We could all see the Murray Uiver slowly moving back, but now all the water was gone . I couldn’t believe that the Murray had dried up, not one drop of water left.
One morning I went down to the river to try and catch some fish when I saw my boat high and dry (搁浅) on the bank . I rushed down the river and saw all mud—no water . The fish were just lying there, dying . I looked up to see if my friend was there . There was the nest but no eagle（鹰）. I called out to her with my special whistle which I made out of steel.
Suddenly a big shadow came over to me and the eagle landed in her nest and gave her young the food she was out getting while I whistled. But then I suddenly noticed she was getting thinner and had a bit of sheep’s wool in the side of her talon（利爪）. It was deadly quiet by the river bank , except for some sound from my dog. And also I couldn’t see one native animal or bird.
When I walked inside the kitchen. Mum and Dad had sad looks on their faces. “It’s time for us to move ,Son, because the river can no longer provide for（养活）us,” said Dad . I ran out of the kitchen door with tears in my eyes , and down to the river bank, to my favorite spot. I said goodbye to my eagle , crying.
When it was time to go , I saw my eagle fly up into the air with her chicks in her talons , going away to try and find another home ,just like us.
59. The passage is mainly about
A. the author’s travel away from his hometown
B. the author’s feeling about being away from his friend
C. the author’s idea about being away from home
D. the author’s plan to leave for a new place
60. The underlined word “chicks” in the last paragraph refers to “ ”
A. the eagle’s children B. the eagle’s food
C. the eagle’s nest beside the river D. the dog
61. According to the passage ,the eagle looked thinner most probably because
A. the eagle had to feed its children B. the eagle was seriously sick
C. the eagle lost many of his friends D. there was not enough food for her
62. According to the passage , it can be inferred that .
A. the eagle lived on the ground beside the author’s house
B. it was winter when the writer went away
C. the writer’s parents didn’t like to leave , either
D. some native animals and birds still lived in the place
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Real conversations
We provide recordings of real conversations and interviews，with transcripts(文字记录)of the conversations so you can read and listen at the same time．It is a good way to learn real English．
This website mainly provides users with _____________．
| A．free courses on traveling abroad |
| B．plenty of language resources |
| C．interesting conversations |
| D．1ots of amazing stories |
If one wants to enrich his grammar and words，he should click _____________．
| A．Be Aware | B．The Water Car |
| C．The Business Trip | D．Interactive Stories |
Which of the following is designed for intermediate level learners?
| A．The Children of Kenji Takeuehi． |
| B．A New Life in Mosquito City |
| C．Hiromi’s Trip to Thailand． |
| D．Miyako’s Education． |
Real conversations is a good may to learn real English because ____________．
| A．you can read while listening |
| B．you can see a native speaker |
| C．you can record your own voice and listen to it |
| D．you can transcript every word of real speakers |
You may have experienced the annoyance of being fined because of parking illegally or finding your car towed away(拖走)after leaving it parked somewhere for a couple of minutes．But now a high-tech car sticker that’s designed to be stuck to a car’s windscreen could help motorists avoid such a situation．
The TowStop sticker sends a text message to a driver when touched by a traffic policeman，to allow motorists to send a reply and give them time to move their cars immediately．Frankfurt-based IT consultant，Daniel Kalliontzis，came up with the idea and is raising money to put his €54(￡43) sticker into production．
Car owners can put the sticker inside their car’s windscreen，having set it up with key information，such as their phone number．The slim design will include a sensor(传感器)that，when touched by a traffic policeman，will send a text message warning a driver of a possible fine．The driver could then type a reply for the policeman using a smartphone，which will appear on the sticker’s screen．
The smart sticker system will rely on the good will of traffic policemen and in a way，a German law．The law states：an officer has to choose the most efficient and inexpensive way for the car owner to remove the vehicle．It could be cheaper for the government to call the driver than to tow his car．
Mail Online asked the Department of Transport whether the sticker could be used in the UK in a similar way．A spokesman said，“In England there is no legal duty to warn the motorist before issuing the ticket．However，a policeman does have the discretion not to issue a ticket if he doesn’t think the situation is that bad or he just wants to issue a warning．”
So far，Mr．Kalliontzis has raised just over €3，000(￡2，362)of his €50，000(￡39，381) goal．If he manages to raise the money，the stickers will be shipped in June 2015．But it appears that car owners using the smart system could get some unnecessary warning messages，because anyone could touch the smart sticker．The author wrote the third paragraph to _______________．
| A．explain how a smart car sticker works |
| B．advise drivers to buy a car sticker |
| C．show the importance of a sensor |
| D．tell drivers how to park a car |
We may infer from the text that in Britain _______________．
| A．car owners don’t have to worry about a parking ticket |
| B．smart car stickers wouldn’t work as well as in Germany |
| C．traffic policemen prefer to call a driver rather than tow his car |
| D．the Department of Transport thinks highly of smart car stickers |
The underlined word“discretion” in Paragraph 5 can best be replaced by“____________”．
| A．trouble | B．pressure |
| C．freedom | D．opportunity |
What would be the best title for the text?
| A．Daniel Kalliontzis — a great inventor |
| B．Environment-friendly car stickers |
| C．Parking systems in Europe |
| D．End of the parking ticket? |
SALT LAKE CITY—The Utah Jazz basketball team signed a 5-year-old．Free-agent player to a one-day contract for a special performance in October．The Utah Jazz has just made his dream come true．The boy has suffered from blood cancer since 2012．
JP Gibson，who was diagnosed with severe blood cancer，signed his contract with Jazz President Randy Rigby before joining the team for the pre-season training play at Utah Jazz’s sport center．JP was joined by his parents，Josh and Megan，and his 2-year-old sister，Elsie．
The activity was hosted by the Jazz and photographer Jon Diaz’s“Anything Can Be”project，which provides support and hope to families like the Gibsons．Jon Diaz asks children with cancer what their dreams and wishes are，and he writes their stories in a book．
JP，wearing a No．1 shirt，even got to play in the play．He passed the ball，and Rudy obert，a player of Utah Jazz，lifted him up so he could dunk(扣篮)and shake hands with some players as fans were cheerful．
“JP loves most sports，but basketball is absolutely his favorite，” Megan Gibson said in a statement released by the Jazz．“When he was just over one year old，he would sit with my husband，Josh，watching games．He started insisting on shooting hoops(投篮)for an hour each night before bedtime when he was just 15 months old．He knows he has to be 6 before he can play Junior Jazz，and he reminds us all the time that he can’t wait until he’s 6．”Utah Jazz signs a 5-year-old JP Gibson just to _____________．
| A．make the team more famous |
| B．realize the dream of JP Gibson |
| C．satisfy the taste of the fans |
| D．promote the“Anything Can Be” project |
“Anything Can Be”project ____________．
| A．raises money to help the development of NBA |
| B．provides support and hope to kids loving basketball |
| C．has kids with cancer write their stories in a book |
| D．offers assistance to those who are in misfortune |
According to the passage，JP Gibson _____________．
| A．will play on Utah Jazz team when he grows up |
| B．can earn much money by signing Utah Jazz |
| C．has been a basketball lover since very young age |
| D．won’t live long due to his severe blood cancer |
Robots make me nervous-especially the ones which seem to think for themselves．I was embarrassed to admit this till I heard that Bill Gates，the founder of Microsoft，felt the same way．Gates said in an interview with the website Reddit：“I am in the camp that is concerned about super intelligence．First the machines will do a lot of jobs for us and not be super intelligent．That should be positive if we manage well．A few decades after that though the intelligence is strong enough to be a concern．”
Well，maybe I don’t have to worry about my laptop and kitchen appliances yet．After I use them I can always pull the plug．But in the future，machines might find a way to prevent us from switching them off．There’s a scary thought!
Professor Stephen Hawking warned a few months ago about the possibility that artificial intelligence could evolve and end up beyond human contro1．He suggested that machines could“spell the end of the human race”．
Maybe the problem with computers too clever for us is not that they are evil or rebellious．What could put us in danger is that they might be too efficient．That’s what philosopher Nick Bostrom from the Future of Humanity Institute at Oxford University believes．He says that machines are indifferent to humans and in pursuit of their own goals，the destruction of people might be just collateral(附带的)damage．A machine would not take pity on you．
I’m glad my machines at home are“dumb”．All my vacuum cleaner wants to take over is the carpet in my living room．Let’s hope they don’t create an appliance which wants to take over the world!
We can conclude from Gates’statements that ___________．
| A．he is embarrassed that he is afraid of robots |
| B．he doesn’t think machines are intelligent |
| C．machines should be fully employed |
| D．machines’super intelligence should be a concern |
The underlined word“spell”in Paragraph 3 is closest in meaning to _____________．
| A．record | B．cause | C．explain | D．develop |
Why are computers dangerous according to Nick Bostrom?
| A．They are too evil and rebellious． |
| B．They are indifferent to humans． |
| C．They show pity on humans． |
| D．They are too clever and efficient． |
What can be inferred about the author?
| A．He doesn’t agree with Bill Gates． |
| B．He is not content with the present kitchen appliances． |
| C．He is scared about the super intelligence of machines． |
| D．He expects that machines will take place of humans． |
A lot of small business owners put themselves in an embarrassed position in their own companies．Consider this scene：the company owner who has thirty individuals working for him in the business does all the work．
Stop the actual wrong belief that you’re the only one who can do the JOB!
You are an individual．A robot or machine must rest, or be changed．The best way to replace yourself is not through someone else，but with a System! A system or program doesn’t always make reference to something high-tech．It’s more about the actual administration process flow that gets issues running smoothly．
Systemizing your business is vitally important for the success of the company．About 80％of what’s completed in your business can be systemized．Take a moment to determine all of the routine things that are done in your company．Now record the best way to achieve these duties．
However，creating systems isn’t enough．You have to ensure that the methods are simple to follow，and easy to complete．If you do not allow it to be easy，it won’t be done，or at best it won’t be consistent．
With systems and processes in position．it’s simply using a few people to operate individual systems．A great number of companies that possess established systems have made great achievements through the years．Burger King is a good actual life example．
To construct a great business，replace yourself with a good program right now!
What does“an embarrassed position”in Paragraph 1refer to?
| A．The employees are made to do all the work． |
| B．Business owners get caught in the trap of doing everything． |
| C．Nobody would like to work for business owners． |
| D．There are not enough employees in the company． |
What does the underlined sentence in Paragraph 3 imply?
| A．It’s necessary for the company owner to do all the work． |
| B．A robot or machine shall not keep working． |
| C．The company owner should learn to rest． |
| D．A system is important for the company． |
Which of the following is true about“A system”?
| A．It can deal with a11 the routines in the business． |
| B．It is simple to follow or complete a system． |
| C．Your company will be successful so long as you have a system. |
| D．It will help a company run smoothly． |
What is the best advice to the business owners?
| A．Doing all the work by themselves． |
| B．Buying advanced robots or machines． |
| C．Using a good system to operate a company． |
| D．Introducing higher technologies． |
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