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. |
| A．closed the windows | B．was sleeping deeply |
| C．ran to warn her neighbors | D．got her horse out of the stable |
| A．were shy and quiet | B．used to make noise at night |
| C．were brave and smart | D．saved their owners several times |
| 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. |
| 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. |
| 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. |
| A．A thrilling adventure | B．A narrow escape |
| C．A risky attempt | D．A serious accident |
3 . Trees are useful to man in three important ways: they give him wood and other useful things, they give him cool places, and they help to stop drought and flood.
Unluckily, in many parts of the world, man has not found that the third of these points is the most important. Man wants to make money from trees, so he has cut them down in large numbers, only to find that without them he has lost the best friends he had. And also, he is usually too careless to plant and look after new trees. So the forests slowly disappear.
This does not only mean that man will have fewer trees. The results are even worse: for where there are trees, their roots break up soil—make the rain in—and also bind the soil, thus stopping it from being washed away easily; but where there are no trees, the rain falls on hard ground and flows away, causing floods and carrying away the rich top-soil. When all the top-soil is gone, nothing is left but useless desert.
1. The most important points of trees to man is that ________.| A．they help him to stop drought and floods |
| B．they help him to make money |
| C．they give him cool |
| D．they give him wood and other things |
| A．many trees have been cut down by man |
| B．new trees are not well looked after |
| C．man has not paid enough attention to planting trees |
| D．all the above |
| A．roots of trees break up the soil |
| B．there are too many rainfalls |
| C．strong winds bring a lot of sand |
| D．there are no longer trees to keep the rain and protect the top-soil. |
| A．Trees and Man |
| B．The Function of Tree Wood |
| C．How do People do with Trees? |
| D．The Usage of Tree Roots |
4 . Recently I went to the Tsavo National Park in northern Kenya for a film. We set off early for a distant water hole. A huge elephant, covered with dry mud, drank calmly and deeply. He might have traveled 50 km to reach the water. He wasnˈt going to hurry now. Heˈd drink a while and then rest in the shade, and then drink again—or so we thought. What actually happened was that he drank deeply and stepped away. Then he suddenly fell down. Within minutes he was dead.
We called animal doctor Jeremiah Poghon immediately. He removed the head of a poisoned arrow from the elephantˈs body, and let out over 100 litters of pus(脓)—the result of the elephantˈs meeting with a poacher(偷猎者) months before.
Todayˈs poacher shoots from a blind. He fires an arrow, covered with poison, into the body of an elephant. If the poacher is lucky, the elephant might die in an hour or two; if not, he might have to follow the elephant for days before it dies. Often the arrow head fails to kill the elephant at once—it doesnˈt mean the poison wonˈt finally kill the elephant, but it will be a slow death. Living in Tsavo through these times, I could see the results of poaching from time to time.
When I think about the death of that elephant, what stays with me is the extraordinary silence after the shocking sound of his body hitting the ground. I took some comfort from the knowledge that as the dead body returned to the soil, some animals would benefit—but I couldnˈt escape the feeling that with the death of such a large animal, the world seemed a poorer and emptier place.
1. While filming near the water hole, the author and his team ________.| A．knew the elephant was injured |
| B．found the elephant acted violently |
| C．thought the elephant was in good condition |
| D．tried their best to save the elephant |
| A．had wounds all over it |
| B．had suffered a lot |
| C．had drunk some deadly water |
| D．had had a good fight with a poacher |
| A．Embarrassed. |
| B．Funny |
| C．Relieved |
| D．Upset |
| A．To introduce African elephant. |
| B．To ask readers to protect wild animals. |
| C．To describe his filming experience. |
| D．To show the cruelty of poaching. |
5 . 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 |
| 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. |
| A．To stress their importance. | B．To help all the ants float. |
| C．To fight against the enemies. | D．To defend their top female. |
| 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. |
6 . Most animals on land are known to us, but many living things underwater are not. Now let’s get to know some of them.
Sea cucumber
Sea cucumber are strange animals living at the bottom of the sea. They wear brown or white green coats . When summer comes, they stay deep to sleep because they are afraid of heat. And when it is autumn, they move to shallow (浅的) water and get their food.
Pike
The pike is a kind of freshwater fish. They are good swimmers and like swimming near boats, waiting to be fed. They have sharp teeth to catch fishes. When they are young, they live in groups. However, when they grow up, they prefer to live alone.
Cuttlefish
A cuttlefish can swim quite fast, so it is also called rocket (火箭) fish. It has eight arms and two feelers on its head, just around its mouth. It ejects ink (喷墨) when it is in danger. Its meat is delicious, and it is often the first choice for many people.
Octopus
An octopus has long arms, with which to catch food and protect itself. When it is sleeping, one or two of its arms are still on duty, keeping moving. Once it feels something dangerous, it can wake up at once to take action.
1. Sea cucumbers stay deep to sleep in summer because they .| A．are afraid of high temperature | B．want to get strong and fat |
| C．are afraid of their enemy | D．want to live alone |
| A．the sea cucumber | B．the cuttlefish |
| C．the pike | D．the octopus |
| A．color | B．arms |
| C．sound | D．smells |
7 . A new study shows the world’s fastest land animal could be running towards extinction.
The Zoological Society of London (ZSL), Panthera, and Wildlife Conservation Society (WCS) led the study. It estimates that only 7,100 cheetahs（猎豹）remain worldwide, mainly found in Africa. But according to the study, cheetahs have been forced out of 91% of their native range. Cheetahs found in Asia are among the hardest hit. Fewer than 50 are left in a small part of Iran.
Many factors are to blame for the decline in cheetah numbers, including habitat loss and the illegal trade. Prey（猎物）loss is also a problem. Humans cause it by overhunting animals that cheetahs prey on. Cheetahs are carnivores and prey mainly on smaller mammals, for example gazelles.
Because cheetahs usually roam over large areas in search of food, 77% of their habitat remains outside of government-protected areas. This means cheetahs are in constant danger of hunters and traders. In Zimbabwe, Africa, alone, the cheetah population has dropped from 1,200 to only about 170 in 16 years. This decline represents a loss of 85% of the country’s cheetahs.
Dr. Kim Young—Overton, Panthera’s Cheetah Program Director, thinks protected habitats alone are not enough to save cheetahs. Cheetahs in reserves also face dangers such as loss of prey and illegal trade.
Dr. Sarah Durant, the study’s lead author, believes that the information it contains will lead to a better understanding of cheetahs as well as a better approach to helping them survive. Durant says local and national officials must team up in order to save cheetahs. But first, the International Union for Conservation of Nature must classify the animals as endangered. Currently, cheetahs are classified as weak on the IUCN’s Red List of Threatened Species. The change would focus more attention on cheetahs and help protect them for extinction. After all, in the fight to save cheetahs, it's a race against time.
1. What is the present situation of cheetahs according to the study?| A．They are in danger. |
| B．They live freely worldwide. |
| C．They are protected well in Africa. |
| D．They mainly live in their native range. |
| A．Animals kept at home. |
| B．Animals living in zoos. |
| C．Animals feeding on meat. |
| D．Animals killed in the wild. |
| A．The loss of their reserves. |
| B．Their appearance in unpreserved areas. |
| C．The decreasing government protection. |
| D．Their increasing natural enemies. |
| A．It shows ways of wildlife protection. |
| B．It implies people’s role in saving animals. |
| C．It stresses the importance of cheetahs in our life. |
| D．It informs people of cheetahs’ existing state. |
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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9 . Can dogs and cats live in perfect harmony in the same home? People who are thinking about adopting a dog as a friend for their cats are worried that they will fight. A recent research has found a new recipe of success. According to the study, if the cat is adopted before the dog, and if they are introduced when still young (less than 6 months for cats, a year for dogs), it is highly probable that the two pets will get along swimmingly. Two-thirds of the homes interviewed reported a positive relationship between their cat and dog.
However, it wasn’t all sweetness and light. There was a reported coldness between the cat and dog in 25% of the homes, while aggression and fighting were observed in 10% of the homes. One reason for this is probably that some of their body signals were just opposite. For example, when a cat turns its head away it signals aggression, while a dog doing the same signals submission.
In homes with cats and dogs living peacefully, researchers observed a surprising behaviour. They are learning how to talk each other’s language. It is a surprise that cats can learn how to talk ‘Dog’, and dogs can learn how to talk ‘Cat’.
What’s interesting is that both cats and dogs have appeared to develop their intelligence. They can learn to read each other’s body signals, suggesting that the two may have more in common than we previously suspected. Once familiar with each other’s presence and body language, cats and dogs can play together, greet each other nose to nose, and enjoy sleeping together in the sofa. They can easily share the same water bowl and in some cases groom (梳理) each other.
The significance of this research on cats and dogs may go beyond pets —to people who don’t get along, including neighbors, colleagues at work, and even world superpowers. If cats and dogs can learn to get along, surely people have a good chance.
1. The underlined word swimmingly in paragraph 1 is closest in meaning to________.| A．early | B．sweetly |
| C．quickly | D．smoothly |
| A．they are cold to each other |
| B．they look away from each other |
| C．they misunderstand each other’s signals |
| D．they are introduced at an early age |
| A．They eat and sleep together |
| B．They observe each others behaviors |
| C．They learn to speak each other’s language |
| D．They know something from each other’s voice |
| A．We should learn to live in harmony |
| B．We should knows more about animals |
| C．We should live in peace with animals |
| D．We should learn more body languages． |
Lions，tigers and other animals are staying awake at night
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
The latest research found even activities like farming and camping can
The new findings are
