阅读理解

　　Probably you have seen photographs of the Grand Canyon(峡谷)，the great valley in the desert country of Arizona．But you must go there yourself to feel its true size and beauty．The Grand Canyon is one of the greatest natural wonders of the world．

　　The Colorado River formed the Grand Canyon over millions of years．Slowly, the river cut down through hard rock．At the same time, the land was rising．Today, the canyon is one and a half kilometres deep and 445 kilometres long．The oldest rocks at the bottom of the canyon are more than 1 billion years old．The width varies from about 200 metres to 29 kilometres across．The rim(边缘)or top of the canyon is about 2,300 metres above sea level on the South Rim, and about 3,000 metres on the other side, the North Rim．As a result, there are different kinds of plants and animals on opposite sides of the canyon．The South Rim is dry desert country．The North Rim has tall forests．

　　The canyon looks different at different times of day, and in different seasons and weather．At sunrise and sunset the red, gold, brown, and orange colours of the rocks are especially clear and bright．In winter, the canyon is partly covered with snow．

　　The view from the South Rim of the Grand Canyon is the best, Most visitors come to the South Rim and stay in campgrounds or hotels．Every point along the canyon's edge offers a different view．

　　The North Rim of the Canyon is quieter．It takes all day to drive there from the South Rim because there is only one bridge across the Colorado River．On the way, you go through Navado Indian lands, and a colourful pink desert called“The Painted Desert”．

　　You can walk down into the Grand Canyon, or you can go down on the back of a mule(小型电动机车)．You can also take a boat trip down the Colorado River, and camp on the beaches at night．But whether you see the Grand Canyon from the top or the bottom, it will be an experience that you will never forget．

(1)

(2)

(3)

阅读理解

　　If you ask people to name the one person who had the greatest effect on the English language, you will get answers like“Shakespeare”, “Samuel Johnson”, and“Webster”, but none of these men had any effect at all compared to a man who didn't even speak English－William the Conqueror．

　　Before 1066, in the land we now call Great Britain lived peoples belonging to two major language groups．In the west-central region lived the Welsh, who spoke a Celtic language, and in the north lived the Scots, whose language, though not the same as Welsh, was also Celtic．In the rest of the country lived the Saxons, actually a mixture of Anglos, Saxons, and other Germanic and Nordic peoples, who spoke what we now call Anglo-Saxon(or Old English), a Germanic language．If this state of affairs had lasted, English today would be close to German．

　　But this state of affairs did not last．In 1066 the Normans led by William defeated the Saxons and began their rule over England．For about a century, French became the official language of England while Old English became the language of peasants．As a result, English words of politics and the law come from French rather than German．In some cases, modem English even shows a distincition(区别)between upper-class French and lower-class Anglo-Saxon in its words．We even have different words for some foods, meat in particular, depending on whether it is still out in the fields or at home ready to be cooked, which shows the fact that the Saxon peasants were doing the farming, while the upper-class Normans were doing most of the eating．

　　When Americans visit Europe for the first time, they usually find Germany more“foreign”than France because the German they see on signs and advertisements seems much more different from English than French does．Few realize that the English language is actually Germanic in its beginning and that the French influences are all the result of one man's ambition．

(1)

(2)

(3)

(4)

阅读理解

　　A nobleman and a businessman once met in a restaurant．For their lunch they both ordered soup．When it was brought to the table, the nobleman took a taste, but the soup was so hot that he burned his mouth, and tears came to his eyes．

　　Seeing this, the businessman asked him why he was weeping．The nobleman felt shame to admit that he had burned his mouth and answered．“Sir, I once had a brother who committed(犯罪)a great crime for which he was hanged, and I was thinking of his death, which made me weep．”

　　The businessman, believing this story, began to eat his soup．He also burned his mouth, so that he had tears in his eyes．Noticing this, the nobleman asked him, “Sir, why do you weep?”The man, who now understood that the nobleman had cheated him, answered, “Ah, I'm weeping because you were not hanged together with your brother．”

(1)

(2)

(3)

阅读理解

　　There are some special traditions in Hawaii．People are very friendly and always welcome visitors．They give visitors a lei, a long necklace of beautiful fresh flowers．Men wear bright flowered shirts, and women often wear long flowered dresses．There are traditional Chinese, Japanese and Filipino holidays and all the holidays from the United States．They call Hawaii the Aloha state．Aloha means both hello and goodbye．It also means I love you．

　　Usually when people from different countries, races and traditions live together, there are serious problems．There are a few problems in Hawaii, but, in general, people have learned to live together in peace．

　　Hawaiians get most of their money from visitors, and most of the visitors come from the mainland and Japan．There are residential area(住宅区)where there used to be farms．Some of the big sugar and apple companies have moved to the Philipines, where they do not have to pay workers as much money．The families of the first people who came from the US mainland own the important banks and companies．Japanese are also buying or starting business．

(1)

(2)

(3)

(4)

阅读理解

　　Life on land probably bagan about 430 million years ago, though it has existed in the water for perhaps as much as 3,000 million years．When we think of the first life on land, we probably think of strange animals coming out of the oceans, but, in fact, no animals could have been living if plants had not been on land first．Plants had to be on land before animals arrived．They supplied the first land animals with the surrounding and food necessary, since they－the plants are the only form of life that is able to get and store energy．

　　The first plants to exist out of the water were probably certain kinds of algae(海藻)which were followed by other plants that grew close to the ground and needed water in which to reproduce．Once the move to land had been made, however, evolution(进化)took place quickly．By the end of 100 million years, plants had developed their roots(根), and some had got tree-like forms since height was very important in gaining sunlight．About 300 million years ago, much of the world was covered with forests of huge trees．In most ways they were like modern trees．They had roots, leaves, wood, but mostly they had not developed seeds．

(1)

(2)

(3)

阅读理解

　　Deaths from cigarettes are likely to happen every minute around the world over the next quarter century．Now worldwide smoking is already killing 3 million people each year, and this number is increasing．That translates to six people every minute and the worst is yet to come．If the smoking patterns continue, then by the time the young smokers of today reach middle or old age, there will be about 10 million deaths a year from tobacco, one death every three seconds．Six million deaths have been caused by smoking since the 1950s．Smoking will kill about 10 million people a year by 2020．Most of them will be in developing countries where the habit continues to attract young women．Smoking is like no other things．It will kill one in two smokers in the end．

　　The reseacher said they used lung-cancer(肺癌)rates(率)as the yardstick because in developed countries, lung cancer is so closely related to smoking and so seldom caused by any other factor(因素)among nonsmokers．According to the report, 10 percent of middle-age British men will die from smoking by the time they are 35 -69 years old．In Poland, 20 percent of men are certain to die from smoking．

　　Cigarette smoking will kill more than 3 million people a year in China by the middle of the next century．However, if half of the smokers today could kick the habit, 5 million deaths from smoking－related diseases could then be avoided．Presently some 73 percent of Chinese men over 40 are smokers．The rate is 68 percent in cities and 75 percent in the countryside．

(1)

(2)

(3)

(4)

阅读理解

　　In many countries today, laws protect wildlife．In India the need for such protection was realized centuries ago．About 300 B．C．, an Indian writer described forests that were somewhat like national parks today．The killing of game beasts was carefully watched and directed．Some animals were fully protected．Within the forest, nobody was allowed to cut timber(木材)，burn wood for charcoal(炭)，or trap(设陷阱捕获)animals for their furs．Animals that became dangerous to human visitors were trapped or killed outside the park, so that other animals would not become uneasy．

　　The need for wildlife protection is greater now than ever before．About a thousand species(＝sorts)of animals are in danger of extinction(灭绝)，and the rate at which they are being destroyed has increased．With mammals(哺乳动物)，for example, the rate of extinction is now about one kind every year; from A．D．1 to 1800, the rate was about one species every fifty years．Everywhere, men are trying to solve the problem of protecting wildlife while caring for the world's growing population．

(1)

(2)

(3)

(4)

阅读理解

　　The office and small factory of Belton and Son, maker of Butifix furniture and especially of armchairs and tables, were at Number 7, in a street of old-fashioned houses standing behind the beautiful fence．The street was full of traffic, and dust flew into one's eyes from the road．The doorstep of Number 7 was the only clean one in the street．I had imagined I was going to work in a large factory, where hundreds of workers were labouring under a big glass roof, but Belton and Son used only the ground floor of this old house．A number of small businesses－a tailor or two, a lamp maker, and agents(代理商)for leather goods and shop-fittings－worked in single rooms above．There were packing cases stored in the hall．

　　On the ground floor there was a small room, made by glass dividing-walls, where a typist sat．She was a large-boned, round-shouldered girl of seventeen, with fine yellow hair, who was in a green woolen coat．This office smelled of gas, paint and tea．Next door was the room used by Mr Thomas Belton and Mr John Belton, and beyond was the large workroom, from which one could hear the noise of hammering and machinery．Patterns of cloth and examples of plastic coverings were on a large desk where the two managers sat in their office．And there, I waited alone, listening to the typewriter．It was an old-fashioned(过时的)one, and it crashed up and down as the typist worked．

(1)

(2)

(3)

(4)

阅读理解

　　On the morning of November 18, 1755, an earthquake shook Boston, Massachusetts．John Winthrop, a professor at Harvard College, felt the quake and awoke．“I rose, ”Winthrop wrote, “and lighting a candle, looked on my watch, and found it was 15 minutes after four, ”John Winthrop went downstairs to the grandfather clock．It had stopped four minutes before, at 4∶11．Except for stopping the clock, the quake had only thrown a key from the mantel(壁炉台)to the floor．

　　The clock had stopped because Winthrop had put some long glass tubes he was using for an experiment into the case for care．The quake had knocked the tubes over and blocked the pendulum(钟摆)．Winthrop, therefore, had the exact time that the earthquake had hit Boston．He looked at the key on the floor．The quake had thrown it forward in the direction of the quake's motion(运动)by a shock coming from the northwest, perhaps in Canada．

(1)

(2)

(3)

阅读理解

　　Former U．S．President Bill Clinton said Wednesday China has made progress in fighting AIDS since he last visited in 2003 and his foundation would give drugs and help train doctors battling the disease．

　　Experts have criticized China for being slow to recognize a growing AIDS problem, and the United Nations has said the country could have as many as 10 million cases by 2010 if precautions were not taken．

　　“China has made impressive progress in building a comprehensive system of care for all Chinese patients in need, ”Clinton said at a reception in Beijing．

　　The government has estimated China has 840,000 people with HIV or AIDS．

　　Earlier, Clinton signed an agreement with the Chinese Health Ministry for the Clinton Foundation to provide about ＄ 70,000 worth of drugs to treat about 200 infected Chinese children．

　　Clinton also announced the setting up of a fellowship to take urban doctors trained in treating AIDS to rural areas to treat people and train doctors．Several hundred physicians will be trained over the next two years, he said．

　　Since leaving office, Clinton has campaigned to get AIDS drugs to people who do not have them．

　　During his last visit to China in November 2003, Clinton said the disease could dampen(抑制)its booming growth．He also hugged a man infected with HIV at a public forum．

　　Chinese Premier Wen Jiabao and President Hu Jintao later made similar gestures, visiting AIDS patients publicly and voicing their determination to fight the disease．

　　This month, Wen spent the Chinese Lunar New Year Eve with AIDS patients in rural Henan province, where many people in some villages were infected in blood-selling schemes in the mid-1990s．

　　The whole of society needed to be mobilized to combat HIV/AIDS, Clinton cited Wen as saying．

　　“I am confident that China will fulfil Premier Wen's promise to fight HIV/AIDS with the international community, to protect this nation and all humankind and I want to do our part, ”Clinton said．

(1)

(2)

(3)

(4)