Winter begins in the north on December 22nd. People and animals have been doing what they always do to prepare for the colder months. Squirrels (松鼠), for example, have been busy gathering nuts from trees. Well, scientists have been busy gathering information about what the squirrels do with the food they collect.
They examined differences between red squirrels and gray squirrels in the American state of Indiana. The scientists wanted to know how these differences could affect the growth of black walnut (黑胡桃) trees. The black walnut is the nut of choice for both kinds of squirrels. The black walnut tree is also a central part of some hardwood forests.
Rob Swihart of Purdue University did the study with Jake Goheen, a former Purdue student now at the University of New Mexico. The two researchers estimate that several times as many walnuts grow when gathered by gray squirrels as compared to red squirrels. Gray squirrels and red squirrels do not store nuts and seeds in the same way. Gray squirrels bury nuts one at a time in a number of places. But they seldom remember where they buried every nut. So some nuts remain in the ground. Conditions are right for them to develop and grow the following spring. Red squirrels, however, store large groups of nuts above ground. Professor Swihart calls “death traps for seeds”.
Gray squirrels are native to Indiana. But Professor Swihart says their numbers began to decrease as more forests were cut for agriculture. Red squirrels began to spread through the state during the past century.
The researchers say red squirrels are native to forests that stay green all year, unlike walnut trees. They say the cleaning of forest land for agriculture has helped red squirrels invade Indiana. Jake Goheen calls them a sign of an environmental problem more than a cause.The study done by Rob Swihart and Jake Goheen is to ________.
| A．find out the living conditions for squirrels |
| B．learn squirrels’ influence on black walnut trees |
| C．do something to get rid of squirrels |
| D．save the forests in the American state of Indiana |
The difference between gray squirrels and red squirrels mainly lies in ________.
| A．the way they gather the walnut |
| B．the time they have winter sleep |
| C．the place they have winter sleep |
| D．the place they store the walnuts |
When Professor Swihart says “death traps for seeds”, he actually means that ________.
| A．red squirrels eat more nuts than gray squirrels |
| B．gray squirrels and red squirrels will have severe fights |
| C．nuts above the ground will not develop into plants |
| D．seeds can be traps for other animals in the forest |
According to the passage, which of the following is true?
| A．The black walnut is equally attractive to both gray and red squirrels. |
| B．Gray squirrels do more harm to the forest than red squirrels. |
| C．Red squirrels and gray squirrels have helped the spread of walnut trees. |
| D．The cleaning of forest land benefits red squirrels directly. |
Do you find getting up in the morning so difficult that it’s painful? This might be called laziness, but Dr. Kleitman has a new explanation. He has proved that everyone has a daily energy cycle (能量周期).
During the hours when you labour through your work you may say that you’re “hot”. That’s true. The time of day when you feel most energetic is when your cycle of body temperature is at its peak. For some people the peak comes during the forenoon. For others it comes in the afternoon or evening. No one has discovered why it is so, but it leads to such familiar monologues (自言自语) as : “Get up, John! You’ll be later for work again!” The possible explanation to the trouble is that John is at his temperature and energy peak in the evening. Much family quarrelling ends when husbands and wives realize what these energy cycles mean, and which cycle each member of the family has.
You can’t change your energy cycle, but you can learn to make your life fit it better. Habit can help, Dr. Kleitman believes. Maybe you’re sleepy in the evening but feel you must stay up late anyway. Counteract (对抗) your cycle to some extent by habitually staying up later than you want to. If your energy is low in the morning but you have an important job to do early in the day, rise before your usual hour. This won’t change your cycle, but you’ll get up steam (振作精神) and work better at your low point.
Get off to a slow start which saves your energy. Get up with a leisurely yawn (呵欠) and stretch. Sit on the edge of the bed a minute before putting your feet on the floor. Avoid the troublesome search for clean clothes by laying them out the night before. Whenever possible, do routine (例行的) work in the afternoon and save tasks requiring more energy or concentration for your sharper hours.If a person finds getting up early a problem most probably ________.
| A．he is a lazy person |
| B．he refuses to follow his own energy cycle |
| C．he is not sure when his energy is low |
| D．he is at his peak in the afternoon or evening |
Which of the following may lead to family quarrels according to the passage?
| A．Unawareness of the energy cycles. |
| B．Familiar monologues. |
| C．A change in a family member’s energy cycle. |
| D．Attempts to control the energy cycle of other family members. |
If one wants to work more efficiently at his low point in the morning, he should ________.
| A．change his energy cycle |
| B．overcome his laziness |
| C．get up earlier than usual |
| D．go to bed earlier |
You are advised to rise with a yawn and stretch because it will ________.
| A．help to keep your energy for the day’s work |
| B．help you to control your temper early in the day |
| C．enable you to concentrate on your routine work |
| D．keep your energy cycle under control all day |
Computer technology has become a major part of people’s lives. This technology has its own special words. One example is the word mouse. A computer mouse is not a small animal that lives in buildings and open fields. It is a small device that you move around on a flat surface in front of a computer. The mouse moves the pointer on the computer screen.
Computer expert Douglas Engelbart developed the idea for the mouse in the early 1960s. The first computer mouse was a carved block of wood with two metal wheels. It was called a mouse because it had a tail at one end. The tail was the wire that connected it to the computer.
Using a computer takes some training. People who are experts are sometimes called hakers. A hacker is usually a person who writes software programs in a special computer language. But the word hacker is also used to describe a person who tries to steal information from computer systems.
Another well-known computer word is Google. It is the name of a popular “search engine” for the Internet. People use the search engine to find information about almost any subject on the Internet. The people who started the company named it Google because in maths, google is an extremely large number. It is the number one followed by 100 zeros.
When you “Google” a subject, you can get a large amount of information about it . Some people like to google their friends or themselves to see how many times their names appears on the Internet.
If you Google someone, you might find that person’s name on a blog. A blog is the shortened name for a Web log. A blog is a personal Web page. It may contain stories, comments, pictures and links to other Web sites. Some people add information to their blogs every day. People who have blogs are called bloggers.
Blogs are not the same as spam. Spam is unwanted sales messages sent to your electronic mailbox. The name is based on a funny joke many years ago on a British television show, “ Monty Python’s Flying Circus”. Some friends are at an eating place that only serves a processed meat product from the United States called SPAM. Every time the friends try to speak, another group of people starts singing the word SPAM very loudly. This interferes with the friends’ discussion---just as unwanted sales messages interfere with communication over the Internet.What is the passage mainly talking about?
| A．Computer technology. | B．Computer history. |
| C．Computer words. | D．Computer experts. |
Why is the small device called a mouse?
| A．Because it was a carved block of wood. |
| B．Because it has two metal wheels. |
| C．Because it moves like a real mouse. |
| D．Because it has a “tail” at one end. |
What do we know about hackers?
| A．They are not computer experts. |
| B．They don’t write software programs. |
| C．They sometimes try to steal information. |
| D．They are always bloggers. |
As a computer term, spam refers to________.
| A．junk mail | B．electronic mailboxes |
| C．sales messages | D．processed meat products |
Old age may not sound exciting. But recent findings offer good news for older people and for people who worried about getting older.
Researchers found that people become happier and experience less worry after they reach the age of 50. In fact, they say by the age of 85, people are happier with their life than they were when they were 18 years old.
The findings came from a survey of more than 340,000 adults in the US. The Gallup Organization questioned them by telephone in 2008. At that time, the people were between the ages of 18 and 85.
The researchers asked questions about emotions like happiness, sadness and worry. They also asked about mental or emotional stress.
Arthur Stone in the Department of Psychiatry and Behavioral Science at Stony Brook University in New York led the study. His team found that levels of stress were highest among adults between the ages of 22 and 25.
The findings showed that stress levels dropped sharply after people reached their fifties. Happiness was highest among the youngest adults and those in their early seventies. The people least likely to report feeling negative emotions were those in their seventies and eighties.
The study also showed that men and women have similar emotional patterns as they grow older. However, women at all ages reported more sadness, stress and worry than men.
The findings appeared in the Proceedings of the National Acadamy of Science.
Researchers say they do not know why happiness increases as people get older. One theory is that, as people grow older, they grow more thankful for what they have and have better control of their emotions. They also spend less time thinking about bad experiences.
Professor Stone says the emotional patterns could be linked to changes in how people see the world, or maybe even changes in brain chemistry.
The researchers also considered possible influences like having young children, being unemployed or being single. But they found that influences like these did not affect the levels of happiness and well-being related to age.What does the underlined word “negative” mean?
| A．负面的 | B．积极的 |
| C．平和的 | D．激烈的 |
What kind of people has the highest stress levels?
| A．People were between the ages of 18 and 85. |
| B．Those in their seventies and eighties. |
| C．People reached their fifties. |
| D．Adults between the ages of 22 and 25. |
Which of the following is NOT true?
| A．Men and women have similar emotional patterns as they grow older. |
| B．Researchers know exactly why happiness increases as people get older. |
| C．Women at all ages reported more sadness, stress and worry than men. |
| D．Levels of stress were highest among adults between the age of 22 and 25. |
Which of the following is the best title for this passage?
| A．The older, the happier. |
| B．Why elder people feel happier than young men? |
| C．Different emotional patterns between men and women. |
| D．What makes the elder happy? |
Our first winter in Canada was the happiest we have experienced. We were living in the countryside then and had just arrived from Hong Kong that autumn. One evening in mid December snow began to fall. When we looked out of the window and saw that it was snowing, we all cheered. It was the first snow we had ever seen and we were excited. We could hardly wait for the snow to stop so that we could go out to play. Next morning when we woke up, it was still snowing. We switched on the radio and learned that more than ten inches of snow had falled during the night and that since the roads were blocked there would be no school that day. We jumped up and down for joy and begged mother to let us go outside to play in the snow. She said we could go out after breakfast if we dressed ourselves warmly and promised to come back as soon as we felt cold.
When we went out, the snow had almost stopped. The roads , paths, gardens, and playing grounds were all hidden under a white blanket of soft snow. It was the most beautiful sight we had ever seen. Just then, we saw some neighbour’s children coming out to play. We ran over to join them. Together we built a snowman and a snow house. After that, we took turns sliding down a hill on a large piece of cardboard. We were having so much fun when supper time came. Mother almost had to force us to go in and eat.The children all cheered when they saw the snow because ________.
| A．they knew they would have no school for the next day |
| B．it was the first time they had seen snow |
| C．they knew that winter had come |
| D．they liked cold weather |
The children didn’t have to go to school because ________.
| A．their teachers were sure that children liked snow |
| B．they wanted to play on the snow field |
| C．heavy snow blocked the roads |
| D．their mother allowed them to play truant |
The writer and his brothers and sisters built ________.
| A．a snowman and a cardboard house of their own |
| B．a snowman and a snow house for themselves to live in |
| C．a snowman and a snow house with their neighbors’ children |
| D．a white blanket on the roads |
A book review tells not only what a book is about, but also how successful it is at what it is trying to do. Professors often assign (布置) book reviews as practice in careful analytical (分析的) reading.
As a reviewer, you bring together the two parts of accurate, analytical reading and strong, personal response when you indicate what the book is about and what it might mean to a reader. In other words, reviewers answer not only the WHAT but the SO WHAT question about a book. Thus, in writing a review, you combine the skills of describing what is on the page，analyzing how the book tried to achieve its purpose, and expressing your own reactions.
Most book reviews start with a heading that includes all the basic information about the book, like:
Title.
Author.
Place of publication, publisher, date of publication.
Number of pages.
The review usually begins with an introduction that lets your readers know what the review will say. The first paragraph usually includes the author and title again, so your readers don't have to look up to find this information. You should also include a very brief description of the contents of the book, the purpose or audience for the book, and your reaction and evaluation.
Then you move into a section of background information that helps place the book in context and discusses how to judge the book. Next, you should give a summary of the main points, quoting (引用) and explaining key phrases from the author. Finally, you get to the heart of your review -- your evaluation of the book. In this section, you might discuss some of the following issues:
·How well the book has achieved its goal.
·What possibilities are suggested by the book.
·What the book has left out.
·How the book compares with others on the subject.
·What personal experiences you've had related to the subject.
It is important to use labels (标签) to carefully distinguish your views from the author's, so that you don't confuse your readers.
Then, like other essays, you can end with a direct comment on the book, and tie together issues raised in the review in a conclusion.
There is, of course, no set form, but a general rule is that the first one-half to two-thirds of the review should summarize the author's main ideas and at least one-third should evaluate the book. According to the text, personal response of a book reviewer refers to _______.
| A．accurate and analytical reading |
| B．the reviewer’s understanding about the background of the book |
| C．the reviewer's indication of what the book is about and what it means to a reader |
| D．skills of describing what is on the page |
What is the most important part of a book review?
| A．The heading. | B．The evaluation. |
| C．The conclusion. | D．The introduction. |
Readers will get puzzled if __________.
| A．there is no heading in a book review |
| B．the book review is not complex enough |
| C．the reviewer's point of view is mixed with the author's |
| D．there are some different issues listed in the book review |
What is suggested for a book review in this text?
| A．Quoting from other similar books. |
| B．Commenting on the book in a fixed form. |
| C．Analyzing the author's writing experience in the past. |
| D．Comparing the book with others on a similar subject. |
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