Kenya is the first country to protect elephants by text messages. Mobile phone SIM cards are inserted(插入) in the collars of elephants. The cards will send a text message when the elephants wander too close to farms, allowing wildlife protectors to drive them off rather than shoot them.
Hungry elephants cause big problems for farmers and villagers in some parts of Kenya when they are searching for food. Two years ago the Kenyan wildlife service had to unwillingly shoot five elephants who continued to destroy crops.
In order to prevent such bad activities, the Elephants charity put a mobile phone SIM card on a huge bull elephant called Kimani. The conservationists(自然保护者) then set up a virtual(虚拟的) fence. Each time Kimani came near the fence, a text message was sent to farmers. So far he’s been stopped from going into the danger area fifteen times.
The project seems to be working successfully as Kimani hasn’t come near a farm for four months. A similar system has now been put into operation in another part of the country.
One of the biggest benefits of the project is that elephants seem to learn from one another, which can help a whole group change their habits.
The elephants can also be tracked using Google Earth software. This is also helping the protectors know where to use their resources to protect the animals well. Elephants often cause problems in Kenya, because ______.
| A．they are attacked | B．they are angry |
| C．they are sad | D．they are hungry |
What does the underlined word “he” in Paragraph 3 refer to?
| A．The protector. | B．The writer. |
| C．The elephant. | D．The conservationist. |
From the passage, we know that ______.
| A．the text messages are of little help to the wildlife protectors |
| B．the project has worked out to be a great success in Kenya |
| C．a mobile phone SIM card has been put in all the elephants |
| D．the project has been introduced to all parts of the country |
A good modern newspaper is an extraordinary piece of reading. It is unusual for what it contains: the news from local crime to international politics, from sports to business to fashion to science, and the comments and special features(特写)as well, from editorial page to feature articles, from interviews to criticism of books, art, theatre, and music. A newspaper is even more unusual for the way one reads it never completely, never straight through, but always by jumping from here to there, in and out, glancing at one piece, reading another article all the way through, reading just a few paragraphs of the next.
A good modern newspaper offers a variety to attract many different readers, but far more than any one reader is interested in. What brings this variety together in one place is its topicality, that is, its immediate relation to what is happening in your world and your locality now. But this immediacy and the speed of production that goes with it also mean that much of what appears in a newspaper has no more than temporary value. For all these reasons, no two people really read the same paper: what each person does is to put together, out of the pages of that day’s paper, his own selection and order, his own newspaper. For all these reasons, reading newspapers efficiently which means getting what you want from them without missing things you need but without wasting time, demands skill and self-awareness(意识) as you change and apply the techniques of reading.What does the underlined word in the second paragraph mean ?
| A．wide coverage | B．speed in reporting news |
| C．various style | D．popularity among readers |
According to the passage, the reason why no two people really read the same newspaper is that ___________.
| A．people are interested in the same kind of news |
| B．different people prefer different newspapers |
| C．people scan for the news they are interested in |
| D．people have different views about what a good newspaper is |
A good newspaper offers “a variety” to readers because ___________.
| A．readers like to read different newspapers |
| B．it has to cover things that happen in a certain locality |
| C．readers are difficult to please |
| D．it tries to serve different readers |
The best title for this passage would be ___________.
| A．The Characteristics of a Good Newspaper |
| B．The Importance of a good Newspaper |
| C．Good Newspapers and Bad Newspapers |
| D．Some Advice on How to Read a Newspaper |
The young man arrived on the Massachusetts beach early carrying a radio, a shovel(铁锹), and a strange set of tools: a brick layer’s trowel, a palette knife, spatulas, spoons, and a spray bottle.
He walked down near the water — the tide(潮水) was out — and switched on the radio to listen to soft rock. Then he shoveled wet sand into a pile nearly four feet high and as many feet across. Then he created a square shape.
After that, he set to work with palette knife, spatulas, and spoons. He shaped a splendid tower, topped walls, fashioned beautiful bay windows, and carved (雕刻)out a big front gate.
The man knew his sand. He smoothly finished some surfaces and carved artistic designs on others. As the shapes began to dry, he gently kept them slightly wet with water from the spray bottle, in case they might break in the wind.
All this took hours. People gathered. At last he stood back, obviously satisfied with a castle worthy of the Austrian countryside or Disneyland.
Then he gathered his tools and radio and moved them up to drier sand. He had known for a while what many in the crowd still ignored: the tide was coming in. Not only had he practiced his art with confidence and style, he also had done so against a powerful, irresistible(不可抵抗的) deadline.
As the crowd looked on, water came at the base of the castle. In minutes it was surrounded. Then the rising flood began to eat into the base, walls fell, the tower fell, and finally the gate fell. More minutes passed, and small waves erased bay windows — soon no more than a small part was left.
Many in the crowd looked terribly sad; some voiced fear and discouragement. But the man remained calm. He had, after all, had a wonderful day, making beauty out of nothing, and watching it return to nothing as time and tide moved on.In this passage, why did the young man start early in the day?
| A．He needed the sun to help dry the sand. |
| B．It gave plenty of time for the crowd to gather. |
| C．He knew the tide was out on this particular morning. |
| D．It was easier to begin his work with only a few people around. |
In this passage, what does the incoming tide signal?
| A．It is time to begin working. |
| B．It is the end of a day’s work. |
| C．It is the busiest time of the day. |
| D．It is time for lookers-on to leave. |
How did the lookers-on react when the tide began to come in?
| A．They were disappointed to see the art ruined. |
| B．They tried their best to save the sand castle. |
| C．They were nervous about their own belongings. |
| D．They helped the artist finish the castle. |
We can tell that the young man’s reward for his work is ___________.
| A．payment for his work |
| B．personal satisfaction |
| C．popularity as an artist |
| D．attention from the crowd |
Puppy Food
A puppy (young dog) is a precious addition to any family. The excitement of bringing home a little furry friend will always live in our memories. Like all of us, though, your puppy must have adequate nutrition（营养） right from the start to make certain that it’ll have a long and healthy life.
You might ask yourself what is the best for your new pet with all of the different varieties on the market in all of their attractive packaging. Some dry food produced specially for puppies is the best for the development of their teeth.
Contrary to the belief of many first-time puppy owners, it is not always the best idea to purchase food that is too high in calcium (钙), protein, and vitamin levels. In addition, a high intake of calcium is associated with bone disease in large-breed dogs. If you have a “small-breed” puppy, you can buy that kind of food.
It is not a good idea to feed the food you eat to your puppy frequently, as your puppy may become selective about food. Some people think that dog biscuits and other treats are fine, but they should not be a main part of puppy’s diet.
Young puppies should be fed three times a day. Each puppy is unique, however, so feeding them twice a day is acceptable. After ten to twelve weeks of age, feed your puppy twice per day. Allow your puppy to eat as much as he would like in fifteen minutes. If you let your puppy eat too much or too often by keeping food accessible at all times, he may become overweight and have health problems as an adult. Like humans, your puppy will not enjoy the food any longer if it is there at all times.
| A．Pick up the dish with the remaining food. |
| B．Proper food is a basic necessity for your puppies. |
| C．Remember to give your puppy the food he would like to have. |
| D．It can also cause an upset stomach due to an unbalanced diet. |
E. A further benefit is that it is less expensive than the canned food.
F. One example is that extra helpings of nutrients do harm to digestive organs.
G. It’s good to provide the extra nutrients a puppy needs until he grows larger.
Everywhere I look outside my home I see people busy on their high-tech devices, while driving, walking, shopping, even sitting in toilets. When connected electronically, they are away from physical reality.
People have been influenced to become technology addicted. One survey reported that “addicted” was the word most commonly used by people to describe their relationship to iPad and similar devices. One study found that people had a harder time resisting the allure of social media than they did for sleep, cigarettes and alcohol.
The main goal of technology companies is to get people to spend more money and time on their products, not to actually improve our quality of life. They have successfully created a cultural disease. Consumers willingly give up their freedom, money and time to catch up on the latest information, to keep pace with their peers or to appear modern.
I see people trapped in a pathological（病态的）relationship with time-sucking technology, where they serve technology more than technology serves them. I call this technology servitude. I am referring to a loss of personal freedom and independence because of uncontrolled consumption of many kinds of devices that eat up time and money.
What is a healthy use of technology devices? That is the vital question. Who is really in charge of my life? That is what people need to ask themselves if we are to have any chance of breaking up false beliefs about their use of technology. When we can live happily without using so much technology for a day or a week, then we can regain control and personal freedom, become the master of technology and discover what there is to enjoy in life free of technology. Mae West is famous for proclaiming the wisdom that “too much of a good thing is wonderful.” But it’s time to discover that it does not work for technology.
Richard Fernandez, an executive coach at Google acknowledged that “we can be swept away by our technologies.” To break the grand digital connection people must consider how life long ago could be fantastic without today’s overused technology.The underlined word “allure” in Paragraph 2 probably means ______.
| A．advantage | B．attraction | C． adaption | D．attempt |
From the passage, technology companies aim to ______.
| A．attract people to buy their products |
| B．provide the latest information |
| C．improve people’s quality of life |
| D．deal with cultural diseases |
It can be inferred from this passage that people ______.
| A．consider too much technology wonderful |
| B．have realized the harm of high-tech devices |
| C．can regain freedom without high-tech devices |
| D．may enjoy life better without overused technology |
What’s the author’s attitude towards the overusing of high-tech devices?
| A．Neutral.( 中立的） | B．Doubtful |
| C．Disapproving.(不赞成） | D．Sympathetic.（同情的） |
Johnny the Explorer
Johnny was three when he ran away from home for the first time. Somebody left the garden gate open. Johnny wandered out, crossed some fields and, two hours later, arrived in the next village. He was just able to give his name and address.
By the time he was seven, Johnny used to disappear from home two to three times a year. Sometimes he covered quite long distances on foot. Sometimes he got on a bus or even a train, and simply sat there until someone asked for his ticket. Generally the police brought him home. “Why do you do it?” they used to ask. “I just like seeing places,” Johnny told them.
Johnny continued to “see places” although everyone tried to stop him. His parents used to watch him closely, and so did his teachers; but sooner or later Johnny managed to slip away. As he grew older, his favorite trick was to hide on a long distance truck. Sometimes he travelled hundreds of miles before anyone discovered him.
It is hardly surprising that eventually Johnny managed to board a plane. He was twelve at the time. It was a cargo plane and, a few hours later, Johnny found himself in Cairo. How did he get on board? No one knows! According to Johnny himself, it was easy: he just went into the airport, walked along some passages and got on board the nearest plane.
In spite of all this, Johnny did well at school. He enjoyed mathematics and languages and, perhaps not surprisingly, he was especially good at geography. “What do you want to be when you grow up?” his teachers asked him. “An explorer!” he answered. “But it’s difficult to become an explorer in this modern age,” they tried to tell him. But it was no use: Johnny knew what he wanted!
Just before he left school, Johnny saw a notice in a daily paper. A long journey was about to go to Brazil to travel up the Amazon River. There were jobs for three young people “willing to work hard and with a sense of adventure”. Johnny applied, and two months later, he was on his way to Brazil.At what age did Johnny board a plane for the first time?
| A．Three | B．Seven | C．Twelve | D．Not mentioned |
Johnny frequently left home because ______.
| A．he preferred to stay alone |
| B．he enjoyed seeing new places |
| C．he couldn’t do well at school |
| D．he didn’t get along well with his parents |
People around Johnny ______.
| A．tried to stop him from slipping away |
| B．kept following him to get him back |
| C．booked tickets for him if necessary |
| D．were clear about how he travelled abroad |
From the passage, we can learn that ______.
| A．Johnny worked for a daily paper |
| B．Johnny lacked a sense of adventure |
| C．Johnny went exploring along the Amazon River |
| D．Johnny went to Brazil two months after he finished school |
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