While in Banff, make time for a walk around town. A special treat is to go up the mountainside on the Banff Gondola for a surprising view of the valley below. Here is The Pines, whose cook has developed a special way of mixing foreign food such as caribou, wild boar, and reindeer with surprising sauces.

Best time to visit is during the off-season, from early May to mid-June, or in October. This way you can avoid sharing the highway with mobile homes which can be pulled by cars. But whatever the season, take some lunch with you from Banff, because there are only a few food stops on the road.

Forty minutes north of Banff, side by side with the Banff National Park, sits world-famous Lake Louise. This surprisingly small body of water is attractive with towering mountains around it. Glaciers, huge masses of ice, moving very slowly against rocks, produce what is called glacier rock flour, making its water dark to see. It is worth taking a walk around the grounds of the Chateau Lake Louise, another beauty, proud of its early 20th century history.

Back on the road, and it’s time to continue north past the astonishing Columbia Icefield, then turn off the highway and take the short road to the base of the Athabaska Glacier. You can rent ice cleats (夹板) and do some climbing or do a more pleasant snowmobile tour. Either way, you can enjoy endless beautiful sights.

Finally you’ll reach Jasper, the usual turning around the place for the Banff-Jasper loop (回路). It’s worth riding the Jasper Skytram, and be sure to visit the wonderful Jasper Park Lodge, also dating back to the 1920s. If you can have lunch there, do it. The restaurant has an adventurous menu and their wine list would put a smile on any visitor’s face.

According the passage, The Pines is a                                 .

A. place in which you can see many mobile homes

B. mountain where you can get a good view of the valley

C. town which happens to be near the Banff National Park

D. restaurant where you can ask for some special kinds of food

What will probably happen when visitors come at the end of June?

A. They may have trouble finding a restaurant.

B. They may come across traffic jams.

C. They may travel more easily with cars.

D. They may do much more sightseeing.

Similar to the Chateau Lake Louise,                            .

A. the Banff National Park is to the west of Banff

B. the Columbia Icefield lies between Lake Louise and the Banff National Park

C. the Jasper Skytram has a history of more than 80 years

D. the Jasper Park Lodge was built in the 1920s

Besides the beautiful sights in Jasper Park Lodge, visitors to Jasper can enjoy themselves by                                    .

A. taking the Jasper Skytram and eating in the restaurant

B. taking the Banff-Jasper loop and Jasper Skytram

C. having a lot of food to order in the restaurant

D. taking the Jasper Skytram back to Banff

Toucans(巨嘴鸟), a kind of tropical birds known for its colorful beak, are very smart. In Mexico, my dad became friends with a toucan that was in a “walk in and see the birds” cage. The toucan was so smart that it knew how to get out. It just needed some human to help it. It almost flew out while we were leaving!

I also noticed that all toucans have different beaks! They also have very long unique beaks with an extremely long tongue. It struts(大摇大摆地走) around with its chest sticking out and beak pointed forward. The toucan is a beautiful bird! The beak has a red tip (different shades on every one), but sometimes there is a little turquoise on the bottom half. Then, right where the beak separates there is a splotch of yellow. And the rest of the beak is green. The toucan takes very much pride of itself.

The toucan eats fruit and seeds. The ramphastidae(the toucan family) is known for its long beak, and 37 species. Toucans also feed on insects, small lizards, bird nestlings and eggs. They nest in hollow trees where they incubate and care for their young.They are found in the woody areas.

Of the various toucan facts, here is an odd one. Citizens of Central and South America associate the toucans with evil spirits. They think the birds can be the personification of evils. Where couvades(父代母育) is practiced, the father of a new child must not eat toucan flesh as it is believed to bewitch the new-born child. Yet the toucan can also be a tribal totem(图腾). So the medicine men use it as a symbol to fly to the spirit world.

60. Which of the following words is NOT suitable to describe toucans?

   A. Intelligent     B. Confident     C. Dangerous     D. Colorful

61. The second paragraph mainly talks about _______.

   A. where toucans strut around   B. how toucans get food

   C. what toucans look like       D. when toucans lay eggs

62. What does the underlined word“incubate”probably mean in paragraph 3?

   A.Hatch eggs    B.Take cover    C.Gather strength    D.Keep warm

63. We can learn from the last paragraph that _______.

   A. all citizens of Central and South America are afraid of toucans

   B. the toucans can also be used as medicine to cure diseases

   C. a new child must not eat toucan flesh because it is poisonous

   D. some people believe toucans can bring them misfortune

Do your spirits soar (猛增) on a sunny day? Do you relax at the sound of flowing water?

    Some scientists suggest that these contacts with nature are good for your health. In one study, hospital patients with a view of trees had shorter hospital stays and less need for pain medications. Another study indicated that prisoners with a view of the outdoors had fewer doctor visits.

    “Why do we desire nature? Maybe we’re programmed to need it, since our ancestors’ survival was so dependent on their connection with nature,” suggests biologist E.O. Wilson.

    Want to find out if contact with nature improves your outlook on life? Try a few of these ideas.

    Hang out a bird feeder and watch the birds that visit it.

    Sit down in the backyard or a nearby park. Close your eyes. What do you hear? Birds singing? The wind in the trees? Crickets (蟋蟀) chirping?

    Find an anthill. Sit down and watch the ants work.

    Take a walk right after a rainstorm. What looks different? Smells different?

    Go barefoot on a sandy beach.

    Open the curtains and the window, if the weather allows it.

    On a windy day, watch the trees.

    Go to a creek, river or park fountain. Listen to the sound of water in motion.

    Camp out in the backyard or at a nearby state park. Use a tent or sleep on the ground.

    Find a wide-open space to study the stars. Learn about the different constellations (星座).

    Raise a garden. Or plant some seeds in a flowerpot.

    Go hiking with your family. Talk about all of the colors you see in nature.

    Take a camera and capture your nature experience.

1.From Paragraph 2 we can learn that ______.

A. prisoners don’t like to go to the doctor when ill   B. trees can be used as pain medications

C. prisoners should often get out of prison to come into contact with nature

D. contacts with nature are very helpful for hospital patients

2.According to E.O. Wilson, we desire nature probably because ______.

A. it can help us feel relaxed

B. we have inherited (继承) from our ancestors who were dependent on nature

C. people have lived with nature for thousands of years

D. contacts with nature can improve a person’s outlook on life

3. From the passage, we can learn that ______.

A. studying the constellations is important to everyone

B. you can know all the colors only by going hiking

C. nature is quite important to us    D. walking in a rainstorm can be very helpful

4.What is the best title of the passage?

A. Go hiking with your familyB. Let nature nurture you.

C.Visit your doctor less.D.Watch the trees more often.

 

An 18-year-old high school student who had just learned to swim in the last summer vacation saved the life of a drowning Ohio boy on Friday afternoon.

Tom Erickson was credited with (因_{．．．．．．}而受赞扬)saving the life of Jason Pryor,10, in Mill Creek (小河) Park. Young Jason Pryor, from Chillicothe, was visiting relatives from Anchor Point when he fell into Mill Creek.

The Pryor boy had no business playing near the edge of the river, but he had no idea of the danger.

The creek, with much more water than usual for the recent spring rains, flowed fast and carried the boy around a bend and out of sight from his parents, who took Jason out there and said they had not even witnessed the incident.

Luckily for Jason, one of the most unselfish students from Brentwood’s Central High School was taking a walk alone through the park.

As soon as he found the boy struggling in the water, Erickson jumped into the creek and managed to pull the drowning boy out of the water. And it was reported that Erickson had never received any life-saving instruction before.

“I wasn’t sure I could do it,” Erickson said. “I didn’t know if I could swim through the river by myself, not to mention getting another person out with me.”

This incident should be a lesson to young children who do not know how to swim. Stay away from dangerous bodies of water.

   Young Jason Pryor lives at _______.

A. Anchor Point     B. Chillicothe, Ohio    C. Mill Creek           D. Brentwood

Which of the following sentences is true according to the passage?

A. Life-saving instruction helped a lot in the incident.

B. Jason’s parents saw him fall into the creek but couldn’t help.

C. The creek flowed fast because it was very straight without any bends.

D. Erickson was not sure if he could save the boy when jumping into the creek.

What’s the possible meaning of the underlined sentence “The Pryor boy had no business playing near the edge of the river,” in the third paragraph?

    A. The accident was none of the boy’s business.   

    B. The boy had no friends to play with him.

    C. The boy shouldn’t have played near the creek. ks5*u

    D. The boy was very busy and had no time to play.

What would be the best title for the passage?

A. Did You Know the Danger of Water         B. Be Responsible Parents

    C. The Fast Running Mill Creek              D. Beginning Swimmer Saved Drowning Boy

　短文改错 (每小题1分)

此题要求改正所给短文中的错误。如无错误，在答题卡相应的位置上画一个勾(√)；如有错误(每行只有一个错误)，则按下列情况改正：

此行多一词：把多余的词写在答题卡相应的位置上，用斜线(\)划掉；

此行缺一词：在答题卡相应的位置上写出该加的词，并附带前(后)词；

此行错一词：在答题卡相应的位置上写出该错词和改正后的词。

Liaogao is a beautiful town. It lies on the northeast of ⒈_________

Songtao County. A river goes across the town. The water is very       ⒉_________

clear and there are lot of fishes in the river. People often go      ⒊_________

swimming in the river in summer. There are seven bridges over ⒋_________

the river. Of all the bridges the Songjiang Bridge is biggest, and       ⒌_________

the Shuitanghe Bridge is the most nicest. In the town there are   ⒍_________

two squares — Shichang Square or Qixing Square. People ⒎_________

like take a walk on the squares after supper. Many middle-aged  ⒏_________

woman enjoy dancing on Shichang Square after supper. At ⒐_________

the times some singers hold concerts on Qixing Square.      ⒑_________