The World's Largest Insect
This giant insect can be used as a toy.
A child ties one end of a string to a stick and the other end around the "neck" of an insect. Holding the stick, the child lets the insect go. With a loud whirring sound, the insect takes off, pulling the string in a large curve over the child's head. The child laughs as the stick jumps around. The child is African, and the toy is the African Goliath beetle, the largest insect in the world.
The Goliath is a true insect because it has six legs and a body that is divided into three parts. Like all beetles, it has two pairs of wings. The front pair are thick and stiff and protect the back pair, which are soft. It is these soft back wings that make the beetle fly forward. They also cause the loud whirring sound the beetle makes when it flies. To steer, the beetle twists and turns its legs the same way you steer a bike by turning its front wheel.
African children often use the Goliath beetle as a toy. Although it is over 15 centimeters long, it is quite harmless.
1.The African Goliath beetle is _______.
A. the world's largest insect
B. a toy used in many parts of the world
C. the only insect found in Africa
D. the world's smallest insect
2.What made the whirring sound that the child heard?
A. The curved string.
B. The beetle's soft wings.
C. The beetle's six legs.
D. The beetle's body.
3.We know the Goliath beetle is a true insect because it _______.
A. makes a whirring sound when it flies
B. has both soft and hard wings
C. has six legs and a body with three parts
D. can fly
4.When flying, the Goliath steers by_______.
A. turning its soft back wings
B. twisting and turning its hard front wings
C. twisting and turning its legs
D. twisting and turning its whole body
Earthquakes are something that people fear．There are some places that have few or no earthquakes．Most places in the world，however，have them regularly（有规律的）.Countries that have a lot of earthquakes are usually quite mountainous（多山的）. The most talked about earthquake in the United States was in San Francisco in 1906. Over 700 people died in it．The strongest one in North America was in 1964. It happened in Alaska．
Strong earthquakes are not always the ones that kill the most people．In 1755，one of the strongest earthquakes ever recorded was felt in Portugal．Around 2,000 people died．
In 1923，a very strong earthquake hit the Tokyo，Yokohama area of Japan．A hundred and forty thousand people died．Most of them died in fires which followed the earthquake．
One of the worst earthquakes ever was in China in 1976．It killed a large number of people．The worst earthquake ever reported was also in China，in which 400,000 people were killed or injured．This earthquake happened in 1556．
Earthquakes worry people a lot．The reason is that we often do not know when they are coming．People can not prepare for it．
1.Earthquakes happen .
A．in all the places in the world
B．only in the countries that have a lot of mountains
C．regularly in most places in the world
D．only in a few places along the coast
2.When and where was the worst earthquake ever reported？
A. 1964; Alaska. B. 1556; China.
C. 1923; Japan. D. 1976; China.
3.According to the passage, which of the following is NOT true？
A．The stronger the earthquake is, the more people are killed.
B．Earthquakes often come unexpectedly （出乎意料地）．
C．Earthquakes can cause fires．
D．People still don’t know how to tell when an earthquake will come．
4.What may be talked about in the sixth paragraph？
A．How do earthquakes worry people？
B．What will people do to prepare for earthquakes？
C．How can we save people when earthquakes happen？
D．How do earthquakes happen？
Along the river banks of the Amazon and the Orinoco there lives a bird that swims before it can fly, flies like a fat chicken, eats green leaves, has the stomach of a cow and has claws (爪) on its wings when young. They build their homes about 4.6m above the river, an important feature (特征) for the safety of the young. It is called the hoatzin.
In appearance, the birds of both sexes look very much alike with brown on the back and cream and red on the underside. The head is small, with a large set of feathers on the top, bright red eyes, and blue skin. Its nearest relatives are the common birds, cuckoos. Its most striking feature, though, is only found in the young.
Baby hoatzins have a claw on the leading edge of each wing and another at the end of each wing tip. Using these four claws, together with the beak (喙), they can climb about in the bushes, looking very much like primitive（远古的） birds must have done. When the young hoatzins have learned to fly, they lose their claws.
During the drier months between December and March hoatzins fly about the forest in groups of 20 to 30 birds, but in April, when the rainy season begins, they collect together in smaller living units of two to seven birds for producing purposes.
1.What is the text mainly about?
A．Hoatzins in dry and rainy seasons.
B．The relatives and enemies of hoatzins.
C．Primitive birds and hoatzins of the Amazon.
D．The appearance and living habits of hoatzins.
2.Young hoatzins are different from their parents in that____ ．
A．they look like young cuckoos
B．they have claws on the wings
C．they eat a lot like a cow
D．they live on river banks
3.What can we infer about primitive birds from the text?
A．They had claws to help them climb.
B．They could fly long distances.
C．They had four wings like hoatzins.
D．They had a head with long feathers on the top.
4.Why do hoatzins collect together in smaller groups when the rainy season comes?
A．To find more food.
B．To protect themselves better.
C．To keep themselves warm.
D．To produce their young.
Here is a question I have often asked at dinner parties:
You're on an island with only one other person, your best friend. He's dying of cancer. In his final days, he tells you, "I have 100,000 dollars in a bank back home. When I die, make sure my son goes to medical school." Then he dies. But his son is a no-good playboy who has no interest in going to medical school and will waste that money away in a very short time. But your son is entering college, and he is willing to become a doctor. Which one do you give the money to for medical school?
I've asked this question of everyone from the president of a famous university to an ordinary young soldier, and it has never failed to get a discussion going. Everyone has an opinion, most of them different, but all of them correct. Sometimes this one topic lasts the whole evening.
1.Which of the following is TRUE to the passage?
A. Only the clever people can answer the question rightly.
B. Some people refuse to answer such a silly question.
C. Everyone at the dinner party seems to be interested in the question.
D. Most of the people have the same answer.
2.What the writer often says at dinner parties is _______.
A. not a true story B. a true story
C. a strange story D. just a joke
3.Why does the writer often ask people such a question? Because ______.
A. he wants to find the answer for a research
B. he is interested in such a question
C. he likes to make fun of people at parties
D. he wants to offer people a topic in which everyone could say something
4.Which of the following decisions is most likely NOT correct?
A. You give the money to your friend's son.
B. You give the money to your son for medical school.
C. You keep the money for your future medical care.
D. You keep the money for your friend's son.
How to Become Cleverer
Once a boy came to ask a fisherman how to become cleverer, because his mother always called him “foolish boy”.
“That’s easy,” answered the fisherman. “I know one way to make you become cleverer.”
“Really?”
“Of course. It is said a fish head is good for brain. If you eat one, you’ll become cleverer indeed. Pay only three pounds for one fish head.” The boy paid him three pounds and the fisherman cut off a fish head and handed it to him.
A raw fish head is not good—not even for a hungry boy to eat but the boy ate it up in two gulps.
“Do you feel anything?” asked the fisherman.
“Not in my head,” said the boy.
The boy lay on the ground and thought. “One whole fish costs only two pounds. I had paid him three pounds for the fish head. Why couldn’t I have the whole fish for soup, a head for brain and one pound left over?” He jumped up and shouted at the fisherman. “You thief! You are fooling me!” The fisherman laughed, saying, “The fish head works now, you see.”
1.The boy ate up the raw fish head only in two gulps, because he __________.
A. enjoy it
B. wanted to taste it
C. took it as a good medicine
D. was a foolish boy
2.The boy came to the fisherman in order to __________.
A. buy a fish head B. ask the fisherman a question
C. buy a whole fish D. A and C
3.The boy paid three pounds. He should have had __________.
A. a whole fish
B. a fish head and one pound back
C. a whole fish and one pound back
D. a whole fish, a fish head and one pound back
4.__________ helped the boy become cleverer.
A. A good meal B. The raw fish head
C. Nothing D. What had happened
The story happened on a not heavy rainy day.
After class, I took a few bottles to go and some water from the water room. Oh！There were so many people! I had to wait the rain. My hair didn’t get wet because I wore a hat, but my clothes .
When at last it was my ,I filled the bottles as quickly as possible. I began making my way back when I saw a boy towards me. He two umbrellas in his hand. He shouted hello and as he came ,I recognized that it was XiaoBai.
He my classmate for nearly three years but we never more than ten sentences. He was silent but I like talking. We were quite people and had nothing in common. I didn’t him and even didn’t want to see him.
“Hey! What’s wrong?” His words me out of my thought. “I saw you in the rain so I brought you this umbrella. But it seems a little ,your clothes are already wet.”
On hearing this, I was so that I couldn’t say a single word.
“Don’t just stand there. Let’s go!” He said and held the umbrella for me. We walked towards and this time, we talk .
“I know you don’t like me, but I want to with you.” he said, “you may think I am silent, but it is because I can’t find the to say.”
The rain finally stopped and we saw a rainbow in the blue sky. I said to myself, “It is wrong to someone only by his appearance.
1.A. collect B. drink C. carry D. hold
2.A.under B. in C. at D. on
3.A.did B. get C. was D. wet
4.A.wish B. duty C. job D. turn
5.A.come B. came C. coming D. comes
6.A.had held B. has held C. was holding D. holds
7.A.near B. nearly C. nearer D. nearest
8.A.has been B. had been C. is D. would be
9.A.shared B. talked C. spoke D. communicate
10.A.the same B. familiar C. strange D. different
11.A.hate B. ignore C. like D. get along
12.A.brought B. make C. get D. surprised
13.A.stood B. stand C. standing D. are standing
14.A.early B. frequent C. actually D. late
15.A.moving B. move C. moved D. moves
16.A.the classroom B. the park C. the playground. D. the bedroom
17.A.nothing B. little C. a lot D. something
18.A.make friends B. shake a hand C. make a friend D. have words
19.A.times B. right words C. silent place. D. umbrella
20.A.understand B. see C. judge D. decide
