题目内容
The “balance of nature”is not an empty phrase. Nature provides a population to occupy a suitable environment and cuts down surplus population to fit the available food supply. One means of reducing surplus population is predators; others are parasitic diseases. Also, population density produces nervous disorders and even drives animals to mass migrations(移民群),like the lemmings of Norway who plunge(冲入)into the sea.
That predatory population increase to control other animals has long been known. Many years ago, the Hudson’s Bay Company records revealed that the fox population went up and down about a year after rabbit population had gone up and down.
Sometimes a situation occurs in which the predatory population is reduced to a level below which nature can readily replace. On Valcour Island in Lake Champlain, a costly campaign resulted in the elimination(消除)of predatory animals only to have birds and small animals increase for four years afterward. Then, lacking predator control, nature resorted to disease to cut down these populations.
Jamaica had an example of nature’s persistence in providing animals for existing habits. Sugar planters, about 75 years ago, imported mongooses(狐猴)to control rats. The mongooses killed off the rats, kids, puppies, and wildlife. Eventually, food became scarce and the mongoose’s population declines.
1. The fact that the number of predators has much to do with that of other animals .
A. is not recent knowledge B.has just been learned
C.hasn’t been proved yet D.is not important now
2. When predator control fails, nature brings animal population into balance by .
A. eliminating the number of predators
B.seeking the help of disease to reduce other animals
C.increasing the number of other animals
D.replacing the number of predators immediately
3. When the mongooses killed off the rats they .
A. became problems themselves B.ate the sugar crop
C.attacked humans D.had nothing to eat
4. It is implied in this passage that .
A. sugar planter imported mongooses to control rats
B.man should never kill animals
C.man has complete control over nature
D.to upset the balance of nature can be troublesome
“The first and best of victories is for a man to conquer himself; to be conquered by himself is, of all things, the most shameful,” says Plato. Self-control is at the root of all the advantages. Let a man give in to his impulses(冲动) and feelings, and from that moment he gives up his moral(道德) freedom.
A single angry word has lost many friends. When Socrates found in himself any temper or anger, he would check it by speaking low in order to control himself. If you are conscious of being angry, keep your mouth shut so that you can hold back rising anger. Many a person has dropped dead in great anger. Fits of anger bring fits of disease. “Whoever the gods would destroy they first make them mad.” “Keep cool,” says Webster, “anger is not argument.” “Be calm in arguing,” says George Herbert, “for fierceness(狂怒) makes error a fault.”
To be angry with a weak man is to prove that you are not strong yourself. “Anger,” says Pythagoras, “brings with folly and ends with regret.” You must measure the strength of a man by the power of the feelings he conquers, not by the power of those which conquer him.
Self-control is man’s last and greatest victory.
If a man lacks self-control he seems to lack everything. Without it he can have no patience, no power to govern himself; he can have no self-confidence, for he will always be controlled by his strongest feeling. If he lacks self-control, the very backbone and nerve of character are lacking also.
What’s the main idea of the passage?
A. The importance of self- control.
B. How to conquer oneself?
C. The relation between a man’s moral freedom and his feelings.
D. A man should keep cool.
What’s the meaning of “whoever the gods would destroy they first make them mad”?
A. If you are mad, the gods will kill you.
B. If you lose your temper first, gods will kill you first.
C. If you can’t control yourself, you will be crazy.
D. If the gods want to kill you, they will make you mad first.
Which of the following is NOT true, according to passage?
A. The first and best of victories is for a man to conquer himself.
B. You will make a small mistake serious if you don’t keep cool.
C. You must measure a man’s strength by the power of the feelings which conquer him.
D. Anger brings with folly and ends with regret.
Which of the following can’t help you avoid anger, according to the passage?
A. Be calm in arguing.
B. Check your temper or anger by speaking low.
C. Keep your mouth shut.
D. Try to make the other angry first。
The man should be excused because he caused the damage _______.
A. deliberately B. unintentionally C. meaningfully D. determinedly
MEN VS. WOMEN
COMPARING NICKNAMES
If Laura, Suzanne, Debra and Rose go out for lunch, they will call each other Laura, Suzanne, Debra and Rose.
If Mike, Charlie, Bob and John go out, they will affectionately refer to each other as Fat Boy, Godzilla (怪兽), Peanut-Head and Scrappy.
EATING OUT
When the bill arrives, Mike, Charlie, Bob and John will each throw in $20, even though it’s only for $32.50. None of them will have anything smaller, and none will actually admit they want change back.
When the girls get their bill, out come the pocket calculators.
MONEY
A man will pay $2 for a $1 item he wants.
A woman will pay $1 for a $2 item that she doesn’t want.
BATHROOMS
A man has six items in his bathroom: a toothbrush, comb, shaving cream, razor, a bar of soap, and a towel from the Holiday Inn.
The average number of items in the typical woman’s bathroom is 337... A man would not be able to identify most of these items.
ARGUMENTS
A woman has the last word in any argument.
Anything a man says after that is the beginning of a new argument.
CATS
Women love cats.
Men say they love cats, but when women aren’t looking, men kick cats.
FUTURE
A woman worries about the future until she gets a husband.
A man never worries about the future until he gets a wife.
SUCCESS
A successful man is one who makes more money than his wife can spend.
A successful woman is one who can find such a man.
MARRIAGE
A woman marries a man expecting he will change, but he doesn’t.
A man marries a woman expecting that she won’t change and she does.
DRESSING UP
A woman will dress up to go shopping, water the plants, empty the garbage, answer the phone, read a book, and get the mail.
A man will only dress up for weddings and funerals.
NATURAL
Men wake up as good-looking as they went to bed.
Women somehow deteriorate (恶化) during the night.
OFFSPRING
Ah, children. A woman knows all about her children. She knows about dentist appointments and romances, best friends, favorite foods, secret fears and hopes and dreams.
A man is vaguely (含糊地) aware of some short people living in the house.
THOUGHT FOR THE DAY
Any married man should forget his mistakes. There’s no sense in two people remembering the same thing.
63. This passage is_________________.
A. a story B. an advertisement C. a report D. a humor
64. The purpose of this passage is________________.
A. to inform the readers of some secrets between men and women
B. to remind the readers of the big differences between men and women
C. to amuse the readers using some interesting examples
D. to show that men perform better than women in our daily life
65. When the girls get their bill, they take out the pocket calculators_________________.
A. to make sure they won’t be cheated by the servant B. so that they can share the bill equally among them
C. because they want to know what time it is now D. if they forget to bring their mobile phones
66. What does the underlined sentence mean?
A. A man doesn’t know what to do before he gets married.
B. A man is worried about his future job after he gets married.
C. Anything unexpected will probably happen to a man after he gets married.
D. It’s not easy for a man to find a good job as a woman thinks.
Autumn means different things to different people. It all depends on your personality, said British naturalist Richard Mabey. "Personality shapes your view of the season," he said. "You may see it as a fading away, a packing up(结束), or as a time of packing in another sense – the excited gathering of resources before a long journey."
If this is true, perhaps it tells us a little about, for instance, Thomas Hood, the 19th Century English poet. About November, he wrote:
No warmth, no cheerfulness, no healthful ease
No shade, no shine, no butterflies, no bees
November!
On the other hand, another English poet John Keats, already sensing he was seriously ill, was inspired by a late September day to pen one of the most famous poems in the English language, To Autumn. He wrote to a friend afterwards that there was something comforting and healing about it.
According to Richard Mabey, Keats has the biological evidence on his side. Autumn is not a time of slowing down, but a time of new beginnings and great movements of creatures. For example, just at the moment that Keats's "gathering swallows" (in To Autumn) are departing for Africa, millions of creatures are fleeing from the frozen north like Iceland, Greenland and Russia to winter along the east and south coasts of Britain. According to scientists, before falling, the leaves transfer their chlorophyll(叶绿素) and carbohydrates into the woody parts of the tree for safe-keeping over winter. What remains are the natural antioxidants(防老剂) in the leaves: the yellow and orange carotenoids(类胡萝卜素), and another protective chemical specially produced for autumn, the bright-red anthocyanin(花青素). High color is not a signal of deterioration(退化) and decline, but of detox(排毒的) ability and good health.
A century after Keats, the American poet Loren Eiseley wrote in his journal: "Suppose we saw ourselves burning like maples in a golden autumn. [And that we could] disintegrate(瓦解) like autumn leaves…dropping their substance like chlorophyll. Would not our attitude towards death be different?"
1.From Thomas Hood’s poem, we may infer that _______.
A.he suffered a lot from cold November
B.he missed the shining summer days very much
C.he had a negative attitude towards autumn
D.he enjoyed butterflies and bees very much
2.Which word can best describe Loren Eiseley’s attitude towards autumn?
A.Optimistic. B.Fearful. C.Doubtful. D.Realistic.
3.In autumn, leaves turn yellow before falling because ______.
A.they can’t bear the freezing
B.they can’t get enough water from the wood part
C.chlorophyll and carbohydrates have been lost through leaves
D.chlorophyll and carbohydrates have come back to the wood part
4.What does the underlined sentence mean?
A.Man can never live long, just as leaves must leave the tree annually.
B.Man is different from autumn leaves, which will come again the next spring.
C.Man should treat death calmly, just like autumn leaves fall to the ground.
D.Man should have a positive attitude towards death, quite different from autumn leaves.