Ears are for hearing — everyone knows that. But for a creature called the Cuvier’s beaked whale, hearing starts in the throat (喉咙), a new study found.
The observation might help explain how all whales hear. The work might also help scientists understand how animals ar
e affected by underwater sonar (声呐). This sonar, used by some ships, sends out sound waves to locate underwater objects.
The Cuvier’s beaked whale is a so-called toothed whale. Toothed whales dive deep into the ocean in search of food. As the whales hunt, they produce sounds that reach objects and then return to the whales. This allows the animals to “see” the shape, size, and location of objects, even when they’re 1,000 meters under the sea, where it is totally dark.
To better understand how the whale hears, researchers from San Diego State University in California took X rays of two Cuvier’s beaked whales. The whales had died and washed up on the beach.
Ted Cranford and his colleagues used the images to make a computer model of a Cuvier’s beaked whale’s head. Then, they modeled the process of sound traveling through the head.
The researchers knew that some sounds get to the ears of a toothed whale through a structure (构造) called “the window for sound”. Found on the lower jaw, this structure is very thin on the outside and has a large pad (垫) of fat on the inside.
When the researchers used their computer model to work out how sound waves travel in the whale’s head, they were surprised to find that sounds coming from right in front of the whale actually travel under the animal’s jaw. From there, sound waves move through the throat, into a hole in the back of the jaw, and finally to the pad of fat near the animal’s ears.
Toothed whales look for food under the sea by ______.
| A．watching the shape and size of their objects | B．diving deep into the sea |
| C．sending and receiving sounds | D．making lots of noises |
Researchers took X rays of two Cuvier’s beaked whales in order to ______.
| A．find out why they had died and washed up on the beach |
| B．make a computer model of a Cuvier’s beaked whale’s head |
| C．make sure that sound travels through the head |
| D．know more about the way the whale hears |
Which of the following describes the way taken by sound waves through a Cuvier’s beaked whale?
| A．A hole in the back of the jaw → the ears → the jaw → the throat. |
| B． The jaw → the throat → a hole in the back of the jaw → the ears. |
| C． The throat → the jaw → the ears → a hole in the back of the jaw. |
| D．The ears → the throat → a hole in the back of the jaw → the jaw. |
Which of the following is TRUE according to this passage?
| A．The throat is important to the Cuvier’s beaked whale’s hearing. |
| B．Ships send out sound waves like a Cuvier’s beaked whale. |
| C．The ears are actually useless to the Cuvier’s beaked whale. |
| D．The researchers haven’t found how the whales hear. |
As a school librarian，I’m often asked what books are most appropriate for teaching particularconcepts．As the mother of a toddler，I’m now teaching my son to recognize letters and learn thealphabet．Boaks are a great help in teaching a child letters．Here is this librarian and mom’s picks for the best books to help teach your child letters．
Eric Carle’s ABC
Eric Carle is one of my favorite children’s authors and this colorful book is perfect for helping teach the alphabet．The block-style letters are easier to read
and recognize for toddlers than mitten ones．Each letter is tied to an animal name，so your child will have fun looking at the animals，and 1earn the animal
names while also learning letters．
Baby Einsstein：My First Book of Letters
The Baby Einstein books always promote thinking skills and creativity in
young children．Baby Einstein；My First Book of Letters is no exception．This
book includes letters in both upper and lower case，and asks questions about nature that go with each letter for your child to answer．This colorful book is great for helping teach your child letters．
Dr．Seuss’ABC
Dr．Seuss lends his wonderful writing and illustrating（插图）talent to this
great teaching book．His classic writing and funny pictures can be found throughout this alphabet book．The letters are block style，solid-colored，and easy
to read．Your child will love learning letters from this fun book．
Kipper’s A to Z：an Alphabet Adventure
In this book，children follow the little dog Kipper as he works his way through the entire alphabet．The clean，solid font used for the letter makes them
easy to read for young eyes．Author Mike Inkpen does a great job in this book，
which tells more of a story than the other books
Teaching your child letters can be a hard task．It’s import to try to make the alphabet fun and interesting for your child．In Paragraph I，“toddler”probably means
| A．baby | B．teenager | C．student | D．young child |
If you want to make your son or daughter interested in nature you should choose
| A．Eric Carle’s ABC | B．Baby Einstein；My First Book of Letters |
| C．Dr．Seuss’ ABC | D．Kipper’s A to Z；an Alphabet Adventure |
Why did the author write the passage?
| A．To recommend the books． | B．To sell the books |
| C．To adverfise the books | D．To criticize the books |
To extinguish （熄灭）different kinds of fires, several types of fire extinguishers have been invented. They must be ready for immediate use when fire breaks out. Most portable （手提式的）kinds operate for less than a minute, so they are useful only on small fires. The law requires ships, trains, buses and planes to carry extinguishers.
Since fuel（燃料）, oxygen and heat must be present in order for fire to exist, one or more of these things must be removed or reduced to extinguish a fire. If the heat is reduced by cooling the material below a certain temperature, the fire goes out. The cooling method is the most common way to put out a fire. Water is the best cooling material because it is low in cost and easy to get.
Another method of extinguishing fire is by cutting off the oxygen. This is usually done by covering the fire with sand, steam or some other things. A blanket may be used do cover a small fire.
A third method is call
ed separation, which includes removing the fuel, or material easy to burn, from a fire, so that it can find no fuel.
The method that is used to put out a fire depends on the type of fire. Fires have been grouped in three classes（级别）. Fires in wood, paper, cloth and the like are called Class A fires. These materials usually help keep the fire on. Such fires can be stopped most readily by cooling with water. If a fire breaks out on a bus, which of the following should be ready there for you to use?
| A．Sand | B．An extinguisher | C．A blanket. | D．Water |
To cover a small piece of burning wood with a basin in order to stop the fire i
s an example of _______.
| A．separating the fire | B．cutting off the oxygen |
| C．removing the fuel | D．reducing the heat |
In choosing how to put out a fire, we should first be clear about_______.
| A．when it breaks out | B．how it comes about |
| C．what kind it is | D．where it takes place |
What would the author probably discuss in the paragraph that follows?
| A．Another class of fires | B．Another type of extinguishers |
| C．How fires break out. | D．How fires can be prevented. |
The crowd cheered and cheered. The man with the horn（号）waved and smiled his great smile. “More! More!” cried the crowd. And Louis Armstrong took his horn and began to play again.
Here he was in England. Now a famous man, he was rich. He knew many important people. Wherever he went, people knew his name. They wanted to hear his music. As he played the sad, slow songs, Louis thought of his home in New Orleans. He lived there as a boy. It was a busy, exciting city. But Louis’s family was very poor. He went to work to help his mother. He also went to school. One of Louis’s teachers asked him to join the school band. “This horn is yours until you leave our school,” his teacher said. Louis’s music was jazz a
nd he loved it. He remembered all the music he heard. He didn’t learn to read music until he was a man.
When he left school, he played on many bands. He loved his work and people loved him. They knew that he had a wonderful talent. Louis played in little towns and in big cities. Armstrong’s horn had as many sounds as ten horns—sometimes slow and sometimes sweet; sometimes fast and hot, high and low. His music was always strong and exciting. “He does make wonderful music,” said the man who listened happily. “Yes,” said another man, “he makes that horn speak. ”
The music ended and the crowd cheered. Louis Armstrong spoke with tears in his eyes, “I think, my friends, you can listen to as much jazz as I can play. I thought jazz was my music; but now I understand it is ours. It is beautiful that music brings us together. ”Louis went to work when he was _______.
| A．a schoolboy | B．a musician | C．famous | D．a man |
Louis was very smart but he didn’t learn to read music until ______.
| A．he left school. | B．he was in the the school band. |
| C．he became a grown-up. | D．he became famous. |
He was famous for ______.
| A．his horn | B．his sad songs |
| C．his wonderful jazz music | D．his love for music |
Which of the following is the best title for this story ?.
| A．Musician | B．A beautiful horn. |
| C．The man with the horn. | D．Sweet smiles. |
Air travel is such an everyday experience these days that we are not surprised when we read about a politician having talks with the Japanese Prime Minister one day, attending a meeting in Australia the following morning and having to be off at midday to sign a trade agreement in Hong Kong. But frequent long-distance flying can be so tiring that the traveler begins to feel his brain is in one country, his digestion（消化吸收）in another and his powers of concentration nowhere---in short, he hardly knows where he is.
Air travel is so quick nowadays that we can leave London after breakfast and be in New York in eight hours, yet what really upsets us most is that when we arrive it is lunch time while we have already had lunch on the plane and are expecting dinner.
Doctors say that air travelers are in no condition to work after crossing a number of time zones. Airline pilots, however, often live by their own watches. After a long air travel, a traveler _______.
| A．finds himself in a different world |
| B．finds his brain apart from his body |
| C．finds himself in Hong Kong the following morning |
| D．has little sense about where he is |
The sentence “Airline pilots often live by their own watches. ” means______.
| A．they don’t trust others’ watches |
| B．they don’t change their watches |
| C．they make a living by their own watches |
| D．they do as they used to do |
Doctors suggest the travelers_______?
| A．should rest when they arrive in New York from London. |
| B．should work in good condition since they just finish a long journey. |
| C．rest in a place with good condition. |
| D．give up long journey since it makes them tired. |
During the school year many parents take on the role of driver as they drive their children from one lesson to 
another. It can be understood that many of us want our children to have a little taste of everything, from organized sports to music, dance and more. But we overdo it, leaving our children feeling a l
ittle tired, and according to parent educator Diane Loisie, it’s their school work that suffers the most. “After school, if they’re busy in a number of sporting events, besides they need to do their homework, then the time they’ll feel sleepy is in the classroom. Your child needs free time. So if you’re filling up that after school time, then it’s during the day they’re going to be taking a break. ”
Professor Claire McDermott agrees that there’s a lot to be gained from sometimes putting those planned lessons and activities away. “Relaxing time is important for children. It’s time just
to do the things they want to do. A child
can go up to their room, or they can play around. It doesn’t look like useful time; parents certainly wouldn’t be saying ‘Wow, are they ever learning things now?’ But this relaxing time gives both the body and the brain just a wonderful chance to relax after a day. It helps a child prepare for sleep, but it also helps to understand the learning that’s gone on that day. ”
It’s hard to prevent signing our kids up for some activities and lessons. After all, many of us want our children to have a head start in life and the chance to join in great activities in the arts or sports is a part of that. However, Loisie feels that in the long run most children feel better with just a few key activities because it gives them an opportunity to master them. “When we get our children in too many activities because we want our children to experience everything, then what we’re doing is setting them up not to be good at one thing or gaining a skill. ” So choose your children’s activities wisely. It may be one of the best things you’ve ever done for your kids… and for the family driver!What is the biggest disadvantage for children to attend too many lessons after school?
| A．They can get bored easily about everything. |
| B．They might have no time to do the homework. |
| C．They might not pay much attention to learning. |
| D．They cannot easily focus on learning during the day. |
What should we think of children’s playing around aimlessly?
| A．It is simple. |
| B．It is helpful. |
| C．It is a bad habit. |
| D．It is a waste of time. |
Why should parents limit the activities our children attend?
| A．Because children have no time. |
| B．Because children cannot learn many things. |
| C．Because children do not have enough sleep. |
| D．Because children cannot focus on too many activities. |
What is the main idea of this passage?
| A．Don’t be children’s drivers after school. |
| B．Choose activities for your children wisely. |
| C．Make your children learn as much as possible. |
| D．Let children learn something from various subjects. |