Against the assumption that forest fires in Alaska, Canada and Siberia warm the climate, scientists have discovered that cooling may occur in areas where burnt trees allow more snow to mirror more sunlight into space.

         This finding suggests that taking steps to prevent northern forest fires to limit the release of greenhouse gases may warm the climate in northern regions. Usually large fires destroyed forests in these areas over the past decade. Scientists predict that with climate warming, fires may occur more frequently over next several centuries as a result of a longer fire season. Sunlight taken in by the earth tends to cause warming, while heat mirrored back into space tends to cause cooling.

         This is the first study to analyze all aspects of how northern fires influence climate. Earlier studies by other scientists have suggested that fire in northern regions speed up climate warming because greenhouse gases from burning trees and plants are released into the atmosphere and thus trap heat.

         Scientists found that right after the fire, large amounts of greenhouse gases entered the atmosphere and caused warming. Ozone（臭氧）levels increased, and ash from the fire fell on far-off sea ice, darkening the surface and causing more radiation from the sun to be taken in. The following spring, however, the land within the area of the fire was brighter than before the fire, because fewer trees covered the ground. Snow on the ground mirrored more sunlight back into space, leading to cooling.

         “We need to find out all possible ways to reduce the growth of greenhouse gases in the atmosphere.” Scientists tracked the change in amount of radiation entering and leaving the climate system as a result of the fire, and found a measurement closely related to the global air temperature. Typically, fire in northern regions occurs in the same area every 80 to 150 years. Scientists, however, found that when fire occurs more frequently, more radiation is lost from the earth and cooling results. Specifically, they determined when fire returns 20 years earlier than predicated, 0.5 watts per square meter of area burned are soaked up by the earth from greenhouse gases, but 0.9 watts per square meter will be sent back into space. The net effect is cooling. Watts are used to measure the rate at which energy is gained or lost from the earth.

1. According to the new findings, taking steps to prevent northern forest fires may _______.

   A. result in a warming climate                   B. cause the forest fires to occur more frequently

   C. lead to a longer fire season                     D. protect the forests and the environment there

2. Earlier studies about northern forest fires ________.

   A. analyze all aspects of how northern fires influence climate

   B. indicate that forest fires will pollute the atmosphere

   C. suggest that people should take measures to protect environment

   D. suggest that the fires will speed up climate warming

3. The underlined phrase “soaked up” in the last paragraph most probably means ________.

         A. released          B. absorbed            C. created               D. disturbed

4. From the text we can draw a conclusion that forest fires in Alaska, Canada and Siberia may ______.

         A. warm the climate as the assumption goes

         B. allow more snow to reflect more sunlight into space and thus cool the climate

         C. destroy large areas of forests and pollute the far-off sea ice

         D. help to gain more energy rather than release more energy

Below is adapted from an English dictionary

1. I didn’t really mean my partner is a snake; it was just a ______.

A. figure of eight     B. figure head     C. figure of speech     D. a fine figure                     

2.—She was coming late again.

—______! That’s typical of her.

A. It figures her out   B. It figures    C. It cuts a poor figure  D. She is a figure of fun

3.What does “watch my figure” in the sentence “Don’t tempt me with chocolate; I am watching my figure.” mean?

A. add the numbers   B. have sports      C. try not to get fat    D. watch games

4.No one can figure out the reasons for the Poland president plane crash in 2010. Here figure out means:_________

A. watch out     B. work out     C. understand well    D. break out

5.—Promise you don’t wear this kind of clothes? People will play a joke on you.

—I don’t care whether I am________. I just want to keep warm.

A. a figure of fun    B. a healthy figure    C. a figure head      D. a bad figure

完形填空（共20小题；每小题1.5分，共30分）
A long time ago, there was an Emperor who told his horseman that if he could ride on his horse and cover as much land area as he liked, then Emperor would give him the area of land he had covered. Sure enough, the horseman__36__ jumped onto his horse and rode as fast as possible to cover as much land area as he could.He__37__ riding and riding, whipping the horse to go as fast as possible. When he was   38__ or tired, he did not stop   39__ he wanted to cover as much area as possible. He came to a   40__ when he had covered a great area and he was very tired and was   41__. Then he asked himself, “Why did I  42__ myself so hard to cover so much land area? Now I am dying and I only   43__ a very small area to bury myself.”
The above story is   44_  to the journey of our   45__. We push very hard every
day to make more _ 46__ to live a better life. We _ 47__ our health and time with our family to_ 48__ the surrounding beauty and the   49__ we love to do. One day   50__ we look back we will   51__ that we don’t really need that much, but then we cannot turn back time for what we have  52__.
Life is not about making money. Life is   53__ not about work! Work is only   54__ to keep us living so as to enjoy the beauty and   55__ of life.
36. A. quickly            B. carefully          C. simply            D. finally
37. A. kept on            B. asked for          C. gave up         D. succeeded in
38. A. sad               B. excited            C. tense             D. hungry
39. A. but               B. so                C. because           D. if
40. A. house             B. point              C. sea              D. hospital
41. A. sleeping           B. arguing            C. dying            D. smiling
42. A. push              B. control            C. punish            D. prove
43. A. need              B. destroy            C. find              D. show
44. A. useful             B. precious           C. similar            D. special
45. A. future            B. progress           C. history            D. life
46. A. friends            B. products           C. discoveries         D. money
47. A. forget             B. consider           C. want              D. doubt
48. A. describe          B. admire           C. protect             D. appreciate
49. A. jobs              B. things             C. lessons             D. sports
50. A. before            B. when              C. unless              D. since
51. A. realize            B. regret             C. apologize           D. explain
52. A. saved             B. missed            C. valued             D. won
53. A. hardly           B. probably           C. absolutely          D. extremely
54. A. practical          B. attractive           C. necessary         D. particular
55. A. pleasures         B. dreams             C. stories             D. secrets

Fifty people died, over 11,000 were injured, and 100,000 houses were heavily damaged or destroyed in an earthquake that struck North China's Hebei Province.

The quake, measuring 6. 2 on the Richter scale (里氏6 .2级) , hit the area 220km northwest of Beijing at 11: 50 a. m. on January 10, 1998.

Scientists made a report of the recent quake. They said that the area of northwestern Beijing, the joint of Shanxi and Hebei Provinces and the Inner Mongolia (内蒙古) were most easily attacked by earthquakes measuring 6 to a bit over 7 on the Richter scale.

However, scientists did not see the recent earthquake earlier. Clouds covered a large area in the northern part of North China before the earthquake and experts say that this prevented satellites from correctly watching the temperature at the correct altitude (纬度).

Experts say that in the last ten years, about 305 earthquakes have taken place in China with 9 measuring over 7 on the Richter scale, 60 measuring over 6, and 236 measuring over 5.

Tens of thousands of people died or were injured. Loss(损失) valued over 10 billion yuan.

1.When the earthquake attacked the area, most people there were unlikely（不太可能的）to ____.

2.The report shows that about nine earthquakes in the past ten years are measured over ____ on the Richter scale.

3.It can be inferred（推断） from the report that the damage caused by the earthquakes could be much less heavy if ____.

4.Which of the following can be reasonable except ____.

完形填空（共20小题；每小题1.5分，共30分）

A long time ago, there was an Emperor who told his horseman that if he could ride on his horse and cover as much land area as he liked, then Emperor would give him the area of land he had covered. Sure enough, the horseman__36__ jumped onto his horse and rode as fast as possible to cover as much land area as he could.He__37__ riding and riding, whipping the horse to go as fast as possible. When he was   38__ or tired, he did not stop   39__ he wanted to cover as much area as possible. He came to a   40__ when he had covered a great area and he was very tired and was   41__. Then he asked himself, “Why did I  42__ myself so hard to cover so much land area? Now I am dying and I only   43__ a very small area to bury myself.”

The above story is   44_  to the journey of our   45__. We push very hard every

day to make more _ 46__ to live a better life. We _ 47__ our health and time with our family to_ 48__ the surrounding beauty and the   49__ we love to do. One day   50__ we look back we will   51__ that we don’t really need that much, but then we cannot turn back time for what we have  52__.

Life is not about making money. Life is   53__ not about work! Work is only   54__ to keep us living so as to enjoy the beauty and   55__ of life.

36. A. quickly            B. carefully          C. simply            D. finally

37. A. kept on            B. asked for          C. gave up         D. succeeded in

38. A. sad               B. excited            C. tense             D. hungry

39. A. but               B. so                C. because           D. if

40. A. house             B. point              C. sea              D. hospital

41. A. sleeping           B. arguing            C. dying            D. smiling

42. A. push              B. control            C. punish            D. prove

43. A. need              B. destroy            C. find              D. show

44. A. useful             B. precious           C. similar            D. special

45. A. future            B. progress           C. history            D. life

46. A. friends            B. products           C. discoveries         D. money

47. A. forget             B. consider           C. want              D. doubt

48. A. describe          B. admire           C. protect             D. appreciate

49. A. jobs              B. things             C. lessons             D. sports

50. A. before            B. when              C. unless              D. since

51. A. realize            B. regret             C. apologize           D. explain

52. A. saved             B. missed            C. valued             D. won

53. A. hardly           B. probably           C. absolutely          D. extremely

54. A. practical          B. attractive           C. necessary         D. particular

55. A. pleasures         B. dreams             C. stories             D. secrets