GUATEMALA CITY （Reuters） – A fish that lives in mangrove swamps（红树沼泽）across the Americas can live out of water for months at a time, similar to how animals adapted（适应）to land millions of years ago, a new study shows.
The Magrove Rivulus, a type of small killifish, lives in small pools of water in a certain type of empty nut or even old beer cans in the mangrove swamps of Belize, the United States and Brazil. When their living place dries up, they live on the land in logs（圆木），said Scott Taylor, a researcher at the Brevard Endangered Lands Program in Florida.
The fish, whose scientific name is Rivulus marmoratus, can grow as large as three inches. They group together in logs and breathe air through their skin until they can find water again.
The new scientific discovery came after a trip to Belize. “We kicked over a log and the fish just came crowding out,” Taylor told Reuters in neighboring Guatgemala by telephone. He said he will make his study on the fish known to the public in an American magazine early next year.
In lab tests, Taylor said he found the fish can live up to 66 days out of water without eating.
Some other fish can live out of water for a short period of time. The walking catfish found in Southeast Asia can stay on land for hours at time, while lungfish found in Australia, Africa and South America can live out of water, but only in an inactive state. But no other known fish can be out of water as long as the Mangrove Rivulus and remain active, according to Patricia Wright, a biologist at Canada’s University of Guelph.
Further studies of the fish may tell how animals changed over time.
“These animals live in conditions similar to those that existed millions of years ago, when animals began making the transition（过渡）from water onto land,” Wright said. The Mangrove Rivulus is a type of fish that _______.
| A．likes eating nuts |
| B．prefers living in dry places |
| C．is the longest living fish on earth |
| D．can stay alive for two months out of water |
Who will write up a report on Mangrove Rivulus?
| A．Patricia Wright | B．Researchers in Guatemala |
| C．Scientists from Belize | D．Scott Taylor |
According to the text, lungfish can________
| A．breathe through its skin |
| B．move freely on dry land |
| C．remain alive out of water |
| D．be as active on land as in water |
What can we say about the discovery of Mangrove Rivulus?
| A．It was made quite by accident |
| B．It was based on a lab test of sea life |
| C．It was supported by an American magazine |
| D．It was helped by Patricia Wright |
There is one language that is used in every country in the world. The people who use it are young and old, short and tall, thin and fat. It is everybody’s second language. It is easy to understand, although you can’t hear it. It is sign language.
When you wave to a friend who is across the street, you are using sign language. When you smile at someone, you are saying, “I want to be friendly”, but you are not using speech. You are using sign language. When you raise your hand in class, you are saying, “Please ask me. I think I know the correct answer.”
Babies who can’t talk can point at things. They are using sign language. A policeman who wants to stop traffic holds up his hands. He is using sign language.
Many years ago, a French priest, Charles Michel de Epee, became interested in education for deaf people. He invented a finger alphabet (字母表). It is still in use. People can make the sign for letters and spell words with their hands, and deaf people can read and understand them. Soon there were schools for the deaf in many countries. The only university for the deaf is Gallaudet College in Washington, D.C.
Today, in the United States, there are special TV news programs for deaf people. The newsreader tells the news in sign language. At the same time, the words appear on the TV screen.
The actors in the Theatre of Deaf don’t spell every word. Sometimes they use hand signs. When they put two hands together, it means sandwich. They can make a roof with their hands when they want to show a house. One finger in front of an actor’s mouth can mean quiet. You can talk to people who are behind windows that are closed. And when you go swimming with your friends, you can have conversations under water.
How many hand signs do you use every day?Which of the following about sign language is TRUE?
| A．It is a special language used in a few countries in the world. |
| B．It is a way to express one’s ideas without words. |
| C．It is only used by the deaf. |
| D．It can be heard. |
If you want to express the idea that “I am very friendly” to someone, you will ______.
| A．raise your hand |
| B．put one hand onto the other |
| C．smile to the person |
| D．make a roof with your hands |
Which of the following is TRUE according to the passage?
A. Hand signs instead of finger signs are used everyday.
B. There are schools, colleges and universities for the deaf in the USA.
C. The French priest Charles invented sign language.
D. Even babies are using sign language.The passage is mainly about ______.
| A．an introduction to sign language | B．the importance of |
| C．a famous priest in France | D．how to use sign language |
A poor boy was selling goods from one door to another to pay for his studies. One day he found that he had almost no money, and he was hungry. So he decided to ask for a meal.
But when a woman opened the door, he only dared to ask for a glass of water. To his surprise, she gave him a large glass of milk. He drank it and then asked how much he should pay her. She said, “You don’t have to pay me anything. Mother has taught us never to accept pay for a kindness” He was deeply moved and was determined to help those in need. The boy’s name was Howard Kelly.
Many years had passed. One day that woman became seriously ill. The local doctors could not help her. So they sent her to a big city where her rare (罕见的) disease would be studied by specialists (专家). Dr. Howard Kelly was called in for advice. When he entered her room in the hospital, he immediately spotted the woman. Howard Kelly was determined to do his best to help her.
The struggle was long, but together they succeeded in the end. After some time the woman received a bill for her treatment. She was worried that the amount would be so large that it would take the rest of her life to pay for it. However, when she looked at the bill, she found words on the side of the bill. They were, “Paid in full with a glass of milk.”The woman came to a big city because .
| A．she was ill and no local doctors could help her |
| B．she was invited by a group of specialists to a study |
| C．she wanted to visit the poor boy whom she had helped |
| D．her rare disease could only be dealt with by Dr. Howard Kelly |
The underlined word “it” in the last paragraph refers to .
| A．the rest of her life | B．a glass of milk |
| C．her illness | D．the bill for her treatment |
What can we know about Howard Kelly according to the passage?
| A．He earned a lot of money. |
| B．He was an experienced doctor. |
| C．He opened his own hospital in the city. |
| D．He became the best friend of the woman. |
Next Stop: Planet Mars
Fly me to the moon? That’s not far enough. On September 14,2011, NASA released designs for a super rocket, the Space Launch System (SLS). This time the final destination will be Mars.
The SLS is a huge, liquid – fuelled rocket. If it is fully developed, it will be the most powerful rocket ever built. Its lift capability will be much bigger than that of the space shuttle of Saturn 5, the rocket that sent the Apollo missions to the moon.
NASA is planning to launch its first unmanned test flight in 2017. It is hoped that the first crew will fly in 2021 and astronauts will make it to a nearby asteroid (小行星) in 2025. NASA hopes to send the rocket and astronauts to Mars from the asteroid by the 2030s, according to the Associated Press (AP).
NASA used liquid rockets to send Apollo, Gemini and Mercury into space, but later changed to solid rockets boosters (助推火箭) because they were cheaper. Tragically, however, a booster flaw (缺陷) caused the space shuttle Challenger to crash in 1986. The new project plans to return to liquid fuel.
According to AP, the rockets will at first be able to carry 77 to 110 tons of payload (净载重量). Eventually they will be able to carry 143 tons into space, maybe even as many as 165 tons, NASA officials said. By comparison, the Saturn 5 booster could lift 130 tons and the space shuttle just 27 tons.
However, unlike reusable shuttles, these powerful rockets are mostly one use only. New ones have to be built for every launch. This will be very costly.
NASA estimates that it will cost about $3 billion (19 billion yuan) per year, or $ 18 billion until the first test flight in 2017. NASA hopes to make money by allowing private companies to send astronauts to the International Space Station like giant taxi services, so that the program can be “sustainable”.
“This is perhaps the biggest thing for space exploration in decades,” said Senator Bill Nelson, a former astronaut. “The goal is to fly humans safely beyond low – Earth orbit (轨道) and deep into outer space where we cannot only survive, but one day also live environmentally friendly” According to NASA’s schedule, it will take years to fully complete the SLS program.
| A．about 6 | B．about 10 |
| C．less than 14 | D．more than 19 |
It can be inferred from the passage that.
| A．the SLS program is planning to make reusable rockets |
| B．the goal of the SLS program is to enable humans to live on the moon |
| C．the US government may not have provided enough money for the SLS program |
| D．NASA will use SLS as a space taxi between the Earth and Mars. |
The iPhone, the iPad: each of Apple’s products sounds cool and has become a fad(一时的风尚). Apple has cleverly taken advantage of the power of the letter “i” –-- and many other brands are following suit. The BBC’s iPlayer --- which allows Web users to watch TV programs on the Internet ---used the title in 2008. A lovely bear --- popular in the US and UK --- that plays music and video is called “iTeddy”. A slimmed-down version(简装本) of London’s Independent newspaper was started last week under the name “i”.
In general, single-letter prefixes(前缀) have been popular since the 1990s, when terms such as e-mail and e-commerce(电子商务) first came into use.
Most “i” products are targeted at （针对）young people and considering the major readers of Independent’s “i”, it’s no surprise that they’ve selected this fashionable name.
But it’s hard to see what’s so special about the letter “i”. Why not use “a”, “b”, or “c” instead? According to Tony Thorne, head of the Language Center at King’s College, London, “i” works because its meaning has become ambiguous. When Apple uses “i”, no one knows whether it means Internet, information, individual or interactive, Thorne told BBC Magazines. “Even when Apple created the iPod, it seems it didn’t have one clear definition（定义）,” he says.
“However, thanks to Apple, the term is now connected with portability (轻便) .”adds Thorne.
Clearly the letter “i” also agrees with the idea that the Western World is centered on the individual. Each person believes they have their own needs, and we love personalized products for this reason.
Along with “Google” and “blog”, readers of BBC Magazines voted “i” as one of the top 20 words that have come to define the last decade(十年).
But as history shows, people grow tired of fads. From the 1900s to 1990s, products with “2000” in their names became fashionable as the year was connected with all things advanced and modern. However, as we entered the new century, the fashion disappeared.People use iPlayer to __________.
| A．listen to music | B．make a call |
| C．watch TV programs online | D．read newspapers |
We can infer that the Independent’s “i” is designed for _________.
| A．young readers | B．old readers |
| C．fashionable women | D．engineers |
The underlined word “ambiguous” means “__________”.
| A．popular | B．uncertain |
| C．clear | D．unique |
Nowadays, the “i” term often reminds people of the products which are __________.
| A．portable | B．environmentally friendly |
| C．advanced | D．recyclable |
The writer suggests that __________.
| A．“i” products are often of high quality |
| B．iTeddy is alive bear |
| C．the letter “b” replaces letter “i” to name the products |
| D．the popularity of “i” products may not last long |
Most people buy a lot of gifts just before Christmas. But some people think we buy too much. They have started a special day called Buy Nothing Day. They don’t want anyone to go shopping that day.
Buy Nothing Day is November 29. It’s 25 days before Christmas. It’s after Thanksgiving and often the first day of Christmas shopping. At this time, we see ads in newspapers and on TV telling us to “buy, buy, buy!”
The idea for Buy Nothing Day started in Vancouver, British Columbia. Now people all over the world celebrate Buy Nothing Day. In California, parents and children get together to read stories, sing songs, and paint pictures. The children talk about why they don’t need a lot of toys. This year, in Manchester, England, people dressed up to tell people that we buy too much.
In Albuquerque, New Mexico, high school students wanted to tell other students about Buy Nothing Day. They organized a spaghetti dinner to give people information about Buy Nothing Day. They asked restaurants in the neighborhood to donate the food. They made posters and talked to other students about it. The dinner was a big success, and many students agreed not to buy anything on November 29. The students at high school liked the idea of this new tradition. Next year, they want to have another dinner to tell more people about Buy Nothing Day!Which of the following is NOT the day for people to celebrate Buy Nothing Day?
| A．The first day after Christmas. |
| B．25 days before Christmas. |
| C．After Thanksgiving. |
| D．November 29 |
When do people usually do shopping?
| A．Before Thanksgiving. | B．On Christmas. |
| C．Anytime. | D．Before Christmas. |
How do people celebrate Buy Nothing Day?
| A．In California, parents and children get together to play games. |
| B．In England, people celebrated by performing plays. |
| C．They bought nothing and made the others decide not to. |
| D．In Mexico, high school students dressed up. |