Greenwich (格林威治) is on the River, five miles from the middle of London, and its history is two thousand years old. The first English people were fishermen there, and they named the place Greenwich, meaning "green village". Later the English kings and queens lived at Greenwich in their beautiful places.
The name of the earliest palace was Placentia. Its windows were made of glass--the first in England. But trouble was coming to Greenwich. In 1649, a war started in England and for eleven years there was no king. The men who had worked for him at Placentia decided to live in the place themselves. They sold all its beautiful things, and bought small pieces of the palace garden with money. Finally, the war ended and King Charles II came back. But Placentia was falling down. So King Charles built a new and bigger palace, which is now open to the public.
At this time, Charles was worried about losing so many of its ships at sea because their sailors did not know how to tell exactly where they were. So in 1675, Charles made John Flamsteed, the first astronomer (天文学家) in England, try to find the answer. Flamsteed worked in a new building on the high ground in Greenwich Park. From it with a telescope which he made himself, Flamsteed could look all round the sky. And he did, night after night, for twenty years. Carrying on Flamsteed's work a hundred years later, an astronomer called Harrison finally made a clock which told the time at sea, and helped sailors to know where they were.You can see Harrison's clock, still working, in Greenwich's museum of the sea. Because of Flamsteed's work, every country in the world now tells its time by Greenwich time.
1.The first English people living in the "green village" were _____.
A. sailors
B. fishermen
C. King Charles and his family
D. The families of king and queens
2.Placentia was _____ palace in Greenwich.
A. the biggest B. smallest
C. the earliest D. the latest
3.What kind of trouble came to Greenwich in 1649?
A. A war started in England.
B. Placentia was destroyed.
C. Ship-yards were built .
D. King Henry died.
4.Charles made John Flamsteed try to find ______.
A. how to tell the time
B. hot to build ships
C. a way for sailors to tell their positions at sea
D. a place to set up a telescope
5.Who made the first clock which could tell the time at sea?
A. Harrison B. Flamsteed
C. Henry D. Charles
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.
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 track 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.
5.If the passage goes on, it possibly refers to _________.
A. fish life B. food fish
C. fish industry D. young fish
Animal moms are great moms. You might be surprised at some of these moms.
Octopuses
The octopus mother lays about 50,000 eggs. For about 300 days, she stays with the eggs, cleans them and protects them. She does not leave to feed. However, this animal mom dies as soon as the eggs are hatched.
Crocodiles
A crocodile mother puts a lot of time and effort into raising her babies. She starts by building a nest(巢), which she guards for over two months! When the eggs are ready to hatch, the young crocs call out to their mother, who digs them out and helps them hatch. She then carries them in her mouth down to the water, where she will guard them for several weeks or months until they learn to hunt on their own.
Bats
Bats become moms by hanging head up in a cave, giving birth. Catching the youngster before it can fall to the ground below, she puts it in a pouch. Bat moms may carry babies with them when feeding for the first few days. As the little bats get bigger and heavier, moms help them hang on the wall of their caves and return often to feed them. It continues for about three weeks, until the babies are grown up and able to fly on their own.
Koalas
This animal mom gives birth after a pregnancy(怀孕期) of only 35 days. The hairless baby climbs into its mother's pouch and lives there for another five months. When the little koala is between five and eight months old, it leaves the pouch for short periods of time but returns for safety. Once it is too big to return to the pouch, it will climb onto its mother's back and ride there until it is about 12 months old.
1.The passage is probably taken from _________.
A. a movie B. a conference
C. a science magazine D. a speech
2.Which animal moms dies when their babies are born?
A. Octopus. B. Crocodile.
C. Bat. D. Koala.
3.A crocodile mother usually carries her babies to the water ______.
A. in her mouth B. on her back
C. in her pouch D. by her tail
4.A bat mom ______.
A. gives birth by lying in the nest
B. gives birth by hanging in a cave
C. leaves its babies in the pouch for months
D. lets its babies live on their own after birth
5.How long does a young koala usually stay in its mother's pouch at least?
A. 35 days. B. 5 months.
C. 8 months. D. 12 months.
Long ago there was a poor farmer in Russia. He had been very with everything he had. However, when he found his elder brother was than him, he felt disappointed. So he hard about how he could also be richer. Finally he got an idea. He started to spend less money on food and clothes to some money to buy more land. Once he had enough money, he started for land.
He that on the neighboring land, there were some nomads (游牧民) living there. He bought some gifts and went to their head. He presented the gifts to the head and told him the of his visit. The head welcomed him, accepted the gifts and agreed to his to get the land. The head told him that he could have the land giving him anything. He can take as much land as he could by walking through the land before sunset (日落). He should start in the morning and whatever distance he could travel during the , he could have it.
The farmer became very when he heard this offer. Now he could have lots of without paying anything. He came the next morning and started running, not walking, he could cover the largest area. To reach his goal, he neither ate food, nor drank water, nor had any rest. He just continued . Without eating, or drinking, or resting, he just got very . When he came back to the head in the evening, he right on the spot. Sadly his son buried him in a piece of land about 6 x 4 feet.
Don’t be greedy (贪婪的) or you will everything finally.
1.A. careful B. bored C. busy D. pleased
2.A. richer B. healthier C. stronger D. cleverer
3.A. thought B. learned C. tried D. worked
4.A. borrow B. spend C. save D. make
5.A. looking B. waiting C. preparing D. caring
6.A. explained B. hoped C. guessed D. found
7.A. follow B. visit C. help D. cheat
8.A. chance B. result C. condition D. purpose
9.A. promise B. wish C. suggestion D. order
10.A. for B. without C. by D. before
11.A. farm B. buy C. cover D. have
12.A. year B. month C. day D. week
13.A. interested B. sad C. happy D. calm
14.A. crop B. experience C. knowledge D. land
15.A. quietly B. early C. finally D. suddenly
16.A. so that B. even if C. because D. whether
17.A. dreaming B. walking C. speaking D. running
18.A. nervous B. excited C. tired D. worried
19.A. refused B. died C. appeared D. rested
20.A. lose B. face C. change D. defeat
--Have you finished your experiment report, Jane?
--Oh, my God. I’ve _______ forgotten all about that.
A. strongly B. extremely
C. entirely D. freely
I know my boss doesn't _____ me, but I’ll never care about that, because I am leaving for a better job soon.
A. play a part in B. make use of
C. think highly of D. stand for
