Many different tribes live in the Ituri rain forest of Africa, but the Pygmies are the most unusual. Most of the men are not much more than four feet tall. They weigh only about eighty pounds. The women are even smaller and thinner. But in spite of the fact that they are small, these people are perfectly formed men and women.
It is an exciting experience to visit a Pygmy encampment for the first time. Before you go, you must send word ahead that you are coming. Some friendly native or trader must take the message to the Tiki-Tikis. Otherwise the whole tribe will disappear into the depths of the jungle long before you have come close enough to be welcomed.
The great Ituri rain forest seems cut off from the rest of the earth. There are living, dead, and dying trees on every side. Except where a clearing has been burned and chopped out, a man may live his whole life in the Ituri and never see farther than twenty yards.
It takes sharp eyes to discover the almost hidden path to the Pygmy camp. The path is no wider than a small man’s foot. No sound breaks the silence in this part of the forest. There are no signs of people.
The stranger must walk carefully. What appears to be a bent branch may prove to be a deadly snake. A spotted gold patch of sunlight may be a crouching leopard(豹).
Even the Pygmy camp comes as a surprise. The leafy shelters in which the little people live are hardly three feet high. They look so much like the surrounding undergrowth that they might easily be passed by. These houses contain no furniture of any sort. The beds are merely plantain leaves spread out on the earth floor. There are no cooking pots: food is eaten raw or smoked over a fire. Spears, bows and arrows are the only possessions of these people. When the tribe moves to a new camp there is nothing to carry except these weapons and babies too small to walk.According to the passage, we can conclude _____.
A.the Pygmies are the shortest tribe worldwide |
B.the Pygmies are short but normal in mentality |
C.most of the Pygmy men are more than four feet |
D.the Pygmies live in the forest of America |
Paragraph 2 mainly suggests that the Pygmies ______.
A.are unwilling to communicate with people outside |
B.are very cruel and they will ![]() |
C.are friendly to the tourists visiting them for the first time |
D.move so fast and often that can’t be caught up with easily |
Which of the following w
ord can describe the life of Pygmy?
A.Quiet. | B.Active. | C.Hard. | D.Busy. |
Which of the following is TRUE of the Pygmy?
A.Their houses can’t be easily found in the hurt rain forest. |
B.Their houses, which are three feet high, are made of wood. |
C.Weapons and cooking pots are their most valuable possessions. |
D.They are living in harmony with dangerous animals around. |
Plants are very important living things. Life could not go if there were no plants. This is because plants can make food from air, water and sunlight. Animals and man cannot make food from air, water and sunlight. Animals get their food by eating plants and other animals. So animals and man need plants in order to live. This is why we find that there are so many plants around us.
If you look carefully at the plants around you, you will find that there are two kinds of plants: flowering plants and non-flowering plants.
Flowering plants can make seeds. The seeds are protected by the fruits. Some fruits have one seed, some have two, three or four, and some have many seeds. But a few fruits have no seeds at all. An example of a fruit without seeds is the banana fruit.
Most non-flowering plants don’t grow from seeds. They grow from spores(孢子). Spores are so small and light that they can float in the air. We may say that spores are quite the same as the seeds. When these spores fall on wet and shady places, they usually grow into new plants.The main idea of the passage is that __________.
A.plants are important for life |
B.plants cannot grow without air |
C.there are many plants around us |
D.we cannot live without water |
Which of the following is NOT TRUE?
A.Plants can be divided into main types: flowering plants and non-flowering plants. |
B.All fruits have seeds in them |
C.Seeds are protected by the fruits. |
D.Some plants grow from spores. |
The word “non-flowering ” in this passage means __________.
A.开花的 | B.有花的 | C.多花的 | D.不开花的 |
TV PROGRAMS |
|
Channel 1 |
Channel 2 |
18:00 Around China 18:30 Children’s program 19:00 News 19:30 Weather report 19:40 Around the world 20:10 TV play: Sisters 21:00 English for today 21:15 Popular music 21:55 Talk show |
17:45 Computers 18:10 Foreign arts 18:30 English classroom 19:00 Animal world 19:25 China’ 99 20:20 Sports 21:00 Guo Lanying 21:45 English news 22:05 On TV next week |
If you want to watch a football game, the best program for you would be ____.
A.Sports | B.TV play |
C.Around the world | D.Talk show |
The program of _____ will let you know much about western countries.
A.Sisters | B.Around China |
C.Around the world | D.On TV next week |
If you want to know something about tigers, elephants and monkeys, the best program for you is__ _.
A.Around China | B.Animal world |
C.TV play | D.Foreign arts |
English classroom is a program that___.
A.lets you know something about classrooms. |
B.tells you something about students |
C.lets you know something about school life |
D.teaches you English |
Jenny went to visit her friends in New York last weekend. Her friends met her at the airport on Friday afternoon and drove her to the hotel. They had dinner at a Chinese restaurant and went to see a film after that.
Jenny and her friends set out early on Saturday morning for a farm and stayed there until Sunday morning. During their stay, they went fishing and swimming in the small river on the farm. They played football in the field and enjoyed a big meal around a camp fire(篝火), singing and dancing till late into the night.
Nobody could get up early on Sunday morning. So when they got back to New York City, it was about three o’clock in the afternoon. They drove right to the airport because Jenny didn’t want to miss her plane back home. Jenny only stayed in New York for two nights but she had a great time with her friend. Jenny went to New York________.
A.to do some shopping |
B.to see her friends |
C.to spend her summer holiday |
D.to find a job |
How did Jenny get to New York?
A.By train. | B.By bus. | C.By plane. | D.On foot. |
Where did Jenny and her friends go on Saturday?
A.To the farm. | B.To the Chinese restaurant. |
C.To the airport. | D.To the railway station. |
When did Jenny go back home?
A.On Saturday afternoon. | B.On Sunday morning. |
C.On Saturday evening. | D.On Sunday afternoon. |
Once there was a poor farmer and his farm belonged to(属于) a rich man. One day he brought a basket of apples to the rich man’s house. On the doorsteps, he met two monkeys dressed like children. They jumped onto the basket to eat the apples and threw some on the ground. The farmer politely took off his hat and asked the monkeys to get off. They obeyed(服从) and the farmer went into the house. He asked to see the rich man. A servant took him to the room where the rich man was sitting.
“I have brought you the basket of apples you asked for,” he said.
“But why have you brought a half-empty basket?” the rich man asked.
“I met your children outside, and they stole some of the apples.”Why did the farmer bring apples to the rich man? Because.
A.he was poor |
B.he liked the rich man |
C.his farm belonged to the rich man |
D.the rich man’s children liked apples |
What did the monkeys do when the farmer was on the doorsteps?
A.They jumped and jumped. |
B.They played. |
C.They ran away. |
D.They ate some of the apples. |
The monkeys left the basket because .
A.they had thrown apples on the ground |
B.the farmer had politely asked them to get off |
C.they were afraid of the hat |
D.the farmer was angry wit h them |
How did the rich man feel when he saw the basket? He felt .
A.pleased | B.moved | C.excited | D.unhappy |
I receive many letters from children and can’t answer them all – there wouldn’t be enough time in a day. I’ll try to answer some of the questions that are commonly asked.
Where did I get the idea for Stuart Little and for Charlotte’s Web? Well, many years ago, I went to bed one night in a railway sleeping car, and during the night I dreamed about a tiny boy who acted rather like a mouse. That’s how the story of Stuart Little got started.
As for Charlotte’s Web, I like animals and my farm is very pleasant place to be – at all hours. One day, when I was on my way to feed the pig, I began feeling sorry for the pig because, like most pigs, he was going to die. This made me sad. So I started thinking of ways to save his life. Three years after I started writing it, it was published. (I am not a fast worker, as you can see.)
Sometimes I’m asked when I started to write, and what made me want to write. I started early – as soon as I could spell. Children often find pleasure through trying to set their thoughts down on paper, either in words or in pictures. I was not good at drawing, so I used words instead. As I grew older, I found that writing could be a way of earning a living.
Well, here is the answer to the last question. No, they are imaginary (虚构的) tales. In real life, a family doesn’t have a child who looks like a mouse and a spider doesn’t write words in her web. Although my stories are imaginary, I like to think that there is some truth in them, too – truth about the way people and animals feel, think and act.E.B. White wrote this passage to ______.
A. introduce his new books
B. introduce two funny stories
C. explain why he enjoys writing
D. answer some readers’ questionsWe can know from the passage that E.B. White is a writer who ______.
A. writes very fast
B. works on a friends’ farm
C. mainly writes stories for adults
D. writes imaginary tales for childrenWhat inspired E.B. White to write Charlotte’s Web?
A. That he wanted children to love animals.
B. That he was deeply impressed by a clever pig.
C. That he wanted to use his own way to save a pig.
D. That he wanted to save the animals on a farm. E.B. White started to write because he wanted to ______.
A. improve his spelling
B. express his thoughts
C. show his sadness
D. make a good livingWhat is probably the last question?
A.Are your stories true? |
B.What is the truth in your stories? |
C.Will you write more imaginary tales? |
D.Do you know a child looking like a mouse? |