One is not born able to speak a language. One is born able to make a noise. I have heard babies cry in America and in China. I can't tell any difference. But when I hear someone from America speak English and hear someone speak Chinese, I can tell you there are a lot of differences.
I believe a common problem with Chinese students' learning English is that they were not taught to think in English. They have an idea spoken in English and want to translate the idea into Chinese, then they think in Chinese of the proper reply and translate it into English. After a long period of speaking the language, one begins to think in the foreign language naturally. You will learn faster if you begin to think in English at the very beginning of your study. Many students ask me: What can I do to improve my spoken English? My reply is : The more English you speak, the better English you will speak. There are many things you can do to improve your spoken English. Of course, the best way is to live where English is spoken as a language of the country.The cries of American and Chinese babies are ________.
| A．different | B．the same |
| C．not like each other | D．like each other |
According to the article, which of the following is TRUE?
| A．You must think in English all the time. |
| B．If you translate a sentence into Chinese, you should think about the meaning of the sentence in Chinese carefully first. |
| C．After speaking English for a long time, you may probably think in English language naturally. |
| D．The best way of learning English is to live in America. |
The article mainly tells us __________ .
| A．American English and Chinese |
| B．the differences between English and Chinese |
| C．the English language |
| D．how to learn English well |
Research suggests that a newly-identified gene known as insomniacs(失眠症患者) may play a role in keeping us asleep. By cloning and testing this gene in about 21,000 fruit flies, Rockefeller University researchers say they have discovered an entirely new mechanism (机制) by which sleep is controlled.
By studying these flies, the researchers discovered that mutations(变异) in the insomniac gene were associated with a great reduction in sleep. While a typical fruit fly slept for an average of 927 minutes a day, the mutant flies slept for just 317. They also slept for shorter periods of time, and slept and woke more frequently.
“The results showed a great loss of both the time that the flies’ sleep lasted and their ability to remain asleep after they slept,” says researcher Nicholas Stavropoulos.
The researchers also examined the link between sleep and lifespan, finding that flies with mutations to the insomniac gene lived only about two-thirds as long as unchanged flies. But when the scientists removed insomniac only in neurons（神经细胞）---allowing it to remain in the rest of the flies’ bodies---this difference disappeared; the resulting animals slept poorly but lived just as long.
“This suggests that reduced sleep can be ‘uncoupled’(分开) from reduced lifespan, supporting the idea that some interruptions of sleep do not affect overall health, at least as far as lifespan is concerned,” Stavropoulos says.
Although flies and humans would appear to have little in common when it comes to lifestyle, scientists say that the mechanisms of sleep and wakefulness are likely to be quite similar.
“Sleep is a fundamental behavior in all animals, and it is poorly understood from a scientific standpoint, says Stavropoulos. This work could prove useful in understanding and treating sleep disorders”The text is mainly about____.
| A．the progress in cloning fruit flies |
| B．the methods of cloning fruit flies |
| C．the link between gene and lifespan |
| D．the influence of a gene on the ability to sleep |
According to paragraph2, the mutant flies________.
| A．slept about 5 hours a day |
| B．had problems waking up |
| C．didn’t seem sleepy at all |
| D．could not fall asleep |
We can conclude from the text that________.
| A．sleep and health go hand in hand |
| B．sleep can be controlled by humans |
| C．research into sleep is very fruitful |
| D．the findings are useful in medical treatment |
War Horse is a historical story by Michael Morpurgo. It is written for kids ages 8 to 12. Now just sit and get through the introduction to the plot.
In 1914, a young horse named Joey is sold to a farmer. The farmer' s son, Albert, is thrilled. He cares for Joey. When the family begins to feel the financial impact of war, Albert' s father secretly sells Joey to an army officer named Captain Nicholls. Albert begs the captain to let him join the army. Albert is too young, but Nicholls promises to take good care of Joey for him.
Nicholls treats Joey well. Though Joey still remembers Albert, he grows to like his new master. He develops a friendship with another horse, Topthorn., who belongs to Nicholls' friend, Captain Stewart. The horses and men are shipped overseas for battle. They soon face their own battle in France, and Captain Nicholls is killed.
A young soldier named Warren becomes Joey’s new owner. Joey and Topthorn do well in battle, but the Germans capture Warren and Stewart and their horses. The horses' duty of pulling carts full of wounded German soldiers earns them praise. An old farmer and his granddaughter, Emilie, dote on the horses as well. When the German army moves out of the area, Emilie and her grandfather keep the two horses. Joey and Topthorn are content to work the farm until another band of soldiers takes them. They become workhorses under bad conditions. Joey is very upset when Topthorn dies of exhaustion.
Alone and frightened, Joey wanders into "no-man's-land” between the German and English camps. An English soldier takes him back to camp.
Joey is reunited with Albert. As the war ends, Albert' s officer announces the horses will be sold in France. An old Frenchman buys Joey. The man, Emilie' s grandfather, tells Albert how Emilie lost the will to live after the horses were taken. However, he eventually sells Joey to Albert for one penny, as long as Albert promises to share Emilie' s story so her life will not be in vain. Joey and Albert return home.Why does Albert's father secretly sell Joey?
| A．Because he’s in need of money. |
| B．Because Captain Nicholls is fond of Joey. |
| C．Because Albert is too young to care for Joey. |
| D．Because he believes Joey will contribute to the country. |
Which of the following is TRUE about Captain Nicholls?
| A．He’s a rich man. |
| B．He’s a Frenchman. |
| C．He’s a man of his word. |
| D．He doesn’t win Joey’s trust. |
The underlined phrase "dote on" in Paragraph 4 probably means ____.
| A．train | B．ride | C．raise | D．love |
Which of the following words can be used to describe Emilie’s grandfather?
| A．Brave. | B．Generous. | C．Hardworking. | D．Humorous. |
The Greenbelt, a wide belt of open land around the cities and towns of the San Francisco Bay Area, includes about 3.75 million of the Bay Area’s 4.5 million acres. The Bay Area Greenbelt is one of the largest areas of open land in any U.S. urban area. Open land is land that has few buildings and lots of natural areas. The Greenbelt’s open land includes parks, forests, beaches, and more than 8,500 farms.
What are the advantages of the Greenbelt?
The Greenbelt has many advantages for people in the Bay Area, which include:
l walking and biking areas close to the cities and towns;
l places for wild plants and animals;
l cleaner air and water;
l income from farms.
Is the Greenbelt in danger?
Five hundred seventy thousand acres of the Greenbelt are in danger. There are builders who want to build suburbs on them. If those acres become suburbs, many things will change:
l the urban and suburban area will almost double;
l many farms will disappear;
l traffic will become worse;
l the air will become dirtier.
What is Greenbelt Alliance (联盟)?
Greenbelt Alliance, an organization that saves land in the San Francisco Bay Area, works alone and with other groups to save the Greenbelt in four ways:
1. Try to persuade people to build new buildings on land that is already urban, not on open land.
2. Make sure that the city and town governments are all making plans to save the Greenbelt.
3. Help Bay Area towns and cities to buy pieces of open land to make into natural areas.
4. Teach people in the Bay Area why the Greenbelt is important and what they can do to help save it.What can we learn about the Greenbelt from the first paragraph?
| A．The Greenbelt is the largest open land in the United States. |
| B．The Greenbelt covers much more than half of the Bay Area. |
| C．There are few farms on the open land of the Greenbelt. |
| D．There are more than 8,500 natural areas on the Greenbelt. |
One of the advantages of the Greenbelt for people in the Bay Area is __________.
| A．convenience for exercise | B．income from sightseeing |
| C．cleaner city streets | D．more plants and animals |
The Greenbelt is in danger because __________.
| A．traffic is getting worse |
| B．some plans to build suburbs on it |
| C．the suburban area has doubled |
| D．pollution is becoming serious |
Which of the following is TRUE about Greenbelt Alliance?
| A．It builds new buildings on open land. |
| B．It buys large open land for the Bay Area. |
| C．It educates people how to save the Greenbelt. |
| D．It helps the city governments make plans. |
The famous director of a big and expensive movie planned to film a beautiful sunset over the ocean, so that the audience could see his hero and heroine in front of it at the end of the film as they said goodbye to each other forever. He sent his camera crew out one evening to film the sunset for him.
The next morning he said to the men, “Have you provided me with that sunset?”
“No, sir,” the men answered.
The director was angry. “Why not?” he asked.
“Well, sir,” one of the men answered, “we’re on the east coast here, and the sun sets in the west. We can get you a sunrise over the sea, if necessary, but not a sunset.”
“But I want a sunset!” the director shouted. “Go to the airport, take the next flight to the west coast, and get one.”
But then a young secretary had an idea. “Why don’t you photograph a sunrise,” she suggested, “and then play it backwards? Then it’ll look like a sunset.”
“That’s a very good idea!” the director said. Then he turned to the camera crew and said, “Tomorrow morning I want you to get me a beautiful sunrise over the sea.”
The camera crew went out early the next morning and filmed a bright sunrise over the beach in the middle of a beautiful bay. Then at nine o’clock they took it to the director. “Here it is, sir,” they said, and gave it to him. He was very pleased.
They all went into the studio. “All right,” the director explained, “now our hero and heroine are going to say goodbye. Run the film backwards so that we can see the ‘sunset’ behind them.”
The “sunset” began, but after a quarter of a minute, the director suddenly put his face in his hands and shouted to the camera crew to stop.
The birds in the film were flying backwards, and the waves on the sea were going away from the beach.One evening, the director sent his camera crew out _________.
| A．to film a scene on the sea |
| B．to find an actor and an actress |
| C．to watch a beautiful sunset |
| D．to meet the audience |
Why did the director want to send his crew to the west coast?
| A．Because he changed his mind about getting a sunset. |
| B．Because he was angry with his crew. |
| C．Because he wanted to get a scene of sunset. |
| D．Because it was his secretary’s suggestion. |
The director wanted to film a sunset over the ocean because ______.
| A．it went well with the separation of the hero and heroine |
| B．when they arrived at the beach it was already in the evening |
| C．it was more moving than a sunrise |
| D．the ocean looked more beautiful at sunset |
Which of the following is NOT true?
| A．The crew had to follow the secretary’s advice. |
| B．If you want to see a sunrise, the east coat is the place to go. |
| C．The camera crew wasn’t able to film the scene the first day. |
| D．The director ordered his crew to stop filming the “sunset”. |
A rainforest is an area covered by tall trees with the total high rainfall spreading quite equally through the year and the temperature rarely dipping below l6℃. Rainforests have a great effect on the world environment because they can take in heat from the sun and adjust the climate. Without the forest cover，these areas would reflect more heat into the atmosphere，warming the rest of the world. Losing the rainforests may also influence wind and rainfall patterns，potentially causing certain natural disasters all over the world.
In the past hundred years，humans have begun destroying rainforests in search of three major resources（资源）：land for crops，wood for paper and other products，land for raising farm animals. This action affects the environment as a whole. For example，a lot of carbon dioxide in the air comes from burning the rainforests. People obviously have a need for the resources we gain from cutting trees but we will suffer much more than we will benefit.
There are two main reasons for this. Firstly，when people cut down trees，generally they can only use the land for a year or two. Secondly，cutting large sections of rainforests may provide a good supply of wood right now，but in the long run it actually reduces the world’s wood supply.
Rainforests are often called the world’s drug store. More than 25％ of the medicines we use today come from plants in rainforests. However，fewer than l％of rainforest plants have been examined for their medical value. It is extremely likely that our best chance to cure diseases lies somewhere in the world’s shrinking rainforests.Rainforests can help to adjust the climate because they .
| A．reflect more heat into the atmosphere |
| B．bring about high rainfall throughout the world |
| C．rarely cause the temperature to drop lower than l6℃ |
| D．reduce the effect of heat from the sun on the earth |
What does the word “this” underlined in the third paragraph refer to?
| A．We will lose much more than we can gain. |
| B．Humans have begun destroying rainforests. |
| C．People have a strong desire for resources. |
| D．Much carbon dioxide comes from burning rainforests. |
It can be inferred from the text that .
| A．we can get enough resources without rainforests |
| B．there is great medicine potential in rainforests |
| C．we will grow fewer kinds of crops in the gained land |
| D．the level of annual rainfall affects wind patterns |
Which of the following statements is TRUE?
| A．Losing the rainforests has caused natural disasters all over the world. |
| B．Cutting rainforests will help increase the world’s wood supply in the future. |
| C．Rainforests can’t provide medical cures for diseases at all |
| D．Rainforests helps to control the temperature and adjust climate for humans. |
What might be the best title for the text?
| A．How to Save Rainforests |
| B．How to Protect Nature |
| C．Rainforests and the Environment |
| D．Rainforests and Medical Development |
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