Special Bridges Help Animals Cross the Road
—Reported by Sheila Carrick
Why did the chicken cross the road?  To get to the other side.
Most people know this joke. But recently, some people have been much more worried about how the grizzly bear (灰熊) and mountain lion can cross the road.
“Millions of animals die each year on U.S. roads,” the Federal Highway Administration reports. In fact, only about 80 ocelots, an endangered wild cat, exist in the U.S. today. The main reason? Roadkill.
“Ecopassages ” may help animals cross the road without being hit by cars. They are paths both over and under roads. “These ecopassages can be extremely useful, so that wildlife can avoid road accidents,” said Jodi Hilty of the Wildlife Protection Society.
But do animals actually use the ecopassages? The answer is yes. Paul Beier of Northern Arizona University found foot marks left by mountain lions on an ecopassage that went under a highway. This showed that the lions used the passage.
Builders of ecopassages try to make them look like a natural part of an area by planting trees on and around them. Animals seem to be catching on. Animals as different as salamanders (火蜥蜴) and grizzly bears are using the bridges and underpasses.
The next time you visit a park or drive through an area with a lot of wildlife, look around. You might see an animal overpass!
【小题1】The writer uses the example of “ocelots” to show that _______.

The Greenbelt, a wide belt of open land around the cities and towns of the San Francisco Bay Area, includes about 3.75 million of the Bay Area’s 4.5 million acres. The Bay Area Greenbelt is one of the largest areas of open land in any U.S. urban area. Open land is land that has few buildings and lots of natural areas. The Greenbelt’s open land includes parks, forests, beaches, and more than 8,500 farms.
What are the advantages of the Greenbelt?
The Greenbelt has many advantages for people in the Bay Area, which include:
l walking and biking areas close to the cities and towns;
l places for wild plants and animals;
l cleaner air and water;
l income from farms.
Is the Greenbelt in danger?
Five hundred seventy thousand acres of the Greenbelt are in danger. There are builders who want to build suburbs on them. If those acres become suburbs, many things will change:
l the urban and suburban area will almost double;
l many farms will disappear;
l traffic will become worse; 
l the air will become dirtier.
What is Greenbelt Alliance (联盟)?
Greenbelt Alliance, an organization that saves land in the San Francisco Bay Area, works alone and with other groups to save the Greenbelt in four ways:
1. Try to persuade people to build new buildings on land that is already urban, not on open land.
2. Make sure that the city and town governments are all making plans to save the Greenbelt.
3. Help Bay Area towns and cities to buy pieces of open land to make into natural areas.
4. Teach people in the Bay Area why the Greenbelt is important and what they can do to help save it.
【小题1】What can we learn about the Greenbelt from the first paragraph?

读写任务(满分25分) 

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。

An earthquake happened in Bam（伊朗的巴姆市） on December 26, 2003. About 30,000 people were killed and more were injured. Many of those killed by the earthquake died only because of poor building methods and a lack of proper regulation.

In Iran, as in many developing countries, earthquake that ought to be survivable（不致命的）often bring human disaster because buildings collapse (倒塌) on top of people. Two days before Christmas, California was struck by an earthquake similar in magnitude (强度) to the one that hit Iran Saturday, but only three people died, thanks largely to safer construction methods. A quake measuring 8.0 caused just 500 injuries and no deaths in Japan in September 2003.

Bam, however, was a disaster waiting to happen. Efforts to bring industrial development to what was a backward agricultural area caused a population boom (激增)and a shortage of housing, which local builders tried to meet with cheap homes, or by adding extra floors to existing houses. Many buildings collapse [even] without earthquakes, because of the poor construction.

【写作内容】

以约30个词概括短文的要点：

2．然后以约120个词就“这样的人类灾难是否可以避免？”这个主题发表自己的看法，至少包含以下的内容要点：

a为什么地震在巴姆（Bam）会导致这么严重的人类灾害；

b.你认为材料中谈到的这类灾害是否可以避免，为什么；

c.你认为要避免这类灾害需要采取什么措施。

【写作要求】

你可以用实例或其他方法支持你的论点,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.

【评分标准】

概括准确、语言规范、内容合适、篇章连贯。

阅读下面短文，根据短文内容，回答问题。

　　In most American cities, the rent for a one-bedroom apartment was $ 250 or more per month in recent years． In some smaller cities such as Louisville, Kentucky or Jacksonville, Florida the rent was less, but in larger cities it was more． For example, if you lived in Los Angeles, you had to pay $400 or more to rent a one-bedroom apartment, and the same apartment rented for $ 626 and up in Chicago． The most expensive rents in the US were in New York City, where you had to pay at least $ 700 a month to rent a one-bedroom apartment in most parts of the city．

　　Renters and city planners are worried about the high cost of renting apartments． Many cities now have rent-control laws to keep the cost of renting now． These laws help low-income families who cannot pay high rents．

　　Rent control in the United States began in 1943 when the government imposed (课税) rent controls on all American cities to help workers and the families of soldiers during World War II． After the war, only one city－-New York－-continued these World War II controls． Recently, more and more cities have returned to rent controls． At the beginning of the 1980s, nearly one fifth of the people in the United States lived in cities with rent-control laws．

　　Many cities have rent-control laws, but why are rents so high? Builders and landlords blame rent controls for the high rents． Rents are high because there are not enough apartments to rent and they blame rent control for the shortage of apartments． Builders want more money to build more apartment buildings, and landlords want more money to repair their old apartment buildings． But they cannot increase rents to get this money because of the rent control laws． As a result, landlords are not repairing their old apartments and builders are not building new apartment buildings to replace the ole apartment buildings． Builders are building apartments for high-income families, not low-income families, so low-income families must live in old apartments that are in disrepair． Builders and landlords claim that rent-control laws really hurt low-income families．

　　Many renters disagree with them． They say that rent control is not the problems． Even without rent controls, builders and landlords will continue to ignore low-income housing because they can make more money from high-income housing． The only answer, they claim, is more rent control and government help for low-income housing．

1．Which city had the highest rent for a one-bedroom apartment in America?

___________________________________________________________

2．When did the rent control begin in the United States?

___________________________________________________________

3．Why did the American government impose rent controls on all American cities in 1943 ?

___________________________________________________________

4．According to many renters, why do builders and landlords ignore low-income housing?

___________________________________________________________

5．In the opinion of builders and landlords, what is the real reason for the high rents?

___________________________________________________________

Special Bridges Help Animals Cross the Road

——Reported by Sheila Carrick

    Why did the chicken cross the road? To get to the other side.

    Most people know this joke. But recently, some people have been much more worried about how the grizzly bear and mountain lion can cross the road.

     “Millions of animals die each year on U.S. roads,” the Federal Highway Administration reports. In fact, only about 80 ocelots, an endangered wild cat, exist in the U.S. today. The main reason? Roadkill.

     “Ecopassages” may help animals cross the road without being hit by cars. They are paths both over and under roads. “These ecopassages can be extremely useful, so that wildlife can avoid road accidents,” said Jodi Hilty of the Wildlife Protection Society.

    But do animals actually use the ecopassages? The answer is yes. Paul Beier of Northern Arizona University found foot marks left by mountain lions on an ecopassage that went under a highway. This showed that the lions used the passage.

    Builders of ecopassages try to make them look like a natural part of an area by planting trees on and around them. Animals seem to be catching on. Animals as different as salamanders and grizzly bears are using the bridges and underpasses.

    The next time you visit a park or drive through an area with a lot of wildlife, look around. You might see an animals overpass!

1. The writer uses the example of “ocelots” to show that ______.

  A. wild animals have become more dangerous

  B. the driving conditions have improved greatly

  C. the measure for protecting wildlife fails to work

  D. an increasing number of animals are killed in road accidents

2. From the news story, we know an ecopassage is ______.

  A. an underground path for cars                                  

B. a fence built for the safety of the area

  C. a bridge for animals to get over a river                    

D. a pass for animals to cross the road

3. When the writer says that animals seem “to be catching on”, he means ______.

  A. animals begin to realize the dangers on the road 

B. animals begin to learn to use ecopassages

  C. animals are crossing the road in groups                    

D. animals are increasing in number

4. The writer asks visitors and drivers to look around when traveling because ______.

  A. wild animals may attack cars                                  

B. wild animals may jam the road

  C. they may see wild animals in the park               

D. they may see wild animals on ecopassages