Soup on my nose, a nearly spilled glass of wine and chocolate down my white blouse, as blind dates suggest, this was a really messy one. I have never made so much noise with plates and glasses, nor had I dined with a never-before-met companion. This blind date was quite different: we could see nothing. "Put your left hand on my shoulder, and then we'll take small steps forward," said Michael, the visually impaired(视力障碍的) server, in an East London accent. We three felt our way carefully bumping past heavy curtains before being arranged at the dining table, where we would eat and drink three completely secret and unseen courses.
Welcome to Alchemy in the Dark, Hong Kong's first full-time restaurant in total darkness. Upon arrival, diners briefly tell the chef on their allergies(过敏性反应), lock away their mobile phones and enter the windowless restaurant, which can seat 25. When the meal is over, the contents of the delicious menu are shown --- often to the diners' surprise. "This is definitely duck," my friend said, while eating chicken. "This soup," I declared, "is carrot and coriander." Even the too-close smell did not reveal the real tomato and cumin flavors. Dining in the dark changes everything: the sense of smell is heightened, manners go out of the window ----using your hands to feel around the plate becomes normal--- and there is a strange thrill in being able to ignore your facial expressions. Best of all? You don't have to spend hours beforehand(事先) wondering what to wear.
Alchemy in the Dark is at 16 Arbuthnot Road, Central, (tel: 6821 2801) and is open Monday to Saturday, from 7pm to 11pm. Reservations are required. A three-course meal with wine pairing costs HK$700 per person. Five per cent of all profits go to the Hong Kong Society for the Blind.
How did the author and her companion arrive at their dining table?
| A．By using a map |
| B．By being led |
| C．By feeling their way. |
| D．By finding it by themselves |
According to passage, which of the following is true?
| A．The diners might eat what they are allergic to. |
| B．The author enjoyed a special lunch at Alchemy in the Dark. |
| C．The restaurant donated some money to the H. K Society for the Blind. |
| D．The diners aren’t allowed to take phones to the restaurant at any time. |
From the passage we can learn that the author ___________.
| A．had the table booked |
| B．shared the meal with a friend. |
| C．practiced how to eat in total darkness. |
| D．chose her clothes in advance for the meal. |
The last paragraph is intended to ____________.
| A．present some facts about eating in the dark. |
| B．inform what to do at Alchemy in the Dark |
| C．conclude the experience of eating at Alchemy in the Dark. |
| D．provide some information about Alchemy in the Dark. |
Wugging, or Web use giving, describes the act of giving to charity at no cost to the user. By using every click . com , which is being added to a number of university computers across the UK, students can raise money every time they search, but it won't cost them a penny.
Research shows that students are extremely passionate about supporting charity—88% of full time students have used the Internet to give to charity. This age group is often the least likely to have their own income. 19% of 22 to 24 year olds have short-term debts of more than 5,000. With rising personal debt levels in this age group, due to university tuition fees or personal loans and a lack of long-term savings, traditional methods of donating to charity are often not appealing (有感染力的）or possible.
Beth Truman, a 21-year-old recent university graduate, has used every click. com to donate to her chosen charity, the RSPCA，for two years and has seen the “ wugging ” movement grow in popularity with students. “When you're at university you be-come more socially aware, but it's sometimes hard to give to others when you have little money yourself，”says Beth. “Wugging is great for people in this age group as it allows them to use the technology on a daily basis to give to charity, without costing them a single penny. ”
Wugging is perfect for people who want to be more socially aware and supportive but don't feel they have the means to do so. Students using the Web can raise money for causes they care about without costing them anything in terms of time or money ,and charities get a valuable source of funding.
Every click. com works like any other search engine ,allowing users to search for information, news and images but users can decide which of the UK's 170，000charities they would like to support through their clicks. Every click . com then makes monthly payments to every registered charity. Launched in June 2005，every click. com is now the eighth largest search engine and one of the busiest charity websites in the UK. According to the passage, “wugging” is actually __________
| A．a website |
| B．a charity-related action |
| C．a school organization |
| D．a student movement |
In the case of charity, every click. com __________.
| A．frees students of the financial worries |
| B．receives much money from students |
| C．offers valuable information to students |
| D．praises students for their money-raising |
What does Beth Truman think of the “ wugging ”movement?
| A．It makes every click. com popular in the UK. |
| B．It becomes easy to do charity because of it. |
| C．It results in students' more social awareness. |
| D．It helps students to save money. |
From the passage, we can conclude that __________.
| A．most full time students do charity on the Inter-net every day |
| B．every click. com helps students pay for the college education |
| C．“ wugging ” is a win-win idea for both students and charities |
| D．every click. com is the most successful search engine in the UK |
What would be the BEST title for this passage?
| A．“Wugging"，a new popular term on the Internet |
| B．British people show strong interest in charity |
| C．More Britain charities benefit from the Internet |
| D．Students raise money for charity by “wugging” |
The meaning of the word “volunteer” may be a little different in different countries, but it usually means “one who offers his or her services”. There are many different ways in which people can volunteer, such as taking care of sick people, working in homes for homeless children, and picking up garbage(垃圾)from beaches and parks. Volunteers may work within their own countries or in other countries. They are often people with a strong wish to help those who are less fortunate than themselves. Volunteers don't expect any kind of pay.
At the root of volunteering is the idea that one person may have the ability to offer services that can help other people. Tracy, a good friend of mine ,however, recently came back from India with a new idea of what being a volunteer means. She worked for two and a half weeks in one of Mother Teresa's homes in Calcutta. The following is her story.
“I first heard about Mother Teresa in my high school. We watched a video (录像）about her work in India and all over the world. I was so moved by her spirit to help others and her endless love for every human being that after I graduated from high school ,I too wanted to try her kind of work. So with two friends I flew to Calcutta for a few weeks. ”
“I was asked to work in a home for sick people. I helped wash clothes and sheets, and pass out lunch. I also fed the people who were too weak to feed themselves and tried to cheer them up. I felt it was better to share with them than to think that I have helped them. To be honest, I don't think I was helping very much. It was then that I realized that I had not really come to help, but to learn about and experience another culture (文化）that helped improve my own understanding of life and the world. "According to the text, a volunteer refers to a per-son who __________.
| A．is willing to help those in need without pay |
| B．can afford to travel to different places |
| C．has a strong wish to be successful |
| D．has made a big fortune in life |
Tracy started her work as a volunteer __________.
| A．after she met Mother Teresa |
| B．after she finished high school |
| C．when she was touring Calcutta |
| D．when she was working in a hospital |
Why did Tracy choose to be a volunteer?
| A．She liked to work with Mother Teresa. |
| B．She had already had some experience. |
| C．She was asked by Mother Teresa's example. |
| D．She wanted to follow Mother Teresa's example. |
What is Tracy's “new idea” (Paragraph 2) of being a volunteer?
| A．Going abroad to help the sick. |
| B．Working in Mother Teresa's home. |
| C．Doing simple things to help the poor. |
| D．Improving oneself through helping others. |
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 |
There's no end of dangerous sports to try out in Southern Africa — bungee jumping, skydiving, water rafting. But for a new rush, how about swimming face to face with a killer shark?
The public seems interested in finding danger in this activity. Cape Town's aquarium has been filled with divers who want to swim with the sharks since it opened its tanks to paying visitors last month. Around70 tourists aged between 12 and 40 have paid 275rand (US $55) each to spend up to an hour with Maxine，Dee and Floyd, the aquarium's three sharks.
And conservationists say the project should help change the damage done to the shark's image by the popular movie Jaws.
“People will always pay money to be a bit daring, ”said Paul Loetter , an aquarium diver. “Most people think every shark is dangerous, but they've got the wrong idea. ”
Each visitor can swim with the sharks and other fish that share their tank, guarded by aquarium divers armed only with a stick to keep off any over-friendly sharks.
“This is part of a communication and education programme to show sharks are not as bad as everyone makes out, ”said Tony McGyre , operations manager at the aquarium.
Len Compagno , head of the South African shark research center, agreed. "It's no joke to play around with a big dog. In the same way, a three-metre-long shark could put a few holes in you，" he said. We may infer that in the movie Jaws __________.
| A．sharks are hunted everywhere |
| B．sharks kill other sea animals |
| C．sharks are disappearing in the sea |
| D．sharks are man eaters |
What Len Compagno said really means that __________
| A．you had better be careful when you get close to sharks |
| B．you needn't be too serious about sharks |
| C．sharks are more dangerous than big dogs |
| D．sharks are as friendly to people as dogs |
The writer's purpose in writing the passage is to tell us that __________
| A．sharks are not as bad as everyone makes out |
| B．people will always pay money to be a bit daring |
| C．there's no end of dangerous sports in Southern Africa |
| D．the public seems interested in finding danger in swimming with a killer shark |
We can learn that Maxine , Dee and Floyd are __________
| A．workers in the aquarium |
| B．the aquarium's three sharks |
| C．conservationists |
| D．divers in the aquarium |
Dolphins are not fish, but warm-blooded animals. They live in groups, and speak to each other in their own language. In this they are like other animals, such as bees and birds. But dolphins are very different from almost all land animals. Their brain is nearly the same size as our own, and they live a long time—at least twenty or thirty years.
Like some other animals, dolphins use sound to help them find their way around. They also make these sounds to talk to each other and to help them find food. We now know they do not use their ears to receive these sounds, but the lower part of the mouth, called the jaw.
Strangely, dolphins seem to like man, and for thousands of years there have been stories about the dolphin and its friendship with people. There is a story about sailors in the 19th century. In a dangerous part of the sea off the coast of New Zealand, they learnt to look for a dolphin called Jack. From 1871 to1903 Jack met every boat in the area and showed it the way. Then in 1903 a passenger on a boat called The Penguin shot and wounded (伤害）Jack. He re-covered and for nine years more continued to guide all ships through the area—except for The Penguin.
Today, some people continue to kill dolphins, but many countries of the world now protect them and in these places it is against the law to kill them. Dolphins are different from many other animals in that they __________.
| A．live in groups |
| B．have large brains |
| C．are warm-blooded |
| D．have their own language |
Why did the sailors off the coast of New Zealand look for Jack?
| A．He was lonely and liked to be with people. |
| B．They enjoyed playing with him. |
| C．He was seriously wounded. |
| D．They wanted his help. |
By telling the story of Jack the writer wanted to show that __________.
| A．dolphins are friendly and clever |
| B．people are cruel to animals |
| C．Jack is different from other dolphins |
| D．dolphins should be protected by law |
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