When I was growing up, I had an old neighbor named Dr. Gibbs. He didn’t look like any doctor I’d ever known. He never yelled at us for playing in his yard. I remember him as someone who was a lot nicer than most of the adults in our community.

When Dr. Gibbs wasn’t saving lives, he was planting trees. His house sat on ten acres, and his life’s goal was to make it a forest.

The good doctor had some interesting theories concerning plant care and growth. He never watered his new trees, which flew in the face of conventional wisdom. Once I asked why. He said that watering plants spoiled them so that each successive tree generation would grow weaker and weaker. So you have to make things rough for them and weed out(淘汰) the weaker trees early on. He talked about how watering trees made for shallow roots, and how trees that weren’t watered had to grow deep roots in search of moisture. I took him to mean that deep roots were to be treasured.

So he never watered his trees. He planted an oak and, instead of watering it every morning, he beat it with a rolled-up newspaper. Smack! Slap! Pow! I asked him why he did that, and he said it was to get the tree’s attention.

Dr. Gibbs passed away a couple of years after I left home. Every now and again, I walked by his house and looked at the trees that I’d watched him plant some twenty-five years ago. They’re extremely tall, big and robust since they have deep roots now. However, the trees in my garden trembled in a cold wind although I had watered them for several years.

It seems that adversity(逆境) and suffering benefit these trees in ways comfort and ease never could. I stood there deep in thought.

Every night before I go to bed, I check on my two sons. I stand over them and watch their little bodies, the rising and falling of life within. I often pray for them. Mostly I pray that their lives will be easy. But I think that it’s time to change my prayer(祷词) because now I know my children are going to encounter hardship.

1.According to Dr. Gibbs’ theories, trees will become weaker if they _________.

A. are lack of care　　　　　B. are watered      C. are weeded out　　　　　D. are beaten

2.According to Para.3 and Para.4, we can infer that Dr. Gibbs’ motto(座右铭) may be       .

A. “Seeing is believing”                                    B. “Put everything in proper use”

C. “Practice makes perfect”                               D. “No pain, no gain”

3.The underlined word robust in Para.5 most probably means _________.

A. strong　　                      B. strange　　       C. deep　　                        D. old

4.Which of the following may be the author’s best prayer for his two sons now?

A. I wish them strong wings, with which they can fly higher and touch the sky.

B. I wish them nice fortune so that they can meet people like Dr. Gibbs in the future.

C. I wish them deep roots into the earth since the rains fall and the winds blow often.

D. I wish them great shades under the tree since the sunlight is always sharp and bitter.

5.Which of the following can be the best title of this passage?

A.     A Nice Doctor  B. The Deep Roots  C. Adversity and Suffering  D. My Childhood Memory

 

阅读下面短文，从A、B、C、D四个选项中选出最佳选项，并在机读卡上相应番号处将该项涂黑。
June 5 is World Environment Day. This makes us pay more attention to our environment and the need to protect it.
When Wang Boxuan, a Beijing high schoolboy, uses up his exercise books, he does not throw them away. Each one is stored at his school with hundreds of exercise books given by other students. Then they are sold to a Beijing paper making factory.
The paper is recycled and used again by students and teachers in the school. At the same time, the money made from the sales goes towards schools in Inner Mongolia for planting trees and grass. This place is one of the sources of the sandstorms that often attack Beijing during springtime.
Wang’s school is one of the schools in the capital that take part in the “Green Promise” —environmental protection activity. So far, nearly 210,000 students have taken part in the activity, collecting more than 87 tons of waste paper.
Students are eager to help make the capital a more pleasant place.
【小题1】 What do Wang Boxuan and his schoolmates do with the waste exercise books?

A．Throw them away.	B．Store and sell them.
C．Cut them into pieces.	D．Give them to the students in Inner Mongolia.

【小题2】 What is the money used for?　　

A．Buying new exercise books.	B．Helping poor students.
C．Planting trees and grass.	D．Being stored.

【小题3】What can we infer from the third paragraph？　

A．Students will have no exercise books to use in many years.

B．There will be no waste paper in many years.

C．The sandstorms will be weaker in Beijing in many years.

D．Beijing will be much dirtier in many years.

【小题4】Choose the right order according to this passage?
1     Trees and grass were planted.
2     Schools in Inner Mongolia received the money.
3     Students collected waste paper.
4     Students sold the paper to a paper making factory.

A．③②④①

B．②①④③

C．③④②①

D．③②①④

【小题5】 Which is the best title for the passage?

A．Planting Trees.	B．Green Promise.
C．Collecting Waste Paper.	D．Making Money.

阅读下面短文，从A、B、C、D四个选项中选出最佳选项，并在机读卡上相应番号处将该项涂黑。

June 5 is World Environment Day. This makes us pay more attention to our environment and the need to protect it.

   When Wang Boxuan, a Beijing high schoolboy, uses up his exercise books, he does not throw them away. Each one is stored at his school with hundreds of exercise books given by other students. Then they are sold to a Beijing paper making factory.

The paper is recycled and used again by students and teachers in the school. At the same time, the money made from the sales goes towards schools in Inner Mongolia for planting trees and grass. This place is one of the sources of the sandstorms that often attack Beijing during springtime.

Wang’s school is one of the schools in the capital that take part in the “Green Promise” —environmental protection activity. So far, nearly 210,000 students have taken part in the activity, collecting more than 87 tons of waste paper.

Students are eager to help make the capital a more pleasant place.

What do Wang Boxuan and his schoolmates do with the waste exercise books?

A. Throw them away.　　　               B. Store and sell them.

C. Cut them into pieces.                   D. Give them to the students in Inner Mongolia.

What is the money used for?　　

A. Buying new exercise books.　　     B. Helping poor students.

C. Planting trees and grass.　　　      D. Being stored.

What can we infer from the third paragraph？　

A. Students will have no exercise books to use in many years.

B. There will be no waste paper in many years.

C. The sandstorms will be weaker in Beijing in many years.

D. Beijing will be much dirtier in many years.

Choose the right order according to this passage?

1     Trees and grass were planted.

2     Schools in Inner Mongolia received the money.

3     Students collected waste paper.

4     Students sold the paper to a paper making factory.

A.③②④①　　    B.②①④③　　    C. ③④②①　　   D.③②①④

Which is the best title for the passage?

A. Planting Trees.　　　　　　　      B. Green Promise.

C. Collecting Waste Paper.　　　       D. Making Money.

Most of us spend our lives seeking the natural world. To this end, we walk the dog, play golf, go fishing, sit in the garden, drink outside rather than inside the pub, have a picnic, live in the suburbs, go to the seaside, buy a weekend place in the country. The most popular free time activity in Britain is going for a walk. And when joggers (慢跑者) jog, they don’t run the streets. Every one of them automatically heads to the park or the river. It is my firm belief that not only do we all need nature, but we all seek nature, whether we know we are doing so or not.

But despite this, our children are growing up nature-deprived (丧失). I spent my boyhood climbing trees. These days, children are robbed of these ancient freedoms, due to problems like crime, traffic, the loss of the open spaces and strange new ideas about what is best for children, that is to say, things that can be bought, rather than things that can be found.

The truth is to be found elsewhere. A study in the US: families had moved to better housing and the children were assessed for ADHD (多动症). Those whose housing had more natural views showed an improvement of 19%; those who had the same improvement in material surroundings but no nice view improved just 4%.

A study in Sweden indicated that kindergarten children who could play in a natural environment had less illness and greater physical ability than children used only to a normal playground. A US study suggested that when a school gave children access to a natural environment, the entire school would do better in studies.

Another study found that children play differently in a natural environment. In playgrounds, children create a hierarchy (等级) based on physical abilities, with the tough ones taking the lead. But when a grassy area was planted with bushes, the children got much more into fantasy play, and the social hierarchy was now based on imagination and creativity.

Most bullying (恃强凌弱) is found in schools where there is a tarmac (柏油碎石) playground; the least bullying is in a natural area that the children are encouraged to explore. This reminds me unpleasantly of Sunnyhill School, with its hard tarmac, where I used to hang about in corners dreaming about wildlife.

But children are frequently discouraged from involvement with natural spaces, for health and safety reasons, for fear that they might get dirty or that they might cause damage. So, instead, the damage is done to the children themselves: not to their bodies but to their souls.

One of the great problems of modern childhood is ADHD, now increasingly and expensively treated with drugs. Yet one study after another indicates that contact with nature gives huge benefits to ADHD children. However, we spend money on drugs rather than on green places.

The life of old people is much better when they have access to nature. The most important for the growing population of old people is in quality rather than quantity of years. And study after study finds that a garden is the single most important thing in finding that quality.

In wider and more difficult areas of life, there is evidence to indicate that natural surroundings improve all kinds of things. Even problems with crime and aggressive behaviour are reduced when there is contact with the natural world.

Dr William Bird, researcher from the Royal Society for the Protection of Birds, states in his study, “A natural environment can reduce violent behaviour because its process helps reduce anger and behavior that people might regret later.” Wild places need encouraging for this reason, no matter how small their contribution.

We tend to think human beings are doing nature some kind of favor when we are protecting nature. The error here is far too deep: not only do humans need nature for themselves, but the very idea that humanity and the natural world are separable things is damaging.

Human beings are a species of animals. For seven million years we lived on the planet as part of nature. So we miss the natural world and long for contact with non-human life. Anyone who has patted a dog, stroked a cat, sat under a tree with a glass of beer, given or received a bunch of flowers or chosen to walk through the park on a nice day, understands that.

We need the wild world. It is necessary to our well-being, our health, our happiness. Without other living things around us we are less than human.

1.What is the author’s firm belief?

　　A. People seek nature in different ways.

　　B. People should spend most of their lives in the wild.

　　C. People have quite different ideas of nature.

　　D. People must make more efforts to study nature.

2.What does the author say people prefer for their children nowadays?

　　A. Personal freedom.　　            B. Things that are natural.

　　C. Urban surroundings.　　          D. Things that are purchased.

3.What does a study in Sweden show?

　　A. The natural environment can help children learn better.

　　B. More access to nature makes children less likely to fall ill.

　　C. A good playground helps kids develop their physical abilities.

　　D. Natural views can prevent children from developing ADHD.

4.Children who have chances to explore natural areas ________.

　  A. tend to develop a strong love for science　    

B. are more likely to dream about wildlife

　  C. tend to be physically tougher in adulthood　   

D. are less likely to be involved in bullying

5.What does the author suggest we do to help children with ADHD?

　　A. Find more effective drugs for them.　　   

B. Provide more green spaces for them.

　　C. Place them under more personal care.　　

D. Engage them in more meaningful activities

6. In what way do elderly people benefit from their contact with nature?

　　A. They look on life optimistically.　　    B. They enjoy a life of better quality.

C. They are able to live longer.            D. They become good-humored

 

　Trees are usefully to us in three important ways:         1. ________

　  they give us wood and another products;                     2. ________

　　they give us shade and they help to stopping droughts and floods. 3. ________

　　However, people in many part of the world                   4. ________

　　have not realized that the third benefit                       5. ________

is the more important. A large number of                     6. ________

　　trees have cut down, but new ones                          7. ________

　　haven't been planted. It is really danger                       8. ________

　　for people. Though we do not try to keep the balance of nature,   9. ________

　　we will lose our live environment.                          10. ________