Imagine an eco-conscious city where rooftops have been transformed into fertile, green gardens. It's a place where every home is equipped with a system that recycles valuable water resources. In this town, protecting the planet is a way of life. That's how Abby Sharp, 14, Wyatt Peery, 13, and Tom Krajnak, 14, saw their city of tomorrow. The vision won the eighth-graders from Bexley, Ohio, first prize at the 2009 National Engineers Week Future City Competition.

The annual design competition challenges middle school students to use engineering to deal with issues that affect the earth. This year the competition focused on water conservation. Participants had to come up with ways to improve water use in the home. Kids from 38 middle schools across the country competed in the finals. The event took place from February 17-18 in Washington, D.C. More than 30,000 students entered the competition.

Abby, Wyatt and Tom call their winning city Novo Mondum. The name means "new world" in Latin. Novo Mondum sits on the coast of Iceland. The group chose the spot for its wealth of clean energy resources, such as geothermal（地?zé)岬模?energy and hydropower. Both sources use the power of nature to generate electricity. Geothermal energy draws heat from deep inside the Earth. Hydropower gets energy from flowing water. "Our city is very globally aware," Abby told TFK.

Students team up with a teacher and a volunteer engineer mentor（顧問）to develop their cities. Each group creates a fictional city on SimCity 4 Deluxe, a computer game that allows players to build virtual towns. Then they construct tabletop models of the cities and write essays describing their project. The models must be made using recycled materials and cost no more than $100 to build.

1. What’s the main feature of the city designed by the three winners?

2.It can be inferred that water conversation is __________.

3.According to the passage, Abby, Wyatt and Tom are _____.

A. ninth-graders from Bexley, Ohio.

B. second prize winners at the 2009 Future City Competition.

C. lucky to get the first prize at the 2009 Future City Competition.

D. eighth-graders from Washington, D.C.

4.The underlined word “hydropower” means ______________.

5. What’s the main idea of the last paragraph?

Passage Twenty (The Law to Keep the Oil Industry under Control)

The Norwegian Government is doing its best to keep the oil industry under control. A new law limits exploration to an area south of the southern end of the long coastline; production limits have been laid down (though these have already been raised); and oil companies have not been allowed to employ more than a limited number of foreign workers. But the oil industry has a way of getting over such problems, and few people believe that the Government will be able to hold things back for long. As on Norwegian politician said last week: “We will soon be changed beyond all recognition.”

Ever since the war, the Government has been carrying out a programme of development in the area north of the Arctic Circle. During the past few years this programme has had a great deal of success: Tromso has been built up into a local capital with a university, a large hospital and a healthy industry. But the oil industry has already started to draw people south, and within a few years the whole northern policy could be in ruins.

The effects of the oil industry would not be limited to the north, however. With nearly 100 percent employment, everyone can see a situation developing in which the service industries and the tourist industry will lose more of their workers to the oil industry. Some smaller industries might even disappear altogether when it becomes cheaper to buy goods from abroad.

The real argument over oil is its threat to the Norwegian way of life. Farmers and fishermen do not make up most of the population, but they are an important part of it, because Norwegians see in them many of the qualities that they regard with pride as essentially Norwegian. And it is the farmers and the fishermen who are most critical of the oil industry because of the damage that it might cause to the countryside and to the sea.

1.The Norwegian Government would prefer the oil industry to

A.provide more jobs for foreign workers.

B.slow down the rate of its development.

C.sell the oil it is producing abroad.

D.develop more quickly than at present.

2.The Norwegian Government has tried to

A.encourage the oil companies to discover new oil sources.

B.prevent oil companies employing people from northern Norway.

C.help the oil companies solve many of their problems.

D.keep the oil industry to something near its present size.

3.According to the passage, the oil industry might lead northern Norway to

A.the development of industry.

B.a growth in population.

C.the failure of the development programme.

D.the development of new towns.

4.In the south, one effect to the development of the oil industry might be

A.a large reduction on unemployment.

B.a growth in the tourist industry.

C.a reduction in the number of existing industries.

D.the development of a number of service industries.

5.Norwegian farmers and fishermen have an important influence because

A.they form such a large part of Norwegian ideal.

B.their lives and values represent the Norwegian ideal.

C.their work is so useful to the rest of Norwegian society.

D.they regard oil as a threat to the Norwegian way of life.

For each individual, sport is ___ possible source for inner improvement. Olympism seeks to create a way of life based on ___ joy found in effort.        

A．a(chǎn); a          B．the; the           C．a(chǎn); the        D．the; a

It’s not uncommon in America for a person to belong to some kind of volunteer group. Donating one’s time and services is very much a part of the American way of life. Most charitable activities are organized by churches and groups around the nation and even encouraged by the government. The helping hand is extended to the poor， the homeless and the disabled. Some people work to teach youngsters how to read. Others open up soup kitchens to feed the homeless. Volunteers also take care of the disabled by making reading tapes for the blind and working in orphanages（孤兒院）to help children without parents.

High school students are often encouraged to become volunteers and many school club activities center around volunteer services. Students may work with disabled children during a summer program， or participate in a club activity which helps to bring meal to senior citizens who are shut-ins. With their sense of idealism（理想主義）students are often eager to donate their spare time. They see such activities as a way of becoming involved in the community and the adult-world. Social action for them becomes as   important as their academic studies.

In a like manner， throughout the year，fund raising drives are also conducted by schools and community groups to raise money for a worthy cause. They may respond to a recent earthquake in a foreign country， a flood somewhere within their own， or another natural disaster which has left people destitute and homeless. They may organize drives to collect food， clothing and medicines to serve an immediate need. Today even the Halloween custom of ‘trick or treat’has become an occasion to collect money for a charitable cause.

The motive to help those less fortunate comes from the poor origins of the American nation. Those immigrants who were poor and downtrodden（受壓迫的）became dependent on the kindness of their neighbors to make a new life for themselves.

American volunteers work throughout the world in less developed countries. They volunteer by serving as a champion of goodwill both at home and abroad， which no doubt enriches both his life and those whom he serves.

1. Which of the following charitable activities is NOT mentioned in the passage?

2. Why are American high school students eager to do voluntary work?

3.The underlined word “destitute” in Paragraph 4 probably means           .

4. American charitable activities started because ___________.

5. What’s the best title of the passage?

閱讀下面短文，掌握其大意，然后從36～55各題所給的四個選項（A、B、C和D）中，選出最佳選項。
Once the King of India was ill and sent for his doctor. The doctor came,  36  him and said, “You will be well soon in a few days if you take bull’s milk.” The King was  37  , for he had never heard of a bull that gave milk. “How is it  38  ?” he asked.
“Order Gulbo to get it for you,” answered the doctor, “He can do anything.” Gulbo was a person with great knowledge and was  39  to the doctor. So the doctor thought this would be a way of making him  40  . When the King told Gulbo what the doctor said and  41  him to get bull’s milk, Gulbo  42  understood what the doctor was trying to do.
When he got home, he sat thinking how to get out of the  43 . His daughter, seeing him worried, asked what was the  44 . On hearing what the King had asked for, she said, “don’t  45  , Father, I will help you.”
The next day she took some old clothes, went to the bank of the river near the palace, and chose a place  46  the King’s bedroom window. In the middle of the night, she started to do her washing. She made so much noise  47  the King could not sleep. The King got very angry and sent a guard to  48  what was the matter. The soldier found the girl, and led her to the King. “Why do you wash your clothes here at night?” said the King.
The girl  49  to be afraid and said, “I had to wash clothes at night. This afternoon my father had a baby, I was  50  all day because of that. Then I found there were no clean  51  for the baby, so I had to come and wash them now.”
“What!” cried the King. “Are you trying to make a  52  of me? I have never heard of man having a baby.”
“Well, if the King himself orders someone to get bull’s milk for him,  53  can’t a man have a baby?”
The King smiled and said, “You must be Gulbo’s  54 . Go and tell your father that he may keep the bull’s milk for his  55.”