When an ant dies, other ants take it out of the nest, often within an hour after its death. This behavior interests scientists and they wonder how ants know for sure—and so soon—that another ant is dead.
One scientist recently came up with a way to explain this ant behaviour. Dong-Hwan Choe is a biologist, a scientist who studies animals and plants. He found that ants have a chemical on the outside of their bodies that signals to other ants, “I'm dead—take me away” when it is dead.
But there's a question to answer: As we know, if an ant is dead, it stops moving. But when an ant is sleeping or knocked unconscious, it is also not moving. However, other ants don't move the living ant out of the nest. How do they know this ant is not dead? Choe found that ants have another chemical on their bodies, which tells nearby ants something like
, “Wait—I'm not dead yet”when 
it is not dead. Choe suspects that when an ant dies, the chemical that says, “Wait I'm not dead yet”quickly goes away. When other ants detect the“dead”chemical without the“not dead yet”chemical, they move away the body.
To test his theory , Choe and his team put different chemicals on ants. When the scientists used the “I'm dead” chemical, other ants quickly moved the treated ant away. When the scientists used the“Wait—I'm not dead yet”chemical, other ants left the treated ant alone. Choe believes this behavior shows that the“not dead yet”chemical overrides the“dead” chemical when picked up by other ants. And that when an ant dies, the “not dead yet” chemical fades away. Other nearby ants then detect the remaining“dead”chemical and remove the body from the nest.
Understanding this behavior can help scientists figure out how to stop ants 
from invading new places and causing problems.
57. What is the function of the first paragraph?
A. Leading the following paragraphs.
B. Showing the main idea of the passage.
C. Introducing the background of the passage.
D. Giving a summary of the passage.
58. Which of the following has the closest meaning to the underlined word “overrides” in the fourth paragraph?
A.is weaker than B. is stronger than C. is better than D. is worse than
59. What can we learn from the passage?
A. Living ants can also be taken away when they are not moving.
B. When an ant dies, it can tell others using a certain chemical.
C. A living ant can pretend to be dead using a special chemical.
D. Ants often use chemicals to communicate with each other.
60. Which of the following descriptions about Dong-Hwan Choe is right?
A. Choe did this study in order to stop ants from invading new places.
B.
Choe is a biologist who is only interested in animals, especially in ants.
C. Choe first came up with an idea to explain this ant behavior，and then did some tests to prove his theory.
D. Choe did the research on this ant behavior on his own
四、阅读理解（共20小题。每小题2分；满分40分）
第一节 阅读下列短文，从每题所给的四个选项（A、B、C和D）中，选出最佳选项，并在答题卡上将该项涂黑。
In the course of working my ways through school , I took many jobs I would rather forget . But none of these jobs was as dreadful （可怕的）as my job in an apple plant. The work was hard ; the pay was poor ; and, most of all , the working conditions were terrible.
First of all , the job made huge demands on my strength . For ten hours a night , I took boxes that rolled down a metal track and piled them onto a truck . Each box contained twelve heavy bottles of apple juice. I once figured out that I was lifting an average of twelve tons of apple juice every night .
I would not have minded the difficulty of the work so much if the pay had not been so poor. I was paid the lowest wage of that time — two dollars an hour. Because of the low pay , I felt eager to get as much as possible . I usually worked twelve hours a night but did not take home more than $ 100 a week.
But even more than the low pay , what made me unhappy was the working conditions . During work I was limited to two ten—minute breaks and an unpaid half hour for lunch .Most of my time was spent outside loading trucks with those heavy boxes in near-zero-degree temperatures
. The steel floors of the trucks were like ice, which made my feet feel like stone. And after the production line shut down at night and most people left , I had to spend two hours alone cleaning the floor.
I stayed on the job for five months , all the while hating the difficulty of the work, the poor money , and the conditions under which I worked . By the time I left , I was determined never to go back there again.
56. Why did the writer have to take many jobs at that time ?
A. To pay for his schooling B. To save for his future
C. To support his family D. To gain some experience
57. The following facts describe the terrible working conditions of the plant EXCEPT_____.
A. loading boxes in the freezing cold B. having limited time for breaks
C. working and studying at the same time D. getting no pay for lunch time
58.What is the subject discussed in the text?
A. The writer’s unhappy school life.
B. The writer’s eagerness to earn money.
C. The writer’s experience as a full-time worker.
D. The writer’s hard work in an apple plant.
59. How is the text organized?
A. Topic — Argument — Explanation
B. Opinion— Discussion — Description
C. Main idea — Comparison —Supporting examples
D. Introduction— Supporting examples — Conclusion
Michael, a typical American, stays home on workday. He plugs into his personal computer terminal in order to connect with the office. After work he puts on his headphones, watches a movie on his home video recorder or plays baseball on the computer. On many days, Michael does not talk to any other human beings, and he does not see any people except the ones on television. Michael is imaginary, but his life style is very possible. The inventions of modern technology seem to be cutting us off from contact with our fellow human beings.
The world of business is one area which technology is isolating us. Experts say, for example, that many people will soon be able to work at home. With access to a large central computer, employees such as office clerks, insurance agents and accountants could do their jobs at display terminals in their own homes. They would never have to actually see the people they’re dealing with. In addition, the way employees are paid will change. Workers’ salaries will be automatically paid into their band accounts, making paper checks unnecessary. No workers will stand in line to receive their pay or cash their checks. Personal banking will change, too. Customers will deal with machines to put in or take out money from their accounts.
Another area that technology is changing is entertainment. Music, for instance, was once a group experience. People listened to music at concert halls or in small social gatherings. For many people now, however, music is an individual experience. Walking along the street or sitting in their living rooms, they wear headphones to build a wall of music around them. Movie entertainment is changing, too. Movies used to be social events. Now, fewer people are going out to see a movie. Many more are choosing to wait for a film to appear on television or are borrowing videotapes to watch at home. Instead of laughing with others, viewers watch movies in their own living rooms.
46. The sentence,“Michael is imaginary, but 
his life style is very possible”means _______.
Michael is a person full of imagination and he can make his dreams come true.
Michael is not a real person but the life style does exist.
Michael has ambitions but he can’t make his dreams come true.
Michael is a person full of imagination and his style is common nowadays.
47. Which of the following is NOT mentioned in the passage?
Clerks will be able to worn play baseball on the computer.
One can listen to music without disturbing others.
One can borrow books from libraries at home.
48. What will the author most probably discuss after the last paragraph?
| A．Games and sports. | B．Personal banking. |
| C．Music and films. | D．International business. |
49. What is the main idea of the passage?
We may no longer need to communicate with other human being.
Modern technology seems to be separating human being.
We any no longer need to work in the office.
Modern technology makes it possible for us to work and entertain ourselves at home.
The Vienna-based researchers showed that dogs will stop doing a simple task when not rewarded if another dog, which continues to be rewarded, is present．
The experiment consisted of taking pairs of dogs and getting them to present a paw for a reward．On giving this “handshake” the dogs received a piece of food．One of the dogs was then asked to shake hands, but received no food．The other dog continued to get the food when it was asked to perform the task．
The dog without the reward quickly stopped doing the task, and showed signs of anger or stress when its partner was rewarded．
To make sure that the experiment was really showing the interaction between the dogs rather than just the frustration of not being rewarded, a similar experiment was conducted where the dogs performed the task without the partner．Here they continued to present the paw for much longer．
Dr Frederike Range from the University of Vienna says this shows that it was the presence of the rewarded partner that was the greater influence on their behaviour．
“The only difference is one gets food and the other doesn’t, they are responding to being unequally rewarded．” she said．
The researchers say this kind of behaviour, where one animal gets frustrated with what is happening with another, has only been observed in primates(灵长类) before．
Studies with various types of monkeys and chimpanzees show they react not only to seeing their partners receiving rewards when they are not, but also to the type of reward．
The dog study also looked at whether the type of reward made a difference．Dogs were given either bread or sausage, but seemed to react equally to either．Dr Range says this may be because they have been trained．
57．The dogs refused to give the paw when they_______．
A．found another dog was given nothing
B．felt they were not treated equally
C．were aware they received less food
D．were given too much reward
58．What would the dogs do if they presented their paw alone?
A．They would go on with the performance much longer．
B．They would be too shy to present their paw．
C．They would miss their partners．
D．They would compare what they got with that of others．
59．According to the passage, compared with dogs, monkeys and chimpanzees ______．
A．pay no attention to the type of reward
B．only like to play interesting games
C．pay attention to the type of reward as well as whether they are rewarded
D．care more about how they are rewarded
60．Which of the following can best summerise the passage?
A．Animals’ various ways to show anger
B．Dogs are more envious than man
C．Most animals want to be be rewarded for their work
D．Animals also have a sense of fairplay
Since weeks ago, China has been involved in a worldwide A/H1N1 flu that has already killed more than 80 people in the middle of May, 2009, in Mexico and has turned into a global pandemic．
The central government has asked people entering China from the virus-hit countries to report flu-like symptoms(症状)to the authorities．In an emergency notice issued on Saturday night, the country’s top quality watchdog ordered the Customs to check passengers’ temperature, too．
A Beijing airport official Li said Customs officers are on a high alert(警戒)level．
“Three temperature detectors are now in operation．We’re ready with protection garments and equipment, too．Passengers flying in from Mexico and other A/H1N1 flu-hit countries are being monitored closely,” he said．
The Ministry of Health, however, said yesterday there was no evidence to suggest that a person would contract the disease by eating pork．
Hong Kong, too, has raised its alert level against the flu to “serious”．Secretary for Food＆Health, Mr．York Chow urged people to avoid visiting places from where A/H1N1 flu cases have been reported, and said the virus would be added to Hong Kong’s list of the diseases which have been noticed．
The terrible A/ H1N1 flu has been contracted by about 4000 people in Mexico, and most of the killed were aged between 25 and 45．
The virus has also infected about 5,000 people in the US．The US Center for Disease Control said this kind of virus is spreading from human to human, raising fears of a global pandemic．
53．What is the passage mainly about?
A．A/H1N1 flu killed more than 80 people．
B．A/H1N1 flu is spreading from human to human．
C．China has begun to take steps to prevent A/H1N1 flu．
D．All the people are strongly affected by A/H1 N1 flu．
54．The underlined word “pandemic” in the first paragraph probably means ..
A．death B．panic C．enemy D．disease
55．Why does the flu cause global fears?
A．Because most people in the world eat pork．
B．Because it’s spreading from human to human．
C．Because we still don’t know the cause of it．
D．Because it has infected about 5, 000 people．
56．We can infer from the passage that ．
A．passengers from the United States are being monitored closely
B．a person would be infected by the virus by eating pork
C．students in the middle school are most likely infected by A/H1N1 flu
D．Mr．York Chow said that the virus had been added to Hong Kong’s list of the diseases
Most of us think that when we step under a shower we’re getting clean．We are, but we’re also giving a home to lots of tiny little creatures we didn’t even know about．
A showerhead carries thousands of bacteria (细菌) called Mycobacterium．These can cause problems like coughs and tiredness, and a general feeling of poorliness (身体不舒服)．When you turn on the water, the bacteria go from the showerhead onto and into your body．
This is a finding of Norman R．Pace and his team at the University of Colorado, in the US．The scientists investigated bacteria in all kinds of human environment, including showers．
Pace's team looked at 45 showerheads in nine American cities．They discovered that 30 percent of them had large amounts of flying Mycobacterium．
But Pace said that they pose few threats to the health．Only those with a frail (脆弱的) immune (免疫的) system might need to worry．
He told the New York Times that the bactertia are not as unpleasant as might be thought．He said that having a shower is no more dangerous than anything else we do in the morning．
But for those who feel sick about the idea of all those microorganisms (微生物), he had some advice．
Let the water run for 30 seconds before getting into the shower．Why? The number of bacteria is smaller than when the water is just turned on．If that seems like a waste of water, he added that you could also change your showerhead every few months．
But Pace had good news too．He has also been testing the air in US subways．Apart from iron particles (粒子), which are ground off the track by the wheels of trains, subway air is fresh．The reason is that a train’s movement pumps fresh outdoor air into the tunnels(隧道)．
Pace explained that he wanted to understand the natural microbial(微生物的) environments of public places．This kind of knowledge might help detect the microbes to be used in a bioterrorist (生物恐怖分子) attack．
49．According to the finding of Norman R．Pace, after taking a shower, we might ______．
A．get much dirtier B．be covered by bacteria
C．get a frail immune system D．catch a cough or feel tired
50．Pace’s research into showers shows that ______．
A．there is no reason to fear microorganism
B．shower water contains much less bacteria after being left to run for 30 second
C．having a shower in the morning is more dangerous than at other time
D．of 45 showerheads surveyed in nine cities, 30 carried large amounts of Mycobacterium
51．According to the research of Pace’s team, which of the following contributes to fresh air in US subways?
A．Train wheels． B．Iron particles．
C．The movement of the trains． D．Air conditioners on the trains．
52．The word “detect” in the last paragraph probably means “______”．
A．to discover B．to protect C．to make D．to prevent
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