A) The disappearance of hotels, houses and gardens.
B) The experts’ lack of knowledge.
C) The rising of the sea level.
D) The washing-away of limestone cliffs.
12. The erosion of the white cliffs in the south of England ________.
A) will soon become a problem for people living in central England
B) has now become a threat to the local residents
C) is quickly changing the map of England
D) can be stopped if proper measures are taken
13. The experts’ study on the problem of erosion can ________.
A) lead to its eventual solution
B) provide an effective way to slow it down
C) help to prevent it from worsening
D) warn people whose homes are in danger
14. It is not feasible to build sea defenses to protect against erosion because ________.
A) it is too costly and will endanger neighbouring areas
B) the government is too slow in taking action
C) they will be easily knocked down by waves and currents
D) house agents along the coast do not support the idea
15. According to the author, when buying a house along the south coast of England,
people should ________.
A) be aware of the potential danger involved
B) guard against being cheated by the house agent
C) take the quality of the house into consideration
D) examine the house carefully before making a decision
Passage Two
Questions 16 to 20 are based on the following passage.
Sport is not only physically challenging, but it can also be mentally challenging.
Criticism from coaches, parents, and other teammates, as well as pressure to win can
create an excessive amount of anxiety or stress for young athletes (运动员). Stress can be
physical, emotional, or psychological, and research has indicated that it can lead to
burnout. Burnout has been described as dropping or quitting of an activity that was at
one time enjoyable.
The early years of development are critical years for learning abut oneself. The sport
setting is one where valuable experiences can take place. Young athletes can, for example,
learn how to cooperate with others, make friends, and gain other social skills that will be
used throughout their lives. Coaches and parents should be aware, at all times, that their
feedback to youngsters can greatly affect their children. Youngsters may take their
parents’ and coaches’ criticisms to heart and find a flaw (缺陷) in themselves.
Coaches and parents should also be cautious that youth sport participation does not
become work for children. The outcome of the game should not be more important than
the process of learning the sport and other life lessons. In today’s youth sport setting,
young athletes may be worrying more about who will win instead of enjoying themselves
and the sport. Following a game, many parents and coaches focus on the outcome and
find fault with youngsters’ performances. Positive reinforcement should be provided
regardless of the outcome. Research indicates that positive reinforcement motivates and
has a greater effect on learning than criticism. Again, criticism can create high levels of
stress, which can lead to burnout.
16. An effective way to prevent the burnout of young athletes is ________.
A) to make sports less competitive
B) to make sports more challenging
C) to reduce their mental stress
D) to increase their sense of success
17. According to the passage sport is positive for young people in that ________.
A) it can help them learn more about society
B) it teaches them how to set realistic goals for themselves
C) it enables them to find flaws in themselves
D) it can provide them with valuable experiences
18. Many coaches and parents are in the habit of criticizing young athletes ________.
A) without realizing criticism may destroy their self confidence
B) in order to make them remember life’s lessons
C) believing that criticism is beneficial for their early development
D) so as to put more pressure on them
19. According to the passage parents and coaches should ________.
A) help children to win every game
B) pay more attention to letting children enjoy sports
C) enable children to understand the positive aspect of sports
D) train children to cope with stress
10. The author’s purpose in writing the passage is ________.
A) to persuade young children not to worry about criticism
B) to stress the importance of positive reinforcement to children
C) to discuss the skill of combining criticism with encouragement
D) to teach young athletes how to avoid burnout
Passage Three
Questions 21 to 25 are based on the following passage.
Humanity uses a little less than half the water available worldwide. Yet occurrences
of shortages and droughts (干旱) are causing famine and distress in some areas, and
industrial and agricultural by-products are polluting water supplies. Since the world’
population is expected to double in the next 50 years, many experts think we are on the
edge of a widespread water crisis.
But that doesn’t have to be the outcome. Water shortages do not have to trouble the
world—if we start valuing water more than we have in the past. Just as we began to
appreciate petroleum more after the 1970s oil crises, today we must start looking at water
from a fresh economic perspective. We can no longer afford to consider water a virtually
free resource of which we can use as much as we like in any way we want.
Instead, for all uses except the domestic demand of the poor, governments should
price water to reflect its actual value. This means charging a fee for the water itself as
well as for the supply costs.
Governments should also protect this resource by providing water in more
economically and environmentally sound ways. For example, often the cheapest way to
provide irrigation (灌溉) water in the dry tropics is through small-scale projects, such as
gathering rainfall in depressions (凹地) and pumping it to nearby cropland.
No matter what steps governments take to provide water more efficiently, they must
change their institutional and legal approaches to water sue. Rather than spread control
among hundreds or even thousands of local, regional, and national agencies that watch
various aspects of water use, countries should set up central authorities to coordinate
water policy.
21. What is the real cause of the potential water crisis?