平时做阅读理解时建议练习一分钟看题干，14分钟看原文，14分钟做题。根据以往经历，考生往往会在第一篇或第二篇文章上花太多时间，导致后面的题目来不及做。这一方面是和题目的难易程度有关;另一方面是和考生没有合理分布考试时间有关。

Why Buy Shade-Grown Coffee?

When people argue about whether coffee is good for health, they're usually thinking of the health of the coffee drinker. Is it food for your heart? Does it increase blood pressure? Does it help you concentrate? However, coffee affects the health of the human population in other ways, too.

Traditionally, coffee bushes were planted under the canopy(树冠)of taller indigenous(土生土长的)trees. However, more and more farmers in Latin America are deforesting the land to grow full-sun coffees. At first, this increases production because more coffee bushes can be planted if there aren’t any trees. With increased production come increased profits.

Unfortunately, deforesting for coffee production immediately decreases local-wildlife habitat. Native birds nest and hide from predators(捕食者)in the tall trees and migrating birds rest there.

Furthermore, in the long term, the full-sun method also damages the ecosystem because more chemical fertilizers and pesticides are needed to grow the coffee. The fertilizers and pesticides kill insects that eat coffee plant, but then the birds eat the poisoned insects and also die. The chemicals kill or sicken other animals as well, and can even enter the water that people will eventually drink.

Fortunately, farmers in Central and South America are beginning to grow more coffee bushes in the shade. We can support these farmers by buying coffee with such labels as "shade grown" and "bird friendly." Sure, these varieties might cost a little more. But we're paying for the health of the birds, the land, ourselves, and the planet. I think it's worth it.

31. What is the main idea of this passage?

A. Farmers are changing the way they grow coffee.

B. Coffee is becoming more expensive to produce.

C. Shade-grow coffee is more expensive than sun-grow coffee.

D. People should buy shade-grown coffee.

参考答案：D

32. The function of the word "Traditionally" in Paragraph 2 is to show_____.

A. the positive effects of coffee.

B. a change of coffee growth.

C. something that is the most important.

D. how coffee production used to be.

参考答案：B

33.What does increased production of full-sun coffee bring about?

A. More insects.

B. Better quality coffee.

C. Larger farms.

D. Higher profits.

参考答案：D

34. How do farmers find more land for growing full-sun coffee?

A. They buy more land from other farmers.

B. They cut down trees.

C. They move to another country.

D. They turn grassland into farmland.

参考答案：B

35.The full-sun method may affect the following EXCEPT_____ full sun

A. insects.

B. air.

C. birds

D. humans

参考答案：B

More Rural Research is Needed

Agricultural research funding is vital if the world is to feed itself better than it does now. Dr. Tony Fischer, crop scientist, said demand was growing at 2.5% per year but with modern technologies and the development of new ones, the world should be able to stay ahead.

“The global decline in investment in international agricultural research must be reversed if significant progress is to be made towards reducing malnutrition(营养不良)and poverty.” he said.

Research is needed to solve food production, land degradation(贫瘠化)and environmental problems. Secure local food supplies led to economic growth which is turn, slowed population growth. Dr. Fischer painted a picture of the world’s ability to feed itself in the first 25 years, when the world’s population is expected to rise from 5 X to X billion people. He said that things will probably hold or improve but there’ll still be a lot of hungry people. The biggest concentration of poor and hungry people would be in sub-Saharan Africa and southern Asia in 2020, similar to the current pattern. If there is any change, a slight improvement will be seen in southern Asia, but not in sub-Saharan Africa. The major improvement will be in East Asia, South America and South-East Asia.

The developing world was investing about 0.5%, or $8 billion a year, of its agricultural gross domestic product(GDP)on research and developed world was spending 2.5% of its GDP. Dr. Fischer said more was needed from all countries.

He said crop research could produce technologies that spread across many countries, such as wheat production research having spin-offs(有用的副产品)for Mexico, China or India.

“Technologies still need to be refined for the local conditions but a lot of the strategic research can have global application, so that money can be used very efficiently.” Dr. Fischer said.

Yields of rice, wheat ad maize(玉米)havegrown impressively in the past 30 years, especially in developing countries. For example, maize production rose from 2 to 8 tonnes per hectare between 1950 and 1995. But technologies driving this growth such as high-yield varieties, fertilizers, and irrigation, were becoming exhausted. “If you want to save the land for non-agricultural activities, for forests and wildlife, you’re going to have to increase yield.” Dr. Fischer said.

36. What is the passage mainly about?

A. Shortage of food supplies.

B. Development of agricultural technologies.

C. Impact of agricultural research.

D. Expectation of population growth.

参考答案：C

37. Which of the following statements is true about the world’s agricultural research funding?

A. It is increasing among developed countries.

B. It is decreasing worldwide.

C. Less is demanded from developing countries.

D. Most of it is spent very efficiently.

参考答案：B

38. What is the picture of Asia’s food supplies in the first 25 years?

A. Food shortage will not be a problem

B. There will be more hungry people in southern Asia.

C. Population growth will result in more hungry people.

D. There will be fewer hungry people in East Asia.

参考答案：C

39. What does Dr. Fischer say about technologies? Dr Fischer

A. They are costly.

B. They have to be improved to meet local needs.

C. Their application is limited.

D. They have to be applied locally.

参考答案：B

40. It can be infered from the last paragraph that_____.

A. there is a demand for saving land for non-agricultural activities.

B. crop production is growing faster in developing countries.

C. maize production reached its peak in the 1990s.

D. technologies improving maize production have been well developed.

参考答案：A

Dangers await babies with altitude

Women who live in the world's highest communities tend to give birth to under-weight babies, a new study suggests. These babies may grow into adults with a high risk of heart disease and strokes.

Research has hinted that newborns in mountain communities are lighter than average. But it wasn't clear whether this is due to reduced oxygen levels at high altitude or because their mothers are under-nourished — many people who live at high altitudes are relatively poor compared with those living lower down.

To find out more, Dino Giussani and his team at Cambridge University studied the records of 400 births in Bolivia during 1976 and 1998. The babies were born in both rich and poor areas of two cities: La Paz and Santa Cruz. L Paz is the highest city in the world, at 3.65 kilometers above sea level, while Santa Cruz is much lower, at 0.44 kilometers.

Sure enough, Giussani found that the average birthweight of babies in La Paz was significantly lower than in Santa Cruz. This was true in both high and low-income families. Even babies born to poor families in Santa Cruz were heavier on average than babies born to wealthy families in lofty La Paz. "We were very surprised by this result," says Giussani.

The results suggest that babies born at high altitude are deprived of oxygen before birth. "This may trigger the release or suppression of hormones that regulate growth of the unborn child," says Giussani.

His team also found that high-altitude babies tended to have relatively larger heads compared with their bodies. This is probably because a fetus starved of oxygen will send oxygenated blood to the brain in preference to rest of the body.

Giussani wants to find out if such babies have a higher risk of disease in later life. People born in La Paz might be prone to heart trouble in adulthood, for example. Low birth weight is a risk factor for coronary(冠状的) heart disease. And newborns with a high ratio of head size to body weight are often predisposed to high blood pressure and strokes in later life.

41. What does the new study discover?

A. Babies born to wealthy families are heaver.

B. Women living at high altitude tend to give birth to underweight babies.

C. Newborns in cities are lighter than average.

D. Low-altitude babies have a high risk of heart disease in later life.

参考答案：B

42. Giussani and his team are sure that _____.

A. babies born in Lance Paz are on average lighter than in Santa Cruz.

B. people living at high altitudes tend to give birth to underweight babies.

C. the birth weight of babies born to wealthy families is Santa Cruz.

D. mothers in La Paz are commonly under-nourished.

参考答案：A

43. It can be inferred from what Giussani says in Paragraph 4 that_____.

A. the finding was unexpected

B. he was very tired.

C. the study took longer than expected.

D. he was surprised to find low-income families in La Paz.

参考答案：A

44. The results of the study indicate the reason for the underweight babies is _____.

A. lack of certain nutrition.

B. power of their mother.

C. different family backgrounds.

D. reduction of oxygen levels.

参考答案：D

45. It can be learned about form the paragraph that_____.

A. high-altitude babies tend to have high blood pressure in later life.

B. under-weight babies have a shorter life span.

C. babies born to poor families lack hormones before birth.

D. new born wealthy families have larger heads compared with their bodies.

参考答案：B