Xu Shu was much valued by Liu Bei for his strategic talents. After several victories on the battleground against Cao Cao, Xu was made the chief military advisor. Cao Cao was greatly surprised at the news. “If you want this person,” one of his advisors said, “you can bring his mother to Xuchang and send a forged letter in his mother's handwriting, asking Xu Shu to desert Liu Bei and come here. As Xu is well-known for a strong filial（孝顺的） affection, surely he will come.” This plot worked. For Xu, on receiving the letter, cried tearfully, asking Liu Bei for an immediate departure. Feeling sad, though, Liu persisted in his stay for another night, during which the two aired their sad feelings.

The next day Liu laid a banquet outside the city for Xu. Holding the latter's hand, Liu said,  “After we separate today, only heaven knows when and where we will meet again.” He wept bitter tears.

After setting off on his way, Xu suddenly turned his horse and returned. “I almost forgot an important matter.” He said to Liu. “Ten kilometers from Xiangyang City, in a place called Long zhong, there is a talent called Zhuge Liang. Do you want to meet him？” Liu expressed his willingness at once, but also aired doubt about whether Zhuge Liang was as talented as Xu. “He tells positions of stars in the heavens,” Xu assured him, “and recognizes everything on earth. He knows a person's real nature at the first meeting----the number one talent under the heaven. If you have him as your military advisor, you'll have the country under your name.” Liu suggested a visit to Zhuge by Xu on his behalf. At this, the latter shook his head in disapproval. “You must go and offer your invitation personally, and his acceptance depends entirely on your sincerity.” With these words said, Xu turned his horse and left. Later, Liu paid three trips to Zhuge's straw house, another favorite story among Chinese people.

The underlined word “forged” in Paragraph 1 probably means__________.

A. forced                          B. false                             C. friendly                        D. touching

Which of the following statements is TRUE?

A. Zhuge was able to tell a person’s personality at first sight.

B. No sooner did Xu receive the letter than he departed for Cao Cao.

C. Liu showed little interest in visiting Zhuge because he was doubtful of the stranger’s ability.

D. Liu showed his disapproval when Xu advised him to call on Zhuge in person.

The underlined sentence in Paragraph 3 probably means __________.

A. There was no doubt that Zhuge was competent as a military advisor

B. No one would be better than Zhuge in terms of giving military advice

C. Zhuge was such a talent that he could make the country named after Liu

D. With the help of Zhuge, Liu would be able to rule the whole country

The paragraph following the last one most probably deals with __________.

A. why people considered Zhuge as a talent

B. the difficulty Xu met with on the way to meet his mother

C. the plot Cao Cao made to bring Xu’s mother to Xuchang

D. how Liu sincerely invited Zhuge to assist him in military affairs

The text is developed in the order of __________.

A. space                           B. logic                             C. time                            D. cause and result

Lying in the sun on a rock, the cougar(美洲狮) saw Jeb and his son, Tom, before they saw it. Jeb put his bag down quickly and pulled his jacket open with both hands, making himself look big to the cougar. It worked. The cougar hesitated, ready to attack Jeb, but ready to forget the whole thing, too.

Jeb let go of his jacket, grasped Tom and held him across his body, making a cross. Now the cougar’s enemy looked even bigger, and it rose up, ready to move away, but unfortunately Tom got scared and struggled free of Jeb.

“Tom，no!”shouted his father.

But Tom broke and ran and that’s the last thing you do with a cougar. The second Tom broke free, Jeb threw himself on the cougar, just as it jumped from the rock. They hit each other in mid-air and both fell. The cougar was on Jeb in a flash, forgetting about Tom, which was what Jeb wanted.

Cougars are not as big as most people think and a determined man stands a chance, even with just his fists. As the cougar’s claws(爪子) got into his left shoulder. Jeb swung his fist at its eyes and hit hard. The animal howled(吼叫) and put its head back. Jeb followed up with his other fist. Then out of the corner of his eye. Jeb saw Tom. The boy was running back to help his father.

“Knife, Tom,” shouted Jeb.

The boy ran to his father’s bag, while Jeb started shouting as well as hitting, to keep the cougar’s attention away from Tom. Tom got the knife and ran over to Jeb. The cougar was moving its head in and out, trying to find a way through the wall Jeb was making out of his arms. Tom swung with the knife, into the cougar’s back. It howled horribly and ran off into the mountains.

The whole fight had taken about thirty seconds.

Why did Jeb pull his jacket open when he saw the cougar?

A. To get ready to fight.      B. To frighten it away.

C. To protect the boy.      D. To cool down.

What do we know about cougars?

A. They are afraid of noises.

B. They hesitate before they hit.

C. They are bigger than we think.

D. They like to attack running people.

How did Jeb try to hold the cougar’s attention?

A. By keeping shouting and hitting.

B. By making a wall out of his arms.

C. By throwing himself on the cougar.

D. By swinging his fists at the cougar’s eyes.

Which of the following happened first?

A. The cougar jumped from the rock.

B. Tom struggled free of his father.

C. Jeb asked Tom to get the knife.

D. Jeb held Tom across his body.

 The old man asked Lucy to move to another chair__________he wanted to sit next to his wife.

A. although        B. unless          C. because            D. if

With only about 1, 000 pandas left in the world, China is desperately trying to clone(克隆) the animal and save the endangered species(物种). That’s a move similar to what a Texas A & M University researchers have been undertaking for the past five years in a project called “Noah’s Ark”.

Noah’s Ark is aimed at collecting eggs, embryos(胚胎), semen and DNA of endangered animals and storing them in liquid nitrogen. If certain species should become extinct, Dr. Duane Kraemer, a professor in Texas A & M’s College of Veterinary Medicine, says there would be enough of the basic building blocks to reintroduce the species in the future.

It is estimated that as many as 2, 000 species of mammals, birds reptiles will become extinct in over 100 years. The panda, native only to China, is in danger of becoming extinct in the next 25 years.

This week, Chinese scientists said they grew an embryo by introducing cells from a dead female panda into the egg cells of a Japanese white rabbit. They are now trying to implant the embryo into a host animal.

The entire procedure could take from three to five years to complete.

“The nuclear transfer(核子移植) of one species to another is not easy, and the lack of available(capable of being used) panda eggs could be a major problem,” Kraemer believes. “They will probably have to do several hundred transfers to result in one pregnancy (having a baby). It takes a long time and it’s difficult, but this could be groundbreaking science if it works. They are certainly not putting any live pandas at risk, so it is worth the effort,” adds Kraemer, who is one of the leaders of the Project at Texas A& M, the first-ever attempt at cloning a dog.

“They are trying to do something that’s never been done, and this is very similar to our work in Noah’s Ark. We’re both trying to save animals that face extinction. I certainly appreciate their effort and there’s a lot we can learn from what they are attempting to do. It’s a research that is very much needed.”

The aim of “Noah’s Ark” project is to _______.

A. make efforts to clone the endangered pandas

B. save endangered animals from dying out

C. collect DNA of endangered animals to study

D. transfer the nuclear of one animal to another

According to Professor Kraemer, the major problem in cloning pandas would be the lack of _______.

A. available panda eggs                B. host animals

C. qualified researchers                D. enough money

The best title for the passage may be _______.

A. China’s Success in Pandas Cloning   

B. The First Cloned Panda in the World

 C. Exploring the Possibility to Clone Pandas

 D. China —the Native Place of Pandas Forever

From the passage we know that _______.

A. Kraemer and his team have succeeded in cloning a dog

 B. scientists try to implant a panda’s egg into a rabbit

 C. Kraemer will work with Chinese scientists in clone researches

 D. about two thousand of species will probably die out in a century