Most people think of zoos as safe heavens for animals, where problems such as difficulty finding food and avoiding predators (食肉动物) don’t exist. Therefore, animals in zoos should live to a ripe old age.

But that may not be true for the largest land animals on earth. Scientists have known that elephants in zoos often suffer from poor health. They develop diseases and they are even unable to have babies.

To learn more about how captivity (圈养) affects elephants, a team of international scientists compared the lifespans (寿命) of the zoo-born elephants with the lifespans of thousands of wild elephants. They also compared some Asian elephants living in zoos with some Asian elephants which work in logging camp (伐木场), over almost the same time period.

The team found that elephants born in zoos lived an average of 16.9 years, but elephants that died of natural causes lived an average of 56 years. Asian elephants followed a similar pattern. In zoos, they lived 18.9 years, while those in the logging camp lived 41.7 years.

Scientists don’t yet know why wild elephants seem to live so much better than their zoo-raised counterparts (同类). Georgia Mason, a biologist at the University of Guelph in Canada, who led the study, thinks stress and obesity (肥胖) may be to blame. Zoo elephants don’t get the same kind of exercise they would in the wild. Elephants’ social lives are also much different in zoos than in the wild, where they live in large family groups.

Most people believe that________.

A. animals in zoos should live a longer life

B. zoos are not good for animals to live in

C. zoos are not suitable for large animals         

D. captivity can affect animals in many ways

The purpose of the international scientists is_________.

A. to compare the lifespans of different animals

B. to find out how captivity affects elephants

C. to learn the lifespans of male and female elephants

D. to compare the lifespans of elephants in different places

Which elephants live the longest according to the study?

A. Elephants born in zoos.             

B. Elephants that live in the wild.

C. Elephants that work in logging camps.   

D. Female Asian elephants in logging camps.

We can infer from the passage that_________.

A. elephants in zoos suffer less stress than those in the wild

B. elephants in zoos live an easy life

C. social lives are not important to elephants             

D. zoo life can be stressful to elephants

What are the advantages to elephants in the wild according to the passage?

A. They face fewer problems.            B. They can find food more easily.

C. They live in large social groups.  D. They are freer to move.  

Most mornings, the line begins to form at dawn: scores of silent women with babies on their backs, buckets balanced on their heads, and in each hand a bright-blue plastic jug. On good days, they will wait less than an hour before a water tanker goes across the dirt path that serves as a road in Kesum Purbahari, a slum on the southern edge of New Delhi. On bad days, when there is no electricity for the pumps, the tankers don’t come at all. “That water kills people,” a young mother named Shoba said one recent Saturday morning, pointing to a row of pails filled with thick, caramel (焦糖)-colored liquid. “Whoever drinks it will die.” The water was from a pipe shared by thousands of people in the poor neibourhood. Women often use it to wash clothes and bathe their children, but no­body is desperate enough to drink it.

There is no standard for how much water a person needs each day, but ex­perts usually put the minimum at fifty li­tres. The government of India promises (but rarely provides) forty. Most people drink two or three litres—less than it takes to wash a toilet. The rest is typically used for cooking and bathing. Americans consume between four hundred and six hundred litres of water each day, more than any other people on earth. Most Europeans use less than half that. The women of Kesum Purbahari each hoped to drag away a hundred litres that day—two or three buckets’ worth. Shoba has a husband and five children, and that much water doesn’t go far in a family of seven, particularly when the temperature reaches a hundred and ten degrees before noon. She often makes up the difference with bottled water, which costs more than water delivered any other way. Sometimes she just buys milk; it’s cheaper. Like the poorest people every­where, the people of New Delhi’s slums spend a far greater percentage of their incomes on water than anyone lucky enough to live in a house connected to a system of pipes.

46. The underlined word “slum” most likely means ______.

   A. a village      

B. a small town

C. an area of a town with badly-built, over-crowded buildings

   D. the part of a town that lacks water badly

47. Sometimes the water tanker doesn’t come because ______.

   A. the weather is bad

   B. there is no electricity

   C. there is no water

   D. people don’t want the dirty water

48. A person needs at least ________ litres of water a day.

   A. a hundred          B. four hundred         C. forty          D. fifty

49. Which of the following statements is wrong?

   A. a hundred litres of water a day is enough for Shoba’s family

   B. Americans uses the largest amount of water each day

   C. in Kesum Purbahari milk is cheaper than bottled water

   D. Shoba has a family of seven people

50. The passage mainly tells us ______.

   A. how women in Kesum Purbahari gets their water

   B. how much water a day a person deeds

   C. that India lacks water badly

   D. how India government manages to solve the problem of water

Most sharks are dangerous. The largest kind of sharks—the whale shark—has small teeth and is quite harmless to people. However, blue sharks, tiger sharks, white sharks and hammerheads are enemies of man.
Man-eaters are always a danger to swimmers in shark waters. Sometimes, though, men have used strange methods when they’re suddenly faced with a shark.
During world War Ⅱ, soldiers and sailors whose boats or planes were destroyed drifted(漂流) helplessly on the ocean in small rafts(筏子). While waiting to be saved, the men had to struggle to stay alive and were often attacked by sharks. In some cases, they had few weapons to protect themselves with. They found that just splashing(溅水) water seemed to help keep the sharks away.
One sailor was swimming for his life in the Atlantic Ocean after his boat had been blown up. He saw a shark swimming towards him. He hit the shark with his bare fist, and that drove it off.
Once, in Australia, a fisherman was fishing after sunset. He hooked a big fish and drew it towards the shore. His line broke when the fish was only a few yards from the shore. The fisherman waded(涉水) into the water to try to catch it with his hands. In the dim light, it looked like the kind of fish that could be dealt with without danger.
He put his arms around the fish and wrestled with it. Dragging it to the beach turned out to be harder than he had expected, but at last he pulled it in. When he turned a light on it, he was amazed. He had caught a shark. It was small for a shark, but it was the man-eating type and was about as long as a tall man.In a word, the best way to deal with sharks is to keep far away from them.
60. The shark that is least dangerous to man is the ________.
A. white shark      B. whale shark   C. tiger shark     D. hammerhead shark
61. This story tells you that sharks are usually ________.
A. friendly         B. small         C. afraid of people     D. dangerous
62. After the Australian fisherman found he had caught a shark, he was _________.
A. surprised      B. frightened      C. unhappy      D. angry
63. This story tells you that the best way to handle sharks is to ________.
A. hit them with your fist                 B. keep far away from them
C. splash water                         D. wrestle with them
64. The passage mainly tells us something  ________.
A. about fishing sharks                  B. about sharks
C. how to eat  sharks                   D. that sharks are man’s enemies

Most people regard zoos as safe places for animals, where struggles such as difficulty finding food and avoiding predators（捕食性动物） don't exist. Without such problems, animals in zoos should live to a ripe old age. But that may not be true for the largest land animals on Earth. Scientists have known that elephants in zoos often develop diseases, joint problems and behavior changes. Sometimes, they even become unable to have babies.
To learn more about how captivity(监禁) affects elephants, a team of international scientists led by Mason, a biologist, compared the life spans of female elephants born in zoos with female elephants living outdoors in the wild. Zoos keep detailed records of all the animals in their care, documenting factors such as birth dates, illnesses, weight and death. These records made it possible for the researchers to analyze 40 years of data on 800 elephants in zoos.
The team found that female elephants born in zoos lived an average of 16.9 years. Their wild counterparts（同类事物） who died of natural causes lived an average of 56 years——more than three times as long.
Scientists don't yet know for sure why wild elephants seem to live so much better than their zoo-raised counterparts. Mason thinks stress and obesity(肥胖) may be to blame. Zoo elephants don't get the same kind of exercise as they do in the wild, and most are very fat. Elephant social lives are also much different in zoos than in the wild, where they live in large groups.
Another finding from the study showed that elephants born in zoos were more likely to die earlier than elephants captured in the wild and brought to zoos. Mason suggests stress in the mothers in zoos might cause them to have babies that are less likely to survive.
The study raises some questions about acquiring more elephants to keep in zoos. While some threatened and endangered species living in zoos reproduce successfully and keep healthy populations, that doesn't appear to be the case with elephants.
【小题1】The text tells us that zoo elephants are different from other zoo animals because they________

Most Americans have a city they like best. Over the years, American songwriters have described these feelings in music. More songs have been written about America's biggest city, New York, than about any other city. Many others dream about leaving their small towns to go there. They want to become rich and famous. Frank Sinatra sings about this dream in the most popular song written about New York. 

    Almost three-million people live in the middle western city of Chicago, Illinois. It is now America's third largest city. It used to be the second largest city. So, of course, it needed its own song. Judy Garland sings the song, "Chicago, Chicago. "

     One of America's most exciting cities is Las Vegas, Nevada. In nineteen-sixty-four, Elvis Presley starred in a movie called "Viva Las Vegas." Here is the song from that movie. It is sung by the group Z-Z Top.

As we all know, one of the most beautiful cities in America is San Francisco, California. The most popular song about the city is called "I Left My Heart in San Francisco." Tony Bennett recorded it in nineteen-sixty-two. It sold more than three-million records.

Many people love Los Angeles, California. It is now America's second largest city. Los Angeles is popular because the weather is warm and the sun shines almost all the time. Randy Newman sings about his feelings for the city in the song, "I Love L.A." Not everyone, however, loves Los Angeles. Some people do not like all the big roads around the city. They like living in a smaller place. A place like San Jose, California. Dionne Warwick sings about going back to this city. The song is, "Do You Know The Way To San Jose."

Songs about American Cities

States       

1.__________    Features                       Songs                              Songwriters/ Band

         New York  America's biggest city        A song about New York     

2.____________

Illinois       Chicago,   

3. America's ____________ city        "Chicago, Chicago"             Judy Garland

4.________     

5._________      America's second largest city                              6._________            Randy Newman

San Francisco   

7.___________        "I Left My Heart in San Francisco."    

8.____________

9.________     

small          "Do You Know The Way To San Jose  

Dionne Warwick

Nevada    

Las Vegas 

exciting    A song from "Viva Las Vegas."   

10. the group ___________