【题目】

How do ants know when another ant is dead? Ed Wilson, now the most famous ant scholar in the world, wanted to know.

When Ed Wilson was a young assitant professor at Harvard in 1950s , he found that when ants die, they just lie there, sometimes upside down, feet in the air, while their sister ants- almost all ants in a colony are ladies—walk right by without a look. Unitl about two days later, the dead body starts to send out a chemical signal that changes the living ants’ behaviour greatly.

All of a sudden what was once a pile of gunk(黏糊糊的东西) on the floor becomes a “Problem to Be solved”. Once the signal is in the air, any ant that happens to pass by picks up the dead body and carries it through her colony to a refuse pile and puts it on a pile of also dead ants.

Ed, who would continue the study of ants by studying their ability to communicate with smell, decided to find out what things equal “I am dead.” to an ant. Finally, after much checking and mixing, Ed discovered that a kind of acid was all the ants have to think “DEAD!” One day he took a drop of the acid and put it on an ant that had the bad luck of walking by. Then the next ant that came near grabbed it, put it on its back and put it into the refuse pile though the ant was still alive.

Though it tried to clean itself over and over, the minute it returned to the colony, it was caught and carried back on the pile. At last, it took the ant about an hour or two to get clean enough to return to regular business.

1The author says the question was no one on everybody’s lips because ____.

A. it is easy to answer B. it is a foolish and difficult question

C. it is less talked about D. only scientists ask such a question

2The underlined word “a refuse pile” probably means the place where _____.

A. injured ants were treated B. other ants lived

C. food was stored D. dead ants were buried

3What caught Ed Wilson’s attention when he was at Harvard in the 1950s?

A. An ant wasn’t carried away immediately when it died.

B. Ant died with feet in the air.

C. Sister ants didn’t look after each other at all.

D. Ant’s dead bodies didn’t catch others’ attention.

4The ant with acid tries to clean itself over and over ____.

A. to avoid being killed by the acid

B. to avoid being treated as the dead ant

C. to find out more food than anyone else

D. to find out where it got the acid

5Which of the following can be the best title for the passage?

A. Dead is what you smell, not what you see

B. It’s funny to carry a living ant.

C. The secret in an ant colony

D. Study ants’ ability to communicate

【题目】Inventions make the world better,smarter and a little more fun.

The folding bike helmet(头盔)

People hate to wear a helmet because it's thick and heavy. Morpher is a bike helmet made from plastics. It is just as strong as the traditional ones, but flexible(灵活的) enough to fold almost totally flat. Also it is much easier to carry.

Shoes that tie themselves

After we see the movie Back to the Future, almost everyone wants a pair of self-tying shoes. Now, thanks to Nike, the shoe dream comes true. When you press a button, the shoes can tie themselves.

The smart alarm clock—Hello Sense

An alarm clock, called Hello Sense, can improve your sleep. It can control the temperature, light and even air quality in your bedroom to help you have a perfect sleep environment. And it can record your sleep cycles.

Sweet potatoes that could save lives

The lack(缺乏) of vitamin A can cause blindness and many other illnesses for illnesses. In sub-Saharan Africa, plant experts are helping them grow a kind of new sweet potatoes. These potatoes can help them fight against some illnesses.

1The folding bike helmet is ________.

A. thick and heavy

B. made from metal

C. not as strong as a traditional one

D. flexible enough to fold almost flat

2Which company makes self-tying shoes?

A. Adidas. B. Kappa.

C. Nike. D. Li-Ning.

3The smart alarm clock can NOT ________.

A. improve our sleep

B. control our weight

C. record our sleep cycles

D. control the temperature in the bedroom

4If a child has a poor eyesight,he may be in the lack of ________.

A. vitamin A B. vitamin B

C. vitamin C D. vitamin D

5You can find the passage in a ________.

A. newspaper B. story book

C. guide book D. cookery book

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