Starbucks’ founder, Howard Schultz, came up with an idea for his coffee chain while drinking espresso (浓咖啡)in a bar. He took a good product, repackaged it and globalized it. But to many Italians, the coffee served by Starbucks and other branded stores is as far away from proper Italian coffee as you can get, despite the Italian-sounding offerings on their menus.

Now, I am part-Italian and like most Italians, I think that Italy represents the height of coffee culture, against the standard by which all coffee should be measured. My Italian friends and family hate the idea of adding a little sugar juice or other things to their valuable cappuccino (卡布奇诺).I have a coffee machine at home, which is to the Italian kitchen what the kettle is to the British. As far as I’m concerned, the cappuccinos, lattes (拿铁)and espressos served in branded coffee chains taste bitter, a low copy of the real thing.

You’d never ask for a latte in Italy. If you did, you’d get served a glass of milk. Coffee and espresso are the same in Italy. Then there’s the Australian “white coffee”, a halfway house between a Starbucks-style latte and a macchiato(玛奇朵). The “white coffee” has gone global so much that recently it replaced the cappuccino on Starbucks’ menu in some parts of the US.

What’s more, Italians don’t waste time around in coffee shop armchairs drinking cappuccinos while surfing the Internet. Still, when it comes to taste, Italians are trying to reclaim the ground. Part of the problem is the price of coffee. Most Italian bars will not charge more than one euro a cup, which means there isn’t the choice to purchase more high-quality coffee. Italian flavor is held back by the way the coffee is boiled.

I still think I’ll be sticking to home-made coffee from my trusted machine. And I’ll continue to drink it in the Italian way.

1.What’s the purpose of telling the story of Starbucks in Paragraph 1?

A.To introduce the topic of the passage.

B.To introduce the history of Starbucks.

C.To present the standard of good coffee.

D.To explain the key to the success of Starbucks.

2.In the author’s opinion, the coffee served in Italian branded stores __________.

A.contains too much sugar juice

B.represents the Italian coffee culture

C.is very different from that served in the US

D.cannot meet the Italian standard of good coffee

3.Italians prefer home-made coffee due to the fact that___________.

A.home-made coffee is much cheaper

B.they can produce proper Italian coffee at home

C.each family has a tradition to use the coffee machine

D.they can have access to the Internet when drinking coffee at home

4.According to the passage, we can infer that_______.

A.Starbucks coffee doesn’t agree with the Italians

B.white coffee tastes sweeter than cappuccino

C.Italian coffee culture is widely spread all over the world

D.the British like the kettle the same way as the Italians like coffee

    There are two kinds of memory: short-term and long-term. Information in long-term memory can be remembered at a later time when it is needed. The information may be kept for days or weeks. However, information in short-term memory is kept for only a few seconds, usually by repeating the information over and over. The following experiment shows how short-term memory has been studied.

Henning studied how students who are learning English as a second language remember vocabulary. The subjects in his experiment were 75 college students. They represented all levels of ability in English: beginning, intermediate (中等), and native speaking students.

To begin, the subjects listened to a recording of a native speaker reading a paragraph in English. Following the recording, the subjects took a 15-question test to see which words they remembered. Each question had four choices. The subjects had to circle the word they had heard in the recording, some of the questions had four choices that sound alike. For example, weather, whether, wither, and wetter are four words that sound alike. Some of the questions had four choices that have the same meaning. Method, way, manner, and system would be four words with the same meaning. Finally the subjects took a language proficiency test.

Henning found that students with a lower proficiency in English made more of their mistakes on words that sound alike; students with a higher proficiency made more of their mistakes on words that have the same meaning. Henning's results suggest that beginning students hold the sound of words in their short-term memory, and advanced students hold the meaning of words in their short-term memory.

1.Which of the following statements is TRUE according to the passage?

A.Henning gave a separate test on vocabulary to his students.

B.Long-term memory can be achieved only by training.

C.It is easier to test short-term memory than long-term memory.

D.Information in short-term memory is different from that in long-term memory.

2.The word "subject" in the passage means _________.

A.the theme of listening material B.the student experimented on

C.a branch of knowledge studied D.a native speaker

3.From Henning's result we can see that ________.

A.advanced students always remember words by their meaning

B.beginners have difficulty distinguishing the pronunciation of words

C.it is difficult to remember words that sound alike

D.it is difficult to remember words that have the same meaning

4.The passage centers on ________.

A.an experiment on students B.two kinds of memory

C.short-term memory D.memory

    I’m part of the Roots & Shoots program founded by Dr. Jane Goodall. The program is intended to make and promote positive changes in the world. As Dr. Goodall says, “What you do makes a difference, and you have to decide what kind of difference you want to make.”

In Bulgaria, where I live, homeless dogs are everywhere. Many people here turn a blind eye to them. But I cannot ignore the life of a street dog whenever I see one wandering in the street, looking for something to eat. That’s why I’m no longer a food waster. When I see wasted food, I always think of a hungry dog climbing to garbage bins, searching for food that people have thrown there. When eating in a restaurant, I’m not afraid to take leftover food to feed stray cats or dogs.

A week ago, I saw a homeless dog around the garbage bins. Immediately I knelt down, spoke to her softly and ran my hands over her. I could see that she had had puppies. I couldn’t imagine how she could have been able to care for them. Hours earlier, I’d bagged up a plate of leftover fish. As I unwrapped it, she wagged her tail and sniffed at it. She ate all the fish in no time.

It’s sad, isn’t it? I can’t understand why many of us waste so much and think little of it. These homeless animals have taught me that food is precious. Even when I don’t have leftovers with me, I’ll take the time to get something from the grocery store to feed them.

I know my power is small, so I hope that next time you see wasted food, do turn it into worthy food. You have the power to save a life!

1.The author uses what Dr. Goodall says to show__________.

A.how we can develop our business

B.why it is important to be great

C.why the program is popular globally

D.how we can change the world positively

2.What can be concluded from the text?

A.There are few homeless dogs where the author lives

B.The author takes homeless dogs home and raises them

C.Seeing homeless dogs makes the author never waste food

D.People throw food into garbage bins to feed homeless dogs

3.The author took the leftover fish with him to____________.

A.feed a homeless dog he met

B.eat it when he was hungry

C.look for more homeless animals

D.set an example to those who throw away food

4.The author wrote the text to ask us to__________.

A.value our food B.treat dogs as our friends

C.save wasted food for homeless dogs D.raise homeless dogs and cats

Grand City Tour with Griffith Park Observatory＆Hollywood Sign

Los Angeles, Hollywood, homes of the movie stars-it’s all here on this Grand Tour! Your tour guide takes great pride in offering amazing customer service, too. Hotel pickups are available at almost any hotel in Hollywood, Downtown LA, Mid-Wilshire, West Hollywood and North Hollywood.

From: $69 US Dollars

Movie Star Homes GPS Self-Guided Bike Tour

Want the flexibility of taking a “whenever you feel like it” Hollywood tour? Here’s the perfect solution. Explore and experience the best of West Hollywood and Beverly Hills on your own time, at your own pace! Cycle past legendary homes and all the places where the rich and famous live, shop, eat and play. And your tour is guided by GPS with an iPad fixed to the bicycle!

From: $34.95 US Dollars

Amazing Scavenger Quest in Los Angeles

ONLY $44 FOR UP TO 5 PEOPLE! This Amazing Scavenger Quest is an interactive (互动的) adventure that combines the fun of the “Amazing Race” with a three-hour sightseeing tour of historic downtown Los Angeles. Offered at a fixed price for a group as opposed to per person pricing, this city tour/game offers a great value if you’re on a budget.

From: $44 US Dollars

Disneyland Excursion from Los Angeles

See Disneyland in Anaheim, California-roundtrip transportation from any of the designated (指定的) hotels and admission for a day of Disney fun. Pick-up from Downtown Los Angeles, Los Angeles International Airport, Beverly Hills, Santa Monica, Marina del Rey, Culver City and South Bay area hotels.

From: $179.95 US Dollars

1.If you like to travel at your own pace, you will most probably be interested in _____.

A.Movie Star Homes GPS Self-Guided Bike Tour

B.Amazing Scavenger Quest in Los Angeles

C.Grand City Tour with Griffith Park Observatory＆Hollywood Sign

D.Disneyland Excursion from Los Angeles

2.How much will a family of 4 pay for the Amazing Scavenger Quest in Los Angeles?

A.$69.00 US Dollars. B.$35.20 US Dollars.

C.$44.00 US Dollars. D.$176.00 US Dollars.

3.The price of the Disneyland Excursion from Los Angeles includes all the following expenses EXCEPT _____.

A.pick-up service at some locations B.a one-day ticket to Disneyland

C.transportation back to some hotels D.a guided tour around Hollywood

假如你是某校的学生会主席李华，为配合学校即将开展的读书周（Reading Week）活动，你打算倡议同学们多读书，读好书。请根据下面的提示，写一封倡议书。

内容包括：

1. 读书周活动的宗旨；

2. 读书的益处；

3. 多读书的做法。

注意：1. 词数100左右。

2. 文章的开头和结尾已给出，不计入总词数。

3. 可适当增加细节，以使行文连贯。

Dear friends,

I am Li Hua, president of the Students’ Union. __________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________

If we make reading part of our life, we will benefit from reading. Love books and live a better life!

Yours,

Li Hua

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。

This beautiful world is full of love. I will never forget my own experience at a busy toll station (收费站) in Chicago during rush hour traffic. One afternoon, before 1. (arrive) at the toll station, I had the exact amount of change—coins into the basket, one escaped and couldn’t 2. (find) anywhere.

There was a long line of cars with drivers who 3. (wait) for their turn eagerly to pay so that they could continue to drive to their destinations. I sat there, feeling totally 4. (help). About two minutes later, a man came and asked 5. I looked so worried. Then I told him what had happened. After listening to my words, he immediately put 6. coin into the basket for me.

“Thank you,” I said 7. (grateful) as he headed back to his car. “You are welcome. Have a nice day,” he replied. His 8. (kind) saved me that day.

There are also countless kind people in the world. They choose to be kind 9. others who are in need, because it gives them a sense of inner peace and joy. Their good deeds have taught me 10. (behave) like them—doing something positive for another human being—however big or small.

根据下列句子及所给汉语注释，将空缺处单词的正确形式写在答题纸上。（每空一词）

1.The little boy was so ____________ (好奇) that he reached for the package.

2.We got into a(an) ____________ (争论) about whether to go by sea or by air.

3.While delivering his speech at that meeting, the speaker often ____________ (参考) to his notes.

4.What will happen if you do not eat a ____________ (平衡的) diet.

5.I have met Mike on many ____________ (场合), so I am familiar with him.

6.They ____________ (懊悔) that they had left home without having brought their dog.

7.Scientists are taking some ____________ (措施) to find the cause of the disease.

8.____________ (不幸), his father died, leaving his family in a worse situation.

9.Peter came in and ____________ (耳语) something in Daddy’s ear.

10.He had ____________ (克服) many difficulties before he finally succeeded.

    Born in America, I spoke English, not Chinese, the language of my ancestors. When I was three, my parents flashed cards with Chinese ________ at my face, but I pushed them ________. My mom believed I would learn ________ I was ready. But the ________ never came.

On a Chinese New Year’s Eve, my uncle spoke to me in Chinese, but all I could do was ________ at him, confused, shaking my head. “Still can’t speak Chinese?” He ________ me, “You can’t even buy a fish in Chinatown.”

“Hey, this is America, not China. I’ll get some ________ with or without Chinese.” I replied and turned to my mom for ________.

“Remember to ask for fresh fish, Xin Xian Yu,” she said, handing over a $20 bill. I ________ the words, running downstairs into the streets of Chinatown.

I found the fish ________ surrounded in a sea of customers. “I’d like to buy some fresh fish,” I shouted to the fisherman. But he ________ my English words and turned to serve the next customer. The laugh of the people behind increased ________ their impatience. With every ________, the breath of the dragons on my back grew stronger—my blood boiling—________ me to cry out, “Xian Sheng Yu, please.” “Very Xian Sheng,” I repeated. The crowd burst into laughter. My face turned ________ and I ran back home ________, except for the $20 bill I held tightly in my hand.

Should I laugh or cry? They’re Chinese. I’m Chinese. I should feel right at ________. Instead, I was the joke, a disgrace (丢脸) to the language.

Sometimes, I laugh at my fish ________, but, in the end, the joke is on ________. Every laugh is a culture ________; every laugh is my heritage (传统) fading away.

1.A.custom B.games C.characters D.language

2.A.ahead B.around C.along D.aside

3.A.when B.before C.unless D.until

4.A.success B.study C.time D.attempt

5.A.aim B.joke C.nod D.stare

6.A.cared about B.laughed at C.argued with D.asked after

7.A.right now B.from now C.at times D.in time

8.A.decision B.permission C.information D.preparation

9.A.repeated B.reviewed C.spelled D.kept

10.A.farm B.stand C.pond D.market

11.A.guessed B.forgot C.doubted D.ignored

12.A.by B.near C.with D.from

13.A.second B.effort C.desire D.movement

14.A.forcing B.allowing C.finding D.leading

15.A.bright B.blank C.pale D.red

16.A.open-mouthed B.tongue-tied C.empty-handed D.broken-hearted

17.A.service B.home C.risk D.root

18.A.trade B.confidence C.challenge D.experience

19.A.it B.us C.me D.them

20.A.treasured B.lost C.valued D.reflected

Five steps to better handwriting

Some kids love handwriting, but others hate when it’s time to put their pen to paper. Maybe they are worried about their handwriting. Are you one of them? 1. Here are five steps that really work!

Get a great grasp

Try this — hold your pencil at the top and try to write your name. Pretty hard? But when you hold your pencil the correct way, writing is much easier. 2. Hold it in place with your thumb, and your index (食指) and middle fingers.

Let the lines be your guide

Lined paper is your friend! Those lines can help you create letters that are the right size and proportion (均衡). 3. Also be sure to fill up the lined space completely. Those capital letters should be from the bottom line to the top one.

Slow down

If your writing is hard to read, try slowing down a little. If you rush, it’s hard to control where you stop and start your letters.

Lower the pressure

4. That makes it harder to make the smooth lines. Try easing up and don’t hold the pencil too tightly.

5.

Lots of games require you to write or draw pictures. So even though it’s not schoolwork, you’re still using the skills you need to control your pen better.

A.Play games

B.Ask for more advice

C.So “a” should be half the height of a capital “A”.

D.You’ve been writing since you were a little kid.

E.Some kids press down really hard when they write.

F.The good news is that just about everyone can improve their handwriting.

G.The best way to hold a pen or pencil is to let it rest next to the base of your thumb.

    A small piece of fish each day may keep the heart doctor away. That’s the finding of a study of Dutch men in which deaths from heart disease were more than 50 percent lower among those who consumed (消耗) at least an ounce (盎司) of salt water fish per day compared to those who never ate fish.

The Dutch research is one of three human studies that give strong scientific support to the long held belief that eating fish can provide health benefits, particularly to the heart.

Heart disease is the number-one killer in the United States, with more than 550,000 deaths occurring from heart attacks each year. But long before researchers have noticed that the incidence (发生率) of heart disease is lower in cultures that consume more fish than Americans do. There are fewer heart disease deaths, for example, among the Eskimos of Greenland, who consume about 14 ounces of fish a day, and among the Japanese, whose daily fish consumption (消费) averages more than 3 ounces.

For 20 years, the Dutch study followed 852 middle-aged men, 20 percent of whom ate no fish.

At the start of the study, average fish consumption was about two-thirds of an ounce each day, with more men eating lean fish than fatty fish.

During the next two decades, 78 of the men died from heart disease. The fewest deaths were among the group who regularly ate fish, even at levels far lower than those of the Japanese or Eskimos. This relationship was true regardless of other factors such as age, high blood pressure, or blood cholesterol (胆固醇) levels.

1.We can infer from the passage that there are fewer heart disease deaths ________.

A.in highly-developed countries

B.in countries of the yellow-skin race

C.in the countries with good production of fish

D.in the countries with high consumption of fish

2.The underlined words “lean fish” (paragraph 5) mean “________”.

A.large fish B.fresh fish

C.fish that have little fat D.fish that live in salt water

3.The passage is mainly about ________.

A.the changes in people’s diet

B.the effect of fish eating on people’s health

C.the high incidence of heart disease in some countries

D.the daily fish consumption of people in different cultures

    It may help you to know that there is no such thing as a perfect speech. At some point in every speech, every speaker says something that is not understood exactly as he has planned. Fortunately, such moments are usually not obvious(明显的) to the listeners. Why? Because the listeners do not know what the speaker plans to say. They hear only what the speaker does say. If you lose your place for a moment, wrongly change the order of a couple of sentences, or forget to pause at a certain point, no one will be any the wiser. When such moments occur, don't worry about them. Just continue as if nothing happened.

Even if you do make an obvious mistake during a speech, that doesn't really matter. If you have ever listened to Martin Luther King's famous speech---"I have a Dream", you may notice that he stumbles(结巴) over his words twice during the speech. Most likely, however, you don't remember. Why?  Because you were fixing your attention on his message rather than on his way of speech-making.

People care a lot about making a mistake in a speech because they regard speech-making as a kind of performance rather than as an act of communication(交流). They feel the listeners are like judges in an ice-skating competition. But, in fact, the listeners are not looking for a perfect performer. They are looking for a well-thought-out speech that expresses the speaker's ideas clearly and directly. Sometimes a mistake or two can actually increase a speaker's attractiveness by making him more human.

As you work on your speech, don't worry about being perfect. Once you free your mind of this, you will find it much easier to give your speech freely.

1.The underlined part in the first paragraph means that no one will ______.

A.be smarter than you B.notice your mistakes

C.do better than you D.know what you are talking about

2.You don't remember obvious mistakes in a speech because ______.

A.your attention is on the content

B.you don't fully understand the speech

C.you don't know what the speaker plans to say

D.you find the way of speech-making more important

3.It can be inferred from the passage that ______.

A.giving a speech is like giving a performance

B.one or two mistakes in a speech may not be bad

C.the listeners should pay more attention to how a speech is made

D.the more mistakes a speaker makes, the more attractive he will be.

4.What would be the best title for the passage?

A.How to Be a Perfect Speaker B.How to Make a Perfect Speech

C.Don't Expect a Perfect Speech D.Don't Expect Mistakes in a Speech

    The 92-year-old, thin, calm and proud lady, who is fully dressed each morning by eight o’clock, even though she is nearly blind, moved to a nursing home today.

Her husband of 70 years recently passed away, making the move necessary. After many hours of waiting patiently in the hall of the nursing home, she smiled sweetly when told her room was ready.

As she walked slowly to the elevator, I provided a true description of her tiny room, including the old sheets that had been hung on her window. “I love it,” she said with the happiness of an eight-year-old having just been presented with a new puppy.

“Mrs. Jones, you haven’t seen the room…just wait.”

“That doesn’t matter,” she replied. “Happiness is something you decide ahead of time. Whether I like my room or not doesn’t depend on how the furniture is arranged. It’s how I arranged my mind. I have already decided to love it. It’s a decision I make every morning when I wake up. Each day is a gift, and as long as my eyes open I’ll focus on the new day and all the happy memories I’ve stored away.” She went on to explain, “Old age is like a bank account. You take what you’ve put in. So, my advice to you would be to put in a lot of happiness in the bank account of memories. Thank you for your part in filling my memory bank.” And with a smile, she said, “All my memories are happy ones.”

Mrs. Jones was always happy in the nursing home and she died at the age of 108.

1.We can infer from the passage that the author ________.

A.is one of Mrs. Jones’ children B.is a relative of Mrs. Jones

C.works in the nursing home D.is the owner of the nursing home

2.The room in which the old lady will live ________.

A.is very comfortable B.is fairly big

C.isn’t well equipped D.is equipped with new furniture

3.Mrs. Jones was very happy when told about her room because she ________.

A.couldn’t see what her room was like

B.thought the nursing home was her home

C.would have to live in the nursing home

D.had already made up her mind to be happy

4.Which of the following words can best describe Mrs. Jones?

A.Proud. B.Cheerful. C.Determined. D.Honest.

    There are many fun, free activities that you can do as a family. All that is required is a bit of imagination and some time. And the best part is that these are the kind of fun, family memories a child will remember for a lifetime.

Family Game Night

Kids often get games for Christmas or birthdays, and would love to have a chance to play with their family. Or, make up some games of their own. Charades (字谜游戏) is a fun game that will challenge children to use their imagination. Divide the family into teams and let each team come up with words and the other has to act out.

Family Art Time

Pick some time for the family to sit down and come up with their own art. It doesn’t need to be just a drawing—take some old magazines, let the kids cut out pictures and paste them into their own shape. Or let them use leaves, branches and whatever else they can find to make something from their imagination.

Family Picnic

Taking the family for a picnic is a great way for some fun that doesn’t cost any money. If the weather is nice, take them to a park or playground and let them have a day of playing.

Family Field Trip

A family field trip doesn’t have to cost a cent. Ask a nearby farm if you can bring your kids out for a tour and to see some of the animals. Or take them to a park to find certain items from nature. Ask a local business if you could bring the family for a tour to see how things work—you might be surprised at the number of people who would be excited to share what they do with others, and it could be an interesting lesson for kids.

1.When playing the game charades, kids are supposed to ________.

A.prepare some cakes for each other

B.be quick to follow others’ actions

C.sing a song for each other in turn

D.connect actions with certain words

2.Which activities in the passage depend much on the kids’ imagination?

A.Family Picnic ＆ Family Field Trip

B.Family Game Night ＆ Family Picnic

C.Family Game Night ＆ Family Art Time

D.Family Field Trip ＆ Family Game Night

3.It can be inferred from the last paragraph that ________.

A.it costs a lot to visit a park for a family

B.you may share your own experience with workers

C.you should ask for permission from the farm owner

D.all the people will be excited to share what they have with you

4.The passage is mainly intended for ________.

A.teachers B.parents

C.tourists D.teenagers

Directions: Write an English composition in 120-150 words according to the instructions given below in Chinese.

假设你是明启中学高三学生王磊，你经常阅读的英语报刊正在征集读者对于“学生最应该学会什么”的不同意见。你对此话题很感兴趣，写一篇文章表达你的观点，内容包括：

1. 你认为学生最应该学会什么？

2. 结合自身情况谈谈你这么认为的理由。

____________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________

Directions: Translate the following sentences into English, using the words given in the brackets.

1.一闻到这种蛋糕的味道我就总会想起童年。(associate)

2.我们不能想当然地认为我们永远不会面对危险生命的紧急情况。(grant)

3.尽管这些产品价格昂贵，但它们经久耐用，永不过时。(as)

4.让许多孩子感到烦恼的是家长们似乎没有充分意识到保护隐私的重要性，总喜欢在社交媒体上发布孩子的照片。(bother)

Directions: Read the following passage. Summarize the main idea and the main point(s) of the passage in no more than 60 words. Use your own words as far as possible.

Herbal Medicine

Herbal medicine, which has been used for medicinal purposes, is the use of plants to treat diseases. Many herbalists use the entire plant, from the flowers, stems, leaves, and roots, in the form of everything from teas to pills. These plants contain natural, chemical things that can treat the body for a variety of diseases, such as allergies, asthma, rheumatoid arthritis, migraine, chronic fatigue, and cancer, among others.

Nowadays an increasing number of people prefer to adopt these plants to treat their diseases because, compared with chemical medicine, herbal medicine has its own advantages. Herbal medicine and remedies are more effective than chemical medicine for certain diseases. The chemical medicine given by a chemist could have certain negative side effects. However, many of the herbal medicine and remedies to not have negative side effects. If any, they are softer than chemical medicine. Obesity is the cause of many of the health problems. Herbal medicine can help weight loss more effectively and improve overall health.

However, the cure using herbal medicine and supplements would take some time, and therefore people are supposed to possess enough patience. Worse still, herbal medicine contains a variety of ingredients and people have to be sure that their body agrees with the ingredients and that it is not allergic.

A point worth mentioning here is that herbal remedies and medicine for certain illnesses may have negative side effects. These side effects may not be shown at once, but would take months or even years. In the early stages, if the herbal medicine is not agreeing with you, it is wise to stop using it.

When used correctly and directed by doctors, herbs can help treat a variety of disease. But keep in mind that the herbal medicine industry is not regulated, so herbal products are often misleading and may contain additives that are not listed on the label. Some herbs may cause allergic reactions or interact with other drugs, and some are poisonous if used improperly or at high doses. Taking herbs on your own increases your risk.

Directions: Read the following. Fill in each blank with a proper sentence given in the box. Each sentence can be used only once. Note that there are two more sentences than you need.

Are Bamboo-Eating Pandas Really Herbivores?

On the outside, giant pandas look like herbivores(食草动物). They spend nearly all of their waking hours eating bamboo. But on the inside, they're built like carnivores(食肉动物). About half of the calories they eat come from protein, according to a new study.

The ancestor of giant pandas were omnivorous(杂食的). They are both animals and plants, and had the digestive system and gut bacteria to metabolize(使发生新陈代谢)them. They had ''umami taste receptors'', to appreciate the flavors of meat.

However, about 2.4 million years ago, things began to change. 1. Their jaw and teeth evolved to help them crush bamboo, and their wrist bone became capable of grasping the stalks(杆)of their favorite plant. Scientists think pandas switched to eating bamboo partly because they didn't have to fight with other animals to get it. Bamboo is high in fiber but has a low concentration of nutrients, so pandas have to eat 20 to 40 pounds of the plant every day just to get by.

David Raubenheimer, a nutritional ecologist at the University of Sydney, and his colleagues put GPS trackers on two giant pandas and followed their movement throughout the year. They discovered that the pandas followed the protein. 2. At the start of the cycle, they ate Bashania fargesii leaves until they got the chance to feast on young shoots, which contained more protein.

The more the shoots grew, the more their protein was diluted(冲淡)by fiber. That caused the pandas to move to higher ground, where Fargesia qinlingensis grew. First, they ate the shoots, but these, too, went from being protein - rich to fiber-rich as they grew. The panda responded by switching to the leaves. 3. The researchers found that about half of the calories the pandas ate were in the form of protein.

4. ''They can know exactly where to go, and when to go, so they can get the most of the nutrients that their ecosystem can provide, '' said Silvia Pineda - Munoz, who was not involved in the study.

The work also shows that classifying an animals as herbivore or carnivore is more complex than one might sassume. ''It's not whether you’re eating plants but what of the plants you’re eating, '' said Pineda - Munoz.

A.Between August and April, they sought food in low elevations(海拔)on China's Qinling Mountains.

B.Scientists think the research show that pandas are very clever.

C.Pandas eat bamboo all day long except when they are sleeping or playing.

D.The gene for their ''umami taste receptors'' became inactive.

E.They fed on them until they went back down the mountain and started eating Bashania fargesii leaves again.

F.Scientists have conducted many studies on pandas' eating habits.

    What makes us love some things and hate others? We know that sometimes even the tiniest change can result in a huge difference in how we perceive something, so is there any rhyme or reason to our tastes and preferences? Here are three factors which play a role.

1. Conforming to expectation

In London a few years ago, two talented rappers called Silibil N' Brains took to the stage to perform at a music industry show for unsigned bands. They were an instant hit. Their outrageous West Coast - American style, brilliant rap lyrics and couldn't - care - less attitude had the music industry's talent spotters falling over themselves to sign the pair. In a short space of time, Silibil N’ Brains had a deal with a top management company, a contract with a major record label and an advance of $70,000 -- and they hadn’t even made a record. Before long, they were on tour with Eminem and out partying with Madonna. They were living the dream.

But two years ago the same two rappers were laughed off stage by the same talent spotters for singing the same sons. So what was the difference? Amazingly, it was their accent. You see, Silibil N' Brains weren't, in fact, from West Coast U. S. A. at all. They were from Dundee in Scotland. During the first audition they had used their Scottish accents when rapping and it had not gone down well. ''They just laughed at us, '' recalled Brains. ''We were heartbroken. We went back to Scotland with our tail between our legs''. The lesson for them was that to succeed, you have to conform to expectations and at that time everyone expected rappers to be American.

2. The benefit of hindsight

Some people are simply ahead of their time. It's common knowledge that Vincent van Gogh sold only one painting in his lifetime -the other 900 or so were unknown and unloved until after his death. Monet’s paintings. at least in his early career, was considered incomplete and ugly by critics at the time, while Vermeer, the painter of Girl With a Pearl Earring, even had to use his mother-in-law as a guarantor when he borrowed money -- so unable was he to sell any of his work! Now that public taste has caught up with these artists, more or less anything they touched has an astronomical price tag attached to it. Perhaps the reason is that it just takes a while to get used to something - after all, not all beauty is obvious at first sight.

3. A reassuring price tag

In a world where the range of products on offer can be completely bewildering, we often look to price as an indication of quality. We may think we prefer the expensive wine to the cheap one, but we may simply be influenced by the price tag. Even professionals can make the mistake. A researcher from the University of Bordeaux in France took an average bottle of red wine and poured it into two empty bottles, on with an expensive label and the other with a cheap one. Then he invited 57 wine ''experts'' to taste the wine. Forty of them recommended the wine from the expensive bottle, describing it as ''agreeable'', ''complex'', ''balanced'' and ''rounded''. while the same wine from the expensive bottle, describing it as ''agreeable'', ''complex'', ''balanced'' and ''rounded'', while the same wine from the cheap bottle was described as ''weak'' and ''flat'', with only 12 of the experts recommending it. The study made the researcher unpopular with the French wine tasters, but he did prove that price has a significant impact on taste.

1.Which of the following statements about Silibil N’ Brains is true?

A.Talent spotters fell in love with them at first sight.

B.They are from the West Coast of America

C.Their success was attributed to behaving and sounding like American rappers.

D.They were friends with famous stars like Madonna even before they succeeded.

2.The underlined phrases ''with our tail between our legs'' indicates that _________.

A.their first audition proved a failure

B.they felt proud of their performance

C.they learned a valuable lesson

D.being humble might contribute to their future success

3.We can infer from the second factor that ________.

A.some artists are better known when they are alive than when they are dead

B.public taste usually falls behind famous artists

C.beauty at first sight lasts much longer

D.Monet's paintings are priceless because of their incompleteness

4.What can we learn from the last paragraph?

A.A price tag always fails to indicate the quality of a product.

B.A price tag is less likely to confuse customers than the packaging.

C.Low price will make the wine unpopular with tasters

D.A price tag will cloud a person’s judgement of something.

    Letters

Comments on the March Issue

1.How did Antia Lawrence react to her husband’s diagnosis?

A.She felt very painful. B.She gained some life lessons.

C.She paid more attention to her own health. D.She showed deep sympathy for her husband.

2.According to Sam Kieffer’s letter, what can be learn about John All?

A.He is an expert in mountaineering

B.He wrote the article entitled Trapped Inside a Glacier.

C.Not all people could survive in the same situation as he did.

D.His story is the best one that Sam Kieffer has ever read in Reader’s Digest.

3.Who is likely to disagree with what is said in the commented article?

A.Edward Deckerd. B.Antia Lawrence.

C.Sam Kieffer. D.Janet Toole

    EU members' states have agreed to ban a toxic substance widely found in clothing because it poses an ''acceptable risk'' to the environment. Countries voted in favor of extending existing restrictions on nonylphenol ethoxylates (NPE) to imports to clothing and other textile products.

The measure is intended to protect species in water. Use of NPE in textile manufacture in Europe was banned over 10 years ago but the substance is still released into the water environment through imported textiles being washed.

NPE degrades in the environment into substances including nonylphenol (NP), which accumulates in the bodies of fish and disturbs their hormones, harming fertility, growth and sexual development.

NPE is used in textile manufacture as a cleaning and dyeing agent. The EU decision notes that several studies have found NPE to be present in textile items.

A 2011 study by Greenpeace found NPE in two-thirds of clothes tested, including items sold by big-name brads such as Adidas, H&M, Lacoste, and Ralph Lauren. The NGO (Non-Governmental Organizations) argued that although concentrations of NPE found in the clothes were low, the chemical’s existence in the environment posed a risk.

The new ban on textiles containing NPE in concentrations equal to or greater than 0.01% will enter into force five years after it is adopted by the European Commission, which is likely to happen in September.

In comments submitted to ECHA (European Chemicals Agency), clothing and textile firms have warned that obeying the restriction will be difficult because NPE ubiquitous in the supply chain and has numerous uses.

The new restriction will not apply to second-hand goods or recycled textiles because it is assumed that these will already have been washed several times so they contain negligible(微不足道的)amounts of NPE.

EU countries must eliminate pollution of water bodies by NP as it is a priority substance under the Water Framework Directive. A 2013 study by the UK environment agency warned that emissions from textiles could prevent progress towards this objective. It found 29% of imported cotton underwear contained NPE, which was released during the first two washes by the consumer.

1.The 2011 study by Greenpeace found _________.

A.29% of imported cotton underwear contained NPE

B.NPE had limited effects on aquatic species

C.NPE was widely present in textile products

D.clothes of good quality had no concentrations of NPE

2.What's the possible meaning of the underlined part ''ubiquitous'' in Paragraph 7?

A.is legally protected B.is not easy to be found

C.seems to be every where D.is uncommon

3.What can we learn from the text?

A.The original ban on use of NPE was very effective.

B.Recycled textile contain less NPE.

C.The new ban on imports of textile has come into force.

D.The UK environment agency is optimistic about the new ban.

4.Which section of the website does the text come from?

A.lifestyle B.technology.

C.Business. D.Environment.

    If you like to take a walk in the woods in the United States or you prefer to decorate a tree at Christmas, you should know that climate change is making both of those activities a lot more ___________.

Looking at two ___________ and economically important species - the Douglas fir and the Ponderosa pine -scientists found that fires and drought _____________ by climate change make new growth difficult, especially in low-elevation forests, according to a study published Monday in the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences.

Some forests in four regions in California, Colorado, the Northern Rockies and the southwestern part of the United States have crossed ''a(n) ___________ climate tipping(转折)point for post-fire tree generation, '' the study says.

Climate conditions over the past 20 years have _____________ changes that would have taken decades or even centuries to ___________ across broad regions of the country. This is leading to the sudden _____________ of trees and making these lands increasingly unsuitable for tree regeneration.

''Climate changes is _____________ our forests now, not just in some distant future. Maybe in areas where there are really _____________ seed sources, there could be some trees, but it is becoming really hard to get these trees back due to climate change, '' said study co-author Kim Davis.

The problem probably won't get any better, as climate change is making intense wildfires much more ______________. Western foresters say there used to be a fire season. But devastating and ____________ fires have become a reality all year long. In 2018, fire cost California more than $9.05 billion, according to the USA insurance commissioner, the deadliest and most destructive wildfires season in the ________________ history.

A higher number of fires and low seed availability means a high probability that these trees in these regions won't come back, Davis said. This study ______________ on the driest and hottest areas of the Western forests, but researchers will next try to focus on how much will be impacted.

____________, there are some things people can do to ease some of this problem. Forest management plans that reduce high-severity burns can help. Increasingly, forest managers are considering allowing some fires to burn under more moderate conditions, Davis said, Forest ______________.

1.A.convenient B.difficult C.encouraging D.frustrating

2.A.ecologically B.apparently C.physically D.financially

3.A.destroyed B.worsened C.extended D.established

4.A.necessary B.enormous C.critical D.invisible

5.A.accelerated B.delayed C.eliminated D.strengthened

6.A.transform B.spread C.preserve D.escape

7.A.extinction B.decline C.tragedy D.increase

8.A.sustaining B.abandoning C.facilitating D.endangering

9.A.sufficient B.limited C.moderate D.approximate

10.A.occasional B.common C.essential D.temporary

11.A.astonishing B.hopeless C.costly D.irreversible

12.A.world B.state C.human D.forest

13.A.concentrated B.depended C.insisted D.commented

14.A.As a result B.For example C.In fact D.What’s more

15.A.savers B.managers C.researchers D.advocates

Directions: After reading the passage below, fill in the blanks to make the passage coherent and grammatically correct. For the blanks with a given word, fill in each blank with the proper form of the given word; for the other blanks, use one word that best fits each blank.

A ban on distracted walking

You can’t walk down the street without passing so-called ''smart-phone zombies(僵尸). '' They are too absorbed in their screen 1. (watch) where they are going. Almost four in ten people admit having suffered a technology-related small accident 2. they pay more attention to their electronic device than to the pavement.

Now the city of Honolulu, Hawaii, has decided it’s time to take immediate action and make it illegal to cross the road while using a mobile phone. Those 3. (catch) using phones, tablets or other electronic devices at crossing points could face a fine of up to $ 100.

Honolulu is the first major U. S. city to ban 4. is called ''distracted walking. '' It comes after a study that found there 5. (be) more than 11,000 injuries in the United States resulting from phone-related distraction while walking in the past few years.

To explain the decision, mayor Kirk Caldwell said, ''We hold the unfortunate honor of being a major city 6. more pedestrians are hit in crosswalks than almost any other city in the country. ''

Under the fine systems. 7. breaks this law for the first time will get a fine of $15 to $35. People breaking the law for a second or third time will get a $99 fine.

The law, which is called the Distracted Walking Law, does permit an exception. Pedestrians 8. use such devices in the street to call emergency services and rescue workers, such as firefighters and police officers.

If you still want to text while walking, you could avoid 9. (fine) in Honolulu by using a voice-controlled digital assistant such as Siri or Google Assistant. Or you could just wait 10. you are again, safely, off the street.

假如你是李华，准备今年参加高考。得知在疫情期间，你们学校全体高三学生将在学校封闭学习，你的美国朋友Mike来信表示对你的情况非常关心。请你给他写一封回信，内容包括：

1. 简单介绍学校的住宿和学习环境；

2. 表明自己对封闭管理（enclosed management）的看法；

3. 表达自己决战高考的信心。

注意：1. 词数100 左右；

2. 适当增加细节，以使行文连贯。

Dear Mike,

___________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________

Yours,

Li Hua

假如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仅限一词:

2.只允许修改10处，多者(从第11处起) 不计分。

Yesterday afternoon. I felt illness all of a sudden. I was about to get up from the sofa while I felt dizzy as if everything were spinning around. Then my head ached a lot of. That is a kind of feeling you have when you get drunk. I go to the hospital nearby, where I was given a medical examination. To my relief, there was something seriously wrong with me. The doctor said the symptom was probably caused by too many pressure and tiredness. Now I think it necessarily to forget my work for little while. I need to taking some exercise every day and find ways to relax me. That really matters.

阅读下面短文，在空白处填入1个适当的单词或括号内单词的正确形式。

Can you imagine the world full of crying and shouting, 1. (cover) in darkness? However, it’s not just a joke. It’s a real description of a world without happiness and 2. (laugh).

If you compare our life 3. a pie, what would you put in if you were in charge of making the pie? 4. (obvious), many people would add as much happiness as possible. Do you know why? It’s 5. happiness stands for sweetness in most people’s minds.

Don’t think of it just as a comparison. Happiness is a flower living in the sunshine, and 6. is not difficult to reach for it. We have a variety of 7. (emotion) like sadness, anger, fear, enthusiasm and happiness, and they all appear naturally when something 8. (affect) our feelings. So, if we can change our attitude to things in the world, we can certainly adjust our emotions. It means that we can choose to be happy if we want to, as long as we view everything in 9. positive way.

If we can be happy, why not choose to be? Let’s try together to create a world filled with 10. (smile) faces and sunshine.

    When I tell people I wrote a book with my dad, they usually say, “It must be nice to think of the legacy (遗产) you created with someone who means so much to you.”

This was a ____ idea, but it was not the way I, or my dad, ever thought about the cooperation. Though we created something we’re____, “nice” is not the word either of us uses to____the process.

“It was more confrontation (对抗) than____,” my dad likes to say. I agree.

When we landed a book deal, we began a writing ____ that was more difficult than either of us had ____, but also far more rewarding.

For almost three years, we met once or twice a week at my parents’ house and talked daily to plan and ____ each chapter. After these meetings, one of us would write a____ draft that the other would build on. I wanted the book to ____ on positive vices (不良习惯). ____, my dad felt the book should include chapters dealing with things like walking and spending time with family. Ultimately, I saw it his ____. He said the book was about more than just good vices. It was about ____ people to enjoy life in healthy ways.

Writing this book was a(n) ____ that our family members share not only our faults but also our strengths. My dad is smart, funny, critical and caring. He has a strong passion for the truth. I hope I share these great ____. For this book, he researched each topic with____I’d never seen from him, and he insisted that we constantly ____ and critically analyze every piece of information. He was ____ to cooperate on a book, not because he couldn’t write one on his own, but because he believed that we could create something ____ together than we could alone.

I’m not sure ____ our cooperation led to better writing, but it led to a better writing experience. Writing this book was difficult, sometimes more difficult than past projects, but it was never ____.

1.A.unique B.beautiful C.risky D.fresh

2.A.sure of B.conscious of C.proud of D.afraid of

3.A.create B.describe C.name D.begin

4.A.satisfaction B.construction C.formation D.cooperation

5.A.journey B.career C.style D.case

6.A.participated B.discovered C.discussed D.anticipated

7.A.outline B.complete C.read D.revise

8.A.thorough B.tough C.rough D.blue

9.A.depend B.take C.go D.focus

10.A.Therefore B.However C.Meanwhile D.Moreover

11.A.way B.position C.attitude D.mind

12.A.forcing B.requiring C.encouraging D.warning

13.A.instructor B.reminder C.inspiration D.response

14.A.factors B.elements C.ideas D.qualities

15.A.enthusiasm B.optimism C.comparison D.caution

16.A.believe B.seek C.question D.test

17.A.fearless B.determined C.anxious D.grateful

18.A.smarter B.funnier C.brighter D.better

19.A.that B.if C.why D.where

20.A.lonely B.dull C.ordinary D.exhausting

    Think about how much reading you do everyday. When you look at it, you might find that reading is the work-related skill that you use most often! 1. After all, if we can read and comprehend textbooks, then aren’t we good readers? Maybe not. Given the time that reading consumes, it may be a skill that we can and should improve.

2. It means getting faster and more efficient at reading, while still understanding what you’re reading. Although you spend a good part of your day reading, have you ever thought about how you read? How do your eyes make sense of the shapes of the letters, and then put those letters together to form sentences that you can understand?

Reading is quite a complex skill. It was previously believed during reading, both eyes focus on particular letters.3. Scientists now believe that the eyes lock onto different letters at the same time, usually two characters apart. Your brain then fuses (融合) these images together to form a word. This happens very swiftly, as we look through pages of text！

Many people read at an average rate of 250 words per minute. 4.

Imagine, then, if you could double your rate to 500 words per minute. 5. You could then spend the saved time on other tasks, or take a few extra minutes to relax. Another important advantage of speed reading is that it allows one to better comprehend the overall structure of an argument. This leads to better “big picture” understanding, which can greatly benefit your work and career.

A.Recent research shows this isn’t the case.

B.Speed reading has a great many benefits.

C.You should practice to improve your reading speed.

D.But what does becoming a better reader involve?

E.You could read all of this content in half the time.

F.It’s also a skill that most of us take for granted by the time we reach age 12.

G.This means that an average page in a book or document takes 1-2 minutes to read.

    They make a guest appearance in at least half of the articles on Medical News Today. They are responsible for many of the biggest breakthroughs in medicine. However, the humble lab mice also shoulder much of the blame when the failure of drugs to translate from animal models to humans keeps worrying the whole of medical research. Should scientists abandon lab mice altogether?

Mice were introduced into the lab back in the 1920s. An ambitious young American geneticist Clarence Cook Little strongly believed that cancer was an inheritable (有遗传性的) disease, and that mice were the ideal subjects for his experiments.

Other animals were, and still are, used to study disease. Cats and dogs are popular, as well as chimpanzees. Of course, ethical (伦理的) considerations get more complicated the further up the food chain you go. And mice are in sufficient numbers for researchers to conduct thousands of trials. Add to that the problem of cost: A standard lab mouse costs about $20---far cheaper than a healthy cat or dog. So their importance in scientific research has become well-established.

We share more than 97 percent of our working DNA with mice, a consequence of a shared ancestor 75 million years ago. This similarity has been both a blessing and a curse. While we share many basic biological processes, it is the three percent of the genes which set us apart from mice that can have a big influence on how our bodies work.

Mice may not always be the perfect model for understanding our own bodies, but they do hold real value to researchers. Their usefulness will only increase as scientists work out better ways to modify (修改) their genes to compensate for their shortcomings. The difficult part of the issue may be that researchers need to be more critical as they evaluate the type of model that is best for their experiment.

In the end, the story of scientists’ relationship with lab mice will possibly be one of gradual advances to improve an imperfect system. This is exactly how most scientific research progresses — by critically examining what we know to expand our knowledge of what we do not.

1.What does the underlined word “they” in the first paragraph refer to?

A.American geneticists B.cats and dogs

C.lab mice D.breakthroughs in medicine

2.Paragraph 4 mainly answers the question “________?”

A.Why do drugs that work in mice fail when tried in humans

B.Why are mice the ideal subjects for medical research

C.Why do we and mice share more than 97% of our working DNA

D.How can we understand our own bodies by studying lab mice

3.Which of the following statements is TRUE according to the passage?

A.Mice are in sufficient numbers because they are at the lower part of the food chain.

B.Many scientist are considering stopping the use of lab mice.

C.More genetically modified mice will be used in medical research in the near future.

D.It will become easier for researchers to choose the proper type of lab mice.

4.What is the author’s attitude to the use of lab mice?

A.Disappointed B.Supportive

C.Indifferent D.disapproving

    Following the outbreak of the novel coronavirus pneumonia (NCP), also named COVID—19 by WHO, there is a general fear of the unknown virus as its full effects remain to be seen. Fever, coughing, sore throat, difficulty breathing—the NCP’s symptoms (症状) are similar to the common cold or the flu, but it’s potentially more dangerous.

Viruses could be deadly, like HIV and Ebola (埃博拉). But what are viruses? How can they cause so much trouble?

Viruses are non-living organisms (有机体) approximately one-millionth of an inch long. Unlike human cells or bacteria, they can’t reproduce on their own. Instead, they invade (入侵) the cells of living organisms to reproduce, spread and take over.

Viruses can infect every living thing — from plants and animals down to the smallest bacteria. For this reason, they always have the potential to be dangerous to human life. Sometimes a virus can cause a disease so serious that it is fatal. Other viral infections trigger (引起) no noticeable reaction.

Viruses lie around our environment all of the time, waiting for a host cell to come along. They can enter our bodies by the nose, mouth, eyes or breaks in the skin. Once inside, they try to find a host cell to infect. For example, HIV, which causes AIDS, attacks the T-cells of the immune system.

But the basic question is, where did viruses first come from? Until now, no clear explanation for their origin exists. “Tracing the origins of viruses is difficult,” Ed Rybicki, a virologist at the University of Cape Town in South Africa, told Scientific American, “because viruses don’t leave fossils (化石) and because of the tricks they use to make copies of themselves within the cells they’ve invaded.”

However, there are three main hypotheses (假说) to explain the origin of viruses. First, viruses started as independent organisms, then became parasites (寄生者). Second, viruses evolved from pieces of DNA or RNA that “escaped” from larger organisms. Third, viruses co-evolved with their host cells, which means they existed alongside these cells.

For the time being, these are only theories. The technology and evidence we have today cannot be used to test these theories and identify the most reasonable explanation. Continuing studies may provide us with clearer answers. Or future studies may reveal that the answer is even murkier (含糊不清的) than it now appears.

1.What can we learn about viruses from the text?

A.Viruses have nothing to do with the common cold.

B.Viruses are really small living organisms.

C.Viruses can’t reproduce unless they find a host cell.

D.Viruses enter our bodies mainly through the mouth, nose and hair.

2.Which of the following might explain the origin of viruses?

A.They evolved from the fossils of large organisms.

B.They evolved from parasites into independent organisms.

C.They evolved from the T-cells in animals.

D.They evolved along with their host cells.

3.What can we conclude from the text?

A.Viruses live longer in human host cells than in animals’.

B.Viruses will become more like bacteria as they evolve.

C.It may take a long time to understand the origin of viruses.

D.The author is optimistic about future virus research.

4.What’s the best title of this passage?

A.The Mystery of Virus Evolution

B.The Invasion of Deadly Viruses.

C.The Reaction of Viral Infection

D.The Future Studies of Viruses

    It was a nervous time. World War II had started, and British ships were always watching for German submarines called U-boats. The ship Ben Lomond had left Cape Town, South Africa, with a crew of 55, including a young officer named Poon Lim.

On November 23, 1942, the worst fear came true. The Ben Lomond was attacked by a U-boat. Within minutes the boat was sinking. Poon Lim grabbed a life jacket and leaped over the side. He swam rapidly away from the ship in case it exploded. Sure enough, it let out a large boom and sank beneath the waves. For two hours Poon Lim struggled in the water. Once he almost got onto a life raft with five other sailors, but it got away from his grasp. Then he saw another life raft that was empty, swam to it, and climbed aboard. He found a few cans of biscuits, a water jug, some flares, and a flashlight, which could be enough supplies for about a month.

Day after day Poon Lim had his few biscuits and a couple of sips of water. He searched the horizon for ships. Twice he leaped up to shout and wave when he saw help coming. Once he saw a freight ship. It passed him. At a later time, he saw a United States Navy plane. It flew low over the raft but then disappeared. Still later a U-boat spotted him but for some reason left him alone.

Poon Lim knew he needed to stay strong. He couldn’t get much exercise on an eight-foot-square raft, but he could swim. A couple of times a day, he circled the raft, always watching for sharks. Soon his food and water ran low. He knew that drinking seawater would make him sick, so he tore off the canvas cover on his life jacket and set it out to catch rainwater. Then he took apart the flashlight and used a wire inside to make a fishhook. For months Poon Lim drifted, catching fish and sometimes birds. One time he even caught a shark. Finally, after 130 days, he noticed that the color of the water was changing. Two days later, on his 133rd day, he saw a boat. Three sailors in a small sailboat picked him up and took him to Belem, a city on the coast of Brazil. Poon Lim had crossed the Atlantic Ocean.

No one ever had survived longer on a raft at sea. Poon Lim received many honors, including Britain’s highest award. A booklet of his survival methods was put into every British life raft.

1.What happened just after Poon Lim’s ship was hit?

A.It immediately exploded.

B.Poon Lim jumped over the side.

C.Poon Lim found a life raft.

D.The U-boat picked up survivors.

2.What did Poon Lim do just after his food and water ran low?

A.He jumped up and down and waved, hoping to attract help.

B.He went swimming, hoping to find some fish.

C.He made a rain catcher and some fishing equipment.

D.He spotted a United States Navy plane.

3.Which of these things happened last?

A.Poon Lim noticed that the water had changed color.

B.Poon Lim landed in a Brazilian city.

C.Some sailors picked up Poon Lim.

D.Poon Lim caught a shark with his fishhook.

4.Why was Poon Lim presented with many honors?

A.He had voyaged the longest time on the Atlantic Ocean.

B.He managed to spend 133 days on a life raft with determination.

C.He had a knowledge of survival methods on the sea.

D.He didn’t surrender himself to German U-boats.