The discovery of an ancient giant panda skull has confirmed its bamboo diet dates back more than 2 million years and may have played a key part in its survival.
A Chinese-US research team reports its results today following studies on a fossil skull found in south China’s Cuangxi Zhuang Autonomous Region in 2001.
The six fossils unearthed in Jinyin Cave are dated between 2.4 and 2 million years ago, according to the report in Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences, an influential US journal.
Jin Changzhu, of the chinese Academy of Sciences (CAS) and lead author of the paper, said the smaller fossil skull indicates the giant pandas were about a third smaller than today’s pandas.
Researchers knew the panda reached its maximum size about 500,000 years ago, when it peaked ,and then gradually became smaller.
Jin, a paleontologist (古生物学者) at the Institute of Vertebrate paleontology and Paleoanthropology (古人类学) attached to the CAS, said the size variation was a basic rule of evolution.
“A species tends to grow bigger when it reaches the peak of its population , but becomes smaller when numbers decline,” he said.
The dental remains of the skull, which is the oldest giant panda skull ever found, are similar to today’s pandas, indicating the type of teeth that could munch (津津有味地嚼)mountains of bamboo. A panda can eat up to 40kg of bamboo per day.
Paleoanthropologist Russell Ciochon, the US co-author at the University of lowa, said the panda’s focus on bamboo could have helped it survive all these years.
“Once an animal begins to rely on a common and stable food source, such as bamboo, it tends to evolve a larger body size,” he said. “As individuals of the evolving species grow bigger, they have a better chance not to be eaten by predators (肉食动物) due to their larger body size.”
1.According to the research of the CAS , there were most pandas in the world .
A. 2 million years ago
B. between 2.4 and 2 million years ago
C. 500,000 years ago
D. Nowadays
2.The underlined word “variation” in para 6 means .
A. fall B. change C. increase D. decrease
3.From the passage, we can learn .
A. pandas began to eat bamboo 2 million years ago
B. a species tends to grow smaller when numbers decline
C. the giant pandas were about a third the size of today’s pandas
D. pandas’ bamboo has played an important role in its development
Everybody in this world is different from one another．But do you know that understanding differences can help you better manage your money？
As we grow up，we gradually develop a set of our own values or beliefs．These are influenced by society，our family，the education we receive and so on．Once this value system is set up，it's not easy to change later in life．
Financial experts say that everyone also has their own belief of how to manage their finances．This is part of our value system and it has a great impact on the way we look after our money．
According to our different values，experts put us in three categories．They are：the ant，the cricket and the snail．
The ant works first
Just like ants who work heart and soul in summer in order to store food for winter，these people don't care about enjoying the moment．They work very hard and save money they earn so that they can enjoy life when they get old and retire．The ant loves to save but they could make more out of their money if they were willing to invest in some funds and stocks with low risk．
The cricket fun first
The cricket wants to enjoy everything now and doesn't think too much about the future．They even borrow money when they really want something．Many young people now belong to this group．These people have little savings．When they get old，they might have problems．They should learn to save and buy insurance．
The snail lives under pressure
The snail refers to people who make life difficult for themselves．They take big long term loans from the bank in order to buy things such as luxury houses．They are happy to take big loans even though they are not sure whether they can afford it．This can cause problems in the future．They should plan more carefully．
1.．People with the character of the snail would like to __________．
A．enjoy life at the moment without thinking much about the future
B．put work before everything else
C．live a luxury life at all costs
D．take the risk of investing a large sum of money
2.Our beliefs and values are affected by the following except __________．
A．society B．our family
C．education D．money
3.This passage mainly talks about __________．
A．the spending nature of people
B．the relation between man and insects
C．the insects in nature
D．the problems with dealing with money
4.Which of the following has the character that the author prefers？
A．The ant B．The cricket
C．The snail D．None of the above
Taking exams in a large group setting can be stressful for students and for the staff members who are watching over them.
When classrooms are crowded and desks are close together, cheating might be tempting.
One university in Thailand came up with an anti-cheating hat that makes it almost impossible for students to see other students’ papers． A photo of the students wearing the anti-cheating hats made its way to the Internet, and the university was criticized for making students wear those ridiculous looking homemade hats． The hats were made by stapling pieces of paper onto a headband, one to each side of the head.
After being criticized, senior academic staff at Kasetsart University in Bangkok, Thailand, released a statement saying that the hats idea came from students． They said that in a bid to prevent cheating they asked the students for ideas on how to prevent cheating in the upcoming exam, which was being taken by almost one hundred students． Students came up with different ideas, then the paper hat idea was selected by them as the most suitable.
The university claimed that no one was forced to use the hat, but they all chose to do so．“When wearing the hat during the exam, students felt more relaxed, ”Nattadon Rungruangkitkrai, a lecturer at the university said．“It was not meant to indicate that Kasetsart students often cheat on exams． I apologize if the photo makes other people look at my students in a negative way, ”Rungruangkitkrai added.
1.According to the text, in which case cheating will become easy?
A． When desks are crowded into a classroom.
B． When students are too stressful.
C． When too many students are sitting in a classroom.
D． When the staff members who are watching over them are not responsible.
2.Why was the university criticized?
A． The university was too strict.
B． The university made students wear strange looking hats.
C． The university prevented students cheating.
D． The students chose to use the hats.
3.What can we learn from the last two paragraphs?
A． The students are not forced to wear the hats when taking the exam.
B． The senior academic staff at the university made the paper hat idea.
C． The students felt more stressful when wearing the hat during the exam.
D． The students don’t like wearing the hats when taking the exam.
4.What’s the best title of the text?
A． How to make the anti-cheating hat
B． Anti-cheating hat was criticized
C． Anti-cheating hat was considered the most suitable choice
D． Anti-cheating hat
Gabby Logan was a gymnast when she was young. She is now the 39-year-old mother of seven-year-old twins, Reuben and Lois. The other day on TV she was dressed in a new swimsuit, which was designed to show off her nice figure, which was admired by a great number of television viewers.
Gabby, who won high praise for her television show of the Olympics, has asked the woman of the whole nation to go to the swimming pool, saying the secret of her figure is regular swimming. She is also making advertisements for the new Sculpture Swimwear of Speedo, an international swimsuit company, to help women find the perfect swimsuit.
Gabby said, "We all felt uneasy about getting into our swimwear at first. But we should be excited by the sporting achievements we have seen at the Olympics this summer. To get ourselves a little healthier, have a try and go to the swimming pool. " Then she said," Swimming is the perfect exercise if you want to feel healthy or simply relax. I find that going for a swim always clears my mind and also gives me some valuable 6 my time'. I like the calm of swimming which I can't experience when I am not in the pool. "
A study by Speedo, an International company, which sells swimsuits, reported the biggest reason why women were put off going to the pool was the way they looked in swimwear. More than half of the l,000 women surveyed have been reduced to tears when trying on swimwear. And 48 percent said they felt too self-conscious to go swimming with their children. Sally Polak, from Speedo, said, " We're hoping to give women the courage and confidence to get back into the water. "
1. What can we learn about Gabby Logan?
A. She has two children of the same age.
B. She appeared on TV to show off her nice figure.
C. She was a swimmer when she was young.
D. She took part in the Olympic Games when she was young.
2.What is the main reason why Gabby has a nice figure?
A. She is a gymnast.
B. She often swims.
C. She has a peaceful mind
D. She wears Sculpture Swimwear.
3. The biggest reason why most women were stopped from swimming is _ .
A. their shy mind of wearing the swimsuit
B. their being too busy with their housework
C. their not being comfortable in the swimsuit
D. their being afraid of their child seeing them wear less
4.What is the author's purpose of writing the text?
A. To introduce a famous woman.
B. To discuss a TV show of the Olympics.
C. To report a way of keeping a good figure.
D. To encourage women to go swimming.
随着手机的普及化，越来越多的学生将手机带入校园。你作为
校刊记者对一些师生就学生随身携带手机的现象进行了采访。请根据下面所提供的信息用英语给你校校刊写一篇报道，客观介绍人们的看法，并表述自己的观点。要点如下：
支持者的看法 | 反对者的看法 | 你的看法 |
方便与家人朋友联系； 可以放松一下自己； 一些手机应用对学习有帮助； | 使学生分心，成绩下降； 影响睡眠；
| ？ |
注意：1. 内容应包括
以上要点，可以适当增加细节，以使内容连贯；
2. 词数100左右，开头已给出，不计入总词数。
参考词汇：手机应用 APP 使分心 distract（动词）/distraction(名词)
It’s common nowadays in some schools that students take mobile phones with them. And people have distinctly different ideas on this issue.
短文中共有10处错误，错误涉及一个单词的增加、删除或修改。
增加：在缺词处加一个漏词符号(∧)，并在此符号下面写出该加的词。
删除：把多余的词用斜线( \ )划掉。
修改：在错的词下划一横线，并在该词的下面写出修改后的词。
注意：1. 每处错误及其修改均仅限一词；
2. 只允许修改10处，多者(从第11处起)不计分。
Yesterday is my best friend Li Ming’s birthday. When the school was over, I went to the bookshop. I bought a book calling Exploring Space, and had them wrapped for him. Since he had wanted to buy this book for week. I knew that he would be very pleasing with my present. When I got the party, Li Ming said hello to me with a big smile. I noticed that there were much presents on the floor, and I was sure that mine would be her favourite. I gave the present to Li Ming and whispered in his ear, “You will love it.” He could not wait to unwrap it. All of a sudden, the smile on his face disappeared. I looked and I saw some big red words on the cover of the book that said, Caring for Your Baby! I had picked up the wrong book in the shop!
