It's very early in the morning and I'm sitting outside. It's also very cold and dark. With me is Jim Nightingale, and he is the reason I'm up so early. He passes me a hot cup of coffee. "Not long to wait now," he says. I hope he's right.

    After a few minutes there is a very weak light in the east, and then I hear a bird singing. It sings very loud and very clear. "That's the robin(知更鸟)," says Jim. A few more birds start singing with the robin and Jim knows the names of them too. Half an hour later, there are more and more birds singing, and it's very loud! Suddenly, all around us the air is full of the sound of birdsong. This is the dawn chorus(晨鸣), and it's beautiful.

    "Wow, this is amazing!" I tell Jim, who is smiling. "Is there a dawn chorus every morning?"

    "Birds can sing any time of the year but the best time is the end of winter and during the spring. This is when the birds sing most."

    "Really? So, why do they sing?" I ask.

    "Well, there are two reasons," explains Jim. "Most of the songbirds who sing are males. They want to find a female(雌性)so they sing to show how strong they are. The females listen and choose the best singer! The birds also sing to tell other males to go away. They need their own area; they don't like sharing with another male."

    I listen to the birds; the songs seem too much to me. "Do the birds sing a special song in the morning?"

"That's a good question," replied Jim. "The successful birds have many kinds of calls and songs. Sometimes they copy the songs of other birds. This makes it sound like there are many birds in that place already and other males stay away. Also the female likes songs with different notes. Some birds, for example the European wren, have songs that contain over 700 different notes per minute!"

So, how does Jim know so much about birds? Well, he works as a volunteer for the Royal Society for the Protection of Birds. He is trying to help the birds live in the modern world. "More and more of the birds' habitat disappears every year. The sparrow, for example, was a very common bird in the UK, now it's in danger."

    By now the sun is up and the birds are quiet. It's light so they can start looking for food, they need a big breakfast after all that singing.

1.Why does the writer get up early in the morning?

A. To visit her friend.               B. To drink hot coffee.  

C. To see different birds.                  D. To hear birds sing.

2.A bird sings early in the morning mainly_______.

A. to call a female's attention          B. to fight with other males

C. to find a place to live in      D. to start looking for food

3. According to the text, which of the following statements is true?

A. At first the writer is happy to be up so early in the morning.

B. Male birds have their own ways of fooling other birds.

C. It's easier for the birds to find food early in the morning.

D. Jim has a job with the Royal Society for the Proteciton of Birds.

4.The text is mainly about_______.

A. the robin's songs                          B. the birds' habitat    

C. why birds sing                                D. how to protect birds

Have you ever been ill? When you are ill，you feel unhappy because your body be comes hot，and there are pains all over your body．You don’t want to work, you stay in bed and feel very sad．

    What makes us ill? It is germs（细菌）．Germs are everywhere．They are too small and you can’t find them with your eyes，but you can see them with a microscope（显微镜）．They are very small and there could be hundreds of them on a very small thing．

  Germs are always found in dirty water．When we look at dirty water under the microscope，we shall see them in it．So your father and mother will not let you drink dirty water．

    Germs aren’t found only in water．They are found in air and dust（灰尘）．If you cut your finger，if some of the dust from the floor goes into the cut，some of the germs will go into your finger．Your finger will become big and red，and you will have much pain in it Sometimes the germs will go into all of your body，and you will have pain every where．

    根据短文内容，回答下列问题。

1．Are germs only in dirty water?

2．Why can’t we see germs with our eyes?

3．How do you feel when you are ill?

4．There are some germs on your finger if it is cut，aren’t there?

5．What does the passage mainly tell us?