1 . One night, Pilar was in a deep sleep when she was woken by her cat Inti. Inti was meowing wildly outside Pilar’s bedroom and throwing himself against the closed bedroom door. When Pilar opened her eyes, she saw that her bedroom was filled with smoke. As she escaped her house with Inti in her arms, she saw that a fire was burning in her kitchen. Pilar could easily have lost her life, but Inti would not let that happen. Even though Inti could have escaped the house through a cat door, he wouldn’t leave Pilar.

As amazing as this story is, it is not as uncommon as you may think. Take the example of Charlotte Lee and her horse, Thunder. One summer night, the whole family was asleep with the windows open. It was normally very quiet where they lived. Suddenly, there was a loud noise. Charlotte woke up from her sweet dream, and the noise continued. Then she heard a horse running fast towards the house. The next thing she saw was Thunder standing outside her window, neighing(嘶叫) and shaking his head. She knew something was wrong. Charlotte quickly got everyone out of the house before the earthquake hit. Thunder has saved her life.

There are also stories of wild animals coming to the rescue of humans. One animal known to be a friend of humans is the dolphin. Once, Todd Endris was surfing with his friends when he was attacked by a 13-foot(4-meter) shark. In the middle of the attack, a group of dolphins came to his rescue by forming a protective ring around Endris until he could get safely to shore. Without the help of the dolphins, there is little chance that Todd could have escaped.

No one is sure why animals have so often come to our rescue. However, it is clear that humans and animals enjoy a close relationship. It is important that we care for them as much as we can.

1. Why did Inti throw himself against the door?

A．He was trying to wake up his owner.

B．He wanted to get out of the room.

C．He felt bored and was playing by himself.

D．He couldn’t find the way out because of smoke.

2. Before the earthquake hit, Charlotte     ______.

A．closed the windows	B．was sleeping deeply
C．ran to warn her neighbors	D．got her horse out of the stable

3. Both Inti and Thunder     _______.

A．were shy and quiet	B．used to make noise at night
C．were brave and smart	D．saved their owners several times

4. Which of the following is probably Todd’s feeling towards the dolphins?

A．Doubtful.	B．Grateful.
C．Frightened.	D．Bored.

2 . On the day the tornado hit, there was no sign severe weather was on its way—the sky was blue and the sun had been out. My husband Jimmy and I were watching TV upstairs.

No sooner had we got the coverage of the tornado than it was on top of us. It was the loudest thing I have ever heard. The bones of the house shook, and the power went out. We had three flights of steps to get through to get to the relative safety of the first floor.

As we struggled to reach the last flight of steps, our front door blew out. Pieces of glass that looked like crushed ice flew everywhere. Suddenly, a three-foot-long tree branch flew over our heads, missing us by inches. Had we been one step up, it would have impaled us.

By the time I reached the closet, Jimmy pushed me down to the closet floor, but he couldn’t get inside himself because of the wind. I grasped Jimmy’s arm and tried to bring Jimmy with it. My knees and head were full of glass, but in that moment, I felt no pain. If I had let go, Jimmy would have flown right out the back of the house and into the bay.

“Hold on! Hold on!” he yelled. But there was nothing in this closet to hold on to.

All of a sudden, Jimmy lifted off his feet like people in tornadoes do in the movies. I thought he was gone. And then everything stopped. He landed on his feet. In those first quiet moments, I couldn’t believe it was over. Jimmy said he’d go outside to check. “No,” I said. “Don’t leave me. Don’t leave me.”

Our neighbor says the storm lasted four minutes. In that time, four of the twelve town houses in our unit were completely destroyed. Of the houses left standing, ours suffered the most damage. Amazingly, none of us were severely injured.

1. Which of the following sentences is NOT the evidence to show the tornado is violent?

A．It was the loudest thing I have ever heard.

B．The bones of the house shook, and the power went out.

C．Our neighbor says the storm lasted four minutes.

D．Pieces of glass that looked like crushed ice flew everywhere.

2. From the passage, we can infer that______.

A．The couple had predicted the arrival of the tornado in advance.

B．Jimmy flew right out the back of the house and into the bay during the tornado.

C．The three-foot-tree flew over the couple’s head and injured them badly.

D．The author still felt scared when the tornado was suddenly over.

3. Why did the author feel “no pain” in paragraph4?

A．She didn’t hurt badly enough to sense the pain.

B．She was severely injured and failed to sense the pain.

C．Her attention was fully focused on her husband.

D．She had let her husband go away from her hand.

4. Which of the following phrases best describes the couple’s experience in this tornado?

A．A thrilling adventure	B．A narrow escape
C．A risky attempt	D．A serious accident

3 . Scientists have always been interested in the high level of organization in ant societies. American researchers have watched ants build life-saving rafts to keep afloat during floods. They also have recorded how ants choose their next queen — the female whose job is to produce eggs.

New technology is helping to improve researchers’ understanding of the insects. But there is still a lot to be learned.

Fire ants living in Brazilian forests are perfectly at home in an environment where flooding is common. To save themselves, the insects connect their legs together and create floating rafts. Some ant rafts can be up to 20 centimeters wide.

David Hu is an engineer with the Georgia Institute of Technology, also known as Georgia Tech, saying, "If you have 100 ants, which means 600 legs, 99 percent of those legs will be connected to a neighbor. So they’re very, very good at keeping this network."

David Hu and other Georgia Tech researchers wanted to study ants and the secret of their engineering. They froze ant rafts and then looked at them with the help of computed technology, or CT images. The pictures showed that larger ants serve in central positions to which smaller ants hold. The larger ants create pockets of air that keep the insects afloat.

Scientists say small robots or materials that can change shape could be programmed in a similar way, working towards a shared goal.

Researchers at North Carolina State University are also studying ants. They examined how Indian jumping ants choose the leader of the colony when they lose their top female or queen.

1. The author takes fire ants as an example to tell us ________.

A．how ants survive	B．how ants seek food
C．how ants communicate	D．how ants live together

2. What can we know from what David Hu said in paragraph 4?

A．Ants know the way to keep in touch in the river.

B．Ants know the way to join together closely.

C．Ants know the way to look for each other.

D．Ants know the way to build a large raft.

3. Why did the larger ants serve in central positions in their ant rafts?

A．To stress their importance.	B．To help all the ants float.
C．To fight against the enemies.	D．To defend their top female.

4. What ideas do the ants give us according to the passage?

A．We can use similar-shaped machines in flooding areas.

B．We can combine small robots or materials into larger ones.

C．Small and shape-changeable things might work just like ants do.

D．Small robots or materials in the shape of ants can be made.

4 . 假定你是李华，你校计划下周日去南山潮（Nanshan Lake）开展保护水资源的宣传活动，就此请你写封信给外教Smith，邀请他一起参加，活动主要内容包括：
1. 在湖边捡垃圾；
2. 派发宣传广告；
3. 讲解保护水资源的重要性。
注意：1. 词数100左右；
2. 可以适当增加细节，以使行文连贯。
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5 . 阅读下面材料，在空白处填入1个适当的单词或括号内单词的正确形式。

Lions，tigers and other animals are staying awake at night    1    （avoid）human beings，a new study finds．

Scientists have known that human activities can lead to changes in nature．Many animals may move around less or travel to far places to keep away    2    people．By being awake at night，animals can also be on guard against possible enemies and spend less time    3    （look）for food．

The latest research found even activities like farming and camping can    4    （fright）animals and cause them to become more active at night．    5    had been studied were lions in Tanzania，tigers in Nepal and monkeys in Brazil．Researchers compared    6    （careful）how much time those animals were active at night in areas of human activities，such as hunting and farming．    7    was human activities that caused an increase of about 20 percent in night time activities，even in creatures that usually sleep at night．Results    8    （publish）in the journal Science two months ago．

The new findings are    9    （usual）because no one else has looked at it in such detail before Ecologist Marlee Tucker was    10    （surprise）that any kind of human activities is enough for animals to see people as a threat．

6 . Mandara seemed to know something big was about to happen. So she let out a yell, caught hold of her 2-year-old daughter Kibibi and climbed up into a tree. She lives at the National Zoo in Washington D.C..

And on Tuesday, August 23rd, witnesses said she seemed to sense the big earthquake that shook much of the East Coast before any humans knew what was going on. And she’s not the only one. In the moments before the quake, an orangutan (猩猩) let out a loud call and then climbed to the top of her shelter.

“It’s very different from their normal call,” said Brandie Smith, the zookeeper. “The lemurs (monkey like animals of Madagascar) will sound an alarm if they see or hear something highly unusual.”

But you can’t see or hear an earthquake 15 minutes before it happens, can you? Maybe you can——if you’re an animal.

“Animals can hear above and below our range of hearing,” said Brandie Smith. “That’s part of their special abilities. They’re more sensitive to the environment, which is how they survive.”

Primates weren’t the only animals that seemed to sense the quake before it happened. One of the elephants made a warning sound and a huge lizard (蜥蜴) ran quickly for cover. The flamingoes (a kind of birds) gathered before the quake and stayed together until the shaking stopped.

So what kind of vibrations (震动) were the animals picking up in the moments before the quake? Scientist Susan Hough said earthquakes produce two types of waves——a weak “P” wave and then a much stronger “S” wave. The “P” stands for “primary”. And the “S” stands for “secondary”. She thinks the “P” wave might be what sets the animals off.

Not all the animals behaved unusually before the quake. For example, Smith said the zoo’s giant pandas didn’t jump up until the shaking actually began. But many of the other animals seemed to know something was coming before it happened. “I’m not surprised at all,” Smith said.

1. Why did Mandara act strangely one day?

A．Because it sensed something unusual would happen.

B．Because its daughter Kibibi was injured.

C．Because it heard an orangutan let out a loud call.

D．Because an earthquake had happened.

2. According to Brandie Smith,_____________.

A．many animals hearing is sharp

B．earthquakes produce two types of waves

C．primates usually gather together before a quake

D．humans can also develop the ability to sense a quake

3. Which animal seems unable to sense quake?

A．A giant panda.	B．A flamingo.
C．A lemur.	D．A lizard.

4. What is the best title for the passage?

A．How animals survive a quake

B．How animals differ from humans

C．How animals behave before a quake

D．How animals protect their young in a quake

7 . 阅读下面短文，在空白处填入1个适当的单词或括号内单词的正确形式。

I'm not sure     1     is more frightened, me or the female gorilla(大猩猩）that suddenly appears out of nowhere. I'm walking on a path in the forest in the Central African Republic. Unexpectedly, I'm face-to-face with the gorilla, who begins screaming at     2     top of her lungs. That makes her baby scream, and then a 400-pound male appears. He screams the

    3    (loud)of all. The noise shakes the trees as the male beats his chest and charges toward me. I quickly lower myself, ducking my head to avoid     4    (look) directly into his eyes so he doesn't feel    5    (challenge).

My name is Mireya Mayor. I'm a     6    (science)who studies animals such as apes and monkeys. I was searching     7     these three western lowland gorillas I'd been observing. No one had seen them for hours, and my colleagues and I were worried.

When the gorillas and I frightened each other, I was just glad to find     8    (they) alive. True to a gorilla's unaggressive nature, the huge animal     9    (mean)me no real harm. He was just saying: "I'm king of this forest, and here is your reminder!" Once his message was delivered, he allowed me     10     (stay)and watch.

8 . Steven Stein likes to follow garbage trucks. His strange habit makes sense when you consider that he’s an environmental scientist who studies how to reduce litter, including things that fall off garbage trucks as they drive down the road. What is even more interesting is that one of Stein’s jobs is defending an industry behind the plastic shopping bags.

Americans use more than 100 billion thin film plastic bags every year. So many end up in tree branches or along highways that a growing number of cities do not allow them at checkouts(收银台). The bags are prohibited in some 90 cities in California, including Los Angeles. Eyeing these headwinds, plastic-bag makers are hiring scientists like Stein to make the case that their products are not as bad for the planet as most people assume.

Among the bag makers’ argument: many cities with bans still allow shoppers to purchase paper bags, which are easily recycled but require more energy to produce and transport. And while plastic bags may be ugly to look at, they represent a small percentage of all garbage on the ground today.

The industry has also taken aim at the product that has appeared as its replacement: reusable shopping bags. The stronger a reusable bag is, the longer its life and the more plastic-bag use it cancels out. However, longer-lasting reusable bags often require more energy to make. One study found that a cotton bag must be used at least 131 times to be better for the planet than plastic.

Environmentalists don’t dispute(质疑) these points. They hope paper bags will be banned someday too and want shoppers to use the same reusable bags for years.

1. What has Steven Stein been hired to do?

A．Help increase grocery sales.

B．Recycle the waste material.

C．Stop things falling off trucks.

D．Argue for the use of plastic bags.

2. What does the word “headwinds” in paragraph 2 refer to?

A．Bans on plastic bags.

B．Effects of city development.

C．Headaches caused by garbage.

D．Plastic bags hung in trees.

3. What is a disadvantage of reusable bags according to plastic-bag makers?

A．They are quite expensive.

B．Replacing them can be difficult.

C．They are less strong than plastic bags.

D．Producing them requires more energy.

4. What is the best title for the text?

A．Plastic, Paper or Neither

B．Industry, Pollution and Environment

C．Recycle or Throw Away

D．Garbage Collection and Waste Control

9 . Color is fundamental in home design—something you’ll always have in every room. A grasp of how to manage color in your spaces is one of the first steps to creating rooms you’ll love to live in. Do you want a room that’s full of life? Professional? Or are you just looking for a place to relax after a long day?     1    , color is the key to making a room feel the way you want it to feel.

Over the years, there have been a number of different techniques to help designers approach this important point.     2    , they can get a little complex. But good news is that there’re really only three kinds of decisions you need to make about color in your home: the small ones, the medium ones, and the large ones.

    3    . They’re the little spots of color like throw pillows, mirrors and baskets that most of us use to add visual interest to our rooms. Less tiring than painting your walls and less expensive than buying a colorful sofa, small color choices bring with them the significant benefit of being easily changeable.

Medium color choices are generally furniture pieces such as sofas, dinner tables or bookshelves.     4    . They require a bigger commitment than smaller ones, and they have a more powerful effect on the feeling of a space.

The large color decisions in your rooms concern the walls, ceilings, and floors. Whether you’re looking at wallpaper or paint, the time, effort and relative expense put into it are significant.     5    .

A．While all of them are useful

B．Whatever you’re looking for

C．If you’re experimenting with a color

D．Small color choices are the ones we’re most familiar with

E．It’s not really a good idea to use too many small color pieces

F．So it pays to be sure, because you want to get it right the first time

G．Color choices in this range are a step up from the small ones in two major ways

10 . If anyone had told me three years ago that I would be spending most of my weekends camping, I would have laughed heartily. Campers, in my eyes, were people who enjoyed insect bites, ill-cooked meals, and uncomfortable sleeping bags. They had nothing in common with me.     1    

The friends who introduced me to camping thought that it meant to be a pioneer.     2     We slept in a tent, cooked over an open fire, and walked a long distance to take the shower and use the bathroom. This brief visit with Mother Nature cost me two days off from work, recovering from a bad case of sunburn and the doctor’s bill for my son’s food poisoning.

I was, nevertheless, talked into going on another fun-filled holiday in the wilderness.     3     Instead, we had a pop-up camper with comfortable beds and an air conditioner. My nature-loving friends had remembered to bring all the necessities of life.

    4     We have done a lot of it since. Recently, we bought a twenty-eight-foot travel trailer complete with a bathroom and a built-in TV set. There is a separate bedroom, a modern kitchen with a refrigerator. The trailer even has matching carpet and curtains.

    5     It must be true that sooner or later, everyone finds his or her way back to nature. I recommend that you find your way in style.

A．This time there was no tent.

B．Things are going to be improved.

C．The trip they took me on was a rough one.

D．I was to learn a lot about camping since then, however.

E．I must say that I have certainly come to enjoy camping.

F．After the trip, my family became quite interested in camping.

G．There was no shade as the trees were no more than 3 feet tall.