Is it true that cats have nine lives? One 4-year-old American cat named Sugar definitely seems to have more than one. Sugar fell from the 19th floor of her owner’s home in Boston last month and was only hurt a little on her chest.
“This story isn’t much of a surprise,” said Jake Socha, a scientist at Virginia Tech University, US, in an interview with the BBC. “There have been lots of records of these cats surviving.”
Back in 1987, scientists studied 132 cats. All of them had been brought to a vet’s clinic in New York after falling from tall buildings. Around 90 percent of these cats were alive after their fall and only 37 percent had been seriously injured.
“Being able to survive falls is a critical thing for animals that live in trees, and cats are one of them,” said Socha.
Cats have developed special body structures to survive accidental falls. Their legs are muscular. This can protect their bones from breaking, Professor Andrew Biewener from Harvard University told the BBC. Cats can also spread out their legs like a parachute to reduce their falling speed, he said.
The strange part, according to scientists, is that cats have a better chance of survival if they fall from higher than seven stories. This is because cats have a good sense of which way is down. They can twist their bodies as they fall to make sure they land on their feet. A higher fall means more time for the cat to change its body position.
However, you should not throw your cat out of the window to see how this works. Most pet cats are overweight nowadays. They are not fit enough to change their position in midair, warned Steve Dale, an American cat behavior scientist.
“This cat (Sugar) was lucky,” Dale said. In fact, most cats would suffer serious lung damage, a broken leg or a broken jaw or teeth damage, he said. What can we learn from Paragraph 3?
| A．Cats really do have nine lives. |
| B．Many cats can survive falls. |
| C．Cats are the softest animals in the world. |
| D．More than half of the cats that fall from high places end up badly injured. |
What does the underlined word “critical” mean in the context?
| A．Important. | B．Easy. | C．Challenging. | D．Serious. |
Why can cats survive falls according to the article?
a. They have a hidden parachute in their bodies.
b. Their legs have developed in a way that protects their bones from breaking.
c. They can land on their feet.
d. They can twist their bodies to reduce the speed at which they are falling.
| A．a, b | B．b, c | C．c, d | D．b, d |
Which of the following statements is TRUE?
| A．A pet cat that falls out of a tall building is not really at risk. |
| B．Sugar was lucky that she was only injured in the leg. |
| C．Cats are confused as to which way is down when they are in midair. |
| D．A cat that falls from the fourth story of a building is more likely to die than one that falls from the 10th story. |
Let children learn to judge their own. A child who learns to talk does not learn by being corrected all the time; if corrected too much, he will stop talking. He notices a thousand times a day the difference between the language he uses and the language those around him use. Little by little, he makes the necessary changes to make his language like other people’s, in the same way, children learn to do all the other things without being taught—to walk, run, climb, ride a bicycle—compare their own performances with those of more skilled people, and slowly make the needed changes. But in school we never give a child a chance to find out his mistakes if we thought that he would never notice a mistake unless it was pointed out to him, or correct it unless he was made to. Let him work out, with the help of other children if he wants it, what this word says, what the answer is to that problem, whether this is a good way of saying or doing this or not. If it is a matter of right answers, as it may be in mathematics or science, give him the answer book. Let him correct his own papers. Why should we teachers waste time in doing such work? Our job should be to help the child when he tells us that he can’t find the way to get their own understanding, how to know what they know or do not know. According to the passage, the best way for children to learn things is ___
| A．to listen to skilled people’s advice |
| B．to ask older people many questions |
| C．to make mistakes and have them corrected |
| D．to do what other people do |
According to the writer, teachers in school should ___
| A．allow children to learn from each other |
| B．point out children’s mistakes whenever they are found |
| C．correct children’s mistakes as possible as they can |
| D．give children more book knowledge |
Which of the following does the writer think teachers should not do?
| A．Give children correct answers |
| B．allow children to make mistakes |
| C．Point out children’s mistakes |
| D．Let children judge their own work |
The passage suggests that learning to speak and learning to ride a bicycle are ___.
| A．different from learning other skills |
| B．the same as learning other skills |
| C．more important than other skills |
| D．not really important skills |
Cheating can happen in a lot of different ways. When people cheat, it’s not fair to other people, like the kids who studied for the test or who were the true winners of a game.
Many people like the action of cheating. It makes difficult things seem easy, like getting all the right answers on the test. But it doesn’t solve the problem of not knowing the material and it won’t help on the next test --- unless the person cheats again.
Some people lose respect for cheaters and think less of them. The cheaters themselves may feel bad because they know they are not really earning that good grade. And, if they get caught cheating, they will be in trouble at school, and maybe at home, too.
Some kids cheat because they’re busy or lazy and they want to get good grades without spending the time studying. Other kids might feel like they can’t pass the test without cheating. Even when there seems to be a “good reason” for cheating, cheating isn’t a good idea.
If you were sick or upset about something the night before and couldn’t study, it would be better to talk with the teacher about this. And if you don’t have enough time to study for a test because of swim practice, you need to talk with your parents about how to balance swimming and school.
A kid who thinks cheating is the only way to pass a test needs to talk with the teacher and his or her parents so they can find some solutions(解决办法) together. Talking about these problems and working them out will feel better than cheating.The author thinks that when kids cheat in class, _______.
| A．it is unfair to other people |
| B．it does harm to their heath |
| C．teachers should punish them |
| D．teachers shouldn’t stop them at once |
Some students like cheating mainly because_________.
| A．the material in the test is very difficult |
| B．they want to do better than the others |
| C．cheating can make hard things seem very easy |
| D．they have little time to study their lessons |
We can learn from the passage______.
| A．cheaters are often thought highly of |
| B．people show no respect for those who cheat |
| C．parents whose kids cheat are often in trouble |
| D．kids cheat in the test because of swim practice |
In the passage those cheaters are advised to_______.
| A．spend more time on school than on sports |
| B．find good solutions instead of cheating |
| C．try hard to be intelligent rather than lazy |
| D．ask their classmates for good methods of study |
Early in the 16th century men were trying to reach Asia by traveling west from Europe. In order to find Asia they had to find a way past South America. The man who finally found the way from the Atlantic Ocean to the Pacific was Ferdinand Magellan. Magellan sailed from Seville in August, 1519 with five ships and about 280 men. Fourteen months later, after spending the cold winter on the coast of Patagonia, he discovered the channel which is now called Magellan Strait(海峡). In November, 1520, after many months of dangers from rocks and storms, the three remaining ships entered the ocean on the other side of South America.
They then continued, hoping to reach Asia. But they did not see any land until they reached the islands off the coast of Asia. Before they arrived at these islands, later known as the Philippines, men were dying of starvation. While they were staying in the Philippines, Magellan was killed in a battle. The remaining officers then had to get back to Spain. They decided to sail round Africa. After many difficulties, one ship with eighteen men sailed into Seville three years after leaving. They were all that remained of Magellan’s expedition. However, their achievement was great. They were the first men to sail round the world.The purpose of Magellan’s expedition was to ________.
| A．sail round the world |
| B．find a seaway from the Atlantic to the Pacific |
| C．make a voyage to Asia |
| D．carry men to Philippines |
The number of the ships lost on the whole expedition was ________.
| A．two | B．three | C．four | D．five |
Which of the following is NOT mentioned in the passage concerning the expedition?
| A．Lack of equipment. |
| B．Cold winter in Patagonia. |
| C．The death of Magellan. |
| D．Dangers from rocks and storms. |
The best title for this passage is ________.
| A．The Discovery of Magellan’s Strait |
| B．The Discovery of the Philippines |
| C．The Most Dangerous Expedition |
| D．The First Expedition to Asia |
When newspapers and radio describe the damage caused by a hurricane（飓风） named Hazel, girls named Hazel are probably teased（取笑） by their friends. To keep out of trouble, the Weather Bureau says,“Any resemblance between hurricane names and the names of particular girls is purely accidental.”
Some women became angry because hurricanes are given their names, but many other women are proud to see their names make headlines. They don’t even care that they are the names of destructive storms. Because more women seem to like it than dislike it, the Weather Bureau has decided to continue using girl’s names for hurricanes.
In some ways a hurricane is like a person. After it is born, it grows and develops, then becomes old and dies. Each hurricane has a character of its own. Each follows its own path through the world, and people remember it long after it gone. So it is natural to give hurricanes’ names, and to talk about them almost if they were alive.What happens to girls named Hazel according to the passage?
| A．They suffer from hurricanes. |
| B．The Weather Bureau look for them. |
| C．Others often make fun of them. |
| D．They can’t find boyfriend. |
The underlined word“resemblance”probably means ______.
| A．trouble | B．difference | C．sameness | D．success |
Public opinions make the Weather Bureau ______.
| A．consider the disagreement of some women |
| B．go on naming hurricanes after women |
| C．name hurricanes after men |
| D．look for a new method to name hurricanes |
Switching telephone providers used to be the only way homeowners could save money on telephone bills. Now thanks to new technology, comsumers have another choice-making phone calls over the internet. And this can be completely free if you call another person with an internet phone set-up.
The technology is called voice over internet protocol (协议), or VoIP. In 2005, consumer demand for VoIP dramatically grew. In the US, where popularity has grown faster than here in the UK, 8.4 million are predicted to subscribe this year. For the past couple years, VoIP pioneers such as Skype have accounted for the majority of internet phone subscribers.
VoIP is attractive to consumers because it’s cheaper than traditional phone services. With the basic equipment of PC, microphone and headset, and VoIP software and broadband internet for optimum (最适宜的) voice quality, consumers can save a fortune chatting for free to other internet phone owners and save money calling regular landlines (通讯电缆). But, as the saying goes, you get what you pay for. Many of these services suffer from uncontinuous lapses (失效) in quality. While some users may tolerate echoes or a dropped call, improved quality is needed to attract more customers.
Computing has examined the benefits of using a PC as a telephone with VoIP in how easy they were to set up, how effective they were and the range of their features.
Skype(www. skype.com) came top for its bother-free approach, easy set-up and exceptional voice clarity. Sipgate (www. sipgate. co. uk), MSN(www. messenger. msn. co. uk) and Yahoo! Messenger (uk. messenger. yahoo. com) provide an audio “wizard” that improves sound levels. Google Talk (www. google. com/ talk) was less helpful and Babble. net (www. babble. net) was let down by its poor help files. Yahoo! Messenger provides some of the best features, including the option of landline calls, webcam chats, instant messaging, voice-mail and conference calls. Which one of the following if you call others?
| A．VolP,voice over internet protocol |
| B．Switching telephone |
| C．New technology |
| D．letters |
The underlined sentence in Paragraph 3 implies that ______.
| A．VoIP can save money but it has some disadvantages |
| B．whatever you buy is related to how much you pay |
| C．what you pay for will belong to you forever |
| D．what you buy is not always high in quality |
Which of the following statement is true according to the passage?
| A．Sipgate is less helpful. |
| B．Yahoo! Messenger offers some best features. |
| C．Skype is the best one in the new technology. |
| D．Google Talk provides very good audio “wizard”. |
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