It's 7 am Kyoto (东京), Japan, and the taxi company has just called a second time to say they can't find my house.　　1　　I tell him directions. even a blind person can　　2　 , look impatiently at my watch, and wait. Only two hours remain until my　　3　　leavesand it's an hour-and-a-half trip to Osaka airport.

　　The telephone rings　　4　 .“Terribly sorry,”begins the clerk. Then I　　5　　what's happened: flooded with　　6　 , the company is too busy. I've heard this happens when the weather gets　　7　 . I shout into the　　8　　that I have a plane to catchI must be in Seoul　　9　　and I'll meet the　　10　　a few hundred meters away on a bridge over the Kamo River.

　　Standing in the heavy　　11　 , I look up and down. No　　12　　From the other direction a white car comes up, then stops. A young man opens the door, signing to me to　　13　 . Shaking with cold and　　14　 , I climb inside.

　　In the most　　15　　Japanese, the man explains to me that he is the person with whom I have spoken　　16　　this morning. He apologizes again and again, but does not explain why a taxi could　　17　　except to say they are“very, very busy”this morning.

　　A few hours later, seated into my seat as the storm-delayed 727　　18　 , I open the　　19　 . My eyes wander to the headline (标题) of a short article:“Taxi Strike Begins this Morning in　　20　 .”

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Fish Ears Tell Fish Tales

　 Fish have ears. Really. They’re quite small and have no opening to the outside world carrying sound through the body. For the past seven years, Simon Thorrold, a university professor, has been examining fish ears, small round ear bones called otoliths (耳石).

　 As fish grow, so do their otoliths. Each day, their otoliths gain a ring of calcium carbonate (碳酸钙). By looking through a microscope and counting these rings, Thorrold can determine the exact age of a young fish. As a fish gets older, its otoliths no longer get daily rings. Instead, they get yearly rings, which can also be counted, giving information about the fish’s age, just like the growth rings of a tree.

　 Ring counting is nothing new to fish scientists. But Thorrold has turned to a new direction. They’re examining the chemical elements (元素) of each otolith ring.

　 The daily ring gives us the time, but chemistry tells us about the environment in which the fish swam on any given day. These elements tell us about the chemistry of the water that the fish was in. It also says something about water temperature, which determines how much of these elements will gather within each otolith ring.

　 Thorrold can tell, for example, if a fish spent time in the open ocean before entering the less salty water of coastal areas. He can basically tell where fish are spending their time at any given stage of history.

　 In the case of the Atlantic croaker, a popular saltwater food fish, Thorrold and his assistant have successfully followed the travelling of young fish from mid-ocean to the coast, a journey of many hundreds of miles.

　 This is important to managers in the fish industry, who know nearly nothing about the whereabouts of the young fish for most food fish in the ocean. Eager to learn about his technology, fish scientists are now lending Thorrold their ears.

What can we learn about fish ears from the text?

　A. They are small soft rings.

　B. They are not seen from the outside.

　C. They are openings only on food fish.

　D. They are not used to receive sound.

Why does the writer compare the fish to trees?

　A. Trees gain a growth ring each day.

　B. Trees also have otoliths.

　C. Their growth rings are very small.

　D. They both have growth rings.

Why is it important to study the chemistry of otolith rings?

　A. The elements of the otoliths can tell the history of the sea.

　B. Chemical contents of otoliths can tell how fast fish can swim.

　C. We can know more about fish and their living environment.

　D. Scientists can know exactly how old a fish is.

How would you understand “fish scientists are now lending their ears”?

　A. They are very interested in Thorrold’s research findings.

　B. They want to know where they can find fish.

　C. They lend their fish for chemical studies.

　D. They wonder if Thorrold can find growth rings from their ears.　

　　An explosion on Thursday killed one and injured 21 in a busy street in Tongren, Southwest China’s Guizhou Province.

　　The bomb was hidden in a rubbish bin in the city’s commercial hub（商业中心），where lots of shops and restaurants are concentrated.

　　The ear-splitting blast was heard around 12∶50 p.m.，said a local newspaper, citing witnesses. The power of the blast shattered（使粉碎）nearby shop windows and ripped the stainless（不生锈的）steel rubbish can to pieces.

　　One passer-by，identified（确认）only as Zhang，said she was shocked by the noise and saw a lot of pedestrians lying on the ground when she got to the scene.

　　Thirteen of the injured were taken to a local hospital after the explosion. A doctor there said five were in serious condition but already out of danger after emergency treatment. The others were just slightly hurt.

　　The cause of the explosion is still under investigation, said an officer with the Tongren police, but refused to speculate as to the cause.

　　It can be inferred from the passage that ________.

　　A. All the injured were taken to a hospital

　　B. 8 of the injured were not taken to a hospital

　　C. The rubbish bin with a bomb was in a restaurant

　　D. The rubbish bin with a bomb was in a shop

　　Which of the following statements is true according to the passage?

　　A. One passer- by, indentified only as Zhang, saw the man throwing a bomb into a bin.

　　B. Some customers in restaurants were injured.

　　C. The writer didn’t get to the scene.

　　D. All customers in shops got hurt.

　　In the last paragraph the underlined word“ speculate” probably means ________.

　　A. tell　　　　　　　　　　　　　 B. guess

　　C. discuss　　　　　　　　　　　　D. talk

　　What of the follwing can be the best title for the passage?

　　A. Bomb Hidden in a Rubbish Bin

　　B. The Cause of the Explosion

　　C. A Terrible Thing

　　D. Market Blast Kills 1 ,Injures 21

Fish Ears Tell Fish Tales

　 Fish have ears. Really. They’re quite small and have no opening to the outside world carrying sound through the body. For the past seven years, Simon Thorrold, a university professor, has been examining fish ears, small round ear bones called otoliths (耳石).

　 As fish grow, so do their otoliths. Each day, their otoliths gain a ring of calcium carbonate (碳酸钙). By looking through a microscope and counting these rings, Thorrold can determine the exact age of a young fish. As a fish gets older, its otoliths no longer get daily rings. Instead, they get yearly rings, which can also be counted, giving information about the fish’s age, just like the growth rings of a tree.

　 Ring counting is nothing new to fish scientists. But Thorrold has turned to a new direction. They’re examining the chemical elements (元素) of each otolith ring.

　 The daily ring gives us the time, but chemistry tells us about the environment in which the fish swam on any given day. These elements tell us about the chemistry of the water that the fish was in. It also says something about water temperature, which determines how much of these elements will gather within each otolith ring.

　 Thorrold can tell, for example, if a fish spent time in the open ocean before entering the less salty water of coastal areas. He can basically tell where fish are spending their time at any given stage of history.

　 In the case of the Atlantic croaker, a popular saltwater food fish, Thorrold and his assistant have successfully followed the travelling of young fish from mid-ocean to the coast, a journey of many hundreds of miles.

　 This is important to managers in the fish industry, who know nearly nothing about the whereabouts of the young fish for most food fish in the ocean. Eager to learn about his technology, fish scientists are now lending Thorrold their ears.

1.What can we learn about fish ears from the text?

　A. They are small soft rings.

　B. They are not seen from the outside.

　C. They are openings only on food fish.

　D. They are not used to receive sound.

2.Why does the writer compare the fish to trees?

　A. Trees gain a growth ring each day.

　B. Trees also have otoliths.

　C. Their growth rings are very small.

　D. They both have growth rings.

3.Why is it important to study the chemistry of otolith rings?

　A. The elements of the otoliths can tell the history of the sea.

　B. Chemical contents of otoliths can tell how fast fish can swim.

　C. We can know more about fish and their living environment.

　D. Scientists can know exactly how old a fish is.

4.How would you understand “fish scientists are now lending their ears”?

　A. They are very interested in Thorrold’s research findings.

　B. They want to know where they can find fish.

　C. They lend their fish for chemical studies.

　D. They wonder if Thorrold can find growth rings from their ears.