Have you ever wondered why birds sing? Maybe you thought that they were just happy. After all, you probably sing or whistle when you are happy.
Some scientists believe that birds do sing some of the time just because they are happy. However, they sing most of the time for a very different reason. Their singing is actually a warning to other birds to stay out of their territory.
Do you know what a “territory” is? A territory is an area that an animal, usually the male, claim (声称) as its own. Only he and his family are welcome there. No other families of the same species (物种) are welcome. Your yard and house are your territory where only your family and friends are welcome. If a stranger should enter your territory and threaten you, you might shout. Probably this would be enough to frighten him away.
If so, you have actually scared the stranger away without having to fight him. A bird does the same thing. But he expects an outsider almost any time, especially at nesting(筑巢) season. So he is screaming all the time, whether he can see an outsider or not. This screaming is what we call a bird’s song, and it is usually enough to keep an outsider away.
Birds sing loudest in the spring when they are trying to attract a mate and warn others not to enter the territory of theirs.
You can see that birds have a language all their own. Most of it has to do with attracting mates and setting up territories.
1.Some scientists believe that most of the time birds’ singing is actually____.
A. an expression of happiness
B. a way of warning
C. an expression of anger
D. a way of greeting
2.What is a birds’ “territory”?
A. A place where families of other species are not accepted.
B. A place where a bird may shout at the top of its voice.
C. An area for which a birds fight against each other.
D. An area which a bird considers to be its own.
3.Why do birds keep on singing at nesting season?
A. Because they want to invite more friends.
B. Because their singing helps frighten outsiders away.
C. Because they want to find outsiders around.
D. Because their singing helps get rid of their fears.
4.How does the writer explain birds’ singing?
A. By comparing birds with human beings.
B. By reporting experiment results.
C. By describing birds’ daily life.
D. By telling a bird’s story
阅读下面短文，从短文后所给各题的四个选项（A、B、C和D）中，选出可以填入空白处的最佳选项，并在答题卡上将该项涂黑。
You are near the front line of a battle. Around you shells are exploding; people are shooting from a house behind you. What are you doing there? You aren’t a soldier. You aren’t __1___ carrying a gun. You’re standing in front of a __2__ and you’re telling the TV __3__what is happening.
It’s all in a day’s work for a war reporter, and it can be very __4__. In the first two year of the __5__ in former Yugoslavia(前南斯拉夫)，28 reporters and photographers were killed. Hundreds more were __6__. What kind of people put themselves in danger to __7__ pictures to our TV screens and __8__ to our newspapers? Why do they do it?
“I think it’s every young journalist’s __9__ to be a foreign reporter,” says Michael Nicholson, “that’s __10__ you find the excitement. So when the first opportunity comes, you take it __11__ it is a war.”
But there are moments of __12__. Jeremy Bowen says, “Yes, when you’re lying on the ground and bullets(子弹) are flying __13__ your ears, you think :’ what am I doing here? I’m not going to do this again.’ But that feeling __14__ after a while and when the next war starts, you’ll be __15__.”
“None of us believes that we’re going to __16__, ” adds Michael. But he always __17__a lucky charm (护身符) with him. It was given to him by his wife for his first war. It’s a card which says “Take care of yourself.” Does he ever think about dying? “Oh, __18__, and every time it happens you look to the sky and say to God, ‘If you get me out of this, I __19__ I’ll never do it again.’ You can almost hear God __20__, because you know he doesn’t believe you.”
1.A. simply B. really C. merely D. even
2.A. crowd B. house C. battlefield D. camera
3.A. producers B. viewers C. directors D. actors
4.A. dangerous B. exciting C. normal D. disappointing
5.A. stay B. fight C. war D. life
6.A. injured B. buried C. defeated D. saved
7.A. bring B. show C. take D. make
8.A. scenes B. passages C. stories D. contents
9.A. belief B. dream C. duty D. faith
10.A. why B. what C. how D. where
11.A. even so B. ever since C. as if D. even if
12.A. fear B. surprise C. shame D. sadness
13.A. into B. around C. past D. through
14.A. returns B. goes C. past D. through
15.A. there B. away C. out D. home
16.A. leave B. escape C. die D. remain
17.A. hangs B. wears C. holds D. carries
18.A. never B. many times C. some time D. seldom
19.A. consider B. accept C. promise D. guess
20.A. whispering B. laughing C. screaming D. crying
This picture was taken a long time ago. I wonder if you can _____ my father.
A. find out B. pick out C. look out D. speak out
--Father, you promised!--Well, ____. But it was you who didn’t keep your word first.
A. so was I B. so did I C. so I was D. so I did
If I _____ plan to do anything I wanted to, I’d like to go to Tibet and travel through as much of it as possible.
A. would B. could C. had to D. ought to
–--Do you know where David is? I couldn’t find him anywhere.–--Well. He _____ have gone far ——his coat’s still here.
A. shouldn’t B. mustn’t C. can’t D. wouldn’t
