Pierre is a 25-year-old penguin at the California Academy of Sciences. Due to his old age, he was going bald, which made him feel too cold to swim in the pool. Therefore, biologists at the academy had a wetsuit created for this penguin to help him get back in the swimming pool.
Unlike marine mammals, which have a layer of fat to keep them warm, penguins depend on their waterproof feathers. Without them, Pierre was unwilling to jump into the swimming pool and ended up trembling on the side of the pool while his 19 peers played in the water.
"He was cold; he would shake," said Pam Schaller, a senior biologist. Schaller first tried a heat lamp to keep Pierre warm. Then she got another idea: if wetsuits keep humans warm in the cold Pacific, why not make one for Pierre?
Schaller designed the suit, which covered Pierre’s body and had small openings for his flippers.
“I would walk behind him and look at where there were any gaps, and cut and refit and cut and refit until it looked like it was extremely suitable,” she said.
One concern was that the other penguins would reject Pierre in his new suit, but in fact, they accepted his new look. He swam freely and got along with others well, although he was the only penguin with a black stomach.
Schaller couldn’t say for sure whether the wetsuit allowed Pierre to recover his fine feathers, but “certainly we were able to keep him comfortable during a period of time that would have been very difficult for him to stay comfortable”.
Pierre will take off his suit after his new feathers grow back. Pierre felt too cold to swim in the pool because of _____.
A．not ha ving a layer of blubber |
B．having few feathers due to old age |
| C．having no wetsuit | D．others penguins rejecting him |
The idea of making a wetsuit for Pierre came from _____.
| A．total invention | B．waterproof feathers |
| C．the use of wetsuit on humans | D．the use of heat lamp |
Schaller followed Pierre in order to see
_____.
| A．whether other penguins would reject him |
| B．if anywhere of wetsuit needed to be cut and refit |
| C．if the wetsuit kept warm |
| D．whether the wetsuit would keep the feathers from recovering |
The best title of the
passage is _____.
A．Wetsuit for An Old Penguin |
B．Old Penguin Getting Bald |
| C．Unwilling to Swim | D．Strange Look of Pierre |
任务型阅读: 阅读下面六项活动的介绍（A、B、C、D、E和F），为每一位选出符合各人需求的最佳活动。选项中有一项是多余选项。Sam who came from America two months ago is now teaching oral English in Dongfang
Middle School．He can only understand and speak a few Chinese words．He is adventurous
and sporting and would like to try something new to kill his time on Sunday．Julie coming from Australia is an exchange student in Shaoguan University．She majors in
Chinese Art and likes Chinese culture very much．But now what worries her most is her
overweight because of the delicious Chinese food．So she’d like to find someone to guide her
to keep fit．Mrs．Yang is very busy with her job in the company as well as the housework at home．As a result of the long-term strain, she often feels oppressed, restless and tired．So she hopes to do
some suitable exercise to lessen and relax such disturbances of physical and mental system at
weekends．Some of Ted’s Net friends will go to Beijing to visit him around Christmas．How excited he is! He plans to take them to some places of interest and entertain them．Now he is looking through China Daily to find something fit for them．
Benny has just graduated from No．16 Middle School．Luckily, he has been admitted into South China Agricultural University．Since childhood, he has been interested in trees, flowers, birds and animals．Now in the summer holiday, he is eager to find something exciting and something he is keen on to do．
| A．Flashlight Adventure: Put on your warm clothes, bring a flashlight and a pair of glasses, and come for a night walk along the Great Valley．A guide will lead the tour．Many of the animals you’ll see on this trip can only be seen at night．The guide will tell you about the lives of the animals you see．Cost: 50 yuan．Time:8: 00—10: 30 pm, every Saturday．Tel: 83321239． |
| B．Taichi with English Narration: An experienced Taichi teacher, about 38, teaches the basic 24 movements, pushing-hands and self-defense techniques．It is fit for the beginners and intermediate level．Time:10: 00—12: 00 am, every Sunday．Place: Bamboo Garden Hotel, Jiu Gulou Street．Fee: 60 yuan each time．Tel: 65287750． |
| C．Chinese Ink & Painting Class: It is to learn the techniques of painting a bird, flower, or lady with brushes．The Chinese philosophy and culture will also be included．Tools and materials are provided．Time: 7: 00—9: 00 pm, every Friday．Fee: 50 yuan each week．Tel: 38876788． |
| D．Great Wall Party: The latest Great Wall Party is sponsored by the Club and Elektrobeat and held at Jinshanling．Local DJ Mark, as well as guests Slab from Australia, Usami and Bobby from Hong Kong will spin the sounds．All drinks are priced at 20 yuan．Ticket: 200 yuan, including bus ride there and back plus entrance fee to the Great Wall．Time:8: 00 pm—2: 00 am, Dec．20—30．Pre-sale tickets are available at Public Space．Tel: 64160759． |
E．Healthy Diet Program: The 8-week program helps you discover how to be healthy, slim and beautiful! It is unlike other diet regimes in that it focuses on proper nutrition first and weight loss second．It offers control over stomach and continuing hunger with a calorie dense diet allowing 1,700 to 2,000 calories a day．Call to get more information: 75763457．
F．Lotus Yoga: The word Yoga means combination and harmony, whose true sense refers to the perfect unity of a person’s body and mind．It is a way to maintain highly natural and relaxed state and purify your body and mind, a way to lessen the tiredness in the waist and back and keep fit while heightening the body’s ability to keep coordinated and balanced．Booking for any course, please access http: //www．Lotusyoga．cn．
A car that runs on coffee is unveiled（shown to the public for the first time）today but at between 25 and 50 times the cost of running a car on petrol, the invention won’t please any motor industry accountants．
Nicknamed the Car-puccino, it has been created using a 1988 Volkswagen Scirocco bought for £400 and it was chosen because it looked like the time-traveling DeLorean in the movie Back To The Future．The car will be driven the 210 miles between Manchester and London powered only by roasted coffee granules （颗粒）．It has been built by a team from the BBC1 science programme Bang Goes The Theory and will go on display at the Big Bang science fair in Manchester to show how fuels other than traditional petrol can power vehicles．
The team calculates the Car-puccino will do three miles per kilo of ground coffee （咖啡粉） — about 56 cups of espressos （浓咖啡） per mile．The journey will use about 70 kilos of ground coffee which, at supermarket prices of between £13 and £26 a kilo depending on brand and quality, will cost between £910 and £1,820, or between 25 and 50 times the £36 cost of petrol for the journey．In total, the trip will cost 11,760 espressos, and the team will have to take ‘coffee breaks’ roughly every 30 to 45 miles to pour in more granules．They will also have to stop about every 60 miles to clean out the ‘coffee filters’ to rid them of the soot and tar which is also generated by the process．So despite a top speed of 60mph, the many stops mean the going will be slow, with the journey taking around ten hours．
Sadly, the inventors will still have to pay duty on their coffee fuel---even though tax collectors at Her Majesty’s Revenue and Custom haven’t yet worked out how much．
Nick Watson, producer of Bang Goes The Theory, said, “Coffee, like wood or coal, has some carbon content so you can use it as a fuel．The coffee needs to be very dry and in granules to allow the air to move through the pile of coffee as it burns．The brand doesn’t matter．” He said the same technology could be used to power a car on other unusual fuels, such as woodchips or nut shells, construction or agricultural waste．Which is the right way to choose the coffee used as fuels to run the Car-puccino?
| A．It should be very dry． | B．The stronger, the better． |
| C．The smaller the granules are, the better． | D．It should be of a certain brand． |
What can be inferred from the passage?
| A．All kinds of materials can be used as fuels． |
| B．The Car-puccino will be put into the market soon． |
| C．Nick Watson is the designer of the Car-puccino |
| D．Much remains to be improved for the Car-puccino． |
The Car-puccino has its disadvantages EXCEPT that ________．
| A．it makes a lot of noise |
| B．it runs at a very high cost |
| C．it has to stop to be refueled very often |
| D．it’s not good enough for long-distance journey |
How much ground coffee will be used to cover a distance of 126 miles in this car?
| A．About 70 kilos | B．About 42 kilos． | C．About 32 kilos | D．About 30 kilos |
Why can coffee be used as a fuel?
| A．It looks like wood or coal. | B．It contains some carbon content. |
| C．It is very cheap. | D．It is much better than woodchips or nut shells. |
A study involving 8,500 teenagers from all social backgrounds found that most of them are ignorant when it comes to money. The findings, the first in a series of reports from NatWesl that has started a five-year research project into teenagers and money, are particularly worrying as this generation of young people is likely to be burdened with greater debts than any before.
University tuition fees (学费)are currently capped at £3,000 annually, but this will be reviewed next year and the Government is under enormous pressure to raise the ceiling.
In the research, the teenagers were presented with die terms of four different loans but 76 per cent failed to identify the cheapest. The young people also predicted that they would be earning on average £ 31.000 by the age of 25, although the average salary for those aged 22 to 29 is just £ 17,815. The teenagers expected to be in debt when they finished university or training, although half said that they assumed the debts would be less than £ 10.000. Average debts for graduates are £ 12，363.
Stephen Moir, head of community investment at the Royal Bank of Scotland Group which owns NatWest, said. "The more exposed young people are to financial issues, and the younger they become aware of them, the more likely they are to become responsible, forward-planning adults who manage their finances confidently and effectively."
Ministers are deeply concerned about the financial pressures on teenagers and young people because of student loans and rising housing costs. They have just introduced new lessons in how to manage debts. Nikki Fairweather aged 15 from St Helens, said that she had benefited from lessons on personal finance, but admitted that she still had a lot to learn about money. Which of the following can be found from the five-year research project?
| A．Students understand personal finances differently. |
| B．University tuition fees in England have been rising. |
| C．Teenagers tend to overestimate their future earnings. |
| D．The students' payback ability has become a major issue. |
The phrase "to raise the ceiling" in paragraph 2 probably means "______".
| A．to raise the student loans | B．to improve the school facilities |
| C．to increase the upper limit of the tuition | D．to lift the school building roofs |
According to Stephen Moir, students_______.
| A．are too young to be exposed to financial issues |
| B．should learn to manage their finances well |
| C．should maintain a positive attitude when facing loans |
| D．benefit a lot from lessons on personal finance |
What can we learn from the passage?
| A．Many British teenagers do not know money matters well |
| B．Teenagers in Britain are heavily burdened with debts. |
| C．Financial planning is a required course at college. |
| D．Young people should become responsible adults. |
Zoe Chambers was a successful PR (Public Relations) consultant and life was going well — she had a great job, a beautiful flat and a busy social life in London. Then one evening in June last year, she received a text message telling her she was out of work. The first two weeks were the most difficult to live through." she said. "After everything I'd done for the company, they dismissed me by text! I was so angry and I just didn't feel like looking for another job. I hated everything about the city and my life."
Then, Zoe received an invitation from an old school friend, Kathy, to come and stay. Kathy and her husband, Huw, had just bought a farm in north-west Wales. Zoe jumped at the chance to spend a weekend away from London, and now, ten months later, she is still on the farm.
"The moment I arrived at Kathy's farm, I loved it and I knew I wanted to stay." said Zoe. "Everything about my past life suddenly seemed meaningless."
Zoe has been working on the farm since October of last year and says she has no regrets. "It's a hard life, physically very tiring." she says. "In London I was stressed and often mentally exhausted. But this is a good, healthy tiredness. Here, all I need to put me in a good mood is a hot bath and one of Kathy's wonderful dinners."
Zoe says she has never felt bored on the farm. Every day brings a new experience. Kathy has been teaching her how to ride a horse and she has learnt to drive a tractor. Since Christmas, she has been helping with the lambing — watching a lamb being born is unbelievable, she says, "It's one of the most moving experiences I've ever had. I could never go back to city life now." When working as a PR consultant in London, Zoe thought she lived a______life.
| A．satisfying | B．tough | C．meaningless | D．boring |
The most important reason why Zoe went to visit Kathy's farm is that______.
| A．Zoe lost her job as a PR consultant | B．Kathy persuaded her to do so |
| C．Zoe got tired of the city life | D．Zoe loved Wales more than London |
How does Zoe feel about the country life according to the passage?
| A．Tiresome and troublesome. | B．Romantic and peaceful |
| C．Mentally exhausting but healthy | D．Physically tiring but rewarding. |
Which of the following is closest to the main idea of the passage?
| A．A friend in need is a friend indeed. | B．Where there is a will, there is a way. |
| C．A misfortune may turn out a blessing. | D．Kill two birds with one stone. |
ASK LASKAS
YOU’VE GOT QUESTIONS. SHE'S GOT ANSWERS
My children go to a primary school where they are not allowed to play football in the playground for fear that a child might be hurt. Besides, now the school says there must be no homework because the local secondary school can't keep up with the amount of homework given in the primary school. Can the school do this?Puzzled Dad
It can't if enough parents do something about it. It is not just schools. We live in a society which wishes to get rid of risk. However, schools should have a little common sense and courage. Children need risk if they arc to grow up self-sufficient and confident. They need homework, too, if they are to fulfill their academic potential. Complain, loudly.
I have a beautiful teenage daughter who spends an hour making up her face in front of the mirror every day. I tell her to go easy. She just gets mad or bursts into tears. How can I make her understand she's beautiful the way she is.Plain Mom
You can't. Your daughter is at the age when she's trying to look beautiful, trying on new masks. And if her friends all dress up as she does, you're in for an extra hard time. Support her and tell her she's beautiful — even if she looks ridiculous for now. Then invite her to join you for a day at a spa. Let her try various looks until she's comfortable in her own skin.Why are the children not allowed to play football in the playground?
| A．The school is afraid that children might be injured. |
| B．The school is not sensible and confident. |
| C．The children don't have enough time to do homework. |
| D．The children may fail to fulfill their academic potential. |
What disturbs Plain Mom is that her daughter______.
| A．becomes mad | B．cries a lot |
| C．spends much time before the mirror | D．is not beautiful enough |
The solution to Plain Mom's problem is to______.
| A．make her daughter look less ridiculous | B．let her daughter dress up like her friends |
| C．make her daughter go to a spa every week | D．let her daughter feel herself what beauty is |
What does the underlined word spa mean?
| A．a place where water with minerals in it | B．a place where people can relax |
| C．a beauty salon | D．a swimming pool |