The Cuban iguana is a species of lizard(蜥蜴) of the iguana family. It is the largest of the West Indian rock iguanas, one of the most endangered groups of lizards. This species with red eyes and a thick tail is one of the largest lizards in the Caribbean.

The Cuban iguana is primarily herbivorous; 95% of its diet consists of the leaves, flowers and fruits from as many as 30 plant species, including the seaside rock bush and various grasses. However, Cuban iguanas occasionally consume animal matter, and individuals have been observed eating the dead flesh of birds, fish and crabs, The researchers wrote that quite a few people on Isla Magueyes could have caused this incident.

The Cuban iguana is distributed throughout the rocky southern coastal areas of mainland Cuba and its surrounding islands with a wild population booming on Isla Magueyes, Puerto Rico. It is also found on the Cayman Islands of Little Cayman and Cayman Brac, where a separate subspecies occurs. Females guard their nest sites and often nest in sites half destroyed by Cuban crocodiles. To avoid the attack from them, the Cuban iguana often makes its home within or near prickly-pear cacti (仙人掌).

In general the species is in decline, more quickly on the mainland than on the outlying islands. One of the reasons for their decline is habitat destruction caused by the over consuming of farm animals, housing development, and the building of tourist resorts on the beaches where the animals prefer to build their nests. Although the wild population is in decline, the numbers of iguanas have been sharply increased as a result of captive-breeding(圈养) and other conservation programs.

1..The underlined word "herbivorous" (Paragraph 2) probably means .

A. dangerous B. gentle

C. plant-eating D. flesh-eating

2..Why does the Cuban iguana build its nest near prickly-pear cacti?

A. To keep itself cool. B. To get the food easily.

C. To stay away from people. D. To avoid crocodiles' attack.

3..How many reasons are mentioned for the habitat destruction?

A. Two. B. Three. C. Four. D. Five.

4..What's the author's purpose of writing the text?

A. To give us a brief introduction to the Cuban iguana.

B. To show he is concerned about the Cuban iguana.

C. To explain reasons for the Cuban iguana's decline.

D. To draw people's attention to the endangered Cuban iguana.

 

It's time for your family to relax and have fun! The following family adventures have links for you to get more information.

Take the Rides of Your Life

Visit Cedar Point in Sandusky, Ohio, to seek thrills "Even though it's located off the beaten track, experts regularly praise Cedar Point as the best overall theme park of the country," says U.S. News & World Report. The park calls itself the roller coaster capital of the world, and with 16 to choose from, it's hard to argue. It's open daily from May 10 through Labor Day; weekends only from Labor Day through November 2.

Tickets start at $ 48.99 per person if purchased online.

http://www.cedarpoint,com.

Wander Free on a Dude farm

Dust off your cowboy boots and ready your cowboy hats for a visit to this Rocky Mountains paradise. Located in Augusta, Montana, "The farm has everything an aspiring cowboy or girl could long for," says Sunset magazine, including hiking trails, fishing trips, campfires with sing-alongs, and, of course, horseback rides. The large farm operates from June through September; kids-only and adults-only

programs are available.

Total cost starts at $ 1,360 per adult, $ 1,276 per teen, and $ 1,168 per child.

http://www.triplejranch.com.

Dig for Dinosaurs

Most kids (and adults) love dinosaurs, and to make their wildest dreams come true, head to Fruita, Colorado. The Museum of Western Colorado offers Dino Digs for children ages five and older. You can choose from one-, three-, and five-day expeditions. "Imagine how your child will feel when she helps unearth the fossilized(化石) bones of ancient species," says Outside magazine. It lasts from May to October.

Digs start at $ 125 per person.

http://www.museumofwesternco.com

Surf Sand Dunes

Swap your snowboard for a sand-board, and head to Sand Master Park in Florence, Oregon. Real Simple recommends learning the basics at this private dune park, "which offers board rentals and lessons - often taught by world-champion sand boarders." Then you 'can hit the ",slopes" to test your skills. From March to June, and September to November.

Rentals for a sand-board start at $ 10 per day; lessons start at $ 45 an hour per person.

http:/'www.sandmasterpark.com.

1.What is special about Cedar Point?

A.You can visit Cedar Point on weekends.

B.It has 16 roller coasters for you to choose from.

C.You can help unearth the fossilized bones of dinosaurs.

D.It offers lessons taught by world-champion sand boarders.

2.If you have a 3-day holiday in April, which of the following may interest you most?

A. Take the Rides of Your Life

B. Wander Free on a Dude farm

C. Dig for Dinosaurs

D. Surf Sand Dunes

3.Where will you probably find this passage?

A. A science fiction.

B. An adventure storybook.

C. A travel magazine.

D. A theme park advertisement.

 

We know that cigarette smoking kills. So, producers made electronic cigarettes as a safer smoking choice - safer than tobacco. Although e-cigarettes contain the drug nicotine like cigarettes, they do not use tobacco and you do not light them. They are powered by battery (电池).

However, if e-cigarettes are so safe, why has the United States Center for Disease Control(CDC) seen an increase in telephone calls about e-cigarette poisonings?

The answer is children. Most of the calls are from people worried about children who have played with the devices, In the period of one month this year, the Center said 215 people called the Center with e-cigarette concerns. More than half of these calls were for children aged five and younger. The devices had made them sick.

Tim McAfee is director of the Center's Office on Smoking and Health, He says the problem is regulation. Meaning, the U.S. federal government does not control e-cigarettes even though they contain liquid nicotine. Mr.McAfee adds that liquid nicotine is a well-known danger. Mr.McAfee explains that nicotine poisoning happens when it gets into the skin, gets into the eyes or is swallowed. It can cause stomach pain or a sense of unbalance. And too much nicotine can kill,

Tim McAfee says e-cigarettes do not create the level of risk to people that tobacco products do.He notes that almost 500,000 Americans die each year from cigarettes. "So, cigarettes are the winner in that contest." E-cigarettes do not contain hundreds of harmful chemicals that are found in real cigarettes. So, the U.S.Surgeon General Boris D. Lushniak has suggested that e-cigarettes may be a useful tool for adults trying to end their tobacco use.

But McAfee worries that teenagers may think electronic cigarettes are harmless. They could become addicted to the nicotine and then start smoking real cigarettes. In other words, he fears that for young people fake e-cigarettes could be a "gateway" to the real thing.

1.What do the producers think of e-cigarettes?

A. Dangerous. B. Expensive.

C. Safer. D. Cheaper.

2.Why did the CDC receive so many calls about e-cigarettes?

A. Parents feared that their children might get poisoned,

B. Parents found the device useless in quitting smoking.

C. Children swallowed the liquid nicotine from the device.

D. Children might get addicted to playing with the device.

3.It can be inferred from the passage that .

A. the CDC wants to develop a better type of e-cigarettes

B. the government is in favor of the use of e-cigarettes

C. Surgeon General Boris D. Lushniak is a heavy smoker

D. smokers most probably can't quit smoking using e-cigarettes

4.What is Tim McAfee's opinion about smoking?

A. Adults should use harmless e-cigarettes.

B. Smoking e-cigarettes can make a person sick.

C. He claims that regulations should be made to ban smoking.

D. He is concerned about the teens using e-cigarettes.

 

If something that you're doing doesn't challenge you, then it doesn't change you. We all need some normal stress in our lives, after all. 1. So challenge the following limits:

1. Figure out what you're scared of and do it continuously.

If you're a salesman, and you're scared of talking to people personally or over the phone, now, instead of being scared and thinking you’ll fail, spend at least five minutes a day to pick up the phone and make a call. 2. But don't stop on the first try! Eventually, you can look at fear in the eyes and say, "Go on, I'm not scared!"

2. 3.

Make sure this hobby is not linked to your career; you have to relax and relieve your stress while performing this. Some examples might be cooking, sewing, painting and so on. Apart from helping you challenge yourself, taking a class for your hobby may also give you extra income.

3.Set aside at least nine minutes a day for physical exercise.

4. A simple 9-minute run around your neighborhood can do wonders for yourself.Exercise can not only help you maintain your regular weight, but also make you feel better about yourself.

4.Travel and allow yourself to be interested in new people.

Don't just limit yourself to your fellow travelers - try to connect with the service staff.You never know what kind of people they're going to be. Get out of your house or go online right now to book your class. 5.

A. You should do it continuously.

B. Someone may hang up on you.

C. You don't need to go to the gym.

D. Running in the gym may be a better choice.

E. Start to travel now and learn to challenge yourself.

F. Take a class for a hobby you've been wanting to develop.

G. You can never see any improvement if you stick to your comfort zone.

 

Lunch hour is crazy at SAME Cafe, the 40-seat restaurant my husband and I run in Denver.

A woman in a(n)_ suit stepped in. "Hi, Libby." she said.Wow, what a ! The first time she came to the cafe two years ago, she had no money to pay. many customers, she volunteered to wash dishes and .' Look at her now: confident and hopeful.Wasn't this what we'd hoped for?

In 2003, we'd this crazy dream: start a restaurant with a donation box instead of a cash register(收款台). Right away we hit hurdles(阻碍). "There is no such thing as a lunch," one potential landlord (房东) sniffed. I met brokers, bankers and suppliers, only to watch them , shaking their heads. No bank would lend us the money to open a restaurant with no .The only fund we could get was our individual retirement account. we rented space from a landlord on Colfax Street.We put flyers(传单) around the neighborhood, asked friends to the word, and held our breath.

Word traveled fast, stories in the papers and on TV. Soon we had more than 50customers a day.A few ate without paying or an hour of work.But most gave what they could, it was just a doilar.Those with money gave, and then more.One of our customers left a for 500 dollars.Another bought 1000 dollars in gift certificates. another donated a truck so we could transport from suppliers.

People came here partly for what our cafe —SAME: So A11 May Eat, We treat everyone with .We hoped to develop a sense of community- so that we might one another.The woman in business suit was one of them.Our to open the cafe was worth it,

1.A. dinnerB. eveningC. businessD. summer

2.A. changeB. beautyC. foolD. coincidence

3.A. WithB. LikeC. BesidesD. Towards

4.A. waitB. singC. performD. sweep

5.A. livedB. hatchedC. ignoredD. achieved

6.A. packedB. deliciousC. freeD. delivered

7.A. crowd togetherB. flood inC. walk awayD. turn up

8.A. staff supportB. regular customersC. lunch boxesD. cash register

9.A. UnfortunatelyB. FinallyC. InterestinglyD. Illegally

10.A. analyzeB. readC. spreadD. approve

11.A. thanks toB. apart fromC. ahead ofD. according to

12.A. regrettingB. gainingC.donatingD. balancing

13.A. only whenB. and foreverC.so thatD. even if

14.A. rewardB. checkC. billD. list

15.A. StillB. InsteadC. OtherwiseD. Thus

16.A. lunchB. customersC. dishesD. produce

17.A. stood forB. applied forC. benefited fromD. depended on

18.A. patienceB. generosityC. confidenceD. dignity

19.A. protectB. trustC. helpD. treasure

20.A. dreamB. struggleC. managementD. style

 

Restaurants in the USA

Steve’s Pizza

So many pizza chains compete for the attention of tourists in South Beach, but ask a Miami Beach local where to get the best pizza and they’ll tell you about Steve’s. This is New York–style pizza, handmade with care and good ingredients(成份). New branches of Steve’s are opening elsewhere in Miami, all in non-tourist areas.

Opening hours: 11am-3am

Cattleman’s Steakhouse

This place is 20 miles east of the city, but local folks would probably drive 200 miles to eat here. The food is good, and the scenery is even better. Come early and wander around the grounds of Indian Cliffs Ranch, where you’ll see everything from rabbits to buffalo (水牛), then catch the sunset either before or after your meal.

Opening hours: 5pm-10pm

Absolute Baking & Cafe

The screen door is always swinging open at this town hot spot with giant breakfasts. Try the green chili on eggs – it’s made from scratch, as are the organic(有机的) breads. Lunch includes salads, big sandwiches and local grass-fed beef burgers. Don’t miss a square of soft, fresh carrot cake.

Opening hours: 7am-2pm

Walt’s Wharf

Everybody’s favorite for fresh fish (some drive in from LA), Walt’s packs them in on weekends. You can’t make reservations for dinner (though they’re accepted for lunch), but it’s worth the wait for the tree fire–grilled seafood and steaks in the many-windowed ground floor or upstairs in captain’s chairs.

Opening hours: 11am-3:30pm

1.The new branches of Steve’s Pizza are mainly intended for_________.

A. New YorkersB. tourists

C.the localsD. foreigners

2.Cattleman’s Steakhouse offers the wonderful _________as well as good food.

A. wine B. view C. discount D. service

3.Which restaurant serves both breakfast and lunch?

A. Steve’s Pizza.

B. Walt’s Wharf.

C. Absolute Baking & Café.

D. Cattleman’s Steakhouse.

 

Every week in China, millions of people will sit in front of their TVs watching teenagers compete for the title Character Hero, which is a Chinese-style spelling bee(拼写大赛). In this challenge, young competitors must write Chinese characters by hand. To prepare for the competition, the competitors usually spend months studying dictionaries.

Perhaps the show’s popularity should not be a surprise. Along with gunpowder and paper, many Chinese people consider the creation of Chinese calligraphy(书法)to be one of their primary contributions to civilization. Unfortunately, all over the country, Chinese people are forgetting how to write their own language without computerized help. Software on smart phones and computers allows users to type in the basic sound of the word using the Latin alphabet. The correct character is chosen from a list. The result? It’s possible to recognize characters without remembering how to write them.

But there’s still hope for the paint brush. China’s Education Ministry wants children to spend more time learning how to write.

In one Beijing primary school we visited, students practice calligraphy every day inside a specially decorated classroom with traditional Chinese paintings hanging on the walls. Soft music plays as a group of six-year-olds dip brush pens into black ink. They look up at the blackboard often to study their teacher’s examples before carefully attempting to reproduce those characters on thin rice paper. “If adults can survive without using handwriting, why bother to teach it now?” we ask the calligraphy teacher, Shen Bin. “The ability to write characters is part of Chinese tradition and culture,” she reasons. “Students must learn now so they don’t forget when they grow up.” says the teacher.

1.What can we learn about the Character Hero?

A. It’s open to people of all ages and all walks.

B. It’s the most-viewed TV programs in China.

C. It aims to spread Chinese culture to the world.

D. It draws great public attention across the country.

2.Why are Chinese people forgetting how to write the characters?

A. Chinese people don’t refer to dictionaries very often.

B. Chinese people no longer use brush pens or practice calligraphy.

C. Chinese people are using the Latin alphabet instead of the characters.

D. Chinese people needn’t write by hand as often with the help of technology.

3.According to Shen Bin, being able to write characters by hand is_________.

A. necessary for adults to survive in China

B. a requirement made by the Education Ministry

C. helpful to keep Chinese tradition and culture alive

D. an ability to be developed only when you are students

4.Where does this text probably come from?

A. A news report.B. A science report.

C. An advertisement.D. Children’s literature.

 

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