1 . What do the following animals have in common? Pandas, rhinoceros, Mexican burrowing snakes, pink pigeons and small tooth sawfish.
They are all endangered animals! Animals become endangered for a variety of reasons. Sadly, humans are behind every one of them!
For centuries, humans have hunted elephants for their tusks, and killed tigers for their beautiful fur, caught fish for food. While we still have elephants, tigers, and fish in the wild, we cannot say the same about many others that have simply died out!
Year 1505 was a dreadful turning point in the natural history of the island of Mauritius — European sailors discovered this beautiful island in the Indian Ocean and brought dogs, pigs, monkeys with them. The arrival of humans and those introduced animal species were bad news for dodo birds. About 50 pounds and flightless, dodo birds did not have any natural enemies until then. They picked fruit fallen from trees and built their nests on the ground. Shortly after humans set foot on Mauritius, however, dodo birds realized that they were in big trouble — men killed them for their meat, and those introduced animal species destroyed their nests and ate their eggs. The effects of excessive hunting and foreign species drove dodo birds to first become much fewer and then die out. The last dodo bird was killed in 1681.
Humans and animals have always competed for land and other natural resources. We clear an area of a forest for farming. We cut down trees and use wood to build beautiful houses. We build reservoirs to make sure that we have enough water to use. At the same time that we are trying to make our life comfortable, we destroy the habitats of wild animals.
More than once we have seen on television that rescue workers are trying their best to save seabirds in spilled oil. More than once we have heard about how emissions of carbon dioxide (二氧化碳的排放) and other gases have raised the earth's temperature and caused global warming. Pollution has a serious and long lasting effect. If we choose to do nothing and continue to pollute our planet Earth, our next generations will have to face an Earth without birds singing and beasts roaring.
1. Which of the following are NOT endangered animals?| A．Pandas. | B．Rhinoceros. | C．Pink pigeons. | D．Dodo birds. |
| A．Surprising. | B．Exciting. | C．Awful. | D．Quick. |
| A．how excessive hunting led to endangerment of animals |
| B．when foreign species entered the island of Mauritius |
| C．the human activities caused the loss of habitats of animals |
| D．pollution played a main role in the worsening of the environment |
| A．What makes the animals in danger | B．How to save the endangered animals |
| C．Pollution and animals | D．Don't hunt for animals |
2 . Early spring can be a tough time in the Midwest. It can
Every spring, migratory(迁徙的) birds camp out in a large pond near my house on the way to their summer
The next morning, I was shocked to see that all birds had
However, as the temperature dropped, the open water got smaller, and her movements slowed. I watched with
And then it happened: Two more ducks appeared,
This little duck wouldn’t have
| A．scare | B．move | C．surprise | D．beat |
| A．camp | B．vacations | C．courses | D．habitat |
| A．regardless of | B．in search of | C．in addition to | D．as for |
| A．dark | B．starry | C．peaceful | D．freezing |
| A．gathered | B．disappeared | C．panicked | D．fainted |
| A．energetically | B．patiently | C．calmly | D．cautiously |
| A．ice | B．house | C．snowstorm | D．water |
| A．tended | B．followed | C．watched | D．recorded |
| A．relief | B．doubt | C．anxiety | D．pleasure |
| A．rowing | B．landing | C．circling | D．feeding |
| A．increased | B．decreased | C．transformed | D．formed |
| A．spared | B．wasted | C．spent | D．lasted |
| A．still | B．open | C．clean | D．steady |
| A．motivate | B．remind | C．judge | D．refresh |
| A．presence | B．appreciation | C．attitude | D．request |
Foreign tourists are often confused(困惑的)in Japan because most streets there don’t have names. In Japan, people use landmarks(地标)in their directions instead of street names. For example, the Japanese will say to travelers, “ Go straight down to the corner. Turn left at the big hotel and go past a fruit market. The post office is across from the bus stop.”
In the countryside of the American Midwest, there are not usually many landmarks. There are no mountains, so the land is very flat. In many places there are no towns or buildings within miles. Instead of landmarks, people will tell you directions and distances. In Kansas or Iowa, for example, people will say, “ Go north two miles. Turn east, and then go another mile.
People in Los Angeles, California, have no idea of distance on the map. They measure distance in time, not miles. “ How far away is the post office?” you ask. “ Oh,” they answer, “ it’s about five minutes from here.” You say, “ Yes, but how many miles is it?” They don’t know.
It’s true that a person doesn't know the answer to your question sometimes. What happens in such a situation? A New Yorker might say, “ Sorry, I have no idea.” But in Yucatan, Mexico, no one answers “ I don't know”. People in Yucatan believe that “I don't know” is impolite. They usually give an answer, often a wrong one. A tourist can get very, very lost in Yucatan!
1. When a tourist asks the Japanese the way to a certain place, they usually _______ .
| A．describe the place carefully |
| B．show him a map of the place |
| C．tell him the names of the streets |
| D．refer to recognizable buildings and places |
| A．New York. | B．Los Angles. |
| C．Kansas C. Iowa | |
| A．in order to save time | B．as a test |
| C．so as to be polite | D．for fun |
| A．It’s important for travelers to understand cultural differences. |
| B．It’s useful for travelers to know how to ask the way properly. |
| C．People have similar understanding of politeness. |
| D．New Yorkers are generally friendly to visitors. |
4 . Some of the greatest problems we face today are concerned with the gradual destruction (破坏) of our environment through overuse of our
But when I’m the only one with a cloth bag in line at the grocery store, I ask myself: Does it do any good?
I recently found the answer from flamingos (火烈鸟). These beautiful birds gather in
However, the next day they
The trend continues for several more days. Every time a few more birds join in but,
Then one day, things
A few can make a
If you believe in a cause (事业), don’t
| A．money | B．resources | C．time | D．strength |
| A．drive | B．run | C．cycle | D．stand |
| A．tiny | B．different | C．huge | D．similar |
| A．cutting off | B．getting up | C．carrying out | D．taking off |
| A．all | B．any | C．none | D．most |
| A．gather | B．try | C．sing | D．appear |
| A．attract | B．require | C．escape | D．pay |
| A．since | B．if | C．while | D．unless |
| A．prepared | B．handled | C．cancelled | D．delayed |
| A．approach | B．work | C．change | D．disappear |
| A．continues | B．fails | C．finishes | D．begins |
| A．point | B．decision | C．difference | D．mistake |
| A．useless | B．tireless | C．total | D．special |
| A．give up | B．give away | C．get over | D．get off |
| A．finally | B．independently | C．peacefully | D．wildly |
5 . Chinese cuisine is widely known and enjoyed all around the world. Who doesn’t long for a favorite Chinese dish? But there is one interesting concept concerning Chinese food which is almost unheard of in the West, and which is becoming increasingly ignored by the youth of the East—the ancient custom of “tonic food”.
Tonic food is food which is consumed to improve one’s well-being or avoid sickness. For instance, it was once the custom for new mothers to eat a sesame oil(麻油) chicken soup every day for the first month after giving birth. It was believed that this dish would benefit the muscles, reduce pain, improve circulation, stimulate sweating, and warm the body. Some foods, such as goat meat and spinach, are seen as “hot”, while others, such as Chinese cabbage and radishes, are seen as “cold”. One should be careful not to eat too much of either “hot” or “cold” food. However, how much “hot” or “cold” food one should eat depends on the time of the year, how the food is prepared and what it is prepared with, and the individual’s health.
The custom of employing tonic food for a healthier life also influences the catering industry. Chinese herbal medicines, such as wolfberry(枸杞子), can be found on many a restaurant menu, either added to fruit tea or as a beneficial addition to a dish. These herbs attract customers, such as overworked office staff, in need of a modest pick-me-up.
So, whether you need to boost your strength with a large helping of chicken soup, or increase your mental powers with a serving of fish soup, you may find that this ancient Chinese custom could be just the tonic you were looking for.
1. What is the present situation of tonic food?| A．It is catching less attention. | B．It is enjoyed by many young people. |
| C．It is well-known worldwide. | D．It is becoming increasingly popular. |
| A．Chinese cabbage. | B．Fruit tea. |
| C．Sesame oil chicken soup. | D．Fish soup. |
| A．Medicine. | B．Restaurant. | C．Manufacture. | D．Agriculture. |
| A．The Charm of Chinese Cuisine | B．The Popularity of Tonic Food |
| C．An Introduction of Chinese Tonic Food | D．Differences Between “Hot” Food and “Cold” Food |
6 . How does an ecosystem (生态系统) work? What makes the populations of different species the way they are? Why are there so many flies and so few wolves? To find an answer, scientists have built mathematical models of food webs, noting who eats whom and how much each one eats.
With such models, scientists have found out some key principles operating in food webs. Most food webs, for instance, consist of many weak links rather than a few strong ones. When a predator (掠食动物) always eats huge numbers of a single prey (猎物), the two species are strongly linked; when a predator lives on various species, they are weakly linked. Food webs may be dominated by many weak links because that arrangement is more stable over the long term. If a predator can eat several species, it can survive the extinction (灭绝) of one of them. And if a predator can move on to another species that is easier to find when a prey species becomes rare, the switch allows the original prey to recover. The weak links may thus keep species from driving one another to extinction.
Mathematical models have also revealed that food webs may be unstable, where small changes of top predators can lead to big effects throughout entire ecosystems. In the 1960s, scientists proposed that predators at the top of a food web had a surprising amount of control over the size of populations of other species—including species they did not directly attack.
And unplanned human activities have proved the idea of top-down control by top predators to be true. In the ocean, we fished for top predators such as cod on an industrial scale, while on land, we killed off large predators such as wolves. These actions have greatly affected the ecological balance.
Scientists have built an early-warning system based on mathematical models. Ideally, the system would tell us when to adapt human activities that are pushing an ecosystem toward a breakdown or would even allow us to pull an ecosystem back from the borderline. Prevention is key, which scientists says because once ecosystems pass their tipping point (临界点), it is remarkably difficult for them to return.
1. What have scientists discovered with the help of mathematical models of food webs?| A．The living habits of species in food webs. |
| B．The rules governing food webs of the ecosystems. |
| C．The approaches to studying the species in the ecosystems. |
| D．The differences between weak and strong links in food webs. |
| A．has a wide food choice | B．can easily find new prey |
| C．sticks to one prey species | D．can quickly move to another place |
| A．The prey species they directly attack will die out. |
| B．The species they indirectly attack will turn into top predators. |
| C．The living environment of other species will remain unchanged. |
| D．The populations of other species will experience unexpected changes. |
| A．By getting illegal practices under control. |
| B．By stopping us from killing large predators. |
| C．By bringing the broken-down ecosystems back to normal. |
| D．By signaling the urgent need for taking preventive action. |
7 . Metro Pocket Guide
Metrorail (地铁)
Each passenger needs a farecard to enter and go out. Up to two children under five may travel free with a paying customer.
Farecard machine are in every station, Bring small bills because there are no change machines in the station and farecard machine only provide up to $ 5 in change.
Get one of unlimited Metrorail rides with a One Day Pass. Buy it from a farecard machine in Metro stations. Use it after 9:30 a.m. until closing on weekdays, and all day on weekends and holidays.
Hours of Service
Open: 5 a.m. Mon — Fri 7a.m. Sat — Sun.
Close midnight Sun — Thur. 3. a.m. Fri — Sat. nights
Last train times vary. To avoid missing the last train, please check the last train time posted in the station.
Metrobus
When paying with exact change, the fare is $ 1.35. When paying with a smatTrip CARD the fare is $1.25
Fares for the Senior /disabled customers
Senior citizens 65 and older and disabled customers may ride for half the regular fare. On Metrorail and Metrobus, use a senior/disabled farecard or SmarTrip card. For more information about buying senior/disabled farecards, farecard or SmarTripR card and passes, please visit MetroOpenDoors.com or call 202-637-7000 and 202-637-8000.
Senior citizens and disabled customers can get free guide on how to use proper Metrobus and Metrorail services by calling 202-962-1100
Travel tips
Avoid riding during weekday rush periods — before 9:30 a.m. and between 4 and 6 p.m.
If you lose something on a bus or train or in a station, please call Lost & Found at 202-962-1195.
1. What should you know about farecard machine?| A．They start selling tickets at 9:30 a.m. |
| B．They are connected to change machines. |
| C．They offer special service to the elderly. |
| D．They make change for no more than $5. |
| A．At midnight | B．at 3 a.m. |
| C．at 5 am | D．at 7 p.m. |
| A．It is convenient for old people | B．It saves money for its users[ |
| C．it can be bought at any time | D．it is sold on the Internet |
| A．202-962-1195 | B．202-962-1100 |
| C．202-673-7000 | D．202-673-8000 |
8 . One of the most important things in the world is friendship. In order to have friends, you have to be a friend. But how can you be a good friend at school?
Listen - Listen when they are talking. Don’t say anything unless they ask you a question. Sometimes it’s not necessary for you to have anything to say; they just need someone to talk to about their feelings.
Help them - If your friend is ever in need of something, be there to help them. You should try to put them first, but make sure you don’t do everything they want you to do. Try to take an extra (额外的) pencil or pen with you to classes in case (以防) they forget one. Have a little extra money in your pocket in case they forget something they need.
Be there for them - Try to make something for your friend to help make them feel better in hard times. Making cards and encouraging them are among the nicest things you can do for a friend. Marilyn Monroe, a famous U.S. actor, once said, “I often make mistakes. Sometimes I am out of control. But if you can’t stay with me at my worst, you are sure not to deserve (值得) to be with me at my best.” Always remember this! If you don’t want to stay with your friends when they’re in hard times, then you don’t deserve to be with them when they’re having a good time!
______ Try to make plans with your friends. Go shopping, go for ice cream, have a party, go to a movie and so on. Take time to know each other even better by doing something you both enjoy. By planning things together, you both can have a good time. And you’ll remember these things when you’re all old!
1. While your friend is talking to you about his or her feelings, you should _____.| A．give him or her some advice | B．just listen unless asked |
| C．calm him or her down | D．share your feelings as well |
| A．try to do everything for them | B．ignore their faults |
| C．change their bad habits first | D．put them before ourselves |
| A．Life without a friend is death. | B．A friend is easier lost than found. |
| C．A friend in need is a friend indeed. | D．A man is known by his friends. |
| A．Make plans. | B．Enjoy yourself. |
| C．Understand your friends. | D．Play with your friends. |
| A．How to find a good friend. | B．How to help friends in trouble. |
| C．How to be a good friend. | D．How to make more friends. |
9 . Namu is a Thai hairdresser. She is providing
On her first hospital visit, Namu had
Namu is just proud that her skill is making a
For Dr. Bill, it is the humanity(人性) behind the haircut that is really
| A．special | B．short | C．regular | D．free |
| A．beginning | B．moment | C．mind | D．past |
| A．chance | B．service | C．comfort | D．lesson |
| A．busy | B．careful | C．content | D．familiar |
| A．worked on | B．planned on | C．kept up | D．ended up |
| A．showed | B．taught | C．brought | D．gave |
| A．calling | B．moving | C．coming | D．visiting |
| A．haircut | B．rest | C．look | D．try |
| A．direct | B．help | C．trust | D．praise |
| A．rule | B．deal | C．profit | D．difference |
| A．funnier | B．lighter | C．safer | D．stronger |
| A．calm | B．encourage | C．prepare | D．exchange |
| A．important | B．reliable | C．useful | D．difficult |
| A．mostly | B．hardly | C．generally | D．merely |
| A．donation | B．promotion | C．kindness | D．promise |
10 . A little girl lived in a simple and poor house on a hill. Usually she
At the age when she gained some
So
| A．might | B．should | C．would | D．must |
| A．Unless | B．Although | C．Since | D．But |
| A．dreamed | B．worried | C．asked | D．shouted |
| A．this | B．that | C．it | D．which |
| A．different | B．scientific | C．musical | D．basic |
| A．begged | B．blamed | C．invited | D．paid |
| A．inside | B．outside | C．through | D．along |
| A．insisting on | B．relying on | C．arguing about | D．wondering about |
| A．traveling | B．running | C．riding | D．walking |
| A．madly | B．rapidly | C．exactly | D．possibly |
| A．Over | B．Down | C．Around | D．Beside |
| A．windows | B．steps | C．center | D．gate |
| A．Until | B．As | C．While | D．Because |
| A．getting | B．introducing | C．leading | D．moving |
| A．felt | B．learned | C．concluded | D．found |
| A．transparent | B．bright | C．plain | D．wide |
| A．anxious | B．angry | C．serious | D．sad |
| A．turned around | B．cheered up | C．settled down | D．dropped in |
| A．hill | B．valley | C．background | D．sight |
| A．imagined | B．decided | C．realized | D．guessed |
