Some nations think they must have more and more babies, more and more people, if they are to remain strong and free.

Actually, this is not so. Very often in history, small nations have conquered large ones. It’s not so much the size of the army as its organization and the technical level of its weapons. Thus, Greece took over Persia in the 300s B.C., Great Britain took over India in the 1700s, even though Persia and India had far bigger population than Greece and Great Britain.

If a nation wishes to avoid being dominated by its neighbors, its best chance is to raise its standard of living and its level of technology.This can be done best by not allowing its population to grow to such a point that it is sunk in misery and poverty. In fact, the worst way in which a nation can try to avoid being dominated by its neighbor is to increase its population to the point of misery and poverty.

If every nation tries to compete with its neighbors by raising its population, then the whole world will be sunk in misery and poverty. The nations will become weak in a disaster that will leave nothing behind that is worth dominating. No one will have gained anything. Everyone will have lost everything.

Once all this is understood, and people generally agree that population growth must not be allowed to continue, they must also come to understand how that growth can be stopped. Population grows because more people are being born than are dying. There are two ways, then, in which the growth can be stopped. You can increase the number of people who die until it matches the number of people who are being born. Or else you can decrease the number of people who are born until it matches the number of people who are dying.

The first method—increasing the death rate—is the usual way in which population is controlled in all species of living things other than ourselves, but we don’t want that, for disaster lies that way. The intelligent way is to reduce the birth rate. But how can the birth rate be reduced?

1. In paragraph 3, the word “This” refers to ______.

A．avoidance of poverty                    B．improvement of life and technology

C．growth of population                     D．enhancement of living standard and competition

2. It can be inferred from the passage that if a country had fewer people, ______.

A．it could still remain strong                 B．it would be defeated by a strong neighbour

C．its standard of living could be high           D．its people would live misery

3. What might the author be further discussing after the passage?

A．Needs to balance population.              B．Problems involved in birth control.

C．Methods of decreasing population.          D．Opposition from some nations.

4. The passage mainly focuses on ______.

A．why we must control population            B．where we can find a solution

C．how to stop population growth             D．how to become a strong nation

For years, my family has vacationed in the same Florida town. In fact, we just returned home after spending a week of spring break there with our three sons.

Many nights, we take the same scenic drive to dinner at a favorite restaurant. As we travel along Gulf Shore Boulevard, we admire a combination of small beach apartments, swanky high-rises and spectacular homes.

A few years ago, we noticed that whenever we drive this particular route, there are always two men sitting in front of the same third-floor window of a low-rise apartment building that overlooks the road. All that is visible from the road are their two silhouettes. Even during off-peak months, they’ve always been there. Over the years, we’ve had great fun speculating about who they are, whether they’re having a drink, and if so, what they fancy, where they’re from, and what they might be discussing. Our guesses have become a modern form of car bingo. Widowers? Retirees? Partners? We’ve run through the gamut of possibilities.

Eventually, I started beeping the horn as we passed. We’d wave. Our new friends would do likewise. There was something comforting in seeing them. In a world of constant change, it has been nice to look up and see that they are there, just as we remember from our last visit. And then last spring, we drove by and they were missing. The apartment was dark. No one was visible in the window. Strangely, we drove by and they were missing The apartment was dark. No one was visible in the window. Strangely, we grew worried about two people we’d never even met. Where did they go? A new round of the guessing game began.

On our last trip at Christmastime, we were relieved to see them once again. We were driving past about 6 p.m., and there they were at cocktail hour. I told my wife that I suspected they were gin drinkers and said we should buy them a bottle. She said that if I bought it, she’d deliver it. I said, “Tomorrow.”

1.Driving along the scenic route, the author’s family were to          .

A．meet their friends there     B．visit the Florida town

C．appreciate a place of interest      D．have supper together

2.Why did the author blow the horn?

A．It was a pleasure for them to see the two men again.

B．It was his habit while driving along the special route.

C．It was an agreement between him and the two men.

D．It was for the sake of safety while driving.

3.Which of the following can best describe the family?

A．generous and sensitive        B．curious and kind

C．helpful and brave                  D．friendly and hurnorous

4.Which of the following will best continue this passage?

A．The two men’s favorite drinks.

B．The two men’s beach apartments

C．The reason of the two men’s absence

D．The author’s next visit to the town

完形填空（共20小题；每小题1.5分，满分30分） 阅读下面短文，掌握其大意，然后从各题所给的A、B、C、D四个选项中，选出最佳选项。

Once upon a time, there were two men. One was hard-working and had a lot of   31   and perseverance (坚定不移), while the other was   32   and never did any work. One night, they decided to have a competition between them. The contest was simple: the   33  person to see daylight would be the winner, and the winner would  34   a prize. Both men agree to do it, and the competition started.

The hard-working man immediately  35  and ran towards the west after the sun, while the lazy man just sat there and   36 . The hard-working man, looking at the competitor,  37  at his foolishness and kept going at his quick pace. Running through the jungles, swimming  38   the rivers and seas, and he kept running and running,  39  that he would reach his goal sooner or later. Meanwhile, the lazy man was still sleeping.

The hard-working man had been   40  for 6 hours already, and he was surprised that he still had not   41   daylight. Thinking it would be just around the corner, he  42  on running until he finally came back to where he started, 24 hours   43  . Upon arriving, he saw the lazy man seated there, smiling and waiting for him, holding the  44  he earned.

The hard-working man was   45   how this lazy man could earn it ---he hadn't done anything at all! Then the lazy man said," You are   46  a persevering and patient man, but you were running towards the   47  , running after the sun that kept moving away from your  48   whereas I just waited for the sun to come to me. You were lucky. If I had decided to  49   you and not to tell you, you would be continuing this pursuit (追赶) till your death." The hard-working man knew in his heart that the lazy man was right.

Sometimes, perseverance can   50  you from the truth that what you are doing is wrong.

31. A. hobbies            B. ideas                      C. patience               D. money

32. A. lazy                B. patient                 C. kind-hearted             D. hard-working

33. A. last                B. first                         C. second                D. only

34. A. accept                B. keep                       C. win                   D. defeat

35. A. set in               B. set aside               C. set up                 D. set out

36. A. worked              B. drank                      C. slept                  D. played

37. A. laughed               B. glared                    C. stared                D. looked

38. A. across               B. through                 C. over                   D. past

39. A. representing         B. believing                C. emphasizing            D. complaining

40. A. swimming            B. jumping                 C. resting                 D. running

41. A. admired             B. invented                C. found                  D. realized

42. A. commented          B. carried                            C. figured                 D. depended

43. A. before               B. later                       C. next                  D. further

44. A. money             B. medal                     C. prize                  D. gold

45. A. believing             B. recognizing           C. discussing               D. wondering

46. A. true                B. indeed                    C. certain                 D. hardly

47. A. west                  B. east                        C. north                 D. south

48. A. ears                   B. hands         C. sight                           D. mind     

49. A. hide from             B. learn from      C. keep from              D. come from   

50. A. make                  B. let             C. blind                          D. protect  

The Super Bowl is the annual championship game of the National Football League (NFL), the highest level of professional American football in the United States, becoming a season that begins in the late summer of the previous calendar year. The Super Bowl uses Roman numerals to identify each game, rather than the year in which it is held, with Super Bowl I being the 1966 season championship game, when the Green Bay Packers beat the Kansas City Chiefs. Super Bowl XLVI (46) was played at Lucas Oil Stadium in Indianapolis, on February 5, 2012, to determine the champion of the 2011 season; the New York Giants beat the New England Patriots.

The game was created as part of a merger agreement between the NFL and its rival league, the American Football League (AFL). It was agreed that the two leagues’ champion teams would play in an AFL--NFL World Championship Game until the merger was to officially begin in 1970. After the merger, each league was appointed as a “conference”, and the game was then played between the conference champions. Currently, the National Football Conference (NFC) leads the series with 25 wins to 21 wins for the American Football Conference (AFC).

The day on which the Super Bowl is played, now considered to be an existing American national holiday, is called “Super Bowl Sunday”, though it is not determined by the government. It is the second—largest day for U.S. food consumption, after Thanksgiving Day. In addition, the Super Bowl has frequently been the most watched American television broadcast of the year.

Because of its high viewership, commercial airtime during the Super Bowl broadcast is the most expensive of the year. Due to the high cost of investing in advertising on the Super Bowl, companies regularly develop their most expensive advertisements for this broadcast. As a result, watching and discussing the broadcast’s commercials has become a significant aspect of the event. In addition, many popular singers and musicians have performed during the event’s pre-game and halftime ceremonies because of the exposure’s attracting more fans.

1.What does the Super Bowl use to show each game?

A．The year when the game is held.

B．English letters.

C．Roman numerals

D．Arabic numerals

2. What does the underlined word “merger” in the second paragraph refer to?

A．Union.                                B．Appearance.

C．Division.                              D．Competition.

3.According to the third paragraph, we can know that_______.

A．the Super Bowl Sunday is an official national holiday

B．the Super Bowl Sunday is the biggest day for U.S. food consumption

C．the Super Bowl has owned the biggest TV audience among all games

D．Thanksgiving Day is the second--largest day for U.S. food consumption

4.We can infer from the last paragraph that________.

A．singers and musicians perform during the event’s ceremonies to get more attention

B．people seldom discuss the broadcast’s commercials

C．commercial companies make much money by broadcasting advertisements

D．commercial companies are not interested in the Super Bowl

Looking back on my childhood. I am convinced that naturalists are born and not made. Although we were brought up in the same way, my brothers and sisters soon abandoned their pressed flowers and insects. Unlike them, I had no ear for music and languages. I was not an early reader and I could not do mental maths.     

Before World War I we spent our summer holidays in Hungary. I have only the dim memory of the house we lived in, of my room and my toys. Nor do I recall clearly the large family of grandparents, aunts, uncles and cousins who gathered next door. But I do have a crystal clear memory of dogs, the farm animals, the local birds and above all, the insects.  

I am a naturalist, not a scientist. I have a strong love of the natural world, and my enthusiasm has led me into varied investigations. I love discussing my favorite topics and enjoy burning the midnight oil reading about other people’s observations and discoveries. Then something happens that brings these observations together in my conscious mind. Suddenly you fancy you see the answer to the riddle. Because it all seems to fit together .This has resulted in my publishing 300 papers and books. Which some may light honor, with the title of scientific research.  

But curiosity, a keen eye, a good memory and enjoyment of the animal and plant world do not make a scientist? One of the outstanding and essential qualities required is self-discipline, a quality I lack. A scientist can be made a naturalist. If you can combine the two, you get the best of both worlds. 

1.According to the author, a born naturalist should first of all be _____           

A. full of ambition               B. self-disciplined

C. full of enthusiasm           D. knowledgeable 

2.The first paragraph tells us that the author _____

A. lost his hearing when he was a child

B. didn’t like his brothers and sisters

C. was interested in flowers and insects in his childhood

D. was born to a naturalist’s family

3.The author says that he is a naturalist rather than a scientist probably because he thinks he __     . 

A. just reads about other people observations and discoveries.

B. Lacks some of the qualities required of scientist.

C. Has a great deal of trouble doing mental arithmetic.

D. Come up with solutions in most natural ways.

4.The author can’t remember him relatives clearly because__

A. He didn’t live very long with them

B. He was too young when he lived with them.

C. The family was extremely large.

D. He was fully occupied with observing nature.

5.Which of the following statements is true?

A. The author believes that a born naturalist cannot be scientist. 

B. The author read a lot of books about the natural world and oil industry

C. The author’s brothers and sisters were good at music and languages.

D. The author spent a lot of time working on riddles.