Elephants are famous for their supposedly excellent memory. Now it seems that they are good at simple math too.
Researchers at the University of Tokyo have found an Asian elephant named Ashya can add small quantities together and correctly identify(识别）which is larger.
For example ,when researcher Naoko dropped three apples into one bucket and one apple into a second, then four more apples into the first and five into the second, Ashya correctly identified that the first bucket contained more apples and began munching(嚼）on her tasty prize.
Ashya chose the correct bucket 74% of the time "I even get confused when "I'm dropping the apple," Naoko told New Scientist magazine.
Elephants' counting abilities are far from unique. Chimps, pigeons(鸽子)and dolphins have shown the same abilities in lab tests, but what is more impressive for Elephants is that their ability to tell between two figures does not get worse when those numbers are more similar.
The elephants that Naoko tested were as good at telling the difference between five and six as they were at telling between five and one.
Naoko presented her findings last week at the International Society annual meeting in New York.
It is not obvious why elephants should need this mathematical ability in the wild." It is really tough to figure out why elephants would need to count," said Mya, a professor at Cornell University who studies elephants.
One possibility is that they use it to keep track of other members of their herd(兽群）so that no one is left behind. Asian elephants live in groups of six to eight." You really don't want to lose your group members," said Mya.
Another possibility is that the ability for simple math might be a by-product(副产品）of natural selection for a larger brain.
68.The experiments researchers have done recently show that elephants can____.
A. memorize things correctly B. munch on apples
C. do some simple math D. change small quantities into larger ones
69.What does the underlined word" tough" in Paragraph 8 mean?
A. Difficult B. Impossible C. Easy D. Useful
70.The reason why elephants need to count is possibly that_____.
A. they want to exercise their brains
B .they often count the members of their herd
C. they hope to stay in groups
D. they have taken regular training
One of the most famous buildings in the United States is Carnegie hall ,the home of classical and popular music concerts in New York. Carnegie Hall is known not just for its beauty and history, but also for its amazing sound .It has been said that the hall itself is an instrument. It takes the music and makes it larger than life.
Carnegie Hall is named after Andrew Carnegie, who paid for its construction .Construction of Carnegie Hall began in 1980 and the official opening night was on May 5,1891.
The hall was owned by the Carnegie family until 1924 when it was sold to Robert E. Simon。The building became very old and in 1960,the new owner made plans to destroy it and build an office block. Isaac Stern led a group of people who fought to save Carnegie Hall and finally ,the city of New York bought it for $5 million. It was then fixed up between 1983 and 1995.
In 1986,people realised that Carnegie Hall had never kept proper records of its history.
Advertisements and stories in newspapers about how Carnegie Hall needed help to recover its history led people to send in old concert programmes and information from all over the world. Over 12,000 concert programmes were received and with these it was possible to make a proper record of Carnegie Hall 's concert history.
Carnegie Hall is actually made up of several different halls ,but the Main Hall, now called the Isaac Stern Auditorium, is the most famous. The hall itself can hold an audience of 2804 in five levels of seating .Visitors to the top level have to climb up 105 steps to get there!
Because the best and most famous musicians of all time have played at Carnegie Hall, it is the dream of most musicians who want to be great to play there. This has led to a very old joke which is now part of Carnegie Hall 's history .Question:" How do I get to Carnegie Hall?" Answer:" Practise ,practise, practise."
64..It can be inferred that people wanted to save Cargenie Hall mainly because______.
A.it made a lot of money
B.it was worth visiting
C.many important concerts were held in it.
D.it made some players become famous
65.How did Carnegie Hall recover its concert history?
A.Through newspaper reports B.Through old concert programmes
C.Through old photographs D.Through old jokes
66.Why is the Carnegie Hall joke funny?
A.Because you expect the answer to be directions but not advice
B.Because Carnegie Hall is a place where musicians practise a lot.
C.Because it is difficult to find your way to Carnegie Hall
D.Because you don't expect the answer to repeat the same word three times.
67.Which of the following is TRUE according to the passage?
A.Historical events happened inside Carnegie Hall
B.The city of New York paid for Carnegie Hall to be built .
C.Carnegie Hall was finally fixed up in 2000.
D.Isaac Stern saved Carnegie Hall ,so the Main Hall is named after him.
What is the hottest topic at your school? In Hangzhou Yongjin Middle School, it's money. The school ran an activity called" making a living "recently. About 800 Junior1 and Junior 2 students were divided into 112 teams .They went out to make money by selling things.
What did they choose to sell? Some sold newspapers; some chose bottled water ;some sold environmentally friendly shopping bags and bamboo baskets.
Hu Qi's team decided to sell educational books in front of the Children Activity Center. There are always many parents around there and they thought parents would like to spend money for their children, especially on books .But unfortunately, they came across urban management officers(城管）.The officers asked them to leave.
"We played hide-and-seek (捉迷藏）with the officers for the whole morning" said Hu." Finally we gave up and moved to other places."
Wang Yongyi and her team sold ice cream in a square. They didn't meet any officers. But few people were interested in what they were selling.
The team then put up a board saying the money was to help the "Project Hope“for country kids .It worked. More people came to their stall(小摊）.A foreigner even gave them 100 yuan." He didn't want any change .He said he wanted to help the children," said Wang." We were touched ."
They gave the100 yuan to the "Project Hope" office later that day.
Meng Zhaoxiang and his team were luckier. They sold all their cakes in four hours, spending 39.5 yuan and getting back 80yuan.
"It was not easy to make the money," said Meng "Some people just looked .Others just tasted but didn't buy."
Now I know how hard it is for our parents to earn the money we need to lead happy lives."
60.Hu Qi's team sold books in front of the children Activity Center because_____.
A.there were no urban management officers there
B.they could play hide-and -seek there
C.they thought parents would buy books for their kids
D.they are familiar with the place
61.More people came to Wang and her team's stall because they___________.
A.liked their ice cream B.wanted some change
C.were interested in their stall D.wanted to help country kids
62.How much did Meng Zhaoxing's team earn in four hours?
A.39.5yuan B.80yuan C.40.5yuan D.100yuan
63.Through the activity, most children learn that_______.
A.it's hard to make money B.it's necessary to help country kids
C.it is easy to sell cakes D.it's important to live a happy life.
第二节：完形填空（共20小题，每小题1.5分，满分30分）
阅读下面短文, 从短文后所给各题的四个选项(A、B、C和D)中，选出可以填入空白处的最佳选项。
A kindergarten teacher was helping one of her students put his snow boots on. He had asked for 36 and she could see why. With her pulling and him pushing ,they finally 37 .She had by now worked up a sweat, 38 the little boy said," They 're on the wrong feet." She almost 39 when hearing this.
She looked and, 40 enough, they were .It wasn't any easier pulling the boots 41 ,and then she had to 42 the difficult boots on again.
Just as she 43 lacing(系鞋带）them, he said," These aren't my boots." She
44 her tongue to keep from screaming(尖叫）,"Why didn't you say so early?"
Once again she 45 to pull off the ill-fitting boots. He then 46 added.," They 're my brother's boots. My mom made me 47 them."
When they were finally 48 she said ,"Now ,where are your gloves?"
"I 49 them in the toes of my boots," he said .The teacher could say no words at hearing this, but had to 50 the course once again.
We often hear some teachers make comments about a particularly 51 child in their class," He is my worst-behaved child this year, and I almost can't 52 him any more."
Patience is a kind of ability. A Dutch proverb observes ,"A handful of 53 is worth more than a lot of brains." We may never have to worry about having a lot of 54 ,but sometimes what we 55 is a handful of patience. Hold back your scream, try to be patient, and that should be enough.
36. A. help B. advice C. trouble D. leave
37. A .ended B. won C. succeeded D. failed
38. A. so B. since C. because D. but
39. A. laughed B. screamed C. cried D. jumped
40. A. strange B. sure C. lucky D. proper
41. A. up B. on C. off D. away
42. A. carry B. force C. keep D. struggle
43. A. tried B. practiced C. meant D. finished
44. A. bit B. moved C. showed D. rolled
45. A. decided B. fought C. wanted D. intended
46. A. angrily B. coldly C. calmly D. nervously
47. A. wear B. clean C. mend D. drop
48. A. washed B. tied C. removed D. kicked
49. A. left B. covered C. buried D. hid
50. A. discover B. guide C. repeat D. consider
51. A. difficult B. stupid C. clever D. perfect
52. A. worry B. stand C. serve D. ignore
53. A .interest B. attention C. courage D. patience
54. A. chances B. desires C. brains D. gifts
55. A. need B. value C. gain D. share
Shanghai ,_____on the Huangpu River, is the largest city of China.
|
A．being situated |
B．situated |
|
C．be situated |
D．situating |
I've always dreamt of buying a big house, and now my dream has ____true.
|
A．become |
B．turned |
|
C．come |
D．changed |
