E
Climate has been a major driver of armed conflict in Africa, research shows—and future warming is likely to increase the number of deaths from war. US researchers found that across the continent, conflict was about 50% more likely in unusually warm years.
Writing in Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences (PNAS), they suggest conflict arises when the food supply is not enough in warm conditions. Climatic factors have been mentioned as a reason for several recent conflicts. One is the fighting in Darfur in Sudan that has killed 200,000 people and forced two million more from their homes. Previous research has shown an association between lack of rain and conflict, but this is thought to be the first clear evidence of a temperature link.
The researchers used databases of temperatures across sub-Saharan Africa for the period between 1981 and 2002, and looked for connections between above average warmth and civil conflict in the same country that left at least 1,000 people dead. "Studies show that crop output in the region is really sensitive to small shifts in temperature, even of half a degree or so," research leader Marshall Burke, from the University of California at Berkeley, told BBC News.
"Our findings provide strong motivation to increase investments in African adaptation to climate change by such steps as developing crop varieties less sensitive to extreme heat and promoting insurance plans to help protect farmers from negative effects of the hotter climate," said Dr Burke. "If the argument is that the trend towards rising temperatures will increase conflict, then we need to do something around climate change, but more fundamentally we need to resolve the conflicts in the first place."
If the sub-Saharan climate continues to warm and little is done to help its countries better adapt to high temperatures, the human costs are likely to be unimaginable. If temperatures rise across the continent as computer models project, future conflicts are likely to become more common, researchers suggest. Their study shows an increase of about 50% over the next 20 years.
When projections of social trends such as population increase and economic development were included in their model of a future Africa, temperature rise still emerged as a likely major cause of increasing armed conflict. At next month's UN climate summit (峰会) in Copenhagen, governments are due to debate how much money to put into helping African countries prepare for and adapt to negative effects of climate change.
57．According to the passage, which of the following is one of the reasons for the fighting in Darfur in Sudan?
A．Shortage of drinking water.                         B．Racial discrimination.
C．Rising temperature.                                     D．Demand for planting land.
58．What can we know from the research done by the US researchers?
A．There is no close relation between rainfall and conflict.
B．Temperature greatly affects crop production in sub-Saharan Africa.
C．Temperature will rise by about 50% in Africa over the next two decades.
D．With world cooperation, conflicts in Africa will be reduced by half 20 years later.
59．What can be inferred from the passage?
A．Something must be done to help sub-Saharan countries with better adaptation to climate change to avoid disaster.
B．Conflicts in sub-Saharan countries are sure to be on the rise in future.
C．Temperature in sub-Saharan countries will rise at a faster speed.
D．High temperatures will make sub-Saharan countries unfit to live in.
60．What's the best title for this passage?
A．World cooperation against African conflict
B．Africa's sufferings from climate change
C．Food shortages lead to African conflict
D．Climate drives African conflict

E
If you don’t have a college degree, you’re at greater risk of developing memory problems or even Alzheimer’s （老年痴呆）．Education plays a key role in lifelong memory performance and risk for mental disorder, and it's well documented that those with a college degree possess a cognitive（认知的） advantage over their less educated counterparts in middle and old age．
Now, a large national study from Brandeis University published in the American Journal of Geriatric Psychiatry shows that those with less schooling can significantly make up for poorer education by frequently engaging in mental exercises such as word games, puzzles, reading, and lectures．
“The lifelong benefits of higher education for memory in later life are quite impressive, but we do not clearly understand how and why these effects last so long,” said lead author Margie Lachman, a psychologist．She suggested that higher education may encourage lifelong interest in cognitive efforts, while those with less education may not engage as frequently in mental exercises that help keep the memory agile （敏捷地）．
But education early in adulthood does not appear to be the only route to maintain your memory．The study found that intellectual activities undertaken regularly made a difference．“Among individuals with low education, those who are engaged in reading, writing, attending lectures, doing word games or puzzles once a week or more had memory scores similar to people with more education,” said Lachman．
The study, called Midlife in the United States, assessed 3,343 men and women between the ages of 32 and 84 with a mean age of 56 years．Almost 40 percent of the participants had at least a 4-year college degree．The researchers evaluated how the participants performed in two cognitive areas, verbal memory and executive function --- brain processes involved in planning, abstract thinking and cognitive flexibility．Participants were given a battery of tests, including tests of verbal fluency, word recall, and backward counting．
As expected, those with higher education said they engaged in cognitive activities more often and also did better on the memory tests, but some with lower education also did well, explained Lachman．
“The findings are promising because they suggest there may be ways to level the playing field for those with lower educational achievement, and protect those at greatest risk for memory declines,” said Lachman．“Although we can not rule out the possibility that those who have better memories are the ones who take on more activities, the evidence is consistent with cognitive plasticity （可塑性）, and suggests some degree of personal control over cognitive functioning in adulthood by adopting an intellectually active lifestyle．”
57．What is the text mainly about?
A．Higher education has a better cognitive advantage．
B．Better memories result from college degree．
C．Cognitive activity does a mind good．
D．Poor education has more risk of memory declines．
58．According to the result of Margie Lachman’s study, we can conclude that ________．
A．education is responsible for the lifelong memory performance and risk for mental disorder
B．education early in adulthood can be the only route to maintain your memory
C．those with higher education did better on the memory tests than those with lower education
D．an intellectually active lifestyle does help to maintain your memory
59．What do we know about the study called Midlife?
A．Participants each were given a battery to test their memory．
B．The average age of the participants are 56 years old．
C．Participants had to perform in one of the two cognitive areas．
D．One in four of the participants had a 4-year college degree．
60．Why are the findings of the Lachman’s study promising?
A．The lower educated may have the same opportunities to keep up memory．
B．We may have ways to cure the people who have memory declines．
C．Adopting a different lifestyle can control over cognitive functioning．
D．We can find out the possibility to have better memories．

Strictly Ban smoking

       If you smoke and you still don’t believe that there’s a definite（一定的）link between smoking and bronchial（支气管的）troubles, heart disease and lung cancer, then you are certainly deceiving yourself. No one will accuse you of hypocrisy. Let us just say that you are suffering from a bad case of wishful thinking. This needn’t make you too uncomfortable because you are in good company. Whenever the subject of smoking and health is raised, the governments of most countries hear no evil, see no evil and smell no evil. Admittedly, a few governments have taken timid measures. In Britain for instance, cigarette advertising has been banned on television. The conscience of the nation is appeased, while the population continues to puff its way to smoky, cancerous death.

       You don’t have to look very far to find out why the official reactions to medical findings have been so lukewarm. The answer is simply money. Tobacco is a wonderful commodity to tax. It’s almost like a tax on our daily bread. In tax revenue alone, the government of Britain collects enough from smokers to pay for its entire educational facilities. So while the authorities point out ever so discreetly that smoking may, conceivable, be harmful, it doesn’t do to shout too loudly about it.

       This is surely the most short-sighted policy you could imagine. While money is eagerly collected in vast sums with one hand, it is paid out in increasingly vaster sums with the other. Enormous amounts are spent on cancer research and on efforts to cure people suffering from the disease. Countless valuable lives are lost. In the long run, there is no doubt that everybody would be much better-off if smoking were banned altogether.

       Of course, we are not ready for such a drastic action. But if the governments of the world were honestly concerned about the welfare of their peoples, you’d think they’d conduct aggressive anti-smoking campaigns. Far from it! The tobacco industry is allowed to spend staggering sums on advertising. Its advertising is as insidious as it is dishonest. We are never shown pictures of real smokers coughing up their lungs early in the morning. That would never do. The advertisement always depict virile, clean-shaven young men. They suggest it is manly to smoke, even positively healthy! Smoking is associated with the great open-air life, with beautiful girls, true love and togetherness. What utter nonsense!

       For a start, governments could begin by banning all cigarette and tobacco advertising and should then conduct anti-smoking advertising campaigns of their own. Smoking should be banned in all public places like theatres, cinemas and restaurants. Great efforts should be made to inform young people especially of the dire consequences of taking up the habit. A horrific warning – say, a picture of a death’s head – should be included in every packet of cigarettes that is sold. As individuals, we are certainly weak, but if governments acted honestly and courageously, they could protect us from ourselves.

Why do a few governments take timid measures toward smoking?

A because they are afraid of people.  B Because diseases cost a lot.

C Because they are afraid of the cutting down of their revenue.

D Because they are afraid of manufacturers.

The tone of this passage is________________.

A critical.  B ironical（讽刺的用反语的）.  C distaste（不喜欢）.    D amusing.

What does the sentence “because you are in good company” mean?

A you are backed by the government. B You are not alone.

C You have good colleagues.       D Governments are blind to evils of smoking too.

What is the best title of this passage?

A World Governments should conduct serious campaigns against smoking.

B World governments take timid measures against smoking.

C smoking is the most important source of income to many countries.

D tobacco industry spends a large sum of money on medical research.

Sometimes, people are required to fill in personal information when they register online, which may lead to some unexpected trouble. Recently, the BBC is reporting that a 17-year-old girl in Australia posted a(n) 1.  of her grandmother at home counting a large sum of cash that she  2.  hidden in the house. Just eight hours later, two armed men  3.  the girl’s house. They demanded to speak to her to find out where the grandmother’s house was,   4.  they could get the money they had seen.   5. , the girl was not home at the time, so the robbers 6. a small amount of cash from the mother and left.

Because the 7. is still under investigation(调查), local police aren’t saying 8. else about it. It’s not known yet whether the girl had used privacy setting on the Facebook profile page, and even whether the robbers 9. the girl in the past.

Two other 10. were at home then, a 58-year-old man and a 14-year-old boy, the girl’s father and brother. Luckily, no one was 11. . The robbers left peacefully after  12.  that the girl was not home and that no one else there knew anything about the  13.  that had appeared in the photo.

Police in both Britain and Australia are using the case to 14.  citizens of the dangers of posting personal information on social networks and to suggest users of websites  15.   doing so. The police say it is  16.  that the girl posted a comment in the past that gave clues to the address,    17.  that the robbers knew the girl in another way.    18.  , they suggest, a posting by a friend on their site could have   19.  such information. To find it, the robbers would only have had to search for those posting on other pages that  20.  the girl’s name.

21.               A．picture         B．story           C．blog  D．video

22.               A．kept           B．made          C．let   D．got

23.               A．knocked at      B．looked at       C．broke into D．ran into

24.               A．even if         B．so that         C．as soon as  D．in case

25.               A．Usually         B．Suddenly       C．Fortunately D．Finally

26.               A．spent          B．left            C．asked D．took

27.               A．robber         B．family          C．case  D．girl

28.               A．few           B．many          C．little  D．much

29.               A．ignored        B．knew          C．remembered   D．followed

30.               A．members       B．adults          C．characters D．neighbors

31.               A．escaped        B．harmed        C．killed D．buried

32.               A．showing        B．realizing        C．discovering D．recognizing

33.               A．cash           B．grandmother    C．house D．website

34.               A．inform         B．accuse         C．rob   D．warn

35.               A．enjoy          B．stop           C．keep D．consider

36.               A．possible        B．important       C．necessary  D．strange

37.               A．so             B．or             C．and  D．but

38.               A．Besides        B．However       C．Therefore D．Instead

39.               A．taken up        B．set up          C．put away  D．given away

40.               A．included        B．drew          C．contained  D．attracted

 "Children should not be left unsupervised (无人监督的) to play with a dog." say experts in this week's British Medical Journal. Their advice is part of a review aimed at doctors who deal with dog bites.

"Dog bites and maulings are a worldwide problem, particularly in children." write Marina Morgan and John Palmer. Every year 250,000 people who have been bitten by dogs attend minor injuries and emergency units in the United Kingdom, and half of all children are reportedly bitten by dogs at some time, boys more than girls.

Accurate death figures are difficult to obtain, but in the past five years, two to three cases a year have made news headlines.

Based on the latest medical evidence, they advise doctors how to examine and treat a patient presenting with a dog bite. They discuss the risk of infection and when to refer to specialist care. For travelers bitten abroad, they suggest assessing the risk of rabies(狂犬病).

In terms of prevention, they suggest that children should be taught to treat dogs with respect, avoid direct eye contact, and not tease them. They should be taught not to approach an unfamiliar dog; play with any dog unless under close supervision; run or scream in the presence of a dog; pet a dog without first letting it sniff you; or disturb a dog that is eating, sleeping, or caring for its babies.

"Dog owners also need to change their behavior", says Rachel Besser, a children's doctor and lifetime dog owner, in an article.

"It is clear that not all dog owners appreciate that children should not be left unsupervised with a dog", she says. Just as some parents are obliged to take parenting classes, she would like to see compulsive classes for expectant dog owners to teach them about the responsibilities of dog ownership. Educational programs are also needed to teach children about some precautionary （预防的) behaviors around dogs.

Finally, she would like to see animal doctors advising dog owners about bite prevention, and doctors promoting bite prevention when treating patients who have been bitten by dogs.   

1.Dog biting is a problem which _____.

2.The underlined word "they" in Paragraph 4 refers to "________" .

A. doctors         B. parents            C. experts            D dog owners

3.To avoid dog bites, a child should be taught to_____.

4.What are Rachel Besser's words mainly about?

5.Which of the following can be the best title for the passage?