TaIL Spin
Two dolphins race around in a big pool in the Ocean Park. The smaller dolphin Grace, shown off a few of her tricks, turning around and waving hello to the crowd. The most amazing thing about her, however, is that she’s even swimming at all. She doesn’t have a tail.
Grace lost her tail as a baby when she got caught up in a fish trap. When the dolphin arrived at the Ocean Park in December 2005, she was fighting for her life. “Is she going to make it?” Her trainer, Abbey Stone, feared the worst. Grace did make it --- but her tail didn’t. She ended up losing her flukes and the lower part of her peduncle.
Over the past six years, she has learned to swim without her tail. Dolphins swim by moving their flukes and peduncle up and down. Grace taught herself to move another way---like a fish! She pushed herself forward through the water by moving her peduncles from side to side.
The movement put harmful pressure on Grace’s backbone. So a company offered to create a man-made tail for her. The tail had to be strong enough to stay on Grace as she swam but soft enough that it wouldn’t hurt her.
The first time Grace wore the artificial tail. She soon shook it off and let it sink in the bottom of the pool. Now, she is still learning to use the tail. Some days she wears it for an hour at a time, others not at all. “The tail isn’t
necessary for her to feel comfortable,” says Stone, “but it helps to keep that range of motion(动作) and build muscles(肌肉).”
Now, the dolphin is about to get an even happier ending. This month, Grace will star in Dolphin Tale, a film that focus on her rescue and recovery. Her progress has inspired more than just a new movie. Many people travel from near and far to meet her. Seeing Grace swim with her man-made tail gives people so much courage. When Grace first arrived at the Ocean Park, her trainer worried about her .
| A．physical build | B．potential ability |
| C．chance of survival | D．adaptation to the surroundings. |
A man-made tail is created for Grace to _.
| A．let her recover faster | B．make her comfortable |
| C．adjust her way of swimming | D．help her perform better tricks |
The story of Grace inspires people to_ .
| A．stick to their dreams | B．treat animals friendly |
| C．treasure what they have | D．face difficulties bravely |
Museums in Atlanta
Atlanta, Georgia is a great place for visitors seeking a little culture. There are Atlanta museums of all kinds, to interest adults and children. The history of the area is a fascinating one and it is documented in many of the museums. There are also collections of art and science based institutions and displays from the natural world.
The city is famous for many reasons, one of them being the World of Coca-Cola Museum. It's a worldwide product with a long history and the collection contains memorabilia（大事记） and handmade objects. Some of the documents go back to 1905. Visitors can see how a bottling plant operates and there are films about the history of the company. This Atlanta museum has a Pop Culture Gallery that shows paintings with the Coca-Cola image. At the end of the tour, visitors can buy a souvenir at the gift store.
The Atlanta History Center，established in 1926, is most well-known for its civil war collection. There is also the exhibition of folk arts and the displays on the history of golf in the US.
The state is also proud of its famous daughter, novelist Margaret Mitchell. The Margaret Mitchell House and Museum was founded in the house that the author shared with her husband from 1925 until 1932. It was here that she wrote her great book, Gone with the Wind. Much of this Atlanta museum is focused on the 1939 Hollywood film of the book.
Families and school outings are fortunate in having the Fernbank Science Center. It serves the local educational community and the public also enjoys the displays. There are a wide variety of exhibitions, including a collection of dinosaur skeletons, an electron microscope and a Apollo spacecraft. The museum also has an impressive botanical collection.
The Georgia Aquarium(水族馆) is the largest one in the world and almost all the tourists place it high on their travel plan when visiting the city. There are numerous species to see and learn about. The highlights include whale sharks, electric fish, Japanese spider crabs, Californian sea lions and African black-footed penguins.
Atlanta museums have something for everyone and will never disappoint you. The underlined word plant in Paragraph 2 refers to _______.
| A．factory | B．movie | C．soft drink | D．handmade object |
Visitors interested in literature will probably go to _________.
| A．The Georgia Aquarium |
| B．Fernbank Science Center |
| C．The Atlanta History Center |
| D．The Margaret Mitchell House and Museum |
Visitors who go to Pop Culture Gallery can see _____.
| A．exhibition of folk arts |
| B．pictures of sea animals |
| C．collections of the civil war |
| D．paintings with the Coca-Cola image |
We can learn from the passage that ________.
| A．Coca-Cola is popular with young visitors |
| B．most tourists want to visit the Georgia Aquarium |
| C．Science Center was set up by the local community |
| D．Atlanta museums mainly focus on art and literatur |
Worlds of Fun
Location: Worlds of Fun is located off Highway 435 in Kansas City, Missouri.
History: Worlds of Fun was opened on May 26, 1973, at a cost of 25 million dollars. Loosely themed around the Jules Verne book, Around the World in Eighty Days, the park was founded by Hunt Midwest Company. In 1982, Hunt Midwest bought a nearby waterpark, Oceans of Fun. In 2013, Worlds of Fun and Oceans of Fun were combined to a one ticket admission, providing all guests with access to 235 acres of amusement and water rides.
Hours: Worlds of Fun is open from April through Halloween.
Tickets: Buy and print online. Always try to buy your tickets in advance, to save time when you get to the park.
Reservations: Worlds of Fun sells “Fast Lane” cards that save riders’ time by allowing them to bypass the majority of wait for most of rides and attractions including Mamba, Prowler, and Patriot. Ride as many times as you want all day long.
Strategy(策略): Most visitors tend to begin the day with Prowler, the hottest attraction in the park. Use that tendency to your advantage and head to the Patriot first. After that, try the Dragons. Then work your way back to the Prowler. After riding the Prowler, there is only one coaster left, Mamba. Hit it next. If the park is not very crowded, you can ride Boomerang on the way to Mamba. After riding Mamba, head back for a ride on the Wolf. By then you will have tried most of the popular rides and attractions in the shortest possible time.
News: In 2014, Worlds of Fun is adding Steel Hawk, a ride that will take guests up 301 feet in the air and spin them at a 45-degree angle for a 60-second flight. Wait to have a try! When did Hunt Midwest’s two parks start to share one ticket?
| A．In 1973. | B．In 1982. | C．In 2013. | D．In 2014. |
With a “Fast Lane” card, the visitor can _________.
| A．save some money |
| B．buy tickets online |
| C．avoid lining up for long |
| D．enjoy all the rides for free |
What is talked about in the part of Strategy?
| A．The best visiting route. |
| B．The highest ride in the park. |
| C．The most popular tour season. |
| D．The hottest attractions in the park. |
When I was quite young, my father had one of the first telephones in our neighborhood. I remember well the polished old case fastened to the wall. The shiny receiver hung on the side of the box. I was too little to reach the telephone, but used to listen with great interest when my mother used to talk to it.
Then I discovered that somewhere inside the wonderful device lived an amazing person— her name was Information Please and there was nothing she did not know. Information Please could supply anybody’s number.
My first personal experience with Information Please came one day while my mother was visiting a neighbor. I accidentally hit my finger with a hammer. The pain was terrible, but there didn’t seem to be any reason in crying because there was no one home to give sympathy. I walked around the house sucking my hurting finger, finally arriving at the stairway—the telephone! Climbing up I unhooked the receiver and held it to my ear. “Information Please,” I said.
A click or two and a small clear voice spoke into my ear, “Information.”
“I hurt my finger…” I cried. The tears came readily enough now that I had an audience. “Isn’t your mother home?” came the question. “Nobody’s home but me.” I sobbed. “Are you bleeding?” “No,” I replied. “I hit my finger with the hammer and it hurts.” “Can you open your icebox?” she asked. I said I could. “Then chip off a little piece of ice and hold it to your finger.”
After that I called Information Please for everything. I asked her for help with my geography and she told me where Philadelphia was. And there was the time that Petey, our pet canary (金丝雀) died. I called Information Please and told her the sad story. She listened, and then said the usual things grown-ups say to comfort a child. But I was unconsoled. Why is it that birds should sing so beautifully and bring joy to all families, only to end up as a heap of feathers, feet up on the bottom of a cage?
She must have sensed my deep concern, for she said quietly, “Paul, always remember that there are other worlds to sing in.” Somehow I felt better.
Another day I was on the telephone. “Information Please.” “Information,” said the now familiar voice. “How do you spell fix?” I asked.
All this took place in a small town in the Pacific Northwest. Then when I was 9 years old, we moved to Boston. I missed my friend very much. Information Please belonged to that old wooden box in former home, and I somehow never thought of trying the tall, shiny new phone that sat on the hall table.
Yet as I grew into my teens, the memories of those childhood conversations never really left me; often in moments of doubt and sadness I would recall the sense of security I had then. I appreciated now how patient, understanding, and kind she was to have spent her time on a little boy.
A few years later, on my way west to college, my plane put down in Seattle. I had about half an hour or so between planes, and I spent 15 minutes or so on the phone with my sister, who lived there now. Then without thinking what I was doing, I dialed my hometown operator and said, “Information Please.”
Unexpectedly, I heard again the small, clear voice I knew so well, “Information.” I hadn’t planned this but I heard myself saying, “Could you tell me please how to spell fix?” There was a long pause. Then came the soft spoken answer, “I guess that your finger must have healed by now.”
I laughed, “So it’s really still you,” I said. “I wonder if you have any idea how much you meant to me during that time.”
“I wonder,” she said, “if you know how much your calls meant to me. I never had any children, and I used to look forward to your calls.”
I told her how often I had thought of her over the years and I asked if I could call her again when I came back to visit my sister.
“Please do; just ask of Sally.”
Just three months later I was back in Seattle…. A different voice answered Information and I asked for Sally.
“Are you a friend?” “Yes, a very old friend.” “Then I’m sorry to have to tell you. Sally has been working part-time the last few years because she was sick. She passed away five weeks ago.” But before I could hang up she said, “Wait a minute. Did you say your name was Paul?”
“Yes!”
“Well, Sally left a message for you. She wrote it down. Here it is. I’ll read it. “Tell him I still say there are other worlds to sing in. He’ll know what I mean.”
I thanked her and hung up. I did know what Sally meant. According to the text, Information Please is actually ________.
| A．a robot | B．the author’s mother | C．a telephone operator | D．the telephone itself |
The author picked up the telephone for the first time to ________.
| A．call his mother who was visiting a neighbor |
| B．call the doctor for his wounded finger |
| C．find out what exactly lived in the telephone |
| D．find someone to give him sympathy |
The underlined word “unconsoled” in paragraph 6 means ________.
| A．too sad to have a talk | B．difficult to deal with somebody |
| C．hard to communicate with somebody | D．unable to accept comfort |
What did Sally mean by saying those underlined words in the message?
| A．The author didn’t need to feel sad for her death. |
| B．She went to another place to make a living as a singer |
| C．The world without her would still be good to the author. |
| D．The author should explore new worlds for his new life. |
Why did the writer never think of trying the new phone after moving to Boston?
| A．He hadn’t got used to the line service in Boston yet. |
| B．There was something wrong with the new phone. |
| C．He missed Information Please in the old phone so much. |
| D．He didn’t like the tall and shiny style of the new phone. |
When did you last visit a shopping mall? In many places, the answer would be “last weekend.” Some people go even more often. Why? For one thing, malls offer goods and services that people need all in one place: food, clothing, things for their houses, entertainment, even medical services. So, are malls one of the highlights of modern civilization? Environmental activists would say No! They would go even further and say that consumer behavior is causing a huge environmental disaster. They cause consumers of ignorance of the side effect of their shopping—urban sprawl (扩大) .
Social scientists agree that patterns of development have changed the landscape a great deal in the last half century. Before 1950, most people lived in towns or cities and either walked to work or took public transportation. Only very wealthy people had automobiles. Farmers lived in rural areas or isolated villages and came into town only when they needed things they couldn’t produce themselves. If you gazed at the landscape you would see towns surrounded by countryside. Then a massive change occurred.
Automobiles became affordable and people were quick to adopt them. Now ambitious workers could live in the suburbs, the areas just outside cities, which started to grow rapidly. As long as there was lots of cheap land in the suburbs, no one paid much attention to the usage of that land. Malls, fast food restaurants, cinemas, and car dealerships spread out in large, flat buildings. These one–storey buildings and their parking lot took up a great deal space. Well– meaning farmers thought they were better off selling their land than growing crops. In ignorance, no one realized that once the land was built up in urban sprawl, the good farming land would be ruined forever. There was no way to preserve it.
Only in recent years have people come to mourn the old way of life as they have developed insight into the problems. Now people realize that urban sprawl has come with serious environmental problems. The negative aspects of sprawl include air and water pollution, loss of agricultural land, traffic jams, and the death of businesses in the old town centers. Many scholars think the time has come to analyze the problems better so we can develop appropriate policies to control further sprawl. Some think the best way to do is to educate citizens about their priceless environment.What is mainly discussed in the passage?
| A．Weekend Fun | B．Urban Sprawl | C．New Automobiles | D．Isolated Villages |
What does the underlined word “They” refer to in the first paragraph?
| A．Scientists | B．Activists. | C．Farmers. | D．Malls |
Who do environmental activists blame for environmental problems?
| A．Endangered animals. | B．Shopping mall owners. |
| C．Unthinking shoppers. | D．Ambitious farmers. |
What do scholars think should be done about urban sprawl?
| A．Understand the situations better. | B．Follow customary policies. |
| C．Start school in shopping malls. | D．Charge polluters a lot of money. |
What is the scholars’ attitude toward urban sprawl?
| A．Respectful. | B．Negative. | C．Positive. | D．Doubtful. |
Falling temperatures are no excuse to avoid outdoor exercise with your dog. Along with making sure you are appropriately dressed, your dog should also be properly protected from the elements. Some large breed dogs such as Labrador Retrievers, Golden Retrievers, German Shepherds and Huskies can tolerate the colder weather better than others. These dogs may also develop a thicker coat over time as they are exposed to colder weather.
Smaller breeds, however, like Chihuahuas and Miniature Pinschers, breeds with short coats and puppies should wear some type of protection, i.e, a coat or sweater, if the temperature drops too low. Look for coats or sweaters with high collars or a turtleneck that covers your dog from the base of the tail on top to the belly underneath.
Dog booties (毛线鞋) provide good protection from chemicals or salts on the pavement as well as mud. If you don’t use the booties, be sure to wipe your dog’s paw pads with room temperature water after taking it outside.
Other tips
When you bathe your dog, dry him completely before taking him out in the cold weather for a walk or exercise. It is especially important to keep your dog well groomed (打扮) during the winter months to protect him from the elements.
If your dog frequently participates in outdoor activities during the colder months, increase his food intake, especially protein, to help keep his coat grow thick and healthy. Dogs that are not as active during the winter months may need to have their food consumption reduced.
The amount of time you spend outside with your dog will depend on his size, breed type and age. Remember that ill or elderly dogs are more sensitive to cold weather. Dogs whom cold weather agrees with can spend hours outside without getting cold but some of the smaller and younger dogs’ exercise sessions should be kept shorter. Dogs should not be left outside unattended.
Another activity to consider is doggie daycare, which is an excellent alternative during cold weather months. It’s a great place for your dog to get plenty of physical and mental stimulation while being with other dogs.
Banfield Pet HospitalThe underlined word “elements” in the first paragraph probably means ______.
| A．extreme weather | B．potential enemies | C．serious diseases | D．terrible accidents |
Dog owners are advised to ______ in the text.
| A．bathe their dogs less during the winter months |
| B．avoid outdoor exercise with their dogs in cold weather |
| C．make their dogs wear booties for a walk outside every time |
| D．feed their dogs more food if they’re frequently taking them out in winter |
The author thinks dog owners should_________ in the cold weather.
| A．not walk the dog | B．protect their dog pets from being hurt |
| C．stop walking the dog | D．avoid walking the dog |
What can we conclude from the text?
| A．Small breed dogs are usually more tolerant of cold weather than larger ones. |
| B．Smaller and younger dogs tend to become less active in cold weather. |
| C．Dogs’ paw pads should be thoroughly cleaned after outdoor activities in winter. |
| D．A trip to doggie daycare can get dogs better prepared for outdoor activities. |
What is the best title for this passage?
| A．How to make your dog exercise in cold weather | B．Walk dogs in the cold weather |
| C．Dogs like to take exercise in winter | D．Take good care of dogs |
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