Some spiders hunt on the ground, others build webs to trap their food, but the grass water spider catches its prey by running along the surface of the water.
This special water spider lives on the grassy banks of streams where mosquitoes, damsel flies and other insects come to feed and breed.
Although it is one of the largest spiders in New Zealand, it has an unusual ability. It doesn’t disturb the water as it waits for its meal, and there is barely a ripple(波纹) when it skims(掠过) across the surface at lightning speed to catch its prey.
Grass water spiders deal swiftly with larger insects like damsel flies by pulling their heads under the water and holding them there until they drown.
After a meal, the grass water spider spends up to half an hour grooming(修饰) itself. It wipes its eight eyes, brushes its antennae(触角), and takes special care to clean the hairs on its body.
It is the hairs that trap tiny bubbles(泡沫) of air so that the spider can run down a blade(叶片) of grass and stay underwater for up to an hour when it is frightened. The hairs also keep the spider dry, even underwater.
It is only when the female spider is caring for the young that she does not hunt on the water. After mating, she produces a large egg sac(囊), which she carries around for five weeks. Once the eggs start to hatch, she attaches the sac to some blades of grass or a thistle. She then tears the sac open and releases the tiny spiders into the nursery web. How does the grass water spider kill its prey?
| A．in a web | B．by drowning | C．by poisoning | D．with its antennae |
the writer describes the special spider as “special” because _______.
| A．it walks on water | B．it has eight eyes |
| C．of its hairy appearance | D．of the way it produces its young |
The passage tells us that the spider ______.
| A．feeds grass and thistles to its young. | B．lives on blades of grass under the water |
| C．lives in the grass on the banks of streams | D．eats a meal once every five weeks |
The purpose of the passage is to _______.
| A．convince readers that spiders are dangerous |
| B．indicate that the grass water spider is endangered |
| C．list all of the spiders that can be found in New Zealand |
| D．describe the characteristics of the grass water spider |
Ad. 1
April fool’s party
On Friday, April 1, Inner Affair goes back to the days of funk! Classic Tunes from the 70’s and 80’s by DJs Den & Sion. 9pm till late.
Tickets: Free entrance for those in costume, otherwise 50 Yuan (US$6)
Time/date: 9 pm, April 1
Place: Inner Affair, 1/F Qiankun Dasha, 6 Sanlitun Xiliujie, Chaoyang District
Tel: 8454 0321
Ad. 2
Language in use
Enjoy free in house coffee, tea and beer as well as music and dancing. Practice your Chinese, make friends and have fun.
Time/date: 7 to 9 pm, March 25
Place: Language In Use Club, 2/F, Science Fortune Center, 8 Xueqing Lu, north of Xueyuan Lu, Haidian District
Ad. 3
The “worst” party
Organized by Ozone Productions, the party is set to be “the worst ever”, with the lamest music from the 60s, 70s and 80s. Special prizes will be awarded to the worst dressed or for bad fashion sense.
Tickets: Free entrance
Time/date: 9 pm, April 1
Place: Pula Pula, Tianze Lu, Oriental Seven Colours Plaza, Chaoyang District
Tel: 64668575
Ad. 4
La Nuit Francaise
Again on the 2nd Thursday of the month La Nuit Francaise will be held at Le Rendezvous. The monthly event is an opportunity for all French people and everyone interested in France or speaking French to gather together.
The evening features three glasses of wine and canapes for participants and a special exhibition.
Time/date: 7 to 10 pm, April 14
Place: Le Rendezvous, 3 Gongti Beilu, across from the Pacific Century Plaza, Chaoyang District Tel: 64629110
Ad. 5
Marco V
Dutch DJ Marco V drops by Banana for a gig which is supported by Hong Kong’s DJ Spark.
Marco V has been around for many years, as an inventive, style blending deejay and a successful and devoted producer. His spinning is energetic, crowd pleasing and never sees an empty dance floor. He was ranked No. 15 in this year’s international DJ MAG DJ Top100.
Tickets: 40 yuan (US$4.80) in advance, 50 yuan (US$6) at the door, both include a free drink
Time/date: 10 pm to 4 am, March 31, April 1
Place: Banana, in the lobby of the Scitech Hotel, 22 Jianwai Dajie, Chaoyang District
Tel: 65283636 Which of the following is NOT true of Ad. 1 and Ad. 3?
| A．The two parties will be held on the same day. |
| B．The two parties will be held at the same time. |
| C．The entrance fees of the two parties will not be charged. |
| D．Some old music will be played at the parties. |
Which of the following is intended for the Chinese learners?
| A．Marco V. | B．La Nuit Francaise. |
| C．Language in use. | D．The “worst” party. |
We can infer that______.
| A．Marco V is a newly established band |
| B．La Nuit Francaise may be French words |
| C．the “worst” party will attract a lot of college students |
| D．you will enjoy free drink at April fool’s party |
Everyone has got two personalities – the one that is shown to the world and the other that is secret and real. You don’t show your secret personality when you’re awake because you can control your behavior, but when you’re asleep, your sleeping position shows the real you. In a normal night, of course, people frequently change their position. The important position is the one that you go to sleep in.
If you go to sleep on your back, you’re a very open person. You normally trust people and you are easily influenced by fashion or new ideas. You don’t like to upset people, so you never express your real feelings. You’re quite shy and you aren’t very confident.
If you sleep on your stomach, you are a rather secretive person. You worry a lot and you’re always easily upset. You’re very stubborn, but you aren’t very ambitious. You usually live for today not for tomorrow. This means that you enjoy having a good time.
If you sleep on curled up, you are probably a very nervous person. You have a low opinion of yourself and so it is easy for you to get angry. You’re shy and you don’t normally like meeting people. You prefer to be on your own. You’re easily hurt.
If you sleep on your side, you have usually got a well-balanced personality. You know your strengths and weakness. You’re usually careful. You have a confident personality. You sometimes feel anxious, but you don’t often get upset. You always say what you think even if it makes people angry.According to the writer, you naturally show your secret and real personality _______.
| A．only in a normal night |
| B．only when you go to sleep |
| C．only when you refuse to show yourself to the world |
| D．only when you change sleeping position |
Maybe you don’t want to make friends with a person who sleeps curled up. Why?
| A．He or she would rather be alone than communicate with you |
| B．He or she is rarely ready to help you |
| C．He or she prefers staying at home to going out |
| D．He or she wouldn’t like to get help from you |
It appears that the writer tends to think highly of the person who sleeps on one side because _______.
| A．he or she always shows sympathy for people |
| B．he or she is confident, but not stubborn |
| C．he or she has more strengths than weakness |
| D．he or she often considers making other people angry |
About ten years ago, a young and very successful businessman named Josh was traveling down a Chicago neighborhood street. He was going a bit too fast in his shiny, black car, which was only two months old.
He was watching for kids rushing out from between parked cars and slowed down when he thought he saw something. As his car passed, no child came out, but a brick sailed out and-WHUMP!-it hit the shiny black side door of his car! SCREECH...!!!! Immediately Josh stopped the car, jumped out, caught the kid and pushed him up against a parked car. He shouted at the kid, “What was that all about and who are you? Just what on earth are you doing?!” Building up a head of steam, he went on. “That’s my new car, and that brick you threw is gonna cost you a lot of money. Why did you throw it?”
“Please, mister, please... I’m sorry! I didn’t know what else to do!” begged the young man. “I threw the brick because no one else would stop!” tears were streaming down the boy’s face as he pointed around the parked car. “It’s my brother, mister,” he said. “He rolled of the curb （路沿）and fell out of his wheelchair and I can’t lift him up.” Weeping, the boy asked the businessman, “Would you please help me get him back into his wheelchair? He’s hurt and he’s too heavy for me.”
Moved beyond words, the young businessman tried hard to swallow the rapidly swelling lump (肿块) in his throat. Trying hard, he lifted the young man’s brother back into the wheelchair and took out his handkerchief and wiped the scrapers and cuts, checking to see that everything was going to be OK. He then watched the younger brother push him down the sidewalk toward their home.
It was a long walk back to the black, shining car — a long and slow walk. Josh never did fix the side door of his car. He kept the dent (凹痕) to remind him not to go through life so fast that someone has to throw a brick at him to get his attention. Feel for the bricks of life coming at you. The boy threw a brick at the businessman’s car because ________.
| A．the businessman drove at a high speed |
| B．he envied the brand-new car very much |
| C．he wanted to ask for some money |
| D．he wanted to get help from the driver |
Which of the following is the right order of the story?
a. The younger brother threw a brick at Josh’s car
b. The elder brother fell out of his wheelchair
c. The younger brother begged Josh for help
d. Josh lifted the elder brother back into his wheelchair
e. Josh shouted at the younger brother.
| A．b, a, e, c, d | B．a, c, d, b, e |
| C．b, a, c, e, d | D．a, c, b, e, d |
What can we learn from the passage?
| A．Josh would accept the money from the kids |
| B．The two kids were Josh’s neighbors |
| C．Josh was a kind-hearted man |
| D．Josh’s new car broke down easily |
According to the passage, the last sentence means ________.
| A．trying to get ready for the trouble in your future life |
| B．driving fast in a neighborhood street is dangerous |
| C．trying to be more understanding seeing others in trouble |
| D．protecting oneself from being hurt |
It’s really true what people say about English politeness: it’s everywhere. When squeezing (挤) past someone in a narrow aisle (通道), people say “sorry”. When getting off a bus, English passengers say “thank you” rather than the driver. In Germany, people would never dream of doing these things.
After all, squeezing past others sometimes can’t be avoided and the bus driver is merely doing his job. I used to think the same way, without questioning it, until I started traveling to the British Isles and came to appreciate some more polite ways of communicating with people.
People thank each other everywhere in England, all the time. When people buy something in a shop, customers and retail assistants in most cases thank each other twice or more. In Germany, it would be exceptional to hear more than one thank you in such a conversation. British students thank their lecturers when leaving the room. English employers thank their employees for doing their jobs, as opposed to Germans, who would normally think that paying their workers money is already enough.
Another thing I observed during my stay was that English people rarely criticize others. Even when I was working and mistakes were pointed out to me, my employers stressed several times but none of their explanations were intended as criticism. It has been my impression that by avoiding criticism, English people are making an effort to make others feel comfortable. This also is shown in other ways. British men still open doors for women, and British men are more likely to treat women to meals than German men. However, I do need to point out here that this applies to English men a bit more than it would to Scottish men. Yes, the latter are a bit tightfisted.What is the author’s attitude towards English politeness?
| A．He appreciates it. |
| B．He gives no personal opinion. |
| C．He thinks it is just an act. |
| D．He thinks it goes too far. |
What can we learn about customers and retail assistants in Germany?
| A．It’s always retail assistants who say thank you. |
| B．Customers never say thank you to retail assistants. |
| C．They always say thank you to each other. |
| D．They may say thank you only once. |
We can learn from the last paragraph that Scottish men ______.
| A．are more likely to be involved in a fight |
| B．are not so willing to spend money for women |
| C．are more polite than English men |
| D．treat women in a polite way |
The author develops the text through the method of ______.
| A．giving comments | B．telling stories |
| C．making comparisons | D．giving reasons |
How to look good in a photo?
What should you do if you want to have a nice photo taken? Whether it’s work or fun, the most important thing is lighting. If you get bad lighting, you will look bad, too. Know where the light is. You don’t want it below you or above you, you want it to shine directly at you.
The key thing is no shadow. If you are being photographed outside, do it in the morning, or wait till the 2 o’clock shadow has passed. Also don’t let pictures in the magazines stress you out — all the pictures are taken by great photographers. And all the faces have had pimples（粉刺）taken out by computers.
Tip your head and learn what angles (角度) work with your face; everyone is different. So you have to learn what suits you. You can practice in Photo Booth as long as it is your turn, to learn what angles suit your face. Tip your neck to make it look longer, make eye contact with the camera. No one can look bad if they smile.
For long legs, point one leg into center of the frame and get the photographer to shoot looking up your body.
For just leg shots, lie upside down and raise legs in the air for the best angle. And your legs will look thinner and be in better shape.
Keep shoulders back.
Always have mouth slightly open, enough to put a penny between your lips, as this will make your lips look fuller.
Lower your eyes and then look up just as shutter（快门）is clicked for full eyes.
Delete any evidence of a less than perfect photogenic moment, everyone has off days.If you want to look good in a photo, the light should be ______.
| A．below you | B．above you |
| C．directly at you | D．right behind you |
According to the passage, we should consider all EXCEPT ______.
| A．light | B．shadow |
| C．angles | D．photographers |
What advice does the author give on taking photos?
| A．Raise your legs as high as possible. |
| B．Keep your eyes down. |
| C．Position your shoulders straight. |
| D．Put a penny between lips. |