A butterfly's wings can have many jobs besides keeping the insect in the air. They may be called on to attract mates, to warn potential enemies to stay away, to do other animals or even to provide disguise（伪装）.
All of these roles, though, depend on their colouration—which is unchanging. This plays into the idea that butterfly wings are dead tissue, like a bird's feathers or a mammal's hair. In fact, that is not true. For example, in some species males' wings harbour special cells that release chemicals which attract females.
Nanfang Yu, a physicist at Columbia University, in New York, has been looking into the matter. One of his interests is the optical（光学的）properties of biological materials. That has led him to study butterfly wings in more detail. And, in cooperation with Naomi Pierce, a butterfly specialist at Harvard University, he has now shown, in a paper published this week in Nature Communications, that butterfly wings are, indeed, very much alive.
Initially, Dr Yu and Dr Pierce wanted to know how the insects keep their body temperatures up without their wings overheating.
Unlike birds and mammals, butterflies do not produce enough internal heat to metabolize（新陈代谢）. Instead, they rely on outside heat sources—usually the sun—to bring their bodies up to speed. But their wings, being thin protein membranes（膜）, have a limited thermal capacity. Those wings can therefore overheat quickly if the insects are exposed to the sunlight too long, or, oppositely, can cool down too rapidly if they are flying through cold air.
In their experiments, the two researchers used a laser（激光）to heat up spots on the wings of dozens of butterfly species. When the temperature of the area under the laser reached 40℃ or so, the insects responded within seconds by doing things that stopped their wings heating up further. These actions included a butterfly turning around to minimize its exposure to the laser, beating its wings or simply walking away.
1. What's Dr Yu's discovery about butterfly wings?| A．They contain dead tissue. |
| B．They are too thin to store heat. |
| C．They have different functions. |
| D．They react quickly to high heat. |
| A．Butterflies metabolize completely with its internal heat. |
| B．Chemicals from butterfly wings help drive away threats. |
| C．The color of butterfly's wings keeps fixed. |
| D．The researchers achieved big in optical properties. |
| A．By providing heat itself. |
| B．By flying through cold air. |
| C．By removing the source of heat. |
| D．By adjusting their heating surface. |
| A．A Research into Butterfly Wings |
| B．The Jobs of Butterfly Wings |
| C．Butterfly Wings: Dead or Alive |
| D．Butterfly Wings Temperature Changes |
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【推荐1】When he used to go hunting, Miha Mlakar would dream ofkilling a beaL But today the 33-year old from Slovenia makes his living watching the animals, peacefully, in their natural forest environment. The turnaround to shooting bears with a camera, not a gun, puts Mlakars who runs bear observation tours, in step with wider efforts to promote the coexistence ofhumans and bears.
Once on the verge (边缘) ofextinction, Sloverua's brown bear population is booming. As a resuk, encounters (遇见) with bears have increased — not that it seems to worry everyone. We have an average of one to three cases ofphysicai contact between bears and humans per year, saici R.ok Ceme, of the Slovinia Forest Service. "Fortunately we haven't registefed any serious incident over the last years, he added, stressing they were "very active in preventive measures".
In villages close to bear habitats(栖息地), local authorities have replaced regular plastic waste brns, which could be easily opened by hungry bears, with contajners protected by heavy meta! cages. Farmers are entitled to an 80- percent subsidy (补助金) for using electric fences to protect sheep and the loss ofcattle due to bears is compensated(赔偿). If a bear becomes a habitual. visitor to a viliage,special groups step in to relocate the animal with the help oflocal hunters.
Slovenia's approach could throw some light,on the problem in neighbonng lRomania, l:Lome to about 6,000 bears, where tourists to villages in the Carpathian Mountains often post pictures online of bears.waiting to be hand-fed Beyond tourists' "interesting” stories, howeyer, Romarua has seen a "growing number of attacks" by bears, stressed in a conservation plan published laot month that recommends hunting to keep numbers at favorable levels.
Learning simple rules, such as how to avoid frightening bears and nort feeding tihem is of great importance for reducing conflicts with humans, said Mareike Brix, of German-based EuroNatur foundation. "There is a risk, and there can be problems, but it's also great (to have bears). Wild nature has become so rare in Europe," she said.
1. What do we'know about Miha Mlakar?| A．He loves traveling very much | B．He enjoys hunting arumals in forests. |
| C．He has founda new way to earna living. | D．He has decided to take pictures as a hobby |
| A．Using plastic waste bins |
| B．Removing bears food sources |
| C．Hiring professionals to train bears |
| D．Paying farmers for taking their farmland as bear habitats. |
| A．Bears are hunted a lot in Romania. | B．Romania should learn from Slovenia. |
| C．Bears in Romania are fed by farmers. | D．Romania is taking acition to protect bears. |
| A．Pleased. | B．Embarrassed. |
| C．Frightened. | D．Surprised. |
【推荐2】On December 26, 2004, hundreds of tourists relaxed on Sri Lanka’s Yala National Park’s beaches. But at mid-morning the park’s elephants began crying wildly and running away from the ocean and up a nearby hill. The puzzled keepers could tell the animals were worried about something but what?
What the keepers did not know was that a 30-foot wall of water was headed straight toward them. This tsunami(海啸) had been caused by an earthquake more than 1, 000 miles away in the Indian Ocean. When the huge wave hit the coast, it caused severe damage. Many people died. The elephants, however, were not swept away by the water. They stood safely on the hill.
Scientists have long suspected that animals sense natural disasters before humans do. People have told stories of dogs refusing to go outside and sharks swimming to deeper waters before a hurricane. After the 2004 tsunami, people said they saw tigers, monkeys, and water buffalo escaping to higher ground before the waters rushed in. Even in the hardest-hit areas of southern Asia, there were few animal deaths.
It's unlikely that an animal’s so-called sixth sense comes from some magical power to see into the future. Experts believe that animals may be more sensitive than humans to changes in temperature and other environmental conditions that take place before a natural disaster. The elephants in Sri Lanka, for example, may have picked up vibrations from within the Earth, a sign that earthquake was coming. Because vibrations in the ground travel much faster than an ocean wave, the elephants may have felt the earthquake that caused the tsunami well before the tsunami itself came to the coast.
A few scientists are calling for a system to track reports of strange behavior in people’s pets, hoping that these reports can serve as a warning system that a natural disaster is about to happen. But Marina Haynes, an animal behavior scientist at the Philadelphia Zoo, says, “It would be an unreliable way to predict disasters. It can be difficult to know what an animal is doing. Is the animal nervous because an earthquake is about to happen or is it frightened because there is an enemy nearby?”
1. What happened to the elephants in Yala National Park on December 26, 2004?| A．They died in the natural disaster. |
| B．They were disturbed by the tourists. |
| C．They moved from the hill to the seaside. |
| D．They behaved strangely before the tsunami. |
| A．giving examples |
| B．making comparisons |
| C．telling interesting stories |
| D．showing research findings |
| A．changes in temperature | B．a kind of chemical power |
| C．continuous shaking movement | D．serious environmental pollution |
| A．Positive. | B．Doubtful. |
| C．Hopeful. | D．Supportive. |
【推荐3】The ocean is critical to all oxygen-dependent life. But life is also critical to the ocean. The ocean produces so much oxygen because of ocean plants, which draw down Co and change it into carbon-based sugars and oxygen. Ocean plants are climate change heroes! There is now a wide recognition of the role of ocean life in slowing climate change.
On many Pacific islands, whales support tourism economies. While concerned about the impacts of climate change on whales, we also need to recognize that whales can contribute to fighting climate change!Through their deep dives, vast migrations, long lifespan(寿命), and large bodies, whales have an enormous effect on the ocean.
Whales both help ocean plants to draw down CO and help to store carbon in the ocean. Firstly, they provide essential nutrients that enable ocean plants to grow. Whale waste is a fertilizer, bringing nutrients from the depths, where whales feed, to the surface, where plants need these nutrients to grow well. Migratory whales also bring nutrients with them from highly-productive feeding grounds to the nutrient-poor waters of whales’ breeding grounds, boosting the growth of ocean plants across the ocean.
Secondly, whales keep the carbon locked in the ocean, out of the atmosphere, where it could otherwise contribute to climate change. Ocean plants produce carbon-based sugars, but with a very short lifespan. They can’t store the carbon. When they die, much carbon is released in surface waters, and can be changed back to CO2. Whales, however, can live for over a century, feeding on food chains that begin with the sugars in these tiny plants, and storing up the carbon in their bodies. When whales die, deep ocean life feeds on their remains, and the carbon formerly stored in whales’ bodies can enter sediment(沉淀物), When carbon reaches deep ocean sediment, it is effectively locked away, and therefore unable to drive climate change. This carbon is unlikely to return as CO2 in the atmosphere.
Several Pacific island countries are already leaders in whale conservation, having declared whale sanctuaries in their waters. Every year, whales socialize, breed, and give birth in Pacific island waters.
1. How do surface ocean plants get nutrients for growth?| A．From whale waste. | B．From the whales’ bodies. |
| C．From the sunlight. | D．From ocean sediment. |
| A．They lack nutrients for growth. |
| B．They never absorb carbon-based sugars. |
| C．Carbon-based sugars can’t be generated by them. |
| D．The carbon in them is released after their death. |
| A．Shelters. | B．Imports. | C．Markets. | D．Amusements. |
| A．The importance of oceans to climate. |
| B．The bad effects of CO2 to climate changes. |
| C．The role of whales in slowing climate change. |
| D．The importance of oceans to all oxygen-dependent life. |
【推荐1】Many of us have experienced the following: the day before an exam, we try to squeeze a huge amount of information into our brain. But just as quickly as we acquire it, the knowledge we have gained is gone again. The good news is that we can solve this problem. With expanded time intervals between a person’s learning events, we keep the knowledge for a longer time.
But what happens in the brain during the spacing effect? It is generally thought that during learning, neurons (神经元) are activated and form new connections. In this way, the learned knowledge is stored and can be regained by reactivating the same set of neurons. However, we still know very little about how pauses positively influence this process.
Neurobiologists Annet and Pieter did an experiment, during which mice had to remember the position of a hidden chocolate piece in a maze (迷宫). On three continuous chances, they were allowed to explore the maze and find their reward—including pauses of different lengths. “Mice trained with the longer intervals between learning phases (阶段) were unable to remember the position of the chocolate as quickly,” explains Annet. “But the next day, the longer the pauses, the better was the mice’s memory.”
“If three learning phases follow each other very quickly, we naturally expect the same neurons to be activated,” Pieter says. “After all, it is the same experiment with the same information. But after a long break, we imagine the brain interprets the following learning phase as a new event and processes it with different neurons.”
However, the researchers found the opposite. In fast continuous learning phases, the mice activated mostly different neurons. When taking longer breaks, the same neurons active earlier were used again later. Reactivating the same neurons could allow the brain to strengthen the connections between these cells. With spaced learning, we may reach our goal more slowly, but we benefit from our knowledge for much longer.
1. How does the author mention the problem in paragraph 1?| A．By introducing a theory. | B．By telling a story. |
| C．By making an assumption. | D．By presenting a case. |
| A．To examine the influence of rewards on memory. |
| B．To explore how brain works during the spacing effect. |
| C．To confirm neurons’ functions in the learning process. |
| D．To determine the best intervals between learning phases. |
| A．The surprising result of the study. | B．The serious limitation of the study. |
| C．The future goal of the researchers. | D．The major worry of the researchers. |
| A．Learn Better by Distributing Tasks | B．Remember More by Taking Breaks |
| C．Clearing Minds Aids People in Memory | D．Spacing Effect Patterns Work Differently |
【推荐2】A new study, out of Japan's Fukuoka University and presented at the American Academy of Neurology's72nd Annual Meeting in April,2020, is so interesting. The researchers found that playing ping pong may lead to significant improvements in Parkinson's symptoms.
“Ping pong, which is also called table tennis, is a form of aerobic (有氧的) exercise that has been shown in the general population to improve hand-eye coordination , sharpen reflexes, and stimulate the brain," said study author Ken-ichi Inoue, M.D., of Fukuoka University. “We wanted to examine if people with Parkinson 's disease would see similar benefits that may in turn reduce some of their symptoms. "
The study included 12 people (an average age of 73) with mild to moderate Parkinson's disease, who had been diagnosed with Parkinson's for seven years on average. The participants were tested at the beginning of the study to assess the type and degree of symptoms they had. They then had a ping pong session once a week. The sessions included stretching exercises and specific ping pong exercises led by experienced table tennis players from the department of Sports Science of Fukuoka University.
The symptoms were then assessed again at three months and six months (at the end of the study), and during that period participants experienced significant improvements in speech, handwriting, getting dressed, getting out of bed and walking. For example, it took participants an average of more than two attempts to get out of bed at the beginning of the study compared to an average of one attempt at the end of the study. They also had significant improvements in facial expression, posture, rigidity (僵硬), slowness of movement and hand trembles.
“While this study is small, the results are encouraging because they show ping pong, a relatively inexpensive form of therapy, may improve some symptoms of Parkinson's disease,” said Inoue. “A much larger study is now being planned to confirm these findings.”
1. Why does the author feel the new study is interesting?| A．Ping pong is a sport of great interest. |
| B．The process of the study is easy and relaxing. |
| C．The combination between sports and diseases is funny. |
| D．It excites curiosity that ping pong should improve Parkinson's. |
| A．Age. | B．Gender. | C．Disease. | D．Degree. |
| A．1. | B．2. | C．3. | D．4. |
| A．Try other sports to draw new conclusions. |
| B．Get more people involved to further prove the findings. |
| C．Expand the range of diseases to match with ping pong. |
| D．Find out more connections between sports and diseases. |
【推荐3】Your immune system is the body’s personal army.
The immune system also learns things-this is called adaptive immunity. When your immune system is exposed to a new germ for the first time, it responds by trying to fight it off-which means you may become sick.
Experience makes your immune system stronger. The first time your body comes into contact with a certain type of germ, your immune system response may take a while. You might need several days to make and use all the germ-fighting parts you need to get rid of your infection. It takes time to hack the germ’s code and destroy it.
| A．It does not recognize specific bacteria or viruses. |
| B．It releases white blood cells and other chemicals that destroy these threats. |
| C．It is a vast and complex interconnected network of many different organs, cells and proteins that work together to protect the body from illness. |
| D．The main feature of the innate immune system is to respond quickly, which can lead to fever. |
| E．But afterward, the immune cells will remember the invader and be better equipped to fight it, should it return. |
| F．The system has two types of response: innate(先天性反应) and adaptive. |
| G．If you come across that same germ later on, your body will remember and fight it off faster, so you can get over the infection and feel better. |
【推荐1】Though not as much as in the past, grandparents are the teachers of the Navajo (纳瓦霍人) youth. They make young people aware of life at an early age. The parents allow them the privilege of teaching the children, and the grandparents take great pride in raising them.
Young children often stay with their grandparents for years at a time, developing a close and trusting relationship. The grandparents teach them Navajo legends and the principle of life, emphasizing both new culture trends and the preservation of traditions.
The grandparents are also the leading figure in teaching the youth the arts of weaving, caring for the live stock, using herbal medicine, and other arts and crafts.
The children are taught to respect their elders, care for them, help them and learn from them. Young people are urged to listen with care to the words of their elders and keep as much wisdom as possible. Grandparents often go to social gatherings and traditional events, and young people have opportunities to learn more about their culture and traditions.
I lived with my grandmother for thirteen years, and she raised me in the old ways of our people. Although I was going to school, she taught me as much as she could about our traditions. If I had a chance, I would listen again to her wise teachings, expressed with kindness in a soft voice that touched my heart.
We used to plant corn and pumpkin every summer. They never grew big enough to feed us, but we planted them anyway. I asked my grandmother why. She said, “Grandson, our plants will be far more beautiful than the flowers outside the fence.” I didn’t understand until one day I saw their beauty as I was coming over the hill with her. She said, “Anything that is a part of you is always far more beautiful than the things which you pass by.” We had some beautiful years together. I’m glad she is a part of me and I’m apart of her.
Children used to be well disciplined, possessing more respect for culture, traditions and beliefs than they do now. The world of the Navajo has been influenced by the western world, and the grandparents have less control and influence than they used to. But the young people who have been touched by their teachings have glimpsed a way of life beyond what most people know today.
1. What can be inferred from the first paragraph?| A．Grandparents are the source of traditional culture. |
| B．Parents hate to take the trouble to raise their children. |
| C．Early schooling isn’t very popular with the young Navajo. |
| D．Children learn about the meaning of life from their grandparents. |
| A．persons | B．pioneers |
| C．examples | D．representatives |
| A．She had to feed her family members. |
| B．She tried to make full use of her garden. |
| C．She wanted her grandson to learn a life lesson. |
| D．She expected her grandson to learn about farming. |
| A．To honor his beloved grandmother. |
| B．To stress the greatness of the Navajo. |
| C．To share with readers a Navajo culture. |
| D．To show the influence of Navajo traditions. |
【推荐2】Innovations are not always welcome. In 1589 William Lee made his way to the English court, hoping to be granted a patent for his invention, a knitting machine. Queen Elizabeth I turned him down: "Consider what the invention could do to my poor subjects," she commanded. "It would assuredly bring ruin to them by robbing them of employment."
The fears of Good Queen Bess have echoed down the centuries—from the Luddites, who destroyed textile machinery in the early 19th century, to John F. Kennedy, who warned of the dangers of automation during his presidential campaign of 1960. In the 21st century the concerns have switched to robots and artificial intelligence (AI); 30% of American workers believe their jobs are likely to be replaced by robots and computers in their lifetime
In the past the relationship between machine and human labor has been driven by two factors: the substituting effect, which caused people to lose jobs, and the complementing effect, which allowed employees to do their work more productively. Mr. Susskind worries that, in the future, the substituting effect will take over. Advances in Al have been so rapid that machines will eventually be better than people at most activities, he says, and so will be the "default（默认）choice" for performing them. A few highly paid humans will still be employed, but the rest will either struggle to find work or fall into the "precariat", stuck in jobs that are not just poorly paid but also unstable and stressful.
This depressing view of the impact of technology is plausible（貌似有理的）. But so is a more optimistic outlook, as the economist Roger Bootle showed in his book. Mr. Bootle argued that Al and robotics would improve productivity and economic growth, and release people from performing the most lengthy tasks. As for employment, there will always be demand for services with the human touch. Perhaps, the truth is that it is impossible to be sure whether the latest advances will in the end have mainly good or bad economic effects.
1. What's the purpose of the examples in Paragraphs 1 and 2?| A．To tell people how many inventions are made. |
| B．To remind people how important the machines are. |
| C．To demonstrate the possible dangers to human beings. |
| D．To show some people's attitude towards new inventions. |
| A．People who have stable jobs. | B．People who like their jobs. |
| C．People who are stuck in bad jobs. | D．People whose jobs are well-paid. |
| A．Positive. | B．Negative. | C．Neutral. | D．Indifferent. |
| A．The impact of technology is depressing. |
| B．He showed a pessimistic attitude to technogy in his book. |
| C．AI and robotics would harm productivity and economic growth. |
| D．AI and robotics release people from performing long and tiring tasks. |
【推荐3】Ten years ago, environmental journalist Ben Goldfarb was on a reporting trip about wildlife conservation. When he was shown around some new animal crossing structures near, Missoula, these new bridges and tunnels intrigued him. He was attracted by these beautiful human-built structures and inspired to write a book. Crossings: How Road Ecology Is Shaping the Future of Our Planet has now been published.
Through expert interviews, in-depth research and convincing analysis, Goldfarh brings to life the deadly consequences our 40 million miles of roadways have had and are having on the natural world and the creatures that inhabit it. A million animals are killed by cars each day in the US alone. Road salt pollutes lakes and rivers. And there's the barrier effect-the steady stream of traffic that prevents animals from migrating (迁徙) all together and finding habitats. Goldfarb writes that noise pollution is the most worrisome among all the road's ecological disasters. Both the engine noise and the tire noise greatly impact ecological environment.
Figures on deaths and disruptions (扰乱) are disheartening, but Goldfarb vividly describes how scientists are actively working on meaningful improvements to help animals and roads better coexist, such as wildlife crossings, from passages in Canada's Banff National Park to the famous Liberty Canyon Overpass in Los, Angeles. Another example is that in India, they built a new highway through a tiger reserve so that animals can come and go underneath the lifted freeway. Of course, that made the project more expensive, but it's ecologically the right thing to do.
Crossings is a truly important and landmark book on a subject whose full impacts continue to be disregarded or underestimated in considering conservation efforts. The book is a sympathetic, heart-warming guide to exploring the issues of wildlife survival and our own.
1. What does the underlined word “intrigued” in paragraph 1 mean?| A．Confused. | B．Blocked. | C．Satisfied. | D．Interested. |
| A．Road salt. | B．Roadkill. |
| C．Vehicle noises. | D．Endless traffic stream. |
| A．To bring shame on individual drivers. |
| B．To stress the effect of roads on wildlife. |
| C．To show humans' effort in animal protection. |
| D．To explain the necessity of creating wild reserves. |
| A．Vivid and touching. |
| B．Pessimistic and sharp. |
| C．Objective and critical. |
| D．Abstract and humorous. |
【推荐1】Naturally, American schoolchildren love holidays. And they get a lot of them each year. Besides having national holidays such as Thanksgiving and Presidents’ Day off from school, students get longer breaks in the spring and during the summer holidays. In fact, kids in the US only go to school for about 180 days a year. To students, holidays are perfect. However, parents think there are advantages and disadvantages.
On the one hand, school holidays allow families to spend time together. Many American parents take time off from work during June, July or August to travel with their children on vacations either in the US or in a foreign country. On the other hand, schoolchildren get much more time off school than parents get vacation time. This means that parents with young children may have to pay more in babysitting or daycare costs. As well, the long summer holidays mean that students sometimes get bored.
Besides going on trips with their parents, American students enjoy taking part in different kinds of activities during the holidays. For example, some kids enjoy summer camps and outdoor adventure holidays. Such trips are great for adventurous students. They also have a lot to offer students who aren’t usually interested in traditional PE activities. You can do courses in survival skills, for example. Students learn how to make a camp in the forest, which wild food they can eat and how to find their way back to the center.
Students who are not excited about summer camps and outdoor adventure may take part in courses in computer game design, filmmaking and photography during the holidays. Finally, the traditional school trip to foreign countries is always popular. Students can practice their foreign language skills and experience everyday life in a different culture.
1. How long are kids in the US at school every year?| A．About 180 days. | B．About 280 days. | C．About 200 days. | D．About 300 days. |
| A．Some kids. | B．Different traditional PE activities. |
| C．Parents. | D．Summer camps and outdoor adventure. |
| A．Both parents and students think school holidays are perfect. |
| B．Parents can take care of their young children during all the holidays. |
| C．Students enjoy taking part in different kinds of activities during holidays. |
| D．Students don’t like to have school trips to foreign countries during holidays. |
| A．School Trips in the US | B．School Holidays in the US |
| C．School Activities in the US | D．Outdoor Adventure in the US |
【推荐2】“Well, I made it,” says Greg Daniels with a smile.
Recently there have been news reports and television shows reporting on the quality of school lunches. According to federal guidelines, French fries count as a serving of vegetables. Many parents and others are upset that a salty, deep-fired food is replacing healthier options like carrot sticks. As a result, the potato — what French fries are made of — has been getting a bad rap.
“The problem is not the potato,” insists Greg. “Potatoes are very healthy. But any food, even carrots or lettuce (生菜), will be less healthy if it’s cooked in grease(油脂).”
Two months ago, Greg decided to eat nothing but potatoes for 60 days. As a high school science teacher and son of a potato farmer, he wanted to do something to draw attention to potatoes as a healthy food and a good choice as part of anyone’s regular meals.
“It’s been an interesting experience,” Greg said. “For a while, I wasn’t sure I would make it. I was pretty tired of eating potatoes after a few weeks.”
But for Greg there were some benefits that he hadn’t expected. He’s lost 15 pounds and he feels better than he has in years. “I have so much more energy,” he says. “I’ve been running and playing on a local basketball team, and I feel like I’m playing as well as I did when I was in high school.”
And Greg has gotten a lot of attention, much more than he expected. “It’s been fantastic. Thousands of people have read my blog. I’ve been sharing recipes and talking about the experience. Every day I get to tell people what a great idea it is to eat potatoes.”
Greg is glad to be back to a normal diet, but he still eats potatoes at least 5 or 6 times a week. “Everyone should!” he says with a smile. “Potatoes are healthy and taste great!”
1. What does the underlined part “getting a bad rap” in Paragraph 2 mean?| A．Receiving little attention. |
| B．Obtaining an unfair judgement. |
| C．Getting more and more popular. |
| D．Becoming good for people’s health. |
| A．Because potatoes are cheap. |
| B．To draw attention to himself. |
| C．To prove that potatoes are healthy. |
| D．Because he loves potatoes very much. |
| A．gave up his plan. |
| B．put on some weight. |
| C．became less healthy. |
| D．was sick of potatoes. |
| A．became a little weak. |
| B．became much healthier. |
| C．could not eat potatoes any more. |
| D．decided to keep eating potatoes only. |
| A．Intelligent. | B．Humorous. |
| C．Determined. | D．Courageous. |
【推荐3】I was born with eye disease. At school I couldn’t read the blackboard and I had to use a big magnifying glass for books. By the time I got to university it had got to the point where I couldn’t really see images at all, only the difference between light and dark. Once I was in the first year of my PHD, I was almost 100% blind.
When I was young I used to get very angry if I encountered something I found difficult or couldn’t do because of my eyes. But over time I learned that wasn’t a helpful response. There’s no point getting wound up by the fact I can’t see, because it won’t change it.
I started climbing when I was young. My dad took me up my first rock route when I was two. All my early climbing was outdoor traditional climbing. My dad had been in the Mountain Rescue and was part of Mountaineering Club, so we would go for weekends away climbing throughout the UK.
He taught me everything I know and I led my first route outside when I was 11. At this time I could just about see well enough to place rock gear（齿轮）, but not well enough to pick out the routes from the ground. People are usually amazed when they discover that not only do I climb, but I also lead climbs.
At university I joined the Mountaineering Club and was able to climb much more frequently. We had regular trips to indoor walls and weekends away outdoors. I developed a great circle of climbing friends and went on multiple trips to Europe. On these I started Alpine climbing and ice climbing too.
There was a time when I thought I might have to give up leading as my eyesight got worse. But I never thought I would stop climbing. I just learnt to adapt myself to the eye disease with the support of my friends. It’s quite possible that I wouldn’t be as good a climber if I weren’t blind — if I didn’t have these challenges. It wouldn’t focus me. That determination is built through my disability.
1. How did the author eventually respond to his eye problem?| A．He ended up feeling annoyed. | B．He quit his study at university. |
| C．He decided to face up the reality. | D．He had no choice but to seek for help. |
| A．He was a professional climber at university. |
| B．He started his own mountaineering club. |
| C．He taught his son how to pick out good rocks. |
| D．He introduced his son to a love of climbing. |
| A．His university. | B．His disability. |
| C．His father. | D．The Mountaineering Club. |
| A．A Blind Man’s Struggle. | B．Mountain Climbing Experience. |
| C．Courses on Rock Climbing. | D．Determination and Experience. |
