California sea lions are the fastest of all the sea lions, reaching speeds of up to 40 kilometers an hour when swimming. Males are much larger than females, measuring 2 to 2.5 meters and weighing 200 to 453 kilograms. Females only measure 1.5 to 2 meters and weigh 50 to 113 kilograms. They can also move fairly well while on land.
California sea lions can be found living along the Pacific coast of North America. They prefer to live in waters near rocky and sandy shores. On land, they often gather in large groups as many as 1,000 of them. While at sea, they travel in much smaller groups of around 10 or more. They communicate with one another through a series of sounds.
Their diet consists of a wide variety of fish and other sea animals. They are able to hold their breath for up to 10 minutes by slowing down their heart rate, allowing them to hunt for their prey for a longer period of time. They have been known to continuously hunt for up to 30 hours at a time, with their eyesight and hearing playing an important part in finding their food. Being so large, they do not have that many natural predators (天敌) that they need to be on the lookout for.
Eleven months after getting pregnant, the female will give birth to one baby on land. If the baby can survive long enough, they can live to be 20 to 25 years old.
California sea lions are not listed as an endangered species. This is largely because of laws such as the US Marine Mammal Protection Act of 1972. Hopefully such acts will continue to show results.What do we know about California sea lions?
| A．They weigh at least 113 kilograms. |
| B．They swim faster than any other sea animal. |
| C．Males are much larger than females. |
| D．They usually move very slowly after leaving the sea. |
Which of the following descriptions about California sea lions might NOT be true?
| A．About 1,000 of them are often seen together on a shore. |
| B．Hundreds of them hunt together at sea. |
| C．They are often seen near rocky shores along the Pacific coast. |
| D．They make a series of sounds to communicate with each other. |
California sea lions slow down their heart rate in order to .
| A．swim faster at sea |
| B．have a rest while hunting |
| C．hunt for over 30 hours at a time |
| D．stay in water for a longer time |
What is the main reason why California sea lions aren’t endangered?
| A．That they are not worth much money. | B．That they have no natural enemies. |
| C．That they are protected well by laws. | D．That they are good at raising the young. |
The idea for a science experiment can come from an unusual place. After watching a YouTube video of a dancing bird named Snowball, a scientist in California decided to study the ability of animals to keep the beat.
Bird lovers have long claimed that their pets have rhythm, and there are many videos of dancing birds online. Until now, scientists have suspected that humans are the only animals that can accurately keep rhythm with music.
Thanks to Snowball, that scientific opinion is changing. Snowball is a cockatoo, a kind of parrot, and his favorite song is "Everybody" by the Backstreet Boys. When he hears the song, he moves his feet and rocks his body with the tempo, or pace of the music, as though he is the only bird member of the boy band.
Aniruddh Patel is a neuroscientist, or a scientist who studies how the brain and the nervous system contribute to learning, seeing and other mental abilities. He works at the Neurosciences Institute in San Diego. After seeing Snowball's dance online, Patel visited the cockatoo at the bird rescue facility he's called home for two years. The scientist played "Everybody" for Snowball and also played versions of the song that were sped up or slowed down. Sometimes, Snowball danced too fast or too slowly. Often, when there was a change in tempo, Snowball adjusted his dancing to match the rhythm. In other experiments, scientists have observed the same abilities in preschool children.
Patel isn't the only scientist who has studied Snowball's moves. Adena Schachner, who studies psychology at Harvard University, also wanted to know more about the dancing bird. Schachner's team played different musical pieces for Snowball and a parrot named Alex, as well as eight human volunteers. The scientists observed that the birds and thehumans kept time to the music with about the same accuracy.
Schachner and her team watched thousands of YouTube videos of different animals moving to music. Not all the animals could dance, however. From watching the videos, the scientists observed that only animals that imitate sounds, including 14 parrot species and Asian elephants, accurately moved in time to music.The underlined words "that scientific opinion" in the third paragraph refer to the theory that __________.
| A．birds like Snowball have the ability to keep the beat |
| B．humans are the only animals that can accurately keep rhythm with music |
| C．the brain and the nervous system contribute to some mental abilities |
| D．bird pets can have their special rhythm under human's instruction |
From the fourth paragraph we may know that __________.
| A．Patel is the only scientist who has studied Snowball's moves |
| B．Snowball is able to adjust his dancing to match the rhythm |
| C．Snowball cannot dance to the versions of the song "Everybody" |
| D．it is the brain and the nervous system that control the mental abilities |
The idea of studying animals' ability to keep the beat comes from __________.
| A．bird lovers' discovery |
| B．humans' musical sense |
| C．the same abilities in children |
| D．videos of dancing birds |
For the people living in the Nile Basin, the river is their life. This 6, 825 km waterway, whose watershed (流域) covers three million square kilometers, flows through mountains, woodlands, lakes and deserts. Its potential for fishing, tourism and shipping is great—but so are its challenges.
Water shortage, already serious in Egypt andSudan, will soon influence several other countries in the watershed as well. Today, about 160 million people depend on the Nile River for their living. Within the next 25 years, the district's population is expected to double, adding to the demand brought about by growth in industry and agriculture. The frequent drought (干旱) adds to the urgency.
Water quality is also a problem. Precious soil is washed out to sea. Wastes from industry and agriculture create pollution. Higher concentrations of salt influence irrigated soils. Water-borne diseases continue unchecked. In areas where it's hot and damp, water hyacinths choke off lakes, dams and other sections of the river, making it difficult for fishing and other businesses to move forward.
Native people along the narrow area of farmland have watched the sand move closer day by day. They've seen the river change course, and their only source (来源) of water thickened with mud. They're very poor and have few choices.
But a new program, the Nile Basin Initiative (NBI), is offering very practical assistance. The program is more than just a water-management project. It's a plan for the social and economic development of a vast district: it concentrates on the needs of the poorest of the poor and the environment that supports them.
These are whole ecosystem problems, calling for united solutions (解决办法). Half the Nile Basin's countries are among the world's poorest nations; yet, somehow, they must find the resources, skills and political will to overcome these challenges.What are the great challenges the Nile Basin faces?
| A．The development of shipping industry. |
| B．Overfishing of native people. |
| C．Water shortage and water quality. |
| D．Increasing population and tourism. |
The underlined word "hyacinths" in Paragraph 3 refers to "__________"
| A．animals |
| B．plants |
| C．rocks |
| D．salts |
The program NBI is mainly aimed at __________.
| A．preventing water pollution |
| B．changing the river course |
| C．improving living conditions of the poor |
| D．preventing land from becoming desert |
What would be the best title for this passage?
| A．People's Life in Egypt and Sudan |
| B．Frequent Drought in Egypt and Sudan |
| C．The Poorest Countries in the Nile Basin |
| D．The Ecosystem Problems in the Nile Basin |
More and more people are annoyed at the continually rising house prices. They want to know who is to blame for it. Local governments, developers and speculators share a vested interest in it. People who are really in need of homes are most likely to suffer heavy losses.
Many local governments depend on selling land to keep its normal operation. The higher land prices, the more money. Therefore, developers back the local governments by buying land at high prices. In return, the governments make favorable policies to help the developers. For example, drive all the possible home buyers to this nasty market. They even encourage large numbers of speculators to catch more people.
Rising house prices have already become the fence which divides the Chinese society. It has caused widespread dissatisfaction. The government will lose the support of the common people if leaving house prices out of control. Besides, rising house prices willstop us building the new country side as the present policy actually forbid people to flow freely from cities to the countryside.
Collecting taxes on houses can fundamentally solve this problem. On one hand, it will discourage the speculators. On the other hand, it will offer a stable tax resource apart from reducing the sales cost of the developers. Secondly, stop the developers selling the houses before completion. If so, the developers will certainly try their best to sell all their houses once completed. And this will also lower speculators' expectation of price rising, which will decrease speculations.The only victims of rising house prices are __________.
| A．governments |
| B．real home buyers |
| C．developers |
| D．speculators |
The local governments reward the developers by __________.
| A．offering enough land |
| B．allowing sales in advance |
| C．providing enough buyers |
| D．making favorable policies |
We can infer from the passage that continually rising house. prices will __________.
| A．benefit the government |
| B．draw more home buyers |
| C．help the housing industry develop soundly |
| D．affect the sound development of the Chinese society |
Collecting taxes on houses has all the following effects except __________.
| A．making the developers do their best to sell their houses |
| B．cutting down speculations |
| C．supplying a stable tax resource for the government |
| D．decreasing the sales cost |
In my profession as an educator and health care provider, I have worked with numerous children infected with the virus that causes AIDS. The relationships that I have had with these special kids have been gifts in my life. They have taught me so many things, but I have especially learned that great courage can be found in the smallest of packages. Let me tell you about Tyler.
Tyler was born infected with HIV: his mother was also infected. From the very beginning of his life, he was dependent on medications to enable him to survive. When he was five, he had a tube surgically inserted in a vein in his chest. This tube was connected to a pump, which he carried in a small backpack on his back. Medications were hooked up to this pump and were continuously supplied through this tube to his bloodstream. At times, he also needed supplemented oxygen to support his breathing.
Tyler wasn't willing to give up one single moment of his childhood to this deadly disease. It was not unusual to find him playing and racing around his backyard, wearing his medicine-laden backpack and dragging his tank of oxygen behind him in his little wagon. All of us who knew Tyler marveled at his pure joy in being alive and the energy it gave him. Tyler's mom often teased him by telling him that he moved so fast that she needed to dress him in red. That way, when she peered through the window to check on him playing in the yard, she could quickly spot him.
This dreaded disease eventually wore down even the likes of a little dynamo like Tyler. He grew quite ill and, unfortunately, so did his HIV-infected mother. When it became apparent that he wasn't going to survive, Tyler's mom talked to him about death. She comforted him by telling Tyler that she was dying too, and that she would be with him soon in heaven.
A few days before his death, Tyler beckoned me over to his hospital bed and whispered, "l might die soon. I'm not scared. When I die, please dress me in red. Mom promised she's coming to heaven, too. I'll be playing when she gets there, and I want to make sure she can find me."What is the boy Tyler's attitude towards death?
| A．Pessimistic. |
| B．Optimistic. |
| C．Sorrowful. |
| D．Fearful. |
Tyler requested the writer to dress him in red when he died simply because __________.
| A．red is a lucky color |
| B．red might help to cure him |
| C．his mom could spot him easily |
| D．he could find more mates by wearing red |
Which of the following might serve as a possible title for this passage?
| A．My Unusual Profession |
| B．A Caring Mother |
| C．Mother and Son |
| D．Dying in Red |
The underlined word "dynamo" in the fourth paragraph here means "__________".
| A．a promising and helpful youth |
| B．an extremely energetic person |
| C．a rare and beautiful flower |
| D．a magic and understanding superstar |
Students are being forced to take additional exams to get into leading universities because good A-levels do not always indicate the brightest candidates. Sixth formers applying to courses such as medicine and law are being asked to sit American-style aptitude (智能) tests, which are designed to assess (评价) thinking skills, among fears that too many A-level candidates are getting top grades. Last year, almost one in six students applying to universities such as Oxford and Cambridge from independent schools had to sit additional tests to secure a place.
Head teachers criticized the move, which they said would pile more pressure on schools and students. But universities insisted that the reforms were unavoidable, because A-level exams were no longer an accurate barometer (标准) of ability.
In 1986, 40 percent of students starting at Oxford achieved straight As at A-level. Mike Nicholson, its admissions director, said that this year almost every candidate offered a place would get perfect grades. It meant the university had to stage additional tests to identify the most able candidates. "The ability to achieve three A grades is no longer the end-point in the admissions process," he said. "The potential to achieve three A grades will allow them to enter the race for a place."
Oxford is not the only university turning to aptitude tests. At Cambridge, the number of students taking the university's Thinking Skills Assessment shot up 26 percent to more than 3, 000. A survey of 16, 830 sixth formers applying to higher education from private schools last year showed that 2, 860 had to sit at least one exam.
Earlier this year, the National Foundation for Educational Research recommended that most sixth formers should sit SAT tests —a standard reasoning exam widely used in American colleges—to make iteasier to pick out the best candidates.What is the attitude of head teachers to the reform?
| A．Approving. |
| B．Doubtful. |
| C．Opposed. |
| D．Neutral (中立的) |
Which British university first started to use aptitude tests to pick out the best candidates?
| A．Harvard. |
| B．Oxford. |
| C．Cambridge. |
| D．Washington |
What can we know about the A-level system?
| A．It can indicate the brightest candidates. |
| B．It was designed to assess students' thinking abilities. |
| C．It is longer an accurate way to assess students' abilities. |
| D．It was recommended by the National Foundation for Educational Research. |
What can we infer from the passage?
| A．The reform is more popular in American colleges than in British ones. |
| B．The reform will be applied by all universities in the future. |
| C．Universities used to depend on the A-level system to choose the best students. |
| D．Passing additional tests will allow the student to enter Oxford, regardless of whether he or she gets As. |
What is the passage mainly about?
| A．How to get into leading universities. |
| B．The disadvantages of the A-level system. |
| C．Different ways to identify students' abilities. |
| D．Universities using extra exams to choose students. |
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