A severe heatwave sweeping India, with temperatures of almost 44??C, the highest in 52 years, has killed at least 80 people this month, officials said on Sunday. The hot weather, which officials say would continue over northern, north-western and central India in the next 48 hours, also may have some impact on wheat production, exporters and flour-mill associations said.

　　New Delhi recorded a maximum temperature of 43.7??C on Saturday, indicating a hot summer in the next two months in the nation's capital and other parts of northern and eastern India. The highest temperature in the past 24 hours was 47??C at Ganganagar city, in Rajasthan state. Summer temperatures have been 4??C-6??C above normal over most parts of northern and central India since March, weather officials said.

　　In the eastern state of Orissa, authorities have decided to shut down schools from next Tuesday, advancing the annual summer holiday. Authorities said they were investigating reports of 53 deaths from various parts of the state.

　　"District collectors have been asked to investigate and submit reports on other deaths," Bhimsen Gochhayat, a government official said. Other deaths were reported from northern state of Uttar Pradesh and central Madhya Pradesh states.

　　India is expected to produce about 82 million tons of wheat in 2009-2010, but there could be a shortage of 1-1.5 million tons due to the heatwave, said Veena Sharma, Secretary General of the Roller Flour Millers Federation of India. "Most of the harvesting is over, but there definitely will be a slight shortage of 1-1.5 million tons due to the extreme weather conditions," she told Reuters.

India is relying on an abundant wheat crop to make up for a 14.2% drop in rice output, the major summer-sown food grain, marred by the worst monsoon （季风）in 37 years last year. Weather officials say with summer temperatures in India set to remain above average, there were hopes of heavy rains at the start of the monsoon season that will help early sowing of rice, soybeans and lentils. 

The purpose of the passage is ____________.

A. to tell a piece of news of a heatwave        B. to record the highest temperature in India

C. to report the deaths in the heatwave     D. to inform people of a drop of rice output

Which of the following is TRUE according to the passage?

A. The highest temperature in the history of India was 44??C.

B. Schools were closed because of the hot weather throughout India.

C. India is expected to produce about 82 million tons of rice in 2009-2010.

D. India has a good harvest of wheat while the rice output is decreasing.

The underlined word “marred” in the last paragraph probably means “___________”.

A. reduced          B. damaged      C. blown            D. followed

What is the main idea of the passage?

A. A severe heatwave would continue over India.

B. At least 80% people were killed in the disaster this month.

C. A severe heatwave swept India with a great loss.

D. A slight shortage of 1-1.5 million tons is due to the heatwave.

　　Radioactivity is dangerous. It may cause skin burns, it may destroy good tissues（组织）and it may cause illness that could be passed on to our children and. grand children. In case of exposure（暴露）it may even cause death.

　　In the early days of radioactivity, scientists did not realize these dangers. Marie and Pierre Curie, after having worked for a while with radioactive materials, noticed that their fingers were reddened and swollen（红肿）and the skin was peeling off. Henry Becquerel carried a small tube with radium in it in his waistcoat pocket, and was surprised to find a bum on his chest. Other early workers also reported bums and harm of different kinds.

　　The strange fact is that it can harm without causing pain, which is the warning signal we expect from harmfulness. Pain makes us pull back our hands from a fire or a hot object, but a per-son carrying radioactive materials has no way of telling whether he is touching something too“hot” for safety. Besides, the“burns” or other harmfulness that radioactivity produces may not appear for weeks. A person may have been hurt without knowing it for some time.

(1) Which is the topic sentence for this passage?

[　　]

A．Radioactivity may ever cause death.

B．Radioactivity does great harm to children.

C．Radioactivity may do harm to people without being known.

D．Radioactivity is dangerous.

(2) A few people were mentioned in the passage. They ________.

[　　]

A．were all famous scientists of great achievements

B．died of radioactivity

C．knew little about radioactivity

D．did experiments on themselves to find the danger of radioactivity

(3) According to the point of the passage, pain ________.

[　　]

(4) The sentence in the fifth line of the second paragraph“the skin was peeling off”means“________”．

[　　]

　 _____ in the strange city, poor Bill fell to _____.

　　A. Lost; crying　　　　　 　　　 B. Lost; cry

　　C. To lose; cry　 　　　　　　　 D. Having been lost; crying

It is a typical case. A young professional has just moved to a new city. She is very active in her new job but wishes to meet people socially outside of work. How does she do this？
　　Signing up for a night class is always a good starting point. Not only is it an ideal way to meet like-minded people，it can also be a great new learning experience. Pubs and clubs can be a good meeting place but can be a bit hard if you are on your own.
　　Join a gym
　　GL-14 health club in Manchester city centre is a gym which also has lots of member activities outside the gym from charity fashion shows to dinner dances giving members a chance to socialize away from the treadmill（繁忙的工作）. Or if you want a gym with a difference，try a“Green Gym”for people who want to exercise but wish to be outdoors and doing something that will benefit the environment at the same time. The“work out”could involve such activities as practical conservation or gardening work. It’s a great way to get people’s heart and muscle working. And many agree that meeting other people and having a matter and a laugh is a big attraction of the scheme.
　　Reading groups
　　In the Reading Groups，Jenny Hartley suggested that there may be as many as 50，000 people in reading groups in the UK. They range from informal groups of friends or colleagues who meet in someone’s home or at the local pub，to discuss a book. If you want something a bit more structured，lots of libraries have reading groups and could have a broader group of members.
　　Statistics
　　The BBC recently conducted a survey called Going solo：single life in the 21st century. You can look at the overall results or search by area. It found that：
　　*69％ of people thought that the gym was a good place to meet new
　　*Pubs or clubs were considered to be good meeting places by 58％ of people in the UK
　　*68％ thought that work was a good place to meet people
　　*72％ thought that internet chat was not an ideal way to meet people
（  ）56．“Green Gym”in Paragraph 3 refers to an activity in which you can________.
A．have night classes with like-minded people
B．do something good for the environment on your own
C．discuss a book with other members at a pub
D．benefit the environment while doing outdoor exercise
（  ）57．Which of the following is a Green Gym activity？
A．Gardening work.         B．Chatting on the Internet.
C．A charity fashion show.    D．A dinner dance away from the treadmill.
（  ）58．What’s the most popular place to meet new people outside of work？
A．Pubs or clubs. 　B．The Internet.  C．The working place. D．The gym.