Winter begins in the north on December 22^nd. People and animals have been doing what they always do to prepare for the colder months. Squirrels (松鼠), for example, have been busy gathering nuts from trees. Well, scientists have been busy gathering information about what the squirrels do with the food they collect.
They examined differences between red squirrels and gray squirrels in the American state of Indiana. The scientists wanted to know how these differences could affect the growth of black walnut (黑胡桃) trees. The black walnut is the nut of choice for both kinds of squirrels. The black walnut tree is also a central part of some hardwood forests.
Rob Swihart of Purdue University did the study with Jake Goheen, a former Purdue student now at the University of New Mexico. The two researchers estimate that several times as many walnuts grow when gathered by gray squirrels as compared to red squirrels. Gray squirrels and red squirrels do not store nuts and seeds in the same way. Gray squirrels bury nuts one at a time in a number of places. But they seldom remember where they buried every nut. So some nuts remain in the ground. Conditions are right for them to develop and grow the following spring. Red squirrels, however, store large groups of nuts above ground. Professor Swihart calls “death traps for seeds”.
Gray squirrels are native to Indiana. But Professor Swihart says their numbers began to decrease as more forests were cut for agriculture. Red squirrels began to spread through the state during the past century.
The researchers say red squirrels are native to forests that stay green all year, unlike walnut trees. They say the cleaning of forest land for agriculture has helped red squirrels invade Indiana. Jake Goheen calls them a sign of an environmental problem more than a cause

1. 1.

   The study done by Rob Swihart and Jake Goheen is to ________  

   1. A.
      find out the living conditions for squirrels
   2. B.
      do something to get rid of squirrels
   3. C.
      learn squirrels’ influence on black walnut trees
   4. D.
      save the forests in the American state of Indiana
2. 2.

   The difference between gray squirrels and red squirrels mainly lies in ________   

   1. A.
      the way they gather the walnut
   2. B.
      the place they store the walnuts
   3. C.
      the time they have winter sleep
   4. D.
      the place they have winter sleep
3. 3.

   When Professor Swihart says “death traps for seeds”, he actually means that ________    

   1. A.
      nuts above the ground will not develop into plants
   2. B.
      red squirrels eat more nuts than gray squirrels
   3. C.
      gray squirrels and red squirrels will have severe fights
   4. D.
      seeds can be traps for other animals in the forest
4. 4.

   According to the passage, which of the following is true?

   1. A.
      Gray squirrels do more harm to the forest than red squirrels
   2. B.
      Red squirrels and gray squirrels have helped the spread of walnut trees
   3. C.
      The cleaning of forest land benefits red squirrels directly
   4. D.
      The black walnut is equally attractive to both gray and red squirrels

The history of modern art begins with Impressionism, a movement started in Paris in the mid-1800’s. At that time many artists painted in a very traditional way that involved spending hours in a studio, painstakingly (辛苦地) creating paintings that were extremely detailed. These paintings were sometimes of people or landscapes or historical events. In 1863, Edouard Manet exhibited his painting “Dejeuner sur l’erbe” at the Salon des Refuses. The painting caused a commotion (骚动), thus starting the Impressionist movement. Although Edouard Manet is the declared leader and founder of the group, he was not present at the first group exhibition or any of the other eight collective Impressionist shows. The movement gained more attention in the April of 1874 when Claude Monet, Auguste Renoir, Alfred Sisley, and Jean-Frédéric Bazille formed Society of Artists, Painters, Sculptors, Engravers and began exhibiting outside of the official salon. The same year, the term Impressionism was invented by criticizing (批评的) journalist Louis Leroy to describe their paintings, who worked for the magazine Le Charivari.
The Impressionists often paint out of doors and want to show how light and shadow fall on objects at particular times of the day. Their works are sometimes described as “captured moments” and are characterized by short quick brushstrokes (笔) of colour which, when viewed up close looks quite messy and unreal. If we step back from the Impressionist paintings, the colours are blended together by our eyes and we are able to see the painters’ subjects which often show colourful landscapes, sunlight on water as well as people busy with outdoor activities.
【小题1】Before Impressionism, the works of artists were         .

The history of modern art begins with Impressionism, a movement started in Paris in the mid-1800’s. At that time many artists painted in a very traditional way that involved spending hours in a studio, painstakingly (辛苦地) creating paintings that were extremely detailed. These paintings were sometimes of people or landscapes or historical events. In 1863, Edouard Manet exhibited his painting “Dejeuner sur l’erbe” at the Salon des Refuses. The painting caused a commotion (骚动), thus starting the Impressionist movement. Although Edouard Manet is the declared leader and founder of the group, he was not present at the first group exhibition or any of the other eight collective Impressionist shows. The movement gained more attention in the April of 1874 when Claude Monet, Auguste Renoir, Alfred Sisley, and Jean-Frédéric Bazille formed Society of Artists, Painters, Sculptors, Engravers and began exhibiting outside of the official salon. The same year, the term Impressionism was invented by criticizing (批评的) journalist Louis Leroy to describe their paintings, who worked for the magazine Le Charivari.

The Impressionists often paint out of doors and want to show how light and shadow fall on objects at particular times of the day. Their works are sometimes described as “captured moments” and are characterized by short quick brushstrokes (笔) of colour which, when viewed up close looks quite messy and unreal. If we step back from the Impressionist paintings, the colours are blended together by our eyes and we are able to see the painters’ subjects which often show colourful landscapes, sunlight on water as well as people busy with outdoor activities.

1.Before Impressionism, the works of artists were         .

A. quite abstract                     B. very confusing

C. very detailed                D. quite controversial

2.Who first started Impressionism? ___________

A. Claude Monet.                 B. Edouard Manet.

C. Auguste Renoir.             D. Alfred Sisley.

3.The works of the Impressionists are best viewed         .

A. with imagination     B. at a distance

C. outdoors                  D. in a studio

4.The second paragraph is mainly about ______.

A. the painting style of the Impressionists

B. how to describe the Impressionist paintings

C. the influences of the Impressionist paintings

D. the subjects of the Impressionist paintings

The history of modern art begins with Impressionism, a movement started in Paris in the mid-1800’s. At that time many artists painted in a very traditional way that involved spending hours in a studio, painstakingly (辛苦地) creating paintings that were extremely detailed. These paintings were sometimes of people or landscapes or historical events. In 1863, Edouard Manet exhibited his painting “Dejeuner sur l’erbe” at the Salon des Refuses. The painting caused a commotion (骚动), thus starting the Impressionist movement. Although Edouard Manet is the declared leader and founder of the group, he was not present at the first group exhibition or any of the other eight collective Impressionist shows. The movement gained more attention in the April of 1874 when Claude Monet, Auguste Renoir, Alfred Sisley, and Jean-Frédéric Bazille formed Society of Artists, Painters, Sculptors, Engravers and began exhibiting outside of the official salon. The same year, the term Impressionism was invented by criticizing (批评的) journalist Louis Leroy to describe their paintings, who worked for the magazine Le Charivari.

The Impressionists often paint out of doors and want to show how light and shadow fall on objects at particular times of the day. Their works are sometimes described as “captured moments” and are characterized by short quick brushstrokes (笔) of colour which, when viewed up close looks quite messy and unreal. If we step back from the Impressionist paintings, the colours are blended together by our eyes and we are able to see the painters’ subjects which often show colourful landscapes, sunlight on water as well as people busy with outdoor activities.

1.Before Impressionism, the works of artists were         .

2.Who first started Impressionism? ___________

3. The works of the Impressionists are best viewed         .

4.The second paragraph is mainly about ______.

The history of modern art begins with Impressionism, a movement started in Paris in the mid-1800’s. At that time many artists painted in a very traditional way that involved spending hours in a studio, painstakingly (辛苦地) creating paintings that were extremely detailed. These paintings were sometimes of people or landscapes or historical events. In 1863, Edouard Manet exhibited his painting “Dejeuner sur l’erbe” at the Salon des Refuses. The painting caused a commotion (骚动), thus starting the Impressionist movement. Although Edouard Manet is the declared leader and founder of the group, he was not present at the first group exhibition or any of the other eight collective Impressionist shows. The movement gained more attention in the April of 1874 when Claude Monet, Auguste Renoir, Alfred Sisley, and Jean-Frédéric Bazille formed Society of Artists, Painters, Sculptors, Engravers and began exhibiting outside of the official salon. The same year, the term Impressionism was invented by criticizing (批评的) journalist Louis Leroy to describe their paintings, who worked for the magazine Le Charivari.
The Impressionists often paint out of doors and want to show how light and shadow fall on objects at particular times of the day. Their works are sometimes described as “captured moments” and are characterized by short quick brushstrokes (笔) of colour which, when viewed up close looks quite messy and unreal. If we step back from the Impressionist paintings, the colours are blended together by our eyes and we are able to see the painters’ subjects which often show colourful landscapes, sunlight on water as well as people busy with outdoor activities

1. 1.

   Before Impressionism, the works of artists were         

   1. A.
      quite abstract
   2. B.
      very confusing
   3. C.
      very detailed
   4. D.
      quite controversial
2. 2.

   Who first started Impressionism? ___________

   1. A.
      Claude Monet
   2. B.
      Edouard Manet
   3. C.
      Auguste Renoir
   4. D.
      Alfred Sisley
3. 3.

   The works of the Impressionists are best viewed         

   1. A.
      with imagination
   2. B.
      at a distance
   3. C.
      outdoors
   4. D.
      in a studio
4. 4.

   The second paragraph is mainly about ______

   1. A.
      the painting style of the Impressionists
   2. B.
      how to describe the Impressionist paintings
   3. C.
      the influences of the Impressionist paintings
   4. D.
      the subjects of the Impressionist paintings