All living things on the earth need other living things to live. Nothing lives alone. Most animals must
live in a group, and even a plant grows close together with others of the same kind. Sometimes one
living thing kills another, one eats and the other is eaten. Each kind of life eats another kind of life in
order to live, and together they form a food chain (链条). Some food chains are simple, while others
are not. But all food chains begin with the sun, and all food chains become broken up if one of the links
disappears.
    All life needs sunlight to live on. But only plants can use sunlight directly. Plants are "factories". They
make food from sunlight, water and things in the soil and air. Plants feed all other living things. Animals
can only use the sun's energy after it has been changed into food by plants. Some animals feed directly
on plants, others eat smaller animals. Meat-eating animals are only eating plants indirectly. 
    What about human beings? We are members of many food chains. We eat rice, vegetables, and fruits
and so on. We also eat meat and drink milk. But men often break up the food chains. They kill wild
animals. They also make rivers, lakes and seas polluted, when these rivers, lakes and seas are polluted,
the fish in them can not be eaten. If men eat the fish, they will get strange diseases.
    Each form of life is linked to all others. Breaking the links puts all life in danger.

                                                         Practice your memory
     If you do not use your arms or your legs for some time, they will become weak, when you start using
them again, they slowly become strong again. Everybody knows that. Yet many people do not seem to
know that memory works in the same way. When someone says that he has a good memory, he really
means that he keeps his memory in practice by using it. When someone else says that his memory is poor,
he really means that he does not give it enough chance to become strong.
     If a friend says that his arms and legs are weak, we know that it is his own fault. But if he tells us that
he has a poor memory, many of us think that his parents may be blamed, and few of us know that it is just
his own fault (过错). Have you ever found that some people can't read or write but usually they have better
memories? This is because they cannot write them down in a small notebook. They have to remember days,
names, songs and stories, so their memory is the whole time being exercised. 
    So if you want to have a good memory, practice remembering things in a way as other people do.

1. Someone can't have a good memory if ______.

[     ]

A. he can't read or write
B. he doesn't use his memory
C. his parents don't have good memory
D. he doesn't use his arms or legs for some time

2. Which of the following is true?

[     ]

A. Your memory works in a different way as your arms or legs.
B. Your memory becomes weak if you do not give it enough chance for practice.
C. Don't learn how to read and write if you want to have a better memory.
D. A good memory comes from less practice.

3. Few people know that it is only ______ if a man has a poor memory.

[     ]

A. his own fault
B. his parents' fault
C. his teachers' fault
D. his grandmother's fault

4. The writer wants to tell us ______.

[     ]

A. how to use our arms or legs
B. how to read and write
C. how to have a good memory
D. how to learn from the people

5. How to remember many new English words in a short time? Give your suggestion.

[     ]

A. Copy them once and once.
B. Read aloud about them.
C. You should practice your memory as often as you can.
D. Get the help from a foreigner.

     Surtsey was born in 1963. Scientists saw the birth of this island. It began at 7.30 a.m. on 14th November.
A fishing boat was near Iceland. The boat moved under the captain's (船长) feet. He noticed a strange smell.
He saw some black smoke. A volcano (火山) was breaking out. Red-hot rocks, fire and smoke were rushing
up from the bottom (底部) of the sea. The island grew quickly. It was 10 meters high the next day and 60
meters high on 18th November. Scientists flew there to watch. It was exciting. Smoke and fire were still
rushing up. Pieces of red-hot rock were flying into the air and falling into the sea. The sea was boiling and
there was a strange light in the sky. Surtsey grew and grew. Then it stopped in June 1967.It was 175 meters
high and 2 kilometers long. And life was already coming to Surtsey. Plants grew. Birds came. Some scientists
built a house. They want to learn about this young island. A new island is like a new world.

1. Surtsey is ______.

[     ]

A. an island not far from Iceland
B. a new volcano
C. a fishing boat
D. a place in Iceland

2. Scientists flew there ______.

[     ]

A. to watch the birth of the island
B. to save the fishing boat
C. to learn about the island
D. to build a house

3. When did scientist fly there to watch?

[     ]

A. Before the volcano broke out.
B. As soon as the volcano broke out.
C. About four days after the volcano broke out.
D. After the volcano stopped rushing up.

4. Put the following sentences in correct order.
    a. The captain found the boat was moving.
    b. A new island appeared in the sea.
    c. Fire, smoke and rocks were seen rushing up.
    d. A fishing boat was near Iceland. e. The island grew quickly.

[     ]

A. d-a-c-b-e 　　
B. a-b-c-d-e　　
C. a-b-e-c-d　　
D. b-e-d-a-c

5. The best title of this article is ______.

[     ]

A. A new island
B. The birth of an island
C. A new world
D. Scientists discovered Surtsey

     We know the mosquito very well. Mosquitoes fly everywhere. They can be found almost all over the
world, and there are more than 2,500 kinds of them.
     No one likes the mosquito. But the mosquito may decide that she loves you. She? Yes, she. It's true
that male mosquito doesn't bite (咬) and only the female mosquito bites because she needs blood to lay eggs.
She is always looking for things or people she wants to bite. If she likes what she finds, she bites. But if she
doesn't like your blood, she will turn to someone else for more delicious blood. Next time a mosquito bites
you, just remember you are chosen. You're different from the others!
     If the mosquito likes you, she lands on your body without letting you know. She bites you so quickly and
quietly that you may not feel anything different. After she bites, you will have an itch (痒) on your body
because she puts something from her mouth together with your blood. By the time the itching begins, and she
has flown away.
     And then what happens? Well, after her delicious dinner, the mosquito feels tired. She just wants to find a
place to have a good rest. There, on a leaf or a wall, she begins to lay eggs, hundreds of eggs.

1. "Mosquito" means _______ in Chinese.

A. 苍蝇
B. 蜻蜓
C. 跳蚤
D. 蚊子

2. We know mosquitoes very well because _______.

A. they can be found easily
B. they fly here and there
C. there are many kinds of them
D. they can fly

3. If the mosquito doesn't bite you, it will _______.

A. get angry with you
B. be afraid of you
C. make a lot of noise
D. choose another one

4. The mosquito bites you _______.

A. when you're asleep
B. because you have choose it
C. too quickly to let you know
D. but doesn't like you

5. Which of the following sentences is wrong?

A. The itching begins after the mosquito bites you.
B. You feel terrible when the mosquito bites you.
C. Mosquitoes use blood to lay eggs.
D. All the mosquitoes don't like to bite people for blood.

     Many years ago when people had no thermometers (温度计), they usually touched a thing to see how
hot or cold it wasThe following experiment shows how easy it was to make a mistake. 
     Take three glasses: the first one with very hot water. The second one with very cold water, and the third
one with water at room temperature. Then you put a finger of one hand in the hot water, and a finger of the
other hand in the cold water. You hold your fingers in the two glasses for a minute. Then you use each finger,
one after another, to see how hot or cold the water in the third glass is. You will find that the water is warm to
the finger that was in the cold water before, but the finger which was in the hot water will feel cold in the
same glass of water. 
     That is why you must always find the temperature in a scientific way. You must not try to tell the
temperature as it seems to you.
     You will often make a mistake if you take something that seems to you for a real fact. For example, when
you are going to an Amusement park by bus and you want to get there very quickly, it seems to you that your
bus is going very slowly, slower than the other buses. But if it is Sunday and you have much free time, it
seems to you all the buses and cars are going very fast.

1. The experiment tells us that sometimes it is ______ to make a mistake.

A. interesting
B. difficult
C. easy
D. helpful

2. The water in the third glass is ______.

A. colder than the water in the first glass
B. hotter than the water in the first glass
C. colder than the water in the second glass
D. as cold as the water in the second glass

3. What will you find if you put the finger which was in the first glass into the second glass according to
    the experiment?

A. The water is hotter than it is in the first glass.
B. The water is as hot as it is in the first glass.
C. The water is at room temperature.
D. The water is colder than it is in the first glass.

4. How should we find the temperature according to the passage?

A. Try to tell as it seems to us.
B. Try to use our fingers.
C. Try to tell in a scientific way.
D. Try to touch something to see how hot it is.

5. We can learn something about ______ from the passage.

A. physics
B. chemistry
C. psychology (心理学)
D. biology

     It's over three years since I began to learn English. I am glad that I am getting on well with it.
     I find English quite difficult, but very interesting. When I first started, I thought I had only to remember
the new words and learn some grammars. I know little about English idioms (习语). I thought each English
word has the same meaning in Chinese. When I learned to say "I see a book on the desk", I thought the
English word "see" was just like the Chinese word "kan". So one day when my teacher asked me, "What are
you doing?" I answered, "I'm seeing a book." "That's wrong." The teacher said. "You don't see a book. You
read a book. You can't use an English word like a Chinese one. Be sure not to make the same mistake again."
     After that I began to pay more attention to the differences between Chinese and English. For example, in
English we say a "high mountain", but a "tall man". In Chinese we use the same word "gao" for both. Again
in English we say "take part in the sports meeting", "attend a meeting" and "join the army", while in Chinese
we can use "can jia" for all three. Interesting, isn't it?
     So to study English doesn't only mean hard work, it can be great fun, too! We not only have to pay
attention to pronunciation, grammar, spelling and handwriting, we also have to understand English idiom. We
can learn English well only in that way!
     But all this is only a beginning and I still have a long way to go. I'll try my best and work even harder than
before. I must speak and listen to English more both in and out of class. I must learn English well so that I
work well when I grow up.

1. I have learned English for ______ years.

A. one
B. five
C. three
D. more than three

2. When I first started English I ______.

A. knew more English words
B. knew some English idioms
C. used an English word like a Chinese one
D. found English easy and interesting

3. I began to pay more attention to the differences between Chinese and English ______.

A. when I began to learn English
B. when I said "I see book on the desk"
C. before I began to learn English
D. after the teacher told me not to use an English word like a Chinese one

4. We should speak and listen to English ______.

A. only in class
B. out of class
C. both in and out of class
D. either in or out of class

5. To study English well, we have to ______.

A. remember the new words and learn some grammars
B. know the differences between Chinese and English
C. pay attention to pronunciation, spelling, handwriting and idioms
D. do all the above things

     Many students of English think that learning a new language is very difficult. Now think how difficult it
is to learn English when your brain is only the size of a bird's brain! That is what some birds can do.
     Many different kinds of birds can copy the sounds of language. African grey parrots are the best known
for this.
     Every December in London, the National Cage and Aviary Bird Show tries to find the best "talking" bird
in the world. One bird named Prudle stood out among the "talking birds". She won this prize for 12 years
from 1965 to 1976.
     Prudle was taken from her nest in Uganda in 1958. She was sold to Iris Frost in Seaford, England. Prudle
knew almost 800 words in English.
     Prudle was also the oldest bird in the world that lived in a cage. Ms. Frost took care of the bird until
Prudle died in 1994. Prudle was 35 years old.
     A different kind of bird, not a parrot, named Puck was tested in 1993. It turned out that Puck knew more
English words than Prudle knew. Puck knew more than 1,700 words.
     If a bird can do it, anybody can do it.

1. What kind of birds is the most famous for speaking?

A. African grey parrots.
B. The birds with big brains.
C. The birds in cages.
D. English parrots.

2. What dose the word "stand out" mean in this passage?

A. 站出来
B. 飞起来
C. 脱颖而出
D. 取出来

3. How many years did Prudle win the speaking competition for birds?

A. 35 years.
B. 12 years.
C. 55 years.
D. 8 years.

4. Puck was better than Prudle because ______.

A. he could fly higher
B. he knew more words
C. he spoke faster
D. he was bigger

5. Who was Iris Frost?

A. A parrot.
B. Puck's owner.
C. Prudle's owner.
D. An English teacher