Once again, rumors are spreading．Judgement Day, this time, is set to happen on December 21st, 2012．The date originated from the Mayan calendar, but actually gained popularity through the hit movie, "2012"．

How will the world end? And how do we know the exact date? There are many theories: A meteoroid from outer space; a solar storm; a shift in the earth's poles; bla bla bla．They all supposedly pointed to the date of December 21st, 2012．Unfortunately, none of it is true．

Zhu Jin, director of Beijing Planetarium, said, "For earth itself, the end will be billions of years away from now．And for us humans, there is a very small chance that we may be affected by some astronomical factors．However, we don't have the ability to foresee such events so far．So when someone tells you the world is going to end on an exact date, it must be fake．"

But the truth hasn't stopped people from believing．In the sci-fi movie "2012", the director imagined the end of the world based on the Mayan calendar．The film earned nearly 770 million US dollars worldwide. Ning Hong, Hebei Province, said．"The movie 2012 did get one thing right．There are arks  eing made in China, But they're not being built secretly inside the mountains．They are constructed here in

the courtyard of a factory．"

In April, Liu Qiyuan quit his furniture business and devoted himself to developing these huge round balls．He doesn't believe the end is near, but he wants to be prepared just in case．

Liu Qiyuan, the "Ark" builder, said, "The concept originated twenty years ago．The Tangshan earthquake had flattened our house, so I wanted to build a shelter that wouldn't fall．Then in 2004, I saw the tsunami in Indonesia that killed so many people．Then I realized it should be something that could withstand the earthquake and float on water．"

Liu is hoping to use his invention as a life boat on the sea．He's planning to test his product on the water next year．

It turns out that rumour, though false, is good for business．Doomsday discounts and products are hot on many online stores．While it's surely attracted attention, many complain that it misleads consumers．

Their purpose is to promote products．If they believe the world is going to end．who would buy things? Money would be useless, too．

41．The purpose of the movie "2012" was                 .

       A．to popularize scientific knowledge for the viewers

       B．to make a profit from the viewers

       C． to tell the viewers an interesting factual story

       D．to warn the viewers of a disastrous event

42．The word "fake" in Paragraph 3 is closest in meaning to        ．

       A．a joke             B．a lie               C．untrue             D．terrifying

43．Liu Qiyuan quit his job and built his "ark" because _________．

       A．he believed that the world was going to end on Dec．21,2012

       B．he was tired of making money from his furniture business

       C．he was almost killed in Indonesia in 2004

       D．he wanted to make preparations for destructive natural disasters

44．Which statement is NOT true according to the passage?

       A．Ruinous were created by businessmen to promote their products．

       B．The movie "2012" was very popular and a great many people watched it．

       C．One theory said that the earth was to shift its two poles on Dec．21,2012．

       D．Liu Qiyuan's ark was intended to survive earthquakes and terrible floods．

45．We can infer from the passage that _________．

       A．Tune and time again people spread rumours about the world's end for one reason or another．

       B．The Maya's prediction about the world's end has failed．

       C．In the movie 2012 big arks were built secretly inside the mountains

       D．Liu Qiyuan was bom before 1976 and is at least 36 years old．

Once again, rumors are spreading．Judgement Day, this time, is set to happen on December 21st, 2012．The date originated from the Mayan calendar, but actually gained popularity through the hit movie, "2012"．

How will the world end? And how do we know the exact date? There are many theories: A meteoroid from outer space; a solar storm; a shift in the earth's poles; bla bla bla．They all supposedly pointed to the date of December 21st, 2012．Unfortunately, none of it is true．

Zhu Jin, director of Beijing Planetarium, said, "For earth itself, the end will be billions of years away from now．And for us humans, there is a very small chance that we may be affected by some astronomical factors．However, we don't have the ability to foresee such events so far．So when someone tells you the world is going to end on an exact date, it must be fake．"

But the truth hasn't stopped people from believing．In the sci-fi movie "2012", the director imagined the end of the world based on the Mayan calendar．The film earned nearly 770 million US dollars worldwide. Ning Hong, Hebei Province, said．"The movie 2012 did get one thing right．There are arks  eing made in China, But they're not being built secretly inside the mountains．They are constructed here in

the courtyard of a factory．"

In April, Liu Qiyuan quit his furniture business and devoted himself to developing these huge round balls．He doesn't believe the end is near, but he wants to be prepared just in case．

Liu Qiyuan, the "Ark" builder, said, "The concept originated twenty years ago．The Tangshan earthquake had flattened our house, so I wanted to build a shelter that wouldn't fall．Then in 2004, I saw the tsunami in Indonesia that killed so many people．Then I realized it should be something that could withstand the earthquake and float on water．"

Liu is hoping to use his invention as a life boat on the sea．He's planning to test his product on the water next year．

It turns out that rumour, though false, is good for business．Doomsday discounts and products are hot on many online stores．While it's surely attracted attention, many complain that it misleads consumers．

Their purpose is to promote products．If they believe the world is going to end．who would buy things? Money would be useless, too．

41．The purpose of the movie "2012" was                 .

       A．to popularize scientific knowledge for the viewers

       B．to make a profit from the viewers

       C． to tell the viewers an interesting factual story

       D．to warn the viewers of a disastrous event

42．The word "fake" in Paragraph 3 is closest in meaning to        ．

       A．a joke             B．a lie               C．untrue             D．terrifying

43．Liu Qiyuan quit his job and built his "ark" because _________．

       A．he believed that the world was going to end on Dec．21,2012

       B．he was tired of making money from his furniture business

       C．he was almost killed in Indonesia in 2004

       D．he wanted to make preparations for destructive natural disasters

44．Which statement is NOT true according to the passage?

       A．Ruinous were created by businessmen to promote their products．

       B．The movie "2012" was very popular and a great many people watched it．

       C．One theory said that the earth was to shift its two poles on Dec．21,2012．

       D．Liu Qiyuan's ark was intended to survive earthquakes and terrible floods．

45．We can infer from the passage that _________．

       A．Tune and time again people spread rumours about the world's end for one reason or another．

       B．The Maya's prediction about the world's end has failed．

       C．In the movie 2012 big arks were built secretly inside the mountains

       D．Liu Qiyuan was bom before 1976 and is at least 36 years old．

Once again, rumors are spreading．Judgment Day, this time, is set to happen on December 21st, 2012．The date originated（起源于） from the Mayan calendar, but actually gained popularity through the hit movie, "2012"．

How will the world end? And how do we know the exact date? There are many theories: A meteoroid （流星体）from outer space; a solar storm; a shift（变换） in the earth's poles; bla bla bla．They all supposedly pointed to the date of December 21st, 2012．Unfortunately, none of it is true．

Zhu Jin, director of Beijing Planetarium, said, "For earth itself, the end will be billions of years away from now．And for us humans, there is a very small chance that we may be affected by some astronomical factors．However, we don't have the ability to foresee such events so far．So when someone tells you the world is going to end on an exact date, it must be fake．"

But the truth hasn't stopped people from believing．In the sci-fi movie "2012", the director imagined the end of the world based on the Mayan calendar．The film earned nearly 770 million US dollars worldwide. Ning Hong, Hebei Province, said．"The movie 2012 did get one thing right．There are arks  being made in China, But they're not being built secretly inside the mountains．They are constructed here in the courtyard of a factory．"

In April, Liu Qiyuan quit his furniture business and devoted himself to developing these huge round balls．He doesn't believe the end is near, but he wants to be prepared just in case．

Liu Qiyuan, the "Ark" builder, said, "The concept originated twenty years ago．The Tangshan earthquake had flattened our house, so I wanted to build a shelter that wouldn't fall．Then in 2004, I saw the tsunami in Indonesia that killed so many people．Then I realized it should be something that could withstand（抵挡） the earthquake and float on water．"

Liu is hoping to use his invention as a life boat on the sea．He's planning to test his product on the water next year．

It turns out that rumour, though false, is good for business．Doomsday discounts and products are hot on many online stores．While it's surely attracted attention, many complain that it misleads consumers．

Their purpose is to promote products．If they believe the world is going to end．who would buy things? Money would be useless, too．

67．The purpose of the movie "2012" was                 .

       A．to popularize（普及） scientific knowledge for the viewers

       B．to make a profit from the viewers

       C． to tell the viewers an interesting factual story

       D．to warn the viewers of a disastrous(灾难性的) event

68．Liu Qiyuan quit his job and built his "ark" because _________．

       A．he believed that the world was going to end on Dec．21,2012

       B．he was tired of making money from his furniture business

       C．he was almost killed in Indonesia in 2004

       D．he wanted to make preparations for destructive natural disasters

69．Which statement is NOT true according to the passage?

       A．Rumors were created by businessmen to promote their products．

       B．The movie "2012" was very popular and a great many people watched it．

       C．One theory said that the earth was to shift its two poles on Dec．21,2012．

       D．Liu Qiyuan's ark was intended to survive earthquakes and terrible floods．

70．We can infer from the passage that _________．

       A．Time and time again people spread rumours about the world's end for one reason or another．

       B．The Maya's prediction about the world's end has failed．

       C．In the movie 2012 big arks were built secretly inside the mountains

       D．Liu Qiyuan was born before 1976 and is at least 36 years old．

阅读理解

　　A terrifying example of the sea's power saw about 200,000 people die in 12 different countries last week. The devastation (毁坏) was caused when a massive earthquake sent tsunamis (海啸) smashing into Indian Ocean coastlines.

　　Communities in Sri Lanka. Indonesia, Thailand, India, Malaysia and East Africa have been destroyed by the monster waves. Whole towns were imply swept aside by the power of the water. Cars, trains and buildings could not survive (幸免), let alone the people who stood in the way.

　　The earthquake measured 9.0 on the Richter scale (里氏震级) and occurred off the coast of Indonesia. It was recorded as the fifth strongest since 1900.

　　Scientists said the quake was as powerful as a million of the atomic bombs that were dropped on Japan during World War Ⅱ. “This may be the worst natural disaster in recent history because it is affecting so many heavily populated coastal areas," said Jan Egeland, a UN official.

　　Because such waves rarely happen in the Indian Ocean, there is no system in place to warn coastal communities they are about to be hit.

　　Tsunami is Japanese for “harbour wave.” They are usually caused by a sudden rise or fall of part of the Earth's crust (地壳) under the ocean. Tsunamis often happen in oceans and they are most common in the Pacific. Normally a tsunamis includes a series of waves.

　　Tsunamis can be very long-as much a, 100 kilometres-and be as far as one hour apart. They are able to cross entire oceans without losing much energy. One of the most striking facts about tsunamis is that an earthquake on one side of the Pacific Ocean can cause giant wave, and destruction on the other side.

　　When the ocean is deep, tsunamis can travel unnoticed at speeds of up to 800 kilometres per hour. They can cross the entire ocean in a day or less.

　　The wave may only be a few metres, high in the ocean but when it is near the shore and reaches shallow (浅) water, the wave builds up very quickly in height. Witnesses (目击者) in some areas of Indonesia reported seeing up to 10-metre high waves crash into the shore.

1．We can infer from the passage that fewer people would have died in the South Asian tsunami ________.

[　　]

A．if there had been warning system along the coast

B．if the earthquake had happened off the coast of Thailand

C．if the tsunami had happened in the day time

D．if the tsunami had happened in the deep ocean

2．What surprises people most about the tsunamis is that ________.

[　　]

A．it lasts a long time

B．it travels a long way

C．a tsunamis on one side of the ocean can cause destruction on the other side of the ocean

D．it builds up a high wave

3．Which of the following is NOT true of the South Asian tsunamis?

[　　]

A．It was caused by a serious earthquake off the coast of Indonesia.

B．It was caused by the strongest earthquake in the world.

C．People didn't expect such a strong tsunamis would hit them.

D．It may be the worst natural disaster in recent history.

4．Which of the following is the best title for this article?

[　　]

A．What Is the Tsunami?

B．South Asia Was Hit by the Strongest Earthquake.

C．Mother Nature Displays Anger.

D．A Terrible Disaster.