Every spring scores of people flock to the Buzzard Festival（秃鹫节） at Hinckley, Ohio．They come to watch for buzzards．Most would be glad just to take a look at a buzzard．If they do see one of these “flying garbage cans”, it will probably be circling high in the sky．From there it can watch the ground for signs of the waste and the dead animals on which it feeds．

       The buzzard is the ugliest bird in the United States．In fact, it may well be the ugliest bird in the world．It has a small, bare, pink head．Its thick body is covered with dark, rough feathers．

       In spite of its looks, the buzzard is important to the people of Hinckley．It is their first sign of spring．After a winter in the south, buzzards return to their homes in the north．In the Hinckley area, they always return on March 15．No one knows why．But they have come back to Hinckley Ridge on that day, sure as clocks work, for at least forty years．

       The excitement starts in February．By the middle of March it has reached a high peak．Bets are placed．Prizes go to the person who sees the first buzzard．Radio stations and newspapers tell of the coming festival．And on the weekend after March 15 the people of Hinckley hold their Buzzard Festival．

       The people come and look around．They chat．They eat their pancakes and sausages．Then they drive past Buzzard’s Roost on Hinckley Ridge．

       A lot of them stop near the road at the stand set up to give information to visitors．There they can hear, from a recording, the main facts about the buzzard．They can see a stuffed buzzard．They can look at some pictures taken of buzzards in other years．With good luck and a strong pair of field glasses, they may sight one or two live buzzards high in the sky．

       Buzzards may be ugly．They may be “flying garbage cans”．But in Hinckley they are just as welcome as the swallows are in Capistrano in California．It would be a sad spring indeed if the buzzards ever failed to come back to Hinckley Ridge．

1．A good title for this story would be _________．

       A．Why the Buzzard Has a Pink Head        B．Buzzard, the Ugliest Bird

       C．The Hinckley Buzzard Festival            D．The Return of “The Garbage Can”

2．The buzzard is called the“flying garbage can”because it _________．

       A．is ugly                                         B．collect rubbish on the ground

       C．looks like a garbage can                     D．eats waste and dead animals

3．The surprising thing about Hinckley’s buzzards is that _________．

       A．they spend the winter in the south

       B．they return on the same day each year

       C．they come very close to the town

       D．both buzzards and swallows return to Capistrano on March 15

4．At the information stand, visitors to Hinckley’s Buzzard Festival can _________．

       A．learn some facts about the buzzard

       B．take some pictures with the background of live buzzards

       C．easily see a live buzzard

       D．feed their pancakes and sausages to buzzards

       You are invited to join PTPI （People to People International）’s President and CEO, Mary Jean Eisenhower, in America’s Capitol for the 2009 Global Youth Conference!  In D．C．, you will spend four exciting days exploring into this year’s theme, “Global Sustainability: It’s All Connected!” Come to the GYC to learn how you can work together with friends from around the world to create a better, brighter and greener future!

       250 students will stay in the Hyatt Crystal City Hotel in Arlington, Virginia from November 11-15, 2009 for this eye-opening conference．We hope that you will join us in exploring PTPI’s mission through international understanding, education, leadership and humanitarianism!

       Highlights of this event will include:

       • A key-note address presented by PTPI’s President and CEO, Mary Jean Eisenhower!

       • An interactive student group, featuring your peers from across the globe!

       • Take an active part in sustaining Washington, D．C．through a service project benefiting the Anacostia Watershed!

       • A unique tour of Washington, D．C．--- we promise that you have never seen D．      C．this way before!

       • An opportunity to reunite with old friends and make new ones from around the World!

Application

       Successful applicants aged 13-18 who will be enrolled in a middle school, high school or home school during the time of the conference will be accepted on a first-come, first-served basis．

       We urge students to APPLY ON-LINE TODAY, as applications will likely exceed available space．Upon acceptance into the Global Youth Conference, you will receive a confirmation notice and other important information via e-mail．If you have any questions regarding the application process, please contact People to People International: youthconference@ptpi．org

1．Which of the following students is most likely to be able to attend the GYC?

       A．A third grader in a primary school．

       B．A 19-year-old student at college．

       C．A student who receives a confirmation notice．

       D．A student who sends the application on Nov．17．

2．Which of the following can best explain the underlined part “on a first-come, first-served basis”?

       A．Your application will be dealt with as soon as it is received．

       B．Your application will be dealt with in the order in which it arrives．

       C．Although your application arrives late, it will be dealt with in time．

       D．You’d better send your application early．

3．The following are the attractions of this event EXCEPT that __________．

       A．there will be a very special tour of Washington, D．C．

       B．it’ll be a great chance to make new friends from across the world

       C．Mary Jean Eisenhower will deliver a key-note address

       D．they will stay in a famous hotel in Arlington

       California, once regarded as a leader in the United States for its public higher education system, ranks next to the last in the U．S．for its number of adults with at least a high school diploma, according to the report, titled “California at the Edge of a Cliff,” released by the California Faculty Association．

       Meanwhile, the state’s investment（投资） in public higher education has dropped over the past three decades, and now ranks 22nd in the country．That’s despite having the country’s largest public higher education system, the report said．

       “It's a collapse（衰退）,” said Thomas Mortenson, author of the report, who is an independent analyst living in Iowa and a senior scholar at the Pell Institute for the Study of Opportunity in Higher Education in Washington, D．C． “Ranking 49th out of 50 states is an indication that shows the quality of the state’s educational has become much worse in recent decades．” Mortenson said in the report．As of 2007, California ranked 14th in the United States in terms of college educated members of the workforce over 25 years of age, a drop from eighth place in 1981, the report showed．Mortenson said that California has never been the state of high status in education and economy while other states have made greater gains in building a college-educated workforce．

       The California Faculty Association is using the report’s findings to criticize Governor Arnold Schwarzenegger’s proposed funding cuts for education．

       Struggling with a 14．8-billion-dollar state budget deficit（赤字）, Schwarzenegger has proposed a combination of sales tax increases, borrowing and major budget cuts, including cutting billions of dollars from the state’s education budget．

1．The passage is mainly about __________．

       A．funding cuts for high education in California

       B．the dangerous situation in California

       C．California’s worse situation in higher education

       D．California’s research on education and economy

2．From the passage we can infer that __________．

       A．California had higher quality in higher education in the past

       B．governor in California agreed to spend more money on education

       C．Thomas Mortenson works at California Faculty Association

       D．investment in higher education has dropped in all states

3．The reason why California has a lower rank in education is that________．

       A．the number of adults has decreased recently

       B．the money to invest in education has been cut

       C．the progress in other states has been made

       D．the result of report has been published late

4．According to the report’s findings, ________ is to blame for the drop in rank of education．

       A．Thomas Mortenson                             B．Arnold Schwarzenegger

       C．the Pell Institute                                   D．California Faculty Association

       Laziness -- it is a word that brings with it judgment, sadness and disappointment．But laziness is a value that I think is extremely undervalued in our society, and laziness is a quality that is important to the entire structure of our culture．I encourage more people to strive toward laziness．For example, have you ever thought of the fact that most inventions may have been owed to laziness? It's simple to picture: Someone has to perform a task, but fears the long, boring process．He or she starts wondering if there is an easier way to get this baby fixed in a shorter time and with less effort．Next thing you know: an invention is born．A new, revolutionary design is developed．Conclusion: lazy people are creative．Inventors are so lazy that instead of doing things in the usual manner, they come up with a way to achieve the most by doing the minimum．

       Think of it! What a wonderful thing to be lazy! At the very least think of all the cash you will save when you become lazy! First of all, because of your refusal to ever leave your home, you will save money on gas and parking, not to mention oil changes, new tires and other items of upkeep one who "uses" their car will have to deal with．Your chances of death by a car accident go down; in fact, I'd venture（冒昧） to say your chance of death will be lower, the longer you stay indoors; nothing from the outside world can hurt you! And since you probably won't slip in the shower （since you won't bathe often,） choking is your only concern!

1．What is the likely title for this passage?

       A．Try not to be lazy any longer．

       B．Maybe laziness isn't so bad after all．

       C．What is laziness?

      D．Laziness should not be encouraged．

2．In the author’s opinion, it is __________ that leads to many inventions．

       A．hard work          B．creativity            C．laziness              D．time and efforts

3．Lazy people are not willing to do things in the usual way; instead they will try to ___________．

       A．give up everything                           B．get everything by doing nothing

       C．leave everything undone                       D．find a way to gain the most by doing the least

4．Which of the following is not among the list of benefits from laziness?

       A．Lazy people don’t bathe often

       B．Lazy people can save money on gas and parking as a driver．

       C．Lazy people can lower the chance of death in traffic accidents．

       D．Many inventors may be born from laziness．

       “The world’s oceans are slowly getting more acidic．” say scientists．The researchers from California report that the change is taking place in response to higher levels of carbon dioxide in the atmosphere．

     The lowering of the waters’ PH value is not great at the moment but could cause a serious threat to current ocean life if it continues, they warn．Ken Caldeira and Michael Wickett, from the Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory, report their concerns in the journal Nature．Increasing use of oil fuels means more carbon dioxide is going into the air, and most of it will eventually be absorbed by seawater．Once in the water, it reacts to form carbonic acid．Scientists believe that the oceans have already become slightly more acidic over the last century．

       These researchers have tried to predict what will happen in the future by combining what we know about the history of the oceans with computer models of climate change．“This level of acidity will get much more extreme in the future if we continue releasing CO₂ into the atmosphere,” said Dr Caldeira．“And we predict the amount of future acidity will exceed（超过） anything we have seen over the last several hundred million years, let alone perhaps after rare disastrous events such as asteroid（小行星） impacts．

       However, it is not absolutely clear what that means for ocean life．Most organisms live near the surface, where the greatest PH change would be expected to occur, but deep-ocean life forms may be more sensitive to PH changes．Coral reefs（珊瑚礁） and other organisms whose shells contain calcium carbonate（碳酸钙） may be particularly affected if the water’s acidity levels keep going up, the team predict．They could find it much more difficult to build these structures in water with a lower PH．

       In recent years some people have suggested storing carbon dioxide from power station in the deep ocean as a way of dealing with global warming．But Dr Caldeira said that such a strategy should now be re-considered．“Previously, most experts had looked at ocean absorption of carbon dioxide as a good thing --- because in releasing CO₂ into the atmosphere we warm the planet, and when CO₂ is absorbed by the ocean, it reduces the amount of greenhouse warming．”

1．The ocean is becoming more acidic due to __________．

       A．the lower water PH value

       B．the warming atmosphere

       C．the higher level of CO₂ in the air

      D．the increasing use of oil fuels

2．According to Dr Caldeira, __________．

       A．ocean absorption of carbon dioxide is a good thing

       B．more oil fuels will be used in the near future

       C．scientists may predict climate changes with computer models

       D．the future situation of the amount of acidity is extremely serious

3．If the water’s acidity level keeps rising, __________．

       A．ocean life whose structures contain calcium carbonate may be affected

       B．the waters’ PH value will become higher and higher

       C．organisms living near the surface are more sensitive to PH changes

       D．some disastrous events will occur more often than before

4．Most experts once believed storing carbon dioxide in the ocean would reduce __________．

       A．the CO₂ absorbed by the ocean              B．the amount of greenhouse warming

       C．the acidity of the ocean                  D．the gradual release of CO₂

5．The purpose of this passage is to __________．

       A．show people the findings of a research team

       B．inform people of how acid the ocean is now

       C．introduce Dr Caldeira and his team’s research

       D．warn people of the higher level of CO₂

阅读下面短文，根据以下提示：1）汉语提示，2）首字母提示，3）语境提示，在每个空格内填入一个适当的英语单词，并将该词完整地写在右边相对应的横线上。所填单词要求意义准确，拼写正确。

____young in our village are now living ___ much more comfortable life than we did．

A．A;不填        B．The; the         C．A; a         D．The; a

________, the northerners like noodles while the southerners are fond of rice in China．

A．In common         B．In general         C．In total         D．In return

---Your sister nearly _______ all her spare time to her study during the three years．

----That's right，or she ________ the first place in her school in the College Entrance Examination．

A．devoted; wouldn't have taken                      B．spent; wouldn't have taken

C．had devoted; hadn't taken                                D．had spent; couldn't take

---You are so busy nowadays．I wonder what you’re up to．

---Oh．I’m writing a novel _______ next month by Chinese Writers Publishing．

A．published       B．being published       C．to be published        D．to publish