A very important world problem—in fact, I tend to say it is the most important of all the great world problems which face us at present time—is the rapidly increasing pressure of population on land and on land resources.

     It is not so much the actual population of the world but its rate of increase, which is the most important. It works out to be about 1.6 percent net annual increase. In terms of numbers this means something like 40 to 55 million additional people every year. Canada has a population of 20 million, rather less 6 months’ climb in world population. And there are 10 million people in Australia. So, it takes the world less than three months to add to itself a population, a population of that vast country.  Let us come to our own crowded country—England and Wales; 45—50 million people—just about a year's supply. By this time tomorrow, and every day, there will be added to the earth about 120,000 extra people—just about the population of the city of York.

     I am not talking about birthrate. This is net increase.  To give you some idea of birthrate, look at the second hand of your watch. Every second three babies are born somewhere in the world. Another baby! Another baby! Another baby! You cannot speak quickly enough to keep pace with the birthrate.

        This enormous increase of population will create immense problems. By 2010 A. D. unless something desperate happens, there will be as many as 7,000,000,000 people on the surface of this earth! So this is a problem which you are going to see in your lifetime.

1. The topic for the passage is           .

   A. The Lack of Land Resources                 B. Population Explosion    

C. Your Lifetime                             D. The Birthrate

2. According to the author,          is the most important for population pressure.

   A. the net increase rate                       B. the birthrate

   C. the enormous amount of world population     D. the population explosion in Australia

3. It can be learned from Paragraph 2 that        _.

   A. in more than 6 months, to the world population 20 million will be added

   B. three months later, to the population in the world 10 million will be added    

C. in less than three months, to the world population 10 million will be added    

D. one year later, the population of England and Wales will be doubled

4. Which of the following is TRUE?

   A. After 24 hours, 120 thousand babies were born.    

B. The birthrate is 180 babies every minute.

   C. During a year, about 45 million people are born.

   D. After a day, York will have 120,000 extra people.

5. "...something desperate happens" in the last paragraph can be best replaced by       .

A. the world wars break out

B. people are in despair

C. birth control policy is adopted

D. people realize the seriousness of the population problem

Colleges are starting to wake up to how sleep deprivation(剝奪) cuts into the academic and athletic performance of their students. All-nighters have become a habit in higher education, but a handful of small new studies help document the consequences.    

A study at St. Lawrence University in Canton, N. Y., showed what may seem obvious to most: All-nighters are not an effective way to succeed in school

     "You can't do your best work when you’re sleep-deprived," says psychology professor Pamela Thacher, who wrote the study. Thacher studied the sleeping patterns and grades of 111 students to see the relationship between sleep and their GPAs.

     Two-thirds of the students reported that they had pulled at least one all-nighter during a semester. Many students believe that it's a "rite of passage" (標(biāo)志) to stay up all night during college and that "ifs kind of fun," Thacher says.

     But "if you use all-nighters, your GPA is slightly lower on average," Thacher says. "Pulling all-nighters gives in your (overall) sleep" and makes it difficult to reach full academic potential.

      Short-term side effects of sleep deprivation include delayed reactions and tendencies to make mistakes.

      A Stanford University study may help persuade at least student athletes to make more time for bed. Cheri Mah, a graduate researcher at Stanford, worked with six bas ketball players, who all ran faster and made more shots over a period in which they slept at least 10 hours a night.

      "Athletes who get an extra amount of sleep are more likely to improve their performance in a game," says Mah, who released results from an ongoing study in June. "It's not common knowledge, because if people understood how much of a difference (getting more sleep) could make athletically," they'd apply it more to their lives and not focus solely on nutrition and exercise.

1. According to the study at St. Lawrence University,

   A. one can reach his potential by staying up late

B. it takes one all night to recite a passage

   C. the less one sleeps, the more effective his work is

   D. all-nighters affect one's academic performance

2. The underlined word "document" in the first paragraph probably means_      _.

    A. prove        B. check        C. oppose        D. improve

3. Which of the following statements is true?

A. All-nighters are a short-cut to success in school   

B. All-nighters can make one’s GPAs much higher.   

C. Staying up late tends to react slowly and make mistakes.

    D. The study may help persuade all students to sleep wall.

4. According to Cheri Mah,              .

   A. athletes improve their performance only by means of nutrition and exercise  

B. it is known to all that those who get extra sleep perform better

   C. people don't understand getting more sleep can make a difference  

D. athletes should sleep as much as possible to run faster

5. What is this passage mainly concerned about?

    A. A study on all-nighters at St. Lawrence University.

B. Collage students’ performance suffering from lack of sleep.   

C Short-term side effects of sleep deprivation.

    D. A Stanford University study on athletes’ sleep.

     Last year, on report card day, my son and a bunch of his 13-year-old friends piled into the back seat of my ear, ready for the last-day-of-school party at McDonalds "Jack got a laptop for getting straight A's, and Laurie got a cellphone," one boy said. "Oh, yeah, and Sarah got an iPod Nano, and she's only in third grade,” said another. "And how about Brian? He got $10 for each A."

     I suddenly became concerned. These payoffs might get parents through grammar school, but what about high school and beyond? What would be left sites the electric guitar, the cellphone, and the portable DVD player?

    I saw the road ahead: As the homework load increased, my income would decrease. I saw my comfortable lifestyle vanish before my eyes -- no more of those $ 5 bags of already-peeled organic carrots. No more organic anything]

     I started to feel surprised and nervous. Would every goal attained by my two children fetch a reward? A high grade point average? A good class ranking? Would sports achievements be included in this reward system: soccer goals, touchdowns, runs-batted- in? What about orchestra? Would first chair pay more than second? I'd be penniless by eighth-grade graduation.

     "We never paid anything for good grades," said my neighbor across the street, whose son was recently accepted at MIT. "He just did it on his own. Maybe once in a while we went out for pizza, but that's about it."

     Don't you just hate that? We're all running around looking for the MP3 player with the most updates, and she’s spending a few dollars on pizza. She gets motivation; we get negotiation.

1. The sentence "As the homework load increased, my income would decrease." in the third paragraph probably means             .

    A. taking care of the children would influence my work

B. I would spend more money on my children's homework   

C reducing children's homework load would cost me a lot   

D. more rewards would be needed ~s the children grew up

2. We can tell from the passage that the author's son was in               .

    A. primary school

B. junior middle school

C. high school

    D. university

3. It can be inferred from the passage that __.

A. if you pay the children for good grades, they would rake it for granted  

B. if you buy children pizza for good grades, they would work harder

C. children would not ask for rewards when they enter high school   

D. children would not ask for rewards when they enter university

4. The example of the author’s neighbor shows that         .

    A. pizza is the best way to motivate children

B. reward is not the only way to motivate children   

C. the auto’s neighbor was very poor

    D. the author’s neighbor’s son didn’t like reward

5. What is the author’s attitude toward paying children reward for good grades?

    A. Favorable      B. Ambiguous      C. Disagreeable      D. Unknowable

     Soccer is played by millions of people all over the world, but there have only been few players who were truly great. How did these players get that way--was it through practice, or are great players "horn, not made"? First, these players come from places that have had famous stars in the past-players that a young boy can look up to and try to imitate In the history of soccer, only six countries have ever won the World Cup— three from South America and three from Western Europe, ___________________—or a really great player-from North America or from Asia Second, these players have all had years of practice in the game. Alfredo Di Stefano was the son of a soccer player, as was Pele. Most players began playing the game at the age of three or four.

     Finally, many great players come from the same kind of neighborhood-- a poor crowded area where a boy's dream is not to be a doctor, lawyer, or businessman, but to become a rich, famous athlete or entertainer. For example, Liverpool, which produced the Beetle, has one of the best English soccer teams in recent years. Pele practiced in the street with a "ball" made of rags And George Best learned the tricks that made him famous by bouncing the ball off a wall in the slums of Belfast.

     All great players have a lot in common, but that doesn't explain why they are great Hundreds of boys played in those Brazilian streets, but only one became Pele. The great test players are born with some unique quality that sets them apart from all the others.

1. What is the man idea of the passage? (Please answer within 10 words.)

2. Which sentence in the passage can be replaced by the following one?

  Generally, where there are great respectable soccer players, such players will come into being.

3. Please fill in the blank in the first paragraph with proper words or sentence to complete the sentence. (Please answer within 10 words.)

4. To be a great soccer player, he needs some qualities. What quality do you think is the most important? (Please answer within 30 words.)

5. Translate the underlined sentence in the third paragraph into Chinese.

  據(jù)新華網(wǎng)消息，針對目前學(xué)生健康狀況．“全國億萬青少年學(xué)生陽光體育運動”4月日上午全面啟動。目的就是要通過這項活動，促進(jìn)各級各類學(xué)校形成濃郁的校園體育煉氛圍。

    1．請你就以上新聞發(fā)表自己的看法；

2．不要逐條翻譯，字?jǐn)?shù)在120-150之間。

More and more young people are fond ___ playing tennis nowadays.

A. on                    B. to                            C. in                            D. of

You know he is not going to let us leave early if we ___ get the work done.

A. can't                B. may not                   C. shouldn't                 D. mustn't

Both sides have accused of breaking the contract ___.

A. another             B. the other                  C. neither                     D. each

We ___ our new neighbors yet, so we don't know their names.

A. don't meet               B. won't meet               C. haven't met              D. hadn't met

The parents suggested ___ in the hotel room but their kids were anxious to camp out during the trip.

A. sleep                B. to sleep                    C. sleeping                   D. having slept