BBC News (May 11, 2008) —Edinburgh Zoo plans to bring a pair of giant pandas from China to Scotland. Representatives from Edinburgh Zoo have recently returned from China. They signed a letter of intent (意向书) there, making a promise to bring giant pandas to the Zoo.
It has been suggested that the pair of giant pandas should be on loan (暂借) to the Royal Zoological Society of Scotland (RZSS) for 10 years. The pair of giant pandas would give birth to babies during that time. Edinburgh Zoo would be the eighth zoo in the Western world to care for the species if the project goes ahead.
Zoo chiefs said that looking after the endangered animals could benefit conservation. David Windmill, chief of RZSS, said, "Working with giant pandas means so much more to us than introducing a new species to our collection. It is an opportunity to work on a global level with other conservationists to gain a better understanding of the giant pandas, the threats they face, and what we can do to ensure their survival."
At present, there are only around 1,500 giant pandas in the wild. RZSS has been working on the project for almost a year, hoping to have giant pandas at Edinburgh Zoo by 2009, the year of the society’s centenary (一百周年纪念日). Mr. Windmill said that the project has received strong support from the UK and Scottish Governments. He also said that this must continue if the Zoo is to reach an agreement with the Chinese. As part of the agreement with the Chinese Government, Edinburgh Zoo will work together with Chinese scientists on research projects benefiting conservation in the wild.
RZSS will also provide money to support giant panda conservation projects in the wild. Giant pandas live in mountainous regions in central China and almost mainly feed on bamboo, which makes up 99% of what they eat. What do we know from the first two paragraphs?
| A．China will give a pair of giant pandas to Edinburgh Zoo. |
| B．Representatives from Edinburgh Zoo have been to China. |
| C．The Scottish Government has signed a letter of intent with China. |
| D．Edinburgh Zoo is the first Western zoo to have giant pandas. |
According to the text, RZSS may be ___________.
| A．a company that deals with international business |
| B．an organization that researches endangered animals |
| C．a government department in charge of Western issues |
| D．an activity having something to do with animals |
We can know from the text that _____________.
| A．David Windmill is Edinburgh Zoo’s chief |
| B．the number of giant pandas in the wild is still unknown |
| C．RZSS will celebrate its centenary in 2009 |
| D．RZSS knows the threats the giant pandas face well |
What’s the main idea of the text?
| A．Edinburgh Zoo expects giant pandas from China. |
| B．Edinburgh Zoo does research into giant pandas. |
C．Scotland supports giant panda  conservation. |
| D．Giant pandas live happily in central China. |
It’s great fun to explore new places—it feels like an adventure，even when you know you’re not the first to have been there. But make sure not to get lost or waste time going round in circles.
● Do the map reading if you’re being driven somewhere. It’ll be easier if you keep turning the map so it follows the direction you’re traveling in. Keep looking ahead so that you can give the driver lots of warning before having to make a turn or you’ll have to move to the back seat.
● Get a group of friends together and go exploring. You'll need a good map, a compass , a raincoat, a cell phone to call for help in case you get lost, and a bit of spare cash for emergencies . Tell someone where you’re going before you set out and let them know what time you expect to be back. The test is in not getting lost, not in seeing how fast you can go, so always stick together, waiting for slower friends to catch up.
● See if your school or a club organizes orienteering activities, in which you need a map and a compass to find your way. This can be done as a sport, with teams trying to find the way from A to B (and B to C, etc.)in the fastest time, or simply as a spare-time activity. Either way, its not only good fun, but a great way to keep fit. Sitting beside the driver, you should___________.
| A．look ahead to see where there’s a turn |
| B．direct the driver when necessary |
| C．move to the back seat if feeling uncomfortable |
| D．keep looking at the map to find a place to go to |
Why do you need to tell someone your exploration plan before setting out?
| A．To be saved in case of an accident. |
| B．To get information when in danger. |
| C．To share the fun with him/her in exploration. |
| D．To tell him/her what’s going on with the group members. |
Orienteering activities can______________.
| A．make people work fast |
| B．help people organize other activities |
| C．help people stay healthy |
| D．make people get prepared for sports |
The text mainly talks about____________.
| A．the fun of exploration |
| B．what to bring for exploration |
| C．the way to use a map in exploration |
| D．how to prevent getting lost in exploration |
What do you want to be when you grow up? A teacher? A doctor? How about an ice-cream taster?
Yes, there really is a job where you can get paid to taste ice-cream. Just ask John Harrison, an＂Official Taste Tester＂for the past 21 years. Testing helps manufacturers to be sure of a product’s quality. During his career Harrison has been responsible for approving large quantities of the sweet ice cream－as well as for developing over 75 flavors (味道).
Some people think that it would be easy to do this job: after all, you just have to like ice cream, right? No－there’s more to the job than that, says Harrison, who has a degree in chemistry. He points out that a dairy or food-science degree would be very useful to someone wanting a career in this＂cool＂field.
In a typical morning on the job, Harrison tastes and assesses 60 ice-cream samples. He lets the ice cream warm up to about 12℉. Harrison explains,＂You get more flavor from warmer ice cream, which is why some kids like to stir it, creating ice-cream soup.＂
While the ice cream warms up, Harrison looks over the samples and grades each one on its appearance.＂Testing begins with the eyes,＂he explains. He checks to see if the ice cream is attractive and asks himself,＂Does the product have the color expected from that flavor?＂Next it’s time to taste!
Continuing to think up new ideas, try out new flavors, and test samples from so many kinds of ice cream each day keeps Harrison busy but happy－－working at one cool job. What is John Harrison’s job?
| A．An ice-cream taster. | B．An official. |
| C．A chemist. | D．An ice-cream manufacturer. |
According to John Harrison, to be qualified in the＂cool field＂, it is helpful to ______.
| A．keep a diary of work |
| B．find out new flavors each day |
| C．have new ideas every day |
| D．have a degree in related subjects |
What does Harrison do first when testing ice cream?
| A．He stirs the ice cream. |
| B．He lets the ice cream warm up. |
| C．He tastes the flavor of the ice cream. |
| D．He examines the color of the ice cream. |
Which of the following is probably the best title of the passage?
| A．Tasting with Eyes | B．Flavors of Ice Cream |
| C．One Cool Job | D．John Harrison’s |
A man and his girlfriend were married. It was a large celebration. All of their friends and family came to see the lovely ceremony. Everyone could tell that the love they had for each other was true.
A few months later, the wife came to the husband with a piece of advice, “I read in a magazine, a while ago, about how we can strengthen our marriage,” she offered. “Each of us will write a list of the things that we find a bit annoying with the other person. Then, we can talk about how we can fix them together and make our lives happier together.”
The husband agreed. So each of them tried to think of the things that annoyed them about the other and wrote down what they came up with. The next morning, at the breakfast table, they decided that they would go over their lists.
“I’ll start,” offered the wife. She took out her list. It had many items on it, enough to fill three pages. In fact, as she started reading the list of the little annoyances, she noticed that tears were starting to appear in her husband’s eyes because he never thought that he had so many shortcomings.
The wife continued to read until she had read all three pages to her husband. “Now, you read your list and then we’ll talk about the things on both of our lists,” she said happily. Quietly the husband stated, “I don’t have anything on my list. I think that you are perfect. I don’t want you to change anything for me. You are lovely and wonderful and I wouldn’t want to try and change anything about you.” The wife, touched by his honesty and the depth of his love for her and his acceptance of her, turned her head and wept.
In life, there are enough times when we are disappointed, depressed and annoyed. We don’t really have to go looking for them. We have a wonderful world that is full of beauty, light and promise. Why waste time in this world looking for the bad, disappointing or annoying when we can look around us and see the wonderful things before us?Why were there tears in the husband’s eyes when the wife read his annoyances?
| A．Because he had no courage to face his shortcomings. |
| B．Because he was sorry that he didn’t find any annoyance about his wife. |
| C．Because he never thought he had so many annoyances in his wife’s eyes. |
| D．Because he didn’t think he deserved to have such a perfect wife. |
After hearing the husband’s words, the wife felt _________.
| A．sad and disappointed | B．moved and ashamed |
| C．satisfied and proud | D．surprised and confused |
The story is intended to tell us that ___________.
| A．disappointment cannot be avoided in our life |
| B．young couples should be more tolerant (宽容的) to each other |
| C．we should turn a blind eye to other people’s blame |
| D．we should try to look for and see the wonderful things around us |
Not long ago, people thought babies were not able to learn things until they were five or six months old. Yet doctors in the United States say babies begin learning on their first day of life. Scientists note that babies are strongly influenced by their environment. They say a baby will smile if her mother does something the baby likes. A baby learns to get the best care possible by smiling to please her mother or other caregiver. This is how babies learn to connect and communicate with other human beings.
One study shows that babies can learn before they are born. The researchers placed a tape recorder on the stomach of a pregnant (怀孕的)woman. Then, they played a recording of a short story. On the day the baby was born, the researchers attempted to find if he knew the sounds of the story repeated while in his mother. They did this by placing a device in the mouth of the newborn baby.
The baby would hear the story if he moved his mouth one way. If the baby moved his mouth the other way, he would hear a different story. The researchers say the baby clearly liked the story he heard before he was born. They say the baby would move his mouth so he could hear the story again and again.
Another study shows how mothers can strongly influence social development and language skills in their children. Researchers studied the children from the age of one month to three years. The researchers attempted to measure the sensitivity of the mothers. The women were considered sensitive if they supported their children’s activities and did not interfere ( 干预）unnecessarily. They tested the children for thinking and language development when they were three years old. Also, the researchers observed the women for signs of depression.The children of depressed women did not do as well in tests as the children of women who did not suffer
from depression. The children of depressed women did poorly in tests of language skills and understanding what they hear.
These children also were less cooperative and had more problems dealing with other people. The researchers noted that the sensitivity of the mothers was important to the intelligence development of their children. Children did better when their mothers were caring, even when they suffered from depression. According to the passage, which of the following is NOT the factor that influences intelligence development in babies?
| A．The environment. |
| B．Mother's sensitivity. |
| C．Their peers (同龄人) |
| D．Education before birth. |
What is the purpose of the experiment in which newborn babies heard the stories?
| A．To prove that babies can learn before they are born. |
| B．To prove that babies can learn on the first day they are born. |
| C．To show mothers can strongly influence intelligence development in their babies. |
| D．To indicate early education has a deep effect on the babies' language skills. |
Which group of children did the worst in tests of language skills?
| A．The children of depressed mothers who cared little for their children. |
| B．The children of women who did not suffer from depression. |
| C．The children of depressed but caring mothers. |
| D．Children with high communication abilities. |
What is the main idea of the passage?
| A．Scientific findings about how babies develop before birth. |
| B．Scientific findings about how time has an effect on babies' intelligence. |
| C．A study shows babies are not able to learn things until they are rice or six months old. |
| D．Scientific findings about how intelligence develops in babies. |
Americans plan parties for many reasons. As in other cultures, many Americans attend parties for weddings and religious or national holidays. But some parties are especially American. For example, a group of neighbors may gather on their street to eat food, play music and visit with one another. This is called a block party. A woman might invite a group of women to a party called a baby shower for a friend who is about to give birth. Guests bring presents for the new baby.
Americans also attend tailgate parties. A tailgate is the back end of a truck or other vehicle that opens down. The tailgate parties are a big part of sports culture in the United States. Friends bring food and drink to a sports event. They eat together in the parking area of the sports stadium.
Birthday parties are also very popular. Many parents organize a party for their child around a theme. Birthday parties usually include gifts and a birthday cake with candles. In many parts of the United States, cupcakes have become a popular replacement for cakes.
Birthday parties can be low cost or very costly. Some parents take their children’s birthday parties very seriously, even when the child is too young to fully understand the celebration.
One group of parents started a website called Birthdays Without Pressure. They decided that some parents were under too much social pressure to plan costly parties for their children. The group sees this movement as an example of America’s culture of “too much stuff”. The group’s website gives suggestions on how to keep birthday celebrations simple, meaningful and fun without spending a lot of money. Their advice may be very helpful during this period of economic recession (萧条)．What can be the best title for the passage?
| A．Reasons for parties |
| B．Birthdays without pressure |
| C．American parties |
| D．Different parties in the world |
How many kinds of parties does the passage mention?
| A．5. | B．6. | C．7. | D．8. |
Which of the following is NOT true according to the passage?
| A．Block party is especially American. |
| B．Some parties in America are the same as in other countries. |
| C．There’s a party for the mother before her new baby is born. |
| D．Birthday parties are the most popular in America. |
The purpose of Birthdays Without Pressure is to advise people to _________.
| A．relieve people’s pressure |
| B．have meaningful birthday parties with low cost |
| C．make birthday parties meaningful and costly |
| D．spread America’s culture |