题目内容
Reading comprehension
Deserts are found where there is little rainfall or where rain for a whole year falls in only a few weeks' time. Ten inches of rain may be enough for many plants to survive (存活)if the rain is spread throughout the year, If it falls, within one or two months and the rest of the year is dry, those plants may die and a desert may form.
Sand begins as tiny pieces of rock that get smaller and smaller as wind and weather wear them down. Sand dunes (沙丘) are formed as winds move the sand across the desert. Bit by bit, the
dunes grow over the years, always moving with the winds and changing the shape. Most of them are only a few feet tall, but they can grow to be several hundred feet high.
There is, however, much more to a desert than sand. In the deserts of the southwestern United States, cliffs (悬崖) and deep valleys were formed from thick mud that once lay beneath a sea more than millions of years ago. Over the centuries, the water dried up. Wind, sand , rain, heat and cold all wore away at the remaining rocks. The faces of the desert mountains are always changing –-very, very slowly ---as these forces of nature continue to work on the rock.
Most deserts have a surprising variety of life. There are plants, animals and insects that :have adapted to life in the desert. During the heat of the day' a visitor may see very few signs of living things, but as the air begins to cool in the evening, the desert comes to life. As the sun begins to rise again in the sky, the desert once again becomes quiet and lonely.
60. Many plants may survive in deserts when__________________.
A. the rain is spread out in a year B. the rain falls only in a few weeks
C. there is little rain in a year D. it is dry all the year round
61.Sand dunes are formed when___________________.
A. sand piles up gradually B. there is plenty of rain in a year
C. the sea has dried up over the years D. pieces of rock get smaller
62 The underlined sentence in the third paragraph probably means that in a desert there is____________.
A. too much sand B. more sand than before
C. nothing except sand D. something else besides sand
63 It can be learned from the text that in a desert____________.
A. there is no rainfall throughout the year B. life exists in rough conditions
C. all sand dunes are a few feet high D. rocks are worn away only by wind and heat
AADB
| Welcome to my Message Board! | |
| Subject Slimming down classics? | |
| Mr. Handsome 2007-5-12&24 AM | Orion Books,which decides there is a market in creating cut-down classics(经典著作),is slimming down some novels by such great writers as L.Tolstoy,M.Mitchell and C.Bronte.Now,each of them has been whittled down to about 400 pages by cutting 30 to 40 per cent of the original,with words,sentences,paragraphs and,in a few cases,chapters removed.The first six shortened editions,all priced at £6.99 and advertised as great reads “in half the time”,will go on sale next month,with plans for 50 to 100 more to follow.The publishing house believes that modern readers will welcome the shorter versions. |
| Mr. Edwards 2007-5-12 9:40 AM | Well,I’m publisher of Orion Group.Thanks for your attention,Mr.Handsome. I must say,the idea developed from a game of “shame”in my office.Each of us was required to confess(承认)to the most embarrassing blanks in his or her reading.I admitted that I had never read Anna Karenina and tried but failed to get through Gone with the Wind several times.One of my colleagues acknowledged skipping(跳读)Jane Eyre.We realised that life is too short to read all the books you want to and we never were going to read these ones. As a leading publishing house,we are trying to make classics convenient for readers but it’s not as if we’re withdrawing the original versions.They are still there if you want to read them. |
| Ms.Weir 2007-5-12 11:35 AM | I’m director of the online bookclub www.lovereading.co.uk. Mr.Edwards,I think your shortened editions is a breath of fresh air.I’m guilty of never having read Anna Karenina,because it’s just so long.I’d much rather read two 300-page books than one 600-page book.I am looking forward to more shortened classics! |
| Mr. Crockatt 2007-5-124:38 PM | I’m from the London independent bookshop Crockatt & Powell. In my opinion,the practice is completely ridiculous.How can you edit the classics?I’m afraid reading some of these books is hard work,and that is why you have to develop as a reader.If people don’t have time to read Anna Karenina,then fine.But don’t read a shortened version and kid yourself it’s the real thing. |
| A.opposes the reading of original classics |
| B.is embarrassed for cutting down classics |
| C.thinks cut-down classics have a bright future |
| D.is cautious in its decision to cut down classics |
| A.make them easier to read |
| B.meet a large demand in the market |
| C.increase the sales of literary books |
| D.compete with their original versions |
| A.speaks highly of the cut-down classics |
| B.shows gailty of the original classics |
| C.feels guilty of not reading the classics |
| D.disapproves of shortening the classics |
| A.reading the classic works is a confusing attempt |
| B.shortening the classics does harm to the original |
| C.publishing the cub-down classics is a difficult job |
| D.editing the classic works satisfies children’s needs |
Britain is set to face an increase in cold winters, with up to one-in-seven hitting the UK with longer periods of time when temperatures are below freezing, a study has suggested.The prediction was based on research that found out how low solar activi
ty affected winter weather patterns.
However, the researchers were eager to stress that their findings did not suggest that the region was about to fall suddenly into a "little ice age".The findings appear in the journal Environmental Research Letters."We could get to the point where one-in-seven winters are very cold, as we had at the start of last winter and all through the winter before last," said co-author Mike Lockwood, professor of space environment physics at the University of Reading.
Using the Central England Temperature (CET) record, the world's longest instrumental data series that dates back to 1659, the team said that in general temperatures during recent winters had been obviously lower than the longer-term temperatures."The mean CET for December, January and February for the recent relatively cold winters of 2008 ~ 2009 and 2009~2010 were 3.50℃ and 2.53℃ respectively," they wrote.
"However, the mean value for the previous 20 winters had been 5.04℃.The series of lower winter temperatures in the UK during the last three years had raised questions about the probability of more similar, or even colder, winters occurring in the future."
Last year.Professor Lockwood and colleagues published a paper that found a link between fewer sunspots and atmospheric conditio
ns that "blocked" warm westerly winds reaching Europe during winter months, opening the way for cold easterly winds from the Arctic and Russia to sweep across the region.Professor Lockwood, while acknowledging that there were a range of possible meteorological factors (气象因素) that could influence blocking events, said the latest study moved things forward by showing that there was "impro
vement in the predictive skill" when solar activity was taken into consideration.
【小题1】We can know from the second paragraph that _____.
| A.research shows that Britain will soon fall into an ice age |
| B.Mike Lockwood's research focuses on space environment physics |
| C.it was quite cold in Britain over the entire winter last year |
| D.so far one-in-seven winters have been very cold in Britain |
| A.average | B.stable | C.ungenerous | D.changeable |
| A.It was sunspots that blocked warm westerly winds reaching Europe. |
| B.Meteorological factors hardly have any influence on blocking events. |
| C.The latest study done by Professor Lockwood was of little practical value. |
| D.Considering solar activity or not affects the accuracy of weather forecasting. |
| A.Another big danger approaching the UK |
| B.Research finds out solar activity is to blame for the cold |
| C.UK faces more cold winters due to weaker solar activity |
| D.Changes in weather patterns should be responsible for low solar activity |