Fish Ears Tell Fish Tales

　 Fish have ears. Really. They’re quite small and have no opening to the outside world carrying sound through the body. For the past seven years, Simon Thorrold, a university professor, has been examining fish ears, small round ear bones called otoliths (耳石).

　 As fish grow, so do their otoliths. Each day, their otoliths gain a ring of calcium carbonate (碳酸钙). By looking through a microscope and counting these rings, Thorrold can determine the exact age of a young fish. As a fish gets older, its otoliths no longer get daily rings. Instead, they get yearly rings, which can also be counted, giving information about the fish’s age, just like the growth rings of a tree.

　 Ring counting is nothing new to fish scientists. But Thorrold has turned to a new direction. They’re examining the chemical elements (元素) of each otolith ring.

　 The daily ring gives us the time, but chemistry tells us about the environment in which the fish swam on any given day. These elements tell us about the chemistry of the water that the fish was in. It also says something about water temperature, which determines how much of these elements will gather within each otolith ring.

　 Thorrold can tell, for example, if a fish spent time in the open ocean before entering the less salty water of coastal areas. He can basically tell where fish are spending their time at any given stage of history.

　 In the case of the Atlantic croaker, a popular saltwater food fish, Thorrold and his assistant have successfully followed the travelling of young fish from mid-ocean to the coast, a journey of many hundreds of miles.

　 This is important to managers in the fish industry, who know nearly nothing about the whereabouts of the young fish for most food fish in the ocean. Eager to learn about his technology, fish scientists are now lending Thorrold their ears.

1.What can we learn about fish ears from the text?

　A. They are small soft rings.

　B. They are not seen from the outside.

　C. They are openings only on food fish.

　D. They are not used to receive sound.

2.Why does the writer compare the fish to trees?

　A. Trees gain a growth ring each day.

　B. Trees also have otoliths.

　C. Their growth rings are very small.

　D. They both have growth rings.

3.Why is it important to study the chemistry of otolith rings?

　A. The elements of the otoliths can tell the history of the sea.

　B. Chemical contents of otoliths can tell how fast fish can swim.

　C. We can know more about fish and their living environment.

　D. Scientists can know exactly how old a fish is.

4.How would you understand “fish scientists are now lending their ears”?

　A. They are very interested in Thorrold’s research findings.

　B. They want to know where they can find fish.

　C. They lend their fish for chemical studies.

　D. They wonder if Thorrold can find growth rings from their ears.　

Fish Ears Tell Fish Tales

　 Fish have ears. Really. They’re quite small and have no opening to the outside world carrying sound through the body. For the past seven years, Simon Thorrold, a university professor, has been examining fish ears, small round ear bones called otoliths (耳石).

　 As fish grow, so do their otoliths. Each day, their otoliths gain a ring of calcium carbonate (碳酸钙). By looking through a microscope and counting these rings, Thorrold can determine the exact age of a young fish. As a fish gets older, its otoliths no longer get daily rings. Instead, they get yearly rings, which can also be counted, giving information about the fish’s age, just like the growth rings of a tree.

　 Ring counting is nothing new to fish scientists. But Thorrold has turned to a new direction. They’re examining the chemical elements (元素) of each otolith ring.

　 The daily ring gives us the time, but chemistry tells us about the environment in which the fish swam on any given day. These elements tell us about the chemistry of the water that the fish was in. It also says something about water temperature, which determines how much of these elements will gather within each otolith ring.

　 Thorrold can tell, for example, if a fish spent time in the open ocean before entering the less salty water of coastal areas. He can basically tell where fish are spending their time at any given stage of history.

　 In the case of the Atlantic croaker, a popular saltwater food fish, Thorrold and his assistant have successfully followed the travelling of young fish from mid-ocean to the coast, a journey of many hundreds of miles.

　 This is important to managers in the fish industry, who know nearly nothing about the whereabouts of the young fish for most food fish in the ocean. Eager to learn about his technology, fish scientists are now lending Thorrold their ears.

What can we learn about fish ears from the text?

　A. They are small soft rings.

　B. They are not seen from the outside.

　C. They are openings only on food fish.

　D. They are not used to receive sound.

Why does the writer compare the fish to trees?

　A. Trees gain a growth ring each day.

　B. Trees also have otoliths.

　C. Their growth rings are very small.

　D. They both have growth rings.

Why is it important to study the chemistry of otolith rings?

　A. The elements of the otoliths can tell the history of the sea.

　B. Chemical contents of otoliths can tell how fast fish can swim.

　C. We can know more about fish and their living environment.

　D. Scientists can know exactly how old a fish is.

How would you understand “fish scientists are now lending their ears”?

　A. They are very interested in Thorrold’s research findings.

　B. They want to know where they can find fish.

　C. They lend their fish for chemical studies.

　D. They wonder if Thorrold can find growth rings from their ears.　

Fish Ears Tell Fish Tales
　 Fish have ears. Really. They’re quite small and have no opening to the outside world carrying sound through the body. For the past seven years, Simon Thorrold, a university professor, has been examining fish ears, small round ear bones called otoliths (耳石).
　 As fish grow, so do their otoliths. Each day, their otoliths gain a ring of calcium carbonate (碳酸钙). By looking through a microscope and counting these rings, Thorrold can determine the exact age of a young fish. As a fish gets older, its otoliths no longer get daily rings. Instead, they get yearly rings, which can also be counted, giving information about the fish’s age, just like the growth rings of a tree.
　 Ring counting is nothing new to fish scientists. But Thorrold has turned to a new direction. They’re examining the chemical elements (元素) of each otolith ring.
　 The daily ring gives us the time, but chemistry tells us about the environment in which the fish swam on any given day. These elements tell us about the chemistry of the water that the fish was in. It also says something about water temperature, which determines how much of these elements will gather within each otolith ring.
　 Thorrold can tell, for example, if a fish spent time in the open ocean before entering the less salty water of coastal areas. He can basically tell where fish are spending their time at any given stage of history.
　 In the case of the Atlantic croaker, a popular saltwater food fish, Thorrold and his assistant have successfully followed the travelling of young fish from mid-ocean to the coast, a journey of many hundreds of miles.
　 This is important to managers in the fish industry, who know nearly nothing about the whereabouts of the young fish for most food fish in the ocean. Eager to learn about his technology, fish scientists are now lending Thorrold their ears.
【小题1】What can we learn about fish ears from the text?

Fish Ears Tell Fish Tales

　 Fish have ears. Really. They’re quite small and have no opening to the outside world carrying sound through the body. For the past seven years, Simon Thorrold, a university professor, has been examining fish ears, small round ear bones called otoliths (耳石).

　 As fish grow, so do their otoliths. Each day, their otoliths gain a ring of calcium carbonate (碳酸钙). By looking through a microscope and counting these rings, Thorrold can determine the exact age of a young fish. As a fish gets older, its otoliths no longer get daily rings. Instead, they get yearly rings, which can also be counted, giving information about the fish’s age, just like the growth rings of a tree.

　 Ring counting is nothing new to fish scientists. But Thorrold has turned to a new direction. They’re examining the chemical elements (元素) of each otolith ring.

　 The daily ring gives us the time, but chemistry tells us about the environment in which the fish swam on any given day. These elements tell us about the chemistry of the water that the fish was in. It also says something about water temperature, which determines how much of these elements will gather within each otolith ring.

　 Thorrold can tell, for example, if a fish spent time in the open ocean before entering the less salty water of coastal areas. He can basically tell where fish are spending their time at any given stage of history.

　 In the case of the Atlantic croaker, a popular saltwater food fish, Thorrold and his assistant have successfully followed the travelling of young fish from mid-ocean to the coast, a journey of many hundreds of miles.

　 This is important to managers in the fish industry, who know nearly nothing about the whereabouts of the young fish for most food fish in the ocean. Eager to learn about his technology, fish scientists are now lending Thorrold their ears.

77. What can we learn about fish ears from the text?

　A. They are small soft rings.

　B. They are not seen from the outside.

　C. They are openings only on food fish.

　D. They are not used to receive sound.

78. Why does the writer compare the fish to trees?

　A. Trees gain a growth ring each day.

　B. Trees also have otoliths.

　C. Their growth rings are very small.

　D. They both have growth rings.

79. Why is it important to study the chemistry of otolith rings?

　A. The elements of the otoliths can tell the history of the sea.

　B. Chemical contents of otoliths can tell how fast fish can swim.

　C. We can know more about fish and their living environment.

　D. Scientists can know exactly how old a fish is.

80. How would you understand “fish scientists are now lending their ears”?

　A. They are very interested in Thorrold’s research findings.

　B. They want to know where they can find fish.

　C. They lend their fish for chemical studies.

　D. They wonder if Thorrold can find growth rings from their ears.

Every morning at eleven, a bright new car drove through the central park in New York．Inside the car  36   a driver and his boss, a well-known millionaire（百万富翁）.

Each morning the millionaire   37    a poorly-dressed man   38  on a park bench(长凳)．The man always sat  39    staring at the hotel in which the rich man lived．One day the millionaire was so  40   in the man that he asked his driver to stop the car and he  41   to the bench．He said to the poor man, “Excuse me,  42    I just have to know why you sit staring at my hotel every morning.” “Sir, ”said the poor man, “I’m a failure．I have no job, no family and no 43   ．I sleep on this bench and every night I dream that  44   day I will sleep in this hotel.” The rich man had  45 ．He said to the poor man, “Tonight your dream will come  46 . I’ll 47    for the best room in that hotel for you for   48   .” The millionaire smiled and felt 49    of himself.

A few days  50    , the millionaire went by the poor man’s room to ask him how he 51     himself．To his great  52    , he found that the poor man had moved out of the hotel, back to his park bench．When the millionaire asked why, the man said, “You see, when I’m 53    here sleeping on the bench．I always dream I’m up there in the hotel．It’s a wonderful dream．But when I was up there in the hotel, I dreamed I was  54   here on this cold bench．It was  55    dream and I could not get any sleep at all.”

1.                A．stayed          B．stood          C．sat   D．seated

2.                A．had            B．noticed         C．laughed  D．heard

3.                A．thinking        B．lying           C．sitting    D．resting

4.                A．down          B．up             C．there D．here

5.                A．interested      B．surprise        C．strange   D．nervous

6.                A．rushed         B．swam          C．raced    D．walked

7.                A．but            B．so             C．and  D．because

8.                A．food           B．bed            C．home    D．shoes

9.                A．each           B．one            C．that  D．every

10.               A．a talk          B．an advice       C．a friend   D．an idea

11.               A．easy           B．here           C．true  D．real

12.               A．pay            B．look           C．work D．prepare

13.               A．the first time    B．two days        C．two times  D．a whole month

14.               A．pleased        B．proud          C．glad  D．sorry

15.               A．past           B．ago            C．later  D．before

16.               A．liked           B．enjoyed        C．treated    D．satisfied

17.               A．joy            B．surprise        C．anger D．sorrow

18.               A．down          B．below          C．up   D．under

19.               A．much          B．still            C．even D．besides

20.               A．a terrible       B．a surprised      C．a moving  D．an exciting