Forest are amazing and so are the animals that live in them. We enjoy watching TV shows about bears, bats or monkeys. We know a lot about their lives: how they find food or what they do at different times of the year. But what about smaller animals that are more difficult to see or film?
Many small animals that live in forests are very important for the soil. A French scientist, Francois Xavier Joly, is studying one of them — the millipede(千足虫).
The importance of leaves
When the leaves begin to die in fall, they turn from green to yellow and fall from the trees. As they decompose on the ground, nutrients(营养物质) are returned to the soil and carbon dioxide to the air. Life in the forest needs these nutrients. Without them, plants could not grow and there would be no food for animals such as the millipede.
Food on the forest floor
Some living things, like mushrooms, break the leaves into smaller pieces and eat them. In a few months there is nothing left of them. But for mushrooms, not all trees are the same. Mushrooms prefer some types of leaves to others. This means that some leaves take much longer to be broken down than others. Sometimes it takes years. So what happens to these? This is where the millipede can help.
More on the menu
The millipede also likes leaves and it eats any type. But when it has finished, it produces waste. This waste then becomes the food of mushrooms. When mushrooms eat leaves they choose only certain types but when they eat waste, they will eat any kind. This is how the millipede turns dead leaves into food for others and helps life continue.
So next time you are walking through a forest, remember that something may be having a meal right under your feet.
1.According to the passage, what can we learn about the millipede?
A. It can often be seen on TV shows.
B. It mostly feeds on the nutrients in the soil.
C. It is too small to be noticed by people.
D. It lives under mushrooms in the forest.
2.What does the underlined word "decompose" in Paragraph 3 mean?
A. Break down.
B. Dry up.
C. Dig in.
D. Make out.
3.What does the author want to tell us by mentioning mushrooms?
A. The millipede eats mushrooms in the forest.
B. The millipede helps to provide food for mushrooms.
C. Mushrooms play an important part in helping millipedes out.
D. Mushrooms decide what types of leaves the millipede will eat.
4.According to the author, the millipede is ________.
A. poisonous
B. rare
C. unimportant
D. amazing
On the day of college graduation, I told my friends and family the news:I was leaving the country I had lived in since childhood. “I just need a change,”I told them, but there was more. I was running from heartbreak. My relationship with the United States is the toughest one I have ever had, as a country I loved and believed in did not love me back.
Back in the 90’s, my mother brought me from our home in the Caribbean islands to the U.S.when I was 4 years old. She worked as a live-in nanny(保姆)for two years, playing mommy for white kids whose parents had better things to do. She didn’t believe that nanny meant maid, and did whatever was asked of her. She was thirsty to embrace her American dream, hoping that her children would be educated and she might have nannies of her own.
Those were our path to get a “good education.”When the neighborhoods with quality schools became too expensive for my mom to afford as a single parent, we went across the United States with Great Schools. net as our compass: New Jersey, elementary school; Texas, middle school; Florida, high school; New York City, private university
For a long time I survived by covering myself in all kinds of labels so that people would ignore the color of my skin, yet I existed on the edge of ugly, ignorant and uncultured. “Black people don’t really know how to swim, “a white lady told me when I worked as a swim instructor at my neighborhood’s pool. “The black children don’t like to read very much, “I overheard one librarian discussing with another while l sat down reading a book a couple feet away.
I was never able to make America my home. When I stripped myself of the labels painfully one by one, beneath them there is a wounded colored woman who refuses to be faceless anymore. My face may be disgusting to some since it bears proof that race continues to be a problem. My hope is that it will force Americans to re-examine their “post-racial” beliefs.
1.What was the real reason that made the author leave the United States?
A. It couldn’t provide her with good education.
B. She just needed a challenge in her way of life.
C. The way she was treated there broke her heart.
D. She was tired of living in a strange country.
2.What can we infer about the author’s mother from Paragraphs 2 and 3 ?
A. She sacrificed a lot to live a better life in America.
B. She was quite content to work as a live-in nanny.
C. She was particular about the schools her daughter attended.
D. She liked visiting all kinds of schools with the author.
3.The author gives two examples in Paragraph 4 to show that_____ .
A. how ignorant and uncultured many people are in US
B. she needed to cover herself in all kinds of labels
C. the race problem is still serious in the United States
D. black children often have no interest in reading books
4.The author’s attitude towards the United States on race problem is_____ .
A. supportive
B. positive
C. neutral
D. negative
In this digital age, we search almost everything online before we decide what to do. According to a US-based business reviewing website, the top searches at different times of the night in different European countries vary a lot. Below are some of the more interesting findings. Take a look.
Italy: While most Europeans are searching for restaurants or bars around 6 p.m., the Italians are searching for messages, shoes and job agencies.
Germany: Coming from perhaps the most organized and efficient country, the average German is attracted to food and drink. Having looked up restaurants and bars earlier in the evening, they have already been searching for breakfast and brunch by 9 p.m.
UK: Karaoke is one of the most popular pastimes in Asia, but in Europe, the UK seems to be the only nation to look first for Karaoke bars in its Internet searches, roughly around 9 p.m. Later into the night, Britons are going to 24-hour pharmacies (药房)by 10 p.m., and then there is a steady interest in 24-hour food stores and delivery, until 1 a.m.
France: The French call it a day online quite early, at about 10 p.m. But they don't do it until they've had a chance to put their dancing shoes on, after searching for “night club” and “dance”.
Spain: The Spanish seem to be quite practical. They search for elementary schools and dermatology(皮肤科) at 10 p.m., followed by swimming lessons at midnight.
1.A man searching for education information online often probably comes from ________.
A. Spain
B. UK
C. France
D. Germany
2.What can we learn from the text?
A. The Italians don't like restaurants or bars.
B. UK is considered the most organized country.
C. Asian people often look for Karaoke first online.
D. Usually French people end their online search early.
3.In which section of a magazine does this text probably come from?
A. Opinion.
B. Lifestyle.
C. Society.
D. Technology.
假定你是李华，想申请加入你校留学生俱乐部，以帮助外国学生学习汉语并了解中国文化。请给俱乐部负责人Mr. Blake 写一封邮件。内容包括：
1.目的；
2.个人情况。
注意：1. 词数100左右，邮件开头和结尾已为你写好，不计入总词数；
2. 可以适当增加细节，以使行文连贯。
Dear Mr. Blake,
____________________________________________________________________________________________
____________________________________________________________________________________________
____________________________________________________________________________________________
____________________________________________________________________________________________
____________________________________________________________________________________________
____________________________________________________________________________________________
__________________________________________________________________
Yours,
Li Hua
假定英语课上老师要求同桌之间交换修改作文，请你修改你同桌写的以下作文。文中共有10处语言错误，每句中最多有两处。每处错误仅涉及一个单词的增加、删除或修改。
增加：在缺词处加一个漏字符号（∧），并在其下面写出该加的词。
删除：把多余的词用斜线（＼）划掉。
修改：在错的词下划一横线，并在该词下面写出修改后的词。
注意：1.每处错误及其修改均限一词;
2.只允许修改10处，多者（从第11处起）不计分。
Dear Peter,
I am writing to offer my sincere congratulation to you on your winning the first prize in the Chinese Chess Network Challenge. As you friend, I just want you to know how gladly I am at your success.
For years, you’ve stayed highly interesting in Chinese chess but kept on practicing it every day.
Not only have you read much books about Chinese chess strategies, but also you have participated all kinds of Chinese chess competitions. Finally, you succeed in winning the online competition! I’m so happy that you’ve become the champion of this network challenge.
At last, I hope to play Chinese chess with you so that we can make the progress together. Please telling me when you take time.
Yours,
Li Hua
In Canada, volunteering is extremely common among people of all ages. They believe that being helpful is one of the most important1.(quality) to have. There are many forms of voluntary work and opportunities to help are everywhere,2.(include) schools or people’s gardens.
I’m volunteering for a foundation to assist the teacher there. I’m in charge of3.preschool class, where students are aged from 3 to 6. When I first started, I was quite nervous as I’d never worked with little kids before. As time went on, I4.(become) more familiar with them. One teacher asked me to help the5.(young)girl in the class draw a picture6.(base) on the word “grateful”. As I was drawing and talking with her, I7. (gradual) felt warm and peaceful, and I realized8.was not that difficult to work with children. When the class was over, I felt really excited and even a bit proud of 9. had been done.
Volunteering gives us not only an opportunity to change someone’s life but also the satisfaction of helping others. It is also a great way to develop social skills and10.(value) experience for our future.
