Mosquitoes have an extraordinary ability to target humans far away and fly straight to their unprotected skin. Regrettably, mosquitoes can do more than cause an itchy(发痒的)wound. Some mosquitoes spread several serious diseases,including Dengue,yellow fever and malaria.

Over one million people worldwide die from these diseases each year. New research now shows how mosquitoes choose who to bite.

Mosquitoes need blood to survive. They are attracted to human skin and breath. They smell the carbon dioxide gas, which all mammals breathe out. This gas is the main way for mosquitoes to know that a warm-blooded creature is nearby.

But mosquitoes also use their eyes and sense of touch. Michael Dickinson is a professor at the California Institute of Technology. His research shows how these small insects, with even smaller brains,use three senses to find a blood meal.

Michael Dickinson’s team used plumes—a material that rises into the air of carbon dioxide gas into a wind tunnel. They then used cameras to record the mosquitoes. The insects followed the plume.

Then, the scientists placed dark objects on the lighter colored floor and walls of the tunnel. Mr. Dickinson said, at first, the mosquitoes showed no interest in the objects at all. “What was quite striking and quite surprising is that the mosquitoes fly back and forth for hours. These are hungry females and they completely ignore the objects on the floor and wall of the tunnel. But the moment they get a hit of CO2, they change their behavior quite obviously and now would become attracted to these little visual blobs (斑点).”

This suggested to the researchers that a mosquito’s sense of smell is more important in the search for food. Once mosquitoes catch a smell of a human or animal,they also follow visual signals.

1.What do mosquitoes mainly use to find their targets?

A. Sense of smell B. Sense of touch

C. Sense of sight D. Smart brains

2.The first response of the mosquitoes to the objects in the experiment is _______.

A. to fly to the dark ones

B. to catch and stick to them

C. to take no notice of them

D. to attach themselves to them

3.How can we avoid being attacked by mosquitoes according to the text?

A. Don’t let them see us.

B. Use dark objects to stop them.

C. Make them fly back and forth for hours.

D. Attract them to objects full of carbon dioxide gas.

4.What can be the best title for the text?

A. How Do Mosquitoes Survive?

B. Why Do Mosquitoes Need Blood?

C. How Do Mosquitoes Choose to Bite You?

D. Why Do Mosquitoes Attack the Human Being?

China’s new buzzword, tuhao, may be in next year’s Oxford English Dictionary.

“If its influence continues, it is very likely to appear on our updated list of words, ” said Julie Kleeman, project manager with the editing team.

In Chinese, tu means uncouth(粗野的) and hao means rich. It has traditionally been referred to rich people who throw their weight around in China’s rural areas. In recent years, people borrowed the term to describe those who spend money in an unreasonable manner. The word gained acceptance in September with the launch(上市) of Apple’s new gold-colored iPhone, an item loved by China’s rich people. The color became known as “tuhao gold”. The word is now often used by the online community to refer to people who have the cash but lack the class to go with it.

Kleeman also mentioned two other Chinese words—dama and hukou—which may also be taken in the dictionary. Hukou means household registration(登记) in Chinese and has been widely used.

Dama, meaning middle-aged women, was first used in the Western media by the Wall Street Journal in May when thousands of Chinese women were buying up record number of gold. They were the driving force in the global gold market between April and June when the gold prices had gone down.

“We have nearly 120 Chinese-linked words now in Oxford English Dictionary, ” she said. Some of them are: Guanxi, literally meaning “connection”, is the system of social networks and influential relationships which promote business and other dealings. Taikonaut is a mix of taikong, meaning outer space, and astronaut.

The new words will be first uploaded on the official website before the dictionaries arrive. The online version is also renewed every three months. “It at least broke our old rules. It used to take 10 years to include a new word but now we keep the pace with the era, ” according to John Simpson.

1. What does “Tuhao” mean now?

A. The rich who like iPhone made of gold.

B. The people who have power in the countryside.

C. The people who spend money reasonably.

D. The rich who find no class to belong to.

2.Why is the word “Dama” popular now?

A. They bought gold in the global market.

B. They are wealthy middle-aged women.

C. They brought the gold prices down.

D. They worked on the Wall Street.

3. According to John, the Oxford English Dictionary__________.

A. updates its new version every three months

B. takes 10 years to include a new word now

C. speeds up its acceptance of new words

D. has its online version to collect new words

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。

Cell Phones: Hang Up or Keep Talking?

Millions of people are using cell phones today. In many places it is actually considered unusual not to use one. __1.__They find that the phones are more than a means of communication----having a mobile phone shows that they are cool and connected.

The explosions around the world in mobile phone use make some health professionals worried. Some doctors are concerned that in the future many people may suffer health problems from the use of mobile phones. In England, there has been a serious debate about this issue. Mobile phone companies are worried about the negative publicity of such ideas. ___2.___

On the other hand, why do some medical studies show changes in the brain cells of some people who use mobile phones? Signs of change in the tissues of the brain and head can be detected with modern scanning(扫描)equipment. In one case, a traveling salesman had to retire at a young age because of serious memory loss. ___3.__He would often forget the name of his own son. This man used to talk on his mobile phone for about six hours a day, every day of his working week, for a couple of years. His family doctor blamed his mobile phone use, but his employer's doctor didn't agree.

____4.__ The answer is radiation. High-tech machines can detect very small amounts of radiation from mobile phones. Mobile phone companies agree that there is some radiation, but they say the amount is too small to worry about.

As the discussion about their safety continues, it appears that it's best to use mobile phones less often.___ 5.__Use your mobile phone only when you really need it. Mobile phones can be very useful and convenient, especially in emergencies. In the future, mobile phones may have a warning label that says they are bad for your health. So for now, it's wise not to use your mobile phone too often.

A. Use your regular phone if you want to talk for a long time.

B. They will possibly affect their benefits.

C. In many countries, cell phones are very popular with young people.

D. He couldn’t remember even simple tasks.

E. What do the doctors worry about?

F. They say that there is no proof that mobile phones are bad for your health.

G. What is it that makes mobile phones potentially harmful?

Tea drinking was common in China for nearly one thousand years before anyone in Europe had ever heard about tea. People in Britain were much slower in finding out what tea was like, mainly because tea was very expensive. It could not be bought in shops and even those people who could afford to have it sent from Holland did so only because it was a fashionable curiosity. Some of them were not sure how to use it. They thought it was a vegetable and tried cooking the leaves. Then they served them mixed with butter and salt. They soon discovered their mistake but many people used to spread the used tea leaves on bread and give them to their children as sandwiches.

Tea remained scarce and very expensive in England until the ships of the East India Company began to bring it direct from China early in the seventeenth century. During the next few years so much tea came into the country that the price fell and many people could afford to buy it.

At the same time people on the Continent were becoming more and more fond of tea. Until then tea had been drunk without milk in it, but one day a famous French lady named Madame de Sevigne decided to see what tea tasted like when milk was added. She found it so pleasant that she would never again drink it without milk. Because she was such a great lady that her friends thought they must copy everything she did, they also drank their tea with milk in it. Slowly this habit spread until it reached England and today only very few Britons drink tea without milk.

At first, tea was usually drunk after dinner in the evening. No one ever thought of drinking tea in the afternoon until a duchess(公爵夫人)found that a cup of tea and a piece of cake at three or four o’clock stopped her getting “a sinking feeling” as she called it. She invited her friends to have this new meal with her and so, tea-time was born .

1.This passage mainly discusses .

A. the history of tea drinking in Britain

B. how tea became a popular drink in Britain

C. how the Britons got the habit of drinking tea

D. how tea-time was born

2.Tea became a popular drink in Britain .

A. in the sixteenth century

B. in the seventeenth century

C. in the eighteenth century

D. in the late seventeenth century

3.We may infer from the passage that the habit of drinking tea in Britain was mostly due to the influence of .

A. a famous French lady

B. the ancient Chinese

C. the upper(上层的) social class

D. people in Holland

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