1 . Most of us probably live without vegetables, but a world without chocolate? Now that would be hard! According to chocolate makers, it could happen if we don’t act soon.
There are two main causes of the chocolate shortage(短缺)- chocolate’s growing popularity and less production of cocoa, the plant from which chocolate is made. With more and more people in India and China loving chocolate, not much can be done about the first cause.
Therefore, the only thing we can do is to increase cocoa production. However, new plant diseases and little rain in Ivory Coast and Ghana, the world’s largest producers, have reduced cocoa production by 40 percent in the past 10 years. What’s worse, many cocoa farmers in Africa and other cocoa-producing countries like Indonesia and Venezuela are changing to easier-to-grow crops such as corn of rubber. This way, the farmers can make more money.
To prevent more farmers from changing, researchers at the newly opened International Cocoa Control Centre, in the UK, are trying to create new cocoa plants that are stronger and faster growing. But first they must make sure the new plants are safe to grow. This takes a long time.
First, each new plant is stored at the Control Centre for six months to make sure it is healthy. It is then planted in the Centre’s fields, studied and tested for another two years. Only after scientists are certain that they’re disease-free, will the plants be sent to farmers in West Africa or wherever else they are needed.
To create new stronger types of cocoa, scientists at the Control Centre are combing (结合) the best parts from different cocoa plants. Though the world is facing a serious chocolate shortage, there is now hope!
1. In which countries has chocolate become more popular in recent years?2. How long does it take scientists at the Control Centre to make sure a cocoa plant is safe to grow?
3. If you are a cocoa farmer in Africa, will you continue to grow cocoa? Why or why not?
2 . Many people think that animals in the zoo are very happy and lucky, but many of them are sad(悲伤的). Do you know why? Animals like tigers, lions and bears usually live in the forest (森林) or mountains. They run, jump, play with their children and catch small animals for food. But now they have to stay in cages or small rooms in the zoo. They do not have to find food by themselves. Because the zoo keepers（饲养员）feed them. They just eat, walk and sleep every day. Their life in the zoo is quite different from that in the forest because they are not free.
1. Are many of the animals in the zoo happy?2. Where do animals like tigers, lions and bears usually live?
3. What do the animals in the zoo do every day?
4. Do you think it is good for animals to live in the zoo? Why or why not?
When an animal helps another animal, it usually gets something valuable (有价值的) in return. For a long time, many scientists thought that only people could act generously (慷慨地) just because it feels good.
However, a new study in Germany suggests that chimpanzees (an animal like a large monkey without a tail) also do good things for no real reason. And so do children who are as young as 18 months of age. Maybe it is because humans and chimpanzees share an ancestor about 6 million years ago.
People and chimpanzees appear to develop such features without any other training, says Warneken, a scientist in Germany.
Warneken and his partners worked on adult chimpanzees that live on an island in the African country of Uganda. They also worked with 18-month-old children in Germany. The researchers performed three experiments on the adult chimpanzees and two experiments on the kids. In the first animal experiment, a person tried to reach his arm into a cage to get a stick, but he couldn't reach it. A chimpanzee was in the cage, and it could reach the stick if it wanted to.
Thirty-six chimpanzees took part in this experiment one by one, and no chimpanzee saw what the other chimpanzees had done. Even though the animals hadn't met the person before, they usually took the stick and gave it to the person. What's more, they did this whether or not the person gave them bananas as a reward (奖励).
In a similar experiment, 36 children acted in a similar way. They helped the person reach the stick, whether or not they were given toys for their help.
Researchers did other experiments on chimpanzees and babies. No rewards were given in either experiment. And still, both the chimpanzees and children went out of their way to help.
1. What did many scientists think for a long time?2. Where did they do the experiments?
3. How many chimpanzees took part in this experiment?
4. Did children act in a similar way as chimpanzees in the experiment?
4 . It was a sunny Sunday yesterday. David went to Star Zoo with his science teacher and classmates. All of them were very excited. When they reached the gate of the zoo, it was half past eight in the morning. Then the teacher bought tickets and they went into the zoo happily.
They came to a big bird cage first. There they saw many kinds of strange birds. They found a tall birth with a long head, a long neck and two long thin legs. The guide told them that its name was crane(鹤). Not far from here was another bird with a long thin neck and white feathers. It was swan(天鹅).
After that they visited a very large cage. There was only a big bird in it. They never saw the bird before. It didn't look friendly to them. David and. his classmates were afraid of it. They didn't know its name. Their science teacher told them that it was a kind of eagle.
At half past five in the afternoon, they left Star Zoo for home. They really had a lot of fun there. David planned to go there with his parents again.
根据短文内容,完成下列小题
1. What was the weather like yesterday?2. Who did David and his classmates go to the Star Zoo with?
3. Does swan have a long head, a long neck and two long thin legs?
4. How did David's classmates feel when they saw the big bird in a large cage?
5. When did they leave the zoo?
5 . Dinosaurs（恐龙）once lived on the earth for a long time. They suddenly disappeared millions of years ago. What happened to them？That's still a mystery. People never stop searching for the answer.
Some US scientists say it is because there were not enough male（雄性的）dinosaurs. They got this idea after researching crocodiles（鳄鱼）.
Mother crocodiles lay eggs and later baby crocodiles come out. The local temperature decides the sex（性别）of the baby crocodile. When the eggs are at a temperature of 26 ℃ to 30 ℃，the babies are all girls；when the temperature is 30℃ to 34℃，there are both boys and girls；when it is 34Cto36℃，only boys are born.
Dinosaurs' babies also came from eggs. So scientists have given us a new picture: millions of years ago，it suddenly became very cold. Almost all dinosaur babies were girls. There were fewer and fewer male dinosaurs. Mother dinosaurs could not give birth to more babies. Finally，these powerful animals disappeared.
任务2：阅读短文（B），根据英文释义及首字母提示拼写单词。
1. e
2. l
任务3：阅读短文（B），完成同义句转换，每空一词。
3. Dinosaurs' babies also came from eggs.
Dinosaurs' babies came from eggs
任务4：根据短文（B）内容回答问题。
When did dinosaurs suddenly disappear？
4.
What decides the sex of the baby crocodile？
5.
Are the baby crocodiles only boys when it's 35℃？
6.
6 . Since May 1, 2015, Beijing started to allow blind people to take guide dogs (导盲犬) onto the subway(地铁). How much do you know about guide dogs? What can they do to help blind people?
Not every dog can become a guide dog. The most common guide dog breeds (品种) are Labrador Retrievers (拉布拉多猎犬) and Golden Retrievers (金毛猎犬). That’s because they are smart and have a good temper.
To help blind people, dogs need to learn many skills, such as finding and following a clear road, moving around obstacles (障碍物), and stopping when they reach a curb (路牙) beside a road. Of course they should pass tests. They also need to learn an important lesson known as “intelligent disobedience (智能抗命)”. For example, blind people ask the dog to go forward when crossing a road. But if the dog knows that a car is coming, it will not move until it is safe.
At about 10 or 12 years old, guide dogs retire(退休). Some of them stay at their owner’s home and become their pets. Others may go back to training schools and live there.
What can a guide dog do to help blind people?
• Follow a direct road, paying no attention to other things such as smells, animals and people.
• Keep a steady (稳定的) pace and just ahead of the owner.
• Stop at all curbs until the handler tells them to move forward.
• Stay quiet when the owner is sitting down.
• Help the owner to move around buses, subways and other public transportation.
Answer the following questions. (in no more than eight words)
1. What can blind people in Beijing do when they go out by subway?2. Why do people choose Labrador Retrievers and Golden Retrievers as guide dogs?
3. What important lesson should guide dogs learn?
4. How many things can guide dogs do to help blind people according to the passage?
5. What is the passage about?
