Katherine Com male is an 11-year-old girl from Pennsylvania. At the age of five she began raising money to buy nets for children in Africa to help stop the spread of malaria(疟疾).

　　When she was five, Katherine learnt about malaria in Africa. She learnt that every 30 seconds a child died from this disease. She, also learnt that people wouldn’t get that disease if they had enough bed nets. “I was really sad to learn that a child died every half a minute because of malaria.” Says Katherine, “I wanted to send nets right away, so that’s what I did.”

　　Five-year-old Katherine made presentations at churches and schools. She told students and others how important bed nets were for Africans. After |people heard the presentations, many of them donated money. Katherine sent the money to NBN. NBN is an organization that sends bed nets to Africa.

　　Besides, every holiday Katherine makes something called “ net gift certificate” with the help of her friends and brothers. On each l0-dollar certificate there is a message. It explains that a bed net would be sent to Africa. When more certificate orders come, Katherine gets help from students in her school.

　　Katherine has helped to raise $200,000 for NBN. “It makes me proud to help African children. I won’t stop working until everyone in Africa has a bed net.” says Katherine.

　　1. Which of the following is TRUE according to the passage?

　　A. When Katherine was six, she began helping children in Africa.

　　B. Katherine learnt that two children died from malaria one minute.

　　C. Katherine did a lot and helped to raise $ 20,000 for NBN.

　　D. Katherine’s parents helped her make “bed net gift certificate”.

　　2. In Paragraph 4, “It” refers to “ ”.

　　A. a 10-dollar note B. a gift certificate C. an organization D. a message

　　3. From the passage we know Katherine did the following EXCEPT _______.

　　A. raising a great deal of money for NBN

　　B. giving presentations at churches and schools

　　C. explaining the importance of nets for Africans

　　D. ordering people to learn to use the nets well

　　4. It can be inferred from the passage that .

　　A. Katherine’s work is very helpful and meaningful

　　B. the spread of malaria in Africa will be more serious

　　C. every child in Africa gets a net with Katherine’s help

　　D. Katherine has received much money from NBN

　　B

　　May is National Bike Month. a month-long event trying to get couch potatoes outside, cars off the roads and subway trains empty. It encourages everyone to get back onto their bicycles to enjoy riding a bike an often as they can during the month (and hopefully longer). May in the beginning summer and warm weather, so why not start right away and enjoy sunshine!

　　Ride Out to Protect the Environment

　　Bike month helps everyone make their efforts to improve the environment. If you’re hiking to school, you are helping bring down the air pollution. It is the most common form of pollution and by getting your family to stop driving and start riding a bike, you can do your part in improving the air quality.

　　Count Down Those Calories

　　Cycling isn’t just good for the environment; it’s good for you too. Riding a bicycle burns calories and helps keep you healthy. It not only improves your physical health, but also your mental state of mind. It can really help you be a happier person.

　　Share the Sunny Summer

　　So get into that shed, and take out your old hike. Paint the hike blue. Put on a nice coat. Load up a number of songs. Invite a group of friends to get on the bikes and ride this May! Be a fun-in- the-sun child! Enjoy yourself!

　　5.The second paragraph mainly tells us that riding bicycles .

　　A. improves our physical health B. does good to the environment

　　C. changes our mental slates of mind D. helps us enjoy the sunny spring

　　6.You’re likely to read the article in the section of a magazine. history B. geography C. sports D. food

　　7.The writer writes the article to .

　　A. advise people to lose more weight

　　B. ask people to repair and paint the old bikes

　　C.prevent people from staying at home watching TV

　　D.make people realize the advantages of riding bicycles

　　C

　　A “Gap Year” is a period of time when a student takes a break before going to university. It is often spent travelling or working. It can give young people useful learning experiences and new skills.

　　Gap years are popular with European and Australian students, but remain less popular in America. However, in recent years, more and more American students are preparing for college by taking a gap year. The advantages of taking a gap year are as follows：

　　Learn about the World and Yourself

　　Although you don’t have to go abroad to experience gap years, most gap year students catch the chance to travel abroad. You are able to work out who you are and what you are for. The experiences of different cultures offer you interesting lessons. You can learn more about the world and get to know yourself better.

　　Face Challenges and Have Fun

　　A gap year is not only a time to take a vacation, but also a time to face challenges. Gap year students usually work, volunteer or take service projects. You have to learn how to get along in the real world. This process isn’ t always easy, but it is an important part of growing up. Only in this way can you enjoy life and have fun.

　　Save Money and Improve Your College Admission Chances

　　There’s a common thought that gap years are only for rich students, but it’ s not true. Actually, taking a gap year can save your money. Gap year students often take a part-time job. Besides, at the end of a gap year, students are much more likely to know what to study in college. Clear learning goals ran keep the students working hard instead of wasting time and money playing.

　　Imagine an admission officer trying to admit (录取) only one between two students. Both of them are excellent and have high grades. However, one student has much practical experience or has volunteered in his vacation. Who do you think the admission officer will choose?

　　8.A “Gap Year” means in the passage.

　　A.going abroad in a year for further education

　　B.travelling around the world in a year

　　C.taking a break before going to a university

　　D.doing a part-time job to make money during a vacation

　　9.Besides having fun, gap year students have to face the .

　　A. money B. information C. vacations D. challenges

　　10.Having a gap year may make you .

　　A. become very rich B. remain less popular

　　C. experience foreign cultures D. have no chance to break

　　11.The last sentence implies(暗含) that will probably be admitted by the admission officer.

　　A. either of the two students B. the student with high grades

　　C. neither of the two students D. the .student with a gap year experience

　　D

　　A new study finds that plants communicate with one another to warn of danger.

　　We often consider plants as the furniture of the natural world. They don’t move; they don’t make sounds, they don’t seem to act on anything. But as is often the case, plants talk to each other all the time. And the language is chemical.

　　Over the years, scientists have reported that different types of plants, from trees to tomatoes, give out chemicals into the air to help neighboring plants. These chemical warnings can spread information about one plant’s disease or infestation(虫害), so other plants can protect themselves. But how plants receive and act on many of the information exactly is still mysterious.

　　In this week’s Science Magazine, researchers in Japan offered some explanations. They have found out one chemical message and traced it all the way from beginning to end.

　　The scientists looked at tomato plants infested by a common pest(害虫). To start out, they grew plants in two separate plastic spaces connected by a tube(管子). One plant was infested and placed upwind and the other was uninfested and placed downwind. The downwind plants were later exposed(暴露) to the pest. The results showed that plants near sick neighbors before were able to protect themselves better against the pest.

　　They found one chemical appeared more often in the exposed plants. The chemical is called HexVic. The scientists discovered where HexVic come from, and put it over healthy plants. Those plants were then able to produce HexVic. Researchers made sure that uninfested plants could fight off bugs and diseases. How do they know when to protect themselves? They are warned first by their friendly plant neighbors.

　　It is not a simple story, and it may be happening in more plant species than tomatoes. It may also be happening with more chemical signals that are still unknown to us. In a word, we know that plants not only communicate, but also look out for one another.

　　12.The underlined “traced” in the fourth paragraph probably means _________ here.

　　A.reported B. followed C. doubted D. developed

　　13.For scientists, which are the right steps to watch tomato plants infested by a pest?

　　① Place the infested plant upwind.

　　② Place the uninfested plant downwind.

　　③ Expose the downwind plants to the pest.

　　④ Grow plants in two separate plastic spaces connected by a tube.

　　A. ③①②④ B. ①④③② C. ④①②③ D. ④②①③

　　14.You can put the sentence “The researches also studied leaves from exposed plants and unexposed plants.” At the beginning of

　　A. Paragraph 3 B. Paragraph 4 C. Paragraph 5 D. Paragraph 6

　　15.Which of the following can be the best title of this passage?

　　A. Communicating Plants and Terrible Diseases

　　B. Talking Plants and Friendly Warnings

　　C. Protecting Plants and Clear Information

　　D. Growing Plants and Mysterious Chemicals

　　参考答案：

　　BDDAB CDCDC DBCDB