You know that pearls grow inside oysters(牡蛎), but would you ever think to look for diamonds inside an ostrich(鸵鸟)? Well, a hunter once shot an ostrich and discovered, to his great surprise, that the big bird had swallowed a bunch of diamonds. How could such a strange thing happen?

  Like many other birds, the ostrich swallows small stones that stay inside its “gizzard”. The gizzard is a bird’s second stomach. It is where the food is ground up. The small stones help to grind up the food so it can be digested. The small stones do the chewing because birds don’t have teeth. In that case of the ostrich with the diamonds, the bird simply had expensive taste in rocks. It used the diamonds to digest its dinner.

  Diamonds and stones aren’t all that an ostrich will swallow. If there are no stones around, it will eat just about anything. Sadly for ostriches in zoos, this can be a fatal habit. The tendency to swallow anything it sees has caused the death of many an ostrich. Cruel or careless people often throw things into the bird’s living space. They throw keys, coins, and even large objects such as horseshoes. The ostrich swallows them without hesitation. Coins can be the worst. Inside the ostrich they wear down to a razor-sharp edge. They will cut open the bird’s gizzard from the inside. When one young zoo ostrich died, 484 coins weighing more than eight pounds were found in its gizzard.

1.

Which of the following best expresses the main idea of the passage?

A. Birds often eat strange and funny things.

B. Ostriches will swallow anything to help them digest food.

C. One ostrich died with 484 coins in its gizzard.

D. Ostriches are often hurt by cruel or careless people.

2.

The ostrich is not smart enough to ______.

  A. digest its own food                                                B. eat only diamonds

  C. avoid eating harmful objects                              D. escape from the zoo

3.

The sentence “the small stones do the chewing” makes rocks seem as though they were ______.

  A. important                                                                 B. alive

  C. dangerous                                                                D. uncomfortable

4.

he word “fatal” in the third paragraph is another word for “______”.

  A. foolish                         B. careless                          C. deadly                    D. cruel

Many animals recognize their food because they see it. So do humans. When you see an apple or a piece of chocolate you know that these are things you can eat. You can also use other senses when you choose your food. You may like it because it smells good or because it tastes good. You may dislike some types of food because they do not look, smell or taste very nice. Different animals use different senses to find and choose their food. A few animals depend on only one of their senses, while most animals use more than one sense.

Although there are many different types of food, some animals spend their lives eating only one type. The giant panda（大熊猫）eats only one particular type of bamboo（竹子）. Other animals eat only one type of food even when given the choice. A kind of white butterfly（蝴蝶）will stay on the leaves of a cabbage, even though there are plenty of other vegetables in the garden. However, most animals have a more varied diet（多样化饮食）. The bear eats fruits and fish. The fox eats small animals, birds and fruits. The diet of these animals will be different depending on the season.

Humans have a very varied diet. We often eat food because we like it and not because it is good for us. In countries such as France and Britain, people eat foods with too much sugar. This makes them overweight, which is bad for their health. Eating too much red meat and animal products, such as butter, can also be bad for the health. Choosing the right food, therefore, has become an area of study in modern life.

1.We can infer from the text that humans and animals _________.

   A. depend on one sense in choosing food     B.  are not satisfied with their food

   C. choose food in similar ways             D. eat entirely different food

2.Which of the following eats only one type of food?

   A. The white butterfly.                   B. The small bird.

   C. The bear.                            D. The fox.

3.Certain animals change their choice of food when ___________.

   A. the season changes                    B. the food color changes

   C. they move to different places            D. they are attracted by different smells

4.We can learn from the last paragraph that __________.

   A. food is chosen for a good reason         B. French and British food is good

   C. some people have few choices of food    D. some people care little about healthy diet

Americans, generally speaking, make an effort to be friendly with their colleagues, neighbours and other people they often run into. This often takes the form of a simple greeting like “How’s it going?” or “What’s up ?” This is simply a way of saying I see you and I recognize you.

Americans also show this friendliness in “small talk”. Small talk is a casual conversation that Americans engage in when they meet on the street, in the shop or in the office before a meeting. Usually the topics of such small talk will be something that everyone is familiar with, the weather, sports, traffic, hobbies or what’s on television. The topic of the conversation is not as important as the effort make to spend a few minutes with the other person. Small talk shows that you are a considerate person who is interested in others and who is willing to take the time to get to know people.

Small talk is used in the business world to create a friendly atmosphere and to put everyone at ease before the serious matters of business are discussed. Often businessmen will spend a few minutes talking about the weather or sports before a meeting. This form of small talk only lasts a few minutes before the American businessman wants to “get down to business.”

Asians are very skilled at making casual conversation. However, they often find it difficult to make small talk with Americans because they don’t know what to say, how to say it and who to say it to. Americans may see Asians who are reluctant to make small talk as unfriendly and cold.

1. American people ask others how it is going because      .

2.Businessmen talk about weather before a meeting       .   

3.The word “reluctant” means       .        

4.Which of the following is not true according to the passage?

It’s always great to hear news about wildlife returning to where they once lived. For the first time in 8 years the small blue --- British’s smallest butterfly--- has been seen back at a nature reserve in Hertfordshire.

  This nature reserve has had a lot of work done recently in order to help butterflies. Management of the land has included bringing in sheep to keep the grass under control in a more natural way and planting wild flowers for butterfly species. The nature reserve is home to a number of butterfly species. In fact the way that this reserve has been managed means that it is probably the best reserve in Hertfordshire to see butterflies with at least 25 species now living in the area.

There are a number of threats to British butterflies and the greatest threat is the loss of their habitat. Changing farming practice has affected British native butterfly species greatly with many more now being at risk. Butterflies are such an excellent species that they can clearly tell the situation of local environment because they are easily influenced by environmental changes, A wide species of butterflies will generally mean a healthy environment.

The type of land management at the nature reserve in Hertfordshire offers a hope for many species of butterfly to live as usual. Butterflies need all the help they can get at the moment. Although the number of butterflies is beginning to increase, many are still at risk.

1.What has the nature reserve done to help butterflies return ?

a. changing the reserve place     b. bringing in sheep

c. planting wild flowers         d. changing farming practice

A. a.b        B. c,d         C. a,d     D .b,c

2.Why did the butterflies fly away eight years ago？

A. The weather is changing            B. The flowers have died out

C. Their habitat has been lost.          D. The environment has changed

3.What can we infer from the passage?

A. The environment has changed healthier a lot than before.

B. All the butterflies have returned to the reserve.

C. There is no threat to the British butterflies.

D. Over 25 species is living in the reserve now.

4.What does the underlined sentence mean?

A. The butterflies changed as the environment changed.

B. Butterflies are very beautiful.

C. Butterflies are sensitive to the environment the live.

D. Butterflies can tell us what is happening.

从方框中选择恰当的单词或词组填入句中，注意使用其正确形式：(每小题1分，满分10分)（请将答案写在答题纸的相应位置）

1.There is a big underground railway          in London, which is good for travelers. 

2.. The sudden ________ of the policeman caused the thief to run away. 

3.. He has been asked to ________________ his absence. 

4.. Though he was told it was hard to find a job there, he still decided to ____________.

5.. To ___________something such as weight or speed means to have an increase in that particular thing.

6.. An ____________ person is very active and does not feel at all tired.

7.. Sometimes, ____________ is not necessarily harmful, for example, white lies.

8.. The movie reminds of me the small village where I was ________________.

9.. He is not poor,_______________, he is a millionaire.

10.. The party worked hard and at last they _______________ the support they had lost.