Horses are useful animals to human beings. Domestic (驯养的) horses now pull ploughs (耕地), race in the Kentucky Derby, and carry police. But early horses weren't tame (驯服的) enough to perform these kinds of tasks. Scientists think the first interactions humans had with horses were far different from those today.
Thousands of years ago, people killed the wild horses that lived around them for food. Over time, people began to catch the animals and raise them. This was the first step in domestication.
As people began to tame and ride horses, they chose to keep those animals that had more desirable characteristics. For example, people may have chosen to keep horses that had a gentle personality so they could be ridden more easily. People who used horses to pull heavy loads would have chosen to keep stronger animals. Characteristics like strength are partly controlled by the animals' genes. So as the domesticated horses reproduced, they passed the characteristics on to their young. Each new generation of horses would show more of these chosen characteristics.
Modern day horse breeds (血统) come in a wide variety of shapes and sizes. This variety didn't exist in the horse population before domestication. The Shetland horse is one of the smallest breeds—typically reaching only one meter tall. With short, strong legs, the animals were bred (养育) to pull coal out of mine shafts (矿井) with low ceilings. Huge horses like the Clydesdale came on the scene around 1700. People bred these heavy, tall horses to pull large vehicles used for carrying heavy loads.
The domestication of horses has had great effects on societies. For example, horses were important tools in the advancement of modern agriculture. Using them to pull ploughs and carry heavy loads allowed people to farm more efficiently. Before they were able to ride horses, humans had to cross land on foot. Riding horses allowed people to travel far greater distance in much less time. That encouraged populations living in different areas to interact with one another. The new form of rapid transportation helped cultures spread around the world.
1. Before domestications horses were ________.| A．caught for sports | B．hunted for food | C．made to pull ploughs | D．used to carry people |
| A．it is smaller than the Clydesdale horse |
| B．horse used to have gentle personalities |
| C．some horses have better shaped than others |
| D．horses were of less variety before domestication |
| A．carrying heavy loads | B．changing farming methods |
| C．serving as a means of transport | D．advancing agriculture in different areas |
| A．why humans domesticated horses |
| B．how humans and horses needed each other |
| C．why horses came in different shapes and sizes |
| D．how human societies and horses influenced each other |
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But there are a few exceptions, primarily among mammals (哺乳动物) that live in close social groups. Canadian zoologist Anne Innis Dagg described groups of langur monkeys in India in which older females lived with their daughters and grandchildren. The grandmother langurs have a particular job: they protect the group's babies against hurt from humans, dogs and other monkeys. Some female langurs even give their own grandchildren special treatment, cleaning their fur and stepping in when they play too roughly with other young.
Many whale species, too, travel with their families,including both grandmothers and grandcalves. In groups of sperm whales, according to Dagg, old females help babysit the group's young while their mothers dive (潜水) for food. Orca grandmothers often lead their family members and can live for many years after they stop reproducing. In 2015, scientists suggested that these elder orcas help their grandcalves through hard times, because they remember all the best places to find food.
Female elephants rule the whole family. Calves (幼崽) are typically born into groups led by their grandmothers, who can live to around 80 years old. The female elephants form close relationships, said Lahdenperä, and raise their young together. Lahdenperä found that the calves of young mothers were eight times more likely to survive if their grandmothers lived near them than if they didn't. When the calves' mothers were older and more experienced at raising babies, this beneficial “grandmother effect” disappeared even if the actual grandmothers were still around.
It isn't very clear how elephant grandmothers help their inexperienced daughters, said Lahdenperä. It is believed that they may help nurse their grandcalves. But Lahdenperä thinks that the more likely advantage is the wisdom a grandmother elephant has got during her long lifetime.
And what about grandfathers? Studies of humans in recent years have shown that a living grandfather can improve a person's mental health and well⁃being, said Lahdenperä.
But there are signs of that in the animal kingdom, she said. Male animals seldom socialize with their own children, let alone grandchildren. “Males are usually focusing on producing their own children and aren't providing so much care,” Lahdenperä said.
1. From Paragraph 3, we know that orca grandmothers _______.
| A．die after reproducing | B．teach the young to dive for food |
| C．have rich experience | D．enjoy travelling with grandfathers |
| A．the “grandmother effect” lasts long in the animal world |
| B．grandmothers shoulder great responsibilities in their families |
| C．animal grandfathers can improve grandcalves' mental health |
| D．most species treat their grandparents like human beings do |
| A．Animal grandparents are like human grandparents |
| B．Animal grandmas are born group leaders |
| C．Are animal grandmas given enough respect? |
| D．Do any animals know their grandparents? |
【推荐2】If you’ve ever seen an alpaca (羊驼), you might just think they’re fuzzy and cute. Now, it looks like these animals might be able to help scientists find a vaccine (疫苗) for COVID-19.
Australian scientists are studying alpacas. These animals have a unique immune response (免疫反应). Scientists used to use them to do research on viruses (病毒) like HIV. Now they have found that when alpacas are infected (感染) with COVID-19, their bodies react in a special way.
“Alpacas and animals like them (such as camels) actually create two different types of antibodies (抗体). One is similar to the type we (humans) make, but they also create these things called nanobodies (纳米抗体),” said Michael James, a researcher who took part in the study.
The alpacas produced these nanobodies after researchers put a COVID-19 viral spike protein (棘突蛋白) into their bodies. It is this protein that allows COVID-19 to infect our cells (细胞). The nanobodies, however, stop infection from happening by blocking (阻隔) the protein.
You can think of our cells as “locks”— and the viral spike protein as a “key”. James said the nanobodies plug up the “lock” so that the “key” cannot get in.
Although the results look good so far, it will take some time to produce a vaccine based on the findings. The nanobodies require far more research to make sure they are both effective and safe. Since the nanobodies are new, they must be tested very strictly in a laboratory before they can be tried on humans, according to James.
1. Why are scientists studying alpacas?| A．To help with research on HIV. | B．To develop a vaccine for COVID-19. |
| C．To invent effective medicines for HIV. | D．To test new medicines for COVID-19. |
| A．Protecting cells from infection. | B．Producing viral spike proteins. |
| C．Infecting body cells. | D．Killing viruses. |
| A．How animals create antibodies. | B．How alpacas’ bodies react to viruses. |
| C．How alpacas get infected with COVID-19. | D．How animals protect themselves from danger. |
| A．add | B．connect | C．fill | D．start |
| A．The research on nanobodies uses a special method. |
| B．The research on nanobodies hasn’t gone well. |
| C．The nanobodies have been tried on humans. |
| D．The nanobodies will continue to be tested. |
One look was enough for the giraffe′s small brain. He could not believe that such extraordinary(特别的) animals existed（存在）. Or that he was one of them! He turned and bolted. The family took him back several times. In the end they gave up. Now their giraffe lives by himself near the warden ′s house.
1. The baby giraffe was probably separated(分开) from his Mother because .
| A．the warden took him away |
| B．his mother couldn′t feed him |
| C．the warden′s children took him |
| D．he ran away |
| A．too wild to play with the children |
| B．too big to live in the house |
| C．lonesome for other giraffe |
| D．too large to play with the children |
| A．take the giraffe to join the herd |
| B．find the giraffe′s mother |
| C．tell the giraffe what he is |
| D．let the giraffe do what he liked |
| A．how animals like giraffes could exist |
| B．why he would not join the other giraffes |
| C．that he was really a giraffe, too |
| D．Both A and C |
| A．most mother giraffes leave their babies |
| B．giraffes are not good pets |
| C．giraffes are not very smart |
| D．the giraffe was unusually tall |
【推荐1】The locust (蝗虫) is a kind of insect. Though it is small, it can cause great trouble to plants and people.
The locust usually does things alone.
A swarm of desert locusts can be 1200km2 in size.
It’s the desert locusts that cause major agricultural damage (农业损失) and brings hunger to people all over the world.
| A．Imagine an area that is over 20 kilometers wide and 50 kilometers long, full of locusts! |
| B．They can also fly very long distances (距离). |
| C．It lives its own and eats on its own. |
| D．Perhaps the most dangerous locusts is desert locusts. |
| E．It’s no wonder that farmers in many countries fear it more than the snakes and the spiders. |
Frank lived on a farm with his parents and three brothers. He didn’t play games, or go fishing or help out with the animals like his brothers. The boy spent all his free time sitting on the chair with his nose in a book.
“That is not a normal (正常) boy, maybe he doesn’t love us.” The old sheep said to his friends, the horse and the pig.
The horse said, “I don’t think so.
The pig said, “Why don’t we find out for ourselves?”
The next morning, the animals got their opportunity (机会).
The sheep and the pig didn’t find anything special. After a moment, the horse said, “See, I told you so.” The sheep and the pig looked over into the horse’s book. In it were colorful pictures of animals, much like themselves. “The boy loves animals so much.
| A．The family drove away. |
| B．Every boy loves animals. |
| C．And he is always reading about us. |
| D．They all sat down and read their books. |
| E．He read even when he was walking. |
| F．The boy’s favorite animal is sheep. |
| G．The animals don't like the boy. |
【推荐3】After years of heated debate, gray wolves were reintroduced to Yellowstone National Park. Fourteen wolves were caught in Canada and transported to the park. By last year, the Yellowstone wolf population had grown to more than 170 wolves.
Gray wolves once were seen here and there in the Yellowstone area and much of the continental United States, but they were gradually displaced by human development. By the 1920s, wolves had practically disappeared from the Yellowstone area. They went farther north into the deep forests of Canada, where there were fewer humans around.
The disappearance of the wolves had many unexpected results. Deer and elk population-major food sources for the wolf grew rapidly. These animals consumed large amounts of vegetation (植被), which reduced plant diversity in the park. In the absence of wolves, coyote population also grew quickly. The coyotes killed a large percentage of the park’s red foxes, and completely drove away the park’s beavers(河狸).
As early as 1966, biologists asked the government to consider reintroducing wolves to Yellowstone Park. They hoped that wolves would be able to control the elk and coyote problems. Many farmers opposed the plan because they feared that wolves would kill their farm animals or pets.
The government spent nearly 30 years coming up with a plan to reintroduce the wolves. The US Fish and Wildlife Service carefully monitors and manages the wolf packs in Yellowstone. Today, the debate continues over how well the gray wolf is fitting in at Yellowstone. Elk, deer, and coyote population are down, while beavers and red foxes have made a comeback. The Yellowstone wolf project has been a valuable experiment to help biologists decide whether to reintroduce wolves to other parts of the country as well.
1. Which of the following animals were brought back to the Yellowstone area?| A．Deer and elk. | B．Coyotes. | C．Red foxes. | D．Gray wolves. |
| A．Tested. | B．Separated. | C．Forced out. | D．Tracked down. |
| A．Damage to local ecology. | B．A decrease in the park’s income. |
| C．Arise in plant diversity. | D．An increase in the variety of animals. |
| A．Doubtful. | B．Positive. | C．Negative. | D．Not interested. |
| A．The researches on wolves in the United States. |
| B．The diversity of plants in the Yellowstone Park. |
| C．The conflict between wolves and other animals. |
| D．The reintroduction of wolves to Yellowstone Park. |
China is a large country. The population is over 1.3 billion. It has a special culture with a very long history.
Chinese food plays an important role for Chinese families. Different foods have special meanings. The main difference is that Chinese people eat their meals with chopsticks. One of the main foods in Chinese culture is rice. Tea is a favorite drink and it is popular in the market.
Chinese calendar is different from the one used in western countries. New Year's Day is in late winter. It is also called the Spring Festival. It has a big celebration of ringing out the old and ringing in the new. It has special foods and traditions. For example, sweeping the floor before New Year's Day sweeps away all the old year's bad luck.
The Chinese zodiac( 生肖 ), known as Sheng Xiao, follows a twelve-year cycle. Each year is named for an animal. These animal signs are the rat, ox, tiger, rabbit, dragon, snake, horse, sheep, monkey, rooster, dog and pig. For example, the year that begins in 2016 is the year of the monkey.
Chinese is a complex (复杂的) language. Chinese writing developed almost 4,000 years ago and may even be older. Chinese writing has thousands of characters. A character stands for a word and also a meaning. Besides Putonghua, Chinese people speak six other forms of the language, and there are many kinds of
1. What's the population of China?
| A．Almost 4,000. | B．More than 1.3 billion. | C．12 million. |
| A．交际 | B．对话 | C．方言 |
| A．Tea. | B．Rice. | C．Meat. |
| A．Yes, it is. | B．No, it isn't. | C．I don't know. |
| A．Different foods have special meanings in Chinese culture. |
| B．Chinese is a popular language. |
| C．Chinese culture. |
【推荐2】History is not just cold facts (事实) for students at Lincoln Middle School in the USA. The school opened a WWII (二战) museum on May 19. All the students showed videos, e-books, and songs to share (分享) a different idea of history.
Emma made an e-book about women workers in WWII. Emma said people didn’t talk about those women more.
“The women really worked hard while men were away from their homes to the war (战争),” she told the newspaper Park Ridge Herald.
Rachel made a computer game. Players could play their roles (扮演角色), like a soldier or a Jewish person. When the players were playing games, they were just like doing different things in the war.
Like Emma and Rachel’s work, most students’ exhibits (展品) were not about the war, but about ordinary (普通的) people in the war.
“We want kids to know well about the events (事件) through ordinary people’s stories,” said the head teacher, Tony Murray.
1. Lincoln Middle School is in .| A．India | B．England | C．America | D．Thailand |
| A．men | B．women | C．kids | D．players |
| A．made a computer game | B．told a story |
| C．sang a song | D．made an e-book |
| A．to make students remember Chinese history |
| B．to help students know more about World War II |
| C．to ask students to read more books |
| D．to let students be more interested in computer games |
【推荐3】A jigsaw is a power-driven saw (锯) used to cut sharp curves (急弯曲线) in pieces of wood.
A jigsaw is also a puzzle. It is made up of a large number of small, interlocking pieces. Each piece has a small part of a picture on it. A completed puzzle produces a picture or design.
Jigsaw puzzles were first created by producing a picture on a flat, rectangular (矩形) piece of wood, then cutting that picture into small pieces with a jigsaw – that’s where the name comes from!
Pictures found on jigsaw puzzles mainly include scenes from nature, city life and similar designs. Castles, mountains and water scenes are traditional subjects. However, any kind of picture can be used to make a jigsaw puzzle. Cartoon-styles are popular. There are companies that create puzzles from personal photographs. Completed puzzles can also be glued onto a piece of wood to make a wall hanging.
The first jigsaw puzzles were designed as geography teaching tools by John Spilsbury in 1767. His “jigsaw” was a map puzzle. It was a hand-painted map of England on a piece of wood. It was a successful teaching method. He went on to make over thirty other map puzzles. The pieces were not interlocking.
With the invention of power tools more than a century later, jigsaw puzzles with fully interlocking pieces came into being. The jigsaw machine could cut sharp curves. Then the name jigsaw puzzles came into being. Jigsaw puzzles became very popular in the United States in the early 1930s, when people had difficulty in finding jobs and making money.
Today puzzles of all sizes are a standard item in toy shops and supermarkets. However, they usually come in 300-piece, 500-piece, 750-piece, and 1,000-piece sizes. The largest one even has 24,000 pieces.
Some jigsaws are quite tricky. Try doing one with all pieces without pictures on it. A few puzzles are made double-sided, so they can be solved from either side. This increases the difficulty, because the puzzle solver cannot be certain which way up each piece goes. Some jigsaws do not have straight edges (边缘). The edge pieces could be any interlocking piece. Solving these jigsaws requires more effort than doing those straight-edged ones. Others designedly have a piece or two missing. Jigsaws are no longer educational toys but are used for entertainment or a hobby.
1. What can we learn about jigsaw puzzles?| A．Cartoon-style pictures are traditional subjects of jigsaw puzzles. |
| B．People can choose any photo they like to use in a jigsaw puzzle. |
| C．The smallest jigsaw puzzle in the world has three hundred pieces. |
| D．There are many small, interlocking pieces in all the jigsaw puzzles. |
A． | B． | C． | D． |
| A．A double-sided jigsaw with straight edges. |
| B．A one-sided jigsaw with straight edges. |
| C．A double-sided jigsaw with curved edges. |
| D．A one-sided jigsaw with curved edges. |
| A．Puzzles are cheap entertainment that can be replayed or passed on to others. |
| B．By 1767, students began to learn geography by putting the puzzles back together. |
| C．Spilsbury continued to build more puzzles with different area maps and sell them. |
| D．Early wooden puzzles had pictures printed to the front and lines for cutting on the back. |
【推荐1】Where is Love? How can we find Love?
Once a little boy wanted to meet Love. He knew it was a long trip to where Love lived, so he got his things ready with some pizzas and drinks and started off. When he passed three streets, he saw an old woman sitting in the park and watching some birds. She looked very hungry. The boy gave her a pizza. She took it and smiled at him. The smile was so beautiful that he wanted to see it again, so he gave her a Coke. She smiled once again. The boy was very happy.
They sat there all the afternoon, eating and smiling, but they said nothing. When it grew dark, the boy decided to leave. But before he had gone more than a few steps, he turned around, ran back to the old woman and gave her a hug. The woman gave him her biggest smile ever.
When the boy opened the door of his house, his mother was surprised by the look of joy(快乐)on his face and asked what had made him so happy. “I had lunch with Love. She has got the most beautiful smile in the world.” At the same time, the old woman’s son was also surprised at his mother’s pleasure and asked why.
“I ate a pizza in the park with Love,” she said, “and he is much younger than I expected.”
If the world is full of love, we can enjoy a better life.
1. When the little boy saw the old woman, she was .| A．looking for a seat in the park | B．passing the street |
| C．looking at some birds | D．having a pizza |
| A．the old woman still felt hungry | B．he wanted to see the smile again |
| C．he didn’t like the drink | D．the old woman paid him for it |
| A．after the little boy went home | B．before it grew dark |
| C．when she was drinking Coke | D．after the little boy hugged her |
| A．pleased | B．sad | C．unhappy | D．angry |
| A．The little boy failed to find Love. |
| B．Both the little boy and the old woman found what they wanted at last. |
| C．The little boy decided never to go home. |
| D．The old woman gave the little boy a hug to thank him. |
Why is he so sleepy？Because，like thousands of student "early birds"in China，he has to get up before 6： 00a．m．every morning．
School students usually need eight to ten hours' sleep a night．But in China，it's reported that 90% of the students do not get enough sleep And studies show that without a good nights sleep，students seem to be weaker than they should be．They can't pay attention to their lessons or the traffic around them，and become upset as a result．
Li Ming，a student of a middle school in Linhe，said，"I usually go to bed after 11：00 p．m But when I have exams coming up，I have to stay up as late as midnight．"This"night bird lifestyle has made many students nod off（打瞌睡）in class． Li Ming said，"It is during afternoon classes that I feel most sleepy． My parents are usually happy to see me studying so late．They think I work very hard and they make me cups of coffee．
So far，the officials of the Educational Bureau of Bayannao'er City have taken many measures to reduce the students'pressure．One is known as putting off（推迟）the time for going to school．It has worked well in increasing the students'sleeping time．Thanks to the policy， the students have enough time to sleep now．However，some people doubt the correctness of it．The problem of the students' pressure is still serious in our area，We still have a long way to go．
1. Although the ten-year-old boy was ______ ，his mother had to wake him up before 6： 00a．m．
| A．angry | B．lazy | C．sleepy | D．ill |
| A．at least eight hours | B．six to eight hours |
| C．less than eight hours | D．more than ten hours |
| A．upset | B．weak |
| C．sleepy in class | D．all the above |
| A．sorry | B．angry | C．happy | D．worried |
| A．All the parents hope their children stay up． |
| B．All the students don't think that they are short of sleep． |
| C．The students dont have learning pressure now． |
| D．The officials of the Educational Bureau care about the students' health． |
【推荐3】The 17-year-old, who also goes by her Chinese name, Gu Ailing, is a freestyle skier, model and grade-A student with an American father and a Chinese mother. She grew up in the United States and still lives there.
“I was raised bilingual (双语的) and spent every summer in Beijing so I know Chinese culture and American culture,” she told the Xinhua News Agency. “And the two halves make a whole me,” Gu added.
Gu started on the snow at the age of three, was competing (参加比赛) nationally at nine and won her first World Cup event by fifteen. She won two gold medals (奖牌) and a silver for China at the 2020 Youth Olympic Games in Lausanne.
As she became better at skiing, she soon found herself competing mostly against boys.
“It wasn’t until I was fourteen that I had any girl ski friends who were at my level,” she said. “So, I was always thinking, I am the only girl here, so do I have to do anything more difficult? Do I have to make myself better so people won’t laugh at a woman skiing?”
Gu isn’t just an successful skier on the snow. She is also an excellent piano player and a good runner who led her high school team to win a second-place at an important competition. She finished her study in one of the best high schools in three years and entered Stanford in 2022.
________? Gu said that her secrets are “love, concentration (专注) and balance (平衡)”. “I’m not skiing just for the Olympic Games. I’m skiing because of my love for the sport. I started skiing at a young age because I love the snow. If you do the things you have love for, you can put all your heart into what you are doing,” she added.
1. What doesn’t Gu Ailing do well in according to the passage?| A．Running. | B．Skiing. | C．Playing the piano. | D．Laughing at a woman skiing. |
| A．One. | B．Two. | C．Three. | D．Four. |
| A．She has learned skiing for 8 years. | B．She lives in the United States now. |
| C．She can speak both Chinese and English. | D．She finished high school in only three years. |
| A．Her mother and father. | B．Chinese and English. |
| C．Skiing and playing the piano. | D．Chinese culture and American culture. |
| A．What makes an Olympic skier also a top student in the classroom? |
| B．Why did Gu Ailing start skiing at a young age? |
| C．What helps Gu Ailing keep her balance? |
| D．How can we be a good skier? |
