D

Global warming is the process of earth’s atmosphere heating up. Over the last 100 years, the average temperature of earth’s atmosphere has gone up 1 Fahrenheit. The weather has not changed exactly the same way in every area of the planet. But scientists think that the rise in average temperature is already affecting the earth’s climate.

Many scientists now believe that global warming is caused by cutting down trees, producing more trash, and polluting the environment are some of the reasons that the temperature has gone up. Many scientists believe that the biggest causes of global warming are new human technologies that release greenhouse gases into the atmosphere.

The greenhouse effect is not new. Certain gases in the atmosphere, like carbon dioxide, nitrous oxide and methane, prevent heat energy from escaping back into space. In the past, the climate didn’t change much because nature produced just the right amount of greenhouse gases to deal with it.

Today, most scientists are pretty sure that the rising temperature can’t be blamed on nature. Ever since the industrial revolution in the 1700s, humans have relied on machines for daily life. And many of those machines give off a lot of greenhouse gases. An increase in the release of greenhouse gases from human activities is throwing nature off balance.

The climate is a very complicated thing, but many scientists agree that the rising atmospheric temperature has already damaged the environment. Sheets of ice, called glaciers, are melting in Antarctica and other parts of the globe. As glaciers break off and melt into the oceans, they are adding warm water to the oceans and causing the sea level to rise.

Over the past last 100years, the sea level has risen 6-8 inches around the world. That means land along the coasts is beginning to disappear under water. Bigger and warmer oceans are also adding to other weather problems caused by pollution in the atmosphere. Some places have received more rain, others have had bigger storms and a few areas in the world have experienced unusual droughts.

68. What is mainly talked about in this passage?

A. The melting of glaciers.                B. Global warming.

C. The world’s weather.                  D. The earth’s temperature.

69. What causes global warming according to scientists?

A. Human activities.                     B. The nature itself.

C. The earth’s atmosphere.                D. New discoveries

70. How can greenhouse gases make the globe warm?

A. They keep heat in the atmosphere   

B. They let the heat go out into space.

C. They release heat into the air.       

D. They can make the other gases warm.

71. From the passage we can see that global warming will bring about _________.

A. the pollution in the atmosphere            B. natural disasters

C. population pollution                     D. the rise of glaciers

按要求写出下列符合句意的单词：（每句1分，满分10分）
【小题1】I once studied some Japanese at college, but I’m afraid that I’ve e
         forgotten it now.  
【小题2】Don’t scold them. After all, they are only                  （青少年）.
【小题3】When we met many years later, I could hardly r                Lily at the airport.
【小题4】Our                 (政府) must do something to stop the rising house prices.
【小题5】My daughter is so s                 that she cannot easily change her mind.
【小题6】Can you think of ways to                    （说服）him to give up the plan?
【小题7】Most of the buildings were                     （毁坏）in the earthquake.
【小题8】Never                     a person only by his clothes.
【小题9】All my family are well e             , of whom my brother studied in Harvard University.
【小题10】What really worries those parents is that there is too much            (暴力)on TV.

Mail carriers will be delivering some good news and some bad news this week.

The bad news: Stamp prices are expected to rise 2 cents in May to 41 cents, the Postal Regulatory Commission announced yesterday. The good news: With the introduction of a “forever stamp,”it may be the last time Americans have to use annoying 2-or 3-cent stamps to make up postage differences.

Beginning in May, people would be able to purchase the stamps in booklets of 20 at the regular rate of a first-class stamp. As the name implies, “forever stamps” will keep their first-class mailing value forever, even when the postage rate goes up.

The new “forever stamp” is the United States Postal Service’（USPS） answer to the complaints about frequent rate increases. The May increase will be the fifth in a decade. Postal rates have risen because of inflation （通货膨胀），competition from online bill paying, and the rising costs of employee benefits, including healthcare, says Mark Saunders, a Spokesman for USPS.

The USPS expects some financial gain from sales of the “forever stamp” and the savings from not printing as many 2-or 3-cent stamps. “It’s not your grandfather’s stamp,” says Mr. Saunders. “It could be your great-grandchildren’s stamp.”

Other countries, including Canada, England, and Finland use similar stamps.

Don Schilling, who has collected stamps for 50 years, he’s interested in the public’s reaction. “This is an entirely new class of stamps,” Mr. Schilling says. He adds that he’ll buy the stamps because he will be able to use them for a long period of time, not because they could make him rich-the volume printed will be too large for collectors. “We won’t be able to send our kids to college on these,” he says, laughing.

The USPS board of governors has yet o accept the Postal Regulatory Commission’s decision, but tends to follow its recommendations. No plans have been announced yet for the design of the stamps.

72．The main purpose of introducing a “forever stamp”is          .

A．to reduce the cost of printing 2-or 3-cent stamps

B．to help save the consumers’ cost on first-class mailing

C．to respond to the complaints about rising postal rates

D．to compete with online bill paying

73．By saying “It could be your great-grand children’s stamp”, Mr. Saunders means that forever stamps            .

A．could be collected by one’s great-grandchildren

B．might be very precious in great-grandchildren’s hands

C．might have been inherited from one’s great-grandfathers

D．could be used by one’s great-grandchildren even decades later

74．Which of the following is true according to the passage?

A．The investment in forever stamps will bring adequate reward.

B．America will be the first country to issue forever stamps.

C．The design of the “forever stamp” remains to be revealed.

D．2-or 3-cent stamps will no longer be printed in the future.

75．What can be concluded from the passage?

A．With forever stamps, there will be no need to worry about rate changes.

B．Postal workers will benefit most form the sales of forever stamps.

C．The inflation has become a threat to the sales of first-class stamps.

D．New interest will be aroused in collecting forever stamps.

第二节 完形填空（共15小题；每小题2分，满分30分）

阅读下面短文，掌握其大意，然后从36-50各题所给的四个选项（A、B、C、D）中，选出最佳选项，并在答题卡上将该项涂黑。

When a person is curious about something, it means he is   36   in it and wishes to know something about it. We can say he has curiosity about that thing. There is nothing wrong with curiosity in itself. Whether it is good or bad  37  on what people are curious about. 

Curiosity   38   can be silly or wrong. Some people with nothing to do are   39   of curiosity about what their neighbours are doing. They are anxious to know what they are eating or drinking, what they are   40   home or taking outside, or why they have come home so early or late. To be interested in these things is silly because they are not important. It is none of their  41   to know what their neighbours do or are doing. Such curiosity is not only foolish but also harmful. Most probably, it may   42   to small talk which often brings harm, shame or disrespect to   43   , and thus   44   their feelings. 

On the other hand, there is a noble (高尚的) curiosity — curiosity of wise men, who wonder at all the great things and try to find out all they   45   about them. Columbus would never have found America if he had not been   46   . James Watt would not have made the steam engine   47   his curiosity about the rising of the kettle lid. All the discoveries in human history have been made   48  a result of curiosity,   49   the curiosity is never about unimportant things which have   50   — or nothing to do with the happiness of the public. 

In many parts of the world cars play an essential role in daily life and many societies would stop to function without them. So the claim that in 20 years’ time no one will own cars may be hard to believe. But this is the prediction made by a team of transport researchers who are taken seriously not only by governments but also by car manufacturers.

The Human Science and Advanced Technology Institute at Loughborough in the UK is part of an international research program. The team there believes that by 2020 all cars will be computerized, which will mean extremely large fuel savings, no accidents and better use of roads. The super-intelligent car of the 21st century will drive itself and it will not be owned by on individual. Instead, we will have a choice of cars and change them as frequently as we change our clothing.

According to Dr. David Davis, who leads the research team, these predictions are based on the rising cost of the car culture ,which had blocked up our cities, polluted our air and caused more deaths than both world wars put together.

Davis says cars will be fitted with intelligent cruise control devices to regulate the distance between one car and another. Brakes and accelerators (加速器) will become redundant（多余的） because the car will automatically speed up or slow down to match the speed of the car in front. Computers are much safer drivers than people, so cars in a road train will be able to drive much closer together than cars driven by people.

By 2010 Dr. David Davis believes car technology will give motorists a clear view of the road whatever the weather conditions by projecting an image of the road ahead onto the car’s windscreen. And by 2020 cars will travel in convoy linked to each other electronically. Cars will be connected by an electronic tow(牵引) bar to the car in front to form “road-trains”. “The front vehicle in such a train burns the ordinary fuel” says Davis. “But all the others in the train would burn about ten percent of the normal amount and so produce about ten percent of the pollution.

1.We know from the passage that governments and car manufactures ________.

   A. don’t believe the prediction that no one will own cars by 2020.

   B. are devoted to the technological innovation (创新) in car industry.

   C. consider the predictions made by the researchers seriously.

   D. have put the super-intelligent car into mass production.

2.Which of the following will NOT be the characteristics of the cars of 2020 ?

   A. There will be no brake and accelerator in cars.

   B. We will own as many cars as we want .

   C. All cars will be driven by computers.

   D. Car accident will no longer happen.

3.The expression closest in meaning to the underlined phrase “ in convoy”(Para 5) is ______.

   A. in line B. sidelong C. side by side D. next to one another

4.What will happen if cars are linked to each other electronically in 2020 ?

   A. Motorists will get a clear view of the road.

   B. The weather conditions won’t have effect on motorists.

   C. There will be a decrease in the pollution caused by car .

   D.All trains will burn less fuel than present.