5 . When you look up at the blue sky or gaze across blue ocean, you might think that the color blue is common in nature. But among all the colors found in rocks, plants and flowers, or in the fur, feathers, scales and skin of animals, blue is surprisingly scarce.
But why is the color blue so rare? The answer stems from the chemistry and physics of how colors are produced — and how we see them. Were able to see color because each of our eyes contains between 6 million and 7 million light-sensitive cells called cones (椎体). There are three different types of cones in the eye of a person with normal color vision, and each cone type is most sensitive to a particular wavelength of light: red, green or blue. Information from millions of cones reaches our brains as electrical signals that communicate all the types of light reflected by what we see, which is then interpreted as different shades of color.
When we look at a colorful object, “the object is absorbing some of the white light that falls onto it; because its absorbing some of the light, the rest of the light that reflected has a color,” science writer Kai Kupferschmidt said.
“When you see a blue flower — for instance, a cornflower — you see the cornflower as blue because it absorbs the red part of the spectrum (光谱),” Kupferschmidt said. Or to put it another way, the flower appears blue because that color is the part of the spectrum that the blossom rejected.
In the visible spectrum, red has long wavelengths, meaning it is very low-energy compared with other colors. For a flower to appear blue, it needs to be able to produce a molecule (分子) that can absorb very small amounts of energy, in order to absorb the red part of the spectrum.
Generating such molecules — which are large and complex — is difficult for plants to do, which is why blue flowers are produced by fewer than 10% of the worlds nearly 300,000 flowering plant species.
1. What does the underlined phrase “stems from” probably mean?| A．Varies from. | B．Results from. | C．Leads to. | D．Amounts to. |
| A．Cones divide colors into three types. |
| B．The colors are divided into three types. |
| C．Part of white light is absorbed by the object. |
| D．Light-sensitive cells are most sensitive to dark colors. |
| A．Its wavelengths are shorter. | B．It can be seen everywhere. |
| C．It seems more vivid than others. | D．It has low-energy relatively. |
| A．To reflect most red light. |
| B．To blossom in the shade. |
| C．To avoid generating large molecules. |
| D．To produce molecules to absorb red spectrum. |
6 . Two sisters have a debate about which life is better: city or country life. The elder sister, who lives in a city,
The younger sister’s husband, Pahom, has the same opinion with her. He thinks that everything is good with their country life, except that he
Man is never satisfied, and he often becomes greedy in an effort to
| A．insists | B．hopes | C．doubts | D．ensures |
| A．while | B．whether | C．though | D．since |
| A．food | B．achievement | C．comfort | D．scenes |
| A．loses | B．owns | C．needs | D．wins |
| A．manages | B．prepares | C．happens | D．fails |
| A．Besides | B．However | C．Otherwise | D．Therefore |
| A．In return to | B．In addition to | C．In order to | D．In time to |
| A．talk | B．deal | C．discussion | D．date |
| A．evening | B．daytime | C．afternoon | D．weekday |
| A．rule | B．wish | C．trouble | D．condition |
| A．desire | B．willingness | C．ability | D．way |
| A．ultimately | B．quickly | C．slowly | D．suddenly |
| A．reward | B．encourage | C．bury | D．satisfy |
| A．abandon | B．gain | C．keep | D．learn |
| A．remember | B．argue | C．regret | D．decide |
7 . Southeast Asia is well-known for its colorful natural and historical attractions. Check out these four man-made impressive sites that are always attracting large tourists.
Golden Bridge, Vietnam
High up on Ba Na hills near Da Nang in Vietnam sits a pair of giant hands designed to look like the hands of God pulling out a strip of gold from the land. The 150-metre Golden Bridge, just opened in June, rises more than 1,400 metres above sea level and offers spectacular views of the surrounding area.
Gardens by the Bay, Singapore
Futuristic-looking giant trees and a man-made forest under a glass dome (穹顶) are part of this multi-award winning destination that opened in 2012.The giant super trees are between 9 and 16 storeys tall and you can take a walk to enjoy the view from above. A short walk away, youll come across the Flower Dome and the Cloud Forest.
Statue of Lord Murugan, Batu Caves, Malaysia
Just 12 kilometres from the capital city of Kuala Lumpur, the statue of Lord Murugan, located at the Sri Murugan Perumal Kovil at the foot of Batu Caves, was completed in 2006 and stands a little over 42 metres tall. There are three limestone (石灰岩) caves in the area. Visitors have to scale 272 steps in order to reach the entrance of the caves.
Sultan Omar Ali Saifuddien Mosque, Brunei
Named after the 28th sultan of Brunei, the grand mosque was completed in 1958.The impressive building is surrounded by an artificial lagoon, where a copy of a 16th century royal ship is docked at the end of a marble bridge.
1. Where can tourists enjoy the view from above the trees?| A．Golden Bridge, Vietnam. |
| B．Gardens by the Bay, Singapore. |
| C．Sultan Omar Ali Saifuddien Mosque, Brunei. |
| D．Statue of Lord Murugan, Batu Caves, Malaysia. |
| A．Climb stairs. | B．Take a small boat. |
| C．Walk through a forest. | D．Go across a golden bridge. |
| A．They are related to religions. | B．They stand near the beach. |
| C．They are created by people. | D．They exist for centuries. |
1. What do storm hunters do?
| A．Follow tornadoes and study them. |
| B．Save people in stormy weather. |
| C．Collect pictures about tornadoes. |
| A．Read magazines about tornadoes. |
| B．Measure tornadoes closely in his car. |
| C．Invent instruments to forecast tornadoes. |
| A．Publishing an article about tornadoes. |
| B．Setting up a research project. |
| C．Recording the inside of a tornado. |
9 . The fox froze. In a sudden flash of movement, the fox dove nose-first into the water, appearing with a large fish struggling in his mouth.
In March 2016, two researchers in Spain watched as a male red fox followed and caught 10 fish over a couple of hours. The event, described in a study in Ecology, seems to be the first recorded instance of a fox fishing, the researchers say.
“Seeing the fox hunting fish one after another was incredible,” says ecologist Jorge Tobajas of the University of Cordoba. “We have been studying this species for years, but we never expected something like this.”
Tobajas and his colleague came across the fishing fox while surveying a site for a different project. The fox first caught their attention because it didn’t flee when it spotted the researchers. Seizing the opportunity, they decided to hide nearby and see what the fox was up to.
Their curiosity turned into excitement after the fox caught its first fish. “The most surprising thing was to see how the fox hunted many carp without making any mistakes,” To bajas says. “This made us realize that it was surely not the first time he had done it.”
Instead of immediately eating all of the fish, the fox hid the majority of its catch and appeared to share at least one with a female fox, possibly its mate.
Fish remains have been spotted in the waste(粪便) of foxes before. But scientists weren’t sure whether foxes had caught the fish themselves or were simply scavenging dead fish. This research confirms that some foxes fish for their food.
For Tobajas, the fishing fox is an example of how much scientists still don’t know about the natural world, even for species that live fairly close with humans. “The red fox is a very common species and is in many cases a bit hated,” he says. Foxes sometimes attack pets or livestock and are considered a pest in many places. But “observations like this show us that it a very intelligent animal.”
1. What is the function of paragraph 1?| A．To bring in the topic. | B．To prove the fox’s skill. |
| C．To attract people’s attention. | D．To introduce a kind of fox. |
| A．Curious. | B．Confused. | C．Excited. | D．Shocked. |
| A．The size of the fox. | B．The clean water. |
| C．The fox’s calmness. | D．The researchers’ tools. |
| A．Eating. | B．Visiting. | C．Cleaning. | D．Delivering. |
1. How often is the quiz show for children broadcast?
| A．Daily. | B．Weekly. | C．Monthly. |
| A．Science. | B．Sports. | C．Entertainment. |
| A．A camera. | B．A computer. | C．A mobile phone. |
| A．Provide their personal information. |
| B．Send a photo to the TV station. |
| C．Fill in an application form. |
