Lake Victoria is the largest lake in Africa. It is also the second largest lake in the world. It is an important lake because it is one of the sources(源头) for the longest river in the world, the Nile River. Lake Victoria provides a source of water, food, and power(电力) for several African countries. Lake Victoria is a big part of African life.

Unfortunately, Lake Victoria has a problem. It is shrinking. There are several power stations at Lake Victoria in Uganda. These are on the Nile River, and besides producing power, they keep the water of the lake at a certain level. For the past forty years, that level has been 11.9 meters. Over the last several years, the water level has dropped by about 2.5 meters. There seem to be several reasons for this drop.

One possible reason is drought(干旱). Drought has been very bad in the area since 2000. Lake Victoria gets all of its water from rain, so the drought means less water in the lake.

However, some environmentalists believe that the real problem is the power plants(工厂) on Lake Victoria. Uganda depends on those power plants for most of its power, and they made the power plants larger in 2000. Many people believe the power plants have been taking too much water off Lake Victoria. As a result, they have been asked to use less water until Lake Victoria goes back to its old level.

Whether the low water level is caused by drought or power plants, the result is the same. This is already a poor area of Africa, where many people live a really hard life. People, animals and plants around Lake Victoria will suffer even more from low water levels on the lake. Many people need Lake Victoria for fishing or growing food. Fish need the water to live, and animals need it for water. Plants around the lake will die without the water, and then more animals and people will suffer. Unless the lake fills soon, many people will suffer and die.

1.Lake Victoria is __________.

A. an important lake in Africa

B. the largest lake in the world

C. the source of water, food and power for America

D. the only source for the Nile River

2.What does “It is shrinking” most probably mean?

A. It is becoming larger.

B. It is becoming more beautiful.

C. It is becoming smaller.

D. It is becoming more useful.

3.The water level of Lake Victoria is now __________.

A. 2.5 meters     　B. 11.9 meters              C. 14.4 meters          D. 9.4 meters

4.Which of the following is NOT true according to the passage?

A. Rain water is the only source for the lake.

B. There has been little rain in the lake area since 2000.

C. The power plants in Uganda provide water for the lake.

D The power plants in Uganda were made larger in 2000.

5.According to the passage, how can we solve the problems around Lake Victoria?

A. People must build more power plants.

B. More sources of water must be found.

C. Every country should offer some money to Africa.

D. All the people living in the area should move to another place.

A desert is a very dry land where there is hardly any rain. In the day, it can be so hot that you could fry an egg on the ground. But during the night it is sometimes so could that water would turn into ice.

Many desserts are covered in sand. But some have mountains, rocks, or lakes that have dried up in the heat. The Great American Dessert has cliffs(悬崖) that have been made into amazing and beautiful shapes by the wind. The Sahara Desert in Africa is mostly sand. The Australian Desert has red sand.

Sometimes it does not rain for a whole year in the desert. But there is water deep under the ground and some plants have roots that go very deep to find it. Other plants have roots that spread out(延伸) a long way so they can suck up the rain as soon as it falls.

One desert plant is the cactus, which has long, spreading roots. The cactus stores water inside its hard skin. This skin protects it from heat and cold.

Camels are a bit like cactus plants! They store water too—inside their bodies. They have special fur which protects them from the sun during the day and keeps them warm at night.

Some other animals live in deserts, too. They have to be very good at seeing and hearing because most of them only come out at night. This is why many desert animals have extra big eyes or ears.

A desert fox has bigger ears than a normal for. A gerbil has huge eye, so that it can see at night. It stays cool in the day by staying underground, like most desert animals.

Some people live in the desert but they always make their homes near an oasis. An oasis is where water comes from an underground river. Near an oasis, people can grow lots of plants and keep animals.

Life is hard in the desert, for people, animals and plants. But desert people like to live there.

1.A desert is very dry because__________.

A. it is sandy    B. there is so little rain

C. the wind is strong   D. there is no water deep under the ground

2.What does the underlined phrase"suck up"in paragraph 3 mean_________?

A.围堵        B.讨好      C. 释放    D.吸收

3.Some desert animals have extra big eyes or ears because__________.

A.the sunlight is too strong in the day    B.they need to see and hear well at night

C.it is very cold at nigh    D.they store water in them.

4.Most desert animals stay cool in the day by_________.

A.storing water in side their bodies B.drinking water as much as they can

C.staying underground               D.growing lots of plants

5.Which of the following is true?

A.Desert people like to live in the desert though life is hard.

B.People in the desert usually fry eggs on the ground.

C.Camels have special fur to store water.

D.All the deserts are covered in sand.

People often say that the earth is like our mother. She gives life to all the living things on the earth and provides us with air, food, water and other essential things we need for living.

Once she was beautiful and rich, but now she becomes dirtier and dirtier, poorer and poorer. It is due to what we have done to her. Please have a good look at her: polluted rivers and lakes, growing deserts, the destruction of the forests and wild life, and the depletion (消耗，用尽) of the ozone layer (臭氧层)...

Can she bear to see her children putting the waste here and there? Can she bear to see her children cutting down the trees and destroying the grassland, to see the acid rain destroying everything? Can we bear to see our mother suffering (受苦) so much? Isn’t it time for us to ask ourselves whether this is the way to treat our mother?

Floods, droughts, acid rain..., these are the punishments (惩罚) from nature. Everyone should know that there is only one earth. If we go on treating her like this, it won’t be fit for us to live in any longer. It’s time for us to love her, take good care of her and cure her. We should save the earth so as to save ourselves.

1. What does the earth look like now?

A. It has clean rivers, lakes and green forests.

B. It is like a beautiful girl.

C. It is more beautiful and richer.

D. It is dirtier and dirtier, poorer and poorer.

2. What is the meaning of the underlined word?

A. Know     B. Stand     C. Imagine     D. Hear

3. What is the best title of the passage?

A. The earth—our mother.

B. Defenders of the Earth (地球卫士).

C. The earth is very beautiful and healthy.

D. The water on the earth is very clean.

Bamboo (竹子) is one of nature's (自然) most surprising plants. Many people call this plant a tree, but it is a kind of grass.

Like other kinds of grass, a bamboo plant may be cut very low to the ground, but it will grow back very quickly. A Japanese scientist reported one bamboo plant which grew 1. 5 metres(4 feet) in 24 hours! Bamboo grows almost everywhere in the world except Europe. There are more than 1, 000 kinds of bamboo.

Not all bamboo looks the same. Some bamboo plants are very thin. They may only grow to be a few centimetres wide while others may grow to more than 30 centimetres (1 foot) across. This plant also comes in different colours, from yellow to black to green.

Bamboo has been used to make many things such as hats and kitchen tools( 厨房用具). Because it is strong, bamboo is also used to build buildings.

Many Asian countries have used bamboo for hundreds of years. They often use bamboo for buildings and supporting (支撑) new buildings and bridges while they are being built.

In Africa, poor farmers are taught how to find water using bamboo. These African countries need cheap way to find water because they have no money, and their fields often die from no rain and no water. Bamboo pipes( 管子) help poor farmers bring water to their thirsty fields without spending a lot of money.

1. How is bamboo like grass?

A. It grows quickly.  B. It's wood.     `C. it is easy to cut.    D. It is very thin.

2. Though you can see bamboo everywhere, it doesn't grow       .

A. in China         B. in Europe    C. on mountains  D. in Africa

3. Why is bamboo used by African poor farmers? Because        .

A. it is cheap      B. it has different colours

C. it is strong     D. it has been used by Asians

4. Bamboo pipes can       .

A. make money   B. be trees C. grow quickly   D. carry water

5. In Asia, bamboo has been used for       .

A. a short time

B. many thousands of years

C. many hundreds of years

D. about 100 years