Truman headed home from school, with the homework in mind, a report on beehives (蜂巢). Truman’s class had studied bees for three days, so he was ready. But, as his teacher Mrs. Lawrence had explained, to earn an A +，he needed a “new angle”.
Truman pushed open the front door to find his four-year-old brother, Bryan, sitting on the living room rag, hard at work. Paper towel tubes were all over the floor.
Bryan quickly stood up. “Truman, help me build a city!”
“I’d like to,” Truman replied, “but I have to do a report on beehives and ...”
“Can I help you?” Bryan begged.
“I don’t think so, Bry. Sorry.’’
“I know where there’s a beehive.” Bryan smiled.
“Where?”
“In the wood pile by the garage.’’
The boys marched to the firewood. Bending down, Bryan pointed out the hive deep inside the pile. Truman carefully removed the hive out.
“You got it!” Bryan shouted.
Back in the living room, Truman paced around, turning the fragile hive under his nose. Each cell was a perfect hexagon(六边形). How did the bees fit the cells together so neatly? And how did they make each cell six-sided? Could they count? Lost in thought, his foot came down on something ...
“Truman! You’re mining my city!”
“Get your stupid tubes out of here，Bryan! I’m trying to…”
The towel tubes on the floor suddenly reminded him of something. The beehive!
Looking closer, he noticed the tubes were arranged with one in the middle, surrounded by six others, just like the cells of the hive.
Just to be sure, he tried five and then seven tubes surrounding the center tubes, but neither way fit. Six was the only number that worked.
“Bees don’t count to six,” he said aloud. “The cells have to be six-sided.
Truman ran to Bryan and threw his arms around his brother. Bryan, you did it! Now I can build a model beehive with your tubes! I mean — if it’s O. K. with you.”
1. Where did Truman find the beehive?| A．In Bryan’s city. | B．Inside the garage. |
| C．In the living room. | D．Inside the wood pile. |
| A．It was hidden by Bryan. | B．It was easy to break. |
| C．It was ruined by Truman. | D．It was a perfect hexagon. |
| A．With his teacher’s aid. | B．By building a city. |
| C．With Bryan’s help. | D．By killing the bees. |
相似题推荐
【推荐1】One day, while my friend and I were traveling through Germany, we were very hungry but we didn’t have a lot of money.
My friend can read some German, but I can’t, so I gave her the package in order that she could look for the brand name.
“Why are you laughing?” I asked.
“Because they’re dog biscuits!” she said.
| A．We left the store and looked for a place where we could eat. |
| B．She looked at it and then started to laugh. |
| C．We decided to stop at a small store to get some food. |
| D．They’re cheap and they really taste good. |
| E．More and more people will go there. |
| F．She liked Germany very much. |
| G．They looked good and were a lot cheaper than the ones I had in my hand. |
【推荐2】Grey clouds move as low as smoke over the treetops at Lolo Pass. The ground is white. The day is June 10.It has been snowing for the past four days in the Bitterroot Mountains.Wayne Fairchild is getting worried about our trek over the Lolo Trail-95 miles from Lolo Montana to Weippe in Idaho, across the roughest country in the West. Lewis and Clark were nearly defeated 200 years ago by snowstorms on the Lolo.Today Fairchild is nervously checking the weather reports.He has agreed to take me across the toughest,middle section of the trail.
When Lewis climbed on top of Lemhi Pass,140 miles south of Missoula,on Aug.12,1805,he was astonished by what was in front of him;“high mountain chains still to the West of us with their tops partially covered with snow.”Nobody in what was then the US knew the Rocky Mountains existed,with peaks twice as high as anything in the Appalachians back East.
Today their pathway through those mountains holds more attraction than any other ground over which they traveled,for its raw wilderness is an evidence to the character of two cultures:the explorers who braved its hardships and the Native Americans who prize and conserve the path as a sacred (神圣的)gift. It remains today the same condition as when Lewis and Clark walked it.
The Lolo is passable only from July to mid-September.Our luck is holding with the weather,although the snow keeps getting deeper.As we climb to Indian Post Office,the highest point on the trail at 7,033 ft,we have covered 13 miles in soft snow,and we hardly have enough energy to make dinner.After a meal of chicken,I sit on a rock on top of the ridge (山脊）.There is no light visible in any direction,not even another campfire.For four days we do not see another human being.We are occupied with the things that mix fear with joy.In our imagination we have finally caught up with Lewis and Clark.
1. We learn from the text that before 1805 .| A．The Rocky Mountains were wholly covered with snow |
| B．there were no people living in the western part of America |
| C．no Americans knew of the existence of the Rocky Mountains |
| D．the Appalachians were the western frontier of the United States |
| A．has changed a lot since 1805 |
| B．is the meeting point of three cultures |
| C．remains much the same as it was 200 years ago |
| D．now attracts a large number of tourists to visit |
| A．two native Indians |
| B．explorers of the early 19th century |
| C．merchants who did business with the Indians |
| D．travelers whose curiosity took them over the Lolo Pass |
| A．was attempting the impossible |
| B．was trying to set a world record |
| C．was following the trail of Lewis and Clark |
| D．was fighting with weather and taking unnecessary risks |
【推荐3】For the creatively minded, snow represents a large blank canvas (空白画布) for art. But often, it’s limited to snowmen or other snow statues. Simon Beck had a different idea, and over the course of a decade he has carved a path for himself in the snow art world. He creates large land art by walking across soccer-field-sized areas covered in untouched snow. Combined with light and shadow (影子) , his artistic designs can only be fully appreciated when viewed from above.
Beck, 59, a former map maker turned into a snow artist, thanks to his decision late in life to pursue his hobby.
“It started just as a joke one day really,” Beck explained. “After skiing one day, I decided to make a drawing on snow to seek pleasure...”
“I really had no idea how good it would look when I made that first drawing, but it really went beyond my expectation,” he said of his first ever creation that he looked down on from a ski lift.
To create this work, Beck stepped his way through the snow using only snowshoes and a ski pole for measurement with nothing else but the image of a design idea in his head. It was not challenging at all due to his previous work experience. But as his designs developed and became more complex(复杂的), Beck said he began to start drawing them on paper first.
Beck’s paintings have become a huge hit since his work was first shared.
“Most of the time I had been doing failed careers, and people around me are asking what's the quickest way of getting rid of (摆脱) this person,” Beck said. “And for the first time, I felt people actually wanted me. I felt like a more valued member of society.”
1. Where does Simon Beck create art?| A．On maps. | B．On canvas. | C．On soccer fields. | D．On snowfields. |
| A．To have fun. | B．To prove his talent. |
| C．To entertain the skiers. | D．To develop a new hobby. |
| A．Surprised. | B．Unsatisfied. | C．Annoyed. | D．Indifferent. |
| A．His passion for skiing. | B．His competitive nature. |
| C．His dream to be an artist. | D．His experience of making maps. |
