Can you think of a bird that can't fly but is a very good swimmer? The emperor penguin is one!
       Since last week, six emperor penguins have been on show at the Beijing Pacific Underwater World (太平洋海底世界, BPUW). "I had only seen penguins in my geography textbook," said 13-year-old
Yu Yaxin, when she was watching the birds in the aquarium. "Emperor penguins are much bigger and
taller than I had thought. They're up to my shoulders!"
       One month ago these penguins came to China from the Antarctic.
       At BPUW, emperor penguins have their own room with a swimming pool! A big air-conditioner helps to keep the room as cold as minus four degrees Celsius.
       "They're starting to enjoy their new life now," said Shi Xiaomin, head of the BPUW. "They no longer
hide in the corner when people try to get close to them."
Shi told TEENS that all six were quite lazy. They spend the whole day eating and sleeping. They sleep for more than ten hours a day!
       They're not always as nice as they seem. When they get angry, they make loud noises and move their bodies from side to side. They also hit very fast with their hard flippers (鳍状肢).
       There are 17 kinds of penguin and the emperor penguin is the largest and also most beautiful of all. Its colourful feathers and lively spirit (气度) made people call it the "emperor" of penguins.
       Emperor penguins can swim as fast as 30 kilometres per hour. That's faster than large ships!
       In the wild, emperor penguins spend half their time on the cold Antarctic (南极的) ice and the other
half in the water. They're the only birds that give birth during the cold winters in Antarctica. There are now about 570,000 emperor penguins in the Antarctic.

1. The penguins are from ____.

A. The North Pole.                
B. The Antarctic.
C. Beijing zoo.                    
D. The Indian Ocean.

2. According to Yu Yaxin, emperor penguins ____.

A. are very lazy                    
B. are just big birds
C. are taller and larger than expected  
D. sleep and eat all day long

3. Emperor penguins get their name because they ____.

A. are brave enough to give birth in winter
B. can swim faster than large ships
C. spend most of their time eating and sleeping
D. they are beautiful and lively

4. When penguins are angry, they ____.

A. make loud noises and shake their bodies
B. cry out and refuse to eat
C. play tricks on people who feed them
D. hide in a corner and cry

5. How do the emperor penguins spend their years?

A. They give birth during the cold winters in Antarctica.
B. They spend half their time on the cold Antarctic (南极的) ice and the other half in the water.
C. They can swim in the cold water in Antarctica.
D. They fly up in the sky like other birds in Antarctica.

     Imagine there is a bank that puts $86, 400 in your account (帐户) each morning. It carries over no
balance from day to day. Every evening the bank writes off (注销) the balance that you failed to use
during the day. What would you do? Take out every cent, of course !
     Each of us has such a bank. Its name is TIME.  Every morning, it puts in 86,400 seconds.  Every
evening it writes off, as it is lost. There is no balance or overdraft (透支). If you fail to use the day's
savings, the lost is yours. There is no going back. There is no taking from "tomorrow". You must make
good use of it so as to get more in health, happiness and success!
     The clock is running. Make the most of today. To realize the value of ONE YEAR, ask a student who
failed a grade; to realize the value of ONE MONTH, ask mother who gave birth to a premature(早产)
baby; to realize the value of ONE WEEK, ask the editor of a weekly newspaper; to realize the value of
ONE HOUR, ask the lovers who are waiting to meet; to realize the value of ONE MINUTE, ask a
person who missed the train; to realize the value of ONE SECOND, ask a person who just avoided
(避免) an accident.
     Make good use of every moment that you have. Remember that time waits for no one. Yesterday is
history. Tomorrow is a mystery. Today is a gift. That's why it's called "The Present".

1. The underlined word "balance" in Paragraph l means _____.
A. 平衡
B. 贷款
C. 余款
D. 提款

2. What is special about the TIME bank we each have?
A. We can store time in it whenever we like.
B. Someone puts $86,400 in it every day.
C. The time in it will surely get lost if you don't use it.
D. Someone helps you spend your time every night.

3. What can be the best title for the passage?
A. The Bank of Money
B. The Bank of Time
C. The Value of One Hour
D. The Clock Is Running

4. In this passage, the writer tries to tell us _____.
A. what a bank is
B. how to save money
C. the difference of time units
D. to make good use of time