“We do look very different; we’re older. Leo’s 38, I’m 37. We were 21 and 22 when we made that film. You know, he’s fatter now -- I’m thinner.” So says Kate Winslet, who is thrilled at the 3-D re-release of Titanic to coincide with the 100th anniversary of the ship’s demise. “It happens every time I get on any boat of any kind." She recalls. There are all the people who want her to walk to the front of the ship and re-create her famous pose, arms flung wide. Most people remember the tragedy: The British passenger ship—said to be unsinkable—hit an iceberg and sank on April 15, 1912, during its maiden voyage from England to New York City. More than 1,500 people died. But little known is what the world learned from the sinking to prevent future incidents.
Probably the greatest deficiency (不足) of the Titanic was that she was built 40 years before the widespread use of the wonderful invention radar (雷达). Her only defense against icebergs and hidden obstacles was to rely on manned lookouts. On that fateful night the eyesight of trained lookouts only provided 37 seconds of warning before the collision.
Traveling at nearly 30 miles an hour, the Titanic was moving far too fast to avoid the huge iceberg. The warning did prevent a head-on collision as the officer on the bridge managed to turn the ship slightly.
The last ship to which it could send an SOS message was the California. She was within ten miles of the Titanic during the disaster, but her radio operator went to bed at midnight and never received any of the SOS messages from the Titanic. That was one of the important lessons learned from the catastrophe, the need for 24-hour radio operators on all passenger liners.
Another lesson learned was the need for more lifeboats. The Titanic remained afloat (漂浮) for almost three hours and most of the passengers could have been saved with enough lifeboats.
1,500 passengers and workers died in the 28 degree waters of the Atlantic. Out of the tragedy, the sinking did produce some important maritime reforms. The winter travel routes were changed to the south and the Coast Guard began to keep an eye on the location of all icebergs. The new rules for lifeboats were obvious to all. There must be enough lifeboats for everybody on board.
The most important lesson learned was that no one would ever again consider a ship unsinkable—no matter how large or how well constructed. Never again would sailors place their faith in a ship above the power of the sea.
【小题1】The text mainly tells us ______.

In “Relax, We’ll Be Fine”, columnist David Brooks writes, “the fact is, despite all the problems, America’s future is extremly bright.”
Mr. Brooks acknowledges that “According to recent survey, 60 percent of Americans think the country is heading in the wrong direction. The same percentage believe that the U.S. is in long-term decline. The political system is not functional. A financial crisis looks unavoidable. There are plenty of reasons to be sad.”
But, he writes:
“Demographers(人口学家) predict that over the next 40 years, the U.S. population will increase by an additional 100 million people, to 400 million over all. The population will be determined, hardworking and relatively young. In 2050, only a quarter will be over 60, compared with 31 percent in China and 41 percent in Japan.”
As the rising generation leads an economic recovery, it will also participate in a communal
(of community) one. We are living in a global age of social entrepreneurship(创业精神).
In sum, the U.S. is on the edge of a demographic, economic and social recovery, built on its historic strengths. The U.S. has always been good at destructive change. And it’s always been good at decentralized community-building, too. Surely a country with this much going for it is not going to wait around passively and let a rotten political culture drag it down.
51．In his article Relax, We’ll Be Fine, David Brooks intends to____________.
A．encourage Americans to be optimistic about their future
B．give Americans courage to face their financial crisis
C．persuade Americans to live happily and generously
D．inspire Americans to lead an economic recovery
52．There are all the reasons for Americans to be unhappy except____________
A．the function-failed political system         B．the increasing population
C．the declining economy                   D．the wrong direction and financial crisis
53．Over the next 40 years, according to David Brooks, Americans will be____________
A．more optimistic and humorous            B．more pessimistic and stronger
C．more energetic and promising             D．more considerate and aggressive
54．In the author’s opinion, America____________.
A．has always benefited from wars            B．has done well by its political system
C．has contributed a lot to human progress     D．has contributed to world’s economy
55．We can learn from the passage that____________
A．American political system and culture are backward
B．Americans are not a nation to give in to difficulties
C．Americans are very destructive and aggressive
D．America has been in an economic and social recovery

III．阅读理解（满分50分）
　　阅读下面短文，从每题所给的A、B、C和D项中选出最佳选项，并在答题卡上将该项涂黑。
A
Against the supposition 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 the 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 the 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 predicted, 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.
41. 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
42. The following are all the immediate effects after a forest fire EXCEPT __________.
A. large amounts of greenhouse gases enter the atmosphere
B. the levels of ozone which is a type of oxygen increase
C. snow on the ground mirrors more sunlight back into space
D. ashes from the fire fall on the ice surface and take in more radiation from the sun
43. 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
44.The underlined phrase “soak up” in the last paragraph most probably means __________.
A. released         B. absorbed       C. created      D. distributed
45. From the passage we can draw a conclusion that forest fires in Alaska, Canada and Siberia may __________.
A. warm the climate as the supposition 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

"We do look very different; we're older. Leo's 38, I'm 37. We were 21 and 22 when we made that film. You know, he's fatter now -- I'm thinner.". So says Kate Winslet, who is thrilled at the 3-D re-release of Titanic to coincide with the 100th anniversary of the ship's demise. “ It happens every time I get on any boat of any kind." She recalls. There are all the people who want her to walk to the front of the ship and re-create her famous pose, arms flung wide. Most people remember the tragedy: The British passenger ship -- said to be unsinkable -- hit an iceberg and sank on April 15, 1912, during its maiden voyage from England to New York City. More than 1,500 people died. But little known is what the world learned from the sinking to prevent future incidents.

Probably the greatest deficiency （不足）of the Titanic was that she was built 40 years before the widespread use of the wonderful invention radar(雷达). Her only defense against icebergs and hidden obstacles was to rely on manned lookouts. On that fateful night the eyesight of trained lookouts only provided 37 seconds of warning before the collision.

Traveling at nearly 30 miles an hour the Titanic was moving far too fast to avoid the huge iceberg. The warning did prevent a head-on collision as the officer on the bridge managed to turn the ship slightly.

The last ship to send a warning was the California. She was within ten miles of the Titanic during the disaster, but her radio operator went to bed at midnight and never received any of the SOS messages from the Titanic. That was one of the important lessons learned from the catastrophe, the need for 24-hour radio operators on all passenger liners.

Another lesson learned was the need for more lifeboats. The Titanic remained afloat(漂浮) for almost three hours and most of the passengers could have been saved with enough lifeboats.

1,500 passengers and workers died in the 28 degree waters of the Atlantic. Out of the tragedy, the sinking did produce some important maritime reforms. The winter travel routes were changed to the south and the Coast Guard began to keep an eye on the location of all icebergs. The new rules for lifeboats were obvious to all. There must be enough lifeboats for everybody on board.

The most important lesson learned was that no one would ever again consider a ship unsinkable- no matter how large or how well constructed. Never again would sailors place their faith in a ship above the power of the sea.

1.The text mainly tells us ______.

2.According to the passage, which of the following could we infer?

3.What would be the best title for the passage?

4.What’s the sailors’ attitude towards the ships after the tragedy?

Just as the world’s most respected scientific bodies have confirmed that the world is getting hotter, they have also stated that there is strong evidence that humans are driving the warming. Countless recent reports from the world’s leading scientific bodies have said the same thing. For example, a 2010 summary of climate science by the Royal Society stated that: “There is strong evidence that the warming of the Earth over the last half-century has been caused largely by human activity.”

The idea that humans could change the planet’s climate may be counter-intuitive(与直觉不符的), but the basic science is well understood. Each year, human activity causes billions of tons of greenhouse gases to be released（释放）into the atmosphere. As scientists have known for years, these gases hold heat that would otherwise escape to space, wrapping the planet in an invisible blanket.

Of course, the planet’s climate has always been changing thanks to “natural” factors(因素) such as changes in solar or volcanic（火山的）activity, or cycles relating the Earth’s going around the sun. According to the scientific literature, however, the warming recorded to date matches the pattern of warming we would expect from a build-up of greenhouse gas in the atmosphere – not the warming we would expect from other possible causes.

Even if scientists did discover another reasonable explanation for the warming observed so far, that would beg a difficult question. As Robert Henson puts it in The Rough Guide to Climate Change: “If some newly discovered factor can account for the climate change, then why aren’t carbon dioxide（二氧化碳）and the other greenhouse gases producing the warming that basic physics tells us they should be?”

The only way to prove with 100% certainty that humans are responsible for global warming would be to run an experiment with two identical Earths – one with human influence and one without. That obviously isn’t possible, and so most scientists are careful not to state human influence as an absolute certainty.

In most scientists’ opinion, the global warming is mainly caused by ________.

   A. solar activity                       

B. volcanic activity   

C. the Earth’s going around the sun       

D. human activity

The text is developed by ________.

   A. giving typical examples

   B. following the order of space

   C. analyzing a theory and arguing it

   D. comparing and finding differences

The underline word “identical” means ________.

   A. totally different                    

B. exactly the same

   C. extremely important                  

D. relatively independent

Which of the following can be the best title?

   A. Are All the Scientists Really Scientific?

   B. Where Is Global Warming Leading Us to?

   C. Are Humans Definitely Causing Global Warming?

   D. What’s Relation of Global Warming and Greenhouse Gases?