The Brown Bear
My wife Laura and I were on the beach, with three of our children, taking pictures of shore birds near our home in Alaska when we spotted a bear. The bear was thin and small, moving aimlessly.
Just a few minutes later, I heard my daughter shouting, “Dad! The bear is right behind us!” An aggressive bear would usually rush forward to frighten away its enemy but would suddenly stop at the last minute. This one was silent and its ears pinned back---- the sign of an animal that is going in for the kill. And it was a cold April day. The bear behaved abnormally, probably because of hunger.
I held my camera tripod (三脚架) in both hands to form a barrier as the bear rushed into me. Its huge head was level with my chest and shoulders, and the tripod stuck across its mouth. It bit down and I found myself supporting its weight. I knew I would not be able to hold it for long.
Even so, this was a fight I had to win: I was all that stood between the bear and my family, who would stand little chance of running faster than a brown bear.
The bear hit at the camera, cutting it off the tripod. I raised my left arm to protect my face; the beast held tightly on the tripod and pressed it into my side. My arm could not move, and I sensed that my bones were going to break. www..com
Drawing back my free hand, I struck the bear as hard as I could for five to six times. The bear opened its mouth and I grasped its fur, trying to push it away. I was actually wrestling (扭打) with the bear at this point. Then, as suddenly as it had begun, the fight ended. The bear moved back toward the forest, before returning for another attack----- The first time I felt panic.
Apparently satisfied that we caused no further threat, the bear moved off, destroying a fence as it went. My arm was injured, but the outcome for us could hardly have been better. I’m proud that my family remained clear-headed when panic could have led to a very different outcome.The brown bear approached the family in order to _________.
| A．catch shore birds | B．start an attack |
| C．protect the children | D．set up a barrier for itself |
The bear finally went away after it _________.
| A．felt safe | B．got injured |
| C．found some food | D．took away the camera |
The writer and his family survived mainly due to their _________.
| A．pride | B．patience |
| C．calmness | D．cautiousness |
Glynis
I piled on the pounds and I couldn’t lose them. Then I joined a slimming club. My target weight was 140 pounds and I lost 30 pounds in six months. I felt great and people kept saying how good I looked. But Christmas came and I started to slip back into my old eating habits. I told myself I’d lose the weight at slimming classes in the next year, but it didn’t happen. Instead of losing the pounds, I put them on. I’d lost will power(毅力) and tried to believe the saying that fish and chips didn’t make any difference but the scales don’t lie.
Roz
To be honest, I never weigh myself any more. I’ve leant to be happy with myself. It seemed to me that I would feel sorry about every spoonful of tasty food that passed my lips. My idea is simple. You shouldn’t think too much about food and dieting. Instead, you should get on with life and stop dreaming of a super-thin body. This is obviously the size I’m meant to be and, most of all I’m happy with it.
Lesley
I was very happy about winning Young Slimmer of the Year. I’d look in the mirror, unable to believe this slim lady was me! That might have been my problem-perhaps from then on I didn’t pay any attention to myself. Winning a national competition makes everything worse, though because you feel the eyes of the world are fixed upon you. I feel a complete failure because I’ve put on weight again.
Ros
Before moving in with my husband Gavin, I’d always been about 110 pounds, but the pleasant environment went straight to my waist and I put on 15 pounds in a year. Every so often I try to go on a diet. I always do well in the first few days, then end up having the children’s leftovers or eating chocolate happily-my weakness. I’d like to be slim. I decided to take more exercise when my kids are older.What are the four women talking about?
| A．Their figure. |
| B．Their future life. |
| C．Their work as a housewife. |
| D．Their eating habits. |
The underlined word “scales” refers to _.
| A．coaches in the slimming club |
| B．tools to measure weight |
| C．others’ suggestions |
| D．slimming classes |
Who doesn’t seem to care about her weight?
| A．Glynis. | B．Roz. | C．Lesley. | D．Ros. |
According to the passage, we can learn that .
| A．winning an honor has caused Lesley some worry |
| B．slimming classes had no effect on Glynis |
| C．Ros lost weight after she got married |
| D．Roz thinks she is a born slimmer |
Tony Burke, Australia’s environment minister, says he won’t decide until next year whether the koala should be protected as an endangered species. He was expected to make his decision by the end of October. But that decision has been put off. Burke said he needed more time to go over the latest information about the koala’s population.
In September, an Australian Senate committee reported that there was no question the koala’s population is on the decrease. “But they may not yet be eligible(符合条件的)—for listing as a threatened species,” said Senator Doug Cameron. “To have such a significant Australian icon(偶 像) included on the threatened species list would be a national shame.”
The koala is found only in the eucalyptus(桉树) forests of Australia. And its population is reported to have fallen sharply for many reasons, including the cutting down of forests to make way for human beings’ development, their own illness, climate change and killings by other animals such as wild dogs. And every year many koalas are hit by cars as they are trying to cross the busy roads.
Putting off the decision on protection for the koala “is really bad news,” said Debbie Pointing the president of the Koala Action Group. “We’ve worked tirelessly for many years to gather data on the populations,” Pointing said. “That data should be enough to make a decision.”
However, Burke pointed out that the Australian government had spent at least $6.3 milion on koala conservation efforts since 1996. Senators listed efforts that are already underway in Queensland-the construction of special koala bridges as well as fences along roads, to keep the animals out harm’s way.
Some people say that is not enough. “What we’re doing at the moment is likely to drive this species to extinction,” Queensland University zoologist Bill Ellis said.
“Koalas are an iconic Australian animal,” Burke told Australians. “They hold a special place in the hearts of Australians.”
But it is a fact that if more isn’t done to protect the koala, they might soon hold a place only in Australians’ memories.Tony Burke put off announcing the koala as an endangered species because .
| A．he needed more time to examine the latest information |
| B．he doubted whether koalas’ number is decreasing |
| C．he was thinking about ways to protect koalas |
| D．he had more important issues to deal with |
What is Paragraph 3 mainly about?
| A．The habitat of the koala. |
| B．Australia’s traffic problems. |
| C．The importance of koalas for Australians. |
| D．Reasons for the decrease of the koala population. |
According to the text, Debbie Pointing thinks that .
| A．the construction of special koala bridges is of little use |
| B．koalas becoming less important in Australians’ hearts |
| C．the government is to blame for the decreasing koala population |
| D．the government should announce the koala as an endangered species |
It can be learned from the text that Tony Burke .
| A．thought the government has done much for koalas |
| B．called on Australians to take care of the koala |
| C．decided to construct more fences along roads |
| D．was optimistic about the koala’s future |
Americans love their cars. There are more than eight cars for every 10 Americans, but most of the time, they sit idle(闲置的), parked in a driveway or on the street. Now, several companies on the U. S. West Coast are helping people rent their personal car to someone else when they don’t need it.
Eric Loebel is one of those people. For a small price, he wants to let his Oregon neighbors “borrow” his car. It’s a dark blue, model year 2000 Volvo car. The sales and marketing consultant says he doesn’t use it much. “My wife and I are huge bike commuters and almost don’t need a car,” he says.
Loebel is one of the first car owners in Portland to list his wheels for rent through a so-called
“peer-to-peer car sharing” service called Getaround. Com. “Cars are so expensive to own,” he says “This can definitely offset(弥补) some of the cost.” The website lets car owners decide for themselves how much to charge borrowers to rent by the hour, day or week.
Person-to-person rentals began in Germany a decade ago, and there are a handful of similar companies in Europe and Australia. The concept caught on quickly in California over the past year according to John Atcheson, vice president of Getaround, one of four carsharing startups in the San Francisco area.
“We have had amazing cars leaping into our system,” Atcheson says. “Not just 1995 pickup trucks but we have had late model Mercedes, Audis, any type of car you can imagine. We actually have a Tesla Roadster—a $150,000 sports car.”
Another service called JustShareIt plans to stand out by going beyond cars. Its founder says the company will offer person-to-person rentals of power boats, jet skis and snowmobeles(雪地机 动车) too.What’s the main idea of the passage?
| A．There are too many cars in America. |
| B．Most cars are rarely used in America. |
| C．Commuting by bike is popular in America. |
| D．Americans try renting their cars to strangers. |
Which of the following is true of Getaround.com?
| A．It gives tips on saving costs on cars. |
| B．It provides a platform for car sharers. |
| C．It provides advice on driving. |
| D．It answers drivers’ questions person-to-person. |
We learn form Atcheson’s words that .
| A．they offer international services |
| B．they first formed in San Francisco |
| C．they offer cars of different types |
| D．their customers prefer new cars |
JustShareIt wants to make itself more attractive by .
| A．providing lower rent |
| B．providing extra sports equipments |
| C．offering person-to-person service |
| D．offering other things for rent |
Bright red post boxes, the Queen and queuing---what do they all have in common? They are all important parts of British life. At least I thought so.
However, the ability to queue for long periods of time, once believed to be a traditional characteristic of British, is no longer tolerated by people in the UK, according to a survey done by British bank Barclays.
Once upon a time, queuing was seen as normal. During World War Ⅱ, everyone had to queue up to receive their daily supply of foods. In fact, if you didn’t stand up and wait in line with all the others, it was seen as uncivilized(不文明的).
The famous English double-decker buses, with only one entrance, might also help explain why queuing was seen as part of British life. Almost always, there is a queue to get in.
But perhaps the British are tired of being pushed past by the Spanish, the Italian or the French as they queue up to get a table at a restaurant. The people of these other European countries have more than one entrance to their buses, which explains their more relaxed attitude to the queue.
Two minutes is now the longest time most British people are prepared to stand and wait. But could it be that the Internet, which allows us to carry out tasks quickly, is the main reason why British people are no longer prepared to queue?
“Used to buying without delay, customers are even giving up purchases rather than wait their turn,” says Stuart Neal of Barclaycard. “Shoppers are also less likely to queue for long if the item they are buying is of low value.”
Perhaps I will have to replace “queuing” with “impatience” in my list of things I relate to the British.What can we learn about the tradition of queuing in Britain?
| A．It was a product of the slow pace of life. |
| B．It was a long time tradition as old as the Queen. |
| C．It was considered a symbol of a civilized behavior. |
| D．It has made the British different from other Europeans. |
According to the passage, the British gradually stopped queuing because .
| A．they prefer shopping online |
| B．they follow the example of foreigners |
| C．British buses have more than one entrance |
| D．the Internet has changed their way of life |
It can be learned from the text that .
| A．the British get impatient with queuing for long |
| B．the British have to queue to receive foods |
| C．the British like to eat in foreign restaurants |
| D．the British prefer to take double-decker buses |
The author’s main purpose of writing the passage is .
| A．to tell us the influence of the Internet on the British ways of life |
| B．to compare the cultural differences between Britain and other European countries |
| C．to talk about the changes in the attitude to queuing in Britain |
| D．to report his research on the British ways of life |
Starting a bank a child’s play? Absolutely, if you ask some enterprising youngsters in India, who have not only managed to establish one, but also, unlike many of the large International banks, run it successfully since 2001. What’s even more impressive is that the young bankers and their 90,004---clients are all homeless!
The Children’s Development Khazana (treasure) opened its first branch in 2001 at a homeless shelter in New Deli as a way to help the street children protect their hard-earned money from thieves. Since then, the idea has caught on like wildfire.
Today, Khazana has 12 branches all across New Deli, with a total of Rupees 12lakh (about 22,000USD) in deposits. Not only that, there are now 77 affiliated branches in other parts of Asia, ranging from Nepal, Bangladesh and Afghanistan to the island of Sri Lanka, and even Kyrgyzstan in Central Asia. While no deposit or balance is too small for the bank, they do have strict regulations about where the money is earned from. Funds obtained by begging or selling drugs are not welcomed at this bank !
Also, unlike the real banks, all employees are volunteers, which means that they go to school or a paying job during the day and work at the bank in the evening. To ensure that everybody gets a chance to participate in running the branch, two volunteer managers are elected from the clients base every six months.
Karan, the current manager is just 14-year-old. During the day he earns a living by helping out the cleaning crew at wedding banquets and other big parties. In the evening, he handles the deposits（存款）and withdrawals（取款）in the bank. After the bank closes, he along with an adult volunteer from the shelter head over to a regular bank and deposit the funds collected into Khazana’s interest-bearing bank account and though it started with one single purpose. The Children’s Development Khazana is today a well-developed bank, one kids can not only deposit money which earns them 5% interest, but also, request loans for family emergencies, to start a business or even to pay for school.The initial aim of starting the Children’s Development Khazana is to______.
| A．provide for jobs for homeless children |
| B．help homeless families with emergencies |
| C．sponsor homeless children to go to school |
| D．safeguard homeless children’s hard-earned money |
The children’s Development Khazana is different from regular banks in that_______.
| A．all its workers are street children |
| B．it pays its customers no interest |
| C．customers can be made its managers |
| D．it opens in the evening six month a year |
According to the passage, the Children’s Development Khazana________.
| A．welcomes all money, however small it is |
| B．offers more and better service than before |
| C．is run by a 14-year-old boy, Karan alone |
| D．has more than 70 branches across India |
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