第二节（共5小题；每小题2分，满分10分）

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。

Today’s children are not satisfied with playing simple games with simple toys.   71   The electronic models are marketed. They can move and communicate. Children need toys that fit well into their renewed idea of playing pleasure.

     72   These toys are among the top ten “must haves” for every boy and girl. Their sales largely depend on the rapidly changing toy trade. Besides, the demand by parents and children for more advanced features can make a robot toy sell well.

   There are different types of robot toys in the market today.   73   However, video games are not considered as robot toys. While video games are just electronic role-playing mind games, robot toys are highly dependent on the interaction(互动) between the toy and the user. In a video game, the player has a specific goal or task that must be accomplished. The robot toy is a simulation(模仿) of an animal or human.

   There are a number of different types of robot toys in the world market today. They are all very costly. There are high-tech robot toy pets that have life-like actions and movements.   74    Not only children but even adults like robot toys and are now spending a lot of money on them in the market.

Robot toys are great educational toys that interact with and within their environment.   75   The robot toys have sensors that enable them to see, hear and feel, making them the ideal companions. And many robot toys are also designed to express emotions,

A. In fact, their demand today has changed.

B. Robot toys are popular with adults as well as children. 

C.   A robot toy is an electronic toy that is the gift of modern technology.

D. Video games are common in the world of games for children.

E. The toys enable the user to experiment and increase creativity.

F. Some of the robot toy pets can actually fetch and carry.

G. Now robot toys are playing an important part in the growth of children.

       Scientists in the United States say plant life has increased on Earth in the past twenty years and that in every area of plant growth the increase is the result of weather conditions.

       Eight scientists from across the United States did the study. The space agency NASA and the Department of Energy paid for it. The findings were published in the magazine Science.

       The researchers spent one and a half years examining weather satellite information. The information was recorded from 1982 to 1999. That period was one of the warmest on record. Researchers found that rainfall generally increased during that time.

       The satellites measured the number of leaves on plants and the amount of sunlight taken in. The scientists used that information to estimate what is called net primary production. This is total amount of carbon stored in land plants.

       The scientists report a 6% increase in stored carbon since 1982. They say gains were high in equatorial areas, especially around the Amazon River in South America. The area alone had a 1% increase in the net primary production.

Ramakrishna Nemani of the University of Montana in Missoula headed the study. He says reduced cloud cover led to growth in Amazon area. He also says the lack of clouds allowed more sunlight to get through. More sunlight meant increases in photosynthesis(光合作用). That is the process by which plants use energy from sunlight to produce the chemicals they need to grow.

       Northern Canada, the north-central United States and northern Europe were second in increased plant growth. Ramakrishna Nemani says a rise in temperature helped plants there.

       All together, the report says 25% of areas of plant life on Earth experienced increases. But the scientists also note increase in the number of people on Earth and carbon dioxide levels in the atmosphere. Ranga Myneni of Boston University in Massachusetts, another study scientist says humans use about half the net primary production on Earth. And he notes that the world population grew by 36% during the period of time studied.

Which of the following is in charge of the study?

       A. The space agency NASA of the US.

       B. The Department of Energy of the US.

       C. Ramakrishna Nemani in Missoula.

       D. Ranga Myneni in Massachusetts.

What’s the main cause of the plant growth put forward by the study?

       A. Growth in population.

       B. Regional features.

       C. Seasonal variation.

       D. Weather conditions

Why do scientists believe that reduced cloud cover has led to the plant growth in       the Amazon area?

       A. Because plants could take in more sunlight.

       B. Because plants could get more rainfall.

       C. Because plants could enjoy cooler air.

       D. Because plants suffer less from natural disasters.

Which of the following descriptions about the years from 1982 to 1999 is TRUE?

       A. It was the warmest on record.

       B. Rainfall decreased little by little.

       C. World population grew by 25%.

       D. Stored carbon increased by 6%.

The regular use of text messages and e-mails can lower the IQ more than twice as much as smoking marijuana（大麻）. That is the claim of psychologists who have found that tapping away on a mobile phone or computer keypad or checking them for electronic messages temporarily knocks up to ten points off the user’s IQ.

This rate of decline in intelligence compares unfavorably with the four-point drop in IQ associated with smoking marijuana, according to British researchers, who have labeled（把……称为）the fleeting phenomenon of enhanced stupidity as “infomania”.

The noticeable drop in IQ is believed to be the result of the constant distraction of “always on” technology when employees should be concentrating on what they are paid to do. Infomania means that they lose concentration as their minds remain fixed in an almost permanent state of readiness to react to technology instead of focusing on the tasks in hand.

The brain also finds it hard to deal with keeping lots of tasks in motion at once, reducing its overall effectiveness. While modern technology can have huge benefits, excessive(过度的)use can be damaging not only to a person’s mind, but to his or her social life.

Eighty volunteers took part in clinical trials on IQ damage and 1,100 adults were interviewed.

More than six in ten people polled admitted that they were addicted to checking their e-mail and text messages so that they examined work-related ones even when at home or on holiday. Half said that they always responded immediately to an e-mail and one in five would interrupt a meeting to do so.

Furthermore, infomania is having a negative effect on work colleagues, increasing stress and disagreeing feelings. Nine out of ten polled thought that colleagues who answered e-mails or messages during a face-to-face meeting were extremely rude. Yet one in three Britons believed that it was not only acceptable, but actually diligent and efficient to do so.

67. What does the underlined part mean?

A.A person’s IQ drops ten points if he or she always checks electronic messages.

B. The person who has a higher IQ enjoys checking electronic messages.

C. The person who has a lower IQ enjoys checking electronic messages.

D. A person’s IQ is ten points higher if he or she always checks electronic messages.

68. What happens to people with infomania?

A. People with infomania can only concentrate on their tasks in hand.

B. people with infomania are addicted to smoking marijuana.

C. People with infomania can’t respond to technology immediately.

D. People with infomania can’t concentrate on their tasks in hand.

69. From the passage, we can learn that ______.

A. about 550 interviewees responded to an e-mail immediately

B. about 670 interviewees responded to an e-mail immediately

C. about 50 taking part in clinical trials on IQ were addicted to checking e-mails

D. about 16 taking part in clinical trials on IQ refused to answer e-mails immediately

70. What is the main idea of this passage?

A. The regular use of text messages and e-mails can be compared to smoking marijuana.

B. Modern technology can damage a person’s mind.

C. The regular use of text messages and e-mails can harm your IQ.

D. Electronic messages have side effects on the user’s life.

Throughout history, people have been interested in knowing how languages first began, but no one knows exactly where or how this happened. However, we do know a lot about languages, the languages of today and also the languages of earlier times. There are probably about 3,000 languages in the world today. Chinese is the language with the most speakers. English, Russian and Spanish are also spoken by many millions of people. On the other hand, some languages in the world have less than one hundred speakers.

There are several important families of languages in the world. For example, most of the languages of Europe are in one large family called Indo-European. The original (最初的) language of this family was spoken about 4,500 years ago. Many of the present day languages of Europe and India are modern forms of the language of 4,500 yeas ago.

Languages are always changing. The English of today is very different from the English of 500 years ago. In time some even died out completely. About 1,000 years ago, English was a little-known relative of German spoken on one of the borders of Europe.

If a language has a large number of speakers or if it is very old, there may be differences in the way it is spoken in different areas. That is, the language may have several dialects. Chinese is a good example of dialect differences. Chinese has been spoken for thousands of years by many millions of speakers. The differences between the dialects of Chinese are so great that speakers of Chinese from some parts of China can’t understand speakers from other parts.

1 The first paragraph mainly tells us that ____ .

A. most people in the world speak Chinese

B. there are thousands of languages in the world today

C. man has much knowledge about languages

D. some people know several languages

2 According to the passage, most European and Indian languages ____ .

A. will soon die out completely    B. were once a relative of English

C. are no longer spoken              D. come from the same family

3 According to the passage, ____ has the most speakers.

A. Chinese         B. English          C. Spanish          D. German

4 According to the passage, ____ seems to have changed a lot.

A. German         B. English          C. Spanish         D. Chinese

5The underlined word dialect in the last paragraph probably means ____ .

A. a special language spoken by Chinese

B. the sign used by the Chinese people in a special area

C. the difference between the old and today’s Chinese

D. the form of a language used in one part of the country

There once was a king in a faraway country. One day, he decided to  36 a prize to the artist who would paint the best picture of   37.  So many artists   38   . The king looked at all the pictures.  39   there were only two he really liked, and he had to  40   between them. One picture was of a  41 lake. The lake was a perfect mirror with peaceful huge mountains all around it. Above was a  42   sky with light white clouds. All who  43   this picture thought that it was a perfect picture of peace.

The other picture had  44 , too. But these were not flat at all. Above was an  45   sky, from which rain fell heavily and in which lightning played __46___. Down the side of the mountain was a waterfall with loud sound. This did not look __47___ at all.

But when the king looked  48, he saw behind the waterfall a tiny bush  49   in a crack in the rock. In the bush a mother bird had  50   her nest. There, with the current of angry water, the mother bird was ___51___ her hungry children in the nest, taking no attention to its __52___ surroundings — in perfect peace.

Which picture do you think   53   the prize? The king chose the second picture. Do you know why?

 “Because,” said the king. “Peace does not mean to be in a place where there is no   54, trouble or hard work. Peace means although you are surrounded by noisy things you   55    keep calm in the heart. That is the real meaning of peace.”

A. take        B. offer       C. send        D. leave

A. peace      B. silence           C. beauty     D. honesty

A. managed  B. tried       C. succeeded   D. went

A. And     B. Or          C. Yet         D. But

A. like      B. choose           C. give        D. need

A. calm           B. noisy      C. beautiful    D. dirty

A. black       B. blue        C. gray        D. dark

A. saw      B. liked       C. painted       D. had

A. sky      B. mountains  C. peace      D. clouds

A. gentle    B. angry      C. calm       D. sunny

A. wildly    B. gently     C. slowly     D. happily

A. peaceful B. noisy      C. happy       D. beautiful

A. closely   B. strictly           C. quickly      D. seriously

A. planting B. growing     C. rising      D. coming

A. created  B. built       C. left         D. lain

A. beating  B. touching     C. feeding      D. speaking

A. silent     B. beautiful    C. noisy      D. faraway

A. want      B. lost         C. won        D. received

A. silence   B. noise       C. shock      D. joy

A. still      B. again      C. even       D. just