1 . What if someone told you about a kind of grass as tall as the tallest trees? A grass as strong as steel? Would you believe that person? You should, for that grass is bamboo (竹子), which has more than 1,000 uses. It is not just a material for making useful products. Young bamboo is eaten, often mixed with other vegetables.
Bamboo grows in many parts of the world. In the USA it grows in many states like Virginia and Florida. Most bamboo, however, is found in wet and warm climates, especially in Asia and on the islands of the South Pacific Ocean.
In most Asian countries, bamboo is nearly as important as rice. This unusual material is used to not only build large buildings but also make water pipes, musical instruments and paper. There are over 1,000 kinds of bamboo. No wonder the lives of nearly half the people on earth would change greatly if there were no longer any bamboo.
1. According to the text, bamboo is actually a kind of .| A．grass | B．steel | C．tree | D．vegetable |
| A．Only in Asia. | B．Only in the USA. |
| C．In wet and warm climates. | D．All over the world. |
| A．Build large buildings. | B．Make water pipes. |
| C．Make musical instruments and paper. | D．All of the above. |
| A．Over 1,000. | B．Over 800. | C．Over 600. | D．Over 400. |
Gu Ying, who was a well-trained paraglider(滑翔伞运动员).
July 7th, 2017 is the day
3 . In south Africa’s Limpopo province, a baobab tree (猴面包树) once grew so large and stood so strong that its human neighbors decided to build a pub inside the living tree’s thousand-year-old hollow trunk(树干). For 20 years, “The Big Baobab Pub” attracted tourists all over the world. But in August 2016, one of “the walls” broke. Eight months later, another huge piece broke, too. Now, five of the giant stems have collapsed and died, leaving only half of the tree standing.
Though it could sound like a result of human visitation, it's part of an alarming trend: many of the oldest, largest baobab trees in Africa have died within the last 12 years.
Stephan Woodbourne, an African scientist, said: “Of the oldest trees that we’ve looked at in Southern Africa, the three trees that are older than 2,000 years have all died in the past 10 years. Of the 11 trees that are 1,000 to 2,000 years old, six of them have died.”
A report published in the journal Nature Plants claims scores of the ancient baobab trees, some of which are up to 3,000 years old, are now dying because of rising global temperatures.
Researchers believe it is impossible that such a high number of old baobab trees die in such a short time due to natural causes. They think it may be associated with huge change of climate conditions that affect southern Africa in particular.
1. What has happened to The Big Baobab Pub?| A．The pub has largely been destroyed. |
| B．More tourists from the world visit it. |
| C．The pub has a long history of 2,000 years. |
| D．The Baobab Tree grows larger and stronger. |
| A．all the oldest baobab trees have been dead |
| B．the oldest baobab trees will die out soon |
| C．ancient baobab trees are in the face of danger |
| D．Human’s visits lead to ancient baobab trees’ deaths |
| A．Many pubs’ foundation. | B．Global climate changes. |
| C．Human visitation. | D．Natural causes. |
| A．Research on Baobab Tree. | B．Facts about Baobab Tree. |
| C．Baobab Tree in Africa. | D．Tree of Life is Dying. |
4 . Capuchin monkeys(僧帽猴) usually make a lot of noise when they find food. They shriek(尖叫) and yell and scream. They are letting their families know where the food is.
One day, Dr. Mario, a scientist, saw a monkey keep quiet when it found food. The monkey didn’t let the other monkeys know about the bananas. Dr. Mario wondered why. "It looked like she was trying to keep her bananas hidden from the other monkeys, he said.
Some scientists used to think that animals couldn't control the sounds coming from their mouths. This would mean that monkeys would make noise even if there was not enough food to share. However, Dr. Mario had a different idea.
Capuchin monkeys love to eat bananas. So Dr. Mario put some bananas on a platform in the trees where the monkeys lived. Sometimes he put many bananas on the platform so that there would be enough for the monkeys to share. Sometimes he put only a few so that there would not be enough bananas for everyone.
Dr. Mario did this for a whole year. Each time Dr. Mario put bananas on the platform, he watched carefully. He wanted to see if the monkeys sometimes kept quiet when they found bananas.
Dr. Mario found three things that made monkeys more likely to remain silent. First, when monkeys found only a few bananas, they often didn't tell their families. Second, in seasons when the forest provided only a little bit of food, monkeys tended to keep quiet when they found bananas. Third, monkeys were more likely to stay quiet when they had many friends nearby and would not have enough food for everyone. Dr. Mario’s banana test showed that monkeys can control the sounds coming from their mouths. It seems that they know when to keep quiet and when to call in the family.
1. When finding food, capuchin monkeys yell and scream in order to ________.| A．show their satisfaction | B．send signals to their families |
| C．find the place | D．threaten their enemies |
| A．By changing the number of bananas |
| B．By changing the location of the platform |
| C．By controlling the sounds from other monkeys |
| D．By letting other monkeys know about the bananas. |
| A．like to remain silent | B．don’t share their food |
| C．prefer to eat bananas | D．can control their sounds |
| A．where monkeys live |
| B．how monkeys find food |
| C．when monkeys keep quiet after they find food |
| D．how monkeys make sounds when they call their families |
