Amazing Facts About ELF Owls
The elf owl is mostly found in the southwestern parts of the United States and Mexico. During the spring and summer seasons, it moves to Arizona and New Mexico. It returns to Mexico for the winter. The elf owl doesn’t build its own nest. It lives in tree holes.
The elf owl is a yellow bird with dark wings. Its eyes are bright yellow and its feet are large. It is the smallest owl of the species, only about 12.5—14.5 centimeters long. It is also the world’s lightest owl, weighing not more than forty grams. In general, female elf owls weigh more than male ones.
The female usually lays three eggs at a time. After the young elf owls are born, their mother will feed them with worms for up to three to four weeks. After 10 weeks, the young ones are fully grown and ready to take flight.
The elf owls are not aggressive birds. When danger comes, they will fly away in the other direction, rather than staying and facing the danger or their enemies. Besides flying, the elf owl can also walk and climb like a parrot. The elf owl is most active duck, during the night and just before dawn. It can produce many different kinds of sounds. It can live for three to six years in the wild. If they are kept in cages, they can live for ten to fourteen years. The elf owls are now in danger because of the loss of habitat. Cutting down trees will result in lack of places for them to live in.
1.According to the first two paragraphs, the elf owl may ________.
A. live in Mexico in winter
B. have yellow wings
C. have big and dark eyes
D. build its nest in trees
2.What can we learn from the text?
A. The female elf owl lays one egg at a time
B. The elf owl can live no longer than six years
C. The elf owl sleeps at night and searches for food during the daytime
D. The female elf owl provides her young with food for three to four weeks
3.What is a characteristic of the elf owl?
A. It prefers to live in cages.
B. It has a gentle character.
C. It is not good at climbing.
D. It is most active during the day.
4.Where can we most probably find the text?
A. In a science fiction.
B. In a tourist guide.
C. On a shopping website.
D. In a wildlife magazine.
While I was waiting in line at a coffee shop earlier, a woman drove alongside the queue in a mobility scooter (踏板车). There was only a _____ space between the line of people and the tables, which she ___ to drive along. She drove over my foot and did not __ saying nothing at all.
I got annoyed and expected she would have ____, but then I just decided to ____ it and got down to selecting which pastry (点心) to go with my coffee. The lady and I ended up sitting at adjacent (邻近的) tables. She was on the end of a row so that she could park her ____ . After about half an hour, when she had ___ her coffee, she got up and back onto her scooter. It ____ start. She tried to turn the key several times ____ she telephoned the place she purchased it from.
An engineer ______ within five minutes. The place must have been local. I could not
_____ overhearing their conversation, and it turned out she had just____ the scooter that morning. This was her very first outing in it. She felt really ______ about driving it.____, she wasn’t used to its speed, nor its ______, and this combination made it quite _____ to drive it through narrow gaps.
Suddenly, I felt _____ for the lady. It really didn’t ____ me at all that she’d driven over my foot. I had made an assumption, _____, that a person doing that should apologize.
Next time you’re about to _____ someone, pause for a second and remind yourself that people have judged you without knowing what was going on in your mind or your life.
1.A. private B. vast C. public D. narrow
2.A. attempted B. promised C. declined D. guaranteed
3.A. call back B. give up C. look back D. cheer up
4.A. ignored B. apologized C. explained D. forgiven
5.A. dismissed B. made C. deserved D. inspected
6.A. truck B. bike C. car D. scooter
7.A. poured B. finished C. ordered D. purchased
8.A. needn’t B. shouldn’t C. wouldn’t D. mustn’t
9.A. so B. until C. unless D. before
10.A. broke in B. turned up C. ran away D. settleddown
11.A. tolerate B. allow C. resist D. postpone
12.A. collected B. stolen C. fixed D. abandoned
13.A. concerned B. excited C. confident D. nervous
14.A. Doubtfully B. Certainly C. Fortunately D. Surprisingly
15.A. width B. length C. weight D. height
16.A. cool B. convenient C. stressful D. desperate
17.A. pleasure B. regret C. appreciation D. sympathy
18.A. strike B. bother C. satisfy D. motivate
19.A. otherwise B. therefore C. however D. besides
20.A. judge B. hug C. persuade D. tease
Tips of Avoiding the Computer or Internet Addiction
The Internet has been widely used in recent years. It is a convenient way to share information, do business and contact others. 1. Getting rid of the addiction requires discipline and commitment. Here are some steps that may help your kids to overcome the Internet addiction.
First, you should try to find out just how much time your kids are spending online. Track the information for a few weeks and try to separate time spent on homework or research and time spent playing. Compare this to the amount of time spent with friends, at clubs, in activities and for hobbies. 2.
3. In my house, the family computer sits in the living room. At no time is someone allowed to be “behind closed doors” with a computer. Not only does this help honest people stay honest, but it helps to connect to your teens when they are online. Besides, it is easier to monitor your teens’ time online.
4. Don’t speak of the fact that they are online all the time, but try to get to the root cause. Often someone gets online because he/she feels safe there. Talk to your teens about what is going on in their life. If they will not talk to you, then find a way to connect your teens to the people they contact in real life.
Lastly, remember that if an Internet addiction is growing, your kids need help. In many cases, the Internet is a safe place for people with poor self-esteem, negative self-image, or for people who have been hurt. 5.
If there is a problem, and a person needs help, these symptoms will continue to worsen until they get help.
A. If things are out of balance, try to correct them.
B. There are some disadvantages of getting online.
C. Second, move computers out of your children’s rooms.
D. It is a good idea to contact the teacher for help if possible.
E. Also, if your kids spend too much time online, talk to them.
F. Unfortunately, some people develop an addiction to the Internet.
G. It is the same with people with eating disorders or drug addictions.
A warm drink of milk before bed has long been the best choice for those wanting a good night’s sleep. But now a study has found it really does help people nod off — if it is milked from a cow at night.
Researchers have discovered that “night milk” contains more melatonin (褪黑激素), which has been proven to help people feel sleepy and reduce anxiety.
The study, by researchers from Seoul, South Korea, involved mice being fed with dried milk powder made from cows milked both during the day and at night.
Those given night milk, which contained 10 times the amount of melatonin, were less active and less anxious than those fed with the milk collected during daytime, according to the study published in The Journal of Medicinal Food.
Night milk quickened the start of sleep and caused the mice to sleep longer.
While the effect of cows’ milk harvested at different time has not been tested on humans up to now, taking melatonin drugs has been suggested to those who are struggling to fall asleep at night.
Previous studies have also indicated that milk can be excellent for helping sleep because of the calcium content, which helps people to relax.
Milk is also sugar-free and additive-free with nutritionists recommending skimmed milk as the best choice before bed as it is the least fattening. The more fat you take in before bedtime, the greater burden you will put on your body at night.
1.According to the text, the mice fed with daytime milk_______.
A. started sleep more easily B. were more anxious
C. were less active D. woke up later
2.Which of the following is true of melatonin according to the text?
A. It’s been tested on mice for ten times. B. It can make people more energetic.
C. It exists in milk in great amount. D. It’s used in sleeping drugs.
3.What can be a suitable title for the text?
A. Night Milk and Sleep B. Fat, Sugar and Health
C. An Experiment on Mice D. Milk Drinking and Health
4.How does the author support the theme of the text?
A. By giving examples. B. By stating arguments.
C. By explaining statistical data. D. By providing research results.
The way you stand can identify whether you will suffer from aches and pains in the back or neck in later life, the British Chiropractic Association has said. Whether you are a “spoon”, “bridge”, “leaning tower” or “flat-back” will determine your risk of having problems later.
A quarter of women suffer pain lasting between one and three days starting at the relatively young age of 34, the survey found. While previous indicators have focused on body shapes, with larger-breasted women and “apple” shapes being seen as a warning sign, this new research shows posture (姿势) could be key in preventing back pain.
“Leaning tower” —women whose heads lean forward — are most likely to report pain, with almost six in ten with this posture already suffering. Being a “bridge” with an arched back was the second worse posture, followed by a “spoon” position with rounded shoulders but a flat back. And a change in posture can be far less demanding than a crash diet or an exercise programme.
“Flat back” ladies, who keep their backs flat are the most likely to avoid pain with a fifth reporting they have never suffered back or neck aches in their lives. Tim Hutchful, a member of the British Chiropractic Association said, “Rather than worrying about being an ‘apple’ or an ‘hourglass’ , we want people to think about what they look like from the side. The perfect posture should give you a side-on appearance with your ears, shoulders, hips, knees and ankles in line. ” People who want to improve their back and neck pain symptoms through a better posture should try imagining they have a plumb line (铅垂线) hanging straight from their ears to ankles —with everything in the middle sitting on the same line. One way to do this is to try standing in a relaxed way and then gently pressing together the abdominal muscles (腹肌).
1.Which posture holds the greatest risk of back pain?
A. “Spoon”. B. “Bridge”. C. “Leaning tower”. D. “Flat back”.
2.What should people care about if they want to avoid back pain?
A. Their exercise. B. Their body shape.
C. Their daily diet. D. Their side-on appearance.
3.What does Tim Hutchful recommend?
A. Having an “hourglass” shape. B. Keeping a “flat back” posture.
C. Building abdominal muscles. D. Hanging a plumb line from one’s ear.
4.From the text we can infer that ________.
A. previously people blame body shape for back pain
B. we should lean slightly forward to avoid back pain
C. a “bridge” holds less risk of back pain than a “spoon”
D. your side-on appearance determines your body shape
You use her as a shoulder to cry on. She texts you back with casual jokes. But she, Xiaoice, is only a virtual chatbot.
Xiaoice, Microsoft’s latest artificial intelligence robot, was briefly released in 2014, and returned to WeChat in 2015, where she became a big hit. Millions of young Chinese now exchange messages with her daily, The New York Times reported. On WeChat, Xiaoice is an official account. After following it, users can start text-based conversations with Xiaoice.
“Her incredible learning ability was why people loved to talk with Xiaoice,” Liu Jinchang, a researcher at High-tech Research and Development Center under the Ministry of Science and Technology, told China Daily. Apart from her ability to identify photos and send emojis (表情符号) in conversations, Xiaoice gains 45 percent of her knowledge from interacting with users, China Daily reported.
Chatbot programs first appeared in the mid-1960s in the US. Driven by top tech companies, they are becoming smarter and more common. For instance, IBM’s latest artificial intelligence program served as an academic consultant at Australia’s Deakin University, answering students’ questions about course schedules and financial aid. Apple’s Siri and Amazon’s Alexa have been used as voice assistants who can read news, play music and even make jokes for their users.
These programs are expected to move beyond smartphones, into televisions, cars and living rooms. The New York Times pointed out. However, it may take decades before scientists develop a “Samantha”, the advanced chatbot seen in the fiction film Her. In the film, Samantha sparks a romantic relationship with her user played by US actor Joaquin Phoenix. Many viewers were enthusiastic about this fantasy of virtual soul mates.
1.What does the underlined part in Paragraph Two mean?
A. She became a best seller. B. She became very powerful.
C. She became a money maker. D. She became very popular.
2.Which of the following can Xiaoice do?
A. Do housework. B. Spread messages.
C. Identify various photos. D. Read news to its users.
3.Which company’s chatbot program can act as an academic consultant?
A. Microsoft. B. IBM. C. Apple. D. Amazon.
4.What can be learned from the last paragraph?
A. Chatbots mainly run on smartphones now.
B. It’ll take decades to apply chatbots to cars.
C. Samantha is played by a US actor in the film.
D. The film Her doesn’t interest many audience.
