B

In September 2008 the World Health Organization issued a statement warning smokers that there was no evidence to back up claims that e-cigarettes could help them quit. So what do we know about them?

E-cigarettes were invented by Hon Lik of electronics company Ruyan in Beijing, China. Ruyan sold its first electronic cigarette in May 2004, and e-cigarettes have been growing in popularity ever since. Accurate figures are hard to come by, but Ruyan — the world’s biggest manufacturer — claims to have sold over 300,000 in 2008. Smart Smokers, one company which sells Ruyan’s cigarettes in the UK, says sales are rising exponentially. In the US, hit TV show The Doctors featured the e-cigarette in the top 10 health trends of 2008. In a world where smoking is increasingly socially unacceptable, the e-cigarette looks like a success story in the making.

The device itself is pretty simple. It resembles a normal cigarette in shape and size but instead of containing cured tobacco it is mostly full of battery and an LED. The disposable filter holds a cartridge containing nicotine dissolved in propylene glycol(丙二醇), the liquid that is vaporized in nightclub smoke machines. When you take a drag, a pressure sensor switches on an electric heating coil that vaporizes the PG and releases the “smoke”. The strongest cartridge contains about the same amount of nicotine as a regular?strength cigarette, but lasts for about 300 puffs in comparison with a regular cigarette that lasts for about 15. The cartridges don’t “burn down” but deliver a puff whenever you choose to take one. Cartridges come in high, medium, low and zero-nicotine strength and cost around $1. 50 each.

However, on a per puff basis, the strongest cartridge only delivers around one-third the amount of nicotine delivered by a puff on a normal cigarette, says Murray Laugesen, a public health researcher who campaigned against tobacco smoking in New Zealand and is now studying the impact of smoking e-cigarettes.

36. What’s the meaning of the underlined words in the first paragraph?

A. Hold back.    B. Take back.     C. Support.    D. Explain.

37. We can know from the passage that        .

A. “Smart Smokers” are those smokers who smoke

B. “The Doctors” are the doctors who help quit smoking

C. “The Doctors” is a popular TV programme

D. “Smart Smokers” are people good at selling e-cigarettes

38. What can we infer from the second paragraph?

A. E-cigarettes are more and more popular in the world.

B. E-cigarettes were first made in 2004.

C. It was awarded the best health trend of 2008.

D. A hit TV show featured the e-cigarette.

39. The device itself        .

A. is similar to a normal cigarette but smaller in size

B. contains some cured tobacco

C. has a comparatively large battery and an LED

D. could last up to 30 times as many puffs than a normal cigarette

40. What will the passage discuss next?

A. The Advantages of the e-cigarette.

B. The impact of smoking e-cigarettes.

C. How to make the device last more puffs.

D. How to let e-cigarette smokers take in more.

IV. 语法填空(共10小题;每小题1. 5分，满分15分)

阅读下面短文，按照句子结构的语法性和上下文连贯的要求，在空格处填入一个适当的词或使用括号中词语的正确形式填空，并将答案填写在答题卡标号为16—25的相应位置上。

There is an old Chinese tale about a woman whose only son died. She went to the holy man and said, “What magical things do you have  41  (bring) my son back to life?”

The holy man said to her, “Fetch me a mustard(芥菜) seed  42  a home that has never known sorrow. I will use it to drive  43  sorrow out of your life. ” The woman went off at once in search of that magical mustard seed.

She went first to a splendid house,  44  (knock)at the door and said, “I am looking  45  a home that has never known sorrow. Is this such a place?” The family told her, “You’ve certainly come to the wrong place. ” And they began to describe all the tragic things  46  had happened to them.

The woman said to 47  , “Who is better able to help these poor,  48  (fortune) people than me, as I have had misfortune of my own?” She stayed to comfort them, and then went on in search of a home that had never known sorrow. But  49  she turned, in palaces or huts，she found one tale after  50  of sadness and misfortune. She became so busy helping others to remove sadness that finally she forgot about her own sorrow.

V.课文填空(共10小题;每小题1分，满分10分)

51. Last year a journalist had been ______by a well-known magazine to write an article on the president's palace in a new African republic.

52. The journalist immediately set out to ______ these important facts, but the took a long time to send them.  Meanwhile, the editor was getting ______, for the magazine would soon go to press.

53. Diamond necklaces and rings had been beautifully______ on a background of black velvet.

54. Just as it was leaving, Mr. Taylor rushed out and ran after it throwing ashtrays and vases, but it was impossible to stop the thieves. They had got away with thousands of pounds ______ of diamonds.

55. When they got home, Jane cooked their dinner in the microwave oven and without ______ it, cooked her fiancé's wallet as well.

56. “So long as there's something to ______, we will give people their money back,” said a spokeswoman for the Bank.

57. …but each year, the dogs are still sent out into the snow ______ a traveller is in difficulty.

58. The monks prefer winter to summer for they have more ______. The dogs have greater freedom, too, for they are allowed to ______ outside their enclosure.