Elephants are famous for their supposedly excellent memory. Now it seems that they are good at simple math too.
Researchers at the University of Tokyo have found an Asian elephant named Ashya can add small quantities together and correctly identify(识别)which is larger.
For example ,when researcher Naoko dropped three apples into one bucket and one apple into a second, then four more apples into the first and five into the second, Ashya correctly identified that the first bucket contained more apples and began munching(嚼)on her tasty prize.
Ashya chose the correct bucket 74% of the time "I even get confused when "I'm dropping the apple," Naoko told New Scientist magazine.
Elephants' counting abilities are far from unique. Chimps, pigeons(鸽子)and dolphins have shown the same abilities in lab tests, but what is more impressive for Elephants is that their ability to tell between two figures does not get worse when those numbers are more similar.
The elephants that Naoko tested were as good at telling the difference between five and six as they were at telling between five and one.
Naoko presented her findings last week at the International Society annual meeting in New York.
It is not obvious why elephants should need this mathematical ability in the wild." It is really tough to figure out why elephants would need to count," said Mya, a professor at Cornell University who studies elephants.
One possibility is that they use it to keep track of other members of their herd(兽群)so that no one is left behind. Asian elephants live in groups of six to eight." You really don't want to lose your group members," said Mya.
Another possibility is that the ability for simple math might be a by-product(副产品)of natural selection for a larger brain.
68.The experiments researchers have done recently show that elephants can____.
A. memorize things correctly      B. munch on apples
C. do some simple math          D. change small quantities into larger ones
69.What does the underlined word" tough" in Paragraph 8 mean?
A. Difficult        B. Impossible     C. Easy      D. Useful
70.The reason why elephants need to count is possibly that_____.
A. they want to exercise their brains
B .they often count the members of their herd
C. they hope to stay in groups
D. they have taken regular training

As computers become more popular in China , Chinese people are increasingly relying on computer keyboards to input Chinese characters . But if they use the computer too much , they may end up forgetting the exact strokes(笔画)of each Chinese character when writing on paper . Experts suggest people , especially students , write by hand more .
Do you write by hand more or type more ? In Beijing , students start using a computer as early as primary school . And computer dependence is more widespread among university students . Almost all their assignments and essays are typed on a computer .
All the students interviewed say they usually use a computer .
It’s faster and easier to correct if using a computer . And that’s why computers are being applied more and more often to modern education . But when people are taking stock in computers increasingly , problems appear .
“ When I’m writing with a pen , I find I often can’t remember how to write a character , though I feel I’m familiar with it .”
“ I’m not in the mood to write when faced with a pen and paper .”
Many students don’t feel this is something to worry about . Now that it’s more convenient and efficient to write on a computer , why bother to handwrite ?
Many educators think differently . Shi Liwei , the headmaster of a famous primary school in the capital said “ Chinese characters enjoy both practical and aesthetic(审美的)value . But those characters typed with computer keyboards only maintain their practical value . All the artistic beauty of the characters is lost . And handwriting contains the writer’s emotion . Through one’s handwriting , people can get to know one’s thinking and personality . Beautiful writing will give people a better first impression of them .”
To encourage students to handwrite more , many primary schools in Beijing have made writing classes compulsory(必修的)and in universities , some professors are asking students to turn in their homework and essays written by hand .
【小题1】Which of the following can best serve as the title of the passage ?

A.The Importance of Handwriting and Typing .
B.To Type or to Handwrite .
C.Writing by Computer Will Replace Writing by Hand
D.Practical and Aesthetic Value of Chinese Characters
【小题2】The students interviewed prefer to write using a computer mainly because       .
A.they are usually asked to email their homework and essays
B.they can correct the mistakes they make quickly and conveniently
C.they find it not easy to remember how to write a character
D.computers have become a trend and fashion in China
【小题3】 Which of the following statements is NOT true of the advantages of handwriting ?
A.Handwriting contains the writer’s emotion .
B.The writer’s thinking and personality are shown in his or her handwriting .
C.Handwriting can impress people well and build one’s self-confidence .
D.Chinese characters enjoy both practical and aesthetic value .
【小题4】 The underlined expression “ taking stock in ” ( Paragraph 4 ) probably means       .
A.getting bored withB.getting dependent on
C.becoming crazy aboutD.getting curious about
【小题5】 We can draw the conclusion from the passage that       .
A.more and more students will give up writing on a computer
B.writing by hand will give way to typing by computer one day
C.more and more students will pay attention to handwriting
D.the typing article better expresses one’s emotion and quality

It’s a Friday night. Your girl friends are out at a bar and your boyfriend is playing soccer with his mates. Two text messages later, you’re eating pizza and watching action movies with three guy friends. Perfect.

“Guy friends” have the potential to enrich your life in ways that female friends and boyfriends just can’t. For starters, they provide an insider’s perspective on how men think, feel and behave. When dealing with male relatives, coworkers and even boyfriends, another man’s point of view can be incredibly useful. Three hours spent analyzing a situation in a café with your girlfriends can’t compete with a quick chat to a guy friend.

Many women find that time spent with male friends can be a liberating and somewhat refreshing break from spending time with the girls. Without the judgmental gaze of other females, there is less pressure to dress up and compete for attention.

Traditionally, girl-guy friendships are seen as hard to maintain. Most relationships between males and females that we come across in our day-to-day lives, whether in movies or books, are romantic by nature. These cultural images make girl-guy friendships seem impossible.

Yet in reality, as gender roles loosen and equality becomes a norm in the workplace, it has become much more common for platonic friendships to blossom.

“The belief that men and women can’t be friends comes from another era in which women were at home and men were in the workplace, and the only way they could get together was for romance,” explains psychologist Linda Sapadin to Psychology Today magazine. “Now they work together and share sports interests and socialize together.”

“My boyfriend has met all of my guy friends so he’s quite accepting of me hanging out with them,” says Nellie. “Because we’ve been dating so long, there’s a level of trust where he knows I will make the right decision when choosing who to be friends with.

“He understands that the kind of time that I spend differs between guys and girls. When I’m out with the girls, we’re gossiping or talking about clothes but when I’m spending time with the guys, it’s different. I think their carefree and ‘whatever goes’ attitude can sometimes be exactly what I need.”

1.  What is the best title of the passage?

A.Platonic friendship can be fun and liberating.

B.Platonic friendship can take the place of boy-or-girl friendship.

C.Man friendship is far more exciting than woman friendship.

D.Both man friendship and woman friendship are necessary forgirls.

2.  In writer’s opinion, girl-guy friendships_________

A.are hard to maintain in modern society.

B.are impossible for most boys and girls.

C.are quite reasonable and thought highly of by most people.

D.are quite interesting and accepted by more and more and moregirls.

3. Why did people think men and women can’t be friends in the past?

A.Becausemen were at home and women were in the workplace.

B.Becauseboth men and women are too shy to make friends.

C.Because they were hard to keep in touch and only bymarrying cantheystay in touch with each other.

D.Becausewomen were at home and men were in the workplace, and the only way they could get together was for friendship.

4.  According to what Nellie said, _______

A.Her boyfriend enjoys she and her guy friend stay together.

B.When I’m out with the boys, we’re not gossiping or talking about clothes.

C.Sometimes whatmy guy friends giveisjustwhatI need.

D.My boyfriend trusts me so heaccepts my decision.

 

He came into the room to shut the windows while we were still in bed and I saw he looked ill. He was shivering, his face was white, and he walked slowly as though it ached to move.

“What's the matter, Schatz?”

“I've got a headache.”

“You better go back to bed.”

“No. I'm all right.”

“You go to bed. I'll see you when I'm dressed.”

But when I came downstairs he was dressed, sitting by the fire, looking a very sick and miserable boy of nine years. When I put my hand on his forehead I knew he had a fever.

“You go up to bed,” I said, “You're sick.”

“I'm all right,” he said.

When the doctor came he took the boy's temperature.

“What's is it?” I asked him.

“One hundred and two.”

Downstairs, the doctor left three different medicines in different colored capsules with instructions for giving them. One was to bring down the fever, another a purgative(泻药), the third to overcome an acid condition. The germs of influenza(流感)can only exist in an acid condition, he explained. He seemed to know all about influenza and said there was nothing to worry about if the fever did not go above one hundred and four degrees. This was a light epidemic(传染病;传染性的) of flu and there was no danger if you avoided pneumonia(肺炎).

Back in the room I wrote the boy's temperature down and made a note of the time to give the various capsules.

“Do you want me to read to you?”

“All right. If you want to, “ said the boy. His face was very white and there were dark areas under his eyes. He lay still in the bed and seemed very detached(超然的;冷漠的)from what was going on.

I read aloud from Howard Pyle's Book of Pirates(海盗);but I could see he was not following what I was reading.

“How do you feel, Schatz?” I asked him.

“Just the same, so far,” he said.

I sat at the foot of the bed and read to myself while I waited for it to be time to give another capsule. It would have been natural for him to go to sleep, but when I looked up he was looking at the foot of the bed, looking very strangely.

“Why don't you try to sleep? I'll wake you up for the medicine.”

“I'd rather stay awake.”

After a while he said to me, “You don't have to stay in here with me, Papa, if it bothers you.”

“It doesn't bother me.”

“No, I mean you don't have to stay if it's going to bother you.”

I thought perhaps he was a little lightheaded and after giving him the prescribed capsules at eleven o'clock I went out with my gun and the young hunting dog….I killed two quail(鹌鹑), and missed five, and started back pleased to have found a covey of quail close to the house and happy there were so many left to find on another day.

At the house they said the boy had refused to let anyone come into the room.

“You can't come in,” he said. “You mustn't get what I have.”

I went up to him and found him in exactly the position I had left him, white-faced, but with the tops of his cheeks flushed(发红)by the fever, staring still, as he had stared, at the foot of the bed.

I took his temperature.

“What is it?”

“Something like a hundred,” I said. It was one hundred and two and four tenths.

“It was a hundred and two,” he said.

“Who said so?”

“The doctor.”

“Your temperature is all right,” I said. “It's nothing to worry about.”

“I don't worry,” he said, “but I can't keep from thinking.”

“Don't think,” I said. “Just take it easy.”

“I'm taking it easy,” he said and looked straight ahead, He was evidently holding tight onto himself about something.

“Take this with water.”

“Do you think it will do any good?”

“Of course it will.”

I sat down and opened the Pirate book and began to read, but I could see he was not following, so I stopped.

“About what time do you think I'm going to die?” he asked.

“What?”

“About how long will it be before I die?”

“You aren't going to die. What's the matter with you? “

“Oh, yes, I am, I heard him say a hundred and two.”

“People don't die with a fever of one hundred and two. That's a silly way to talk.”

“I know they do. At school in France the boys told me you can't live with forty-four degrees. I've got a hundred and two.”

He had been waiting to die all day, ever since nine o'clock in the morning.

“You poor Schatz,” I said. “Poor old Schatz. It's like miles and kilometers. You aren't going to die. That's different thermometer. On that thermometer thirty-seven is normal. On this kind it's ninety-eight.”

“Are you sure?”

“Absolutely,” I said, “It's like miles and kilometers. You know, like how many kilometers we make when we do seventy miles in the car?”

“Oh,” he said.

But his gaze at the foot of the bed relaxed slowly. The hold over himself relaxed too, finally, and the next day it was very slack(松驰的) and he cried very easily at little things that were of no importance.

1.The author writes about the doctor’s visit in order to _____.

A.show the doctor’s knowledge about influenza and its treatment

B.show the boy’s illness was quite serious

C.create a situation of misunderstanding around which to build a story

D.show the father was very much concerned about the boy’s illness

2.The pronoun “it” in “Papa, if it bothers you” (line 41) refers to _____.

A.the boy’s high temperature

B.the father giving the medicine to the boy

C.the father staying with the boy

D.the boy’s death

3.It can be inferred from the story that it is _____ by the time the father gets home from hunting.

A.early in the afternoon

B.close to evening

C.at noon

D.late in the morning

4.From the story we know that the boy kept tight control over himself because _____.

A.he did not want to be a bother to others

B.he wanted to recover quickly so that he could go hunting with his father

C.he was afraid that he would die if he lost control over himself

D.he thought he was going to die and he must show courage in the face of death

5.That the boy cried very easily at little things of no importance the next day suggests that _____.

A.he couldn’t control his emotions when he finally relaxed

B.his father would go out hunting without him if he didn’t cry

C.something went wrong with his brain after the fever

D.he often complained about unimportant things as a spoiled boy

6.The theme of the story is _____.

A.death is something beyond a child’s comprehension

B.to be calm and controlled in the face of death is a mark of courage

C.misunderstanding can occur even between father and son

D.misunderstanding can sometimes lead to an unexpected effect

 

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