BBC News (May 11, 2008) —Edinburgh Zoo plans to bring a pair of giant pandas from China to Scotland. Representatives from Edinburgh Zoo have recently returned from China. They signed a letter of intent (意向书) there, making a promise to bring giant pandas to the Zoo.

    It has been suggested that the pair of giant pandas should be on loan (暂借) to the Royal Zoological Society of Scotland (RZSS) for 10 years. The pair of giant pandas would give birth to babies during that time. Edinburgh Zoo would be the eighth zoo in the Western world to care for the species if the project goes ahead.

    Zoo chiefs said that looking after the endangered animals could benefit conservation. David Windmill, chief of RZSS, said, "Working with giant pandas means so much more to us than introducing a new species to our collection. It is an opportunity to work on a global level with other conservationists to gain a better understanding of the giant pandas, the threats they face, and what we can do to ensure their survival."

    At present, there are only around 1,500 giant pandas in the wild. RZSS has been working on the project for almost a year, hoping to have giant pandas at Edinburgh Zoo by 2009, the year of the society’s centenary (一百周年纪念日). Mr. Windmill said that the project has received strong support from the UK and Scottish Governments. He also said that this must continue if the Zoo is to reach an agreement with the Chinese. As part of the agreement with the Chinese Government, Edinburgh Zoo will work together with Chinese scientists on research projects benefiting conservation in the wild.

    RZSS will also provide money to support giant panda conservation projects in the wild. Giant pandas live in mountainous regions in central China and almost mainly feed on bamboo, which makes up 99% of what they eat.

What do we know from the first two paragraphs?

     A. China will give a pair of giant pandas to Edinburgh Zoo.

B. Representatives from Edinburgh Zoo have been to China.

C. The Scottish Government has signed a letter of intent with China.

D. Edinburgh Zoo is the first Western zoo to have giant pandas.

According to the text, RZSS may be ___________.

     A. a company that deals with international business

B. an organization that researches endangered animals

C. a government department in charge of Western issues

D. an activity having something to do with animals

We can know from the text that _____________.

       A. David Windmill is Edinburgh Zoo’s chief

B. the number of giant pandas in the wild is still unknown

C. RZSS will celebrate its centenary in 2009

D. RZSS knows the threats the giant pandas face well

What’s the main idea of the text?

       A. Edinburgh Zoo expects giant pandas from China.

B. Edinburgh Zoo does research into giant pandas.

C. Scotland supports giant panda conservation.

D. Giant pandas live happily in central China.

The first day of school our professor introduced himself and challenged us to get to know someone we didn’t know. I stood up to look around when a gentle hand touched my shoulder. I turned around to find a wrinkled, little old lady beaming up at me with a smile that lit up her entire being.

She said, “Hi, girl! My name is Rose. I’m 87 years old. Can I give you a hug?”

I laughed and enthusiastically（热情地）responded, “Of course you may!” and she gave me a giant squeeze.

   “Why are you in college at such a young, innocent age?” I asked. She jokingly replied, “I’m here to meet a rich husband, get married, have a couple of children, and then retire and travel!”

 “No seriously,” I said. I was curious what may have motivated her to be taking on this challenge at her age.

 “I always dreamed of having a college education and now I’m getting one!” she told me.

Over the course of the year, Rose became a campus icon and she easily made friends wherever she went. She loved to dress up and she reveled in the attention bestowed upon her from the other students. She was living it up.

At the end of the semester we invited Rose to speak at our football banquet. I’ll never forget what she taught us.

 “We do not stop playing because we are old; we grow old because we stop playing. There are only two secrets to staying young, being happy, and achieving success. You have to laugh and find humor everyday. You’ve got to have a dream. When you lose your dreams, you die!” she said.

 “There is a huge difference between growing older and growing up. If you are nineteen years old and lie in bed for one full year and don’t do one productive thing, you will turn 20 years older. If I am 87 years old, and stay in bed for a year, and never do anything, I will turn 88. Anybody can grow older. But every minute counts for young men,” she added.

 “The idea is to grow up by always finding the opportunity in change. Have no regrets. The elderly usually don’t have regrets for what we did, but rather for things we did not do. The only people who fear death are those with regrets.”

She concluded her speech by courageously singing “The Song of Rose”. She challenged each of us to study the lyrics（歌词）and live them out in our daily lives.

At the year’s end, Rose finished the college degree she had begun all those years ago. One week after graduation Rose died peacefully in her sleep.

4. Rose made herself known to the author in a ______ manner.

A. serious              B. cold           C. humorous          D. crazy

5. From the information provided in the passage, we know ______.

A. Rose finished the college degree within a year

B. Rose did realize her dream of meeting a rich husband and getting married through college education

C. Rose enjoyed her campus life very much

D. Rose grew so old that she stopped playing

6. Rose delivered the speech ______.

A. at the graduation                          B. which she prepared carefully

C. ended with “The Song of Rose”             D. to challenge all the other speakers

7. According to her speech, ______.

A. whenever you have a dream, you succeed 

B. all people don’t grow up while growing older

C. Rose usually regretted having done something

D. a nine-year-old is as old as a 87-year-old if he doesn’t do anything

Scientists say they have discovered a promising treatment for sleeping sickness, a killer disease that infects(感染) about 60,000 people in Africa a year．

British and Canadian experts say drugs could attack the parasite（寄生虫） causing the illness．They say the drug could be ready for human medical test in about 18 months．

The disease, spread by the bite of a fly, is caused by a parasite attacking the central nervous system．It has similar symptoms（症状） to malaria（疟疾）, making it difficult to diagnose．Left untreated, it moves to the brain, resulting in mental confusion and final death

The "breakthrough" came at the University of Dundee in Scotland, where scientists were offered money to research diseases ignored by major drugs companies．

Professor Paul Wyatt, director of the programme, said: "This is one of the most significant findings made in recent years in terms of drug discovery and development for ignored diseases."

He said the research, published in the journal Nature, represented "significant progress" in the development of a full blown drug against the disease．

The World Health Organization said there are between 50,000 and 70,000 cases of the disease a year, with a further 60 million people at risk of infection．

The research in Dundee was backed by partners at the University of York in England and the Structural Genomics Consortium in Toronto, Canada．The two drugs currently available to treat sleeping sickness both have problems．One is with side effects that kill one in 20 patients and the other is costly, only partially effective and requires long-time hospital treatment, the scientists said．

The word backed in the last paragraph probably means_____.

       A．conducted           B．supported      C．believed        D．managed

What the World Health Organization said suggested that______.

       A．about 60000 people died of the disease each year

       B．about 60000 people were cured of the disease each year

       C．600 million people are likely to get infected

       D．the disease is spreading fast in Africa   

We can read this passage______.

       A．in the journal Nature

       B．in a newspaper of the University of Dundee

       C．in a book about flies

       D．in a newspaper about medicine

We can learn from the passage that______．

       A．big drug companies play an important role in the research of the new drug

       B．people who get infected with the disease are mentally disturbed

       C．among 200 people infected with the disease, 5 may die because of the old drug

       D． Professor Paul Wyatt may be a professor at the University of York

阅读下面短文，掌握其大意，然后从36—55各题所给的四个选项（A、B、C和D）中，选出最佳选项，并在答题卡上将该项涂黑。

When I was in primary school, I got into a major argument with a boy in my class．I can’t 1 36

what the it was about, but I have never forgotten the   37  I learned that day．

I was   38  that I was right and he was wrong--and he was sure that I was wrong and he was right．The   39  decided to teach us a very important lesson．She   40  both of us up to the   41  of the class and   42  him on one side of her desk and me on   43  ．In the middle of her desk was a large, round object．I could   44  see that it was black．She asked the boy what   45  the object was．“White,” he answered．

I couldn’t believe he said the object was white,   46  it was obviously black! Another   47  started between my classmate and me, this   48  about the color of the object．

The teacher told me to go stand where the boy was standing and told him to come stand where I had been．We changed   49  , and now she asked me what the color of the object was．I  50  answer, “White．” It was an object with two   51  colored sides, and from his side it was white．  52  from my side was it black．

My teacher taught me a very important lesson that day: You must   53  in the other person’s shoes and look at the   54  through their eyes in order to   55  understand their view．

36．A．think       B．suppose    C．remind     D．remember

37．A．lesson      B．lecture     C．class        D．text

38．A．told B．wished     C．convinced       D．allowed

39．A．officer     B．teacher     C．doctor      D．parent

40．A．told B．came       C．brought    D．woke

41．A．back        B．front        C．middle     D．side

42．A．planted    B．placed      C．had   D．fixed

43．A．the other B．another    C．other       D．others

44．A．happily    B．fortunately      C．clearly      D．nearly

45．A．width      B．shape       C．color       D．size

46．A．when       B．unless      C．until        D．if

47．A．fight        B．argument        C．conversation    D．game

48．A．time        B．year C．month      D．day

49．A．places       B．seats        C．attitudes    D．glasses

50．A．needed to        B．was able to      C．hoped to D．had to

51．A．similarly B．differently       C．beautifully      D．surprisingly

52．A．Still        B．Since       C．Only        D．Also

53．A．seat B．stand       C．lie    D．put

54．A．situation B．movement       C．condition        D．behaviour

55．A．unexpectedly   B．suddenly C．quietly     D．truly

In1994, China began collecting income tax from citizens earning more than 800 Yuan per month but only 1% people were earning more than _______; now about 60% earn the amount.

A. this                B. these            C. those           D. that