Suddenly he heard a bird’s wings beating the dry grass. Ben moved quickly toward the sound.
He saw a colored head ... the head of a beautiful bird. The bird did not move until Ben came close. Then it tried to fly away, but one wing was broken.
Ben lifted the bird and held it close against his body. The bird fought to escape, but soon lay quietly in Ben’s arms.
Ben decided to take the bird home and fix its broken wings so that it could fly again.
He was almost out of the woods when he heard the hunter behind him.
“You just found that bird?” the hunter asked.
“Yes,” Ben answered.
“It is mine!”
Ben was afraid and tried to answer, but his mouth was too dry to speak. Nevertheless, he wetted his lips and said, “No.”
“I shot him and I say he is mine!”
“But he is not dead yet,” Ben answered, “and besides, anything on my land belongs to me.”
The hunter looked down at the little man and smiled. “Say, who are you?”
Ben’s voice shook with both fear and anger. “I own this land. There are signs everywhere that say, ‘No hunting’.”
“No need to get angry, mister,” the hunter said. “Control yourself.”
There was something threatening in the man’s cool quiet voice. And he had a gun. His arms were free and Ben’s were not.
The hunter stepped closer and said, “Give me that bird!”
Ben was white with anger. “No!” he answered. His eye glasses became wet and he had to look over the top of them to see the other man.
“Give me the bird and I will go away,” the hunter said.
“You get off my land,” Ben told him. “Get off right now...you do not belong here!”
The man’s face got red. “Mister,” he said, “I have been hunting here all my life. I grew up here.”
“That is a thing of the past,” Ben said. “I do not know who you are and I do not care. I own this place now and I am telling you to leave. You go back through the woods and get off my land!”
“Now look, mister,” the hunter said, “be reasonable.”
The hunter raised his gun.
A cold wind blew across Ben’s face. He looked into the hunter’s gray eyes. Ben was frightened. It was not too late, he thought. He could still give the bird to the hunter and return safely home...that would end this whole ugly business.
The bird struggled weakly and made a wild, strange noise.
Then Ben knew he could never give this bird to the hunter. This feeling gave Ben great strength, and he was no longer afraid.
“I will never let you kill this bird,” he said. “Get away from here. If you try to take this bird, I will fight...you have a gun and you are bigger, but that does not worry me. You will never get this bird...you will have to kill me first.”
The two men looked at each other. Ben’s fear returned. His knees began to shake and he felt sick. Yet he stood straight, wondering what would happen next.
They stood close to each other for a long time. The woods were strangely quiet. Then the hunter’s rough voice broke the silence.
“You are a fool.” And then to Ben’s surprise, he slowly walked away.
Ben watched until he was gone. His arms hurt, his body felt wet and cold.
1. Why did the hunter smile when saying “Say, who are you”?
A.He wanted to confirm Ben’s identity in a friendly way. |
B.He was amused at Ben’s reply and interested in him. |
C.He looked down on Ben and thought his reply ridiculous. |
D.He meant to be friendly enough to get the bird from Ben. |
A.His strong dislike of the hunter. | B.His firm confidence in himself. |
C.His ownership of this piece of land. | D.His concern and sympathy for the bird. |
A.Ben tried to protect a bird at all costs. |
B.Ben pretended to be fearless although scared. |
C.Ben stood close to him saying nothing for long. |
D.Ben insisted on him leaving the land. |
A.Ben was willing to compromise. | B.Ben never thought of giving in. |
C.Ben held out to the end. | D.Ben was sure about his victory. |
相似题推荐
【推荐1】Many children want to have their own pets, but how to be a good pet owner? Besides giving them food and water, what else can we do to give our pets much love?
Provide your pet with the correct diet.
If you prefer to change the previous diet of your pet, do it slowly so that they adjust (适应) properly.
Clean their housing often.
Clean your pet’s home at least once a week and any other times if necessary. Generally, a pet’s home should be clean so it is a good environment for the animal.
Keep your pet clean.
If you have a dog that always plays in the mud, it’s necessary to give it a shower every day!
Train your pet.
Put a collar on your pet with your personal information and the pet’s name. Remember to close the cage door so there is no chance of escaping and being in an unsafe place.
A.Never hurt or harm your pet. |
B.Be an owner with a sense of duty. |
C.No one wants a cat that jumps on the table. |
D.Animals require different diets based on age. |
E.Remember that you should check the water first with your hand. |
F.Water should be fresh, clean and changed daily to keep your pet healthy. |
G.Without good living conditions, an animal will get sick more, and feel unhappy. |
【推荐2】When British musician Paul Barton performs in Lopburi lately, his energetic listeners react wildly. Some pull his hair or jump on his piano. Others steal his music. These behaviors are normal; however, these crowds are truly wild—wild monkeys to be exact, who are Barton’s latest animal fans. Past wildlife audiences included elephants and deer living in special protected areas. He also once played to cows to please them to get more milk.
Barton plays often to the animals in Lopburi, an area known for wild macaque monkeys. The pianist hopes the music shows bring calmness to the animals, which often suffer hunger during the hard time and become aggressive(好斗的).The limited tourism means fewer people come to see the monkeys and feed them.“On the one hand, we need to make an effort to make sure that they eat correctly. On the other hand, we should try to calm these wild animals down,” said Barton, 59, a Thailand man.
Barton has played at four places in Lopburi, including an ancient Hindu temple, a store and an old movie theater. The animals quickly surround Barton when he plays music. Some of the creatures sit on his chair, while others climb up his body and touch his head. However, Barton keeps his attention on his performance, even when some animals run over his hands on the instrument and other animals take control of his music papers. Barton is happy to find they are curious about him and the piano and enjoy the music as he is playing it.
1. Who are the listeners for Barton in Lopburi?A.Monkeys. |
B.Deer. |
C.Cows. |
D.Elephants. |
A.To show his music talent. |
B.To calm the animals down. |
C.To raise money for the animals. |
D.To help the animals out of hunger. |
A.Fight with other animals. |
B.Enjoy the music silently. |
C.Be curious about his behavior. |
D.Keep away from him immediately. |
A.Piano lessons are taught in the wild. |
B.Special concerts are held for animals. |
C.A musician helps animals play the piano. |
D.Some measures are taken to protect animals. |
【推荐3】A new survey method is invented to count wild species. African elephants are the first animals to be successfully counted from space while moving through a complicated landscape that range from open grasses to forests.
Typically, conservationists do this from low-flying planes in order to count and monitor African elephants, a method that takes many hours. With the new technique that combines satellite imagery with artificial intelligence, up to 3,100 square miles can be surveyed on a single blue-sky day in minutes. Then, the deep-learning computer analyzes those images and pick out individual elephants.
The new technique is a key part of ensuring the survival of the endangered species. Due to illegal hunting and habitat destruction, just 415,000 African elephants are living in the wild. “Accurate monitoring is essential if we’re to save the species,” said Olga Isupova, a computer scientist at the University of Bath in the UK. “We need to know where the animals are and how many there are.”
What really makes this study stand apart from other satellite-tracking projects is how successful the computer program is at picking out the elephants from their complex backgrounds, including grasslands and partially tree-covered landscapes. Satellite imagery is also a much more efficient survey method than the current flyover surveys carried out, which is faster and avoids double-counting the same elephants. The remote survey also reduces the impact researchers have on the animals and allows them to count individuals moving between countries.
“Although this is a proof of concept, it’s ready to go,” said professor Duporge, a zoologist at the Oxford University. “And conservation organizations are already interested in using this to replace surveys using aircraft. As satellite imaging improves, other smaller species may soon be able to be counted in greater detail from space too. ”
1. What are used in the new study method?A.AI and surveys. | B.Satellites and aircraft. |
C.Planes and computers. | D.Satellites and computers. |
A.Climate change. | B.Human activities. |
C.Environment threat. | D.Social improvement. |
A.Less money. | B.More accurate. | C.Less workers. | D.More complex. |
A.Worried. | B.Objective. | C.Doubtful. | D.Optimistic. |
【推荐1】This is the last Christmas that Faye and Matthew have spent in their house, which has already been sold. Faye and Matthew Gooding and their five young sons appear to have perfect lives. For the couple themselves, however, this “materially perfect world” was lacking in something—so now they are giving up all their possessions to travel around the world with their children. Most of their belongings have been given to their neighbors. Faye said, “It is a relief to get rid of so many possessions. Thankfully, our parents understand and support us.”
“I hesitated for a while because some friends think Faye and I are mad to give up so much. When we told the older boys, they were so excited that they were going to have so much time as a family. It made me realize the amount of toys or material possessions can’t replace time spent with our children. They’ve had to give away so many toys, bikes and books. My wife Faye was so determined to keep to our plan,” said Matthew.
They will leave this month and plan to start their travels in Sweden where they have friends. Faye said, “My older boys plot where we go next but we hope to see Europe and over two years travel as far as Japan, America, Bali and Thailand. We don’t plan to hire any tour guides. We just depend on a compass and local people to move in the right direction.”
Faye, who posts on Instagram as a mother of five boys, added, “It is a risk because we are giving up so much. I, however, even plan to quit my job after the travel. We can’t wait to spend more time with our sons without the stresses of everyday routines. We don’t know what will happen, but we do know if we didn’t do this we would always regret it.”
1. How will Faye and Matthew cover the travel costs?A.By selling their house. | B.By doing part-time jobs. |
C.By asking parents for help. | D.By borrowing from neighbors. |
A.Worried | B.Excited | C.Uncertain | D.Firm |
A.Faye | B.Matthew | C.The children | D.The tour guide |
A.A travel guidebook | B.A life journal | C.A paper | D.A diary |
【推荐2】All Luciano Faggiano wanted when he purchased the seemingly unremarkable building was to open a restaurant. The only problem was the toilet. Sewage (污物) kept backing up. So Mr. Faggiano asked his two sons to help him dig a trench (沟) and uncover the problem. He predicted the job would take about a week. “We found some underground rooms, so we kept digging,” said Mr. Faggiano, 60.
One week quickly passed, as the father and sons discovered a tomb of the Messapians, who lived centuries ago. Soon, the family discovered a room used to store grain by the ancient Romans.
Mr. Faggiano did not initially tell his wife about the extent of the work. His wife soon became suspicious (怀疑的).“We had all these dirty clothes, every day,” she said. “I didn't understand what was going on.”
After watching the Faggiano men pull away debris (碎片) in the back seat of the family car, neighbors also became suspicious and informed the authorities. Officials arrived and stopped the digging, warning Mr. Faggiano against operating an unapproved archaeological (考古的) work site. Mr. Faggiano responded that he was just looking for a sewage pipe.
A year passed. Finally, Mr. Faggiano was allowed to continue his search for the sewage pipe on condition that officials observed the work. An underground treasure house came into view, as the family uncovered ancient vases, an ancient ring with symbols and more. Today, the building is the Faggiano Museum, an independent archaeological museum authorized by the government.
Mr. Faggiano is now satisfied with his museum, but he has not forgotten about the restaurant. A few years later, he finally found his sewage pipe. It was, indeed, broken. He has since bought another building and is again planning for a restaurant. “I still want it,” he said of the restaurant. “I'm very stubborn.”
1. Why did Faggiano dig the trench?A.To repair the toilet. | B.To lay a sewage pipe. |
C.To find ancient treasure. | D.To bury some dirty clothes. |
A.Groundwater. | B.A rough shelter. |
C.An ancient tomb. | D.An old Roman city. |
A.His wife didn't allow him to do it. |
B.He was unsatisfied with his sons' work. |
C.He didn't get permission from the government. |
D.His neighbors were annoyed about the noise pollution. |
A.He sold it. | B.He repaired it. |
C.He donated it to a charity. | D.He changed it into a museum. |
【推荐3】Every morning at five o'clock, composer (作曲家) Walter Werzowa would sit down at his computer waiting for a particular daily e-mail. It came from a team that had been working all night to draft Beethoven’s unfinished 10th Symphony. The e-mail contained hundreds of versions, and Werzowa listened to them all, looking for the perfect tune—a sound that was unmistakably Beethoven. But the phrases he was listening to weren’t composed by Beethoven. They were created by artificial intelligence.
When Ludwig van Beethoven died in 1827, he left behind some musical drafts and notes. There was barely enough to make out a phrase, let alone a whole symphony. But that didn’t stop people from trying.
Werzowa and a group of music experts and computer scientists teamed up to use machine learning to create the symphony. Ahmed Elgammal led the AI side of the team. The team’s first task was to teach the AI to think like Beethoven. To do that, they gave it Beethoven’s complete works, his drafts and notes. They taught it Beethoven’s process—like how he went from four notes to his entire Fifth Symphony. Then they taught it to compose a bridge between two sections. With all that knowledge, the AI came as close to thinking like Beethoven as possible. But it still wasn’t enough. The AI doesn’t really produce something that can continue for a long time and be consistent. So the team had to put the selected pieces together to build a symphony.
Matthew Guzdial researches creativity (创造力) and machine learning at the University of Alberta. He didn’t work on the Beethoven project, but he says, “Modern AI, modern machine learning, is all about just copying small local patterns. And it’s up to a human to then take what the AI outputs and find the genius (天资). The genius wasn’t in the AI. The genius was in the human who was doing the selection.”
1. How did Walter Werzowa contribute to the Beethoven project?A.He trained the AI to think like a human. |
B.He replied to daily e-mails every morning. |
C.He selected the best tune created by the AI. |
D.He drafted Beethoven’s unfinished symphony. |
A.The AI was far from thinking like Beethoven. |
B.It was hard to put pieces together to build a symphony. |
C.The AI couldn’t create a long and consistent piece of music. |
D.There were not enough complete works for machine learning. |
A.Al is likely to be a barrier to creativity. |
B.The potential of AI is being brought out. |
C.The value of AI shouldn’t be overlooked. |
D.AI can’t totally replace the role of humans. |
【推荐1】The sound that woke Damian Languell at 8:15 am was so loud that he assumed it came from inside his house. As he got up to investigate, he heard another sound, this one coming most definitely from outside. Looking out of his bedroom window, he spied a tree engulfed(淹没) in smoke about 500 yards away. A car was wrapped around the tree’s base, its engine on fire.
Grabbing buckets of water, Languell and his girlfriend ran to the crash site. The wreck looked worse up close. The car, a 1998 Buick, was split nearly in two, and the tree was where the driver’s seat ought to have been, as if planted there. No one should have survived this crash, and yet there was 16-year-old Quintin Thompson, his terrified face pressed against the driver’s side window, in visible pain. Languell tried putting out the fire with his buckets of water with no success. When the flames got into the front seats, he realized he had to get the boy out of there.
In an act that a police report described as showing “complete disregard for his own safety”, Languell opened the Buick’s back door and crawled in. Thompson was struggling to get free, Languell says. “That’s when I noticed how bad his legs were.” Using a pocketknife he’d had the foresight to bring with him, he sawed through Thompson’s seat belt.
Now that Thompson was free, Languell pulled him out a back window of the vehicle, then dragged the teen to safety before the entire car was engulfed in flames.
Although Thompson suffered multiple fractures(骨折) to his legs, spine, and face, a social media post described him as “looking great, smiling, and joking.” Languell thinks about that day often. “My heart goes out to Thompson. When you are that close to that level of hurt, you feel it so directly. ”
1. When Damian rushed to the crash site, .A.the police had arrived |
B.the whole car was completely in flames |
C.Thompson was terrified and painful |
D.Thompson was smiling and joking |
A.brave | B.lucky |
C.simple-minded | D.warm-hearted |
A.His own bravery and persistence. |
B.The several buckets of water. |
C.The timely arrival of the police. |
D.The pocketknife Damian carried with him. |
A.he called 911 immediately |
B.he stayed inside his house |
C.he woke up his girlfriend |
D.he got up to see what happened |
【推荐2】Last year, I worked in a middle school near my mother’s house, and I stayed with her for a month. During that time, I helped her do some housework and buy some food.
After the first week, I noticed that the food was eaten up very quickly. Then I began keeping an eye on my mom. To my surprise, I found that she would put some of the food into a paper bag and go out with it at about nine every morning. And finally, I decided to follow her. I saw her taking the food to the street children. She would also spend a lot of time talking and playing with them.
One day, I talked to a neighbor and found out that my mom was well-known in the area. The children were very friendly with her and even thought of her as their own mother. Then it hit me—why wouldn’t she want to tell me about it? Was she worried that I would stop buying food if I found out?
When my mom got home, I gave her a big hug. I told her she didn’t need to keep it a secret from me. And she told me something about the children. Some of them lived with an old lady in a small house. Others slept on the street. For years, she was helping the poor street children by giving them food. After she told me everything, I was so moved by how selfless she was. She helped others in need. As her son, I was so proud of my mom.
I continued to buy food for my mom after that. But I always added one more bag for her other children.
1. After the first week, the writer noticed that_____.A.the food was put into a big box | B.his mom followed the children |
C.the food was eaten up quickly | D.his mom stopped buying food |
A.old grandma | B.own mother | C.new neighbor | D.dear teacher |
A.He was proud of her. | B.He was confident in her. |
C.He was angry with her. | D.He was worried about her. |
A.make friends with the children | B.get a hug from his mother |
C.become well-known in the area | D.help the poor street children |
When I was a little girl, I spent memorable holidays with my grandmother, who lived in a small village. She was a farmer with a stooped (弯曲的) back that made it seem like she was always leaning forward to examine something. Early in the morning, she would tie a cloth around her waist and set out to the farm. I would skip breathlessly alongside, trying to keep up. On our way, she would greet everyone we passed.
There was the standard greeting, “Did you wake up on the right foot this morning?” Then, the more personalized greetings. To Patriarch Kosi who sat under the mango tree, she would ask, “Are the grandchildren in good health?” To the Bean Stew Seller who was preparing to serve breakfast, she would inquire, “Are your boys well?”
Sometimes, the greetings were spoken soothingly (安慰地). When we walked past the widow, Dada Mawusi, many months after her husband’s death, Grandmother would say directly, “How is your grieving?” She didn’t like to beat around the bush. The greeting made more sense to her to acknowledge the woman’s suffering, and in doing so, empathize (理解) with her.
The people that Grandmother greeted would respond similarly. “I see you have your granddaughter with you today. How is her father?” or “I see you have woken up before the cock’s crow today. May it be a fruitful day at the farm.” As a young girl, I thought these greetings were unnecessarily time-consuming. What I now realize is that the greetings increased a sense of belonging. My grandmother taught me that there is always time to greet someone before getting down to business. You can always take a few extra seconds to say a greeting to a person. We enrich our society when we acknowledge the unique presence of one another.
1. Where did the writer spend holidays when she was young? (no more than 6 words)2. What made the writer feel breathless? (no more than 8 words)
3. How do you understand the underlined sentence in Paragraph 3? (no more than 10 words)
4. What did the writer think about greetings when she was young? (no more than 10 words)
5. Why do you think greeting neighbors is important? Give your reasons, (no more than 20 words)