Life on earth depends on water, and there is no substitute for it. The current assumption is that our basic needs for water — whether for drinking, agriculture, industry or the raising of fish will always have to be met . Given that premise (前提), there are two basic routes we can go: more equal access to water or better engineering solutions.
Looking at the engineering solution first, a lot of my research concentrates on what happens to wetlands when you build dams in river basins, particularly in Africa. The ecology of such areas is almost entirely driven by the seasonal changes of the river — the pulse of the water. And the fact is that if you build a dam, you generally spoil the downstream ecology. In the past, such problems have been hidden by a lack of information. But in the near future, governments will have no excuse for their ignorance.
The engineers’ ability to control water flows has created new kinds of unpredictability, too. Dams in Africa have meant fewer fish, less grazing and less floodplain (洪泛區(qū)) agriculture — none of which were expected. And their average economic life is assumed to be thirty years. Dams don’t exist forever, but what will replace them is not clear.
The challenge for the future is to find new means of controlling water. Although GM technology (轉(zhuǎn)基因) will allow us to breed better dry-land crops, there is no market for companies to develop crops suitable for the micro-climates of the Sahel and elsewhere in Africa. Who is going to pay for research on locally appropriate crops in the Third World?
【小題1】What’s the main idea of this passage?

完形填空（共20小題；每小題1分，滿分20分）
The winter skies are grey and it’s cold outside. The nights come early and we spend a lot more time  16   and alone. Many people   17   winter: so cold, so dark, so boring. But I like winter because I have more time to read.
For many students reading means school; it means   18  . Reading is something your teacher assigns and it’s something you’re   19  . Reading is something you have to do, not something you want to do. But for me and many other people, reading is the most   20   thing we can imagine. Getting lost in a good book can   21   a cold winter evening disappear. Dull grey skies are no   22  for the fantastic adventures of Frodo in The Lord of the Rings《指環(huán)王》，or for romantic trouble-making of Jane Austen’s Emma《愛瑪》, or for the youthful problems of Holden Caulfield in The Catcher in the Rye《麥田守望者》.
All of those books are studied in North American high schools. They are interesting and well written books that   23   young people.   24  , even there, many high school students don’t enjoy reading the books because they are   25   their school work: “Oh, my God! Two hundred pages! I’ll never be able to read   26   much.” But sometimes a funny thing happens. They begin to read and they begin to follow the   27  . Suddenly, the world inside the book becomes more exciting and more wonderful than the world they   28  . At the moment the thought   29   reading is work disappears and reading becomes   30  .
Reading anything is   31   but reading good books is a terrific way to improve your English. Good writers write English very well and   32   you with good examples to follow. And good books will tell you more about English   33  : what people think, how they talk, how they interact with each other. But don’t let me  34   it by telling you that reading is good for you. Just think of it as a good way to   35   on a cold winter evening.
16. A. indoors                   B. indoor                            C. outdoors              D. outside
17. A. like                           B. prefer                                      C. hate                      D. love
18. A. job                            B. worry                                       C. try                          D. work
19. A. tested                     B. tested on                      C. examined             D. examined on
20. A. enjoyable            B. reasonable                             C. comfortable      D. considerable
21. A. want                        B. cause                                       C. make                     D. force
22. A. contest                   B. challenge                      C. competition        D. match
23. A. appeal to                B. respond to                             C. react to                D. reply to
24. A. Fortunately B. Luckily                            C. Unfortunately      D. Accidentally
25. A. free from                B. part of                            C. in place of            D. far from
26. A. not                           B. very                                C. those                    D. that
27. A. story                        B. subject                           C. instruction            D. theme
28. A. leave for                 B. care about                             C. flee from              D. live in
29. A. what                        B. that                                C. this                        D. which
30. A. a comfort               B. a failure                         C. a success             D. a pleasure
31. A. bad                          B. mean                              C. great                     D. grand
32. A. provide                   B. offer                               C. give                       D. award
33 A. custom                     B. language                       C. culture                  D. art
34. A. break                       B. spoil                                C. make                     D. develop
35. A. keep warm            B. stand still                      C. stay calm             D. stay cool

All sorts of items become litter(垃圾) but two of the most common and most dangerous are cigarette butts（煙頭) and plastic bags. Litter is a big problem for our environment but it is a problem that individuals can easily do something about. Not littering at all or cleaning up litter, such as  cigarette butts and plastic bags, greatly improves the quality of our environment.

Although cigarette butts, are small, they are bad for the environment. Over 1,600 billion cigarette are smoked each year in China and large quantities of the butts are thrown away. Worldwide, about 4. 5 trillion butts are littered every year. Apart from the fact that butts spoil the beauty of the environment, they contain some very toxic chemicals. These find their way into the water supply where they decrease the quality of the water and endanger plants and animals that live there. So, if people have to smoke, they shouldn't throw away the butts but put them in the rubbish bin instead.

Plastic bags are another common form of litter that is a danger to the environment. There areseveral reasons for this. They are made from oil and gas, which are non—renewable resources. If they are not recycled, these resources are lost to us. In China, 2 billion plastic bags are used every day. An enormous number of these become litter. This is a huge problem because they last from 20 to 1,000 years in the environment. They float easily in the air and water and travel long distances. They find their way to rivers, parks, beaches and oceans. Plastic bags kill up to one million seabirds, 100, 000 sea mammals and countless fish each year worldwide. It is up to people not to let plastic bags become litter. It would be better if they used fewer and recycled them.

Cleaning up your cigarette butts and plastic bags would improve the environment. And we would know that we were doing something to look after our planet. However, I believe the best solution would be not to smoke or use plastic bags at all.

1. Which of the following best shows the structure of the passage?

A           B.         C.          D.

( ①= paragraph 1; ②= paragraph 2; ③= paragraph 3; ④a paragraph 4 )

2.The word “toxic” in the paragraph 2 most probably mean “________”

A. precious     B. extra    C.poisonous      D. useless

3. From the text. we know the fact that_________

A. Chinese smokers litter up to 4. 5 trillion butts every year

B. people in the world use 2 billion plastic bags in a single day

C. plastic bags cause 1 million deaths of seabirds each year worldwide

D. the butts can last 20 to 1,000 years in the environment of China

4. What's probably the best title of the passage?. Clean Up Your

A. Say Goodbye to Smokin   B. Protect the Endangered Sea Animals     . C.Use Paper Bags Now      D.Clean Up Your Butts and Bags

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1.．This advertisement is designed especially for those who________         

    A．like eating in restaurants                   B．have little time

    C．prefer home-cooked meals                 D．want to save money

2.．What information CAN'T we get from the advertisement about Ouickeats?

    A．Different kinds．                        B．High quality．   

C．Exact prices．                       D．Good taste

3.．Which of the following can be cooled in a refrigerator before eating according to the ads?

A．Pasta Salad      B．Dried Fruit．

C．Noodles．        D．Nuts．

4.．What can we learn from the advertisement?

    A．Get one Quickeats container and you'll have four Quickeats to eat

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    C．Buy one coupon and you'll get a free Quickeats．

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After my husband died suddenly from a heart attack，my world crashed around me. My six children were all under 10，and I was burdened with the responsibilities of earning a living，and caring for the children. I was fortunate to find a wonderful housekeeper to care for the children during the week，but from Friday nights to Monday mornings，the children and I were alone.
One Friday evening I came home from work to find a big pretty German Shepherd（牧羊犬）on our doorstep. This dog seemed to intend to enter the house. The children liked “German” immediately and begged me to let him in. I agreed to let him sleep in the basement. That night I slept peacefully for the first time in many weeks.
The following morning we made phone calls and checked lost-and-found ads for German’s owner，but with no results.
On Sunday I had planned to take the children on a picnic. Since I thought it best to leave German behind in case his owner came by，we drove off without him. When we stopped to get gas，we were amazed to see German racing to the gas station after us. No way was he going to be left behind.
Monday morning I let him out for a run. He didn’t come back and we were all disappointed. We were convinced that we would never see him again. We were wrong. The next Friday evening，German was back on our doorstep. Again he stayed until Monday morning，when our housekeeper arrived.
This pattern repeated itself every weekend for almost 10 months. We grew more and more fond of German. We took comfort in his strong，warm presence，and we felt safe with him near us. As German became part of the family，he considered it his duty to check every bedroom to be sure each child was cozy in bed.
Each week，between German’s visits，I grew a little stronger，a little braver and more able to handle; every weekend we were no longer alone and enjoyed his company. Then one Monday morning we patted him on the head and let him out for what turned out to be the last time. We never saw German again.
56．The dog first came to the family when _______________.
A．it was needed most
B．the writer became strong enough
C．the writer was away on a business trip
D．the writer was busy on the weekday
57．The family planned to go on a picnic without the German Shepherd because ____.
A．it was too wild to control
B．it was too young to walk so far
C．the owner might come by to pick it up
D．it might spoil the trip
58．The writer was ____________ the German Shepherd.
A．a(chǎn)fraid of　　　　　　　　　B．grateful to
C．cruel to 　　　　　　　　　D．a(chǎn)nnoyed with
59．Which of the following can’t be used to describe the dog？
A．Loyal 　　　　　　　　　B．Helpful
C．Lovely 　　　　　　　　 D．Wild