In 1981, there were more than 1.3 million elephants in Africa. But in 1991, that number was cut down to 600,000. African elephants are hunted for their valuable ivory tusks(象牙). More have been killed by poachers(偷猎者). Poachers are hunters who kill animals illegally
. An adult(成年) elephant eats as much as 300 pounds a day. In their search for food, elephants oft
en move great distances. When they cannot find the grasses they prefer, they may strip(剥光) the land of trees.
Today, the area in which elephants herds live is smaller than it used to be. Many areas in their path have been turned into farms. And some eleph
ants have been killed by f
armers for trampling(践踏)their crops.
What can we do here in our country about a threatened animal that lives so far away? Our government has passe
d a law to protect it. People cannot import or bring in items made from ivory or any part of the elephant’s body.
Most countries throughout the world have also stopped ivory imports. It is hoped that the ban(禁令) on the sale of ivory will help save the African elephant. But the world’s largest land animal needs other help. The countries where these animals live are often poor and unable to manage the herds. If the elephant is to survive, this animal is going to need our support for many years to come.The number of the elephant in Africa in 1991 was .
| A．the same as that ten years ago | B．more than that ten years ago |
| C．a little less than half of that in 1981 | D．a little more than half of that in 1981 |
African elephants have been killed mainly because _____.
| A．they eat a lot | B．they have beautiful tusks |
| C．poachers kill for fun | D．there are too many of them |
The areas where African elephants live are much smaller today because ___.
| A．they tend to live in herds |
| B．there are not so many of them today |
C．many of these areas have been t urned into farms |
| D．farmers have been killing them to save their crops |
It is mentioned in the passage that our country has ____.
| A．officially stopped ivory imports |
| B．banned the killing of elephants in Africa |
| C．threatened the elephants that live far away |
| D．helped the African countries where elephants live |
Which of the f
ollowing statements is TRUE?
| A．Poachers have a license(执照) to hunt for animals. |
B．Elephants do a lot of good for the farmers in Africa. |
| C．We live too far away to help to save the African elephants. |
D．The African elephant needs the world’s support for its s urvival |
Before your child's final exam: and the graduation announcements, you face a significant task together: choosing the right college or university. There is no "one size fits all" approach to selecting a college—it's a very personal process for most teenagers. Consider a wide range of factors to help your child make the best possible choice.
Discuss with your child her post-high school choices, such as college, finding work or starting a business, or joining the army. If you determine together that college is the best choice for your child, talk about the importance of college, and her longer-term goals by going to college.
Talk to your child about what she thinks is important in a college experience and share your opinions as well. Identify the issues that will directly impact her college choice, such as her grades, test scores and family finances. Then make a list of the key criteria for her dream school, including factors such as the school's location, its size, the types of prograM:, the after school activities available and the type of financial aid available.
Prioritize the item: on your child's list, at least to the extent of sorting it into "must-haves," "highly desirable" and "nice-to-have" categories. Put these factors into an online search engine specifically designed to identify colleges and universities that best meet your criteria, such as that offered by CollegeBoard.org. Start with the most important criteria, then experiment with additional factors to narrow the search results to a number you can work with, such as 10 or 20 different schools.
Use the search results as a guide to further focus your college search. Research each school by reviewing its website, requesting information directly from the school and attending local presentations about the school.The underlined word "prioritize" in Paragraph 4 probably means "______".
| A．list in order of importance | B．write down |
| C．add to | D．do research into |
What can we learn from the passage?
| A．It's better to decide the college for your child. |
| B．It's necessary to take your child's opinion into consideration. |
| C．There is a "one size fits all" way to select a college. |
| D．An online search engine is of great help to you. |
What's the author's purpose of writing the passage?
| A．To argue | B．To persuade |
| C．To introduce | D．To amuse |
Which of the following shows the structure of the passage?
BEIJING — Rising smartphone star Xiaomi is moving upmarket and taking aim at Apple's iPhone. The Chinese maker known for low-priced phones on Thursday unveiled (发布) a new model that Chairman J un Lei said is comparable to Apple's iPhone 6 but thinner, lighter and much cheaper. The phone starts at 2, 299 yuan ($375), less than half the 5,288 yuan ($ 865) price of an iPhone 6 in China.
Xiaomi, founded in 2010, passed South Korea's SaM:ung Electronics Co. in the second quarter of last year as the best-selling smartphone brand in China by number of phones sold. The company is expanding into India and other developing markets but has yet to announce plans to enter the United States or Europe.
Xiaomi "is a respected brand that already has an Apple-like following" in China, said analyst Brian Blair, who tracks mobile device makers at Rosenblatt Securities. Apple is still a relatively small player in China, selling about 45 million iPhones there last year, Blair estimates, but will continue to grow.
"Apple is very much a premium (高端的) brand," said Blair. "The company that's more at risk is SaM:ung, which has been losing share in that market."
Privately held (私人控股的) Xiaomi said last year's sales tripled to 61. 1 million phones and revenue (收益) more than doubled to 74. 3 billion yuan ($12.2 billion). The company, based in Beijing, recently completed a round of fundraising from investors that it said valued Xiaomi at $ 45 billion, making it one of the world's most valuable technology brands.
Xiaomi ran into legal trouble in India in December after a court blocked sales while it hears a complaint by Sweden's LM Ericcson that the Chinese company violated its patents.
In a blog post earlier this month, Lei called the case a "rite of passage" (成年礼) for a young company.Which of the following statements is true?
| A．Xiaomi sold more cellphones than SaM:ung in 2010 in China. |
| B．Compared to Xiaomi, Apple's iPhone 6 is thinner and lighter. |
| C．Low-price is Xiaomi's advantage over Apple's iPhones. |
| D．The company is expanding into the United States or Europe. |
What can be inferred from the passage according to Brian Blair?
| A．More than 45 million iPhones will be sold this year. |
| B．Xiaomi can beat Apple in the market of China. |
| C．He thinks Xiaomi is superior to Apple. |
| D．SaM:ung will be closed for losing share in the market. |
How is the 5th paragraph developed?
| A．By giving examples. |
| B．By analyzing cause and effect. |
| C．By providing data. |
| D．By making comparisons. |
What's the attitude of Jun Lei towards the case of Xiaomi in India?
| A．Negative. | B．Satisfied. |
| C．Positive. | D．Doubtful. |
For light sleepers
Millions of people have trouble falling asleep each night, which is why Light Sleeper was created.
Developed in the United Kingdom, Light Sleeper's makers say it can help a person fall asleep and also help a person fall back to sleep after waking up in the middle of the night.
Light Sleeper works by projecting (投射) a light onto the ceiling while the person is lying down. The idea is to watch the light, because the light moving in a circle has a relaxing effect.
One of the advantages of the product is that it won't disturb other people in the room. The product can be easily moved and will switch itself off after 30 minutes to save power.
Stop the snoring (打鼾)
Here's a new product designed to slow down the frequency and level of your snoring. The Snore Stopper has a sensitive instrument that will detect when you're snoring. Once it does that, it will send a very mild electronic signal to your wrist. This consequently changes your sleeping position to stop you from snoring. The Snore Stopper; won't cause any damage to your body.
Get your true colors
Photoshop features a pen that will copy the color settings of what you are monitoring onscreen to use as a color in your program. Now an off-line product allows you to pick a color when not using the computer software.
The Color Picker is a concept pen. After placing the pen against an object, the user just presses the scan button. Color sensors (感应器) inside the pen send information to a box, which then mixes red, green and blue to produce the desired ink color.
Keep it fresh
More high technology products are showing up in the kitchen. A new Bagel dome (圆顶形物) advertises that it will keep your baked goods fresher for longer periods of time. The product, which is able to remove air, works for bread rolls, cakes and other perishables. To use it, you just push a button at the top.
The Color Picker will probably be used while you're .
| A．using the computer | B．drawing pictures |
| C．collecting information | D．designing a program |
The underlined word "perishables" in the last paragraph refers to foods which .
| A．are easy to keep | B．go bad easily |
| C．are rich in vitamins | D．keep you thin |
It can be learned from the passage that .
| A．the Color Picker is convenient to use |
| B．Light Sleeper was designed by an American |
| C．the Bagel dome mainly serves as decoration |
| D．few people would like to try the Snore Stopper |
Walter Wetzel had met Ryan Lamantia nearly eight years ago in a hospital waiting room. Both were very sick——Ryan with brain cancer, Walter with leukemia (白血病). Ryan, who was 3 at the time, began making silly faces at Walter and chatted about going home to change into his Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles costume. Several days later, Ryan moved to another hospital. Though they saw each other only a handful of times after that, Walter never forgot Ryan.
"He inspired me to fight against my cancer," said Walter, now 17, a football player. Then one day, Walter saw a Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles shirt at a mall, which made him decide to search out Ryan. Back home, Walter typed in "Ryan Lake in the Hills brain cancer" on his computer, and a link to a Facebook page for Ryan came up. But, the news was shocking.
Ryan had died on Sept. 8, 2005. He was 6. The Facebook page was for the Ryan Lamantia Foundation, a non-profit organization that Ryan's family formed after his death to raise money for brain cancer research.
Walter left this message right away: ."Ryan is my hero. My trips to the hospital were always horrible, until the day I met Ryan."
Ryan's mom's eyes were filled with tears as she read Waiter's message. "We always knew Ryan was special, but to hear it from somebody else, it really means the world to us," Lamantia said.
Walter wasn't the only person who was greatly impressed with Ryan.
"He was a little superhero," said Wendy Stellpflug, a nurse at Children' s Memorial Hospital. "Ryan always kept his spirits high, even after he suffered hearing loss and experienced 14 operations."
"Ryan didn’ t let his illness stop him. He always had a smile on his face," said Dr. Stewart Goldman, the doctor who treated Ryan.
Walter and his family have been in touch with the Lamantias for the past few weeks. And last week, they met for the first time since Ryan's death. The families told stories of being affected by cancer so young and Walter expressed his hope to volunteer with Ryan' s foundation.
Walter finally wanted to get in touch with Ryan because___________.
| A．he saw the news about Ryan on the Internet |
| B．he wanted to thank Ryan in person |
| C．an object reminded him of Ryan |
| D．he raised money for Ryan |
After reading Walter's message online, Ryan' s mom felt_____.
| A．proud of her son | B．grateful for his help |
| C．happy about his recovery | D．sad again at her son' s death |
Which of the following can best describe Ryan?
| A．Determined and considerate. | B．Optimistic and brave. |
| C．Friendly and patient. | D．Brave and proud. |
We know from the text that Walter_________.
| A．survived the cancer |
| B．experienced 14 operations |
| C．searched for Ryan on the Facebook |
| D．founded the Ryan Lamantia Foundation |
You are a new manager at the American branch of your German firm in Chicago. With a few minutes to spare between meetings, you go to get a quick cup of coffee.
“Hey, David, how are you?” one of the senior partners at the firm asks you.
“Good, thank you, Dr. Greer,” you reply. You’ve really been wanting to make a connection with the senior leadership at the firm, and this seems like a great opportunity. But as you start to think of something to say, your American colleague breaks in to steal your spotlight.
“So Arnold”, your colleague says to your boss, in such a casual manner that it makes your German soul cringe(畏缩), “So what’s your Super bowl prediction? I mean, you’re a Niners fan, right?” The conversation moves on, and you walk silently back to your desk with your coffee. You know how important small talk is in the U. S. , and you feel jealous of people who can do it well.
There’s nothing small about the role that small talk plays in American professional culture. People from other countries are often surprised at how important small talk is in the U. S. and how naturally and comfortably people seem to do it—with peers，men，women，and even with superiors. You can be the most technically skilled worker in the world, but your ability to progress in your job in the United States is highly dependent on your ability to build and maintain positive relationships with people at work. And guess what skill is critical for building and maintaining these relationships? Small talk.
What can you do if you are from another culture and want to learn to use small talk in the U. S. to build relationships and establish trust? Work hard to hone(磨练)your own version of American-style small talk. Watch how others do it. You don’t have to mimic what they do; in fact, that would likely backfire because people would see you as inauthentic. But if you can develop your own personal version, that can go a long way toward making you feel comfortable. The author introduces the topic of the passage by __________.
| A．raising an interesting question |
| B．telling a small jokes |
| C．making comparisons |
| D．describing an interesting scene |
What do we know about German people?
| A．They usually make small talk in work breaks. |
| B．They don’t make so much small talk. |
| C．They hate making small talk. |
| D．They are good at making small talk too. |
What makes people from other countries surprised in American professional culture?
| A．The role small talk plays in work settings. |
| B．American workers’ attitude towards superiors. |
| C．The special meaning of small talk. |
| D．American workers’ ability to make progress. |
What does “backfire” underlined in the last paragraph mean?
| A．be difficult | B．be helpful |
| C．have the opposite effect | D．have a good result |
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