A sandstorm hit Gansu Province, Inner Mongolia Autonomous Region (内蒙古自治区) and Beijing on Sunday, reducing visibility (能见度) to less than 100 meters in affected areas. When visibility drops to less than 1 kilometer, it is called a sandstorm. The sandstorm in Minqin blew up dust in neighboring towns, such as Baiyin, Wuwei, and Jinchang.

Dust winds also swept into Beijing at more than 20 meters per second. Dust first reached the capital’s suburbs at 7 a.m., downtown areas at 9 a.m. The Palace Museum in central Beijing was covered in thick, brown-yellow dust at noon. The winds, which died down during the night, brought the temperature down to 8℃ below zero and many flights put off their planned time from the city’s airport.

Although the Chinese Central Weather had forecast the sandstorm on Tuesday and warned citizens to prepare for it, many people were shocked by the yellow sky. Wang Hongsheng, a senior citizen living in Beijing for more than 60 years, said such weather had seldom been seen in recent years. In the northwestern part of the city, the sky was darkened by the sand, forcing cars and shops to turn on their lights.

It is quite rare for sandstorms, which are frequent between March and June, to happen in winter, when the earth is frozen. The sandstorms in Gansu and Inner Mongolia do not necessarily mean there will be more of them in the spring than last year, but Beijing is taking it very seriously. It is reported that Beijing will spend 6 billion yuan in preventing sandstorms in the capital and has already set up a special team to make sure what causes them.

72. What is the main idea of the passage?

A. A sandstorm took place in Gansu.

B. A sandstorm happened on Sunday.

C. The sandstorm is very serious, compared to last year.

D. The experts are trying their best to determine the cause of the sandstorm formed this year.

73. Which of the following does NOT belong to the bad effects the sandstorm has caused in Beijing?

A. The temperature fell.　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　

B. Flights put off their time to take off.

C. The air was dirty.　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　

D. People had three days’leave.

74. Why did sandstorms begin in winter this year?

A. Because there was little snow this season.　　　　　

B. Because a lot of trees had been cut down.

C. Because people took few measures to control them.　　　

D. It is not mentioned in the passage.

75. The author wrote the passage to ___.

A. tell us the environment is becoming worse and worse

B. explain what measures people have taken to control sandstorms

C. make people realize the need to protect the environment

D. call on us to do what we can to save the eart

Jean Driscoll can go faster in her wheelchair than the world’s best marathoners can run!

In April, Jean finished the Boston Marathon in 1 hour 34 minutes 22 seconds. That’s about 33 minutes faster than the winning male runner! She competed on the track, too. She was second in the 800 meter wheelchair race at the 1992 Olympics.

Jean doesn’t like to be told she’s brave. “I’m in sports because I’m a competitive person!” Jean was born with spina befida(脊柱裂), a birth illness that damages the spine（脊椎）. She began to use a wheelchair to get around in high school. Then she tried wheelchair race and was amazed.” Players crashed into each other and fell out of their chairs,” she says, “It was fun.”

Jean tried other wheelchair sports. At the University of Illinois, her wheelchair basketball team won two national titles.

Now Jean coaches and teaches. She tries to get people to set goals. “When I sign my autograph（亲笔签名）, says Jean, “I write, dream big and work hard.”

What made Jean take part in sports?

A. She was brave.          B. She was competitive. 

C. She was strong.          D. She was disabled.

What does the underlined word “coach” mean?

A. to train or give instruction and advice   B. to experiment

C. to get hold of and stop               D. to repeat

What is Jean’s advice on how to succeed?

       A. Work hard.             B. Hope for the best.

       C. Dream a lot.            D. Have great wishes and work hard.

______ at the crossing and you will see a tall white building

1. A.
   Turn right
2. B.
   Turning right
3. C.
   Turned right
4. D.
   Being turn right

The first and best of victories is for a man to conquer himself; to be conquered by himself is, of all things, the most shameful,” says Plato. Self-control is at the root of all the advantages. Let a man give in to his impulses(冲动) and feelings, and from that moment he gives up his moral(道德) freedom.

A single angry word has lost many friends. When Socrates found in himself any temper or anger, he would check it by speaking low in order to control himself. If you are conscious of being angry, keep your mouth shut so that you can hold back rising anger. Many a person has dropped dead in great anger. Fits of anger bring fits of disease. “Whoever the gods would destroy they first make them mad.” “Keep cool,” says Webster, “anger is not argument.” “Be calm in arguing,” says George Herbert, “for fierceness(狂怒) makes error a fault.”

To be angry with a weak man is to prove that you are not strong yourself. “Anger,” says Pythagoras, “brings with folly and ends with regret.” You must measure the strength of a man by the power of the feelings he conquers, not by the power of those which conquer him.

Self-control is man’s last and greatest victory.

If a man lacks self-control he seems to lack everything. Without it he can have no patience, no power to govern himself; he can have no self-confidence, for he will always be controlled by his strongest feeling. If he lacks self-control, the very backbone and nerve of character are lacking also.  

What’s the main idea of the passage?

A. The importance of self- control.   B. How to conquer oneself?

C. The relation between a man’s moral freedom and his feelings.

D. A man should keep cool.

What’s the meaning of “whoever the gods would destroy they first make them mad”?

A. If you are mad, the gods will kill you.

B. If you lose your temper first, gods will kill you first.

C. If you can’t control yourself, you will be crazy.

D. If the gods want to kill you, they will make you mad first.

Which of the following is NOT true, according to passage?

A. The first and best of victories is for a man to conquer himself.

B. You will make a small mistake serious if you don’t keep cool.

C. You must measure a man’s strength by the power of the feelings which conquer him.

D. Anger brings with folly and ends with regret.

Which of the following can’t help you avoid anger, according to the passage?

A. Be calm in arguing.      B. Check your temper or anger by speaking low.

C. Keep your mouth shut.   D. Try to make the other angry first.

If you look up the word “create” in the dictionary , you will find it means “to bring into being, to cause something each of us does daily to exist”．

       We are creative whenever we look at or think about something in a new way. First, this includes an awareness of our surroundings．It means using all of our senses to become aware of our world．This may be as simple as being aware of color and texture（质地）, as well as taste, when we plan a meal．Above all, it is the ability to notice things that others might miss．

       A second part of creativity is an ability to see relationships among things．There is nothing new under the sun. The creativity is remaking or recombining（重组） the old in new ways. For example, we might do this by finding a more effective way to study or a better way to arrange our furniture, or we might make a new combination of camera lenses and filters to create an unusual photograph．

       A third part of creativity is the courage and drive to make use of our new ideas, to ask for them to achieve some new results．To think up a new idea is one thing; to put the idea to work is another．

       These three parts of creativity are included in all the great works of geniuses, but they are also included in many of our day-to-day activities．(257 words)

Which of the following activities is NOT a creative one according to the passage?

A. To prepare for a meal．

B. To arrange the furniture in a special way．

C. To buy some books from a bookstore．

D. To “write” a letter with the computer．

“There is nothing new under the sun” really implies that _________．

       A. a new thing can only be created at the basis of earlier things  

       B. a new thing is only a tale

       C. we can seldom create new things            

       D. we can hardly see really new things in the world

What is the relationship between a new thought and its being put into practice?

       A. It’s more difficult to create a new thought than to put it into practice．

       B. To find a new thought will clearly lead to the production of a new thing．

       C. A man with an excellent ability of practice can easily become an inventor．

       D. One may come up with a new thought, but may not put it into practice．

The best title for this passage is__________．

       A. How to Develop One’s Creativity          

       B. What Is Creativity

       C. The Importance of Creativity          

       D. Creativity, a Not Faraway Thing