While the rest of the world carried on cycling during the 1950 s and 1960 s, America forgot how; even high—school children would drive to school．Recently there has been something of a renaissance（复兴）in cycling, and in many areas it is a very useful way of getting around, especially where bike paths or bike routes have been built．You may well want to buy, hire or borrow a bike．

There are two important consequences of this earlier drop in cycling in the USA．One is that many people do not know how to cycle．That is, cyclists often behave more like pedestrians（行人）than motorists :they ride on the sidewalk or on the wrong side of the road; they do not care for stop signs or traffic lights; they ride without lights at night; they give no hand signals．The other consequence is that cycling is regarded by many people not so much as a way of getting from one place to another but as a way of life, a form of exercise, etc．As a result, large number of young Americans have ten-speed racing bikes．These are very high and fast and great if you are cycling long distances, riding up mountains or racing．At first, though, you may find them awkward（使用不便） for cycling in town, Sight-seeing or shopping—they are expensive, uncomfortable and hard to control until you get used to them, and unsuitable for rough stony roads．

There are also ordinary bikes around．If you get hold of one of these, you may find that the brakes work by pedaling（踩踏板）backwards．This is perhaps safer than ordinary brakes when it is wet, but it seems to be less effective．This arrangement also means you can’t pedal backwards in order to get the pedals in the right place for getting on or moving off．

1．The passage gives us a brief introduction to         ．

       A．advantages of bikes                     B．cycling in America

       C．American transportation                 D．how to ride a bike

2．Young Americans prefer racing bikes because they         ．

       A．can help keep fit                      B．are easy to learn

       C．are safer to ride                         D．are expensive and popular

3．Which of the following does NOT result from the early drop in cycling in the U.S.A?

      A．Cyclists do not care for traffic lights.    

       B．People ride on the wrong side of the roads.

      C．Cycling is not considered a way of transportation.

      D．People have to pedal backwards to stop the bike.

Trees should only be pruned（修剪）when there is a good and clear reason fordoing so and, fortunately, the number of such reasons is small．Pruning involves the cutting away of overgrown and unwanted branches, and the inexperienced gardener can be encouraged by the thought that more damage results from doing it unnecessarily than from leaving the tree to grow in its own way.

First, pruning may be done to make sure that trees have a desired shape or size．The object may be to get a tree of the right height, and at the same time to help the growth of small side branches which will thicken its appearance or give it a special shape．Secondly, pruning may be done to make the tree healthier．You may cur out diseased or dead wood, or branches that are rubbing against each other and thus causing wounds．The health of a tree may be encouraged by removing the branches that are locking up the centre and so preventing the free movement of air.

One result of pruning is that an open would is left on the tree and this provides an easy entry for diseases, but it is a wound that will heal（愈合）．Often there is a race between the healing and the disease as to whether the tree will live or die, or that there is a period when the tree is at risk．It should be the aim of every gardener to reduce the risk as far as possible．It is essential to make the area which has been pruned smooth and clean, for healing will be slowed down by roughness．You should allow the cut surface to dry for a few hours and then paint it with one of the substances available from garden shops produced especially for this purpose．Pruning is usually done in winter, for then you can see the shape of the tree clearly without the interference（妨碍）from the leaves and it is, too, very unlikely that the cuts you make will bleed．If this does happen, it is, of course, impossible to paint them properly.

1．Why should pruning be done?

       A．To make the tree grow taller.                 B．To improve the shape of the tree.

       C．To get rid of the small branches.           D．To make the small branches thicker.

2．Trees become unhealthy if the gardener          .

       A．helps a wound to dry.

       B．covers a rough surface.

       C．damages some of the small side branches

       D．allows too many branches to grow in the middle

3．Why is a special material painted on the tree?

       A．To help a wound to dry.                       B．To cover a rough surface.

       C．To make a wound smooth.                   D．To prevent disease entering a wound.

4．A good gardener prunes a tree           .

       A．several times throughout the year              B．as quickly as possible

       C．occasionally when necessary                    D．regularly every winter

5．What was the author’s purpose when writing this passage?

       A．To discuss different methods of pruning.

       B．To introduce some common knowledge of pruning.

       C．To explain how trees develop disease.

       D．To give practical instruction for pruning a tree.

Trees should only be pruned（修剪）when there is a good and clear reason fordoing so and, fortunately, the number of such reasons is small．Pruning involves the cutting away of overgrown and unwanted branches, and the inexperienced gardener can be encouraged by the thought that more damage results from doing it unnecessarily than from leaving the tree to grow in its own way.

First, pruning may be done to make sure that trees have a desired shape or size．The object may be to get a tree of the right height, and at the same time to help the growth of small side branches which will thicken its appearance or give it a special shape．Secondly, pruning may be done to make the tree healthier．You may cur out diseased or dead wood, or branches that are rubbing against each other and thus causing wounds．The health of a tree may be encouraged by removing the branches that are locking up the centre and so preventing the free movement of air.

One result of pruning is that an open would is left on the tree and this provides an easy entry for diseases, but it is a wound that will heal（愈合）．Often there is a race between the healing and the disease as to whether the tree will live or die, or that there is a period when the tree is at risk．It should be the aim of every gardener to reduce the risk as far as possible．It is essential to make the area which has been pruned smooth and clean, for healing will be slowed down by roughness．You should allow the cut surface to dry for a few hours and then paint it with one of the substances available from garden shops produced especially for this purpose．Pruning is usually done in winter, for then you can see the shape of the tree clearly without the interference（妨碍）from the leaves and it is, too, very unlikely that the cuts you make will bleed．If this does happen, it is, of course, impossible to paint them properly.

1．Why should pruning be done?

       A．To make the tree grow taller.                 B．To improve the shape of the tree.

       C．To get rid of the small branches.           D．To make the small branches thicker.

2．Trees become unhealthy if the gardener          .

       A．helps a wound to dry.

       B．covers a rough surface.

       C．damages some of the small side branches

       D．allows too many branches to grow in the middle

3．Why is a special material painted on the tree?

       A．To help a wound to dry.                       B．To cover a rough surface.

       C．To make a wound smooth.                   D．To prevent disease entering a wound.

4．A good gardener prunes a tree           .

       A．several times throughout the year              B．as quickly as possible

       C．occasionally when necessary                    D．regularly every winter

5．What was the author’s purpose when writing this passage?

       A．To discuss different methods of pruning.

       B．To introduce some common knowledge of pruning.

       C．To explain how trees develop disease.

       D．To give practical instruction for pruning a tree.

阅读下面对话，掌握其大意，并根据所给首字母的提示，在标有题号的右端横线上写出一个英语单词的完整、正确形式，使对话通顺。

（M=Man   W=Woman）

M: Good morning, Ms Yang. Thank you for accepting my invitation.

Could I ask you a few questions?

W: Sure. Go （1）a        .                                                                                  1   

M: Do you use English when you write songs?

W: You won’t believe it, but actually we use English almost.

everywhere in our work and （2）l       .The songs we listen to                      2   

and the（3）m      we watch are mostly English ones.                                     3   

So do we communicate with singers in English. English is just too important.

M: Then（4）w      subject did you hate or love when you were in school?               4   

W: I loved Chinese and physics. But I was good at biology.

M: What do you want to say to those students who（5）d      of                             5   

   becoming musicians and singers?

W: Studying school be the first thing to（6）c        . The music                             6   

   industry is full of risk. Think （7）t       before they step in.                             7   

M: Do you mean they had（8）b        stop this dream?                                          8   

M: No, I just mean the job is full of（9）c        and it’s not easy                             9   

   to be a good musician or singer. But if you are really（10）f                               10   

   of it, that’s OK.

A new study shows that some species of fish can        out of water for six hours．

A．remove          B．deserve         C．survive          D．reserve

Recently our salary has been        a little but the prices of most goods are going up even more quickly．

A．arisen          B．risen         C．aroused          D．raised

The technician had no choice but to        the machine and fix all the parts once again in        order to find out the problem．

A．tear down            B．take apart        C．break up        D．break down

Some cameras have been installed to        those vehicles that always break speed limits at night．

A．watch over           B．look into        C．protect from            D．care about

—How much do you pay for the dress, Linda?

—$100．But I get a discount of 60%, really a       ．

A．business              B．bargain        C．trade          D．cash

Music, to which she showed       , brought her fame, money and fun．

A．instrument                   B．invitation           C．performance         D．devotion