The United States is suffering its worst drought (干旱) in almost sixty years. The National Climatic Data Center also says high temperatures in June added to the warmest twelve-month period on record. Record-keeping began in 1895. The drought map showed that conditions improved in the Southeast in June compared to May. But the drought is expected to continue in large parts of the country. Last week, Agriculture Secretary Tom Vilsack met with President Obama. Mr Vilsack says the drought has seriously influenced some crops, such as corn and soybeans (大豆). And the United States is the world's leading producer. 

    The drought has made prices of com and soybeans increase. Both of them are used in food production and for animal feed. Last week the United Nations Food and Agriculture Organization reported that corn and wheat prices increased by 20% over the past three weeks.

In the United States, farmers may quickly reduce the size of their animals rather than pay higher feed prices to keep them. That increased supply of meat would reduce meat prices in the short term. But those prices could increase in several months.

Mr Vilsack says the effect of the drought is hard to predict(预测). Some areas are getting rain, and drought-resistant (抗旱的) seeds have helped crops grow well in some areas.

1.We can know the drought record of the USA has been kept for ________years of the USA up to now.

A. 97                                                        B. 207

C. 221                                          D. 117

2.Which of the following American presidents met with Tom Vilsack?

A. George Washington.                 B. Abraham lincon.

C. George Bush.                                  D. Barack Obama.        

3. If the price of a kilo of corn was 3 dollars last December, how much is a kilo of corn now?

A. 2.4 dollars.                                        B. 3 dollars.

C. 3.6 dollars.                                         D. 3.9 dollars.

4.Why is the meat price lower than before?

A. Because there are more and more animals.

B. Because farmers kill them to save their food.

C. Because people don't like eating meat now.

D. Because the government (政府) asks the meat price lower.

5.What is the best title for the passage?

A. US faces the worst drought in almost sixty years.

B. Take action to help the USA.

C. What does the country do in the drought areas?

D. President Obama meets with Agriculture Secretary.

When Mark left school, he did not really know what he wanted to do. He 36  worked in an office but he found that it was very boring. He did the   37  things day after day. This was also the trouble with his second   38  in a car factory. He then decided he would like to work out of doors and got a job  39  a gardener working in one of London’s    40 .
He now works much harder than he   41  in the office or at the factory, but his work is quite different. There are, in all,   42  seasons in a year and each has its own special jobs for a   43  . He works harder in the autumn and winter keeping the park tidy and   44  for the spring and summer. In the summer he can relax(休息) and feel proud(自豪的) that he has helped to   45  the park so beautiful. Many people   46  the park then and he is always pleased   47  he hears them say how lovely it looks.
Mark has made a lot of friends during his four   48  at the park. Many office workers come every  49 to eat their lunchtime sandwiches and feed the ducks. They often have talks with him and are  50  to find that he once worked in an office.

Every scientist has a childhood dream．A scientist in China once had a dream．He wished to grow a new type of rice．This new type of rice would be as big as peanuts．This person is Yuan Longping--“Father” of Hybrid rice（杂交水稻）．

Yuan Longping was born in 1930．He graduated from the Southwest Agricultural（农业）University in 1953．He came up with an idea for a Hybrid rice in the 1960s．Since then，he has devoted himself to research and to the development of new varieties．

In 1973，together with other people，he succeeded in the development of Hybrid rice．This made China a worldwide leader in rice production（生产）．In 1980，the technology（技术）for hybrid rice was introduced to the United States．Now his “super rice” has been introduced to more than 20 other countries．

Because of Professor Yuan's hard work，China now produces enough rice to feed her people every year．Last November an online survey showed that most Chinese believed that Yuan deserved（应得）a Nobel Peace Prize．

In his spare time．Yuan Longping loves playing the violin and listening to music．Every night，he reads for half an hour before he goes to sleep．He likes swimming，too．It is said that Professor Yuan is one of tile richest people in China．But he cares about nothing but his research．

1．What was Yuan Longping's childhood dream?

2．What are Yuan Longping's hobbies?

3．The underlined word “her” in 4th paragraph means                     ．

4．Seven years, after tile successful development of Hybrid rice，it was introduced to       ．On the map No．                  is where tile country is．

5．According to the following explanations of the word “variety” in a dictionary，the word “varieties” in 2nd paragraph probably means                      ．