Once upon a time, on an isolated island in the Java sea, lived short people who dominated(支配, 占优势) the food chain. Standing no more than three and a half feet tall, these human ancestors hunted giant rats, lumbering lizards（笨拙的蜥蜴), and miniature elephants.
It sounds a bit like a fairy tale, but it's true. Unearthed relics on the island uncovered the remains of a race of tiny human ancestors. Homo floresiensis, as the newly discovered species has been named, apparently could date back to 13,000 years ago. This means they have a lot in common with modern humans.
So how and why did these people get so small? Scientists suspect that it's due to the fact that this race lived on an isolated island with limited resources. Take the miniature elephants for example. When elephants first came to the island either by swimming or by some kind of natural land raft, they were probably close to full size. But since there wasn't much to eat, over time smaller elephants lived longer and better. The smaller the elephant was, the less it had to eat to stay strong and healthy.
Scientists call this the "island role", and it can apply to humans as well as animals. Given the island's sparse(稀少) food supply, it makes sense that the early humans living there would have evolved (进化) a body size requiring less food to survive. So bigger isn't always better. In the floresiensis, at least, getting smaller was the way to go.According to the passage, the fact Homo floresiensis are very small is based on________.
| A．the islanders in the Java Sea | B．the human ancestors |
| C．a newspaper report | D．the unearthed relics |
The underlined word "miniature" in the first paragraph most probably means______.
| A．tiny | B．active | C．rare | D．wild |
People on the island got so small because____________.
| A．they gradually developed for lack of food. |
| B．they did not have enough food to eat. |
| C．they shared less food with elephants. |
| D．they remained alive as the elephants. |
What might be the most suitable title of the passage?
| A．The history of short people | B．Short people on an isolated island |
| C．The proofs on short people | D．Short people from a fairy tale |
According to the passage, getting smaller can make people and animals ____
| A．run quickly | B．live weaker | C．live longer | D．run slowly |
Federal regulators (管理者) Wednesday approved a plan to create a nationwide emergence alert (警报) system using text messages delivered to cell phones.
Text messages have exploded in popularity in recent years, particularly among young people. The wireless industry's trade association, CTIA, estimates（估计） more than 48 billion text messages are sent each month.
The plan comes from the Warning Alert and Response Network Act, a 2009 federal law that requires improvements to the nation's emergency alert system. The act tasked(派给…工作) the Federal Communications Commission (FCC) with coming up with new ways to alert the public about emergencies.
"The ability to deliver accurate and timely warnings and alerts through cell phones and other mobile services is an importan
t next step in our efforts to help ensure that the American public has the information they need to take action to protect themselves and their families before, and during, disasters and other emergencies," FCC Chairman Kevin Martin said following approval of the plan.
Participation in the alert system by carriers –telecommunications companies is voluntary, but it has received solid support from the wireless industry.
The program would be optional for cell phone users. They also may not be charged for receiving alerts.
There would be three different types of message
s, according to the rules.
The first would be a national alert from the president, likely involving a terrorist attack or natural disaster. The second would involve "approaching threats," which could include natural disasters like hurrica
nes or storms or even university shootings. The third would be reserved for child abduction (绑架) emergencies, or so-called Amber Alerts.
The service could be in place by 2012.What is the purpose of the approved plan?
| A．To warn people of emergencies through messages. |
| B．To popularize the use of cell phones. |
| C．To estimate the monthly number of messages. |
| D．To promote the wireless industry. |
The improvement to the present system is in the charge of ____.
| A．CTIA | B．the Warning Alert and Response Network | C．FCC | D．federal regulators |
The carriers’ participation in the system is determined by _____.
| A．the US federal government | B．mobile phone users |
| C．the carriers themselves | D．the law of the United States |
Which of the following is true of cell phone users?
| A．They must accept the alert service. | B．They may enjoy the alert service for free. |
| C．They must send the alerts to others | D．They may choose the types of messages |
An alert message will NOT be sent if _____
| A．a child loses his way. | B．a university shooting happens |
| C．a natural disaster happens | D．a terrorist attack occurs |
For a 400-year-old art form, opera had a bad fame: overweight actresses singing the words whic
h were hard to understand in one of those romantic languages you were supposed to learn in high school. And with tickets costing as much as $145 a performance, operagoers also had a certain appearance in people’s mind: rich, well-dressed and old.
But now opera companies around the country are loosening their ties and kicking off their shoes in an attempt to keep opera alive and take it to a younger and not so wealthy audience.
Opera producers have found that to attract this crowd, they need to associate opera with the common people. That means no form
al suits, old-styled theatre or bank-breaking ticket prices. And because young people don’t or won’t come to the opera, companies are bringing the opera to them, giving performances in such usual places as parks, libraries and public schools.
The Houston Grand Opera’s choice is the public library, where it performs “mobile operas”, shortened versions of child-friendly operas. This summer’s production is Hansel & Gretel. By performing smaller versions o
f large prod
uctions, producers are able to make people interested while keeping costs at a reasonable level. The San Francisco Opera, which will be celebrating its 75th anniversary this year, is staging Cinderella free of charge, keeping costs down by employing students from its Young
Artists’ Training Program.Which is the main idea of this passage?
| A．Opera is famous for its long history. |
| B．Opera is only performed for rich people. |
| C．Opera companies are trying to keep opera alive. |
| D．Young people are not interested in opera. |
The underlined phrase in the second paragraph means _________.
| A．breaking up the old rules | B．changing the dresses |
| C．making the audience at ease | D．advertising themselves |
Opera companies prefer to perform short versions because _________.
| A．they can be performed in public libraries |
| B．short versions are easy to perform |
| C．it is hard to find long versions |
| D．they can make people interested |
The San Francisco Opera employs students in order to _________.
A．celebra te its 75th anniversary |
| B．reduce the cost |
| C．attract young people |
| D．make Cinderella popular |
From the passage we can infer that _________.
| A．the tickets for opera are very expensive |
B．opera is performed in a di fficult language |
| C．opera is not so popular an art form today |
| D．students enjoy performing opera very much |
It was the summer of 1965. DeLuca, then 17, visited Peter Buck, a family friend. Buck asked DeLuca about his plans for the future. “I’m going to col
lege, but I need a way to pay for it,” DeLuca recalls saying. “Buck said, ‘You should open a sandwich shop.’”
That afternoon, they agreed to be partners. And they set a goal: to open 32 stores in ten years. After doing some research, Buck wrote a check for $1000. DeLuca rented a storefront (店面) in Connecticut, and when they couldn’t cover their start-up costs, Buck kicked in another $1000.
But business didn’t go smoothly as they expected. DeLuca says, “After six months, we were doing poorly, but we didn’t know how badly, because we didn’t have any financial controls.” All he and Buck knew was that their sales were lower than their costs.
DeLuca was managing the store and going to the University of Bridgeport at the same time. Buck was working at his day job as a nuclear physicist in New York. They’d meet Monday evenings and brainstorm ideas for keeping the business running. “We convinced ourselves to open a second store. We figured we could tell the public, ‘We are so successful, we are opening a second store.’” And they did—in the spring of 1966. Still, it was a lot of learning by trial and error.
But the partners’ learn-as-you-go approach turned out to be their greatest s
trength. Every Friday, DeLuca would drive a
round and hand-deliver the checks to pay their suppliers. “It probably took me two and a half hours and it wasn’
t necessary, but as a result, the suppliers got to know me very well, and the personal relationships established really helped out,” DeLuca says.
And having a goal was also important. “There are so many problems that can get you down. You just have to keep working toward your goal,” DeLuca adds.
DeLuca ended up founding Subway Sandwich, the multimillion-dollar restaurant chain.DeLuca opened the first sandwich shop in order to ____.
| A．support his family | B．pay for his college education |
| C．help his partner expand business | D．do some research |
Which of the following is true of Buck?
| A．He put money into the sandwich business. |
| B．He was a professor of business administration. |
| C．He was studying at the University of Bridgeport. |
| D．He rented a storefront for DeLuca. |
What can we learn about their first shop?
| A．It stood at an unfavorable place. |
| B．It lowered the prices to promote sales. |
| C．It made no profits due to poor management |
| D．It lacked control over the quality of sandwiches |
They decided to open a second store because they ___.
| A．had enough money to do it. |
| B．had succeeded in their business |
| C．wished to meet the increasing demand of customers |
| D．wanted to make people believe that they were successful |
What contribute most to their success according to the author?
| A．Learning by trial and error. | B．Making friends with suppliers. |
| C．Finding a good partner. | D．Opening chain stores. |
I’m glad to find this comment which has some sort of support in this quest（寻求）I have to eat raw（未煮熟的）foods. I’m an unhealt
hy 49 years old and have come to the conclusion that it’s now or never, so I a
m taking a dive into the raw eating lifestyle.
I have to cook for my family and 
prepare what they want to eat. I’m trying to plan out this better so I have some of these unusual foods ready for myself.
I’ve read several books written by Ann Wigmore and like her appr
oach to the living foods.
Last week I atte
mpted fasting（禁食）and failed. I lasted five days by having carrots, spinach, apples and other vegetarian diets I could get my hands on. I was doing fine until I drank some coffee. I kind of proved it in my mind to have the coffee but it only made me excited and then I couldn’t sleep well and felt hungry and weak. So I stopped and went back to the old way of eating with the family.
This week I started to make a drink called rejuvelac made of sprouted wheat（芽麦）. This is fairly new to do for me and the drink smelled sort of musty（发霉的）and tasted kind of like a musty lemon. The kids tasted it and almost t
hrew up but surprisingly it tasted good to me. It is supposed to help in digestion（消化）.
I’ve made some attempts to grow wheat grass. I think I have figured that out as long as I keep it away from birds and our horses. I have two habits to get rid of, drinking coffee and smoking. I quit smoking last month but something happened, so I started up again. I’m very frustrated(受挫的) with the
smoking and really have a desire to quit for good. Anyhow I will keep this updated on my progress.The author must have ________ before she wrote this article.
| A．hesitated at whether she should eat raw foods |
| B．never eaten raw foods |
| C．made up her mind to eat raw foods instead of cooked ones |
D．been discouraged by her  family from fasting |
The books written by Ann Wigmore which the author has read are probably about ________.
| A．fasting |
| B．losing weight |
| C．how to be on a diet |
| D．approaches to eating raw foods |
To the author, the drink made of sprouted wheat ________.
| A．might help in digestion |
| B．might make people who drank it throw up |
| C．tasted good to anybody |
| D．was welcomed by the whole family |
We can learn from the passage that ________ smoking.
| A．the author has given up |
| B．the author will never give up |
| C．it’s hard for the author to quit |
| D．it’s easy for the author to quit |
The author’s biggest worry at present is most probably ________.
| A．that she can’t eat with her family |
| B．that she can’t get rid of drinking coffee and smoking |
| C．how to get used to raw foods |
| D．that she doesn’t know whether she should eat raw foods |
Many children first learn the value of money by receiving an allowance. Parents often give th
eir children an amount of money that they may spend as they wish. The purpose is to let the children learn from experience at an early age when financial mistakes are not very costly.
A child may receive an allowance ea
ch week or each month. The amount is not so important. But parents should make clear what the child is expected to pay for with the money.
At first, young children may spend all of their allowance soon after they receive it. If they do this, they will learn the hard way that spending must be done within a budget. Parents should not offer more money until the next allowance is to be given.
Older children may be responsible enough to budget larger costs like those for clothing. The object is to show young people that a budget demands choices between spending and saving.
Many people who have written on the subject say it is not a good idea to pay your child for work around the home. These jobs are a normal part of family life. Paying children to do extra work around the home, however, can be useful. It can even provide an understanding of how a business works.
Allowances give children a chance to experience three things they can do with money. They can share it in the form of gifts or giving it to organizations. They can spend it by buying things they wan
t. Or they can save it.
Saving helps children understand that costly goals require sacrifice: you have to cut costs and plan for the future. Requiring children to save part of their allowance can also open the doo
r to future saving and investing. Many banks offer free savings accounts for young people with small amounts of money.The functions of allowances given to children are the following EXCEPT ______.
| A．they can save more money for their future business |
| B．they can give them to charities |
| C．they may spend them on what they like |
| D．they can learn to deal with money |
The underlined word "sacrifice" in the last paragraph means "_____".
| A．牺牲 | B．计划 | C．选择 | D．放弃 |
What's the main idea of the passage?
| A．Children should save part of their allowance. |
B．Don’t pay your chi ld for work around the home. |
| C．Allowance helps teach children early about money. |
D． Parents should allow children to spend money as they wish. |
How many advantages of saving has the passage mentioned?
| A．2 | B．3 | C．4 | D．5 |
Which of the following is TRUE according to the passage?
A．Children are advised  to buy anything they wish to with the allowance. |
| B．Parents should offer children more money if they spend all of their allowance soon after they get it. |
| C．It can be useful to pay children to do extra work around the home. |
| D．It is unnecessary for the children to save part of the allowance. |
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