第二节（共5小题；每小题2分，满分10分）

　　根据短文内容，从短文后的选项中选出能填入空白处的最佳选项。选项中有两项为多余选项。

　　In 1990 a report was published about what the earth might be like 20 years from then on. 71 According to the report,the picture of the earth in the year 2010 is not a pleasant one. 72 The population could be as large as 6300 million,almost 2150 million more than in 1985.More people would move into cities ,especially cities in developing countries.Cities like Cairo and Jakarta probably would each have 15 million by then.

　　 73 Farmers will grow 90% more food than they did in 1985,but most of the increase would be in countries that already produce enough food for their people. 74 Poor farming ways are destroying large areas of crop land,changing farms into deserts.More farmland is lost as cities become larger and more houses are built.Air pollution will get worse as industrial countries burn more coal and oil.Many of the world's forests could disappear as more and more trees are cut down.Energy will continue to be a serious problem. 75 They only workde out the situation that exists today.By changing the situation,by settling the problems,the picture can be changed.There is still time for the nations of the world to work out a plan of action.But they warned that waiting too long to make de cisions would greatly reduce the chances of success.

　　E.Experts believe enough food will be produced in developing countries very soon.

　　F.The experts say their picture of the earth for the year 2010 may be wrong.

G.Little increase is expected in South Asia,Africa and the Middle East.

You may picture firefighters holding a hose （水管） outside of a burning building，but the Golden Eagles Hotshots don't fight fires quite that way．When they go into action，you may not even see a fire truck．
The Hotshots are firefighters who battle fires in wilderness areas．But don't think you'll only find them in California．Wherever there is a national wildfire emergency，the Golden Eagles Hotshots could be there．
But these firefighters don't work the same way as those in big cities．They work where there are large numbers of trees，bushes，and grass．They climb up and down steep hills to clear brush and burnable debris （残骸）．They sometimes use water，but often fight fire with fire！
They do that by lighting what are called “backfires” ---- small，controlled fires that burn up fuel in the path of larger wildfires．That way, when the wildfire gets there, it has nothing to burn and nowhere to go，because all the burnable fuel has already gone up in smoke．
The Hotshots also clear away fuel using old-fashioned hard work．For example，they use a saw to cut away trees and heavy brush that could catch fire．
Of course there are times when the Golden Eagles Hotshots do have trucks to supply water to the fires．But the water is limited，and these guys have to rely on hard work more than anything．Physical fitness is very important．They have to be strong to handle steep hills while carrying a 60­pound pack．
Thanks to their efforts，many lives have been saved，many houses not burned，and countless trees still standing．
【小题1】According to the passage，why do the firefighters light “backfires”？

A．To signal for help．	B．To remove obstacles．
C．To protect trees and bushes．	D．To prevent the fire from spreading．

The Great Fire of London started in the very early hours of 2 September, 1666. In four days it destroyed more than three-quarters of the old city, where most of the houses were wooden and close together. Over one hundred people became homeless, but only a few lost their lives.

The fire started on Sunday morning in the house of the King’s baker (面包师) in Pudding Lane. The baker, with his wife and family, was able to get out through a window into the roof. A strong wind blew the fire from the bakery (面包房) into a small hotel next door. Then it spread quickly into Thames Street. That was the beginning.

By eight o’clock three hundred houses were on fire. On Monday nearly a kilometer of the city was burning along the River Thames. Tuesday was the worst day. The fire destroyed many well-known buildings, old St Paul’s and the Guildhall among them.

Samuel Pepys, the famous writer, wrote about the fire, “People threw their things into the river. Many poor people stayed in their houses until the last moment. Birds fell out of the air because of the heat .”

The fire stopped only when the King finally ordered people to destroy hundreds of buildings in the path of the fire. With nothing left to burn, the fire became weak and finally died out.

After the fire, Christopher Wren, the architect (建筑师), wanted a city with wider streets and fine new houses of stone. In fact, the streets are still narrow, but he did build more than fifty churches, among them the mew St Paul’s

The fire caused great pain and loss, but after it London was a better place: a city for the future and not just of the past.

From the passage, we can learn that the fire began in ________.

A. a hotel　　　           B. the palace　　        C. Pudding Lane　　 D. Thames Street

The underlined word “family” in the second paragraph means ________.

A. wife and husband　　      B. wife and children　   C. home                  D. children

It seems that the writer of the text was most sorry for the fact that ________.

A. many famous buildings were destroyed

B. some people lost their lives

C. the birds in the sky were killed by the fire

D. the King’s bakery was burned down

Why did the writer cite (引用) Samuel Pepys?

A. Because Pepys was among those putting out the fire.

B. Because Pepys also wrote about the fire.

C. Because he wanted to give the reader a clearer picture of the fire.

D. Because he wanted to show that poor people suffered most.

How was the fire put out according to the text?

A. The King and his soldiers came to help.

B. Houses standing in the direction of the fire were pulled down.

C. All the wooden houses in the city were destroyed.

D. People managed to get enough water from the river.

D
　　In the atmosphere,carbon dioxide actd rather like a one-way mirror or the glass in the roof of a greenhouse which allows the sun's rays to enter but prevents the heat from excaping.
　　According to a weather expert's prediction,the atmosphere will be 3 warmer in the year 2050 than it is today, if man continues to burn luels at the present rate. If this warming up took place,the ice caps in the poles would begin to melt,thus raising sea level several meters and severely flooding coastal cities.Also，the increase in atmospheric temperature would lead to great changes in the climate of the northern hemisphere(半球),psooicbly resulting in an alteration of earth's chief food growing zones.
　　In the past,concern about a man - made warming of the earth has concentrated on the Arctic because the Antarctic is much colder and has a much thicker ice sheet.But the weather experts are now paying more attention to West Antarctic,which may be affected by a warming on the scale that will possibly take place in the next fifty years from on burning of fuels.
　　Satellite pictures showthat large areas of Antarctic ice are already disappearing.The evidence available suggests that a warming has taken place.This fits the theory that carbon dioxide warms the earth.
　　However,most of the fuel is burnt in the northern hemisphere,where temperatures seem to be falling.Scientists conclude,therefore,that up to now natural influences on the weather have exceeded those caused by man.The question is:Which natural cause has most effect on the weather?
　　One possibility is the variable behavior of the sun.Astronomers at one research station have studied the hot spots and cold spots(that is,the relatively less hot spots) on the sun. As the sun rotates(旋转),every 27.5 days,it presents hotter or colder faces to the earth,and different aspects to different parts of the earth.This seems to have a considerable effect on the distribution of the earth's atmospheric pressure,and consequently on wind circulation.The sun is also variable over a long term:its heat output goes up and down in cycles,the latest trend being downward.
　　Scientists are now finding mutual relations between models of solar weather interactions and the actual climate over many thousands of years ,including the last Ice Age.The problem is that the models are predicting that the world should be entering a new Ice Age and it is not.
　　One way of solving this theoretical difficulty is to assume a delay of thousands of years while the solar effects overcome the inertia(不活动，惰性) of the earth's climate.If this is right,the warming effect of carbon dioxide might thus be serving as a useful counter balance to the sun's diminishing heat.
　　68.It can be concluded that a concentration of carbon dioxide in the atmosphere would ___.
　　　A.mean a warming - up im the Arctic
　　　B.raise the temperature of the earth's surface
　　　C.prevent the sun's rays from reaching the earth's surface
　　　D.account for great changes in the climate in the northern hemiphere
　　69.Although the fuel consumption is greater in the northern hemisphere,temperatures there seem to be falling.This is _______.
　　　A.mainly because the levels of carbon dioxide are rising
　　　B.partly due to variations in the output of solar energy
　　　C.possibly because the ice caps in the poles are melting
　　　D.exclusively due to the effect of the inertia of the earth's climate
　　70.On the basis of their models,scientists are of the opinion that ________.
　　　A.the climate of the world should be becoming cooler
　　　B.the new Ice Age will be delayed by the greenhouse effect
　　　C.the man - made warming effect helps to increase the solar effects
　　　D.it will take thousands of years for the inertia of the earth's climate to take effect