It came with devastating force,a natural disaster of strange intensity that shocked the world and killed tens of thousands.The waters have now receded,but disease and food and water shortages trouble a number of countries around the Indian Ocean.Millions of survivors face serious problems.

The number of survivors in need of food aid after the Indian Ocean disaster has climbed to 5 million people.They stretch from Somalia to Thailand,and the figure could rise further,the United Nations has said.

Relief teams hope to reach all of the estimated 700 000 hungry in Sri Lanka within three more days.It could take longer before enough food aid gets to the nearly 1 million people in need in hard-to-reach parts of Indonesia.Another serious problem is the need for purified water.

Although aid had poured in from all over the world to the disaster areas,“Logistics is the big problem here—just getting the stuff out to people who need it,”said Ron Libby,emergency management specialist at the USA agency for International Development.

Relief efforts are hindered by the difficulty of delivering aid to the more than 1000 islands scattered across hundreds of kilometers of ocean.

For those who survived the tsunami's force,disease is now the No.1 problem.Five million people are short of water,food and basic sanitation across the region.World Health Organization(WHO) crisis chief David Navarro said 50 000 more people could die from disease and other causes,as has been the case in previous humanitarian emergencies.

WHO said it had already received a handful of reports of malaria(瘧疾) and dengue fever(登革熱) and hundreds of reports of diarrhea(腹瀉) and infected wounds.It said millions of water purification tablets had been sent to Asia,along with sanitation engineers to rebuild water sanitation infrastructure.

Psychologists are warning that mental health problems caused by the tsunami could prove harder to resolve than the physical damage.

Some survivors say they are plagued by recurring nightmares about walls of water.Many locals are afraid to return to beachside homes.Officials also warn that suicide rates could rise dramatically as parents struggle with guilt at losing children.

Psychologists estimate that 20 to 30 per cent of people who face traumatic events eventually develop symptoms,such as alcohol abuse,lack of concentration at work and an inability to develop close relationships.

Although the Thai Government has offered to build temporary beachside housing,many refugee families are refusing to come down from the hills.Others are afraid to go back to jobs on the sea.

Over 150 000 people were killed by the tsunami,but hundreds and thousands more have been left with no means to earn a living.

In the village of Akirapettai in India,all that is left is the twisted wreckage of the fishing fleet.Dakshina Murti,a fisherman,not only lost three family members,but also lost his boats,his nets,everything.

“Everything's gone,”he says.With no government aid so far,all he has is a wreck.There are several million people who suffered the same experience.Homes have been destroyed,as well as wharves,docks,and sheds.

For now,rebuilding the economy remains a distant concept.

This passage is mainly about _________that happened around the Indian Oceans.

A.the causes of the tsunami                               B.the result after the tsunami

C.the sign of the tsunami                                   D.the warning of the tsunami

According to what the United Nations has said,the number of survivors in need of food aid after the disaster _________.

A.is not more than 5 million                              B.is less than 5 million

C.has reached 5 million                                     D.won't reach 5 million

From the passage we learn that _________ is the most serious problem for the time being.

A.disease                             B.food                  C.water                 D.house

The passage tells us that such a disaster,as tsunami will cause diseases and _________ as well.

A.Dengue fever             B.diarrhea                    C.Malaria              D.mental health problem

With a lot of difficult problems ________, the newly-elected president is having a hard time.

A. settled B. setting

C. to settle      D. being settled

The boy wanted to ride his bicycle in the street, but his mother told him _______.

A. not to B. not to do

C. not do it     D. do not do

It’s the place where smart people make smart machines work even smarter. But for the people who work in it, Silicon Valley (硅谷) is more than just a high technology hothouse. It’s also in the heart of sunny California, a great place to start a family and raise kids. What could be better?

But something is happening to the children. Up until the age of two they develop normally. Their proud parents watch and smile as they take their first steps and speak their first words. But then everything seems to go backwards. The children become locked into their own small world, unable to communicate at all.

They call it the “curse of Silicon Valley,” but the medical name for the condition is autism（孤獨(dú)癥）. It used to be thought that autism was a mental illness. Now doctors are sure that it is a disease transmitted genetically (遺傳). It seems that the people leading the communications revolution are having children who cannot communicate at all.

But even the parents have trouble communicating. Asperger’s Syndrome (綜合癥) is connected with autism. People who have it are highly intelligent and often brilliant with numbers or systems but have no social skills, which makes Asperger’s sufferers into excellent computer professionals. Unfortunately, many of the children of two Asperger’s parents in Silicon Valley seem to be developing serious autism.

There is little anyone can do. And there is no cure in sight. Some argue that no cure should be found．“It may be that autistics are essentially (本質(zhì)上) different from normal people, but that these differences make them valuable for the evolution (進(jìn)化) of the human race,” says Dr Kirk Wilhelm of the University of California．“To remove the genes (基因) for autism could be terrible.

It seems that the children of Silicon Valley are paying the price of genius.

A person who has autism usually _____.

       A．has difficulty in speaking       B．loses communication skills

       C．has difficulty in working D．hates people around

Which of the following best explains “curse of Silicon Valley”?

       A．The children are brought up in Silicon Valley.

       B．Autism is just a result of working in Silicon Valley.

       C．The children suffer from autism due to their parents in Silicon Valley.

       D．Autism makes the children in Silicon Valley unable to communicate.

Some people think that no cure of autism should be found because ______.

       A．a(chǎn)utism cannot be cured    B．a(chǎn)utism isn’t a disease

       C．harm will be done to the children   D．a(chǎn)utism is necessary in some way

What does the writer seem to feel about the children of Silicon Valley?

       A．It’s a pity that they cannot have a normal life.

       B．They are the pride of the human race.

       C．They are sure to have a bright future.

       D．It’s likely that they will have a normal life.

Beauty has always been regarded as something admirable. Almost everyone thinks attractive people are happier and healthier, have better marriages and have more respectable jobs. Personal consultants (顧問(wèn)) give them better advice for finding jobs. Even judges are softer on attractive persons. But in the executive circle (政界), beauty can become a liability.

While attractiveness is a positive thing for a man’s rise, it is harmful to a woman. Handsome male executives were considered as having more honesty than plainer men; effort and ability were thought to be the reasons for their success. Attractive female executives were considered to have less honesty than unattractive ones; their success was attributed not to ability but to factors such as luck. All unattractive women executives were thought to have more honesty and to be more capable than the attractive female executives.

Why are attractive woman not thought to be able? An attractive woman is thought to be more feminine (女性的) and an attractive man more masculine (男性的) than the less attractive ones. Thus, an attractive woman has an advantage in traditionally female jobs, but an attractive woman in a traditionally masculine position appears to lack the "masculine" qualities required．

This is true even in politics. Anne Bowman recently published a study on the effects of attractiveness on political candidates (候選人). She asked 125 undergraduate students to rank two groups of photographs, one of men and one of women in order of attractiveness. The students were told the photographs were of candidates for political offices. They were asked lo rank them again, in the order they would vote for them.

The results showed that attractive males completely defeated unattractive men, but the woman who had been ranked most attractive always received the fewest votes.

In traditionally female jobs, attractiveness _____.

       A．strengthens the feminine qualities required

       B．makes women look more honest and capable

       C．is of great importance to women

       D．often enables women to succeed quickly

Bowman’s experiment shows that when it comes to politics, attractiveness _____.

       A．turns out to be an obstacle to men      

       B．a(chǎn)ffects men and women alike

       C．has as little effect on men as on women 

       D． is more of an obstacle than a benefit to women

It can be inferred from the passage that people's views on beauty are often _____.

       A．practical          B．old-fashioned  

       C．prejudiced (偏見(jiàn)的)       D．serious

The author writes this passage to _____.

       A．discuss the negative aspects of being attractive

       B．give advice to job-seekers who are attractive

       C．demand equal rights for women

       D．emphasize the importance of appearance

I tried to call on you last week but your dog simply ____ not let me come through the gate.

A. could     B. would     C. might     D. should

Every year, ____ graduates take pan in TOEFL for further education abroad.

A. too much    B. several scores    C. many a   D. scores of

If you are able to talk to a friend over the telephone, you feel that you are close _____ the actual distance is not shortened.

A. even if       B. so long as      C.if           D. as

A love marriage, however, does not necessarily ____ much sharing of interests and responsibilities.

A. take over   B. result in   C. hold on    D. keep to

--- What are you going to do next?

--- To write a science story about outer space ___ by Science and Technology Press.

A. published     B. being published

C. to be published    D. publishing