Can storms in Africa cause asthma(哮喘) in the Caribbean(加勒比)? Islanders point to the desert insects that land on beaches after a 5,000-kilometer flight across the Atlantic. If they can use winds to get from one continent to another, so can clouds of dust that carry disease.

Scientists think that as Africa becomes drier, dust from expanding deserts is being blown away into Caribbean islands. A study in Barbados shows that asthma has increased 17 times since Africa’s drought(干旱) began in 1973.

Other forms of life are suffering, too. Among them are the Caribbean’s famous coral reefs( 珊瑚礁), which began dying in large numbers in the 1900s. Eugene Shinn of the U.S. Geiological Sudrvey(USGS) in Florida went to the virgin Islands to study the reefs. The tests he and his colleagues carried out showed that the coral was dying of disease caused by Africa microbes(微生物) from across the ocean.

William Sprigg of the University of Arizona is studying the problem as part of a major UN project. He says that dust is causing problems in the U.S., too.

“We are just beginning to collect the evidence of airborne(空气传播的) dust influences on human health,” he told The Washington Post.

Which of the following can be the best title for this passage?

  A. Dangerous Dust                                        B. Dangerous Disease

C. Changing Weather                               D. Developing Technology

Where does the dust talked about in this passage come from?

  A. America.                     B. Africa.                            C. The Atlantic.             D. The Pacific.

The increase of asthma in the Caribean is probably related to _____ according to scientists.

  A. desert insects         B. strong winds             C. airborne dust            D. dry weather

Which of the following is NOT true about the Caribbean coral reefs?

  A. They are in Florida. 

B. They used to be very beautiful.

  C. They began dying in the past decades. 

D. The African microbes have bad effect on them.

Which of the following is TRUE about William Sprigg?

  A. He is a member of UN.

B. He thinks African dust also affects the US.

  C. He has collected enough evidence about dust influences.

  D. He is a reporter from The Washington Post.

Time was running out, and Mark Dickinson wasn't sure whether he'd get to see his dying 2-year-old grandson one last time. A long line at Los Angeles International Airport's security checkpoint had kept him from getting to his gate on time.

His grandson Caden would be taken off life support in a matter of hours in Denver, Colorado, with or without his grandfather's presence, according to CNN affiliate KABC.

“I was kind of panicking because I was running late, and I really thought I wasn't going to make the flight,” Dickinson told KABC.

That's when a pilot from Southwest Airlines stepped up and held the flight at the gate until Dickinson arrived. The pilot was standing by the air bridge waiting for him when Dickinson arrived in socks, so rushed that he just grabbed his shoes at security and ran through the terminal.

“I told him, ‘Thank you so much. I can't tell you how much I appreciated that.’ And he said, ‘No problem. They can't leave without me anyway,’”Dickinson told KABC.

Authorities say Dickinson's grandson, Caden Rodgers, suffered a head injury after his mother's boyfriend threw him across the room. The boyfriend reportedly told police he was drunk and high on marijuana(大麻) at the time. The child later died and the boyfriend has been charged with first-degree murder, according to the Aurora Sentinel.

Thanks to the pilot, Dickinson made it to Colorado in time to say goodbye to his grandson. Most airlines would punish any staff member who holds up a flight, according to consumer advocate Christopher Elliott, who broke the story of the sympathetic pilot on his blog. However, a Southwest spokeswoman said the pilot's actions were praiseworthy.

“You can't hold a plane for every late customer, but I think we would all agree that these were extenuating(可以原谅的) circumstances and the pilot absolutely made the right decision,” Southwest spokeswoman Marilee McInnis said. “I don't think you could ask for a better example of great service for our customers.”

1.According to the passage, which is the correct order of the following events?

a. The pilot held the plane for Dickinson.

b. People read the story of the pilot on the Internet.

c. Caden suffered a head injury.

d. Dickinson was waiting in line at the security checking point.

d. Marilee McInnis praised the pilot's actions.

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

2.Which of the following statements is true according to the passage?

A. The security staff prohibited Dickinson from getting to his gate on time.

B. The plane couldn't leave without Dickinson according to the regulations.

C. Dickinson made it to see his grandson one last time.

D. Christopher Elliott holds the view that all the airlines should advocate similar actions.

3.What can we infer from the passage?

A. The boyfriend of Caden's mother hates him very much.

B. The boyfriend has been accused of first-degree murder.

C. Many pilots enjoy writing blog.

D. Dickinson had to take off his shoes at the security cheekpoint.

4.In writing this passage, the author mainly tells us a story about ________.

A. an unlucky man from Los Angeles making his flight

B. a poor boy being killed by his mother's boyfriend

C. Southwest Airlines' decision not to punish a pilot who held up the flight

D. a pilot holding the flight for a man going to see his dying grandson

 

The idea for a science experiment can come from an unusual place. After watching a YouTube video of a dancing bird named Snowball, a scientist in California decided to study the ability of animals to keep the beat.

Bird lovers have long claimed that their pets have rhythm, and there are many videos of dancing birds online. Until now, scientists have suspected that humans are the only animals that can accurately keep rhythm with music.

Thanks to Snowball, that scientific opinion is changing. Snowball is a cockatoo, a kind of parrot, and his favorite song is "Everybody" by the Backstreet Boys. When he hears the song, he moves his feet and rocks his body with the tempo, or pace of the music, as though he is the only bird member of the boy band.

Aniruddh Patel is a neuroscientist, or a scientist who studies how the brain and the nervous system contribute to learning, seeing and other mental abilities. He works at the Neurosciences Institute in San Diego. After seeing Snowball's dance online, Patel visited the cockatoo at the bird rescue facility he's called home for two years. The scientist played "Everybody" for Snowball and also played versions of the song that were sped up or slowed down. Sometimes, Snowball danced too fast or too slowly. Often, when there was a change in tempo, Snowball adjusted his dancing to match the rhythm. In other experiments, scientists have observed the same abilities in preschool children.

Patel isn't the only scientist who has studied Snowball's moves. Adena Schachner, who studies psychology at Harvard University, also wanted to know more about the dancing bird. Schachner's team played different musical pieces for Snowball and a parrot named Alex, as well as eight human volunteers. The scientists observed that the birds and the humans kept time to the music with about the same accuracy.

Schachner and her team watched thousands of YouTube videos of different animals moving to music. Not all the animals could dance, however. From watching the videos, the scientists observed that only animals that imitate sounds, including 14 parrot species and Asian elephants, accurately moved in time to music.

63.   The underlined words “that scientific opinion” in the third paragraph refers to the theory that ______.

A.birds like Snowball have the ability to keep the beat

B.humans are the only animals that can accurately keep rhythm with music

C.the brain and the nervous system contribute to some mental abilities

D.bird pets can have their special rhythm under human’s instruction

64.   From the fourth paragraph we may know that ______.

A.Patel is the only scientist who has studied Snowball’s moves.

B.Snowball is able to adjust his dancing to match the rhythm.

C.Snowball cannot dance to the versions of the song Everybody.

D.it is the brain and the nervous system that control the mental abilities.

65.   The idea of studying animals’ ability to keep the beat comes from ______.

A.bird lovers’ discovery

B.humans musical sense

C.the same abilities in children

D.videos of dancing birds

66.   According to the scientists, Snowball’s ability to dance to music is probably related to the fact that ______.

A.it is the only bird member of the Backstreet Boys band

B.it has the ability to imitate sounds

C.it is a kind of dancing parrot

D.it has the same abilities as preschool children

 

 

    When Lew Alcindor was 13, and obviously still growing, a group of schools began offering him scholarships (奖学金). The Alcindors decided to send their only child to Power Memorial Academy, a small school on Manhattan’s West Side.

    At Power, Alcindor came under the control of Coach Jack Donohue, a strict young man who already gained his fame as one of the best coaches in the city. Donohue brought Alcindor along slowly. As a first-year student, the boy was not able to do much but wave his long skinny arms and shoot a basket now and then. But by the second year, when he was 15 years old and nearly 7 feet tall, Alcindor was quick and skillful enough to make the high school All-American team and to lead Power to an undefeated season.

    From then on he simply got better. Some rival coaches(对方教练) used to take their teams quickly away from the floor before Power warmed up so that their players would not see him any sooner than they had to. Wearing size 16 D shoes and sucking a lollipop(棒棒糖), Alcindor would loosen up by starting his leaping lay-ups(擦板球). Then he would casually shoot the ball with either hand, to the delight of the fans.

    When reporters and photographers began to follow Alcindor closely, Donohue protected his boy firmly. He simply ordered Lew to talk to no member of the press, and this suited Lew fine. He was not comfortable talking to grown-ups, perhaps because he towered over them. Discouraged photographers began following him in secret as though he were an easily-frightened giraffe. Once after ducking into a subway to escape, Alcindor told a friend that it was all becoming like policemen and robbers. “People want you not for yourself,” Donohue warned him, “but because you’re a basketball player. Don’t forget that.”

1. Many schools offer Alcindor scholarships because ______.

  A. he was young                                    B. he was hardworking

  C. he was tall for his age                    D. he was skillful at playing basketball

2.. Which of the following best describes Donohue as a young coach?

  A. serious, popular and slow                          B. tall, skillful and successful

  C. kind, powerful and undefeated                   D. well-known, strict and experienced

3.. Why did some rival coaches take their teams away from the floor before Power warmed up?

  A. Their teams refused to play Power.             B. Their teams feared to see Alcindor.

  C. Their teams would lose courage.                 D. Their teams would lose interest.

4.. What does the last paragraph mainly discuss?

  A. How Donohue protected Alcindor from the press.    

B. How Alcindor disliked meeting reporters.

  C. Why the press followed Alcindor closely.                 

D. Why the public wanted Alcindor badly.

 

Farah was sitting in the kitchen going over the party list with her mother. The exams were over and Farah wanted to invite her friends for a party.

    “Farah, aren’t you going to invite Hafsa?” her mother asked. Hafsa had been her best friend since childhood.

    “Mother, you know I am now a part of Purple Girls Club and we have some rules about people we can be friends with,” Farah answered.

    “Really? And what are the rules?” her mother asked.

    “Well, only very pretty girls can be part of our group. And Hafsa is so…you know …dark.”

    “I cannot believe it,”her mother said angrily.

    As Farah left the kitchen, her father called her from the living room.

    Farah went to her father and paled when she saw the exam report in his hands. “Farah, what has happened to your grades? You have failed in Mathematics,” her father said.

    Farah had no answer. The truth was that the activities of Purple Girls Club left her with very little time for studies.

    “Farah,  it says that you can take part in supplementary exams(补考). If your grades don’t improve then, I’ll cancel(职消)your trip to Spain.”

    Farah went to her room and called Gina, the leader of Purple Girls Club. “Gina, can you help me to complete my notes before the exams?”

    Gina laughed. “Exams? Who cares about exams?”

    One by one, she called her friends in the club but no one seemed to care or wanted to help.

    Farah knew Hafsa would help her. Farah also knew Hafsa had been hurt by her, but Hafsa said, “If you need any help, just let me know. We can study together till your exams.”

    Next Monday, as two friends entered the school together, Gina called out.

    “Farah, you know our rules. You cannot be friends with those who do not belong to our club.”

    “Gina, I have a new rule about friendship,” Farah replied.

1.After Farah became a member of Purple Girls Club, she chose a friend according to a person’s      .

A.looks     B.usual activities        C.grades       D.favorite colors

2.Farah became pale after going to her father because     .

A.he didn’t allow her to go to Spain    B.she didn’t do well in her exams

C.she had to leave Purple Girls Club   D.he asked her to improve her grades

3..Which word can best describe Hafsa?

A.Silly      B.Beautiful            C.Rude     D.Kind

4.From the passage, we can know that        .

A.Hafsa is a member of Purple Girls Club 

B.Gina will help Farah with her exams

C.Gina doesn’t care about exams   

D.Farah would like to invite Hafsa to the party

5.What lesson can we learn from the passage?

A.A friend in need is a friend indeed.    B.A perfect friend will never be found.

C.Be slow in choosing a friend.         D.Friendship can be developed easily.

 

 

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