Do dogs understand us?
Be careful what you say around your dog. It might understand more than you think.
A border collie named Rico recognizes the names of about 200 objects, say researchers in Germany. The dog also appears to be able to learn new words as easily as a 3-year-old child. Its word-learning skills are as good as those of a parrot or chimpanzee(黑猩猩).
In one experiment, the researchers took all 200 items that Rico is supposed to know and divided the into 20groups of 10 objects. Then the owner told the dog to go and fetch one of the items and bring it back. In four tests,Rico got 37 out of 40 commands right. As the dog couldn't see anyone to get clues, the scientists believe Rico must understand the meanings of certain words.
In another experiment, the scientists took one toy that Rico had never seen before and put it in a roomwith seven toys whose names the dog already knew. The owner then told Rico to fetch the object, using a word the dog had never heard before.
The correct object was chosen in seven out of l0 tests, suggesting that the dog had worked out the answer by process of elimination(排除法). A month later, Rico remembered half of the new names, which is even more impressive.
Rico is thought to be smarter than the average dog. For one thing, Rico is a border collie, a breed (种)known for its mental abilities. In addition, the 9-year-old dog has been trained to fetch toys by their names since the age of nine months.
It's hard to know if all dogs understand at least some of the words we say. Even if they do, they can't talk back. Still, it wouldn't hurt to sweet-talk your dog every now and then. You might just get a big, wet kiss in return!
60. From paragraph 2 we know that __ .
A. animals are as clever as human beings
B. dogs are smarter than parrots and chimpanzees
C. chimpanzees have very good word-learning skills
D. dogs have similar 'learning abilities as 3-year-old children
61. Both experiments show that .
A. Rico is smart enough to get all commands right
B. Rico can recognize different things including toys
C. Rico has developed the ability of learning mathematics
D. Rico won't forget the names of objects once recognizing them
62. Which of the following statements is true?
A. The purpose of the experiments is to show the border collie's mental abilities.
B. Rico has a better memory partly because of its proper early training.
C. The border collie is world-famous for recognizing objects.
D. Rico is born to understand its owner's commands.
63. What does the writer want to tell us?
A. To train your dog. B. To talk to your dog.
C. To be friendly to your dog. D. To be careful with your dog.
Your best friend is possibly the most important person in your life. But sometimes friendship’s road is not always smooth, or it’s a total dead end. What do you do when this happens?
Scenario(设想) 1: Drifting Apart(渐行渐远)
You’ve found that your friend no longer wants to jog (慢跑)with you. She’d rather hit the chat rooms, or she’s become crazy about hanging with her new interest.
It’s a bummer when old friends start having less in common. But it might still be worth trying to get into your friend’s new interest, trying something new on your own, or meet some new folks who like doing the things you enjoy. Another thing to try is talking to your friend about it- in a non-this-is-your-fault(过错) way. The goal is telling how you feel, not “winning”.
Scenario 2: Fights
“Yes, he is.” “No, he isn’t.” the argument could continue forever.
No matter how sure you are that you’re right, friendship is based on RESPECT. Since you and your friend aren’t clones(克隆), you will disagree sometimes! Is it worth fighting over? If it is trivial(无价值的), why not give it up? Agree to disagree(保留不同意见) and get on well with life. Even if you’ll never agree, try to see the other person’s viewpoint. At least honor his right to have his own opinions. Never get physical. Violence can make a small problem into a disaster.
Scenario 3: End of the Road
Is the friendship over? If you are not the one ending it, it feels as if a knife cut your heart into pieces. But the thing is that you can’t force someone to be your friend. Give yourself time. But don’t freeze in a looking-back, holding pattern(模式). Be open to new friendship. You never know when the “best friend forever” will come along.
The underlined word “bummer” in the third paragraph can be replaced by “________ thing”.
| A．normal | B．common |
| C．unpleased | D．guilty（负疚的） |
You are advised not ______ when your friend reduced communication with you.
| A．develop the same interest as our friend does |
| B．blame（责怪） your friend for not being as friendly to you as before |
| C．give in to the friend who has hurt your feeling deeply |
| D．stick to the friendship that was built up in the past |
In the writer’s opinion, showing disagreement ______________.
| A．will surely lead to the end of a long friendship |
| B．shows that you don’t respect your friend |
| C．is natural and normal behavior of human being |
| D．means you have nothing in common with your friend. |
The purpose of the passage is to teach you ________________.
| A．how to mend a broken friendship |
| B．how to keep a long friendship |
| C．what to do when a friendship changes |
| D．what to do to win new friends |
“Earthquake!” The word flashed in my brain. A roaring sound filled my ears. I tried to hide beneath my desk. The desk did a wild tap dance, slipping and sliding towards the center of the room. I twisted(扭曲) my body and grabbed at the windowsill(窗沿) behind me, somehow kicking free of my dancing chair. I tried to stand. My legs skated away as if on a bucking escalator(弯曲的自动扶梯).
My fingers shook, grasped and held the windowsill tightly. Somewhere through the roar sounded the terrified scream of some wounded animals. I looked behind me and tried to steady my gaze on the other kids but the scene was a dizzy nightmare. Some of the class were sitting in the middle of the room, surrounded by chairs and desks. One girl was screaming. A boy was trying to move across the floor to the door in a crazy overarm crawl(肩上爬行).
I cried aloud, “I’m going to die. I’m going to die. Save me, I’m not ready to die, I’m not ready!”
I moved forward on my knees and pressed my face against my clenched fingers(握紧拳头). Suddenly I realized that the rocking had stopped. Perhaps I wasn’t going to die.The roaring sound was made by ____________________.
| A．a wounded animal | B．people screaming |
| C．children running | D．an earthquake |
When the writer clenches his fingers he is ___________________.
| A．afraid | B．angry |
| C．injured | D．impatient |
Paragraph 2 describes the ________________________.
| A．injuries suffered by the writer |
| B．effects of a bad nightmare |
| C．disorder in the classroom |
| D．the writer’s fear of death |
At the end of the passage there is a feeling of ___________________.
| A．fear | B．hope |
| C．sorrow | D．excitement |
Daniel Olin was 11 years old when his parents moved to Canada. He liked his new school and made friends there, but then things at home started to change. His mum and dad began to argue and the arguments got worse and worse until one day, Daniel's mum left. With his father working long hours, Daniel felt very lonely and very unhappy. He wanted to escape, to run away. And that’s what he did.
Very early one terribly cold morning when the snow was deep on the ground, he packed a bag with some clothes, some chocolate and a map of Canada and set off to a forest. He ran and ran until he could hardly breathe.
His feet were heavy with the snow but he still walked on through deep snow, not even watching where he was going.
Then, disaster struck. A rock hidden by the deep snow caught his feet and Daniel fell to the ground. He had broken the bone. He was very cold and was starting to feel tired, but he knew that if he fell asleep in the snow, he would certainly die from the cold.
A tree shook ahead. From within the branches(树枝), a pair of yellow eyes watched Daniel. The puma (美洲狮) had been following him. A puma is a large wild cat with claws that could tear Daniel into pieces. But instead of moving in for the kill, the puma walked up to Daniel and lay across his chest, arms and legs. Daniel was too frightened to move, but soon the warmth of the animal reached Daniel and he began to feel better. From time to time, the puma pressed his muzzle (鼻) against Daniel and rocked his head gently. Clearly, the puma knew that Daniel must not fall asleep. This animal should have been a real danger to Daniel and yet the boy began to feel safe. They remained like that for several hours until Daniel and the puma heard voices.
Daniel ran away from home because ______.
| A．he had a big argument with his father |
| B．he wanted to learn to be independent |
| C．he didn’t get enough care from his parents |
| D．his parents were always arguing at home |
Why didn’t Daniel notice the rock that caused him to fall?
| A．Because it was getting dark. |
| B．Because the rock was hidden by snow. |
| C．Because he was frightened by a puma. |
| D．Because he was too sad to notice it. |
Why did the puma press its muzzle against Dan and rock his head gently from time to time?
| A．To keep Daniel warm. | B．To play with Daniel. |
| C．To kill Daniel. | D．To keep Daniel awake. |
What is the best title for the story?
| A．Puma in Danger | B．A Caring Puma |
| C．A Boy in Need | D．A Homeless Boy |
“You have cancer” are the three words you never want to hear. Unfortunately, over 5, 000 people in North America do hear those words--every single day. Even worse, cancer has become the second leading cause of death for Americans. America’s health practitioner (从业人员), David Brownstein, M. D., has spent much of his medical career studying cancer, and learning the best ways to avoid becoming its victim.
And Dr. Brownstein does not shy away from (回避) the hard truth. Statistics demonstrate we are not winning the war on cancer. Far from it. In fact, cancer death rates have remained nearly unchanged over the last 80 years. Plus, traditional cancer treatments have been a terrible failure. Because the only big winner in the cancer treatment story to date has been the cancer industry’s multibillion-dollar profits, Dr. Brownstein has just released a free video documentary revealing some of his startling (令人吃惊的) findings.
In this video, you’ll discover five specific signs that you will be diagnosed (诊断) with cancer during your lifetime. Even more important, you’ll see:
*Seven simple but smart steps to prevent cancer from taking over your body.
*How to help your body naturally kill cancer cells.
*Easiest ways to avoid known cancer-causing factors.
*The little-known relationship between iodine (碘) and cancer.
*And much, much more…
According to Dr. Brownstein, nearly all of us have cancer cells in our bodies at various times during our lives. The trick is to avoid letting those cells increase and defeat the body’s natural defenses.
The good news is that you and your loved ones do not need to become cancer victims. With the simple methods revealed in Dr. Brownstein’s eye-opening video, you can take steps to prevent this deadly disease.
Newsman Health managed to bring it directly to you free of charge. Click here to start watching this powerful video about preventing cancer immediately. With so many people dying needlessly, there’s no time to waste.We can learn from Paragraph 1 that ________.
| A．David Brownstein makes no progress in preventing cancer |
| B．cancer is the leading cause of death for Americans |
| C．David Brownstein himself is suffering from cancer |
| D．cancer victims are increasing in North America |
What do we know about cancer in America?
| A．Cancer death rates are dropping. |
| B．Cancer industry is very profitable. |
| C．Traditional cancer treatments are effective. |
| D．Cancer medicine was invented 80 years ago. |
What does the underlined part “the hard truth” refer to in Paragraph 2?
| A．David Brownstein’s video is unpopular. |
| B．It needs another 80 years to cure cancer. |
| C．People don’t know cancer death rates. |
| D．People’s inability to defeat cancer. |
What’s the purpose of the passage?
| A．To recommend a video. |
| B．To introduce some doctors. |
| C．To teach us how to make a video. |
| D．To give us some tips on dealing with cancer. |
Mosquitoes(蚊子) ruin countless American picnics every year, but around the world, this bloodsucking beast isn’t just annoying--it causes a health problem. More than a million people die from the spread of mosquito-borne diseases like malaria and yellow fever each year. Attempts to control populations via insecticides like DDT have had ruinous side effects for nature and human health. Neurobiologist Leslie B. Vosshall has a different solution for stopping the insects and the spread of disease. “I believe the key to controlling mosquito behavior is to understand better how they sense us,” she says.
At their Rockefeller University lab, Vosshall and her colleagues are studying the chemical sensory processes by which mosquitoes choose hosts. How do they sense heat, humidity, carbon dioxide, and body odor(气味)? What makes some people more attractive to a mosquito than others? It takes blood and sweat to find out. To study how mosquitoes assess body odor, Vosshall and her teammates might wear stockings on their arms and keep from showering for 24 hours to create sample smells, Then comes the hard part. They insert their arms into the insects’ hidden home to study how mosquitoes land, bite, and feed and then they document how this changes. This can mean getting anywhere from one bite to 400, depending on the experiment. Studying male mosquitoes is more pleasant. Since they don’t feed on blood, the lab tests their sense of smell using honey.
Vosshall and her team have also begun to study how genetics contribute to mosquitoes’ choice of a host. She’s even created a breed that is unable to sense carbon dioxide, an important trigger for the insects. “By using genetics to make mutant(变异的) mosquitoes, we can document exactly how and why mosquitoes hunt humans,” Vosshall says.
Once Vosshall figures out what makes mosquitoes flock to us, she can get to work on making them leave us alone. Many of her lab’s proposed solutions sound simple enough, including bracelets(手镯) that carry long-lasting repellants(驱虫剂) or traps that can reduce populations, but the breakthroughs, when they come, may save millions of lives in the developing world—and a lot of itching everywhere else.Vosshall and her colleagues are mainly studying mosquitoes’ ______.
| A．appearance | B．size |
| C．behavior | D．change |
By saying the underlined part “Then comes the hard part”, the author probably means that______.
| A．the insects smell terrible |
| B．the experiment will last long |
| C．The researchers will probably suffer |
| D．the researchers have to study lots of documents. |
Why is it less challenging to study male mosquitoes?
| A．They are not bloodsuckers. |
| B．They are afraid of stockings. |
| C．They have a poor sense of smell. |
| D．They are protective of their hosts. |
It can be inferred from the last paragraph that Vosshall’s research______.
| A．looks very promising |
| B．has saved millions of lives |
| C．is facing great difficulties |
| D．is quite simple to carry out. |
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