E
Climate has been a major driver of armed conflict in Africa, research shows—and future warming is likely to increase the number of deaths from war. US researchers found that across the continent, conflict was about 50% more likely in unusually warm years.
Writing in Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences (PNAS), they suggest conflict arises when the food supply is not enough in warm conditions. Climatic factors have been mentioned as a reason for several recent conflicts. One is the fighting in Darfur in Sudan that has killed 200,000 people and forced two million more from their homes. Previous research has shown an association between lack of rain and conflict, but this is thought to be the first clear evidence of a temperature link.
The researchers used databases of temperatures across sub-Saharan Africa for the period between 1981 and 2002, and looked for connections between above average warmth and civil conflict in the same country that left at least 1,000 people dead. "Studies show that crop output in the region is really sensitive to small shifts in temperature, even of half a degree or so," research leader Marshall Burke, from the University of California at Berkeley, told BBC News.
"Our findings provide strong motivation to increase investments in African adaptation to climate change by such steps as developing crop varieties less sensitive to extreme heat and promoting insurance plans to help protect farmers from negative effects of the hotter climate," said Dr Burke. "If the argument is that the trend towards rising temperatures will increase conflict, then we need to do something around climate change, but more fundamentally we need to resolve the conflicts in the first place."
If the sub-Saharan climate continues to warm and little is done to help its countries better adapt to high temperatures, the human costs are likely to be unimaginable. If temperatures rise across the continent as computer models project, future conflicts are likely to become more common, researchers suggest. Their study shows an increase of about 50% over the next 20 years.
When projections of social trends such as population increase and economic development were included in their model of a future Africa, temperature rise still emerged as a likely major cause of increasing armed conflict. At next month's UN climate summit (峰會) in Copenhagen, governments are due to debate how much money to put into helping African countries prepare for and adapt to negative effects of climate change.
57．According to the passage, which of the following is one of the reasons for the fighting in Darfur in Sudan?
A．Shortage of drinking water.                         B．Racial discrimination.
C．Rising temperature.                                     D．Demand for planting land.
58．What can we know from the research done by the US researchers?
A．There is no close relation between rainfall and conflict.
B．Temperature greatly affects crop production in sub-Saharan Africa.
C．Temperature will rise by about 50% in Africa over the next two decades.
D．With world cooperation, conflicts in Africa will be reduced by half 20 years later.
59．What can be inferred from the passage?
A．Something must be done to help sub-Saharan countries with better adaptation to climate change to avoid disaster.
B．Conflicts in sub-Saharan countries are sure to be on the rise in future.
C．Temperature in sub-Saharan countries will rise at a faster speed.
D．High temperatures will make sub-Saharan countries unfit to live in.
60．What's the best title for this passage?
A．World cooperation against African conflict
B．Africa's sufferings from climate change
C．Food shortages lead to African conflict
D．Climate drives African conflict
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科目：高中英語 來源：不詳 題型：閱讀理解

When did you last see a polar bear(北極熊）? On a trip to a zoo,perhaps?  If you had attended a winter activity in New York a few years ago,  you would have seen a whole polar bear club.  These "Polar Bears" are people who meet frequently in the winter to swim in freezing cold water.  That day, the air temperature was 3℃, and the water temperature was a little higher.  The members of the Polar Bear Club at Coney Island, New York are usually about the age of 60.  Members must satisfy two requirements.  First, they must get along well with everyone else in the group; this is very important because there are so many different kinds of people in the club.  Polar Bears must also agree to swim outdoors at least twice a month from November through February.
Doctors don't agree about the medical effects of cold-winter swimming.  Some are worried about the dangers of a condition in which the body's temperature drops so low that finally the heart stops.  Other doctors, however, point out that there is more danger of a heart attack during summer swimming because the difference between the air temperature and water temperature is much greater in summer than in winter.
The Polar Bears themselves are satisfied with the benefits of cold-water swimming.  They say that their favorite form of exercise is very good for the circulatory system(循環(huán)系統(tǒng)）because it forces the blood to move fast to keep the body warm.  Cold-water swimmers usually turn bright red after a few minutes in the water.  A person who turns blue probably has a very poor circulatory system and should not try cold-water swimming.
　　The main benefits of cold-water swimming are probably mental.The Polar Bears love to swim all year round;  they find it fun and relaxing.  As one 70-year-old woman says,"When I go into water, I pour my troubles into the ocean and let them float away."
小題1:The members of the Polar Bear Club must meet the following requirements except that_____.
A．they must swim outdoors at least 8 times in the four cold months
B．they must reach the age of 60
C．they should be easy to make friends with
D．they must agree to swim outdoors from November through February
小題2:According to the passage, some doctors believe it is true that_____.
A．Polar Bears are bears swimming in freezing water
B．cold-water swimming can make the body temperature dangerously high
C．you are healthy if cold-water swimming turns your skin color blue
D．cold-water swimming causes more heart attacks in summer than in winter
小題3:The Polar Bears like to swim year-round, for_____.
A．it is an easy way to keep the body warm in winterB．they can remain young
C．they find it enjoyable and interestingD．they might meet fewer troubles in life
小題4:The passage is mainly about_____.
A．the requirements of the Polar Bear Club
B．a(chǎn) group of cold-water-swimming livers
C．the Polar Bears' life in New York
D．doctors' ideas about cold-water swimming

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科目：高中英語 來源：不詳 題型：閱讀理解

.
Americans are thinking about national education standards recently developed by teachers and other education experts. The National Governors Association (NGA) and the Council of Chief State School Officers (CCSSO) led the effort.
The United States, unlike other nations, has never had the same school standards across the country. What is the reason? Education is not discussed in the Constitution. That document limits the responsibilities of the federal government. Other responsibilities, like education, fall to the individual states.
Local control of education probably was a good idea two hundred years ago. People stayed in the same place and schools knew what students needed to learn. But today, people move to different cities. And some people work at jobs that did not exist even twenty years ago.
Many American educators say that getting a good education should not depend on where you live. They say that some states have lowered their standards in order to increase student scores on tests required by the No Child Left Behind Act.
Kara Schlosser is communications director for the Council of Chief State School Officers. She says the new standards clearly state what a student should be able to do to be successful in college and work.
Forty-eight states have already shown approval for the standards. Two states reject the idea. Critics(批評家) say that working toward the same standards in every state will not guarantee(保證) excellence for all. Some educators in Massachusetts say adopting the proposal will hurt their students because the state standards are even higher. Others say the change will be too costly, requiring new textbooks and different kinds of training for teachers. Still others fear federal interference or control.
Supporters say the standards are goals and do not tell states or teachers how to teach. They also say the federal government is not forcing acceptance. However, approving the standards will help states qualify(合格) for some federal grant money.
60．What would be the best title for the passage?
A．Local Control of Education Standards out of Date
B．American National Education Standards under Consideration
C．Education Standards in Each State – Good or Bad
D．Acceptance of the New Standards in the United States
61．Why is local control of education no longer a good idea today?
A．Because local standards are limited.
B．Because it is required by the federal government.
C．Because people today moves among states more often than before.
D．Because America has never has the same school standards thought the country.
62．Some people are against the national education standards because__________.
A．the standards are higher than those of each state
B．the are nor yet prepared for the new standards
C．the standards may prevent some students gaining excellence
D．they don’t want the federal government to train their teachers
63．If a state agrees to accept the motional standards, it will probably get__________.
A．more students             B．a(chǎn)dvice on how to improve teaching
C．better textbooks             D．money from the federal government

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科目：高中英語 來源：不詳 題型：閱讀理解


C
　　A scientist who developed a way to calculate(計算) how much water is used in the produciton of anything form a cup of coffee to a hamburger was awarded the 2008 Stockholm Water Prize.
　　Professor John Anthony Allan of the University of London in Britain won the award for introducing the idea of "virtual water(虛擬水)",a calculation method that has changed the nature of trade policy and research.
　　Allan has written seven books and published more than 100 papers.
　　The Stockholm International Water Institute said this idea is now embedded(埋藏) in the production of foods and industrial products.The institute said Allan's work had made a big effect on global trade policy and research,especially in water - scarce(缺水) regions.
　　"The improved understanding of trade and water management issues on local,regional and global scales are of the highest value for the successsful and sustainable(可持續(xù)的) use of water resources,"it said.
　　"People do not only use water when they drink it or take a shower,"the institute said. "Behind the morning cup of coffee,there are 140 liters of water that was used to grow,produce,package and ship the beans."That is about as much water as a person in England uses on average for all daily drinking and household needs.
　　"For a single hamburger,about 2,400 liters of water are needed.In te USA ,the average person uses nearly 7,000 liters of virtual water every day" It said that was more than three times the average use of a Chinese person.
　　64.Allan was awarded the prize because ______.
　　　A.he wrote seven books on trade policy
　　　B.he published more than 100 papers on water management
　　　C.he found a new kind of water in water - scarce areas
　　　D.he came up with the idea of virtual water
　　65.Which of the following is TRUE according to the passage?
　　　A.The average American uses about 7,000 liters of water a day.
　　　B.The average Chinese uses nearly 2,300 liters of virtual water a day.
　　　C.An Englishman usually drinks about 140 liters of coffee a day.
　　　D.A hamburger usually contains about 2,400 liters of water.
　　66.What effect does the idea of virtual water have?
　　　A.It helps us realize the importance of trade.
　　　B.It helps people do successful business.
　　　C.It helps us make use of water scientifically.
　　　D.It tells us how much water we use a day.
　　67.What does the underlined word "it" in the last paragraph refer to?
　　　A.The University of London.
　　　B.The calculation method.
　　　C.The Stockholm International Water Institute.
　　　D.The trade policy and research.

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科目：高中英語 來源：不詳 題型：閱讀理解


E
Teachers have long said that success is its own reward. But these days, some students are finding that good grades can bring them cash and luxury gifts.
In at least a dozen states this school year, students who bring home top marks can expect more than just thankfulness.
The most ambitious experiment began in September, when seven states—Arkansas, Alabama, Connecticut, Kentucky, Massachusetts, Virginia and Washington—won spots in an Mobil?funded program that, in most cases, pays students $100 for each passing grade on advanced placement(AP) college?prep exams.
It’s an effort to get low?income and minority students interested in the courses, says Tommie Sue Anthony, president of the Arkansas Advanced Initiative for Math and Science. “We still have students who are not sure of the value, who are not willing to take the courses.” she says, “Probably the motivation will make a difference with those students.”
Gregg Fleisher of the National Math and Science Initiative, which runs the seven?state program, says the effort is modeled on a program adopted by Dallas in the 1995-1996 school year that saw AP course?taking jump obviously. That program is now statewide.
While many educators would be against offering kids cash for good grades, Fleisher and others say the idea is simple. “It’s an encouragement to get them to basically make the right decision and choose a more strict class.” he says, “This teaches them that if they work at something very hard and have a lot of support, they can do something they didn’t think they could do.”
An analysis of the Texas program last month by Cornell economist C.Kirabo Jackson found that it linked to a 30% rise in the number of students with high SAT and ACT scores and an 8% rise in college?going students.
(Notes:1.SAT:美國學(xué)術(shù)能力評估考試; 2.ACT:美國大學(xué)入學(xué)考試。)
51.What does the passage mainly talk about?
A.Success is its own reward.           B.Success makes a difference.
C.Good grades deserves gratitude.      D.A new motivation for students.
52.What’s the purpose of the experiment?
A.To get relatively poor students interested in their studies.
B.To help poor students to keep on with education.
C.To offer poor students luxury gifts on their birthdays.
D.To make an effort to raise the value of money.
53.Which of the following statements is TRUE?
A.Students who top at college?prep exams get $100.
B.The program was probably first adopted by Dallas.
C.The program has been going on half a dozen states this year.
D.The program didn’t have any effect on student’s achievements.
54.What is the writer’s attitude toward offering kids cash for good grades?
A.Favorable.     B.Worried.        C.Opposed.          D.Confident.
55.According to the passage, the program_______.
A.makes everything possible            B.encourages students to study harder
C.helps students choose right classes     D.teaches students to spend money

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科目：高中英語 來源：不詳 題型：閱讀理解


B
The world is not coming to an end on December 21, 2012, the US space agency insisted Monday in a rare campaign to dispel widespread rumors fueled by the Internet and a new Hollywood movie．
The latest big screen offering from Sony Picture, 2012, arrives in theaters on Friday, with a 200-million-dollar production about the end of the world supposedly based on myths backed by the Mayan calendar．It is claimed that the end of time will come as a Planet X---or Nibiru---heads toward or collides with the Earth．
Some websites accuse NASA of hiding the truth on the planet’s existence, but the US space agency condemned such stories as an “Internet hoax”．“There is no factual basis for these claims,” NASA said in a question-and-anwser posting on this website．“If such a collision were real, astronomers would have been tracking it for at least the past decade, and it would be visible by now to the naked eye．Obviously, it does not exist．Credible scientists worldwide know of no threat associated with 2012,” it insisted．“After all, our planet has been getting along just well for more than four billion years,” added NASA．
There is another planet, Eris, floating in space．But the small planet similar to Pluto will remain safely fixed in the outer solar system and it can come no closer than four billion miles to the Earth, according to NASA．
Earlier theories set the disaster for May 2003, but when nothing happened the date was moved forward to the winter in 2012 to coincide with the end of a cycle of the ancient Mayan calendar．
NASA insisted the Mayan calendar in fact does not end on December 21, 2012, as another period begins immediately afterward．
And even if the planets were to line up as some have forecast, the effect on our planet would be “negligible（unimportant）”, NASA said．
“And while comets and asteroids （小行星） have always hit the Earth, big hits are very rare,” NASA noted．The last major impact was believed to be 65 million years ago, resulting in the end of dinosaurs．
“We have already determined that there are no threatening asteroids as large as the one that killed the dinosaurs,” the space agency said．
49．______ played a key role in the spread of the rumors．
A．A new book               B．The Internet and a new Hollywood movie
C．NASA                   D．An Indian calendar
50．We can infer that ______．
A．people didn’t take the rumor seriously
B．Planet X --- or Nibiru does exist
C．a(chǎn)stronomers have been tracking Planet X for over ten years
D．the rumor caused a panic among some people
51．NASA thinks that Eris ______．
A．might have a threat to the Earth     B．doesn’t have any threat to the Earth
C．is too far away to be visible       D．is similar to our planet, where life might exist
52．Which of the following is the best title?
A．New Hollywood movie 2012
B．December 21, 2012, Not the end of the world
C．End of the ancient Mayan calendar
D．How rumors came into being

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科目：高中英語 來源：不詳 題型：閱讀理解


C
The computer is fast, and never makes a mistake, while people are too slow, and full of mistakes sometimes. That’s what people often say when they talk about computers. For over a quarter of a century, scientists have been making better and better computers. Now a computer can do a lot of everyday jobs wonderfully. It is widely used in factories, hospitals, post office and airports. A computer can report, decide and control in almost every field. Many computer scientists are now thinking of making the computer “think” like a man. With the help of a person, a computer can draw pictures, write music, talk with people, play chess, recognize voice, translate languages and so on. Perhaps computer will one day really think and feel. Do you think the people will be afraid when they find that the computer too clever to listen to and serve the people?
63. A computer is clever because people are _____
A. clever    B. not clever   C. slow  D.making mistakes
64. Which of the following can computers not do now?
A. Draw pictures   B. Talk    C. Invent new things    D.Serve the people
65. What will happen in the future?
A. Most work will be done by the computer.     B. People will no longer use computer.
C. Computers will be used only talk with people.   D. All computers will be put into prison.
66. The passage is written to __________.
A. warn people of the danger of the computer
B. tell people about the computer
C. tell people about computer scientists
D. show how to use the computer
67. The best title for this passage is _________.
A. “Computers”        B. “Computer Scientists”
C. “The Future World”   D. “Talk With Computers”

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科目：高中英語 來源：不詳 題型：閱讀理解

What will man be like in the future — in 5,000 or even 50,000 years from now? We can only make guesses, of course, but we can be sure that he will be different from what he is today, for man is slowly changing all the time.
Let us take an obvious example. Man, even five hundred years ago, was shorter than he is today. Now, on average, men are about three inches taller. Five hundred years is a relatively short period of time, so we may assume that man will continue to grow taller. Again in the modern world we use our brains a great deal. Even so, we still make use of only about 20% of the brain’s capacity (容量). As time goes on, however, we shall have to use our brains more and more, and eventually we shall need larger ones! This is likely to bring about a physical change too: the head, in particular the forehead, will grow larger.
Nowadays our eyes are in constant use. In fact, we use them so much that very often they become weaker and we have to wear glasses. But over a very long period of time it is likely that man’s eyes will grow stronger.
On the other hand, we tend to make less use of our arms and legs. These, as a result, are likely to grow weaker. At the same time, however, our fingers will grow more sensitive because they are used a great deal in modern life.
But what about hair? This will probably disappear from the body altogether in course of time because it does not serve a useful purpose any longer. In the future, then, both sexes are likely to be bald.
Perhaps all this gives the impression that future man will not be a very attractive creature to look at! This may well be true. All the same, in spite of all these changes, future man will still have a lot in common with us. He will still be a human being, with thoughts and emotions similar to our own.
56. The size of man’s forehead will probably grow bigger because _______.
A. he will use his brain more and more as time goes on
B. he makes use only 20% of the brain’s capacity
C. his brain has grown larger over the past centuries
D. the other 80% of his brain will grow in due time    
57. What serves as the evidence that man is changing?
A. Man has got stronger eyes now than he ever had.
B. Man has been growing taller over the past 500 years.
C. Man’s hair is getting thinner and thinner.
D. Man’s arms and legs have become lighter and weaker.
58. What will be true about a human being in the future?
A. He will be hairless because hair is no longer useful.
B. He will have smaller eyes and will wear better glasses.
C. His fingers will grow weaker because he won’t have to make use of them.
D. He will think and feel in a different way.
59. It is implied that __________________.
A. human beings will become more attractive in the future
B. body organs will become poorer if they are not used often
C. human beings hope for a change in the future life
D. future life is always predictable
60. The passage mainly tells us that _______________.
A. man’s life will be different in the future  B. man is growing taller and uglier as time passes
C. future man will look quite different from us
D. human beings’ organs will function weaker

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科目：高中英語 來源：不詳 題型：閱讀理解


D
Are some people born clever, and others born stupid? Or is intelligence developed by our environment and experience? Strangely enough, the answer to these questions is yes. To some extent, person’s intelligence is fixed at birth, whether or not he reaches those limits will depend on his environment. This view, now held by most experts, can be supported in a number of ways.
It is easy to show that intelligence is to some extent something we are born with. The closer the blood relationship between two people, the closer they are likely to be in intelligence. Thus if we take two unrelated people at random(隨意地) from the population, it is likely that their degree of intelligence will be completely different. If, on the other hand, we take two identical twins they will very likely be as intelligent as each other. Relations like brothers and sisters, parents and children, usually have similar intelligence, and this clearly suggests that intelligence depends on birth.
Imagine now that we take two identical twins and put them in different environments. We might send one, for example, to a university and the other to a factory where the work is  boring. We should soon find differences in intelligence developing, and this indicates that environment as well as birth plays a part. This conclusion is also suggested by the fact that people who live in close contact with each other, but who are not related at all are likely to have similar degree of intelligence.
68. The writer is in favor of the view that man’s intelligence is given to him
A. at birth                          B. through education
C. both at birth and through education    D. neither at birth nor through education
69. If a child is born with low intelligence, he is unlikely to      
A. become a genius so long as he or she works hard enough
B. still become a genius if he should be given special education
C. go beyond his intelligence limits even in rich surroundings
D. never reaches his intelligence limits in his life
70. The example of the twins going to a university and to a factory separately shows
A. the importance of their intelligence      
B. the role of environment on intelligence
C. the importance of their positions        
D. the part that birth plays
71. What can be the best title for the text?
A. Surroundings                           B. Intelligence
C. Dependence on Environment              D. Effect of Education

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