One warm day when I was walking in my backyard, I saw a pinecone(松球) on the ground. I picked it up, and some seeds fell out of it. Those seeds would be a tasty treat for a squirrel (松鼠).

I realized that pinecones were not always open like this one. Sometimes cones were tightly closed. I decided to find out why.

I gathered pinecones from my backyard. I watched them for over a year. Here’s what I learned.

Pinecones open and close slowly as the weather changes. When it’s cold or wet, cones are tightly closed. This protects the seeds inside from rain and snow.

When the weather becomes warm and dry, pinecones open. On a hot day, you might even hear the sound of cones popping open. The seeds inside may then fall to the ground. The wind may blow the seeds to places where they can grow into new pine trees. A seed has a better chance of taking root and growing when the weather is warm.

“Pine seeds are an important source of food for many animals,” says Monty Maldonado. He is a pinecone expert with the United States Forest Service. He says squirrels depend on pinecone seeds for most of their meals. They spend lots of time gathering and storing the cones. Maldonado says some animals eat only the seeds from a pinecone. But red squirrels and gray squirrels will eat the whole thing.

Small animals aren’t the only creatures that eat pine seeds. Maldonado says big grizzly bears (灰熊) and people eat them, too.

Seeds inside a pinecone are important for the growth of new trees and as food for animals. It is the pinecone’s job to protect them. So take note of the pinecones you see on the ground. They hold treasures inside.

45．According to the passage, when it is rainy, cones          .

A．are open   B．are usually shut       C．grow quickly    D．stop growing

46．According to Monty Maldonado,        .

A．not all squirrels eat the whole pinecone        

B．pine seeds are difficult to find for many animals

C．people in the forest are sometimes attacked by grizzly bears

D．most small animals depend on pinecone seeds for their meals

47．We can learn from the passage that on sunny days         .

A．seeds may fall out of the cones      

B．squirrels stay still in their nests      

C．it’s difficult for a seed to take root

D．the wind will put the pine trees in danger

48．In the last paragraph, the author points out that         .

A．more and more new trees need to be planted in future 

B．people should be responsible for protecting animals

C．people should be careful not to damage the pinecones  

D．squirrels now have few seeds to feed themselves

49．Which of the following is TRUE according to the passage?

A．The author learned why pinecones are not always open in the forest.  

B．The author gathered pinecones and observed them for a month.  

C．The author is fond of gathering and storing the cones. 

D．Pine trees are precious to animals and people.

IV 读与写(共两节，满分40分)

第一节：词汇；共15小题；每小题1分，共计15分；根据中文提示，完成下列句子，注意所用单词、词组的正确形式。

He _____________(调整，适应) himself very quickly to the heat of the country after he arrived .

The leading comrades in charge should not ____________ （滥用）their power .

He was very happy that his vague answer was met with a nod of ________（赞成）.

There is a small restaurant on the _________（上面的）floor .

We will give the house a ___________ （彻底的）cleaning .

The church was destroyed in 1900 and completely ________ （重建）last year .

The books were __________（赠送） by local publishing company .

__________ （物质）exists in three states : solid , liquid and gas .

Before catching a snake , please make sure that it is not a _________（有毒的）one .

The famous actress has a ________ （无污迹的）reputation .

The first time you step out , whether by accident or ____________ （故意地）, a warning is imposed .

Applicants who pay ________（预先） can get a discount .

He tried ______ （白费力气）to catch the butterfly on the flower .

Whole villages were ________ （彻底毁灭）by the floods .

He ______（泄露） as little information as possible .

Soon it would be the holidays, but before that, there were year exams. All the     in the school had been working hard for some time, reviewing their lessons for the exams. If they didn’t    , they would have to retake(重考) them in September. There were usually a few who    , but Jane didn’t want to be one of them. She had worked hard all year,     just before the exams she was working so hard that her sister Barbara was     about her. She went to bed too    . The night before the first exam, Barbara     that she have an early night and take a     pill. She promised to wake     up in the morning.

As she was falling asleep, Jane was afraid that she might oversleep. Her     kept jumping from subject to subject. At last, with the help of    , she went to sleep. In no time at all, she was sitting in the examination hall, looking at the examination    , but she couldn’t answer any of the questions.     around her was writing pages and pages.     she thought hard, she couldn’t find anything to write    . She kept looking at her    . Time was running out. There was only an hour to go. She started one question, wrote two sentences,     and tried another one. With only half an hour left, she wrote another two sentences. By this time she was so worried that she started    . Her whole body shook. It shook so much that she     up. She was still in bed and it had all been a     dream. A minute later, Barbara called her name.

1.                A．teachers        B．students        C．classmates D．poets

2.                A．prepare        B．miss           C．gain D．pass

3.                A．succeeded      B．failed          C．ended    D．harvested

4.                A．but            B．so             C．and  D．because

5.                A．excited         B．frightened       C．worried  D．satisfied

6.                A．early           B．late            C．sadly D．eagerly

7.                A．insisted         B．admired        C．ordered  D．wished

8.                A．sleeping        B．starving         C．exciting   D．breathing

9.                A．him            B．her            C．them D．herself

10.               A．hand          B．eye            C．mind D．body

11.               A．her sister       B．her parents     C．the lessons D．the medicine

12.               A．result          B．marks          C．desk  D．paper

13.               A．The teacher     B．The students     C．No one    D．Everyone

14.               A．If             B．Though         C．So   D．How

15.               A．with           B．about          C．on   D．to

16.               A．watch          B．textbook        C．sister D．subject

17.               A．gave up        B．put off         C．look around    D．thought over

18.               A．examining      B．drowning       C．copying   D．crying

19.               A．raised          B．woke          C．turned    D．cheered

20.               A．nice           B．wonderful      C．terrible   D．special

Identifying young people with the potential to be great athletes has become a serious, business around the world. Many countries, including Australia, have sophisticated(复杂) programs for identifying and nurturing(培养) talent.

The AIS (Australian Institute of Sport) already runs a program that identifies potential winners starting from the age of 12 based on their physical and physiological(生理的) abilities.

Could genetics improve these programs? The problem is that no one gene test is ever going to do an accurate job of identifying someone with the physical attributes of a sporting champion, says Professor North.

"We can think of the elite athlete as what I'd call a complex phenotype(表现型)," she says. “There are going to be a large number of different genes involved. Any one single test is unlikely to be highly predictive.”

Professor Peter Fricker, director of the AIS, agrees. Although he is intrigued in the possibilities of genetic testing, he says using such tests to identify athletes would be difficult. "The feeling I have is that it won't be that easy," he says. "Talent selection is not just about your genes."

Since 2004, the AIS has been forbidden by government from any involvement in genetic work, including genetic testing. But Professor Fricker thinks that is likely to change in the near future. "There's been a shift in view more recently," he says.

When it does, the AIS will resume its work on the genetics of sports performance, Professor Fricker says. They would be particularly interested in looking for more genes that might help shape elite performance, but also for genes that increase the risk of injury.

Last year, the Human Genetics Society of Australasia issued a position statement on gene testing for sport, after concerns that people could use tests to steer children into particular sports.

“The Human Genetics Society thinks there are not enough data to use these tests for determining what sport kids should do,” said Professor David Thorburn, president of the society.

He stressed that genetic tests should not be performed on children, except in very specific medical circumstances.

57．The aim of the AIS’s program is to        .

A．predict how genes are connected with injuries

B．find potential great athletes

C．find out what qualities a professor has through gene tests

D．turn an athlete into a champion by transferring genes

58．By saying “Talent selection is not just about your genes”, Fricker means         .

A．effort is more important than genes in most cases

B．you can’t choose an athlete just depending on genes

C．to research one’s genes takes a long time

D．most people don’t believe in genetic tests

59．The underlined word “resume” in Para. 7 can be replaced by              .

A．stop B．complete   C．reduce      D．continue.

60．What’s Professor David Thorburn’s attitude towards genetic tests?

A．Genetic tests have a negative effect on children.

B．Genetic tests, under certain conditions, can be conducted on children.

C．Genetic tests can reduce the risk of athletes’ injuries.

D．People could use genetic tests to decide what sport kids should take.

They should consider the student’s request in the investigation last week      the school supermarket lower the price of the goods.

       A．where                 B．when                  C．which                 D．that