Scientists recently found three animal species living two miles below the surface of the Mediterra-nean Sea, where the super-salty waters don't have oxygen. They're multicellular (多细胞的），which means their bodies have many cells. They each are as small as a large grain of sand. But they are animals.
The most exciting thing about these creatures, say the scientists, is that they obviously don't need oxygen to live. What biologists know about life so far is that only single-celled living things can live in places that have no oxygen, and that multicellular organisms (有机物）can visit these places，but not live there. These newly found creatures could change that idea.
Finding animals down there was so surprising that the scientists couldn't believe it. “At first, we thought they were dead bodies, ” Roberto Danovaro ,a scientist at the Polytechnic University of Marche in Ancona, Italy, told Science News. To find out whether the animals could actually live there, Danovaro and his colleagues brought up more samples from the ocean floor. Studying the animals in the new samples showed that they appeared to be alive.
The researchers did more tests, and found that some of the animals had eggs—which suggests they were reproducing. Also in the samples were old skins, suggesting that the animals had lived there long enough to grow. Finally, pictures taken showed that the insides of the animals appear to adapt to living in an environment that has no oxygen.
These clues suggest the animals don't need oxy-gen, but the evidence is indirect, which means that scientists still have not observed how the animals live without oxygen. This means more studies are needed, but the scientists think they're on the right track. And if they're right, biologists will need to rethink what they know about where animals live. What excited the scientists most is that __________.
| A．they found three animal species visit the salty water under the Mediterranean Sea |
| B．single-celled animals can live in super-salty waters |
| C．the tiny animals have many cells |
| D．three kinds of animals can live in places that have no oxygen |
The underlined phrase in Paragraph 2 means the scientists could think __________.
| A．only single-celled creatures don't need oxygen to live |
| B．multicellular animals can visit the super-salty waters |
| C．the newly found creatures can't live in the super-salty waters |
| D．multicellular animals can also live without oxy-gen besides single-celled ones |
Which of the following CAN'T be used to prove the newly found creatures can live in super-salty waters?
| A．Their dead bodies are found there. |
| B．Some in the samples have eggs. |
| C．Some old skins are found in the samples. |
| D．The pictures of their insides have been taken. |
More studies are needed to prove __________.
| A．where single-celled animals can live |
| B．how the newly found animals live without oxy-gen |
| C．whether the multicellular creatures can live underwater |
| D．why the super-salty waters have no oxygen |
I must have been about fourteen then, and I put away the incident from my mind with
the easy carelessness of youth. But the words, Carl Walter spoke that day, came back to me
years later, and ever since have been of great value to me.
Carl Walter was my piano teacher. During one of my lessons he asked how much practicing I
was doing. I said three or four hours a day.
"Do you practice in long stretches, an hour at a time?"
"I try to."
"Well, don't," he exclaimed. "When you grow up, time won't come in long stretches. Practice in minutes, whenever you can find them five or ten before school, after lunch, between household tasks. Spread the practice through the day, and piano-playing will become a part of your life."
When I was teaching at Columbia, I wanted to write, but class periods, theme-reading, and committee meetings filled my days and evenings. For two years I got practically nothing down on paper, and my excuse was that I had no time. Then I remembered what Carl Walter had said. During the next week I conducted an experiment. Whenever I had five minutes unoccupied, I sat down and wrote a hundred words or so. To my astonishment, at the end of the week I had a rather large manuscript ready for revision, later on I wrote novels by the same piecemeal method. Though my teaching schedule had become heavier than ever, in every day there were idle moments which could be caught and put to use. I even took up piano--playing again, finding that the small intervals of the day provided sufficient time for both writing and piano practice.
There is an important trick in this time--using formula: you must get into your work quickly. If you have but five minutes for writing, you can't afford to waste four chewing your pencil. You must make your mental preparations beforehand, and concentrate on your task almost instantly when the time comes. Fortunately, rapid concentration is easier than most of us realize.
I admit I have never learnt how to let go easily at the end of the five or ten minutes. But life can be counted on to supply interruptions. Carl Walter has had a tremendous influence on my life. To him I owe the discovery that even very short periods of time add up to all useful hours I need, if I plunge（投入）in without delay.The meaning of “stretch” in the underlined part is the same as that in sentence “ ”.
| A．The forests in the north of the province stretch for hundreds of miles. |
| B．Bob worked as a government official for a stretch of over twenty years. |
| C．My family wasn’t wealthy by any stretch of the imagination. |
| D．During his senior year his earnings far enough to buy an old car. |
Which of the following statements is true?
| A．The writer didn’t completely take the teacher’s words to heart at first. |
| B．Carl Walter has had a great influence on the writer's life since he became a student. |
| C．The writer owes great thanks to his teacher for teaching him to work in long stretches. |
| D．Rapid concentration is actually more difficult than most people imagine. |
We can infer that the writer .
| A．has new books published each year however busy his teaching is |
| B．is always tired of interruptions in life because his teaching schedule is always heavy |
| C．has formed a bad habit of chewing a pencil while writing his novels |
| D．can find sufficient time for mental preparations beforehand, so he's devoted to work instantly |
What is the best title of this passage?
| A．Concentrate on Your Work | B．A Little at a Time |
| C．How I Became a Writer | D．Good AdviceIs Most Valuable |
Meeting people from another culture can be difficult. From the beginning, people may send the wrong signal （信号）. Or they may pay no attention to signals from another person who is trying to develop a relationship.
Different cultures emphasize （强调） the importance of relationship building to a greater or lesser degree. For example, business in some countries is not possible until there is a relationship of trust. Even with people at work, it is necessary to spend a lot of time in "small talk", usually over a glass of tea, before they do any job．In many European countries -- like the UK or France -- people find it easier to build up a lasting working relationship at restaurants or cafes rather than at the office.
Talk and silence may also be different in some cultures. I once made a speech in Thailand．I had expected my speech to be a success and start a lively discussion; instead there was an uncomfortable silence. The people present just stared at me and smiled．After getting to know their ways better, I realized that they thought I was talking too much. In my own culture, we express meaning mainly through words, but people there sometimes feel too many words are unnecessary.
Even within Northern Europe, cultural differences can cause serious problems. Certainly, English and German cultures share similar values; however, Germans prefer to get down to business more quickly. We think that they are rude. In fact, this is just because one culture starts discussions and makes decisions more quickly.
People from different parts of the world have different values, and sometimes these values are quite against each other. However, if we can understand them better, a multicultural environment （多元文化环境） will offer a wonderful chance for us to learn from each other.In some countries, eating together at restaurants may make it easier for people to _____.
| A．develop closer relations | B．share the same culture |
| C．get to know each other | D．keep each other company |
The author mentions his experience in Thailand to show that _________.
| A．the English prefer to make long speeches |
| B．too many words are of no use |
| C．people from Thailand are quiet and shy by nature |
| D．even talk and silence can be culturally different |
According to the text, how can people from different cultures understand each other better?
| A．By sharing different ways of life. | B．By accepting different habits. |
| C．By recognizing different values. | D．By speaking each other’ s languages. |
What would be the best title for the text?
| A．Multicultural Environment. | B．Cross-Cultural Differences. |
| C．How to Understand Each Other. | D．How to Build Up a Relationship. |
Many facts suggest that children are overweight and the situation is getting worse, according to the doctors. I feel there are a number of reasons for this.
Some people blame the fact that we are surrounded （包围） by shops selling unhealthy, fatty foods, such as fried chicken and ice cream, at low prices. This has turned out a whole generation of grown-ups who seldom cook a meal for themselves. If there were fewer of these restaurants, then probably children would buy less take-away food.
There is another argument that blames parents for allowing their children to become overweight. I agree with this, because good eating habits begin early in life, long before children start to visit fast food shops. If children are given fried chicken and chocolate rather than healthy food, or are always allowed to choose what they eat, they will go for sweet and salty foods every time, and this will carry on throughout their lives.
There is a third reason for this situation. Children these days take very little exercise. They do not walk to school. When they get home, they sit in front of the television or their computers and play computer games. Not only is this an unhealthy pastime（消遣）, it also gives them time to eat more unhealthy food．What they need is to go outside and play active games or sports.
The above are the main reasons for this problem, and therefore we have to encourage young people to be more active, as well as steering them away from fast food shops and bad eating habits.According to the text, what kind of children may eat more unhealthy food?
| A．Those who often take exercise. |
| B．Those who often watch television. |
| C．Those who often have meals at home. |
| D．Those who often walk to school. |
The author thinks that children are becoming overweight because
| A．their parents often cook meals for them |
| B．they are too busy to go out and play |
| C．they can’ t choose what to eat |
| D．there are too many fast food shops around |
The word "steering" underlined in the last sentence most probably means _______.
| A．forcing | B．guiding | C．driving | D．moving |
The main purpose of the text is to _________.
| A．tell a story | B．provide facts | C．give advice | D．compare opinions |
When Ben Franklin was only a boy, he always wanted to know about things. He was always asking his father and brothers “What?” and “How?” and “Why?”
They couldn’t always tell him what he wanted to know.
When they couldn’t tell him, Ben tried to find out for himself.
Many times Ben did find out things that no one knew before. The other boys would say, “That Ben Franklin! He’s always finding out something new!”
Ben lived close to the water. He liked to go there to see the boats. He saw how the wind blew them across the water.
One day Ben said to himself, “Why can’t the wind help me float across the water? And I’m going to try.” Ben got his big kite. He took hold of the kite string and ran with it. The wind took the kite up into the air. Then Ben jumped into the water.
The wind blew the kite high into the air. Ben began to float across the water. Soon he was on the other side, and he had not worked at all.
One boy shouted, “Look at Ben floating across the water! His kite takes him to the other side without any work!”
“Yes,” said another. “He’s always finding new ways to do things.”When he was only a child, Ben .
| A．liked to fly a kite by himself | B．always asked easy questions |
| C．always liked to play with water | D．always liked to find out how things worked |
His father and brothers .
| A．couldn’t answer all his questions | B．could answer all his questions |
| C．tried hard to find out something new for him | |
| D．were too busy to answer his questions |
How did Ben Franklin float across the water?
| A．The other boy took him across it. | B．The water carried him across it. |
| C．The flying kite took him across it. | D．A boat took him across it. |
He found out many things that .
| A．children didn’t know | B．his father and brothers knew |
| C．people didn’t know | D．most people knew |
Singapore Flyer was launched in 2008 and states to hold the current title for the world’s biggest observation wheel, full 30 meters taller than the London Eye observation wheel in London! Soaring 165 meters, Singapore Flyer offers a whole view of Singapore’s important tourist attractions including the scenic Marina Bay.
Singapore Flyer is also popular for providing an attractive range of shopping and dining choices. Among its greatest dining choices is the Singapore Flyer Sky Dining, one of the most exciting dining experiences you will ever come across.
Singapore Flyer Sky Dining is the first ever in the world to offer a full service in the sky. To top it all you are presented with best menus created by award-winning cooks from all over the world.
The sky dining doesn’t stop from there. You will gain fast boarding flights, in other words, no more waiting in line to board an observation capsule (机舱). You can enjoy the service of an in-flight host along with a nice three-course fine dining menu.
Be ready to enjoy yourself in the air-conditioned glass capsule where you will be served a welcome drink, an appetizer (开胃品) along with the main course. From the capsule you will see the night skyline of Marina Bay, Merlion Park, Raffles Place, Empress Place and Padang, bathed in exciting colors. And not just once but you will get to see these very interesting sights twice, during your almost one hour long special dining experience.
Up to five couples can book a small room and there are even choices to book an entire room for you and your partner. The sky dining experience begins from the VIP waiting room where you will be served with tasty desserts and drinks of your choice. You can see the Singapore Flyer conveniently from one of the top hotels in Singapore like M Hotel Singapore. 
At Singapore Flyer, tourists can ___________.
| A．do some shopping and have dinner |
| B．enjoy some interesting sights just once |
| C．enjoy a wonderful 30-minute dining experience |
| D．get a whole view of all the Singapore’s tourist attractions |
Which of the following statements is TRUE about Singapore Flyer?
| A．It is the second biggest observation wheel in the world. |
| B．The menus are created by native cooks. |
| C．It provides fast boarding service. |
| D．There are no special rooms for couples. |
The underlined phrase in the third paragraph probably means “___________”.
| A．What’s more | B．At the top of it |
| C．What’s worse | D．From top to bottom |
The three-course dining menu at Singapore Flyer usually includes the following EXCEPT___________.
| A．a welcome drink | B．the main course |
| C．an appetizer | D．tasty desserts |
Which of the following can be the best title of this passage?
| A．Virtual Tourism | B．A Guide to Singapore Flyer |
| C．Eating at Singapore Flyer | D．The future of Singapore Flyer |
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