【正文】 but where there are no trees, the rain falls on hard ground and flows away, causing floods and carrying away the rich top soil. When all the top soil is gone, nothing remains but worthless desert. Two thousand years ago a rich and powerful country cut down its trees to build warships, with which to gain itself an empire. It set up the empire but, without its trees, its soil became poor and it grew weak. When the empire fell to pieces, the home country found itself faced by flood and starvation. most important service of trees to man is that . A. they give him shade B. they give him wood and other products C. they help him make money D. they help him prevent flood and drought 2. In many parts of the world forests slowly disappear because . A. man has not paid enough attention to planting trees B. many trees have been cut down by man C. new trees are not looked after properly D. all the above 3. From the third paragraph of the passage we can infer（推斷） that . A. a heavy rain might cause a serious flood where there are no trees B. forests can prevent land from being turned into desert C. without trees winds can bring a lot of sand D. young trees must be planted while old trees are being cut down 4. The country mentioned (提到 ) in the passage suffered from floods and starvation because . A. it lost its trees B. it spent too much on its warships 第 12 頁(yè) 共 33 頁(yè) C. it was defeated by its enemy countries and fell to pieces D. there was a heavy rain 5. Which title best fits the passage? A. How an Empire Fell B. The Uses of Trees C. Trees and Man D. What Causes Drought and Flood 3 Have you ever heard the saying, “An elephant never fets”? I do not know whether it is true or not, but I do think that elephants are certainly very clever. They can be taught to do things. That is really surprising. Once upon a time there was an elephant nearby a town in India. The elephant went to work with its master every day. It had to go along a certain street. A tailor lived in this street, and used to sit at the door of his shop. Every day when the elephant came to this shop, it would stop and put out its trunk towards the tailor. This was because it knew that the tailor was a friendly man. He would give it something nice to eat. One day it happened that the tailor had nothing to give to his big friend. Perhaps he wanted to make fun of it, because he was not an unkind man. What did he do? When the elephant put out its trunk to the tailor, he pricked (穿刺 ) the end of the trunk with a needle (縫衣針 ). The elephant drew back quickly, looked at him angrily and went off down the road. The tailor thought no more about it during the day, but the elephant did! That evening, before it went home the elephant filled its trunk with water from a dirty pond. When the tailor saw it ing along the road, he laughed at the trick that he had played on the beast that morning. But he became very sad when he received a trunkful of dirty water between the eyes! 1. What did the writer think about the elephant? He thought it . A. clever B. surprising C. silly D. funny 2. What did the writer think about the tailor? He thought the tailor was . A. cruel B. foolish C. a kind man D. an unkind man 3. The elephant would stop at the shop and put out its trunk towards the tailor in order to . A. great him B. make fun of him C. play a trick on him D. get something nice to eat 4. The tailor pricked the end of the trunk with a needle because A. he wanted to make fun of the elephant 第 13 頁(yè) 共 33 頁(yè) B. he wanted to make the elephant angry C. he wanted to be friendly to the elephant D. he had nothing to give the elephant 5. Why did the elephant fill its trunk with water from a dirty pond? Because it wanted . A. to drink B. to wash its trunk C. to play with the water D. to play a trick on the tailor 4 Fast driving is always dangerous. Motorracing is even more dangerous. But have you ever heard of motorracing which is noisy, fast, exciting and safe? No? Then perhaps you have never heard of karting. A kart is rather like a baby car with no roof. It has a small engine, 4 small wheels and room for only the driver. Its top speed is about 80 kilometers per hour. Karting clubs are private and young people under the age of 17 can be members. On the private land of the club, they can go karting. Some secondary schools think karting is very good for their pupils. The pupils can make everything except the engine and the tyres at school. Tyres for karts are not very expensive. An old motorcycle engine does not cost much and is good enough as a kart engine. The pupils enjoy studies which are part of real life. The schools like karting for another reason. The sport is safe. Because the karts are near the ground, serious accidents almost never happen. Karting is something new and exciting for these lucky pupils. It also teaches them a lot of engineering. Perhaps they will be better drivers in later life. They may not want to behave like racingdrivers on our dangerous roads! 1. The writer thinks that karting is . A. exciting, but quiet B. hard, but interesting C. good for children D. able or likely to cause danger 2. What is right about a kart? A. It’s drawn by horses. B. It has four great wheels. C. Its high speed is 80 km. per minute. D. It has no room for passengers. 3. We have not yet learned the reason why . A. karting is not expensive 第 14 頁(yè) 共 33 頁(yè) B. karting lets pupils act like adults C. karting is an exciting sport for pupi