You cannot see any object unless light from that object gets into your eyes. Some of the things you see give off light of their own. The sun, the stars, a lighted lamp are examples that can be ssen by their own light. Such things are luminous. Most of the things you see are not giving off light of their own. They are simply reflecting light that falls on them from the sun or some other luminous bodies. Then moon , for example , does not give off any light of its own. It is non-luminous. You see it because sunlight falls on it and some of it reflects in your direction. So moonlight is only secondhand sunlight.
When you look at a book, it sends your eyes some of the light that falls on it, and you see the book. If light could be kept out from where you are so that there would be no light for the book to reflect, then you could not see the book even with your eyes wide open.
Light travels so fast that the time in which it travels from the book you are reading to your eyes is so short as if it took no time at all. Light reaches us form the moon , which is about 380,000 kilometers away, in only a little more than a second.You can see the book because___________.
| A．your eyes are close to it . | B．it reflects light |
| C．it has light of its own | D．your eyes can get to it |
The word “ reflects” means____________.
| A．throws back | B．takes back |
| C．gives off | D．sends out |
___________ have light of their won.
| A．the sun and the moon | B．The stars and the earth |
| C．The sun and the stars | D．The moon and the earth |
Norm Pethrick, a 36-year-old man in Australia’s northern city Darwin, was praised on Thursday for jumping onto a crocodile’s back to save his wife Wendy at Litchfield National Park, a popular tourist spot southwest of Darwin, a local newspaper reported.
Ms Pethrick was standing on a river bank Wednesday afternoon when the saltwater crocodile lunged (扑), locking its jaws on both her legs as it tried to drag her underwater.
Norm Pethrick, who with his wife had been collecting water, immediately went to help her. He jumped onto the back, poked (戳) the eyes of the crocodile and finally got his wife free.
Ms Pethrick was later taken to Royal Darwin Hospital for a medical treatment. The doctors said she was suffering eight puncture wounds in her right leg, a puncture wound in her left leg and a serious cut to one of her fingers.
“This could have been a fatal and tragic situation,” said the general manager of Royal Darwin Hospital (RDH), Dr Len Notaras, according to a local report.
He said Ms Pethrick was saved by her husband’s “quick and diligent actions”. Dr Notaras also said she would remain in hospital for three to four days and have an operation to clean the wounds, which are easy to get infected because of bacteria on the teeth of the crocodile.This passage is most likely to be found in ______.
| A．a travel guide | B．a textbook |
| C．a newspaper | D．a novel |
The crocodile attacked Ms Pethrick when she was ______.
| A．swimming in the river |
| B．standing on the river bank |
| C．watching the crocodile |
| D．fishing in the water |
Which of the following statements is TRUE about Ms Pethrick?
| A．One of her fingers also got hurt. |
| B．She had eight wounds altogether. |
| C．One of the crocodile’s teeth was found in her leg. |
| D．Her eyes were badly poked. |
According to the passage, Norm Pethrick can be described as following EXCEPT ______.
| A．humorous | B．diligent |
| C．quick | D．brave |
Which of the following would be the best title for this passage?
| A．The husband should save the wife |
| B．Human beings can beat crocodiles sometimes |
| C．A crocodile is not so dangerous as people imagine |
| D．A man saves wife’s life from crocodile’s jaws |
How could we possibly think that keeping animals in cages in unnatural environments —mostly for entertainment purposes — is fair and respectful?
Zoo officials say they are concerned about animals. However, most zoos remain “collections” of interesting “things” rather than protective habitats. Zoos teach people that it is acceptable to keep animals bored, lonely, and far from their natural homes.
Zoos claim to educate people and save endangered species, but visitors leave zoos without having learned anything meaningful about the animals’ natural behavior, intelligence, or beauty. Zoos keep animals in small spaces or cages, and most signs only mention the species’ name, diet, and natural range. The animals’ normal behavior is seldom noticed because zoos don’t usually take care of the animals’ natural needs.
The animals are kept together in small spaces, with no privacy and little opportunity for mental and physical exercise. This results in unusual and self-destructive behavior called zoochosis. A world-wide study of zoos found that zoochosis is common among animals kept in small spaces or cages. Another study showed that elephants spend 22 percent of their time making repeated head movements or biting cage bars, and bears spend 30 percent of their time walking back and forth, a sign of unhappiness and pain.
Furthermore, most animals in zoos are not endangered. Captive breeding (圈养繁殖) of endangered big cats, Asian elephants, and other species has not resulted in their being sent back to the wild. Zoos talk a lot about their captive breeding programs because they do not want people to worry about a species dying out. In fact, baby animals also attract a lot of paying customers. Haven’t we seen enough competitions to name baby animals?
Actually, we will save endangered species only if we save their habitats and put an end to the reasons people kill them. Instead of supporting zoos, we should support groups that work to protect animals’ natural habitats.How would the author describe the animals’ life in zoos?
| A．Unhappy. | B．Dangerous. |
| C．Natural. | D．Easy. |
In the state of zoochosis, animals______.
| A．remain in cages |
| B．attack other animals |
| C．behave strangely |
| D．enjoy moving around |
What does the author try to argue in the passage?
| A．Zoos fail in their attempt to save animals. |
| B．Zoos are not worth the public support. |
| C．Zoos should treat animals as human beings. |
| D．Zoos use animals as a means of entertainment. |
The author tries to persuade readers to accept his argument mainly by ______.
| A．discussing the advantages of natural habitats |
| B．using evidence he has collected at zoos |
| C．questioning the way animals are protected |
| D．pointing out the faults in what zoos do |
Although he argues against zoos, the author would still agree that______.
| A．zoos have to keep animals in small cages |
| B．most animals in zoos are endangered species |
| C．it’s acceptable to keep animals away from their habitats |
| D．some endangered animals are reproduced in zoos |
With fifteen years Britain and other nations should be well on with the building of huge industrial complexes (综合体) for the recycling of waste. The word “rubbish” could lose its meaning because everything which goes into the dumps would be made into something useful. Even the most dangerous and unpleasant wastes would provide energy if nothing else.
The latest project is to take a city of around half a million inhabitants and discover exactly what raw materials go into it and what go out. The aim is to find out how much of these raw materials could be provided if a plant (发电厂) for recycling waste were built just outside the city. This plant would recycle not only metal such as steel, lead and copper, but also paper and rubber as well.
Another new project is being set up to discover the best ways of sorting and separating the rubbish. When this project is complete, the rubbish will be processed like this: First, it will pass through sharp metal bars which will tear open the plastic bags in which rubbish is usually packed; then it will pass through a powerful fan to separate the lightest elements from the heavy solids; after that rollers will break up everything that can be broken. Finally, the rubbish will pass under magnets (磁铁), which will remove the bits of iron and steel; the rubber and plastic will then be sorted out in the final stage.
The first full-scale giant recycling plants are perhaps fifteen years away. Indeed, with the growing cost of transporting rubbish to more distant dumps, some big cities will be forced to build their own recycling plants before long.The phrase “be well on with ……” (Para .1) most probably means ______.
| A．have achieved a great deal in |
| B．get ready to start |
| C．have completed what was started |
| D．put an end to |
What is NOT mentioned as a part of the recycling process described in Paragraph 3?
| A．Breaking up whatever is breakable. |
| B．Sorting out small pieces of metal. |
| C．Separating light elements from the heavy ones. |
| D．Sharpening metal bars. |
What’s the main reason for big cities to build their own recycling plants?
| A．To get big profits from those plants. |
| B．To find out how much of the raw materials could be provided |
| C．To get raw materials locally. |
| D．To deal with wastes in a better way. |
The first full-scale huge recycling plants ______.
| A．began to operate fifteen years ago |
| B．will probably be in operation in fifteen years |
| C．will be built fifteen years later |
| D．will take less than fifteen years to build |
The passage is mainly about ______.
| A．a cheap way to get energy |
| B．the location of recycling plants |
| C．new ways of recycling wastes |
| D．the probability of city environment |
Boredom and Creativity
Most of us think of being bored at work as a negative experience, but a new study suggests it can have positive results including an increase in creativity because it gives us time to daydream.
That is the finding of Dr. Sandi Mann from the University of Central Lancashire. Dr. Mann conducted two studies. In the first experiment, 40 people were asked to carry out a boring task. They were told to copy numbers out of a telephone directory for 15 minutes. After that they were asked to complete another task. A pair of cups were given to each of them. Everyone tried to come up with different uses of the cups, and was given a chance to display their creativity. Meanwhile, another group of 40 people were just asked to come up with uses for the cups without doing any boring tasks before. It turned out that the 40 people who had first copied out the telephone numbers were more creative than the control group(对照组).
To see if daydreaming was a factor in this effect, a second boring task was introduced that allowed even more daydreaming than the boring writing task. This second study saw 30 people copying out the numbers as before, but also included a second group of 30 reading rather than writing them.
Again the researchers found that the people in the control group were least creative, but the people who had just read the names were more creative than those who had to write them out. This suggests that more passive boring activities, like reading or perhaps attending meetings, can lead to more creativity. Compared with reading, writing reduced the scope(范围) for daydreaming. As a result, it reduces the effects of boredom on creativity.
Dr. Mann says: “Boredom at work has always been seen as something to be avoided, but perhaps we should accept it in order to promote our creativity. What we want to do next is to see what the practical implications of this finding are. Do people who are bored at work become more creative in other areas of their work--or do they go home and write novels?”Who proved to be the most creative in the two studies?
| A．The people who attended meetings. |
| B．The people who invented uses for cups. |
| C．The people who did the reading task |
| D．The people who copied telephone numbers. |
The studies conducted by Dr. Mann indicate that creativity results from _______.
| A．creative tasks |
| B．the range of daydreaming |
| C．controlled activities |
| D．reading and writing ability |
What is Dr. Mann’s attitude towards boredom at work?
| A．Subjective | B．Skeptical |
| C．Positive | D．Disapproving |
What will Dr. Mann probably continue to research in their study?
| A．The actual use of boredom. |
| B．The real causes of creativity. |
| C．The practical reasons of boredom. |
| D．The writing ability improved by boredom. |
Forty years ago, Finland was a small country with ordinary public schools. Today, Finland is still small but no one calls Finland’s public schools ordinary anymore.
In 2000, the Finns surprised the world when their 15yearolds scored at the top of a closelywatched international exam called the PISA, the Program for International Student Assessment. Finland has stayed near the top ever since, while the US scores around the middle.
Pasi Sahlberg, an official of Finland’s Ministry of Education and Culture, is in Seattle this week to share the story of Finland’s success, and what states like Washington can learn from it.
Sahlberg’s message, although he is too polite to put it so directly: Stop testing so much. Trust teachers more. Give less homework. Shorten the school day.
On Tuesday, in a room filled with teachers, principals, professors, schoolboard members and policy makers, Sahlberg joked about the Finns’ reputation for being a quiet, humble people. When Finland hit the top of the PISA, he said, the biggest disbelievers were Finns.
More seriously, he said, Finland never set out to create the world’s top school system. Instead, he said, the country decided in the 1970s that it wanted to ensure that a student’s success didn’t depend on family background.
To achieve that goal, Finland relied on cooperation among teachers and schools, rather than on competition.
Rather than judges teachers and schools based on test scores, he said, Finland puts trust in its teachers and principals. Teachers develop the curriculum(课程) in Finland, and design their own tests. There are no national tests, except one at the end of high school.
That’s just the start. Along with a shorter school day, Finnish students don’t even start school until they are 7 years old. Many primary schools have a policy against giving homework.
But Finland, he said, succeeded in part by adapting ideas from the US and other countries. And those countries, he said, can learn from Finland, too.What might be the author’s purpose in writing the passage?
| A．To introduce a Finnish official. |
| B．To share the story of Finland’s success in education. |
| C．To compare the education systems of Finland and the US. |
| D．To ask the US to improve its education. |
People first learned Finland’s success in education from ________.
| A．its ordinary public schools |
| B．its international exchange students |
| C．lectures given by Pasi Sahlberg |
| D．its students’ performance in an International exam |
Which of the following contributes to Finland’s success in education?
a. Giving students fewer tests
b. Giving teachers more trust.
c. Evaluating students’ family background.
d. Creating the world’s top school system.
e. Starting school late.
| A．a, b, e | B．c, d, e |
| C．a, b, c | D．b, c, d |
What Pasi Sahlberg says in the passage suggests that ________.
| A．children should start school as early as possible |
| B．the US education system is still the most advanced |
| C．competition among teachers is harmful to education |
| D．it’s necessary to set up a national curriculum |
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