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 |
Last summer, when Amanda R of Anaheim Hills, California, was running on a cross-country course with her team, she blacked out. “I got really dizzy,” she says. “I was out for a few minutes.” At first, Amanda thought she was just tired and didn’t think she had a health problem. She did go to the emergency room, where she was fine after tests, but she fainted (昏厥) again several days later as she was talking with her coach. Another doctor guessed that Amanda had blacked out “because we were in heat so much with not enough water and not enough of the right kind of foods”.
Teens often don’t want to stop and take a break or don’t notice when they start to feel bad, doctors say. However, paying attention if you’re not feeling well is important, as Amanda learned.
As a result, Amanda has changed her habits. “I drink a lot more water,” she says. “And put more salt in my diet. I’m eating more balanced meals.” Amanda advises teen athletes to trust their coaches and speak up when they’re not feeling well. “And recognize the difference between when you’re tired and when there’s something really wrong.”
Some people － up to 3 percent of the population － sweat too much, even in cold weather. The condition, called hyperhidrosis (多汗), can affect many parts and it often runs in families － hands down from generation to generation. Too much sweating over the whole body could be a symptom of another medical condition. Doctors aren’t sure what causes hyperhidrosis, but using special medications or other treatments can help.What caused the happening mentioned in the passage during Amanda’s running?
| A．She couldn’t breathe in enough air in the race. |
| B．She didn’t eat anything before the race. |
| C．She had been running all summer without a rest. |
| D．She neither drank enough water nor ate enough of the right kind of foods. |
What can we infer from Paragraph 4?
| A．There is no need to worry when sweating too much, even in cold weather. |
| B．Hyperhidrosis may have a bad effect on your health. |
| C．Doctors have discovered why people get hyperhidrosis. |
| D．Hyperhidrosis is a serious disease and no treatment can help. |
The purpose of writing this passage is to____________.
| A．tell teens the proper ways to take exercise in summer. |
| B．tell teens not to run in hot summer. |
| C．tell teens to pay attention to hyperhidrosis in the summer exercise |
| D．tell teens how to keep healthy. |
A man who failed to return more than 700 children’s books to five different libraries in the county was put into prison. Yesterday he was set free after a book publisher agreed to post his bond (担保金) of $1,000. The publisher said, “There’s a story here. This is a man who loves books. He just can’t let go of them. He hasn’t stolen a single book. So what’s the crime? We think that Mr. Brush has a story to tell. We plan to publish his story.”
When asked why he didn’t return the books, Mr. Brush said, “Well, how could I? They became family to me. I was afraid to return them, because I knew that kids or dogs would get hold of these books and chew them up, throw them around, rip the pages, spill soda on them, get jam and jelly on them, and drown them in the toilet.”
He continued, “Books are people, too! They talk to you, they take care of you, and they enrich you with wisdom and humor and love. A book is my guest in my home. How could I kick it out? I repaired torn pages. I dusted them with a soft clean cloth. I turned their pages so they could breathe and get some fresh air.
“Every week I reorganized them on their shelves so they could meet new friends. My books were HAPPY books. You could tell just by looking at them. Now they’re all back in the library, on the lower shelves, on the floors, at the mercy of all those runny-nosed kids. I can hear them calling me! I need to rescue them. Excuse me. I have to go now.”Why was the man put into prison?
| A．Because the book publisher persuaded the police to do so. |
| B．Because he stole 700 children's books from the five different libraries. |
| C．Because he refused to return the books that he had borrowed. |
| D．Because he wanted to publish his story. |
How did the man treat books?
| A．He treated them as real people. |
| B．He treated them as his own children. |
| C．He treated them as his furniture. |
| D．He treated them as his job. |
From the passage we can learn that the man is _____.
| A．a thief | B．crazy about books | C．a writer | D．unfortunate |
What might happen after the man was set free?
| A．He might stop borrowing books. |
| B．He might start a library of his own. |
| C．He might return all his books |
| D．He might go on borrowing books from libraries. |
A shopkeeper sent his son to learn about the secret of happiness from the wisest man in the world. The boy walked a long way, and finally came upon a beautiful castle where the wise man lived.
Rather than finding a holy man, though, our hero, on entering the main room of the castle, saw a hive of activity: tradesmen came and went, people were chatting in the corners and a small orchestra was playing soft music. The wise man talked with everyone, and the boy had to wait for two hours before it was his turn.
The wise man listened carefully to the boy’s explanation of why he had come, but told him that he didn’t have time just then to explain the secret of happiness. He suggested the boy look around the palace and return in two hours.
“Meanwhile, I want to ask you to do something,” said the wise man, handing the boy a teaspoon that held two drops of oil. “As you wander around, carry this spoon with you without allowing the oil to spill”.
The boy began to walk up and down stairs in the palace, keeping his eyes fixed on the spoon. After two hours, he returned.
“Well,” asked the wise man, “Did you see the Persian tapestries (波斯织锦) hanging in my dining hall? Did you see the garden that it took the master gardener 10 years to create?”
The boy was embarrassed, and replied that he had observed nothing. His only concern had been not to spill the oil.
“Then go back and observe the wonderful things of my world,” said the wise man.
Then the boy picked up the spoon and returned to his exploration of the palace, this time observing all of the works of art on the ceilings and the walls. He saw the gardens and the mountains all around him. When he returned, he described in detail everything he had seen.
“But where are the drops of oil I gave to you?” asked the wise man. Looking down at the spoon he held, the boy saw that the oil was gone.
“Well, there is only one piece of advice I can give you,” said the wise man. “The secret of happiness is to see all the wonders of the world and never to forget the drops of oil on the spoon.” When the shopkeeper’s son arrived at the castle, he ______.
| A．received warm welcome from the wise man |
| B．didn’t expect to see so many people around |
| C．was shown around the palace by the local people |
| D．had already missed his chance to talk to the wise man |
The wise man gave the boy two tasks in order to ______.
| A．let the boy enjoy his palace and garden |
| B．show him how to observe the wonderful things in the world |
| C．make him learn from his mistakes |
| D．teach him the secret of happiness |
We can infer from the article that “the drops of oil on the spoon” probably refer to ______.
| A．the beauty of nature |
| B．the fortune a person owns |
| C．the responsibilities of a person |
| D．the great opportunities in life |
Which of the following statements is TRUE according to the article?
| A．The wise man was satisfied with the way the boy performed the second task |
| B．It took the wise man about 10 years to finish his garden. |
| C．The wise man wasn’t paying much attention to the boy at first. |
| D．The boy took no notice of the surroundings during his first task. |
You may not pay much attention to your daily elevator ride. Many of us use a lift several times during the day without really thinking about it. But Lee Gray, PhD, of the University of North Carolina, US, has made it his business to examine this unnoticed form of public transport. He is known as the “Elevator Guy”.
“The lift becomes this interesting social space where behaviors are sort of odd (奇怪的),” Gray told the BBC. “They (elevators) are socially very interesting but often very awkward places.”
We walk in and usually turn around to face the door. If someone else comes in, we may have to move. And here, according to Gray, liftusers unthinkingly go through a set pattern of movements. He told the BBC what he had observed.
He explained that when you are the only one inside a lift, you can do whatever you want – it’s your own little box.
If there are two of you, you go into different corners, standing diagonally (对角线地) across from each other to create distance.
When a third person enters, you will unconsciously form a triangle. And when there is a fourth person it becomes a square, with someone in every corner. A fifth person is probably going to have to stand in the middle.
Newcomers to the lift will need to size up the situation when the doors slide open and then act decisively. Once in, for most people the rule is simple – look down, or look at your phone.
Why are we so awkward in lifts?
“You don’t have enough space,” Professor Babette Renneberg, a clinical psychologist at the Free University of Berlin, told the BBC. “Usually when we meet other people we have about an arm’s length of distance between us. And that’s not possible in most elevators.”
In such a small, enclosed space it becomes very important to act in a way that cannot be understood as threatening or odd. “The easiest way to do this is to avoid eye contact,” she said.The main purpose of the article is to _____.
| A．remind us to enjoy ourselves in the elevator |
| B．analyze what makes people feel awkward in an elevator |
| C．share an interesting but awkward elevator ride |
| D．tell us some unwritten rules of elevator behaviors |
Which of the following describes how people usually stand when there are at least two people in an elevator?
The underlined phrase “size up” in Paragraph 7 is closest in meaning to _____.
| A．ignore | B．judge | C．put up with | D．make use of |
According to the article, people feel awkward in lifts because of _____.
| A．the lack of space |
| B．someone’s strange behaviors |
| C．their unfamiliarity with one another |
| D．their eye contact with one another |
Sports can help you keep fit and get in touch with nature. However, whether you are on the mountains, in the waves, or on the grassland, you should be aware that your sport of choice might have great influence on the environment.
Some sports are resource-hungry. Golf, as you may know, eats up not only large areas of countryside, but also tons of water. Besides, all sorts of chemicals and huge amounts of energy are used to keep its courses (球场) in good condition. This causes major environmental effects. For example, in the dry regions of Portugal and Spain, golf is often held responsible for serious water shortage in some local areas.
There are many environment-friendly sports. Power walking is one of them that you could take up today. You don’t need any special equipment except a good pair of shoes; and you don’t have to worry about resources and your purse. Simple and free, power walking can also keep you fit. If you walk regularly, it will be good for your heart and bones. Experts say that 20 minutes of power walking daily can make you feel less anxious, sleep well and have better weight control.
Whatever sport you take up, you can make it greener by using environment-friendly equipment and buying products made from recycled materials. But the final goal should be “green gyms”. They are better replacements for traditional health clubs and modern sports centers. Members of green gyms play sports outdoors, in the countryside or other open spaces. There is no special requirement for you to start your membership. And best of all, it’s free.Which of the following is the author most probably in favor of?
| A．Motor racing in the desert. | B．Cycling around a lake. |
| C．Playing basketball in a gym. | D．Swimming in a sports center. |
What do we know about golf from the passage?
| A．It is popular in Portugal and Spain. |
| B．It causes water shortages around the world. |
| C．It needs water and electricity to keep its courses green. |
| D．It pollutes the earth with chemicals and wastes. |
The author uses power walking as an example mainly because _________.
| A．It uses fewer resources. |
| B．It improves our health. |
| C．It is an outdoor sport. |
| D．It is suggested by experts. |
The author writes the passage to _________.
| A．show us the function of major sports |
| B．introduce different types of environment-friendly sports |
| C．discuss the major influence of popular sports |
| D．encourage us to go in for green sports |
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