Directions: Read the passage carefully. Then answer the questions or complete the statements in the fewest possible words.
When it comes to finding their way back home, mice are definitely in the first place. In fact, they find their way around in much the same way we do!
Recently scientists at Oxford University found that wood mice have a rare ability. They actually create a type of “road sign” to tell themselves which way to go. Until now, most people did not think animals could do this.
Wood mice live in large open fields. One part of the field looks much like the next. Scientists wondered how wood mice kept from getting lost without landmarks. How did they remember where they hid their food? By studying a group of these mice, researchers learned that these clever mice pile seeds, leaves and other materials at places they want to remember.
What is truly remarkable is that these markers are visual. Wood mice have large eyes. They rely on their vision to fine their way. House mice, by contrast, follow their own smell to get back to their nests. However, leaving a small trail in an open field could be very dangerous. Enemies might use it to track down the little mice. Wood mice do not have to worry about this. Other animals do not know what their markers mean.
Researchers wanted to learn more about this unusual behavior. To do so, they needed to study the mice more closely. They decided to place a group of mice inside a box and film their activity. They also put some small plastic discs and a small amount of food in the box. Soon the mice began moving the discs. They used them to hide food. They also shifted them from place to place as they moved farther and farther away from their nesting area.
Researchers believe this new information may change how people think about these little creatures, and one of the first steps in realizing that mice are not as silly as we probably originally thought. One thing seems certain that these remarkable road signs will be a focus of scientific research for some time to come.
(Note: Answer the questions or complete the statements in NO MORE THAN TEN WORDS.)
1.How are wood mice different from house mice?
2.The rare ability wood mice have is _______________________.
3.Researchers found when wood mice moved farther and farther away from their nesting place, they _______.
4.Why do scientists study wood mice?
(Note: Answer the questions or complete the statements in NO MORE THAN TEN WORDS.)
Directions: Read the following text and choose the most suitable heading from A-F for each paragraph. There is one extra heading which you do not need.
1.
Even if you do not live in a country where English is the main language. You can take advantage of many opportunities to practice reading in English. By taking advantage of a wide variety of sources, you will come to appreciate the richness and variety of styles that individuals will use to express themselves.
2.
If you have never had a chance to read the works of Dickens. Poe, or other classical English writers, you can find some of their works for free online. Among other things, you can download entire novels. You may also want to browse the internet and look for critical reviews of classical materials. This will provide you with an opportunity to see if others interpret the material in the same way.
3.
If you are not interested in classical literature, perhaps it does not make much sense to force yourself to read these materials. Fortunately, there are millions of books written in English. As an example, if you enjoy water painting you may want to purchase a book about it Written in English.
4.
Chances are, if there is a hobby you are interested in, there are authors writing something about it in English. If you search the web, it should be fairly easy to locate websites that have free newsletters. These materials are ideal because they provide you with fresh reading materials. In addition, because they are about a topic that you already know something about, you will be able to appreciate the information that is shared, as well as practice your reading skills.
5.
Unlike a few years ago, you can have access to news in English whenever you want. If you are interested in particular area of the world, you may even want to use your time to read those sections of the news. In most cases, you can find free news resources on the Internet. These may also be an excellent place for you to find the names of other websites that have additional information that you might be interested in.
A new study says one part of the human brain may become smaller as the result of a condition known as jet lag. Jet lag results from flying long distances in an airplane. Jet lag interferes with a person's normal times for sleeping and waking. People with jet lag may feel extremely tired for several days. They also may have problems thinking clearly and remembering.
Kwangwook Cho is a researcher at the University of Bristol in Britain. He reported the findings of his jet lag study in the publication Nature Neuroscience.
The study involved twenty young women who worked for international airlines. The women had served passengers on airplanes for five years. These flight attendants flew across many countries and at least seven time zones. In the study, the flight attendants had different amounts of time to recover from jet lag. Half the women spent five days or fewer in their home areas between long flights. The other half spent more than fourteen days in their home areas.
Mister Cho took some fluid from the women's mouths to measure levels of a hormone that increases during stress. He tested them to see if they could remember where black spots appeared on a computer screen. And he took pictures of their brains using magnetic resonance imaging. This is a way to measure the size of the brain's temporal lobes（颞叶）.
It was found that the women who had less time between flights had smaller right temporal lobes. This area of the brain deals with recognizing and remembering what is seen. The same group performed worse and had slower reaction times on the visual memory test. And their saliva samples showed higher levels of stress hormones.
Mister Cho says he believes the brain needs at least ten days to recover after a long trip. He says airline workers told him their ability to remember got worse after working on planes for about four years. Other studies have shown that increased feelings of stress can cause a loss of cells in the part of the brain that controls memory.
Scientists say more tests are needed to study the effects of jet lag on the brain. They want to find out if too much jet lag could permanently affect memory.
1.According to the text, jet lag _____.
A. can cause difficulties in speaking
B. can make people feel tired for a few weeks
C. is the illness only found in people who work on the airplanes
D. can be caused by flying over several time zones in an airplane
2.It is inferred that more tests need to be done because _____.
A. the conclusion was questioned by many scientists
B. scientists fear that his research is not done properly
C. every scientific conclusion needs the support from many tests
D. the woman who were studied in the research were not healthy
3.Which of the following statements is TRUE about the research results?
A. Women who have a longer rest at home show better memory.
B. Women who fly in short time had smaller right temporal lobes.
C. Women who have longer flights failed the memory test.
D. Women who rest more than 14 days produced less hormones.
4.What is the subject discussed in the test?
A. The cause of jet lag.
B. A story of a group of flight attendance.
C. A research about the effects of jet lag on the brain.
D. The importance of having enough rest after long flights.
The Channel is the name given to the stretch of water which separates England and France. Ferries operate all year round to carry people across the Channel, and they are busy most of the year. January is the only quiet month nowadays. As well as summer holiday-makers, there are day trippers and coach traffic, not to mention lorries and other commercial vehicles. Some ferries carry cars and their passengers, while others also connect train passengers with the Continental rail network.
The biggest hazard for the ferry is the wind. The crew listens to BBC weather reports four times a day. Or they sometimes get gale warnings from local radio station.
Crossing the Channel by ferry is a bit like trying to cross Oxford Street on a busy afternoon, according to one ferryboat captain. The ferries from Folkstone and Dover to Calais and Boulogne have to cross the main flow of traffic. This consists of ships traveling through the Channel to and from Northern Europe. There may be four hundred ships making the journey at any one time, and they all pass through a “choke point” which is only fifteen miles (twenty-five kilometers) wide. The cross-channel ferries have to sail right through the middle of all this traffic.
1.The passage is mainly concerned with _____.
A. the English Channel B. the weather on the Channel
C. cross-channel ferries D. what crossing the Channel by ferry is like
2.The word hazard is closest in meaning to ________.
A. trouble B. danger C. enemy D. problem
3.We can infer from the passage that _______.
A. if there is a gale warning from the BBC, the ferries will stop operating.
B. the traffic on the Channel is very busy only in winter
C. ferries are busiest in the afternoon
D. the crew of the ferry listens to the weather reports four times a day
4.Where does this passage most probably appear?
A. In a dictionary. B. In a novel.
C. In a transportation magazine. D. In a geography textbook.
Just before midnight, six University of Cincinnati students were watching TV in an on-campus apartment when three men burst through the door. While one of the intruders pointed a gun at the group, the other two scooped up $4,400 worth of laptops, cell phones, video games and cash. Once they had what they wanted, the trio fled into the night.
Furious, the students chased down and tackled one of the burglars -- the one with the gun. In the struggle, it went off, and a bullet grazed a student's leg. His friends piled on the gunman and held him until police showed up.
By the next day, the injured young man was back in his apartment, and the suspect was in jail, charged with burglary, felonious assault and receiving stolen property. But how did the men manage to storm into an on-campus residence that November night in the first place? Simple: Students told police the building's main doors hadn't latched properly for days.
As parents confront ballooning college costs and shrinking acceptance rates, they are finding themselves with an even bigger, more basic problem: Which campuses are safe? Colleges seem like idyllic and secure places, and for the most part, they are. But ivy-covered walls can't keep out every bad element. This country's 6,000 colleges and universities report some 40,000 burglaries, 3,700 forcible sex offenses, 7,000 aggravated assaults and 48 murders a year. Other hazards -- fires, binge-drinking, mental-health problems -- are also on the rise.
Of course, that's not what parents and students see on America's serene campuses. There's a false sense of security, says Harry Nolan, a safety consultant in New York City. "Students see guards patrolling at night or a video camera monitoring the dorm entrance and think, Nothing bad can happen to me," he explains. "People don't know that safety controls are often very lax."
1.What did the students do after the burglars fled into the night?
A. They stood there in surprise. B. They ran after the burglars at once.
C. They waited for the police. D. They phoned their teacher.
2.What does the underlined word “latched” in the third paragraph probably mean?
A. watched B. fixed C. locked D. kept
3.What worries parents most except ballooning college costs and shrinking acceptance rates?
A. Their children’s grades in the universities or colleges.
B. Their children’s safety in the universities or colleges.
C. Their children’s behavior in the universities or colleges.
D. Their children’s relationship with classmates in the universities or colleges.
Directions: For each blank in the following passage there are four words or phrases marked A, B, C and D. Fill in each blank with the word or phrase that best fits the context.
Some people are just sure to be failures. That’s how some adults look at troublesome kids. Maybe you’ve heard the saying, “A bird with a broken wing will __1__ fly as high.” I’m sure that T.J. Ware, who was caught __2__ a year ago, was made to feel this way almost every day at school.
At high school, Ware was always making __3__. He didn’t answer questions, got into lots of fights and was __4__ from school at times. Teachers didn’t want to have him again the following year.
I met Ware for the first time at a meeting. All the students at school had been invited to __5__ for a program designed to have students become more active in their communities. The program __6__ group discussion and voluntary work in their neighborhoods.
In the beginning, Ware just stood by, not ready to join the discussion groups. But slowly, the interactive games __7__ him in… At the end of the meeting, he joined the Homeless Project team. He knew much about __8__, hunger and helplessness. The other students on the team had never seen Ware making such a long, moving speech. They were __9__ with his passionate concern and ideas, so they elected Ware to be chairman of the team with a __10__ vote.
Two weeks later, Ware led a group of 70 students to collect __11__. They collected a school __12__: 2,854 cans of food in just two hours. It was enough to feed needy families in the area for 75 days. The local newspaper __13__ the event with full-page article the next day. After that, Ware started showing up at school every day and answering questions from teachers.
Ware’s change __14__ us that a bird with a broken wing only needs mending. Once it has __15__, it can fly higher than the rest.
1.A. sometimes B. always C. never D. still
2.A. cold B. stealing C. lying D. spitting
3.A. known B. mistake C. fun D. trouble
4.A. absent B. different C. present D. free
5.A. take up B. make up C. sign up D. put up
6.A. contained B. included C. concluded D. increased
7.A. took B. caught C. pulled D. drew
8.A. poverty B. fighting C. robbery D. courage
9.A. disappointed B. surprised C. impressed D. bored
10.A. quantity B. majority C. minimum D. quality
11.A. food B. money C. clothes D. furniture
12.A. rule B. mark C. foundation D. record
13.A. spread B. covered C. printed D. wrote
14.A. requests B. decides C. reminds D. requires
15.A. repaired B. realized C. protected D. healed
