Can dogs and cats get along well in the same home? People who are thinking about getting a dog as a friend for their cat are worried that they will fight. A recent research has found that if the cat is taken back home before the dog, and if they are introduced when still young (less than 6 months for cats, a year for dogs), it is highly probable that the two pets will get along swimmingly. In two-thirds of the homes cats and dogs have a good relationship.
However, it wasn’t all sweetness and light. There was a reported coldness between the cat and dog in 25% of the homes, while aggression(侵略，好斗) and fighting were found in 10% of the homes. One reason for this is probably that some of their body languages are just different. For example, when a cat turns its head away it means aggression, while a dog doing the same means submission(顺从).
In homes with cats and dogs living peacefully, researchers found a surprising behavior. They are learning how to talk each other’s language. It is a surprise that cats can learn how to talk “Dog”, and dogs can learn how to talk “Cat”.
What’s interesting is that both cats and dogs have appeared to become smarter. They can learn to read each other’s body languages, suggesting that the two may have more in common than was expected. Once familiar with each other’s body language, cats and dogs can play together, and enjoy sleeping together on the sofa.
The importance of this research on cats and dogs may go beyond pets — to people who don’t get along well, including neighbors, colleagues at work, and even countries. If cats and dogs can learn to get along, surely people have a good chance. The underlined word swimmingly in Paragraph 1 is closest in meaning to ________.
| A．early | B．mostly | C．quickly | D．smoothly |
Some cats and dogs may fight when ________.
| A．they are cold to each other |
| B．they look away from each other |
| C．they misunderstand each other’s body languages |
| D．they are introduced at an early age |
What is found surprising about cats and dogs?
| A．They eat and sleep together. |
| B．They watch each other’s behaviors. |
| C．They learn to speak each other’s language. |
| D．They know something from each other’s voices. |
It is suggested in Paragraph 4 that cats and dogs ________.
| A．have common interests | B．are less different than was thought |
| C．have a common body language | D．are not so smart as was expected |
What can we human beings learn from cats and dogs?
| A．We should learn to get along well with others |
| B．We should know more about animals. |
| C．We should live in peace with animals. |
| D．We should learn more body languages. |
For centuries, medical pioneers have refined a variety of methods and medicines to treat sickness, injury, and disability, enabling people to live longer and healthier lives.
“A salamander (a small lizard-like animal) can grow back its leg. Why can't a human do the same?” asked Peruvian-born surgeon Dr. Anthony Atala in a recent interview. The question, a reference to work aiming to grow new limbs for wounded soldiers, captures the inventive spirit of regenerative medicine. This innovative field seeks to provide patients with replacement body parts.
These parts are not made of steel; they are the real things --- living cells, tissue, and even organs.
Regenerative medicine is still mostly experimental, with clinical applications limited to procedures such as growing sheets of skin on burns and wounds. One of its most significant advances took place in 1999，when a research group at North Carolina’s Wake Forest Institute for Regenerative Medicine conducted a successful organ replacement with a laboratory-grown bladder. Since then, the team, led by Dr. Atala, has continued to generate a variety of other tissues and organs 一 from kidneys to ears.
The field of regenerative medicine builds on work conducted in the early twentieth century with the first successful transplants of donated human soft tissue and bone. However, donor organs are not always the best option. First of all, they are in short supply, and many people die while waiting
for an available organ; in the United States alone, more than 100,000 people are waiting for organ transplants. Secondly, a patient’s body may ultimately reject the transplanted donor organ. An advantage of regenerative medicine is that the tissues are grown from a patient’s own cells and will not be rejected by the body’s immune system.
Today, several labs are working to create bioartificial body parts. Scientists at Columbia and Yale Universities have grown a jawbone and a lung. At the University of Minnesota, Doris Taylor has created a beating bioartificial rat heart. Dr. Atala’s medical team has reported long-term success with bioengineered bladders implanted into young patients with spina bifida (a birth defect that involves the incomplete development of the spinal cord). And at the University of Michigan, H. David Humes has created an artificial kidney.
So far, the kidney procedure has only been used successfully with sheep, but there is hope that one day similar kidney will be implantable in a human patient. The continuing research of scientists such as these may eventually make donor organs unnecessary and, as a result, significantly increase individuals’ chances of survival.In the latest field of regenerative medicine, what are replacement parts made of?
| A．Donated cells, tissues and organs. |
| B．Rejected cells, tissues and organs. |
| C．Cells, tissues and organs of one’s own. |
| D．Cells, tissues and organs made of steel. |
What have scientists experimented successfully on for a bioartificial kidney?
| A．Patients. | B．Rats. |
| C．Sheep. | D．Soldiers. |
Why is regenerative medicine considered innovative?
| A．It will provide patients with replacement soft tissues. |
| B．It will strengthen the human body’s immune system. |
| C．It will shorten the time patients waiting for a donated organ. |
| D．It will make patients live longer with bioartificial organs. |
What is the writer’s attitude towards regenerative medicine?
| A．Positive. | B．Negative. |
| C．Doubtful. | D．Reserved. |
The other morning on the subway I sat next to an attractive young blonde woman who was reading something on her iPad. She was very well-dressed, carrying a Prada bag with tastefully applied make-up indeed, she had an unmistakable air of wealth, material success and even authority. I suspected she worked as a highly-paid Wall Street lawyer or stockbroker or something of that sort. So, I was curious to see what she was so focused on. The Wall Street Journal perhaps? The Economist?
Quite the contrary; rather, she was concentrating on a romance novel. Then I realized that I have known many women who love romance novels—smart, attractive, successful, “liberated,” modem females who nonetheless find some kind of deep satisfaction and thrill from those hyper-romantic, artificial and extremely unrealistic tales of handsome, manly heroes falling in love with virginal women, enduring a series of adventures, then no doubt having a happy ending.
These romance stories are to literature what hot dogs are to fine food. Yet, the genre(体裁) remains enormously popular. Consider some of these surprising statistics from the good folks at the Romance Writers of America (RWA):
*More than 9,000 romance titles were released last year, with sales of about $1.44 billion (more than triple the revenues generated by classic literary fiction).
*More than 90 percent of the market are women (okay, that’s not at all surprising).
* Readers are typically women between the ages 30 and 54 who are themselves involved in a romantic relationship (betraying the stereotype that only lonely women long for these tales of love and adventure).
*Almost 40 percent of romance book consumers have an annual income of between $50,000 and $99,900 (placing them firmly in the middle class).
I had thought that romance novels accounted for a very small share of the literary market, so I was quite surprised that this part has such enormous popularity. But I must wonder why so many women—forty years after the women’s liberation movement continue to indulge in the fanciful tales?
I’m not sure if it represents a kind of “rejection” of the women’s liberation movement, but clearly something is missing in the lives of contemporary ladies. A romance author named Donna Hatch who focuses on the Regency period (early 19th century Britain) explained the appeal of such books this way: “Regency men were civilized and treated women with courtesy. When a lady entered the room, gentlemen stood, doffed their hats, offered an arm, bowed, and a hundred other little things I wish men still did today. But they were also very athletic; they hunted, raced, boxed, rode horses. They were manly. Strong. Noble. Honorable. And that is why I love them!”
Mrs. Hatch may have expressed the secret desires and attitudes of untold millions of her peers---that is, in the early 21st century, have women grown tired of the burdens and expectations that the “freedoms” they have gained give them? Is this a rejection of modem feminism? Do women long for days of old when men were masculine gentlemen and women were feminine and protected as precious treasures and regarded as possessions?
Perhaps most women (even the ones who get lost in romance novels) do not want to go all the way back but it is obvious, .
What is the function of the opening paragraph?
| A．To summarize the whole passage. |
| B．To prove the author’s argument. |
| C．To lead in the main topic of the passage. |
| D．To raise problems that will be solved later. |
What does the underlined sentence in the third paragraph imply?
| A．Romance novels are satisfying and thrilling. |
| B．Romance novels are not of much “nutrition”. |
| C．Romance novels are as popular as hot dogs. |
| D．Romance novels are an essential part of contemporary life. |
In the author’s opinion, what is missing in the lives of contemporary women?
| A．Authority. | B．Dignity. | C．Liberty. | D．Care. |
Which sentence can be put in the blank in the last paragraph?
| A．they prefer tales of innocent romance to classics |
| B．they are unhappy with how the world has turned out |
| C．true love described in romance novels does exist in reality |
| D．romance novels provide them with an access to society |
Metropolitan North Georgia Water Planning District
2015 High School Video Contest
Here’s the Scoop on Pet Waste!
Submission Deadline March 27, 2015.
| Eligibility Ninth, tenth, eleventh and twelfth grade students that attend schools located in Bartow, Cherokee, Clayton, Cobb, Coweta, DeKalb, Douglas, Fayette, Fulton, Forsyth, Gwinnett, Hall, Henry, Paulding and Rockdale counties are invited to participate in the video contest. Entries can be a team or individual effort. Guidelines » Each video must be uploaded to YouTube. The video’s YouTube link must be included in the entry/release form. » Team members must be from the same school. » The video must be between 30-60 seconds in length. » No professional assistance or use of copyright material is allowed, including background music. » Each student participating in the contest or appearing in the video must fill out a form. For teams, submit an entry/release form for each team member. » One video per team or individual. » All entry/release forms must be postmarked or received by Friday, March 27, 2015. Email: kvaIlianos@atlantaregional.com OR Mail: 2015 Water Video Contest Metro Water District 40 Courtland Street, NE Atlanta, GA 30303 |
Judging Submissions will be judged based on the following criteria: » incorporation of the “Here’s the Scoop on Pet Waste’’ message. Use the "Here's the Scoop on Pet Waste’’ messaging fact sheet for background information on the issue. » Composition (length, technical construction, audio quality). » Entertainment value. » Accuracy of information. » Creativity. Prizes » 1st Place $1500 » 2nd Place $1000 »3rd Place $500 50% of the prize money will go to the individual or team who submits the video and 50% to the high school they attend. Winners will be notified directly. |
| Page 1 of 3 www.northgeorgiawater.org |
What does the underlined word “Eligibility” probably mean?
| A．Age. | B．Qualification. |
| C．Location. | D．Grade. |
When entering the contest, ________.
| A．one must ask his or her teacher to sign the entry form |
| B．winners can earn at least $750 as a prize |
| C．one can invite friends from other schools to act in the video |
| D．participants had better add some humor and fun to the video |
E
However wealthy we may be, we can never find enough hours in the day to do everything we want. Economics deals with this problem through the concept of opportunity cost, which simply refers to whether someone’s time or money could be better spent on something else.
Every hour of our time has a value. For every hour we work at one job we could quite easily be doing another, or be sleeping or watching a film. Each of these options has a different opportunity cost—namely, what they cost us in missed opportunities.
Say you intend to watch a football match but the tickets are expensive and it will take you a couple of hours to get to and from the stadium. Why not, you might reason, watch the game from home and use the leftover money and time to have dinner with friends? This—the alternative use of your cash and time—is the opportunity cost.
For economists, every decision is made by knowledge of what one must forgo—in terms of money and enjoyment—in order to take it up. By knowing precisely what you are receiving and what you are missing out on, you ought to be able to make better-informed, more reasonable decisions. Consider that most famous economic rule of all: there’s no such thing as a free lunch. Even if someone offers to take you out to lunch for free, the time you will spend in the restaurant still costs you something in terms of forgone opportunities.
Some people find the idea of opportunity cost extremely discouraging: imagine spending your entire life calculating whether your time would be better spent elsewhere doing something more profitable or enjoyable. Yet, in a sense it’s human nature to do precisely that we assess the advantages and disadvantages of decisions all the time.
In the business world, a popular phrase is “value for money.” People want their cash to go as far as possible. However, another is fast obtaining an advantage: “value for time.” The biggest restriction on our resources is the number of hours we can devote to something, so we look to maximize the return we get on our investment of time. By reading this passage you are giving over a bit of your time which could be spent doing other activities, such as sleeping and eating. In return, however, this passage will help you to think like an economist, closely considering the opportunity cost of each of your decisions.According to the passage, the concept of “opportunity cost” is applied to ________.
| A．weighing the choice of opportunities |
| B．reducing missed opportunities |
| C．making more money |
| D．taking more opportunities |
The “leftover ... time” in Paragraph 3 probably refers to the time ________.
| A．taken to have dinner with friends |
| B．spared for watching the match at home |
| C．saved from not going to watch the match |
| D．spent on the way to and from the match |
What are forgone opportunities?
| A．Opportunities you make up for. |
| B．Opportunities you forget in decision-making. |
| C．Opportunities you give up for better ones. |
| D．Opportunities you miss accidentally. |
What is the author’s attitude towards the concept of “opportunity cost”?
| A．Indifferent | B．Negative |
| C．Subjective | D．Objective |
D
Mars was the first planet that humans attempted to get to. Since the 1960’s, scientists have been working to learn more information about the Mars’ past, We now know that Mars was once a warm, wet place with great oceans and deep rivers. We also know that about 3.7 billion years ago, all that water disappeared when the planet lost its air. But why did the atmosphere on Mars change so greatly?
NASA had launched the MAVEN spacecraft in the hope of answering that very question. MAVEN will study the remains of Mars’ air and help scientists figure out what became of the rest of it．
The spacecraft was launched on Monday, November 18, 2013, from Cape Canaveral, Florida. The trip to Mars takes about 10 months. and MAVEN is scheduled to go into orbit in September 2014. It is the first spacecraft created with the purpose of studying Mars’ atmosphere. Its wings measures 37.5 feet not quite the length of a school bus, and it weighs 1991 pounds about the same amount as a small car. MAVEN is equipped with eight different tools to measure and study the planet’s atmosphere. To collect information, it will fly in orbit as fast as 3278 miles per hour, and as slow as 93 miles per hour.
Once it arrived at Mars, MAVEN will have plenty of company. The spacecraft Curiosity is still walking around the planet’s rocky surface, studying the geology, chemistry and possible biology there. NASA currently has a number of spacecrafts getting unique views of Mars with powerful cameras and telescopes. These missions are all slow, steady steps forward to discover Mars secret past. While the results may not be revealed for some time, an exciting exploration is on the way.We can learn from the first paragraph that________
| A．all the scientists wanted to live on Mars |
| B．people have had a better knowledge of Mars nowadays |
| C．spaceships have been sent up to Mars since 1960s |
| D．all the water on Mars has been gone for ten billion years |
The MAVEN spacecraft has been launched with the purpose of________
| A．analyzing the change of the atmosphere on Mars |
| B．assisting Curiosity in studying the surface of Mars. |
| C．analyzing what is contained in Mars’ air |
| D．checking whether water still exists on Mars |
It can be inferred from, the text that__________．
| A．many different tasks will be given to MAVEN when it lands on Mars |
| B．many spacecrafts are working around Mars to study its water |
| C．more wonderful things about Mars will be found in the future |
| D．more spacecraft will be sent up to help Curiosity |
What is the best title of this text?
| A．A new finding on Mars |
| B．A new spacecraft sent to Mars |
| C．The rapid development of Mars |
| D．The great change of the Mars’ atmosphere |
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