Guangzhou（Xinhuanewsagency）—

Because plants cannot move or talk, most people believe that they have no feelings and that they cannot receive signals from outside. However, this may not be completely true.
People who studied plants have found out that plants carry a small electrical charge (电荷). It is possible to measure this charge with a small piece of equipment called “galvanometer”. The galvanometer is placed on a leaf off the plant, and it records any changes in the electrical field of the leaf. Humans have a similar field which can change when we are shocked or frightened.
A man called Backster used a galvanometer for his studies of plants and was very surprised at his results. He found that if he had two or more plants in a room and he began to destroy one of them － perhaps by pulling off its leaves or by pulling it out of its pot － then the galvanometer on the leaves of the other plants showed a change in the electrical field. It seemed as if the plants were signalling a feeling of shock. This happened not only when Backster started to destroy plants, but also when he destroyed other living things such as insects (昆虫).
Backster said that the plants also knew if someone had destroyed a living thing some distance away, because they signalled when a man who had just cut down a tree entered the room.
Another scientist, named Sauvin, achieved similar results to Backster’s. He kept galvanometers fixed to his plants all the time and checked regularly to see what the plants were doing. If he was out of the office, he telephoned to find out about the signals the plants were sending. In this way, he found that the plants were sending out signals at the exact times when he felt strong pleasure or pain. In fact, Sauvin could cause a change in the electrical field of his plants over a distance of a few miles simply by thinking about them.
Backster was surprised at the results of his studies because _____.

A．he destroyed an insect

B．he destroyed a plant by pulling off its leaves

C．he found that plants could express feelings of shock

D．he found that plants could move and speak after all

The plants sent out signals _____.

A．only when Backster Started to destroy plants

B．when Backster destroyed plants or other living things

C．only when he destroyed things such as insects

D．only when Backster placed the galvanometer on the leaves of the plants

The scientist called Sauvin _____.

A．did not agree with Backster’s ideas

B．did not get the same sort of results as Backster did

C．got different results from Backster’s

D．found out some of the same things that Backster did

Which of the following is true according to the passage?

A．The electrical charge plants carry may shock or frighten us.

B．A tree will signal when it has been cut down.

C．Sauvin could make his plants send out signals some distance away.

D．Plants have feelings because they can receive signals without moving.

Advertising is a highly developed twentieth-century industry. The development of radio, television, cinema, magazines and newspapers has gone hand in hand with the development of advertising. Why is advertising so popular? Is it a waste of money? It has been proved again and again that repeated advertising increases product sales. Since it increases production, the price can be reduced. Therefore advertising, instead of making a product more expensive, makes it cheaper.
Advertising is now a scientific business. Once managers would say jokingly, " I know that half of what I spend on advertising is wasted, but I don't know which half." Now, all parts of an advertising program are properly measured and researched.
What makes a good advertisement? There have been major changes in advertising in the past sixty years. People read advertisements partly for information and partly for pleasure. Today's advertisements often start with a question, or a puzzle, with the purpose of attracting the reader's attention. Of course, most advertisements contain information. But this is usually contained in a text that is interesting and often funny. Humor is very important. Sometimes advertisements tell a story, or the story may be continued over a number of advertisements. However, there is a danger in this. It is possible that the reader or viewer will remember the advertisement but not the name of the product.
The purpose of advertising is ____.

A．to increase product sales

B．to make a product much better

C．to spend more money

D．to reduce the production

Which of the following can be used in place of the underlined phrase "hand in hand" ?

A．Here and there.	B．Again and again.
C．As usual.	D．At the same time.

What is meant by what managers said in the second paragraph?

A．A11 the money on advertising was wasted.

B．Not all the advertisements were well designed.

C．A11 the managers knew about advertising then.

D．Managers spent no money on advertising.

What does the writer think of advertising?

A．Useless.

B．Unnecessary.

C．Important.

D．Wasteful.

Cara Lang is 13. She lives in Boston, Massachusetts, in the U. S. Last Thursday, she didn't go to school. She went to work with her father instead. Every year, on the fourth Thursday in April, millions of young girls go work. This is Take Our Daughters to Work Day. The girls are between the ages of 9 and 15. They spend the day at work with an adult, usually a mother, father, aunt, or uncle. They go to offices, police stations, laboratories, and other places where their parents or other family members work. Next year, the day will include sons, too.
The Ms. Foundation, an organization for women, started the program about ten years ago. In the U.S., many women work outside the home. The Ms. Foundation wanted girls to find out about many different kinds of jobs. Then, when the girls grow up, they can choose a job they like.
Cara's father is a film director. Cara says, “It was very exciting for me to go to the studio with my dad. I saw a lot of people doing different jobs.” Many businesses have special activities for girls on this day. Last year, Cara went to work with her aunt at the University of Massachusetts. In the engineering department, the girls learned to build a bridge with toothpicks and Candy. In the chemistry department, they learned to use scales. They learned about many other kinds of jobs, too.
Right now, Cara does not know what job she will have when she grows up. But because of Take Our Daughters to Work Day, she knows she has many choices.
What is Cara's father?

A．An engineer.

B．An official.

C．A moviemaker.

D．A professor.

According to the passage, Take our Daughters to work Day is ______.

A．on every Thursday in Apri

B．a holiday for girls of all ages

C．a day for girls to know about jobs

D．a day for girls to get a job easily

On this special day, Cara has done all the following EXCEPT that ____.

A．she learned to use scales

B．she worked as an actress

C．she went to work with her aunt

D．she used toothpicks and Candy to build a bridge

What is probably the best title for the passage?

A．Cara Lang, a Fortunate Girl

B．Take Our Daughters to Work Day

C．Children's Day and Work Day

D．Ms. Foundation, an Organization for Women

Canada’s western city of Calgary is the world’s best city when it comes to healthy living, local press reported Monday.
According to an international survey by Mercer Human Resource Consulting, a London-based consulting firm, Calgary was put at the top of a list of 144 cities. It scored 121 points, just above Honolulu’s score of 120. Helsinki（赫尔辛基，芬兰首都） and Ottawa followed at 119.5 and 118.5 respectively.
Three other Canadian cities came in the top 20. Montreal and Vancouver tied for ninth and Toronto came in at 18th.
The scores are based on air pollution levels, availability and quality of hospitals and medical supplies, as well as the efficiency of waste removal and sewage systems.
In America, the lowest scoring city was Atlanta, which was ranked 76th. Athens was the lowest scoring city in Western Europe, ranking 120th because of its air pollution. London was ranked 59th.
How many Canadian cities are in the top 20?

A．3.

B．4.

C．5.

D．6.

Which of the following is NOT taken into account when the cities were scored?

A．Weather conditions.	B．Air quality.
C．Waste removal.	D．Medical supplies.

Among the following cities, which is the lowest scoring one?

A．Atlanta.

B．Athens.

C．London.

D．Helsinki.

Lucky is the man who has no “skeleton in his closet.” When a man has done something in his life that he is ashamed of, that he wants to hide, he is said to have a “skeleton in his closet.” Some people may have more than one skeleton.
As we have noted many times, it is hard to find out how these expressions begin. Sometimes, we get some hard facts. But more often we have to depend on guesswork. And that is true of this phrase, which came from England.
Before 1832, English law did not permit a doctor to cut open a dead human body for scientific examination, unless it was the corpse(尸体) of an executed(处决) criminal.
But when it became legal, more and more doctors demanded skeletons for a more scientific study of medicine. It was helping in the advance of modern medicine. The demand had become so strong that men began to rob tombs and sell skeletons to doctors at high prices.
We are told that a doctor would usually buy just one skeleton for scientific study. It became very important in his work. But he had to keep it hidden because most people objected to keeping such a thing. As a rule, the doctor keep his skeleton in some dark corner where it could not be seen, or hide it in a closet.
After a time, people began to suspect every doctor of hiding a skeleton in the closet. From this suspicion, the phrase“a skeleton in the closet”took on a broader, more general meaning: to describe anything that a man wanted to keep others from discovering. It could be proof of a criminal act, or something much less serious. Well, that is one theory.
One writer, however, believes that the phrase might have come from something that really happened. It is his guess that a hidden closet in some old English country home may have turned up a real skeleton, clear proof of some old family shame or crime. Well, one man's guess is as good as another. But this sounds like a story by the great French novelist, Balzac.
Balzac tells us of a man who suspected his wife of having a lover. The husband comes home by surprise. But she hears him and quickly hides her lover in the closet of her bedroom. He enters her room and asks her if she is hiding her lover. He says he will not open the door to the closet if she promises him there is no one there; He will believe her. She answers firmly that she is not hiding anyone in the closet.
The husband then begins to build a solid brick wall against the closet. His wife watches, knowing that her lover will never come out alive. But she will not change her story and admit her guilt.
Which of the following situations is now suitable for using the phrase “skeleton in the closet”?

A．You have stolen something precious and hide them in the closet.

B．You are a doctor and have to keep a skeleton for research.

C．If you have cut open a dead human body for scientific examination you should keep the
skeleton secret.

D．You have done a crime or done something foolish, but you want to keep others from

discovering it.
Which of the following is right according to the text?

A．In the 19th century, doctors realized the importance of anatomy (解剖) in the development of
medicine.

B．The doctors of the ancient times liked to collect as many skeletons as possible

C．The thieves stole skeletons from tombs in order to help the doctors.

D．It is legal that corpses of anybody are cut open for scientific examination in history.

From the story Balzac told we know that the wife's lover must have become ______.

A．a corpse

B．a phrase

C．a skeleton

D．a story

A．At 00:17 am.	B．At 00:17 pm.
C．At seventeen past one	D．At seventeen to one