When I was a child, my mother often told me, “Don’t run around, or bad uncles will grad（抓住） you. And you know what? You will never see Mum and Dad again.”

    “Why, Mama? Why would these uncles grab me?” I would ask. “The city is a dangerous place and we don’t trust any strangers, ”she would reply.

  Well, that might answer the question of why my second brother never picks up calls from an unknown person either on his mobile or his home phone. It seems that he doesn’t care if he misses an important call. because he thinks that all unknown calls are from bad persons.

    So, have we given too much protection to our young kids? Perhaps it is so. But the adults’ thoughts are indeed easy to understand. The kids meet swindlers sometimes as we adults tell them. Also they get some news about cheating（欺骗） in newspapers or on TV every day. That makes the kids believe that they just cannot trust strangers.

    Let’s look at an example from everyday life. Say, if someone carrying a wooden stick（棍子） comes nearer to you, will you try to run away at once even before he or she starts talking to you? Will you guess this person’s intentions（意图） and think that he or she wants to rob（抢劫） you of something? Think of the answer for yourself.

    Of course, the kids should look after themselves, but overprotection can sometimes stop them from making new friends. Sometimes it’s not good for their new friendships.

    Trust is like a mirror. When we offer trust to people, they might just show you trust in return.

1 What do “swindlers” probably do?

  A. They cheat other people.

  B. They often call other people.

  C. They rob people of something.

  D. They teach children to protect themselves.

2 Which of the following is NOT the reason why children don’t trust strangers?

  A. Their parents tell them not to trust strangers.

  B. They get to know some news about cheating in newspapers or on TV every day.

  C. Strangers always have bad intentions.

  D. They sometimes have experiences of being cheated.

3 What does the writer want to tell us?

  A. Children should always follow their parents’ advice.

  B. We should never talk to strangers.

  C. Parents should learn to protect their children.

  D. People should try to trust each other.

NBA star Yao Ming has a restaurant in the USA. The restaurant sells many famous dishes. But one dish could never be made there---shark fin soup(鱼翅汤). Yao has given up shark fin soup since he joined a program for saving endangered animals in 2006. “Animals are our friends,” he said.：How much do you know about these endangered animals?

Sharks, the king of the ocean, are in danger. Each year about 75 million sharks are killed for their fins, 8 kinds of shark have died out.

In some Asian countries, people get bile(胆汁) from Asian black bears’ stomachs and use it as traditional Chinese medicine. The animal’s population has decreased(下降) by 30% to 49% during the past 30 years.

The shahtoosh shawl(沙图什披肩) is thought to be the softest and most beautiful in the world. It is popular in Europe and the US. However, one has to kill three to five Tibetan antelopes(藏羚羊) to make just one shahtoosh. About 20,000 antelopes were killed every year during the 1980s.

One day, if animals all disappeared, the world we live in would come to an end. Saving them now means saving ourselves. Maybe you think that only scientists or famous people can save animals. In fact, everyone can do something. Here are some useful tips for students.

Don’t eat foods that are made of endangered animals, such as shark fin soup. Ask your parents and friends to do so, too.

Don’t buy or use something that is made out of endangered animals, like clothes with antelope fur or necklaces made of ivory(象牙). You should also tell your parents not to buy these things, either.

You can become a volunteer to help build the habitats(栖息地) of endangered animals. There is a lot of information on the Internet about these volunteer jobs.

You can hold a photo show at your school to tell people the situation of endangered animals and what people can do to help save them.

52. In Yao Ming’s restaurant, shark fin soup couldn’t be made because_________________.

　 A. many sharks died, and that makes it difficult to find shark fins

　 B. he wants to save endangered animals

　 C. shark fin soup is not popular now 　　　

D. shark fin soup is not a traditional Chinese food

53. The underlined word “endangered” means _________________in Chinese.

A. 危险的　　 B. 濒临灭绝的　　　 C. 有害的　　 D. 凶猛的

54. Students can help save the endangered animals in many ways EXCEPT________________.

　 A. asking their parents and friends not to eat foods made of endangered animals

　 B. becoming a volunteer to help build the habitats

C. holding a photo show at school to tell people what they can do

D. using something that is made out of endangered animals

55. The best title of this article may be_______________.

　 A. Help Save Endangered Animals　　　　　 B. What Can Students Do

　 C. Yao Ming’s Restaurant D. Animals Are Our Friends