完形填空（共20小題；每小題1分，滿分20分）
閱讀下面短文，從短文后各題所給四個(gè)選項(xiàng)（A、B、C、D）中選出最佳選項(xiàng)，并在答題卡上將該項(xiàng)涂黑。
Sam’s uncle had an old bird which sat in its cage all day. One day his uncle said, “It is too expensive to   36  that bird. We will get rid of it.” But Sam wanted to   37   the bird.
Sam’s grandfather told him that the bird was once a famous   38   bird. Now   39 people knew it. His grandfather took the bird out, and then quickly took his arms away.  The bird opened its huge   40  and flew into the sky. After a few minutes, it   41  with a small rabbit, cut it open and started to   42  it.
The next morning, Sam asked his uncle out. Sam did   43   his grandfather had done, but the bird   44   to the ground and stood still. Sam’s uncle   45  . Later his grandfather told him that the bird only hunted in late afternoon when light was less   46  . Sam asked his uncle to come out before   47  . This time the bird caught a mouse. His uncle was quiet with   48  , but laughed again, “We can’t eat mice, so this bird is   49  .” And he sold the bird without telling Sam.
Before Sam found the bird was   50  , two angry men arrived in a car. They   51   his uncle and said, the bird couldn’t hunt and they wanted their money back. Sam’s uncle looked   52  and said, “I have spent it. But… don’t worry!” He   53   at Sam, “Sam will show you 54   to make the bird hunt! It’s a great bird, isn’t it, Sam?” Sam opened the door of the car and took out the   55  . It flew away and disappeared forever.

Besides containing attractive flowers, trees and other plants that beautify the community, eco-friendly rain gardens are healthy for the environment and the people living and working nearby.
A rain garden is not very different from a traditional garden. It is just a far more eco-friendly garden. Usually it is built lower than the ground. Rain gardens make smart use of rain and storm water by temporarily holding water from rain and storms and letting it soak（浸人）slowly into the ground before it runs into streams or enters the public drinking water supply.
Thus, a rain garden keeps the water, allowing it to be used as needed by plants in the rain garden, rather than flowing immediately into nearby streams and going unused. The water will soak slowly into the ground within a day or two. This creates an advantage that the rain garden does not allow mosquitoes to breed. This is a simple, attractive, and eco-friendly “green” way to treat storm water.
What’s more, planting a rain garden helps reduce pollution and improve the environment. Without using expensive machinery and chemicals, rain gardens remove harmful chemicals in the rainwater and cut down on the amount of pollution reaching streams and rivers by up to 30%.
Native plants are recommended for rain gardens because they are more used to the locals climatem, soil, and water conditions. They may attract local wildlife such as native birds. Water your rain garden immediately after planting and once a week, unless you have had at least an inch of rain during the week. Once the native plants establish the necessary root system, it will require little care.
Often, local governments and private businesses develop large rain gardens in their yards and in public parks as a way to improve the environment and solve flooding problems. However, you don’t need to be a professional environmental engineer to create a rain garden. As long as you’re eco-conscious homeowners, you can help the environment by building smaller rain gardens in your yards.
【小題1】Which of the following is the eco-friendly function of rain gardens discussed in Paragraph 4?

Besides containing attractive flowers, trees and other plants that beautify the community, eco-friendly rain gardens are healthy for the environment and the people living and working nearby.
A rain garden is not very different from a traditional garden. It is just a far more eco-friendly garden. Usually it is built lower than the ground. Rain gardens make smart use of rain and storm water by temporarily holding water from rain and storms and letting it soak slowly into the ground before it runs into streams or enters the public drinking water supply.
Thus, a rain garden keeps the water, allowing it to be used as needed by plants in the rain garden, rather than flowing immediately into nearby streams and going unused. The water will soak slowly into the ground within a day or two. This creates an advantage that the rain garden does not allow mosquitoes to breed. This is a simple, attractive, and eco-friendly “green” way to treat storm water.
What’s more, planting a rain garden helps reduce pollution and improve the environment. Without using expensive machinery and chemicals, rain gardens remove harmful chemicals in the rainwater and cut down on the amount of pollution reaching streams and rivers by up to 30%.
Native plants are recommended for rain gardens because they are more used to the local climate, soil, and water conditions. They may attract local wildlife such as native birds. Water your rain garden immediately after planting and once a week, unless you have had at least an inch of rain during the week. Once the native plants establish the necessary root system, it will require little care.
Often, local governments and private businesses develop large rain gardens in their yards and in public parks as a way to improve the environment and solve flooding problems. However, you don’t need to be a professional environmental engineer to create a rain garden. As long as you’re eco-conscious homeowners, you can help the environment by building smaller rain gardens in your yards.
【小題1】Which of the following is the eco-friendly function of rain gardens discussed in Paragraph 4?

Dorothea Shaw is 71 years old and nearly blind, and she chose to live alone far away from people. She lives in Belize — a county the size of Wales with a population only that of Swansea. Her home is at Gales Point, a tiny village which can be reached only by sea or air; after a 10-mile walk into the hills one finally reaches a piece of land and two small houses so hidden in the thick over-grown forest that only a handful of people know Dorothea is there.

She lives happily and totally alone – growing her vegetables, looking after her trees and dogs, cats and chickens. Once a month or so an old friend passes by with her food supplies and letters-usually including a letter from her sister in Scunthorpe and some bits of clothing from friends in Canada. Sometimes a local man will come and cut wood for her and a group of British soldiers will come across her and be greeted with the offer of a cup of coffee.

At night she lies in her tiny sleeping room with the dogs on the floor, the cats on the table near the typewriter and one of the hens settled down in a corner of the bookshelf, and listens for hours to any Spanish, English, German or French broadcasts she can find on her radio. Sometimes she gets lonely but most of the time the animals and the radio are company enough.

But recently the very things that she had tried to get free from so well have begun to catch up with her. The peace of the forest has been destroyed by the noise of earth-moving machines not many miles away. What she once only heard of distantly on the radio is now on her doorstep. Things began to change three years ago. The new main north-south road in Belize was cut through the forest only four or five miles away. “Now more people know I’m here.” She says. “I feel more and more uneasy each day.”

1.Dorothea’s small houses ________.    

2.Dorothea lives in the tiny village because ________.

3. Dorothea doesn’t get lonely since she has _______ with her.

4.Dorothea spends a lot of time __________.

With smart phones taking the world by storm, a phone that can only send and receive voictcal1s and text messages may seem like a relic from a bygone age. Yet in East Africa, simple phones like these are changing the face of the economy, thanks to the mobile money services that are spreading across the region. Using the text--messaging function built into the GSM system(全球通) used by most cell phone networks, these services al1ow people without a bank account or credit card to use their/phone as an electronic wallet that can he used to store, send or receive cash.
It works like this: you pay cash to your loca1 agent who then tops up your mobile money account using a secure form of text messaging. That money can be transferred to another person by sending a message to their cell Phone account.
Fur some the system is a lifeline. ''If I didn’t have my mobile Phone, I would be very poor," says Neyasse Neemur, a mother of four chi1dren who lives in northern Kenya. .”Now I can sell fish.” Neemur took up fishing in Ju1y last year, but making money from it was a little tricky, especially as Turkana peop1e do not usually eat fish. A truck from Ethiopia to Tanzania passes through her vi1lage once a week, and she arranged to have the driver transport the fish several hundred ki1ometers south to market in   Kisumu, where relatives sell the fish.
"I get the money transfer immediately.” says Neemur . "Then I can pay for my children to go to school and for vegetables and beans," she adds, "so I don't need to eat fish."
According to the Central Bank of Kenya, payments worth around l billion Kenyan shillings($13 million) per day were transferred through Kenya’s mobile money systems in 2009, equaling the country’s credit card transactions(業(yè)務(wù)). The bank expects mobile money transfers to overtake credit cards in 2010.
63. In Paragraph l the author uses "simple phones" to _______________________.
A. make a comparison   B. introduce a topic   C. describe a scene   D. offer an argument.
64. What can we learn about the simple phones in East Africa?
A. They might help the local peop1e apply for a bank account.
B. They will replace the banks completely in the near future.
C. They Provide a safe means for the locals to do business.
D. They can do nothing except send and receive calls or messages.
65. The word “It” in the third paragraph refers to _____________________.
A. the GSM system                B. the mobile money service
C. the credit card service             D. the cell phone networks
66. The story of Neyasse Neemur suggests that ___________________.
A. the mobile money service plays a key role in the locals life
B. Neemur uses her mobile phone to contact her customers
C. her relative' tricks Turkana people to eat the fish they sell
D. the Bant of Kenya helps her improve her living condition

Besides containing attractive flowers, trees and other plants that beautify the community, eco-friendly rain gardens are healthy for the environment and the people living and working nearby.

A rain garden is not very different from a traditional garden. It is just a far more eco-friendly garden. Usually it is built lower than the ground. Rain gardens make smart use of rain and storm water by temporarily holding water from rain and storms and letting it soak slowly into the ground before it runs into streams or enters the public drinking water supply.

Thus, a rain garden keeps the water, allowing it to be used as needed by plants in the rain garden, rather than flowing immediately into nearby streams and going unused. The water will soak slowly into the ground within a day or two. This creates an advantage that the rain garden does not allow mosquitoes to breed. This is a simple, attractive, and eco-friendly “green” way to treat storm water.

What’s more, planting a rain garden helps reduce pollution and improve the environment. Without using expensive machinery and chemicals, rain gardens remove harmful chemicals in the rainwater and cut down on the amount of pollution reaching streams and rivers by up to 30%.

Native plants are recommended for rain gardens because they are more used to the local climate, soil, and water conditions. They may attract local wildlife such as native birds. Water your rain garden immediately after planting and once a week, unless you have had at least an inch of rain during the week. Once the native plants establish the necessary root system, it will require little care.

Often, local governments and private businesses develop large rain gardens in their yards and in public parks as a way to improve the environment and solve flooding problems. However, you don’t need to be a professional environmental engineer to create a rain garden. As long as you’re eco-conscious homeowners, you can help the environment by building smaller rain gardens in your yards.

1.Which of the following is the eco-friendly function of rain gardens discussed in Paragraph 4?

A. They can keep the rain and storm water.

B. They can help reduce the pollution problem.

C. They can be healthy for the people around.

D. They can make the environment more beautiful.

2.One of the main reasons why native plants are recommended is that ______.

A. they cost less and are much easier to get

B. they may attract local wildlife to come

C. they require little care from the local gardeners

D. they are more used to the local growing conditions.

3.We can infer from the passage that after native plants are planted, rain gardens ______.

A. need little water             

B. need little care

C. need to be watered every day

D. needn’t be watered if there is at least an inch of rainwater per week

Do you want to visit Disney World? However, will you worry about your pet if you go to Disney World? To meet the needs of these people, a pet hotel has been built near the Disney World Resort in Florida.
The new pet hotel is named Best Friends Pet Care Resort and it is mainly open to dogs and cats. It has an area of 4,645㎡. About 270 dogs and 30 cats can be kept there at the same time. Besides dogs and cats, it can also provide services for birds, pigs and rabbits. However, it can’t take care of snakes and turtles(烏龜) now.
Best Friend Pet Care Resort is a very expensive hotel. There are several types of dog rooms, such as rooms with air-conditioners（空調(diào)） and VIP rooms. There is even a “private dog park”. Owners can have a high-quality vacation with their dogs there. The cats are kept in the “Kitty City”. The “Kitty City” is very comfortable and clean. Workers there will clean it once a day.
Apart from having good equipment, Best Friends Pet Care Resort also have other plans to meet the psychological (心理上的) needs of pets. Workers play music to the pets, walk with them, play with them and even read stories to them before they go to bed.
“We aim to make sure that pets will have a fun vacation here, just like their owners at Disney World,” said the manager of the resort.
【小題1】How many kinds of animals can be kept in Best Friends Pet Care Resort?

Sports shoes that work out whether their owner has done enough exercise to warrant time in front of the television have been devised in the UK.

The shoes — named Square Eyes — contain an electronic pressure sensor and a tiny computer chip to record how many steps the wearer has taken in a day. A wireless transmitter passes the information to a receiver connected to a television, and this decides how much evening viewing time the wearer deserves, based on the day’s efforts.

The design was inspired by a desire to fight against the rapidly ballooning waistlines among British teenagers, says Gillian Swan, who developed Square Eyes as a final year design project at Brunel University in London, UK. “We looked at current issues and childhood overweight really stood out,” she says. “And I wanted to tackle that with my design.”

Once a child has used up their daily allowance gained through exercise, the television automatically switches off. And further time in front of the TV can only be earned through more steps.

Swan calculated how exercise should translate to television time using the recommended daily amounts of both. Health experts suggest that a child take 12,000 steps each day and watch no more than two hours of television. So, every 100 steps recorded by the Square Eyes shoes equals precisely one minute of TV time.

Existing pedometers （計(jì)步器） normally clip onto a belt or slip into a pocket and keep count of steps by measuring sudden movement. Swan says these can be easily tricked into recording steps through shaking. But her shoe has been built to be harder for lazy teenagers to cheat. “It is possible, but it would be a lot of effort,” she says. “That was one of my main design considerations.”

1.According to Swan, the purpose of her design project is to ________.

A．keep a record of the steps of the wearer

B．deal with overweight among teenagers

C．enable children to resist the temptation of TV

D．prevent children from being tricked by TV programs

2.Which of the following is true of Square Eyes shoes?

A．They regulate a child’s evening TV viewing time.

B．They determine a child’s daily pocket money.

C．They have raised the hot issue of overweight.

D．They contain information of the receiver.

3.What is stressed by health experts in their suggestion?

A．The exact number of steps to be taken.

B．The precise number of hours spent on TV.

C．The proper amount of daily exercise and TV time.

D．The way of changing steps into TV watching time.

4.Compared with other similar products, the new design ________.

A．makes it difficult for lazy teenagers to cheat

B．counts the wearer’s steps through shaking

C．records the sudden movement of the wearer

D．sends teenagers’ health data to the receiver

5.Which of the following would be the best title for the text?

A．Smart Shoes Decide on Television Time

B．Smart Shoes Guarantee More Exercise

C．Smart Shoes Measure Time of Exercise

D．Smart Shoes Stop Childhood Overweight

From early times, man has been interested in art. People have often worked together to collect and save the world’s art treasures. Fine art treasures from many countries are kept in an art museum called the Louvre（羅浮宮）in Paris, France. The works of art have been collected by the people of France over many centuries. It is the biggest art museum in the world. The Louvre has not always been a museum. The first building was a fort（堡壘）. In 1190, it was the king’s castle with high walls and a round tower. It had a moat（護(hù)城河）to keep out the enemies. Over the years, the number of buildings around the castle grew. By 1350, the castle no longer needed a fort. The Louvre became a palace home for French kings and queens.
During time of peace, new treasures were brought in. During the days of war, many treasures were stolen, and the buildings were damaged.
When FrancisⅠbecame king of France in 1515, he brought in many artists from other countries. One of the artists was Lenardo da Vinci from Italy. Da Vinci’s “Mona Lisa” is the best known painting in the museum today.In 1793, the Louvre became a public museum. It is a place where art treasures are kept for everyone to enjoy. Every year millions of people from all over the world come to the Louvre to see the masterpieces.
46. How long has the Louvre been a museum?
A. For over 800 years.     B. Since1350  C. Since1515      D. For over 200 years
47. Most of works of art in the Louvre have been collected probably by _______.
A. the French people     B. FrancisⅠ C. Leonardo da Vinci   D. people of the world
48. Which of the following is NOT mentioned in the passage?
A.Da Vinci once stayed in France.
B. “Mona Lisa” is kept in the Louvre.
C. The Louvre was once a church as well as a palace.
D. The Louvre is a place of interest to different people from all over the world
49. Why is it good for the works of art to be kept in public museums?
A.Works of art will not be stolen  
B. Works of art will not be damaged
C. Artists can study the works of art.  
D. Everyone has a chance to enjoy the works of art.
50. According to the passage, which of the following statements is TRUE?
A.  Louvre is always a museum since it was built.
B. All the art treasures in the Louvre have been destroyed in the war.
C.Louvre was once the king’s castle in history.
D. There is still a fort near the Louvre now.

Sports shoes that work out whether their owner has done enough exercise to warrant time in front of the television have been devised in the UK.

The shoes — named Square Eyes — contain an electronic pressure sensor and a tiny computer chip to record how many steps the wearer has taken in a day. A wireless transmitter(傳話器) passes the information to a receiver connected to a television, and this decides how much evening viewing time the wearer deserves, based on the day’s efforts.

The design was inspired by a desire to fight against the rapidly ballooning waistlines among British teenagers, says Gillian Swan, who developed Square Eyes as a final year design project at Brunel University to London, UK. “We looked at current issues and childhood overweight really stood out,” she says. “And I wanted to tackle that with my design.”

Once a child has used up their daily allowance gained through exercise, the television automatically switches off. And further time in front of the TV can only be earned through more steps.

Swan calculated how exercise should translate to television time using the recommended daily amounts of both. Health experts suggest that a child take 12,000 steps each day and watch no more than two hours of television. So, every 100 steps recorded by the Square Eyes shoes equals precisely one minute of TV time.

Existing pedometers （計(jì)步器） normally clip onto a belt or slip into a pocket and keep count of steps by measuring sudden movement. Swan says these can be easily tricked into recording steps through shaking. But her shoe has been built to be harder for lazy teenagers to cheat. “It is possible, but it would be a lot of effort,” she says. “That was one of my main design considerations.”

According to Swan, the purpose of her design project is to ________.

A. keep a record of the steps of the wearer            

B. deal with overweight among teenagers

C. enable children to resist the temptation of TV

D. prevent children from being tricked by TV programs

Which of the following is true of Square Eyes shoes?

A. They regulate a child’s evening TV viewing time.   

B. They determine a child’s daily pocket money.

C. They have raised the hot issue of overweight.

D. They contain information of the receiver.

What is stressed（強(qiáng)調(diào)）by health experts in their suggestion?

A. The exact number of steps to be taken.

B. The precise number of hours spent on TV.

C. The proper amount of daily exercise and TV time.

D. The way of changing steps into TV watching time.

Compared with other similar products, the new design ________.

A. makes it difficult for lazy teenagers to cheat

B. counts the wearer’s steps through shaking

C. records the sudden movement of the wearer

D. sends teenagers’ health data to the receiver

Which of the following would be the best title for the text?

A. Smart Shoes Decide on Television Time       

B. Smart Shoes Guarantee More Exercise

C. Smart Shoes Measure Time of Exercise        

D. Smart Shoes Stop Childhood Overweight

A dam is a man-made structure built across a river. Most dams are built to control a river’s water flow, improve navigation and control flooding. However, some dams are built to produce hydro-electric power.

Hydro-electric power is produced as water passes through a dam, and into a river below. The more water that passes through a dam, the more energy is produced. Once a dam is built, a man-made lake is created behind the dam.

Electricity is produced by a kind of equipment called a turbine(水輪機(jī)). Turbines contain metal coils(線圈) surrounded by magnets(磁鐵). When the magnets move round rapidly over the metal coils, electricity is produced. Turbines are located inside dams. The falling water makes the magnets go around the coils.

Dams provide clean energy, but they can also harm the environment. Species that use rivers to reproduce are often hurt by dams. In the Northwest of the US, the population of fishes has dropped from 16 million to 2.5 million since hydro-electric plants were built on the Columbia River. Dams all over the world have hurt some species. 

  The highest dam in the Unites States is located near Oroville, California. The Oroville Dam towers 230 meters and is more than a mile wide. This dam was built in 1968, 22 years after the Hoover Dam. The Hoover Dam, on the Nevada-Arizona border controls the Colorado river. It is 221 meters high and has 2.6 million hectare-meters of water.

The highest dam in the world is the Nurek Dam on the Vakhsh River in Tadzikistan, a country in central Asia. This dam is 300 meters tall. 

Which of the following statements is NOT true according to the passage?              

A. Some dams are built for controlling a river’s water flow.

B. Hydro-electric power is usually produced through a dam.

C. Dams can offer energy and they are harmless to the environment.

D. Generally speaking, where there is a dam, there is a man-made lake.

The third paragraph mainly tells us _____.       56-60 ADB                    

  A. how hydro-electric power is produced

  B. What a turbine is and how it works 

  C. how the magnets and the metal coils work

  D. how the falling water passes through a turbine                     

The dam which controls the Colorado river is ____.                  

A. the Oroville Dam  B. the Hoover Dam  C. the Nurek Dam  D. the Vakhsh Dam

Hercule Poirot looked over the small gate which gave admission to Pine Crest. It was a modern nicely-built house. It was on a hill top, and the hill top was planted with a few sparse pines. It had a small neat garden and a large elderly man was watering with a big tin.

Spence’s hair was now grey all over. He had not shrunk much in girth（圍長(zhǎng)）, though. He stopped watering and looked at the visitor at the gate. Hercule Poirot stood there without moving.

“God bless my soul,” said Spence. “It must be. It can’t be but it is. Yes, it must be Hercule Poirot!”

“Aha,” said Poirot, “you remember me. I’m grateful.”

Spence abandoned the watering can and came down to the gate.

“What brings you down here?”

“What has brought me to many places in my time,” said Poirot, “and what once a good many years ago brought you to see me. Murder, Spence.”

“I’m done with murder since I retired,” said Spence, “except in the case of weeds. Killing weeds is never easy as you think, something’s always wrong. How did you know where to find me?” he asked as he opened the gate and Poirot passed through.

“You sent me a Christmas card. It had your new address on it.”

“Ah yes, so I did. I’m old-fashioned, you know, I like to send round cards at Christmas time to a few old friends. I’m an old man now.”

“We both are.”

“Not much grey in your hair,” said Spence.

“I take care of my hair with a bottle,” said Poirot. “There is no need to appear in public with grey hair unless you wish to do so. By the way, why have you come to live in Woodleigh Common?”

“As a matter of fact, I came here to join forces with a sister of mine. She lost her husband, her children are married and living abroad. So I moved in here. Pensions（退休金）don’t go far nowadays, but we do comfortably living together.”

1.From their dialogue, we can learn about _______.

A. their common friends?? ????????????? ????????????? ????????????? B. Spence’s sister’s characters

C. their relationship?? ????????????? ????????????? ????????????? ????????????? D. Poirot’s recent life

2.Which statement is TRUE according to the passage?

A. Spence used to deal with murder.??

B. Poirot didn’t care about his appearance.

C. Spence moved to join his sister for lack of money.

D. Poirot came specially to reunite with his old friend.

3.From the passage we can infer that they might _______ next.

A. meet Spence’s family??? ????????????? ????????????? ????????????? B. discuss about a murder

C. visit Spence’s new home????????????? ????????????? ????????????? D. water the garden together?

Mail was usually carried west on ships that sailed around the bottom of South America and then north to California．That could take several months.  

So, in eighteen fifty-seven, D.C．Lawmakers in Congress（國(guó)會(huì)） in Washington wanted to make it possible to send mail all the way across the United States by land．Congress offered to help any company that would try to deliver mail overland to the West Coast. A man named John Butterfield accepted this offer. He developed plans for a company that would carry the mail—and passengers, too.

Congress gave John Butterfield six hundred thousand dollars to start his company. In return, he had to promise that the mail would travel from Saint Louis, Missouri, to San Francisco, California, in twenty-five days or less.

It was not possible to travel straight through because of the Rocky Mountains and the deep snow that fell in winter. So the stagecoach（馬車） would travel south from Saint Louis to El Paso, Texas, then over to southern California, then north to San Francisco. The distance was about four thousand five hundred kilometers.

Two hundred of these stations were built, each about thirty-two kilometers apart. The workers were to quickly change the horses or mules whenever a stagecoach reached the station. There could be no delay. Each stagecoach was to travel nearly two hundred kilometers a day.

One hundred stagecoaches were built and painted red or dark green. They were the most modern coaches that money could buy. They were designed to hold as many as nine passengers and twelve thousand pieces of mail. The seats inside could be folded down to make beds. Passengers either slept on them or on the bags of mail.

The cost would be one hundred fifty dollars to travel from Saint Louis to San Francisco. If a passenger was not going all the way, the cost was about ten cents a kilometer. The passengers had to buy their own food at the stations. The stagecoach would stop for forty minutes, two times a day.

The company warned passengers about the possible dangers. A poster said: “You will be traveling through Indian country and the safety of your person cannot by granted by anyone but God.”

1．What is the passage mainly about?

         A．Different ways of sending mail in the United States.

         B．The difficulty in sending mails across the USA by land.

         C．The first stagecoaches that carried both passengers and mail.

         D．The history of the first stagecoaches carrying mail to the American West.

2．The reason why Lawmakers wanted to send mail by land was that ________.

         A．mail was usually carried west on ships  

B．it was safer to travel to send mail by land

         C．it would take less time to send mail by land

D．stagecoaches could carry passengers and mail

3．As is described in the passage, the stagecoach ________.

         A．could only stop once a day                

B．was modern with seats ,beds and cooking equipment

         C．was a closed wagon operated only by skillful drivers.

         D．had different horses or mules pulled all the way

4．What can we learn from the passage?

         A．John Buttterfield got thousands of dollars for delivering mail in stagecoaches.

         B．John Buttterfield kept his promise to deliver mail straight to the West Coast.

         C．Passengers might be robbed by Indians when traveling through the West.

         D．Passengers needed to pay one hundred dollars for their journey. 

As is known to us all, baths and bathing have long been considered of medical importance to man. In Greece there are the ruins of a water system for baths built over 3,000 years ago. The Romans had warm public baths. In some baths, as many 3,000 persons could bathe at the same time.
Treating disease by taking bathing has been popular for centuries. Modern medical bathing first became popular in Europe and by the late 1700’s has also become popular in the United States.
For many years frequent(經(jīng)常的) bathing was believed to be bad for one’s health. Ordinary bathing just to keep clean was avoided, and perfume was often used to cover up body smells!
By the 1700’s doctors began to say that soap and water were good for health. They believed that it was good for people to be clean. Slowly, people began to bathe more frequently. During the Victorian Age of the late 19th century, taking a bath on Saturday night became common.
In the United States ordinary bathing was slow to become popular. During the 18th and early 19th centuries, many Americans were known as “The Great Unwashed!” In one American city, for example, a person was only allowed to take a bathe every thirty days! That was a law!
Frequency of bathing today is partly a matter of habit. People know that bathing for cleanliness is important to health, Doctors know that dirty bodies increase the chance of diseases. As a result, in the United States, people generally bathe often. Some people bath once a day at least. They consider a daily bath essential (="necessary)" to good health.
【小題1】 A water system for baths was built by _________ over 3,000 years ago.

Baths have long been considered of medical importance to man. In Greece there are the ruins of a water system for baths built over 3,000 years ago. The Romans had warm public baths. In some baths, as many 3,000 persons could bathe at the same time.
Treating disease by taking bathing has been popular for centuries. Modern medical bathing first became popular in Europe and by the late 1700’s has also become popular in the United States.
For many years frequent bathing was believed to be bad for one’s health. Ordinary bathing just to keep clean was avoided, and perfume was often used to cover up body smells!
By the 1700’s doctors began to say that soap and water were good for health. They believed that it was good for people to be clean. Slowly, people began to bathe more frequently. During the Victorian Age of the late 19th century, taking a bath on Saturday night became comon.
In the United States ordinary bathing was slow to become popular. During the 18th and early 19th centuries, many Americans were known as “The Great Unwashed!” In one American city , for example, a person was only allowed to take a bath every thirty days! That was a law!
Frequency of bathing today is partly a matter of habit. People know that bathing for cleanliness is important to health, Doctors know that dirty bodies increase the chance of diseases. As a result, in the United States, people generally bathe often. Some people bathe once a day at least. They consider a daily bath essential to good health.
【小題1】A water system for baths was built by _______ over 3,000 years ago.

Besides containing attractive flowers, trees and other plants that beautify the community, eco-friendly rain gardens are healthy for the environment and the people living and working nearby.

A rain garden is not very different from a traditional garden. It is just a far more eco-friendly garden. Usually it is built lower than the ground. Rain gardens make smart use of rain and storm water by temporarily holding water from rain and storms and letting it soak（浸人）slowly into the ground before it runs into streams or enters the public drinking water supply.

Thus, a rain garden keeps the water, allowing it to be used as needed by plants in the rain garden, rather than flowing immediately into nearby streams and going unused. The water will soak slowly into the ground within a day or two. This creates an advantage that the rain garden does not allow mosquitoes to breed. This is a simple, attractive, and eco-friendly “green” way to treat storm water.

What’s more, planting a rain garden helps reduce pollution and improve the environment. Without using expensive machinery and chemicals, rain gardens remove harmful chemicals in the rainwater and cut down on the amount of pollution reaching streams and rivers by up to 30%.

Native plants are recommended for rain gardens because they are more used to the locals climatem, soil, and water conditions. They may attract local wildlife such as native birds. Water your rain garden immediately after planting and once a week, unless you have had at least an inch of rain during the week. Once the native plants establish the necessary root system, it will require little care.

Often, local governments and private businesses develop large rain gardens in their yards and in public parks as a way to improve the environment and solve flooding problems. However, you don’t need to be a professional environmental engineer to create a rain garden. As long as you’re eco-conscious homeowners, you can help the environment by building smaller rain gardens in your yards.

1.Which of the following is the eco-friendly function of rain gardens discussed in Paragraph 4?

    A．They can keep the rain and storm water.

    B．They can help reduce the pollution problem.

    C．They can be healthy for the people around.

    D．They can make the environment more beautiful.

2.One of the main reasons why native plants are recommended is that            .

    A．they cost less and are much easier to get

    B．they may attract local wildlife to come

    C．they require little care from the local gardeners

    D．they are more used to the local growing conditions

3.What do we know about rain gardens?

    A．They need little water after all the plants are planted.

    B．They usually need at least an inch of rainwater a week.

    C．They may attract local birds and change the locals climate.

    D．They may reduce the water pollution problem by 70%.

4.Who are the intended readers of the passage?

    A．Homeowners.  B．Governors.   C．Engineers,   D．Educators.

Visiting the Embassies of Washington, D．C．
Washington, D．C．is known for its many museums and government buildings．It is also home to embassies（大使館）from more than 170 countries. Many of these buildings around the city have interesting histories. Some embassies are in large historical homes. Others were built more recently to show the building desihgn of their countries. Many embassies hold special cultural（文化）events.
The Embassy of Uzbekistan
It is in a richly decorated（裝修）home built in 1906 by a wealthy banker, Clarence Moore. But Mr Moore did not live to enjoy his house for very long. He died on board the ship Titanic, which sank 1912·This building served as the Canadian Embassy before Uzbekistan bought it in 1996．
The Embassy of Finland
The Italian Embassy is near Massachusetts Avenue. Nearby, the Embassy of Finland looks like it is built out of blocks of glass．Its design is modern，but it fits in nicely with the natural environment around it．A screen of plants covers part of the front of the building．Inside．visitors Can look through large glass windows deep into the wooded areas of Rock Creek Park. The Finnish Embassy holds many interesting exhibits．
The Embassy of France
It is in a gated area off Reservoir Road．The embassy’s cultural center, La Maison Francaise, organizes many cultural events．Also．if you are very lucky, you might be invited to a party at the home of the French ambassador(大使)．This extraordinary home in the Kalorama neighborhood looks like a palace。Organizations like the Washington Opera sometimes hp1d events in this beautiful house。
The International Center
Last month，China opened a new embassy in the area of Washington called the International Center．C．C．Pei and L．C。Pei designed the building．Measuring more than 10．000 square meters，this is One of the biggest embassies in Washington．C．C．Pei said the areas of plants around the embassy were to present people a natural and calming design．
【小題1】Which embassy was once a large historical home?

Sports shoes that work out whether their owner has done enough exercise to warrant time in front of the television have been devised in the UK.

The shoes- named Square Eyes- contain an electronic pressure sensor and a tiny computer chip to record how many steps the wearer has taken in a day. A wireless transmitter passes the information to a receiver connected to a television, and this decides how much evening viewing time the wearer deserves, based on the day’s efforts.

The design was inspired by a desire to fight against the rapidly ballooning waistlines among British teenagers, says Gillian Swan, who developed Square Eyes as a final year design project at Brunel University in London, UK. “We looked at current issues and childhood overweight really stood out,” she says. “And I wanted to tackle that with my design.”

Once a child has used up their daily allowance gained through exercise, the television automatically switches off. And further time in front of the TV can only be earned through more steps.

Swan calculated how exercise should translate to television time using the recommended daily amounts of both. Health experts suggest that a child take 12,000 steps each day and watch no more than two hours of television. So, every 100 steps recorded by the Square Eyes shoes equals precisely one minute of TV time.

Existing pedometers(計(jì)步器) normally clip onto a belt or slip into a pocket and keep count of steps by measuring sudden movement. Swan says these can be easily tricked into recording steps through shaking. But her shoe has been built to be harder for lazy teenagers to cheat. “It is possible, but it would be a lot of effort,” she says. “That was one of my main design considerations.”

According to Swan, the purpose of her design project is to _____.

A. keep a record of the steps of the wearer.

B. deal with overweight among teenagers.

C. enable children to resist the temptation of TV.

D. prevent children from being tricked by TV programs.

Which of the following is true of Square Eyes shoes?

A. They regulate a child’s evening TV viewing time.

B. They determine a child’s daily pocket money.

C. They have raised the hot issue of overweight.

D. They contain information of the receiver.

What is stressed by health experts in their suggestion?

A. The exact number of steps to be taken.

B. The precise number of hours spent on TV.

C. The proper amount of daily exercise and TV time.

D. The way of changing steps into TV watching time.

Compared with other similar products, the new design ___.

A. make it difficult for lazy teenagers to cheat.

B. counts the wearer’s steps through shaking.

C. records the sudden movement of the wearer.

D. sends teenagers’ health data to the receiver.

Which of the following would be the best title for the text?

A. Smart Shoes Decide on Television Time

B. Smart Shoes Guarantee More Exercise

C. Smart Shoes Measure Time of Exercise

D. Smart Shoes Stop Childhood Overweight

Sports shoes that workout whether their owner has enough exercise to warrant(許可) time in front of the television have been invented in the UK.

The shoes — named Square Eyes — contain an electronic pressure sensor and a tiny computer chip to record how many steps the wearer has taken in a day. A wireless transmitter passes the information to a receiver connected to a television, and this decides how much evening viewing time the wearer deserves, based on the day’s efforts.

The design was inspired by a desire to fight against the rapidly ballooning waistlines among British teenagers, says Gillian Swan, who developed Square Eyes as a final year design project at Brunel University to London, UK. “We looked at current issues and childhood overweight really stood out,” she says. “And wanted to solve that with my design.”

Once a child has used up their daily allowance gained through exercise, the television automatically switches off. And further time in front of the TV can only be earned through more steps.

Swan calculated how exercise should translate to television time using the recommended daily amounts of both. Health experts suggest that a child take 12,000 steps each day and watch no more than two hours of television. So, every 100 steps recorded by the Square Eyes shoes equals precisely one minute of TV time.

Existing pedometers (計(jì)步器) normally clip onto a belt or slip into a pocket and keep count of steps by measuring sudden movement. Swan says these can be easily tricked into (誘騙,欺騙)recording steps through shaking. But her shoe has been built to be harder for lazy teenagers to cheat. “It is possible, but it would be a lot of effort,” she says. “That was one of my main design considerations.”

1．According to Swan, the purpose of her design project is to ________.

A．keep a record of the steps of the wearer 

B．deal with overweight among teenagers

C．enable children to resist the temptation of TV

D．prevent children from being tricked by TV programs

2．Which of the following is true of Square Eyes shoes?

A．They regulate(控制) a child’s evening TV viewing time.

B．They determine a child’s daily pocket money.

C．They have raised the hot issue of overweight.

D．They contain information of the receiver.

3．What is stressed by health experts in their suggestion?

A．The exact number of steps to be taken.

B．The precise number of hours spent on TV.

C．The proper amount of daily exercise and TV time.

D．The way of changing steps into TV watching time.

4．Compared with other similar products, the new design ________.

A．makes it difficult for lazy teenagers to cheat

B．counts the wearer’s steps through shaking

C．records the sudden movement of the wearer

D．sends teenagers’ health data to the receiver

5．Which of the following would be the best title for the text?

A．Smart Shoes Decide on Television Time

B．Smart Shoes Guarantee (擔(dān)保,保證)More Exercise

C．Smart Shoes Measure Time of Exercise

D．Smart Shoes Stop Childhood Overweight

Dorothea Shaw is 71 years old and nearly blind, and she chose to live alone far away from people. She lives in Belize — a county the size of Wales with a population only that of Swansea. Her home is at Gales Point, a tiny village which can be reached only by sea or air; after a 10-mile walk into the hills one finally reaches a piece of land and two small houses so hidden in the thick over-grown forest that only a handful of people know Dorothea is there.

She lives happily and totally alone – growing her vegetables, looking after her trees and dogs, cats and chickens. Once a month or so an old friend passes by with her food supplies and letters-usually including a letter from her sister in Scunthorpe and some bits of clothing from friends in Canada. Sometimes a local man will come and cut wood for her and a group of British soldiers will come across her and be greeted with the offer of a cup of coffee.

At night she lies in her tiny sleeping room with the dogs on the floor, the cats on the table near the typewriter and one of the hens settled down in a corner of the bookshelf, and listens for hours to any Spanish, English, German or French broadcasts she can find on her radio. Sometimes she gets lonely but most of the time the animals and the radio are company enough.

But recently the very things that she had tried to get free from so well have begun to catch up with her. The peace of the forest has been destroyed by the noise of earth-moving machines not many miles away. What she once only heard of distantly on the radio is now on her doorstep. Things began to change three years ago. The new main north-south road in Belize was cut through the forest only four or five miles away. “Now more people know I’m here.” She says. “I feel more and more uneasy each day.”

Dorothea’s small houses ________.   

A. are entirely surrounded by trees   

B. have always been her home

C. were built for just a few people   

D. are in a county with the same population as Wales

Dorothea lives in the tiny village because ________.

A. she doesn’t like living near people    B. she is too old to move

C. machines destroyed her home        D. there’s nowhere else for her to live

Dorothea doesn’t get lonely since she has _______ with her.

A. her sister   B. some animals     C. friends from Canada    D. a postman

Dorothea spends a lot of time __________.

A. growing all the food she needs         B. cutting down trees

C. listening to the radio                 D. studying languages