You may have never heard of Ladislao Biro, but you have certainly heard of the pen he invented—the ballpoint pen, or biro. Before Biro invented his pen, people wrote with fountain pens. The ink smudged(弄脏) and blotted and the pens sometimes leaked. In the 1930s Biro was a magazine editor in Budapest in Hungary. He noticed that the inks which the magazine’s printers used dried very quickly. Biro wondered if quick-drying inks could be used in pens. He came up with the idea of a tube of ink with a free-moving ball on the end. As a person wrote, the ball collected ink from the tube and rolled it on to the paper. The pen would be cheap and could be thrown away when the ink ran out.

Biro began to work on his invention, but before he could patent it the Second World War broke out. Biro left war-torn Europe and fled to Buenos Aires in Argentina. There, he and his brother Georg, who was a chemist, began to improve the pen. In the early 1940s Biro began to manufacture his new pen, the biro. In 1944, he sold his invention to another company, who began to mass-produce the pen for the British and American armed forces.

Biro was pleased that his pen was popular, but he did not gain much from his invention. The biro was later sold to the French firm, Bic, who now sell twelve million pens a day. Biro sank into obscurity in South America. His name, however, has become a household word.

48. The reasons for the popularity of ballpoint pens are these EXCEPT that_______.

A. the inks dried very quickly                      B. they were cheap

C. they were easy to carry around           D. they were mass-produced

49. Which of the following is the correct order of the events that happened to Biro?

a. applied for patent for first ballpoint pen

b. began to manufacture pens

c. fled from Hungary to escape Nazis

d. sold his invention

A. a c d b                    B. c d a b           C. a c b d           D. c a b d

50. The underlined part “sank into obscurity”(last paragraph) is closest in meaning to“_______”.

A. became unknown to many people       B. became popular with people

C. lost interest in business                         D. lost a lot of money

51. What does the passage mainly tell us about Biro?

A. He is successful in business.                 B. He is an important inventor.

C. He is a famous magazine editor.         D. He is a popular writer.

The Pacific island nation of Nauru used to be a beautiful place．Now it is an ecological disaster area．Nauru's heartbreaking story could have one good consequence-other countries might learn from its mistakes．

For thousands of years，Polynesian people lived in the remote island of Nauru，far from western civilization．The first European to arrive was John Fearn in 1798．He was the British captain of the Hunter, a whaling ship．He called the island Pleasant Island．

However, because it was very remote, Nauru had little communication with Europeans at first．The whaling ships and other traders began to visit，bringing guns and alcohol．These elements destroyed the social balance of the twelve family groups on the island．A ten-year civil war started，which reduced the population from 1,400 to 900.

Nauru's real troubles began in 1899 when a British mining company discovered phosphate(磷酸盐)on the island．In fact，it found that the island of Nauru was nearly all phosphate，which was a very important fertilizer for farming．The company began mining the phosphate．

A phosphate mine is not a hole in the ground；it is a strip mine．When a company strip-mines，it removes the to player of soil．Then it takes away the material it wants．Strip mining totally destroys the land．Gradually, the lovely island or Nauru started to look like the moon．

In 1968，Nauru became one of the richest countries in the world．Every year the government received millions and millions of dollars for its phosphate．

Unfortunately, the leaders invested the money unwisely and lost millions of dollars．In addition，they used millions more dollars for personal expenses．Soon people realized that they had a terrible problem—their phosphate was running out．Ninety percent of their island was destroyed and they had nothing．By 2000，Nauru was financially ruined．Experts say that it would take approximately$433，600，000 and more than 20 years to repair the island．This will probably never happen．

1.What might be the author's purpose in writing the text?

A．To seek help for Nauru's problems．

B．To tell a heartbreaking story of a war．

C．To show the importance of money

D．To give a warning to other countries

2.What was Nauru like before the Europeans came?

APeaceful and attractive       B．Modern and open

C．Rich and powerful            D．Greedy and aggressive

3.The ecological disaster in Nauru resulted from

A．soil pollution                           B．phosphate overmining

C．farming activity                         D．whale hunting

4.Which of the following was a cause of Nauru's financial problem?

A．Its phosphate mining cost much money

B．It spent too much repairing the island

C．Its leaders misused the money

D．It lost millions of dollars in the civil war.

5.What can we learn about Nauru from me last paragraph?

A．The leaders will take the experts' words seriously

B．The ecological damage is difficult to repair.

C．The island was abandoned by the Nauruans

D．The phosphate mines were destroyed

I will never forget the year I was about twelve years old. My mother told us that we would not be  36  Christmas gifts because there was not enough money. I felt sad and thought, “What would I say when the other kids asked what I’d  37  ?” Just when I started to  38  that there would not be a Christmas that year, three women  39  at our house with gifts for all of us. For me they brought a doll. I felt such a sense of   40  that I would no longer have to be embarrassed when I returned to school. I wasn’t  41 . Somebody had thought  42  of me to bring me a gift.

Years later, when I stood in the kitchen of my new house, thinking how I wanted to make my  43  Christmas there special and memorable, I  44   remembered the women’s visit. I decided that I wanted to create that same feeling of  45  for as many children as I could possibly reach.

So I  46  a plan and gathered forty people from my company to help. We gathered about 125 orphans(孤儿) at the Christmas party. For every child, we wrapped colorful packages filled with toys, clothes, and school supplies,  47   with a child’s name. We wanted all of them to know they were  48 . Before I called out their names and handed them their gifts. I  49  them that they couldn’t open their presents  50 every child had come forward. Finally the  51 they had been waiting for came as I called out, “One, two, three . Open your presents!” As the children opened their packages, their faces beamed and their bright smiles  52  up the room. The  53  in the room was obvious, and  54  wasn’t just about toys. It was a feeling—the feeling I knew  55  that Christmas so long ago when the women came to visit. I wasn’t forgotten. Somebody thought of me. I matter.

1.

2.

3.

4.

5.

6.

7.

8.

9.

10.A. strength             B. independence      C. importance          D. safety

11.A. kept up with         B. caught up with     C.came up with      D. put up with

12.A. none               B. few               C. some                D. each

13.A. fine                B. special            C. helpful              D. normal

14.A. reminded           B. guaranteed         C. convinced           D. promised

15.A.after                B. until              C. when               D. since

16.A.chance              B. gift               C. moment             D. reward

17.A. lit                 B. took               C. burned             D. cheered

18.A.atmosphere          B. sympathy          C. calmness            D. joy

19.A. it                  B. such               C. something          D. everybody

20.A.by                 B .till                 C. for                D. from

Claude and Louris are “giraffes”. So are police officers Hankins and Pearson. These men and women don’t look like giraffes; they look like you and me. Then, why do people call them “giraffes”?

A giraffe, they say, is an animal that sticks its neck out, can see places far away and has a large heart. It lives a quiet life and moves about in an easy and beautiful way. In the same way, a “giraffe” can be a person who likes to “stick his or her neck out” for other people, always watches for future happenings, has a warm heart for people around, and at the same time lives a quiet and beautiful life himself or herself.

“The Giraffe Project” is a 10-year-old group which finds and honors “giraffes” in the US and in the world. The group wants to teach people to do something to build a better world. The group members believe that a person shouldn’t draw his or her head back; instead, they tell people to “stick their neck out” and help others. Claude and Louris, Hankins and Pearson are only a few of the nearly 1,000 “giraffes” that the group found and honored.

Claude and Louris were getting old and they left their work with some money that they saved for future use. One day, however, they saw a homeless man looking for a place to keep warm and they decided that they should “stick their neck out” and give him some help. Today, they lived in Friends’ House, where they invite twelve homeless people to stay every night.

Police officers Hankins and Pearson work in a large city. They see crimes every day and their work is sometimes dangerous. They work hard for their money. However, these two men put their savings together and even borrowed money to start an educational center to teach young people in a poor part of the city. Hankins and Pearson are certainly “giraffes”.

56. Which of the following is true?

A. Some of the people around us look like giraffes.

B. Giraffes are the most beautiful animal in the world.

C. “Giraffes” is a beautiful name for those who are ready to help other people.

D. A “giraffe” is someone who can stick his neck out and see the future.

57. “The Giraffe Project” is a group _____.

A. of police officers        B. which appeared ten years ago

C. of ten-year-old children   D. which takes care of children

58. People call Claude and Hankins “giraffes” because they _____.

A. do what is needed for a good world       B. are not afraid of dangerous work

C. found a home for some homeless people   D. made money only for other people

59. The passage mainly tries to tell us _____.

A. what giraffes are like

B. what the Giraffe Project is

C. why Claude, Louris, Hankins and Pearson are called “giraffes” 

D. what we should do for a better world

根据短文内容，从短文后的选项中选出能填入空白处的最佳选项。选项中有两项为多余选项。

　 　 Industrial pollution is not only a problem for the countries of Europe and North America but also an extremely serious problem in some developing countries.１ They want to introduce industries, and so they put few controls on the industries which cause pollution.

　 　 Cubatao, an industrial town of 85 000 people in Brazil, is an example of the connection between industrial development and pollution. In 1954, Cubatao had no industry.２　The people of the town are suffering from the poisonous matter in their environment．３ Birth shortcomings are extremely common. Among children and adults, lung problems are sometimes twelve times more common in Cubatao than in other places.

　　　４ However,  these laws are not strict enough. It is cheaper for companies to take no notice of the laws and pay the fines(罚款) than to buy the expensive equipment that will reduce the pollution. It is clear, therefore, that economic growth is more important to the government than to the health of the workers.

　　　However, the responsibility does not completely lie with the Brazilian government. ５A number of the factories in the town are owned by large companies from France, Italy, and the U. S. They are doing things in Brazil that they would not be able to do at home. If they caused the same amount of pollution at home, they would be severely punished or even put out of business.

Ｅ．The government should play an important role in controlling pollution.

Ｆ．Today it has more than twenty large factories, which produce many pollutants(污染物)．

Ｇ．The example of Cubatao shows that international companies are not acting in a responsible way either.