Michael Fish may soon be replaced as a weather forecaster by something truly fishier---the shark(鲨鱼).
Research by a British biology student suggests that sharks could be used to predict storms.
Lauren Smith, 24, is close to completing her study on shark’s ability to sense pressure. If her studies prove the theory, scientists may be able to monitor the behavior of sharks to predict bad weather.
Miss Smith had previously studied the behaviour of lemon sharks in the Bahamas.
She then used their close relatives, lesser spotted dogfish, for further research at Aberdeen University. Her work---thought to be the first of its kind to test the pressure theory ---- resulted from the observation that juvenile blacktip sharks off Florida moved into deeper water ahead of a violent storm in 2001.
Miss Smith said: “I’ve always been crazy about traveling and diving and this led me to an interest in sharks.”
“I was delighted to have been able to research in the area for my degree. I know there’s so much more we need to understand ---- but it certainly opens the way to more research.”
It has been discovered that a shark senses pressure using hair cells in its balance system.
At the Bimini Shark Lab in the Bahamas, Miss Smith fixed hi-tech sensors to sharks to record pressure and temperature, while also tracking them using GPS (Global Positioning System) technology.
In Aberdeen, she was able to study the effects of tidal(潮汐的) and temperature changes on dogfish----none of which were harmed. She also used a special lab which can mimic(模拟) oceanic pressure changes caused by weather fronts.
She is due to complete her study and graduate later this year. She says she will be looking for a job which will give her the chance to enrich her experience of shark research.
1.The passage is most probably taken from _____.
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A．a short-story collection |
B．a popular science magazine |
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C．a research paper |
D．a personal diary |
2.What do we learn from the first four paragraph of the passage?
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A．Sharks may be used to predict bad weather . |
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B．Sharks’ behaviour can be controlled. |
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C．Michael Fish is not qualified for his job. |
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D．Lauren Smith will become a weather forecaster. |
3. Lauren Smith conducted her research by _______.
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A．removing hair cells from a shark’s balance system |
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B．measuring the air pressure of weather fronts |
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C．recording sharks’ body temperature |
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D．monitoring sharks’ reaction to weather changes |
4.What is the passage mainly about?
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A．A popular way of forecasting weather. |
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B．A new research effort in predicting storms. |
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C．Biologists’ interest in the secrets of sharks. |
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D．Lauren Smith’s devotion to scientific research. |
Sandra Cisneros was born in Chicago in 1954 to a Mexican American family. As the only girl in a family of seven children, she often felt like she had “seven fathers,” because her six brothers, as well as her father, tried to control her. Feeling shy and unimportant, she retreated(躲避) into books. Despite her love of reading, she did not do well in elementary school because she was too shy to participate.
In high school, with the encouragement of one particular teacher, Cisneros improved her grades and worked for the school literary magazine. Her father encouraged her to go to college because he thought it would be a good way for her to find a husband. Cisneros did attend college, but instead of searching for a husband, she found a teacher who helped her join the famous graduate writing program at the University of Iowa. At the university’s Writers’ Workshop, however, she felt lonely----a Mexican American from a poor neighborhood among students from wealthy families. The feeling of being so different helped Cisneros find her “Creative voice.”
“It was not until this moment when I considered myself truly different that my writing acquired a voice. I knew I was a Mexican woman, but I didn’t think it had anything to do with why I felt so much imbalance in my life, but it had everything to do with it! That’s when I decided I would write about something my classmates couldn’t write about.”
Cisneros published her first work, The House on Mango Street, when she was twenty-nine. The book tells about a young Mexican American girl growing up in a Spanish-speaking area in Chicago, much like the neighborhoods in which Cisneros lived as a child. The book won an award in 1985 and has been used in classes from high school through graduate school level. Since then, Cisneros has published several books of poetry, a children’s book, and a short-story collection.
1.Which of the following is TRUE about Cisneros in her childhood?
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A．She had seven brothers. |
B．She felt herself a nobody. |
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C．She was too shy to go to school. |
D．She did not have any good teachers. |
2.The graduate program gave Cisneros a chance to _____.
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A．work for a school magazine |
B．run away from her family |
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C．make a lot of friends |
D．develop her writing style |
3.According to Cisneros, what played the decisive role in her success?
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A．Her early years in college. |
B．Her training in the Workshop. |
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C．Her feeling of being different. |
D．Her childhood experience. |
4.What do we learn about The House on Mango Street?
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A．It is quite popular among students. |
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B．It is the only book ever written by Cisneros. |
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C．It wasn’t success as it was written in Spanish. |
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D．It won an award when Cisneros was twenty-nine. |
Mrs. Keller had a big family .Her husband had a factory in the town .One of her sons was a lawyer and the other two were drivers .And her two daughters worked in the post office .The old woman stayed at home and could do all housework and wouldn’t employ anybody .
One evening ,the telephone rang while the old woman was preparing supper .She went to answer it .She was told that one of her sons died in a traffic accident .She heard this and fell in a faint .When she came back to life ,she was in hospital .And she needed to be helped after that .
Several months later she was told on the telephone her daughter died while she was being operated on .The old woman was so sad that she had to be in hospital again .From then on she was afraid to answer any telephones and sometimes she was afraid to hear the bell .Of course it brought them some trouble and some important business was held up .So her husband advised her to see a psychiatrist .The man examined her carefully and then asked her some questions.
“You will soon be all right if you follow my advice ,Mrs. Keller” said the psychiatrist.
The old woman took the medicine the doctor gave on time and tried to forget her dead son and daughter .And two months later she went to see the psychiatrist again .
“You have saved me, Doctor ,”the old woman said ,as soon as she saw him .
“Are you afraid to answer the telephone now?”
“No,” answered Keller .
“I dare answer it whether it rings or not ”
1.Mrs Keller could do all housework because ______.
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A．she had no money to employ a helper. |
B．she was strong enough to do all at home |
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C．she didn’t believe anybody |
D．only she was free at home |
2.The old woman fell in a faint because _____
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A．she went to answer the telephone. |
B．she was very ill that evening |
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C．she walked in the room carelessly |
D．she heard the news about her son’s death. |
3.After she came out of hospital , Mrs Keller wasn’t ___as before .
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A．strong |
B．able |
C．clever |
D．sad |
He﹍﹍the job well, but he so careless.
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A．had done; had been |
B．could do; was |
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C．could have done; was |
D．hadn’t done; had been |
According to the newly-made traffic regulations, ____drives through the red light ____be fined at least 200 dollars.
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A．no matter who ;may |
B．whoever; shall |
C．anyone who ;would |
D．anyone ;should |
To tell you the truth, the accident and the damage _____resulted in frightened me so much that I almost gave up driving ever since.
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A．it |
B．that |
C．what |
D．which |
