If you are afraid of the dark,it’s not a big deal.It’s perfectly normal to feel afraid After all,animals do too. “Fear matters,”says Karen Warkentin,an ecologist.“It’s a good thing,” she adds, “because fear makes you do things that keep you alive.”
Like kids,many animals experience fear and they respond to the feeling in variety of ways.A frightened turtle pulls its head and legs inside its shell.A  small fish will swim away when a big,hungry fish approaches.
Some animals respond to fear in ways you might not expect.The first example is that the fear of being eaten can scare some frogs right out of their eggs. Warkentin made the surprising discovery while studying red—eyed tree frogs in Costa Rica.
In this species,female frogs attach jellylike clumps(果冻一样的块状物)of their eggs to the undersides of leaves.The leaves hang on branches that dangle(悬挂)over ponds.After they hatch from the eggs,the tadpoles(蝌蚪)then fall into the water,where they eventually grow into adult frogs.
Tree frog eggs usually grow for 6 days before hatching.If they sense that a hungry snake is about to attack,however,they can hatch up to 2 days ahead of schedule. As the snakes are unable to swim,by falling into the water early,the tadpoles can escape.
If hatching early helps protect red—eyed tree frogs from snakes,you might wonder why their eggs don’t always hatch sooner.It turns out that hatching early brings its own danger.Once tadpoles land in the water,hungry fish and other animals like to eat them too.Staying in their eggs for a full 6 days,then,allows frog embryos(胚胎)to grow big and strong.This extra growth improves their chances of surviving in the water.
【小题1】It can be inferred from the passage that fears      .

A.help animals grow bigger and stronger
B.are less common among young animals
C.help animals move a lot to fit the environment
D.are more or less important in order for animals to survive
【小题2】We are told in the passage that tree frogs        .
A.face danger both inside their eggs and in the water
B.will grow fast if they fall into the water later
C.are surprisingly clever when inside their eggs
D.stay in their eggs longer if they are frightened
【小题3】Why do the tadpoles hatch up to 2 days ahead of the schedule?Because
A.They like falling into the water early
B.They want to grow into adult frog
C. They sense a hungry snake is about to attack
D.Frog embryos can grow strong
【小题4】What is the best title of the passage ?
A.What is FearB.Why do we feel afraid
C.You feel afraid,animals do tooD.Fear is a good thing
【小题5】What do you think would be discussed in the following paragraph?
A.Further explanations as to why tree frogs hatch ahead of schedule.
B.How the unborn frogs know when a snake is about to attack them.
C.Another example of animals that responds to fear in an unexpected way.
D.How tree frogs improve their chances of survival before falling into the water.

Left-Handers’ Day

International Left-Handers’ Day is August the thirteenth. The International Left-Handers Day, Web site says the Left-Handers Club started the holiday in 1992. It wanted left-handers around the world to celebrate. And it wanted to bring attention to the everyday problems of people who use their left hands.

One of these problems is difficulty using equipment and tools, like scissors. In general, most tools and equipment are made for people who are right-handed. The Left-Handers Club tries to educate designers and producers to consider the safety of left-handed people when producing their products.

Another problem is that many people have considered it bad to be left-handed. Some teachers and parents have tried to force children who used their left hands to use their right ones instead.

Scientists do not really know why some people are left-handed. They have believed the reason is genetic.They say the gene(基因) increases the chance of being left-handed. It appears to play an important part in deciding which part of the brain controls different activities. In right-handed people, the left side of the brain usually controls speech and language. The right side controls feelings. However, the opposite is often true in left-handed people.

Scientists believe the gene is responsible for this. The gene showed a link with left-handedness in nine to twelve percent of the population.

About ten percent of people around the world are left-handed.

1.International Left-handers’ Day aims to(目的是) bring attention to_________.

A.the right-handers

B.the everyday problems

C.the people who have some difficulty using equipment and tools

D.the everyday problems of people who use their left hands

2.How many problems of people who use their left hands are mentioned?

A.One.             B.Two.              C.Three.            D.Four.

3.As to why some people are left-handed, scientists believe the reason is________.

A.habits            B.genetics           C.parents           D.birthplaces

4.______of people around the world are left-handers.

A.About 9%         B.About 12%         C.About 9.12%       D.About 10%

 

If you are afraid of the dark,it’s not a big deal.It’s perfectly normal to feel afraid After all,animals do too. “Fear matters,”says Karen Warkentin,an ecologist.“It’s a good thing,” she adds, “because fear makes you do things that keep you alive.”

Like kids,many animals experience fear and they respond to the feeling in variety of ways.A frightened turtle pulls its head and legs inside its shell.A  small fish will swim away when a big,hungry fish approaches.

Some animals respond to fear in ways you might not expect.The first example is that the fear of being eaten can scare some frogs right out of their eggs. Warkentin made the surprising discovery while studying red—eyed tree frogs in Costa Rica.

In this species,female frogs attach jellylike clumps(果冻一样的块状物)of their eggs to the undersides of leaves.The leaves hang on branches that dangle(悬挂)over ponds.After they hatch from the eggs,the tadpoles(蝌蚪)then fall into the water,where they eventually grow into adult frogs.

Tree frog eggs usually grow for 6 days before hatching.If they sense that a hungry snake is about to attack,however,they can hatch up to 2 days ahead of schedule. As the snakes are unable to swim,by falling into the water early,the tadpoles can escape.

If hatching early helps protect red—eyed tree frogs from snakes,you might wonder why their eggs don’t always hatch sooner.It turns out that hatching early brings its own danger.Once tadpoles land in the water,hungry fish and other animals like to eat them too.Staying in their eggs for a full 6 days,then,allows frog embryos(胚胎)to grow big and strong.This extra growth improves their chances of surviving in the water.

1.It can be inferred from the passage that fears      .

A.help animals grow bigger and stronger

B.are less common among young animals

C.help animals move a lot to fit the environment

D.are more or less important in order for animals to survive

2.We are told in the passage that tree frogs        .

A.face danger both inside their eggs and in the water

B.will grow fast if they fall into the water later

C.are surprisingly clever when inside their eggs

D.stay in their eggs longer if they are frightened

3.Why do the tadpoles hatch up to 2 days ahead of the schedule?Because

A.They like falling into the water early

B.They want to grow into adult frog

C. They sense a hungry snake is about to attack

D.Frog embryos can grow strong

4.What is the best title of the passage ?

A.What is Fear                           B.Why do we feel afraid

C.You feel afraid,animals do too             D.Fear is a good thing

5.What do you think would be discussed in the following paragraph?

A.Further explanations as to why tree frogs hatch ahead of schedule.

B.How the unborn frogs know when a snake is about to attack them.

C.Another example of animals that responds to fear in an unexpected way.

D.How tree frogs improve their chances of survival before falling into the water.

 

I was born and raised in Hong Kong.For the past six years, I've been living in the United States.I work as a salesgirl in a large department store.Right now I'm going through a difficult period of my life which is hard for me to talk about.

A few months ago, I went to Hong Kong for a visit.It was the first time I'd gone back there since coming to the United States.I was eager to see my parents, my brothers, my sisters and my friends.

I really got a shock when I arrived.Hong Kong was not the same city as I left six years ago.Things had changed so much that I didn't recognize parts of it.My primary school was gone.The houses on the street where I used to live had been torn down and replaced by office buildings.

The shock from the physical changes in the city, however, was nothing compares to the confusion and hurt I soon began to feel in my parents' home.My family greeted warmly when I arrived.While my mother was busy preparing a special dinner in my honor, the rest of the family eagerly asked me questions about my life in the United States.I felt happy that day and for a couple of days after, but then I began to feel that something was wrong.I noticed that my family, especially my mother, would sometimes glance at me in a strange way when I was speaking.They gradually became less warm and friendly towards me, I became uncomfortable and confused as to why they were behaving that day.

I decided to talk to my mother.She asked me, "Have you forgotten your Chinese way?" I asked her what she meant.She asked, "You've forgotten the place of women in a Chinese home.You talk when you should remain silent.You speak on matters that of concern only to men.You speak openly of your inner feelings and desires.That's not the way of a Chinese woman.We keep our thoughts and feelings to ourselves.

1.I was born and raised in Hong Kong.Here raise means______.

A.bring up       B.stay           C.become higher   D.live

2.What shocked the author most during her visit in Hong Kong?

A.The physical changes in Hong Kong.

B.Her primary school didn't exist any longer.

C.She couldn't recognize parts of Hong Kong.

D.The confusion and hurt she experienced in her parents' home.

3.Why did the author's family become less warm and friendly towards her?

A.She had forgotten her role as a woman.

B.She didn't follow the Chinese custom about how a woman should behave at home.

C.She spoke of her inner feelings and desires directly.

D.She talked about matters that were not concerned with women.

4.The best title for this passage is _______.

A.My Trip in Hong Kong                               B.The Changes in Hong Kong

C.Caught Between Two Cultures                        D.The Chinese Way

 

During the years after the terrorist attack on the World Trade Center, structural engineers have been trying hard to solve a question that would otherwise have been completely unthinkable: Can building be designed to stand catastrophic blasts (攻击;爆破) by terrorists?

    Soon after the terrorist attacks on the twin towers, structural engineers from the University at Buffalo and the Multidisciplinary Center for Earthquake Engineering Research (MCEER) traveled to ground zero as part of a project funded by the National Science Foundation. They spent two days beginning the task of formulating (构思) ideas about how to design such structures and to search for clues on how to do so in buildings that were damaged, but still are standing.

    “Our objective in visiting ground zero was to go and look at the buildings surrounding the World Trade Center, those buildings that are still standing, but that sustained damage,” said Mr. Bruneau, Ph.D. “Our immediate hope is that we can develop a better understanding as to why those buildings remain standing, while our long-term goal is to see whether earthquake engineering technologies can be married to existing technologies to achieve enhanced performance of buildings in the event of terrorist attacks,” he added.

    Photographs taken by the investigators demonstrate the monumental damage to the World Trade Center towers and buildings nearby. One building a block away from the towers remains standing, but was badly damaged. “This building is many meters away from the World Trade Center and yet we see a column (柱子) there that used to be part of that building,” explained A. Whittaker, Ph.D. “The column became a missile that shot across the road, through the window and through the floor.”

    The visit to the area also brought some surprises, according to the engineers. For example, the floor framing (框架) system in one of the buildings was quite strong , allowing floors that were pierced by tons of falling debris (残砾) to survive. “Good framing systems may provide a simple, but reliable strategy for blast resistance,” he added. Other strategies may include providing alternate paths for gravity loads in the event that a load-bearing column fails. “We also need a better understanding of the mechanism of collapse,” said A. Whittaker. “We need to find out what causes a building to collapse and how you can predict it.”

    A. Reinhorn, Ph.D. noted that “earthquake shaking has led to the collapse of buildings in the past. Solutions developed for earthquake-resistant design may apply to blast engineering and terrorist-resistant design. Part of our mission now is to transfer these solutions and to develop new ones where none exist at present.”

1.The question raised in the first paragraph is one _____ .

A. that was asked by structural engineers a month ago

B. that is too difficult for structural engineers a month ago

C. that was never thought of before the terrorist attack

D. that terrorists are eager to find a solution to

2.The column mentioned by Dr. Whittaker _____ .

A. was part of the building close to the World Trade Center

B. was part of the World Trade Center

C. was shot through the window and the floor of the World Trade Center

D. damaged many buildings near the World Trade Center

3.A surprising discovery made by the investigators during their visit to ground zero is that _____.

A. floors in the faraway buildings remained undamaged

B. some floor framing systems demonstrate resistance to explosion

C. complex floor framing systems are more blast resistant

D. floors in one of the buildings were pierced by tons of debris

4. What Dr. Reinhorn said in the last paragraph may imply all the following EXCEPT that _____.

A. blast engineers should develop new solutions for terror-resistant design

B. blast engineering can borrow technologies developed for terror-resistant design

C. solutions developed for earthquake-resistant design may apply to terrorist-resistant design

D. blast engineering emerges as a totally new branch of science

 

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