The government-run command post in Tunis is staffed around the clock by military personnel, meteorologists and civilians. On the wall are maps, crisscrossed with brightly colors arrows that painstakingly track the fearsome path of the enemy.

　　What kind of invader gives rise to such high-level monitoring? Not man, not beast, but the lowly desert locust(蝗蟲). In recent months, billions of the 3-inch-long winged warriors have descended on Algeria, Libya, Morocco and Tunisia, blackening the sky and eating up crops and vegetation. The insect invasion, the worst in 30 years, is already creating great destruction in the Middle East and is now treating southern Europe. The current crisis began in late 1985 near the Red Sea. Unusually rainy weather moistened the sands of the Sudan, making them ideal seedbed for the locust, which lays its eggs in the earth. The insect onslaught threatens to create yet another African famine. Each locust can eat its weight (not quite a tenth of an ounce) in vegetation every 24 hours. A good-size swarm of 50 billion insects eats up 100,000 tons of grass, trees and crops in a single night.

　　All ﹩150 million may be needed this year. The U.S. has provided two spraying planes and about 50,000 gal. of pesticide. The European Community has donated ﹩3.8 million in aid and the Soviet Union, Canada, Japan and China have provided chemical-spraying aircraft to help wipe out the pests. But relief efforts are hampered by the relative mildness of approved pesticides, which quickly lose their deadly punch and require frequent replications. The most effective locust killer dieldrin has been linked to cancer and is banned by many Western countries and some of the affected African nations. More than 5 million acres have been dusted with locust-killing chemicals; another 5 million will be treated by the end of June.

　　On May 30, representatives of Tunisia, Algeria, Libya, Morocco and Mauritania will meet in Algiers to discuss tactics to wipe out the ravenous swarms. The move is an important step, but whatever plan is devised, the locust plague promised to get worse before the insects can be brought under control.

　　36. The main idea of the first sentence in the passage is that ______.

　　A. the command post is stationed with people all the time.

　　B. the command post is crowded with people all the time.

　　C. there are clocks around the command post.

　　D. the clock in the command post is taken care of by the staff.

　　37. The favorable breeding ground for the locust is ______.

　　A. rich soil.

　　B. wet land

　　C. paces covered crops and vegetation

　　D. the Red Sea

　　38. People are alert at the threat of the locust because ______.

　　A. the insects are likely to create another African famine.

　　B. the insects may blacken the sky.

　　C. the number of the insects increases drastically.

　　D. the insects are gathering and moving in great speed.

　　39. Which of the following is true?

　　A. Once the pesticides are used, locust will die immediately.

　　B. Relief efforts are proved most fruitful due to the effectiveness of certain pesticides.

　　C. Dieldrin, the most effective locust killer, has been widely accepted in many countries.

　　D. Over 10 million acres of affected area will have been treated with locust-killing chemicals by the end of June.

　　40. The purpose for affected nations to meet in Algiers on May 30 is ______.

　　A. to devise anti-locust plans.

　　B. to wipe out the swarms in two years.

　　C. to call out for additional financial aid from other nations.

　　D. to bring the insects under control before the plague gets worse.

　　D

　　There are various ways in which individual economic units can interact with one another. Three basic ways may be described as the market system, the administered system, and the traditional system.

　　In a market system individual economic units are free to interact among each other in the marketplace. It is possible to buy commodities from other economic units or sell commodities to them. In a market, transactions may take place via barter or money exchange. In a barter economy, real goods such as automobiles, shoes, and pizzas are traded against each other. Obviously, finding somebody who wants to trade my old car in exchange for a sailboat may not always be an easy task. Hence, the introduction of money as a medium of exchange eases transactions considerably. In the modern market economy, goods and services are bought or sold for money.

　　An alternative to the market system is administrative control by some agency over all transactions. This agency will issue commands as to how much of each good and service should be produced, exchanged, and consumed by each economic unit. Central planning may be one way of administering such an economy. The central plan, drawn up by the government, shows the amounts of each commodity produced by the various firms and allocated to different households for consumption. This is an example of complete planning of production, consumption, and exchange for the whole economy.

　　In a traditional society, production and consumption patterns are governed by tradition; every person’s place within the economic system is fixed by parentage, religion, and custom. Transactions take place on the basis of tradition, too. People belonging to a certain group or caste(階級(jí)) may have an obligation to care for other persons, provide them with food and shelter, care for their health, and provide for their education. Clearly, in a system where every decision is made on the basis of tradition alone, progress may be difficult to achieve. An inactive society may result.

　　41. What is the main purpose of the passage?

　　A. To outline contrasting types of economic systems.

　　B. To explain the science of economics.

　　C. To argue for the superiority of one economic system.

　　D. To compare barter and money-exchange markets.

　　42. In the second paragraph, the underlined word “real” could best be replaced by _______.

　　A. valuable B. concrete

　　C. absolute D. reliable

　　43. According to the passage, a barter economy can generate ______.

　　A. rapid speed of transactions

　　B. misunderstandings

　　C. inflation

　　D. difficulties for the traders

　　44. According to the passage, who has the greatest degree of control in the administered system?

　　A. Individual households.

　　B. Small businesses.

　　C. Major corporations.

　　D. The government.

　　45. Which of the following is not mentioned by the author as a criterion(標(biāo)準(zhǔn))for determining a person’s position in a traditional society?

　　A. Family background B. Age

　　C. Religious beliefs. D. Custom

　　第二節(jié) 信息匹配(共5小題;每小題2分，滿分10分)

　　46-50 是各位專家的有關(guān)信息，請(qǐng)閱讀六位不同的人的需求(A-F),并按照需求匹配信息。選項(xiàng)中有一項(xiàng)是多余選項(xiàng)。

　　46.Doctor Allen

　　Doctor Allen is a dentist.The dentist is a doctor who is specially trained to care for teeth.When you visit your dentist for a checkup, he or she will look at your teeth and gums to check for any problem.The dentist also wants to make sure your teeth are developing properly as you grow.It’s important to visit your dentist every 6 months to make sure you’re taking good care of your teeth and that your teeth and gums are healthy.

　　47.Doctor Philips

　　Doctor Philips is a pediatrician.Basically, pediatricians focus on the physical, emotional, and social health of infants, children, adolescents, and young adults from birth to 21 years.Their patient-care lens is focused on prevention, detection, and management of physical, behavioral, developmental, and social problems that affect children.Even more basically, pediatricians take care of children.This might involve treating an ear infection, talking to parents about school or behavioral problems, or seeing them for well child checkups and giving them their shots.

　　48.Doctor Smith

　　Doctor Smith is a surgeon, who is a physician specializing in surgery.General Surgeons perform comprehensive general surgery examinations, consultation, diagnosis, and treatment planning, which includes: trauma, wounds, and conditions of soft tissue, including aspiration,

　　biopsy, and repair, etc.

　　49.Doctor Steward

　　Doctor Steward is a clinical psychologist, who is trained and educated to perform psychological research, testing, and therapy.Clinical psychologists may simply, but importantly, provide an opportunity to talk and think about things that are confusing and worrying.They would also discuss with you different ways of understanding or interpreting your problems or situations.Clinical psychologists are trained to use a range of different approaches aimed to help you become more expert about yourself, and more able to overcome or cope with life problems.

　　50.Doctor Lisa

　　Doctor Lisa is an excellent school consultant.Educational consultants counsel students and their families in the selection of programs, schools and treatment centers, based on the student’s individual needs.When students graduate from high school, some of them want to continue their study; they may be not sure which university is more appropriate for them, or what subject they will choose.In that case, most of them will turn to their educational consultants.

　　請(qǐng)閱讀以下相關(guān)信息，然后匹配他/她擬要咨詢的相關(guān)專家或醫(yī)生。

　　A.Tom’s mother is worried because Tom’s wounded this morning when he jumped off the speeding bicycle.The soft tissue of his right leg was broken.

　　B.Alex is going to take a course of computer.But he is not sure whether this course will be useful when he goes to the university.

　　C.Mummy is unhappy because she feels painful when she bites into something cold or hot.Her teeth are really a trouble to her.

　　D.Mary’s younger brother Tim, who is 8 years old, felt uncomfortable, because he had eaten too much ice-cream.

　　E. Lily wants to visit some places of interests during the long holiday.But she doesn’t know where to go and how to have a good tour and not waste money.

　　F. Lee is really frustrated nowadays.He doesn’t know why other students don’t want to speak to him.What’s wrong? It seems that he can never get out of it .He gets angry easily recently.He wants to talk to someone to get out of it.

　　III.寫作(共兩節(jié)，滿分40分)

　　第一節(jié) 基礎(chǔ)寫作(共1小題，滿分15分)

　　上周四，你班在某一社區(qū)組織了主題為“大家齊動(dòng)手，共建文明城”的環(huán)?；顒?dòng)，分三組,每組十五人, 開展活動(dòng),活動(dòng)內(nèi)容如下：

　　【寫作內(nèi)容】

　　1. 活動(dòng)的時(shí)間、地點(diǎn)、主題、參與人員;

　　2. 各組活動(dòng)內(nèi)容、具體做法;

　　3. 居民看法。

　　【參考詞匯】

　　“Joining Together to Build a Civilized City” “大家齊動(dòng)手，共建文明城”

　　【寫作要求】

　　1. 請(qǐng)使用5個(gè)句子表達(dá)全部所給的內(nèi)容。

　　2. 將5個(gè)句子組織成一篇連貫的短文。

　　【評(píng)分標(biāo)準(zhǔn)】

　　句子結(jié)構(gòu)準(zhǔn)確，信息內(nèi)容完整，篇章結(jié)構(gòu)連貫。

　　第二節(jié)讀寫任務(wù)(共1小題，滿分25分)

　　閱讀下面的短文，然后按照要求寫一篇150詞左右的英語短文。

　　In one way of thinking, failure is a part of life. In another way, failure may be a way towards success. The “spider story’’ often told, Robert Bruce, leader of the Scots in the 13 th century, was hiding in a cave from the English. He watched a spider spinning a web. The spider tried to reach across a rough place in the rock. He tried six times without success. On the seventh time he made it and went to spin his web. Bruce is said to have taken heart and to have gone on to defeat the English. Edison, the inventor of the light bulb, made hundreds of models that failed before he found the right way to make one. Abraham Lincoln, the famous American president, lost elections more times than he won them! He never gave up in the face of failure but kept trying and was eventually elected to Congress and then the presidency.

　　So what? First, always think about your failure. What caused it? Were conditions right? Were you in top from yourself? What can you change so things will go right next time?

　　Second, is the goal you’re trying to reach the right one? Try to do some thinking about what your real goals may be. Think about this question. “If I do succeed this time, where will it get me?’’ This may help you prevent failure in things you shouldn’t be doing anyway.

　　The third thing to bear in mind about failure is that it’s part of life. Learn to “live with yourself” even though you may have failed. Remember, “You can’t win them all.”

　　【寫作內(nèi)容】

　　1、概括短文的內(nèi)容要點(diǎn)，該部分字?jǐn)?shù)大約30詞左右;

　　2、以“Is Failure a Bad Thing”為題寫一篇文章，包含以下內(nèi)容要點(diǎn)，該部分的字?jǐn)?shù)大約120詞左右。

　?、攀∈巧钪械某Ｊ?/p>

　?、迫藗儗?duì)失敗所持的不同態(tài)度

　?、悄銓?duì)失敗的認(rèn)識(shí)

　　【寫作要求】

　　1、可以使用實(shí)例或其他論述方法支持你的觀點(diǎn)，也可以參照閱讀材料的內(nèi)容，但不要抄襲閱讀材料中的句子

　　2、作文中不能出現(xiàn)真實(shí)姓名和學(xué)校名稱。

　　2012屆高三第二次六校聯(lián)考英語試題參考答案

　?、裾Z言知識(shí)及應(yīng)用

　　第一節(jié) 完形填空:

　　1—5 CDBAA 6—10 ACCCB 11—15 DBCAD

　　第二節(jié) 語法填空

　　16. to attract 17. appearance 18. which 19. what 20. their

　　21. another 22. has attended 23. With 24. the 25. than

　　II閱讀

　　閱讀理解26---30 BAABC 31---35 CABDA

　　36---40 BBADA 41---45 ABDDB

　　第二節(jié) 信息匹配 46---50CDAFB

　　III 寫作

　　第一節(jié) 基礎(chǔ)寫作

　　A possible version:

　　Last Wednesday our class organized an environmental activity whose theme was “Joining Together to Build a Civilized City” in a community and the students were divided into three groups with 15 students each. Group 1 went from door to door recycling the used batteries. Not fearing dirt or fatigue, the second group cleared up the posters and advertisements on the walls as well as the rubbish on the ground. The last group handed out the leaflets of the environmental protection and they also advocated their activity by inviting the residents to take part. The dwellers praised our class for our practice and gave us much support.

　　第二節(jié) 讀寫任務(wù)

　　概括應(yīng)該包括以下要點(diǎn)：

　　一系列事例說明失敗是成功之母的道理

　　面對(duì)失敗需要勇氣和反思

　　A possible version for the summary:

　　Examples were given to illustrate that failure is part of life, which paves the way to success on condition that one would reflect on failure positively and face it courageously.