The north magnetic pole (磁極) is no longer a resident of Canada. It has drifted across the Canadian Arctic and is now angling toward Siberia.

   Not to be confused with the geographic North Pole―the northern extremity of the Earth’s axis（地軸），the north magnetic pole (where the Earth’s magnetic field is directed downward) is moving due to natural changes in the Earth’s magnetic field, a process that originates about 3, 000 kilometers below our feet, in the outer core（核心）of the planet. But scientists are now noticing that the magnetic pole has picked up its pace.

   Over the past century, the pole has been migrating at an average speed of about 10 kilometers per year, says Larry Newitt, head of Geomagnetic Laboratory at Natural Resources Canada in Ottawa. Since the 1970s, this speed has increased to about 50 kilometers per year.

   Scientists are wondering why the speed is increasing, says Newitt. One Hypothesis (假說(shuō)) relates it to “magnetic jerks”, sudden shifts (變化) in the rate of change of the magnetic field. There have been three jerks in the past four decades, each one correlating to an increase in speed.

   If the north magnetic pole continues at its current rate, it could reach Siberia by 2056.

   “For most of recorded history, the pole has been a part of Canada, and now it’s not,” says Newitt. “It may be a blow to our collective psyche, but other than that, it doesn’t have a major effect on most people’s existence.

73. Find in the passage a word closest in meaning to the underlined word “angling”.

74. What could happen to the north magnetic pole by the middle of the 21 century? (回答詞數(shù)不超過(guò)8個(gè))

75. What is the main idea of the passage? （回答詞數(shù)不超過(guò)8個(gè)）

   One of our biggest fears nowadays is that our kids might some day get lost in a “sea of technology” rather than experiencing the natural world. Fear-producing TV and computer games are leading to a serious disconnect between kids and the great outdoors, which will changes the wild places of the world, its creatures and human health for the worse, unless adults get working on child’s play.

   Each of us has a place in nature we go sometimes, even if it was torn down. We cannot be the last generation to have that place. At this rate, kids who miss the sense of wonder outdoors will not grow up to be protectors of natural landscapes. “If the decline in parks use continues across North America, who will defend parks against encroachment (蠶食)?” asks Richard Louv, author of Last Child in the Woods.

   Without having a nature experience, kids, can turn out just fine, but they are missing out a huge enrichment of their lives. That applies to everything from their physical health and mental health, to stress levels, creativity and cognitive (認(rèn)知的) skills. Experts predict modern kids will have poorer health than their parents―and they say a lack of outside play is surely part of it; research suggests that kids do better academically in schools with a nature component and that play in nature fosters (培養(yǎng)) leadership by the smartest, not by the toughest. Even a tiny outdoor experience can create wonder in a child. The three-year-old turning over his first rock realizes he is not alone in the world. A clump of trees on the roadside can be the whole universe in his eyes. We really need to value that more.

   Kids are not to blame. They are over-protected and frightened. It is dangerous out there from time to time, but repetitive stress from computers is replacing breaking an arm as a childhood rite（儀式）of passage.

   Everyone, from developers, to schools and outdoorsy citizens, should help regain for our kids some of the freedom and joy of exploring, taking friendship in fields and woods that cement (增強(qiáng)) love, respect and need for landscape. As parents, we should devote some of our energies to taking our kids into nature. This could yet be our greatest cause.

69. The main idea of Paragraph 2 is that __________.

   A. kids missing the sense of wonder outdoors       

B. parks are in danger of being gradually encroached

C. Richard Louv is the author of Last Child in the Woods

D. children are expected to develop into protectors of nature

70. According to the passage, children without experiencing nature will _________.

   A. keep a high sense of wonder                 B. be over-protected by their parents

   C. be less healthy both physically and mentally

   D. change wild places and creatures for the better

71. According to the author, children’s breaking an arm is ___________.

   A. the fault on the part of their parents          B. the natural experience in their growing up

   C. the result of their own carelessness in play    D. the effect of their repetitive stress from computers

72. In writing this passage, the author mainly intends to ________.

   A. blame children for getting lost in computer games

   B. encourage children to protect parks from encroachment

   C. show his concern about children’s lack of experience in nature

   D. inspire children to keep the sense of wonder about things around

   Photos that you might have found down the back of your sofa are now big business!

   In 2005, the American artist Richard Prince’s photograph of a photograph, Untitled (Cowboy), was sold for $ 1, 248, 000.

   Prince is certainly not the only contemporary artist to have worked with so-called “found photographs”―a loose term given to everything from discarded(丟棄的) prints discovered in a junk shop to old advertisements or amateur photographs from a stranger’s family album. The German artist Joachim Schmid, who believes “basically everything is worth looking at”, has gathered discarded photographs, postcards and newspaper images since 1982. In his on-going project, Archiv, he groups photographs of family life according to themes: people with dogs; teams; new cars; dinner with the family; and so on.

   Like Schmid, the editors of several self-published art magazines also champion (捍衛(wèi)) found photographs. One of them, called simply Found, was born one snowy night in Chicago, when Davy Rothbard returned to his car to find under his wiper(雨刷) an angry note intended for someone else: “Why’s your car HERE at HER place?” The note became the starting point for Rothbard’s addictive publication, which features found photographs sent in by readers, such a poster discovered in our drawer.

   The whole found-photograph phenomenon has raised some questions. Perhaps one of the most difficult is: can these images really be considered as art? And if so, whose art? Yet found photographs produced by artists, such Richard Prince, may riding his horse hurriedly to meet someone? Or how did Prince create this photograph? It’s anyone’s guess. In addition, as we imagine the back-story to the people in the found photographs artists, like Schmid, have collated (整理), we also turn toward our own photographic albums. Why is memory so important to us? Why do we all seek to freeze in time the faces of our children, our parents, our lovers, and ourselves? Will they mean anything to anyone after we’ve gone?

   In the absence of established facts, the vast collections of found photographs give our minds an opportunity to wander freely. That, above all, is why they are so fascinating.

64. The first paragraph of the passage is used to _________.

   A. remind readers of found photographs             B. advise reader to start a new kind of business

   C. ask readers to find photographs behind sofa        D. show readers the value of found photographs

65. According to the passage, Joachim Schmid _________.

   A. is fond of collecting family life photographs       B. found a complaining not under his car wiper

   C. is working for several self-published magazines    

   D. wondered at the artistic nature of found photographs

66. The underlined word “them” in Para 4 refers to __________.

   A. the readers              B. the editors          

C. the found photographs     D. the self-published magazines

67. By asking a series of questions in Para 5, the author mainly intends to indicate that ________.

   A. memory of the past is very important to people

   B. found photographs allow people to think freely

   C. the back-story of found photographs is puzzling

   D. the real value of found photographs is questionable

68. The author’s attitude towards found photographs can be described as _________.

   A. critical         B. doubtful           C. optimistic         D. satisfied

60. According to the message board, Orion Books ___________.

 A. opposes the reading of original classics       B. is embarrassed for cutting down classics

 C. thinks cut-down classics have a bright future      D. is cautions in its decision to cut down classics

61. In Mr. Edwards’ opinion, Orion Group is shortening classics to _________.

   A. make them easier to read                    B. meet a large demand in the market

   C. increase the sales of literary books             D. compete with their original versions

62. By describing the shortened classics as “a breath of fresh air”, Ms. Weir ________.

   A. speaks highly of the cut-down classics           B. shows her love for original classics

   C. feels guilty of not reading the classics           D. disapprove of shortening the classics

63. Mr. Crockatt seems to imply that _________.

   A. reading the classic works is a confusing attempt

   B. shortening the classics does harm to the original

   C. publishing the cut-down classics is a difficult job

   D. editing the classic works satisfies children’s needs

   In June, 2007, a group of students from eight high schools in Winnipeg, the capital of Canada’s Manitoba province, will begin test-launching (試發(fā)射) a satellite the size of a Rubik’s cube.

   The one-kilogram Win-Cub satellite, named for its home city and its shape, will be put into low orbit. Once in space, it can perform for a few months or up to several years, communicating information that could help find the signs of earthquakes.

   There are 80 similar satellite projects worldwide, but this is the first high-school based program of its kind in Canada. 30 Manitoba high school students are having a hand in designing and building the satellite, in cooperation with aerospace (航空航天的) experts and 10 students from the University of Manitoba, and with support from two other organizations.

   The Win-Cube project is not something that goes on a piece of paper; it is real-world engineering, allowing high school students to have an opportunity to learn more about the exciting world of engineering through their participation in this challenging program. It is also taken as a wonderful example of the unique partnerships within Manitoba. Designing, building and launching a satellite with high-school participation will bring this world-class educational project into reality and Manitoba closer to space.

   “These Manitoba high school students deserve congratulations for their enthusiasm, innovation (創(chuàng)新), and a strong love for discovery,” said Education, Citizenship and Youth Minister Peter Bjomson. “We want to make science more relevant (相關(guān)的), interesting and attractive to high school students by showing them how classroom studies can relate to practical experience in the workplace or, in this case, in space,” Bjomson added.

   The Win-Cube program is mainly named at inspiring a strong desire for discovery on the part of the students. It also shows Manitoba’s devotion to research and innovation and the development of a skilled workforce―all important drivers of knowledge-based economic growth.

56. According to the passage, the Win-Cube satellite is _________.

   A. named after Manitoba and its shape                B. intended for international communication

   C. designed like a Rubik’s cube both in shape and size

   D. challenged by university students around the world

57. According to Mr. Bjomson, ___________.

   A. those Manitoba high school students are worth praising

   B. the study of space can be practically made in classrooms

   C. Manitoba high schools are famous for the study of space

   D. scientific research is too far away from high school students

58. The primary purpose of the project is to _________.

   A. find the early signs of earthquakes             B. relate studies to practical

   C. help high school students study real-world engineering

   D. inspire a strong desire for discovery among the students

59. The best title for this passage may be ________.

   A. Manitoba School        B. Win-Cube Program         

C. Space Co-operation      D. Satellite Launching

   When I was young, my parents ran a snack bar in our small town.

   One evening in early April, my mother told me to fill in at the snack bar   36   a worker who had the flu. I told her I would mess it up,   37   I had never worked at the bar before. I   38   that instead of making money, I would end up owing it.

   “You can do it,” said my mother, “  39  , you won’t get much business until lunch.”

   “But I’ll never remember the orders, and I’m no good   40   money. Please, Mom, don’t   41   me.

   “Then I’ll help you,” she said.

   I shrugged my shoulders. I thought my mother’s   42   was a bad one, but I   43  .

   When I got to the bar the next day, I found my mother was   44  . Because the weather that day was rainy and cold, people wanted hot snacks and drinks.   45  , I was really slow at taking the orders and making change. The line of people grew, and everybody seemed   46  , I was so nervous that my hands shook, and I   47   a cup into pieces. What a mess! Then my mother came to   48   me, and she also showed me how to make   49  . If someone gave me $ 5 for something that cost $ 3.25, I handed over

  50   quarters and a dollar and said, “75 cents makes four dollars, plus one dollar makes five.” Things went more   51   after that.

   By the end of the day, I could remember orders,   52   the bill, and make change quickly with a smile. I was even a little   53   when the sun came out and dried up business. My mother said she was proud of me, and when she   54   that I work at the snack bar again next year, I did not even shrug. I was too busy

  55   the restaurant I would open one day.

 There is an old proverb, “Love me, love my dog.” But there is _________ wisdom in this: “Love me, love my book.”

   A. some           B. much            C. more             D. most

 “Things _________ never come again!” I couldn’t help talking to myself.

   A. lost             B. losing             C. to lose           D. have lost

Most birds find it safe to sleep in the trees, but ________ they have eggs or young chicks, they don’t use a nest.

   A. why            B. how            C. unless          D. where

By serving others, a person focuses on someone other than himself or herself, ___________ can be very eye-opening and rewarding.

   A. who            B. which           C. what             D. that