Rare birds in the UK have been living far better than the more common birds over the last decade due to the efforts of conservation organisations, according to a new assessment．
The research shows 
almost 60% of the 63 rare birds that live in the UK have increased over the last 10 years.
By contrast, only about one third of common species have increased over the same period．Just 28% of rare birds have decreased over the same period, compared with four out of every 10 common birds．The rare birds described in the assessment with increasing populations include the osprey (鹗) and corncrake (秧鸡)．All of these birds are subject to conservation action.
The declining common birds include the nightingale, swift (雨燕), house sparrow and red grouse (苏格兰雷鸟)．These are suffering declines for a variety of reasons, including changes in farming practices.
Dr David Noble, from the British Trust for Ornithology, said: “That some of our rarer birds have responded to targeted conservation action is great news．It shows just what can be achieved．What we need to do now is to continue the good work and use some of the lessons we have learned to help our more common birds.”
Dr Mark Avery, the conservation director of the Royal Society for the Protection of Birds (RSPB), said: “Over the last decade we've enjoyed some great conservation successes, including removing some threatened species from the World Conservation Union's Red List of Thratened Animals and increasing the populations of red kite, osprey, etc．However, these successes are countered (抵消) by continued declines of some widespread species.”
The overview of 210 native birds has been produced by a group of conservation organisations, to mark the publication of The State of the UK's Birds report, which is in its l0th year．The report was published by the RSPB for a group of conservation organisations.Which of the following is TRUE according to the passage?
| A．The decline of widespread birds is not worrying for the UK. |
| B．The UK has got some practical experience of bird conservation. |
| C．Changes in farming practices contribute to the increase of rare birds. |
| D．Half of common birds have decreased in the past ten years in the UK. |
We can learn from the passage that Dr David Noble .
| A．hopes that conservation organisations will change the way they work |
| B．is quite disappointed with the result of the new assessment |
C．is losing confide nce in conservation organizations’ action |
| D．has high hopes for the increase in bird population in Britain |
Which of the following can best explain Dr Mark Avery's words?
| A．The UK should not be satisfied with what they have achieved. |
| B．The UK should share their experience with other countries. |
| C．What conservation organisations do is far from satisfactory. |
| D．The RSPB is responsible for the decrease of common birds. |
The passage is most likely to be found in a book about .
| A．popular science | B．historical events |
| C．nature | D．society |
The author's purpose of writing this article is to tell people .
| A．some good ways to protect rare birds |
| B．the differences between rare birds and common birds |
| C．the number of rare birds has increased over the last decade |
| D．some widespread birds in the UK are in great need of help |
A new research has uncovered that culture is a determining factor when people interpret facial emotions (情感)．The study reveals that in cultures where emotional control is the standard，such as Japan，the focus is placed on the eyes to interpret emotions. Whereas in cultures where emotion is openly expressed，such as the United States，the focus is on the mouth to interpret emotions.
“These findings go against the popular theory that the facial expressions of basic emotions can be universally recognized，” said University of Alberta researcher Dr.Takahiko Masuda.” A person’s culture plays a very strong role in determining how he will read emotions and needs to be considered when interpreting the facial expressions.”
These cultural differences are even noticeable in computer emoticons(情感符号)，which are used to convey a writer’s emotions by email and text message. The Japanese emotions for happiness and sadness vary in terms of how the eyes are drawn ，while the American emotions vary with the direction of the mouth. In the United States the emoticons∶)and∶) show a happy face，whereas the emoticons∶(and∶(show a sad face. However，the Japanese tend to use the symbol (‘‘) to indicate a happy face，and (；；) to indicate a sad face.
“We think it is quite interesting and appropriate that culture tends to mask its emotions. The Japanese would focus on a person’s eyes when detecting his or her emotions，as eyes tend to be quite subtle(微妙的)，”said Masuda. “In the United States，where an open emotion is quite common，it makes sense to focus on the mouth，which is the most expressive feature on a person’s face.”The text mainly tells us that ________.
| A．cultural differences are expressed in emotions |
| B．culture is a key to interpreting facial emotions |
| C．different emoticons are preferred in different cultures |
| D．people from different cultures express emotions differently |
Which emoticon is used by Americans to show a happy face?
| A．(；；) | B．∶) |
| C．∶( | D．∶( |
If a Japanese wants to detect whether a smile is true or false，he will probably________.
| A．read the whole face | B．focus on the mouth |
| C．look into the eyes | D．judge by the voice |
The computer emoticons used by Americans show that________.
| A．they express their feelings openly |
| B．they tend to control their emotions |
| C．they are good at conveying their emotions |
| D．they use simpler emotions to show their feelings |
Watson entered Mr. Smith’s office. The Boss was a hard man. He fired people who didn’t do well without giving them a second chance.
“Watson,” said Mr. Smith, “this past year your department hasn’t earned money. We’re going to drop that department. It’s finished. I’ m sorry, —but you’ll have to go.” “But, sir—if I just had a little more time. For the moment I need the job to keep my son at Riverside School.”
“What’s that!” said the Boss. “Riverside! I didn’t know you had a boy there. That’s an expensive school for a man with your salary.”
“I know, sir. But he likes it there so much! He’s a star trackman（田径运动员） and the best boxer in the school. The boys call him Champ（冠军） there.”
The Boss sat perfectly still for a long time—a faraway （恍惚的） look in his eyes. Then, suddenly, he said, “We’ve got to close your department, Watson. But you’ll take over a new job in another department. It means longer hours—maybe more pay. Now get out. You’re here for life.”
Watson got out, with surprise in his face. Then the Boss took a letter from the top drawer of his desk. It was Herbie’s last letter from Riverside School —written a few days before he died. He had read it over and over again with sick pain. The letter read: I can’t say the boys here are any nicer to me than the others were. I guess it’s the same everywhere when you’re a cripple (跛脚的人). But don’t worry about me, Dad. They’ve got a good chemistry department here. And there’s one boy here who is really great. He’s a track star and boxing champ and just tops in chemistry. The boys call him Champ. He made them stop throwing my books around. And he knocked a boy down who hit me. He is the best friend I ever had. Dad, when I grow up, I want to do something for Champ. Something big—that he won’t even know about.
Your son, HerbieThe underlined word “drop” in paragraph 2 could best be replaced by ________.
| A．fall | B．close | C．punish | D．sell |
It can be inferred from the text that Champ is_______.
| A．Watson’ s son | B．Mr Smith’ s son |
| C．a teacher of Mr Smith’s son | D．the son of Mr Smith’s friend |
From the text we know that Herbie_______.
| A．was a college student | B．didn’t live to grow up |
| C．made friends with many boys | D．died from a car accident |
Watson was given a second chance because_______.
| A．Mr Smith wanted to help Watson’s son |
| B．a man was needed in another department |
| C．Herbie told Mr Smith to do so in his letter |
| D．Mr Smith wanted to realize his son’s dream |
Microblogging is a broadcast medium in the form of blogging. A microblog differs from a traditional blog in that its content is typically much smaller, in both actual size and aggregate file size. Microblogs “allow users to exchange small elements of content such as short sentences, individual images, or video links”.
As with traditional blogging, microbloggers post about topics ranging from the simple, such as "what I'm doing right now," to the thematic(主题的), such as "sports cars.” Commercial microblogs also exist, to promote (促进) websites, services and/or products, and to promote collaboration within an organization.
Some microblogging services offer features such as privacy settings, which allow users to control who can read their microblogs, or other ways of publishing rights besides entering the web-based interface.(界面) These may include text messaging, E-mail, or digital audio.
The first microblogs were known as tumblelogs. The term was invented in a blog post on April 12, 2005. However, by 2006 and 2007, the term microblog came into greater usage for such services provided by Tumbler and Twitter. Other leading social networking websites Facebook, MySpace, LinkedIn, and XING also have their own microblogging features, better known as status updates.
Several studies, especially by Harvard Business School have tried to analyze the usage behavior of Microblogging services. Many of these studies show that for services such as Twitter, there is a small group of active users contributing to most of the activity.
Twitter, Facebook and other microblogging services are also becoming a platform for marketing and public relations, with a sharp growth in the number of social media marketers. The Sysomos study shows that this specific group of marketers on Twitter is much more active than general user population, with 15% following more than 2,000 people.Why is a microblog different from a traditional blog?
| A．Because a microblog doesn’t include pictures, but a traditional blog does. |
| B．Because a microblog doesn’t include videos, but a traditional blog does. |
| C．Because a microblog has smaller contents than a traditional blog in actual and total file size. |
| D．Because a microblog can only be written on the cell-phones. |
Microblogging can protect the following privacy EXCEPT_______.
| A．deciding the readers of the microblogs |
| B．allowing readers to publish their views |
| C．readers’ deleting what a microblog says |
| D．deciding whether readers can enter it |
We can infer from the passage that______.
| A．microbloggers always post about the thematic topics instead of the simple ones |
| B．microblogging has developed so quickly and brought the owners more and more benefits. |
| C．microblogging protects both the owners’ and the readers’ privacy |
| D．the studies by Harvard Business School have analyzed the usage of microblogging services |
When a child is told he is "uncool", it can be very painful. He may say he doesn't care, and even act in ways that are opposite of cool on purpose. But ultimately, these are simply ways to handle sadness by pretending it's not there.
Helping a child feel better in school had to be careful. If you say, "Why are you worried about what other children think about you? It doesn't matter!" Children know that it does matter. Instead, an active way may be best. You could say, "I'm going to do a couple of things for you to help you feel better in school."
If a boy is having trouble making friends, the teacher can help him. The teacher can arrange things so that he has chances to use his abilities to contribute to class projects. This is how the other children learn how to value his good qualities and to like him. A teacher can also raise a child's popularity in the group by showing that he values that child. It even helps to put him in a seat next to a very popular child, or let him be a partner with that child in activities, etc.
There are things that parents can do at home, too. Be friendly when your child brings others home to play. Encourage him to invite friends to meals and then serve the dishes they consider "super". When you plan trips, picnics, movies, and other shows, invite another child with whom your child wants to be friends.
What you can do is to give him a chance to join a group that may be shutting him out. Then, if he has good qualities, he can start to build real friendship of his own.A child who has been informed of being "uncool" may ________.
| A．care nothing about it | B．develop a sense of anger |
| C．do something uncool purposely | D．pretend to get hurt very much |
A teacher can help an unpopular child by ________.
| A．seeing the child as the teacher's favourite |
| B．asking the child to do something for partners |
| C．forcing other children to make friends with the child |
| D．offering the child chances to show his good qualities |
Which of the following is TRUE?
| A．Children don’t care others' comments on them. |
| B．It's only teacher's work to make children popular. |
| C．Parents should take their children out for picnic and shows more often. |
| D．Inviting children's friends to family activities is good for them to make friends. |
The passage mainly talks about ________.
| A．how to help an unpopular child |
| B．why some children are unpopular |
| C．who is responsible for unpopular children |
| D．how to find out good points of unpopular children |
Mini Book Excerpts（节选）
Biography
When Salinger learned that a car park was to be built on the land, the middle-aged writer was shocked and quickly bought the neighboring area to protect it… The townspeople never forgot the rescue and came to help their most famous neighbor.
J. D. Salinger：A Life by Kenneth Slawenski（Random House,$27）Mystery（疑案小说）
“You’re a smart boy. Benny’s death was no accident, and you’re the only who saw it happen. Do you think the murderer should get away with it?”The boy was starting stubbornly at his lap again.
A thought suddenly occurred to Annika,“Did you …You recognized the man in the car, didn’t you?”
The boy hesitated, twisting his fingers,“Maybe,”he said quietly.
Red Wolf by Liza Marklund（Atria Books, $25. 99）
Short stories
She wants to say to him what she has learned, none of it in class. Some women are born stupid, and some women are too smart for their own good. Some women are born to give, and some women only know how to take. Some women learn who they want to be from their mothers, some who they don’t want to be. Some mothers suffer so their daughters won’t. Some mothers love so their daughters won’t.
You Are Free by DAnzy Senna (Riverhead Books, $15)
Humor
Do your kids like to have fun? Come to Fun Times! Do you like to watch your kids having fun? Bring them to Fun Times! Fun Times! “amusement cycling”is the most fun you can have, legally, in the United States right now. Why spend thousands of dollars flying to Disney World when you can spend less than half to that within a day’s drive lf most cities?
Happy and Other Bad Thoughts by Larry Doyle（Ecco,$14. 99）If the readers want to know about the title of Salinger, they should buy the book published by
.
| A．Ecco | B．Atria Books |
| C．Riverhead Books | D．Random House |
The book Happy and Other Bad Thoughts is intended for.
| A．young children | B．Disney World workers |
| C．middle school teachers | D．parents with young children |
Which book describes women with characters of their own?
A. Happy And Other Bad Thoughts
B. J. D. Salinger: A Life
C. You Are Free
D. Red WolfAfter finishing the book Red Wolf, the readers would learn that .
| A．the boy helped arrest the murderer |
| B．Benny died of an accident |
| C．the murderer got away with the crime |
| D．Annika carried out the crime |