Taiwan police cannot decide whether to treat it as an extremely clever act of stealing or an even cleverer cheat (詐騙). Either way , it could be the perfect crime (犯罪), because the criminals are birds-horning pigeons !

The crime begins with a telephone message to the owner of a stolen car : if you want the car back, pay up. Then, the car owner is directed to a park, told where to find a bird cage and how to attach money to the neck of the pigeon inside . Carrying the money in a tiny bag , the pigeon flies off .

There have been at least four such pigeon pick-ups in Changwa. What at first seemed like the work of a clever stay-at-home car thief, however , may in face be the work of an even lazier and more inventive criminal mind-one that avoid (避免)not only colleting money but going out to steal the car in the first place . Police officer Chen says that the criminal probably has pulled a double trick: he gets money for things he cannot possibly return . Instead of stealing cars , he lets someone else do it and then waits for the car-owner to place an ad (啟事) in the newspaper asking for help .

The theory is supported by the fact that , so far , none of the stolen cars have been returned . Also, the amount of money demanded-under 3,000 Taiwanese dollars -seems too little for a car worth many times more .

Demands for pigeon-delivered money stopped as soon as the press reported the story. And even if they start again, Chen holds little hope of catching the criminal . “We have more important things to do, ” he said .

1．After the car owner received a phone call. He          

       A．went to a certain pigeon and put some money in the bag it carried

       B．gave the money to the thief and had his car back in a park

       C．sent some money to the thief by mail

       D．told the press about it

2．The “l(fā)azier and more inventive” criminal refers to          .

  A．the car thief who stays at home                   B．one of those who put the ads in the paper

  C．one of the policemen in Changwa                D．the owner of the pigeons

3．The writer mentions the fact that “none of the stolen cars have been returned” to show       .

  A．how easily people get fooled by criminals

  B．what Chen thinks might be correct

  C．the thief is extremely clever

  D．the money paid is too little

4．The underlined word “they” in the last paragraph refers to          .

A．criminals              B．pigeons                C．the stolen cars    D．demands for money

5．We may infer from the text that the criminal knows how to reach the car owners because     .

  A．he reads the ads in the newspaper      B．he lives in the same neighborhood

  C．he has seen the car owners in the park   D．he has trained the pigeons to follow them

You might think that “global warming” means nothing more than a rise in the world’s temperature But rising sea levels caused by it have resulted in the first evacuation（撤離）of an island nation-the citizens of Tuvalu will have to leave their homeland.

During the 20th century ,sea level rose 8-12 inches. As a result .Tuvalu has experienced lowland flooding of salt water which has polluted the country’s drinking water.

Paani Laupepa , a Tuvaluan government official ,reported to the Earth Policy Institute that the nation suffered an unusually high number of fierce storms in the past ten years .Many scientists connect higher surface water temperatures resulting from global warming to greater and more damaging storms.

Laupepa expressed dissatisfaction with the United States for refusing to sign the Kyoto Protocol, an international agreement calling for industrialized nations to reduce their greenhouse gas emissions（導(dǎo)致溫室效應(yīng)的氣體排放）,which are a main cause of global warming . “By refusing to sign the agreement ,the US has effectively taken away the freedom of future generations of Tuvaluans to live where their forefathers have lived for thousands of years,” Laupepa told the BBC.

Tuvalu has asked Australia and New Zealand to allow the gradual move of its people to both countries .

Tuvalu is not the only country that is vulnerable （易受影響的）to rising sea levels .Maumoon Gayoon ,president of the Maldives ,told the United Nations that global warming has made his country of 311,000 an “endangered nation”.

1．The text is mainly about           .

A．rapid changes in earth’s temperature   B．bad effects of global warming

C．moving of a country to a new place    D．reasons for lowland flooding

2．According to scientists ,the DIRECT cause of more and fiercer storms is           .

A．greenhouse gas emissions in industrialized nations

B．higher surface water temperatures of the sea

C．continuous global warming                         

D．rising sea levels

3．Laupepa was not satisfied with the United States because it did not        .

A．a(chǎn)gree to reduce its greenhouse gas emissions

B．sign an agreement with Tuvalu

C．a(chǎn)llow Tuvaluans to move to the US

D．believe the problems facing Tuvalu were real

4．The country whose situation is similar to that of Tuvalu is          .

A．Australia                    B．New Zealand        C．the Maldives        D．the United States

Last year my sixth-grader daughter ,Elizabeth ,was forced to put up with science .Her education ,week after week ,contained mindless memorization of big words like “batholith” and “saprophyte” She learned by heart the achievements of famous scientists who did things like “improved nuclear fusion（核聚變） “-never mind that she hasn’t the least idea of what nuclear fusion means .Eliza-beth did very well (she’s good at memorizing things ). And now she hates science .My eighth-grad-er son ,Ben ,also suffered from science education . Week after week he had to perform lab experiments with answers already known .Ben figured out how to guess the right answers ,so he got good grades .Now he hates science ,too.

       Science can provide an exciting way to develop children’s curiosity .Science education should teach ways to ask questions and seek answers .But my children got the mistaken idea in school than science is difficult dull and has no relation to their everyday interests .

       As a physicist ,I am saddened and angered to see “the great science turnoff” I know that science is important in our lives .Yet studies prove that our schools are turning out millions of graduates who know almost nothing about and have almost no interest in science .What’s gone wrong ?Who is to blame ?

1．We learn from paragraph 1 that           .

A．the writer was proud of Elizabeth and Ben

B．both Elizabeth and Ben could become scientists

C．Elizabeth had to learn much about great scientists

D．Ben was good at trying new ideas in lab experiments

2．The writer thinks that in science education we should first        .

A．get students interested in the subject

B．a(chǎn)nswer students’ questions in delightful ways.

C．smooth out difficulties in lab experiments

D．explain the special terms clearly

3．By writing the text ,the author questions          .

A．the difficulty level of the science texts  B．the way science is taught in school

C．the achievements of famous scientists  D．students’ poor records in science classes

根據(jù)下列句子及所給漢語注釋，在句子右邊的橫線上寫出空缺處各單詞的正確形式。（每空只寫一詞）

⑴When the queen is at home ,the flag would be raised on top of her     （宮殿）

⑵The two friends          （分享）all that they had when they were studying abroad.

⑶Few students in my class can           （付得起）a trip to New Zealand .       

⑷Oliver was unable to give police a          （描述）of his attacker .                                      

⑸You will be better accepted if you can speak more        （自然地）in public.       

⑹The little girl got         （分開）from the group in the dark.      

⑺The day after          （圣誕節(jié)）is called Boxing Day.              

⑻Attention please ,the game will begin          （立刻）.             

⑼They finished          （測(cè)量）that piece of land last week.       

⑽The international          （煙草）industry is making a lot of money from the developing countries                                          

_________, the more expensive the camera, the better its quality.

A．General speaking                    B．Speaking general       

C．Generally speaking                  D．Speaking generally

Listen to the two girls by the window. What language ___________?

A．did they speak                   B．were they speaking         

C．a(chǎn)re they speaking                        D．have they been speaking

Before building a house, you will have to _________ the government’s permission.

A．get from      B．follow        C．receive        D．a(chǎn)sk for

John, look at the time. ___________ you play the piano at such a late hour?

A．Must     B．Can      C．May       D．Need

－Is your headache getting_____________?       

－No, it’s worse.

A．better    B．bad      C．less     D．well

I always take something to read when I go to the doctor’s __________ I have to wait.

A．in case         B．so that         C．in order       D．a(chǎn)s if