【推荐2】Almost all animals need to sleep, but some have special ways.

The albatross (信天翁) is one of the largest flying birds. They fly in the sky for months without getting to the ground. They can fly about 22,000 kilometers around the Earth in 46 days! They sometimes even sleep when they are flying.

A flamingo (火烈鸟) can sleep when standing on one leg. The standing leg always stays in the water. The other leg stays close to its body. Its head lies on its back.

Horses often sleep when standing up. If a horse lies down, it needs a long time to get up. A standing horse can escape more quickly when it sees dangerous things. And horses only need about three hours of sleep a day.

Giraffes sleep the shortest time. They sleep about 30 minutes a day, and 5 minutes at a time. They lie down when they sleep. They put their heads on their bodies or on the ground. What an interesting way of sleeping!

1. In one day, an albatross can fly ________.

A．about 22,000 kilometers	B．about 11,000 kilometers
C．about 480 kilometers	D．about 46 kilometers

2. What does a flamingo look like when it’s sleeping?

A．

B．

C．

D．

3. The underlined word “escape” means ________in Paragraph 4.

A．run away

B．eat up

C．get up

D．stay away

4. Which of the following is TRUE?

A．Giraffes sleep only 5 minutes every day.	B．Horses lie down when they are sleeping.
C．Albatrosses can sleep when they are flying.	D．Flamingos have a shorter sleep than giraffes.

5. Which is the best title (标题) of the passage?

A．Animals’ special sleeping ways.	B．Animals’ different sleeping time.
C．Animals’ favorite sleeping places.	D．Animals’ difficult sleeping problems.

【推荐3】Human, Don’t Come too Close

Frequent touching from humans may change plants’ genes and slow their growth.

When we see babies or pets, we can’t help gently touching them to show our love. And they give us happy feelings back. But a recent study shows that it’s different for plants.       

A study, published in The Plant Journal, shows that plants don’t “like” to be touched. That’s because touching changes their genes (基因) and, even worse, can slow their growth.

Professor Jim Whelan of the La Trobe Institute in Australia gave an explanation. “The lightest touch from a human, animal, insect, or even plants touching each other in the wind, leads to a huge gene change in the plant,” Science Daily reported.

In order to test the theory, the scientists did an experiment on plants. They grew a number of plants to the age of four weeks. Then they touched them with a paintbrush every 12 hours over a 36-hour period.       

They found that as a response to the touch, the mitochondria (线粒体) in the plants had been partly destroyed. The mitochondria, as Science Alert noted, are the “powerhouse of the cell (细胞)”. The mitochondria produce energy for the rest of the cell in both animals and plants.

If this “powerhouse” is weakened, the plants will lose a large amount of energy that should have supported their growth. Whelan further explained to Science Daily, “If the touching is repeated, then plant growth is reduced by up to 30 percent.”

Although the process does have a strong effect on plants, usually the plants survive. Touching changes the plants, but it’s not necessarily a bad change.

According to Science Alert, frequent touching or moving plants will make them grow shorter than other ones. The researchers believe this change, in some way, could be helpful. It may help plants fight threats to their health such as insects and bad weather.

The new research findings have led to a deeper understanding of the plants’ response to touching. And the research might “open up new ways to reduce sensitivity (敏感性) and improve growth in the future”, Science Alert reported.

1. Why did the scientists do the experiment?

A．To test if touching can change the genes of plants.

B．To show that plants’ and animals’ genes are different.

C．To tell when touching has effect on plants and animals.

D．To find out why some plants grow more slowly than others.

2. What did the scientists find in their experiment?

A．Repeated touching shortened the plants’ life by four weeks.

B．Touching slowed down plant growth by reducing energy for growth.

C．Repeated touching made plants die sooner than they were expected to.

D．Mitochondria in the plants couldn’t produce energy because of touching.

3. What do the scientists think of the fact that touch makes plants become shorter?

A．The plants will be more likely to be attracted by insects.

B．The plants will be more easily harmed by bad weather.

C．The plants will be less sensitive to being touched.

D．The plants will be better at fighting dangers.

【推荐2】We usually think fish can’t talk. But there are a lot of sounds under the ocean. In fact, scientists believe that all sea animals—at least 250,000 kinds—can “speak”! “If we stay focused when diving (潜水), we can hear animals all around us,” a UK scientist Steve Simpson said.

In the past years, scientists used sound recorders to hear fish’s “voices”. There are now thousands of recorders in the ocean. They help scientists match sounds with sea life.

A healthy coral reef (珊瑚礁) is one of the noisiest places in the ocean. Scientists can tell if it’s healthy by listening to it. A healthy coral reef should be full of clicks (咔嚓声) made by shrimps (小虾). When some coral reefs dicd in 2015 and 2016, they became quiet. After people set up the protected areas, scientists heard the animals come back.

With the help of listening to the ocean, scientists start to understand sea animals’ languages.

Strong clown fish make short “chirp (啁啾声)” sounds when going after small clown fish. They do this to show they are more powerful. A damsel fish can create a pop sound to scare other fish by quickly opening and closing its mouth. Mother dolphins can use a special voice to talk to their babies. They are saying “I’m here” to comfort the baby dolphins.

1. What is probably Steve Simpson’s attitude towards sea animals’ languages?

A．Positive.

B．Worried.

C．Unconcerned.

D．Doubtful.

2. What do scientists use “recorders” to do?

A．To protect the coral reefs.	B．To communicate with fish.
C．To look for new kinds of sea life.	D．To collect sounds from sea life.

3. Why is the coral reef a noisy place?

A．Because people feed animals there.

B．Because many shrimps live there.

C．Because the coral reef can give out sounds.

D．Because many fishes speak in dead coral reefs.

4. What way does the writer use to introduce sea animals’ languages in the last paragraph?

A．Telling a story.	B．Using a saying.
C．Asking questions.	D．Giving some examples.

5. Which of the following is TRUE according to the passage?

A．Sea animals can talk except fish.	B．Many recorders are in the sea.
C．Animals are very good at learning.	D．Dolphins can talk to the zookeeper.

【推荐3】Now more and more students don’t like taking notes by hand. Instead, they use digital (数码的) cameras to take pictures of the words on the blackboard or record what their teachers say in class.

The children might think there are so many notes to take or their teachers write or speak so fast that they can’t take more specific notes. They are trying to find ways to make things easier, so they use digital cameras. In fact, children are very clever to make use of technology (技术).

But do digital cameras really make taking notes easier?

Not really. Before you read notes from digital cameras, there are a lot of things you have to do. To begin with, you have to find a computer. Then you need to copy (复制) the photos into the computer. Next, you have to find a printer to print the photos. Another thing is that you can’t hear the sound from the digital cameras clearly because there is usually lots of noises. You will have to listen to it slowly several times before you understand everything.

In fact, taking notes by hand has many advantages (好处). For example, it can help you remember and understand what you are learning. In order to save time, you can choose the most important things or the things you don’t understand to write down. You don’t have to write down everything.

根据短文内容选择最佳答案。

1. More and more students take notes with digital cameras but not only by hand, because ________.

A．they want to take right notes

B．their teachers want them to do so

C．they want to make taking notes easier

2. The underlined word “specific” means ________ in Chinese.

A．详尽的

B．宏伟的

C．特殊的

3. The students need ________ steps to read the notes from digital cameras.

A．four

B．three

C．two

4. Which of the following is TRUE about taking notes?

A．You shouldn’t be afraid to write down everything.

B．To save time, you should use your brain to remember instead of taking notes.

C．You can write down what you don’t understand or some key words to save time.

5. What does the writer think is the best way to take notes?

A．By taking pictures of the words that teachers write.

B．By recording what teachers say in class.

C．By taking notes with your hand.

【推荐3】Do you ever think about the universe? It’s amazing, isn’t it? How big is it? What’s out there? Are there other planets with life on them? We don’t know yet, but we’re trying to discover more.

Some people work hard to learn about the universe. They are astronomers (天文学家) and they look at the stars. Other people design and make machines and these machines travel in space. Astronauts go up into space and look at the earth. They also take photos of the other planets and the stars. Sometimes they live in space for a few days or weeks. They do experiments (实验) and learn about what happens to the human body in space. The space is really mysterious. It’s strange but interesting for us because we don’t know much about them.

Soon, some people will be able to travel into space for fun. A company called Virgin Galactic is designing a new kind of plane. This plane can go very fast and very high. People who want to travel in space will pay $200,000 for a ticket. The plane goes up to 100 kilometers above the earth. There are only six passengers and two pilots on the plane. The journey is only two hours, so the passengers don’t get any food. But they can see the earth from space and that’s an amazing thing! This could be the most exciting holiday experience in the future.

1. What do astronauts do in space?

A．Do experiments.

B．Design new machines.

C．Look at the stars.

D．Make machines.

2. What does the underlined word “mysterious” in paragraph 2 probably mean?

A．Secret.

B．Difficult.

C．Horrible.

D．Terrible.

3. According to the passage, what will people do if they want to travel to space in the future?

A．Buy tickets for your family with eight people.

B．Pay $200,000 for a ticket on a special plane.

C．Bring food for lunch on the plane.

D．They can wear warm clothes.

4. Which can be the best title for the passage?

A．The history of space travel company	B．An exciting holiday experience in space
C．Learn about the universe from astronauts to space traveling	D．Travel into space for fun