictly

4.A. repeated         B. ordered   C. whispered     D. complained

5.A. satisfaction       B. disappointment          C. punishment  D. determination

6.A. recognized       B. discovered        C. calculated     D. insisted

7.A. searching for     B. waiting for          C. arguing about        D. talking about

8.A. decided         B. noticed           C. expressed        D. remembered

9.A. eyes            B. hands            C. mouth       D. nose

10.A. sad            B. happy          C. pitiful    D. lovely

11.A. invention       B. system       C. reform             D. approach

12.A. On             B. In               C. With              D. By

13.A. victorious       B. precious   C. lasting            D. appealing

14.A. thank           B. congratulate     C. help              D. enjoy

15.A. Above all        B. In vain           C. On purpose        D. Once again

16.A. annoyed         B. concerned         C. amused           D. relaxed

17.A. high            B. low               C. easy             D. clear

18.A. strawberry       B. apple       C. coin       D. box

19.A. Before          B. After             C. Until        D. When

20.A. absent           B. free             C. different         D. safe

Someday a stranger will read your email without your permission or scan the website you have visited. Or perhaps someone will casually glance through your credit card purchases or cell bills to find out your shopping preferences or calling habits.

? In fact, it is likely that some of these things have already happened to you. Who would watch you without permission? It might be a girlfriend, a marketing company, a boss or a criminal. Whoever it is, they will see you in a way you never intended to be seen-----the 21st century is the equal of being caught naked.

? Psychologists tell us boundaries are healthy and that it is important to reveal yourself to friends, families and lovers at appropriate time and places. But now few boundaries remain. The information you leave everywhere makes it easy for strangers to reconstruct who you are, where you are and what you like. Believe it or not, we live in a world where you simply can’t keep a secret. The key question is: does that matter?

? When you ask Americans about privacy, most say they are concerned about losing it.

? But people say one thing and do another. Only a tiny part of Americans change any behaviors in an effort to preserve their privacy. Few people turn down a discount at tollbooths(收费站) to avoid using the EZ-Pass system that can track automobile movements. And few refuse to offer personal information like Social Security numbers to get supermarket loyalty cards.

? But privacy (隐私) does matter—at least sometimes. It is like health: when you have it, you don’t notice it. Only when it is gone do you wish you had done more to protect it.

1.What does the underlined sentence in Para 2 mean?

A. People’s personal information is easily accessed without their knowing it.

B. In the 21st century people try every means to look into others’ secrets.

C. People tend to be more frank with each other in the information age.

D. Criminals are easily caught on the spot with advanced technology.

2.Which of the statements will the psychologists probably agree with?

A. Friends should open their hearts to each other.

B. Friends should always be faithful to each other.

C. There should be a distance even between friends.??

D. The closer they are, the deeper their friendship is.

3.In the last paragraph but one, the EZ-Pass system and Social Security numbers are used as evidence to show_________.

A. Americans talk a lot but do little about privacy protection

B. Americans use various loyalty cards for business.

C. Americans rely more and more on electronic devices.

D. Americans change behaviors that might disclose their identity.

4.Which of the following may serve as the best title of the passage?

A. Privacy and Health??????????????????? B. Privacy Is Getting Lost.

C. Boundary and Friendship?????????????? D. Cherish What You Have