【推荐2】Everybody knows that cats like to sleep. They spend more than half their lives sleeping and enjoy every minute of it. Other animals have different sleeping habits, however. Horses may not look like they are asleep. But they are! Horses spend about six hours sleeping every day and they do it standing up!

Fish also sleep every day but they have a strange habit. They don’t close their eyes when they are sleeping. When ducks sleep they keep one eye open and one half of their brain awake. It helps them stay alert and watch out for dangerous animals.

So what about us?

Well, most people sleep for about a third of their lives. The number of hours you sleep, however, has to do with your age. Most newborn babies sleep a lot. They spend about 75% of their time sleeping every day! As we get older, we need less sleep. Children need about eleven hours and adults sleep for eight hours every night. So, yes, you spend many hours a year doing nothing—sleeping in bed!

But you’re not just asleep—you’re not really doing nothing. Your body and your mind relax during this time, but a lot of things happen during sleep. Dreams are one way that the mind relaxes after a busy day. A person spends about 20% of every night dreaming. That means you have about four or five dreams every night or about 1,600 dreams a year.

Singapore, lying in Southeast Asia, is a city-island-state and a third-smallest country in Asia. It is known as “Garden City” because there are plants everywhere and it looks like a garden. Singapore is also an island country. However, Singapore is not only one island. Sixty-three islands belong to this city-state.

The name “Singapore” comes from the Sanskrit word “Singapura.” It means “Lion City.” Sanskrit is an old Indian language. Singapore has four official languages: English, Malay, Mandarin and Tamil.

Singapore is also sometimes jokingly called a “fine” city. The city has a very high standard of living. What’s more, it is also known for its strict rules and punishments, including fines.

The Merlion is the national symbol of Singapore. It’s a mythical creature with the head of a lion and the body of a fish. The fish body represents Singapore’s origin(起源) as a fishing village. The lion head represents Singapore’s original name — “Lion City.” The Merlion statue(雕塑), measuring 8.6 metres high and weighing 70 tonnes, was built by the late Singapore craftsman, Mr. Lim Nang Seng. It is made of cement fondue (熔融水泥).

A．

B．

C．

D．

【推荐1】For most of us, the Arctic (北极地区) and the Antarctic (南极地区) are very far places. The Arctic is the most northern part of the earth and it is the area around the North Pole. The Antarctic is the most southern part of the earth and it is the area around the South Pole. Both of the places have a lot in common, but they are also different in many ways.

Both places are very, very cold. Both of them are covered with ice. Much of the ice there never melts (融化). You may be surprised to know there are not many snowstorms in either place. Small pieces of ice blow around and look like falling snow.

On every big difference is what is under the ice. Water is under most of the ice in the Arctic. Land is under most of the ice in the Antarctic. The Antarctic is a large continent (大陆). It has plains (平原), valleys and mountains. They are covered with ice.

The Arctic is warmer than the Antarctic. Small plants grow on the Arctic in summer. The Antarctic has almost no plants, because it is too cold. A few small plants grow there each summer.

Animals live in both places. Polar bears live in the Artic. Same foxes and wolves live there, too. Most animals can’t live in the Antarctic because it is too cold. However penguins (企鹅) can live there. There are some animals that can live in both places, such as whales.

Many people live in the Arctic. There are towns and small cities on the land areas. The Antarctic is so cold that nobody lives there for long. Scientists who study the Antarctic stay there while they are working. They live in special buildings and don’t spend much time outside.