If a noisy neighbor is blasting music at all hours of the day and night, drowning out your phone conversations and interrupting your sleep, you can call the police. But what is a whale to do?

Natural noise from waves, wind, rain and even earthquakes is common in oceans. Unfortunately, man?made noise from oil and gas drilling, sonar, and ships is also present.

Low frequency noise has doubled off the California coast every decade since the nineteen sixties. The main reasons are ships' propellers (螺旋桨). They not only generate continuous low frequency sound, some propellers cavitate(形成气穴), which means they create air bubbles that collapse, creating loud popping sounds.

Whales use low frequency calls to communicate across thousands of miles of ocean. They are threatened by noise pollution because it can prevent them from contacting each other and from locating their foods. Endangered humpback and right whales, which use fibrous baleen to strain food from the water, are the most at risk.

Scientists studying right whales off Canada's east coast have discovered that whales are sending louder calls through the water to make themselves heard. Because they invest more energy in making calls, they have less energy available for finding food and mating. Other scientists measuring whale calls against background noise pollution have discovered that right whales have lost about eighty percent of their normal communication area. This could seriously affect survival of this already threatened species.

Scientists don't have badges and guns, but they are trying to correct the noise pollution problem. By tracking ships and marine mammals and understanding how noise travels, they are creating sound maps. They hope to get shipping lanes moved so that the noise pollution ships create will not overlap with areas most important to the whales.

1.What does the passage mainly talk about?

A. Whales are in danger because of the noise.

B. Noise pollution is affecting whales.

C. Natural noise is good for whales.

D. How to protect whales endangered.

2.The following statements are true EXCEPT ________.

A. You can call the police if you are disturbed by a noisy neighbor.

B. Low frequency noise has doubled off the Canadian coast every decade since the 1960s.

C. Noise pollution can prevent whales from contacting each other and from locating prey.

D. Endangered humpback and right whales are the most at risk.

3.We can infer from the last paragraph that ________.

A. some areas important to whales are overlapped with the ship lanes

B. scientists are creating the sound maps by tracking ships and marine mammals

C. if scientists have guns, they can correct the noise pollution

D. scientists have worked out a plan to protect the whales

4.According to scientists,________.

A. right whales off the Californian coast have been in danger because of the loss of the energy

B. right whales cannot find food and mate for they lose a lot of living area

C. there are about 20% of the normal communication areas still available for the right whales

D. the right whales always invest most of their energy for making calls

The Exterminating Angel

Director: Luis Bunuel

Country/Date : Mexico/1962 (black and white)

Introduction : A party is organized in a high class society house. Many people are drinking and eating. It’s getting late, but nobody is leaving. Even though the door is open, people seem to be locked in the house. They can’t leave either the day or on the following days. So a rescue began.

The Net

Director: Irwin Winkler

Country/Date: U.S.A./1995

Introduction: Angela Bennettt is a computer programmer who has devoted her life to computers and the Internet. She spends hours and hours in front of the screen. She does everything over the Internet, and she has some close friends in a chat room, though she has never talked to her neighbors.

Kung Fu Panda

Director : Mark Osborne & John Stevenson

Country/Date : U.S.A./2008

Introduction: The leading character is a panda whose name is Po. He is lazy first but he has a great dream——to be a kung fu master. To make his dream come true, he goes to a faraway temple to learn kung fu from a master. However, one of his brothers, Tai Long wants to become the kung fu master, killing many of his brothers even the master. So Po fights against Tai Long and defeats him, The film is good especially for kids.

Life is Beautiful

Director: Roberto Benigni

Country/Date : Italy/1998

Introduction: In 1939, during World WarⅡ in Italy, Guido, a hopeful man, the main character fell in love with Dora, and they got married. Five years later, their lives changed. Guido and Joshua were taken by the Nazis to a concentration camp and Dora also went there with her husband and son. At that place, Guido tried his best to save his son’s life in a special way.

1.Who is the director of The Net?

A. Luis Bunuel B. Irwin Winkler

C. Mark Osborne D. Roberto Benigni

2.Which film is especially fit for kids?

A. The Exterminating Angel. B. The Net.

C. Kung Fu Panda. D. Life is Beautiful.

3..What can we learn about Life is Beautiful?

A. It’s about a rescue of people who can’t leave a house.

B. The story is set in World WarⅡ.

C. It was made in America in 1995.

D. The main character is absorbed in computer.

In modern society there is a great deal of argument about competition. Some value it highly, believing that it is responsible for social progress and prosperity; others say that competition is bad because it sets one person against another and because it leads to unfriendly relationship between people.

I have taught many children who held the belief that their self-worth relied on how well they performed at tennis and other skills. For them, playing well and winning are often life-and-death affairs. In their single-minded pursuit of success, the development of many other human qualities is sadly forgotten.

However, while some seem to be lost in the desire to succeed, others take an opposite attitude. In a culture which values only the winner and pays no attention to the ordinary players, they strongly blame competition. Among the most vocal are youngsters who have suffered under competitive pressures from their parents or society. Teaching these young people, I often observe in them a desire to fail. They seem to seek failure by not trying to win or achieve success. By not trying, they always have an excuse: “I may have lost, but it doesn’t matter because I really didn’t try.” What is not usually admitted by themselves is the belief that if they had really tried and lost, that would mean a lot. Such a loss would be a measure of their worth. Clearly, this belief is the same as that of the true competitors who try to prove themselves. Both are based on the mistaken belief that one’s self-respect relies on how well one performs in comparison with others. Both are afraid of not being valued. Only as this basic and often troublesome fear begins to dissolve (缓解) can we discover a new meaning in competition.

1.What does this passage mainly talk about?

A. Failures are necessary experiences in competition.

B. Competition can help people to set up self-respect.

C. Opinions about competition are different among people.

D. Competition is harmful to personal quality development.

2.Why do some people favor competition according to the passage?

A. It pushes society forward. B. It builds up a sense of duty.

C. It improves personal abilities. D. It encourages individual efforts.

3.The underlined phrase “the most vocal” in Paragraph 3 means ________.

A. those who try their best to win

B. those who value competition most highly

C. those who depend on others most for success

D. those who are against competition most strongly

4.What is the similar belief of the true competitors and those with a desire to fail?

A. One’s success in competition needs great efforts.

B. One’s success is based on how hard he has tried.

C. One’s achievement is determined by his particular skills.

D. One’s worth lies in his performance compared with others.

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