If you are afraid of the dark，it’s not a big deal．It’s perfectly normal to feel afraid After all，animals do too. “Fear matters，”says Karen Warkentin，an ecologist．“It’s a good thing，” she adds, “because fear makes you do things that keep you alive.”

       Like kids，many animals experience fear and they respond to the feeling in variety of ways．Afrightened turtle pulls its head and legs inside its shell．A small fish will swim away when a big，hungry fish approaches．

       Some animals respond to fear in ways you might not expect．The first example is that the fear of being eaten can scare some frogs right out of their eggs. Warkentin made the surprising discovery while studying red—eyed tree frogs in Costa Rica.

       In this species，female frogs attach jellylike clumps（果冻一样的块状物）of their eggs to the undersides of leaves．The leaves hang on branches that dangle（悬挂）over ponds．After they hatch from the eggs，the tadpoles（蝌蚪）then fall into the water，where they eventually grow intoadult frogs.

       Tree frog eggs usually grow for 6 days before hatching．If they sense that a hungry snake is about to attack，however，they can hatch up to 2 days ahead of schedule. As the snakes are unable to swim，by falling into the water early，the tadpoles can escape.

       If hatching early helps protect red—eyed tree frogs from snakes，you might wonder why their eggs don’t always hatch sooner．It turns out that hatching early brings its own danger．Once tadpoles land in the water，hungry fish and other animals like to eat them too．Staying in their eggs for a full 6 days，then，allows frog embryos（胚胎）to grow big and strong．This extra growth improves their chances of surviving in the water．

68．It can be inferred from the passage that fears       .

       A．help animals grow bigger and stronger

       B．are less common among young animals

       C．help animals move a lot to fit the environment

       D．are more or less important in order for animals to survive

69．We are told in the passage that tree frogs        .

       A．face danger both inside their eggs and in the water

       B．will grow fast if they fall into the water later

       C．are surprisingly clever when inside their eggs

       D．stay in their eggs longer if they are frightened

70．What do you think would be discussed in the following paragraph?

       A．Further explanations as to why tree frogs hatch ahead of schedule．

       B．How the unborn frogs know when a snake is about to attack them．

       C．Another example of animals that responds to fear in an unexpected way．

       D．How tree frogs improve their chances of survival before falling into the water.

（湖北省部分重点中学2009届高三第二次联考）

D

y brother-in-1aw opened the drawer of my sister’s cupboard and took out a package．He said。“This is a new silk slip（衬裙）．Jane bought it in New York nine years ago．She never wore it．She was saving it for a special occasion．I guess this is the occasion．”

It was an exquisite（精美的）handmade silk slip．The price tag on it was still attached．

He took the slip from me and put it on the bed，with the other clothes we were taking to the mortician（殡仪员）．His hands fingered on the soft material for a moment, then he shut the drawer and turned to me．“Don’t ever save anything for a special occasion．Every day you’re alive is a special occasion．’’

His words have changed my mind．I’m spending more time with my family and less time on meetings．I’m trying to recognize these moments now and cherish them．I’m not saving anything．I wear my good skirt to the market if I feel like it．I can pay $28·49 for a small bag of  groceries．I’m not saving my good perfume for special parties．If something is worth seeing or hearing or doing，I want to see and hear and do it now．“Someday” has disappeared in my vocabulary．

I’m not sure what Jane would have done if she had known she’d not be here for the tomorrow we all take for granted．I’m guessing Jane would have called family members and a few close friends．She might have apologized to her former friends for their past quarrels．She’d have gone out for a Chinese dinner, her favorite food．

I’m trying hard not to put off, hold back。or save anything that would add laughter to our fives．Every morning I open my eyes。I tell myself that every day, every minute，every breath is a gift．

73．Why didn’t Jane wear the brand new silk slip?

A．She meant to wear it on her death．     B．She wanted to save it for her sister．

      C．She thought it was too dear．               D．She saved it for a special occasion

74．After Jane’s death．the author begins to             ．

A．treasure the simple pleasure of life               B．spend more time having meetings

C．save more money for necessities                 D．care about her special parties

75．What does the underlined sentence “Someday” has disappeared in my vocabulary．”（in Paragraph4）mean?

A．I prefer to leave out the word “someday” in my speech．

B．“Someday” is found missing from my old dictionar．

C．I will not delay enjoying the pleasure of life

D．I decide not to enjoy something good at the moment·

76．It can be inferred from the passage that              ．

A．it makes sense to follow our dream

B．we tend to leave good things until the last minute

C．we should take pleasure in our work

D．it is meaningless to save something for the future

Half of the world’s population is affected by Asian monsoons (季风), but monsoons are difficult to predict. American researchers have put together a 700-year record of the rainy seasons, which is expected to provide guidance for experts making weather predictions.
Every year, moist (潮湿的) air masses，known as monsoon，produce large amounts of rainfall in India, East Asia, Northern Australia and East Africa. All this wet air is pulled in by a high pressure area over the Indian Ocean and a low pressure area to the south.
According to Edward Cook, a weather expert at Columbia University in New York, the complex nature of the climate systems across Asia makes monsoons hard to predict. In addition, climate records for the area are too recent and not detailed enough to be of much use. Therefore, he and a team of researchers spent more than fifteen years traveling across Asia, looking for trees old enough to provide long-term records. They measured the rings（年轮）, or circles, inside thousands of ancient trees in more than 300 places.
Rainfall has a direct link to the growth and width of rings on some kinds of trees. The researchers developed a document they are calling a Monsoon Asia Drought Atlas. It shows the effect of monsoons over seven centuries, beginning in the 1300s.
Professor Cook says the tree-ring records show periods of wet and dry weather. “If the monsoon basically fails or is a very weak one, the trees affected by monsoons at that location might put on a very narrow ring. But if the monsoon is very strong, the trees affected by that monsoon might put on a wide ring for that year. So, the wide and narrow ring widths of the chronology（大事年表） that we developed in Asia provide us with a measure of monsoon variability.” With all this information, researchers say they can begin to improve computer climate models for predicting the behavior of monsoons.
“There has been widespread famine and starvation and human dying in the past in large droughts. And on the other hand, if the monsoon is particularly heavy, it can cause extensive flooding.” said Eugene Wahl, a scientist with America’s National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration. “So, to get a sense of what the regional moisture patterns have been, dryness and wetness over such a long period of time in great detail, I would call it a kind of victory for climate science.”
【小题1】What’s the passage mainly about？