Nowroz: Iranian New Year or Nowroz is celebrated on the first day of spring sometime in March. Nowroz ceremonies are symbolic representations of good and evil. People sing, dance and parade as in a carnival through the streets with drums and trumpets to spread the news of the coming new year.
Rosh Hashanah: The Jewish New Year is called “Rosh Hashanah”, and is celebrated in the month of September. It is a holy time when people think of the things they have done wrong in the past, and promise to do better in the future. Special prayers are held, and an instrument called a Shofar is played. Children are given new clothes, and New Year loaves are baked and fruits are consumed to remind people of harvest time.
Shogatsu: In Japan, the New Year (Shogatsu) celebrations are from January 1 to January 3 and most Japanese don’t work during these days. In Japan, years are traditionally seen as completely separate from each other, and the New Year is a fresh start. This means that in December all duties should be completed. Parties are held to forget the worries and troubles of the old year. Homes and cars are decorated. On New Year’s Eve, most people spend their time with their families.
Bahai New Year: The Bahai people have their own calendar consisting of nineteen months of nineteen days plus a couple of extra days between the eighteenth and nineteenth months. They have, however, adopted the Iranian custom of beginning the New Year in the spring equinox (春分). The day begins at sunset rather than midnight, and the New Year celebrations are held on the evening of March 20th.During the Jewish New Year, .
| A．people don’t mention things they have done wrong |
| B．children often wear new clothes |
| C．loaves and fruits are often forbidden to be served |
| D．Shofar is their favourite food |
Which of the following festivals are celebrated in the same month?
| A．Nowroz and Shogatsu. | B．Rosh Hashanah and Shogatsu. |
| C．Nowroz and Rosh Hashanah. | D．Nowroz and the Bahai New Year. |
What can we learn from the text?
| A．Japanese families often stay together to celebrate Shogatsu. |
| B．The Bahai people usually hold a carnival to celebrate the New Year. |
| C．The Jewish harvest fruits to celebrate Rosh Hashanah. |
| D．The Iranians often hold family parties to celebrate Nowroz. |
The following diaries were written by an Australian boy named Tony. He was on holiday with his family in South Asia.
| 27 December, 2007 This morning I read an email about a boy in hospital looking for his father and I finally thought of a way to help. I took my camera to the hospital and took photos of the boy. Now I’m going to set up a website on my dad’s computer, upload the photos and add his name and information of the hospital. Hopefully it will help! |
2 January, 2008 At the end of the trip, I learned that the boy found his father! His Swedish uncle saw the email on my webpage and arranged the meeting. Is it my website that has made such a success? But at least I’ve done something. We’re returning home tomorrow but I will remember the experience and tell my friends: No matter what we are. We can think of a way to help others. |
Tony thought of the way to ______.
| A．forget the experience | B．take photos of the travelers |
| C．set up a website for the hospital | D．help the boy find his father |
______ saw the email and photos on the webpage and arranged the meeting.
| A．The boy’s uncle | B．Tony | C．Tony’s father | D．The doctor |
Tony was more likely to be ______ in South Asia.
| A．living | B．studying | C．shopping | D．traveling |
It can be learned from the diaries that ______.
| A．people are willing to set up websites |
| B．Tony’s father worked in the hospital there |
| C．people can do something to help each other |
| D．Tony went there to look for his family members |
What do butterfly wings have to do with computer screens? What do birds have to do with high speed trains?
These may sound like strange things to put together. But scientists, inventors, and designers are doing just that. They are learning from nature to create new technology.
The word biomimicry (仿生学) combines two words: biology and mimicry. So people using biomimicry try to use examples in nature to design new technology.
Biomimicry is not a new idea. People have been studying nature for hundreds of years. Leonardo DaVinci used birds as models to invent his flying machine. And when the Wright Brothers made the first successful airplane, they also studied birds. In 998, Janine Benyus, a natural science writer and teacher, wrote a book about biomimicry. To develop her interest in the subject, Janine Benyus started the Biomimicry Institute.
The Biomimicry Institute is a non-profit organization. It brings together scientists, designers, inventors and many other people. It offers classes to teach people biomimicry. It provides money for people to research and test new technologies. And it wants all people, from children to adults, to think about new ways to learn from nature.
People involved with the Biomimicry Institute believe that biomimicry can help solve many of the world’s problems. Often, new technologies can harm nature, but this is not true for biomimicry. Let’s look at some examples.
Butterflies have colorful wings because light shines off them in a special way. Scientists want to copy these same ways to make light shine off computers. They hope this will make for more colorful screens.
Another example of biomimicry is the bullet train. It travels at speeds of over 250 kilometers per hour! But it had a problem: it made too much noise!
Through the observation of birds, scientists thought about a kind of bird, the kingfisher(翠鸟). The kingfisher can dive into water without making any noise because of the shape of its beak(喙). Researchers thought that if they could design the front of the train like this beak, the train would be quieter. Well, it worked!The first paragraph is written to_____.
| A．start a discussion | B．make a brief summary |
| C．introduce the topic of the text | D．test readers' knowledge on science |
Why did Janine Benyus set up the Biomimicry Institute?
| A．To honor the Wright Brothers. |
| B．To show her recent inventions. |
| C．To gather talented people for her research. |
| D．To explore the link between nature and technologies. |
We know from the text that the Biomimicry Institute _____.
| A．earns a lot by giving classes on biomimicry | B．tells people about their technologies |
| C．gives free support to scientists | D．teaches children about birds |
The author gives the two examples at the end of the text to show _______.
| A．biomimcry works harmoniously with nature | B．the fast development of modern technology |
| C．how biomimcry changes our life | D．how nature inspires scientists |
What’s the main idea of the text?
| A．Biomimicry is widely used in the world. |
| B．People copy nature to create new technologies. |
| C．The Biomimicry Institute was set up for science. |
| D．Birds play an important part in new technologies. |
The air bag is a piece of safety equipment in cars. It was first designed by John W. Hetrick in 1952. Like many inventions, he came up with the idea as a result of an event that had occurred in his life. He says:
“In the spring of 1952, my wife, my seven-year-old daughter, Joan, and I were out for a Sunday drive in our 1948 Chrysler Windsor. About three miles outside Newport we were watching for deer jumping across the road. Suddenly, there was a large rock in our path. I hit the brakes and we went into a ditch(壕沟).
“As I applied the brakes, both my wife and I threw our hands up to keep our daughter from hitting the car. There was soft mud in the ditch, so the car wasn’t damaged, and no one was hurt.”
“During the ride home I couldn’t stop thinking about the accident. I asked myself,‘Why couldn’t some object come out to stop you from striking the inside of the car?’As soon as I got home that night I drew some sketches(草图). Each evening for the following two weeks, I’d add or reduce something from the sketches.”
Hetrick applied an event he had observed while in the Navy to the design of the air bag. He was repairing a torpedo(鱼雷) which had a cloth covering. When the compressed（压缩的） air that was in the torpedo was let out, the covering was suddenly filled with air and was shot to the ceiling.
With this knowledge, he developed his design until he was able to obtain a patent on the invention on August 5, 1952. The idea was similar to the air bag designs of today. Compressed air is stored in a container and when a traffic accident occurs and the car slows down at a rapid enough rate, the air will be released into the air bag. The idea was ingenious, but Hetrick’s air bag never would have functioned properly. It was really a breakthrough, but it would require years and years of designing and testing by some top car designers before it could be used.The car accident Hetrick was involved in ________.
| A．damaged his car | B．happened in 1948 |
| C．was caused by a deer | D．caused no harm to his family |
Hetrick’s experience in the Navy________.
| A．turned out to be dangerous | B．was helpful to his invention |
| C．involved designing torpedoes | D．inspired him to design an air bag |
The underlined word “ingenious” in the last paragraph is closest in meaning to _______.
| A．creative | B．ridiculous | C．crazy | D．complex |
What do we know about the air bag Hetrick designed?
| A．It came into use in the 1950s. | B．It performed perfectly in car accidents. |
| C．It prepared the way for air bags nowadays. | D．It took Hetrick about two months to develop it. |
The text is mainly about ____.
| A．the great inventor Hetrick | B．The invention of air bags |
| C．a terrible car accident | D．road safety in the 1950s |
While most travelers aim to stay out of the hospital while on vacation, a growing number of medical tourists－people who combine treatment with travel － are crossing international borders for the purpose of getting medical services, which can range from a hip replacement to a tummy tuck. Widespread air travel, increasing healthcare costs in developed countries, long waiting lists and an ageing world population have all contributed to a global increase in medical tourism in the past decade. And Asia takes the lead in terms of world market share.
More than 89% of medical tourists travelled to Thailand, India or Singapore in 2010, with Bangkok and Singapore leading the pack. But the cost of hotel rooms and treatment are both far more expensive in Singapore than in the Thai capital, making Bangkok the most popular place for medical tourism in the world. Even after the serious floods of 2011, 19 million tourists visited Thailand in 2011, a 20% jump from 2010, with about 500,000 tourists travelling specifically for medical treatment.
Given Thailand’s reputation for outstanding service, it is not hard to see why Bangkok has quickly become the medical tourism centre of Asia. The Tourism Authority of Thailand(TAT), which began medical tourism in 2004, has a detailed medical tourism website that lists many of the most popular treatments available, including dental work, dermatology and cosmetic surgery, as well as listing reputed hospitals, making it easy for potential visitors to decide on a procedure. TAT has also recently partnered with Krungthai Bank, the national bank of Thailand, to offer tourists a card called the Miracle Thailand Card, which offers some medical and life insurance coverage in case of an accident.
“The hospitals in Bangkok are some of the highest quality in the world，meeting US standards，”said Steven Lash, CEO of a US-based medical travel company that sends tourists to Bangkok as well as to seven other countries, including Turkey and Mexico. "All of the tourists we have sent to these hospitals have given us excellent feedback (反馈) on their procedures and their experiences at the hospitals." Medical tourism is so popular nowadays partly because_____.
| A．aged patients prefer to travel |
| B．air travel is cheaper than before |
| C．local hospitals lack advanced equipment |
| D．medical treatment is expensive in some countries |
Why is Bangkok’s medical tourism ahead of Singapore’s?
| A．Bangkok provides an excellent service at lower prices. |
| B．Medical tourists in Bangkok get high health insurance. |
| C．The local authority in Bangkok has a good reputation. |
| D．Bangkok has a detailed medical tourism website. |
The author develops the third paragraph mainly by _________.
| A．giving figures | B．Presenting effects |
| C．using examples | D．making comparisons |
Steven Lash thinks Bangkok’s hospitals_______.
| A．are really excellent | B．are welcomed by Americans |
| C．are famous mainly for their service | D．are better than hospitals in the USA |
What is the text mainly about?
| A．The background of medical tourism. |
| B．The rise of medical tourism in Bangkok. |
| C．The advantages of medical tourism in Bangkok. |
| D．The comparison of medical tourism in Asian countries. |
An anxious mother watched as rescuers freed her baby from a muddy well. After being pulled from the well，the baby joyfully ran to its mom as the rescuers took a break.
It was a difficult and potentially dangerous rescue: the baby was an 8-month-old elephant, and at first its mother thought the humans were trying to harm it. The baby elephant fell into the five-foot-deep well near Kenya's Amboseli National Park. Local people had dug the well for water.
It took 30 minutes to remove the trapped elephant. While Vicki Fishlock of the Amboseli Trust for Elephants made a loud shout to frighten the mother away, two men struggled to get a rope around the baby elephant. Once the rope was in place, Fishlock used her jeep to pull the baby out.
Fishlock recognized Zombe, the mother of the trapped baby elephant，from a mark on her ear. She believes that in the end Zombe realized the humans were trying to help.
“Rescues where the elephant’s family members are around are always stressful, and I'm always happy when everyone is safe,” Fishlock said.“The reunions (团聚) always bring tears to my eyes. The depth of their love for each other is one of the things that make elephants so unusual.”
The very next day, another baby elephant fell into the same well. The 3-month-old's family had been driven away from the area by local people. Once it had been rescued, the Amboseli Trust had to send it to an elephant orphanage (孤儿院) in Nairobi, Kenya's capital city.
The rescues showed the plight of elephants across Africa. Elephants are fighting to survive, as conflicts between the animals and humans are increasing. Thousands of elephants are also being killed for their tusks. The tusks are sold in Asia, where ivory trinkets are in high demand.
The Amboseli Trust has been studying elephants and trying to help them since 1972. Fishlock said, “We hope this rescue persuades people that elephants are special and deserve to be protected and treasured.”We can learn from the text that _____.
| A．Fishlock had seen the baby elephant before |
| B．The mother elephant was a great help to rescuers |
| C．the well was dug by local people to trap elephants |
| D．the mother elephant was unfriendly at first to the rescuers |
What causes Fishlock to think that elephants are special?
| A．Their trust in humans. | B．The deep love between them. |
| C．Their great ability to survive. | D．The good communication between them. |
What did the two baby elephants have in common?
| A．They were both 8 months old. | B．They were both rescued by local people. |
| C．They were both trapped in the same well. | D．They were both reunited with their mothers. |
The underlined word "plight" in Paragraph 7 probably means“______”.
| A．a strong personality | B．A dangerous situation |
| C．an annoying habit | D．a close relationship |
What would be the best title for the text?
| A．An elephant rescue | B．The elephant, an unusual animal |
| C．An elephant rescue organization | D．Conflicts between humans and elephants |
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