Animals can move from place to place, but plants cannot. When an animal is under attack, it can run away or fight back. Plants certainly cannot run away, and they lack teeth and claws. But plants can defend (保护) themselves by using both physical and chemical means.
Some plants have their own ways to keep animals away. For example, the leaves of the holly plant have sharp spines (刺) that discourage grass-eating animals. Holly leaves on lower branches have more spines than leaves on upper branches. This is because the lower leaves are easier for most animals to reach.
Some plants, such as the oak tree, have thick and hard leaves that are difficult for animals to eat. Some grasses may contain a sandy material; eating such grasses wears down the animal's teeth.
Many plants also have chemical defenses. Some plants produce chemicals that taste bitter or cause an unpleasant reaction. Some plants may fight against an attack by increasing the production of these chemicals. When a caterpillar (毛虫) bites a tobacco leaf, the leaf produces a chemical messenger. This messenger sends to the roots the information to produce more nicotine. The higher levels of nicotine discourage the caterpillar.
Many plants depend on both physical and chemical defenses. A certain plant in China, for instance, has prickly (多刺的) leaves, and each prickle contains poisonous venom (毒液) A single experience with this kind of plant will teach an animal to stay away from it in the future. To defend themselves, oak trees use________.
| A．chemical means | B．physical means |
| C．bitter chemicals | D．sandy materials |
How does tobacco protect itself against an attack from a caterpillar?
| A．Its leaves fight against the attack by physical means. |
| B．Its roots send a messenger to discourage the caterpillar. |
| C．Its roots increase the production of nicotine when it is attacked. |
| D．Its leaves produce poisonous sand to drive the caterpillar away. |
What would be the best title for this passage?
| A．Plants and Animals |
| B．How Plants Defend Themselves |
| C．Attacks and Defenses |
| D．How Animals Eat Plant Leaves |
Jacqueline Bouvier Kennedy Onassis was one of the most private women in the world, yet when she went to work as an editor in the last two decades of her life, she revealed（展现）herself as she did nowhere else.
After the death of her second husband, Greek shipping magnate（巨头）Aristotle Onassis, Jacqueline’s close friend and former White House social secretary Letitia Baldrige made a suggestion that she consider a career in publishing. After consideration, Jacqueline accepted it. Perhaps she hoped to find there some idea about how to live her own life. She became not less but more interested in reading. For the last 20 years of her life, Jacqueline worked as a publisher’s editor, first at Viking, then at Doubleday, pursuing（追求）a late-life career longer than her two marriages combined. During her time in publishing, she was responsible for managing and editing more than 100 successfully marketed books. Among the first books were In the Russian Style and Inventive Paris Clothes. She also succeeded in persuading TV hosts Bill Moyer’s and Jose Campbell to transform their popular television conversations into a book, The Power of Myth. The book went on to become an international best-seller. She dealt, too, with Michael Jackson as he prepared his autobiography（自传）, Moonwalk.
Jacqueline may have been hired for name and for her social relations, but she soon proved her worth. Her choices, suggestions and widespread social relations were of benefit both to the publishing firms and to Jacqueline herself. In the books she selected for publication, she built on a lifetime of spending time by herself as a reader and left a record of the growth of her mind. Her books are the autobiography she never wrote. Her role as First Lady, in the end, was overshadowed by her performance as an editor. However, few knew that she had achieved so much.We can learn from the passage that Jacqueline _________
| A．became fond of reading after working as an editor |
| B．was in charge of publishing 100 books |
| C．promoted her books through social relations |
| D．gained a lot from her career as an editor |
The underlined sentence in the last paragraph probably means that_________
| A．Jacqueline was more successful as an editor than as First Lady |
| B．Jacqueline’s life as First Lady was more colorful than as an editor |
| C．Jacqueline ended up as an editor rather as First Lady |
| D．Jacqueline’s role as First Lady was more brilliant than as an editor |
【改编】It can be inferred from the passage that______
| A．Jacqueline’s two marriages lasted more than 20 years |
| B．Jacqueline’s opinions and faiths were reflected in the books she edited |
| C．Jacqueline’s own publishing firm was set up eventually |
| D．Jacqueline’s achievements were widely known. |
【改编】The passage talks about ______________
| A．a brief introduction of Jacqueline’s career as an editor in her last 20 years |
| B．a brief description of Jacqueline’s lifelong experiences |
| C．an description of Jacqueline’s life both as First Lady and as an editor |
| D．an analysis of Jacqueline’s social relations in publishing |
Alice’s mother died when Alice was five years old. Alice, who grew up to be my mother, told me that after her mother’s death her family was too poor to even afford to give her a doll.
In December 2012, I had a job at a local bank. One afternoon, we were decorating the tree in the bank lobby(大厅). One of my customers approached me with her beautiful handmade dolls. I decided to get one for my daughter, Katie, who was almost five years old. Then I had an idea. I asked my customer if she could make me a special doll for my mother—one with gray hair and spectacles(眼镜): a grandmother doll. And she gladly agreed.
A friend had told me that his dad who played Santa Claus would be willing to make a visit on Christmas morning to our home to deliver my Katie her presents, so I made some special arrangements.
Christmas Day arrived and at the planned time; so did Santa Claus. Katie was surprised that Santa had come to see her at her own house. As Santa turned to leave, he looked once more into his bag and found one more gift. As he asked who Alice was, my mother, surprised at her name being called, indicated that she in fact was Alice. Santa handed her the gift, with a message card that read:
For Alice:
I was cleaning out my sleigh(雪橇) before my trip this year and came across this package that was supposed to be delivered on December 25,1953. The present inside has aged, but I felt that you might still wish to have it. Many apologies for the lateness of the gift.
Love,
Santa Claus
My mother’s reaction was one of the most deeply emotional scenes I have ever seen. She couldn’t speak but only held the doll she had waited fifty-nine years to receive as tears of joy ran down her cheeks. That doll, given by “Santa”, made my mother the happiest “child” that Christmas.【改编】Why couldn’t the writer’s mother have a doll when young ?_________.
| A．Santa Clause forgot to send the doll to her |
| B．her daughter couldn’t make a doll by herself |
| C．her parents left the doll in the Santa Clause’s sleigh |
| D．her family was badly off when she was a child |
【改编】What can be inferred from the passage ?__________.
| A．the writer’s father played the Father Christmas |
| B．the writer’s mother was already in her sixties when she received the doll |
| C．the writer urged one of her friends to make the doll for her mother |
| D．the Santa Clause was too careless to deliver the doll on time |
The best title for this passage could be __________.
| A．A Doll from Santa |
| B．An unforgettable Christmas |
| C．A considerate daughter |
| D．A help from Santa Claus |
【原创】In the " Mystery Spot" in California, you will be able to experience what it's like to live in a gravity-free world, without ever leaving the earth.
Discovered in 1939, the area where Mystery Spot is located was originally marked for a summer cabin. But when people tried to chart the plot, their instruments started going out of control. Investigators that were sent to look into the strange phenomenon reported feeling light-headed as though some invisible force was trying to knock them off balance. The decision to build the summer cabin was abandoned. Instead, the owners decided to build a structure that they called the Mystery Spot and open it to the public so that everyone could experience it.
Over the years, thousands of tourists have flooded to the 150-square-foot area to see short people appear the same height as tall ones and experience leaning at impossible angles without falling over.
So what causes these strange things to happen? Some believe that it is because the area is an electromagnetic(电磁的) hotspot, while others are convinced that there are some unknown geological forces at work to contradict the law of gravity.
Rational scientists have thrown cold water on all these theories. In 1981, Ray Hyman, a psychology professor, conducted a study on this and other similar mystery spots that have been " discovered" in various parts of the country. His conclusion? It's because of the way the structures have been constructed.
Though they appear to be normal structures, they are like funhouses, filled with floors that are not level, corners that are not squared and walls that are not vertical.
Some experts believe that mystery spots such as the one in Santa Cruz are a product of the Great Depression, when the only industry that was growing in America was entertainment.
What can we do in the " Mystery Spot" in California?
| A．To experience what it is like to have no gravity. ' |
| B．To make preparations to leave the earth for space. |
| C．To communicate with astronauts in space. |
| D．To look for answers to many mysteries. |
What does the underlined word "it" refer to in Para. 2 ?
| A．Charting a place with advanced instruments. |
| B．Being made light-hearted and happy by some force. |
| C．What it's like to have no gravity in a place. |
| D．Seeing short people grow tall. |
What's the explanation of some rational scientists to the strange phenomenon?
| A．The Mystery Spot is located in an electromagnetic hotspot. |
| B．There are some unknown geological forces underground. |
| C．The Mystery Spot is a normal structure like funhouses. |
| D．The Mystery Spot was built in a special way, |
After the Mystery Spot was built, it _________.
| A．has become a spot where hot movies are made |
| B．has become a tourist attraction |
| C．has been a place where short people always go |
| D．has become a scientific research center |
It was an autumn morning shortly after my husband and I moved into our first house. Our children were upstairs unpacking, and I was looking out of the window at my father moving around mysteriously on the front lawn. My parents lived nearby, and Dad had visited us several times already. “What are you doing out there?” I called to him.
He looked up, smiling. “I’m making you a surprise.” Knowing my father, I thought it could be just about anything. A self-employed jobber, he was always building things out of odds and ends. When we were kids, he always created something surprising for us.
Today, however, Dad would say no more, and caught ups in the busyness of our new life, I eventually forgot about his surprise.
Until one gloomy day the following March when I glanced out of the window. Any yet… I saw a dot of blue across the yard. I headed outside for a closer look. They were crocuses (番红花), throughout the front lawn. Lavender, blue, yellow and my favorite pink --- little faces moved up and down in the cold wind.
Dad! I smiled, remembering the things he had secretly planted last autumn. He knew how the darkness and dullness of winter always got me down. What could have been more perfectly timely to my needs?
My father’s crocuses bloomed each spring for the next four or five seasons, bringing the same assurance every time they arrived: hard times was almost over. Hold on, keep going, light is coming soon.
Then a spring came with only half the usual blooms. The next spring there were none. I missed the crocuses. I would ask Dad to come over and plant new bulbs. But I never did.
He died suddenly one October day. My family was in deep sorrow, leaning on our faith. I missed him terribly.
Four years passed, and on a dismal spring afternoon I was driving back when I found myself feeling depressed. “You’ve got the winter depression again and you get them every year.” I told myself.
It was Dad’s birthday, and I found myself thinking about him. This was not unusual --- my family often talked about him, remembering how he lived his faith. Once I saw him give his coat to a homeless man.
Suddenly I slowed as I turned into our driveway. I stopped and stared at the lawn. And there on the muddy grass and small gray piles of melting snow, bravely waving in the wind, was one pink crocus.
How could a flower bloom from a bulb more than 18 years old, one that had not blossomed in over a decade? But there was the crocus. Tears filled my eyes as I realized its significance.
Hold on, keep going, light is coming soon. The pink crocus bloomed for only a day. But it built my faith for a lifetime.【改编】What can we conclude From the first three paragraphs ? _________.
| A．the writer was unpacking when her father was surprised |
| B．the writer understood what the surprise was because she knew her father |
| C．it was not the first time that the writer’s father had made a surprise |
| D．it kept bothering the writer not knowing what the surprise was |
Which of the following would most probably be the worst time of the year as seen by the writer?
| A．Spring. | B．Summer. |
| C．Autumn. | D．Winter. |
The writer’s father should be best described as_________.
| A．a full-time gardener with skillful hands |
| B．a part-time jobber who loved flowers |
| C．a kind-hearted man who lived with faith |
| D．an ordinary man with doubts in his life |
At the end of the passage, crocus was viewed as the symbol of _________ by the writer.
| A．belief | B．family | C．love | D．friendship |
There are rolling hills and ivy-covered brick buildings. There are small classrooms, high-tech labs, and green fields. There’s even a clock tower with a massive bell that rings for special events.
Cushing Academy has all the characteristics of a New England school, with one exception. This year, after having had a collection of more than 20,000 books, officials have decided the 144-year-old school no longer needs a traditional library. They have decided to give away all their books. The future, they believe, is digital.
“When I look at books, I see an outdated technology,” said James Tracy, headmaster of Cushing. “We’re not discouraging students from reading. We see this as a natural way to shape emerging trends and use technology. Instead of a traditional library, we’re building a virtual library where students will have access to millions of books on the computer. We see this as a model for the 21st-century school.”
Not everyone on campus is sold on Tracy’s vision.
Liz Vezina, a librarian at Cushing for 17 years, said she never imagined working as the director of a library without any books. “It makes me mad,” said Vezina, who has made a career of introducing students to books. “I’m going to miss them, and there’s something lost when they are done on a computer. There’s sensual side to them — the smell, the feel, the physicality of a book is something really special.”
Cushing is one of the first schools in the country to give up its books. William Powers, author of a book called the changes at Cushing “radical（激进的）” and “a huge loss for students”.
“There are modes of learning and thinking that at the moment are only available from actual books,” he said. “There is a kind of deep-dive reading that’s almost impossible to do on a screen. Without books, students are more likely to do the quick reading that screens enable, rather than be by themselves with the author’s ideas.”What is special about Cushing Academy?
| A．It is built in rolling mountains |
| B．Its buildings are covered with ivy. |
| C．There will be no books in its library. |
| D．There is a clock tower with a big bell. |
The underlined sentence in the passage probably means _________.
| A．not all people agree with Tracy’s idea |
| B．Tracy’s idea is welcome in the school |
| C．in Tracy’s opinion not all books are sold |
| D．not everyone can imagine a virtual library |
【改编】According to the Powers, actual books can make students _________.
| A．do a lot of quick reading |
| B．develop the habit of reading |
| C．experiencing the pleasure of reading |
| D．make sense of the author’s views deeply |
What would be the best title for the passage?
| A．Cushing is facing challenges |
| B．The Internet library promises a bright future |
| C．A library says goodbye to books |
| D．Cushing leads the world in digital technology |
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