Scientists are trying to make the deserts （沙漠）into good land again. They want to bring water to the deserts, so people can live and grow food. They are learning a lot about the deserts. But more and more of the earth is becoming deserts all the time. Scientists may not be able to change the deserts. Scientists think that people make deserts. People are doing bad things to the earth.

Some places on the earth don’t get much rain. But they still don’t become deserts. This is because some green plants are growing there. Small green plants and grass are very helpful(有帮助的) to dry places. Plants don’t let the hot sun make the earth even drier. Plants don’t let the wind blow the earth away. When a little bit of rain falls, the plants hold the water. Without plants, the land can become deserts much more easily.

1.Why can the land become deserts?

A. Some places don’t get much rain.

B. Plants don’t let the hot sun make the earth even drier.

C. People don’t keep the earth well.

D. Scientists haven’t learnt enough about the deserts.

2.Scientists want to to make the deserts into good land again.

A. carry water B. grow food

C. do nothing D. study a lot

3.Why are green plants and grass helpful?

A. They can hold the water.

B. They can stop the wind from blowing the earth away.

C. They can keep the earth wet.

D. All the above.

4.After reading this, we learn that .

A. it is good to get rid of (去除) the grass in the deserts

B. all places without much rain will become deserts

C. plants can keep (阻止) dry land from becoming deserts

D. it is better to grow crops（农作物）on dry land than to grow grass

任务型阅读

学校要举行一次劳动世纪实践活动，要求每组同学合作烹制一道菜。请阅读下列材料，根据五位同学的分工，为他们找到相应的任务。

—My son, ___________ exercise every day. It’s good for your health.

—OK.

A. takes B. taking C. take D. to take

The number of giant pandas is becoming _____________ because there are fewer and fewer living areas.

A. fewer and fewer B. less and less

C. smaller and smaller D. more and more

He went carefully through his homework_____________make mistakes.

A. so that B. in order to

C. in order not to D. in order to not

I found ___________ difficult to make sounds like birds.

A. that B. that it is

C. it D. it is

Mr. Jones opened a shop in Aston to sell writing-paper, pencils and things like that. During the first month, very few people visited his shop. He sold little, and he could see that he was going to lose money. One night, Mr. Jones sat by the fire and was worried after another very bad day. Suddenly he got an idea. He found a piece of wood and wrote to the following notice on it in big letters：

“WHAT DO YOU THINK I GIVE AWAY PENCILS PAPER AND INK”

He put up the notice in front of the shop window before he went to bed. He slept better than usual that night.

The following day, many people came to the shop. Mr. Jones said good morning to them all with a bright smile and asked the first woman what she wanted.

She chose some writing paper and a pencil. As soon as he put them on her hands, she turned to leave the shop.

“That will be thirty cents, please,” he said.

“Why?” she asked in surprise.

“That’s the price of the paper and the pencil.”

“But your notice says it’s free,” she replied.

“Oh no,” he said, “how can I make any money if everything is free?”

She took him outside and showed him the notice “It is wrong, too,” she said. “where is the question mark after the world ‘think’?”

“There isn’t a question mark,” he said.

“But there should be one.”

“I’m afraid you’ve made a mistake,” Mr. Jones said.“You have read my notice in the wrong way.”

“Not at all,” said the woman. “It is quite easy to read. It says： What do you think? I give away pencils and

paper and ink!”

“No,” Mr. Jones said. “You should read it like this . And the answer to the question is： Certainly not! So you really have to pay me thirty cents, you see.”

1.How did Mr. Jones most probably felt that night?

A. Confident. B. Afraid. C. Unhappy. D. Worried.

2.Which of the following sentences is the most suitable for the blank in the last paragraph?

A. What do you think? I give away pencils, paper and ink!

B. What? Do you think I give away pencils, paper and ink?

C. What do you think I give away? Pencils, paper and ink.

D. Ink, paper and pencils away give. I think you do what?

3.What can we infer (推断) from the story?

A. Mr. Jones agreed to let the shoppers get things for free that day.

B. People in the town considered Mr. Jones a smart and honest man.

C. The woman paid the money unwillingly and left the shop angrily.

D. Mr. Jones’s trick proved to be a longtime success and he got rich.

根据句意，在横线上写出括号内所给单词的适当形式

1.Keeping listening and speaking is the _____________ (nature) way to learn a language.

2.Usually________________ (wolf) catch small animals for their food.

3.The man made a lot of money by ________________(sell) a tiger’s fur.

4.The less fast food you eat, the _______________(health ) you will be.

书面表达

上周末你去红星动物园看海豚表演并参观了有关图片展，很有感触，准备用英语写一篇70词左右的短文向校广播站投稿，内容要点如下：

1. 海豚是珍稀的动物。海豚生活在海里，以鱼、虾（shrimps）等为食；

2. 海豚非常友好和安静，它们从来不伤害人类。相反，它们经常帮助处于危难中的人们；

3. 可悲的是，人们居然为了娱乐而猎杀海豚。你认为……。 我们应当……

4. 保护动物就是保护我们自己。

注意：

1. 短文须包括所有内容要点，要求语句通顺、意思连贯；

2. 第3要点的内容须用2-3句展开合理想象，作适当发挥；

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We need ________ at the hotel for a few days because of the heavy snow.

A. stay B. stays C. to stay D. Stayed