It seems that there is no middle ground when it comes to cats. People either love them or hate them. These feelings are not new either. All through history, cats have been worshiped or hated. A study of ancient writings and evidence found in tombs indicates that for the past 5,000 years, cats have been kept as pets in China, Arabia, Egypt, and India. However, this isn’t very long compared to dogs, which have been domesticated for 50,000 years. Still, while the period in which cats have been domesticated may be quite short, it has definitely had its high and low points.
Cats were at their highest position of domesticated life in ancient Egypt. There were more cats living in Egypt during the time of the pharaohs than in any other place in the world since that time. This high number of cats was probably due to the laws protecting them. Cats were associated with the moon goddess, Bast, so the Egyptians worshiped them as holy animals. If anyone was caught killing a cat, the person could be put to death. Families in Egypt also mourned the death of a cat and had the body of the dead cat wrapped in cloth before it was finally laid to rest. This respect for cats carried over to the Roman Empire where cats were the only animals allowed into temples. This fact was probably due to the ability of cats to keep the temples free of mice and rats. With the coming of the Dark Ages in Europe, the place of cats in society took a turn for the Empire, Christians began to associate cats with pegan (异教徒) beliefs. Cats had a reputation as helpers of witches. When a person was accused of being a witch, a cat would often be put on trial with the person. The cat would be tortured（拷打） to try and make the person tell the truth, and usually the cat and the person would end up being burned in a bonfire or drowned. Bonfires of collected cats were not uncommon during this time.
The days of hunting witches have ended, but other myths about cats still hold out. For a while, people in some places used to bury live cats under new buildings for good luck. As well, many people today continue to believe that black cats bring bad luck. If a black cat walks in front of a person, that person must take extra care in the near future to watch out for dangerous situations. Regardless of superstition(迷信), cats remain a popular pet today. Some cat experts believe that a cat never truly be domesticated because it may turn wild and run away at any time. However, this claim has not put people off keeping cats in their homes. A third of homes in the United States have cats, and one out of every three of these homes keeps both a dog and a cat. Especially in large cities, many people in small apartments have found that cats make much better pets than dogs.
Cats may not be worshiped as gods any more, but there are people who seem to think of their cat as their children. These cat owners will do almost anything to keep their pets healthy and happy. For those cat owners who have always wondered what their pets are trying to tell them, a Japanese company may have come up with the perfect invention. In 2003, the Takara Company announced the Meowlingual, a cat translation device. The Meowlingual uses a microphone, display, and cat voice analyzer to analyze a cat’s meows to determine which of 200 phrases a cat is trying to say.
According to a company spokesperson, “… cat owners all over the world have been telling Takara, ‘ We want a cat translator!’” Now, the company “is making their dream come true by bringing in a new era of communication between cat lovers and their pets.”Which of these is NOT discussed in the passage?
| A．the status of cats throughout history |
| B．the evolution of different species of cats |
| C．the popularity of the cats today |
| D．communication between cats and their owners |
The second paragraph mainly describes_______.
| A．how Bast became a goddess. |
| B．the low point in the history of cats |
| C．the high point in the history of cats |
| D．the reason why cats are such good hunters |
How were cats treated in Europe during the Dark Ages?
| A．as farm animals | B．as food | C．as magical creatures | D．as honored guests |
According to the passage, what percentage of people in the United States keep both a cat and a dog?
| A．about 10 percent | B．nearly 25 percent | C．about 33 percent | D．close to 50 percent |
As a recipe for losing weight, taking a slice of chocolate cake at breakfast would seem an unlikely fantasy.
A team from Tel Aviv University found that eating pudding as part of a balanced 600-calorie breakfast that also included proteins and carbohydrates (碳水化合物), could help dieter to lose more weight---and keep it off in the long run.
Attempting to avoid sweets entirely can create a psychological addiction to these same foods in the long term. So adding desserts to breakfast can control craving(渴望) throughout the rest of the day.
Over the course of a 32-week-long study, participants, who added desserts to their breakfast lost about 40 pounds more than a group that avoided such foods. What’s more, they kept off the pounds longer.
A meal in the morning provides energy for the day’s tasks, aids in brain functioning, and kick-starts the body’s metabolism (新陈代谢), making it decisive to weight loss and maintenance. And breakfast is the meal that most successfully regulates ghrelin, the hormone that increases longer. While the level of ghrelin rises before every meals, it is controlled most effectively at breakfast time.
The researchers hoped to determine whether meal time and composition had an impact on weight loss in the short and long term, or whether it was a simple matter of the caloric count. According to the passage, the underlined word “it” in paragraph 2 probably refers to __________.
| A．the calorie | B．the breakfast |
| C．the craving for pudding | D．the lost weight |
Adding some desserts in your breakfast diet properly will __________.
| A．make you gain more fat |
| B．make you become slim more easily |
| C．help improve your psychological health |
| D．help develop your craving for more delicious food |
Through paragraph 5. the author wants to show__________ .
| A．the special function of ghrelin |
| B．some decisive ways of losing weight |
| C．the great importance of breakfast to us |
| D．the nutrition we should take in during the breakfast |
What will the passage develope next?
| A．Another experiment on weight loss. |
| B．An importance of calorie. |
| C．People’s breakfast time. |
| D．The composition of the breakfast. |
Sleep is a basic human need, as basic as the need for oxygen. Getting a good night’s sleep is not only directly related to how we feel the next day, but to our long-term health as well. However, many of us suffer from insomnia (失眠). Even more odf us report at least one night of restless sleep per week. This is a serious problem.
Well, how can we make sure that we rest well and stay healthy? Here are some suggestions.
If you can’t sleep in the middle of the night, don’t get up. The bright light will affect your body clock and worsen your insomnia. Stay in bed!
Avoid short sleep during the day, except for a brief ten to fifteen-minute sleep between 2:00 and 4:00 P.M.
Limit your time in bed to the average number of hours you ‘ve actually slept per night last week. Don’t try to make up for lost sleep. It can’t be done.
Get regular exercise each day, but finish at least six hours before bedtime. Exercising in the evening can help keep you awake.
Take a hot bath for thirty minutes within two hours of bedtime. The bath will warm you, relax you, and make you feel sleepy.
Keep our bedroom dark, quiet, and well ventilated (通风).
Keep a regular schedule seven days a week. Avoid sleeping late on weekends. Although it may feel good while you’re doing it, sleeping late on weekend can lead to insomnia during the week.
Don’t drink alcohol (酒精). Although, having a drink before bed makes you sleep, alcohol loses its effects after a while. The secondary effects of alcohol can wake you up during the second half of your night’s sleep.
Keep the face of the clock in your bedroom turned away, and don’t find out what time it is when you awaken in the night.The first paragraph serves as a(n) __________.
| A．comment | B．argument |
| C．explanation | D．introduction |
Which of the following is NOT advised for a good night’s sleep?
| A．Don’t exercise six hours before sleeping. |
| B．Preventing the wind from blowing into your room. |
| C．Staying in bed after failing to sleep. |
| D．Don’t drink alcohol before sleeping. |
To sleep well, you need to __________.
| A．sleep during the day sometimes |
| B．get up late on weekends |
| C．avoid looking at your clock |
| D．have a bath in the morning |
The text mainly about__________ .
| A．some effects of bad night’s sleep |
| B．some advantages of having a good sleep |
| C．some reasons for insomnia |
| D．some keys to a better night’s sleep |
I was never very neat, while my roommate Kate was extremely organized. Each of her objects had its place, but mine always hid somewhere. She even labeled (贴标签 ) everything. I always looked for everything. Over time, Kate got neater and I got messier. She would push my dirty clothing over, and I would lay my books on her tidy desk. We both got tired of each other.
War broke out one evening. Kate came into the room. Soon, I heard her screaming, "Take your shoes away! Why under my bed!" Deafened, I saw my shoes flying at me. I jumped to my feet and started yelling. She yelled back louder.
The room was filled with anger. We could not have stayed together for a single minute but for a phone call. Kate answered it. From her end of the conversation, I could tell right away her grandma was seriously ill. When she hung up, she quickly crawled (爬 ) under her covers, weeping. Obviously, that was something she should not go through phone. All of a sudden ,a warm feeling of sympathy rose up in my heart,
Slowly, I collected the pencils, took back the books, made my bed, cleaned the socks and swept the floor, even on her side. I got so into my work that I even didn't noticed Kate had sat up. She was watching, her tears dried and her expression one of disbelief. Then, she reached out her hands to grasp mine. I looked up into her eyes. She smiled at me. "Thanks."
Kate and I stayed roommates for the rest of the year. We didn't always agree, but we learned the key to living together: giving in. cleaning up and holding on.What made Kate angry one evening?
| A．She couldn't find her books. |
| B．She heard the author shouting loud. |
| C．She got the news that her grandma was ill. |
| D．She saw the author's shoes beneath her bed. |
The author tidied up the room most probably because___.
| A．she was scared by Kate's anger |
| B．she hated herself for being so messy |
| C．she wanted to show her care |
| D．she was asked by Kate to do so |
How is Paragraph I mainly developed?
| A．By analyzing causes. |
| B．By showing differences. |
| C．By describing a process. |
| D．By following time order. |
What might be the best title for the story?
| A．My Friend Kate | B．Hard Work Pays Off |
| C．How to Be Organized | D．Learning to Be Roommates |
The story began on a downtown Brooklyn street corner. An elderly man had fallen down while crossing the street , and an ambulance rushed him to the nearest hospital. There, when he came to now and again, the old man repeatedly called for his son.
From a worn letter located in his pocket, an emergency-room (急救室) nurse learned that his son was a sailor stationed in North Carolina Camp. Obviously there were no other relatives.
Someone at the hospital called the Red Cross office in Brooklyn, and a request for the son to rush to Brooklyn was sent. Because time was short—the patient was dying, so they found the young man and rushed him to the airport in time to catch the only plane that night enable him to reach his dying father.
It was dusk when the nurse took the tired, anxious sailor to the bedside. “Your son is here,” she said to the old man. She had to repeat the words several times before the patient’s eyes opened. The medicine he had been given because of the pain from his heart attack made his eyes weak and only saw the young man in uniform(制服 ) standing outside the oxygen tent. He extended his hand. The sailor wrapped his strong fingers around the old man’s, releasing a message of love and encouragement. The nurse brought him a chair, so the sailor could sit by the bed.
Nights are long in hospitals, but all through the night the young sailor sat there, holding the old man’s hand and offering words of hope and strength. It was nearly dawn when the patient died. The sailor placed his lifeless hand he had been holding on the bed, and went to inform the nurse.
“Who was the man?” the sailor asked.
“He was your father.” the nurse answered surprisingly.
“No, he wasn’t,” the sailor replied.” I never saw him before in my life.”
“Why didn’t you say something when I took you to him?” she asked.
“I knew immediately there‘d been a mistake, but I also knew he needed his son, and his son just wasn’t here. When I realized he was too sick to tell whether or not I was his son, I guessed he really needed me. So I stayed.”
Two days later a message came in that there had been two sailors with the same name and similar number in the Camp. Someone in the personnel office had pulled out the wrong record.
But the wrong sailor had become the right son at the right time. And he proved, in a very human way, that there are people who care what happens to their fellow men.An emergency-room nurse found out that the old man’s son was a sailor__________.
| A．by calling the Red Cross office in Brooklyn |
| B．because the old man repeatedly called for his son |
| C．from a letter found in the old man’s pocket |
| D．from someone in hospital |
In the hospital__________ .
| A．the nurse stayed by the old man’s bed through most of the night |
| B．the dying man said a few words to his son |
| C．the son offered love in the last few hours of the old man’s life |
| D．the old man knew the young man wasn’t his son |
The young sailor told the nurse that he was not the real son of the old man__________ .
| A．after the old man died |
| B．when the nurse sensed something strange |
| C．before the sailor came to the nurse’s station |
| D．when holding the old man’s hand |
The sentence “the wrong sailor had become the right son at the right time” in the last paragraph means that__________ .
| A．the sailor was wrong in fooling the dying old man |
| B．The sailor made the right decision about what he should do |
| C．the sailor told the real story about him and the old man |
| D．the right son hurried to the hospital in time |
Adrian’s “Amazing Race” started early when his parents realized that he, as a baby, couldn’t hear a thing, not even loud noises. In a special school for the hearing-impaired, he learned sign language and got to mix with other disabled children. However, the sight of all the disabled children communicating with one another upset his mother. She wanted him to lead a normal life. So after speaking to an advisor, she sent him to private classes where he learned to read lips and pronounce words.
Later on, Adrian’s parents decided to send him to a regular school. But the headmaster tried to prevent them from doing so, saying regular school couldn’t take care of a special needs students. His parents were determined to take the risk and push him hard to go through his work everyday because they wanted to prove that, given the opportunity, he could do anything. Adrian made the grade and got accepted. It was a big challenge. The pace (节奏) was faster so he had to sit at the front of the class and really pay attention to the teacher, which wasn’t always easy. But he stuck to it and did a lot of extra work after school.
The efforts made by Adrian and his parents paid off. Adrian graduated with good grades and got into a top high school. He also achieved a lot in life outside school. He developed a love for the outdoors and went to Nepal to climb mountains. He even entered the World Yacht Race 05/06--- being the first hearing-impaired Asian to do so.
But none of these achievements would have been possible without one of the most important lessons from his mother.” “If you believe in yourself and work hard, you can achieve great results.” she often said. How did Adrian communicate with other children in the special school?
| A．By speaking. | B．By using sign language. |
| C．By reading lips. | D．By making loud noises. |
Adrian’s parents decided to send him to a regular school because .
| A．they wanted him to live a normal life |
| B．they wanted to prove the headmaster wrong |
| C．he wouldn’t mix with other disabled children |
| D．he wasn’t taken good care of in the special school |
How did Adrian finally succeed in his study?
| A．He did a lot of outdoor activities. |
| B．He was pushed hard to study every day. |
| C．He attended private classes after school. |
| D．He worked very hard both in and after class. |
Why is Adrian’s life described as an “Amazing Race”?
| A．He did very well in his study. |
| B．He succeeded in entering a regular school. |
| C．He reached his goals in spite of his disability. |
| D．He took part in the World Yacht Race 05/06. |
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