When she was studying to become a scientist, Megan Strauss rode in a small airplane to study giraffes. While a pilot flew over the Serengeti in Tanzania, Africa, the researchers looked down carefully and counted giraffes.
"I am always amazed how easily we can spot warthogs and other small animals, yet we sometimes have trouble seeing giraffes. Giraffes are slender in shape, and they may not throw a good shadow, " says Dr. Strauss, who has since become a wildlife scientist.
The Serengeti is about the size of Vermont, a state in the northeastern US, so the scientists could not study the entire area. Instead, they surveyed three areas where giraffes were studied in the 1970s. As they expected, they saw far fewer of these animals.
To find out if lions had been killing more giraffes in recent years, the team looked at the survival of young giraffes. Lions kill more young giraffes than adults, but the team found no decrease in young giraffes' survival after they are born, compared with the 1970s.
The team then looked at whether too many giraffes were being killed by parasites(寄生虫).The researchers counted parasite eggs in giraffe droppings, and they found too few to harm the giraffe population.
They looked into whether poachers (盗猎者)were killing too many giraffes. Two of the areas they studied are where giraffe meat is sometimes sold in local markets. Poachers catch more adult males than other giraffes. Researchers spotted too few males compared with females in those two areas, a sign of poaching.
When the food supply is short, the environment supports fewer giraffes and the females have fewer young giraffes. A lot of new trees have grown in the Serengeti, but many are a type that giraffes do not like to eat. The researchers found fewer young giraffes today than in the 1970s compared with the number of adult females, a sign that food was in short supply.
Dr. Strauss is working on an environmental education program for Tanzania including books for students. These materials will educate Tanzanians and help them to help giraffes. As knowledge grows and changes are made, they hope the giraffe population will increase.
1.What did Dr. Strauss find while studying giraffes in the Serengeti?
A.It was too costly to study giraffes.
B.It was hard to spot giraffes from the air.
C.The number of giraffes had increased slowly.
D.Giraffes lived in smaller areas than in the 1970s.
2.How did the team study the lion-giraffe relationship?
A.By analyzing giraffe droppings.
B.By comparing young giraffes with adults.
C.By comparing male giraffes and females.
D.By surveying the survival of young giraffes.
3.What is Dr. Strauss doing to help giraffes?
A.She is founding a national park in Tanzania.
B.She is counting giraffes in the entire Serengeti.
C.She is educating students to write about giraffes.
D.She is raising environmental awareness in local people.
It's a tragedy (悲剧)that could be avoided: every year, more than 400 people in Britain die while waiting for a replacement organ for their bodies. Although organ transplants(器官移植)have been saving lives for more than 60 years, the right body part is often not available at the right time simply because not enough people choose to be donors. Should people therefore be required to allow their organs to be used by others after death?
The British Medical Association (BMA), which represents doctors in Britain, says yes. A system of "presumed consent (默许) " would automatically make everyone over the age of 16 an organ donor .Individuals would be allowed to put out, that is to say, decide not to be an organ donor, if that's what they prefer. The BMA points to much higher organ donation rates in countries that have opt-out systems, such as Spain, Belgium, Austria and the Czech Republic.
England's chief medical officer, Sir Liam Donaldson, also wants to change the organ-donor system from opt-in to opt-out. All of this sounds like very good news for the 7,500 people in the UK who are waiting for transplants of critical organs, tissues, skin and bones.
Britain's National Health Service (NHS) recently counts 14.3 million organ donors on a list which began in 1994. Not everyone wants to participate, however, according to the NHS, 90 percent of the British strongly support organ donation, but only 23 percent are on the organ-donor list.
Why the discrepancy(差异)? One reason is that organ donation is a personal matter. Another reason may be indecision: when families are not sure about a dead relative's wishes, 40 percent decide not to donate his or her organs. Interestingly, religion has little to do with a decision not to donate. All six of the main religions in Britain support organ donation and transplantation.
The government decided in 2018 how the system of organ donation should work--- without a policy of presumed consent. Opinion among members of parliament (议会) continues to be divided; but the tragedy goes on: as things are now, one in 10 Britons in need of an organ will never get one.
1.What does the tragedy in Para.1 refer to?
A.People are required to be organ donors.
B.Organ transplants could save lives for more than 60 years.
C.More and more donors' organs are not proper for operation.
D.Many patients have to die because of no replacement organ.
2.According to Para. 4, most British people______.
A.support organ donation without action B.want to participate in organ donation
C.are willing to donate their organs D.don't like NHS' activity
3.What' s the main idea of the passage?
A.Analyzing the tragedy of organ donation.
B.Persuading people to support organ donation.
C.Praising those people who donate their organs.
D.Listing government' s measures on organ donation.
阅读下面短文，根据所给情节进行续写，使之构成一个完整的故事。
I found the book while I was looking through some boxes in the second-hand shop down the road. It was old and a bit worn, but it was quite cheap. So I bought it immediately. The title was How to Become Master of the World Through Hypnosis(催眠).
I went home and read the book in an afternoon. Okay, I didn’t understand all of it. But the main points I remembered were:
1. A good hypnotist can make people obey him just by looking into their eyes.
2. Hold your index finger in front of the eyes of the person you want to hypnotize and move
it slowly from side to side.
3. Unfortunately, many people refuse to accept hypnosis for a number of different reasons.
It sounded really easy. I decided to try out some hypnosis immediately.
My cat Claw was asleep on my bed as usual. I woke him up very gently because he hates being disturbed when he’s asleep. Then I stared into his eyes and moved my finger from side to side.
“You will obey me... My wish is your command. Get off this bed!”
Claw looked at me for a few moments then he jumped gracefully off the bed.
Unbelievable! It worked! I was a real hypnotist! My heart beat fast as I gave him another order. “Now you will get back on the bed!”
Again, Claw obeyed me! Cool! Then suddenly, I had a thought. Maybe it was just a chance? After all, I had only asked him to do what he normally did. To make sure I had really hypnotized him, I had to try something quite different. I moved my finger in front of his nose again and said, “Go and sleep in the bin!” Claw looked bored. Then he curled up in a ball and went back to sleep.
In spite of this failure, I decided to carry on with my experiment. After all, maybe my cat refused to accept hypnosis.
注意：1. 所续写短文的词数应为150左右；
2. 应使用5个以上短文中标有下划线的关键词语；
3. 续写部分分为两段，每段的开头语已为你写好；
4. 续写完成后，请用下划线标出你所使用的关键词语。
Paragraph 1:
I went into the sitting room where my dad was watching the news on the television.
__________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________
Paragraph 2:
I went to the baker’s and asked for a chocolate cookie.
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课本原文填空
After two days’ travel, the girls began to realize that Canada is quite empty. At school, they had learned that most Canadians live 1. a few hundred kilometers of the USA border, and2. Canada’s population is only 3. over thirty million, but now they were 4. to see such an empty country. They went 5. a wheat-growing province and saw farms that 6. thousands of acres. After dinner, they were back in an 7. area, the busy port city of Thunder Bay at the top of the Great Lakes. The girls were surprised at the 8. that ocean ships can sail up the Great Lakes. Because of the Great Lakes, they learned, Canada has more9. water than any other country in the world. In fact, it has one-third of the world’s total fresh water, and much of 10. is in the Great Lakes.
阅读下面材料，在空白处填入适当的内容（1个单词）或括号内单词的正确形式。
The famous Peking opera artist Yuan Huiqin hosted two culture talks 1. were called “Charm of Peking Opera” in Stockholm and St. Petersburg last year. The two sessions 2. (organize) by Chinese embassies and local cultural organizations. Members of Chinese embassies, famous sinologists(汉学家) and those 3. (show) an interest in Peking opera, attended 4. two culture talks. During the talks, Yuan Huiqin 5. (patient) shared the charm of Peking opera in more than one way.
With the help of the local sinologist, 6. (she) talks were translated into Swedish and Russian. These words explored the concepts and artistic characteristics of 7. (tradition) Chinese operas, which got the audience 8. (experience) the distinct charm of Peking opera.
In addition, young 9. (artist) from the China National Peking Opera Company performed classic opera selections. During the interaction of the talks, some opera lovers performed 10. young artists and on the spot the audience tried costumes(戏装) of Peking opera with great curiosity.
I love music. From the time I was a preschooler, I remember ______ my father play jazz on the piano and my family sing with ______. As I grew up and took piano lessons, I became very ______ of classical music. In the early 60s the Beatles was ______ and I was attracted to “pop” and “rock” music.
As time went on, I ______ to like almost every type of music, from opera to new age. Music did ______ for me. It helped me in every mood and ______ me up. My husband and I can go to a Broadway musical, or an opera. What is it that ______ us to music? Why do we have iPods today with thousands of songs? It’s ______ music is a part of the earth and our nature.
Music is for every ______. It is thought that babies hear ______ before they are born. Mothers sing lullabies (摇篮曲) to their babies and are able to put them to ______. When ________, pre-school children listen to music. It is also thought that it helps them ______ the beginnings of mathematics. It has been used in ______ settings as a way to comfort and help cure victims of stress syndrome(综合症). It also helps people keep ______, when music is played and sung during a memorial.
While we ______ music every day, we don’t think about all of this. ______, we listen to music regularly because it is a (n) ______ part of our earth’s rhythms. So, the next time you listen to music, think of it as a ______ that you share at any time and can have with you always.
1.A.seeing B.feeling C.hearing D.helping
2.A.records B.stories C.speeches D.movies
3.A.tired B.sure C.sick D.fond
4.A.hopeless B.popular C.sensitive D.secure
5.A.learned B.agreed C.grew D.offered
6.A.anything B.something C.everything D.nothing
7.A.cheered B.brought C.picked D.packed
8.A.forces B.orders C.teaches D.attracts
9.A.how B.because C.when D.where
10.A.moment B.singer C.age D.baby
11.A.sound B.noise C.voice D.music
12.A.sleep B.move C.talk D.speak
13.A.old B.young C.strong D.honest
14.A.change B.watch C.understand D.accept
15.A.medical B.physical C.chemical D.political
16.A.nervous B.healthy C.still D.calm
17.A.make B.enjoy C.play D.copy
18.A.Besides B.Therefore C.However D.Instead
19.A.important B.common C.ordinary D.regular
20.A.toy B.game C.treat D.gift
