Lying in the sun on a rock, the cougar （美洲狮）saw Jeb and his son, Tom, before they saw it．Jeb put his bag down quickly and pulled his jacket open with both hands, making himself look big to the cougar．It worked．The cougar hesitated, ready to attack Jeb, but ready to forget the whole thing, too．
Jeb let go of his jacket, grasped Tom and held him across his body, making a cross．Now the cougar’s enemy looked even bigger, and it rose up, ready to move away, but unfortunately Tom got scared and struggled free of Jeb．
“Tom, no!” shouted his father．
But Tom broke and ran and that’s the last thing you do with a cougar．The second Tom broke free, Jeb threw himself on the cougar, just as it jumped from the rock．They hit each other in mid-air and both fell．The cougar was on Jeb in a flash, forgetting about Tom, which was what Jeb wanted．
Cougars are not as big as most people think and a determined man stands a chance, even with just his fists．As the cougar’s claws（爪子）got into his left shoulder, Jeb swung his fist at its eyes and hit, hard．The animal howled（吼叫）and put its head back．Jeb followed up with his other fist．Then out of the comer of his eye, Jeb saw Tom．The boy was running back to help his father．
“Knife, Tom,” shouted Jeb．
The boy ran to his father’s bag, while Jeb started shouting as well as hitting, to keep the cougar’s attention away from Tom．Tom got the knife and ran over to Jeb．The cougar was moving its head in and out, trying to find a way through the wall Jeb was making out of his arms．Tom swung with the knife, into the cougar’s back．It howled horribly and ran off into the mountains．
The whole fight had taken about thirty seconds．
16．Why did Jeb pull his jacket open when he saw the cougar?
A．To get ready to fight． B．To frighten it away．
C．To protect the boy． D．To cool down．
17．What do we know about cougars?
A．They are afraid of noises． B．They hesitate before they hit．
C．They are bigger than we think． D．They like to attack running people．
18．How did Jeb try to hold the cougar’s attention?
A．By keeping shouting and hitting． B．By making a wall out of his arms．
C．By throwing himself on the cougar． D．By swinging his fists at the cougar’s eyes．
19．Which of the following happened first?
A．The cougar jumped from the rock． B．Tom struggled free of his father．
C．Jeb asked Tom to get the knife． D．Jeb held Tom across his body．
The college entrance exam is not only a big challenge (挑战) for Chinese high school students, but also a very important exam in the lives of South Korean students.
Although the long, cold winter has already started in South Korea, the annual (一年一度的) national exams have made the atmosphere very heated.
More than 675,000 South Korean high school graduates took the college entrance exam last Wednesday. They usually take exams in Korean, maths, sociology (社会学), history and foreign languages.
Officially there is one college place for every 1.33 students. But because all the students want to go to the top universities in the country, the competition can reach one place for 10 students. The students want to attend these colleges for both their famous names and better job opportunities.
Because students face fierce competition, they have to study very hard to realize their dreams. Park Seung said he and his classmates often go to school before 7:30 a.m. After school has finished at 6:30 p.m., most of them go to the library to continue their study instead of returning home. Since many libraries in South Korea are open 24 hours a day, they often stay long into the night. Many of the Senior 3 students only sleep for three to four hours a day. “I feel a lot of pressure, but I have to study very hard in order to make my dream come true. This is my lifetime goal and it will be a turning point in my life which could decide my future,” Park said.
The exam day is a very serious day for the whole of South Korea. Vehicles are not allowed within a 200-metre radius (范围) of all the test sites to make sure the students have quiet surroundings. Tooting (吹奏) of horns is forbidden, even airplanes are ordered to avoid landing and take-off near the test sites during listening comprehension test hours.
Students are told their scores in December before they apply for college. This is followed by face-to-face oral tests. There are public and private universities in South Korea. Many private universities are well-known, but their fees can be 18, 000 yuan each term. This has made a lot of students think again.What do we know about South Korean annual national exams?
| A．Senior 3 students have to compete fiercely because there is only one place for 10 students. |
| B．Senior 3 students have to stay long into night at school. |
| C．Many of the Senior 3 students can’t have enough sleep. |
| D．Airplanes are ordered to avoid landing and take-off during national exams. |
We can infer that there are almost ________ college places for high school graduates.
| A．675, 000 | B．507, 520 | C．500, 000 | D．600, 000 |
The students want to study in top colleges mainly because ________.
| A．they can succeed more easily in future | B．they can learn more |
| C．they can make more money | D．it is interesting to study there |
Before students are allowed to colleges ________.
| A．they will be interviewed | B．they will ask questions of colleges |
| C．they will not be tested any more | D．first they will pay all the education fee at all |
Long bus rides are like television shows. They have a beginning, a middle, and an end with commercials （商业广告） thrown in every three or four minutes. The commercials are unavoidable. They happen whether you want them or not. Every couple of minutes a billboard glides by outside the bus window. "Buy Super Clean Toothpaste. ""Drink Good Wet Root Beer." "Fill up with Pacific Gas." Only if you sleep, which is equal to turning the television set off, are you spared the unending cry of "You Need It! Buy It Now!"
The beginning of the ride is comfortable and somewhat exciting, even if you’ve traveled that way before. Usually some things have changed—new houses, new buildings, sometimes even a new road. The bus driver has a style of driving and it’s fun to try to figure it out the first hour or so. If the driver is particularly reckless （鲁莽的） or daring, the ride can be as thrilling （惊心动魄的） as a suspense story. Will the driver pass the truck in time? Will the driver move into the rightor the lefthand lane? After a while, of course, the excitement dies down. Sleeping for a while helps pass the middle hours of the ride. Food always makes bus rides more interesting. But you’ve got to be careful of what kind of food you eat. Too much salty food can make you very thirsty between stops.
The end of the ride is somewhat like the beginning. You know it will soon be over and there’s a kind of expectation and excitement in that. The seat of course, has become harder as the hours have passed. By now you’ve sat with your legs crossed, with your hands in your lap, with your hands on the armrests even with your hands crossed behind your head. The end comes just at no more ways to sit.According to the passage, what do the passengers usually see when they are on a long bus trip?
| A．Buses on the road. | B．Films on television. |
| C．Advertisements on the billboards. | D．Gas stations. |
What is the purpose of this passage?
| A．To give the writer’s opinion about long bus trips. |
| B．To persuade you to take a long bus trip. |
| C．To explain how bus trips and television shows differ. |
| D．To describe the billboards along the road. |
The writer feels long bus rides are like TV shows because____ .
| A．the commercials both on TV shows and on billboards along the road are fun |
| B．they both have a beginning, a middle, and an end, with commercials in between |
| C．the drivers are always reckless on TV shows just as they are on buses |
| D．both traveling and watching TV are not exciting. |
The writer thinks the end of the ride is somewhat like the beginning because both are____ .
| A．exciting | B．comfortable | C．tiring | D．boring |
It doesn’t matter when or how much a person sleeps, but everyone needs some rest to stay alive. That’s what all doctors thought, until they heard about Al Herpin. Al Herpin, it was said, never slept. Could this be true? The doctors decided to see this strange man themselves.
Al Herpin was 90 years old when the doctors came to his home in New Jersey. They thought for sure that he got some sleep of some kind. So they stayed with him and watched every movement he made. But they were surprised. Though they watched him hour after hour and day after day, they never saw Herpin sleeping. In fact, he did not even own a bed. He never needed one.
The only rest that Herpin sometimes got was sitting in a comfortable chair and reading newspapers. The doctors were puzzled by his strange continuous sleeplessness. They asked him a lot of questions, hoping to find an answer. They found only one answer that might explain this question. Herpin remembered some talk about his mother having been injured several days before he was born. But that was all. Was this the real reason? No one could be sure.
Herpin died at the age of 94.The doctors came to Herpin’s home in order to __________.
| A．treat him for his illness |
| B．find the reason why some old people didn’t need any sleep. |
| C．get some proof to show his sleeplessness was not really true. |
| D．help him to have a rest in some day. |
After watching him closely, the doctors came to believe that Al Herpin ________.
| A．needed some kind of sleep. |
| B．needed no sleep at all. |
| C．was too old to need any sleep. |
| D．often slept in a chair. |
Al Herpin’s condition could be regarded as ___________.
| A．an unusual one | B．a common one |
| C．very healthy | D．very funny |
The main idea of this passage is that ____________.
| A．large numbers of people do not need sleep |
| B．everyone needs some sleep to stay alive |
| C．people can live longer by trying not to sleep at all |
| D．a person was found who actually didn’t need any sleep |
After we meet people, it is up to us to make them our friends．Let us stop a moment and consider what really makes a friend. The major qualities like faithfulness, devotion, friendliness，flash through our minds. But it is the large number of very small particular qualities that make up one’s whole character, such as cheerfulness, friendliness and punctuality. After all, “to make a friend, be a friend” is not such a big and difficult order. Ther
e are particular favorable qualities, which attract others to us, and some fundamental psychological do’s and don’ts．
If you are in the presence of a shy person, talking and asking casual questions may bring him out of his shell. Think of what would be most acceptable to the other person for you to talk, or to listen. Either way, the goal is to make yourself pleasant．
Always remember to listen, but listen intelligently. To have anyone “hang on our words” is the most unnoticeably clever way in the world to please somebody．For a few extremely happy seconds we are the center of attraction，but when it is our turn to be audience，let us remember how we felt as the actor，and let’s be genuinely interested in what the other fellow is saying．
Other people will l
ike us, if we like them. If you want friends, keep your mind and heart open to friendship. Be alive to the other person’s world．This passage is mainly about________.
| A．the way of talking to a shy person |
| B．some favorable qualities to be a psychologist |
| C．how to make yourself attractive to listeners |
| D．how to make a friend and be a friend |
The underlined part “bring him out of his shell” in the second paragraph most probably means________.
| A．make him become active | B．make him feel more nervous |
| C．help him understand the question better | D．help him listen intelligently |
According to the passage，an important way in making friends is to________.
| A．attract them | B．be attracted | C．listen attentively | D．talk widely |
Of the qualities in a friend，which of the following is NOT mentioned in the passage?
| A．Faithfulness. | B．Devotion． | C．Punctuality. | D．Unselfishness. |
How can a creature weighing over 5 tons and normally taking 150 kilograms of food and 120 liters of water per day survive in a desert environment?
In the southwest African country of Namibia, and the Sahara lands of Mali further north, the desert elephant does just that.
Although not regarded as a separate species from the African elephant, the desert cousin differs in many ways. Their bodies are smaller, to absorb less heat, and their feet are larger foreasier walking across sandy surfaces, they are taller, to reach higher branches. They have shorter tusks（象牙）, and most importantly, longer trunks to dig for water in riverbeds.
Desert elephants can travel over 70 kilometers in search for feeding grounds and waterholes, and have a larger group of families. They drink only every 3 –4 days, and can s
tore water in a “bag” at the back of their throat, which is only used when badly needed. Desert elephants are careful feeders – they seldom root up trees and break fewer branches, and thus maintain what little food sources are available. Young elephants may even eat the dung（粪便）of the female leader of a group when facing food shortage.
During drought they are unlikely to give birth to their young but with good rains the birthrate will increase greatly. Desert elephants have sand baths, sometimes adding their own urine（尿液）to make them muddy!
As we continue to overheat our weak planet, it can only be hoped that other animal species will adapt as extraordinarily well to change as the desert elephant.The underlined part in Paragraph 2 means “”.
| A．remains in the African countries | B．drinks 120 liters of water a day |
| C．manages to live in desert areas | D．eats 150 kilograms of food daily |
Desert elephants are called careful feeders because they _________.
| A．rarely ruin trees | B．drink only every 3-4 days |
| C．search for food in large groups | D．protect food sources for their young |
The author answers the question raised in the first paragraph with __________.
| A．stories and explanation | B．facts and descriptions |
| C．examples and conclusion | D．ev idence and argument |
What can be inferred from the last sentence in the passage?
| A．Overheating the earth can be stopped. |
| B．Not all animal species are so adaptable. |
| C．The planet will become hotter and hotter. |
| D．Not all animals are as smart as desert elephants. |