【推荐2】Scientists estimate that over 500 million species have died out throughout evolution. Here is a list of 4 incredible extinct animals.

Pinta Island Tortoise	The giant tortoise of Pinta lived on the island Pinta of the Galapagos Islands,Ecuador. By the end of the nineteenth century,most of the Pinta Island tortoises had been wiped out due to hunting. The last known individual was a male named Lonesome George who died on 24 June 2012. In his later years,he was considered the rarest animal in the world.
Falkland Islands Wolf	The Falkland Islands wolf was the only native land mammal of the Falkland Islands. The animal was hunted for his beautiful fur,and the shepherds(牧羊人），considering it a threat to the sheep,poisoned him. On the islands,there were no forests in which the species could take shelter,and its lack of fear towards man made it easy prey to kill. The last known individual died in the late 19th century on the western island.
Caucasian Wisent	The Caucasian wisent which went extinct in 1926 inhabited(栖息）the Caucasus mountains. In 1910 their numbers were estimated in the hundreds. When state authority collapsed after the First World War,the remaining population fell victim to hunters. The decline can also be contributed to an outbreak of foot-and-mouth disease that was introduced with cattle.
Javan Tiger	The Javan tiger is an extinct subspecies of the tiger that was native to the Indonesian island of Java. Very little data was gathered about their behavior before they were driven to extinction. The reduction of its two main prey species,and the modification of its habitat led to the extinction of the subspecies in the 1980s.

1. According to the passage,which shows the correct order of the animals' extinction?
① Pinta Island tortoise                           ② Falkland Islands wolf
③ Caucasian wisent                              ④Javan tiger

A．②③①④	B．②③④①
C．③②④①	D．③④②①

2. Which of the following is NOT the reason for extinction of the animals?

A．Pollution.	B．Disease.
C．Hunting.	D．Habitat loss.

3. Where does this article probably come from?

A．A travel brochure.	B．A news report.
C．A nature magazine.	D．A biology textbook.

【推荐3】Mobile phones are one of the most useful inventions of the last 50 years, but not everything that is said about them is good. Mobiles are frequently blamed for a number of things, from thumb injuries and headaches to house fires.     1    

The theory is that the bees navigation (导航) systems are damaged by the radiation that is given off by mobile phones. Bees have a built-in system a bit like GPS and this helps them find their way back to their hive. But recently, thousands of bees have failed to find their way home.     2    

The problem was first noticed by beekeepers in America and is a lot more complicated than it at first seems. The important thing about bees is that most of the crops in many countries of the world are pollinated (授粉) by them.     3     Many beekeepers in America and Europe have reported losing between 50 and 70 percent of their bees. Jim Piper, a London beekeeper, was recently asked how the problem was affecting him. “My business has been ruined by this,” he explained, “twenty-nine of my forty hives are now empty.”

    4     However, the fact that bees are disappearing in very large numbers is real. And we can’t manage without them. Einstein said that if all our bees disappeared, man would only live for four more years!     5     If the mobile phone theory is correct, we need to do something about it immediately—before it’s too late.

A．Bees are losing their way.

B．Nobody has proved the theory is true.

C．More evidence is provided to support the theory.

D．It is believed they are dying far from their hives.

E．Without bees, the crops can’t continue to grow.

F．The situation needs to be evaluated by the world’s best scientists.

G．One theory even blames mobile phones for the disappearance of bees.

【推荐1】Mark Twain left school when he was twelve. He had little school education. In spite of this, he became the most famous writer of his time. He made millions of dollars by writing. His real name was Samuel Langhorne Clemens, but he is better known all over the world as Mark Twain, his pen name.

Mark Twain was born in 1835 and he was not a healthy baby. In fact, he was not expected to live through the first winter. But with his mother's care, he managed to survive. As a boy, he caused much trouble for his parents. He used to play jokes on all his friends and neighbours. He didn't like to go to school, and he often ran away from home. He always went in the direction of the nearby Mississippi. He was nearly drowned nine times.

After his father's death, Mark Twain began to work for a printer, who only provided him with food and clothing. Then, he worked as a riverboat pilot（领航员）and later joined the army. But shortly after that he became a miner. During this period, he started to write short stories. Afterwards he became a full-time writer.

In 1870, Mark Twain got married. In the years that followed he wrote many books including The Adventures of Tom Sawyer, and The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn, which made him famous, and brought him great fortune.

Unfortunately, Mark Twain got into debts in bad investments and he had to write large numbers of stories to pay these debts. In 1904, his wife died, and then three of his children passed away.

At the age of 70, his hair was completely white. He bought many white suits and neckties（领带）. He wore nothing but white from head to foot until his death on April 21, 1910.

1. When Mark Twain was a little baby, ____________.

A．he was strong enough

B．he was as active as other boys

C．his mother thought he would die

D．he was always in hospital

2. In his childhood, Mark Twain____________.

A．learned a lot at school

B．often went swimming with other boys

C．often made his mother worry about his safety

D．often played games with other boys·

3. In the late years of his life, Mark Twain____________.

A．must have been very sad because he lost his wife and three children

B．wrote many stories and earned a lot of money

C．continued writing until his death

D．lent too much money to others

4. From the passage we can learn that Mark Twain____________.

A．had a happy childhood

B．lived a pleasant life

C．was very naughty when he was young

D．was a good boy and always did what he was asked to

【推荐2】In America, we often regard Sally Ride as the first female astronaut (宇航员). But the first woman in space is actually a Soviet astronaut who beat out 400 applicants to pilot the Vostok 6 spacecraft in 1963—twenty years before Ride took her historic spaceflight.

There was nothing in Valentina Tereshkova’s early life that showed she would become a space pioneer. Tereshkova finished school at age 16 and went to work to help support her family. She seemed to follow her mother’s footsteps as a textile factory worker, except one interest: skydiving. By the time she was 22, she was jumping out of a plane pretty regularly. And then came the space race.

By 1962, the competition to get into space had been starting between the Soviet Union and the United States for about seven years. The two countries, in an effort to do better than the other in exploring space, had each launched men into space.

During the space race, the Soviet Union and the U. S. constantly tried to be better. After putting a man in space, the obvious next step was to send a woman into space. The Soviet Union’s lead spacecraft designer, Sergey Korolyov, is said to have been helpful in the decision. There are rumors (传言) that the Soviet Union knew that the U. S. was planning to send a woman to space and wanted to beat the Americans.

Inspired by Gagarin’s flight, Tereshkova wrote to the Soviet authorities (当局) hoping for any future training program for female astronauts. The authorities answered and in early 1962 she became one of just five women accepted for astronaut training. On June 16, 1963, Tereshkova took off, eventually circling the Earth 48 times over the course of almost three days and securing her place in history as the first woman to leave the Earth’s atmosphere.

1. When did Sally Ride go into space?

A．In 1963.

B．In 1973.

C．In 1983.

D．In 1993.

2. Why did Tereshkova choose to be a textile factory worker?

A．Because she thought highly of her mother.

B．Because she had to give a hand to her family.

C．Because she wanted to save money for the space race.

D．Because she was allowed to do skydiving.

3. What did Tereshkova do on knowing a woman to be sent to space?

A．She suggested some training program for women.

B．She refused the Soviet authorities’ invitation.

C．She introduced herself to the training program.

D．She announced she would be the first woman in space.

【推荐3】Two traveling angels stopped to spend the night in the home of a wealthy family. The family were rude and refused to let the angels stay in the guest room. Instead the angels were given a space in the cold basement. As they made their bed on the hard floor, the older angel saw a hole in the wall and repaired it. When the younger angel asked why, the older angel replied: “Things aren’t always what they seem.”

The next night the pair came to rest at the house of a very poor, but very hospitable(好客的)farmer and his wife. After sharing what little food they had，the couple let the angels sleep in their bed where they could have a good night’s rest. When the sun came up the next morning，the angels found the farmer and his wife in tears. Their only cow, whose milk had been their only income, lay dead in the field.

The younger angel was very angry and asked the older angel, “How could this happen?” “Why did you not watch out for the cow? The first man had everything, yet you watched over his house,” she accused. “The second family had little but was willing to share everything, and you did not help.”

“Things aren’t always what they seem.” the older angel replied. “When we stayed in the basement，I noticed there was gold stored in that hole in the wall. Since the owner was so greedy and unwilling to share his good fortune, I asked God if I could seal(封口) the wall so he wouldn’t find it. Then last night as we slept in the farmer’s bed, the angel of death came for his wife. I asked God if the angel could take the cow instead. Things aren’t always what they seem.”

1. The younger angel was very angry because ________.

A．he thought the older angel treated the two families unfairly.

B．the older angel killed the farmer’s cow.

C．the wealthy man gave them a bad place to live.

D．the angel of death took the cow away.

2. Which is true about the first family?

A．They didn’t let the angels in.

B．They had a lot of wealth but a cold heart.

C．They gave the angels a nice treat.

D．There was a big hole in the wall of their guest room.

3. Why did the older angel let the farmer’s cow die?

A．Because she wanted to save the farmer’s wife.

B．Because she wanted to teach the younger angel a lesson.

C．Because she was sympathetic to the rich.

D．Because God wanted the older angel to take the cow.

4. The story tries to tell the reader that ________.

A．the young should always learn from the old

B．angels are always ready to help the poor.

C．angels are always ready to help the rich.

D．sometimes things are not what they seem.