(08·天津C篇)

Michael Fish may soon be replaced as a weather forecaster by something truly fishier—the shark(鲨鱼).

Research by a British biology student suggests that sharks could be used to predict storms.

Lauren Smith, 24, is close to completing her study on shark’s ability to sense pressure.

If her studies prove the theory, scientists may be able to monitor the behaviour of sharks to predict bad weather.

Miss Smith had previously studied the behaviour of lemon sharks in the Bahamas.

She then used their close relatives, lesser spotted dogfish, for further research at Aberdeen University.

Her work—thought to be the first of its kind to test the pressure theory—resulted from the observation that juvenile blacktip sharks off Florida moved into deeper water ahead of a violent storm in 2001.

Miss Smith said: “I’ve always been crazy about traveling and diving and this led me to an interest in sharks.”

“I was delighted to have been able to research in the area for my degree. I know there’s so much more we need to understand—but it certainly opens the way to more research.”

It has been discovered that a shark senses pressure using hair cells in its balance system.

At the Bimini Shark Lab in the Bahamas, Miss Smith fixed hi-tech sensors to sharks to record pressure and temperature, while also tracking them using GPS (Global Positioning System) technology.

In Aberdeen, she was able to study the effects of tidal(潮汐的) and temperature changes on dogfish—none of which were harmed. She also used a special lab which can mimic(模拟) oceanic pressure changes caused by weather fronts.

She is due to complete her study and graduate later this year. She says she will be looking for a job which will give her the chance to enrich her experience of shark research.

44.The passage is most probably taken from _____.

A. a short-story collection                                 B. a popular science magazine

C. a research paper                                   D. a personal diary

45. What do we learn from the first four paragraphs of the passage?

A. Sharks may be used to predict bad weather.

B. Sharks’ behaviour can be controlled.

C. Michael Fish is not qualified for his job.

D. Lauren Smith will become a weather forecaster.

46. Lauren Smith conducted her research by _______.

   A. removing hair cells from a shark’s balance system

   B. measuring the air pressure of weather fronts

   C. recording sharks’ body temperature

   D. monitoring sharks’ reaction to weather changes

47. What is the passage mainly about?

   A. A popular way of forecasting weather.

   B. A new research effort in predicting storms.

   C. Biologists’ interest in the secrets of sharks.

   D. Lauren Smith’s devotion to scientific research.

love charity(慈善) shops and so do lots of other people in Britain because you find quite a few of them on every high street. The charity shop is a British institution, selling everything from clothes to electric goods, all at very good prices. You can get things you won’t find in the shops anymore. The thing I like best about them is that your money is going to a good cause and not into the pockets of profit-driven companies, and you are not damaging the planet, but finding a new home for unwanted goods.
The first charity shop was opened in 1947 by Oxfam. The famous charity’s appeal to aid postwar Greece had been so successful it had been flooded with donations(捐赠物). They decided to set up a shop to sell some of these donations to raise money for that appeal. Now there are over 7,000 charity shops in the UK. My favourite charity shop in my hometown is the Red Cross shop, where I always find children’s books, all 10 or 20 pence each.
Most of the people working in the charity shops are volunteers, although there is often a manager who gets paid. Over 90% of the goods in the charity shops are donated by the public. Every morning you see bags of unwanted items outside the front of shops, although they don’t encourage this, rather ask people to bring things in when the shop is open.
The shops have very low running costs: all profits go to charity work. Charity shops raise more than ￡110 million a year, funding（资助）medical research, overseas aid, supporting sick and poor children, homeless and disabled people, and much more. What better place to spend your money? You get something special for a very good price and a good moral sense. You provide funds to a good cause and tread lightly on the environment. （08天津卷）
【小题1】The author loves the charity shop mainly because of _______.

love charity(慈善) shops and so do lots of other people in Britain because you find quite a few of them on every high street. The charity shop is a British institution, selling everything from clothes to electric goods, all at very good prices. You can get things you won’t find in the shops anymore. The thing I like best about them is that your money is going to a good cause and not into the pockets of profit-driven companies, and you are not damaging the planet, but finding a new home for unwanted goods.

The first charity shop was opened in 1947 by Oxfam. The famous charity’s appeal to aid postwar Greece had been so successful it had been flooded with donations(捐赠物). They decided to set up a shop to sell some of these donations to raise money for that appeal. Now there are over 7,000 charity shops in the UK. My favourite charity shop in my hometown is the Red Cross shop, where I always find children’s books, all 10 or 20 pence each.

Most of the people working in the charity shops are volunteers, although there is often a manager who gets paid. Over 90% of the goods in the charity shops are donated by the public. Every morning you see bags of unwanted items outside the front of shops, although they don’t encourage this, rather ask people to bring things in when the shop is open.

The shops have very low running costs: all profits go to charity work. Charity shops raise more than ￡110 million a year, funding（资助）medical research, overseas aid, supporting sick and poor children, homeless and disabled people, and much more. What better place to spend your money? You get something special for a very good price and a good moral sense. You provide funds to a good cause and tread lightly on the environment. （08天津卷）

The author loves the charity shop mainly because of _______.

   A. its convenient location

   B. its great variety of goods

   C. its spirit of goodwill

   D. its nice shopping environment

The first charity shop in the UK was set up to ____.

   A. sell cheap products

   B. deal with unwanted things

   C. raise money for patients

   D. help a foreign country

Which of the following is TRUE about charity shops?

   A. The operating costs are very low.

   B. The staff are usually well paid.

   C. 90% of the donations are second-hand.

   D. They are open twenty-four hours a day.

Which of the following may be the best title for the passage?

   A. What to Buy a Charity Shops.

   B. Charity Shop: Its Origin & Development.

   C. Charity Shop: Where You Buy to Donate.

   D. The Public’s Concern about Charity Shops.

 (08·天津D篇)

We can achieve knowledge either actively or passively(被动地). We achieve it actively by direct experience, by testing and proving an idea, or by reasoning.

We achieve knowledge passively by being told by someone else. Most of the learning that takes place in the classroom and the kind that happens when we watch TV or read newspapers or magazines is passive. Conditioned as we are to passive learning, it’s not surprising that we depend on it in our everyday communication with friends and co-workers.

Unfortunately, passive learning has a serious problem. It makes us tend to accept what we are told even when it is little more than hearsay and rumor(谣言).

Did you ever play the game Rumor? It begins when one person writes down a message but doesn’t show it to anyone. Then the person whispers it, word for word, to another person. That person, in turn, whispers it to still another, and so on, through all the people playing the game. The last person writes down the message word for word as he or she hears it. Then the two written statements are compared. Typically, the original message has changed.

That’s what happens in daily life. The simple fact that people repeat a story in their own words changes the story. Then, too, most people listen imperfectly. And many enjoy adding their own creative touch to a story, trying to improve on it, stamping（打上标记）it with their own personal style. Yet those who hear it think they know.

This process is also found among scholars and authors: A statement of opinion by one writer may be restated as a fact by another, who may in turn be quoted by yet another; and this process may continue, unless it occurs to someone to question the facts on which the original writer based his opinion or to challenge the interpretation he placed upon those facts.

48. According to the passage, passive learning may occur in _______.

   A. doing a medical experiment                   B. solving a math problem

   C. visiting an exhibition                             D. doing scientific reasoning

49. The underlined word “it” in Paragraph 2 refers to _____.

   A. active learning                                        B. knowledge

   C. communication                                       D. passive learning

50. The author mentions the game Rumor to show that _____.

   A. a message may be changed when being passed on

   B. a message should be delivered in different ways

   C. people may have problems with their sense of hearing

   D. people tend not to believe in what they know as rumor

51. What can we infer from the passage?

   A. Active learning is less important.               B. Passive learning may not be reliable.

   C. Active learning occurs more frequently.     D. Passive learning is not found among scholars.

 When I was 17，I read a quote that went something like：“If you live each day as if it were your last，someday you’11 most certainly be right．”It made a deep  36  on me．and since then。for the  past 33 years，I have  37  in the mirror every morning and asked myself：“If today were the last day of my life，  38  I want to do what I am about to do today?”And whenever the answer has been“No”for too many days in a  39  ，I know I need to change something．

    Remembering that I’ll be  40  soon is the most important tool I’ve ever known to help me make the big  41  in life because almost everything falls away in the face of death，  42 only what is truly important

    About a year ago I was  43  with cancer My doctor even advised me to go home and get my affairs  44  order，which is a doctor’s way of telling people to prepare to die．I  45  with that diagnosis all day．  46  ，at last an advanced test showed that i。。t was a very rare cancer that is  47  with surgery．I had the surgery and I’m fine now

     48  wants to die．Even people who want to go to heaven don’t want to die to get there And yet death is the destination we all  49  ．No one has ever escaped it. And that is as it should be，because death is very likely the single best invention of  50  ．It is life's change agent It clears out the old to  51  for the new．Right now the new is you．but someday not too  52  from n6w，you will．gradually’become the old and be cleared away．Sorry to be so dramatic，but it is quite true．

    Your time is  53  ，so don’t waste it living，someone else’s 1ife．Don’t be  54  by dogma（教条） —which is living with the results of other people’s thinking．Don’t let the noise of others’opinions drown out your own inner  55  ．And most importantly，have the courage to follow your heart

36．A．impression         B．curse               C． decision                   D．joke

37．A．seen               B．looked             C．found               D．1ost

38．A．would              B．should             C．might                D．could

39．A．hurry               B．1ine               C．moment              D．row

40．A．successful           B．rich               C．dead              D．frustrated

41．A．apologies           B．fortune            C．impressions           D．choices

42．A．proving            B．leaving             C．confirming          D．telling

43．A．diagnosed           B．cured             C．treated               D．round

44．A．on                 B．for               C． in                 D．at

45．A．met                B．got               C．did                        D．1ived

46．A．However           B．But               C．Therefore          D．So

47．A．incurable           B．curable               C．fatal               D．changeable

48．A．Anyone            B．Someone          C．No one            D．Everyone

49．A．want              B．avoid              C．share            D．escape

50．A．destination         B．1ife               C．science             D．disease

51．A．make up              B．make for           C．make our           D．make wav

 52．A．distant              B．short               C．long               D．away   

 53．A．1imited             B．rare                C．enough            D．1ost

54．A．wasted               B．cheated             C．excited             D．trapped

55．A．voice                B．love               C．direction           D．confusion