Question: What is more astonishing than a 60-ton whale on a flatbed truck being driven down the street?

Answer: A 60-ton whale on a flatbed truck exploding and raining blubber ( fat of whales) all over the sidewalk.

That’s what happened in Taiwan recently, when a dead sperm whale being shipped to the Halobios Research Center for an autopsy(尸体解剖) developed an extremely bad case of gas and blew up before it reached its destination.

The whale was found alive on a Taiwan beach last weekend, and died shortly after it was discovered. Since the 56-foot whale was the largest whale ever beached on Taiwan’s shores, scientists wanted to study it and perform an autopsy for educational purpose.

Obviously, too much time passed between when the animal died and the time it was set to be moved to the autopsy location, because it had already started to go bad. When things rot, they give off gases as a by-product. In the whale’s case, the gases were trapped in its belly. The pressure inside the rotting creature grew so much that it popped like an over-filled balloon. Unfortunately, it was on a truck in the middle of the city of Taiwan at the time--- cars and shops lining the street were covered with whale bits and juices, much to their owners’ discouragement.

According to the news reports, traffic was tied up for hours while officials tried to clean up the streets.

Newspaper editors worldwide were probably smiling to themselves, since they had a ready-made headline--- several reports about the incident were titled “ There She Blows!” after the famous line from the book Moby Dick.

63. The purpose of the question at the beginning of this news report is to_____.

   A. explain the reason               B. sell newspapers

   C. attract readers                    D. give an immediate answer

64. The whale’s explosion is the result of_____.

   A. pressure from gases building up in the creature as it began to rot

   B. the long transport of the creature from the beach to the center

   C. the extremely busy traffic in the streets it passed by

   D. the quick process of rotting of the animal

65. What is the correct order of the incidents?

   a. The whale was set to a flatbed truck.

   b. The whale was discovered.

   c. The whale exploded.

   d. The whale died.

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

66. What do we know from the last paragraph?

   A. Some newspaper editors were laughed at.

   B. Moby Dick is the name of a woman writer.

   C. All the newspapers reported the story under the same title.

   D. The rifle “ There She Blows! “ is taken from the book Moby Dick.

Question: I have a one-year-old female bulldog, who has recently taken to biting my shoes when we are in the park and I’m on the mobile. She can be slightly aggressive and I’m starting to get worried and a bit annoyed. How do I stop her? ----Susan, London.
Answer: You need to get this problem under control before it could escalate (恶化). I always advise owners not to talk on the mobile phone when they go for a walk with their dogs, because they should be focusing on this time with their pets, but I know people have busy lives and need to make phone calls.
The behavior she is showing is either controlling or playfulness, but they both result from the same issue ---- you are not paying attention to her. If you must make phone calls while on a walk, try to still engage with your dog by speaking towards her, playing some sorts of game and so on. If that doesn’t work, you’ll have to try more of a training approach.
You will need a training line and some treats. Start your walk in the usual way, make a phone call, and when your dog starts displaying the undesired behavior, simply stop walking --- otherwise she will see it as a game. When she is calm and looking at you, or if she sits, give her a treat; then continue walking. If she starts up again, pick up the lead, gently pull it, and tell her “no”.  Then ask her to sit and give her a treat if she does.
The aim of this is to try to get her to forget how much fun it is biting your shoes. Do little sessions every day --- and try not to answer the phone if you know it’s going to be a long conversation. Be patient and good luck!
Remember that if an animal shows signs of distress or discomfort, an early visit to the vet is always recommended.
【小题1】What is Susan complaining about in her question?

Question: Why is it so hard for some people to apologize after they’ve done something wrong? I have made every effort to persuade my uncle to be nice to people that he knows he’s hurt. 【小题1】  How I wish things would be better if he’d just say he’s sorry and ask them to forgive him.
Answer: 【小题2】  It’s just easier for him to pretend nothing happened than to face the embarrassment of admitting he was wrong. You’ve probably done the same thing yourself at some time. In fact, most of us have. Furthermore, what if others won’t forgive him even if he apologizes?
 【小题3】 Pride blinds us to our mistakes or faults. Or at least it makes us pay less attention to their seriousness.
Pride also makes us unwilling to admit to others that we were wrong. Perhaps we’re afraid they will look down on us if we admit it.  【小题4】
But others see through our pride. And things would be far better if we admitted our faults and asked for forgiveness.  【小题5】
Now you know why your uncle refuses to apologize, talk to him again. Help him to learn how to apologize and ask for forgiveness from others.

Question: What are some ways I can calm down quickly when I’m feeling overwhelmed (不知所措的)? Sometimes I don’t realize how much stress is building up. Other times, several stressful events happen at once. I suddenly go from calm to completely overwhelmed quickly. 1
Answer: There are many ways to calm down quickly. The following are four quick and easy ways to deal with whatever situations are at hand:
● Take a walk.
2 Taking a walk provides the chance of getting you out of the stressful situation. You can return in a new state of mind.
● 3
You can feel better right away by practicing breathing exercises. Getting more oxygen into your body and releasing physical stress are two ways that can make you feel better. You can do them anytime or anywhere.
● Give your mind a break.
You can steal away a few minutes of peace. 4 It’s easy to do. It can relax you physically as well as mentally (精神上地).
● 5
If you can look at your situation in a different way, you may be able to have a different opinion. It will cause you less stress. Read more about stress, and learn how you can change the way you look at things. It’ll be useful when you’re stressed.

Question: I have been learning English for about 7 years.    1.    And I still can’t make myself understood in English. However, I love learning English. How can I learn English well? Please help me.

Answer: Many people have asked me this question.    2.    Here I will give you several tips for learning English.

●    3.  

First of all, you must want to learn. If you are not interested in learning English, no class will help you and no book will help you. So you have to be honest with yourself. Ask yourself, “Do I really want to learn English?” If you can’t answer “yes” to this question, it is better for you to set English aside until you’re ready and willing to learn.

● Set goals (目标).

To learn English well, you must set some goals.    4.    It will also help you to see your progress. Ask yourself, “What are my goals? What areas would I like to improve?” Think about what your goals are, and review once in a while to see that you are making progress toward your goals.

● Practice, practice, and practice.

After you have set your goals, you have a better idea of what you need to practice. Just like the athlete whose goal is the Olympics must train daily, you as a language learner must practice language every day to make progress toward your goal.    5.  

A. Want to learn.

B. I think it is not easy to learn it well.

C. Make friends with some Americans online.

D. Reading is a very good way to learn new words.

E. The answers are as different as the people asking the question.

F. The more you practice, the more progress you will make.

G. Having goals will help you remember what areas you want to work on.