Thousands of dead red-winged blackbirds fell from the sky in an Arkansas town on New Year’s Eve after massive injuries, tests by Arkansas offici
als concluded on Monday. Some 5,000 birds mysteriously fe
ll from the sky in Beebe, Arkansas after dark on New Year’s Eve. “The birds suffered from acute physical injuries leading to internal hemorrhage（大量出血） and death. There was no sign of infectious disease,” the Arkansas Game and Fish Commission said in a statement. The birds were otherwise healthy, it said.
One theory is that birds were frightened by New Year's fireworks and flew into buildings or other objects. “Loud noises were reported shortly before the birds began to fall from the sky,” the statement said, adding that blackbirds have poor night vision and seldom fly at night.
Another theory was that severe weather such as lightning accounted for the loud noises but this was discounted because the violent weather had already left the area. “We’re leaning more toward a stress event," said Arkansas Game and Fish Commission spokesman Keith Stephens.
The commission also is trying to determine what
caused the deaths of up to 100,000 fish over a 20-mile stretch of the Arkansas River near a dam in Ozark, 125 miles west of Beebe. The fish were discovered on December 30. Stephens said the commission expected results on the fish tests in probably a month. Since almost all the fish were one species -- bottom-feeding drum, Stephens said, the test was very important. Stephens also said: “The events do not appear related.” Both that section of the river and the air at the site of the bird deaths were tested for toxins(毒素). Beebe is a town of about 4,500 people located 30 miles northeast of the state capital. What is NOT the probable reason why the dead red-winged blackbirds fell from the sky?
| A．Internal hemorrhage | B．Fireworks |
| C．Lightning weather | D．Murder |
In the third paragraph, the underlined word discounted probably mean________.
| A．not to reduce cost | B．not to believe |
| C．to make up a part | D．to explain mystery |
According to Stephens, we can infer the probable cause of the dead fish is _________.[来
| A．cold weather | B．poor management |
| C．disease | D．lack of food |
The passage is mainly developed by __________.
| A．analyzing causes | B．making comparisons |
| C．examining differences | D．following the time order |
(NEW YORK) A French tourist highly praised for rescuing a two-year-old girl in Manhattan said he didn’t think twice before diving into the freezing East River.
Tuesday’s Daily News said 29-year-old Julien Duret from France was the man who left the spot quickly after the rescue last Saturday.
He lifted the little girl out of the water after she fell off the bank at the South Street Seaport museum. He handed the girl to her father, David Anderson, who had dived in after him.
“I didn’t think at all,” Duret told the Daily News. “It happened very fast. I reacted very fast.”
Duret, an engineer on vacation, was walking with his girlfriend along the pier(码头) when he saw something falling into the water. He thought it was a doll, but realized it was a child when he approached the river. Immediately, he took off his coat and jumped into the water.
When he reached the girl, she appeared lifeless, he said. Fortunately, when she was out of the water, she opened her eyes.
Anderson said his daughter slipped off the bank when he was adjusting his camera. An ambulance came later for her, said Duret, who was handed dry clothes from onlookers. Duret caught a taxi with his girlfriend shortly after.
The rescue happened on the day before he left for France. Duret said he didn’t realize his story of heroism had greatly moved New York until he was leaving the city the next morning.
“I don’t really think I’m a hero,” said Duret. “Anyone would do the same thing.”Why was Duret in New York?
| A．To meet his girlfriend. | B．To spend his holiday. |
| C．To work as an engineer. | D．To visit the Andersons. |
What did Duret do shortly after the ambulance came?
| A．He was interviewed by a newspaper. |
| B．He went to the hospital in the ambulance. |
| C．He disappeared from the spot quickly. |
| D．He asked his girlfriend for his dry clothes. |
Who dived after Duret into the river to save the little girl?
| A．David Anderson | B．A passer-by | C．His girlfriend | D．A taxi driver |
Which of the following is TRUE according to the passage?
| A．Duret thought twice before he jumped into the cold water. |
| B．Duret dived into the water before the girl’s father. |
| C．The rescue happened on the day Duret left for France. |
| D．Duret didn’t think he was brave enough to be a hero. |
What is probably the headline of this news report?
| A．A Careless Father | B．A Poor Girl |
| C．Warm-hearted Onlookers | D．Brave Frenchman Found |
Canada 4:00 a.m. to 8:00 a.m.
Canada is a big country with six time zones. In the west, it is four a.m., and everyone is asleep, but in Halifax on the east coast it is eight o'clock and people are having breakfast. It is a cold Friday morning in November, and the temperature is ten degrees below zero Centigrade.
Argentina 9:00 a.m.
In Buenos Aires, the capital of Argentina, it is nine a.m. on a warm summer morning, and people are starting work or school. November is a summer month in Argentina because it is in the southern hemisphere（南半球）.
Scotland 12:00 noon
Scotland is part of the United Kingdom. The capital of Scotland is Edinburgh, and the capital of the UK is London. It is twelve noon, or midday, in Edinburgh. Children are having lessons, but they are looking forward to the weekend because there is no school on Saturday and Sunday.
Egypt 2:00 p.m.
Friday is already the weekend in Egypt. Friday is a special day for Muslims, so schools, offices and shops are closed in all Arab countries. So now, at two p.m., most people in Egypt are having lunch with their families.
Japan 9:00 p.m.
Japan is seven hours ahead of Egypt, so it is already Friday evening there. The weekend is beginning. Most people are out with friends or watching television or playing computer games.
New Zealand 12:00 midnight
It is late on Friday night, so most people are asleep. Now Saturday morning is arriving. It is morning in Canada too, but that is Friday morning!In eastern Canada, the time is _____ that in western Canada.
| A．four and a half hours behind | B．four hours ahead of |
| C．three hours ahead of | D．the same as |
While Canadian children in Halifax are having breakfast, Argentinean children are _____.
| A．sleeping | B．going home | C．at school | D．having supper |
It’s midday in the capital of _____ when it's 9:00 a.m. in the capital of Argentina.
| A．Japan | B．Canada | C．New Zealand | D．Scotland |
Two p.m. in Egypt is not a good time to telephone people in New Zealand, because in New Zealand _____.
| A．it’s midnight and most people are asleep |
| B．it’s noon and many people are having lunch |
| C．it’s the morning and many people are working |
| D．it’s the afternoon and most people are playing computer games |
What time is it in New Zealand if it's 11:15 p.m. in Japan?
| A．1:15 p.m. | B．2:15 p.m. | C．1:15 a.m. | D．2:15 a.m. |
Have you ever wondered why there are so many skin colors in the world? Do you know why people living in particular areas usually have a certain color? Biology and history are the two reasons for this.
Skin contains something called melanin, which determines a person’s skin color. The more melanin a person has, the darker his or her skin will be. The amount of and the production of melanin are controlled by genetics, but can be affected by other things, such as sunlight. If a person lives in a place with less sunlight, a person’s body will produce less melanin, making the skin lighter.
Skin color is also affected by another source ---- vitamin D. humans all need vitamin D to build bones. People can get it by eating foods such as fish and milk, or from sunlight, so sunlight absorbed by melanin cannot be used for vitamin D production. Therefore, a dark—skinned person will produce less vitamin D than a light—skinned person when they received the same amount of sunlight.
The connection between vitamin D production and skin color is clear when we look at evolution. The earliest humans lived in Africa, their dark skin produced less vitamin D because of their dark skin. As a result, their skin made less melanin, so they could get enough sunlight to produce vitamin D. their skin gradually got lighter and they lost hair. Now, people living in areas with strong sunlight like Africa, have darker skin, while people living in other areas have lighter skin. The exception to this is the Inuit, who live in a place with little sunlight, but have dark skin because they eat a lot of fish and have enough vitamin D.
Evolution has given us a rainbow of skin colors. Humans have always had melanin to determine our skin color. What has changed through history is the environment where we have lived. This has in turn changed our melanin production, and eventually, skin color.
| Brief 1 |
People living in a particular 2usually have the same skin color and there are many different skin colors in the world. |
| Reason for skin color |
The reasons for different skin colors mainly 3in biology and history. |
| Biology reasons |
The amount of melanin, by which a person’s skin color is __4 , varies from people to people. The more melanin a person has, the __5 his or her skin will be. Vitamin D is another source 6skin color. Vitamin D is necessary for humans to build bones. Sunlight contributes to vitamin D in the skin. |
| Historical reasons |
The earliest people in Africa hioknj006Dad dark skin with hair covering it because the sunlight is very strong. When they moved to places where they could not get enough sunlight to __7___ vitamin D, their skin color became lighter. Generally speaking, people in areas with strong sunlight, have darker skin ____8people in other areas have lighter skin. |
| 9 |
Melanin 10an important role in our skin color. With our living environment changing, melanin production is changed, which leads to the changes in our skin color. |
Smart phones that react to your moods and televisions that can tell it’s you who’s watching are in your future as Intel Corporation’s top technology expert sets his sights on context-aware computing.
Chief technology officer Justin Rattner showed how personal devices will one day offer advice. “How can we change the relationship so we think of these devices not as devices but as assistants or even companions?” he asked.
Handheld devices could combine already common geographic location technology with data from microphones, cameras, heart and body monitors and even brain scans to offer their owners advice that today only a friend or relative could give.
“Imagine a device that uses a variety of sensors to determine what you are doing at an instant, from being asleep in your bed to being out for a run with a friend, ” Rattner said, “Future devices will constantly learn about who you are, how you live, work and play.’’
Rattner also demonstrated a television remote control that figures out who is holding it based on how it is held, and then learns the viewer’s entertainment preferences.
As the world leader for decades in microchips for servers and desktop computers, Intel is hurrying to catch up in the profitable market for smart phones like Apple’s iPhone and Research in Motion’s Blackberry.
Telephones with e-mail, global positioning and media players are pointing the way to a future where ever more functions are packed into ever smaller mobile devices.
The smart phone industry, including technology giants like LG and Samsung, is likely to sell 270 million phones this year and grow 25 percent in 2011, according to market research company IDC.
“I think you can expect to see features that support context-aware computing starting to appear in Intel products in the near future,” Rattner said.
But analysts say Intel faces an uphill battle getting its microchips into new phones as Nvidia, Marvell and Qualcomm have already made headway with cheap, lower-power processors based on designs by ARM Holdings.
Rattner recognized that questions about privacy and people’s willingness to be intimate with their computers will have to be settled before the future generation of smart phones he described takes off.
“If you think identity threat is a problem today, imagine when your whole context is readily available on the Net.”, he said.The future smart phones can do all of the following except _______.
| A．giving responses to the moods of the owners |
| B．giving proposals like assistants or companions |
| C．offering advice to their owners’ friends or relatives |
| D．telling the phone holders or carriers where they are |
Which of the following are smart phones according to the passage?
| A．iPhone and Blackberry | B．LG and Samsung |
| C．Marvell and Qualcomm | D．Nvidia and ARM Holdings |
From the passage we can infer that _______.
| A．Intel Corporation has become the world leader in the smar tphone market |
| B．Intel Corporation has fallen behind in the profitable market for smart phones |
| C．more functions packed into mobile phones will make mobile devices larger |
| D．the smart phone industry is likely to grow 25 percent in the year of 2011 |
The best title for the passage is likely to be _______.
| A．Smart phones and Televisions | B．Context-aware Computing |
| C．Personalized Televisions | D．Personalized Smart phones |
For more than six million American children, coming home after school means coming home to an empty house. Some deal with the situation by watching TV. Some may hide. But all of them have something in common. They spend part of each day alone. They are called latchkey children. They’re children who look after themselves while their parents work. And their bad condition has become a subject of concern.
Lynette Long was once the headmaster of an elementary school. She said, “We had a school rule against wearing jewelry. A lot of kids had chains around their necks with keys attached. I was constantly telling them to put them inside shirts. There were so many keys, it never came to my mind what they meant.” Slowly, she learned they were house keys.
She and her husband began talking to the children who had them. They learned of the impact(影响) working couples and single parents were having on their children. Fear is the biggest problem faced by children at home alone. One in each three latchkey children the Longs talked to reported being scared. Many had nightmares and were worried about their own safety.
The most common way latchkey children deal with their fears is by hiding. It might be in a shower stall, under a bed in a closet. The second is TV. They’ll often play it at high volume. It’s hard to get statistics on latchkey children, the Longs learned. Most parents are slow to admit they leave their children alone.The main idea about “latchkey children” is that they _______.
| A．are growing in numbers |
| B．are also found in middle-class neighborhoods |
| C．watch too much television during the day |
| D．suffer problems from being left alone |
Which sentence in the second paragraph is the topic sentence?
| A．We had a school rule against wearing jewelry. |
| B．A lot of kids had chains around their necks. |
| C．I was constantly telling them to put inside their shirts. |
| D．They were house keys. |
The main feeling these children have when they are at home by themselves is _______.
| A．tiredness | B．freedom | C．loneliness | D．fear |
We may draw a conclusion that _______.
| A．latchkey children enjoy having such a large amount of time alone |
| B．latchkey children try to hide their feeling |
| C．latchkey children often watch TV with their parents |
| D．it’s difficult to find out how many latchkey children there are |