The Maldives faces the threat of extinction from rising sea levels, but the government said on Thursday it was looking to the future with plans to build homes and a golf course that float.

An increase in sea levels of just 18 to 59 centimeters would make the Maldives -- a nation of tiny coral islands in the Indian Ocean -- virtually uninhabitable by 2100, the UN’s climate change panel has warned.

President Mohamed Nasheed has vowed a fight for survival, and last month he signed a deal with a Dutch company to study proposals for a floating structure that could support a convention centre, homes and an 18-hole golf course. “It is still early stages and we are awaiting a report on the possibility,” a government official said.

The company, Dutch Docklands, is currently building floating developments in the Netherlands and Dubai. There was no immediate comment from the firm but its website said it undertook projects that make “land from water by providing large-scale floating constructions to create similar conditions as on land”.

The Maldives began work on an artificial island known as the Hulhumale near the crowded capital island of Male in 1997 and more than 30,000 people have been settled there to ease congestion. The city, which has a population of 100,000, is already protected from rising sea levels by a 30-million-dollar sea wall, and the government is considering increasingly imaginative ways to combat climate change.

Nasheed, who staged the world’s first underwater cabinet meeting in October to highlight his people’s dilemma , has even spoken of buying land elsewhere in the world to enable Maldivians to relocate if their homes are flooded. He has also pledged the Hulhumale to turn his nation into a model for the rest of the world by becoming “carbon neutral” by 2020. His plan involves ending fossil fuel use and powering all vehicles and buildings from “green” sources.

1. What’s the main idea of the passage?

A. The Maldives plans to build floating homes for the rising sea level.

B. The Maldives’s president signed a deal with a Dutch company.

C. The Maldives staged the first underwater cabinet meeting.

D. The Maldives is considering ways to fight against the global warming.

2. Which statement is true about the Hulhumale?

A. The Hulhumale is a natural island near the capital of Male.

B. The Hulhumale is an artificial island to be built near the capital.

C. The Hulhumale was built in 1997 and has settled over 30,000 people.

D. The Hulhumale is protected by a 30-million-dollar sea wall.

3. According to the passage, the underlined word congestion means _______.

A. being endangered                     B. being crowded   

C. being flooded                        D. being disappearing

4. Which of the following is NOT Nasheed’s idea?_______

A. To purchase land elsewhere in the world to help Maldivians to relocate if their homes are flooded.

B. To make his nation a model for the rest of the world by becoming “carbon neutral” by 2020

C. To stop using fossil fuel and power all vehicles and buildings from “green” sources.

D. To build more artificial islands for people to settle there.

5. We can infer from the passage that ________.

   A. By 2100, all the the Maldives will live on artificial islands.

B. The plans to build homes and a golf course that float have been carried out

C. Maldive has been greatly affected by the global warming.

D. . Dutch Docklands is the president of Maldive.

TOKYO—A child-like robot that combines the roles of nurse, companion and security guard is to go on the market to help the growing ranks of elderly Japanese with no one to look after them.

    The “Wakamaru” robot can walk around a house 24 hours a day, warning family, hospitals and security firms if it perceives (notices) a problem. It will, for example, call relatives if the owner fails to get out of the bath.

    Cameras implanted in the “eye-brows” of the robot enable it to “see” as it walks around an apartment. The images can be sent to the latest cellphones, which display the pictures.

    Mitsubishi Heavy Industries, which developed Wakamaru, plans to start selling the metre-high robots by April, 2005, for about ＄15,000 Cdn.

    Wakamaru, which speaks with either the voice of a boy or girl, is also designed to provide companionship, greeting its “papa” when he comes home.

    It is the first household robot able to hold simple conversations, based on a vocabulary of around 10,000 words. It cannot only speak but can understand answers and react accordingly.

    It will ask “Are you all right ?” if its owner does not move for some time. If the answer is no, or there is no answer, it will telephone preset numbers, transmitting images and functioning as a speakerphone.

    Wakamaru will inform a security firm if there is a loud bang or if an unknown person enters the house while the owner is out or asleep. It can recognize up to 10 faces.

    But like most robots it cannot climb stairs.

    It can be set to remind forgetful people when it is time to take medicine, eat and sleep.

    Mitsubishi adapted Wakamaru from robots it already makes to go around nuclear power facilities. The idea to use the technology in the home came from a company employee.

    The project chief said :“Looking at the ageing of society and the falling birth rate we decide that this could work as a business. We want to offer Wakamaru as a product that helps society.”

    The technology has gained nation-wide publicity in Japan among increasing concern over how to look after the ever-growing number of old people. The life expectancy of Japanese women has shot up to almost 85, the highest in the world.

    At the same time, extended families are being replaced by nuclear families. This has left many Japanese anxious about their elderly parents, whom they rarely see because of their long hours at the office.

1．Which of the following is true about the Robot?

A. It is used in some nuclear power facilities.         

B. It cannot speak but can understand answers.

    C. It can go up and down the stairs easily.    D. It can recognize as many as 10 faces.

2．The purpose of this passage is ________.

    A. to introduce a new product         B. to solve the aging problems

    C. to tell people how to use the robot   D. to show the rapid development of technology

3．What can we infer from the passage ?

    A. The robot can dial proper numbers for help.

    B. The robot is likely to have a promising market.

    C. The robot has given the Japanese a chance to live longer.

    D. The nuclear families have left many elderly Japanese anxious.

4．What is the best title of this passage ?

  A. The Latest Development of Robot Technology  B. Japanese Robot and the Aging Society

    C. Vast Market of the New Robot      D. Japanese-built Robot to Help the Old

5. Wakamaru _____________________.

   A. is a  child who is always taking good care of his grandparents 24 hours a day.

   B. has a vocabulary of around 1,000 words

C.  is the first household robot that has ever been produced.

   D. has ameras implanted in the “eye-brows” which enable it to “see” when walking.

第二节  信息匹配(共5小题；每小题2分，满分10分)

阅读下列应用文及相关信息，并按照要求匹配信息。请将答案填涂在答题卡

第四部分： 写作(共两节，满分40分)

基础写作(共1小题，满分15分)

2010年上海世博会已经开幕，作为一名中学生志愿者，你感觉身边还存在许多不文明行为。请你根据下图写一篇短文，简要描述图片内容并谈谈自己的感想。

【写作内容】

1. 召开世博会的意义: 促进文化交流，展示全球文明的最新成就

2.身边不文明行为：不遵守交通规则，随地吐痰

3. 你的建议：举止文明，共建和谐社会；采取严厉措施阻止人们的不良行为….

参考词汇：2010年上海世博会—Expo 2010 Shanghai China

【写作要求】

 1．对所给要点逐一陈述，适当发挥，不能简单翻译。

    2．用五个句子表达，开头结尾已经写好，不计入总句数。

Expo 2010 Shanghai China is drawing near. As a student volunteer, I feel very proud since________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________ Only in this way can we make Expo 2010 Shanghai China a great success.

第二节：读写任务（共1小题，满分25分）

阅读下面的短文，然后按照要求写一篇150词左右的英语短文。

Dear editor,

    Students of today are reading more than ever before. Indeed, the importance of reading can

never be too much stressed.

First of all, reading, especially out-of-class reading, enriches our mind and broadens our horizon. People say that books are the crystal of human wisdom. Through reading, we learn what cannot be learnt in our classrooms. Besides, reading is also a way of relaxation. It is so refreshing to read a story before going to bed, or after a day of study.

There’re many famous sayings about reading, like “Reading is to the mind what exercise is to the body.” Then, how can we develop the habit of reading? In the first place, I believe we need to begin from an early age, then stick to it and never give up. Secondly, we should read as many as books, written by different people.

Best wishes.

Yours sincerely,

Jiang Ping

[写作内容]

1. 约30个词概括短文的要点；

2. 然后以约120个词就“读书的重要性”写一篇文章，并包括以下要点：

1). 为什么读书如此重要？

2). 你目前的读书状况如何？

3). 你今后打算如何读书？

第二部分：语言知识及运用（满分25分）

第一节完形填空(共10小题；每小题1.5分，满分15分)

Trees are useful to man in three very important ways. They provide him with wood and other   __21__ ; they give him shade; they help to prevent drought(干旱)and  __22__.

Unfortunately, in many parts of the world, man has not realized that the third of these services is the most important.

Two thousand years ago a rich and powerful country cut down its trees to build warships, with which to gain itself an empire. It gained the empire, but,__23__its trees, its soil became hard and poor. When the empire fell to__24__,the home country found itself faced by floods and starvation.

Even where a government realizes the importance of a plentiful supply of trees, it is difficult for__25__to persuade the villager to see this. The villager wants wood to cook his food with ; and he can earn money by making charcoal or selling wood to the townsman. He is usually too lazy or too careless to plant and look after new trees. So, unless the government has a good system of control, or can__26__the people, the forests will slowly disappear.

This does not only mean that the villagers’ sons and grandsons have__27__trees. The results are even more serious; for where there are trees, their roots break the soil up—allowing the rain to sink in—and also bind(结合)the soil, thus preventing its__28__washed away easily, but where there are no trees ,the rain falls on hard ground and carrying__29__with it the rich top soil, in which crops__30__so well. With all the topsoil gone, nothing remains but worthless desert.

21．A. uses                  B. products                   C. production                D. result

22．A. floods           B. soil                         C. air                           D .sunlight

23．A. with                 B. by                           C. on                           D. without

24．A. break        B. unite                        C. bits                          D. pieces

25．A. it                  B. them                        C. he                            D. they

26．A. ask                   B. educate                    C. want                        D. remove

27．A. a few            B. fewer                       C. a little                      D. little

28．A. been             B. being                       C. is                             D. was

29．A. away            B. off                           C. with                         D. by

30．A. come            B. grow                        C. get                           D. Turn

第二节：语法填空(共10小题；每小题1分，满分10分)

仔细阅读下面的短文，短文中有10个空格。请按照每小题括号内的具体要求完成语法填空和词形变化。（每格填1~2个单词）

Several days before July 28, 1976, many strange things happened in Tangshan. They were signs for the earthquake.   31   (副词), people in the city of Tangshan thought   32    of these. At 3:42 am that day, the earth began to shake,     33    destroyed the city. Steam（蒸汽）   34     (burst) from holes in the ground. It gave   35     smelly gas. Many buildings fell into bricks all of a sudden like pieces of dominos. Many people,   36    (include) workers and doctors, came to rescue those     37    (trap) under the ruins. Later that afternoon,    38    (限定词) big earthquake struck Tangshan. More people were killed or injured and more buildings fell down. Soldiers were called in to help the rescue workers.  Teams     39    (organize) to dig out those under the ruins and bury the dead.  40     number of the miners who were rescued from coal mines reached almost 10,000. With the help from all over the country, Tangshan began to recover slowly.

阅读（共两节，15小题；每小题2分，满分30分）

第一节：阅读理解。阅读下列短文，从每题所给的四个选项中，选出最佳选项。

A

This is a true story from Guyana. One day, a boy took a piece of paper from a box. He made a paper ball and pushed it into his nose. He couldn’t get it out. He ran crying to his mother. His mother couldn’t get the paper out, either. A week later, the paper was still in the boy’s nose. His nose began to have a bad smell.

So his mother took the boy to a hospital. The doctor looked up at the child’s nose, but she couldn’t get the paper out. She said she had to cut the boy’s nose to get the paper out.

The boy’s mother came home looking sad. She didn’t want her child to have his nose cut. The next day she took the boy to her friend Sidney who lived in a house with an old lady called May. May wanted to see the child, so the child let her look up his nose.

“Yes, I can see it,” May said. “It will be out soon.”

As she spoke, she shook some black pepper on the child’s nose. The child gave a mighty sneeze and the paper flew out. His mother was surprised. May told his mother to take the boy to the seaside for a swim, for the salt water would go up his nose and stop the bad smell.

So the lucky boy didn’t have to go to the hospital to have his nose cut.

41. After the boy pushed a paper ball into his nose, ____.

A. he took it out                B. his mother took it out

C. he did nothing but cry         D. he tried to take it out but failed

42. The paper ball stayed in the boy’s nose for ____.

A. at most seven days             B. less than seven days

C. more than seven days           D. exactly seven days

43. According to the story, _____ was most worried about the boy’s accident.

A. the boy’s mother     B. Sidney       C. May       D. the doctor

44. Which of the following is TRUE?

A. The doctor helped to take the paper ball out of the boy’s nose.

B. May succeeded in taking the paper out.

C. The boy’s mother found some black pepper to solve the problem.

D. The boy had to have his nose cut at last.

45. The boy should be taken to the seaside for a swim because ____.

A. he needed to learn to swim

B. the sea water would stop the bad smell of his nose.

C. the sea water would wash out the paper ball.

D. he needed a rest

B

One night last February, a seventeen-year-old Duffy drove home along a winding road, he saw a strange light thrown against the tree. “I knew it wasn’t the moon”, he said. “I drive this road all the time and I notice little things out of place.”

Duffy stopped his car and got out to examine. Below him far down in the deep valley lay a broken car with its headlights on. Thirty minutes earlier, a man had driven off the edge of the road, which has no guardrail. His car fell and rolled end over end, landing on its top more than two hundred feet below.

Duffy rushed to call for help, then returned and got down to reach the injured driver. Snow covered the valley and the temperature was below freezing. After struggling back up the cliff, Duffy took off his jacket and shirt and wrapped the injured man in time, along with the blankets from his car.

Life-saving deeds are starting to become usual action for Duffy, the oldest of seven children. When he was 12, he saved his ten-year-old brother from drowning. Two years ago, his three-year-old sister ate rat poison, and Duffy cleaned out her mouth, make her drink milk to protect her stomach and called doctors.

“We have tried to teach the children good values, and it looks like we have got some reward for it.” His father says.

46. The strange light came from ________.

A. The bright moon.          B. Duffy’s car.

C. The broken car in the valley   D. an unknown place

47. The phrase” landing on its top” means the car lay_________.

A. on the top of the cliff    B. with its wheels upward 

C. with its head upward    D. on the road as usual

48. Duffy wrapped the man because_________.

A. he was badly injured    B. he had lost too much blood  

C. he had nothing on      D. it was too cold that day

49. From the above article, we can see Duffy has saved ________ at least.  

A. two     B. three     C. four      D. five

50. “We have tried to teach the children good values” may probably mean Duffy’s parents often tell their children_________.

A. to help people in danger         B. how to save people’s lives

C. to remember the value of the car     D. how to do business

第二节：信息匹配

下面是一篇应用文及其应用场合信息。请阅读下列应用文和相关信息，并按照要求匹配信息。请在答题卡填上对应题号（51---55）的相应选项字母。首先，请阅读下列的应用文：

Needed: Full time secretary position available. Applicants should have at least 2 years experience and be able to type 60 words a minute. No computer skills required. Apply in person at United Business Ltd, 17 Browning Street.

Are you looking for a part-time? We require 3 part-time shop assistants to work during the evening. No experience requires. Applicants should be between 18 and 26. Call 366-76564 for more information.

Computer trained secretaries: Do you have experience working with computers? Would you like a full time position in an exciting new company? If your answer is yes, give us a call at 457-896754.

Teacher Needed: Tommy’s Kindergarten needs 2 teachers / trainers to help with classes from 9 a.m to 3 p.m. Applicants should have appropriate licenses. For more information visit Tommy’s Kindergarten in Leicester Square No. 56.

Part-time work available: We are looking for retired adults who would like to work part time at the weekend. Responsibilities include answering the telephones and giving customers information. For more information contact us by calling 345-674132.

University positions open: The University of Cumberland is looking for 4 teaching assistants to help with homework correction. Applicants should have a degree in one of the following: Political Science, Religion, Economics or History.

请阅读以下职位申请者的信息，然后匹配申请者和他/她拟要申请的职位：

●Jack Anderson. Jack graduated from the University of Trent with a degree in Economics two years ago. He would like an academic position.

●Margaret Lillian. Margaret is 21 years old and would like a part-time position to help her pay her university expenses. She can only work in the evenings.

●Alice Fingelhamm. Alice was trained as a secretary and has six years of experience. She is an excellent typist but does not know how to use a computer. She is looking for a full time position.

●Peter Florian. Peter went to business school and studied computer and secretarial skills. He is looking for his first job and would like a full time position.

●Lynne Nagata. Lynne, aged 65, once worked in a kindergarten. She is now a housewife, helping her daughter with her housework on weekdays. She is looking for a part-time job.

申请者                                                             申请职位

51. Jack Anderson                                             

55. Lynne Nagata                                               E. part-time job at the weekend

F. university teaching assistant