It is December 25th, 2050. The people in the city are all celebrating Christmas. I’m the mayor of our city. My citizens* and I are holding a big party under the sea, though you wouldn’t believe it. But please do not feel excited, you should feel sad because we have to live under the sea. Because of the pollution, the earth has been completely destroyed, from top to bottom. The atmosphere* has no oxygen* and moisture*. As a result, the plants are burned by the strong sunlight with a great number of harmful rays. Of course, none of them are still alive. Not only no green, but also the temperature reaches about 121℃ all day even in winter because there is too much CO2 circling the earth.
On the land, there is no life. Luckily, the sea is not destroyed by human. So, we have to move into the sea. At the bottom of the water, people have built many new cities. There is a lot of advanced* equipment* in each city. Computers are used to control all the machines, even the people’s life. We can also make the seawater into fresh water. There are two machines making oxygen. If they stop working for only one minute, more than 10 million people will die.
The population of our city is over 30 million and, of course, it is quite crowded. We have lots of high buildings and bridges. The roads are wide, too. Our cars are miniature* UFOs, don’t be surprised, it is true. At the bottom of the sea you can’t see anything, because there is no light all day. However, we have advanced lighting equipment so that we can see the “sun” under the sea. Of course, the advanced lighting equipment is very expensive. And if it doesn’t work, we can see nothing under the sea. What should we do then?
【小题1】Where are they holding a big Christmas party?

A．On the land

B．Under the sea

C．In high buildings

D．On the road

【小题2】What controls people’s life under the sea?

A．Machines

B．Computers

C．Advanced equipment

D．Human beings

【小题3】Why do people have to live under the sea in 2050 according to the passage?

A．It is interesting to build cities and live under the sea.

B．We have advanced lighting equipment so that we can see the “sun” under the sea.

C．There is no oxygen and moisture around the earth as it is destroyed.

D．We can make oxygen under the sea with the high technology.

【小题4】What can we learn from this article ?

A．The plants are burned by the strong sunlight with a great number of useful rays.

B．There will be no lives in the world in 2050.

C．People prefer to live under the sea in 2050.

D．We should protect our environment instead of destroying it.

【小题5】What might the best title for this passage be                 .

A．A Christmas In The Future	B．A City Under The Sea
C．The Underwater Life	D．The Future Life Under The Water

—_____ the population of the U.S.A. in 2005?

—It _____ about 296 million.

A.What is; is                                                             B.What was; was

C.How many is; was                                              D.How many was; is

 

You might have noticed that the cost of food has gone up.In fact the price of wheat and rice has nearly doubled in the past few years.It’s thought that right now，850 million people—that’s more than 10 times the population of the UK—are short of food because it’s too expensive or there’s not enough of it.

The price of basic food such as wheat and corn has stayed the same for quite a long time，about 30 years.But as the world’s population is getting bigger，there’s more pressure to feed more people，plus there’s less land and water to go round.

Another reason is climate（气候）change.Droughts and floods make it hard to grow crops like rice and grain.The price of oil has gone up and that makes it more expensive for farmers to run their tractors and to transport the food they make.And lots of fields are being used to grow crops to make other things that can’t be eaten—which is bad news for hungry people.

The main losers are poor people who live in cities in poor countries，who are facing higher prices for food.Some people are doing well out of the food crisis（危机） though.Farmers in rich countries like the US，Canada and Australia are getting record prices for their harvests.

World leaders are meeting in the Italian capital Rome to talk about the problem of rising food prices.Some countries are helping out with the cost of foods and international aid agencies have called for more money for food production in poor countries.

1.The price of food goes up because all of the following EXCEPT _____.

A．there are more and more people in the world.

B．American farmers are getting richer and richer.

C．many farm lands are used to make other things rather than food.

D．climate change makes it harder to grow food.

2.Who lose the most because of the food crisis?

A．Farmers in rich countries.

B．Farmers in developed countries.

C．Poor people in cities in poor countries.

D．Poor people in cities in developed countries.

3.What does the food crisis mean to farmers in Canada?

A．They can get a lot of money from the government.

B．They have to save a lot of money.

C．They can make more money from the high price.

D．They are losing a lot of money.

4.What is the best title for this passage?

A．Why is the Price of Food Going Up？

B．How Many People are Short of Food?

C．What Can We Learn from the Food Crisis?

D．Who Can Benefit（受益） from the Food Crisis?

 

  —_____ is the population of America?

—I don’t know. But I know it’s _______ than that of China.

A. What; smaller        B. How much; smaller   C. What; less               

 

The world’s population has reached 7 billion（十亿）according to the United Nations（联合国）by 2011. It comes just 12 years since the total reached 6 billion - with official estimates saying the population will top 8 billion in 2025 and 10 billion before the end of the century.

And it is most likely that the 10-billionth baby will be born in the Asia-Pacific region - where the population growth rate is higher than anywhere else in the world.

Of the 2.3 billion people, the United Nations believes will be added by 2050, more than 1 billion will live in sub-Saharan Africa. The Indian subcontinent（次大陆）will add some 630 million people.

With more people to feed, more houses & medical care to provide, experts say the world’s resources（资源）will face more strain than before.

1.According to the picture, the population of the world reached 6 billion in ________.

A. 1987                     B. 1999                     C. 2011

2.We know that more than 1 billion will live in _______ by 2050.

A. sub-Saharan Africa

B. Indian subcontinent

C. the United States

3.According to the picture, _______ will have the largest population in 2050.

A. China                        B. India                        C. Nigeria

4.The underlined word “strain” in the last paragraph（段落）means “_________”.

A. 破坏                     B. 关闭                     C. 压力

5.The population of the world grows ________ according to the picture.

A. slower and slower

B. faster and faster

C. smaller and smaller