At the beginning of the 20th century there were more than a million lions worldwide. Today there are less than 30,000 in the wild. The remaining lions are increasingly threatened by habitat loss, hunting and activities to protect farms and cattle.

For generations, Masai tribesmen on the large African plains in southeastern Kenya have hunted lions — to protect their farms and cattle. Today they celebrate the lions’ life.

Noah is an elder in the Masai community. “We have decided as a community of the Masai to lay down our spears, and there will be no more killing of lions in our community.” He is part of a group of Masai visiting the United States promoting (推广) the Predator Compensation Program.

Conservation International’s Frank Hawkins explains, “The Masai have been living with wildlife for many generations and it has been a conflicting ( 有冲突的) relationship in many ways. They compete with the animals for food as lions eat their cattle. We’re trying to find ways in which the wildlife will become something useful to them.” They had the Predator Compensation Fund founded in 2003. After much discussion, a group of Masai farmers agreed to protect lions. In turn, if lions or other predators kill their cattle, the Masai owner will be paid market value for the dead animals from the fund.

One man said that in the past, when a lion killed cattle, they killed it immediately. And now, after the start of the program, the Masai see the lion population growing. Since 2003, only four lions have been killed here.

1.What is the aim of the Predator Compensation Program?

A．To protect people in the wild.              B．To protect Masai’s farms.

C．To protect lions only.                     D．To protect the wildlife.

2.According to the passage, why haven’t Masai tribesmen killed many lions since 2003?

A．Because lions don’t eat their cattle any more.

B．Because they will be fined if they kill lions there.

C．Because the fund will pay for dead animals killed by lions

D．Because there are less than 30,000 lions in the wild now.

3.What do you think of the Masai ?

A．Wise.            B．Mean.            C．Generous.         D．Stupid.

There was once a boy who was very rich and clever but nothing could make him feel happy. He had almost everything a boy could ever want, so he was only _36_ in the most rare things. One day his parents bought him a very strange _37_. When the boy went to see his reflection (映像) in it, he looked very_38_. He tried smiling, _39_ his reflection continued with its sad expression.
_40_, the boy went off to buy sweets and lots of toys. He came home as happy as he could be, but he _41_ looked sad in that mirror.
“What a(n) _42_ mirror! It’s the first time I’ve seen a mirror that didn’t _43_ properly!”
That afternoon he went out to buy some toys and on his way he saw a little girl who was _44_. The boy went over to see what had __45_ to her. The little girl said that she couldn’t find her parents. Together the two children set off _46_ them. As the little girl wouldn’t stop crying, the boy spent all of his money buying her sweets to _47_ her up. After much walking, they _48_ her parents who were looking for her, very worried.
Then the boy said _49_ to the family. When seeing the time, he _50_ to head for home, without toys and without _51_. In his room, to his great surprise, he found a(n)  _52_ face in the mirror. And so he understood the _53_ of that mirror. The mirror could only reflect the _54_ feelings of its owner. He felt really happy at having _55_ that little girl.

阅读下面短文，掌握其大意， 然后从各题所给的四个选项中，选出最佳选项。

In 1883, a creative engineer, John Roebling, was inspired to build a splendid bridge connecting New York with Long Island. However, experts throughout the world thought that this was  16 . Even so, Roebling could not  17  the idea in his mind. After much discussion, he  18   convince his son Washington, an up-and-coming engineer, that the bridge in fact could be built. They hired their  19  and began to build their dream bridge.

Only a few months  20  the project was underway a tragic on-site accident killed John Roebling and  21  injured his son, leaving him brain-damaged and unable to move or  22 . Surely now the project would have to be  23 . Though Washington Roebling lay in his hospital bed, he was not  24  and his mind remained as  25  as it was before the accident. Suddenly an idea  26  him. All he could move was one finger, so he  27  the arm of his wife with that finger,  28  to her that he wanted her to call the engineers again. Then he used the same method of tapping her arm to tell the engineers what to do. For 13 years Washington tapped out his  29  with one finger until the bridge was  30  completed.

Perhaps this is one of the best examples of never-say-die attitude that  31  a terrible physical disability and achieves an impossible  32 . Often when we face difficulties in our daily lives, our problems seem very small  33  what many others have to face. The Brooklyn Bridge shows us that even the most  34  dream can be realized with  35  no matter what the chances are.

1.A. impossible             B. unnecessary    C. hard                   D. excellent

2.A. recognize                  B. accept                 C. ignore                D. believe 

3.A. attempted to     B. sought to             C. failed to              D. managed to 

4.A. family                   B. crew                    C. class                    D. team          

5.A. since                           B. before                 C. after                   D. when   

6.A. severely                B. slightly                  C. poorly                  D. hardly

7.A. work                          B. say                       C. eat                       D. talk 

8.A. continued                  B. abandoned                   C. interrupted        D. accomplished  

9.A. defeated                  B. hurt                      C. frightened          D. destroyed  

10.A. sharp                      B. broad                   C. noble                   D. advanced        

11.A. beat                          B. occurred             C. happened                    D. hit  

12.A. waved                      B. felt                       C. touched            D. held 

13.A. appealing                B. speaking             C. indicating           D. advising

14.A. orders                         B. instructions       C. suggestions       D. movements

15.A. quickly                   B. partly                   C. eventually            D. slowly  

16.A. overcomes       B. acquires         C. fights         D. removes

17.A. award             B. fortune         C. status                  D. goal  

18.A. combined with     B. separated from C. compared to       D. concerned about 

19.A. primary          B. distant           C. lifelong         D. good     

20.A. determination     B. knowledge       C. confidence       D. strength

The Mona Lisa, one of the world’s most famous paintings, has been recreated with 3,604 cups of coffee—and 564 pints of milk. The different colors were created by adding no, little or lots of milk to each cup of black coffee.
The recreated Mona Lisa measured 20 feet long and 13 feet wide. It took a team of eight people three hours to complete the work. It was created for The Rocks Aroma Festival in Sydney, Australia, and seen by 130,000 people who attended the one-day coffee-lovers event.
Elaine Kelly, one of the organizers from the Sydney Harbor Foreshore Authority, was delighted with the result. She said, “Each coffee cup was filled with varying amounts of milk to create the different shades(色度) of the painting. We wanted to create an element of surprise and a sense of fun in the way we communicated with the public.”
“Once we had the idea of creating an image(像) out of coffee cups we searched for something iconic（有代表性的）to reproduce(复制).And after some time we chose the most iconic painting in history. The Mona Lisa has been reproduced so many times in so many different mediums but, as far as we know, never out of coffee,” Kelly continued. “Besides, the idea is practical.”
“It was fantastic. It really looked like the famous painting—the Mona Lisa. It was wonderful,” said one visitor.
After much planning it was great to see it coming together so well and the 130,000 people who attended the event certainly enjoyed it and were deeply attracted by it,” said Kelly.
1.How were the different colors of the recreated Moma Lisa created?
A.By adding different amounts of black coffee to each cup of milk.
B.By adding different amounts of milk to each cup of black coffee.
C.By using paints of different colors
D.By using different kinds of coffee
2.How large is the recreated Mona Lisa?
A. 20 square feet               B. 260 square feet
C. 564 square feet              D. 3,604 square feet
3.The people who saw the recreated Mona Lisa are all_______ lovers.
A.Mona Lisa      B.milk     C.coffee     D.painting
4.The event organizers chose to recreate the Mona Lisa for the following reasons EXCEPT that _________ .
A. the Mona Lisa is a very iconic painting in history
B. the Mona Lisa has never been reproduced out of coffee
C. the idea can be actually carried out
D. it is very easy to do so

THE BRONTE FAMILY