With the development of society and economy, animals and their habitats are getting pushed aside as households decrease in size and increase in number.
Small numbers of people per household on average use more energy and goods per person. Greater numbers of households require more natural resources for construction. The possible result of this problem may be insufficient natural resources to meet consumer demand without endangering habitats important to biodiversity.
Personal freedom and social choice may come at huge environmental cost. Direct costs include visible damage to animal habitats and plant life. Indirect costs include the release of more greenhouse gases.
The effects of such “personal freedom and social choice” have already surfaced in south-west China’s Wolong Nature Reserve. In Wolong, they found that a reduced average household size was directly tied to an increase in homes, and thus an increase in the amount of firewood consumed for cooking and heating. The rise in wood fuel use has contributed to disappearance of forests and to the loss of habitats for giant pandas. 
Curious about whether other parts of the world were experiencing similar phenomena, they got the support of a team of researchers including Stanford’s Paul Ehrlich, well-known for his population studies, to find out the household dynamics in 141 countries between 1985 and 2000. Their study proved that the difficult choice of Wolong is part of a global trend.
In the 76 countries considered biodiversity “hotspots”, such as the United States, Brazil, Australia, and Kenya, the number of households grew by 3.1% every year, while the population increased just 1.8%. Meanwhile, the number of people per home dropped from 4.7 to 4.0. The decline in household size has resulted in 155 million additional households in hotspot countries, almost always limiting biodiversity.
In the 10 non-hotspot countries — those without high-density areas of animal and plant species — similar results were found, though on a lesser scale. Even in countries experiencing population decline, such as New Zealand, the number of households still increased because of a reduction in household size.
小題1:What does the underlined word “insufficient” mean?

A．Plenty of.

B．Not enough.

C．Abundant.

D．Little.

小題2:It can be learned from the passage that China’s Wolong Nature Reserve_____

A．is facing the same threat as many other parts of the world

B．sets a good example in protecting animals

C．is a place where giant pandas and their habitats are not affected

D．is a place where animals and their habitats are seriously damaged

小題3:Which of the following is best supported by the last two paragraphs?

A．Biodiversity is better kept in countries with smaller populations.

B．Biodiversity is better kept in hotspot countries.

C．The threat to nature from reduction in household size is a worldwide problem.

D．Both hotspot countries and non-hotspot countries face the threat of the same scale.

小題4: What does the passage mainly talk about?

A．Reduced household size leads to an increase in household number.

B．Modern homes consume more natural resources.

C．How to meet consumer demand without endangering animals and their habitats.

D．Reduction in household size as well as increase in household number threatens nature.

The $11 billion self-help industry is built on the idea that you should turn negative thoughts like “I never do anything right” into positive ones like “I can succeed.” But was positive thinking advocate Norman Vincent Peale right? Is there power in positive thinking?
　　Researchers in Canada just published a study in the journal Psychological Science that says trying to get people to think more positively can actually have the opposite effect: it can simply highlight how unhappy they are.
　　The study’s authors, Joanne Wood and John Lee of the University of Waterloo and Elaine Perunovic of the University of New Brunswick, begin by citing older research showing that when people get feedback which they believe is very positive, they actually feel worse, not better. If you tell your stupid friend that he has the potential of an Einstein, you’re just underlining his faults. In one 1990s experiment, a team including psychologist Joel Cooper of Princeton asked participants to write essays opposing funding for the disabled. When the essayists were later praised for their sympathy, they felt even worse about what they had written.
　　In this experiment, Wood, Lee and Perunovic measured 68 students’ self-esteem. The participants were then asked to write down their thoughts and feelings for four minutes. Every 15 seconds, one group of students heard a bell. When it rang, they were supposed to tell themselves, “I am lovable.”
　　Those with low self-esteem didn’t feel better after the forced self-affirmation. In fact, their moods turned significantly darker than those of members of the control group, who weren’t urged to think positive thoughts.
　　The paper provides support for newer forms of psychotherapy (心理治療) that urge people to accept their negative thoughts and feelings rather than fight them. In the fighting, we not only often fail but can make things worse. Meditation techniques, in contrast, can teach people to put their shortcomings into a larger, more realistic perspective. Call it the power of negative thinking.
小題1:What do we learn from the first paragraph about the self-help industry?

A．It has produced positive results.

B．It is a highly profitable industry.

C．It is based on the concept of positive thinking.

D．It was established by Norman Vincent Peale.

小題2:What does the word “underline” mean (Line 4, Para. 3)?

A．point out

B．lay emphasis on

C．pay no attention to

D．take for granted

小題3: Which of the following is TRUE about the Canadian researchers’ study?

A．Encouraging positive thinking many do more good than harm.

B．Self-affirmation can bring a positive change to one’s mood.

C．There can be no simple therapy for psychological problems.

D．Forcing a person to think positive thoughts may lower their self-esteem.

小題4:What do we learn from the last paragraph?

A．Meditation may prove to be a good form of psychotherapy.

B．People can avoid making mistakes through meditation.

C．Different people tend to have different ways of thinking.

D．The effects of positive thinking vary from person to person.

Most schools forbid chewing gum, but in a few years they might consider changing that rule. Why? Scientists are finding evidence that gum chewing may be good for your health. It may even help improve your test scores.
This exciting research is just beginning. And in the meantime, companies are also experimenting with adding vitamins, minerals, medicines, and other substances that could give gum the power to cure headaches and fight everything from serious diseases to bad breath.
Other researchers are finding that gum might work better than a pill to deliver medicines and other substances into the bloodstream. That’s because the lining (膜) of our cheeks can absorb certain substances more quickly than our stomachs and intestines (腸) can.
That discovery could help other researchers develop medicine-containing gums that fight colds, ease headaches, battle nervousness, and more. Scientists might even create antimicrobial (抗菌的) gums that cure bad breath.
Those projects may take years, but gum scientists have already had at least one recent success: They’ve created a gum that could help us stay awake.
Researchers have produced a gum called Stay Alert. Each stick has as much caffeine as a cup of coffee. It can take an hour for the caffeine in coffee to have its full effect, but the caffeine in Stay Alert hits in just a few minutes.
The gum is easy to transport and it’s stable in cold and hot climates. Unlike a pill, it doesn’t require water to swallow. Those qualities make it easy for soldiers to use.
For now, Stay Alert is available only to the military (軍隊). The manufacturer may one day offer it for sale to the public. People who work at night, such as truck drivers and medical personnel who ride in ambulances, might benefit from a product like Stay Alert.
小題1: The passage mainly talks about _____.

A．the rule of forbidding chewing gum in school

B．new research on chewing gum

C．different kinds of chewing gum

D．the relationship between chewing gum and medicine

小題2: What does the underlined word “hits” in Paragraph 6 probably mean?

A．Touches.

B．Attacks.

C．Takes effect.

D．Affects badly.

小題3:According to the passage, Stay Alert is a gum which can help people _____.

A．stay awake	B．fight colds
C．cure headaches	D．overcome nervousness

小題4: It can be inferred from the passage that _____.

A．stay Alert is not easy to store

B．stay Alert needs water to swallow

C．stay Alert is available to the public now

D．we can’t buy gums that cure bad breath now

“People should have one meat-free day a week if they want to make a personal and effective sacrifice that would help deal with climate change,” the world’s leading authority on global warming has told The Observer.
Dr Rajendra Pachauri, chair of the United Nations Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change, said that people should then go on to reduce their meat consumption even further.
Pachauri, who was re-elected the panel’s chairman for a second six-year term last week, said diet change was important because of the huge greenhouse gas emissions (排放) and other environmental problems associated with raising cattle and other animals. “It was relatively easy to change eating habits compared to changing means of transport,” he said.
The UN’s Food and Agriculture Organisation has estimated that meat production accounts for nearly a fifth of global greenhouse gas emissions. These are produced during the production. For example, ruminants (反芻動物), particularly cows, give off a gas called methane, which is 23 times more effective as a global warming agent than CO₂.
Pachauri can expect some opposite responses from the food industry to his advice, though last night he was given unexpected support by Masterchef presenter and restaurateur John Torode. “I have a little bit and enjoy it,” said Torode. “Too much for any person is bad. But there’s a bigger issue here: where the meat comes from. If we all bought British and stopped buying imported food, we’d save a huge amount of carbon emissions.”
Professor Robert Watson, the chief scientific adviser for the Department for Environment Food and Rural Affairs, said government could help educate people about the benefits of eating less meat, but it should not regulate. “Eating less meat would help, there’s no question about that,” Watson said.
However, Chris Lamb, head of marketing for pig industry group BPEX, said the meat industry had been unfairly targeted and was working hard to find out which activities had the biggest environmental impact and reduce them. “Some ideas were contradictory,” he said. “For example, one solution to emissions from cattle and other animals was to keep them indoors, but this would damage animal welfare. Climate change is a very young science and our view is there are a lot of simple solutions being proposed.”
小題1:What is directly related to global warming?

A．Consumption of meat.	B．Growth of cattle.
C．Methane from ruminants.	D．Processing of meat.

小題2:Who holds a view opposite to the others’ in the passage?

A．Rajendra Pachauri.

B．John Torode.

C．Robert Watson.

D．Chris Lamb.

小題3:It is implied in the passage that _____.

A．we should try to keep away from cattle	B．ruminants should not be left outdoors
C．the meat industry will soon close down	D．we must do our duty to save the earth

小題4: Which of the following might be the best title for the passage?

A．Less meat, slower global warming

B．More animals, more greenhouse gas

C．Less imported food, better our environment

D．Greater diet change, smaller climate change

“I had a test and didn’t want to do it, so I pretended to be ill”, says 13-year-old Mary. But Mary did not enjoy her day off. “It was boring. I wished I had gone to school.”
Mary’s story is not unusual in Britain. According to the latest government figures, pupil absences are rising, despite schools taking a hard line on truancy (逃學).
Dr Philip James from Cardiff University thinks she knows why: “As schools make more efforts to find and punish missing students, students find better ways to avoid being caught.”
For several years, James has researched teenager truancy and discovered that most truancy was “a response to factors within the school”. Students that skip school are not necessarily less advanced or less intelligent. They complained of teachers who failed to engage them, and of “boring” lessons. “Many of them really enjoy school and believe in education, but drop out when aspects of it are ineffective.” James says.
The views of students like Adam, who believes that skipping lessons has little impact on his schooling, are common. “I only take off for a lesson, or a couple of days. It doesn’t affect my education,” he told James.
James believes that schools need to address the question of why pupils want to leave in the first place. “Pupils need help from the start.” she says. “Schools need to look at the reasons for truancy rather than the number, so that instead of walking away from school, students have the skills and chances to talk through problems and make a change.”
小題1:What is one of the reasons that many students skip school according to James’ study?

A．They feel they have fallen behind in their studies.

B．They have no interest in school education.

C．They now have more interesting things to do.

D．They find some lessons and teachers uninteresting.

小題2:The underlined phrase “taking a hard line” (Paragraph 2) is closest in meaning to “________”.

A．experiencing a problem with	B．having a strict attitude towards
C．finding it difficult to deal with	D．having little success with

小題3:The writer used Adam’s comments (Paragraph 5) to show that ________.

A．school education needs improvement

B．good students also need a break from school

C．schools need to pay more attention to truancy

D．many students believe occasional truancy isn’t serious

小題4:What does Dr James suggest schools do about truancy?

A．Fire all their unqualified teachers.

B．Improve communication with students.

C．Develop better ways to discover truancy.

D．Introduce more serious punishments.

PALO ALTO, California------"Switching off the television may help prevent children from getting fatter------ even if they do not change their diet or increase the amount they exercise," US researchers said last week.
　　A study of 192 third and fourth graders, generally aged eight and nine, found that children who cut the number of hours spent watching television gained nearly two pounds(0.9kg) less over a one-year period than those who did not change their television diet.
　　"The findings are important because they show that weight loss can only be the result of a reduction in television viewing and not any other activity," said Thomas Robinson, a pediatrician(兒科專家) at Stanford University.
　　"American children spend an average of more than four hours per day watching television and videos or playing video games, and rates of childhood being very fat have doubled over the past 20 years," Robinson said.
　　In the study, presented this week to the Pediatric Academic Societies‘ annual meeting in San Francisco, the researchers persuaded about 100 of the students to reduce their television viewing by one-quarter to one-third.
　　Children watching fewer hours of television showed a significantly smaller increase in waist size and had less body fat than other students who continued their normal television viewing, even though neither group ate a special diet or took part in any extra exercise.
　　"One explanation for the weight loss could be the children unstuck to the television may simply have been moving around more and burning off calories," Robinson said.
　　"Another reason might be due to eating fewer meals in front of the television. Some studies have suggested that eating in front of the TV encourages people to eat more," Robinson said.
小題1:The author tries to tell us in the first two paragraphs that ________.

A．children will get fatter if they eat too much

B．children will get thinner if they eat less

C．children will get fatter if they spend less time watching TV

D．children will get fatter if they spend more time watching TV

小題2:According to the passage, the time American children usually spend on watching TV_____.

A．is more than four hours a day	B．is less than four hours a day
C．doubled in the last twenty years	D．is more than on any other activities

小題3: The time children spend on TV viewing every day is suggested to be about ________.

A．six hours

B．eight hours

C．three hours

D．one hour

小題4:Which one of the following is right?

A．Children usually eat fewer while watching TV.

B．Children usually eat more while watching TV.

C．Children eat the same amount of meals while watching TV.

D．Children usually eat nothing while watching TV.

小題5:Why can watching TV increase kids’ weight according to the passage?
　　A. They usually eat more while watching TV.
　　B. They burn off fewer calories.
　　C. They change their diet while watching TV.
D. Both A and B.

It’s interesting that the arrival of snow has effect on people in different countries. For some countries it is an important happening to celebrate each year, while for others a catastrophe(災害) or even a wonder.
　　But there are countries between these two kinds that normally expect snow some time over the winter months, but never receive snow regularly or in the same quantities every year. Britain is one of them, for which the arrival of snow quite simply causes problems. Within hours of the first snowfalls, however light, roads are blocked, trains and buses have to stop in the middle of the way. Normal communication is affected as well: telephone calls become difficult and the post immediately takes more time than usual. And almost within hours, there are also certain shortages----bread, vegetables and other things-----not because all these things can no longer be produced or sent to shops, but mainly because people are frightened and go out and store up with food and so on…just for fear that something bad should happen.
　　But why does snow have this effect? After all, the Swiss, the Austrians and the Canadians don‘t have such problems. It is simple because there is not enough planning and preparation. We need money to buy equipment to deal with snow and ice. To keep the roads clear, for example, requires snow-ploughs(掃雪機) and machines to spread salt. The reason why a country like Britain does not buy snow-ploughs is that they are used for a few days in any one year, and the money could be more useful in other things such as hospital, education, helping the old and so on..
　小題1:According to the writer, Britain is a country ________.

A．which has regular snow	B．which is not well prepared for snow
C．for which snow is a catastrophe	D．for which snow is a wonder

　　小題2:After a few hours’ snowing there are often some shortages of food because ______.
　　A. shops have closed down B. people buy as much as they can
　　B. farmers cannot produce any more D. people eat more vegetables in winter
　　小題3:The words "two kinds" in the passage mean the countries ______.

A．which have weather as yearly happening to celebrate or as rare(少見) weather

B．which either have heavy snow or light snow

C．to which snow either causes problems or no problems

D．which either have snow-ploughs or no snow-ploughs

It’s hard to track the blue whale, which has almost been killed off by commercial whaling. Attaching radio devices to it is difficult and visual sightings are too unreliable to give real insight into its behavior.
So biologists were delighted early this year when, with the help of the US Navy, they are able to track a particular blue whale for 43 days recording its sounds. This was possible because of the Navy’s former top secret system of underwater listening devices across the oceans.
Tracking whales is but one example of an exciting new world just opening to civilian scientists after the cold war as the Navy starts to share and partly uncover its global network of underwater listening system built over the decades to track the ships of potential enemies.
Earth scientists announced at a news conference recently that they had used the system for closely observing a deep-sea volcanic eruption for the first time and that they planned similar studies. Other scientists have proposed to use the network for tracking ocean currents and measuring changes in the ocean and global temperatures. Different layers of ocean water can act as channels for sounds focusing them in the same way a stethoscope(聽診器) does when it carries faint noises from a patient’s chest to a doctor’s ear. This focusing is the main reason that even relatively weak sounds in the ocean, especially low-frequency ones, can often travel thousands of miles.
小題1:The underwater listening system was originally designed _________________.

A．to trace and locate enemy ships

B．to observe deep sea volcanic eruptions

C．to study the movement of ocean currents

D．to replace the global radio communications network

小題2:The deep-sea listening system makes use of __________________.

A．the ability of sound to travel at high speed

B．the top-level technology of focusing sounds under water

C．the unique characteristic of layers of ocean water in carrying sound

D．low-frequency sounds traveling across different layers of water

小題3:What can we infer from the passage?

A．New radio devices are developed for tracking the blue whales.

B．Blue whales are no longer endangered with the new system.

C．Opinions differ on the use of military technology.

D．Military technology has great potential in civilian use.

小題4:What is the passage chiefly about?

A．An effort to protect an endangered marine species.

B．The civilian use of a military detection system.

C．The exposure of a US Navy top-secret weapon.

D．A new way to look into the behavior of blue whales.

It is interesting how NASA(美國航天航空局) chose their astronauts for landing them on the moon. They chose men   36  the ages of twenty and thirty-five. There were about fifty of them. Some were   37  air pilots, and  38  were scientists with two or three degrees. NASA telephoned each man they were going to choose, told him the plans and the   39  they might get into. They then asked him if he was willing to be trained as an astronaut, “How could any man   40  such an exciting job?” One of them said, “Dangerous? Of course. It’s dangerous   41  most exciting.”
The health and physical condition of the people was,  42 , very necessary. Only those in very good health and physical condition were   43 .
While being trained to be astronauts, they went through many   44 . They studied the star and the moon, and they also studied geology, the science of rocks. This was necessary   45  astronauts would have to look for rocks on the moon. They would try to find rocks which might help to tell the   46  of the moon. They were all   47  to fly in helicopters. There helicopters landed straight down to give them some   48  of the way the spaceship would actually land on the   49 . They were also taught the known facts about the   50  in space. They learnt about all the scientists and engineers who   51  spaceships. They visited the   52 where spaceships were repaired. They learnt how every   53  of a spaceship and its instruments work. They also learnt every detail of ground-control   54 .
In a word, to be chosen as astronaut, one must be in good   55 , well-informed in science and good at piloting.

小題1:	A．a(chǎn)t B．between C．of D．on

小題2:	A．experienced B．old C．handsome D．retired

小題3:	A．none B．few C．others D．both

小題4:	A．dangers B．sadness C．reality D．protection

小題5:	A．share B．treat C．offer D．refuse

小題6:	A．but B．if C．though D．when

小題7:	A．in all B．of course C．so far D．a(chǎn)t last

小題8:	A．noticed B．chosen C．praised D．examined

小題9:	A．jobs B．places C．courses D．ways

小題10:

A．so B．because C．a(chǎn)s if D．even though

小題11:

A．size B．scene C．a(chǎn)ge D．name

小題12:

A．shown B．trained C．told D．a(chǎn)llowed

小題13:

A．a(chǎn)dvice B．experience C．surprise D．thought

小題14:

A．water B．rock C．moon D．earth

小題15:

A．secrets B．traditions C．theories D．conditions

小題16:

A．drew B．developed C．designed D．discovered

小題17:

A．offices B．shops C．colleges D．factories

小題18:

A．part B．movement C．step D．body

小題19:

A．method B．difficulty C．system D．trick

小題20:

A．shape B．position C．order D．health

Supermarkets are trying out new computers that make shopping carts more intelligent. They will help shoppers find paper cups or toilet soap, and keep a record of the bill.
The touch-screen devices are on show at the Food Marketing Institute’s exhibition here this week, “These devices are able to create value and get you around the store quicker,” said Michael Alexander, manager of Springboard Retail Networks Inc., which makes a smart cart computer called the Concierge.
Canadian stores will test the Concierge in July. A similar device, IBM’s “Shopping Buddy”, has recently been test-marketed at Stop & Shop stores in Massachusetts.
Neither device tells you how many fat grams or calories are in your cart, but they will flash you with items on sale. The idea is to make it easier for people to buy, not to have second thoughts that maybe you should put something back on the shelf.
“The whole model is driven by advertisers’ need to get in front of shoppers,” said Alexander. “They’re not watching 30-second TV ads anymore.”
People can use a home computer to make their shopping lists. Once at the store, a shopper can use a preferred customer card to start a system（系統(tǒng)）that will organize the trip around the store. If you’re looking for toothpicks, you type in the word or pick it from a list, and a map will appear on the screen showing where you are and where you can find them.
The device also keeps a record of what you buy. When you’re finished, the device figures out your bill. Then you go to the checker or place your card into a self-checkout stand and pay.
The new computerized shopping assistants don’t come cheap. The Buddy devices will cost the average store about $ 160, 000, and the Concierge will cost stores about $ 500 for each device.
小題1:The underlined word “they”（paragraph 1）refers to ____________.

A．supermarkets	B．shop assistants
C．shopping carts	D．shop managers

小題2:We can learn from the last paragraph that ___________.

A．intelligent shopping carts cost a large sum of money

B．the Concierge is cheaper than the Buddy devices

C．shop assistants with computer knowledge are well paid

D．a(chǎn)verage stores prefer the Concierge to the Buddy devices

小題3:What might be the most suitable title for the text?

A．New age for supermarkets

B．Concierge and Shopping Buddy

C．New computers make shopping carts smarter

D．Touch-screen devices make shopping enjoyable