The dodo is among the most famous extinct creatures, and a poster child for human-caused extinction events. Despite its bad name, and the fact that the species was alive during recorded human history, little is actually known about how this animal lived, looked, and behaved. A new study of the only known complete skeleton(骨架) from a single bird takes advantage of modern 3-D laser scanning(扫描) technology to open a new window into the life of this famous extinct bird.
The study was presented at the 74th Annual Meeting of the Society of Vertebrate Paleontology in Estrel, Berlin. Leon Claessens, Associate Professor at the College of the Holy Cross, and lead researcher on the study said that, "the 3-D laser surface scans we made of the fragile dodo skeletons enable us to reconstruct how the dodo walked, moved and lived to a level of detail that has never been possible before. There are so many outstanding questions about the dodo bird that we can answer with this new knowledge."
A complete dodo skeleton, found by an amateur collector and barber, Etienne Thirioux, on the island of Mauritius between 1899 and 1917, has remained unstudied, even though it is the only complete dodo skeleton from a single individual bird known to exist. All other skeletons are incomplete combinations, meaning that they are gathered from more than one individual. In addition, Thirioux constructed a second, partially combined skeleton, which contains many bones that also belong to a single bird. "Being able to examine the skeleton of a single, individual dodo, which is not made up from as many individual birds as there are bones, as is the case in all those other combined skeletons, truly allows us to appreciate the way the dodo looked and see how tall or fat it really was," said Juilan Hume, of the Natural History Museum UK, a co-author on the study.
The scans were performed on site in Durban, South Africa, and allow examination of the biology of this mysterious extinct bird in detail for the first time. Using the newest digital tools and techniques, the scans provide an insight into how the flightless dodo may have developed its giant size, and how it walked and lived in its forest home. According to Kenneth Rijsdijk, a biologist from University of Amsterdam, “the skull of the dodo is so large and its mouth so strong that it is easy to understand that the earliest naturalists thought it was related to sharks and other birds of prey（猛禽）, rather than the pigeon family.”
1.The underlined phrase “a poster child” in Para. 1 is closest in meaning to “ ”.
A. a typical example
B. an endangered animal
C. a child who puts up posters on the board
D. a child posted in a newspaper as an advertisement
2.The researchers study the dodo skeleton to find out .
A. ways to save the dodo
B. the dodo’s living habits
C. the bird’s natural habitat
D. the cause of the dodo’s extinction
3.What is special about the dodo skeleton found by an amateur collector?
A. It is gathered from more than one individual.
B. It reminded unstudied between 1899 and 1917.
C. It is the only complete dodo skeleton from a single individual bird.
D. It can be examined with 3-D laser scanning technology.
4.What is the purpose of the author in writing this passage?
A. To call people’s attention to wildlife protection.
B. To criticize humans for the extinction events.
C. To introduce a new way of studying the dodo.
D. To give tips on how to study extinct creatures.
If it really is what’s on the inside that counts, then a lot of thin people might be in trouble.
Some doctors now think that the internal(内部的) fat surrounding important organs like the heart or liver could be as dangerous as the external fat which can be noticed more easily.
“Being thin doesn’t surely mean you are not fat,” said Dr Jimmy Bell at Imperial College. Since 1994, Bell and his team have scanned nearly 800 people with MRI machines to create “fat maps” showing where people store fat.
According to the result, people who keep their weight through diet rather than exercise are likely to have major deposits of internal fat, even if they are slim.
Even people with normal Body Mass Index scores can have surprising levels of fat deposits inside. Of the women, as many as 45 percent of those with normal BMI scores (20 to 25) actually had too high levels of internal fat. Among men, the percentage was nearly 60 percent.
According to Bell, people who are fat on the inside are actually on the edge of being fat. They eat too many fatty and sugary foods, but they are not eating enough to be fat. Scientists believe we naturally store fat around the belly first, but at some point, the body may start storing it elsewhere.
Doctors are unsure about the exact dangers of internal fat, but some think it has something to do with heart disease and diabetes(糖尿病). They want to prove that internal fat damages the body’s communication systems.
The good news is that internal fat can be easily burned off through exercise or even by improving your diet. “If you want to be healthy, there is no shortcut. Exercise has to be an important part of your lifestyle.” Bell said.
1.What is the passage mainly about?
A. Thin people may be fat inside.
B. Internal fat is of no importance.
C. Internal fat leads to many diseases.
D. Thin people don’t have diabetes.
2.According to the passage, which of the following is WRONG?
A．Exercise can help to reduce the internal fat.
B．People can get rid of internal fat by improving diet.
C．Men are more likely to have too much internal fat.
D．People with heart disease all have internal fat.
3.From the last paragraph, we can find that ______.
A．internal fat leading to disease has been proved
B．exercise plays an important role in people’s life for keeping healthy
C．thin people usually have internal fat even if they are slim
D．it is easier to burn off internal fat than external fat
4.The underlined part in the last paragraph means ______.
A．a long road
B．a clear difference
C．an easy way
D．a short distance
阅读理解
I am a writer. I spend a great deal of my time thinking about the power of language—the way it can evoke (唤起) an emotion, a visual image, a complex idea, or a simple truth.Language is the tool of my trade. And I use them all—all the Englishes I grew up with.
Born into a Chinese family that had recently arrived in California, I’ve been giving more thought to the kind of English my mother speaks. Like others, I have described it to people as “broken” English. But I feel embarrassed to say that. It has always bothered me that I can think of no way to describe it other than“broken”, as if it were damaged and needed to be fixed, as if it lacked a certain wholeness. I’ve heard other terms used, “limited English,” for example. But they seem just as bad, as if everything is limited, including people’s perceptions(认识)of the limited English speaker.
I know this for a fact, because when I was growing up, my mother’s “limited” English limited my perception of her. I was ashamed of her English. I believed that her English reflected the quality of what she had to say. That is, because she expressed them imperfectly her thoughts were imperfect. And I had plenty of evidence to support me: the fact that people in department stores, at banks, and at restaurants did not take her seriously, did not give her good service, pretended not to understand her, or even acted as if they did not hear her.
I started writing fiction in 1985. And for reasons I won’t get into today, I began to write stories using all the Englishes I grew up with: the English she used with me, which for lack of a better term might be described as “broken” ; and what I imagine to be her translation of her Chinese, her internal (内在的) language, and for that I sought to preserve the essence, but neither an English nor a Chinese structure. I wanted to catch what language ability tests can never show: her intention, her feelings, the rhythms of her speech and the nature of her thoughts.
1.The author used to think of her mother’s English as .
A. impolite B. amusing
C. imperfect D. practical
2.Which of the following is TRUE according to Paragraph 3?
A. Americans do not understand broken English.
B. The author’s mother was not respected sometimes.
C. The author’s mother had positive influence on her.
D. Broken English always reflects imperfect thoughts.
3.The author gradually realizes her mother’s English is .
A. well structured B. in the old style
C. easy to translate D. rich in meaning
4.What is the passage mainly about?
A. The change of the author’s attitude to her mother’s English.
B. The limitation of the author’s perception of her mother.
C. The author’s misunderstanding of “limited” English.
D. The author’s experiences of using broken English.
假如你是育才中学的一名英国交换生Tom。为了放松心情、结交朋友并了解中国的风土人情，
你计划这个假期去云南大理、丽江旅游。请根据以下要点撰写一篇博文寻找中国学生作为旅游伙伴：
1．时间： 2月2 1日-2月26日；
2．对旅伴的要求；
3．联系方式：电话：13012345678; E-mail:tommy1999@163.com.
注意：
1．词数100左右；
2．可适当增加细节，以使行文连贯；
3．开头和结尾已给出，不计入总词数。
I'm Tom, a British exchange student at Yucai High School.
Looking forward to meeting you.
Aristotle once wrote that “happiness is a state of activity”. In other words, whether you’re
Seeking life-long satisfaction or a few moments of good cheer, you’ve got to move forward. We’ve interviewed the experts and found five steps to take toward a sunny mood（心情）：
Over a 30-year period, University of Illinois researchers asked nearly 120,000 people how income, education, political participation, volunteer activities and close relationships affected their happiness. Reported Newsweek’s Sharon Begley on the findings, “The highest levels of happiness are found with the most stable and satisfying relationships.”
Singing aloud, talking to a stranger, raising your hand: all may increase a feeling of happiness, according to a study from Wake Forest University. Participants（参与者）followed the development of their moods for two weeks and reported feeling happier when they were more outgoing and less happy when reserved or withdrawn.
The editors of forbes.com gave $5 or $20 to 46 strangers by chance. Half the group was told to spend the money on themselves, while the other half was told to spend it on others. Those who’d shared the wealth felt much happier at the end of the day than those who’d spent it on themselves. There was no difference in happiness between those who spent $5 or $20, suggesting that it’s not how much money you spend, but how you spend it, that inspires the spirit.
Studies from the Positive Psychology Center showed that discouraged people who wrote down three good things that happened to them each day for six months reported an improved attitude.
Drinking water really can help keep you cheerful. A small 2012 study from the University of Connecticut suggested that even slight dehydration（脱水） affected the moods of its female participants.
Title | 1.for Happiness | |
Introduction | You will move2.in the course of finding happiness. | |
The findings of3. | Some4.toward happiness | |
•Value your relationships | •The5.happiness lies in the most stable and satisfying relationships | |
•6. yourself | •You can gain happiness by singing aloud or talking to others. | |
•Spend money on others | •Your spirit will be inspired by7.the wealth. | |
•8.on the positive | •You attitude would be improved when you fix your attention on good things. | |
•Drink water | •If a woman takes in enough water,her9.of happiness may remain. | |
Conclusion | Happiness can be found if all10.have been done. | |
短文改错
njoys playing with me, that brings much happiness to me.
One evening, I noticed that my cat stopped playing. I looked up, and here, about three meters ahead of my cat, was a big mouse. It seems to be eating something, their little eyes turning to look around from time to time.
I held my breath and felt a bit exciting. I couldn’t help wondering whether my cat was able to catch so big mouse. Suddenly, he jumped at the mouse with his mouth widely open. The mouse tried to escape, and it was too late. The poor mouse was killed before it realized that what had happened. Then my cat held the mouse between his tooth and brought it over to me as if to say he had done a good job.
