Yellow Crane Tower,
Its cultural significance led to its
During the Tang Dynasty (618— 907) , many popular poems
From the top of the tower, visitors are treated to a wonderful bird’s-eye view of the Yangtze River
2 . Humans are not the animal kingdom's only fashionistas. Tits ( ill雀) can be fashion followers, too, apparently. A latest study shows that, given the chance, they decorate their nests with this season's must-have colour.
Dr. Wild and Dr. Aplin were following up on a study published in 1934 by Henry Smith Williams, an American naturalist. He noticed that when he put various coloured balls of yarn (纱) out in his garden, almost always one and only one became popular that season for being included into local birds' nests. But which particular color was favoured varied from season to season. This suggested that the colour chosen by one of the early birds was spotted and copied by others.
Williams's work was, however, forgotten until they came across it while following up on a different study, published by a team at the University of Toulouse, suggesting fashion-following, too. Dr. Wild and Dr. Aplin therefore set out to re-run Williams's experiment, but this time to collect some actual numbers.
The birds they followed were part of a well-monitored population of blue tits in a wood near the institute. Most birds in this wood carried tracking devices fitted to them after their capture in mist nets. That allowed the institute's researchers to keep track of a vast number of individuals by recording their arrival at food containers throughout the wood. Instead of food, these containers were loaded with wool of different colors. Interestingly, researchers soon found that most nests of blue tits included only the color of the wool first chosen by a nestbuildcr.
Tits, then, do seem to be “on trend”, when it comes to nest-building materials. Why that should happen remains obscure. Dr. Wild and Dr. Aplin suspect the fashion leaders are older birds, and that evolution favours younger ones copying their elders since those elders have evidently survived what fortune has to throw at a tit. Williams’s original work, though, suggests such initial choices are at random-a bit like those of the leaders of human fashions.
1. What can we learn from Paragraph 2?| A．Dr. Wild and Dr. Aplin contributed to William's work. |
| B．Early birds' color preference was copied by their fellows. |
| C．The yam was the most popular material to decorate local birds' nests. |
| D．The color of the yam favored by local birds was fixed throughout the year. |
| A．They observed the blue tits. |
| B．They studied the habits of blue tits. |
| C．They adopted the data-collecting method. |
| D．They fitted tracking devices to food containers. |
| A．Hidden. | B．Evident. | C．Complicated. | D．Shallow. |
| A．Birds favor certain colors in decoration. |
| B．Young birds follow their elders in fashion. |
| C．Young birds are just as intelligent as people. |
| D．Birds are just as fashion-conscious as people. |
3 . We humans have always been obsessed with reaching higher, building taller, and touching the sky. In effect, we have been building towers and buildings each taller than the other. Today, we will look at four of the tallest buildings in the world.
Burj Khalifa
Since it opened on January 4, 2010, the Burj Khalifa has been the tallest building in the world. The United Arab Emirates broke world records in the 21st century for building a needle-like, 162 story skyscraper in Dubai. A public observation deck called “At the Top” is located on the 124th floor. The top floor is home to a private VIP club, closed to anyone except members.
Taipei 101
Featured in many videos, the tallest building in Taipei, China, is famous for its unique shape and awesome fireworks display every year. It houses lots of hotels, offices, apartments, and an observatory deck. There’s an outdoor round observatory square on the 91st floor of the building, at 392m above the ground, it’s now the third highest open-air observation deck in the world.
Shanghai World Financial Centre
The Shanghai World Financial Centre, is a soaring glass skyscraper with a distinctive opening at the top in Pudong District, Shanghai, China. The construction of this building began in 1997, but due to the crisis in Southeast Asia, it temporarily halted and resumed in 2003. Its final height is 492 metres and has 101 floors.
International Commerce Centre (ICC)
The ICC building, completed in 2010 in West Kowloon, is the tallest building in Hong Kong, China, and one of the world’s tallest skyscrapers at 484 metres. Original plans were for an even taller building, but zoning laws prohibited the construction of buildings higher than the surrounding mountains. The design of the skyscraper was revised (修改) and plans for a pyramidal-shaped top were abandoned.
1. What do Burj Khalifa and Taipei 101 have in common?| A．They have observatory decks. |
| B．They are open for half a day. |
| C．They are famous for their unique shapes. |
| D．They have the same number of floors. |
| A．Shanghai World Financial Centre. |
| B．Burj Khalifa. |
| C．International Commerce Centre. |
| D．Taipei 101. |
| A．There’s an outdoor round observatory square on the 92nd floor of Taipei 101. |
| B．The top of ICC building is the shape of pyramid. |
| C．It took longer time than expected to finish Shanghai World Financial Centre. |
| D．Everyone can visit the top floor of Burj Khalifa. |
Sam was a junior high school student. He lived in a community in Charlotte and usually had little exposure to country life. So much of what he knew about plants came from text-books. Sam was a kind-hearted person. He longed for a chance to explore nature and he wanted to do his part to beautify the world.
Finally, the opportunity came. On Arbor Day (植树节), his class organized a trip to a local village to plant trees. Sam was excited about it and couldn’t wait to tell his mom the good news. So the next day, Sam and his mom went to buy some tools for planting trees, including a shovel(铲), a bucket, gloves and so on.
On the day of the event, Sam and his classmates arrived early at the starting point. It was a beautiful day and everyone looked particularly happy. With the tools in hand, Sam got into the bus with everyone else and headed off to their destination.
As soon as they reached the village, all the students were divided into three teams by their teacher. One team was responsible for planting the trees, one team for shovelling the soil and one team for watering the trees. At the teacher’s command, everyone started to do their job.
However, it was the first time that many of the students had taken part in planting trees, so they had no idea about how to start. Of course, Sam was one of them. Fortunately, their teacher was a middle-aged man from the countryside who had some knowledge of planting trees. In order to set an example to the students, the teacher started to plant trees himself. After watching the teacher plant the trees, everyone also became busy. Before long, they planted hundreds of trees. Sam watched very carefully, not wanting to miss any of the details. Finally, Sam learned how to plant trees by himself and felt happy.
注意：1.续写词数应为150左右;
2.请按如下格式在答题卡的相应位置作答。
A few days later, a storm damaged some young trees in the community.
_____________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________The neighbours praised Sam for what he had done.
_____________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________Allen was playing in his room. He heard a familiar chirping and rustling from the cage in the bedroom corner. It was his beloved Blue Finch, named Mary. The boy had cared for the bird since he was six, a gift from his mother for graduating from kindergarten and entering primary school. Now, at 12 years old, Allen had just recently celebrated his primary school graduation and was about to take another step in his life journey toward junior high school. For the past six years, Mary was his constant companion and closest friend.
As he grew up, Allen found it difficult to make friends or be close to others. Having had to move around many times and transfer schools due to his father’s work in the military, Allen never felt like he truly belonged in any one place. He always knew it wouldn’t be long before he would have to move yet again. The stress and pressure of a constantly mobile life also led to strain and pressure at home, leading to loud arguments and fights between his mother and father which he could hear from behind closed doors.
But, throughout all of this. Allen’s closest friend and companion-the true source of stability in his life — was Mary, his finch. But Mary was more than just a simple, calm pet: whenever Allen felt sad, the bird would always be singing and chirping, almost as if she sensed how he felt and wanted to lift his spirits. And when Allen fed the bird, Mary always moved across her branch to rest against his finger, never failing to bring a smile to Allen’s face. Yet, one summer day after Allen had come home after a walk at the park he found the window of his bedroom open and the door of Mary’s cage open-the-bird was gone. Suddenly, Allen realized that he must have left the cage open after cleaning it and forgot about the window being open on such a hot day. Upset, Allen fell down to the floor sobbing.
注意：1. 续写词数应为150词左右；
2. 请按如下格式在相应位置作答。
Upon hearing the noise, Allen’s mother rushed upstairs and asked what had happened.
_______________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________Filled with anticipation, Allen and his mother went outside to look for Mary.
_______________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________1. What is the woman?
| A．A teacher. | B．A radio hostess. | C．An expert. |
| A．700. | B．1，400 | C．2，100. |
| A．Learn some tree-planting skills first. |
| B．Come along anytime they like. |
| C．Bring along their gloves |
Melati and Isabel deeply love their home on the island, surrounded by tropical rain forests, green fields, and a vast ocean. Enjoying a swim at their local beach was once a daily pleasure for them. But when Melati was fifteen, and Isabel just ten, the sisters started to lose their enthusiasm for swimming in the waters near their borne. More often than not, plastic bags would be around them as they swam and some were scattered on the beach. They got really upset about that.
Melati didn’t think much about it until one day her teacher gave a lesson on some world heroes. Each of those people had sparked movements of positive changes in the world. They believed in the impact they could have and they did inspire more people to do something meaningful. After school, Melati walked home slowly in silence, concerned about the vast amount of plastic rubbish on the beach. The heroes crossed her mind. If they could do it, we could do it too, she thought. The idea lit her up. She couldn’t wait to share what she thought with Isabel and quickened her pace.
“So many plastic bags around! The beach is dirty and messy! It’s so terrible! We have lost the clean and beautiful beach. Can’t we do something to get it back?” Melati said heartily. Isabel felt a bit puzzled at what to do, but she also had a strong desire to do something. Picturing a beach as fascinating as before in mind, the pair jumped with joy.
They talked a lot, anxious to know how Dad and Mom would respond to their ideas. That night when the family sat by the dinner table, the sisters eagerly got their ideas across. While Mom and Dad listened to the girls carefully, their eyes shone. “How amazing that would be! We are so proud of you!” Dad exclaimed. Mom came up, gave them a thumb up and hugged the sisters.
注意：1．续写词数应为150左右；
2．请按如下格式在答题卡的相应位置作答。
Melati and Isabel decided to make a positive impact straight away.
______________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________One month later, Melati received a call from the local newspaper.
______________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________8 . Honeybees can’t swim, and when their wings get wet, they can’t fly. But one study shows that honeybees do have another, less obvious choice to save them from death in the water: surfing.
The discovery began with a lucky accident. When research engineer Chris Roh passed by Caltech’s Millikan Pond, he saw a honeybee resting in the water, and since it was midday, the honeybee’s shadow (影子) fell directly on the bottom of the pond. However, what really caught his eye was the waves created by the honeybee’s wings, as the waves from one wing crashed with those from the other wing.
Roh brought honeybees to the lab, where he recreated the conditions, he saw at Mfillikan Pond. He placed a bee in a pan of still water and then shone filtered (过滤的) light from above to pretend it was the midday sun. He did this with 33 bees, but only for a few minutes one single bee at a time, and then gave each bee time to recover.
While water prevents a bee from flying by clinging (紧附) to its wings, the same condition obviously provides another way for the bee to escape. The bee pulls water with its wings, creating waves that can push it forward.
But there are some limitations. Obviously, the bees can’t produce enough force to get them out of the water. However, the wave can push them forward enough to the edge of the water, where they can then climb out and fly away. This behavior is more tiring than flying, and Roh guesses the bees can only hold it for about 10 minutes before using up their strength, so the chances to get out may, be limited.
“This behavior has never been recorded in other insects,” Roh added. This study focused on honeybees, but future studies could investigate whether it is also used by other bee groups or possibly even by other winged insects.
1. According to the new study, what helps honeybees avoid death in water?| A．The crash between their wings. |
| B．The water clinging to their bodies. |
| C．The strong will to get out of water. |
| D．The waves produced by their wings. |
| A．To help the honeybees recover quickly. |
| B．To make the honeybees gain more force. |
| C．To keep the honeybees in warm conditions. |
| D．To create a shadow on the bottom of the pan. |
| A．By using examples. |
| B．By giving explanations. |
| C．By making a comparison. |
| D．By listing specific numbers. |
| A．No insects can surf other than honeybees. |
| B．More methods will be used to study insects. |
| C．Researches will be done into other bee species. |
| D．Bees made more and more scientists concerned. |
9 . When your child begins to beg for a pet, you may draw back at the thought of the additional responsibilities. Parents usually think of all the work and responsibility having a pet could bring about.
● Teach responsibility.
A family pet can help show children the importance of proper care in keeping their new friend happy and healthy.
● Encourage exercise.
If you’ve ever been forced to keep up with a young dog or cat, you know how tiring it can be!
Teaching your child how to “play nice” with and show affection to another living being is an essential first step toward developing lifelong empathy (共情) for others. Learning how to be a good friend with a pet will teach one how to be more open and friendly to other people as well.
● Be practical.
While the benefits of pet ownership are clear, pets are definitely not for everybody. Raising pets requires a large amount of work and responsibility. You’d better make sure the whole family is aware of the requirement that come along with the pet.
| A．Treat others well. |
| B．Form a close bond with a friend. |
| C．Pets are great for helping "“break the ice”. |
| D．But you can use the pet’s energy to your advantage. |
| E．Also, some pets can be very aggressive with children. |
| F．All pets need to be fed, given fresh water, and exercised regularly. |
| G．However, allowing kids to keep a pet can teach you both some important lessons. |
10 . If you’re a fan of hummingbirds(蜂鸟), then you probably know that at night they lower their body temperatures greatly by dropping into an energy-saving state of inactivity called torpor(麻木). A new study finds that the birds have more than one level of torpor. “There have been a few signs that this ability to fine-tune thermoregulation(温度调节)is possible,” said the lead author Anusha Shankar.
Shankar and her colleagues used a special method to track the body temperatures of three hummingbird species in Arizona: the blue-throated mountaingem, Rivoli’s hummingbird, and the black-chinned hummingbird. They measured the temperatures emitted from the skin around the eyes of the birds and found that differences in heat generation at various stages are noticeable
The normal daytime body temperature of a hummingbird is more than 100 ℉, even in cold weather. During shallow torpor, their body temperature drops by about 20 ℉. In deep torpor, the bird keeps a body temperature 50 ℉ below its normal daytime temperature. If human body temperature were to drop mere 3 degrees from the standard 98.6 ℉, we’d be in a state of hypothermia(低体温症)and, unlike hummingbirds, we would need outside help to get warm again.
“In this study, we found that the smallest bird used deep torpor every night,” said Shankar. “The bigger birds sometimes use deep torpor and sometimes shallow torpor, and sometimes no torpor at all.”
Shallow torpor may have developed to balance energy saving with the cost of deep torpor. In deep torpor, a hummingbird is much more likely to be affected by disease because its immune system(免疫系统)shuts down. And what’s more, it would get inadequate sleep and be easily harmed by its enemies.
Torpor is not the same as sleep. Sleep uses much more energy and serves many important functions. Daily torpor also differs from hibernation(冬眠). Hibernating animals enter a low-energy state for weeks or months at a time, while hummingbirds can enter torpor every night. But the researchers say their studies were done under laboratory conditions, not the conditions a bird would encounter in the wild. They say more research is needed to understand thermoregulation in birds.
1. What does the new study show?| A．Hummingbirds’ torpor could be flexible. |
| B．Thermoregulation is common among birds. |
| C．Body temperature is vital to hummingbirds’ sleep. |
| D．Hummingbirds are sensitive to change in temperature. |
| A．It would suffer a lot in winter. |
| B．It would be in a state of hibernation. |
| C．It would be in a state of hypothermia. |
| D．It would regain normal body temperature without help. |
| A．It may consume plenty of energy. |
| B．It ensures the bird gets enough sleep. |
| C．It does great harm to its immune system. |
| D．It can greatly threaten its welfare and safety. |
| A．Their research is far from complete. |
| B．Their research method is much too complex. |
| C．It is easy to understand thermoregulation in birds. |
| D．It is difficult to distinguish hibernation from daily torpor. |
