Tiny transmitters(发射机) fixed on the backs of the blue-green bees have allowed scientists to follow the insects as they fly for miles in search of rare flowers．
Working in Panama，scientists caught 17 bees of the common species and fixed a 300 milligram radio light onto the back of each．The signals they sent out were used to follow their movements in and around the forest where they lived．
Professor Martin，from Princeton University，US，and the Max Planck Institute for Ornithology in Germany，said，“By following the radio signals，we discovered that male bees spent most of their time in small centre areas，but could take off and visit areas farther away．One male even crossed over the shipping lanes in the Panama Canal，flying at least 5km，and returned a few days later．”
Researchers have struggled to follow the movements of bees before，following bees marked with paint or using radar which doesn’t work well in forests．
“Carrying the transmitter could reduce the distance that the bees travel，but even if the flight distances we record are the shortest distances that these bees can fly，they are impressive，long-distance movements，” said Dr．Roland Kays，from New York State Museum，a co-author of the research published today in the on-line journal．“This result helps to explain how these bees’ pollination(授粉) can be so rare．” Pollination by bees and other insects is the key to the diversity and continued growth of flowers and trees in some forests．
The new study is the first to use radio transmitters to follow bees in a forest．Similar research may now be carried in temperate forests，where bees also play a vital role．The main purpose of the passage is to___
| A．call on people to protect the bees for the environment |
| B．explain why the bees fly far away in search of flowers |
| C．introduce a modern way to follow the bees to readers |
| D．encourage the public to support the scientists' research |
What was the problem when researchers tried to follow the bees in the past?
| A．It was quite difficult to mark the bees |
| B．The radar itself didn't work very well |
| C．The bees weren't easy to be recognized |
| D．Environmental limits were hard to solve |
What Dr．Roland Kays said implied that____
| A．he didn't expect bees could fly so long a distance |
| B．The transmitter didn't have any effects on bees at all |
| C．He wanted to know how far bees could travel badly |
| D．The record was in fact as exact as he had thought |
Researchers follow the movements of bees mainly to___
| A．learn how far they can fly at most |
| B．discover how they affect the plants |
| C．correct some wrong ideas about bees |
| D．get to know where they enjoy living |
“Linda, if beating yourself up were an Olympic sport, you’d win a gold medal!”
Annabel, my close friend, stunned（使…震惊）me with that frank observation after I told her how I had mishandled a situation with a student in a third-grade class where I was substituting（代替）. “I should never have let him go to the boy’s room without a pass! It was my fault he got into trouble with the hall monitor! I’m so stupid!”
My friend burst out laughing, and then made her “Olympic” comment. After a brief period of reflection I had to admit that she was right. I did put myself down an awful lot. Why, just during the previous day I had called myself “a slob” for having some papers spread out on my desk, “ugly” when I left the house without makeup and “an idiot” when I left the house for an emergency substitute job without my emergency lesson plan.
In a more reflective tone, Annabel said, “I once took a workshop at church where the woman in charge had us list all the mean things we say about ourselves.”
“How many did you have on your list?” I asked.
“Fifteen,” she confessed. “But then the teacher said, ‘Now turn to the person next to you and say all the items on your list as if you were speaking to that person!’ ”
My jaw dropped，“What did you do?”
“Nothing. Nobody did. We all just sat there, until I said, ‘I could never say these things to anyone else!’ ”
“And our teacher replied, ‘Well, if you can’t say them to anyone else, then don’t ever say them to yourself!’ ”
My friend had a point. I would never insult a child of God---and I’m God’s child, too!
God, today let me be as kind to myself as I would be to another of Your children.What does Annabel mean by the first sentence of the passage?
| A．The writer is a good athlete. |
| B．The writer scolds herself too much. |
| C．She is encouraging the writer |
| D．A gold medal is not a big deal. |
What does the writer intends to tell us through the second and third paragraphs?
| A．She has low self-esteem over some small things. |
| B．She often makes serious mistakes in daily life. |
| C．She is a third-grade teacher. |
| D．She cares too much about her appearance. |
We can infer that the underlined word “slob” might be _____.
| A．something untidy | B．someone dangerous | C．something dirty | D．someone lazy |
What can we learn about Annabel?
| A．She used to put herself down a lot. |
| B．She often goes to church. |
| C．She was in charge of a workshop. |
| D．She used to be too shy to talk to others. |
What does the writer mean by the last sentence of the passage?
| A．She is ready to turn to God for help. |
| B．She will be kind to all children. |
| C．She won’t insult(侮辱) herself as well as others. |
| D．She is willing to be a child of God. |
Did Steve Jobs kill the music industry? That’s the question on many people’s lips since rock star Jon Bon Jovi accused the Apple boss of personally destroying the music industry.Bon Jovi centers his criticism on how he believes music downloading has robbed young people of what he calls the “beauty of buying an album”. “Kids today have missed the beauty of taking your pocket money and making a decision based on the jacket (封面), not knowing what the record sounded like,” he said.
But far from killing the industry, many young people today think Jobs has been a blessing (带来幸运的人), offering you instant, and selective access to a whole world of music.
Keith Staskiewicz at Enthertainment Weekly speaks for the feelings of many music lovers. He believes listening to MP3s rather than records or CDs “just save money” and doesn’t “remove the sense of discovery they get from new music”. Staskiewicz also argues that it’s wrong to blame Jobs and Apple for destroying anything. “Change is just part of the business,” Staskiewicz said. “No doubt in 50 years, Justin Bieber will complain about how kids don’t listen to ipods anymore.”
For now, though, it appears that music downloading is set to continue for the near future.
According to Summer Redstone, chairman of media company Viacom, iTunes has “resurrected(复兴) the music industry by creating a legal, affordable purchasing system for fans”.
But recent surveys suggested that, despite the “legalizing(合法化)” of music downloading through sites like iTunes, young people are still choosing to download music illegally. A report by Jupiter Research suggested that illegal downloading sites are used three times as much as legal ones. The problem, according to its analyst Mark Mulligan, is how today’s youth grow up viewing music as something they can get for free.
He said, “Unless the musci industry can shift these consumers while they are young away from free consumption to paid music formats(格式), they may never develop music purchasing behavior and the recording industry could suffer long-term harm.”Which one is TRUE about young people nowadays?
| A．They are music lovers and are willing to save money to enjoy music. |
| B．The majority of them download music through legal sites like iTunes. |
| C．They are most likely to go back to the store to buy albums in the near future. |
| D．They are robbed of the change of enjoying music by Apple. |
According to Mark Mulligan, the best solution to the problem of illegal music downloading is to_______.
| A．legalize music downloading through sites like iTunes |
| B．help young people get used to paying for music |
| C．offer young people instant and selective access to a variety of music |
| D．create an affordable purchasing system for fans |
What is the main point of the article?
| A．How Steve Jobs and Apple destroyed the music industry. |
| B．Why young people prefer downloading music to buying albums. |
| C．The problem of illegal downloading of music. |
| D．Different opinions on effects of music downloading. |
The human body has hundreds of muscles. The three types are skeletal(骨骼的) muscles, smooth muscles and cardiac, or heart muscles. Each kind of muscle has a special job to do.
The skeletal muscles are attached to the bones; they actually hold the skeleton together. Strong cords, called tendons(肌腱), help connect these muscles to the bones. Skeletal muscles give us strength and allow us to move in many ways. If you look at skeletal muscles through a microscope, you will see that it has bands of fibers that look like stripes(条纹). These stripes are called striations. Skeletal muscles usually move because the brain has sent a conscious message to them telling them what to do. This is called voluntary movement.
Another type of muscle is smooth muscle. Unlike skeletal muscle, smooth muscle does not have striations. This is found in organs such as the stomach, the bladder(膀胱), the lungs and the eyes. Smooth muscles are smaller than the skeletal muscles and they move involuntarily. The brain tells these muscles what to do, but we aren’t even aware of it. For example, we don’t have to think about breathing or digesting food. The smooth muscles just do their jobs automatically. For this reason smooth muscles are sometimes called involuntary muscles.
Like smooth muscle, cardiac muscle also works involuntarily. It is a very thick muscle that is found only in the walls of the heart. Its job is to pump blood out of the heart and into blood vessels called arteries(动脉). The arteries help carry the blood to all parts of the body. When the cardiac muscles relax, they let blood back into the heart. Cardiac muscles have striations, just like skeletal muscles do. When we _______, the job is done by smooth muscles.
| A．close our eyes | B．kick a ball | C．hug our friends | D．lift a suitcase |
Skeletal muscles and heart muscles are alike because_______.
| A．both can move voluntarily |
| B．both are thick muscles |
| C．both are bigger than smooth muscles |
| D．both have stripes called striations |
Which of the following is TRUE according to the passage?
| A．Heart muscles are very important because they give us strength and allow us to move. |
| B．The heart of human beings completely consists of heart muscle. |
| C．The skeletal muscles are connected to the bones by tendons. |
| D．Smooth muscle does its work without receiving message from the brain. |
I’ve often had difficulty remembering names. Proper nouns seldom found easy purchase in my brain unless I consciously repeat them over and over again. Needless to say, when people leave my life their names are often soon forgotten. This can have some embarrassing consequences.
Five or six years after high school graduation, I was reading carefully the shelves of a local auto supply shop when I noticed someone familiar enter the store. I knew him. He was in my graduation class and although he was not a good friend of mine, we had shared many classes and knew each other well. I began to feel an increasing sense of foreboding（预感）and quickly hid behind the nearest shelving unit. I should have known his name. How many times had I heard it during class role call? How many conversations had we had in the hallways?
I easily remembered his surname, “Ricca”. His was a large, well know family in the town of my childhood. I couldn’t have just acknowledged him using his surname. I might as well have admitted forgetting his name, which was not a choice. One’s name is important to every person’s identity. Not remembering an old acquaintance’s name is similar to forgetting your wife’s favourite flower, an embarrassing mistake of the highest order.
I quickly ran through the alphabet (字母表), a strategy I developed for just such an occasion. Abe? No, Adam, Andy, Bob? No, Bill? Yes! Bill sounded right. Of course, his name is Bill. I confidently made my way around the shelves and spoke to him as he was studying some cans of motor oil.
“Bill, how are you doing?”, I said offering him my hand which he took with a friendly shake. We talked a bit, some amusing remarks about our college experiences and such. I took his hand again, said how good it was to see him and gave him a happy wave, calling him by name again, as I left.
I was so pleased that I avoided yet another awkward encounter(相遇) that I could feel a big smile on my face as I paid the cashier and exited the store. As I marched merrily across the parking lot, an awful thought came into my mind. John, his name is John! Where did Bill come from? Was that one of my brothers? The sudden realization of what I did made me stop in my tracks. My head dropped when I realized my mistake. There was no way Mrs. Ricca would name one of her sons “Bill”. “Billerica” was the name of a town just north of Boston.Which one can show the charge of the writer’s feelings?
a. guilty b. anxious c. embarrassed d. happy e sure
| A．a-d-b-e-c | B．d-e-b-a-c | C．c-b-e-d-a | D．b-c-d-e- |
According to the passage, which statement is NOT sure?
| A．Forgetting your wife’s favourite flower is a very serious mistake. |
| B．It is common to call an old acquaintance his given name. |
| C．The writer was in his twenties when he met John in the store. |
| D．John and the writer studied in the same college. |
The underlined word “acknowledge” probably means “ ” here.
| A．accept | B．greet | C．thank | D．admit |
We can infer from the passage that _______.
| A．The writer must have experienced such embarrassment many times |
| B．The writer had difficulty remembering names because he was getting old |
| C．Running through the alphabet was always an effective way of remembering an acquaintance’s name for the writer |
| D．Mrs. Ricca would have named one of her sons “Bill” if Billerica was not the name of a town north of Boston |
Ladji Doucoure of France beat Olympic champion Liu Xiang of China in the final meters to claim the title of the men’s 110 meters hurdles at the 10th world championships in Helsinki on Friday.
Doucoure, who led the world this season with 12.97 seconds, over took the Chinese to win the race in 13.07 seconds. Liu was second in 13.08. Four-time world champion Allen Johnson of the United States took the third in 13.10.
The 22-year-old Doucoure said after the race, “ I can not tell you just how long I have been dreaming of this. This victory is the result of a lot of hard work, and also a lot of support from people who have believed in me. I had a bad start, touched a few hurdles, but after the 4th hurdle I picked up my race and went straight to the finish line.”
Liu, who won the Olympic gold with a world record-tying time of 12.91 seconds, said, “I’m very satisfied with the second place. The result could have been worse. I felt quite well and did my best. I’ m not tired, I had some clearance problems at the start, so I should practice that some mor. Finally, I didn’t lose by much, only by a little bit, but I did think I could win it.”
Liu’s coach, Sun Haiping said on Friday he was content with Liu’s performance.
“ Liu Xiang was quite good during his reaction period, but he was a little bit slow in the middle and he finally caught up during the last two hurdles,” Sun told Xinhua.
Although satisfied with the silver medal and the clocking of 13.08 seconds, Sun said Liu might have added the world title to the Olympic championship if Liu had run the track neighboring his major rivals(对手) of Doucoure Ladji or Allen Johnson.
“ If he had run next to Ladji Doucoure or Allen Johnson, Liu could have kept pace with them and then sprinted(疾跑) at the last stage. In this case, he could grab the gold,” said Sun, who had become a household name for coaching China’s first men’s Olympic champion in the track.This passage probably appears_________.
| A．in a story book | B．in a text book |
| C．in a newspaper | D．in a fashion magazine |
The following statements about Doucoure are true EXCEPT_______.
| A．He won the gold medal in the men’s 110m hurdles in Helsinki. |
| B．He led the world in the men’s 110m hurdles with 12.97 seconds this season. |
| C．He did a lot of hard practice before the race in Helsinki. |
| D．He won the world champion title four times. |
Which of the following can be used to replace the underlined phrase“picked up my race”in Paragraph 3?
| A．gathered speed | B．stood up |
| C．make up my mind | D．became better in health |
According to Sun Haiping, Liu Xiang might have won the gold if ______.
| A．he had done better during his reaction period |
| B．he had run the track next to Ladji Doucoure of Allen Johnson |
| C．he had practiced clearance more before that race |
| D．he hadn’t touched a few hurdles in the race |
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