What is the largest animal that lives on land？You most likely say，“The elephant．”You are correct．（In the animal kingdom，only the whale is larger．）There are two kinds of elephants．The first is the African elephant．The second is the Asian or Indian elephant．They are related．But they look different．The African elephant is bigger．Its ears are about four feet wide．Its tusks are about six to eight feet long．1.
An African male elephant is about 11.5 feet at the shoulder．It weighs from 12,000 to 14,000 pounds．The largest ever measured stood 13 feet 2 inches tall．
The elephant has thick skin．It’s about one inch thick．It’s heavy．2. Yet it is tender．The bite of a horsefly will draw blood．Elephants like to cover themselves with mud clay（泥土）．This protects their skin from bites by flies．
3. It weighs about 300 pounds．The elephant uses the trunk in many ways．It smells，drinks，and feeds itself with its trunk．
4. Only two thirds of each tusk sticks out．The rest is in the skull．Tusks are used to dig for food．They are also used to fight．When trained，elephants can lift as much as one ton with their tusks．The molars are about one foot long．Elephants have four molars．Each weighs eight to nine pounds．
The mother elephant gives birth after 20 to 22 months．5. It is already about three feet tall．It drinks its mother’s milk until it is three or four years old．
A．The skin alone weighs about one ton．
B．There are many land animals in Africa．
C．Our interest is with the African elephant．
D．The elephant's trunk is about six feet long．
E．The tusks（about six feet long）are really teeth．
F．Many baby elephants miss their elephant families．
G．At birth，the baby elephant weighs about two hundred pounds．
In the tenth grade，I began working for free at a vet’s that was run by a friend of my parents．I wanted to get experience for what I thought would be my future job．However，on one particular Saturday morning I learnt something perhaps more important．
The hospital was in the middle of one of the poorer sections of the city and some people could only pay for the most basic treatments．On this Saturday，a man and his young son，who was probably about 7 years old，walked in with a small cat in a cardboard box．There was something wrong with the cat’s left eye．But the man could not afford to pay for the cost of the medicine．He kept quiet for a while，and then he asked where the nearest animal shelter was．Hearing this，his son cried and started to argue with him．All of a sudden，an older woman who was sitting in the waiting room stood up，walked up to the counter，and told the man that she would pay for the cost．The man thanked her and the son got to keep a healthy cat．
I always thought it was the right thing to help out a needy person，but I only saw people do acts of kindness on TV or in the movies．What the woman did made me believe that these things do happen in real life，and quite often．
Now，when I can’t decide whether to help someone who is in need，I think of this woman，and then I have the courage to step up to the plate sometimes other people follow．
1.We can infer that a vet’s is most probably a hospital for ．
A.kids B.the poor
C.animals D.women
2.For what purpose did the writer work at the vet’s？
A.To help his parents’ friend with his work．
B.To make some pocket money．
C.To learn more about society．
D.To gain some work experience．
3.What would the man probably do with the cat if the woman didn’t help him？
A.Give it up．
B.Take it home without treatment．
C.Give it to the woman．
D.Give it to someone on the street．
Do you know how to plant a tree？Once you’ve chosen a tree，you’ll need to prepare your place for planting．
Planting the Tree
Dig a hole a foot deeper than and twice as wide as the root ball of the new tree．loosen the soil at the bottom and sides of the hole，so roots will be able to easily enter the soil．
Gently remove the tree from the container and guide the tree into the hole．Build soil up and around the roots if necessary，so the tree is at the same soil level as it was originally grown．
Straighten the tree in the hole．Before you begin filling，have someone view the tree from several directions to confirm that the tree is straight．You should fill the hole with existing soil that has been mixed with rich materials．At this time you can also add bone meal and then water the tree．
Caring for the Tree
Caring for the tree once it is planted is an important step so you should provide regular watering．Always feel the soil before watering，as over-watering can also harm the tree．When soil is dry below the surface of the covering，it’s time to water．You will probably need to water at least once a week．Continue until mid-fall，when lower temperatures call for less-frequent watering．
When to Plant a Tree
Now that you know how to plant a tree，the next step is deciding when to plant．Spring and fall are generally the best times to plant a tree．This gives the tree time to adjust（调整）before summer heat or winter cold arrives．In areas without cold winters，trees may be planted during the winter．
1.Which of the following is one of the suggestions for planting a tree？
A.Making the tree straight in the hole．
B.Watering the tree as much as possible．
C.Filling the hole with soil without anything．
D.Planting the tree in winter．
2.What can we learn from“Caring for the Tree”？
A.It is necessary to keep the soil in the hole from getting dry．
B.It isn’t very important to care for it after the tree is planted．
C.It is very important to make sure that the soil in the hole is dry．
D.It is necessary to water the tree frequently in lower temperatures．
3.Why are spring and fall the best times to plant trees？
A.Both seasons don’t have much rain．
B.It is easy to dig holes in both seasons．
C.Trees can grow fast and well in both seasons．
D.Trees have time to prepare to pass the following hard times．
根据语境及汉语或首字母提示正确拼写单词
1.Of all the __________（大规模的）migrations，that of the North American monarch butterflies is one of the most wonderful．
2.__________（不知怎么地）they manage to travel around 4,000 kilometres south and find their way to places where they will spend the winter．
3.Every autumn，millions of these beautiful insects with __________（精致的）black and orange wings begin a long and difficult journey．
4.It then uses its eyes to measure the __________（位置）of the sun．
5.These two pieces of information allow the butterfly to d__________ which way it needs to go and change its direction when necessary．
6.__________（最终），it manages to reach California or Mexico．
7.In many of the places where monarchs can be found，people are d__________ the natural environment by cutting down trees and using __________（化学品）that kill the plants that monarch caterpillars eat．
8.__________（志愿者）have been working together to record their migration and make sure that there are enough plants for them to feed on．
9.They finished __________（测量）that piece of land last week．
10.The tests will help the doctors __________（确定）what treatment they should use．
11.It puzzles scientists how these creatures can s__________ in such cold conditions．
12.Workers built shelters for survivors whose homes had been d_________．
13.The news that the plane had __________（坠毁）made us sad．
How to Help Children Learn From Their Mistakes
Everyone makes mistakes. 1. As parents, it’s our duty to help our children learn from their mistakes. Turning a mistake into a learning experience will help your child grow. Here are some tips for helping children learn from their mistakes.
Explain exactly what the mistake is. It’s important to make your child accept the fact that he made a mistake. Talk with your child and help him exactly understand what he did is not right.2. Never imagine he knows; always talk over the problem early.
Ask your child to make an apology if his mistakes hurt others. This step takes a mistake that is connected with another person even further.3. By making your child go to see and talk with the person who was hurt, he will more fully understand the results of the mistake and learn from what bad experience.
Offer suggestion in different ways to lead your child to avoid making the same mistakes again. You can choose to share your personal examples if you had the same problem before.4. He may not want to do exactly the same thing, but it will get him to start in the right direction.
5. Having your child try to work through the problem and know how to deal with it only by himself will help develop his reasoning skills, which is good for his self - development. In this way, he will know what he should do if a similar situation appears in the future.
A. Tell your child how you deal with the problem.
B. Children need to learn the results of their mistakes.
C. Praise him if he fully understands the mistake he made.
D. Now it’s time to help him properly correct mistakes
E. Encourage your child to find a way to deal with the problem alone.
F. Learning from mistakes is what makes us become better people.
G. Sometimes a child fails to know why the things he did are wrong.
More than 10,000 people were made homeless in Ternang when the Sungai Mas overflowed its banks yesterday after six days of continuous heavy rain．
The wooden bridge across the river has been washed away．The town is cut off by flood waters．At the fifth mile, Jalan Tengkn, the water is two metres deep．It is closed to all traffic．Flooding first happened at mid-afternoon yesterday along the river banks．People trying to get to higher ground were just in time to escape the destroying of the flood．Most of the flood victims(受害者)had to leave all their things behind．
The National Flood Relief(救济)Centre was reported to give its help and by early evening the whole town was moved out, helped by the army, police, Red Cross Society and volunteers．
The flood victims are now housed in different simple relief centres in the nearby town of Ternang．“Everything possible is being done to help the unlucky people, ”a government spokesman said, “In fact, money, food and clothing have begun to come in from public organizations and helpful people．A Disaster Relief Fund(救灾基金)will be started as soon as possible．”
According to the latest reports it is still raining heavily in Ternang．The whole town is expected to be wholly covered by the water．So far no deaths have been reported．
1.Based on the contents, this passage is probably taken from ．
A.a storybook B.a textbook
C.a magazine D.a newspaper
2.The reason why there came such a big flood is that ．
A.the banks on both sides were too low
B.the river was too narrow and shallow
C.they had had rainy days for some time
D.the wooden bridge across the river was broken
3.From the passage we know that ．
A.though the town was flooded, you could still go there by bus
B.the flood hasn’t brought a large loss to the town as nobody died in the flood
C.as soon as the water flowed over the banks, people began to go to higher lands
D.the government and the whole society are taking great care of the flood victims
4.What is the best title for this passage？
A.A Big Flood
B.Ternan Is in Danger
C.Over 10,000 People Are Homeless
D.Great Help Is Needed
