Climate change has caused the disappearance of ice in Antarctic. It will not only do harm to wildlife in the area but also cause levels of oceans and seas around the world to rise. The old city of Venice, Italy has long been threatened by rising sea levels

Climate change has caused the disappearance of ice in Antarctic. It will not only do harm to wildlife in the area but also cause levels of oceans and seas around the world to rise. The old city of Venice, Italy has long been threatened by rising sea levels. Its old buildings, built on a body of water called a lagoon, are slowly "sinking". When the city was founded about one thousand six hundred yours ago, the water level was almost two meters lower than it is today.

    Mount Kilimanjaro in northeastern Tanzania is the highest point in Africa, with five vegetation zones and many kinds of animals. The ice glaciers on the mountain are disappearing very quickly. This will have a bad effect on the mountain's plants and animals and on Tanzania's travel industry. Also, a valuable record of thousands of years of weather history will also be lost if the ice melts. Scientists study pieces of the glacier to know the weather thousands of years ago.

    In the United States, the ice in the Glacier National Park in Montana may soon completely disappear because of climate change. In 1950, there were about 150 glaciers in the park. However there are only 26 glaciers remaining today. Scientists say that the glaciers will be gone by 2030. Many kinds of plants and animals in this mountain park are also disappearing.

   Rising sea temperatures are greatly harming the Great Barrier Reef in Australia. In some areas, healthy yellow, brown and green reefs have turned white. The coral whitens when it becomes breathless because of high temperatures. Its food also becomes less and less because the water is deepening.

   These places are included in the book called "Disappearing Destinations: 37 Places in Peril and What Can Be Done to Help Save Them." It aims to call on the world to protect these places of interest in danger.

“China is expected to complete its first exploration (探索) of the moon in 2010 and will found a moon base just as we did on the North and South Poles,” Ouyang Ziyuan, head of China's moon exploration program, promised during national science and techno

 "China is expected to complete its first exploration (探索) of the moon in 2010 and will found a moon base just as we did on the North and South Poles," Ouyang Ziyuan, head of China's moon exploration program, promised during national science and technology week.

After its first man in space, China plans a space laboratory, a lunar orbiter to look for valuable elements and minerals, robot landings on the moon and then the human touchdown.

The price of space exploration is enormous. Russia and the US, the only two countries to have achieved manned flight, are struggling to keep their new investment, the international space station.

But China, which has a long tradition in physics, mathematics and engineering, finds its doctoral graduates welcomed in the US and Europe for decades. And it has been able to learn from 40 years of pioneering successes and mistakes by the USSR and the USA.

Space flight is a gamble and the stakes (赌注) are high. If successful, China could become a member of the world's most exclusive club, set up a second home on the moon and get a powerful hand at the strategic bargaining table.

Two designers from the Shenzhou III project said that 12 astronauts now are undergoing intensive training. One more unmanned space flight is planned before the first manned launch.

Experts say that the Shenzhou spacecraft already provides China with a space vehicle capable of mounting（发起）a lunar program. Chinese scientists have also predicted that Mars will be the next target after the moon.

During his life Dr James Naismith worked as a doctor, taught PE and wrote severa! books．While he never thought it very important, Dr Naismith is today best known for one thing．He was the inventor of basketball．

During his life Dr James Naismith worked as a doctor, taught PE and wrote severa! books．While he never thought it very important, Dr Naismith is today best known for one thing．He was the inventor of basketball．

Dr Naismith was bom in Canada in 1861 and his first job was at a special sports school in the USA．One day the school headmaster told James he was having a problem with the students．Because it snowed heavily, the students could not go outside．He told James that they needed a sport the boys could play indoors and gave the teacher two weeks to think of something．

It was on the very last day that James came up with his idea．The "birth of basketball' is said to be on December 21, 1891, when two teams from the school played the first game．It was quite different from the basketball games of today．It had 9 players on each team and footballs were used instead of basketballs．Soon after, the game changed to 5 players on each side, using special 'basketballs'．

Although Dr Naismith did not live to see basketball become the worldwide game it is today, in 1936, just three years before his death, basketball became an Olympic sport at the Games in Benin．

 

W：Good morning．May I help you?

W：Good morning．May I help you?

M：Yes．I want to know about the bus service between here and Detroit．I came here last week by train, but I like to try different ways of traveling．

W：Well, I'll try to help you．Here is our timetable．

M：Thank you．It shows that there are eight buses a day that leave Cleveland to Detroit．

W：And the service is cheaper than the train, l

M：Oh, yes．Why is that?

W：The bus trip takes a little longer than the train trip, and we do not have a dining car．

M：Is there a restroom?

W：Yes, we do have a restroom．And the bus is air-conditioned．The trip should be comfortable．

M：How long is the trip?

W：We have express buses that take a little more than three hours．And we have buses that stop at several cities along the way．They're cheaper, but they take more than four hours．

M：Can I use my return ticket for the train to pay for my bus ticket?

W：No, you will have to take that ticket to the train station．They will give you your money back, and then you can buy a bus ticket from here．

M：I see．Thanks for your help．

W：You're welcome．

Text 9

W：Hello Tim．Are you going in for the bike riding competition next week?

M：Sure I am! Can't you see that I'm preparing for it? I'm doing two hours of bike riding a day．

W：Wow! That sounds serious! Although I'm not taking part in the competition I run every day．And I eat a well-balanced diet．

M：Good．I've been eating healthily too and also stopped smoking．I found that I didn't have so much energy when I

smoked．I want to win so I decided to stop it．

W：Well done．That musrve been hard．I know because I stopped smoking last year．It was bad for a time but afteiwards I

felt much better．Much fitter too! I'm sure you did the right thing．

M：I hope so．I sometimes feel quite nervous but I've stuck with it and not smoked for a week．

W：That should help you when you actually get to the competition．Do you do other exercise as well as riding your bike?

M：Well, no．

W：I recommend you run as well．It helps build up your leg muscles and that will help you when you cyde up hills．That can be very tiring, you know!

M：Yes, that's a good idea．Thanks．I hope that my healthy diet, the extra running and my riding practice should help me win．

W：I hope so too．Good luck to you!

 

Text 1

Text 1

M：Do you have any special plans for the holiday?

W：Yes, I'm going to London for a few days．You know, I'm planning to go to The Tower of London．I've always wanted to go there!

Text 2

W：Have you been to the photography exhibition?

M：Yes．It's excellent．I got there at 8：30 and left at about 12 o'clock．I saw all the pictures on show．Now I'm looking foiward to the art exhibition next year．

Text3

W：What a queue' I've been waiting here so long, that my feet hurt．

M：I hope the tickets don't sell out!

W：Me too! I've never heard of this Group, but I think they'll be worth the wait．

Text 4

W：Please be more careful when you cross the street．

M：I don t like to wait for the light to turn green．I'm in a hurry．

W：Waiting for the light is not just for your safety．It is also polite to others．

M：But they have cars, and I do not．So I should cross whenever I like．

W：Don't be so selfish．If everyone obeys the lights, the traffic situation will be getting better．

Text 5

W：Alan, you must not waste your homework time by watching TV．Do all your work first．

M：OK．I know that's the best plan for my study．

W：Ifs also the best plan for your character．It will teach you self-control．

M：That's what my mother says, too!

Text 6

W：You asked Catherine to be here around eight o'clock, didn't you?

M：Yes．What time is it now?

W：It's neariy a quarter to nine．I wonder what happened．

M：Hmm．She might have forgotten the time．Why not call and see if she's on her way?

W：OK．（a few minutes later） I got her answering machine, so I guess she must have left already．

M：I hope she didn't have a problem on the road．

W：I hope she hasn't simply forgotten our invitation．

Text 7

W：Did you watch TV last night?

M：Yes, I did．

W：The football game between Miami Dolphins and Chicago Bears was really wonderful, wasn't it?

M：Oh, I didn't watch the football match．I wanted to, but my wife preferred to watch the old film．

W：What a pity! It was quite exciting．Both teams played very well．

M：How did it finish?

W：It finished in a draw．What was the film like?

M：It was quite good．But I missed the beginning of it because I had to eat first．

W：Did your wife enjoy it?

M：No．After half an hour she stopped watching and started to read a book．

 

Dear Sir or Madam,

Dear Sir or Madam,

It will be a great relief to take a long holiday. You cannot imagine how stressful the school life is to us Senior 3 students. So I have a big plan for this coming winter holiday.

Taking a good sleep, without doubt, will be my first choice. The second thing I would like to do is to have a get-together with my friends who I have not been in touch for quite a long time. Of course, the biggest thing on my agenda is to plan a romantic festival. This Spring Festival is a combination of the traditional Chinese New Year and Valentine's Day. I will make my parents a card in the shape of a heart and arrange a sweet night for the three of us.

Best wishes,

Yours faithfully,

Wang Hao

 

Experts say that agriculture provides fourteen percent of the world's greenhouse gas emissions each year．The gases released include carbon dioxide, a major cause of global warming．

Experts say that agriculture provides fourteen percent of the world's greenhouse gas emissions each year．The gases released include carbon dioxide, a major cause of global warming．

Twenty-one nations around the world recently joined forces to better understand and prevent greenhouse gas emissions from farms．The Global Research Alliance on Agricultural Greenhouse Gases was launched at the United Nations conference on climate change．The meeting took place in Copenhagen, Denmark last month．

Agricultural experts blame a number of farm activities for producing greenhouse gases．For example, animal waste and cattle digestive systems release methane （甲烷，沼气） gas．Fertilized soil and the burning of crop waste also release harmful gases into the air．Experts say some methods of farming ?turning the soil to prepare for planting ?also release harmful carbon dioxide．

An official of the European Commission's Directorate General for Research says agricultural greenhouse gas emissions can be cut．Maive Rute suggests feeding animals a diet designed to reduce emissions．

The new agricultural research group says protecting against global warming is only part of its purpose．It says the world also needs to develop better farming methods to feed growing populations in poor countries．

United States Agriculture Secretary Tom Vilsack said no one single nation can fight agricultural greenhouse gas emissions and increase food production at the same time．This is why the alliance is important for combining resources and finding new ones．

The United States Department of Agriculture will increase spending on farm emissions research by ninety million dollars over the next four years．The total will reach one hundred thirty million dollars．The U．S．D．A．will share the research with other countries in the Global Research Alliance on Agricultural Greenhouse Gases and support researchers from developing countries that belong to the alliance．Money from the Borlaug Fellowship program will let the researchers study agricultural climate change with American scientists．

Mister Vilsack said that just as climate change has no borders, there should be no borders for research．

72．In Paragraph 4, Maive Rute recommends _____．

    A．increasing food production

    B．changing cattle digestive systems

    C．developing better fanning methods

    D．giving animals the food meant to produce fewer emissions

73．The underlined word "alliance" in Paragraph 6 probably means _____．

    A．Action or state being joined together

    B．An agreement signed between countries

    C．A program or project set up for a research

    D．An organization formed for different goals

74．How much has the U．S．D．A．spent on farm emissions research so far?

    A．130 million dollars．            B．220 million dollars．

    C．40 million dollars．                               D．90 million dollars．

75．The purpose of the passage is to ____．

    A．suggest a total ban on farm activities

    B．introduce Copenhagen conference held last month[

    C．appeal to more countries to cut agricultural emissions[

    D．inform readers of the major cause of global warming