Snow-melting Agent
A heavy snow can kill pests and this means a good harvest next year.This will bring as well as trouble to urbanites.
On Nov.16,2003,a cold air current brought a heavy snow to Beijing.To prevent traffic jams,related government departments mobilized people to clear off snow on streets.
One of the most effective ways to clear off snow on roads is to scatter snow-melting agent on the roads.The major component of the snow-melting agent is salt.The snow-melting agent can make snow stop from freezing,make it easier to clear off the road,and allow traffic to flow smoothly.But it also brings about some hidden dangers.In the spring of 2003,over 300 000 trees in Beijing urban districts died.After analyzing soil around these trees,experts discovered that the salt content of these soils was 392 times higher than normal.Where did the excessive salt come from?After investigating,forestry experts found that when clearing snow in the winter,people usually heap snow containing snow-melting agent at trees’ roots,and that when the snow melts,this agent penetrates the soil and increases its salt content.The snow-melting agent indirectly killed the trees.
Statistics show that during a heavy snow in 2002,over 1000 tons of snow-melting agent was scatterred on streets in Beijing.Snow water containing a large amount of snow-melting agent got into the soil through sewers.
In addition,salt in the snow-melting agent can expedite the corrosion of steel bars in concrete buildings and cause the concrete to crack and peel,shortening the life of roads.
Scientists and government officials are required to solve traffic problems caused by heavy snows as soon as possible and at the same time try to reduce the negative effects of the snow-melting agent.This is a difficult problem placed before them.Related authorities have framed some local criteria to regulate the production and use of snow-melting agents.
Now,more harmless snow-melting agents are being developed.Now that even snow-melting agents that meet today’s criteria must still be used carefully,we have to rely more on our manpower and machines to clear off snow.
This year,in addition to using snow-melting agents,Beijing will use a large number of snow vehicles to clear snow on roads.In more places,citizens are mobilized to clear snow with their hands.This may be a test of a city’s civilization level.

1. 1.

   Salt is a snow-melting agent while _________ is a cleaning agent.

   1. A.
      water
   2. B.
      soap
   3. C.
      a washing-machine
   4. D.
      a housewife
2. 2.

   The third paragraph of the text is mainly about _______.

   1. A.
      the side effect of snow-melting agent
   2. B.
      a case of damage to trees caused by snow-melting agent
   3. C.
      the results of using snow-melting agent
   4. D.
      the uses of snow-melting agent
3. 3.

   According to the text,the most practical way to clear off snow is to _________.

   1. A.
      use snow-melting agent as much as possible
   2. B.
      only use more harmless snow-melting agent
   3. C.
      encourage people to clear snow with their hands
   4. D.
      use more snow vehicles
4. 4.

   This text most probably appears in_________.

   1. A.
      a newspaper
   2. B.
      a magazine on latest findings
   3. C.
      a book on salt
   4. D.
      a magazine on environmental protection

Mr. King lived with six hundred wild animals on the Greek Island of Kyklos. Ever since he left school, he had traveled all over the word collecting animals for his own zoo. He hoped to collect two examples of every kind of animal on his island. But he was afraid that people would find him someday.
He wrote books about his travels and about his animals that he collected. The money from the books helped to pay for all the food that these animals ate.
One day, when Mr. King was out looking for drinking water, he found oil. He needed money for his travels and for his zoo, and a little oil would buy enough water for what he needed all his life, but he knew that if he told anyone else about it, it would be the end of his zoo and his life’s work. So he decided not to tell anyone else about what he had found, because oil and water couldn’t mix.

1. 1.

   Mr. King traveled all over the world for collecting ______.

   1. A.
      oil
   2. B.
      water
   3. C.
      animals
   4. D.
      money
2. 2.

   What Mr. King needed for his travels and his zoo was_______.

   1. A.
      water
   2. B.
      money
   3. C.
      support
   4. D.
      friends
3. 3.

   Mr. King was afraid that people would find him someday because ________.

   1. A.
      he hadn’t got enough money for them
   2. B.
      that would be the end of his zoo
   3. C.
      he hadn’t got enough water and oil
   4. D.
      they would buy his animals
4. 4.

   Mr. King wrote books to _______.

   1. A.
      tell people about his story
   2. B.
      tell people how to find oil
   3. C.
      get enough money for his animals
   4. D.
      make money for his travels
5. 5.

   In the passage, “oil and water couldn’t mix” means that “_________”.

   1. A.
      Mr. King needed not only water but also oil
   2. B.
      oil and water were rather difficult to be mixed together
   3. C.
      Mr. King’s animals only needed water, not oil
   4. D.
      if he told the others he found oil, his life’s work would be stopped

If you cough occasionally, you may just be suffering from a common cold.    36    if you have a rising fever with your    37    , or you have difficulty in breathing, you had better    38    a doctor or call the emergency hotline (64629100 or 64629112) as soon as possible,    39    these could be symptoms(癥狀) of SARS (Severe Acute Respiratory Syndrome).

If you want to    40    extra precautions(預(yù)防) and buy a filter mask, go to your local drug store. Your Chinese friends may    41    you to take Banlangen, a traditional Chinese medicine widely    42    in China to activate the immune（免疫的） system, or fumigate vinegar in your house to    43    viruses(病毒) in the    44    , but "these measures are of no use in    45    the disease"， said Dr. Qi Xiaoqiu, Director General of the Department of Diseases Control, Ministry of Health.

If you have    46    returned from Hong Kong or areas    47    SARS has been active, go to your doctor and    48    him or her of your recent trip. If you develop symptoms    49   your trip, stop traveling until fully    50    . If you pass 12 days symptom-free after coming back from these areas, you    51    set your mind at ease(無憂無慮).

The following are some preventive measures you can take    52    by experts from the Chinese Center for Diseases Control and Prevention:

●Wash hands with running water after sneezing, coughing or clearing your nose;

●Use a clean towel or tissue after washing hands;

●Do not share towels with    53    ;

●Keep a healthy diet, add or    54    clothes according to changes of the weather and exercise regularly and get plenty of sleep;

●Relieve stress and do not smoke so as to    55    your body's resistance to diseases;

●Reduce visits to crowded places with poor ventilation.

On May 7， Alcides Moreno fell forty-seven stories from the roof of a Manhattan skyscraper（摩天大樓）in New York. 36 , believe it or not, the 37  is now awake, talking to his family and  38  to walk again.

Doctors at New York-Presbyterian Hospital announced Thursday that his  39  has been astonishing. He has  40  in all his limbs（四肢）. He is  41  on his own, and yesterday, he even opened his mouth and spoke for the first time since the  42 .

Dr. Herbert Pardes, the hospital's president， 43  Moreno's condition to reporters as "a complete disaster" when he arrived without consciousness for  44  .

In those first critical hours, doctors pumped twenty-four units of  45  into his body ― about twice his entire blood volume. When he was brought in, his condition was so  46  that doctors worried that even a slight push might  47  him, so they performed  48  without moving him to an operating room.

New York-Presbyterian has  49  people who fell from great heights before, including a patient who  50  a nineteen-story fall,  51  most of those tales end  52 . People who fall more than ten stories almost never survive. Surviving a  53  fall is simply beyond belief.

There is still a  54  road and life-threatening danger ahead for the tough New Jersey man. Doctors say they suppose he might be able to walk, but they also suggest that some of his injuries are likely to be lifelong, and his days as a window washer are  55 .

In the forest or in the fields you can often see small hills of earth and busy little ants. Ants live in different 21. An ant has two strong jaws to22 soil, to cup up food, to 23 the eggs or the young.

The head of an ant is triangular(三角形), with two eyes for 24 uses and sometimes three more very small 25, which are made up of many parts, 26 the ant can see 27 that moves around it. Some of these eyes see things near it; others can see things 28 in the distance.

The ant has six legs. Its feelers have twelve joins(接合點), 29 which the ant finds its 30 in its underground home. Some ants do not 31 nests, but make use of holes under stones or logs. Other ants build their little hills with 32, bits of wood, sand and earth.

The life of ants is not only 33 and play. They must have rest too. But they don’t 34 long. When waking up, they begin to 35 themselves. They use their tongues just 36 a cat uses hers.

Ants have a good 37. When an ant, which has been away for a long time, returns to its nest, the others 38 it and show their greatest joy at its return. But if a strange ant 39 their nest, the ants will 40 the stranger killed at once.