跟踪导练（三）

阅读地带

A

When Wei Yong returned home to his parents village last year， Shangma Huangtou， to visit his mother， he heard about the tremors. One night， the villagers told him the village was rocked by what everyone thought was an earthquake. The ground shook. The houses trembled. And the earth broke open.

There had been no earthquake， however. Instead， in this small village in the central province of Shanxi， three large coal mining operations had been digging underground for coal—day and night， sometimes using dynamite（炸药）. And from far below， they had broke the earth.

While Shanxi provides the coal that powers Chinas economy， thousands of areas of land are sinking because of underground coal mining.

All night long， residents here say， trucks carrying coal waste empty their load off the side of the mountain. And all day long trucks overloaded with coal run past the village， breaking the roads and covering the road-side homes with coal waste.

Today， Shangma Huangtou has no water. Villagers say the stream running through here dried up 10 years ago. Now， the wells have run dry， too. It used to be that every family had a well； now the village hires a truck to fetch water from a mile away.

Some villagers often talk about the villages founding myth， an old fable（神话）about how the beautiful village was founded with a small lake in its center. But one day， according to the fable， a man from southern China stole the village frog， bringing ruin to Shangma Huangtou.

“I dont believe this myth，” Mr Lin， the village chief， said. “I believe theres no water because of the coal mines. The earth is like the human body. And the water is like the blood in your veins（血管）. But now theres no water； no blood.”

1. The underlined word “tremors” in Paragraph 1 probably means “___”.

A. noises B. shakes

C. earthquakes D. developments

2. The land of Shangma Huangtou is sinking because of ___ .

A. the use of dynamite

B. frequent earthquakes

C. its geographic position

D. continuous underground coal mining

3. According to the passage，the villagers probably used to fetch water from ___ .

A. a stream a mile away

B. the well in each family

C. one side of the mountain

D. a small lake in central village

4. Whats the main purpose of the author writing the text？

A. To suggest coal mining should be stopped.

B. To show that people cant live without water.

C. To show that the environment has been damaged

D. To suggest government should improve village economy.

B

James Rumsey was a successful businessman in Bath， Virginia in 1784 when he met George Washington. When the hero of the Revolutionary War stopped in Bath， Rumsey showed Washington his invention. It was a model of a boat using the power of a rivers current（水流）to travel against the current. The boat had a set of wheels with two long poles fastened under the boat. Rumsey placed the boat in the Potomac River and the current turned the wheels round and round quickly， which in turn， forced the poles to push against the riverbed moving the boat against the current.

Washington wrote of the invention in his diary on September 6， 1784， “The model， and its operation upon the water， which had been made to run fast， not only made me believe what I before thought， but that it might be turned to the greatest possible means of transportation.” Washington even gave Rumsey a letter stating that he had seen the boat in operation.

The following year， Washington became president of the Patowmac Company. One of Washingtons first problems was he couldnt find anyone with experience of building canal（运河）. In July 1785， Washington remembered Rumseys walking boat and decided that Rumsey was the man to build the canal.

Rumsey had continued his work on the mechanical boat， but a full-scale model had not worked as well as the smaller version. The larger boats poles would stick or slip on the bottom of the river and when the boat moved， it lurched（蹒跚）and leaned dangerously.

As making this idea a success seemed to be slipping away， Rumsey turned his sights to a new way to allow a boat to move against the current-steam power. However， Washington employed Rumsey just as he was considering the solution. Washington hired him at an annual salary of 200 pounds.

5. What can we learn about Rumseys invention？

A. It turned out to be practical.

B. It was driven by water power.

C. It was a great means of transportation.

D. It had wheels to push against the riverbed.

6. We can learn from the text when Washington saw the model， ___ .

A. he drew a picture of it in his diary

B. he employed Rumsey at once

C. he took an interest in it

D. he wrote Rumsey a letter

7. It can be concluded from the text that ___ .

A. Rumsey managed to build the mechanical boat

B. Rumsey became rich owing to his invention

C. Washington trusted Rumsey very much

D. Rumsey gave up his first idea

8. The best title of this passage could be “___”.

A. Rumseys Walking Boat

B. Rumsey and Washington

C. A successful business man

D. The history of the mechanical boat

1. Shes ____（传统的）in her views and faithful to her family.

2. The children cooperated with their teacher in keeping the classroom ____（整洁的）.

3. He made sure the rope were ____（拉紧的）in case that the goods would fall from his car.

4. The president of the company doesnt want to be involved with any illegal affairs， so he hires a legal c .

5. You should have finished your work as yesterday was the d .

My secret of staying young is simply： Keeping your mind awake and you will stay young. Take interest in the world around you. Dont think that you are ever too old to go back to school. I know a man who entered into a medical college at 70. He got her degree with honors and become a famous doctor. Other man went to a law school at 71 and is now an active lawyer. You may say that staying young is easy only for that living in the future. In fact， you can do it whether you care enough to try to keep your mind awake and active， which is the only ways to be always young.

1. 我得早点离家去赶公车，不然就会在上学第一天就迟到。

2. 事实真相几个星期以后才得到披露。

3. 递交申请书的截止日期是下星期二。

4. 他不但没有逃跑，反而留下来陪他的母亲。

1. It is the protection for animals ___ really matters， ___ how many animals are born.

A. that； other than B. what； except

C. which； otherwise D. that； rather than

2. It is his talented performance ___ his gentleness that really struck us.

A. as soon as B. as long as

C. as well as D. as far as

3. The increasing price of houses has lead to a（n） ___ in the number of people who are going to buy one.

A. decline B. increase

C. booming D. rejection

4. We even have no time to go out and have some fun， with the exam ___ .

A. to approach B. approached

C. approaches D. approaching

5. I read his article again and again， trying hard to understand what he wanted to say but ___ .

A. in nature B. in vain

C. in case D. in effect

Many high schools and colleges with a football team in the United States usually have a homecoming day. This can be the most important event of the year next to graduation. Students plan homecoming day for many weeks. When the day arrives they begin before dawn to decorate the schools. There are signs to wish luck to the team and many other signs to welcome back the graduates from other years. Many people still come to homecoming clubs build booths and sell lemonade， apples or sandwiches. Some clubs help to welcome visitors. During the day people like to look for teachers that they remember from long ago. Often they see old friends and they talk together about those happy years in school. Everyone soon comes to watch the football game. When the game is half over the band comes onto the field and plays school songs. Another important moment is when the homecoming queen/king appears. All the students vote for another student who is popular. It is a great honor to become homecoming queen or king.

Homecoming is a happy day. Even if the team loses the students still enjoy homecoming. Some stay at the school to dance and others go to a party. For everyone it is a day to remember for a long long time.

1. What is the most important event of the year for the students in the schools and colleges in America？ （1 word）

2. Of all the events， what is the thing that all the students do on this day？ （within 6 words）

3. Why do the students still enjoy homecoming even if the team loses？ （within 6 words）

4. What does usually happen when the day is half over？ （within 10 words）

5. What is the best title of the passage？ （within 2 words）