A rabbit is running into its hole. You will ask,“What has this to do with language?”

  Well, when a rabbit sees something dangerous, it runs away. Its tail moves up and down as it runs. When other rabbits see this tail moving up and down, they run too. They know that there is danger. The rabbit has told them something without making a sound. It has given them a signal.

  Many other animals use this kind of language. When a bee has found some food, it goes back to its home. It cannot tell the other bees where the food is by speaking to them, but it does a little dance in the air. This tells the bees where the food is.

  Some animals say things by making sounds. A dog barks, for instance, when a stranger comes near. A cat purrs when pleased. Some birds make several different sounds, each with its own meaning.

  But human beings have something that no animal has--a large number of words which have the meanings of things, actions, feelings or ideas. We are able to give each other information, to tell or inform other people what is in our mind or how we feel. By writing words down we can remind ourselves of the things that have happened, or send messages to people far away. No animals can do this. No animal has the wonderful power of language.

  No one knows how man learned to make words. Somehow he learned to make them. As centuries went by, he made more and more new words. This is what we mean by language.

  People living in different countries made different kinds of words. Today there are about fifteen hundred different languages in the world. A very large English dictionary, for example, contains four or five hundred thousand words, but we do not know all these. The words we know are called vocabulary. We should try to make our vocabulary larger. Read as many books as possible. When we meet a new word, look it up in the dictionary. A dictionary is the most useful book.

(1)When a rabbit gives the other rabbits a signal of danger, it _________.

[  ]

A.runs into its hole

B.stops to move its tail

C.runs with its tail moving up and down

D.stops moving its tail up and down as it runs

(2)A dog can tell something ___________.

[  ]

A.by giving signals

B.by making different sounds

C.by purring

D.by barking

(3)It has been proved that no animal is able to ___________.

[  ]

A.give the others information

B.tell the others how it feels

C.express its actions and feelings with words

D.make different sounds, each with its own meaning

(4)Generally speaking, what we mean by“vocabulary”is __________.

[  ]

A.all the words that we know

B.more and more words we use

C.all the words we need

D.the dictionary which contains thousands of words

(5)We must __________ in order to make our vocabulary larger.

[  ]

A.make more and more new words

B.learn more languages

C.look up any new words in a dictionary

D.try to read as many books as possible

 

 

C

There is not enough oil in the world now. As time goes by, it becomes less and less, so what are we going to do when it runs out? Perhaps we will go back to using horses, carriages and bicycles.

In the Second World War, some people didn’t use gas made from petroleum (石油) in their cars. They made gas from wood and plants instead. The car didn’t go fast, but they ran, so this was better than nothing. However, in the future, we can’t cut down all our trees to make gas; we need our trees for other things, too.

Besides different types of gas, we can also use electricity to run our cars, but first we must make the electricity! Some countries have coal and they make electricity with that, but we might not always have coal, either. Other countries have big, strong rivers, and they can use the power of water to turn turbines (涡轮机) and make electricity more easily and cheaply.

We are also able to get power from the ocean tides. We put turbines into the mouth of the river. Then the tide comes in, the water turns the turbines and then it goes out, it turns them again.

Which of these ways will be used to run our cars in the future?

49. When might people have to go back to using horses and carriages?

  A. When they are poor.                                    B. When they run out of oil.

  C. When they need more exercise.               D. When there aren’t any big trees in the world.

50. What did some people use to make gas in the Second World War?

  A. Water                         B. Coal                        C. Wood and plants          D. Tides

51. How many ways are suggested to make electricity in the passage?

  A. 2                                 B. 5                             C. 4                                      D. 3

52. The passage is mainly about ________ . 

  A. how to run our cars                                          B. what to do when oil runs out      

  C. different types of gas                                  D. the ways to make electricity

 

违法和不良信息举报电话:027-86699610 举报邮箱:58377363@163.com

精英家教网