Kenya wants to organize a major international conference to discuss how to fight piracy(海盗) off the coast of Somalia. The conference may also deal with ways to rescue Somalia from seventeen years of civil war. More than forty percent of its people depend on food aid.

Kenyan Foreign Minister Moses Wetangula says the world cannot end piracy and civil war without dealing with Somalia’s political problems.

Somali pirates operate in the Indian Ocean and the Gulf of Aden. The Gulf of Aden connects the Red Sea to the Mediterranean by way of the Suez Canal. The pirates have fast boats, modern weapons and equipment like satellite phones and global positioning systems.

Pirates hijacked the Sirius Star off the coast of Kenya and moved it to waters off Somalia.

The tanker Sirius Star, at three hundred thirty meters long, is the biggest ship ever known to have been captured by pirates. It also happened farther south than most attacks, and farther out at sea ---- more than eight hundred kilometers from land.

The ship was headed for the United States with two million karrels of oil, worth an estimated one hundred million dollars. A Saudi Arabian company owns the tanker. The pirates have  reportedly demanded twenty-five million dollars in negotiations to release the ship and its crew of twenty-five.

Somali pirates generally do not steal goods or kill hostages. They are believed to be holding seventeen ships with about three hundred crew members. Among the ships is a Ukrainian vessel hijacked(劫持) in September with a load of military weapons including tanks.

The increase in piracy is raising the cost of insuring ships. Also, oil from the Middle East and exports from East Asia could take longer to arrive.

Some of the world’s heaviest shipping traffic passes the Somali coast. But major shipping companies have begun to consider new routes. One of the world’s biggest shippers, A.P, Moeller Maersk, says it will avoid the Gulf of Aden. A move away from the Suez Canal could hurt Egypt’s economy.

American and other foreign navy ships are now watching for pirates. This week the Indian Navy destroyed a heavily armed “mother ship” in the Gulf of Aden. But the area to protect covers more than one hundred sixty million square kilometers.

1. According to the passage, which of the following is the key to solving the piracy in Somalia?

A. Providing lots of money.               B. Ending Civil war.

C. Supplying enough food.                D. Handling Somalia’s political problems.

2. Somali pirates do the following things except that _______.

A. they demand money                       B. they hold the ships with crew

C. they kill some of the hostages           D. they hijack ships with military weapons

3.What can we infer from the passage?

A. The cost of ship transport is decreasing.

B. The routes of some ships might change.

C. Nothing has been done to fight against the piracy.

D. The Suez Canal is of no importance to Egypt’s economy.

Kenya wants to organize a major international conference to discuss how to fight piracy(海盗) off the coast of Somalia. The conference may also deal with ways to rescue Somalia from seventeen years of civil war. More than forty percent of its people depend on food aid.
Kenyan Foreign Minister Moses Wetangula says the world cannot end piracy and civil war without dealing with Somalia’s political problems.
Somali pirates operate in the Indian Ocean and the Gulf of Aden. The Gulf of Aden connects the Red Sea to the Mediterranean by way of the Suez Canal. The pirates have fast boats, modern weapons and equipment like satellite phones and global positioning systems.
Pirates hijacked the Sirius Star off the coast of Kenya and moved it to waters off Somalia.
The tanker Sirius Star, at three hundred thirty meters long, is the biggest ship ever known to have been captured by pirates. It also happened farther south than most attacks, and farther out at sea ---- more than eight hundred kilometers from land.
The ship was headed for the United States with two million karrels of oil, worth an estimated one hundred million dollars. A Saudi Arabian company owns the tanker. The pirates have  reportedly demanded twenty-five million dollars in negotiations to release the ship and its crew of twenty-five.
Somali pirates generally do not steal goods or kill hostages. They are believed to be holding seventeen ships with about three hundred crew members. Among the ships is a Ukrainian vessel hijacked(劫持) in September with a load of military weapons including tanks.
The increase in piracy is raising the cost of insuring ships. Also, oil from the Middle East and exports from East Asia could take longer to arrive.
Some of the world’s heaviest shipping traffic passes the Somali coast. But major shipping companies have begun to consider new routes. One of the world’s biggest shippers, A.P, Moeller Maersk, says it will avoid the Gulf of Aden. A move away from the Suez Canal could hurt Egypt’s economy.
American and other foreign navy ships are now watching for pirates. This week the Indian Navy destroyed a heavily armed “mother ship” in the Gulf of Aden. But the area to protect covers more than one hundred sixty million square kilometers.
【小题1】 According to the passage, which of the following is the key to solving the piracy in Somalia?

A．The cost of ship transport is decreasing.

B．The routes of some ships might change.

C．Nothing has been done to fight against the piracy.

D．The Suez Canal is of no importance to Egypt’s economy.

第三部分：阅读理解（共15小题；每小题2分，满分 30分）
阅读下列短文，从每题所给的四个选项（A、B、C和D）中，选出最佳选项，并在答题卡上将该项涂黑。
A
Kenya wants to organize a major international conference to discuss how to fight piracy(海盗) off the coast of Somalia. The conference may also deal with ways to rescue Somalia from seventeen years of civil war. More than forty percent of its people depend on food aid.
Kenyan Foreign Minister Moses Wetangula says the world cannot end piracy and civil war without dealing with Somalia’s political problems.
Somali pirates operate in the Indian Ocean and the Gulf of Aden. The Gulf of Aden connects the Red Sea to the Mediterranean by way of the Suez Canal. The pirates have fast boats, modern weapons and equipment like satellite phones and global positioning systems.
Pirates hijacked the Sirius Star off the coast of Kenya and moved it to waters off Somalia.
The tanker Sirius Star, at three hundred thirty meters long, is the biggest ship ever known to have been captured by pirates. It also happened farther south than most attacks, and farther out at sea ---- more than eight hundred kilometers from land.
The ship was headed for the United States with two million karrels of oil, worth an estimated one hundred million dollars. A Saudi Arabian company owns the tanker. The pirates have  reportedly demanded twenty-five million dollars in negotiations to release the ship and its crew of twenty-five.
Somali pirates generally do not steal goods or kill hostages. They are believed to be holding seventeen ships with about three hundred crew members. Among the ships is a Ukrainian vessel hijacked(劫持) in September with a load of military weapons including tanks.
The increase in piracy is raising the cost of insuring ships. Also, oil from the Middle East and exports from East Asia could take longer to arrive.
Some of the world’s heaviest shipping traffic passes the Somali coast. But major shipping companies have begun to consider new routes. One of the world’s biggest shippers, A.P, Moeller Maersk, says it will avoid the Gulf of Aden. A move away from the Suez Canal could hurt Egypt’s economy.
American and other foreign navy ships are now watching for pirates. This week the Indian Navy destroyed a heavily armed “mother ship” in the Gulf of Aden. But the area to protect covers more than one hundred sixty million square kilometers.
56. According to the passage, which of the following is the key to solving the piracy in Somalia?
A. Providing lots of money.               B. Ending Civil war.
C. Supplying enough food.                D. Handling Somalia’s political problems.
57. Somali pirates do the following things except that _______.
A. they demand money                 B. they hold the ships with crew
C. they kill some of the hostages           D. they hijack ships with military weapons
58. What can we infer from the passage?
A. The cost of ship transport is decreasing.
B. The routes of some ships might change.
C. Nothing has been done to fight against the piracy.
D. The Suez Canal is of no importance to Egypt’s economy.

C（新题型）

       Somali Piracy (索马里海盗)

       Somalia's 3,025-kilometer coastline is the longest in Africa and near to key shipping routes connecting the Red Sea to the Mediterranean by way of the Suez Canal. It is the world's 2nd biggest piracy hotspot after Indonesia. More than 130 merchant ships were attacked in the region last year and an tenfold(十倍的) increase was noted in the first ten months of 2009 and in October alone, three ships were hijacked there, including a ship with 25 crew from China.

Somalia has had no effective central authority since former president Mohamed Siad Barre was driven out of the country in 1991. The government collapsed, setting off a bloody cycle of conflicts between different groups and it has been a war-torn nation ever since. Its nine million people have been teetering on starvation and more than forty percent of its people depend on food aid.

There has been a lot of discussion in the media about how to drive piracy off the coast of Somalia. Much less attention has been given to the complex sources of political disorder and poverty that have led many Somalis into piracy. Other facts are that foreign shipping companies have been dumping nuclear waste off the coast of Somalia and robbing the country of its fishing industry. Many of Somalia’s “pirates” initially organized to defend their coast against this pollution and robbery.

Somali pirates operate in the Indian Ocean and the Gulf of Aden. The pirates have fast boats, modem weapons and equipment like satellite phones and global positioning systems(GPS全球定位系统). The generally do not steal goods or kill hostages. They are believed to be holding seventeen ships with about three hundred crew members.

       Some of the world's heaviest shipping traffic passes the Somali coast. But major shipping companies have begun to consider new routes. Navy ships from America, Russia, China and other countries are now watching for pirates. But the area to protect covers more than one hundred sixty million square kilometers.

       Besides no effective governing on shore, the shipping companies are also part of the problems. Paying them a sum of money to get it back is an economical decision, which contributes to a general climate of piracy. Further more, the military response has made the problem more complicated. Kenya (肯尼亚) has advised organizing a major international conference to solve the problems. But it seems a long way to go and we must get to know the fact that the world cannot end piracy and civil war without dealing with Somalia's political problems.

1. According to the passage, the biggest piracy hotspot is ________.

2. What have led many Somalis into piracy?  (Your answer must be limited within 10 words)

_____________________________________________________________________________

What is the purpose of Somali pirates’ hijacking since they generally don’t steal goods or kill hostages?

_____________________________________________________________________________

4. We can safely conclude that the key to solving the piracy in Somalia is _________.

Kenya wants to organize a major international conference to discuss how to fight piracy(海盗) off the coast of Somalia. The conference may also deal with ways to rescue Somalia from seventeen years of civil war. More than forty percent of its people depend on food aid.

Kenyan Foreign Minister Moses Wetangula says the world cannot end piracy and civil war without dealing with Somalia’s political problems.

Somali pirates operate in the Indian Ocean and the Gulf of Aden. The Gulf of Aden connects the Red Sea to the Mediterranean by way of the Suez Canal. The pirates have fast boats, modern weapons and equipment like satellite phones and global positioning systems.

Pirates hijacked the Sirius Star off the coast of Kenya and moved it to waters off Somalia.

The tanker Sirius Star, at three hundred thirty meters long, is the biggest ship ever known to have been captured by pirates. It also happened farther south than most attacks, and farther out at sea ---- more than eight hundred kilometers from land.

The ship was headed for the United States with two million karrels of oil, worth an estimated one hundred million dollars. A Saudi Arabian company owns the tanker. The pirates have  reportedly demanded twenty-five million dollars in negotiations to release the ship and its crew of twenty-five.

Somali pirates generally do not steal goods or kill hostages. They are believed to be holding seventeen ships with about three hundred crew members. Among the ships is a Ukrainian vessel hijacked(劫持) in September with a load of military weapons including tanks.

The increase in piracy is raising the cost of insuring ships. Also, oil from the Middle East and exports from East Asia could take longer to arrive.

Some of the world’s heaviest shipping traffic passes the Somali coast. But major shipping companies have begun to consider new routes. One of the world’s biggest shippers, A.P, Moeller Maersk, says it will avoid the Gulf of Aden. A move away from the Suez Canal could hurt Egypt’s economy.

American and other foreign navy ships are now watching for pirates. This week the Indian Navy destroyed a heavily armed “mother ship” in the Gulf of Aden. But the area to protect covers more than one hundred sixty million square kilometers.

56. According to the passage, which of the following is the key to solving the piracy in Somalia?

A. Providing lots of money.               B. Ending Civil war.

C. Supplying enough food.                D. Handling Somalia’s political problems.

57. Somali pirates do the following things except that _______.

A. they demand money                  B. they hold the ships with crew

C. they kill some of the hostages           D. they hijack ships with military weapons

58. What can we infer from the passage?

A. The cost of ship transport is decreasing.

B. The routes of some ships might change.

C. Nothing has been done to fight against the piracy.

D. The Suez Canal is of no importance to Egypt’s economy.