【推荐2】There is more that comes with older age than greying hair and wrinkled skin When humans reach their later years, they favour more established friends and their social circle is reduced.

Now, for what appears to be the first time, scientists have seen the same behaviour in another species. Twenty years of observations of chimpanzees (猩猩) reveal that older males choose to hang out with their long-term friends at the expense of other relationships.

The researchers studied 78, 000 hours of observations made between 1996 and 2016 that followed the social interactions of 21 male chimpanzees between the ages of 15 and 58 years old. They classified the chimps’ relationships depending on the amount of time they sat with others and groomed (梳毛) them. They then rated the various pairings as mutual (相互的) friendships, where both chimps seemed to enjoy the relationship; one-sided friendships, where one chimp was more keen to be friends than the other; and non-friendships, where neither chimp showed interest in the other.

When the scientists looked at the patterns of friendships, they found that the older chimps had more mutual friendships and fewer one-sided friendships than younger chimps. Another feature seen in older humans was also spotted in the chimps. As the males got older, their levels of aggression (挑衅) tailed off, meaning they started fewer fights and tended to intimidate others in their group less often.

The observations have left the researchers puzzled. According to an idea in psychology known as socioemotional selectivity theory, or SST, older humans prefer more positive relationships because they are aware time is running out. But many animal experts argue that chimpanzees lack the human sense of mortality (死亡), suggesting something else is driving the behaviour.

Robin Dunbar, a professor of evolutionary psychology at the University of Oxford, said in humans, the decline in social circles with age is due to declining social motivation to get out and meet people combined by lack of opportunity. In chimpanzees, as older males compete less for mates, they may focus on close, reciprocal (互惠的) relationships with trusted partners, she said.

1. What do older male chimpanzees favour?

A．Old friendships.	B．New bonds.
C．Greying hair.	D．Wrinkled skin.

2. How did the researchers draw their conclusion about chimpanzees?

A．By turning to other scientists.

B．By introducing a new concept.

C．By forming relationships with them.

D．By analyzing two decades’ observations.

3. What does the underlined word “intimidate” in Paragraph 4 mean?

A．Threaten.

B．Motivate.

C．Defend.

D．Accompany.

4. According to Robin Dunbar, what accounts for declining social circles in chimpanzees?

A．Awareness of time.	B．Less competition for mates.
C．Low motivation for socialization.	D．Lack of the human sense of mortality.

【推荐3】An endangered deer with vampire-like sharp teeth was spotted for the first time in nearly 60 years, in a remote forest in northeastern Afghanistan. The creature is known as the Kashmir musk deer, and it is native to the Himalayas of northern India, Pakistan’s Kashmir region and northern Afghanistan.

Only the male deer have sharp teeth, and they use them during mating season to compete for females. A team of researchers searched Afghanistan’s Nuristan province during 2008 and 2009, and recorded five sightings of the animal. This was the first time the species had been spotted since 1948. During the survey, the researchers spotted a single male Kashmir musk deer near the same area three separate times. The researchers also recorded one female and her baby, and saw a second single female that they think may have been the same deer, without her baby. These musk deer are classified as an endangered species on the International Union for Conservation of Nature’s Red List. Musk-deer meat is a local delicacy, but the species is mostly hunted for its scent glands(香腺) that are more valuable by weight than gold---some believe the glands have pharmaceutical (药学的) properties, and they sell for nearly $20,455 per pound ($45,000 per kilogram) on the black market, according to the International Union for Conservation of Nature.

Three decades of war have ravaged Nuristan province, and the continued violence and political instability make the black-market trade of scent glands uncontrollable. Furthermore, the species is quickly losing suitable habitat. All of the musk deer were spotted on sheltered rocky outcrops around 9,843 feet (3,000 meters) high. In the summer, they regularly trek (跋涉) along steep slopes that make them almost impossible to approach and keep them relatively safe from hunters. However, heavy snowfall in the winter drives the species farther down, to more human-accessible slopes, and hunters come from all over the country to track the deer for their valuable scent glands.

Due to violence and unrest, nongovernmental organizations like the Wildlife Conservation Society have not been able to operate in the Nuristan province since 2010. The WCS maintains contact with locals they have trained to survey and search for the musk deer. Once the situation in Nuristan improves, the WCS intends to return to the area to continue research and to formulate a conservation plan.

1. Why does male deer use sharp teeth in mating season?

A．To fight for their land.

B．To beat for females.

C．To hunt for food.

D．To frighten their enemies.

2. What can we learn from the passage?

A．All of the Kashmir musk deer in the mountainous area have sharp teeth.

B．People hunt for the deer mainly because their meat is delicious.

C．It is relatively easier for hunters to hunt the rare species in winter.

D．The Kashmir musk deer are fierce animals because of their sharp teeth.

3. Which factor does not contribute to the uncontrollable trade in the black market?

A．Government control.

B．Continued violence.

C．Political instability.

D．Years of war.

4. Which of the following statements about the Wildlife Conservation Society is true?

A．It has been doing research on the musk deer in this area since 2010.

B．It has sent a small group of people to search for the musk deer.

C．It is one of the organizations sponsored by governments worldwide.

D．It is making efforts to help and protect this rare species in the area .

【推荐1】The national assistance system for poor college students is getting more effective as proved by fewer phone calls to the hotline of the National Center for Student Assistance Administration.
"Poor college students and their parents are getting more satisfied with the national assistance system," said Ma Wenhua, deputy director of the administration, on Saturday. Over the past three years, the hotline received 8,488 calls. Statistics show 62 percent of the calls were made to ask about the funding policy, while 38 percent (3,200 calls) complained local colleges had failed to ____ the rules to support the students.
Complaints were seen a year-on-year decrease from 2006 to 2008. Ma said some poor families might still overlook what they should do to get support for their child. To ensure education equality, the government has introduced a set of favorable policies to help poor students, such as scholarships, grants(助学金), student loans, tuition waivers(学费全免) and the work-study programs under which poor students are helped out in libraries, teachers' offices or service departments to earn money.
Statistics show the government spent 29.3 billion yuan last year to aid college students, up 7.6 percent from the previous year. Around 40 million persons of college students received the national aid.
The Ministry of Education of the government would ensure that no students drop out of colleges or universities because of poverty.
Among the 20 million students in the country's public and private universities and colleges last year, about 20 percent came from poor backgrounds, official figures show.
1. The national assistance system is set up ___.

A．for parents and students to complain

B．to help poor college students

C．for poor students to get free education

D．to help students find jobs

2. The underlined phrase "abide by" in the second paragraph probably means ____.

A．follow

B．break

C．bear

D．agree to

3. From the passage, we know that ____.

A．students will drop out of university because of poverty

B．Chinese poor college students are more satisfied with national assistance system

C．more and more parents are complaining about their local colleges

D．college students are suffering from great economic pressure

【推荐2】Sara Dykman is on a 10, 000-mile bike trip, following the monarch butterfly from Mexico through the United States and Canada and back again. The purpose of her journey is not just to mark the butterfly's migrating(迁徙)road, but to warn about the threat it faces-and what we can do to help it.

When I reached Dykman by phone, she was biking through Iowa cornfields. She said she feels more upset than usual, because of what she is seeing-or not seeing-on her travels: Fewer butterflies and milkweed. "In the last two decades, the butterfly population has declined by about 90 percent as a result of the loss of milkweed, a native plant that the butterflies need as part of their life cycle," she said.

Butterflies go through a four-stage life cycle. In February and March, the adult monarch butterflies come out of winter sleep to look for a mate. Then they migrate north and east to lay their eggs on milkweed plants. It takes about four days for the eggs to hatch. Then the baby caterpillars(毛毛虫)spend much of their time eating milkweed in order to grow. About two weeks later, the fully grown caterpillars will attach themselves to plant branches or leaves to change into butterflies.

But Dykman is not in total despair. A solution, she says, exists within the reach of everyone who owns a home: simply planting some milkweed in the yards to help the butterflies on their journey.

Dykman lives a life as simple and rootless as the butterflies she loves. She doesn't own a house or car or eat out at restaurants. She carries only what she needs: a sleeping bag and clothing. People help along the way by providing a place to stay and a meal.

"I have failed at everything normal, but I'm pretty good at doing the less normal things," she admits in her new book Cycling With Butterflies.

"But this trip is about solutions, and it's about helping people see the consequences of their actions," she said on the phone.

1. What is the main purpose of Sara Dykman's bike trip?

A．To study the migration patterns of monarch butterflies.

B．To raise concern for the threats facing monarch butterflies.

C．To report the butterfly's migrating road.

D．To promote cycling as a healthy lifestyle.

2. Which is the incorrect statement about monarch butterflies' life cycle?

A．Adult monarch butterflies emerge from winter sleep in February and March.

B．They lay their eggs on milkweed plants after migrating north and east.

C．It takes about four days for the eggs to hatch into caterpillars.

D．The fully grown caterpillars transform into butterflies within a week.

3. What solution does Sara Dykman suggest to help the monarch butterflies?

A．Growing more milkweed in yards.

B．Reducing the use of pesticides that harm butterflies.

C．Creating protected areas for monarch butterflies to breed.

D．Encouraging people to adopt a vegetarian diet.

4. What would be the most suitable title for the passage?

A．The Life Cycle of Monarch Butterflies

B．Sara Dykman's Unique Lifestyle

C．Cycling for the Cause of Monarch Butterflies

D．The Decline of Monarch Butterflies and Solutions

【推荐3】Located deep in the mountains of Chong yang county of Hubei province, the Qingshan Reservoir (水库) looks like a river with many twists and turns.

For Wang Zhijun, a primary schoolteacher who has served the villages near the reservoir for 28 years, the river is an obstacle (障碍) to be overcome. He doubles as a ferryman to help students shuttle (往返) back and forth via boat.

A recent video of Wang went viral on social media and moved many.

He became a teacher at the primary school in Panshan village in 1995. With water in three directions, the village occupies a sort of peninsula (半岛), even though it’s high on Qingshan Mountain.

Wang travels 500 meters of mountain roads to carry water to the school for the students. He rows a boat to pick them up for school, and then he takes them home afterward. Wang said he had suffered many falls with the water buckets, but the ferry trips have always been safe.

With development of the local economy, Panshan Primary School merged with the Chichong Primary School on the opposite bank of the reservoir in 2017. Wang could drive to pick up most of the students, but a few depend on his boat.

He said he had been given several opportunities to get out of the area for better career development, but he felt responsible for the kids and stayed.

Panshan and Chichong villages together have more than 1, 000 residents. Wang is proud that 40 of his students eventually entered college. “My ultimate dream is to send them out from the mountains through education,” Wang said. Meanwhile, he is proud that six of the 40 college students returned to their hometown and became teachers themselves.

1. What does the underlined word “ultimate” in the last paragraph mean?

A．Original.

B．Unreasonable.

C．Final.

D．Unusual.

2. How can we best describe Wang Zhijun?

A．Shy and depressed.	B．Selfish and stubborn.
C．Cautious and sensitive.	D．Devoted and considerate.

3. Which can be the best title for the news report?

A．Teacher picks up kids by boat for 28 years

B．A talented teacher works at primary school

C．A common teacher makes great achievements in life

D．Teacher refuses opportunities of better career development