Easter(復活節(jié)    ) is still a great day for worship, randy in baskets and running around the yard finding eggs, but every year it gets quite a bit worse for bunnies.

And no, not because the kids like to pull their ears. The culprit is climate change, and some researchers found that rising temperatures are having harmful effects on at least five species of rabbit in the US.

Take the Lower Keys March rabbit, for instance. An endangered species that lives in the Lower Florida Keys, this species of cottontail is a great swimmer — it lives on the islands! — but it is already severely affected by development and now by rising levels. According to the Center for Biological Diversity, an ocean level rise of only 0. 6 meters will send these guys jumping to higher ground and a 0.9-meter rise would wipe out their habitat (棲息地) completely.

The snowshoe hare, on the other hand, has a color issue. Most of these rabbits change their fur color from white in the wintertime to brown in the summer, each designed to give them better cover from predators（捕食者）.As the number of days with snow decreases all across the country, however, more and more bunnies arc being left in white fur during brown dirt days of both fall and spring, making them an easier mark for predators. Researchers know that the color change is controlled by the number of hours of sunlight, but whether the rabbit will be able to adapt quick enough to survive is a big question. The National Wildlife Federation has reported that hunters have noticed their numbers are already markedly down.

American pikas or rock rabbits, a relative of rabbits and hares, might be the firs' of these species to go extinct due to climate change. About 7-8 inches long, pikas live high in the cool, damp mountains west of the Rocky Mountains. As global temperatures rise, they would naturally migrate (遷徙) to higher ground — but they already occupy the mountaintops. They can't go any higher. The National Wildlife Federation reports that they might not be able to stand the new temperatures as their habitat beats up.

The volcano rabbit has the same problem. These rabbits live on the slopes of volcanoes in Mexico, and recent studies have shown that the lower range of their habitat has already shifted upward about 700 meters, but there are not suitable plants for them to move higher, so they are stuck in the middle. Scientists are concerned about their populations.

Native to the US, pygmy rabbits weigh less than 1 pound and live in the American West. They are believed to be the smallest rabbits in the world. Their habitats have been destroyed by development. Several populations, such as the Columbia Basin pygmy, almost went extinct and were saved by zoo breeding programs. Pygmy rabbits also rely on winter cover by digging tunnels through the snow to escape predators, but lesser snowfall is leaving them exposed.

All of this gives new meaning to dressing up in a giant bunny costume this Easter.

1.The writer mentions Easter at the beginning of the passage in order to_______.

2.The word “culprit” ( Paragraph 2) is closest in meaning to______.

3.According to the passage, some rabbits can now be easily discovered by predators because they_______

4.The problem faced by volcano rabbets and rock rabbits is that________.

A. both are affected by 1ess snow          

B. both are affected by rising sea levels

C neither can find enough food     

D. neither can migrate to higher places

第二節(jié) 信息匹配(共5小題; 每小題2分, 滿分10分)

閱讀下列應用文及相關信息，并按照要求匹配信息。請在答題卡上將對應題號的相應選項字母涂黑。

以下是關于中國傳統(tǒng)節(jié)日的起源介紹：

A. One day, Emperor Mingdi had a dream about a gold man in his palace. When he was about to ask the mysterious figure who he was, the gold man suddenly rose to the sky and disappeared in the west. The next day, Emperor Mingdi sent a scholar to India to locate Buddhist scriptures and ordered that a temple be built to house a statue of Buddha and serve as a repository for the scriptures. So Emperor Mingdi ordered his subjects to display lighted lanterns during what was to become the Festival.

B. The earth once had ten suns circling it. However, one day all ten suns appeared together. The heat was so scorching and unbearable. A strong archer named Hou Yi came out and succeeded in shooting down nine suns. He was later made the emperor but after that he became a tyrant. In order to save the people from his tyranny, his wife Chang-E stole the elixir and consumed it herself and floated to the moon taking along her pet rabbit with her.

C. Qu Yuan was a minister in the kingdom of Chu.He was upright , loyal and highly esteemed for his wise counsel that had brought peace and prosperity to the kingdom. Realizing that the country was now in the hands of evil and corrupt officials, Qu Yuan clasped a large stone and leaped into the Mi Lo river on the fifth day of the fifth moon. The people of Chu, mourning the death of Qu Yuan, threw rice into the river to feed his hungry ghost on this day every year.

D. One of the most famous legends is Nian, an extremely cruel and ferocious beast that the ancients believed would devour people on New Year's Eve. To keep Nian away, red-paper couplets are pasted on doors, torches are lit, and firecrackers are set off throughout the night, because Nian is said to fear the color red, the light of fire, and loud noises. Early the next morning, as feelings of triumph and renewal fill the air at successfully keeping Nian away for another year, the most popular greeting heard is "gong xi fa cai", or "congratulations."

E. On this evening, two lovers will meet on a bridge of magpies across the Milky Way. Chinese grannies will remind children that they would not be able to see any magpies on that evening because all the magpies have left to form a bridge in the heavens with their wings.

F. The Festival itself was created by the Tang Emperor Xuanzong in 732. It is said that because the wealthy held too many expensive, elaborate ancestor-worshipping ceremonies, in a needed effort to lower this expense, Emperor Xuanzong declared that respects could be formally paid at ancestor's graves only on the day.

以下是中國傳統(tǒng)節(jié)日的慶�；顒�，請匹配慶祝活動和該傳統(tǒng)節(jié)日的起源介紹：

56. The Qingming Festival: The most important activity on the Festival is tomb sweeping to remember and honour one's ancestors at grave sites. Young and old pray before the ancestors, sweep the tombs and offer food, tea, wine, chopsticks, (joss) paper accessories, and/or libation to the ancestors. The rites are very important to most Chinese and especially farmers.

57. The Lantern Festival: According to the Chinese tradition, at the very beginning of a new year, when there is a bright full moon hanging in the sky, there should be thousands of colorful lanterns hung out for people to appreciate. At this time, people will try to solve the puzzles on the lanterns and eat yuanxiao (glutinous rice ball) and get all their families united in the joyful atmosphere.

58. The Dragon-boat Day: The Festival was also noted for its dragon-boat races, especially in the southern provinces, where there are many rivers and lakes and a glutinous rice pudding called Zongzi was eaten

59. The Valentine’s Day: There is not so much emphasis on giving chocolates, flowers and kisses. Instead, Chinese girls prepare fruits, melons and incense as offerings to the weaving maiden, praying to acquire high skills in needlecraft, as well as hoping to find satisfactory husbands. In the evening, people sit outdoors to observe the stars. Chinese grannies would say that, if you stand under a grapevine, you can probably overhear what the weaving maiden and her husband are talking about.

60. The New Year’s Day:  It is traditional to decorate the homes with new year paintings. The most popular paintings are Door Gods pasted on the front doors to keep ghosts and monsters away. Spring couplets are traditionally written with black ink on red paper. They are hung in storefronts and often stay up for two months. A reunion dinner is held where members of the family, near and far, get together for celebration.

Easter(復活節(jié)) is still a great day for worship, randy in baskets and running around the yard finding eggs, but every year it gets quite a bit worse for bunnies.
And no, not because the kids like to pull their ears. The culprit is climate change, and some researchers found that rising temperatures arc having harmful effects on at least five species of rabbit in the US.
Take the Lower Keys March rabbit, for instance. An endangered species that lives in the Lower Florida Keys, this species of cottontail is a great swimmer — it lives on the islands! — but it is already severely affected by development and now by rising levels. According to the Center for Biological Diversity, an ocean level rise of only 0. 6 meters will send these guys jumping to higher ground and a 0.9-meter rise would wipe out their habitat (棲息地) completely.
The snowshoe hare, on the other hand, has a color issue. Most of these rabbits change their fur color from white in the wintertime to brown in the summer, each designed to give them better cover from predators（捕食者）.  As the number of days with snow decreases all across the country, however, more and more bunnies arc being left in white fur during brown dirt days of both fall and spring, making them an easier mark for predators. Researchers know that the color change is controlled by the number of hours of sunlight, but whether the rabbit will be able to adapt quick enough to survive is a big question. The National Wildlife Federation has reported that hunters have noticed their numbers are already markedly down.
American pikas or rock rabbits, a relative of rabbits and hares, might be the firs' of these species to go extinct due to climate change. About 7-8 inches long, pikas live high in the cool, damp mountains west of the Rocky Mountains. As global temperatures rise, they would naturally migrate (遷徙) to higher ground — but they already occupy the mountaintops. They can't go any higher. The National Wildlife Federation reports that they might not be able to stand the new temperatures as their habitat beats up.
The volcano rabbit has the same problem. These rabbits live on the slopes of volcanoes in Mexico, and recent studies have shown that the lower range of their habitat has already shifted upward about 700 meters, but there are not suitable plants for them to move higher, so they are stuck in the middle. Scientists are concerned about their populations.
Native to the US, pygmy rabbits weigh less than 1 pound and live in the American West. They are believed to be the smallest rabbits in the world. Their habitats have been destroyed by development. Several populations, such as the Columbia Basin pygmy, almost went extinct and were saved by zoo breeding programs. Pygmy rabbits also rely on winter cover by digging tunnels through the snow to escape predators, but lesser snowfall is leaving them exposed.
All of this gives new meaning to dressing up in a giant bunny costume this Easter.
【小題1】The writer mentions Easter at the beginning of the passage in order to_______.

第二卷
第四部分：寫作（共兩節(jié)，滿分35分）
第一節(jié)：短文改錯(共10小題。每小題1分，滿分lO分。)
此題要求改正所給短文中的錯誤。對標有題號的每一行作出判斷，如無錯誤，在該行右邊的橫線上畫一個勾(√)；如果有錯誤(每行只有一個錯誤)，則按下列情況改正：
此行多一詞：把多余的詞用斜線(＼)劃掉，在該行右邊橫線上寫出該詞，并也用斜線劃掉。
此行缺一詞：在缺詞處加一個漏字符號(∧)，在該行右邊橫線上寫出該加的詞。
此行錯一詞：在錯詞下劃一橫線，在該行右邊橫線上寫出改正后的詞。
注意：原行沒有錯的不要改。
Dear Mr. Smith,
I am writing to tell you a piece of excited news:                       76.___________
I won first place in the Spoken English Competition of            77.___________
our city. The achievement that I made it is due to your             78.___________
kind help. You spent so much time help me with my spoken        79.___________
English that I made rapid progress. I remember you advice        80.___________
“Speak slowly and clearly.” Thank you very much all your time     81.___________
and advice . I hear that you and your wife will visit               82.___________
our school before long. I’m very glad and looked forward to        83.___________
see you. I sent you a telescope as a small gift.                   84.___________
Please check the mail and I hope you will like them.              85.___________
Yours
Li Ming

Today I was at the mall waiting for friends, when a lady wearing a knit hat and a sweater came up to me and, shivering, said, “I’m homeless. Would you mind buying me some food?”

In that split second, everything I’d learned since kindergarten flashed through my mind. Don’t talk to strangers… Be a good citizen… People will take advantage of you… Treat others as you wish to be treated…I guess love won the debate. “Sure,” I said. “What would you like?”

She thought and then said, “I’d like to get Chinese food.” We headed upstairs. She ordered soup, an egg roll, white rice, and pepper chicken. I would normally think that was a lot, but she had probably barely eaten in the last few days. I got my usual – lo mein and General Tso’s chicken.

Meanwhile I was eating my lo mein, picking around the cabbage and the other vegetables. Joyce said, “If you don’t like it you can take it back.” I told her that I liked it, but was not fond of the vegetables. She broke into a big grin. “You don’t like vegetables, huh? Neither did I. But now I do.” I immediately felt guilty. How could I be picking at my food across from someone who barely gets to eat at all?

I tried my best to finish, but she seemed to sense my guilt and said, “You don’t have to eat it if you don’t want it.” How could she know what I was feeling? I told her the dish was my favorite, but I just eat slowly.

She got up to get a to-go box. “Would you like one?” she asked, but I refused. I realized that this food would probably last her for a few days, and I was glad she had ordered a lot.

“Would you like these?” I asked, gesturing at the food I had left untouched. “Oh, no, thank you,” she said. “This is enough.” I got up to throw my tray away, feeling guilty again.

“I need to meet my friends now,” I explained. “It was so nice to meet you, Joyce.”

“You too, Claire,” she replied with a smile. “Thank you.”

I headed to the theater, and she went back downstairs. I kept puzzling, Why is Joyce homeless?  She shouldn’t need people to buy her dinner. She was a nurse. She got good grades. She took pictures for her yearbook. She was the person I hope to be in the future. How could such a good life be rewarded with horrible luck?

Anyway, I wish her the best, and hope that the force that brought us together will help her find what she deserves in life.

1. From the second paragraph we know that the writer ___________.

   A. debated with the girl over moral issues 

B. hated having to make a quick decision

   C. hesitated before she decided to reach out    

D. fell in love with the girl at first sight

2.The writer felt guilty for a moment because _________.

   A. she was particular about food and also wasted so much

   B. she was a strict vegetarian who ate very little

   C. she didn’t order enough food for the girl

   D. she urged the girl to take her share of food

3. Why did Joyce end up unemployed and homeless?

   A. She was a victim of high education. 

B. She actually had some kind of mental disorder.

   C. She graduated with average grades. 

D. The reason is not yet given.

4. The passage is intended to _________.

   A. arouse readers' curiosity       

B. explore social problems

   C. teach readers a lesson         

D. share a personal story