The huge explosion at Krakatau was the result of two different factors. One was that the volcano had not broken out for some time and so at the very center of the volcano there was an huge plug of lava, this acted like a cork(塞子) in a bottle, stopping the pressure below from being released(釋放). The second factor was that ocean water entered the very centre of the volcano as the explosions became more violent. This caused superheated steam to build up enormous pressure and this was finally released in the largest explosion of all on August 27, 1883. The sudden release of the pressure sent huge amounts of ash, rock and dust into the sky. Some of the ash rose 80km into the air and traveled around the Earth causing brightly coloured sunsets for several years.
Krakatau almost disappeared; for many years after this explosion, it remained very quiet. However, there was still activity going on under the sea and on 25 January, 1925, a small volcanic cone appeared above the surface of the water. This new volcano was named Anak Kmkatau, or Child of Krakatau. Over the following years, the size of the island grew larger, by 1959, the island was 300 metres above the surface of the sea. The volcanic activity has continued and the latest eruptions were in 1995.
There is no doubt Krakatar will continue to grow and there is also strong evidence that at some point in the future there will be another violent explosion. Krakatau is in a part of the world where the surface of the Earth is unstable and is always moving and cracking. If, in the future, another “cork” becomes fixed in the centre of the volcano, the pressure will build up. A series of a smaller explosions will allow sea-water into the centre of the volcano and once again the result will a terribly destructive explosion.
66. The latest eruptions were in_______.
A.1925           B. 1959           C. 1995          D. 1983
67. The pressure under the volcano can not be released because _______
the plug looks like a cork in a bottle
the volcano hasn’t broken out for some time
the center of the volcano is blocked(堵塞) by lava
the temperature of the steam is not high enough.
68. We can infer from the article that Krakatau volcano________
A. has broken out three times               B. never dies but continues to be active
C. will kill many people again in the future    D. is always moving and growing above sea.
69. All of the following results are caused by the explosion at Krakatau EXCEPT that_____
A. ash, rock and dust was thrown high into the air
B. others small volcanoes were soon produced.
C. The island of Kratau was destroyed
D. People saw beautiful sunsets for some years
70. The article is mainly about________
A. the cause of the Krakatau volcano      B. the danger of the Krakatau volcano
C. the history of the Krakatau volcano     D. the future of the Krakatau volcano

American and British researchers have proved that judgments based on how someone looks are important. They found that appearance tells a lot about your personality.
The researchers included Laura Naumann of Sonoma State University in California, and Simine Vazire of Washington University in Saint Louis, Missouri. They were joined by Sam Gosling of the University of Texas at Austin and Peter J. Rentfrow of Britain's Cambridge University. The results of their study were published in the Personality and Social Psychology Bulletin in December, 2009.
The subjects（接受實(shí)驗(yàn)者）were asked to judge the personality of people they had never met. The judges examined pictures of one hundred twenty-three people. The people in the photographs had been told how to stand. They looked into the cameras without showing their feelings. The same people also were photographed the way they themselves wanted to stand. Those who wanted to smile could smile.
Then the judges attempted to decide what the people were like. The researchers compared the judges’ opinions with the way the people who were photographed thought of themselves. Three people who knew those in the photographs well also provided information about their personality and behavior.
The judges looked for ten qualities in the people in the pictures. The qualities included extroversion (having a confident character and enjoying the company of other people) and self-esteem (being satisfied with oneself).
The judges also looked for signs of loneliness, conscientiousness（正義）, emotional control and religious and political beliefs.
The researchers said the judges could identify some personalities even when people were pictured in controlled positions. They could recognize personalities like extroversion and self-esteem. But it was hard for the judges to decide about most other personalities under the controlled conditions.
When the people smiled and stood naturally, however, judging their personalities was easy. Then the judges’ choices were correct for nine of the ten personalities.
Researcher Laura Nauman said that we live in the world where first impressions are important.
1. According to the passage, who were the judges?
A. The researchers of the study.                       B. The subjects in the study.
C. Parents and other adults.                               D. People in the photographs.
2. Which of the following qualities could the judges identify even when people were pictured in controlled positions?
A. Extroversion                   B. Religious beliefs              C. Loneliness         D. Emotional control
3. We can infer from the passage that ____________
A. the study was carried out by four researchers from America.
B. in the study126 people were photographed for judges to decide their personalities.
C. the Personality and Social Psychology Bulletin is an official publication（出版物）.
D. it was hard to recognize personalities when the people were pictured with natural looks.
4. What will the author most probably talk about next?
A. The quality of the judges.                      B. The personalities of Laura Nauman.
C. Signs of emotional control.                   D. The reason why one’s appearance is important.

The Chinese have used a method called acupuncture to help perform operations for about 4,000 years without putting the patient to sleep. This involves inserting（插入）flexible needles （針）into certain parts of the body. The needles used are available in a number of stores in China and everyone may buy them.
To learn how to use needle takes about one month of training. But to be skillful requires greater time. The person who performs the acupuncture knows how to insert the needles so the needles themselves are not painful. This person also knows where to place the needles so the patient feels no pain in the area where the operation is to be performed. The needles are not necessarily inserted near the place where the pain is to be prevented. In the past, a particular operation might require 25 or more needles placed in various parts of the body. But now this operation requires only 3 or 4 needles.
Today the Chinese doctors are trying to learn more about acupuncture. They are trying to develop a convincing theory to explain how the needles work in preventing pain, or, why a needle in the wrist（手腕）, for example, would prevent the pain in the area of the mouth.
A patient who needs an operation is given a choice between having acupuncture or having one of the chemicals used for putting him to sleep. It has been estimated that over half of the patients choose acupuncture because there is no sickness after the operation whereas（然而，反之） the chemical may make the patient sick for a few hours or a day.
1．Acupuncture is a kind of _______.
A. medical needles          B. medical equipment
C. medical technique        D. medical examination
2. To perform the acupuncture skillfully, one _______.
A. has to learn how to insert the needles accurately in the right place
B. should insert the needles where the pain is to be prevented
C. needs to be trained for a short period of time
D. must use fewer needles than in the past
3. According to the 3rd paragraph, we can infer _______.
A. people must insert a needle in the wrist to prevent the pain in the mouth
B. people come to realize the shortcomings of the acupuncture
C. people are convinced to use the acupuncture to cure diseases
D. people need to make deeper research into the acupuncture
4.Nowadays, more and more people prefer having acupuncture because _______.
A. acupuncture has no side effects after the operation
B. acupuncture costs them less than having chemicals
C. chemicals usually cause many more deaths
D. they want to protect the traditional Chinese medicine
5. The author of the passage tends to be ________ acupuncture.
A. strongly against      B. in favor of     C. doubtful about      D. uninterested in

Working hard for fun
No more pencils! No more books
No more teacher’s serious looks!
After a long period of study and work, the young Americans burst through the school doors singing.
But unfortunately, American students do very poorly and are among the worst students in the world. In the entire field of subjects---from geography and maths to science and general knowledge. American students are the poorest performers. Why? What’s the reason behind the scene? One problem lies in the fact that so little is expected from them. The standards of success are too low. Teachers are not willing to give out low grades and fail students. Besides, the existing negative results are few and mean little to students if their performance in study is poor . Of course some students realize that a high school diploma is a measure of success and will be important to get a job or get admitted into college. But they only have to go through the motions without really trying. They learn to get by with a minimum of effort.
In America, it is simply too easy for high school students to enter college. This forms a sharp contrast with the students in China and other Asian countries who have to suffer heavy pressure from parents, teachers and cruel social facts. Chinese students have to study hard for long years to pass the national college entrance examination which few Americans will take such trouble to enter to university. The majority American students know that they will be able to get into some college, so they do not really worry about it.
It turns out that American high school students are just too busy to find time to study. They spend almost no time on study while students from other countries spend four or five hours per day on homework. American students on the average give less than five hours per week to their studies. Learning and reading for future are not important to them. Many American never read. It is little wonder why Americans knows less than students from other countries.
1. Why are American students the poorest performers in the entire field of subjects?
A. Because they are too busy to find time to study.
B. Because they are too stupid and too lazy.
C. Because they care little about their study.
D. Because so little is required from them
2. Which of the following is Not true ?
A. Most of American students spend less than five hours on their study every week.
B. Few American students have trouble to enter college.
C. American students can be admitted into college even without a high school diploma.
D. It is hard for the students in China to enter college.
3. What seems to be the writer’s attitude towards American students?
A. He probably thinks much should be expected from them.
B. He is in favour of American students’ learning methods.
C. He shows no interest in American students’ study.
D. He thinks American students study hard.

第三部分閱讀理解（共20小題；每小題2分，滿分40分）
A teenager says he convinced the White House that he was Iceland’ s president and managed to schedule a call with George W.Bush , but was found out before he got to talk to the US president.
“My call was transferred around a few times until I got hold of Bush’s secretary and managed to book a call meeting with Bush the following Monday evening ,” Vifill Atlaso, 16, told Reuters.
Several Icelandic police turned up at his door two days later---the day of the planned call---and took him in for questioning.
“They told me the CIA had called the National Commissioner of the Icelandic Police and asked if the police could try and find out where I received that phone number from,” said Atlason.
The teenager said he was unable to recall where he had discovered the telephone number of the White House.
“I know I’v had it on my phone card for at least four years now and that an Icelandic friend gave it to me, but I don’t remember who,”he said.
At a White House news conference on Monday, Bush’s spokeswoman Dana Perino said her understanding was that Atlason had called a public line “that anybody can call”, according to a transcript(記錄).
Jon Buartmarz, Chief Superintendent at Iceland’s national police headquarters, said Icelandic police had not spoken to their US counterparts about the matter. He declinced(拒絕) to say how police were tipped off (通告) about Atlason’s call.
“As far as we’re concerned, there will not be any further investigation, and I don’t know if the American government is taking any action because of this,”he said.
1.According to the passage, when did Atlason call the White House ?
A.On Friday      B. On Saturday     C. On Sunday    D. On Monday
2.What does the underlined “it ”refer to ?
A.The telephone number of the White House.
B.The telephone number of his friend.
C.A White House news conference .
D.CIA
3.How did Atlason get the telephone number of the White House ?
A.From a newspaper   
B.From Bush’s secertary
C.From an Icelandic friend  
D.By calling the National Commissioner of the Icelandic Police.
4.What is the main idea of the article ?
A.An Icelandic teenager tricks the the White House
B.CIA found out the truth of a trick.
C.A teenager pretended to be the Icelandic president.
D.The telephone number of the Whiite House is known by public.

第二節(jié)簡(jiǎn)答題（共3小題；每小題1.5分，滿分4.5分）
Tsunamis (海嘯) are a series of huge waves created by an underground movement such as an earthquake or a volcanic eruption (火山噴發(fā)) . A tsunami can travel hundreds of miles per hour in the open ocean and hit the land with huge waves.
From the area where the tsunamis come, waves travel in all directions. Once the waves approach the coast, they will become more than 100 feet in height. The topography (地形) of the coastline and the ocean floor will influence the size of the wave. There may be more than one wave and the latter one may be larger than the one before. That is why a small tsunami at one beach can be a huge wave a few miles away.
All tsunamis are dangerous, even if they may not damage every coastline they strike. A tsunami can strike anywhere along most of the US coastline. Many harmful tsunamis have occurred along the coasts of California, Oregon, Washington, Alaska and Hawaii.
A movement of the ocean floor, caused by earthquakes, most often causes tsunamis. If a tsunami occurs close to a coast, the first wave could reach the beach in a few minutes, even before a warning is given. Areas are at greater risk if they are less than 25 feet above sea level and within a mile of the coastline. Drowning is the most common cause of death during a tsunami. Tsunami waves are very harmful to buildings. Other dangers include floods, pollution of drinking water, and fires from gas lines.
An accurate prediction (預(yù)報(bào)) system will allow authorities (官方) to issue timely warnings and save lives in the event of a shore-bound tsunami. But forecasting tsunamis accurately is very difficult because the ocean is usually calm before they strike land.
65. What can cause tsunamis according to the passage? ( 回答詞數(shù)不超過(guò)6個(gè) )
______________________________________________________________________________
66. What harm can a tsunami bring besides killing people and damaging buildings? ( 回答詞數(shù)不超過(guò)15個(gè) )
______________________________________________________________________________
67. Why is it very difficult to forecast tsunami accurately ? ( 回答詞數(shù)不超過(guò)9個(gè) )
______________________________________________________________________________

The following conversation is between Susan Russell-Robinson from the US Geological （地質(zhì)學(xué)的）Survey and Barbara Reynolds from USA Today .
Q: Why , after 600 years of no activity , did Mount Pinatubo in Philippines erupt（噴發(fā)）in 1991 ?
A: Volcanoes （火山）each have their own eruption styles . This volcano probably has a rule which makes it erupt in the order of every 500 to 1000 years , but a volcano in Hawaii seems to erupt every year , and some of the Alaskan volcanoes might erupt every 10 or 20 years .
Q: So nothing caused it ?
A: There’s nothing out of the ordinary . If you were to take an ordinary calendar year , 50 to 75 or 80 volcanoes erupt around the world every year . There are 20 to 30 volcanoes every month that show signs of unrest . That might be a full-blown eruption or a whole host of activities like that .
Q: What is “the ring of fire” ?
A: If you look at where active volcanoes are placed around the world , there are somewhere between 500 and 600 of them . There is what appears to be almost a necklace that goes around the Pacific Ocean . It makes a ring where 60% of the world’s volcanoes lie .
Q: Why such a concentration（集中）there ?
A: That’s based on a theory that the oceans and the continents are like separate pieces . When they move , one might ride up over the other one . In this case , the Pacific Ocean goes under the continents and when that happens it seems to produce magma （熔巖）at depth and then you have volcanoes in the same ring .
1．What kind of writing do you think this passage is ?
A．A text taken from a geography book .    B．An interview published in the press .
C．A conversation carried out in a film .     D．An oral test recorded as an example .
2．Which of the following statements can correctly explain why we have so many volcanoes around the Pacific Ocean ?
A．The movement of the surface of the earth makes it possible.
B．The Pacific Ocean produces magma and presses it everywhere.
C．The oceans and the continents are separated from each other.
D．The earth’s surface around the Pacific is thinner than any other part.
3．Barbara Reynolds’ main purpose here is______________ .
A．to show how dangerous volcanoes are to the world
B．to learn what signs a volcano gives us before its eruption
C．to warn the world of the existence of “the ring of fire”
D．to introduce some general idea of volcanoes to the public
4．Which of the following can be considered as the best conclusion of the conversation?
A．There are so many volcanoes in the world and we are always in danger.
B．Volcanoes have erupted more frequently than ever before.
C．Volcanoes are waiting to be better known.
D．Something must be done to protect the people near the ring of fire.

Space is a dangerous place, not only because of meteors (流星 ) but also because of rays from the sun and other stars. The atmosphere again acts as our protective blanket on earth. Light gets through, and this is essential for plants to make the food which we eat. Heat, too, makes our environment endurable（可忍受的）. Various kinds of rays come through the air from outer space, but enormous quantities of radiation（輻射） from the sun are screened off. As soon as men leave the atmosphere they are exposed to this radiation but their spacesuits or the walls of their spacecraft, if they are inside, do prevent a lot of radiation damage.
Radiation is the greatest known danger to explorers in space. The unit of radiation is called "rem". Scientists have reason to think that a man can put up with far more radiation than 0.1 rem without being damaged; the figure of 60 rems has been agreed on. The trouble is that it is extremely difficult to be sure about radiation damage - a person may feel perfectly well, but the cells of his or her sex organs may be damaged, and this will no be discovered until the birth of abnormal children or even grandchildren.
Missions of the Apollo flights have had to cross belts of high amount of rems. So far, no dangerous amounts of radiation have been reported, but the Apollo missions have been quite short. We simply do not know yet how men are going to get on when they spend weeks and months outside the protection of the atmosphere, working in a space laboratory. Drugs might help to decrease the damage done by radiation, but no really effective ones have been found so far.
1. According to the first paragraph, the atmosphere is essential to man in that ____.
A. it protects him against the harmful rays from space
B. it provides sufficient light for plant growth
C. it supplies the heat necessary for human survival
D. it screens off the falling meteors
2. We know from the passage that ____.
A. exposure to even tiny amounts of radiation is deadly
B. the effect of exposure to radiation is slow in coming
C. radiation is avoidable in space exploration
D. astronauts in spacesuits needn't worry about radiation damage
3. The harm radiation has done to the Apollo crew members ____
A. is significant            B. seems overestimated
C. is enormous             D. remains unknown
4. It can be inferred from the passage that ____.
A. the Apollo mission was very successful
B. protection from space radiation is no easy job
C. astronauts will have deformed children or grandchildren
D. radiation is not a threat to well-protected space explorers
45. The best title for this passage would be ____.
A. The Atmosphere and Our Environment   B. Research on Radiation
C. Effects of Space Radiation             D. Importance of Protection Against Radiation

E
After a busy day of work and play, the body needs to rest. Sleep is necessary for good health. During this time, the body recovers from the activities of the day. The rest that you get while sleeping makes it possible for your body to prepare itself for the next day.
There are four levels of sleep, each being a little deeper than the one before. As you sleep, your body relaxes little by little. Your heart beats more slowly, and your brain slows down. After you reach the fourth level, your body shifts(變換) back and forth from one level to the other.
Although your mind slows down, you will dream from time to time. Scientists who study sleep point out that when dreaming occurs, your eyeballs begin to move more quickly (although your eyelids are closed). This stage of sleep is called REM, which stands for rapid eye movement.
If you have trouble falling asleep, some people recommend(建議) breathing very slowly and very deeply. Other people believe that drinking warm milk will make you drowsy. There is also an old suggestion that counting sheep will put you to sleep.
49. During REM, ______
A. you move restless                                         B. you start dreaming
C. your mind stops working                                         D. your eyeballs move quickly
50. A good title for this text might be_________
A. Dreams                     B. Sleep                C. Good Health      D. Work and Rest

CHINA
Coal mines claim (使…失蹤) more lives
A COAL mine blast (爆炸) in Jixi, Helongjiang, left more than 100 miners dead on Thursday .Ten mines in Jixi were ordered to stop production. The government has tried to shut down thousands of small, illegal (非法的)  mines in the country that do not meet safety standards(標(biāo)準(zhǔn)).
MIDDLE EAST 
Bombers continues to kill
PALESTINIANS killed 32 Israelis in three major attac between Tuesday and Thursday. There were two suicide bombing (自殺性爆炸) and a militant (武裝的) attack on Jewish settlement. They led to one of the highest Israeli death tolls ( 死亡人數(shù))  in such a short period over the last two years.
CHINA
Young people stand tall
The average height of Chinese young people has risen by 6 centimeters pared to that of 20 years ago. This year far exceeds (超過(guò))  the word’s average growth speed. A survey on health conducted by a panel(調(diào)研組) of Chinese students found the results. According to the world average level, youths get taller by 1 cm every 10 years.
CANADA
Talking about world issue (援助)
The Group of Eight (G8)—the US, Japan , Germany, Britain, France, Italy , Canada and Russia ---- will hold a summit(峰會(huì))on June26 and 27 in Kananaskis, Canada. The G8 are the richest and most powerful countries in the world. G8 leaders and some African presidents will discuss strengthening global economic growth and helping Africa. Kofi Annan, United Nations Secretary General, will also attend.
1. Thousands of mines have been shut because ______.
A. they have blast                     B. they produced less coal  
C. they are very small and illegal         D. they don’t meet the safety standards
2. In the last 20 years, the average growth speed of Chinese youths exceeds the world’s average level by _______.
A.1 cm                     B.4 cm             C. 5 cm      D. 6 cm
3. What’s the purpose of the Summit ? 
A. to strengthen the global economic growth and helping some poor African countries.
B. To make these eight countries much more powerful.
C. To help some African president to strengthen their economic growth.
D. Kofi Annan will have an important speech on world issues.