After flying all night from Washington, D. C., I was tired as I arrived at a hospital in Denver to hold a workshop on volunteer spirit. As I entered the hospital, a tired middle-aged man came over and asked me “Are you the head of the Make-A-Wish Foundation?” “Yes,” I replied. “Well, my name is Caleb. My daughter Nicola was diagnosed as a brain tumor(脑瘤). Her dying wish was to learn figure-skating and performed in public.” sobbed the tear poor father.
“Here’s Nicola.” Caleb said as he put her skinny hand in mine. Before me stood a sixteen-year-old girl wearing a bright red and orange hat to cover her head, which was bald from all of the chemotherapy treatments(化疗). Smiling shyly, the girl began her story.
When limited to her hospital bed, Nicola took comfort in watching her favorite sport – figure skating-on TV. As the skaters twirled (旋转) in the air and glided across the ice, Nicola pictured that she was one of them, zigzagging across a glittering ice rank (溜冰场) as the audience cheered her name. After months of isolation, Nicola wanted nothing more than to be surrounded by a crowd of adoring supporters.
When she learned she would be granted a wish, Nicola came to find me with hope. She knew that what she had imagined for herself would finally become a reality. “Sir, could you please help me?” Nicola uttered, with voice a bit trembling.
Tears welling in my eyes, I was choked up. I cleared my throat, smiled and said, “Sweetheart. Thanks for making a wish. Let’s make it happen.”
Soon everything was prepared for her. Together, a professional figure skater Linda and a community of kind-hearted supporters were called in to help. A local entertainment venue was arranged. For the following two months, Nicola began her training. She failed countless times in the process of being a skater. However, whenever she fell, she struggled to pull herself up and never gave up.
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After weeks of training, the big day finally came.
________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________When the performance was over, Nicola was awarded a special medal.
________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________California is burning.In recent weeks, hundreds of fires
Fire has always been a part of life California.
The forces working in concert to spark and spread wildfires pose
3 . Yong male songbirds usually learn their songs from adult songbirds. But when those young birds do not have older ones to teach them, they have less success attracting mates.
For five years, ecologist Ross Crates with Australian National University has studied the singing ability and mating success of birds called regent honeyeaters (王吸蜜鸟).
Male birds once formed large groups in the winter. Now they are spread out across the country, so many fly alone. That means fewer honeyeater adults are nearby during the young birds first year of life.
“Song learning in many birds is a process similar to humans learning languages—they learn by listening to other individuals,” said Crates.
“If you can’t listen to other individuals, you don’t know what you should be learning.”
Researchers found that a large number of male birds appear to be learning tunes only used by other species. About 12 percent of male regent honeyeaters end up producing versions of songs usually sung by friarbirds and lack-faced cuckoo shrikes, among other birds.
The scientists released their research in the publication Proceedings of the Royal Society B. They found that males who sang unusual songs were less successful in attracting mates.
Peter Marra is a conservation biologist at Georgetown University and was not involved in the study. He said, “This research suggests that the loss of a song language once the population reaches a very small size could accelerate their decline.”
Scott Ramsay is a behavioral ecologist at Wilfried Laurier University in Ontario, Canada. He was not involved in the research. He said the songs were like an advertisement: “When male birds sing, it’s like putting out an ad saying, ‘I’m over here...and I’m really interested in finding a partner.”
Ramsay added that female honeyeaters may not even recognize these unusual singers as possible mates, and so do not approach them. Or it could be that they approach, “but then things go wrong if the males do not behave as expected.”
1. What might be the scientists’ attitude towards the regent honeyeaters?| A．Positive. | B．Concerned. | C．Optimistic. | D．Critical. |
| A．It’s more possible for them to fail in mating. | B．They attract other species successfully. |
| C．Most regent honeyeaters will follow them. | D．Female honeyeaters like other versions of songs. |
| A．People can understand the language of honeyeaters. |
| B．Males sing wrong songs because they’re not interested in mating. |
| C．Females are likely to mistake male honeyeaters for other birds. |
| D．Regent honeyeaters can put out an advertisement apart from singing songs. |
| A．Singing is an important skill for every bird. |
| B．Honeyeaters and other birds have a close relationship. |
| C．The failure to acquire the song language may speed up the decrease of honeyeaters. |
| D．Honeyeaters are losing their capability of learning singing from other individuals. |
1. Who is the speaker?
| A．A student. | B．A tour guide. | C．A scientist. |
| A．The one in Boston. | B．The one in New York. | C．The one in New Jersey. |
| A．Adults can’t attend the classes. |
| B．The subjects change every 10 weeks. |
| C．There are only 20 classrooms available. |
| A．Musical Magic. | B．Light and Sound. | C．Human Body. |
1. Why did the speaker decide to start a new magazine?
| A．To do something different. | B．To become famous. | C．To get more money. |
| A．The appearance. |
| B．The contents. |
| C．The places one can buy them. |
| A．Articles about local people. |
| B．Reviews of local artists, works. |
| C．Advice on local business development. |
| A．In the first part. | B．In the second part. | C．In the third part. |
