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Scientists are trying to make the deserts into good land again. They want to bring water to the deserts， so people can live and grow food. They are learning a lot about the deserts. But more and more of the earth is becoming desert all the time. Scientists may not be able to change the desert in time.
Why is more and more land becoming desert？ Scientists think that people make deserts. People are doing bad things to the earth.
Some places on the earth don’t get much rain. But they still don’t become deserts. This is because some green plants are growing there. Small green plants and grass are very important to dry places. Plants don’t let the sun make the earth even drier. Plants do not let the wind blow(吹) the dirt away. When a bit of rain falls， the plants hold the water. Without plants， the land can become desert more easily.
1. Deserts ________.
A. never have any plants or animals in them
B. can all be turned into good land before long
C. are becoming smaller and smaller
D. get very little rain
2. Small green plants are very important to dry places because __________.
A. they don’t let the sun make the earth even drier
B. they don’t let the wind blow the soil away
C. they hold water
D. All of the above.
3. After reading this passage, we learn that __________.
A. plants can keep dry land from becoming desert
B. it is good to get rid of the grass in the deserts
C. all places without much rain will become deserts
D. it is better to grow crops on dry land than to cut them
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Surtsey was born in 1963.Scientists saw the birth of this island. It began at 7.30 a.m. on 14th November. A fishing boat was near Iceland. The boat moved under the captain's（船长）feet. He noticed a strange smell. He saw some black smoke. A volcano（火山）was breaking out. Red-hot rocks, fire and smoke were rushing up from the bottom（底部）of the sea. The island grew quickly. It was 10 meters high the next day and 60 meters high on 18th November.
Scientists flew there to watch. It was exciting. Smoke and fire were still rushing up. Pieces of red-hot rock were flying into the air and falling into the sea. The sea was boiling and there was a strange light in the sky. Surtsey grew and grew. Then it stopped in June 1967.It was 175 meters high and 2 kilometers long. And life was already coming to Surtsey. Plants grew. Birds came. Some scientists built a house. They want to learn about this young island. A new island is like a new world.
1.Surtsey is ______.
A. an island not far from Iceland B. a new volcano
C. a fishing boat D. a place in Iceland
2.When did scientist fly there to watch?
A. Before the volcano broke out. B. As soon as the volcano broke out.
C. About four days after the volcano broke out.
D. After the volcano stopped rushing up.
3.Put the following sentences in correct order.
a. The captain found the boat was moving. b. A new island appeared in the sea.
c. Fire, smoke and rocks were seen rushing up. d. A fishing boat was near Iceland.
e. The island grew quickly.
A. d-a-c-b-e B. a-b-c-d-e C .a-b-e-c-d D. b-e-d-a-c
4.When was Surtsey born?
A. 1964 B. 1963 C. 1962 D. 1965
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The world is filled with many interesting sounds. Some are very pleasant to hear; others are unpleasant to our ears. In a day, you probably hear hundreds of different sounds.
All sounds are different. Some may be soft; others may be loud. Some sounds are high; others are low.
Some sounds are useful. Without sound we cannot talk or listen to one another. The ringing alarm clock (闹钟)makes people wake up. The hooting of a horn (喇叭声) on the road warns careless people of danger.
We make sounds by making things move to and fro(来回地). This to-and-fro movement is called vibration (振动). It means moving up and down or forwards(向前地) and backwards(向后的) very fast. This makes sound waves(波).
We can make sounds in many ways, for example, by shouting, clapping our hands and striking the table. We can make sounds only by making things vibrate. We can talk because we can make our vocal cords (声带) vibrate. Our vocal cords are in a sound box or voice box. Two vocal cords vibrate when our lungs(肺) force the air through them.
1.We can make sounds ______.
A. by making things still
B. by making things vibrate
C. by making things jump up and down
D. by changing the positions of things
2. Some sounds are useful because ______.
A. they can wake people up
B. they can warn people to be careful when they are crossing the road
C. they make it possible for people to talk or listen to each other
D. all of the above
3.When the air is through our vocal cords, it can make them ______.
A. vibrate B. breathe the air
C. talk to each other D. move forward and backward
4.Sounds are different because ______.
A. different sounds have different vibrations
B. different sounds have different sound waves
C. different sounds have different vocal cords
D. both A and B
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A few days ago my wife sent me out to buy something. When I came home, I handed(交给) her a paper bag and said, “Here are the apples you wanted.” She looked in the bag, and then she looked at me. “I told you,” she said slowly, “to buy some eggs.”
I felt worried about my absent-mindedness, so I went to see a doctor. He was a very kind man. “I have seen many people like you. It’s nothing to worry about,” he said. “If you know you are absent-minded, you are all right. But if you do not know you’re absent-minded, you may be really in trouble.”
“Many famous people were absent-minded,” the doctor told me. “Thomas Edison(爱迪生)was standing in line(排队) one day to pay his taxes(税). When he arrived at the window, he found that he had forgotten his own name. He had to ask the man who was behind him to tell him who he was.”
I felt much better and got up to leave. “Thank you, doctor,” I said. “How much do I have to pay you?”
“Ten dollars for the check-up(检查),” the doctor said.
“But doctor, I did not have a check-up!”
For a moment the doctor looked puzzled. Then he said, “Oh, yes, it was the patient before you who had a check-up. How absent-minded I am!”
1.It can be inferred from Paragraph 1 that when the author’s wife heard what her husband told her, she was ______.
A. excited B. surprised C. sad D. proud
2.The doctor took Edison’s story for example ______.
A. to show absent-mindedness is common among people
B. because he liked telling stories
C. to make the author laugh
D. to make fun of Edison
3.The underlined word “absent-mindedness” in the second paragraph probably means ______.
A. a feeling of anger
B. a feeling of sadness
C. an emotion (情绪) of excitement
D. a trouble in which people often forget this or that
4.According to the passage, who was (were) absent-minded?
A. Only the author. B. The author’s wife.
C. The author and the doctor. D. The doctor alone.
