XI'AN - China's conservation work for the endangered crested ibis（朱鹮）is facing new challenges, including an increasing mortality rate due to inbreeding, and the conflict between the need to expand natural habitats and local communities' economic interests, bird experts have warned.
The crested ibis, once widespread in Japan, China, Russia and the Korean Peninsula, almost became extinct in the first half of the 20th century.
Before 1981, when seven crested ibis were accidentally found in Yangxian county, in Northwest China's Shaanxi province, academics thought the species had been extinct in China for almost 17 years.
Due to the huge effort put into species protection since 1981, the number of crested ibis in China has risen to an estimated 1,617, including 997 in the wild, the State Forestry Administration said at a meeting on crested ibis protection in Xi'an on Monday.
However, although the ibis population exceeds 1,000, the birds are still not free from the threat of extinction, said Fang Shengguo, director of the State Conservation Center for Gene Resources of Endangered Wildlife at Zhejiang University.
“Ornithologists used inbreeding in the early stages of protection so that numbers of the precious birds could increase quickly, but that method had consequences,” Fang said.
"Studies have proved that as a result of inbreeding, crested ibis have the lowest genetic diversity of all endangered birds," Fang said.
"It means a high mortality rate and more physical defects for hatched chicks."
“The government should collect genetic information from all crested ibis and establish a genetic database as soon as possible, then design a scientific mating plan for the species,” Fang said.
So far, about 90 percent of crested ibis live in Shaanxi province, and fewer than 140 ibis live in three zoos in other parts of the country, including Beijing Zoo, according to Liu Dongping, an assistant researcher at the National Bird Banding Center of China, which is affiliated to the Chinese Academy of Forestry.
The bird has lost the ability to migrate, he said, adding that if an unexpected natural disaster occurred in Shaanxi province or an infectious disease spread through the area, the ibis population could be greatly reduced.
Experts also warned that the increased population of ibis, whether in the wild or in captivity, requires a larger and more varied natural habitat.
Rampant hunting, the massive loss of habitat caused by deforestation and the overuse of pesticides, which killed aquatic insects on which the ibis feed, are believed to be the main reasons for the sharp reduction in the ibis population before 1981.
So, in 1983, a State-level natural reserve was set up in Shaanxi province to protect the bird. But the struggle for living space between human and animal has never stopped, said Lu Baozhong, deputy director of the Shaanxi Crested Ibis Conservation Station.
"For example, ibis often look for loaches in farmers' rice fields. Sometimes their claws trample the rice seedlings. In another case, villagers discovered some land with abundant mineral resources which happened to be a habitat for ibis," said Lu, who has devoted 30 years to ibis protection.
A long-term win-win solution for ibis and local communities needs to be developed, one that would provide ecological compensation for local residents, Lu said.
【小題1】. What’s the best title for the passage?

A．The Rare Bird in China	B．New Problems for the Crested Ibis
C．The Way to Save the Crested Ibis	D．The Reason for the Crested Ibis’s Extinction

【小題2】  Which of the following statement is TRUE ?

A．The crested ibis is a native of China.

B．Before 1981, the crested ibis was extinct in China.

C．The crested ibis is now free from the threat of extinction.

D．Most of the crested ibis are in Shaanxi province.

【小題3】. Why did the experts adopt the way of inbreeding to protect the crested ibis?

A．To increase the mortality rate.

B．To increase the number of the crested ibis.

C．To get more physical defects for hatched chicks

D．To have the lowest diversity of the endangered bird.

【小題4】. What may be the reason for the reduction in the population of the crested ibis before 1981?

A．inbreeding	B．economic development
C．over hunting	D．sandstorm

【小題5】. What can we learn from the passage?

A．Due to our great efforts, the crested ibis lives in the wild well.

B．Scientists will choose a better habitat for the crested ibis.

C．The problems of the crested ibis have not been solved now.

D．The government has established a genetic database of the crested ibis.

With the Tesla Roadster and other plug-in（插入式）electric vehicles hitting the road, demand is growing for accessible refueling points to recharge them. Carbon Day Automotive, a Chicago-based company, has now demonstrated a solar-powered recharging point, known as the Solar plug-In Station, which lest motorists easily charge their cars using electricity that has been produced without any environmental damage.

The Solar Plug-In Station has gone on show in Chicago as part of the city’s bid to host the 2016 Olympic Games. According to Carbon Day Automotive, the Solar Plug-In Station on show in Chicago is part of the vital infrastructure （基礎(chǔ)設(shè)施）required for electric vehicles in Chicago and was the focus of a recent visit by the International Olympic Committee.

These solar-powered electricity points will be used daily to fuel the city’s electric vehicles with power from the sun. by producing the electricity from pollution-free solar cell, the CO2 emissions are reduced to zero.

“Solar energy and electric vehicles are a partnership that is one more step to reducing our dependence on foreign oil,” says Richard Lowenthal, CEO of Coulomb Technologies. Coulomb Technologies recently developed the components （部件）required for individual recharging stations, marketed as ChargePoint Networked Charging Stations. Carbon Day Automotive is the Midwest distributor for the ChargePoint stations.

The Solar Plug-In Station consists of giant solar panels（電池板）that shade the tiny ChargePoint Networked Charging Station. The solar panel is conneceted to an underground battery pack, ready for everyday refueling.

“Without these stations it would be like driving around in traditional car without the availability of gas stations,” says Scott Emalfarb, CEO at Carbon Day. “The day of true plug-in electric vehicles will be here sooner than most people realize and the world needs to be ready to accommodate them.”

1.The Solar Plug-In Station is used as part of the bid to host the Olympics mainly because____.

A．it’s environmentally friendly 

B．it makes up for the lack of electricity

C．it’s a new idea and attracts people’s attention.

D．it brings convenience to electric vehicle users

2.We can learn from the passage that_______.

A．to recharge the electric vehicles takes a long time

B．the Solar Plug-In Station will come into use in 2010

C．the Solar Pug-In Station has gone on show internationally

D．Chicago is promoting the use of electric vehicles

3.According to the passage, how many of the following statements are TRUE?

a．Tesla Roadster is a kind of plug-in electric vehicle.

b．The Solar Plug-In Station uses solar power to charge all of the cars.

c．Chicago is a city which is rich in oil.

d．The Solar Plug-In Station consists of underground battery packs.

e．Scott Emalfarb is optimistic about the future of plug-in electric vehicles.

A．3.     B．2.      C．4.      D．5.

4.The passage implies that when the Solar Plug-In Station becomes popular,_______.

A．more visitors will come to Chicago

B．more space for electric vehicles will be needed

C．the citizens of Chicago will be able to go to work faster

D．the cost of electric vehicles will be lower than that of traditional cars

5.What would be the best title for the passage?

A．Chicago will soon be full of electric vehicles.

B．Chicago calls on people to buy electric vehicles.

C．Chicago fights for its bid to host the 2016 Olympics.

D．Chicago shoes its solar-powered recharging stations.

It wasn’t too long ago that I was in high school trying to balance hours of homework, dance team practice three days a week, taking voice lessons an hour a week, rehearsals for the drama show, holding down a weekend job and at the same time trying to have a social life. Colleges and employers have put an emphasis on the importance of being involved in school activities, most kids these days are trying to do more than they can. If it doesn’t seem possible, trust me, even though I learned the hard way, I somehow managed to make it due to serious Time Management.

When I was a freshman in high school I tried to do it all without making sure that I had time for myself. Well, I learned quickly that it was impossible to do everything and remain the same. I was rushing everywhere; I was skipping lunches to have meetings and do homework; I barely saw my family, much less to talk to them; I accidentally made dates to hang out with separate groups of friends on the same night; and, as if it couldn’t be any worse, I was barely sleeping. Getting sick was out of the question for me because it would mess up my schedule. This seemed to work until I noticed that I was falling asleep in class, arriving late to school, and calling in sick to work more often than not. I realized that I needed to brush up on my Time Management skills and work fast.

So I sat down with my mom and organized all the activities that I wanted to be involved in, next I prioritized; I decided what activities were most important to me. Schoolwork came first, second time with friends, and then my after – school activities. By doing this I even realized that I wasn’t enjoying playing a sport; I much preferred to spend that time hanging out with my friends. All of a sudden I saw what was important to me and time went to doing that rather than wasting it on activities that just sounded good to me.

1．Many high school students are quite active in different activities mainly because        .

       A．they have a lot of free time

       B．they want to have a good record for college

       C．they are required by their schools

       D．their parents wish them to do so

2．How did the writer solve the problem?

       A．She scheduled all her activities with her mother’s help.

       B．she asked her mother to organize everything for her.

       C．She cut out some activities so as to get involved in those she enjoys.

       D．She gave up everything except school work and being with friends.

3．From the passage we can infer that the writer is a (n)       person.

       A．determined but disorganized                  B．very intelligent and capable

       C．organized but weak – minded                D．a(chǎn)ctive and organized

4．What would be the best title for the passage?

       A．Involving in School Activities.               B．Time Management

       C．Time Management   D．Getting Ready for Jobs

My husband and I have always been friendly with the clerks at the local convenience store where we often get gasoline. I don't think people appreciate what a difficult job these folks have sometimes. They work for a little over minimum wage and I often wonder how they make ends meet.

One of the clerks, “Charlie，” was missing her glasses one day. I commented on it and she said they'd been broken and that she couldn't afford a new pair. It was obvious that she was having a difficult time.

We wondered how we could help, so turned to our own eye doctor for assistance with a plan. We had his secretary contact her, asking her to come in for an eye exam free of charge.  We told the doctor to let her order whatever glasses she wanted and that we would pay for them. Although Charlie questioned what was going on, the doctor just told her that someone had anonymously(用匿名的方式) donated the money for her new glasses. When we went in to pay the bill, the doctor told us he was so touched by our idea that he waived the exam fee and only charged us for half the price of the glasses!

It was so wonderful to see Charlie in her new glasses and she enjoyed telling all the regular customers how it came about. I'm sure that upon hearing her story, ideas of kindness may have emerged in the minds of many. She will never know who the gift was from and I hope the idea that good guys really do get a break sometimes was planted for her.

54．Why didn't the clerk “Charlie” wear glasses one day?

A. A pair of glasses was too expensive for him.

B. Her old glasses were broken.

C. Her glasses were missing.

D. She forgot to wear glasses.

55．From the passage, we can infer that________.

A．Charlie was a young man

B．Charlie knew who donated money for the new glasses

C．Charlie's income was very little

D．Charlie must have have known who offered the help

56．The underlined word “waived” in the third paragraph can be replaced by________.

A. gave up                              B. took up

C. cut down                           D. put off

57．The best title of the passage should be________.

A. The Wonderful Feeling of Helping Others

B. Customer's Gift to an Employee

C. A Friendly Clerk—Charlie

D. A New Pair of Glasses

Each new school year brings fresh reminders of what educators call the summer learning gap. Some call it the summer learning setback. Simply speaking, it means the longer kids are out of school, the more they forget. The only thing they might gain is weight.

Most American schools follow a traditional nine-month calendar. Students get winter and spring breaks and about ten weeks of summer vacation. Some schools follow a year-round calendar. They hold classes for about eight weeks at a time, with a few weeks off in between. The National Association for Year-Round Education says there were fewer than three thousand such schools at last count. They were spread among forty-six of the fifty states.

But many experts point out that the number of class days in a year-round school is generally the same as in a traditional school. Lead researcher Paul von Hippel said, "Year-round schools don't really solve the problem of the summer learning setback. They simply spread it out across the year."

Across the country, research shows that students from poor families fall farther behind over the summer than other students. Experts say this can be prevented. They note that many schools and local governments offer programs that can help.

But calling them "summer school" could be a problem. The director of the summer learning center at Johns Hopkins, Ron Fairchild, said research with groups of different parents in Chicago and Baltimore found that almost all strongly disliked the term summer school”. In American culture, the idea of summer vacation is connected to beliefs about freedom and the joys of childhood. The parents welcomed other terms like "summer camp," "enrichment," "extra time" and "hands-on learning."

1.According to the first paragraph the summer learning gap         .

A．helps children to gain weight

B．leads children to work harder

C．improves children’s memories

D．a(chǎn)ffects children’s regular studies

2.Compared to traditional schools, students in the year-round ones          .

A．perform better and have more learning gains

B．have much less time for relaxation every year

C．have generally the same number of class days

D．hold more classes with more free weeks off

3.Which of the following statements is true?

A．Students from poor families often fall behind after the vacation.

B．Year-round schools can solve the problem of the learning gap.

C．There are schools in each state following a year-round calendar.

D．Nothing can help the students who fall behind after the vocation.

4.Why did almost all parents dislike the term “summer school”?

A．They cherish the children’s rights of freedom very much.

B．They are worried about the quality of the “summer school”.

C．They want their children to be forced to make up the gap.

D．They can’t afford to the further study during vacation.

5.What would be the best title of this passage?

A．Opening Summer Camps

B．Forbidding Summer Schools

C．Spreading Year-Round Education

D．Minding the Summer Learning Cap