Dolphins(海豚) live in a dark underwater world. It’s often impossible to see each other or anything else around them, so sound plays an important role in their survival. To communicate with each other, dolphins produce all kinds of sounds.

Only other dolphins understand what the sounds mean. Scientists haven’t uncovered their secret communication, except for one kind of whistle. It might last less than a second, but this whistle is a big deal. Why? Because these whistles are actually names of dolphins - and every dolphin has one. Scientists call these sounds a “signature whistle.” When other dolphins hear the whistle, they know which dolphin is calling.

Dolphins often hunt by themselves but still need to stay connected to the group. Since they can’t always see each other, dolphins use their signature whistles to check in with other dolphins hundreds of yards away. “In coastal areas, dolphins exchange whistles even when they’re a third of a mile apart,” says Greg Campbell, who studies animals. That means dolphins shout out to group members that might be nearly five football fields away.

What’s amazing is who names the baby dolphin. Not the mother. Not an auntie dolphin or another group member. Scientists believe the baby dolphin itself comes up with the signature whistle. Like human babies, a baby dolphin plays with sounds throughout its first year. While testing its sound skills, a baby dolphin is doing something amazing. It’s creating or figuring out its signature whistle. How or why it chooses its signature whistle is not clear. Studies show that most of the time the signature whistle is nothing like its mother’s or group members’ whistles.

When the baby dolphin is about a year old, its signature whistle is set. It repeats it of ten so the other dolphins learn to recognize it.

Deciphering(破译) dolphin names is just the beginning of figuring out what dolphins communicate about. Do they chat about sharks? Discuss the tides? Maybe they even have a name for people. Someday scientists to decipher the rest of dolphins’ communication.

1.Sound is important for dolphins because of ______.

A.their poor sense of direction

B.their living environment

C.their strong enemies

D.their big groups

2.The dolphin’s signature whistle ______.

A.lasts along time

B.can travel long distances

C.is especially helpful in hunting

D.can be recognized by other animals

3.The author writes the text mainly to ______.

A.encourage readers to study dolphins

B.tell reader s how dolphins communicate

C.show how lovely and clever dolphins are

D.introduce a special sound made by dolphins

4.A baby dolphin gets its name ______.

A.soon after it was born

B.according to its size

C.all by itself

D.with the help of its group

I hate nosy (爱管闲事的) neighbors and it’s very unlucky that I had one for myself. They moved in a couple of months back and although I never felt that they were a strange family, I’ve always hated the way they get “too close” to me, my house, my garden, and even my garbage cans.

One day, my neighbors were mowing their lawn (草坪). My garbage cans were near their lawn. For some strange reason, I found the wife looking through my garbage cans. I felt angry but since they were from a different culture, I thought that maybe it was “normal” from their ideas.

That afternoon, the couple knocked on my front door. When I opened, they gave me a plastic bag. Inside were my old daily bills, credit cards and bank statements, and an old birthday card that my old uncle sent. They said that they were returning them to me because these documents contained very private information that may be used by others.

I’ve heard of it before. I asked them how those documents can be used by others and they started telling me their very own experience, which forced them to leave their home and move next door to us. The wife told me that she never destroyed the bills. They also had a “nosy neighbor” who looked through their garbage cans which they actually thought was pretty strange. Little did they know that this “nosy neighbor” was collecting their personal information from their rubbish. Then all their money was taken out from the bank by their neighbor.

It was a very painful experience for all of them and they wanted to leave it all behind so they left. I was very thankful. They were not nosy neighbors. They simply didn’t want us to experience the same thing that they did.

1.What made the author angry?

A. His neighbor’s wife was looking through his rubbish.

B. His neighbors were mowing their lawn one morning.

C. His neighbors got too close to his own home.

D. His neighbors came to knock at his door at night.

2.Why did the couple come to the author’s home?

A. To introduce themselves to the author.

B. To get to know each other better.

C. To return the documents to the author.

D. To borrow some money from the author.

3.Which of the following can we infer from the last paragraph?

A. The author was kind and helpful to the neighbors.

B. The neighbors had to move from place to place.

C. The neighbors didn’t have enough money.

D. The author changed his idea about his neighbors.

Once upon a time there lived an old man in a nice cottage with a large garden. The old man was seen his flowers all the time. They were so well-tended(照顾得好) that every passer-by could not but for a glance.

One day a young man went by the garden. He gazed at the splendid garden, in admiration(赞美) at the beauty of these sceneries. Then, suddenly he the old gardener was blind. , the young man asked, "Why are you busy tending these flowers every day which you can't in fact?" The old man smiled and answered that "I can tell you reasons. First I was a when I was young, and I really like this job. Second, although I can't see these flowers, yet I can them. Third, I can smell sweetness of them. As to the last one, that's ."

"Me? But you don't know me," responded the young man .

"Yeah, it's that I don't know you. But I know everyone knows flowers and would never them down. I know the beauty of my garden will get many people into a good . In the meantime, it also a chance to me to have a word with you here and to enjoy the happiness these flowers have brought us."

The old man's astonished me. The blind man grows flowers and them as a link of minds(心灵的连接) so as to make enjoy the sunshine in spring. Isn't it one kind of happiness?

I believe every flower has with which they can see the kindness of the man's heart. The blind man grows flowers in his heart. Though to see the beauty of blossoming(繁花盛开), he surely can hear the voice of it, I suppose.

1.A. loving B. watering C. tending D. planting

2.A. stop B. stay C. live D. run

3.A. kept B. dropped C. fallen D. lost

4.A. realized B. noticed C. felt D. thought

5.A. Excited B. Frightened C. Shocked D. Satisfied

6.A. feel B. see C. hear D. eat

7.A. one B. two C. three D. four

8.A. gardener B. teacher C. farmer D. painter

9.A. taste B. plant C. touch D. appreciate

10.A. it B. me C. them D. you

11.A. with pleasure B. in surprise C. with hope D. in anger

12.A. true B. possible C. a pity D. a shame

13.A. put B. turn C. get D. knock

14.A. mind B. life C. future D. mood

15.A. introduces B. offers C. stands D. leaves

16.A. words B. behavior C. story D. attitudes

17.A. treats B. acts C. works D. serves

18.A. anybody B. somebody C. everybody D. nobody

19.A. ears B. soul C. eyes D. heart

20.A. refusing B. trying C. pretending D. failing

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