A study into character, intelligence and usefulness shows dogs are better pets than cats-but only by a whisker. Staff at New Scientist magazine first listed the areas where cats fared better. These in 题目和参考答案——青夏教育精英家教网—

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A study into character, intelligence and usefulness shows dogs are better pets than cats—but only by a whisker.

Staff at New Scientist magazine first listed the areas where cats fared better. These included having bigger brains—compared to their body size. Cats’brains also contain 1.4 million more cells, devoted to complex functions such as memory and attention, than dogs. Cats’second point was given for being more popular, with 204 million living in the top ten cat-owning nations compared to 173 million dogs in the ten countries where dogs are favored. Cats also get more attention from humans, with purrs （呼噜声）and miaows easily to be noticed. Although dogs can vary their barks, they cannot match the attention-seeking of cats. It is a similar story when it comes to senses. Cats can see in lower light than dogs and have a far wider hearing range and a sharper sense of smell. They are also said to be’greener’pets because their smaller appetites mean less area of land required to farm their food.

But in the other six categories examined—many of which related to getting on with humans dogs had the edge.

Dogs have a longer shared history with humans, maybe as long as 135,000 years. Cats are relative newcomers to our homes. Similarly, dogs have a greater ability to bond with their masters. Even four-month-old puppies choose a human companion over another dog. Dogs scored a third point for their better powers of understanding and following human gestures. One study found that a dog called Rico had mastered the meaning of more than 200 words. The ability to perform roles such as being a guide dog for the blind meant dogs were rated better than cats when it came to their problem-solving abilities. And they are easier to train.

With the scores tied at five-all, the deciding point fell on usefulness—with dogs coming out on top.

Dogs, studies show, help cut human stress, while taking them for walks keeps their owners fit and helps them meet new people. New Scientist says: “Dogs can hunt and guard. They can sniff out drugs and bombs; they guide blind and deaf people, find someone buried in ruins, and possibly even predict earthquakes.”

And in a conclusion certain to set off argument, it adds: “Cats are good if you have rodents （啮齿类动物）.”

48．Which of the following is not cats’ advantage?

A．Better at grasping their owners’ instructions.

B．Having relatively larger brains.

C．Affecting the environment less.

D．More likely to drawing attention.

49．The underlined phrase “by a whisker”（paragraph 1）probably means “_________”.

A．quite considerably B．just a little bit

C．most significantly D．in some aspects

50．We can learn the fact from the passage that________ .

A．Dogs are far from satisfactory in terms of their ability to catch rodents

B．Dogs can better help people who have problems with their sight and hearing

C．Comparatively speaking, cats have a better interaction with humans

D．Dogs beat cats when it comes to their senses of sight, heating and smell

51．Which would be the best title for the passage?

A．Cats beat Dogs B．Fight like Cat and Dog

C．Cats versus Dogs D．Cats away, Dogs Play

48—51 ABBC

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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.

Sherlock Holmes is considered by many people as the greatest detective in fictional literature. He is, in fact, more famous than his own creator, Sir Arthur Conan Doyle. In the popular series of stories, Holmes is described as “tall and lean, pope-smoking, always in his cape and speaks in a splendid manner”. Doyle gave Holmes’ address as 221-B Baker Street, London, and to this day some visitors to London still go to Baker Street to search for 221-B. Of course, there never was really any such address. Holmes’ flat was supposed to be shared by the lovable, but sometimes clumsy Doctor Watson who went around with Holmes trying to solve crimes before Holmes did. Poor Dr Watson lost out to Holmes every time.

Doyle gave Holmes a masterly skill of deduction---the ability to come up with interesting conclusion from the simplest clues found at the scene of a crime. Doyle said that the description of Holmes was modeled on one of his lecturers at Edinburgh University where he studied medicine. That man was Dr Joseph Bell. Sherlock Holmes first appeared in Doyle’s A Study in Scarlet published in 1887. Holmes was so loved by all that when his author killed him off in one of his stories, readers wrote in anger to complain. They refused to allow Holmes to die! Holmes was brought back to “life” and appeared in further stories.

The stories of Sherlock Holmes have been reprinted many times ever since then. Today we can watch Holmes at work on cinema and television screens as well as on stage.

Sherlock Holmes was________.

A. the greatest detective who ever lived

B. Dr Joseph Bell

C. Arthur Conan Doyle

D. only a character made up by Arthur Conan Dolye

Dr Watson was________.

A. tall and learn

B. lovable but always clumsy

C. lovable but sometimes clumsy

D. lovable and never clumsy

Holmes was supposed to have lived_______.

A. with Dr Watson B. with Dr Joseph Bell

C. with the greatest detective D. with Doyle

Doyle made up the description of Holmes_______.

A. from his own imagination

B. based on a famous London doctor

C. based on Dr Joseph Bell at Edinburgh University

D. based on a model of Holmes

A growing number of workers at Google Inc., Facebook Inc. and other employers are trading in their sit-down desks for standing ones, saying they feel more comfortable and energized. They also are motivated by medical reports saying that sitting for too long leads to increased health risks.

A standing desk sits high off the floor so a worker can either stand at it or sit on a high stool to use it. Officials at Palo Alto-based Facebook say a number of employees asked about standing desks after news articles were published about the health risks of sitting all day.

The stories cited medical studies that tied excessive sitting to increased obesity and other health problems because of factors including a drop in physical activity. A 2010 study by the American Cancer Society found that women who sat more than six hours a day were 37% more likely to die prematurely than women who sat for less than three hours, while the early-death rate for men was 18% higher. The American College of Cardiology released a study in January that found increased mortality (死亡率) among people who sat longer at home than those who didn't.

No one seems to compile statistics on the standing-desk trend. But anecdotal reports suggest Silicon Valley is embracing the movement.

Facebook officials say they have seen an upsurge in requests for standing desks to five to eight a week with a total of between 200 and 250 deployed (配置) at the company of more than 2,000 employees. Facebook also is trying out a treadmill station ─ where a worker can walk or run on a treadmill while tapping at a computer.

Google spokesman Jordan Newman said that 'many employees at Google opt for standing desks, and we offer them as part of our wellness program' though he said he didn't know the exact number.

Greg Hoy, 39 years old, asked for a standing desk shortly after joining Facebook seven months ago as a design recruiter. 'I don't get the 3 o'clock slump anymore,' he said. 'I feel active all day long.'

1.The underlined word “motivated” in paragraph 1 can be replaced by .

A．frightened B．inspired C．missed D．discouraged

2.According to paragraph 3, we can know that .

A．a drop in physical activity was the only reason why excessive sitting caused increased obesity.

B．women who sat longer were more likely to die prematurely according to a 2010 study by American College of Cardiology

C．according to the study, the early-death rate for men was 18% higher than that for women.

D．the mortality among people who didn’t sat long at home was lower than that among people who did.

3.According to paragraph 5, which of the following statements is true about a treadmill station ?

A．is a computer that a worker can take along when he walks or runs

B．has been tried out by Facebook and now is very popular with other companies

C．is a place where workers can exercise while working.

D．is a treadmill on which workers can run or walk only after work

4.The passage mainly talks about .

A．sitting for too long leads to increased health risks

B．standing desks have replaced sit-down ones in Facebook Inc.

C．more and more workers choose standing desks instead of sit-down ones

D．many employees at Google opt for standing desks

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。

Competitors who wear red win more than those that are dressed in any other color, according to a study in Germany.

Experts believe that red could make individuals and teams feel more confident as well as being perceived by others as more aggressive.

2 On the other hand, the results could suggest that the success of those teams has given those that wear the red color more confidence.

The study, by German sports psychologists at the University of Munster, was reported in New Scientist magazine. They showed video recordings of taekwondo(跆拳道) matches to 42 experienced referees(裁判). One fighter wore blue and the other wore red.

They then showed them the same recordings but digitally manipulated(操纵) the clothing to exchange the colors. 3

“If one competitor is strong and the other is weak, it won’t change the outcome of the fight,” said Norbert Hagemann, who led the study. “4”

In 2004 scientists at Durham University also looked at how color influenced sporting competitiveness. They analyzed Olympic contest sports such as boxing, tawkwondo, and freestyle wrestling and found that nearly 55 percent of which were won by the competitor in red.

“5” said Robert Burton, one of the researchers.

A．It is the color of fire and is often associated with energy, danger, strength, power, and determination.

B．The fighters wearing red were given an average of 13 percent more points than when they wore blue.

C．The study shows that football shirts from worldwide teams such as Arsenal, Liverpool, sell successfully.

D．It is reasonable that wearing red makes individuals feel more confident, although this hasn’t yet been tested.

E. Researchers found that those who wear red tops, jackets or clothing score 10 percent more in any competition than if they were in another color.

F. The findings could explain why Manchester United, Liverpool and Arsenal have been so successful.

G. But the closer the levels, the easier it is for the color to tip the scale

Maggiano is an award-winning teacher in the Social Studies Department at West Springfield High School in Virginia．He has taught in public and private schools for 25 years．In a piece on his blog called “The Classroom Post,” he calls for more males to enter the profession(职业).

Men Teach, a non-profit organization that encourages men to enter teaching, reports that in 2008, 18.8% of all elementary and middle school teachers were men．At the high school level during the same year, men comprised（构成） 44% of the work force.

Why are there so few men in teaching? Men Teach says low pay and lack of prestige（声望）, as well as a perception in our culture that teaching is for women．As a result, there is no organized effort across the country to attract men into the teaching profession.

A study in 2008 by the National Education Association showed that the number of male teachers hit a record 40-year low．Males comprised 24.5 percent of public schoolteachers．States with high percentages: Kansas (33.6 percent), Oregon (31.6 percent), Alaska (30.9 percent) and Indiana (30.5percent).States with the lowest percentage : Arkansas (16.2 percent), Virginia (17.4 percent), Mississippi (17.5 percent), Louisiana (18 percent), South Carolina (18.5 percent) and Georgia (19.7 percent)．

There is no definitive(确定) research that male students--or female students, for that matter-- learn better from a particular sex.

But as Maggiano put it, “Kids today, both boys and girls, must have the same opportunity to learn from outstanding, devoted men that I did．However, I have heard little discussion about this problem coming from our national leaders．

1.What worries Maggiano is that_______．

A．nobody will take his place when he retires

B．male teachers are not so excellent

C．men are not interested in teaching

D．there is not enough teachers in the schools

2.According to the text , we can infer that______．

A．the number of male teachers hit a record 40-year low in 2008

B．it is not certain that students will learn better from male teachers

C．male teachers get a higher pay

D．organized efforts have been made to call on men into the teaching profession

3.In which state are male teachers most badly needed?

A．Alaska B．Virginia C．Georgia D．Arkansas

4.What does the last paragraph suggest?

A．The government doesn’t pay much attention to the shortage．of male teachers in the school.

B．Students find it easy to learn from male teachers.

C．I’m glad to hear the discussion about the shortage of male teachers in the school.

D．The shortage of male teachers in the school has no effect on students．

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