第三部分阅读理解（共20小题；每小题2分，满分40分）

阅读下列短文，从每题所给的四个选项（A、B、C和D）中，选出最佳选项。

Spiders are actually useful. They do not harm plants, as some people think. Instead, they protect plants by controlling insects. If you see spiders in a garden, it doesn’t mean the garden is unhealthy. It means the spiders are helping the garden stay healthy.

If you spend some time watching spiders, you may be surprised by what you see. There are many wonderful webs. They may perform skillfully on their thin silk threads. However, some spiders spin (织) no webs at all. They follow insects on the ground with all the skill and cruelty of a tiger hunting big game.

Scientists have named about 30,000 species of spiders, but they think this is only one-fourth of all the different kinds of spiders in the world. In most species, people can easily tell the female spider from the male because the female is much bigger. For example, the female black widow (黑寡妇) weighs about one hundred times as much as the male.

Female spiders lay eggs. After hatching (孵), most spiders live less than a full year, but some don’t. Tarantulas (狼蛛) do not become adults until they are 10 or 11 years old. Female tarantulas often live an extra 10 years! The baby spiders that hatch from the eggs are called spiderlings.

56. The underlined in Paragraph 2 part “a tiger hunting big game” refers to “______.”

A. laying eggs                  B. hatching baby spiders

C. spinning webs               D. catching insects

57. How many kinds of spiders are there in the world according to the passage?

A. About 30, 000.      B. About 60, 000.    C. About 90, 000.    D. About 120, 000.

58. What can we know from the passage?

A. If there are spiders in your garden, it means it is unhealthy.

B. All spiders can spin webs.

C. Normally, a male spider is smaller than a female one.

D. All spiders can live 10 or 11 years after hatching.

59. What will be probably talked about after the last paragraph?

A. The way spiders spin webs.                   B. Something about spiderlings.

C. How the spiders protect plants.                 D. The way spiders stay healthy.

 

A new study says that birds living in big cities sing shorter, faster songs that are higher-pitched (高音调的) than those sung by their brothers in the forests. The researchers think that the birds adjust their songs to allow themselves to be heard over the noises of the city, especially the low traffic noise.
To study how urban birds song, Hans Slabbekoorn and Ardie den Bore, biologists at the University of Leiden in Netherlands, travelled around Europe and recorded bird songs in ten major cities and in nearby forests. The species they focused on, the great tit (大山雀), is widespread across Eurasia and one of the few types of birds that thrives in big cities.
Singing is crucial (重要的) for males, which use their songs to attract mates and mark out their territory. The changing songs could play a role in eventually causing the city birds and the forest dwellers to evolve into separate species.
The findings could also help explain why usually only a few bird species thrive in cities. By contrast, many more bird species tend to be found in forests and other undeveloped habitats.
Studies like this could eventually help researchers predict how urbanization (都市化) will affect birds, using this knowledge could help urban planners design more pleasant city environments, study co-author Slabbe-koorn said. “You can make a city much more livable if you pay attention to where the noise goes and where the people go,” he said. “It would be easy to fit the birds into those models.” Then cities wouldn’t be strictly for the people, but also for the birds.
【小题1】 Which is the best title of the passage?

A．Birds Change Songs to Suit Country Life

B．Birds Change Sex to Suit Urban Life

C．Birds Change Living Habits to Suit Urban Life

D．Birds Change Songs to Suit Urban Life

【小题2】 Males usually sing their songs to ____.

A．evolve into another species

B．attract mates and mark out their living area

C．attract city people’s attention and make them supply food

D．allow themselves to be heard over the noises of the city

【小题3】 The underlined word “thrives” in the second paragraph means “____”.

A．dies

B．survives

C．suffers

D．travels

【小题4】What is NOT the effect that studies of birds’ songs have?
A. Predicting how course of the city’s expanding will affect birds.
B. Helping the city planners design more pleasant city environments.
C. Making cities more livable for both the birds and people.
D. Driving the urban birds back to the forest.

 阅读表达(共5小题：每小题2分，满分10分)

阅读下面的短文，并根据短文后面的要求答题。(请注意问题后的字数要求)

Studies and reports seem to come in everyday talking about the state of the world. Global warming and pollution are threatening the delicate balance of life on Earth. The vast amount of troubles in the world can make anything we do seem unmeaning. But if we can do just a few things to help, the joined efforts can create a huge difference in both the world and in our lives. If you are not sure where to begin here are some simple things that can create a big change.

Grow your own garden. Growing your own garden can create a tremendous difference. Having fresh fruits and vegetables at your finger tips can not only improve your health, it can also save you money. Spending time each day working in your garden is wonderful exercise and a great way to get plenty of sunshine.

Stop buying chemical cleaners. The special chemicals to clean their house can have bad effect on your health and the environment. Instead of buying more bottles of chemicals and creating more waste，try some of the simple cleaner ideas that you can make yourself. Vinegar and baking soda is one of the simplest, most effective, and cheapest cleaning solutions available. Lemon juice is another safe and effective cleaner that can remove soap scum and whiten clothes as well as many other uses.

   Change your light bulbs. Replacing your ordinary light bulbs with low energy bulbs can both  _____________ and help the environment. These long lasting bulbs reduce your energy bill and do not need to be replaced as often as conventional bulbs.

   Recycle. The tried and true method of helping the environment is recycling. Most cities have recycling centers or recycling pick-up available for people. Plastic, glass, paper, even old phonebooks can be recycled and used for other things.

 

1. List three appropriate measures you can do to help the environment. (Please answer within 10 words.) 

(1) _____________   (2)_____________  (3)___________

2. What is the best title of this passage ? (Please answer within 10 words)

 _____________________________________________________________________

3. Fill in the blank in Paragraph 4 with proper words. (Please answer within 6 words.)

 _____________________________________________________________________

4. Which sentence in the text is the closest in meaning to the following one?

Don’t buy bottles of chemical and don’t make much waste any longer, you can use some simple ways to clean.

____________________________________________________________________

5. Translate the underlined sentence in Paragraph 2 into Chinese.

____________________________________________________________________

 

Language is a way to communicate with each other. We started to learn language when we were born. However, people are used to speaking their native language, so immigrants are having many problems between the first generation and the second generation because they don’t have the same native language. Also, the second generation is losing their identity. Especially in America, there are many immigrants that came from different countries to succeed in the States.  Because they suffer in lots of areas such as getting a job and trying to speak English, they want their children to speak English, not only at school, but also at home in order to be more successful. Because of this situation, their children are losing their identity and, even more, they are ignoring their parents whose English is not very good.    

I think most immigrants are trying to preserve their native language in their new country, but this doesn’t help very much in getting a good job. My aunt taught Korean to her children not to help hem succeed in the U.S. she did so, hopefully, to help them establish a Korean identity. Though the second generation was born in the new country, they often get confused about their identity because they look different from others, and also, if they visit their parents’ country, they will probably feel different from other people there too. My cousins told me that when they visited Korea a few years ago, they felt different from other Koreans. They could even feel it just strolling around the street because they wore different clothes and walked differently.

We must realize that language is important and valuable for many reasons. Immigrants should make an effort not to be ignored by their children understand their background by teaching them the parents’ language. This is very important, not only for the harmony of the family, but also in helping the second generation establish their identity. 

According to the text, what is the problem of the first generation immigrants?

A. They have lost their identity.

B. Their children are losing their identity.

C. Their children speak different languages.

D. They cannot speak their native language.

My aunt taught her children Korean____.

A. so that they knew they were of Korean origin

B. so that they would be more successful in the U.S.

C. because she didn’t want them to speak English

D. because she wanted them to respect her

The writer’s cousins felt different in their parents’ country because they____.

A. had never been there before        B. behaved quite differently

C. couldn’t understand the language    D. had different facial appearance

According to the text, the native language is important and valuable to immigrants in that____.

A. it gives them self-confidence and better chance

B. t makes the second generation love motherland

C. it helps the second generation to understand their parents

D. it strengthens the family ties and reminds them of their identity (BCABD)

(09陕西卷)16. He must be helping the old man to water the flowers,        ?    

A. is he     B. isn’t he     C. must he     D. mustn’t he