A growing number of American homes are keeping African pygmy hedgehogs(刺猬) as pets. Hers are some questions and answers about the small animals whose backs and sides are covered with about 6,000 quills. Their quills are short, but hard and sharp.
Where do they come from?
The breed is a hybrid (杂种) of the four-toed hedgehog or African white-bellied hedgehog and the Algerian hedgehog. Its natural habitat is central, eastern and southern Africa. It now breaks the law to bring them into the United States.
An adult African pygmy hedgehog is 6 to 11 inches long and weighs 1 to 2 pounds. A relaxed one is generally oval (椭圆的) , with a very short tail and short limbs that keep the body close to the ground . When threatened or frightened, it rolls into a ball and forces its quills out in all directions. Female hedgehogs are a bit larger than the male ones. The face and the underside are covered with soft and white fur.
What do they eat?
In the wild, the hedgehog feeds mainly on insects. It also eats earthworms, snails and slugs, as well as small snakes and frogs. Pet owners feed cat food to hedgehogs that are kept at home by them.
How many babies can a mother hedgehog give birth to one time?
After hedgehogs get pregnant, it just takes about 35 days for them to give birth. Hedgehogs are born in babies of 2 to 10, each having white quills that do not injure the mother during birth. The US Department of Agriculture requires anyone breeding at least three hedgehogs to get a license.
1.Paragraph 1 shows that keeping African pygmy hedgehogs as pets__ __.
A. is very exciting but dangerous for pet owners
B. is becoming more and more popular in the US
C. is causing more and more troubles for pet owners
D. is the most popular with people in the United States
2.What do we know about African pygmy hedgehogs?
A. They usually live in eastern and northern Africa.
B. They like rolling away when threatened or frightened.
C. They are usually 6 inches long when they are born.
D. They are a new breed by two kinds of hedge-hogs.
3.Which of the following can be used as the second subtitle?
A. What do they look like?
B. How much do they weigh?
C. How long are their bodies?
D. How do they protect themselves?
4.When African pygmy hedgehogs are born, they probably__ __.
A. often influence their mother’s life
B. have very soft white quills
C. can look for insects within days
D. often become food of small snakes
I was born into a family of five children. As the youngest child, I didn’t have many new clothes. Though my parents worked very hard, we could hardly make ends meet. The only time we would receive new clothes was at Christmas.
The family across the street lived a much better life. They just had two daughters and they were often seen wearing new dresses. The younger girl named Anna was of my age. One afternoon, she walked on the street wearing a beautiful white dress. She looked like an angel in that dress. I, together with many little girls, followed her. We just couldn’t keep our eyes off her dress. We all wished we would have such a dress one day!
That day, after coming back, I told my mom that I wanted a dress like that. My mom frowned(皱眉) she thought such a beautiful dress like that must cost an arm and a leg, but my mom kept that in mind. She worked five days a week at that time, but when Christmas was getting close, she worked even on every Saturday.
However, several days before Christmas, I changed my mind. It was Anna’s birthday that day and I was invited to her home with some other girls. After that party, I asked if I could try on her white dress. “Of course,” she said, “and you can take it if you like it.” I couldn’t believe my ears. How could she give such a beautiful dress to someone else? After trying it on, I knew why.
The dress looked beautiful, but it was uncomfortable to wear. As a matter of fact, my back was quite itchy(痒的) after I put it on. From that day on, I stopped admiring what others had. They may not be as good aswe think.
1.When the writer was a little girl, she .
A. couldn’t get whatever she liked
B. couldn’t see her parents at all
C. didn’t like new clothes
D. didn’t like Christmas that much
2.When the other girls saw Anna’s dress, they thought it .
A. too little B. very cheap
C. very beautiful D. very comfortable
3.The writer’s mother started working on very Saturday because she .
A. wanted to buy a new dress for herself
B. had to buy all her children expensive gifts
C. prepared herself for the busiest Christmas.
D. wanted to buy the dress the writer wanted
4.From the passage, we learn that .
A. there are always kind-hearted people around us
B. what others have may not be as good as we think
C. we should give what we no longer need to others
D. we can get what we want if we try hard enough
Last summer, I cycled to a small village with my friend Mike. We had a ___ time there. However, when we were ____ a bike on a narrow road, we found a big tree lying across the road.
We had to ____ the bike. And Mike ____ complaining, ”Why did someone put a tree across the road? And why did ____ get it out of the road?” He ____ complaining. I thought he would ask me to help him get the tree out of the road, but he didn’t. __ __ , he just stepped over it with his ____ , followed by me. And he still didn’t stop complaining, “I guess nowadays no one is ____ to do something for others.” I thought now he would ____ to remove it, but he still didn’t. He just got on his bike and was about to leave. But I didn’t follow him. Noticing I wasn’t ____, he asked me, “What’s wrong?” I said, ”Let’s remove the ____.” He looked puzzled and asked, “____should we do it? It’s not our responsibility.” But I insisted. ____, he got off his bike and we got the tree out of the road together. “You see, there are still ____ who are willing to do something for others,” after removing the tree, I said laughingly to my friend and he ____, too.
My dear friends, when something is in your ____ next time, you can choose to complain and just ____ it there. But you can ____ choose to get it out of the way. Don’t ____ for others to do that. You can be the one who does something for others.
1.A. shortB. tiringC. differentD. great
2.A. checkingB. ridingC. pushingD. buying
3.A. get backB. look forC. get offD. look after
4.A. advisedB. startedC. stoppedD. continued
5.A.anybodyB. somebodyC. everybodyD. nobody
6.A. suggestedB. consideredC. keptD. began
7.A. InsteadB. ThereforeC. HoweverD. Otherwise
8.A. booksB. clothesC. bikeD. bag
9.A.readyB. happyC. surprisedD. worried
10.A. fearB. begC. tryD. refuse
11.A. thinkingB. movingC. helpingD. smiling
12.A. bikeB. villageC. stoneD. tree
13.A. WhereB. WhyC. HowD. When
14.A. At lastB. As usualC. In factD. At first
15.A. peopleB. villagersC. touristsD. students
16.A. jumpedB. understoodC. thankedD. laughed
17.A. heartB. houseC. wayD. mind
18.A. removeB. leaveC. changeD. cut
19.A. hardlyB. neverC. alsoD. sometimes
20.A. lookB. callC. payD. wait
–Mum, hurry up! The film is beginning soon.
- Just . We have at least one hour to spare.
A. stay away B. take your time
C. don’t mention it D. forget it
Never Lisa would arrive but she turned up at the last minute.
A. did we think B. have we thought
C. we thought D. we have thought
- Was she badly hurt?
- Yes, each time she moved her leg, she a cry.
A. broke out B. took out C. let out D. kept out
