Animals grow up in different ways. They have lots of lessons to learn.
Some animals are born helpless but their mothers protect them. A newborn kangaroo is the size of a bee. She stays in her mother’s safe pouch. She doesn’t open her eyes for at least five months. A newborn monkey cannot walk. He is carried by his mother. 
Other baby animals can walk soon after they’re born. They learn to run with their mother when danger is near. A baby zebra（斑马）can run an hour after she is born.
Some baby animals are born in a place that is safe. Other baby animals are born in the open. Baby wolves are born in large holes. A baby elephant is born on open, grassy land. Other elephants make a circle（圈）to protect her.  
Animals that drink their mothers’ milk are called mammals. A mother bear’s milk is fatty and rich. Baby bears need lots of fat to keep warm in winter. They have milk for six months. Baby zebras drink milk for six months or more! As baby animals grow they need solid（固体的）food. Baby lions eat what their mother can catch.
【小题1】Which baby animals don’t open their eyes for at least five months?

Recently，a solar powered（太阳能动力的）plane took to the sky for the first time. It had passed an important test on the way to travel around the world. The plane took off from an airport in Switzerland（瑞士）at 45km an hour. It slowly rose above the fields and into the sky.
“There has never been an airplane of that kind that could fly — never an airplane so big, so light, using so little energy,” said Bertrand Piccard, a leader of the project.
During the 90-minute flight, the plane did several turns. It climbed nearly 1.6k above the countryside. Engineers plan to test a night flight before July. Then they will use the results of the tests to build a second plane. They plan to travel around the world in that plane in 2012.
The plane flies at 70 km an hour. That is faster than a bike and slower than a car. Piccard and pilot Andre Borschberg will take the plane around the world. The pilots will keep the plane in the air for up to five days at a time. We want to fly it day and night with no fuel (燃料),” Piccard said
【小题1】How long did the first flight of the solar powered plane last？

Because earthquakes happen without warning, it’s important to take steps now to prepare. Because you don’t know where you will be when an earthquake happens, prepare some supplies for your home, workplace, and car.
1. Water.
A person needs at least 1/2 gallon of water daily just for drinking. Store at least1 gallon of water per person per day and be prepared for a 72-hour period. It’s suggested that you buy bottled water. Keep bottled water in its original container and do not open it until you need to use it. Also, do check the “use by” date.
2. Food.
It’s always a practical idea to keep a supply of non-perishable(不易腐烂的) food on hand. Have an enough supply of canned food, dried milk, dried fruits, non-salted nuts and canned juices for at least 72 hours.
3. Flashlights and spare batteries.
Keep a flashlight beside your bed, at your place of work, and in your car. Do not use matches or candles after an earthquake until you are sure that no gas leaks.
Prepare a battery –powered radio and spare batteries. Most telephones will be out of order, so radios will be your best source of information.
4. Clothes.
If you live in a cold place, you must think about warmth. You might not have heat after an earthquake. Think about your clothing and bedding supplies.
【小题1】You should prepare all of the following except _______________.

Passage 4
From the world’s heaviest apple, the oldest lady to the world’s smallest dog, these are all parts of a group of the world’s strangest people and things. And they are all in the Guinness Book of Records(《吉尼斯记录》).
The book is going to celebrate its birthday this August. It began exactly half a century ago. And it’s always one of the best selling books in the world.
People now can break over 1000 records every week! Why do so many people want to break the records? Do they want their names in the book or meet more people around the world? “It gives people a chance to show they’re the best in the world.” said one of the record keepers Stewart Newport.
The book was started by Hugh Beaver from Britain. In 1951, he went shooting birds and talked with his friends about the fastest bird in Europe. Three years later, they were still talking about it. So Beaver believed that people must have different ideas. So, he decided to start a book to record the world’s truly greatest people and things in it!
The newest book came out last Tuesday. This book has a lot of interesting records. Here are two:
☆ A British dog, Whitney, is the world’s smallest dog. It’s only 76mm tall.
☆ An American woman Lee Redmond has the longest fingernails(指甲).They grew as long as 600 mm! She made the record in 1971.
【小题1】We can see everything in the Guinness Book of Records except         .

We talk every day. When we have good news, we like to share it with our good friends and when something terrible happens, we tell it to others soon. But can you imagine that a tree can talk and share news too ? Of course, no tree moves lips and says words just as people do. Strange as it may sound, though, some trees do manage to communicate with each other.
Willow (柳树) trees are the best-known of these trees. When insects begin nibbling (叮咬) a willow tree, the tree sends out a special smell at once. This smell tells the other willows that harmful insects are coming near. All of them quickly make a chemical (化学物质) in their leaves. This chemical is bad to the insects. The insects do not like it and they fly away soon. In this way, the willow trees protect themselves from the insects.
The next time when you take a walk in the woods, maybe the trees are “talking” to each other quietly. And when someone says that trees cannot “talk”, please tell them that even trees give messages to each other, too.
【小题1】Willow trees send messages with_____________.