When you watch TV programs about wild animals, it is surprising to see how an antelope can escape a lion’s attack. In the wilderness, everyone has a stunt. Even plants have their own ways of fighting off enemies.
Over millions of years of evolution, plants have developed a unique defence system. Chemicals are wildly used for survival. By making their leaves, flowers, roots and fruits distasteful or poisonous(有毒的) to enemies, plants can fight back.
One such plant is the Golden Wattle tree. The British scientist David Cameron has found when an animal eats the tree’s leaves, the amount of poison increases in the other leaves. “It’s like the damaged leaves telephoning the others telling them to fight together against the enemy, ” he said.
The tree also sends defence messages to neighboring plants by giving out a special smell. Golden Wattle trees in the surrounding 45 meters will get the message and produce more poison within 10 minutes. Now, if an enemy eats too many of the trees’ leaves, it will die.
Every species of plant or tree is good at the production of a particular set of chemicals. A herbivore that can safely eat the leaves of one tree may be poisoned by its neighbor.
In this way, plants have developed not only individual defence system, but also shared it with others. This makes it impossible for a single animal to destroy even a small area of forest. Which of the following can be the best title of the passage?
| A．Plants Fight back with Poisons |
| B．Plants Can Kill Animals |
| C．Animals and Plants |
| D．Lions and Antelopes |
According to the study, if one Golden Wattle tree is attacked by animals, it can________.
| A．tell other trees to protect it |
| B．produce more poison within 10 minutes |
| C．send defence messages to the neighboring plants |
| D．kill the animals with its leaves |
In this passage the underlined word “herbivore” probably means animals which ________.
| A．live on both animals and plants | B．feed on smaller animals |
| C．live on trees | D．feed on plants or grass |
The last paragraph of the passage suggests that this kind of defence system________.
| A．does great harm to the animals | B．does good to the forests |
| C．is helpful to some animals | D．harms the forests |
Many years ago，when I was fresh out of school and working in Denver，I was driving to my parents’ home in Missouri for Christmas. I stopped at a gas station(加油站) about 50 miles from Oklahoma City，where I was planning to stop and visit a friend. While I was standing in line at the cash register(收款台)，I said hello to an older couple who were also paying for gas.
I took off，but had gone only a few miles when black smoke poured from the back of my car. I stopped and wondered what I should do. A car pulled up behind me. It was the couple I had spoken to at the gas station. They said they would take me to my friend’s. We chatted on the way into the city，and when I got out of the car，the husband gave me his business card.
I wrote him and his wife a thankyou note for helping me. Soon afterward，I received a Christmas present from them. Their note that came with it said that helping me had made their holidays meaningful.
Years later，I drove to a meeting in a nearby town in the morning. In late afternoon I returned to my car and found that I’d left the lights on all day，and the battery(电池) was dead. Then I noticed that the Friendly Ford dealership—a shop selling cars—was right next door. I walked over and found two salesmen in the showroom.
“Just how friendly is Friendly Ford？” I asked and explained my trouble. They quickly drove a pickup truck to my car and started it. They would accept no payment，so when I got home，I wrote them a note to say thanks. I received a letter back from one of the salesmen. No one had ever taken the time to write him and say thank you，and it meant a lot，he said.
“Thank you” — two powerful words. They’re easy to say and mean so much.
The author planned to stop at Oklahoma City________.
| A．to visit a friend | B．to see his parents |
| C．to pay at the cash register | D．to have more gas for his car |
The words “took off” underlined in Paragraph 2 mean “________”．
| A．turned off | B．moved off | C．put up | D．set up |
What happened when the author found smoke coming out of his car?
| A．He had it pulled back to the gas station. |
| B．The couple sent him a business card. |
| C．The couple offered to help him. |
| D．He called his friend for help. |
The battery of the author’s car was dead because________.
| A．something went wrong with the lights |
| B．the meeting lasted a whole day |
| C．he forgot to turn off the lights |
| D．he drove too long a distance |
By telling his own experiences，the author tries to show ________.
| A．how to write a thankyou letter |
| B．how to deal with car problems |
| C．the kindheartedness of older people |
| D．the importance of expressing thanks |
As you move around your home, take a good look at the things you have. It is likely that your living room will have a television set and a video, and your kitchen a washing machine and a microwave oven. Your bedroom drawers will be filled with almost three times as many clothes as you need. You almost certainly own a car and possibly a home computer, holiday abroad at least once a year and eat out at least once a week.
Now, perhaps, more than ever before, people are wondering what life is all about, and what it is for. Seeking material success is beginning to trouble large numbers of people around the world. They feel that the long hours work culture to make more money is eating up their lives, leaving them very little time or energy for family or pastimes. Many are turning to other ways of living and downshifting（慢节奏的生活） is one of them. Six percent of workers in Britain took the decision to downshift last year.
One couple who downshifted is Daniel and Liz. They used to work in central London. He was a newspaper reporter and she used to work for an international bank. They would go to work by train every day from their large house in the suburbs, leaving their two children with a nanny. Most evenings Daniel wouldn’t get home until eight or nine o’clock and nearly twice a month he would have to fly to New York for meetings. They both earned a large amount of money but began to feel that life was passing them by.
Nowadays, they run a farm in the mountains of Wales. “I always wanted to have a farm then,” says Daniel, “and we took almost a year to make the decision to downshift. It’s taken some getting used to, but it’s been worth it. We have to think twice now about spending money on car repairs and we no longer have any holidays. However, I think it’s made us stronger as a family, and the children are a lot happier.
Liz, however, is not quite sure. “I used to enjoy my job, even though it was hard work and long hours. I’m not really a country girl, but I suppose I’m gradually getting used to looking after the animals. One thing I do like, though, is being able to see more of my children. My advice for other people wanting to do the same is not to think about it too much or you might not do it at all.”
The passage tells us that .
| A．people seldom work long hours to make money |
| B．people hardly buy more things than necessary |
| C．people are sure everything they own is in the right place |
| D．people realize there is more to life than just making money |
When Daniel was a reporter he ___.
| A．lived in central London | B．disliked his job |
| C．missed his children | D．was well paid |
Daniel and Liz both agree that the move to the farm ____.
| A．was easy to organize | B．has improved family life |
| C．was extremely expensive | D．has been a total success |
Cyril was a small town. The houses there were all made of wood; almost everything in the houses such as cupboards, tables and chairs were made of wood, too. And all the houses faced south. The town was never peaceful. Fire broke out once a week on summer afternoons. Residents were puzzled who the real firebug(纵火犯) was.
One day a big fire broke out. It was said that a Negro had jumped out of the house on fire, so the police arrested(逮捕) all the Negroes in the street. However, fire never stopped to breaking out when the Negroes were in prison.
Mauson, a physics teacher didn’t believe that the Negroes were the firebugs, for he really knew about those Negroes, He made up his mind to find out who the real firebug was.
One day he was invited to drink in a pub and happened to notice that many bottles and plastic plates were baked by the hot sunrays. Suddenly he realized what the actual fact was. He jumped with joy, saying, “I’ve got the answer!”
Mauson dashed out of the pub to his friend’s house nearby, which also faced south. He made an experiment there to confirm his idea.
The next Saturday afternoon, Mauson asked some policemen and newsmen to come to the house. They were told that the real firebug would be shown there. At that time the sun was shining full into the house and it became hotter and hotter inside the room.
Someone wanted to draw the curtains together, while another was going to use a bottle to drink water, but neither got permission from Mauson, who wanted to let the firebug in.
“Now,” said Mauson, “this house will soon catch fire.” People looked at each other in surprise. Mauson asked them to look at the bottles and focus on the table cloth. After a while the cloth gave off a burning smell and began to catch fire!
The mystery of fire was discovered, but the police wouldn’t believe him and insisted that Negroes had been the firebugs. Instead they arrested Mauson and put him into prison. But Mauson said he would never turn against science.
The town was never peaceful, for fire broke out .
| A．in the afternoon | B．in summer | C．at any time | D．A and B |
Why did the police arrest all the Negroes?
| A．One of them had jumped out of the home on fire. |
| B．They were suspected to be the firebugs. |
| C．The police hated the Negroes. |
| D．The Negroes knew something about the fires. |
Drinking in a pub, Mauson realized what the actual fact was .
| A．by experiment | B．by backing the bottles |
| C．through the hot sunrays | D．by accident |
By making an experiment, they knew the real firebug was .
| A．the Negroes | B．bottles | C．sunrays | D．plastic plates |
Mauson was put into prison, because .
| A．he had told a lie |
| B．he had fund out the real firebug |
| C．he had turned against science |
| D．he had made friends with the Negroes |
Women in Nazi Germany were to have a very special job. Hitler was very clear about this. This job was that they should be good mothers bringing up children at home while their husbands worked. Except for some special fields, Hitler saw no reason why a woman should work. Within months of Hitler coming to power, many female doctors, teachers and lawyers were sacked. By the start of the Second World War, very few German women were in fulltime work. From their earliest years, girls were taught that all good German women married at a young age to a proper German and that the wife’s job was to keep a good home for her working husband and to have children.
One of the earliest laws passed by Hitler once he came to power in 1933, was the Law for the Encouragement of Marriage. This law stated (声明) that all newly married couples would get a government loan (贷款) of 1000 marks. This loan was not to be simply paid back. The birth of one child meant that 25% of the loan did not have to be paid back. Two children meant that 50% of the loan didn’t need to be paid back. Four children meant that the entire loan was cleared.
What was more, as housewives and mothers, their lives were controlled. Women were not expected to wear make-up or trousers. Only flat shoes were expected to be worn. Women were discouraged from slimming as this was considered bad for child birth.
The aim of the Law for the Encouragement of Marriage was to ________.
| A．attract more young people to join the army willingly |
| B．make those married couples become rich quickly |
| C．encourage people to loan more from the government |
| D．encourage couples to have as many children as they could |
The underlined word “sacked” in Paragraph one probably means “________”.
| A．punished | B．fired | C．killed | D．raised |
According to the passage, women in Nazi Germany ________.
| A．could make up or wear beautiful clothes |
| B．were to have children and do housework |
| C．could receive a good education at school |
| D．were offered the equal rights as men |
Which of the following is a suitable title for the text?
| A．The life of women in Nazi Germany |
| B．The cruel rule of Hitler in Germany |
| C．The marriage policy in Nazi Germany |
| D．Hitler — a powerful leader in Germany |
Exercise is an important part of a healthy life. It reduces your risk of heart attack and is a good way to control body weight. It is also something you can do with other people, which can be great fun. So, it is important to find time to exercise and be healthier. As well as making time to exercises, another way is to build it into the natural rhythm (节奏) of your day.
· Go for a walk on your lunch break.
Try to find at least three different ways and change them throughout the week. It
might even be possible to find a place to walk inside, for those bad weather days.
· Talk to your employers about improving health at work.
Encourage your workers to cycle to and from work. You might also be able to
encourage them to set up a gymnasium. Sell the idea by pointing out that doing so
will improve productivity (生产率), and make workers happy.
· If you are a student.
Go for walks with friends to talk about your studies. Spend some time in the learning
resource centre reading about sport, exercise and health. The more you know, the
more choices you will have about how to be physically active. Most colleges have
sport and exercise programs that students can take part in. Find out which activities
are being held, and try those you think you might enjoy.
Workers are advised to cycle to and from work to ________.
| A．make themselves realize the importance of health |
| B．work better and bring pleasure to themselves |
| C．make themselves become much stronger |
| D．reduce the time spent in walking to work |
When a student wants to do exercise at school, he or she had better ________.
| A．take part in all the exercise programs |
| B．have sports with friends or classmates |
| C．choose the one that he or she likes |
| D．choose the same one all the time |
We can learn from the passage that ________.
| A．walk is most suitable for those who work indoors |
| B．one who knows more about health will be healthier |
| C．exercising with others will be better for one’s health |
| D．combining exercise with daily work can save time to keep healthy |
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