Read “The Curious Kiwi” and answer questions 1 to 6.

　　INTRODUCTION

　　The Kiwi lives only in New Zealand. It looks a bit like a long-beaked chicken, but it has no tail and it cannot fly.

　　Its tiny wings are completely hidden among the hair-like feathers. Kiwis are shy birds that live mainly in fern-filled forests. They sleep in burrows by day and come out to feed at night. They eat worms and insects that live in the soil or among dead leaves. They also enjoy fallen fruit.

　　Survival Watch

　　Kiwis are becoming rare, largely because so many have been killed by the cats, dogs and other animals that people have taken to New Zealand.

　　Kiwi Facts

　　The kiwi is up to 45 cm long, including its beak. It gets its name from its call of ki-wee.

　　The female weighs only 4 kg, but she can lay two eggs weighing about 500 grams each.

　　That's nearly ten times as heavy as a chicken's egg.

　　The kiwi is a very strange-looking bird. Its dark coat looks more like shaggy hair than feathers.

　　The nostrils at the tip of the beak can smell worms and other food several centimetres below the ground.

1．What do kiwis eat?

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A．worms and insects

B．ferns and fallen fruit

C．ferns and forest plants

D．dead leaves and fallen fruit

2．The female kiwi can lay an egg that weighs about ________.

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3．Which of the following words from the text describes the personality of kiwis?

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4．The kiwi has been given its name because it ________.

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A．feeds at night

B．has a call that sounds like “ki-wee”

C．is able to lay two eggs

D．sleeps during the day

5．The ward closest in meaning to “several”, as it is used in the passage is ________.

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6．Kiwis are becoming rare because ________.

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A．there are not many forests left

B．they don't lay enough eggs

C．they are being killed by other animals

Over time, the cuckoo(杜鹃) has learned to get other birds to care for its babies. The cuckoo is an amazing bird.

Most birds lay their eggs and look after them until their babies hatch out(孵化). Then they feed their babies until they are ready to leave the nest.

Some birds are not such good parents. Cuckoos lay their eggs in the nests of other birds and do not care for their own babies. The cuckoo gets other birds to act as the parents. The other birds are left with the work of bringing up the young cuckoos as well as their own babies!

If the cuckoo egg hatches first, the baby cuckoo will often push the other eggs out of the nest so that it can get all the attention of its new mother. The young cuckoo sometimes even pushes the other babies out of the nest. The young cuckoo has a loud cry and is often bigger than the other baby birds. It will take all the food and the space in the nest.

A cuckoo lays around 25 eggs each year in the nests of other birds. This means that many other birds spend all their time looking after young cuckoos instead of their own babies. Some birds have learned to recognize(辨别) the cuckoos’ eggs and they push them out of their nest. But the cuckoos have also found ways of fooling the other birds. They can change their egg to make it look just like the other birds’ own eggs.

(　 ) 46．After most birds lay their eggs, they will _________.

　 A. look after them until their babies hatch out　 B. push the eggs out of the nest

　 C. eat all the eggs　 　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　 　 D. do nothing but leave them in the nest

(　 ) 47．Over time, the cuckoo has known the art of________.

　　 A. making a wonderful nest　　　 B. getting other birds to care for its babies

　　 C. catching food quickly　　　　 D. singing songs

(　 ) 48．What do cuckoos do to their babies?

A. They lay their eggs in the nests of other birds.　 B. They do not care for their own babies.

C. They get the other birds to act as the parents.　 D. All of the above.

(　 ) 49．If the cuckoo egg hatches first, the cuckoo babies will often _________.

A. push the other eggs out of the nest　　　 B. fly to find their own parents

　　 C. help to warm the other eggs　　　　　 D. do nothing but wait for food

(　 ) 50．Which of the following statements is true?

A. cuckoo lays about 25 eggs each season in the nests of other birds.

B. No bird can recognize the cuckoo’s eggs.

C. Some birds can recognize the cuckoo’s eggs and push them out of the nest.

D. It's more difficult for cuckoos to lay eggs in the nests of other birds.

Growing up is not always easy. When we face difficulties, a spirit of depending on _ 41   is more useful than crying for help. That’s what Hong Zhanhui’s story of growing from boy to man    42   family hardship tells us.

Hong was born in 1982 in a poor family in Xihua County(县), Henan Province. When he was only 11, his father became badly ill and one day he came back with an unwanted baby   43   . A year later, Hong’s mother   44    home. She no longer wanted to live such a poor life and face her sick husband. So everything hard fell onto the young boy’s    45   : to take care of his father and the younger sister Chenchen, and to go on to study.

Although his life was hard, Hong didn’t go away from his father and sister. He took several part-time jobs to    46    his family. He climbed tall trees to get birds’ eggs for his sister. He walked 2 hours at weekends to the market to   47    different things to sell around his school. A few years later, he studied at a college. To take care of Chenchen, he worked hard to    48    a room near his college for her, and sent her to school.

After Hong’s story went    49   , he became a hero in people’s eyes. But Hong ___50___ offers from others. He said he felt encouraged by kind offers, but he could depend on his own work.

Through his hard life, he has grown up from boy to man.

1.A. parents                         B. friends                      C. yourself                 D. God

2.A. out of                           B. into                            C. without                  D. with

3.A. dog                       B. cat                              C. girl                          D. boy

4.A. left                                 B. arrived                      C. went              D. came

5.A. back                     B. shoulders                 C. head              D. body

6.A. help                     B. save                           C. protect                   D. feed

7.A. make                    B. buy                            C. produce                 D. collect

8.A. build                    B. borrow            C. rent                        D. share

9.A. public                            B. clear                          C. by                            D. far

10.A. accepted          B. asked                         C. received                D. refused