But Tuvalu is not the first place to face sinking into the sea. Venice, a historic city in Italy best known for its canals, has sunk about 24cm over the past 100 years. Experts say that it will have sunk another 20～50cm by 2050. A century ago, St. Mark’s Square, the lowest point in the city, flooded about nine times a year. Nowadays, it happens more than 100 times.

　　While Venice is slowly sinking into the mud on which it stands, Tuvalu’s rising sea level is caused by global warming.

　　The average global temperature has increased by almost 0.5 centigrade degree over the past century, scientists expect it to rise by an extra 1～3 degrees over the next 100 years.

　　Warmer weather makes glaciers (冰川) melt, adding more water to the ocean. The warmer temperatures also make water expand, so it takes up more space, causing the sea level to rise. The sea level has risen about 10～25cm in the last 100 years.

　　The main cause of global warming is human pollution. Through burning coal, oil and gas, people have been increasing the greenhouse gases in the atmosphere, such as CO2. This adds to the power of the greenhouse effect, making the planet even warmer.

　　Many scientists believe that, if the warming is not stopped, there will be huge climate changes. The sea level could rise by one meter this century.

　　Should this come true, millions of homes will be swallowed up by the sea and the world will be flooded with “climate refugees (难民)” looking for somewhere to live.

　　40. What does the sentence “Without urgent help, the country’s days are numbered.”mean？

　　A. Without urgent help, the country will go hungry.

　　B. Without urgent help, the country will be numbered.

　　C. Without urgent help, the country’s people will be numbered.

　　D. Without urgent help, the country will disappear.

　　41. By 2050 Venice will have sunk about ______ cm.

　　A. 24 B. 20

　　C. 50 D. 44～74

　　42. The writer wrote this article to _______.

　　A. give us some advice B. give us some knowledge

　　C. to warn us

　　D. frighten us

　　43. What is the right cause and effect？

　　A. sea flood-temperature increase-human pollution

　　B. human pollution-temperature increase-sea flood

　　C. human pollution-sea flood-temperature increase

　　D. temperature increase-human pollution-sea flood

　　C

　　Read the following advertisements and then choose the correct answers.

　　China Daily, March 3, 1996) the biggest shopping center will open on March 8. Every body with today’s China Daily will get a small present that day. you are welcome.

　　Telephone：38990688；address：No. 6 Xidan Road……

　　ENGLISH NEWSPAPER, March 19) English Newspaper needs a foreign editor. He (She ) must have worked in China for more than 2 years. British nationality is necessary. The salary is $ 100,000 a year. The term is 3 years. In ten days this piece of advertisement will not be useful.

　　Telephone：3890666；Addreses：No. 6 Xinling Road……

　　CHINA FOOTBALL, February 3, 1996)

　　Shanghai Shenhua Team Vs Beijing Guo’an Team

　　TIME：February 8. Sunday (3:00) PLACE：Hongkou Stadium

　　TICKET PRICE; RMB 25 yuan (for adults ) RMB 15 yuan (for students)

　　NAME：China Cup Football Contest

　　COACHES：Xu Genbao, Jin Zhiyang……

　　44. If an Englishman who has worked in China for 3 years comes to English Newspaper office to ask for the job in April, he will _____.

　　A. get the job

　　B. not get the job

　　C. be a good editor

　　D. not be useful

　　45. If three adults and six students went to watch the match, the tickets would cost them _____ yuan.

　　A. 165 B. 135

　　C. 196 D. 255

　　46. Which of the following is NOT TRUE?

　　A. The shopping center is at NO. 6 Xidan road.

　　B. The telephone number of English Newspaper is 3890666.

　　C. The match was between Beijing Team and Guo’an Team.

　　D. Xu Genbao is a coach.

　　D

　　Not all memories are sweet. Some people spend all their lives trying to forget bad experiences. Violence and traffic accidents can leave people with terrible physical and emotional scars. Often they relive(重新体验) these experiences in nightmares (噩梦).

　　Now American researchers think they are close to developing a pill, which will help people forget bad memories. The pill is designed to be taken immediately after a frightening experience. They hope it might reduce, or possibly erase (抹去), the effect of painful memories.

　　In November, experts tested a drug on people in the US and France. The drug stops the body releasing (释放) chemicals that fix memories in the brain. So far the research has suggested that only the emotional effects of memories may be reduced, not that the memories are erased.

　　The research has caused a great deal of argument. Some think it is a bad idea, while others support it. Supporters say it could lead to pills that prevent or treat soldiers’ troubling memories after war. They say that there are many people who suffer from terrible memories. “Some memories can ruin people’s lives. They come back to you when you don’t want to have them in a daydream or nightmare. They usually come with very painful emotions,” said Roger Pitman, a professor of psychiatry (精神病学) at Harvard Medical School. “This could relieve a lot of that suffering.”

　　But those who are against the research say that changing memories is very dangerous because memories give us our identity (特质). They also help us all avoid the mistakes of the past. “All of us can think of bad events in our lives that were horrible at the time but make us who we are. I’m not sure we’d want to wipe those memories out,” said Rebecca Dresser, a medical ethicist (伦理学家). Some people fear that although the drug would first be used in only very serious cases, it would become more and more common. “People always have the ability to misuse science,” said Joseph LeDoux, a New York University memory researcher. “All we want to do is help people have better control of memories.”

　　47. No matter how people think about this pill, the scientists’ intention to develop this pill is _______.

　　A. terrible B. bad

　　C. doubtful D. worth praising

　　48. What does the word “relieve” in the sentence “This could relieve a lot of that suffering”.

　　A. increase B. keep

　　C. reduce D. strengthen

　　49. Joseph LeDoux thinks that _______.

　　A. the terrible memories are really existence, we should respect and control them

　　B. the terrible memories are easy to forget, we needn’t worry about them

　　C. the terrible memories can do good to us, we shouldn’t forget them

　　D. if we forget terrible memories we will forget everything, so we can’t develop pills to reduce or erase them

　　50. What is the best title of this article？

　　A. Pills help forget terrible memories

　　B. Pills help forget the past

　　C. How to forget the past D. How terrible memories do harm to us

E
　　It’s great to go on vacation, but it’s also nice to come home. Migrating (迁徙) birds seem to feel the same way. Birds such as black-tailed godwits (黑尾塍鹬), a migrating bird that can be found in Europe, Asia, north Africa and north Australia, fly south every winter. Then, they return home to spend the summer months with their life long partner.

　　Now, scientists have found, pairs of godwits often return to their summer breeding (繁殖) grounds within three days of each other, even though they spend the entire winter apart. It’s as if they arranged the date that they would meet up again.

　　Researchers in England, put coloured leg bands on the birds. Then, they asked birdwatchers around Europe to report by email when and where they saw the birds during the winter.

　　The simplest way for birds to return at the same time would be to spend the winter together. After all, if they’re in different places, they can’t call each other on the phone and talk about when they’ll meet again.

　　But, the survey found that couples usually spent their winters in different countries up to 1,000 kilometres apart. One male, for example, spent the winter on the coast of Ireland while his mate was in France.

　　These findings are important for protecting the birds, scientists say. Black-tailed godwits live for up to 25 years. They spend their summers in Iceland, where they mate, but they spread all over other parts of Europe in winter. Once a pair mates, there’s a 90 per cent chance that they’ll return to mate with each other again the next year. So, protection of their wide web of holiday destinations (目的地) is very important.

　　How do the birds arrange their date of return? Unless scientists find their feathered cellphones, that question will remain a mystery.

　　51. It seems that pairs of godwits fly south every winter _________.

　　A. to find love B. to find food

　　C. to breed D on holiday

　　52. According to the article, black-tailed godwits _______ their mates.

　　A. don’t love

　　B often turn against

　　C. often forget

　　D. are faithful to

　　53. When black-tailed godwits come home at the same time, it is very important for people to _______.

　　A. give them enough food

　　B. protect them

　　C. kill them D. live with them

　　54. How do the birds arrange their date of return ____.

　　A. is already known

　　B. will soon be known

　　C. can be easily discovered

　　D. is still unknown

　　55. What is the best title of the article？

　　A. Birds come back home for love

　　B. Birds leave home for hatred

　　C. Birds can’t stay together long

　　D. Birds are easy to forget