1 . Dogs are smart. They are fun pets and great friends. Dogs can hear and smell better than we can. They learn fast and like to be helpful. Some dogs are trained to help with very special work.
People who can’t hear may miss important sounds. They won’t hear an alarm clock, a doorbell or someone calling their name. A hearing dog is trained to alert them to sounds.
Therapy dogs help people to feel better. They are gentle and patient. They visit people in nursing homes, hospitals and homeless shelters. They provide quiet company when someone is sad or ill or feels lonely.
A guide dog is trained to help someone who can’t see. The dog always stays at the person’s side. The guide dog helps a blind person cross a busy street safely. It can warn the person about curbs (路缘石) and steps.
Sheep spend most of their lives in a large grassy pasture (牧场). They may wander to different areas. Sometimes the farmer needs them all in one place. The herding (放牧的) dog finds all the sheep and moves them to that spot.
Sometimes people are lost in the woods or are trapped in a building that fell down. Search-and-rescue dogs find people who are lost, hurt or trapped. They move slowly and carefully, finding people rescue workers might not see.
Big Newfoundland dogs are strong swimmers. In Italy, they work as lifeguards. They will jump in the water and pull a drowning person to safety. Some can even jump into the water from a helicopter.
Dogs help us do many types of jobs. Can you think of other great jobs for dogs?
1. According to the author, which of the following makes dogs good workers?| A．They have fur that is nice to pet. |
| B．They learn fast and have a good sense of smell. |
| C．They like working and having jobs. |
| D．They enjoy sledding and hunting. |
| A．Both dogs and people do many types of jobs. |
| B．People could not survive without dogs. |
| C．Dogs do many types of jobs that help people. |
| D．Dogs are the smartest animals in the world. |
| A．They guide owners on adventures. |
| B．They open doors for their owners. |
| C．They help people with disabilities (身心障碍者). |
| D．They visit sick people in hospitals. |
| A．comfort | B．adventure | C．service | D．protection |
| A．Five. | B．Six. | C．Seven. | D．Eight. |
A whooping crane is a large white North American crane famous for its loud call.
You may weigh more than a whooping crane, but maybe you aren’t taller than one! Whooping cranes can grow up to five feet tall. It makes them the tallest birds in North America. But even as tall as they are, whooping cranes weigh only about 15 pounds, because of their hollow （空心的） bones.
WHAT’S FOR DINNER?
Whooping cranes live in wetlands, wet prairies, and fields. They’re not picky （挑剔的） about their meals—they have a mixed diet and eat small fish, and insects, as well as grains and marsh plants.
CALL OF THE WILD
Whooping cranes really like to ‘whoop it up’ when they want to attract a mate （伙伴）. They call loudly and do what might look like a crazy dance to be eye—catching. They flap their wings, and move their heads from side to side quickly, jumping up and down.
A SPECIAL TRICK
These cranes are in danger, but scientists have used some very interesting tricks to help them stay alive. At first, they moved one group of cranes to Florida, but the cranes never learned to migrate （迁徙）. When they got to Florida, they didn’t know how to fly back home. Scientists did all they could do to make the number of the cranes larger, so they used a special trick with another Florida group of cranes. Scientists “taught” the younger cranes to migrate by having them follow a very light airplane from Florida to Wisconsin. After the cranes gave birth to their babies in Florida, they’d follow the plane back to Wisconsin!
Some whooping cranes stay in Florida all year round, some fly from Florida to Wisconsin, and others fly from Texas to Canada and back again each year.
Whooping Cranes | |
| A whooping crane is from North America. | |
Looks | Whooping cranes can be five feet in They weigh only about 15 pounds |
Food | They |
Qualities | To catch a mate’s eyes, whooping cranes use a |
Fun facts | Scientists moved one group of cranes to Florida, but they were not Scientists wanted to have Scientists used a plane to |
Once upon a time there was a blackbird that lived in a cherry (樱桃) tree outside my window.
Every day, the blackbird would sing and sing. When I ate my breakfast, the blackbird ate his breakfast. When I ate my lunch, the blackbird ate his lunch. When I ate my dinner, the blackbird ate his dinner. The blackbird always ate the cherries off the cherry tree outside my window.
One day, Mother was going to make a cherry pie. We picked all the cherries off the cherry tree. When it was baked, she put the pie by the window to cool off. While I was eating my breakfast, I saw the blackbird fly around the tree. But there were no cherries on the tree. He flew in through the window to sit by me then over to the window by the pie. I smiled. The blackbird looked at me and smiled, too. He said, “I’ll have my pie without ice cream!” And with that, the blackbird took the pie under his wing and flew out of the window. I rushed out of the house and saw the blackbird eating the pie! Soon, the whole pie was gone. We looked at each other and smiled.
1. Where did the blackbird live? (No more than 8 words)_____________________________________________________________
2. What did the blackbird have for his meals? (No more than 2 words)
_____________________________________________________________
3. What did the writer and his/her mother do before making a pie? (No more than 5 words)
_____________________________________________________________
4. Why did the writer’s mother put the pie by the window? (No more than 4 words)
_____________________________________________________________
5. Who ate the whole pie? (No more than 2 words)
_____________________________________________________________
1. Where are Hi and Lo talking?
2. How many pandas can you see in the picture?
3. What is Hi’s question?
4. Does Lo know why pandas like old films?
5. How does Hi explain his question?
After getting some information about dinosaurs from the encyclopedia (百科全书), Mary got interested in these animals. She surfed the Internet and found a lot more about dinosaurs. Here’s what she wrote in her notebook.
General information
Millions of years ago, long before there were any people, there were dinosaurs. They existed (存在) on earth for about 165 million years and suddenly died out (灭绝) 65 million years ago.
Fun facts
Size
◆The largest dinosaurs were more than 30 meters long and up to 15 meters tall.
◆The smallest dinosaurs were about the size of a chicken and had very long tails. They ate insects (昆虫).
Egg
◆Most dinosaurs were hatched (孵化) from eggs.
◆The biggest dinosaur egg ever found was the size of a football.
◆There were egg-eating dinosaurs that stole eggs from other dinosaurs’ nests (巢穴).
Brain
◆A lot of dinosaurs have big heads, but they didn’t have much brain inside. Most of the space was taken up with muscle (肌肉) and bones instead.
Tail
◆Dinosaurs that used their tails to beat their enemies had four feet and ate plants.
◆Dinosaurs that used their tails for balance (平衡) had two feet and two small arms, and they were often meat-eaters.
Discovery
◆From looking at bones, scientists can figure out (弄清楚) the shape of the dinosaur’s body.
◆There were more than 800 different kinds of dinosaurs.
Conclusion
We can only know about the lives of dinosaurs from the fossil (化石), eggs and footprints they left behind. But we still don’t know how they sounded, how they behaved, what colors they were and so on.
Oh, my God! Dinosaurs are the most mysterious animals in the world!
Mary’s notebook | |
| General information | Dinosaurs lived on earth for about 165 million years and suddenly |
| Fun facts | Size: The smallest dinosaurs were as Eggs: Some dinosaurs stole and ate other dinosaurs’ eggs. Brain: The dinosaur’s big Tail: Some tails were used to beat their enemies and some to |
| Discovery | Scientists can figure out the shape of the dinosaur’s body from looking at the bones. |
| Conclusion | There are still many things we don't know about dinosaurs. |
Like all insects(昆虫), ants have six legs. Each leg has three joints. The legs of ants are so strong that they can run very quickly. An ant has two eyes. Each eye is made of many smaller eyes. An ant has two stomachs. One stomach keeps the food for itself and the other keeps food for other ants. Like all insects, the outside of their body is hard.
Each ant has at least one or more queens. The queen’s job is to lay eggs and worker ants look after queens. Worker ants look after the young, protect(保护) the nest(巢穴) from unwanted visitors and look for food. At night, worker ants move the eggs and baby ants deep into the nest, and protect them from the cold. During the daytime, worker ants move them to the top of the nest to keep them warmer. Some worker ants have to take the rubbish out from the nest.
Many people don’t like ants. To stop them coming into the kitchen(厨房), people put some sugar outside. Ants have so much to eat that they are not interested in coming into the kitchen.
Title Looks of ants An ant has Life of ants The queen’s job is to lay Hobbies of ants Like |
7 . This summer vacation, 14-year-old Wen Jiayi made a good friend. He is not a person, but a giant panda! His name is Jingke. We spent three days with him, learning how he ate, slept and played.
Wen worked as a volunteer(志愿者) at China Giant Panda Garden in Sichuan this summer. Every year, volunteers go to the garden to take care of its pandas. People aged 12 to 65 can apply(申请) for the job. Each volunteer works for at least one day.
Wen is a student from Yucai Middle School in Sichuan. Wen cleaned the panda’s home every morning. “We have to collect the pandas’ feces(粪便), as it can tell us what the pandas have been eating and whether(是否) they are healthy or not,” she said. “The panda keepers analyze(分析) the feces every day.”
Wen got to do this as well. She carefully analyzed the feces. “We check to see what is in the feces and what color it is. If it is green, it means the panda has been eating bamboo leaves,” she said.
The experience also helped the volunteers better understand pandas. When Wen fed Jingke, she touched its fur. “It was not soft, but hard. It was like touching needles(针)!” Wen said.
1. Who can apply for the job to take care of pandas in China Giant Panda Garden?
2. What can we know from pandas’ feces?
3. Do you want to be a volunteer like Wen? Why or why not?
