阅读理解 Most people think of lions as strictly African beasts, but only because they're been killed off almost everywhere else. Ten thousand years ago lions spanned vast sections of the globe. Now lions hold only a small fraction of their former habitat, and Asiatic lions, a subspecies that split from African lions perhaps 100,000 years ago, hang on to an almost impossibly small slice of their former territory. India is the proud steward of these 300 or so lions, which live primarily in a 560-square-mile sanctuary (保护区). It took me a year and a half to get a permit to explore the entire Gir Forest--and no time at all to see why these lions became symbols of royalty and greatness. A tiger will hide in the forest unseen, but a lion stands its ground, curious and unafraid--lionhearted. Though they told me in subtle ways when I got too close, Gir’s lions allowed me unique glimpses into their lives during my three months in the forest. It's odd to think that they are threatened by extinction; Gir has as many lions as it can hold--too many, in fact. With territory in short supply, lions move about near the boundary of the forest and even leave it altogether, often clashing with people. That's one reason India is creating a second sanctuary. There are other pressing reasons: outbreaks of disease or natural disasters. In 1994 a serious disease killed more than a third of Africa's Serengeti lions--a thousand animals--a fate that could easily happen to Gir's cats. These lions are especially vulnerable to disease because they descend from as few as a dozen individuals. 'If you do a DNA test, Asiatic lions actually look like identical twins,' says Stephen O'Brien, a geneticist (基因学家) who has studied them. Yet the dangers are hidden, and you wouldn't suspect them by watching these lords of the forest. The lions display vitality, and no small measure of charm. Though the gentle intimacy of play vanishes when it's time to eat, meals in Gir are not necessarily frantic affairs. For a mother and her baby lion sharing a deer, or a young male eating an antelope (羚羊), there's no need to fight for a cut of the kill. The animals they hunt for food are generally smaller in Gir than those in Africa, and hunting groups tend to be smaller as well.

阅读理解Passage Three Senator Kamala harris was half right when she said we need to address climate change basedonscience fact, not science fiction

阅读理解 After retirement from medical research, my wife and I built our home in a gated community surrounded by yacht clubs and golf courses on Hilton Head Island. But when I left for the other side of the island, I was traveling on unpaved roads lined with leaky cottages. The 'lifestyle' of many of the native islanders stood in shocking contrast to my comfortable existence By talking to the local folks, I discovered that the vast majority of the maids, gardeners, waitresses and construction workers who make this island work had little or no access to medical care. It seemed outrageous to me. I wondered why someone didn't do something about that. Then my father's words, which he had asked his children daily when they were young, rang in my head again: 'What did you do for someone today?' Even though my father had died several years before, I guess I still didn't want to disappoint him. So I started working on a solution. The island was full of retired doctors. If I could persuade them to spend a few hours a week volunteering their services, we could provide free primary health care to those so desperately in need of it. Most of the doctors I approached liked the idea, so long as they could be relicensed without troubles. It took one year and plenty of persistence, but I was able to persuade the state legislators to create a special license for doctors volunteering in not-for-profit clinics. The town donated land, local residents contributed office and medical equipment and some of the potential patients volunteered their weekends ornamenting the building that would become the clinic. We named it Volunteers in Medicine and we opened its doors in 1994, fully staffed by retired physicians, nurses and dentists as well as nearly 150 nonprofessional volunteers. That year we had 5,000 patient visits; last year we had 16,000. Somehow word of what we were doing got around. Soon we were receiving phone calls from retired physicians all over the country, asking for help in starting VIM clinics in their communities. We did the best we could--there are now 15 other clinics operating--but we couldn't keep up with the need. Yet last month I think my father's words found their way up north, to McNeil Consumer Healthcare, the maker of Tylenol (泰诺: 一种感冒药). A major grant from McNeil will allow us to respond to these requests and help establish other free clinics in communities around the country.

阅读理解Passage Two Youve probably been seeing and hearing a lot more abouteSportslately

阅读理解Passage Two Stephen Having was born on 8 January

阅读理解Passage Four Many people have looked to the stars and wondered what it would be like to take a trip into outer space

阅读理解Passage Three Imagine that youre a fly

阅读理解 Even before Historian Joseph Ellis became a best-selling author, he was famous for his vivid lectures. In his popular courses at Mount Holyoke College in Massachusetts, he would often make classroom discussion lively by describing his own combat experience in Vietnam. But as Ellis's reputation grew--his books on the Founding Fathers have won both the prestigious National Book Award and the Pulitzer Prize--the history professor began to entertain local and national reporters with his memories of war. Last year, after The Boston Globe carried accounts of Ellis's experience in the Vietnam war, someone who knew the truth about Ellis dropped a dime (揭发) . Last week The Boston Globe revealed that Ellis, famous for explaining the nation's history, had some explaining to do about his own past. 'Even in the best of lives, mistakes are made,' said a wretched Ellis. It turned out that while the distinguished historian had served in the Army, he'd spent his war years not in the jungles of Southeast Asia, but teaching history at West Point (西点军校). He'd also overstated his role in the antiwar movement and even his high-school athletic records. His admission shocked colleagues, fellow historians and students who wondered why someone so accomplished would beautify his past. But it seems that success and truthfulness don't always go hand in hand. Even among the distinguished achievers, security experts say, one in ten is deceiving--indulging in everything from empty boasting to more serious offenses such as plagiarism (剽窃), fictionalizing military records, making up false academic certificates or worse. And, oddly, prominent people who beautify the past often do so once they're famous, says Ernest Brod of Kroll Associates, which has conducted thousands of background checks. Says Brod: 'It's not like they use these lies to climb the ladder.' Then what makes them do it? Psychologists say some people succeed, at least in part, because they are uniquely adjusted to the expectations of others. And no matter how well-known, those people can be haunted by a sense of their own shortcomings. 'From outside, these people look anything but fragile,' says Dennis Shulman, a New York psychoanalyst. 'But inside, they feel hollow, empty.'

阅读理解Passage One As 170 people sat down to dinner, I breathed a sigh of relief: The conference was going well

阅读理解To respond forcefully to animal rights advocates, whose arguments are confusing the public and thereby threatening advances in health knowledge and care

阅读理解 A quality education is the ultimate liberator. It can free people from poverty, giving them the power to greatly improve their lives and take a productive place in society. It can also free communities and countries, allowing them to leap forward into periods of wealth and social unity that otherwise would not be possible. For this reason, the international community has committed itself to getting all the world's children into primary school by 2015, a commitment known as Education for All. Can education for all be achieved by 2015? The answer is definitely 'yes', although it is a difficult task. If we now measure the goal in terms of children successfully completing a minimum of five years of primary school, instead of just enrolling for classes, which used to be the measuring stick for education, then the challenge becomes even more difficult. Only 32 countries were formerly believed to be at risk of not achieving education for all on the basis of enrollment rates. The number rises to 88 if completion rates are used as the criterion. Still, the goal is achievable with the right policies and the right support from the international community. 59 of the 88 countries at risk can reach universal primary completion by 2015 if they bring the efficiency and quality of their education systems into line with standards observed in higher-performing systems. They also need significant increases in external financing and technical support. The 29 countries lagging farthest behind will not reach the goal without unprecedented rates of progress. But this is attainable with creative solution, including use of information technologies, flexible and targeted foreign aid, and fewer people living in poverty. A key lesson of experience about what makes development effective is that a country's capacity to use aid well depends heavily on its policies, institutions and management. Where a country scores well on these criteria, foreign assistance can be highly effective.

阅读理解Section B Directions:In this section,you are required to read one quoted blog and the comments on it

阅读理解 John Grisham was born on February 2, 1955, in Jonesboro, Arkansas, in the USA. His father was a construction worker and moved his family all around the southern states of America, stopping wherever he could find work. Eventually they settled in Mississippi. Graduating from law school in 1981, Grisham practiced law for nearly a decade in Southaven, specializing in criminal defense and personal injury litigation (诉讼). In 1983, he was elected to the state House of Representatives and served until 1990. One day at the Dessoto County courthouse, Grisham heard the horrifying testimony of a 12-year-old rape victim. He decided to write a novel exploring what would have happened if the girl's father had murdered her attackers. He proceeded to get up every morning at 5 a.m. to work on the novel, called A Time to Kill, which was published in 1988. Grisham's next novel, The Firm, was one of the biggest hits of 1991, spending 47 weeks on The New York Times bestseller list. Grisham lives with his wife and two children, div/ding their time between their Victorian home on a 67 acre firm in Mississippi and a 204 acre plantation near Charlottesville, Virginia. When he's not writing, Grisham devotes time to charitable causes, including mission trips with his church group. As a child, he dreamt of becoming a professional baseball player, and now serves as the local Little League commissioner. He has built six ballfields on his property and hosts children from 26 Little League teams.

阅读理解If you try to contact Indy Cube（a provider of workspaces）after 5 pm, you receive an automatic Message that would make a good demonstration for the fast-growing four-day week movement

阅读理解Passage Four Serenity (宁静）is difficult to find in todays fast-paced world

单选题 I found this very profitable in diminishing the intensity of narrow-minded prejudice.

单选题 Technology has ______ the sharing, storage and delivery of information, thus making more information available to more people.

单选题 Nothing is so uncertain as the fashion market where one style ______ over another before being replaced.

单选题 The ______ of lung cancer is particularly high among long-term heavy smokers, especially chain smokers.

单选题 The new technology has (made possible) for the doctor to (make) diagnoses (without seeing) the patient in (person).