Where we live，on the eastern shore of Maryland，the gentle waters run in and out like fingers slimming at the tips.
The Canada geese know this place，as do the white swans and the ducks. In autumn，they come home for the winter. Once or twice each year，snow and frozen rain move into the area. When this happens，if the river is at its narrowest，there is a freeze which hardens the water to ice.
One morning，a friend of mine set the breakfast table beside the huge window，which overlooked the Tred Avon River. Suddenly she leaned forward and cried out，“There is a goose out there.”
We saw the figure of a large Canada goose，very still，its wings folded tight to its sides，its feet frozen into the ice.
Then from the dark skies，she saw a line of swans. They floated from the top of the sky downward and at last landed on the ice. My friend was on her feet now，with one hand against her mouth，unbelieving. As the swans surrounded the frozen goose，she feared that life it still had might be pecked(啄) out by those great swan bills.
Instead，those bills began to work on the ice. The long necks were lifted and curved down，again and again. It went on for a long time. At last，the goose’s head was lifted. Its body was pulled. Then the goose was free and stood on the ice. And the swans stood in the air watching. Then，as if it had cried，“I cannot fly.” Four of the swans came down around it. Their powerful beaks chipped off the ice held in the feathers. Slowly，the goose spread its wings as far as they would go，and moved slowly into the sky.
This is a true story. I just think of it in the bad moment，and from it comes only one hopeful question：If so for birds，why not for man？Which would be the best title for the passage?
| A．Why Not for Man? | B．Graceful Swans |
| C．Swans’ Brave Act | D．I Just Couldn’t Believe It! |
What happened to the Canada goose?
| A．It was deserted by other geese. |
| B．It was stuck in the ice. |
| C．It was wounded and couldn’t fly. |
| D．It was lost in the water. |
At first the author’s friend was worried that________.
| A．the swans would not help the Canada goose |
| B．she didn’t care about this matter any more |
| C．the swans wouldn’t identify with the Canada goose |
| D．the swans would peck the Canada goose to death |
What did the swans do when they saw the Canada goose couldn’t fly?
| A．They chipped off the ice held in its feathers. |
| B．They waited patiently for the ice held in its feathers to melt. |
| C．They came down and lifted it up to the sky together. |
| D．They stayed with it and protected it. |
People in Shanghai can quench their thirst with high quality water if the Shanghai Water Authority (SWA) is able to make good on its word. It has vowed to make the city’s water match its status as a world class city.
“The current tap water quality meets national standards, but, compared with that of the European Union and the United States, it still needs to be improved.” said the SWA’s director general, Hang Jiayi.
In other developed countries, water fountains can be found almost everywhere—people do not bother with bottled drinking water.
By 2020, the water of the Huangpu River will be treated to reduce the amount of organic waste in it. Major water works that draw water from the Huangpu will need more treatment facilities to improve the colour, texture, ammonia(氨)and nitrogen content before 2010.
These treatment facilities are expected to cost 4 billion yuan, something that could affect the price of water, according to Chen Yin, SWA’s deputy director general.
Chen said that replacing water pipes was also a key project. The city’s aged pipes are mostly to blame for the bad water quality.
The SWA has started the water facilities renovation(更新)work, including the more than 14,000 kilometres of indoor piping, 107,000 tanks on top of the buildings, and more than 6,000 underground facilities.
World Water Day came on March 22, and this year’s theme is “Water for the future”. Beijing is also drawing up plans during China’s Water Week, which runs until March 28.
By 2010, the water for the Shanghai EXPO is to be above World Health Organization standards. And, the people of Beijing will be able to drink their tap water as well.People in Shanghai can drink their tap water_____.
| A．by 2020 | B．in the first half of this year | C．by 2010 | D．by 2008 |
What step need not be taken in order to improve the tap water?
| A．The water of the Huangpu River will be treated. | B．Aged water pipes will be treated. |
| C．Water facilities must be renovated. | D．Water fountains must be found. |
Which is the correct statement according to the passage?
| A．The tap water quality in Shanghai hasn’t met national standards. |
| B．World Water Day fell on March 22 this year. |
| C．The people of Beijing cannot drink their tap water now. |
| D．The treatment of the water of Huangpu River has been finished. |
What is the main idea of the passage?
| A．The cost of treating the tap water. |
| B．How to reach the water standards of developed countries. |
| C．The project for making tap water drinkable in Shanghai and Beijing. |
| D．The progress of treating the water of Huangpu River. |
In any family with more than one child, chidren seem to naturally compete for their parents’ love and attention. Parents say they love every child equally. But is that true?
Susan, founder of a consulting firm in Chicago, interviewed 216 women and found that even though none of her questions asked directly about a parent favoring one child over another, about two-thirds of the women said there was a favored child. And they also remembered their experience when they were young. One of the women said, “My mother always liked my brother better, and he got to go to summer camp in 1968 and I didn’t.”
Plumez, who interviewed parents with both biological children and adoptive children for an adoption book in 2008, found that what matters most is whether your temperaments(性情) are pleasing. “In some cases, parents would say they felt closer to their adopted children,” she says, “Some parents like the children with characters similar to theirs. Two people who are shy and withdrawn might get along well, unless the shy parent doesn’t like that aspect of themselves and they try to push the naturally withdrawn child to be more extroverted.”
It could be a result of gender, birth order or how easy or difficult a child’s temperament may be, but a parent’s different treatment has far-reaching effects. Students have found that less-favored children may suffer emotionally, with decreased self-esteem and behavioral problems in childhood. Favoritism is a reason for the next generation not to like each other.
Experts say it is not realistic to say everyone should be treated equally, because no two people are the same and they relate differently to others.
“It does not mean that parent loves or likes one child more. It has to do with which one of them is independent,” says psychologist Laurie Kramer of the University of Illinois.The study carried out by Susan shows that ______.
| A．showing favoritism is common in many families |
| B．most mothers like their sons better than their daughters |
| C．only two-thirds of the women interviewed have more than a child |
| D．it is a favoritism that leads to absence of harmony in most families |
The underlined word “extroverted” in the third paragraph means _______.
| A．independent | B．outgoing | C．clever | D．brave |
What can we infer from the passage?
| A．Favoritism is not beneficial to the development of children |
| B．Parents’ favoritism to a certain child can’t be avoided in families |
| C．Parents may be favoring one of their children and don’t realize it |
| D．People are very much shaped by how they were treated by their parents |
What is the best title for the passage?
| A．Parents’ favoritism can affect children deeply |
| B．Why do parents show favoritism to children? |
| C．Parents should give attention to all their children |
| D．Building a harmonious family is important to children |
Most parents love the Internet and want their kids to use it. But a new survey in America finds almost as many also fear the online world—especially social networking sites such as My Space—and worry their kids will get in trouble with people they meet.
“The parents see the web’s incredible potential(可能性), and they know their kids have to be there.” says James Steyer, CEO of Common Sense Media, which released results from a survey that looked into parental attitudes toward the Internet. “It is also what they are scared of most.”
The study was conducted online May 5-10 by Insight Research Group. It says 80% of parents are concerned about kids meeting bad people online. That’s because young people who largely have grown up with the Net think of it as a social outlet(出口), say the researchers. To young people, the benefits of giving out some personal information to reach out to friends outweigh the risks. And the study shows they are so comfortable with the medium that 78% have a personal website or blog.
Parents also recognize the importance of the Internet. The survey shows 91% think the Net helps their children explore their passions, and 77% think the Internet is one of the most valuable education tools teens have. But 88% think it’s important to know what their kids are doing online.
Findings suggest both parents and teens need more education about using online media, Steyer says.
Internet safety has become an increasing concern for parents in America. Organizations like the Non-profit Common Sense have been trying to reach and help parents pay attention to the problem.In the second paragraph, the underlined word “It” refers to_____.
| A．Common Sense Media | B．the result of the survey |
| C．the web’s incredible potential | D．the website called My Space |
Why do young people give out their personal information?
| A．They think it has more advantages than disadvantages. |
| B．They want to make themselves famous by doing that. |
| C．They want to have a personal website each. |
| D．They want to get some information from others. |
Most parents think it is important to know_____.
| A．where their children give out the information | B．what kind of websites they have |
| C．how often they go online | D．what their children are doing online |
From the passage we can infer that_____.
| A．children are too young to know how to use the Internet |
| B．parents must teach their children how to use the Internet |
| C．parents also need to learn more about using the Internet |
| D．the Internet is the most valuable tool for children to learn |
UNICEF reports that 40 million children below the age of 15 suffer from abuse(虐待) and neglect. The USA National Committee to Prevent Child Abuse finds 3 million new reports of child abuse or neglect every year.
According to such information on human rights abuses of children, the United Nations declared 2010 as the International Year of Youth. In answer to the common human rights abuses of young people, Dr. Mary Shuttleworth of Youth for Human Rights International(YHRI) recently completed her seventh annual World Tour to five continents in eighty days. The purpose of the tour is to promote the United Nations Universal Declaration of Human Rights to tens of thousands of children and officials.
According to UNICEF, 1.2 million children are illegally traded all over the world every year.
Sold as goods, these children are forced into inhuman labor, denied basic education and robbed of their childhoods. Youth who do not know their rights are easily cheated by ill-intentioned men. That is why YHRI thinks highly of education.
“When the United Nations declared 2010 as the International Year of Youth, I knew that their human rights had to be greater than ever,” Dr. Shuttleworth said. The tour reached Mexico, Guatemala, Panama, Ecuador, Brazil, South Africa, Swaziland, Portugal, Sardinia, Sicily, Italy, Greece, Taiwan, Japan, Hawaii and Los Angeles.
The YHRI World Tour 2010 has reached tens of thousands of students as well as officials, educators, and religious leaders and thus promotes human rights education to millions more.2010 was declared as the International Year of Youth because ______.
| A．3 million children reported their information to the UN |
| B．many children are suffering from ill-treatment and neglect |
| C．children are illegally traded throughout the whole world |
| D．human rights abuses of young people have been avoided |
According to para. 2, Dr. Shuttleworth first started her annual World Tour in _____.
| A．2000 | B．2004 | C．2008 | D．2010 |
Youth for Human Rights International is paying attention to education because _______.
| A．education should serve most children |
| B．too many children are forced to leave school |
| C．children who know their rights will make more money |
| D．children who know little about their rights are easily cheated |
According to the passage, the YHRI World Tour 2010 _______.
| A．has almost stopped the child abuse | B．has reached different areas and people |
| C．has found more forced child labor | D．was neglected by some political leaders |
Lichens (地衣) are difficult to see. They don’t move. They often mix into the living place. You might not even recognize one if you are looking right at it.
Lichens live on rocks, branches, houses, and even metal street signs. You can find these colorful organisms (微生物) almost everywhere — from deserts to rainforests, and from Antarctica to Africa. They’ve traveled in outer space, and
some scientists think there might even be lichens on Mars.
What you probably don’t realize is that a lichen is more than a single thing. It includes two different types of living organisms: a fungus (菌类) and an alga (藻类). Neither of these organisms is a plant, so the lichen isn’t a plant either.
Through photosynthesis (光合作用), the alga gets the sun’s energy to make food for the fungus, which is the place for the alga to live in. However
, the alga cannot leave the fungus.
Around the world, scientists have found tens of thousands of types of lichens. Many may not even have been discovered yet. As scientists continue to find new kinds of lichens, they are also working to understand how they are connected to one another. By putting together a lichen family tree, they hope to understand why so many different types of lichen
s have grown in so many places around the world.
Many researchers are trying to understand basic facts about the organisms and their connections. Researchers are also using lichens to examine the health of the environment. What do we know about lichens according to the passage?
| A．They will die if they leave Earth. |
| B．There are more lichens than plants on Earth. |
| C．They look similar to the environment around them. |
| D．They are too small to be easily seen by people. |
What does the second paragraph mainly talk about?
| A．The way lichens live. |
| B．The natural environment of lichens. |
| C．The way lichens work as organisms. |
| D．The family tree of lichens. |
Which of the following statements is NOT the scientists’ purposes of studying lichens?
| A．To understand basic facts about them. |
| B．To creat a lichen family tree. |
| C．To understand how lichens are related to each other. |
| D．To understand why lichens can live in different places. |
We can know from the passage that __________.
| A．lichens can be used to better understand the environment |
| B．lichens don’t have any differences in colors or sizes |
| C．lichens don’t use photosynthesis like a green plant |
| D．scientists have discovered every kind of lichen |
粤公网安备 44130202000953号