Death Valley is a land of beautiful yet dangerous extremes. Death Valley can be dangerously cold during the winter months. Storms in the mountains can produce sudden flooding on the floor of the Valley.
The air temperature during the summer has been as high as fifty- seven degrees Celsius. The sun can heat the ground so that the temperature of the rocks and soil can be as high as seventy -four degrees Celsius.
Death Valley contains evidence of several ancient volcanoes that caused huge explosions. Evidence of one of these explosions is called Ubehebe Crater. The explosion left a huge hole in the ground almost a kilometer and a half wide. In many areas of Death Valley it is easy to see where the ground has been pushed up violently by movement deep in the Earth. This movement has created unusual and beautiful rock formations. Some are red. Others are dark brown, gray, yellow or black.
The area was named by a woman in 1849. Thousands of people from other parts of the ountry traveled to the gold mining areas in California. They were in a hurry to get there before other people did. One group trying to reach California decided to take a path called the Old Spanish Trail. By December they had reached Death Valley.  They did not have to survive the terrible heat of summer, but there was still an extreme lack of water. There were few plants for their work animals to eat.
The people could not find a pass through the tall mountains to the west of the Valley, Slowly, they began co suffer from a lack of food. To survive, they killed their work animals for food and began to walk out of the Valley. As they left, one woman looked back and said, "Good -bye, death valley. ” The name has never been changed.
Almost everyone who visits Death Valley visits a huge house called Scotty' s Castle. The building design is Spanish, with high thick walls to provide protection from the fierce heat.
The castle is named for Walter Scott , called Scotty. by his friends. He was a gold miner. He told everyone that he built the house with money he made from his gold mine. Many people believed him. But it was not really the truth.
【小题1】 The first two paragraphs discuss Death Valley' s ________.

A．geography

B．climate

C．location

D．size

【小题2】The volcanoes mentioned in the third paragraph proved ________.

A．a valley that is formed by explosions	B．a place where volcanoes are still active
C．a good example of the violence of nature	D．a symbol of rock formations in history

【小题3】The woman who named Death Valley intended to ________.

A．explore the mystery of the valley	B．find an area with plants for animals
C．experience the terrible heat of summer	D．look for gold in California

【小题4】If the passage continues, it will be about ________.

A．the truth about Scotty's Castle	B．why Spanish built the castle
C．when the castle was built	D．where the castle lies in

【小题5】The main idea of the passage is about ________.

A．the interesting place in Death Valley	B．the facts about Death Valley
C．the origin of Death Valley	D．the route to visit Death Valley

Death Valley is a land of beautiful yet dangerous extremes. Death Valley can be dangerously cold during the winter months. Storms in the mountains can produce sudden flooding on the floor of the Valley.

The air temperature during the summer has been as high as fifty- seven degrees Celsius. The sun can heat the ground so that the temperature of the rocks and soil can be as high as seventy -four degrees Celsius.

Death Valley contains evidence of several ancient volcanoes that caused huge explosions. Evidence of one of these explosions is called Ubehebe Crater. The explosion left a huge hole in the ground almost a kilometer and a half wide. In many areas of Death Valley it is easy to see where the ground has been pushed up violently by movement deep in the Earth. This movement has created unusual and beautiful rock formations. Some are red. Others are dark brown, gray, yellow or black.

The area was named by a woman in 1849. Thousands of people from other parts of the ountry traveled to the gold mining areas in California. They were in a hurry to get there before other people did. One group trying to reach California decided to take a path called the Old Spanish Trail. By December they had reached Death Valley.  They did not have to survive the terrible heat of summer, but there was still an extreme lack of water. There were few plants for their work animals to eat.

The people could not find a pass through the tall mountains to the west of the Valley, Slowly, they began co suffer from a lack of food. To survive, they killed their work animals for food and began to walk out of the Valley. As they left, one woman looked back and said, "Good -bye, death valley. ” The name has never been changed.

Almost everyone who visits Death Valley visits a huge house called Scotty' s Castle. The building design is Spanish, with high thick walls to provide protection from the fierce heat.

The castle is named for Walter Scott , called Scotty. by his friends. He was a gold miner. He told everyone that he built the house with money he made from his gold mine. Many people believed him. But it was not really the truth.

1. The first two paragraphs discuss Death Valley' s ________.

A．geography

B．climate

C．location

D．size

2.The volcanoes mentioned in the third paragraph proved ________.

A．a valley that is formed by explosions	B．a place where volcanoes are still active
C．a good example of the violence of nature	D．a symbol of rock formations in history

3.The woman who named Death Valley intended to ________.

A．explore the mystery of the valley	B．find an area with plants for animals
C．experience the terrible heat of summer	D．look for gold in California

4.If the passage continues, it will be about ________.

A．the truth about Scotty's Castle	B．why Spanish built the castle
C．when the castle was built	D．where the castle lies in

5.The main idea of the passage is about ________.

A．the interesting place in Death Valley	B．the facts about Death Valley
C．the origin of Death Valley	D．the route to visit Death Valley

 

People living more than three thousand meters above sea level find it difficult to raise vegetables all year long. People living in the highlands of Peru and Bolivia, for example, cannot grow vegetables outdoors during the months of May through September. It is very cold in the highlands at that time of year. If traditional farming methods are used, vegetables will not survive.

However, there is another way to grow vegetables throughout the year in cold areas. It is a method of gardening developed by a private agency called World Neighbors. The method uses “hot houses” built below ground. A hot house is a building covered with plastic or glass in which vegetables or flowers are grown. The traditional hot house is built above ground.

The air temperature is cold in the highlands of Peru and Bolivia during the winter. But, the winter sun is hot. So, World Neighbors advises farmers there to build hot houses below ground. The design is simple. The material does not cost much. Here is how World Neighbors says to build it: Dig a hole two and one-half meters wide and six meters long. Make it about two meters deep. Build wall with a door in one end of the hole. Dig steps from the ground down to the door.

Now, build a wall along the top edge of the hole. Make it about one-half meters tall. Earth bricks work fine. Build two shorter walls on the ends. These will be uneven; one side will be as high as the existing wall. The other side will be at ground level. Leave a small opening in each of these sloping walls. This prevents the hot house from becoming too hot. Now, make the roof. Build a wood frame. Cover it with clear plastic. Connect it to the brick walls.

The underground hot house we have described is large enough for two raised vegetable beds. Each is one meter wide and six meters long. Each is seeded and watered just as if it were in a garden above ground.

The dirt walls protect the growing plants from the cold. The clear plastic roof permits the sun’s heat to enter. At night, the roof should be covered with straw. This helps prevent cold air from entering. An under ground hot house this size will provide enough vegetables for one family. Groups needing more vegetables can make it bigger.

66. If you lived in Peru, you _______.

A. should raise the special kinds of vegetables that can endure cold

B. could not plant at all

C. had to work out some new unusual plans

D. would not have many vegetables to eat

67. To our surprise, the “hot houses” invented by World Neighbors are _______.

A. covered with a transparent plastic ceiling

B. built under ground

C. quite small

D. hotter than traditional ones

68. The hot house can be kept warm by using _______.

A. a big oven  B. an electricity heater

C. the heat of the earth’s interior   D. the sun shine

69. The measure to prevent the hot house from becoming too hot is to _______.

A. make the roof sloped B. dig holes on the walls

C. make the wall not vertical D. make the walls shorter than the ground level

70. According to the passage, the method suggested by World Neighbors is _______.

A. new and difficult      B. uneasy to explain

C. at trial step D. simple and practical

 

People living more than three thousand meters above sea level find it difficult to raise vegetables all year long. People living in the highlands of Peru and Bolivia, for example, cannot grow vegetables outdoors during the months of May through September. It is very cold in the highlands at that time of year. If traditional farming methods are used, vegetables will not survive.

However, there is another way to grow vegetables throughout the year in cold areas. It is a method of gardening developed by a private agency called World Neighbors. The method uses “hot houses” built below ground. A hot house is a building covered with plastic or glass in which vegetables or flowers are grown. The traditional hot house is built above ground.

The air temperature is cold in the highlands of Peru and Bolivia during the winter. But, the winter sun is hot. So, World Neighbors advises farmers there to build hot houses below ground. The design is simple. The material does not cost much. Here is how World Neighbors says to build it: Dig a hole two and one-half meters wide and six meters long. Make it about two meters deep. Build wall with a door in one end of the hole. Dig steps from the ground down to the door.

Now, build a wall along the top edge of the hole. Make it about one-half meters tall. Earth bricks work fine. Build two shorter walls on the ends. These will be uneven; one side will be as high as the existing wall. The other side will be at ground level. Leave a small opening in each of these sloping walls. This prevents the hot house from becoming too hot. Now, make the roof. Build a wood frame. Cover it with clear plastic. Connect it to the brick walls.

The underground hot house we have described is large enough for two raised vegetable beds. Each is one meter wide and six meters long. Each is seeded and watered just as if it were in a garden above ground.

The dirt walls protect the growing plants from the cold. The clear plastic roof permits the sun’s heat to enter. At night, the roof should be covered with straw. This helps prevent cold air from entering. An under ground hot house this size will provide enough vegetables for one family. Groups needing more vegetables can make it bigger.

66. If you lived in Peru, you _______.

A. should raise the special kinds of vegetables that can endure cold

B. could not plant at all

C. had to work out some new unusual plans

D. would not have many vegetables to eat

67. To our surprise, the “hot houses” invented by World Neighbors are _______.

A. covered with a transparent plastic ceiling

B. built under ground

C. quite small

D. hotter than traditional ones

68. The hot house can be kept warm by using _______.

A. a big oven  B. an electricity heater

C. the heat of the earth’s interior   D. the sun shine

69. The measure to prevent the hot house from becoming too hot is to _______.

A. make the roof sloped B. dig holes on the walls

C. make the wall not vertical D. make the walls shorter than the ground level

70. According to the passage, the method suggested by World Neighbors is _______.

A. new and difficult      B. uneasy to explain

C. at trial step D. simple and practical