Unbelievable view appealed to me by accident．Just then, I checked once again: the somewhat tiny wood was having a leaf．Could I trust my own eyes? Had the hot sun annoyed me? After all, it  as summer in Costa Rica, a country in Central America.

I left off, wiping sweat from my eyes．Then I moved the wood with my finger．It stopped．It looked up at me with big triangular eyes．Surprise! It was a mantid, a kind of insect, instead of a piece of wood．

The mantid was hanging upside down on a branch．Its wings made it look like a piece of tree bark．Then I noticed something else．The leaf wasn't a leaf at all．The hungry mantid was really eating another insect—a katydid．By now, all that was left of the katydid was a pair of wings．A few moments later, the wings dropped to the ground．The mantid folded its long legs．It sat still．Now it looked even more like a piece of wood than when I had first seen it．

I thought about how I had been fooled by these clever animals．Then I thought about how the two insects go about trying to trick each other．Both mantids and katydids are masters of make-up．Katydids are particularly good at it．Many look like something they are not．Katydids often look like plants．Many seem to be leaves．Others look like leaves of grass．All day, the bugs try to stay perfectly still．Because their bodies look like plants, most animals interested in killing them don't bother them while katydids eat plants．

1.What is the main topic of the text?

       A．An experience of watching insects．

       B．The fake image of mantids and katydids．

       C．The fight between mantids and katydids．

       D．The living habits of mantids and katydids．

2.What caused the author amazed at first?

       A．The hot sun in summer．'

       B．The quick moving of the wood．

       C．The sight of wood eating a leaf．

       D．The fight for food between mantids and katydids-

3.When the mantid was hanging upside down on a branch, it was ____．

       A．waiting for its other food          B．enjoying its food- katydid

       C．eating a leaf from the branch      D．having a break under the tree

4.Based on the passage, it can be inferred that the mantid ____．

       A．is a kind of meat-eafer              B．is easy to be found by a katydid

       C．looks more like a green leaf             D．mainly lives on the green leaves

     Along the river banks of the Amazon and the Orinoco there lives a bird that swims before it can fly, flies like a fat chicken, eats green leaves, has the stomach of a cow and has claws (爪) on its wings when young. They build their homes about 4.6m above the river, an important feature (特征) for the safety of the young. It is called the hoatzin.

      In appearance, the birds of both sexes look very much alike with brown on the back and cream and red on the underside. The head is small, with a large set of feathers on the top, bright red eyes, and blue skin. Its nearest relatives are the common birds, cuckoos. Its most striking feature, though, is only found in the young.

      Baby hoatzins have a claw on the leading edge of each wing and another at the end of each wing tip. Using these four claws, together with the beak (喙), they can climb about in the bushes, looking very much like primitive birds must have done. When the young hoatzins have learned to fly, they lose their claws.

      During the drier months between December and March hoatzins fly about the forest in groups of 20 to 30 birds, but in April, when the rainy season begins, they collect together in smaller living units of two to seven birds for producing purposes.

1．What is the text mainly about?

    A．Hoatzins in dry and rainy seasons.

    B．The relatives and enemies of hoatzins.

    C．Primitive birds and hoatzins of the Amazon.

    D．The appearance and living habits of hoatzins.

2．Young hoatzins are different from their parents in that        ．

    A．they look like young cuckoos

    B．they have claws on the wings

    C．they eat a lot like a cow

    D．they live on river banks

3．What can we infer about primitive birds from the text?

    A．They had claws to help them climb.

    B．They could fly long distances.

    C．They had four wings like hoatzins.

    D．They had a head with long feathers on the top.

4．Why do hoatzins collect together in smaller groups when the rainy season comes?

    A．To find more food.

    B．To protect themselves better.

    C．To keep themselves warm.

    D．To produce their young.

Last year, I lived in Chile for half a year. I lived with a Chilean family and had the responsibilities of any Chilean teenager. I had good days and bad days I didn’t understand.

Chuquicamata, my host community, is a mining camp. When I arrived there, I was scared. It was so different from what I was used to. There were lots of dogs on the streets, and there was no downtown, few smoothly paved streets, and little to do for entertainment. Rain was not seen very often, earthquakes and windstorms were frequent.

I had studied Spanish for two and a half years and was always one of the best students in my class. But in my first week in Chile I was only able to communicate and needed one person to whom I could explain my shock. I couldn’t speak the thoughts in my head and there were so many.

Most exchange students experience this like me. Culture shock presents itself in everything from increased aggression (敌对心理) towards the people to lack of appetite. I was required to overcome all difficulties.

As time passed, everything changed. I began to forget words in English and to dream in Spanish and love Chilean food. I got used to not depending on expensive things for fun. Fun in Chuquicamata was being with people. And I took math, physics, chemistry, biology, Spanish, art, and philosophy.

But the sacrifices were nothing compared to the gain. I learned how to accept and to succeed in another culture. I now have a deeper understanding of both myself and others.

1.The author came to Chile last year with the purpose of ________.

A. paying a visit to Chile as a tourist 

B. experiencing Chilean life as a teacher

C. studying Chilean culture as a college student

D. studying knowledge as an exchange student

2.On arriving in Chile, why did the author feel frightened?

A. Because he did not know how to get along with the local people.

B. Because it was full of dangers like earthquakes and windstorms.

C. Because its living conditions were worse than what he was used to.

D. Because it was not convenient for him to shop there.

3. In the first week in Chile the author ________.

A. was not used to eating Chilean food     

B. had some friends to have a chat with

C. couldn’t communicate with people   

D. couldn’t express his thoughts in English

4. What did the author most probably think of his life in Chile?

A. Wonderful and worthwhile             B. Difficult but meaningful

C. Difficult and meaningless                D. Boring and disappointing

5.According to the passage, which of the following statements about Chile is TRUE?

A. its official language is Spanish and English.

B. It is a developing country without foreign students.

C. It seldom rains and natural disasters often happen.

D. Most Chileans are not friendly to foreigners.

How would you like an easy way to earn $2,500? All you have to do is to sit around and wait for your meals. There's a catch however. You have to stay in a chicken cage with a stranger for a whole week. There are no books or television or radio for amusement. You can't leave until the week is up. And a camera will be recording your every move.

  Two people actually took the job. The idea came from Rob Thompson, a video artist. He wanted to make a film about the way animals are  treated. His goal was  to raise people's awareness of the living conditions of animals that are raised for food.

He decided to pay $5,000 out of his own savings to two people who were willing to live like chickens for a week.

  To Rob’s surprise, quite a few people answered his advertisement. He had interviewed and selected Eric, a 24-year-old restaurant worker, and Para, a 24-year-old chemist. The plan was for them to spend seven days together in a chicken cage that was six feet long and three feet wide. A camera would record their experiences, which would take place in an art museum.

  The week was long and difficult. They slept on a hard wooden floor. They couldn't stand up without hanging their heads. They ate vegetables and drank water from a garden hosepipe. Their only privacy was a toilet surrounded by a curtain. There were no sinks, mirrors, or toothbrushes in the cage. Their only inspiration was the two framed checks that hung on the wall outside the cage. Visitors who came here were warned, “Do not feed the humans.”

   Finally it was over, and Para and Eric appeared from their cage. They had survived the week, and they each had a $2,500 check in their hands. When Rob Thompson opened the cage,  Eric  came  out,  changed  into  clean clothes, and ate a chocolate bar right away. “It's great to be able to stand up,” he said. Para just changed her clothes and left. After a week of visitors and reporters watching her, she

didn't want to talk to anyone.

1.What kind of person is Rob Thompson?

   A. He is curious about people's personal life.

   B. He is kind-hearted to animals.

   C. He hates people around.

   D. He likes to help poor people.

2.The underlined word “catch” probably means _____.

   A. unsolved problem                                  B. surprising wonder

   C. unbelievable fact                                    D. hidden difficulty

3.Rob offered the money because he wanted _____ .

   A. to see if there were any people who would like to live in a cage

   B. to show the public how terrible animals' life could be

   C. to make more money by publishing the recorded videotapes

   D. to improve housing conditions of working people like Eric

4.Which of the following would be the best title for this passage?

   A. Easy Way to Earn $ 2,500.                     B. Do Not Feed the Humans.

   C. Living Like a Chicken.                    D. Getting Along Well Anyway.

 Many college-bound freshmen are worrying about more than just who their roommates will be this fall. They may also be nervous about the well-known fact that they are likely to gain weight this school year. Or will they? While many of us remember the extra weight that showed up right around the start of our college careers, we are not always clear on how much weight we realize gained or why.

Many nutrition experts and psychologists think that it is the change in environment and the stress of a new beginning that cause the typical college freshmen to gain extra pounds. As students start a new stage of their lives, many eat to deal with the stress of change or loneliness. Often, college students are making meals or choosing foods independently for the first time in their lives. If they live in the college dormitory, they have a wide variety of foods to select from that may be higher in calories and fatter than the foods they consumed living at home. In addition, college social events usually center around food. I clearly remember sitting in my dorm cafeteria for two or three hours on a Saturday morning socializing with my new friends. Instead of eating only one meal, we would start with breakfast, eat throughout the duration of our socializing, and finish with lunch. Food also makes an appearance after late-night parties, as part of a school day, or simply to break the monotony(单调 ).

So will this year's typical freshmen really gain 15 pounds? According to a 2006 Tufts University study, students enrolling in college this fall will gain weight, but maybe not the assumed 15 pounds. Based on the students surveyed, the study found that men can expect to gain an average of 6 pounds and women an average of 4.5 pounds during the freshman year.

1.According to the passage, it is obvious that __________.

2. Nutrition experts and psychologists think that __________.

3.From the writer's experience, the writer thinks that ____________.

4.This passage is mainly about ______________.

A how and why the freshmen gain extra pounds  

B. the experience of the freshmen in the college

C. the freshmen with trouble in a new environment

D. the views of the nutrition experts and psychologists about gaining weight