Plants and animals usually do not live apart, as in many ways they are important to each other. Most green plants can make their own food. The food of other living things, even the food of meat-eating animals, comes directly or indirectly from green plants. For example, some people eat mutton (羊肉); mutton comes from a goat; the goats eat grass. These steps, or links, make up what is called a food chain. Without green plants, all other living things would in time die of starvation.

Plants help animals in other ways too. They furnish homes and shelter for many animals. Many birds, as you know, build their nests in trees. Deer and many other animals use bushes for shel­ter. And even man depends much upon plants for his shelter. Animals repay some of this debt by helping plants. You may be aware that many insects and some birds do important work for plants by pollinating (授粉) them. You must have also learned how animals often help plants by spreading seeds.

What is waste material for one of these kinds of life is often valuable substance for the other. For example, animals give off carbon dioxide gas when they breathe. When plants make food, they absorb this gas from the air, using the carbon and releasing some of the oxygen back into the air. The oxygen that is released, then, is again supplied to animals. Thus the cycle continues, ani­mals helping plants, and plants helping animals.

All plants and animals have their enemies. Insects eat plants; birds eat insects; other animals kill birds. But here too, animals such as birds and bats help the plants by destroying harmful in­sects. Many plants and animals are helpful to some living things but are harmful to others. Then there are other rules in nature that act as checks and balances. For example, if there are more animals in a certain area than there is food to support them, some of the animals must mi­grate or starve. In either case, the number of animals will be reduced until the balance between animals and the available food supply is restored.

These helps and hindrances (障碍) are constantly going on in the plant and animal world to achieve a balance. As long as one living thing is dependent on another, whenever the scales are tipped (使倾斜), nature takes steps to balance the scales again.

 (Note: Answer the questions or complete the statements in NO MORE THAN TEN WORDS.)

1.What does the author mean by saying “Plants and animals usually do not live apart”?

2.Besides providing food and shelter for animals, plants can also ______ to help animals to live.

3.“Checks and balances” refers to ______ in the world of animals and plants.

4.What will be the final result if some animals migrate or starve for lack of food?

 

任务型阅读（共5小题，每题2分，满分10分）

根据短文内容，从短文后的选项中选出能填入空白处的最佳选项，将其标号填入第二卷上方的相应位置。选项中有一项为多余选项。

Tue, 15 Mar 2005

Dear Julia,

Thank you for the Chinese words, I have tried to say them    46  .We have had some snow in February but now the weather is getting warmer. Some festivals in England are Easter and Christmas.

Easter is next week. At Easter we give people chocolate eggs that represents birth.   47  The daffodils are yellow and they look like the sun. At Easter we celebrate the birth of lambs and baby chickens and other animals.   48  Children believe in the Easter bunny, which is a rabbit that goes from house to house delivering chocolate eggs.

49   At Christmas we give people presents and have decorations around the house. Christmas is celebrated because of the birth of Jesus. Children believe in Santa Claus, which is a man who goes from house to house delivering presents to all the children. I can't teach you any English because you are very good at the language already.   50   Hello: Hola; Goodbye: Adios; My name is Helen: Mi llamo Helen; My name is Julia: Mi llamo Julia; Thank you: Gracias.

I am looking forward to your reply.

Best wishes!

Love from Helen

Also we get a lot of flowers in Spring, daffodils and lilies are the  

main flowers for Easter.

Easter is also a time to think about Jesus waking up from the dead. 

C.  So I can tell you a bit of Spanish.

D. Spanish is better than English.

E.  Christmas is in December.

F  but it is quite hard!

 

 

Carlos Gardel was born on Dec. 11, 1890, just at the right time. The recording and film industries were jus starting to impact the world. Carlos had good looks and a pleasant voice. His death occurred at the peak of his career and popularity in a tragic accident.

Carlos Gardel was the first great singer of tango and to this day remains an icon (崇拜对象) in Argentina, Uruguay and much of the world. As a result of his important role in tango, there are three countries that claim him as their own: France, Uruguay and Argentina.

Carlos’s mother, Berthe, was an unmarried mother and his father did not recognize him. His mother took Carlos to Buenos Aires in 1893. They lived in a poor part of town and Carlos spent his time in the streets; he dropped out of school in 1906 at the age of 15 and started singing in bars.

For the next few years, Carlos toured the clubs and theaters of Argentina, Uruguay and Brazil. His most constant singing partner was Jose Razzano, a folk singer Carlos had met earlier during a singing match. In 1915, after playing in a club in Brazil, Carlos was shot in the left lung, where the bullet stayed for the rest of his life. “Mi Noche Triste” was the hit song that sent Carlos skyrocketing in popularity. It became the first recorded vocal tango and the public was grabbed by the recording of the song. Carlos and Rozzano spent the next years touring through Latin America. In 1923, they left the continent and struck out for Europe. In 1935, Carlos decided to go on tour through the Caribbean and northern South America. On June 24, a plane he was a passenger in was hit by another plane on the runway. Everyone on board was killed.

     Carlos may be gone, but he is far from forgotten.

6. The passage was mainly written to ______.

         A. show us the history of tango                          B. introduce the first singer of tango

         C. teach us how tango developed                      D. advertise a tango class

7. We can infer from the passage that _____.

         A. Carlos lived a poor life with his mother in Buenos Aires

         B. Carlos had only been to France, Uruguay and Argentina

         C. Carlos died at the age of 54.

         D. Carlos was born when the film industry began to fail

8. What’s the RIGHT time order of the following events?

         a. Carlos toured through Latin America.

         b. Carlos was shot after playing in a club in Brazil.

         c. Carlos toured the clubs and theaters of Argentina, Uruguay and Brazil.

         d. Carlos moved to Buenos Aires.

         A. cbad                                 B. dcba                                 C. cabd                                 D. dcab

9. The underlined word “grabbed” in Paragraph 4 can be replaced by _____.

         A. lied                                   B. frightened                      C. cheated                          D. attracted

10. Which of the following statements about Carlos in NOT  true?

         A. His singing partner Jose was his brother.

         B. He is an important figure in the world of tango.

         C. His father did not recognize him

         D. He died in a plane accident.