Emperor penguins are the largest penguins on the earth. The largest emperor penguin is over a meter tall and up to 40 kilograms heavy.
For many months each year, emperors live near the sea in large groups called colonies. However, in May, the weather gets colder and ice covers large part of the sea. Each colony moves many kilometers from the water. There, each mother penguin lays just one egg. Then all the hungry mothers must walk back to the sea to find food. The father penguins put their eggs on top of their feet, under a special piece of skin called the brood pouch.
Working together
For two months, the father penguins keep the eggs safe and warm. They do this through some of the coldest weather on Earth. By July, it is winter in Antarctica. Most animals leave for warmer places, but the father penguins stay. In this time, without food, a father penguin can lose almost half of his body weight, so he is thinner.
New Life
By August, the babies begin to hatch. The mother penguin returns just in time to see her baby come out of its egg. The chick is then moved to her brood pouch. This can be difficult. If the chick falls, it may freeze quickly because of the really cold weather, so the penguin parents must be very careful. Once the chick goes into its mother’s brood pouch, the father penguin can go back to the sea to find food.
Growing up
Over the next few months, penguin parents take turns going to the sea for food. They each make the trip over a few times, bringing back food for the chick. The chick grows quickly and is always hungry.
Into the Water
By December, winter is ending. The chick is five months old and can live by itself. Soon it goes into the water for the first time. It will swim and eat. By next April, it goes back here. After a few more years, it, too, will start its own family.
1. The underlined word “hatch” in Paragraph 4 means ________.| A．pushing out from its body | B．putting the egg on top of its feet |
| C．coming out of an egg | D．moving to the brood pouch |
| A．Mother penguin will feed it. |
| B．The chick will die because of the cold. |
| C．Father penguin will play with it. |
| D．The chick will sleep on the snow. |
| A．How Emperor Penguins Find Food |
| B．Emperor Penguins and Cold Weather |
| C．Different Kinds of Penguins |
| D．How Emperor Penguins Look After Babies |
相似题推荐
【推荐1】From a seed (种子) that is smaller than a pea grows the tallest of trees. The coast redwood is the largest giant among North America’s trees.
 |
| redwoods |
Redwoods are most special for two reasons. The first is their size. Imagine standing next to a tree that is the height of a 30-story building. The second is their age. Redwoods commonly make it to 600 years or so. It has been found that some trees are more than 2000 years old.
To find a coast redwood, you have to go to Oregon or California. A coastline about 450 miles long and up to 35 miles wide is home to the redwoods. Coast redwoods don’t grow anywhere else in the world, because the coast of the Pacific Ocean provides a special environment for the redwoods. Cool, moist (湿润的) air comes off the ocean and keeps the trees moist all year round, which is important because almost all of the area’s rain falls between October and May. During the dry summer months, the trees depend on moisture from the thick fog that often hangs over the coast.
Redwoods have their own protection systems. Most of redwoods’ branches and leaves are high up on the tree. This keeps them safe from forest fires. Also, the bark (树皮) of a redwood is as much as 12 inches thick. The thick covering protects the lower part of the tree from fire damage. Besides, redwoods are safe from insect damage (虫害) because the wood contains a bitter-tasting (苦味的) chemical called tannin.
If you ever get a chance, visit a redwood forest, and imagine who might camp there a thousand years ago. Look upward and just imagine how high the trees might grow if we protect them.
1. What is the largest giant among North America’s trees?2. What are redwoods most special for?
3. Where can you find a coast redwood?
4. What keeps the trees moist all year round?
5. What are the redwoods’ protection systems?
【推荐2】The documentary Born in China was shot in the Qinghai-Tibet Plateau（青藏高原）. It shows how animals live during different seasons and traditional Chinese culture. The film is mainly about life and love within three animal families—giant pandas, golden monkeys and snow leopards.
The giant panda is black and white. Its body is thought to show yin and yang. The panda’s gentle nature also shows how yin and yang lead to peace and harmony（和谐）when perfectly balanced. This can be seen in the documentary when a giant panda mother guides her baby to gradually look for independence and explore the world.
Monkeys always have strong personalities. On one hand, they represent impatience. But on the other hand, they show cleverness. Born in China follows a 2-year-old golden monkey who finds his life is worse than before because of his new baby sister. He quickly joins up with a group of other free-spirited monkeys, but finally returns to his family and understands what responsibility means.
The documentary also takes a close look at the life of snow leopards. A mother snow leopard is trying to protect and raise her two children while facing challenges from constant danger in a harsh（严酷的）environment. But she never gives up easily. The leopards, known for their rapid attacks and quick footwork, have inspired（启发）a form of pictographic boxing（象形拳）in Shaolin martial arts（武术）.
If you love animals, don’t miss the documentary Born in China. It will take you on an amazing journey to the wild of China, where you will meet a huge army of fantastic wild animals and their unusual experiences.
根据上面短文的内容完成下列各句。
1. The documentary Born in China shot in the Qinghai-Tibet Plateau shows animals’
2. The body of the giant panda which is
3. The 2-year-old golden monkey finds that his life is not
4. A mother snow leopard takes on
5. The film is mainly about
【推荐3】Birds have reached their summer breeding grounds about one day earlier per degree of increasing global temperatures. The researchers studied hundreds of species across five continents.
Reaching their summer breeding grounds at the wrong time—even by a few days—may cause birds to miss out their important resources such as food and nesting places. Late arrival to breeding grounds may, in turn, affect the timing of offspring (后代) hatching and their chances of survival.
The researchers have examined records of migrating bird species dating back almost 300 years. The study will help scientists know how different species may respond to future environmental change.
1-2题完成句子；3题简略回答问题；4题找出并写下全文的主题句；5题将文中画线句子译成汉语。
1. Migrating birds are arriving at their breeding grounds earlier as
2. If the birds reach breeding grounds at the wrong time , it causes birds to
3. What will happen if they arrive later?
4.
5.
【推荐1】Dogs like living with people. They are very friendly. They can do many things for people. Some dogs help people to look after sheep, and others help them to find the lost children. And some of the dogs can help the blind. There is a kind of dog called the seeing-eye dog. Now we can see this kind of dogs all over the world. They are working for the blind. The seeing-eye dog is strong and easy to train. He helps the blind to walk from place to place. Before a dog becomes a seeing-eye dog, he must stay at a training school for about three months. First the dog has to learn to sit or stay when he hears the trainer’s call. In his next lesson the dog learns to take his trainer across busy streets. The dog has many things to learn. At the end of the training he must take tests. When he passes the tests, the seeing-eye dog will do things by himself. Now he can help the blind people. The new master may be a man, a woman, or even a child. It takes the dog and his blind master about a month to learn to work and live together.
根据短文内容，回答下列问题。
1. Do dogs like living with people?
2. Who are the seeing-eye dogs working for?
3. How long must a seeing-eye dog stay at a training school?
4. What must a seeing-eye dog do at the end of the training?
5. How long does it take the dog and his blind master to learn to work and live together?
Have a look at the picture. It’s called a “yurt”. You might ask:
•What is a yurt?
•How is it like to live in it for a week or two?
A yurt comes from Mongolia, Siberia and Turkey. It’s a circle-shaped tent made from animal skins.
When talking about how big a yurt is, the answer isn’t easy because it can be different from small ones for only one or two people right up to large party-sized yurts! Yurts in old days would be smaller because people had to be able to put them up, take them down and then go with them. It’s a living or sleeping place at first, but now the use of yurts is for a break time where people can get fun during holidays.
Yurts are made out of a wooden framework（木质框架）with animal skins before. These are good to keep people warm, dry and comfortable—but nowadays yurts change a lot. A modern yurt is made out of canvas（ 帆布）, as time goes, you may find yurts using different things and ways of building.
A yurt holiday can be really great—but you need to make sure you are fully ready for it. It still isn’t quite like staying in a hotel after all.
◎Make sure you have enough clothing to keep yourself warm. It can get cold at night.
◎Don’t forget to bring something to light up the midnight.
◎Bring things for you to cook outdoors. You may want to have an outdoor campfire.
1. How does the use of a yurt change?| A．People first live in it but later go with it. | B．People first build it but later take it down. |
| C．People sleep in it for life but now for fun. | D．People use it for a break time but now for life. |
A． |
B． |
C． |
D． |
Water overflows(溢出) onto dry land and a flood happens. Floods have always been a part of life on earth. Almost every culture has a tale about a great flood. Since old times, people have built the cities along rivers because they use the water for drinking and for farming. For that reason, river floods affect(影响) many people. In some places people have built dams(堤坝) to protect lands from river flooding.
Floods can be dangerous. However, floods are not always bad. When muddy floodwaters go down, they sometimes leave a layer(层) of wet earth. People in ancient Egypt depended on the flooding of the Nile River every year to help them grow their crops, like rice and corn.
Most often flooding is caused by heavy rains over a long time. After a lot of rain, the ground becomes full of water, and new rainwater runs off, or flows downhill. That runoff goes directly in streams and rivers. In springtime, the rain may be mixed with melting(融化的) snow. Because of the extra(多余的) water flowing into the streams and rivers, their water level(水位线) rises. If the level rises so much that the water overflows the banks, a flood happens.
Flooding can be worse if there is not much vegetation (trees, grass, and other plants) on the land around rivers. In general, land that has little vegetation is less able to absorb(吸收) water. The result is a larger amount of water entering a river system.
Flash floods are the deadliest kind of flood. They are caused by sudden heavy rainfall or a broken dam. They happen very quickly and can catch people before they have a chance to get away. Flash floods often happen in hilly country or around dry riverbeds. In a flash flood, a completely dry riverbed can fill in minutes.
About floods | |
| How floods happen | Floods happen A long time of heavy rains makes rainwater runoff enter streams and rivers, and their serious water level rises bring water overflows. |
| The | The flooding |
| Why floods can be worse | Land with few trees and grass |
| The most terrible kind—flash floods | Place: hilly countries and dry riverbeds. Results: deaths and the quick filling of the riverbed. |
【推荐1】阅读短文，根据其内容，完成下列任务。
Everyone wants to become perfect. Unluckily, being perfect may not happen. Here’s some useful advice about how to refuse perfection.
Don’t compare anymore
Compared with others, you may feel that you are not perfect. The solution? End your comparison. No comparing, no pain.
1
When perfection is your goal, mistakes mean failure. Your fear of criticism (批评) may keep you from ①________ risks or trying new things. Nobody is perfect. Take it easy. You needn’t take other’s words seriously.
2
Part of beating perfection is accepting that mistakes are part of human beings. If you don’t give up, you will be successful one day. You shouldn’t prevent you from asking for help you need to really improve.
Don’t judge yourself
Find a trusted friend, family member or teacher who is not a perfectionist-someone who can take criticism (批判) and has learned from his or her mistakes. Share your goals and achievements with him or her, no matter how small they are.
Pay attention to your language
Cut out the words like never, always and should from your self-talk. Carry a notebook and take notes whenever you want to say these words. Realizing this means you’re well on your way to changing them.
The more confidence you develop, the ②________ you’ll feel the need to be perfect. And when you give up perfection, happiness can begin right now.
1. 题把下列标题与相应的段落大意匹配，答案的字母代号写在横线上.1. 2. | A. Accept your mistakes B. Ask for help C. Help others often |
①
When you talk to yourself, never say never, always and should.
What’s the main idea about the passage?
【推荐2】Usually, the Full Moon shines brightly all night long, lighting homes, trees, cities, and fields. Sometimes, though, a strange event happens. The Full Moon turns dark in a lunar eclipse. Lunar means “about the Moon”, and an eclipse is a blocking(遮蔽) of light.
A lunar eclipse often impresses people so much because the Moon is bright and nearby. It is the closest heavenly body(天体) to Earth. When the Moon turns dark, we notice! It’s closer to us than Mars or any other planet, and closer than the Sun or any other star. On average, the Moon is 239,000 miles away from Earth’s center. The Sun is almost 400 times farther.
What causes a lunar eclipse? The first key is that the Sun makes light, but the Moon doesn’t. When you see the Moon shining at night, you’re seeing sunlight bouncing off(反射) the Moon.
The second key is that the Moon, which is smaller than Earth, goes around us about once a month. Once a month, the moon is on the opposite side of Earth from the Sun. Then the Sun fully lights the side of the Moon that we see. We call this event a Full Moon. That’s when the Moon shines brightest.
The third key is that, during a lunar eclipse, Earth gets in the way. When you go outside on a sunny day, your body blocks some of the sunlight and casts a shadow(投射影子) over things that lie on the opposite side of you from the Sun. Earth also casts a shadow, and sometimes it falls on the Moon. Then we have a lunar eclipse.
A lunar eclipse happens only during a Full Moon, since that’s the only time when Earth is between the Sun and the Moon. Usually, though, there’s no eclipse because the Full Moon passes above or below Earth’s shadow.
阅读以上信息，用恰当的单词完成下面的短文，每空一词。
The article introduces “lunar eclipse” to us. First it tells us the
At last, the article shows three keys cause a lunar eclipse. The first key is that the sunlight is seen bouncing off the Moon at night. The second key is that there should be a full Moon. The third key is that the
【推荐3】When you are in England, you must be very careful in the streets because the traffic drives on the left. Before you cross a street, you must look at the right first and then left. In the morning and in the evening when people go to or come from work, the streets are very busy. Traffic is the most dangerous then. When you drive a car in England, you have to be careful, too. Always remember the traffic moves on the left. So you must be careful. Have a look first, or you will go the wrong way. In many English cities, there are big buses with two floors (层). You can sit on the second floor. From there you can see the city well. It’s very interesting.
根据短文内容，按要求完成下列各题。
1. Which side does the traffic move in England?
2. Why are the streets become very busy in the morning and in the evening?
3. What are the big buses like in many English city?
4. Always remember the traffic moves on the left.( 改为同义句，每空一词)
5. In this passage, the underlined word there refers to (指)
