People diet to look more attractive．Fish diet to avoid being beaten up，thrown out of their social group，and getting eaten as a result．That is the fascinating conclusion of the latest research into fish behavior by a team of Australian scientists．

　　The research team have discovered that subordinate(低一等的) fish voluntarily diet to avoid challenging their larger competitors．"In studying gobies we noticed that only the largest two individuals，a male and female，had breeding（繁殖）rights within the group，" explains Marian Wong．"All other group members are nonbreeding females，each being 5-10% smaller than its next largest competitor．We wanted to find out how they maintain this precise size separation．"

　　The reason for the size difference was easy to see．Once a subordinate fish grows to within 5-10% of the size of its larger competitor，it causes a fight which usually ends in the smaller goby being driven away from the group．More often than not，the evicted fish is then eaten up．

　　It appeared that the smaller fish were keeping themselves small in order to avoid challenging the boss fish．Whether they did so voluntarily，by restraining how much they ate，was not clear．The research team decided to do an experiment．They tried to fatten up some of the subordinate gobies to see what happened．To their surprise，the gobies simply refused the extra food they were offered，clearly preferring to remain small and avoid fights，over having a feast．

　　The discovery challenges the traditional scientific view of how boss individuals keep their position in a group．Previously it was thought that large individuals simply used their weight and size to threaten their subordinates and take more of the food for themselves，so keeping their competitors small．

　　While the habits of gobies may seem a little mysterious，Dr．Wong explains that understanding the relationships between boss and subordinate animals is important to understand how hierarchical（等级的）societies remain stable．

　　The research has proved the fact that voluntary dieting is a habit far from exclusive to humans．"As yet，we lack a complete understanding of how widespread the voluntary reduction of food intake is in nature，" the researchers comment．"Data on human dieting suggests that，while humans generally diet to improve health or increase attractiveness，rarely does it improve long-term health and males regularly prefer females that are fatter than the females' own ideal．"

1.When a goby grows to within 5-10% of the size of its larger competitor，it _________．

A．leaves the group itself         B．has breeding rights

C．eats its competitor       D．faces danger

2.The underlined words "the evicted fish" in Paragraph 3 refer to _________．

A．the fish beaten up      B．the fish driven away

C．the fish found out        D．the fish fattened up

3.The experiment showed that the smaller fish _________．

A．fought over a feast     B．preferred some extra food

C．challenged the boss fish      D．went on diet willingly

4.What is the text mainly about?

A．Fish dieting and human dieting．         B．Dieting and health．

C．Human dieting．          D．Fish dieting．

Halloween

History experts say Halloween goes back more than two thousand years to the Celts(凯尔特人) of ancient Britain.October 31 was the Celtic Day of the autumn feast(宗教节日).On that day,priests(牧师) of the Celtic religion(宗教) prayed that the spirits of the dead would return to their homes for a few hours.The Celts built huge fires to frighten away evil spirits released with the dead on that night.

Hundreds of years later,the Roman Catholic(天主教的) Church made November first a day to honor Christian Saints.It was called All Saints Day or All Hallows Day.The day before was called Hallow Eve or Halloween.The name came from the church.But the traditions were closer to the old Celtic beliefs.

People from Scotland and Ireland brought these traditions to America.Many people still believed spirits played tricks on people on the last night of October.

In the late 19th century,American boys helped the spirits with tricks of their own.On Halloween,they would do things like change street signs or put a wagon on top of a house.

American children continue to celebrate Halloween today.Many adults enjoy the holiday as well.They go to holiday parties dressed as ghosts,monsters or famous people from history.

Children continue these Halloween traditions by going out to “Trick or Treat”.They dress as frightening creatures or characters from popular movies.They go from house to house asking for candy.They may also ask for money for the United Nations International Children’s Emergency Fund(联合国国际儿童急救基金会).They send the money to UNICEF to help needy children around the world.

1.Who believed that the dead spirits would return home on Halloween?

A.The Celts.　　　　　　　　　　　　 B.American boys.

C.People from Italy.　　　　　　　　 D.People from Rome.

2.Who gave the name of Halloween?

A.The Celts.　　　　　　　　　　　　 B.American boys.

C.People from Scotland.　　　　　　　　　 D.Roman Catholic Church.

3.”Trick or Treat”means 　　　.

A.give us bananas or we’ll not leave

B.give us candy or we’ll make trouble

C.give us apples or we’ll go into your kitchen

D.give us oranges or we’ll cry here

4.On Halloween children go from house to house asking money 　　　.

A.to buy their candy

B.to buy their pens

C.to send to their parents

D.to help the poor children in the world

A metaphor is a poetic device that deals with comparison. It compares similar qualities of two dissimilar objects. With a simple metaphor, one object becomes the other: Love is a rose. Although this does not sound like a particularly rich image, a metaphor can communicate so much about a particular image that poets use them more than any other type of figurative language. The reason for this is that poets compose their poetry to express what they are experiencing emotionally at that moment. Consequently, what the poet imagines love to be may or may not be our understanding of love. Therefore, the poet’s job is to enable us to experience it, to feel it the same way as the poet does.

Let’s analyze this remarkably simple metaphor concerning love and the rose to see what it offers. Because the poet uses a comparison with a rose, first we must examine the characteristics of that flower. A rose is impressive in its beauty, its petals（花瓣）are nicely soft, and its smell is pleasing. It’s possible to say that a rose is actually a feast to the senses of sight, touch, and smell. The rose’s appearance seems to border on perfection, each petal seemingly equal in form. Isn’t this the way one’s love should be？A loved one should be a delight to one’s senses and seem perfect.

However, there is another dimension added to the comparison by using a rose. Roses have thorns. The poet wants to convey the idea that roses can be tricky. So can love, the metaphor tells us. When one reaches out with absolute trust to touch the object of his or her affection, ouch, a thorn can cause great harm! “Be careful,” the metaphor warns, “Love is a feast to the senses, but it can overwhelm us, and it can also hurt us and cause acute suffering.” This is the poet’s understanding of love—an admonition (劝诫). What is the point？Just this: It took almost 14 sentences to clarify what a simple metaphor communicates in only four words! That is the artistry and the joy of the simple metaphor.

1.According to the passage, a metaphor is a ________.

A. description of two similar objects in a poetic way

B. literary device specially employed in poetry writing

　 C. contrast between two different things to create a vivid image

D. comparison between two different objects with similar features

2.As is meant by the author, thorns of a rose ________.

　 A. add a new element to the image of love

B. protect the rose from harm

　 C. symbolize reduced love

D. cause acute suffering

3.It can be inferred from the passage that a metaphor is _______.

　 A. difficult to understand                B. rich in meaning

　 C. simple to use                       D. perfect in form

4.The main idea of this passage is that ________.

　 A. love is a rose in metaphor

B. a rose is a good image in poetry

　 C. a metaphor is a great poetic device

D. a poet should be careful to use a metaphor

Suppose you work in a big firm and find English important for your job because you often deal with foreign businessmen. Now you are looking for a place where you can improve your English, especially your spoken English. Here are some advertisements about English language training from newspapers. You may find the information you need.

You work from 9:00a.m. to 4:30 p.m. every day. Which school will you choose?

　　A. Global English Centre and Modern Language School.

　　B. Global English Centre and the International House of English.

　　C. Modern Language School and the 21st Century English Training.

　　D. The 21st Century English Training Center and the International House of English.

The 21st Century English Training Center is different from the other three schools in that.

　　A. its teaching quality is better          B. it is nearest to the city centre

　　C. its courses are more advanced        D. it requires an entrance examination

You’ll probably prefer to go to the International House of English because it.

　　A. offers free sightseeing and social activities

　　B. has a special course in spoken English

　　C. costs less than the other schools

　　D. has native English teachers

If you take the evening classes at the International House  of English, you’ll pay about      yuan.

　　A.60          B.240　     　C.720         D.960