Once upon a time, on an isolated island in the Java sea, lived short people who dominated(支配, 占优势) the food chain. Standing no more than three and a half feet tall, these human ancestors hunted giant rats, lumbering lizards（笨拙的蜥蜴), and miniature elephants.
It sounds a bit like a fairy tale, but it's true. Unearthed relics on the island uncovered the remains of a race of tiny human ancestors. Homo floresiensis, as the newly discovered species has been named, apparently could date back to 13,000 years ago. This means they have a lot in common with modern humans.
So how and why did these people get so small? Scientists suspect that it's due to the fact that this race lived on an isolated island with limited resources. Take the miniature elephants for example. When elephants first came to the island either by swimming or by some kind of natural land raft, they were probably close to full size. But since there wasn't much to eat, over time smaller elephants lived longer and better. The smaller the elephant was, the less it had to eat to stay strong and healthy.
Scientists call this the "island role", and it can apply to humans as well as animals. Given the island's sparse(稀少) food supply, it makes sense that the early humans living there would have evolved (进化) a body size requiring less food to survive. So bigger isn't always better.
In the floresiensis, at least, getting smaller was the way to go.
1.According to the passage, the fact Homo floresiensis are very small is based on________.
A. the islanders in the Java Sea B. the human ancestors
C. the unearthed relics D. a newspaper report
2. The underlined word "miniature" in the first paragraph most probably means______.
A. tiny B. active C. rare D. wild
3.People on the island got so small because____________.
A. they did not have enough food to eat.
B. they gradually developed for lack of food.
C. they shared less food with elephants.
D. they remained alive as the elephants.
4. What might be the most suitable title of the passage?
A. The history of short people
B. Short people from a fairy tale
C. The proofs on short people
D. Short people on an isolated island
5.According to the passage, getting smaller can make people and animals ____
A. run quickly B. live longer C. live weaker D. run slowly
Adventure is in my blood. And I had been considering how I was going to celebrate my high school graduation. I didn’t just want a small __21___ in the backyard. I started thinking about doing a solo ___22___ somewhere out of the ordinary. I took out ___23___ and drew the 1,500-mile route along which I would be ___24___ from the northernmost point in Norway to the southernmost section of Sweden. When I ___25___ my plans with my dad, he ___ 26___ as I thought he would. Because I get my adventurous ___27___ from him, he was all for it.
I had only been away from my ___28___ three days now, but there was an inner ___29___ going on inside of me. Part of me was homesick and doubting whether I ___30___ could make it. The other part of me was ready to ___31___ to myself and my family that I could do it by myself.
On the road, I met another ___32___ who was quite a bit older than I was. He had started his journey ___33___ by bike at the southern part of Norway and had just finished. I could tell he had a great sense of ___34___. It encouraged me not to ___35___.
As I listened to my ___36___ artists on my MP4 player, I pedaled (踩踏板) with my feet. There was ___37___ around me for miles. ___38___, that wasn’t entirely true. There were mosquitoes--- millions of them. My arms were so dotted with ___39___ that they looked like a topographical map (地形图). But, however ___40___ it would be, nothing could stop my advance towards the destination. As you know, adventure is in my blood.
1.A. party B. meeting C. conversation D. lecture
2.A. flight B. interview C. performance D. trip
3.A. instructions B. maps C. magazines D. newspapers
4.A. walking B. flying C. biking D. running
5.A. compared B. shared C. prepared D. changed
6.A. agreed B. sighed C. left D. cried
7.A. stories B. spirits C. skills D. hobbies
8.A. hotel B. school C. home D. office
9.A. battle B. activity C. request D. discussion
10.A. certainly B. really C. usually D. reasonably
11.A. turn B. reply C. prove D. adapt
12.A. driver B. jogger C. bicyclist D. pilot
13.A. alone B. slowly C. patiently D. worriedly
14.A. humour B. direction C. balance D. satisfaction
15.A. calm down B. break down C. speed up D. give up
16.A. favourite B. personal C. professional D. successful
17.A. nobody B. everybody C. anything D. everything
18.A. Firstly B. Actually C. Eventually D. Fortunately
19.A. wounds B. cuts C. bites D. dots
20.A. boring B. confusing C. complex D. difficult
---May I look at the menu for a little while?
--- Of course, _______, sir.
A. don’t worry B. it doesn’t matter
C. enjoy yourself D. take your time
_______ children get older, they become more and more interested in everything.
A. Once B. Whether C. With D. As
_______ has been known that ______ other waste found in the ocean, the plastic does not break down.
A. As; dislike B. It, unlike
C. What, unlike D. That, dislike
It is a good plan in theory, but it remains _______ whether it works in practice.
A. seeing B. to see C. seen D. to be seen
