The Australian continent is a land like no other. Its animals, plants and landscapes have evolved (演化) over one thousand years, and there are about a million different natural species (物种)in Australia. More than 80 per cent of the country’s plants and animals are unique to Australia, along with most of the fish and almost half the birds.

Australia has more than 140 species of marsupials (有袋动物),including koalas, wombats and the Tasmanian devil, now found only in the Australian wilderness. More than 750 species of birds have been recorded in Australia, 350 of which are found nowhere else in the world. Among them are the kookaburra, the rainbow lorikeet and fairy penguins. There are also 55 differernt species of macropods―the kangaroo family―native to Australia. They vary greatly in size and weight, ranging from half a kilogram to 90 kilograms.

The country has been making every effort to protect its natural heritage. Despite the large size of the continent, the majority of Australians live on the coast and in major cities―around 75 per cent of Australia’s population lives in city areas.

Australia is the driest continent on earth. Its center has one of the lowest rainfalls in the world and about three-quarters of the land is dry. These dry areas extend from the large central deserts to the western coast. Soils in these areas are very poor compared to other deserts. This has given Australians a great challenge.They have to make the best use of the variety of regions to meet the competing demands of agriculture, economy and conservation.

 

60.What does the first paragraph mainly tell us?

       A. Australia is a very large country.

B. Australia has a very long history.

C. Australia has its unique natural species.

D. Australia has the largest number of plants and animals in the world.

61.Wombats and the Tasmanian devil are the names of        .

       A. plants               B. animals              C. places                D. people

62.About        kinds of birds can only be found in Australia.

       A. 140                   B. 350                   C. 400                   D. 750

63.Most of Australians live        .

       A. in the middle of the country             B. in the countryside

C. in the west of the country               D. in the coastal cities

Middle school teachers in the United States are noticing a new generation of errors coming into their pupils’ essays, Associated  Press has reported.

An increasing number of students hand in classwork containing words that may confuse adults. For example, they wrote “I WUNT TUBAROXTR” for “I want to be a rock star” and “DLERES PCNU” for “delicious pumpkin”. Middle school teachers say they most frequently encounter “b/c” for “because”, “w/o” for “without” and “4-ever” for “forever”.

Those simple abbreviations (缩略词) and phonetic spellings are known as “instant messaging-speak” (即时消息式语言) or “IM-speak”. Today these words have become so common in children’s social lives that they are finding their way into essays and other writing assignments.

However, the rise of informal communication through e-mail, Internet blogs and cell phone text messaging has not stopped school teachers from telling students the importance of spelling.

“We’ve got a strict policy so they can be penalized for that―we don’t allow it. We talk about the four levels of the language: slang (俚语), colloquial (口语), informal and formal, which apply to both spoken and written language,” said Beverly Arnold, chairwoman of the English and language arts department at Owasso High School, Oklahoma.

“I think it’s critically important―for both formal and informal communication. We teach kids that they need to learn to exist in a world outside their social networks, and that requires them to use proper grammar and spelling when they speak and write,” said Marsha Edmonds, director of curriculum in the Tulsa Public Schools, Tulsa, Oklahoma.

Teachers use different strategies to teach spelling than they did 20 years ago, Edmonds explained. Instead of giving students random (随意的) lists of words to master, teachers now draw on vocabulary from the literature their classes are studying or subject matter being covered in science and social studies.

But some educators, like David Warlick, 54, of Raleigh, North Carolina, see the growing young band of instant messengers as a phenomenon that should be celebrated. Teachers should credit their students with inventing a new language ideal for communicating in a high-tech world, said Warlick, who has written three books on technology in the classroom.

 

72.Many adults feel        when seeing the “IM-speak” like “b/c”, “w/o” and “4-ever”.

       A、interested         B、puzzled            C、worried           D、disappointed

73.According to Marsha Edmonds,       .

       A、spelling is only important for formal communication

B、students need to learn to live in their social networks

C、we have four levels of the language: slang, colloquial, informal and formal

D、students should use proper grammar and spelling when they speak and write

74.Which of the following statements is NOT true?

       A、“IM-speak” is becoming increasingly popular in teenagers’ lives.

B、Students in the past spent less time in memorizing the new words.

C、Beverly Arnold is very strict with her students.

D、Teachers used to give students random lists of words to remember.

75.It can be inferred from the passage that        .

       A、all the teachers say “NO” to “IM-speak”

B、school teachers don’t do enough to stop students from using “IM-speak”

C、teachers still use old-fashioned methods to teach spelling nowadays

D、David Warlick is a man who enjoys trying new things

Women with an hourglass figure have brains to go with their curves (曲线), scientists claim. Going in at the waist is said to be a sign of intelligence which leads to brighter children, too. Women such as Nigella Lawson with a big difference between their waist and hip measurements scored singificantly better in tests than those with thinner, straighter frames. Researchers concluded that it was not necessary for a woman to be skinny―what mattered is that her waist should be smaller than her hips. A ratio of 3:5 was found to be ideal.

The study, by the Universities of Pittsburgh and Califrnia, involved 16,000 women and girls.

According to the scientists, the results are no mere quirk of nature. They claim that the fat around curvy hips and thighs (大腿) holds higher levels of -3 fatty acids which are essential for the growth of the brain during pregnancy(怀孕). The fat which collects around the waist, however, is more likely to contain -6 fatty acids, which are less suited to brain growth.

Reporting in the journal Evolution an Human Behaviour, the researchers found that the children of curvy mothers are more likely to do well in cognitive tests than others. They claim that this could help explain why the children of teenage mothers―who might not yet be physically mature enough to have developed real curves―tend to do less well in school.

As well as boosting (提升) brainpower, -3 fatty acids found in oily fish are considered to be of huge health benefit.

Althoug the study analysed women’s bodies only, -3 fatty acids are also stored in men’s hips. However, it is not known whether men with wide hips benefit from the same brainpower boost.

 

72.Which shows the possible shape of an hourglass?

 

                A.                        B.                     C.                           D.

73.Suppose the following measurements are taken from four women. Which of them is more likely to have bright children?

A. Waist:60cm;Hip:100cm           B. Waist:60cm;Hip:80cm

C. Waist:55cm;Hip:60cm            D. Waist:120cm;Hip:110cm

74.The underlined sentence“the results are no mere quirk of nature”possibly

 tells us the results      .

A. can be explained scientifically          B. are strange and hard to explain

C. have just come about by chance      D. are very interesting

75.According to the researchers, teenage mothers tend to have less bright children because      .

A. they aren’t so good at childcare      

B. they usually have less fat than mature women

C. they aren’t physically strong enough      

D. their waist and hip measurements differ less

 

 0  32091  32099  32105  32109  32115  32117  32121  32127  32129  32135  32141  32145  32147  32151  32157  32159  32165  32169  32171  32175  32177  32181  32183  32185  32186  32187  32189  32190  32191  32193  32195  32199  32201  32205  32207  32211  32217  32219  32225  32229  32231  32235  32241  32247  32249  32255  32259  32261  32267  32271  32277  32285  151629 

违法和不良信息举报电话:027-86699610 举报邮箱:58377363@163.com

精英家教网