E
In the atmosphere．carbon dioxide．acts rather like a one-way mirror or the glass in the roof of a greenhouse which allows the sun’s rays to enter but prevents the heat from escaping．
According to a weather expert’s prediction，the atmosphere will be 3°C warmer in the year 2050 than it is today, if man continues to burn fuels at the present rate．If this warming up took place，the ice caps in the poles would begin to melt, thus raising sea level several meters and severely flooding coastal cities．
Also，the increase in atmospheric temperature would lead to great changes in the climate of the northern hemisphere，possibly resulting in an alteration of the earth’s chief food growing zones．
In the past，concern about a man-made warming of the earth has concentrated on the Arctic because the Antarctic is much colder and has a much thicker ice sheet．But the weather experts are now paying more attention to West Antarctic，which may be affected by only a few degrees of warming，in other words，by a warming on the scale that will possibly take place in the next fifty  years from the burning of fuels．
Satellite pictures show that large areas of Antarctic ice are already disappearing．The evidence available suggests that a warming has taken place．This fits the theory that carbon dioxide warms the earth．
However, most of the fuel is burnt in the northern hemisphere，where temperatures seem to be falling．Scientists conclude，therefore，that up to now natural influences on the weather have gone beyond those caused by man．The question is：Which natural cause has most effect on the weather?  
One possibility is the variable behavior of the sun．Astronomers at one research station have studied the hot spots and ‘cold’ spots (that is，the relatively less hot spots)on the sun．As the sun rotates，every 27．5 days，it presents hotter or colder faces to the earth，and different aspects to different parts of the earth．This seems to have a considerable effect on the distribution of the earth’s atmospheric pressure，and consequently on wind circulation．The sun is also changeable over a long term：its heat output goes up and down in cycles，the latest trend being downward．
Scientists are now finding shared relation between models of solar weather interaction and the actual climate over many thousands of years，including the last Ice Age．The problem is that
the models are predicting that the world should be entering a new Ice Age and it is not．One way of solving this theoretical difficulty is to assume a delay of thousands of years while the solar effects overcome the inertia(惰性)of the earth’s climate．If this is right，the warming effect of carbon dioxide might thus be serving as a useful opposed balance to the sun’s fading heat．
72．It can be concluded that a concentration of carbon dioxide in the atmosphere would ______．
A．mean a warming-up in the Arctic
B．raise the temperature of the earth’s surface
C．prevent the sun’s rays from reaching the earth’s surface
D．explain the cause of great changes in the climate in the northern hemisphere
73．Although the fuel consumption is greater in the northern hemisphere, temperatures there
seem to be falling．This is _______．
A．mainly because the levels of carbon dioxide are rising
B．partly due to changes in the output of solar energy
C．possibly because the ice caps in the poles are melting  
D．only due to the effect of the inertia of the earth’s climate
74．On the basis of their models , scientists are of the opinion that  ________
A．the climate of the world should be becoming cooler
B．the new Ice Age will be delayed by the greenhouse effect
C．the man．made warming effect helps to increase the solar effects  
D．it will take thousands of years for the inertia of the earth’s climate to take effect
75．If the assumption about the delay of a new Ice Age is correct ,  _________     
A．ice would soon cover the northern hemisphere
B．the greenhouse effect could work in favor of the earth
C．the best way to overcome the cooling effect would be to bum more fuels
D．the increased levels of carbon dioxide could warm up the earth even more quickly

CORVALIJS. Ore.-- Engineers at Oregon Suite University have made a breakthrough in the performance of microbial (微生物的)fuel cells that can produce electricity directly from wastewater，opening the door to a future in which waste treatment plants not only will power themselves, but will sell extra electricity.
The new technology ,developed at OSU, can now produce 10 to 50 more times the electricity, per volume, than most oilier approaches using microbial fuel cells,and 100 times more electricity than some.
Researchers say this could eventually change the way that wastewater is treated all over the world, replacing the widely used “activated sludge (泥浆) ” process that has been in use for almost a century. The new approach would produce significant amounts of electricity while effectively cleaning the wastewater,
“If this technology works on a commercial scale the way we believe it will ,the treatment of wastewater could be a huge energy producer, not a huge energy cost.” said Hong Liu ，an associate professor in the OSU Department of Biological and Ecological Engineering. “This could have an impact around the world, save a great deal of money, provide better water treatment and promote energy sustainability.”
The biodegradable (能降解的）characteristics of wastewater, if developed to their full potential, could theoretically provide many times the energy that is now being used to process them, with no additional greenhouse emissions.
OSU researchers reported several years ago on the promise of this technology, but at that time the systems in use produced far less electrical power. With new concepts, the technology can now produce more than two kilowatts per cubic meter of liquid reactor volume.
The new system also works better than an alternative approach to creating electricity from wastewater, based on anacrobic (臭氧的）digestion that produces methane (甲烷）.It treats the wastewater more effectively, and doesn’t have any of the environmental drawbacks of that technology, such as production of possible release of methane, a significant greenhouse gas.
【小题1】Which of the following best expresses the main idea of the passage?

D
It is a hot summer day，and you feel thirsty A friend gives you a glass of cold lemonade．How do you feel when you see the glass? Will you describe your feeling as happiness or as pleasure? I believe you will say it is a feeling of pleasure．There is a connection between these two kinds of feelings，and sometimes one causes the other，but they are not the same．Pleasure is more dependent on the five senses while happiness is independent of them．
When you are happy，little unpleasant events usually do not disturb you．When you are unhappy，you feel as if everything is against you．You may compensate for it by eating chocolate and sweets because this gives you pleasure；yet you stay unhappy．A person may smoke cigarettes
because it gives him pleasure，yet，this does not make him happier，especially if he knows the fact that it is not good for his health
The physical world is always in a changing state．At each moment a new thing is being created，changed，transformed and then destroyed. This is the normal state of things and no one call change it．If we stay still in a certain state，we are sure to experience unhappiness sooner or later．On the other hand，if we adjust to the environment，nothing can influence our moods．Then outer events have nothing to do with our inner joy of mind.
The room of the mind was filled with worry or fear．If you are free of thinking about them, the room has been emptied，and then you will see what is happening and experience it When your
mind stays quiet，you will see that happiness comes from the inside．
67．What does the underlined phrase“compensate for”in Paragraph 2 most probably mean?
A．to make a suitable payment for       B．to let out your anger for
C．to provide with a balancing effect for    D．to solve the problems for
68．According to the passage, in which of the following situations can you feel happy? 
A．A friend gives you a glass of cold lemonade when you feel thirsty．
B．You eat chocolate and sweets when you feel as if everything is against you．
C．Smoke cigarettes even though you know the fact that it is not good for your health．
D．You are free from worry or fear when your mind stays quiet．
69．We can learn from the passage___________．
A．happiness is more dependent on the five sepses
B．pleasure sometimes arouses happiness
C．you feel happy when nothing around you changes in a certain state
D．you feel unhappy because you have to adjust to the environment
70．Which can be the best title for the passage?
A．Pleasure Leads To Happiness             B．Happiness Changes Us
C．Happiness Is Within Us                        D．Stay A Quiet Mind

B
A sunflower is a sunflower. A mobile phone is a mobile phone. But can combine the two to do something for your local environment? As early as next year it may well be possible. When you have finished with your mobile phone you will be able to bury it in a garden or a plant pot and wait for it to flower.
A biodegradable (生物所能分解的) mobile phone was, this month, introduced by scientists. It is hoped that the new type of phone will encourage consumers to recycle.
Scientists have come up with a new material over the last five years. It looks like any other plastic and can be hard or soft, and is able to change shape. Over time it can also break down into the soil without giving out any poisonous chemicals. British researchers used the new material to develop a phone cover that contains a sunflower seed. When this new type of cover turns into wastes, it forms fertilizers. These feed the seed and help the flower grow.
Engineers have designed a small transparent (透明的) window to hold the seed. They have made sure it only grown when the phone is thrown away. “We’ve only put sunflower seeds into the covers so far. But we are working with plant experts to find out which flowers would perform best. Maybe we could put roses in next time.” said one scientist.
As phone technology is developing so quickly, people are constantly throwing their mobiles away. This means manufacturers are under pressure to fine ways of recycling them. Some 650 million mobile phones have been sold this year. Most of them will be thrown away within two years, adding plastic, heavy metal and chemical waste to the environment. A biodegradable cover can offer some relief for nature, according to the scientists.
“The seed comes out and the flower grows in the pot so you don’t have to concern yourself with the phone when you have finished using it,” said Kerry Kirwan. She leads the research team, which is based at the University of Warwick in Britain.
61. What is the purpose of this passage?
A. Tell the popularity of biodegradable cell phone.
B. To persuade the reader to buy the biodegradable cell phone.
C. To discuss the development of phone technology.
D. To introduce an environmental-friendly cell phone to readers.
62. People throw away their cell phones most probably because _________.
A. there is something wrong with them   B. no sunflowers can grow out of them
C. they are out of fashion              D. they are becoming cheaper and cheaper
63. It could be learned from the passage that __________.
A. developing the new type of phone is mainly to protect the environment
B. phone-makers will benefit much more from the new type of phone
C. the new type of phone will certainly be popular with users all over the world
D. the phones that can be recycled are available only in Britain now
64. According to the passage, which of the following statements is right?
A. The new material for the biodegradable phone was found by British scientists.
B. The cover of the new type of mobile can bread down and become fertilizers after it becomes waste.
C. The sunflower seed in the best to be put into the phone cover.
D. The biodegradable cover must be very expensive.
65. What might be the most suitable title for this passage?
A. Sunflower and Phone.        B. Plant Your Phone.
C. Protect Our Environment.     D. No Worry about Phone.

To what degree can a computer achieve intelligence？The answer to this question may lie in a newly-developed US computer program called Smarter Child and the Internet.
If you ran into Smarter Child online, you would be surprised at this kid’s huge memory. It can recite many facts. For example, Smarter Child knows every baseball player in every team this season.
He knows every word in the dictionary and the weather in every major city areas across the US. However, if you ask Smarter Child other questions, you get strange answers. A question about Smarter Child’s age returns, “One year, 11 days, 16 hours, 7 minutes, and 47 seconds!” Asking where he lives gets, “In a clean room in a high-tech building in California.”
Smarter Child uses the vast information on the World Wide Web as his memory bank. To answer questions about spelling, for instance, Smarter Child goes to American Heritage Dictionary online. For the weather, he visits www.intellicast.com.
Some scientists believe that by joining the many systems of the Internet, an artificial(人工的) being with the combined knowledge of, say, Albert Einstein, Richard Nixon and Britney Spears could be born. However, if Smarter Child wants to think and learn on his own like the boy-computer David in the movie A. I. Artificial Intelligence, he must solve two problems.
The first is that computers find it difficult to read web pages because the files（文件） are sorted in different ways. That’s why programmers need to tell Smarter Child where to look for the weather. It would be a much more difficult task to let him find it himself.
Another problem is that while Smarter Child can process（处理）information more exactly and faster than any human, he lacks common sense—a basic grounding of knowledge that is obvious to any young child.
【小题1】From the text we can infer that www.intellicast.com is a website          .