Have you ever wondered why birds sing? Maybe you thought that they were just happy. After all，you probably sing or whistle when you are happy.
Some scientists believe that birds do sing some of the time just because they are happy. However，they sing most of the time for a very different reason. Their singing is actually a warning to other birds to stay out of their territory.
Do you know what a ’territory’ is? A territory is an area that an animal，usually the male，claims(声称)as its own. Only he and his family are welcome there. No other families of the same kind are welcome. Your garden and house are your territory where only your family and friends are welcome. If a stranger should enter your territory and threaten(威胁)you，you might shout. Probably this would be enough to frighten him away.
If so，you have actually scared the stranger away without having to fight him. A bird does the same thing. But he expects an outsider almost any time，especially at nesting(筑巢)season. So he is screaming all the time，whether he can see an outsider or not. This screaming is what we call a bird’s song，and it is usually enough to keep an outsider away.
Birds sing loudest in the spring when they are trying to attract a mate and warn others not to enter the territory of theirs..
You can see that birds have a language of their own. Most of it has to do with attracting mates and setting up territories. Some scientists believe that most of the time bird’s singing is actually _______.
| A．away of warning | B．an expression of happiness |
| C．an expression of anger | D．away of greeting |
What is a bird’s "territory"?.
| A．A place where families of other kinds are not accepted. |
| B．A place where a bird may shut at the top of its voice |
| C．An area for which birds fight against each other. |
| D．An area which a bird considers to be its own. |
Why do birds keep on singing at nesting season?
| A．Because they want to invite more friends. |
| B．Because they want to find outsiders around. |
| C．Because their singing helps frighten outsiders away. |
| D．Because their singing helps remove their fears. |
How does the writer explain bird’s singing?
| A．By comparing birds with human beings. | B．By reporting experiment results. |
| C．By describing birds’ daily life. | D．By telling a bird’s story. |
Alice Munro has won the 2013 Nobel Prize in Literature. The short story writer is the first-ever Canadian, and the 13th woman, to win the prize. She has been called “the master of the modern short story”.
Alice Munro was born on July 10, 1931, just outside Wingham, Ontario, which has appeared in her stories many times.
Munro said that she began to escape into books when she was only ten years old. After her mother was diagnosed(诊断)with a serious disease, she started to throw herself into the world of books to make herself feel better.
Munro was a late bloomer(大器晚成) as a writer. She produced her first collection when she was 37 and didn’t get known outside Canada until the 1970s.
In fact, Munro works with an easy-to-read writing style, which is often described to be “practically perfect”. Her story, The Bear Came Over the Mountain, was made into a movie called Away From Her.
The 83-year-old author is often compared to Chekhov, the 19th century Russian who is considered one of the greatest short story writers in history.
Munro lived for many years in the small town of Clinton, Opt, but she was so shy that many people in the town didn’t know who she was. Munro said she was trying to be more social and accept invitations and go out to see people.Who is Alice Munro?
How old is Alice Munro?
Why did she escape into books?
Can readers find any information about Wingham in Munro’s stories?
What is the film Away From Her based on?
What kind of person do you think Alice Munro is? Tell us your impression of her in TWO to THREE sentences.
Dear Addie,
Greetings from New Jersey, how is New Zealand? I’m very excited to have you as my pen pal. I guess it’s my turn to tell you about myself.
First off, I live with my parents, two sisters, and our pet dog Brighty. Our town is called Whippangong. It is only about a half-hour away from New York City. My oldest sister, Ingrid, just turned 17, that means she now has a drive’s license. She drives us to the mall. Do you have a mall near you in Te Awamutu? My other sister is 11 and her name is Lucy. I guess I would say that she is my best friend. We still fight, though. She rides horses and takes lessons every Saturday morning. I have to go with her sometimes, and that is truly the most boring thing in the world. Do you like horses?
I take tap dancing classes. I like to practice in the food store. The sound of my feet stepping on the hard floors echoes(发出回声). I play scores in the fall; I’m on the swim team during the summer. I like swim, but I am really looking forward to diving this year. Next year I will start music lessons in school. I think I am going to play the piano.
Our house has eight rooms and a small backyard where every year we try to grow vegetables. We mostly get zucchini because the rabbits eat everything else. I guess rabbits don’t like zucchini. I have a bike and mum allows me to ride up and down our street, but nowhere else. I hope that I will get to ride it to school someday. Right now I ride the crowed and yucky bus.
Well, that is enough about me for now. I look forward to hearing from you again soon. I hope your surfing lessons went well. And I hope your mum does let you learn to play the drums.
Write soon
Love,
Jessica In this letter, Jessica doesn’t talk about .
| A．her family numbers | B．her spare time |
| C．her house | D．her ambition |
what does the underlined word “fall” mean here? .
| A．跌倒 | B．降落 | C．秋天 | D．瀑布 |
JessicA、thinks riding horses is very.
A. different B. fool
C.exciting D.frightening Zucchini is likely to be a kind of.
| A．animals | B．vegetable |
| C．flower | D．fruit |
Which of the following is TURE? .
A. Jessica likes Lucy very much but they don’t always get along.
B. People below 18 can’t get driving licenses in New Jersey
C. Jessica usually goes to school by bike, but sometimes by bus.
D. Ingrid gets to take riding lessons and JessicA、wishes she could, too. What might be Addie’s problem?
| A．She can’t take surfing lessons. |
| B．She wants to play the drums. |
| C．There are no malls near her house. |
| D．She has no family. |
Poor, but so rich at heart
Two years ago, my parents died in a car accident. __(A)__then, my elder brother and I have had to work part-time to make a living. I have been working as a part-time waiter in a restaurant for six months, and now I’ve just got my salary(薪水).
I was walking back to school and saw the notice board in the lobby(大厅). There was a notice __(B)___ for donations for the earthquake. A girl called Amanda was reading the same notice.____(C)____. You could see that easily from her fancy clothes and gadgets(小玩意儿).
“Aren’t you going to donate?” I asked, (D)“People there must be having a really hard time. All their houses have been destroyed by the earthquake. They’ve got nothing ____(E)____, no place to live, nothing to eat or…”
“Sorry, I don’t have money to spend on that!” she laughed. “I have 10 new dresses to buy. I need to get a new phone. And then I’m ____(F)___ to fly to Paris for the weekend.” (G)With these words, she walked away.
I took the money from my pocket and walked to Mrs. Tawreen’s office.
“Excuse me, ma’am.” I said. “I don’t have too much for a donation, just 300 yuan. Could I just donate this?”
Mrs. Tawreen smiled: “Wow, 300 yuan, my dear? Well, (H)I have to tell you that, of all the donations we’ve received from our students so far, it’s the largest amount. And yes, you may donate right now.”
I put the notes into the donation box. Maybe my brother and I would have to miss a few meals this month, but it would make a difference to the lives of those less fortunate(幸运的) than us.
任务一：从方框中选择单词并用其适当形式填入B、E、F
plan ask leaveB _____________
E_____________
F_____________
任务二：将文中D、G、H划线部分翻译成汉语。D ___________________________________________________________
G___________________________________________________________
H ___________________________________________________________
任务三：在A处空格中填入适当的词或短语。 ______________
任务四：选择适当的句子还原到文中C处。______________
A. She came from a poor family.
B. She couldn’t afford the donation.
C. She came from a very wealthy family
任务五：根据短文内容回答下列问题。Why would the writer and his brother have to miss a few meals that month?
_______________________________________________________________Is the writer rich or poor at heart?
_______________________________________________________________
Sometimes people come into your life and you know at once that they were sure to be there. They serve some sort of purpose, teach you a lesson or help find out who you are or who you want to become. You never know who these people may be: your classmate, neighbor, teacher, long-lost friend or even a real stranger. But you know that every moment they will affect your life in some serious way.
Sometimes things happen to you. At the time they may seem terrible, painful and unfair. But later you realize that without getting over those difficulties you would have never realized your further ability and strength. Everything happens for a reason and nothing happens by chance or with good or bad luck.
The people you meet affect your life, and the successes and failure you experience, create who you are. Even the bad experiences can be learned from. In fact, they are probably the most poignant and important ones.
Enjoy every day, even every moment and take from it everything that you possibly can, for you may never be able to experience it again. Talk to people you have never talked to before, and really listen. You should set your sights high, hold your head up, tell yourself you are a great one and believe in yourself.
You can make your life anything you wish. Create your own life and then go out and live it.The people we meet_____________.
| A．all know where to find us | B．serve us on no purpose |
| C．won’t become our neighbor | D．will change us in some way |
From the passage, we know that bad things can make us________.
| A．terribly meet bad luck | B．realize our further ability |
| C．find no serious success | D．possibly enjoy every moment |
The underlined word “poignant” in the passage means “_________”.
| A．平淡的 | B．明显的 |
| C．深刻的 | D．艰苦的 |
The writer’s advice is that we should_________.
| A．never talk to strange people |
| B．learn as much as we can each day |
| C．get over difficulties painfully |
| D．not believe in ourselves but others |
Which is the best title for the passage?
| A．Create Your Own Life | B．Hold Your Head Up |
| C．People You Meet in Life | D．Things Happen to You |
Dubai is a city of big business, expensive hotels, skyscrapers(摩天楼), and shopping malls. In the early 20th century, Dubai was a successful trading port. People from the world stopped in Dubai to do business. But it was still a small city, and most people lived as fishermen and businessmen. Then in 1966, oil was discovered. This brought a lot of money into the area, and soon Dubai began to change.
Today Dubai is one of the world’s most important business centers. In fact, each year the city gets its money mainly from business, not oil.
Recently Dubai has attracted more and more visitors from abroad. They come to relax on its beaches, and every year, millions visit it just to go shopping!
Dubai is also one of the world’s fastest growing cities. Many tall buildings are built in months. The city also has many man-made islands. One of these, the Palm Jumeirah, is like a palm tree(棕榈树)and is very beautiful.
The city is still an amazing mix of people from different countries. The people from 150 countries live and work in Dubai, and foreigners now outnumber Dubai natives by eight to one!
Many people welcome the city’s growth. But an increasing number of Dubai natives worry about the speed of change. As a Dubai native says, “We must always remember where we came from. Our kids must know we worked very, very hard to get where we are now, and there’s a lot more work to do.”Why did people stop in Dubai in the early 20th century?
| A．To relax. | B．To buy oil. |
| C．To go shopping. | D．To do business. |
Which of the following is NOT true?
| A．Dubai has created many man-made islands. |
| B．There are many foreigners working in Dubai. |
| C．Many international visitors come to Dubai every year. |
| D．Dubai now gets money mainly from selling oil. |
What does the underlined word “outnumber” mean?
| A．To be smaller in size than another group. |
| B．To be more in number than another group. |
| C．To be bigger in area than another group. |
| D．To be smaller in area than another group. |
In the last paragraph, what does the underlined part mean?
| A．We should always visit Dubai. |
| B．We should learn from foreigners. |
| C．We must always remember our past. |
| D．We must only think about the future. |
What’s the main idea of the passage?
| A．Dubai is growing very fast. |
| B．Dubai was a big city before 1966. |
| C．Many tall buildings are built in months |
| D．Many tourists come to relax on Dubai’s beaches. |