【小题2】The mechanical picker is introduced due to ______.

A.the labor shortage

B.the market demand

C.the aging of the local population

D.the new concept of farming

【小题3】Which of the following statements about Mexicans is true according to the passage?

A.Mexicans like to find jobs far away from home.

B.There are more Mexican laborers than needed in Arizona.

C.Security regulations now make it easier to employ Mexicans.

D.Young people from migrant Mexican families now have access to more career choices.

【小题4】 The “vision system” is designed to ______.

A.take pictures

B.locate leaves

C.find the ripe berries

D.help the color-blind

【小题5】The goal of developing the strawberry-picking machine is to ______.

A.get rid of human labor

B.help farmers make money

C.show the power of robots

D.compete with the corn industry

10、The following are selected contributors’ notes for an essay collection.

KATY BUTLER, a 2004 finalist for a National Magazine Award, has written for The New Yorker, the New York Times, Mother Jones, Salon, Tricycle, and other magazines. She was born in South Africa and raised in England, and came to the United States with her family at the age of eight. “Everything Is Holy,” her essay about nature worship, Buddhism (佛学), and ecology, was selected for Best Buddhist Writing 2006. In 2009 she won a literary award from the Elizabeth George Foundation. “What Broke My Father’s Heart” was named a “notable narrative” by the Nieman Foundation for Journalism at Harvard, won a first-place award from the Association of Health Care Journalists, and was named one of the 100 Best Magazine Articles of All Time. Butler has taught narrative nonfiction at Nieman Foundation conferences and memoir writing at Esalen Institute. Her current book project is Knocking on Heaven’s Door: A Journey Through Old Age and New Medicine to be published in 2013.

VICTOR LAVALLE is the author of a collection of stories, Slapboxing with Jesus, and two novels, The Ecstatic and Big Machine, for which he won the Shirley Jackson Award, the American Book Award, and the Ernest J. Gaines Award for Literary Excellence. He is a 2010 Guggenheim Award winner and an assistant professor at Columbia University’s School of the Arts. About “Long Distance” he says: “This essay actually came about when I was asked to write about my life after having lost a great deal of weight. And yet, when I sat down to work, all I could do was return to that time when I was much heavier and deeply unhappy. Why? I sure didn’t miss those days. And yet, I felt I couldn’t write about my present without touching on that past. But, of course, I never reach the true present in the essay. Maybe I still don’t know how to talk about a life with greater happiness. ”

BRIDGET POTTER was born in Brompton-on-Swale, Yorkshire, and came to the United States as a teenager in 1958. She spent the first forty years of her career in television, beginning as a secretary, then as a producer and an executive, including fifteen years as senior vice president of original programming at HBO. In 2007 she earned a BA in cultural anthropology from Columbia University. This year she will complete an MFA in nonfiction, also from Columbia, where she has been an instructor in the University Writing Program. She is currently working on her first book, a memoir / social history of the 1960s, from which her essay “Lucky Girl” is adapted.

PATRICIA SMITH is the author of five books of poetry, including Blood Dazzler, chronicling the tragedy of Hurricane Katrina, which was a finalist for the 2008 National Book Award, and Teahouse of the Almighty, a National Poetry Series selection. Her work has appeared in Poetry, The Paris Review, TriQuarterly, and The Best American Poetry 2011. She is a Pushcart Prize winner and a four-time individual champion of the National Poetry Slam, the most successful poet in the competition’s history.

RESHMA MEMON YAQUB wouldn’t even be fit to write a grocery list were it not for her guardian editors. Her stories owe many glorious plot twists to Zain, eleven, and Zach, seven. Ditto their dad (Amer) and grandparents (Ali, Razia, Muhammad, Nasreen). Costars: Sophie, Sana, Yousef, and Maryam. Miss Yaqub lives in Bethesda, Maryland. Her next project is an investigation into the whereabouts (行踪) of two missing people: Mr. Right and Ms. Memoir Literary Agent.

【小题1】 Which of the following won the Shirley Jackson Award?

A.Best Buddhist Writing 2006.

B.Teahouse of the Almighty.

C.Mother Jones.

D.Big Machine.

【小题2】 What is “Long Distance” mainly about?

A.The true happiness in the writer’s present life.

B.Nature worship, Buddhism and ecology.

C.The whereabouts of two missing people.

D.The author’s past life experience.

【小题3】 When did the author of “Lucky Girl” come to the United States?

A.In 1958. B.In 2007.

C.In 2010.  D.In 2013.

【小题4】Who is the most successful poet in the competition’s history?

A.BRIDGET POTTER. B.KATY BUTLER.

C.PATRICIA SMITH. D.VICTOR LAVALLE.

11、Scientists from China, Sweden and the United Stated have developed a high-producing rice that can reduce methane emission(甲烷排放), a major greenhouse gas blamed for global warming, from rice fields, according to a paper published on the latest issue of Nature.

By inserting a barley(大麦) gene into rice, Sun Chuanxin and his colleagues created SUSIBA2 Rice, which stores more starch(淀粉) in the section of the rice above ground, according to a paper published on the latest issue of Nature.This means the grains will have more starch while the root will exude less nutrients that will later be turned into methane by microbes(微生物) in the soil, Sun, who works with Swedish University of Agricultural Sciences, told Xinhua.

"It solves two major problems mankind faces at one time: environmental degradation and the need for increased grain output," Wang Feng, another scientist, said, adding that the rice can cut methane discharge by more than 90 percent during summer and more than half during autumn, as "the rice displays a greater emission reduction effect in high temperatures." Meanwhile, small-scale trials have also suggested an increased output: a single plant of the new breed has 300 more grains with a starch content 10 percent higher. Wang said the team is working on applications for the rice in different areas, seasons and using different farming techniques. "It's still far away from mass application, but at least we see the light of hope."

Human-induced methane, though less abundant than carbon dioxide in the air, is responsible for 20 percent of the global warming effect. Rice paddies are the largest single source of methane linked to human activity. According to the Ministry of Agriculture, China produces 209 million tons of rice in 2014, or 28 percent of the world's total of 734 million.

【小题1】SUSIBA2 Rice will be a major breakthrough because _______.

A.it tastes with a barley flavor

B.it well balances environmental protection and grains increase

C.it contains more starch than the ordinary rice

D.it gives off less methane in summer than in winter

【小题2】What can we learn from the text?

A.Scientists will soon grow the new rice in large areas

B.Human-related methane contributes most to global warming

C.China may contribute greatly to global warming reduction

D.Rice fields will be reduced all over the world

【小题3】The purpose of this writing is to ________.

A.ask people to cut down on their dependence on rice consumption

B.draw people’s attention to the serious consequences of global warming

C.introduce a new kind of genetically-modified rice and its possible benefits

D.indicate human-related methane alone is to blame for global warming effects

12、If you had a strange sound in your ear, what would you do? One man in Wales who thought he had a fly in his ear called 999, the emergency services number in Britain. And so did a woman who was worried about her green potatoes. Could she make chips with them? Were they poisonous? She didn’t hesitate about calling the local ambulance service to ask. According to a recent report, more than 31,000 non-urgent calls were made to the Welsh Ambulance Service in the last year.

Inappropriate calls are a headache for health professionals everywhere. In the US, prank calls to 911 happen on a daily basis. Many callers use apps which hide their identity. But those who try to be funny shouldn’t be surprised if the police have the last laugh. One man from Colorado was arrested for making more than 1,200 prank calls, according to a report on the US television station KOAA—TV.

People who take these calls are trained to stay calm and keep a straight face, no matter how strange the call sounds. “There’s no way for us to know whether the call is real, accidental or a prank call,” said a public safety worker interviewed by the American TV channel.

The Head of Clinical Services at the Welsh Ambulance Service, Richard Lee, has a warning for prank callers. He says:“ When people misuse the service it means our precious time is being taken away from someone who really does need our help.” Indeed, these hotlines are supposed to help the seriously ill or those with a life-threatening injury. You never know, one day, the person who needs assistance could be you or someone in your family.

【小题1】How does the author introduce the topic of the text?

A.By giving examples. B.By telling a story.

C.By listing figures. D.By making a comparison.

【小题2】According to the text, prank calls are usually________.

A.meant to be helpful B.dealt with in time

C.thought highly of D.made to play tricks

【小题3】What does the underlined phrase “have the last laugh” in Paragraph 2 probably mean?

A.win at last. B.never find them.

C.laugh at them. D.know nothing.

【小题4】What does the author intend to suggest in the text?

A.Prank calls are usually easy to identify.

B.Operators feel annoyed by strange callers.

C.Prank calls may cause serious results.

D.Prank callers should be punished by law.

13、Our body clock, or natural body rhythm, influences our energy and alertness. Paying attention to it can help us choose the suitable time of the day when we best perform specific tasks.

The reality, however, is that most of us organize the time around work demands, school deadlines, commuting or social events. Doing whatever the body feels like doing is a luxury in today’s fast-paced modern society.

But that doesn’t mean it isn’t worth trying. Obeying our body clock has significant health benefits. Disrupting our natural body rhythm, on the other hand, has been linked to problems such as depression, obesity, or headache, says Steve Key, a biology professor.

When the body clock can synchronize (使…同步) the rhythms of its natural processes, it “gives us an advantage in daily life”, says Key.

According to him, when it comes to cognitive (认知的) work, most adults perform best in the late morning. As our body temperature starts to rise just before awakening in the morning and continues to increase until midday, our memory, alertness and concentration gradually improve.

However, he adds, our ability to concentrate typically starts to decrease soon thereafter. Most of us are more easily distracted (分心) between noon and 4 pm.

Alertness also tends to fall after eating a meal and sleepiness tends to peak around 2 pm, making that a good time for a nap.

Surprisingly, tiredness may increase our creative powers. For most adults, problems that require open-ended thinking are often best dealt with in the evening when they are tired, according to a study in the journal Thinking & Reasoning.

When choosing a time of the day to exercise, paying attention to your body clock can improve results. Physical performance is usually best from about 3 to 6 pm, says Michael Smolensky, a professor of biomedical engineering.

Of course, not everyone’s body clock is the same, making it even harder to synchronize natural rhythms with daily plans.

【小题1】If we know our natural body rhythm well, we can ______.

A.find out the suitable time to do specific tasks

B.organize our time around work demands

C.do whatever our body feels like doing

D.be sure to be healthy

【小题2】 Which of the following is NOT true?

A.Our alertness is influenced by our natural body rhythm.

B.Doing whatever your body feels like is very difficult in our modern society.

C.Obeying our body clock is good for our health.

D.Disrupting our natural body rhythm can lead to obesity.

【小题3】Inspiration to solve a difficult problem will most probably come to us______.

A.when we get up in the morning

B.when we are tired in the evening

C.when we are full of energy in the late morning

D.when we are asleep at night

【小题4】Which of the following can be the suitable title for the passage?

A.What is natural body rhythm?

B.Natural body rhythm is good for us.

C.natural body rhythm and health

D.The latest research about natural body rhythm.

14、Scientists believe that one of our most important means of knowing what is going on around us is the sense of sound. We are warned of danger by sounds. Sounds serve to please us in music. Sound has a waste product, too, in the form of noise. Noise has been called unwanted sound. Noise is growing and it may get much worse before it gets any better.

In order to know how noise affects people and animals, scientists have been studying for several years. They are surprised by what they have learned. Peace and quiet are becoming harder to find. Noise pollution is a threat that should be looked at carefully.

Sounds is measured in units called decibels (分贝). At a level of 140 decibels people feel pain in their ears.

Trucks , buses , motorcycles, airplanes, boats, factories---all these things make noise. They trouble not only our ears, but minds and bodies as well.

There is a saying that it is so noisy that you can’t hear yourself think. Doctors who study noise believe that we must sometimes hear ourselves think. If we don’t, we may have headaches, other aches and pains, or even worse mental problems.

Noise adds more tension (紧张) to a society that has already faced enough stress.

【小题1】The sense of sound _________.

A.makes us feel excited

B.helps us hear more clearly

C.is something harmful to us

D.helps to know what is happening around us