Most kinds of rose plants come from Asia. But roses are also native to other areas including northwest Africa, Europe and the United States. In 1986, Congress chose the rose as America’s national flower. Technically, Congress and President Ronald Reagan declared it the “national floral emblem.” Whatever the name, the decision did not smell sweet to supporters of others popular flowers.

Some people say roses are difficult to grow. But you have a good chance of success if you start with a few suggestions from experts. You should plant your roses where they can get sunshine for about six hours on bright days. You can buy roses form a garden center or by mail order. You can buy potted roses, also known as container roses, or bare-root plants. Each kind has its fans.

Some gardeners say potted roses are easier to plant. They say the roots develop better. But Jeffrey Dinslage, an expert, pint out that bare-root roses come without soil. So they weigh less to transport.

Another expert advises getting bare-foot roses as close to planting time as you can. If they arrive before you are ready to plant them, make sure the packing material is moist. Keep the plants in a cool, dark place. The resting plants have no leaves but still need water. When growing roses, the soil should feel moist deep down. Watering should be done in the morning.

But do not water too much. People often ask Jeffrey Dinslage about unhealthy discoloration on rose leaves. He says the spots are usually caused by too much water. After heavy rains or too much watering, he advises pulling away mulch, the substance used to protect the roots, temporarily from around the roots. This will help dry the soil.

1.From the first paragraph, we know that in the United States _______.

A. all the people like roses                  B. there are a lot of national flowers

C. some roses don’t smell sweet             D. there are some other popular flowers

2.Why does Jeffrey Dinslage suggest planting bare-root roses?

A. They are easier to plant.          B. Their roots develop better.

C. They are cheap to transport     D. Their leaves need no water

3.Which of following is closest in meaning to the underlined word “moist”?

A. Slightly wet.    B. Pretty dry.     C. Too hard.      D. Lightly soft.

4.According to Jeffrey Dinslage, people should ______ to avoid the spots on the rose leaves.

A. not water roses in the morning             B. protect the roots of roses

C. improve the quality of the soil            D. not water roses very much

B

People all over the world today are beginning to hear and learn more and more about the problem of pollution. Pollution is caused either by man's release of completely new and often artificial substances into the environment, or by releasing greatly increased amounts of a natural substance , such as oil tankers into the sea．

The whole industrial process which makes many of the goods and machines we need and use in our daily lives, is bound to create a number of waste products which upset the environmental balance, or the ecological balance as it is also known. Many of these waste products can be prevented or disposed of sensibly, but clearly while more and more new and complex goods are produce there will be new, dangerous wastes to be disposed of, for example, the waste products from nuclear power stations. Many people, therefore, see pollution as only part of a larger and more complex problem, that is, the whole process of industrial production and consumption of goods. Others again see the problem mainly in connection with agriculture, where new methods are helping farmers grow more and more on their land to feed our ever-increasing populations. However, the land itself is gradually becoming worn out as it is being used in some cases, too heavily, and artificial fertilizer cannot restore the balance.

Whatever its underlying reasons, there is no doubt that much of the pollution caused could be controlled if only companies, individuals and governments would make more efforts. In the home there is an obvious need to control litter and waste. Food comes wrapped up three or four times in packages that all have to be disposed of; drinks are increasingly sold in bottles or tins which cannot be reused． This not only causes a litter problem, but also is a great waste of resources, in term of glass, metals and paper. Advertising has helped this process by persuading many of us not only to buy things we neither want nor need, but also to throw away much of what we do buy. Pollution and waste combine to be a problem everyone can help to solve by cutting out unnecessary buying ,excess consumption and careless disposal of the products we use in our daily lives.

45．The underlined phrase “disposed of ”in the second paragraph means_______.

A． dealt with               B． exposed 

C． disapproved of           D． collected

46． In the writer’s view ,the more new goods, _______.

A． the less pollution             

B． the harder pollution can be prevented

C． the more pollution there will be

D． the more easily pollution can be controlled

47．What can we learn from the last paragraph?

A． We can do much to reduce pollution.

B． The government is trying hard to stop pollution.

C． Individuals know how to get rid of the habit of littering everywhere.

D． We can’t stop buying unnecessary things.

48． People can help solve the problem of pollution by _______.

A． urging their governments to control litter and waste

B． making anti-pollution advertisements

C． cutting down the use of oil and other oil products

D． reducing unnecessary buying, over-consumption and careless disposal of wastes

This is a dangerous world we live in. The number of murders goes up every year, people are dying of cancer, more people contract HIV, more teens are using drugs, ect. You know this because you’ve heard all the statistics on the news and in the paper. But do you really have an accurate idea what they mean? The numbers are going up, but how do they compare to the growth in population? Are more cases of these diseases being reported because of better testing techniques, or are the diseases more common? The fact is that without knowing the background statistics mean very little.

This growing trend of reporting only part of the information is becoming dangerous. For example, several years ago a high school student reported the dangers of the chemical known as dihydrogen monoxide. This chemical, found in most cancerous tumors, is often found in the blood of people drunk on alcohol, and causes complete physical and mental dependence for those who take the chemical even once. After reading his report, more than 75% of his Advanced Placement Chemistry class voted to forbid this dangerous chemical! Every one of the above statement is true, yet this chemical is necessary to all life on earth. The students made a mistake because they voted knowing only a few statements and statistics, rather than the chemical’s full background.

The point of this article is that one should be aware of what is and is not being said. When one finds a new fact or number, one should try to consider other important information before forming an opinion with only half-truths. Always remember that the author is trying to convince you of his or her own view, and will leave our information that is different from his view. For example, look again at the statistics that suggest skiing is safe. Only 32 people die each year when skiing, while 897 die from lightening strikes, but which is really more dangerous? If you think more about it, you will realize far fewer people go skiing each year than the number of people in danger of a lightning strike. When you think about it again, skiing is more dangerous than you might at first think when looking at the statistics. If we teenagers are to be left in this world, we had better be able to think critically, and form our own views, rather than be easily persuaded by another’s. To be warned is just to be prepared.

What’s the author’s attitude towards the growing trend of reporting only part of the      

  information?

Disapproving   B. Positive       C. Indifferent     D. Dangerous

In the first paragraph, what does the writer suggest?

A. We are now living in a dangerous world.

B. We get a lot of false statistics from the media.

C. There are around us more and more murders diseases, ect.

D. Statistics alone without full background don’t give us an accurate picture of things.

What’s the purpose of the writer’s using the two examples in the second paragraph?

A. To argue that high school students are easily persuaded.

B. To prove what is necessary to us might be dangerous.

C. To show the danger of reporting only part of the information.

D. To warn us of the harmful substance around us.

Relative information is often left out because ___________________. 

A. it is not important

B. the author is trying to show what he or she says is true

C. readers will consider other important information

D. readers are able to form an opinion with half-truths

What can we learn from the passage?

A. Some measures must be taken to protect our dangerous world.

B. The growing trend of reporting only half-truths is getting out of control.

C. Teenagers ought to improve their ability of telling right from wrong.

D. We should learn to think critically and look at problems from all sides.

The substance can be added to gasoline to ______ the speed of automobiles.

1. A.
   quicken
2. B.
   shorten
3. C.
   loosen
4. D.
   enlarge

In 1977, a dead author of detective stories saved the life of a 19-month-old baby in a most unusual way. The author was Agatha Christie, one of the most successful writers of detective stories in the world.
In June 1977, a baby girl became seriously ill in Qatar, near Saudi Arabia. Doctors were unable to find out the cause of her illness with confidence, so she was sent to Hammersmith Hospital in London. She was then only semi-conscious (半清醒状态) and on the "Dangerously Ill" list. A team of doctors hurried to examine the baby only to discover that they, too, were confused by the very unusual symptoms (症状). While they were discussing the baby's case, a nurse asked to speak to them.
"Excuse me," said Nurse Marsha Maitlan, "but I think the baby is suffering from thallium poisoning. (铊中毒)"
"What makes you think that?" Dr. Brown asked. "Thallium poisoning is extremely rare."
"A few days ago, I was reading a novel called A Pale Horse by Agatha Christie," Nurse Maitlan explained. "In the book, somebody uses thallium poison, and all the symptoms are described. They're exactly the same as the baby's."
"You're very thoughtful and you may be right," another doctor said. "We'll carry out some tests and find out whether it's thallium or not."
Tests showed that the baby had indeed been poisoned by thallium, a rare metallic substance used in making special glass. Once they knew the cause of the illness, the doctors were able to give the baby the correct treatment. She soon recovered and was sent back to Qatar. Later it was reported that the poison might have come from an insecticide (杀虫剂) used in Qatar.
【小题1】The one who first suggested the correct cause of the baby's illness was _____.