C
The announcements by the NASA，in the form of several Web site postings and a video posted on YouTube，were in response to worries that the world will end on Dec．21，2012．
The doomsday(末日) rumour reached a high point with the release of the new movie “2012”，directed by Roland Emmerich．In the movie，Yellowstone blows up, showering the continent with black ash．Tidal waves wash over the Himalayas，where the governments of the planet have secretly built a ship which a select 400，000 people can ride out the storm．There are hundreds of hooks devoted to 2012，and millions of Web sites，depending on what combination of“2012”and“doomsday”you type into Google．All of it，astronomers say, is nonsense．“Most of what's claimed for 2012 relies on wishful thinking and ignorance of astronomy．”Ed Krupp， an expert on ancient astronomy，wrote in an article in the November issue of Sky＆Telescope．
“I get angry at the way people are being influenced and frightened to make money,” Morrison said．“There is no right to frighten children to make a buck．”suggested David Morrison，an astronomer at the NASA Ames Research Center in Moffett Field，Calif．He said he had been getting about 20 letters and e—mail messages a day from people as far away as India scared out of their wits．Morrison said he did not blame the movie for all this，as much as many other supporters of the Mayan prediction．But then，he said，“my doctorate is in astronomy，not psychology．”
In an e—mail exchange, Krupp said：“We are always uncertain about the future，and we always consume representations of it．We are always attracted by the romance of the ancient past．”A NASA spokesman，Dwayne Brown，said the agency did not comment on movies，leaving that to movie critics．But when it comes to science, Brown said, “we felt it was careful to provide a resource．”
If you want to worry，most scientists say，you should think about global climate change or nuclear war．But if ancient prophecies(預言)get you going，here are some things Morrison and the others think you should know．
64．Which of the following statements is TRUE according to the passage?
A．Dr．Morrison blamed the Movie“2011”for the panic it aroused in the public around the world．
B．People who watched the movie were seared and firmly believed that the end of the world was coming．
C．In terms of science it was better to provide evidence and theory at the same time．
D．Dr．Morrison thought it was not right to make money by frightening people．
65．It can be inferred from the text that        ．
A．a(chǎn)stronomers think that doomsday is likely to happen in the near future
B．the reason why the NASA posted web site postings was to make people interested in astronomy
C．scientists think we shouldn't worry about doomsday but show concern about environment protection
D．most astronomers agree that the world is not ending—at least anytime soon
66．Which of the following would be the best title?
A．A New Movie“2012”            B．Is Doomsday Coming?
C．End-of-the-World Stories          D．Astronomers Comment on Movies
67．What would the author probably discuss in the paragraph that follows?
A．Evidence that the Mayans thought something special would happen in 2012．
B．What will really happen in 2012．
C．The reason why there is no need to worry about doomsday．
D．Ancient stories about the end of the world．
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科目：高中英語 來源：不詳 題型：閱讀理解



第三部分閱讀理解 (滿分30分)
A
Some scientists say that animals in the ocean are increasingly threatened by noise pollution caused by human beings. It is caused mainly by industrial underwater explosions, ocean drilling, and ship engines.
Some scientists have proposed setting a noise limit of one hundred and twenty decibels (分貝) in oceans. They have observed that noises at the level can frighten and confuse (使困惑) whales.
A team of American and Canadian scientists discovered that loud noises could seriously injure some animals. They found that powerful underwater explosions were causing whales in the area to lose their hearing. This seriously affected the whales’ ability to exchange information and find their way. Some of the whales even died.
Some researchers whose work depends on ocean sounds object to (反對) a limit of one hundred and twenty decibels. They say such a limit would mean an end to important industrial and scientific research. Scientists do not know how much and what kinds of noises are harmful to ocean animals. However, many scientists agree that noise is a greater danger than they believed. They want to prevent noises from harming creatures (生物) in the ocean.
56. According to the passage, which of the following is increasingly dangerous to sea creatures?
A. The man-made noises.            
B. The noises made by themselves.
C. The sound of earthquakes.         
D. The sound of ice-breaking.
57. Concerning the effect of noises on whales, which of the following is TRUE?
A. They are deaf to noises.           
B. Noises at a certain level may hurt them.
C. Noises could kill them.            
D. Noises will cause them to lose their eyesight.
58. Some scientists think that the noise limit of one hundred and twenty decibels would _________.
A. prevent them doing their research work    
B. benefit them a lot in their research work
C. do good to their health                 
D. increase the industrial output
59. According to the last paragraph, what will scientists most probably do in the future?
A. They will study the effect of different noises in the sea.
B. They will work hard to make no noise.
C. They will never do any scientific research in the sea.
D. They will protect sea animals from harmful noises.

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科目：高中英語 來源：不詳 題型：閱讀理解


B
Energy-saving Finns invented the first ice skate more than 5,000 years ago, as a practical method of transport to make getting across frozen lakes less of a struggle.
The earliest skates would have been blades made from bones and are one of the oldest means of transport ever discovered —they may even have been essential survival tools.
Researchers at Manchester Metropolitan University have calculated that ice skates would have saved energy by 10 percent, and suggest that they were developed for practical use and were not used for recreation, as they are today.
They think the most likely birthplace of skating is southern Finland, where there are many icy lakes.
The scientists have put their theory to the test and made replica（復制品） skates modeled after examples held at the British Museum and the Fitzwilliam Museum in Cambridge.
Volunteers on ice rinks in the Alps had their heart rates, oxygen intake and skating speeds measured while they skated with the replica skates. From this experiment, re-searchers were able to calculate energy consumption and the efficiency of their skating. They discovered that skating over the land in ancient Fin-land would have saved 10 percent of people’s energy. The result is based on the fact that Finland has the highest concentration of lakes in the world. The ancient Finnish people could benefit more than others from developing this tool for transport.
In a time and environment in which the balance between energy taken from food and energy required to live was crucial; the least cost of energy might have helped humans survive in extreme conditions.
45. The first ice skate invented by the Finns was used for _____.
A. recreation                           B. transportation across lakes 
C. saving energy                       D. sports
46. The birthplace of skating might be southern Finland because _____.
A. there are many icy lakes there  
B. people need more oxygen to breathe in there
C. people feel tired easily there   
D. transportation there is more difficult
47. Scientists have experimented with replica skates and found that with those skates the ancient
Finnish people would have _____.
A. crossed a lot of lakes
B. saved 10 percent of energy when crossing the lakes
C. climbed the Alps easily 
D. otherwise wasted a lot of food and energy
48. It can be inferred from the story that _____.
A. the Finnish people were clever enough to invent the practical skates
B. there were a lot of lakes in ancient Finland
C. the living conditions were very hard for the ancient Finnish people
D. it was very cold in ancient times in Finland

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科目：高中英語 來源：不詳 題型：閱讀理解


B
Science isn’t something mysterious, only for the few. Every one of us—whether a poet, worker, or physicist has to be able to think scientifically, and to understand some science, such as whether to smoke, what to eat, and what protection to use. Even for decisions that don’t depend on some scientific facts, science remains the proven set of best methods for getting exact information about the world.
Some people will end up as policy-makers in government or business. People such as these make decisions that affect the life of everyone, and most of them know no more about science than does the rest of the general public. Yet they are called upon to decide what to do about nuclear reactors(核反應堆), global warming, environmental toxins(環(huán)境霉素), expensive space programs, and biomedical research. It’s nonscientists, not scientists, who have the last word on whether the milk we drink can safely come from cows treated with medicine. To make such decisions wisely, the decision makers have to be drawn from a scientifically educated public.
Even if science is irrelevant（不相干的） to the lives of ordinary Americans, a strong scientific spirit is basic to our economy, educational system, and society. This requires lots of young people to become excited enough by science that they decide to become professional scientists. This also requires, to some degree, the support and understanding of the general public.
Scientists are not always able to communicate their findings in an easy-to-understand manner. Although the scientists should do a better job of explaining what they have discovered, members of the general public have to make efforts to understand what is being said.
46．What does the author mean by saying that “a strong scientific spirit is basic to the economy, educational system and society”?
A．School and society should encourage young people to become professional scientists.
B．The school should only teach lessons of economy and education·
C．A scientifically educated public is basic to the economy，educational system and society.
D．More scientists work in our economy, educational system and society.
47．The general public is required to _______.
A．support and understand the need of scientific education
B．check what the scientists are saying
C．give help to the policy-makers
D．become professional scientists
48．The main idea of this passage is _________.
A．policy—makers must be science professionals
B．science is not far from everyone’s life
C．science has nothing to do with ordinary Americans
D．science professionals make decisions that affect the life of everyone
49．According to the passage, who can decide whether the milk we drink can safely come from
cows treated with medicine?
A．Scientists      B．Young people      C．The public     D．Policy-makers

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科目：高中英語 來源：不詳 題型：閱讀理解


第三部分：閱讀理解（共20小題，每題2分，滿分40分）
      閱讀下列短文，從每題所給的四個選項（A、B、C和D）中，選出最佳選項。
A
Reading poems is not exactly an everyday activity for most people. In fact, many people never read a poem once they get out of high school.
It is worth reminding ourselves that this has not always been the case in America. In the nineteenth century, a usual American activity was to sit around the fireside in the evening and read poems aloud. It is true that there was no television at the time, nor movie theaters, nor World Wide Web, to provide diversion. However, poems were a source of pleasure, of self-education, of connection to other people or to the world beyond one’s own community. Reading them was a social act as well as an individual one, and perhaps even more social than individual. Writing poems to share with friends and relations was, like reading poems by the fireside, another way in which poetry has a place in everyday life.
How did things change? Why are most Americans no longer comfortable with poetry, and why do most people today think that a poem has nothing to tell them and that they can do well without poems?
There are, I believe, three culprits(肇事者)：poets, teachers, and we ourselves. Of these, the least important is the third: the world surrounding the poem has betrayed us more than we have betrayed the poem. Early in the twentieth century, poetry in English headed into directions unfavorable to the reading of poetry. Readers decided that poems were not for the fireside or the easy chair at night, that they belonged where other difficult-to-read things belonged.
Poets failed the readers, so did teachers. They want their students to know something about the skills of a poem, they want their students to see that poems mean something. Yet what usually occurs when teachers push these concerns on their high school students is that young people decide poems are unpleasant crossword puzzles.
56．Reading poems is thought to be a social act in the nineteenth century because___________.
A．it built a link among people           B．it helped unite a community
C．it was a source of self-education     D．it was a source of pleasure
57． The underlined word “diversion”(in Paragraph 2) most probably means “________”.
A．concentration B．change         C．a(chǎn)musements   D．stories
58．According to the passage, what is the main cause of the great gap between readers and poetry?
A．Students are becoming less interested in poetry.
B．Students are poorly educated in high school.
C．TV and the Internet are more attractive than poetry.
D．Poems have become difficult to understand.
59．In the last paragraph, the writer questions_______.
A．the difficulty in studying poems       B．the way poems are taught in school
C．students’ wrong ideas about poetry        D．the techniques used in writing poems

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科目：高中英語 來源：不詳 題型：閱讀理解

It doesn't take a rocket scientist long time to figure out that there are better things you could do for your health than take deep breaths on a smoggy（煙霧的）day. A growing pile of research suggests that even relatively low levels of air pollution may be more harmful than previously realized, to both heart and lungs(肺). The latest articles from researchers, published this week in the New England Journal of Medicine, focuses on how particulate (微粒) matter from air pollution affects lung function.
“The effect of low levels of particulate pollution found in many urban areas is not unlike secondhand smoke,” experts say. Studies show that short-term effects from particulates include diminished（減少） lung function, coughing, wheezing, and heart attacks. Long-term exposure can also slow normal lung growth, damage lung airways, and increase the risk of dying from lung cancer.
Certain populations, such as the very old and the very young, are the most vulnerable to air pollution. However, even the most alarming studies conducted in the most polluted areas suggest that the average person's individual risk from exposure (暴露) is very slight. Relative risk numbers often seem more frightening than they actually are. For example, an earlier study published in the New England Journal of Medicine found that short-term exposure to traffic fumes tripled ( 成為3倍) the risk of heart attacks in heart-attack survivors.
Short of moving to the countryside or at least away from busy roads, shielding yourself from the effects of air pollution is not easy. Masks won't work. “At the very least,” suggests Murray Mittleman, a cardiologist at Harvard University, “people who regularly exercise outdoors near highways may want to consider remapping their route.”
66. What does the underlined sentence in the first paragraph mean?
A. Rocket scientists are making researches on people’s health.
B. It's obvious that air pollution has a bad effect on people’s health.
C. People aren't sure whether taking deep breaths on a smoggy day is bad.
D. People often have a hard time when taking deep breaths on a smoggy day.
67. The word "vulnerable" in Paragraph 3 probably means _________.
A. easy to be hurt            B. easy to be protected
C. easy to be used            D. easy to be saved
68. The main idea of Paragraph 3  is _________.
A. that even small risk from particulate causes big problems
B. that air pollution often leads to heart attack
C. who are most likely to get affected
D. that we shouldn't worry about the average low risk
69. In order to be healthier, you'd better _________.
A. take deep breaths         B. wear a mask   
C. live in a countryside       D. clean the busy road
70. The passage is written in a(n) _________ tone.
A. subjective         B. humorous     C. doubtful      D. objective

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科目：高中英語 來源：不詳 題型：閱讀理解

On a good night when there is no Moon and the air is clear, only up to 4,000 or so stars can be seen by the unaided eye. From ancient times star – watchers have tried to bring some order into the sky by fitting the stars into patterns. The constellations (星座) to which names were given.
Observation of the night sky every few hours shows that in the northern hemisphere(半球) the stars appear to turn anticlockwise (逆時針方向) about a point near the Pole Star. As they turn, the stars keep the same positions in relation to each other, and in fact the appearance of the constellations has changed very little over the centuries. Like the Sun and Moon, the stars have a daily journey across the sky, rising upwards in the east and setting in the west – due to the Earth’s daily spin. The Circumpolar Stars, those near the Pole Star, are an exception to this; they are so close to the pole that they never disappear below the horizon (地平線) Although the stars always rise in the same places they do not do so at the same time every day. They rise about 4 minutes earlier each day since the Earth is progressing in its orbit around the Sun; in almost but not exactly a year they again rise and set at the same time. If a certain star is seen to rise in the east exactly when the Sun sets on a particular day, a few weeks later it will be seen well above the eastern horizon at sunset.
58．Which do you think is the best title of the passage above?
A．The Earth, the Moon and the Stars.       B．Motion of the Stars.
C．How to Watch the Stars.                       D．Appearance of the Stars.


 
59．Which of the following descriptions cannot be shown in the picture?

 
A．The Circumpolar stars never disappear below the horizon.
B．The relative position of the stars in a constellation remains more or less the same as they move.
C．Stars appear to turn about a point near the Pole Star.
D．Stars appear to turn anticlockwise in the northern hemisphere.
60．From the passage we can learn that __________.
A．scientists can observe only up to 4,000 stars on a clear night
B．every day the stars always rise in the same place at the same time
C．thousands of years later, people may have to rename the constellations as the positions of the stars in them have changed
D．since the earth spins from the west to the east every day, most stars rise in the east and set in the west
61．Where is the passage probably taken from?
A．A fashion magazine                             B．A newspaper advertisement.
C．A science textbook.                              D．A collection of science fiction stories.

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科目：高中英語 來源：不詳 題型：閱讀理解


B
A mosquito is an insect that is found all over the world．There are thousands of different kinds of mosquitoes in many different sizes and colors．The female mosquito needs blood from vertebrates （脊椎動物）to lay eggs and produce more mosquitoes．She has a special part of her mouth that she uses to suck blood，and her saliva（spit）thins the blood so she can drink it．In fact．It’s the mosquito’s saliva that makes the bites itch（癢）!
A person who gets bitten by a mosquito will notice a wheal，which is a bump around the bite．
The wheal will be round，with pink or red around the edge and white in the middle．The wheal will
itch a lot．Soon the wheal will disappear, but the itch will stay．
If you’ve been bitten by a mosquito，wash the bite with soap and water．Put on some calamine lotion to help stop the itching，or an adult can find an anti-itch cream at the drugstore for you．Placing an ice pack on the bite may also help．Tell an adult you’ve been bitten by a mosquito，especially if you live in the eastern United States．But if you develop an allergic reaction and feel dizzy or sick，tell a doctor immediately．He can treat allergic reactions with sole medicine．
The best way to avoid mosquito bites is to wear an insect repellent．Repellents that include one of these ingredients are best：BEET and lemon eucalyptus．Ask a parent to help you apply them．
Since mosquitoes lay their eggs in water，it’s also a good idea to empty out buckets，flower pots，toys and other things in your yard that may have collected water during a rainstorm．And when it’s possible，you’d better wear long-sleeved shirts and long pants to keep mosquitoes away from your skin．
60．What makes you itch after the mosquitoes’bites?
A．A bump around the bite．          B．The mosquito’s saliva．
C．Some calamine lotion．             D．An antic-itch cream．
61．The underlined word“wheal”（Paragraph 2）is closest in meaning to________．
A．a(chǎn) small mouth that can prevent an insect
B．a(chǎn) small mark after an insect bite that usually itches
C．a(chǎn)n illness after an insect bite that always spreads nearby   
D．a(chǎn)n illness from mosquitoes’ bites and other pollution diseases
62．Which of the following is TRUE according to this passage?
A．There are thousands of mosquitoes in the same sizes and colors．
B．The wheal will never disappear forever but the itch will disappear soon．
C．Ask a doctor for some medicine if you develop an allergic reaction for the bite．
D．Ask a parent for an insect repellent if you see mosquitoes laying their eggs in water．

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科目：高中英語 來源：不詳 題型：閱讀理解


C
A gadget which makes water out of air could become the greatest househo1d invention since the microwave.
Using the same technology as a dehumidifier（除濕器），the Water Mill is able to create a ready supply of drinking water because it can always get it from an unlimited source—the air．
The company behind the machine says not only does it offer an alternative to bottled water in
developed countries, but it is a solution for the millions who face a daily water shortage．
The machine works by drawing in wet air through a filter（過濾器）and over a cooling instrument which changes it into water droplets．It can produce up to 1 2 liters a day．The Water Mill will also produce more water when storms pass over, as the amount of water which is contained in the air increases. In keeping with its eco-development, the machine uses the same amount of electricity as three lights.
Inventor Jonathan Ritchey said: “The demand for water is off the chart. So people are looking for freedom from water distribution systems that are shaky and unreliable.”
The machine, which is about 3 feet wide, is likely to cost ￡800 when it goes on sale here in the spring. Its maker, Canadian Firm Element Four, roughly calculates that a litre of water cost around 20p to produce.
Environmentalists state that half the world’s population will face water shortage because of climate change by 2080. One in five is said to lack access to safe drinking.
The Water Mill is not effective in areas where the amount of water contained in the air is below about 30 percent, but in Britain that won’t be much of a problem.
63．What does the underlined word “it” refer do?
A．Drinking water.       B．Invention. C．Microwave.      D．Water Mill.
64．What do we learn about the machine?
A．It works in the same way as microwaves.
B．It is very expensive for families to afford.
C．It absorbs steam and turns it into water.
D．It helps to make the water clean to drink.
65．What does the passage lead us to believe?
A．The cost of water will go up.  B．Bottled water will disappear sooner.
C．The machine is energy saving. D．The machine will be popular worldwide.
66．What’s the best title for the passage?
A．A New Way to Solve Water Problem.    B．A Machine to Make Water out of Air.
C．A Dehumidifier to Produce Water.     D．An Absolutely New Invention

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