Jewelweeds are pretty flowers that grow in wet, shady spots all over the Northern Hemisphere. According to a recent experiment, they seem to know their own flower family —or at least, recognize whether or not they came from the same mother plant. Together with other through their leaves, but through their roots.
Scientists planted jewelweeds in pots with either siblings(兄弟姐妹)or strangers. Sibling plants were grown from seeds that came from the same mother plant. Stranger plants were grown from seeds from different plants.
When jewelweeds were planted in pots with strangers, the plants started to grow more leaves than if they had been planted alone. This response suggests that plants are competing with strangers for sunlight, since a plant with more leaves can receive more light and make more food.
When jewelweed seedlings were planted with siblings, they few a few more branches than they normally would if they were alone—but they did not start growing lots of extra leaves. This behavior suggests the plants are more likely to share resources, rather than compete.
The plants only responded this way when they shared soil. If stranger seedlings were planted in different pots and placed next to each other, for example, they did not grow more leaves. This different shows that the plants must use their roots to detect sibling plants in the same soil. In 2007, Dudley and her team studied the Great Lakes sea rocket, a plant that grows on the beach—where it may be hard to get fresh water. In that experiment, the botanists observed that when sea rockets were planed with siblings, they tolerated each other. But when they were planted with strangers, the sea prickets reacted by working extra hard to grow lots of roots, but not extra leaves.
The different types of plants may react in different ways, but they have one thing in common: the roots. In both experiments, on Jewelweeds and sea rockets, the key was the shared soil—and other plant species may turn out to show similar behavior. These experiments, as well as earlier experiments, suggest “The phenomenon is quite common.” Says Hans de Kroonof, an ecologist in the Netherlands.
57.In Paragraph 1, the author mentions a recent experiment of Jewelweeds to___________.
A.make a comparison B.introduce a topic
C.describe a pretty flower D.put forward a new theory
58.What can we know from the experiments done by scientists?
A.Jewelweeds can grow in the Northern Hemisphere.
B.Jewelweeds can grow in wet, shady spots.
C.Jewelweeds are more friendly to their siblings than to stranger plants.
D.jewelweeds can recognize their siblings through leaves.
59.If jewelweeds and their siblings are planted in different pots and placed close to one another, they will___________.
A.start to grow more leaves B.detect the strangers
C.compete with sibling plants D.grow normally
60.The best title of the passage would be___________.
A.Flower family knows its roots
B.The growing conditions of Jewelweeds
C.Jewelweeds and sea rockets
D.The stranger plant recognize each other
London: It’s well known that Charles Darwin’s famous theory of evolution (进化) annoyed many people because it was against the Biblical view of creation. But few know that it also created problems for Darwin at home with his deeply religious wife, Emma.
“Darwin held back the publication of On the Origin of Species to avoid offending (触怒) his wife,” says Ruth Padel, the naturalist’s great – great – granddaughter. “Emma told him that he seemed to be putting God further and further off”, Padel says in her north London home. “But they talked it through, and Emma once said, ‘Don’t change any of your ideas for fear of hurting me.’”
As the world celebrates the 200 th birthday of the man who changed scientific thought forever and the 150 th anniversary of his book today, even his opponents admitted he was a giant figure.
Though opposition to his theory continues, it is the elegant explanation of how species evolutes through natural selection that makes his 200th birthday such a major event.
More than 300 celebrations have been planned in Britain alone, where Darwin's face graces (使增光)the 10-pound bill along with that of Queen Elizabeth II.
Shrewsbury, the central England town where Darwin was born and raised, is holding a month-long festival for its most famous son. Down House, his former home near London, will hold a permanent exhibition recreating some of his most famous experiments.
Many more events have been planned all over the world.
What would he be doing if he were alive today? Padel thinks he would properly be studying DNA and the immune system.
60.The main purpose of the author is .
A.to say something about Darwin and his wife
B.to introduce Charles Darwin and his theory of evolution
C.to sing high praise for the book On the Origin of Species
D.to report some celebrations of Darwin’s 200 th birthday and the 150 th anniversary of his books
61.Which of the statements is NOT true based on the passage?
A.Everyone agrees with Darwin now.
B.Darwin was brought up in Shrewsbury.
C.Emma was not really fond of his theory.
D.Darwin was very interested in living things.
62.The underlined phrase “help back” in the second paragraph probably means .
A.prevented from B.kept a secret
C.cared about D.put off
63.It can be inferred that the passage is most probably .
A.a scientific report B.a news report
C.an English composition D.a text
第三部分:阅读理解(共20小题,每题2分,满分40分)
阅读下列短文,从每题所给的四个选项(A、B、C和D)中,选出最佳选项。
One winter evening, a storekeeper was going to close up his shop. Suddenly he saw Seth, a lazy, good – for – nothing fellow grasp a pound of fresh butter and hid it in his hat. No sooner had the storekeeper seen the act than he hit upon exactly the right revenge(报复). He would punish the thief, and satisfy his own appetite for fun.
Seth had his hat on his head, and the butter in his hat. He was anxious to leave. However, the rightful owner of the butter offered him a cup of hot drink, took him by the shoulders and planted him in a seat close to the stove. The grocer filled in the stove as many sticks of wood as he could. Seth already could feel the butter settling down closer to his hair, so he jumped up, declaring that he must go. “Sit down; don’t be in such a hurry,” replied the grocer, pushing him back into the chair again.
Streak after streak of the butter came pouring from under the poor man’s hat. The fun-loving grocer kept on putting wood into the stove. Then, as if surprised, he remarked, “You seem to be sweating as if you were warm! Let me put your hat away for you.”
“No! ” exclaimed poor Seth at last, unable to stand it a moment longer. “ No, I must go; let me out.” A greasy (油腻的) waterfall of butter was now pouring down the poor man’s face and neck, dipping into his clothes, and trickling down his body into his boots. He was bathed in oil from head to toe. Just as Seth rushed out of the door, the grocer said , “ I believe the fun I’ve had out of you is worth the money, so I shan’t charge you for that pound of butter in your hat.”
56.Why did Seth put the butter in his hat?
A.Because he didn’t want to pay for it.
B.Because he just wanted to play a trick on the grocer.
C.Because he wanted to revenge himself on the grocer.
D.Because he had nowhere to put the butter but in the hat.
57.What is not the action that the grocer took as a revenge?
A.The grocer offered Seth a cup of hot drink.
B.The grocer offered to take off Seth’s hat.
C.The grocer overcharged Seth for the butter.
D.The grocer forced Seth to take a seat near the stove.
58.What was the purpose of the grocer’s hospitality(热情好客)?
A.He wanted to be kind to him.
B.He wanted to sell more of his goods.
C.He wanted to make friends with Seth
D.He wanted to take his revenge on Seth by making the butter in his hat melt.
59.What is the best title of the passage?
A.Great FunB.The Right Revenge
C.A Fun-loving Grocer D.A Foolish Customer
The following are some important sights in New York.
American Museum of Natural History
Four floors of exhibition halls here include the world-famous fossil halls with their skeletons of enormous dinosaurs and other creatures; the culture halls, representing a variety of indigenous peoples; and mammal, bird and reptile halls. The renovated Milstein hall of Ocean Life showcases the profusion of life in Earth’s “last frontier”. Also here: Rose Center for Earth and space, with Hayden Planetarium and exhibits on Earth and our universe.
Open: Sunday-Thursday, 10:00-17:45; Friday-Saturday: 10:00-20:45
Empire State Building
At 102 stories tall, the Empire State Building commands an inspiring view of Manhattan. Each year, over 3.5 million people come here for the view from the 86th-floor observatory, where they can take in the sights of the city from a glass-enclosed pavilion or the encircling open-air promenade.
Observatory Hours: 8:00am to midnight daily. Last elevators go up at 11:15pm. Open daily 365 days a year.
Metropolitan Museum of Art (One of the greatest museums in the world)
It is impossible to “do” the entire museum in one day or describe everything you can see here. Go to the museum & spend some time in the Great Hall where you will find all types of help in many languages for planning your visit. If you can, get a guide before your visit or look at their website where you can plan well & learn about their many special exhibitions & programs.
Fee: $12 adults, $7 students & seniors, under 12 with adult free.
Open: Tuesday-Thursday and Sunday. 9:30-17:15; Friday-Saturday, 9:30-20:45.
Museum of Modern Art (MoMA)
MoMA houses an outstanding collection of American & European paintings & sculptures from late 19th C. to present. Innovative in its definition of “art”, it was a pioneer in exhibiting film, photography, and industrial design. Its retrospectives can draw record-breaking attendance. A happy place to take small children, as strollers are allowed.
Open: Sunday-Tuesday, Thursday and Saturday, 10:30-17:45; Friday, 10:30-20:15.
68. Varieties of ocean life are exhibited in ________.
A. American Museum of Natural HistoryB. Empire State Building
C. Metropolitan Museum of Art D. Statue of liberty
69. You can visit Museum of Modern Art at the following time EXCEPT ________.
A. at 14:30 on Monday B. at 7:00 pm on Friday
C. at 10:40 on WednesdayD. at 12:00 on Sunday
70. Suppose you are a high school student, who is going to visit Metropolitan Museum of Art with your parents, your 70-year-old Grandpa and your 6-year-old younger brother, how much will you have to pay in total?
A. $42 B. $38 C. $45 D. $50
BEIJING — The rescue operations at a coal mine accident have ended with 105 miners dead. The State Council has organized an investigation team to probe (调查) into what caused the disaster in the city of Linfen, North China’s Shanxi Province. Preliminary(初步的) investigations show the illegal mining of an unauthorized seam(未经授权的煤层), and the number of miners who had been sent down the shaft far exceeded its capacity.
This mine was found to have long ignored the rules to steal state coal, and did not have a list of miners employed to check the number of miners missing after the accident.
How did such a coal mine get all the necessary licenses for production? How did it pass the three safety inspections the local government organized last month?
In response to this disaster, the Shanxi governor promised to set up hotlines for people to report illegal coal mines and rewards as high as 100,000 yuan for tip-offs.
We appreciate the action this governor has taken to solving the coal mining problems, and we believe that the reporting scheme will help to stop the existence of illegal coal mines.
But at the same time we have reason to question how governments at various levels supervise these mines.
The sad fact that such a mine with serious safety problems could pass three consecutive (连续的)local government safety inspections in a month is enough to tell us how ineffective the safety inspections were.
What if these inspections were just a formality(形式)? What if the inspectors were bribed by the mine owners to turn a blind eye to the safety dangers? We can well imagine what would happen if reports about mine problems were handled by such officials.
So a thorough probe must find out who are responsible for the death of so many miners. A real safety inspection and management system must be established to guarantee that safety dangers will be removed
64. What is NOT one of the causes of this coal mine accident?
A. The workers didn’t operate properly.
B. The mine didn’t obey the rules to mine for coal.
C. A lot more miners than allowed were working under the mine.
D. The safety inspections were ineffective.
65. According to the writer, who should be further investigated?
A. Mine owners and miners.B. Miners’ families and mine staff.
C. Government officials and safety inspectors. D. The Shanxi governor and miners.
66. What can we infer from the passage?
A. More than 105 miners died in the disaster.
B. Some other coal mines like this one exist in Shanxi province.
C. Safety inspectors just turned a blind eye to hidden dangers.
D. The three inspections were only a formality.
67. What does the underlined word “tip-offs” probably mean in Paragraph 4?
A. Some warnings. B.Some money for one’s service.
C. Some secret information.D.Some pieces of advice.
Are morning people born or made? In my case it was definitely made. In my early 20s, I rarely went to bed before midnight, and I would almost always get up late the next morning.
But after a while I couldn’t ignore the high relationship between success and rising early. On those rare occasions where I did get up early, I noticed that my productivity was almost always higher. So I set out to become a habitual early riser. But whenever my alarm went off, my first thought was always to stop that noise and go back to sleep. Eventually some sleep research showed me that I was using the wrong strategy.
The most common wrong strategy is this: You assume that if you’re going to get up earlier, you’d better go to bed earlier. It sounds very reasonable, but will usually fail.
There are two main schools(流派) of thought on sleep patterns. One is that you should go to bed and get up at the same time every day. The second school says you should go to bed when you’re tired and get up when you naturally wake up. However, I have found both of them are wrong if you care about productivity. If you sleep at set hours, you’ll sometimes go to bed when you aren’t sleepy enough. You’re wasting time lying in bed awake and not being asleep.
If your sleep is based on what your body tells you, you’ll probably be sleeping more than you need. Also, your mornings may be less predictable if you’re getting up at different times.
The solution for me has been to combine both methods. I go to bed when I’m sleepy and get up with an alarm clock at a fixed time. So I always get up at the same time (in my case 5 am), but I go to bed at different times every night — sometimes at 9:30pm, and other times at midnight. Most of the time I go to bed between 10-11 pm.
However, going to bed only when I’m sleepy, and getting up at a fixed time every morning is my way. If you want to become an early riser, you can try your own.
60. According to the passage, the underlined phrase refers to ____.
A. people who stay up until the next morning.
B. people who get up early in the morning.
C. people who feel sleepy in the morning.
D. people whose productivity is the highest in the morning.
61. Why did the author want to become a habitual early riser?
A. Because he / she wanted to form the habit of going to bed early and getting up early.
B. Because he / she had found that his / her productivity was higher when he / she got up early.
C. Because he / she wanted to see which of the two main schools of thought on sleep patterns was right
D. Because he / she was told the high relationship between success and rising early.
62. The author experienced all the following EXCEPT ____.
A. going to bed after midnight
B. getting up early occasionally
C. pressing off the alarm to go on sleeping
D. asking scholars for advice on sleeping habits
63. The passage is mainly about ____.
A. how to become an early riser B. how to have good sleep
C. wrong strategies for getting up early D. main schools of thought on sleep patterns