In 1957 a doctor in Singapore noticed that hospitals were treating an unusual number of influenzalike cases. Influenza is sometimes called “flu”or a “bad cold”. He took samples from the throats of patients in his hospital and was able to find the virus（病毒）of this influenza.
There are three main types of influenza virus. The most important of these are types A and B, each of them having several sub-groups（亚群）. At the hospital the doctor recognized that the outbreak was because of a virus group A, but he did not know the sub-group. He reported the outbreak to the World Health Organization in Geneva. W. H. O. published the important news together with reports of the same kind of outbreak in Hong Kong, where about 15％～20％ of the population had become ill.
As soon as the London doctors received the package of throat samples, they began to test them. They found that they could reproduce themselves at a very high speed. Continuing their careful tests, the doctor checked the effect of medicine used against all the known sub-groups of type A virus. On this virus, none of them was of any use.
Having separated the virus, the two doctors now made tests on some selected seleceted animals. In a short time the usual signs of the disease appeared. These experiments showed that the new virus spread easily, but that it was not a killer. Scientists, like the general public, called it simply “Asian flu”. The Asian flu mentioned in the passage ____. [ ]
| A．had something to do with a virus group B |
| B．was reported to W. H. O in Geneva by a doctor in Hong Kong |
| C．broke out not only in Singapore but also in Hong Kong |
| D．was taken from the throats of the patients in a hospital in Singapore |
London doctors considered ____. [ ]
| A．Asian flu as a bad cold |
| B．there were three main types of influenza |
| C．it was necessary to test the other groups of virus besides group A |
| D．the influenza called “Asian flu”a new one |
The Singapore doctor helped the world by ____. [ ]
| A．making those with Asian flu well again |
| B．killing the virus that caused Asian flu |
| C．finding the sub-group of the virus |
| D．reporting the outbreak of Geneva |
The Asian flu virus ____. [ ]
| A．was a killer |
| B．was very weak |
| C．could reproduce very quickly |
| D．died very fast |
Life in the Clear
Transparent animals let light pass through their bodies the same way light passes through a window. These animals typically live between the surface of the ocean and a depth of about 3,300 feet—as far as most light can reach. Most of them are extremely delicate and can be damaged by a simple touch. Sonke Johnsen, a scientist in biology, says, “These animals live through their life alone. They never touch anything unless they’re eating it, or unless something is eating them.”
And they are as clear as glass. How does an animal become see-through? It’s trickier than you might think.
The objects around you are visible because they interact with light. Light typically travels in a straight line. But some materials slow and scatter(散射) light, bouncing it away from its original path. Others absorb light, stopping it dead in its tracks. Both scattering and absorption make an object look different from other objects around it, so you can see it easily.
But a transparent object doesn’t absorb or scatter light, at least not very much, Light can pass through it without bending or stopping. That means a transparent object doesn’t look very different from the surrounding air or water. You don’t see it ----you see the things behind it.
To become transparent, an animal needs to keep its body from absorbing or scattering light. Living materials can stop light because they contain pigments(色素) that absorb specific colors of light. But a transparent animal doesn’t have pigments, so its tissues won’t absorb light. According to Johnsen, avoiding absorption is actually easy. The real challenge is preventing light from scattering.
Animals are built of many different materials----skin, fat, and more----and light moves through each at a different speed. Every time light moves into a material with a new speed, it bends and scatters. Transparent animals use different tricks to fight scattering. Some animals are simply very small or extremely flat. Without much tissue to scatter light, it is easier to be see—through. Others build a large, clear mass of non-living jelly-lie(果冻状的)material and spread themselves over it .
Larger transparent animals have the biggest challenge, because they have to make all the different tissues in their bodies slow down light exactly as much as water does. They need to look uniform. But how they’re doing it is still unknown. One thing is clear for these larger animals, staying transparent is an active process. When they die, they turn a non-transparent milky white.According to Paragraph 1, transparent animals_______.
| A．stay in groups |
| B．can be easily damaged |
| C．appear only in deep ocean |
| D．are beautiful creatures |
The underlined word “dead” in Paragraph 3 means__________.
| A．silently | B．gradually |
| C．regularly | D．completely |
One way for an animal to become transparent is to ________.
| A．change the direction of light travel |
| B．gather materials to scatter light. |
| C．avoid the absorption of light |
| D．grow bigger to stop light. |
The last paragraph tells us that larger transparent animals________.
| A．move more slowly in deep water |
| B．stay see-through even after death |
| C．produce more tissues for their survival |
| D．take effective action to reduce light spreading |
The old man fished alone in a small rowboat and he had gone eighty-four days now without taking a fish. In the first forty days a boy had been with him. But after forty days without a fish the boy’s patents had told him that the old man was now bad luck, and ordered the boy to join another boat, which caught three good fish the first week. It made the boy sad to see the old man come in each day with his boat empty and he always went down to help him carry in the fishing lines or take down the old, patched sail.
“Santiago,” the boy said to him as they dragged up the boat to the sand. “I could go with you again. I’ve made some money.” the old man had taught the boy to fish and the boy loved him. “No,” the old man said. “You’re with a lucky boat. Stay with them. You must obey your father.” “We can be lucky again too. Remember when we didn’t catch a fish for 10 days, then caught a big one each day for a month?” said the boy. “Can I offer you a beer on the balcony and then we’ll take the stuff home,” said the boy. “Why not?” the old man said.
“Santiago,” the boy said as they sat on the balcony, “If I cannot fish with you, I would like to serve in some way.” “You bought me a beer,” the old man said, lifting the bottle to his mouth. “Do you remember the first time I took you out to fish?” the old man asked. “I was five. I remember the tail of a huge fish slapping against the boat, the noise of you clubbing him and the sweet blood smell. I remember everything from when we first went together,” the boy said. The old man looked at him with his sun-burned, loving eyes.
“May I get some sardines for tomorrow? Let me get four fresh ones,” said the boy. “One,” the old man said. His hope and his confidence had never gone. But now they were freshening like a sea breeze. “Two,” the boy said. “Thank you,” the old man said. He was too simple to wonder when he had attained modesty. But he knew he had attained it and he knew it was not disgraceful and it carried no loss of true pride. “Tomorrow is going to be a good day with this wind,” he said. “I will row far out before it is light. There will going to be a good day with this wind,” he said. “I will row far out before it is light. There will be a big fish?” asked the boy. “I think so. And I know many tricks.”Why was the boy forced to stop working for the old man?
| A．It was too dangerous to continue fishing. |
| B．It was time for the boy to return to school. |
| C．The old man was thought to be a poor teacher. |
| D．The boy couldn’t earn enough money with the old man. |
In paragraph 2, the boy probably mentioned their past fishing experiences in order to__________.
| A．convince the old man that he should not retire |
| B．explain why he had to stop working for the old man |
| C．persuade the old man to let him return as his assistant |
| D．warn the old man about the danger of fishing in the deep sea |
Which of the following did the boy NOT do for the old man?
| A．Buy him a beer. | B．Repair the sail. |
| C．Drag up the boat. | D．Take in the fishing equipment. |
What can we lean about the old man from the last paragraph?
| A．He remained optimistic about catching fish. |
| B．He was the most skillful fisherman in the village. |
| C．He would stay out longer than any other fisherman. |
| D．He would usually go out further than any other boat. |
“I see you’ve got a bit of water on your coat,” said the man at the petrol station. “Is it raining out there?” “No, it’s pretty nice,” I replied, checking my sleeve. “Oh, right. A pony(马驹) bit me earlier.”
As it happened, the bite was virtually painless: more the kind of small bite you might get from a naughty child. The pony responsible was queuing up for some ice cream in the car park near Haytor, and perhaps thought I’d jumped in ahead of him.
The reason why the ponies here are naughty is that Haytor is a tourist-heavy area and tourists are constantly feeding the ponies foods, despite sighs asking them not to. By feeding the ponies, tourists increase the risk of them getting hit by a car, and make them harder to gather during the area’s annual pony drift(迁移).
The purpose of a pony drift is to gather them up so their health can be checked, the baby ones can be stooped from feeding on their mother’s milk, and those who’ve gone beyond their limited area can be returned to their correct area. Some of them are also later sold, in order to limit the number of ponies according to the rules set by Natural England.
Three weeks ago, I witnessed a small near-disaster a few mils west of here. While walking, I noticed a pony roll over on his back. “Hello!” I said to him, assuming he was just rolling for fun, but he was very still and, as I got closer, I saw him kicking his legs in the air and breathing heavily. I began to properly worry about him. Fortunately, I managed to get in touch with a Dartmoor’s Livestock Protection officer and send her a photo. The officer immediately sent a local farmer out to check on the pony. The pony had actually been trapped between two rocks. The farmer freed him, and he began to run happily around again.
Dartmoor has 1,000 or so ponies, who play a critical role in creating the diversity of species in this area. Many people are working hard to preserve these ponies, and trying to come up with plans to find a sustainable(可持续的) future for one of Dartmoor’s most financially-troubled elements.Why are tourists asked not to feed the ponies?
| A．To protect the tourists from being bitten |
| B．To keep the ponies off the petrol station |
| C．To avoid putting the ponies in danger |
| D．To prevent the ponies from fighting |
One of the purposes of the annual pony drift is ______________.
| A．to feed baby ponies on milk |
| B．to control the number of ponies |
| C．to expand the habitat for ponies |
| D．to sell the ponies at a good price |
What as the author’s first reaction when he saw a pony roll on its back?
| A．He freed it from the trap |
| B．He called a protection officer |
| C．He worried about it very much |
| D．He thought of it as being naughty |
What does the author imply about the preservation of Dartmoor’s ponies?
| A．It lacks people’s involvement. |
| B．It costs a large amount of money |
| C．It will affect tourism in Dartmoor. |
| D．It has caused an imbalance of species |
Parts of Africa are covered by a dark cloud. But this is no rain cloud. It is a living cloud made of billions of locusts(蝗虫) that are traveling across the continent eating everything in their path.
And now in the battle to stop this disaster, a radio station in Senegal, West Africa, is offering listeners 50 kilograms of locusts. “We think this idea will get more people to take part in the war on the locusts.” said Abdoulaye Ba, from Sud-Fm, a radio station in one of Senegal’s worst affected area.
This is West Africa’s biggest locust disaster in 15 years, and it is moving east, causing huge damage to crops. As they move they produce young and increase their number and will soon threaten Sudan in the northeast of Africa. Some say it could reach Asia.
Experts say the harmful effect on crops in areas already suffering from food shortage and war could cast many people to go hungry. Governments in the areas are not well equipped to fight the pest.
Although leaders of 12 countries have agreed on a plan, it is not expected to be enough. “We are now treating 6,000 hectares per day with pesticide(杀虫剂), but we need to treat 20,000 hectares per day in order to have any hope of controlling this disaster,” said Mohamed Adballahi Ould Babah, director of locust control in Mauritania.
Requests are being made for international aid, which is the only way to limit the disaster, the UN’s Food and Agriculture Organization warned.By using “dark cloud” to describe locusts in the first paragraph, the author mainly meant to______.
| A．show the size, speed and damage of the mass of locusts |
| B．suggest the high speed that locusts travel at |
| C．warn that locusts would sweep the continent severely |
| D．hint that they look like dark monster |
The story is mainly about______.
| A．West Africa’s united effort in fighting a disaster |
| B．the difficulty in controlling locusts |
| C．the great damage locusts caused to West Africa |
| D．a struggle to fight against a disaster brought by locusts in West Africa |
According to the text we learn that the locust disaster______.
| A．can be even more serious in Asia |
| B．is then out of control |
| C．has affected greatly most areas |
| D．cannot be stopped unless twice as much pesticide is provided for the affected areas |
Which of the following is WRONG？
| A．Sud-Fm offered a reward for fighting locusts so that more people would join in the effort. |
| B．Senegal is to southwest of Sudan. |
| C．The locusts can cause such damage mainly because it has no natural enemy in West Africa. |
| D．12 countries affected by locusts have untied but still lack pesticide. |
If humans were truly at home under the light of the moon and stars，we would go in darkness happily，the midnight world as visible to us as it is to the vast number of nocturnal(夜间活动的) species on this planet. Instead，we are diurnal creatures, with eyes adapted to living in the sun’s light. This is a basic evolutionary fact, even though most of us don’t think of ourselves as diurnal beings. Yet it’s the only way to explain what we’ve done to the night: We’ve engineered it to receive us by filling it with light.
The benefits of this kind of engineering come with consequences 一 called light pollution 一 whose effects scientists are only now beginning to study. Light pollution is largely the result of bad lighting design，which allows artificial light to shine outward and upward into the sky. III-designed lighting washes out the darkness of night and completely changes the light levels 一 and light rhythms — to which many forms of life, including, ourselves, have adapted. Wherever human light spills into the natural world, some aspect or life is affected .
In most cities the sky looks as though it has been emptied of stars, leaving behind a vacant haze(霾) that mirrors our fear of the dark. We’ve grown so used to this orange haze that the original glory of an unlit nigh, - dark enough for the planet Venus to throw shadow on Earth, is wholly beyond our experience, beyond memory almost.
We’ve lit up the night as if it were an unoccupied country, when nothing could be further form the truth. Among mammals alone, the number of nocturnal species is astonishing, Light is a powerful biological force, and on many species it acts as a magnet(磁铁). The effect is so powerful that scientists speak of songbirds and seabirds being “captured” by searchlights on land or by the light from gas flares on marine oil platforms. Migrating at night, birds tend to collide with brightly lit tall buildings.
Frogs living near brightly lit highways suffer nocturnal light levels that are as much as a million times righter than normal, throwing nearly every aspect of their behavior out of joint including most other creatures ,we do need darkness .Darkness is as essential to our biological welfare, to our internal clockwork, as light itself.
Living in a glare of our making,we have cut ourselves off from our evolutionary and cultural heritage—the light of the stars and the rhythms of day and night .In a very real sense light pollution causes us to lose sight of our true place in the universe, to forget the scale of our being, which is best measured against the dimensions of a deep night with the Milky Way—the edge of our galaxy arching overhead.According to the passage, human being .
| A．prefer to live in the darkness |
| B．are used to living in the day light |
| C．were curious about the midnight world |
| D．had to stay at home with the light of the moon |
What does “it”(Paragraph 1) most probably refer to?
| A．The night. | B．The moon |
| C．The sky | D．The planet |
The writer mentions birds and frogs to .
| A．provide examples of animal protection |
| B．show how light pollution affects animals |
| C．compare the living habits of both species |
| D．explain why the number of certain species has declined |
It is implied in the last paragraph that .
| A．light pollution dose harm to the eyesight of animals |
| B．light pollution has destroyed some of the world heritages |
| C．human beings cannot go to the outer space |
| D．human beings should reflect on their position in the universe |
What might be the best title for the passage?
| A．The Magic light. |
| B．The Orange Haze. |
| C．The Disappearing Night. |
| D．The Rhythms of Nature. |