New findings from Queen’s University biologists show that in the plant world, bigger isn’t necessarily better.
“Until now most of the thinking has suggested that to be a good competitor in the forest, you have to be a big plant,” says Queen’s Biology professor Lonnie Aarssen. “But our research shows it’s virtually the other way around.”
Previous studies showed that larger plant species monopolize(垄断) sunlight, water and other resources, limiting the number of smaller plant species that can exist around them. But the research has proved that this is not generally the case in natural vegetation.
In the Queen’s project, PhD student Laura Keating targeted the largest “host plants” of 16 woody plant species growing in the Okanogan Valley, British Columbia. The research team calculated the number and variety of plants that neighbored each large host plant. They then randomly selected plots without host plants and calculated the plant species there as well. The research showed that the massive trees have no effect on the number of species with which they coexist.
Smaller plants have many advantages over their overbearing neighbors, Professor Aarssen notes. Larger species generate physical space niches under their shelters where smaller species grow well. Smaller plants are much more effective than large trees at using available resources. They also produce seeds at a much younger age and higher rate than their bigger counterparts, and settle down much more quickly—thuscompeting with the newly-born plants of larger species. What’s the main idea of the text?
| A．Smaller plants may have many advantages over their neighbors. |
| B．In the plant world, the bigger is better than the smaller one. |
| C．To be a good competitor in the forest, you have to be a small plant. |
| D．Queen’s University’s students made a new research. |
The underlined word “this” in Para. 3 refers to the view that _____.
| A．large and small plants can grow together in harmony |
| B．larger plant species limit their smaller neighbors’ growth |
| C．small plant species have their own advantages |
| D．large and small plant species can never coexist |
What can we learn according to the text?
| A．Larger plant species limit the number of smaller ones around them. |
| B．Smaller plants can limit the number of plant species around them. |
| C．Smaller plants produce seeds at a higher rate than their bigger counterparts. |
| D．Larger trees are more effective than small plants at using available resources. |
Which is the CORRECT order in the Queen’s project?
a. Randomly selected plots without host plants and-calculated the plant species.
b. Calculated the number and variety of plants that neighbored each large host plant.
c. Selected the largest individuals or "host plants" of 16 woody plant species.
| A．a, b, c | B．c, b, a |
| C．b, c, a | D．a, c, b |
Inaugural Address－John F. Kennedy
delivered 20 January 1961
We observe today not a victory of party, but a celebration of freedom—symbolizing an end, as well as a beginning—signifying renewal, as well as change. For I have sworn before you and Almighty God the same solemn oath our forebears prescribed nearly a century and three-quarters ago.
The world is very different now, for man holds in his mortal hands the power to abolish all forms of human poverty and all forms of human life. And yet the same revolutionary beliefs for which our forebears fought are still at issue around the globe–the belief that the rights of man come not from the generosity of the state, but from the hand of God.
We dare not forget today that we are the heirs of that first revolution. Let the word go forth from this time and place, to friend and foe alike, that the torch has been passed to a new generation of Americans—born in this century, tempered by war, disciplined by a hard and bitter peace, proud of our ancient heritage, and unwilling to witness or permit the slow undoing of those human rights to which this nation has always been committed, and to which we are committed today at home and around the world.
Let every nation know, whether it wishes us well or ill, that we shall pay any price, bear any burden, meet any hardship, support any friend, oppose any foe, to assure the survival and the success of liberty.
This much we pledge—and more…
In the long history of the world, only a few generations have been granted the role of defending freedom in its hour of maximum danger. I do not shrink from this responsibility -- I welcome it. I do not believe that any of us would exchange places with any other people or any other generation. The energy, the faith, the devotion which we bring to this endeavor will light our country and all who serve it. And the glow from that fire can truly light the world.
And so, my fellow Americans, ask not what your country can do for you; ask what you can do for your country.
My fellow citizens of the world, ask not what America will do for you, but what together we can do for the freedom of man.
Finally, whether you are citizens of America or citizens of the world, ask of us here the same high standards of strength and sacrifice which we ask of you. With a good conscience our only sure reward, with history the final judge of our deeds, let us go forth to lead the land we love, asking His blessing and His help, but knowing that here on earth God's work must truly be our own.
What should friends and foes know?
| A．That the United States is powerful. |
| B．That a new generation of Americans are responsible for their government. |
| C．That the United States is governed by liberals. |
| D．That the rights of man come from the hand of God. |
What is Kennedy’s promise to the world?
| A．To support liberty. | B．To abolish all forms of human poverty. |
| C．To visit each country at least once. | D．To support any friend. |
What should citizens of the world ask of America?
| A．How America can help them. |
| B．If America plans to invade their country. |
| C．What they can do for freedom. |
| D．What they can do for America. |
Which of the following statement is NOT true according to the passage?
| A．Human beings have the power to put an end to all forms of poverty. |
| B．We should remember we are the first revolution. |
| C．Our nation has always been committed to human rights. |
| D．We should assure the survival and the success of liberty. |
The composer Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart’s remarkable musical talent was apparent even before most children can sing a simple nursery rhyme. Wolfgang’s older sister Maria Anna (who the family called Nannerl) was learning the clavier, an early keyboard instrument, when her three-year-old brother took an interest in playing. As Nannerl later recalled, Wolfgang “often spent much time at the clavier picking out thirds (三度音), which he was always striking, and his pleasure showed that it sounded good.” Their father Leopold, an assistant concertmaster at the Salzburg Court, recognized his children’s unique gifts and soon devoted himself to their musical education.
Born in Salzburg, Austria, on January 27, 1756, Wolfgang had composed his first original work by age five. Leopold planned to take Nannerl and Wolfgang on tour to play before the European courts. Their first venture was to nearby Munich where the children played for Maximillian III Joseph, elector of Bavaria. Leopold soon set his sights on the capital of the Hapsburg Empire, Vienna. On their way to Vienna, the family stopped in Linz, where Wolfgang gave his first public concert. By this time, Wolfgang was not only a skilled harpsichord player, but he had also mastered the violin. The audience at Linz was amazed by the six-year-old, and word of his genius soon traveled to Vienna. In a much attended concert, the Mozart children appeared at the Schonbrunn Palace on October 13, 1762. They completely attracted the emperor and empress.
Following this success, Leopold received a lot of invitations for the children to play, for a fee. Leopold seized the opportunity and booked as many concerts as possible at courts throughout Europe. A concert could last three hours, and the children played at least two per a day. Today, Leopold might be considered the worst kind of stage parent, but at the time, it was not uncommon for prodigies to make extensive concert tours. Even so, it was an exhausting schedule for a child who was just past the age of needing an afternoon nap.
A good title for this passage would be ________.
| A．Classical Music in the Eighteenth Century: An Overview. |
| B．Stage Parents: A Historical Point of View. |
| C．Mozart: The Early Life of a Musical Genius. |
| D．Mozart: The Short Career of a Musical Genius. |
What was the consequence of Wolfgang’s first public appearance?
| A．He attracted the emperor and empress of Hapsburg. |
| B．Word of Wolfgang’s genius spread to the capital. |
| C．Leopold set his sights on Vienna. |
| D．Invitations for the miracle children to play poured in. |
Each of the following statements about Wolfgang Mozart is directly supported by the passage except ________.
| A．Mozart’s father made full use of his children’s talent |
| B．Maria Anna was also talented in music |
| C．Wolfgang’s childhood was devoted to his musical career |
| D．Wolfgang preferred the violin to other instruments |
The word “prodigies” in the last paragraph probably means “________”.
| A．unusually talented people | B．strict parents |
| C．greatest composers | D．generous people |
It takes two to duet (二重唱), and one question for scientists is how these coordinated (协调的) performances arise — in birds. Are they the result of cooperation, a way in which one pair signals to others that they’ve got it together? Or are they the result of conflict, evolving to avoid one partner’s song interfering with the other’s?
A study of duetting in Peruvian warbling antbirds(蚁鸟) suggests that it might be a little of both, and that context is everything. Joseph A. Tobias and Nathalie Seddon of the University of Oxford show in Current Biology that sexual conflict can cause the female of a pair that normally cooperates to “jam” the male’s song by singing over it.
The researchers exposed antbird pairs to recorded songs of other antbirds and monitored the songs the pairs produced. In one experiment, they played the songs of an intruding pair. In this case, the resident pair “both are likely to lose their territory, so both should cooperate,” Dr. Tobias said. And they do. They produce a coordinated duet that in effect tells the intruders to keep away.
But when the researchers played the song of a single female, the pair behaved differently. “You’d expect the resident female to be highly motivated to defend her position in the partnership,” Dr. Tobias said. And that’s what occurs. The male sings its heart out, flirting(调情) with the single female, and the female of the pair does its best to interfere with the song by singing over it, apparently to make her mate less attractive to the other female.
“It’s clear that the male doesn’t like what she’s doing,” Dr. Tobias said. The behavior “breaks up what is otherwise a very cooperative situation into a more complicated signal,” he added.
It’s the first evidence of this kind of signal jamming among pairs, Dr. Tobias said.
And in that it leads the male to alter its song to avoid the female’s interfering notes, it shows that this kind of conflict could, over a long period, drive the evolution of coordinated song.
What is the key factor of antbirds’ duet?
| A．Their cooperation. | B．Their conflict. |
| C．The context. | D．Their instinct. |
How did the researchers conduct the experiment?
| A．They put the antbird pairs back to nature and observe them. |
| B．They played different recorded songs of other antbirds. |
| C．They put an antbird to the other’s territory and observed. |
| D．They played the songs of an intruding pair. |
Why did the female bird sing according to Paragraph 4?
| A．It wanted to show its singing talent to the partner. |
| B．It aimed at keeping the partnership with the male. |
| C．It wanted to frighten the other females. |
| D．It wanted to make her mate more attractive. |
Which of the following is the topic of this passage?
| A．The special phenomenon about birds pairs. |
| B．The conflict of bird pairs. |
| C．The cooperation of bird pairs. |
| D．The piece of music for bird pairs. |
Below is adapted from an English dictionary. Use the dictionary to answer the following questions.
 figure / fīgə / noun, verb ●noun 1 [C, often pl.] a number representing a particular amount, especially one given in official information: the trade /sales figures 2 [C] a symbol rather than a word representing one of the numbers between 0 and 9: a six-figure salary 3 [pl.] (informal) the area of mathematics that deals with adding, multiplying, etc. numbers 4 [C] a person of the type mentioned: Gandhi was both a political and a religious figure in Indian history. 5 [C] the shape of a person seen from a distance or not clearly 6 [C] a person or an animal as shown in art or a story: a wall with five carved figures in it 7 [C] the human shape, considered from the point of view of being attractively thin: doing exercise to improve one’s figure 8 [C] a pattern or series of movements performed on ice: figure-skating [IDM] be/become a figure of fun: be/become sb. that others laugh at cut a…figure: (of a person) to have a particular appearance He cut a striking figure in his dinner jacket. put a figure on sth.: to say the exact price or number of sth. |
a fine figure of man / woman: a tall, strong-looking and well-shaped person figure of speech: a word or phrase used in a different way from its usual meanings in order to create a particular mental image or effect figurehead: someone who is the head or chief in name only (with no real power or authority) ●verb 1 to think or decide that sth. will happen or is true: I figured that if I took the night train, I could be in Scotland by morning. 2 to be part of a process, situation, etc. especially an important part: My opinion of the matter didn’t seem to figure at all. 3 to calculate an amount or the cost of sth.: We figured that attendance at 150,000. [PHRV] 1 figure in: to include (in a sum): Have you figured in the cost of hotel? 2 figure on: to plan on; to expect sth. to happen: I haven’t figured on his getting home too late. 3 figure out: to work out; understand by thinking: Have you figured out how much the trip will cost? [IDM] It/That figures! (informal): That seems reasonable, logical and what I expect. |
—She was coming late again for the work.
—________! That’s typical of her. You just can’t do anything to stop her doing that.
| A．It figures her out | B．It figures |
| C．It cuts a poor figure | D．She is a figure of fun |
The phrase “watch my figure” in the sentence “Don’t tempt me with chocolate; I am watching my figure.” means “________”.
| A．add the numbers | B．have sports |
| C．try not to get fat | D．watch games |
Which underlined word in the following sentences is used as figure of speech?
| A．John is fond of animals and raises a rabbit as a pet. |
| B．In some countries, bamboo can be used to build houses. |
| C．We all regard Mr. Smith as an important figure in our company. |
| D．I didn’t really mean my partner was a snake. |
I live in the land of Disney, Hollywood and year-round sun. You may think people in such a splendid, fun-filled place are happier than others. If so, you have some mistaken ideas about the nature of happiness.
Many intelligent people still equate (等同于) happiness with fun. The truth is that fun and happiness have little or nothing in common. Fun is what we experience during an act. Happiness is what we experience after an act. It is a deeper, more lasting emotion.
Going to an amusement park or ball game, watching a movie or television, are fun activities that help us relax, temporarily forget our problems and maybe even laugh. But they do not bring happiness, because their positive effects end when the fun ends.
I have often thought that if Hollywood stars have a role to play, it is to teach us that happiness has nothing to do with fun. These rich, beautiful individuals have constant access to wonderful parties, fancy cars, expensive homes, everything that spells “happiness”. But in memoir（回忆录）after memoir, they reveal the unhappiness hidden behind all their fun: depression, alcoholism, drug addiction, broken marriages, troubled children and lasting loneliness.
Ask a bachelor why he refuses marriage, if he’s honest, and he will tell you that he is afraid of making a promise, for promise is in fact quite painful. The single life is filled with fun, adventure and excitement. Marriage has such moments, but they are not its most important features.
Similarly, couples that choose not to have children are deciding in favor of painless fun over painful happiness. They can dine out whenever they want and sleep as late as they can. Couples with young children are lucky to get a whole night’s sleep or a three-day vacation. I don’t know any parent who would choose the word fun to describe raising children.
Understanding and accepting that true happiness has nothing to do with fun is one of the most liberating（解放性的）realizations. It liberates time: now we can devote more hours to activities that can really increase our happiness. It liberates money: buying that new car or those fancy clothes that will do nothing to increase our happiness now seems pointless. And it liberates us from envy: we now understand that all those rich and glamorous people we were so sure are happy because they are always having so much fun actually may not be happy at all.
. We can learn from the passage that____________.
| A．fun creates long-lasting satisfaction |
| B．fun provides enjoyment while pain leads to happiness |
| C．happiness is lasting whereas fun is short-lived |
| D．fun that is long-standing may lead to happiness |
. To the author, the role Hollywood stars will play is to _________.
| A．write memoir after memoir about their happiness |
| B．tell the public that happiness has nothing to do with fun |
| C．teach people how to enjoy their lives |
| D．bring happiness to the public instead of going to parties |
In the author’s opinion, marriage____________.
| A．affords greater fun | B．leads to raising children |
| C．indicates duty and devotion | D．usually ends up in pain |
Which of the following is the best example of “painful happiness”?
| A．Winning lottery by accident. | B．A bachelor refusing marriage. |
| C．Raising children. | D．Buying some fancy clothes. |
If one gets the meaning of the true sense of happiness, he will____________.
| A．stop playing games and joking with others |
| B．keep himself with his family |
| C．give a free hand to money |
| D．use his time to increase happiness |
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