C

When an ant dies, other ants take it out of the nest, often within an hour after its death. This behavior interests scientists and they wonder how ants know for sure--and so soon--that another ant is dead.

One scientist recently came up with a way to explain this ant behavior. Dong-Hwan Choe is a biologist, a scientist who studies animals and plants. He found that ants have a chemical on the outside of their bodies that signals to other ants, “I’m dead--take me away” when it is dead.

One scientist recently came up with a way to explain this ant behavior. Dong-Hwan Choe is a biologist, a scientist who studies animals and plants. He found that ants have a chemical on the outside of their bodies that signals to other ants, “I’m dead---take me away” when it is dead.

But there's a question to answer: As we know, if an ant is dead, it stops moving. But when an ant is sleeping or knocked unconscious, it is also not moving. However, other ants don't move the living ant out of the nest. How do they know this ant is not dead? Choe found that ants have another chemical on their bodies, which tells nearby ants something like, “Wait—I'm not dead yet” when it is not dead. Choe suspects that when an ant dies, the chemical that says, “Wait— I'm not dead yet” quickly goes away. When other ants detect the “dead” chemical without the “not dead yet” chemical, they move away the body.

To test his theory, Choe and his team put different chemicals on ants. When the scientists used the “I'm dead” chemical, other ants quickly moved the treated ant away. When the scientists used the “Wait—I'm not dead yet” chemical, other ants left the treated ant alone. Choe believes this behavior shows that the “not dead yet” chemical overrides the “dead” chemical when picked up by other ants. And that when an ant dies, the “not dead yet” chemical fades away. Other nearby ants then detect the remaining “dead” chemical and remove the body from the nest.

Understanding this behavior can help scientists figure out how to stop ants from invading new places and causing problems.

1.What is the function of the first paragraph?

A. Leading the following paragraphs.

B. Showing the main idea of the passage.

C. Introducing the background of the passage.

D. Giving a summary of the passage.

2.Which of the following has the closest meaning to the underlined word “overrides” in the fourth paragraph?

A. is weaker than          B. is stronger than    C. is better than                     D. is worse than

3.What can we learn from the passage?

A. Living ants can also be taken away when they are not moving.

B. When an ant dies, it can tell others using a certain chemical.

C. A living ant can pretend to be dead using a special chemical.

D. Ants often use chemicals to communicate with each other.

4.Which of the following descriptions about Dong-Hwan Choe is right?

A. Choe did this study in order to stop ants from invading new places.

B. Choe is a biologist who is only interested in animals, especially in ants.

C. Choe first came up with an idea to explain this ant behavior,and then did some tests to prove his theory.

D. Choe did the research on this ant behavior on his own.

 

The argument over a Philadelphia school district accused of secretly spying on pupils through laptop cameras became fiercer today after it acknowledged obtaining more than 56,000 images of its students, many of them in their homes.

When the scandal (丑闻) first broke, it was believed that only a few pictures had been taken of one pupil, Blake Robbins. But court papers released this week showed that thousands of images were taken of Robbins and other students.

Robbins and his parents have filed an action against the school district. Court papers from the Robbins’s lawyers said that at first it was thought that the laptops’ technology had produced a few images but they found more than 400 of Robbins, including images “showing him partially undressed and sleeping”.

Robbins said he did not know why the spying device was activated (激活) as his laptop had not been reported stolen or missing. Other students whose pictures were taken said their laptops had not been reported stolen or missing either.

An administrator at the school, one of the few with authority to track the laptops, remained silent, refusing to answer questions.

The Philadelphia Inquirer reported that 38,500 of the images came from six laptops that had been reported missing from the Harriton gym in September 2008. These apparently helped the police catch a suspect. Another set of images were from cameras in laptops which employees responsible for tracking failed or forgot to turn off.

The court papers, filed by Robbins’ lawyers, said that the technology was activated between 20 October and 4 November last year, with most of the 400 shots of him while he was in his home, and included his family. “There were additional webcam pictures and screen shots taken of Blake Robbins which, up to now, have not been recovered because the evidence was deleted by the IT department,” the court papers say.

One of Robbins’ lawyers is trying to obtain access to the administrator’s home computer to confirm whether she downloaded any of the pictures. The court papers indicate she may be a voyeur (窥隐私者) though it has not been proved.

1.We can learn from the passage that _________.

A. Robbins’ parents remained calm over the scandal

B. Robbins had his laptop stolen before the scandal

C. the laptops’ technology produced some images

D. the private rights of the students were offended

2.What did The Philadelphia Inquirer say about the case?

A. The police had found some evidence.

B. Most of the laptops in Harriton gym were missing.

C. Employees in charge of tracking deliberately left the laptops on.

D. There was obviously more than one suspect related to the case.

3.According to the court papers, the administrator _________.

A. may have spied her students on purpose

B. may have broken into Robbin’s house

C. has downloaded many students’ pictures

D. has removed evidence from computers

4. What does the passage mainly talk about?

A. Modern technology has negative effects on our lives.

B. Students in Philadelphia are accustomed to being spied on secretly.

C. A Philadelphia school is charged with spying students through laptop cameras.

D. The American government should take measures to improve teachers’ qualities.

 

根据短文内容,从短文后的选项中选出能填入空白处的最佳选项。选项中有两项为多余选项。

Question: I have recently got a senior position within my company. One of my new tasks is to make monthly progress reports on my department in front of other senior officials. During my first meeting, I presented and then opened the floor to questions.   1   . My first reaction was to answer defensively. Later, I realized that I shouldn’t have felt that way. But how can I keep cool and effectively answer questions in this type of settings?

Answer: Congratulations on your new position! Presenting in front of your peers(同事)is a hard task in itself, and it becomes much more difficult when a question-and-answer period is required. Question-and-answer periods are a great way to clarify the message and strengthen key points,    2   

   3   

When a person is asking a question, show interest and a desire to understand the question by listening and asking for clarification.

●Buy time.

When facing a hard question, most people can’t give an answer immediately. Buy time by repeating the question in your own words.   4   These techniques allow you to quickly organize your thoughts as well as to make sure you will be correctly answering the question.

● Suggest a private meeting.

A one-on-one meeting is a calmer setting than speaking in front of your peers.    5    

A.Show your true interest.

B.Restate the question with respect.

C.Some ideas can be quite concrete.

D.There were many difficult questions.

E. It can also be more effective in exchanging ideas.

F. You may also ask for clarification on the question.

G. Here are some ideas that can help you prepare for your next meeting.

 

Several years ago, a television reporter was talking to three of the most important people in America. One was a very rich banker, another owned one of the largest companies in the world, and the third owned many buildings in the center of New York.

The reporter was talking to them about being important.

“How do we know if someone is really important?” the reporter asked the banker.

The banker thought for a few moments and then said, “I think anybody who is invited to the White House to meet the President of the United States is really important.”

The reporter then turned to the owner of the very large company. “Do you agree with that?” she asked.

The man shook his head, “No. I think the President invites a lot of people to the White House. You’d only be important if while you were visiting the President, there was a telephone call from the president of another country, and the President of the US said he was too busy to answer it.”

The reporter turned to the third man. “Do you think so?”

“No, I don’t,” he said. “I don’t think that makes the visitor important. That makes the President important.”

“Then what would make the visitor important?” the reporter and the other two men asked.

“Oh, I think if the visitor to the White House was talking to the President and the phone rang, and the President picked up the receiver, listened and then said, ‘It’s for you.’ ”

1.There are _______ in this passage.

A.two men and two women                 B.three men and one woman

C.three women and one man                D.four women

2.The banker thought _______.

A.he was really important because he was a rich banker

B.the visitor to the White House was really important

C.the visitor who met the President of the United States

D.the reporter was really important

3.The owner of the very large company thought _______.

A.she was really important because she owned one of the largest companies

B.the banker was really important

C.the owner of many buildings in the center of New York was really important

D.the visitor would be really important if while he was visiting the President, the President would not answer any telephone call

4.The owner of many buildings thought _______.

A.he was really important because he owned many buildings in the center of New York

B.the owner of the very large company was really important

C.the visitor was really important if he talking to the President and the President received a telephone call for the visitor

D.the person who worked in the White House was really important

5.The best title of the passage is ________ .

A.Who’s more important,the President or me?

B.White House and the President.

C.The richer the more important.

D.How to be an important person.

 

Recently divorced(离婚), I had no job and was on my way downtown to go the rounds of the employment offices despite the great   36  . My old umbrella was broken, and I could not   37   another one.

I sat down in the streetcar — and there against the seat was a beautiful silk   38   with a silver handle inlaid (镶嵌) with gold. I had   39   seen anything so lovely.

I   40   the handle and saw a   41  . I got off the streetcar and   42   opened the umbrella to protect myself. Then I searched a   43   book for the name on the umbrella and found it. I called and a lady answered.

Yes, she said in   44  , that was her umbrella, which her parents, now dead, had given her for a birthday present.   45  , she added, it had been stolen at school (she was a teacher) more than a year before.

She was so excited that I   46   I was   47   a job and went directly to her house. She took the umbrella, her   48   filled with tears.

I refused the   49   she gave me. We talked for a while, and I must have given her my address. I don’t remember.

The next six months were   50  . I was able to obtain   51   here and there. l reached the lowest point in my   52  . Unless a miracle happened, I would be homeless in January, foodless, jobless.

Christmas Eve came. No money to buy my daughter a gift. I was sobbing (抽泣) in the cold little kitchen   53   the doorbell rang and my daughter Peggy ran to answer it. He was a postman, and his arms were   54   of parcels. “This is a mistake” I said, but he read the name on the parcels and there were for me.

Peggy and I sat on the floor and opened them. I looked for the name of the sender. It was the teacher. The address was   55   “California”, where she had moved.

1.A. cloud                           B. rain                         C. wind                       D. snow

2.A. search                        B. catch           C. afford            D. sell

3.A. raincoat                     B. seat          C. book              D. umbrella

4.A. never                          B. ever         C. almost         D. nearly

5.A. concluded                  B. examined      C. learned            D. helped

6.A. name                          B. address           C. card                  D. demand

7.A. deliberately               B. specially      C. sadly                 D. thankfully

8.A. technology                B. engine        C. telephone             D. medicine

9.A. anger                          B. surprise       C. danger                            D. sorrow

10.A. And                           B. But        C. So                D. Or

11. A. forgot                      B. remembered        C. indicated      D. decided

12.A. applied for               B. watching for         C. asking for          D. looking for

13.A. face                           B. nose       C. eyes                      D. ear

14.A. reward                     B. prize     C. present                 D. umbrella

15. A. freezing                            B. surprising              C. shocking                D struggling

16.A. failures                     B. successes     C. jobs            D. wages

17.A. heart                        B. favor             C. work              D. life

18.A. as                              B. while           C. when                D. then

19.A. proud                        B. full     C. careful         D. glad

20. A. simply              B. directly          C. finally                 D. nearly

 

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