In 1989 an 8.2 earthquake almost flattened America, killing over 30,000 people in less than four minutes. In the middle of complete damage and disorder, a father rushed to the school where his son was supposed to be,   36   that the building was   37  .

After the unforeseeable shock, he   38   the promise he had made to his son: “No matter   39  , I’ll always be there for you!” And tears began to   40   his eyes. As he looked at the pile of ruins , it looked hopeless, but he kept remembering his   41  to his son. He rushed there and started   42   through the ruins.

As he was digging, other helpless parents arrived,   43  : “It’s too late! They’re all dead!

  44  , face the reality, there’s nothing you can do!” To each parent he responded with   45  : “Are you going to help me now?” No one helped. And then he continued to dig for his son, stone by stone.

Courageously he went on alone because he needed to know   46  : “Is my boy   47   or is he dead?” He dug for 8 hours...12 hours...24 hours...36 hours...then, in   48  hour, he pulled back a large stone and heard his son’s   49  . He creamed his son’s name, “ARMAND!” He heard back, “Dad! It’s me, Dad! I told the other kids not to worry. I told them that if you were alive, you’d   50  me and   51  you saved me, they’d he saved. You promised, ‘No matter what happens, I’ll always be there for you!’ You did it, Dad!”

“What’s going on in there?” the father asked.

“There are 14 of us   52     53   33, Dad. We’re scared, hungry, thirsty and thankful you’re here.  When the building collapsed, it made   54  , and it saved us.”

“Come, out, boy!”

“No, Dad! Let the other kids out first,   55   I know you’ll get me! No matter what happens, I know you’ll always be there for me!”

A．only discovering                      B．only to discover      

            C．only realizing                        D．only to realize

A．as flat as a pancake                   B．as high as a mountain

            C．as strong as an ox                      D．as weak as a kitten

A．memorized    B．forgot               C．kept            D．remembered

A．what          B．what happen         C．which           D．who

A．fill            B．fill in               C．come           D．burst

A．picture        B．promise             C．present         D．encourage

A．digging        B．digging through       C．digging out      D．digging into

A．to say         B．said                C．and saying      D．saying

A．Come out      B．Come again          C．Come on       D．Come off

A．one word      B．one sound         C．one row        D．one line

A．for himself    B．of himself           C．by himself      D．to himself

A．live               B．living               C．alive            D．lively

A．38            B．the 38               C．38 th         D．the 38 th

A．sound         B．voice               C．noise           D．tone

A．will save       B．would save           C．save            D．would have saved

A．when          B．because             C．even if          D．thought

A．remained       B．missing             C．left            D．gone

A．for            B．behind              C．out of           D．over

A．a promise      B．space             C．room          D．a triangle

A．because        B．though              C．when           D．even though

How old is “old”?  The answer has changed over the years. Two hundred years ago，you were old at 35.At the beginning of the 20 th century，the average life span（平均寿命）was 45. In 1950，70-year-olds were really old.Today，a healthy 70-year-old is still thought young.
So，how old is old? The answer is one you’ve heard many times，from all kinds of people.“You are as old（or young）as you feel.”Your age simply tells you how many years you have lived.Your body tells you how well you’ve lived.
“Nobody grows old by living a number of years.” wrote a writer.“People grow old when they don’t have their ideas.”
People shouldn’t have the wrong ideas about aging.Sometimes，older minds can be as bright as young minds.Alice Brophy once said，“It makes me unhappy when people say，‘You look young for your age。’ What does that mean?You know you can die old at 30 and live young at 80. ”
【小题1】In 1950, the average life span was       .

As the railroads and the highways shaped the American West in the past centuries, a new electrical generating(发电)and transmission (输送) system for the 21^st century will leave a lasting mark on the West, for better or worse. Much of the real significance of railroads and highways is not in their direct physical effect on the scenery, but in the ways that they affect the surrounding community. The same is true of big solar plants and the power lines that will be laid down to move electricity around.

The 19 ^th century saw land grants(政府拨地) offered to railroad companies to build the transcontinental railroads, leaving public land in between privately owned land. In much of the West, some of the railroad sections were developed while others remained undeveloped, and in both cases the landownership has presented unique challenges to land management. With the completion of the interstate highway system, many of the small towns, which sprang up as railway stops and developed well, have lost their lifeblood and died.

Big solar plants and their power lines will also have effects far beyond their direct footprint in the West. This is not an argument against building them. We need alternative energy badly, and to really take advantage of it we need to be able to move electricity around far more readily than we can now.

So trade-offs will have to be made. Some scenic spots will be sacrificed. Some species(物种) will be forced to move, or will be carefully moved to special accommodations. Deals will be struck to reduce the immediate effects.

The lasting effects of these trade-offs are another matter. The 21^st century development of the American West as an ideal place for alternative energy is going to throw off a lot of power and money in the region. There are chances for that power and money to do a lot of good. But it is just as likely that they will be spent wastefully and will leave new problems behind, just like the railroads and the highways.

The money set aside in negotiated trade-offs and the institutions that control it will shape the West far beyond the immediate footprint of power plants and transmission lines. So let’s remember the effects of the railroads and the highways as we construct these new power plants in the West.

1.What was the problem caused by the construction of the railways?

A．Small towns along the railways became abandoned.

B．Land in the West was hard to manage.

C．Some railroad stops remained underused.

D．Land grants went into private hands.

2.What is the major concern in the development of alternative energy according to the last two paragraphs?

A．The use of money and power.

B．The transmission of power.

C．The conservation of solar energy.

D．The selection of an ideal place.

3.What is the author’s attitude towards building solar plants?

A．Disapproving.      B．Approving.         C．Doubtful.          D．Cautious.

4.Which is the best title for the passage?

A．How the Railways Have Affected the West

B．How the Effects of Power Plants Can Be Reduced

C．How Solar Energy Could Reshape the West

D．How the Problems of the Highways Have Been Settled

Empty Deserts

    In the 19^th century Americans from the eastern states moved out west to settle in the rich new lands along the Pacific coast. The most difficult part of their trip was crossing the “Great American Desert in the western part of the United States by horse and wagon.

The western desert can be very dangerous. There is little water and there are few trees. But the desert also has scenery of great beauty. Tall towers of red and yellow stone rise sharply from the flat sandy valley floor. The scene has been photographed many times and appears in movies and in TV.

    In Arizona, man made dams across the Colorado River have made two large lakes in the middle of the dry desert country. At Lake Powell, the red stone arch of Rainbow Bridge rises high above the blue lake.

    There are few roads. Many areas of Lake Powell’s shore can only be reached by boat or on foot. But hikers in this empty desert land sometimes find very old native American pictures, painted on the rocks.

    In Death Valley, California, the summer temperature rises to 130 degrees. There is less than two inches of rain each year. Death Valley is the lowest place in America---- 925 meters below sea level. In the 1800s, many travelers died when they tried to cross this waterless valley in the terrible heat.

    Although the desert is dry and seems empty, there is plenty of life if you look closely. Small insects, snakes and rats have learned how to live in the desert heat. They live under ground and come out at night, when it is cool. Plants such as cacti need very little water.  When it does rain in the desert (sometimes only once or twice a year), plants grow quickly, and flowers open in a single day. For a short time, the desert is covered with brilliant colors.

In the 19^th century, Americans moved from the east to the west because they ______.

A. enjoy the trip                    B. wanted to make their home there

C. wanted to find new grassland there   D. had no water to drink

From the passage, we can conclude that ______.

the western desert is a good place for people to live in

there is little water but there are many trees in the desert

the desert is dangerous but it is full of life

till now, people know little about the desert

If you want to find some old native American pictures painted on the rock you must go ______.

A. on foot    B. by boat    C. by car    D. by plane

In the 1800s many travelers died in Death Valley because of ______.

A. illness                         B. high temperature   

C. cold weather                   D. poisonous water

In the desert, animals will die ______.

A. if they move about      B. if they cannot make holes underground

C. if they come out at night  D. if they drink much water

B
YOU CAN HELP!
Everyone was born with his own built-in burglar(窃贼) alarm. It’s called the sense of sight and sound．Unfortunately, many of us go around with the alarm switched off.
We don’t see the stranger wandering outside the house next door.
We don’t notice the sounds from the flat upstairs.
(Weren’t they supposed to be on holiday?)
The police can only do so much to prevent crime. There never can be enough of them to guard every home in every town. So they need your help in fighting with the burglars，the vandals（恣意破坏者）, and the car thieves.
Not, of course, by setting out to have a go every time you see something suspicious. It’ll always be the job of the police to arrest criminals.
But by acting as a line of communication between them and your community, for instance, you probably know far more about your immediate neighborhoods than the police ever could.
A stranger in someone’s garden would probably be far more obvious to you than it would to even the local police, if, of course, you were on the look-out.
That’s the whole idea behind the Neighborhood Watch schemes, springing up around the country to create a spirit of watchfulness within a community, anything suspicious being reported to the police.
It’s early days yet, but results so far are very encouraging. The crime figures are already dropping in many of the areas running the scheme. And all due to people like you.
61. The underlined word “them” refers to “______”.
A. criminals          B. the police   C. neighbors   D. strangers
62. The advertisement points out that many people______.
A. are not ready to help the police   
B. are not as watchful as they could be
C. don’t look after their gardens well      
D. don’t tell their neighbors about their holidays
63. One of the ways we could help prevent crime is to______.
A. turn on the alarm system in our home 
B. try to stop criminals from escaping
C. look out for people behaving suspiciously 
D. inform the police if we hear noises upstairs
64. The purpose of the advertisement is to __________in their neighborhood.
A. ask people to join the police force
B. advise people how to protect their homes
C. warn people about the increasing risk of crime
D. encourage people to be on watch for possible crime