The idea for a science experiment can come from an unusual place. After watching a YouTube video of a dancing bird named Snowball, a scientist in California decided to study the ability of animals to keep the beat.
Bird lovers have long claimed that their pets have rhythm, and there are many videos of dancing birds online. Until now, scientists have suspected that humans are the only animals that can accurately keep rhythm with music.
Thanks to Snowball, that scientific opinion is changing. Snowball is a cockatoo, a kind of parrot, and his favorite song is "Everybody" by the Backstreet Boys. When he hears the song, he moves his feet and rocks his body with the tempo, or pace of the music, as though he is the only bird member of the boy band.
Aniruddh Patel is a neuroscientist, or a scientist who studies how the brain and the nervous system contribute to learning, seeing and other mental abilities. He works at the Neurosciences Institute in San Diego. After seeing Snowball's dance online, Patel visited the cockatoo at the bird rescue facility he's called home for two years. The scientist played "Everybody" for Snowball and also played versions of the song that were sped up or slowed down. Sometimes, Snowball danced too fast or too slowly. Often, when there was a change in tempo, Snowball adjusted his dancing to match the rhythm. In other experiments, scientists have observed the same abilities in preschool children.
Patel isn't the only scientist who has studied Snowball's moves. Adena Schachner, who studies psychology at Harvard University, also wanted to know more about the dancing bird. Schachner's team played different musical pieces for Snowball and a parrot named Alex, as well as eight human volunteers. The scientists observed that the birds and the humans kept time to the music with about the same accuracy.
Schachner and her team watched thousands of YouTube videos of different animals moving to music. Not all the animals could dance, however. From watching the videos, the scientists observed that only animals that imitate sounds, including 14 parrot species and Asian elephants, accurately moved in time to music.
63. The underlined words “that scientific opinion” in the third paragraph refers to the theory that ______.
A.birds like Snowball have the ability to keep the beat
B.humans are the only animals that can accurately keep rhythm with music
C.the brain and the nervous system contribute to some mental abilities
D.bird pets can have their special rhythm under human’s instruction
64. From the fourth paragraph we may know that ______.
A.Patel is the only scientist who has studied Snowball’s moves.
B.Snowball is able to adjust his dancing to match the rhythm.
C.Snowball cannot dance to the versions of the song Everybody.
D.it is the brain and the nervous system that control the mental abilities.
65. The idea of studying animals’ ability to keep the beat comes from ______.
A.bird lovers’ discovery
B.humans musical sense
C.the same abilities in children
D.videos of dancing birds
66. According to the scientists, Snowball’s ability to dance to music is probably related to the fact that ______.
A.it is the only bird member of the Backstreet Boys band
B.it has the ability to imitate sounds
C.it is a kind of dancing parrot
D.it has the same abilities as preschool children
China news, Beijing, Feb. 9 – Housing price in China has always aroused heated discussions among property developers and ordinary Chinese. To many property developers and local government officials, housing price in China is still low compared with many developed countries. However, the average housing price in the United States is only 8,000 yuan per square meter, while in China, it is even higher than in the United States. This shows that there are some bubbles(泡沫) in Chinese real estate (房地产) market, the International Finance News reported.
Although the average price of residential houses in the United States, after converted to Renminbi, is about 8,000 yuan per square meter, the houses in US are not sold in terms of building area, as most Chinese property developers do when they sell their houses. If US property developers sell their houses according to the building area, then the housing price will be even lower than 8,000 yuan per square meter. In most big Chinese cities, such as Beijing, Shanghai, and Shenzhen, houses are sold at a price even higher than those in the US.
The high housing sales price in large cities in China proves that Chinese real estate market does have some bubbles. Moreover, Chinese houses can not be compared with houses in US in terms of building quality, environment and supporting facilities. Furthermore, it should be noted that American people’s average income is several dozen times higher than that of Chinese people. How can the Chinese afford to buy a house which is even more expensive than that sold in US?
At the beginning of 2007, Chinese government issued a set of policies that aimed to benefit the public. Now in order to reduce the high housing prices, the government can regulate (控制) the real estate market by raising tax on property industry and controlling the release of loans and lands to property developers. At the same time, the government should allow people to build more houses through various fund-raising channels, such as funds collected from buyers or raised by working units. By applying these multiple means, it is expected that the high housing prices can be lowered.
1．Which of the following does NOT support the idea that the average housing price in China is even higher than in the United States?
A．Chinese houses can not be compared with houses in US in terms of building quality, environment and supporting facilities.
B．American people’s average income is several dozen times higher than that of Chinese people.
C．The houses in US are not sold in terms of building area, as most Chinese property developers do when they sell their houses.
D．There are more people who need houses in China than in the United States.
2．What is the main idea of this passage?
A．The Chinese government should do something to control the housing price.
B．There are some bubbles in Chinese real estate market.
C．The average housing price in China is even higher than in the United States.
D．The Chinese government issued a set of policies that aimed to benefit the public.
3．How many measures are mentioned in the last paragraph in order to reduce the high housing prices?
A．Four B．Three C．Five D．Two
An important factor that plays a part in susceptibility （易受影响） to colds is age．A study done by the University of Michigan School of Public Health indicated the fact that seems to hold true for the general population．Babies are the group suffering most from colds, averaging more than six colds in their first years．Boys have more colds than girls up to age three．After the age of three, girls are more susceptible than boys, and teenage girls average three colds a year to boy's two．
The general frequency of colds continues to decline into adults．Elderly people who are in good health have as few as one or two colds annually．One exception is found among people in their twenties, especially women, who show a rise in cold infections（感染）, because people to this age group are most likely to have young children．Adults who delay having children until their thirties and forties experience the same sudden increase in cold infections．
The study also found that economics （经济状况） plays an important role．As income increases, the frequency at which colds are reported in the family decreases．Families with the lowest income suffer about a third more colds than families at the upper end．Lower income generally forces people to live in closer quarters than those typically occupied by wealthier people, and crowding increases the opportunities for the cold virus to travel from person to person．Low income may also influence diet．The degree to which poor nutrition affects susceptibility to colds is not yet clearly proved, but an inadequate diet is suspected of lowering resistance generally．
1．What factors cause people to catch colds easily?
A．Age and pregnancy．
B．Health and pregnancy．
C．Health and economics．
D．Age and economics．
2．Why does the lowest income lead to the rapid spread of colds?
A．Because poor people can't afford to go to see a doctor．
B．Because balanced diet has definitely affected poor people．
C．Because people with the lowest income have limited living space．
D．Because cold virus don't have opportunities to travel in poor families．
3．How does the study prove that age plays a part in susceptibility to colds?
A．Using comparison． B．Using graphs．
C．Using description． D．Using argument．
4．What can you learn from the passage?
A．Families with the lowest income suffer less colds than rich families．
B．The general frequency of colds are likely to increase among the poor．
C．Women in their twenties are most likely to avoid cold infections．
D．The general frequency of colds continue to rise into the adults．
GUANGZHOU：Young migrant workers(民工)left home alone are more likely to commit crimes，according to a recent survey． Up to 90 percent of migrant workers serving sentences in southern Guangdong province are younger than 26,according to the survey conducted by the human rights research center of Guangzhou University．
“Most young migrant workers who commit crimes were left alone in their hometowns during their childhood，”said Xie Jianshe，deputy director of the research center． The survey polled 72 criminals of the so-called young generation of migrant workers in prisons and found about 80 percent experienced a “lonely childhood,” without parental care.
Xie attributed their crimes to inadequate education from families in their chil- dhood．“They usually don’t receive higher education．Inadequate education and less care from parents greatly harmed them，”Xie said．
Among those polled，up to 76 percent said they went to cities for “better life” right. After quitting school．“Their parents，also working in cities，don’t know how to care for and educate their children，”Xie said． Young migrant workers are usually involved in robbery，gang-related crime，according to the survey．
Up to 81 percent of young criminals are involved in property crimes．The new generation of migrant workers usually refers to those born after 1980 who work In cities．
“Unlike their older counterparts，the flew generation of migrant workers begin working in cities fight after quitting school，without qualified technical training or higher education，”said Wang Chunguang，a researcher with the Chinese Academy of Social Sciences．
Commonly，they have a hard-time integrating into the urban lifestyle and work environment， but ale unwilling to return home，Wang said．
“In terms of work and lifestyle，they should be treated the way young，urban workers are usually treated，”Wang said．
A fair policy for employment，living education and social security will play a key role to help younger migrant workers integrate(融入) better, Wang said．
1．The best title for the paragraph would be________.
A．Young migrant workers B．Crimes out of lonely childhood
C．Leftover children D．A key role of policy
2．What is the message conveyed in the paragraph？
A．The young are more likely to commit crimes．
B．Most young migrant workers live alone．
C．Inadequate education and less parental care do great harm to the young migrant workers．
D．The young migrant workers are hard to integrate with the urban inhabitants．
3．Which section of the newspaper is this paragraph taken from?
A．Social Culture and Arts． B．Science and Nature．
C．Business and Money D．Sports and Entertainment
4．According to the passage，most young migrant workers committing crimes________．
A．had a difficult time
B．were disappointed with their lifestyle
C．were satisfied with their life in the city
D．were lacking in care from their parents
5．In this paragraph the author’s attitude towards the young migrant workers is________.
A．critical B. favorable C．objective D．cold
第四节阅读理解（共20小题。每小题2分，满分40分）
It is well-known that fatigue driving(疲劳驾驶)is very dangerous．A device that stops drivers from falling asleep at the wheel is about to undergo testing at Department of Transport laboratories and could go on sale within 12 months．
The device is a kind of system, which is called Driver Alert，and it aims to reduce deadly road accidents by 20％—40％that are caused by tiredness．Airline pilots can also use it to reduce the 30％ of all pilot-error accidents that are related to fatigue．
Driver Alert is based on a computerized wristband．The device，worn by drivers or pilots，gives out a sound about every four minutes during a car journey．After each sound the driver must respond by squeezing the steering wheel．A sensor in the wristband detects this pressing action and measures the time between the sound and the driver’s response．
Driver’s response time is directly related to tiredness．Usually, a watchful driver would take about 400 milliseconds to respond，but once that falls to more than 500 milliseconds, it suggests that the driver is getting sleepy．
In such cases the device gives out more regular and louder sounds，showing that the driver should open a window or stop for a rest．If the driver’s response continues to slow down，the sounds become more frequent until a nonstop alarm warns that the driver must stop as soon as possible．
The device has been delivered to the department’s laboratories for testing．If these tests, scheduled for six months’ time，are successful，the makers will bring the product to market within about a year．
1．According to the text，Driver Alert ________
A．aims to reduce tiredness-related accidents B．has been on sale for12 months
C．has gone through testing at laboratories D．aims to prevent drivers from sleeping
2．How should a driver respond to the sounds from Driver Alert?
A．By sounding a warning． B．By checking the driving time．
C．By touching the wrist band． D．By pressing the steering wheel．
3．We Can learn from the text that the driver needs to stop for a break when his response time is ________.
A．about 400 milliseconds B．over 4 seconds
C．below 500 milliseconds D．about 4 minutes
4．What’s the main idea of the last paragraph?
A．The device is expected to be marketed in about one year．
B．The device will go through the tests soon．
C．The tests have been scheduled for six months．
D．All the drivers will soon use the Driver Alert．
Say you meet with difficulty, what’s the first thing you do? Call your best friend and ask for help? It turns out that doing this may be better for you than you think. Researchers find that friendship has a big influence on your health, well-being and business.
One study from scientists recently found that older people with a large circle of friends were 22% less likely to die during a 10-year period than those with fewer friends. Other researchers discovered that having a strong social network could improve brain health as we age.
Even more interesting, feeling close to your friends may give you a different view on things. Researchers gathered 34 college students out side and asked them to estimate the steepness(估计陡峭程度) of a hill after climbing it. Those standing with friends gave lower estimates, and the longer the friends had known each other, the less steep the hill appeared.
What is the reason that friends can make obstacles seem less difficult? “People with stronger friendship networks feel that there is someone they can turn to,” said Karen A. Roberto, director of the center of the hospital at Virginia Tech. “Friendship is a valued resource (宝贵的资源).”
It is truly the fact. Friends make your life better. They provide support in hard times. They inspire you to make changes in your life, encourage you to set goals and cheer you on every step of the way until you reach them.
Want to find out more about the power of friendship? Read “Be a Better Friend”, “Make New Friends” and “Keep the Old”.
1. According to the author, if you’ve lost your job you should .
A. turn to your best friend B. ask for advice from your teacher
C. face it bravely by yourself D. ask your parents for help
2. We can learn from the study in Paragraph 2 that .
A. people with a lot of friends can stay away from illnesses
B. people with many friends may enjoy a longer life
C. 22% of the people who have fewer friends have a short life
D. those who have fewer friends may die 10 years earlier.
3. The underlined word “obstacles” in Paragraph 4 probably refers to some thing___________
A. that you are hoping to achieve by a plan
B. that happens to you when you are working
C. that makes it difficult for us to achieve something
D. that you have been trying to do
4. The fifth paragraph was written to tell us that .
A. we should make many friends B. true friendship lives long
C. friend ship has changed us D. friendship should be valued
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