Scientists at Royal Holloway, University of London and Queen Mary, University of London have discovered that bees learn to fly the shortest possible route between flowers even if they discover the flowers in a different order. Bees are effectively solving the “traveling salesman problem”, and they are the first creatures found to do this. 
The traveling salesman must find the shortest route that allows him to visit all locations on his route. Computers solve it by comparing the length of all possible routes and choosing the shortest, and it can keep computers busy for days. However, bees solve it without computer assistance using a brain the size of grass seed. Dr. Nigel Raine, from the School of Biological Sciences at Royal Holloway explains, “Bees solve traveling salesman problems every day. They visit flowers at multiple locations and because bees use lots of energy to fly, they find a route which keeps flying to a minimum. ”
The team used the computer to control artificial flowers to test whether bees would follow a route defined by the order in which they discovered the flowers or if they would find the shortest route. After exploring the location of the flowers, bees quickly learned to fly the shortest route.
As well as improving our understanding of how bees move around the landscape pollinating(授粉)crops and wild flowers, this research, which is due to be published in The American Naturalist, has other applications. Our lifestyle relies on networks such as traffic on the roads, information flow on the Web and business supply chains. By understanding how bees can solve their problems with such a tiny brain, we can improve our management of these everyday networks without needing lots of computer time. Dr. Raine adds, “Despite their tiny brains, bees are capable of extraordinary feats of behavior. We need to understand how they can solve the traveling salesman problem without a computer. ” What would be the best title of the passage?
| A．Bees help salesmen travel |
| B．Tiny-brained bees solve a complex mathematical problem |
| C．How bees discover the flowers |
| D．How to solve the “traveling salesman problem” |
We may infer from the second paragraph that the “traveling salesman problem” .
| A．can be solved by a computer easily |
| B．can’t even be solved by a computer |
| C．can puzzle both people and computers |
| D．remains to be solved by scientists |
The main purpose of the last paragraph is to .
| A．provide further proof for the research |
| B．tell us how bees can fly the shortest route between flowers |
| C．tell us how the research about bees’ flying route was conducted |
| D．explain the importance of the research |
It can be concluded from the passage that .
| A．all creatures are smarter than computers |
| B．the research about bees’ flying route can be applied to many fields |
| C．our networks are more complex than bees’ ones |
| D．with the help of the computer we can find out how bees can solve the “traveling salesman problem” |
Several different stories are told about the origin of Saint Valentine’s Day. One story dates as far back as the days of Roman Empire. According to the story. Claudius, the Emperor of Rome, wanted to increase the size of the army. He knew that it would be easier to get young men who were not married to join the army; therefore, he made a rule that no young men could marry until he had served in the army for a number of years.
A priest(man working in church) named Valentine broke the rule and secretly married a great number of young people. Finally, Claudius found out about Valentine and put the priest in prison, where he remained until his death on February 14.
After his death, Valentine was made a saint(圣人) and the day of his death was named Saint Valentine’s Day----which is a time for people to send one another their greeting of many kinds.
February 14, Valentine’s Day, is sweetheart’s day, on which people in love with each other express their soft feelings.
People sometimes put their
love message in a heart shaped box of chocolate or a bunch of flowers tied with red ribbons. Words of letters may be written on the flower covered card, or something else. Whatever the form may be, the message is almost the same “Will you be my Valentine?”
64. According to the rule_______.
A. no young men could get married unless they were old enough.
B. Young men could get married if they had served the army for a number of years.
no one could get married without the emperor’s permission
young men could get married only in the army.
65. The passage mainly tells us about_______.
A. How Valentine died B. The emperor of Rome
C. How Valentine’s Day is celebrated D. The origin of Valentine’s Day
66. February 14 is chosen as Valentine’s Day because_______.
A. people want to remember Valentine
lovers express their soft feelings on this day
people send one another greeting of many kinds on this day
people want to fix a date for lovers to express their emotion
67. Valentine was put in prison for ________.
A. he helped the couples who were not supposed to get married
B. he got married
C. he fell in love with more than one woman.
D. he broke the emperor’s rule on purpose
Bicycle tour and race
A bike tour and race will be held on August 26 and 27（ Sat. &Sun.）at 5:30 am, the riders will leave Tian’an Men Square and ride the first 35 kilometers as a training leg. Then the next 55 kilometers leg, from Yanjiao to Jixian, will be the first competitive part of the tour. The riders and their bikes will then be taken from Jixian to Changli.
The second racing leg of the tour will be from Changli to seaside of Nandaihe, covering a distance of 20 kilometers. Saturday night includes the stay at Nandaihe and supper. Sunday morning is free for play at the seaside. At noon all the people and their bikes will be taken back to Beijing.
Cost: 200 yuan
Telephone: 4675027
Brazilian footballers
The Brazilian Football Club play Beijing Guo’an Team at the Workers Stadium on August 26．The club has four nation team players. Also coming is 1994 US World Cup star Ronario who has promised to play for at least 45 minutes.
Ticket prices: 60,100, 150 yuan
Time /date: 4:30 pm, August 26（Sat.）
Telephone: 5012372
Rocking climbing
The third National Rock Climbing Competition will be held on August 26~27 at the Huairou Mountain-climbing Training Base. More than 10 teams from Beijing, Wuhan , Dalian , Jilin and other places will take part in it. A Japanese team will give an exhibition climbing. Free for spectators（观众）.
Take a long-distance bus from Dongzhimen to Huairou.
Time/Date: 9~12 am, August 26 and 27
Telephone: 7143177, 7144850 Wang Zhenghua
60. The main purpose of announcing the above events is to give information about _________.
A. visiting teams B. famous players
C. things to do for the weekend D. prices to pay for the sports events.
61. If you take part in the bike tour, you will ride for _________
A. 35 kilometers B. 55 kilometers C. 75 kilometers D. 110 kilometers
62. What is special about the rock climbing competition?
A. Many foreign teams take part in it.
B. You can watch it without paying.
C. You don’t have to be a sportsman to take part in.
D. The bus trip to the places of the competition is free.
63. If you want to do something on Saturday afternoon, which telephone number will you call?
A. 4675027 B. 7143177 C. 5012372 D. 7144850
How hard we have all prayed(祈祷) to grow up quickly, and looked forward to the happy days of being a grown-up and enjoying the many interests that a youth should have.
At last, you have grown up. At least you are no longer a child. They call you “young lady”. You then enjoy the pleasure of being a young lady. You are proud of being a grown-up teenager. People welcome you-this young lady-heartily. You are glad that your prayer has been answered.
But there is always something that troubles you a lot. You say; “Papa and Mama, give me some money please. My pocket money is all gone already.”
“No”, they say, “your age is a dangerous age. If you have too much money to spend, it won’t do you any good.” Then you have to stay at home because you dare not go out with an empty pocket.
Another time you tell your grandma, “Grandma, see, I am a grown-up now.”
“Good, now, you can sit here and knit (编织) this for me while I go and have a rest.” To show that you are no more a child, you have to sit there the whole afternoon doing the work, which only a grown-up can do. After an hour, you find it hard to do, and give the knitting basket back to your grandma. Your grandma criticizes your work. You hear what she says, “Such a big girl can’t do such easy work.” You wish then you were a child again.
But the fact is, you are growing up, and you can’t help it. That’s the way it goes!
56.The passage is told about _______ problems.
A. a growing-up boy’s B. a teenage girl’s C. an old woman’s D. a grown-up’s
57.It is clear that the writer, as a teenager, ________.
A. is pleased with the present life B. is unhappy about growing up
C. doesn’t think her present life happy enough D. knows happy life will come to her soon
58.How does she know her prayer has been answered?
A. People treat her as a young lady. B. She is no longer a kid.
C. People begin to call her teenager. D. She can join women in all kinds of activities.
59.From what her parents say, we know _________.
A. they don’t believe she is already a teenager B. it’s dangerous for a girl to spend money
C. they love her more than before D. they still regard her as a child
Most people seem to be passive at work. They do what they are told to do, and they don’t do what they are not told to do. In the end, one thing results: unmotivated (不积极的) people.
We’re employed to think. In fact, no matter how many times our bosses disagree with us, it is our responsibility to think for the company. There are lots of times when I disagree with my boss, and sometimes we even end up having arguments; however, I still offer my suggestions whenever I don’t agree.
Spending more time thinking also helps us to be more efficient (高效的) and helps to reduce our chances of frustration (挫败). Before I do something, I usually need some time to think about it to make sure that what I’m doing makes sense. This can be as long as a few days when a project is big, or as short as only a few s
econds for a simple task. After thinking about a project, it sometimes becomes clear that a simple task could achieve the same result. In those cases, not only did I save myself from possible frustration, but I also felt happy and satisfied that I saved valuable resources for my company.
With so many people not taking time to think, it’s no wonder that many people are unmotivated. Today, I encourage you to think things over whenever you have a chance. At first, it might take a while, but once it becomes a habit, you will feel more motivated as you will be more valuable to the company.
It is suggested in the passage that people should _____.
| A．stop arguing with their bosses |
| B．seize every chance they meet |
| C．present views to their companies |
| D．avoid big projects |
According to the passage, spending more time thinking _________.
| A．is a waste of time and resources |
| B．can help people understand what others do |
| C．can help people impress their companies |
| D．is a good way to improve efficiency |
The author wrote this passage to ________.
| A．persuade people to do what they are not told to do |
| B．encourage people to be more motivated |
| C．show people how to give different opinions |
| D．tell people how to form good thinking habits. |
It can be inferred from the passage that the author is ______ at work.
| A．negative | B．lazy | C．positive | D．powerful |
High school students have always spread gossip(传言) in the halls, on the walls and on the phone. Now it’s on the Internet, too. On various message boards, kids write about whom they hate, whom they think have fallen in love with each other and record other often hurtful things that may or may not be true.
Sixteen- year-old Jessica remembers once when some kids at her school wrote cruel things about her on the web. “ They were just making fun of me,” she says. They said she’s really ugly, she’s this, she’s that, blah-blah-blah.
Jessica’s 11-yea
r-old sister, Emma, admits she’s used the web to write bad things about another girl, though she regrets it now. “After a while, you may feel like, how could I have been so mean? Or, why did I do that?” she says.
Experts say gossip on the Inernet can be more harmful than the old fashioned kind. It lasts longer and is taken more seriously. And, unlike ugly words on the bathroom wall, there’s no way to get rid of it.
If your kids are victims of online gossip, Dr. Commanday suggests putting the gossip into perspective(正确看待). “Point out to them how what’s being said on the screen differs from what everyone knows about you as a person,” Dr. Commanday says.
You can also try what worked for Emma: Keep your kids off the offensive website! “ When she was using it all the time, her name was there all the time. People were writing things about her,” explains Patti Thrift, Emma’s mother, “ Since she has no longer had access to that, she’ s no longer a topic of conversation.”
Experts say that any time your child is on the Internet , you should know what he or she is doing there. Online gossip is just another reason why.
From the examp
les of Jessica and her sister, we can learn that ________.
| A．ugly girls like to spread gossip online |
| B．ugly girls easily become victims of online gossip |
| C．gossip-makers can regret what they do |
| D．online gossip is mailny some jokes on others |
According to the passage, why is online gossip more hurtful?
| A．It can not be removed. |
| B．It is written words. |
| C．It is much uglier. |
| D．It is easier to believe. |
If you are a victim of online gossip, you’d better_______
A．ask your parents to stop it |
| B．try to stay away from there |
| C．make it known to the police |
| D．speak ill of the gossip-maker |
The purpose of the passage is to _____
| A．introduce different kinds of hurt students might meet with |
| B．advise students to keep away from the Internet |
| C．list the bad influence gossip on the Internet brings |
| D．give some tips on how to prevent hurt of gossip on the Internet |
The passage is mainly written for____
A. experts B teachers C. parents D. students
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