Rats eat our food or make it so dirty that it isn't fit for people at all. That's why people often kill them by laying down poison. After a day or two, they find the poison still there. The rats haven't touched it, even though it is near the food which they eat. People think they must be clever and cunning. Some scientists have been trying to find the best way to poison rats. They have watched to see just what a rat does day and night. They have found out that rats aren't so clever. They are just very shy.

　　Rats usually live in holes. They run from these holes to the places where they eat and drink. They have special paths on which they travel each time. So they know their paths quite well.

　　If anything new, such as stone or wood, is put in the path, the rats won't go near it at first as they are too frightened. It will take them many days to get over the fear. They are also frightened to go near a place that they know, where something has been taken away. If a path goes around a rock, the rats follow the same path around the rock each time. If the rock is taken away, they will still run round the place where the rock was! They won't cross the empty place, which is now open to them, even though it would be quicker.

　　Rats will always keep away from anything unusual to them. That's why they won't eat poison on the first or second night. They usually won't go anywhere near it for about four days until they get used to being there. Even then they only eat a little at a time.

　　If people want to kill rats with poison, all they have to do is to leave it out for a few days. Once the rats have got used to it, they will eat it and die.

　　1．This passage mainly tells us

　　　　A. how a rat destroys our food

　　　　B. how to poison a rat

　　　　C. what's a rat's habit

　　　　D. poisoning a rat is not easy

　　2．How does the writer feel about rats?

　　　　A. They are clever and cunning.

　　　　B. They are the most dangerous enemy.

　　　　C. They are smart and shy.

　　　　D. It's easy for them to get close to an unknown object.

　　3．________ rats have special paths to travel each time.

　　　　A. Because they live in holes most of the time

　　　　B. To find more food to eat and water to drink

　　　　C. In order not to eat anything poisonous

　　　　D. To protect themselves

　　4．If you want to kill a rat, ________.

　　　　A. you should make it get used to the poison

　　　　B. you should drive it out of the hole

　　　　C. you should place a rock on the path along which it runs

　　　　D. you should make it get over the fear to cross the empty place

阅读下面短文，从每小题所给的A、B、C、D四个选项中选出最佳选项，并在答题卡上将该项涂黑。

　　Rats use their tails to help keep body temperature. The rat has specialised blood vessels which control the amount of blood flowing to its tail. Blood flowing into the furless skin of the tail carries heat which is then let out of the body. The rat can direct anywhere between 0.1 and 10 per cent of its cardiac output(心输出量) to the tail. Under ideal conditions, it can get rid of up to 20 per cent of its metabolic(代谢) heat in this way. On the other hand, controlling blood flow to the tail reduces heat loss in cold weather. It is interesting to note that the length of the rat's tail is partly determined by the temperature of the environment in which it is raised.

　　Observing my three rats suggests that the long tail－usually around the same length as the body－is used for balancing. Although rats cannot grasp objects with their tails, they do seem able to control the muscles along the tail's length with considerable precision(精确). If a rat is running along a narrow surface such as a rope, the tail constantly flicks from side to side to steady them.

　　When my rats are eating, they rest on the edge of the food bowl, which is about 20 centimetres from the floor of the cage, grasping the bowl with their back paws and eating with their front paws. In doing this their ends stick out quite a long way over the side of the bowl so that it looks as if they should fall off backwards.

　　As an experiment, I moved the food bowl to about 10 centimetres above the floor of the cage, which is about the length of a rat's tail. Now, instead of curling their tails under the bowl, the rats stretch out their tails and point them straight down so that they touch the floor, supporting their bodies with this “third leg”.

1．A rat's tail is useful in the way ________.

[　　]

A．of controlling the amount of blood flowing

B．to direct its cardiac output

C．of keeping balance and maintaining body temperature

D．to be used as another leg

2．What is true about the rat's tail according to the passage?

[　　]

A．The temperature of where the rat grows determines the length of its tail.

B．The tail is more or less as long as its body.

C．More blood will flow to the tail in cold winter weather to keep it warm.

D．It can get rid of 20% of its metabolic heat under any weather condition.

3．Which of the following has nothing to do with keeping balance?

[　　]

A．The tail flicks from side to side when a rat is running along a rope.

B．The tail sticks out quite a long way curling over the side of the bowl.

C．The tail stretches out straight down to touch the floor like a “third leg”.

D．The tail reduces the body temperature bay letting out heat from it.

4．Which one of the statements below is a wrong description?

[　　]

A．The rat uses fore and hind paws as well as its tail when eating in a bowl.

B．It's better to have the bowl 10 to 20 cm above the cage floor when feeding rats,

C．Rats sometimes uses their tails to grasp things they want.

D．Home-raised rats are more skilled at using their tails.

语篇理解

　　“People who talk and sing to plants are not foolish,”says Arnold Braymar,a government agriculture expert. “In fact,singing and talking to plants makes them grow better.”The reason is quite simple-when we sing or talk to plants,we breathe out carbon dioxide（二氧化碳）which plants need to live on and grow strong.Plants take in the carbon dioxide through their pores （气孔） during the sunlight hours and produce oxygen which people need much.Singing and talking is effective（有效）,however,only during the daytime.Bedtime,lullabies（催眠）will not help plants to sleep better or grow faster.

(1)Which sentence best expresses the main idea?

[　　]

A．Doctors are worried about people who connect with nature.

B．Plants and flowers should not be left in bedrooms at night.

C．The practice of singing and talking to plants can be defended scientifically.

D．Plants must be placed away from people.

(2)The point of this article is that singing and talking to plants can ______.

[　　]

A．be proved discomfortable for most people

B．give pleasure or satisfaction to most people

C．be proved dangerous by science

D．be helpful to people and plants

(3)The topic of this article should be ______

[　　]

A．Tell Me More

B．Carbon Dioxide,Please

C．People Are Funny

D．Let’s Clear the Air

语篇理解

　　The dodo was a large bird that you might not think was a bird at all, for the dodo could not fly. It was a member of the chicken family. The bird was discovered by European sailors in 1507 on Mauritius(毛里求斯) Island.

　　When the sailors talked about the strange bird that could not fly, you can imagine people found it hard to believe their story. The Europeans who settled on Mauritius Island and the pigs they brought with them found the birds very good to eat. So large numbers of dodoes were killed and by 1681 no living dodoes were found on the island. A few dodoes were brought to England in the 17^th century, but for 200years none have been seen alive. This is the reason for the phrase “as dead as a dodo”. Because they died out completely, the dodoes became very well-known.

1．The writers tell us that the dodo ______.

[　　]

A．existed between 1507 and 1681

B．has existed since 1507

C．doesn't exist now

D．may have existed

2．What was so unusual about dodoes as a bird?

[　　]

A．They look like birds but couldn't fly.

B．They lived longer than other birds.

C．They were very good to eat.

D．They were all killed.

3．Dodoes are no longer seen on Mauritius Island because they ______.

[　　]

A．were jukked by pigs

B．were all taken to England

C．have been driven away by the settlers

D．have all been killed for food

4．The phrase “as dead as a dodo”is sometimes used to describe（描述）something that ______.

[　　]

A．cannot protect itself from being eaten

B．cannot fly or move fast

C．no longer exists

D．is sure to die

5．From the second paragraph, whose story did people find it hard to believe?

[　　]

A．The Europeans'.

B．The dodoes'.

C．The dcdoes'.

D．The sailors'.

　　The brown rat was once a native of the Middle East． But it has colonized the world． It reached Europe by ship． From Norway it went to Great Britain --- hence its other name, Norway rat． It crossed the Atlantic to invade the Americas．

　　Some brown rats live with man all the time, others only some of the time． Still others never live with man at all． In summer many rats move from buildings to hedges, rabbit warrens, and riversides． Large numbers return inside in the autumn． Rats often move with the seasons between field and farm． Small parties of rats can often be seen at such times． Mass movements are less common, but have been observed after fires or floods．

1． The brown rat originally came from_________．

A． the Far West B． eastern Europe C． the Middle East D． Australia

2． Its other name must have been used first in _______．

A． Britain B． Norway C． France D． America

3． The brown rat colonized the world by_________．

A． air B． road C． railD． sea

4． Facts in the article show that rats live with man when they need_______．

A． company　　B． rest C． shelter D． water

5． Rats seem to prefer to live outside in__________．

A． winter B． summer C． spring D． autumn

6．The brown rat makes its home in_________．

A． buildings B． rabbit holes C． hedges D． All of the above

7．Mass movements of rats can be seen_________．

A． between field and farm B． after fires or floods

C．in spring and autumn　　 D． in ports and harbors