Some spiders hunt on the ground, others build webs to trap their food, but the grass water spider catches its prey by running along the surface of the water.
This special water spider lives on the grassy banks of streams where mosquitoes, damsel flies and other insects come to feed and breed.
Although it is one of the largest spiders in New Zealand, it has an unusual ability. It doesn’t disturb the water as it waits for its meal, and there is barely a ripple(波纹) when it skims(掠过) across the surface at lightning speed to catch its prey.
Grass water spiders deal swiftly with larger insects like damsel flies by pulling their heads under the water and holding them there until they drown.
After a meal, the grass water spider spends up to half an hour grooming(修饰) itself. It wipes its eight eyes, brushes its antennae(触角), and takes special care to clean the hairs on its body.
It is the hairs that trap tiny bubbles(泡沫) of air so that the spider can run down a blade(叶片) of grass and stay underwater for up to an hour when it is frightened. The hairs also keep the spider dry, even underwater.
It is only when the female spider is caring for the young that she does not hunt on the water. After mating, she produces a large egg sac(囊), which she carries around for five weeks. Once the eggs start to hatch, she attaches the sac to some blades of grass or a thistle. She then tears the sac open and releases the tiny spiders into the nursery web.
1. How does the grass water spider kill its prey?
A. in a web B. by drowning C. by poisoning D. with its antennae
2. the writer describes the special spider as “special” because _______.
A. it walks on water B. it has eight eyes
C. of its hairy appearance D. of the way it produces its young
3. The passage tells us that the spider ______.
A. feeds grass and thistles to its young.
B. lives on blades of grass under the water
C. lives in the grass on the banks of streams
D. eats a meal once every five weeks
4. The purpose of the passage is to _______.
A. convince readers that spiders are dangerous
B. indicate that the grass water spider is endangered
C. list all of the spiders that can be found in New Zealand
D. describe the characteristics of the grass water spider
A
While reading a story on 20-somethings complaining about how the economy is ruining their life plans, I couldn't help but think the 20-somethings sound like a bunch of spoiled children who grow up expecting everything to be easy for them. As a 20-something myself, I certainly share their disappointment –my husband and I probably won't be able to buy a house until we're in our forties, and we two are burdened by student loans. But why should it be different? Being young people in America, shouldn't they take up all of the challenges and opportunities that this country offers?
Consider some of these views shared in the story: Jennifer, 29, owner of a two-bedroom apartment with her husband, worries that she won't be able to have children for at least a decade because they can't afford to buy a house yet.
I read that, and I thought what planet she is living on where you need to own a house in order to have kids? Has she ever visited a developing country, or even downtown areas in this one? Home ownership is a luxury（奢华）, not a fertility requirement.
A 26-year-old man in the story is disappointed that he can't afford to get a Ph. D. in literature. Well, that sounds a bit like expressing disappointment that no one will pay you to write poetry on the beach in Thailand for five years.
Yes, it's sad that these young people feel so lost. But I think the problem is their extremely high expectations, not economic reality. Beth Kobliner, author of Get a Financial Life: Personal Finance in Your Twenties and Thirties, says that she thinks people's expectations grow up when their wealth appears to be increasing. Their parents probably see their home values rise along with their investments. "So we have people who have grown up in an environment where people have great expectations of what living well means," says Kobliner.
This recession（经济衰退） will certainly play a role in forcing those expectations into more realistic group. In the meantime, it seems much better for our mental health to focus on being grateful—for our one-bedroom apartments, for living in modern cities, or perhaps just for being able to eat three meals a day—than on longing for some kind of luxurious life.In the passage, the writer mainly talked about _____.
| A．young people’s high expectations result in their disappointment |
| B．the 20-somethings' high expectations and ambitions |
| C．the poor living conditions of the 20-somethings |
| D．the necessity of receiving high education |
In the writer’s opinion, what is the reason for young people’s dissatisfaction?
| A．The declining economy. |
| B．Their high expectations. |
| C．Poor living conditions. |
| D．Their constant failure. |
What are some young people complaining about?
| A．They are complaining their aims are hard to achieve. |
| B．They are complaining their parents can’t give them a good education. |
| C．They are complaining they can’t afford to travel abroad. |
| D．They are complaining poor economic condition is ruining their life. |
How can we describe the writer?
| A．Lost and disappointed. | B．Passive and stressed. |
| C．Determined and helpful. | D．Positive and grateful. |
The passage is developed mainly by ________.
| A．facts and descriptions |
| B．comparison and persuasion |
| C．examples and explanation |
| D．figures and conclusion |
E
It was a warm April day when a big fat envelope came in the mail from the only college I had ever imagined attending. I tore open the packet. My eyes were fixed on the word “congratulations. ”I don’t remember ever smiling so wide.
Then I looked at my financial package.
The cost of Dream School’s tuition , room and board was around $ 40,000- an impossible sum! How could I afford to attend? What good reasons did I have to go there when three other fine colleges were offering me free tuition? My other choices were good, solid schools even if they weren’t as famous as my first choice.
In my mind, attending my dream university would be the only way to realize my dream of becoming a world-class writer. My parents understood how I felt. They told me that even though it would be a financial problem, I could go wherever I would be happiest. But as I was always careful with money, I wasn’t sure what to do.
One of the schools that offered me a full ride had an informational dinner one night in the spring. Considering my parents’ financial difficulties, I decided to drive the 45 minutes and attend. At first, all I had planned to do was smile politely, eat free food, listen quietly. But I surprised myself.
At dinner the president of the university talked about the wonderful activities on campus including guest lectures and social gatherings. He also made it perfectly clear that free food would be offered at all future events. He continued with explanations of professors, class sizes, activities, and sporting events on campus. As he spoke, I began to realize that this school, though not as good as my first choice, might be the best one for me. It seemed small yet with many great programs. It seemed challenging yet caring.
As the president ended his speech, we clapped politely and pushed back our chairs. As I walked out that door, a feeling of comfort washed over me. Looking at the campus that night, I realized that I would be spending the next four years right there.
In all honesty, my university is not as well-known as my “dream”university. However, it turned out to be the right choice of schools for me.What can we learn from the first paragragh?
| A．The writer only applied to one college. |
| B．The writer was admitted to his dream college. |
| C．The writer decided to attend his dream college. |
| D．The writer was uncertain which school to go to. |
We can learn from the passage that the writer was_________.
| A．honest | B．mean | C．smart | D．selfish |
The college chosen by the writer has the following advantages except that____________.
| A．it would charge me nothing for tuition |
| B．it is as famous as his first choice |
| C．there are all kinds of wonderful activities. |
| D．it would offer free meals at all events |
What message does the author want to convey?
| A．You should consider comfort in your choice of schools. |
| B．You should try your best to attend your dream school. |
| C．Your choice of schools should be based on their fame. |
| D．Your second-choice college may actually by your best fit. |
D
She almost did not run. Christine Williams admits that now. She could barely put one foot after another following the wake(守灵) for her sister, who had died in an automobile accident. But she did run. With the cheers of friends and strangers reaching her heart, Williams set a C.W. Post record in Boston. Now she will run again, in the national Division II cross-country championships in Evansville, Ind. She wanted to be sure she was doing the right thing by running. She was the middle of three sisters, between Kerry, who is 25, and Jennifer, who was 18.
Just going through any motions was hard enough, but Christine Williams wanted to know if she should put on her uniform and her shoes and run through the woods on an autumn afternoon, in the awful gaping time between her sister’s wake and her funeral. “I kind of got upset beforehand.” Williams admitted. Not a chatterbox under normal conditions, she now holds herself the best way she can, the fewer words the better. She almost walked away from the start line. But her friend Angela Toscano, who had flown up to Boston with her, directly from the wake, was standing near the line and talked her through it. “She said my sister would have wanted me to run.” Christine said. And that was enough to get her started.
The accident happened just after midnight on Nov, 4. Four young women were driving in an unfamiliar area of Long Island in Eastport, N.Y., when one of them apparently ran a yield sign, and the car was hit by another vehicle. Heather Brownrigg and Jennifer Williams died, and their friends April Brown and Kaci Moran were treated at a hospital and released.
The crash made the papers. April Brown was charged with drunken driving and driving without a license.
The wake began on Nov. 6. The next day Christine was to run with the Post cross-country team at the regional meet. Rich Degnan, the Post coach,"and Post officials offered a car service and tickets on the last flight-to Boston for Christine and Toscano. When they arrived at the hotel, the entire team was waiting up for her.
Everybody knew about it at the regional meet. Degnan had to arrange for the flexibility of an alternate, just in case Christine could not go. Several times during the race, Christine felt she could not continue. But then she heard her friends and all those other people, those strangers from other colleges, calling her name. She thought about Jennifer. And she ran. She finished fourth in 22 minutes 58 seconds, breaking the Post record for the 6-kilometer distance by 15 seconds. And although the Post team didn’t qualify for the nationals, Christine did.What does the underlined sentence in paragragh 2 “Not a chatterbox under normal conditions” mean?
| A．She is a person of few words noramlly. |
| B．She likes chatting under normal conditions. |
| C．She isn’t under normal conditions. |
| D．She doesn’t like running while chatting. |
Christine’s Post team did the following for her EXCEPT ____________.
| A．offering car service and flight tickets to Boston. |
| B．arranging for a substitute for her beforehand. |
| C．cheering for her during the race. |
| D．taking care of her food and uniforms. |
Which of the following is TRUE according to the passage?
| A．Christine flew to Boston after her sister’s funeral. |
| B．Christine’s two sisters were killed in the accident. |
| C．Christine’s athletic performance stood out in the race. |
| D．Christine broke the Post record in national meet in Boston. |
【原创】Put the sentence in the right order.
a. Angela Toscano flew to Boston.
b. Christine run at the regional meet.
c. Christine broke the record.
d. Four young women were driving in an unfamiliar area of Long Island.
e. the Post team flew to Boston.
| A．d e a, b c | B．b a d c e, |
| C．e c d a, b | D．a, b c e d |
C
As every computer owner knows, when their machines run a complex program they get pretty hot. In fact, cooling the processors can be expensive, especially when you're dealing with huge banks of computer servers. But what if that energy could heat private homes? A Dutch energy firm aims to do just that.
Data centers of large Internet firms, such as Google, Apple, Microsoft and others, contain thousands of computer servers. As they process information they generate enormous amounts of heat requiring cooling towers that dissipate it into the atmosphere.
A Dutch firm thinks paying for electricity to run the servers and then paying again to cool them is a waste of energy.
Boaz Leupe, CEO of the start-up Nerdalize, says it’s actually quite simple.
"We don't actually have to build the data center, which saves a lot of costs in infrastructure and we don't have the cooling overhead, plus that you have the environmental benefit, that the kilowatt hour you are using is used twice, once to heat the home and once to compute the clients task without the cooling overhead," says Leupe.
The company developed what it calls an e-Radiator, a computer server that also works as an alternative heating source. Leupe says that five Dutch homeowners are experimentally using them in their homes.
“We reimburse the electricity the server uses, and that we can do because of the computer clients on the other side, and, in that way, home owners actually get heating for free, and computer users don't have to pay for the overhead of the data center,” says Leupe.
One of the participants in the year-long experiment, Jan Visser, says the amount of heat produced by e-Radiator depends on the work being done by the server’s processors so it cannot be used as the primary source. But he is ready to try it.
“If it gives good enough warmth, you can use less of your existing central heating, and there is the chance for a home owner to pay less bills.”
Nerdalize says e-Radiators generate temperature of up to 55 degrees Celsius and could save up to $440 in annual heating costs.Which one is true according to the passage？
| A．It is expensive to deal with huge banks of computer servers. |
| B．A Dutch energy firm attempted to heat private homes. |
| C．Computer servers generate large quantities of heat. |
| D．The cooling tower is a waste of energy. |
The underlined phrase “overhead” in the third paragraph probably means______.
| A．daily cost | B．fixture |
| C．forehead | D．method |
What is NOT true about e-Radiator according to the passage?
| A．It is a computer server used as an alternative heating source. |
| B．It has been launched onto the market. |
| C．It is environmentally friendly. |
| D．It can save users’ money. |
Which of the following can be the best title for the passage ?
| A．A New Kind of Data Servers |
| B．Data Servers Could Heat Private Homes |
| C．How to Heat the Private Homes with Computers |
| D．An Alternative Heating Source |
B
American researchers found females are the more talkative sex because of a special “language protein(蛋白质)” in the brain.
The study, conducted by neuroscientists (神经学家)and psychologist from the University of Maryland, concluded that women talked more because they had more of the Foxp2 protein. The research, published in the Journal of Neuroscience, found that higher levels were found among humans that were women but in rats that were males. Their findings came after it was previously claimed that ladies speak about 20,000 words a day – over 13,000 more than men. “This study is one of the first to report a sex difference in the expression of a language-associated protein in humans or animals,” said Prof Margaret McCarthy, who led the study. In their study, the researchers attempted to determine what might make male rats more vocal than their female friends.
They separated four-day-old rats from their mothers and then counted the number of times they cried out in the “ultrasonic range”, the frequencies higher than humans can hear, over five minutes. While both sexes called out hundreds of cries, the males called out twice as often, they found. But when the pups were returned to their mother’s cage, she fussed over her sons first. Tests conducted on the parts of the brain known to be associated with vocalcalls showed the male pups have up to twice as much Foxp2 protein as the females. The researchers then increased the production in the brains of female pups and reduced it in males. This led to the female rats crying out more often and their mothers showing more interest to them. In contrast, males became less “talkative”.
The researchers then tested samples from ten children, aged between three and five, which showed that females had up to 30 per cent more of the Foxp2 protein than males, in a brain area key to language in humans.
“Based on our observations, we assume higher levels of Foxp2 in girls and higher levels of Foxp2 in male rats is an indication that Foxp2 protein levels are associated with the more communicative sex,” said Prof McCarthy. “Our results imply Foxp2 as a component of the neurobiological basis of sex differences in vocal communication in mammals. “What can be inferred from the second paragraph？
| A．women always speak more words than men. |
| B．men and male rats have low levels of language protein. |
| C．McCarthy isn’t the first to find females more talkative |
| D．women and male rats have similar levels of Foxp2. |
What does the underlined phrase “fussed over” in the third paragraph mean?
| A．relyed on | B．related to |
| C．put pressure on | D．paid attention to |
What’s the purpose of the experiments on rats carried out by the researchers?
| A．To test which part of the brain is key to language in rats and humans. |
| B．To discover the association between Foxp2 protein and vocal communication. |
| C．To determine the reason why female rats are more talkative than male rats. |
| D．To prove the levels of Foxp2 protein in humans and rats are different. |
Which of the following can be the best title for the passage ?
| A．Why women are the talkative sex |
| B．Tests on humans and rats |
| C．Sex differences in Foxp2 protein |
| D．Foxp2 protein determines oral ability |
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