Take a ride on Berlin's clean city trains, and you'll notice one thing: the German capital seems to be disappearing under a tide of graffiti.

     These are almost impossible to read or are fashionable names and fantastic pictures on walls, bridges, subway trains－almost any urban surface. To some people, they're an art form with an edge. They're rebellious (叛逆的), daring and even beautiful. To others, graffiti is nothing but a disease that slowly moves into neighborhoods.

     For most officials, the root of the problem is that German law does not treat graffiti as a crime and low-cost airlines have made Berlin a center for graffiti sprayers from all over Europe.

     In Berlin, annual damage caused by graffiti is estimated at 500 million euros.50 million euros are spent on cleaning up graffiti.

     Neighboring countries have far severer graffiti laws, according to a report in the Berliner Kurier newspaper. In Sweden and Norway, repeat offenders(冒犯者) can be given prison terms of up to four years and in Denmark up to six years. And US states put repeat offenders in serious cases in prison for longer terms.

     Under current German law, graffiti is only punishable if it can be proven that the spraying itself or the removal of the graffiti resulted in damages to the surface under it.

     "We have to clearly show most young people who do this that illegal spraying is punishable," said Karin Schubert, Berlin's social democratic justice minister. If so, it could make life more difficult for Germany's estimated 8,000 active graffiti artists.

     Graffiti used to be admired, especially when it appeared on the western side of the Berlin Wall.

1．Many sprayers come to Berlin to make graffiti because________.

    A. Berlin is a center for graffiti sprayers

    B. the people there like the art of graffiti very much

    C. they will not be punished severely there for their graffiti

D. Berlin is the birthplace of graffiti

2．Graffiti sprayers will get the severest punishment in_____.

    A. Germany          B. US              C. Norway            D. Denmark

3．In the second paragraph the writer mainly wants to tell us _______.

    A. colorful graffiti is everywhere in Berlin

    B. graffiti is always hard to understand

    C. graffiti is a popular street art

    D. people's different opinions about graffiti

4．It's clear that graffiti ________.

    A. attracted many foreign tourists to Berlin

    B. brings great loss to Berlin

    C. is liked by all the young people in Berlin

    D. is ugly and unpleasant to old people

5．The best title for the passage would be_______.

    A. A Pop Art－Graffiti                B. Berlin－the Center of Graffiti                                                                                                                                                 

    C. Graffiti, Art or Disease?             D. Anti-graffiti Movement

It was a Sunday and the heavy storm had lasted all night. The morning after the storm, though, was beautiful: blue skies, warm air and a calm, inviting sea touching the shore gently.

    My father realized it was a good day for fishing and invited my sister and me to go with him. I was only 14 and fishing had never been my thing, but I decided to go all the same. I' m so glad I did.

    On the way to the harbor we could see the terrible destruction on the coast, but the harbour itself was in fairly good shape．After all, it was protected by the arms of a bay that had only one tiny channel to the sea. As we got on board, we noticed two big humps(脊背) in the distance.

    On approaching them, we saw it was a mother whale with her baby. We couldn't believe it — there weren't any whales along the coast here. The storm must have driven them across the ocean into the bay, in which the still water was so badly polluted that nothing could survive.

    The little baby whale—actually as big as our boat—was obviously stuck and could not move. The mother dived under the water and came up suddenly, making big whirlpools（漩涡） and waves. "She's trying to help her baby, but on the wrong side," my father said. At this point, my father moved our boat in a semicircle to the other side and, heading the boat towards the baby whale, pushed it gently. With our several gentle pushes the big hump turned over and disappeared under water. Then it swam up right beside its mum. They struggled in their desperate attempts to escape but missed the exit and started heading in the wrong direction. We hurried up to the whales and tried to lead them towards the bay channel. Slowly, they let us lead them, sometimes rising from the water right beside us to breathe—and to give us a trusting look with those huge eyes. Once they hit their first part of clean water flowing straight from the sea, the mum gave us a wave with her tail and off. They swam into the distance.

    In the excitement it had felt like only a few minutes, but we had been with those wonderful animals for almost an hour and a half. That was the simple and lasting beauty of the day. Nearly four decades later, I still look back fondly to that golden day at sea.

1. In Para2 the author says "I' m so glad I did." because _________.

    A. he witnessed the whole process of fishing

    B. he enjoyed the beauty of the calm sea

    C. he experienced the rescue of the whales

    D. he spent the weekend with his family

2.The mother whale failed to help her baby because __________.

    A. she had stayed in the polluted water for too long

    B. the whirlpools she had made were not big enough

    C. she had no other whales around to turn to for help

    D. the waves pushed her baby in the wrong direction

3.What is the theme of the story?

    A. Saving lives brings people a sense of happiness.

    B. Fishing provides excitement for children.

    C. It's necessary to live in harmony with animals.

    D. It's vital to protect the whale in the ocean.

Why is a full moon, yellower and bigger when it is coming up than when it is higher in the sky?

That's a good question about something that we all can see. Let's talk about the moon's color first.
We see the moon only because of the sunlight that falls on it and is reflected. Actually, the moon is not a very good reflector, because its surface is all rocks and dirt. We see it in almost its true color when it is high in the sky.
When the moon first comes up, its light reaches our eyes after an extra-long path through the atmosphere (大气). There are lots of particles (微粒) scattering (分散) light in that long path. Blue light is scattered more than other colors, which means that it doesn't reach your eyes. The light that is left over looks yellow to your eye.
Now about the other question—why the moon seems to change in size. That's more complicated. It's not an effect of the atmosphere, the way color is; it's not caused by something fooling your eyes. It seems, instead, to be caused by something that fools your brain—an illusion(错觉).
Here's a drawing that creates an illusion. The two cones(圆锥体) are really the same size. But the rest of the drawing makes the right-hand cone seem farther away. Your brain knows that faraway objects are really larger than they look. It decides that the right-hand cone must be larger because it seems to be farther away.
Similarly, when you see the moon just come up over a line of trees or houses—or whatever makes the horizon(地平线)—it may be that your brain decides that the moon must be larger because it seems to be farther away

1. 1.

   The moon doesn't reflect the sunlight very well because________________

   1. A.
      it is high in the sky
   2. B.
      its surface is rough
   3. C.
      its surface is white
   4. D.
      it isn't a good reflector
2. 2.

   Which statement is true according to the passage?

   1. A.
      In the course of its rising, the moon is getting smaller and smaller
   2. B.
      The size of the moon is more complicated than its color
   3. C.
      The atmosphere has the same effect on the moon's size as on its color
   4. D.
      The change in the moon's size is caused by an illusion while that in its color is caused by the atmosphere
3. 3.

   After reading this passage, you can possibly answer one of the following questions. Which one? ______

   1. A.
      Why is the sun bigger when it rises over the horizon?
   2. B.
      Why does the sun look bigger when it rises over the horizon?
   3. C.
      Why does the sun look golden?
   4. D.
      Why does the sun rise in the east?
4. 4.

   Who do you think probably wrote this passage?________

   1. A.
      A novelist
   2. B.
      A reporter
   3. C.
      A science editor
   4. D.
      An English teacher．