Sydney—A shark savaged a schoolboy's leg while he was surfing with his father at a beach in Sydney on February 23.It was the third shark attack along the coast of Australia's largest city in a month.
The 15-year-old boy and his father were in the water off Avalon,on Sydney's northern beaches,around dawn when he was attacked.The city's beaches are packed with locals and tourists during the summer months.
“The father heard a scream and turned to see his son thrashing(激烈扭动)about in the water,”the police said.“Fortunately,the shark swam away and the boy was helped to the shore by his father.”
Lifesaving Club spokesman Nick Miller said,“It got him around the top of his left leg and the father came and dragged him out of water.”He said the boy was bleeding heavily when he was brought to the shore.“There was a lot of pain,as you can imagine.”The teenager was airlifted to hospital for treatment for leg injuries.
Police said the bites “cut through to the bone”,but the boy did not appear to have sustained any fractures (骨折).He was in a stable condition now.
Several beaches were closed after the attack.Water police and lifeguards were searching for the shark,while the police hoped to identify its species by the shape of the bite marks.But they said it was too early to say what type of shark attacked the boy.“I don't even know if he saw it,”Miller said.
Many shark species live in the waters off Sydney's beaches,but attacks on humans are still relatively rare.However,there were two attacks on successive days earlier this month,one on a navy diver in Sydney harbor,not far from the famous Opera House,and the other on a surfer at the city's world-famous Bondi beach.
Fishermen say shark numbers are on the rise.There is a ban on commercial fishing in the harbor,which has increased fish stocks.Marine experts also claim environmental protection has created a cleaner environment,attracting sharks closer to the shore as they chase fish.Many shark species,including the Great White—the man-eaters made famous in Steven Spielberg's Jaws—are protected in Australian waters.The report mainly tells us ________.
A.shark attacks on humans are on the rise |
B.sharks attacked humans three times in one month |
C.a boy was attacked by a shark at a Sydney beach |
D.shark numbers are increasing in the waters off Sydney's beaches |
The underlined word “savaged” in the first paragraph probably means “________”.
A.attracted | B.dragged | C.bit | D.packed |
What do we know about the city of Sydney from the passage?
B.Sydney harbor is not far from the famous Opera House.
C.There are many locals and tourists on its coast all the year round.
D.There are few shark species in the waters off Sydney's beaches.About the injury of the boy we know that ________.
A.he was losing much blood when he was dragged out |
B.he was very nervous when he was sent to hospital |
C.he may be in danger of losing his leg |
D.he was injured in the right leg |
All the following are the causes of Australia's sharks' increasing EXCEPT that ________.
A.environmental protection has created a cleaner environment |
B.a ban on commercial fishing has increased fish numbers |
C.many shark species are protected in Australian waters |
D.the film Jaws has made the Great White famous |
Recently the busiest person on the Internet is absolutely Yuanfang, a fictional figure from the Chinese TV series “Detective Di Renjie”. In the TV series, Li was often asked by Di, “How do you see it, Yuanfang?” Then, the dialogues between them help advance the plot. Now, the casual pet phrase is used as many as 2.5 million times by netizens in a single day, according to statistics.
In fact, it is not the first popular sentence pattern on the Internet. Many other types of popular network words include those evolved from “the slogans of Vancl(凡客网)” and actor’s lines of “The Legend of Concubine Zhen Huan”.
The explosive spread of the sentence “How do you see it, Yuanfang?” again proved the vast power of the network spread. The appearance of a buzzword(流行词) on the Internet may be coincidental, but the spread of numerous buzzwords has started a social and cultural phenomenon. It is more noticeable that the spread is not a deliberate choice but by chance. Usually, everyone has known about it, except the one concerned.
The appearance of buzzwords is resulting from the agreement of netizens. If something is new and interesting enough, it will cause public attention.
The rise of these buzzwords also benefits from their strong “adhesive(粘着的) force”. After analyzing these buzzwords, we find that they have a common character, namely “novel in structure but empty in content”. Therefore, any concrete contents can be added in these buzzwords, creating fantastic results.
Taking the “Yuanfang-style” as an example, its popularity displayed a social mentality of questioning. Although it seems a little funny to ask “Yuanfang”, a fictional character, and some people even find it boring. This way of asking a question reveals a valuable quality-listening. The Internet provides a space for everyone to express their views, but it also causes controversies. What’s your opinion, Yuanfang?We can learn from the passage that Yuanfang.
A.is the busiest person in modern industrial societies |
B.plays an important role in a Chinese TV series |
C.is a fictional figure currently popular with netizens |
D.starts a social and cultural phenomenon by himself |
What does the underlined words “a deliberate choice” in Paragraph3 mean?
A.a choice made on purpose | B.a choice made by accident |
C.a choice done in person | D.a choice done at ease |
Which of the following is TRUE according to the passage?
A.The dialogues between Di Renjie and Yuanfang help understand the network buzzwords. |
B.The “Yuanfang-style” suggests once again that the power of the network spread is quite vast. |
C.The spread of numerous buzzwords has started a social development of structure and content. |
D.The result of the netizens’ agreement directly leads to the rise of some socially strong problems. |
What can we infer from the last passage?
A.People benefited from the Internet on which they can learn a lot about real society. |
B.People learned about some controversies from the Internet and decided to deal with them. |
C.People provided a space through which they can display their own criminal mentality. |
D.People found out a place where they can question and express their different views. |
A new study suggests that sad music might actually arouse positive emotions. The finding helps to explain why people enjoy listening to sad music, say Ai Kawakami and her colleagues from Tokyo University of the Arts and the RIKEN Brain Science Institute, Japan. Ai Kawakami and her colleagues asked 44 volunteers, including both musicians and nonspecialists, to listen to two pieces of sad music and one piece of happy music. Each participant was required to use a set of keywords to rate both their perception(观念) of the music and their own emotional state.
The sad pieces of music included Glinka’s La Separation in F minor and Blumenfeld’s Etude Sur Mer in G minor. The happy music piece was Granados’s Allegro de Concierto in G major. To control the “happy” effect of major key, they also played the minor key(小调) pieces in major key, and vise versa.
The researchers explained that sad music aroused contradictory emotions because the participants of the study tended to feel sad to be more tragic and less romantic than they felt themselves while listening to it.
“ In general, sad music causes sadness in listeners, and sadness is regarded as an unpleasant emotion. If sad music actually arouses only unpleasant emotion, we would not listen to it,” the researchers wrote in the study.
“Music that is believed as sad actually causes romantic emotion as well as sad emotion.And people, regardless of their musical training, experience this ambivalent(矛盾的) emotion to listen to the sad music,” added the researchers.
Also, unlike sadness in daily life, sadness experienced through art actually feels pleasant, possibly because the latter does not cause an actual threat to our safety. This could help people to deal with their negative emotions in daily life, concluded the authors.
“Emotion experienced by music has no direct danger or harm unlike the emotion experienced in everyday life. Therefore, we can even enjoy unpleasant emotion such as sadness. If we suffer from unpleasant emotion aroused through daily life, sad music might be helpful to alleviate negative emotion,” they added. People enjoy listening to sad music because _______.
A.sad music may help arouse positive emotions |
B.sad music can make people relax |
C.Sad music has a positive effect on people’s health |
D.many experts recommend people to listen to sad music |
We can learn from the passage that _______.
A.sad music only causes sadness in listeners |
B.Only musicians were invited to take part in the survey |
C.The volunteers were asked to listen to three pieces of music in all |
D.Granados’s Allegro de Concierto in G major can cause positive emotions |
The underlined word “alleviate” in the last paragraph means “ ”.
A.add | B.strengthen | C.cause | D.reduce |
What is the main idea of this passage?
A.People should listen to sad music. |
B.Happy music can make people sad. |
C.Sad music may actually cause positive emotions. |
D.Sad music is really bad to people. |
My husband and I had just opened up a pet sitting business earlier that year. Our customers had slowly risen from three to thirty a month. We were busy through those hot summer months, driving between visits. Our services were strictly held at the pet owner’s home. It was almost too busy for the two of us, but we were making good money!
We asked pet owners new to our services to phone two weeks ahead so we had enough time to meet the owners and pets at their homes and make any following meetings before the owner leaves.
One day, we decided to take on a new customer just two days before they would leave. We met the family, filled in a form, and spent some time with their dog, Hercules. He playfully jumped on us and touched our hands and arms using his tongue. The family laughed as he did this, showing us that he was very loving.
Two days later I appeared at the house, alone. I came up to Hercules and said hello happily. I filled up his water bowl and cleaned any messes he made. Meanwhile, he was so lovely sitting beside. I thought this would be the good picture to send to the owners, a usual service. After the light and “click” sound went off, Hercules rushed at me. I didn’t know what had just happened until I noticed the drops of blood. I ran out and did the only thing — calling my husband.
Then I went to neighbors for help. My husband arrived after ten minutes. The helpful neighbor and my husband led Hercules back into his pen (圈). Then my husband and I took off to the hospital.
I must have looked like I was shot when I walked into the hospital. The nurses quickly moved me to a room. I asked the doctor in a weak but playful manner, “ Am I going to die?” He replied, “Finally.”According to the text, the author’s work was .
A.tiring and dangerous | B.easy and free |
C.well paid | D.done outdoors |
What did the author often do during her work?
A.Cleaning the clients’ house. |
B.Walking the pets outside. |
C.Bringing the pets to her own house. |
D.Taking a photo of pets to the owners. |
It can be inferred from the text that the author was attacked because .
A.Hercules feared the sound and the flash |
B.the author attacked Hercules first |
C.Hercules was very hungry then |
D.the author treated Hercules badly |
The doctor’s answer gave us a sense of .
A.anger | B.humor | C.carelessness | D.patience |
Snow falls in the Earth’s extreme North and South throughout the year. However, the heaviest snowfalls have been reported in the mountains of other areas during winter. Snow is even known to fall near the Equator (赤道),but only on the highest mountains.
Snow contains much less water than rain, but much of the water the world uses comes from snow. Melting snow provides water for rivers, electric power stations and agricultural crops. In the western United States, mountain snow provides up to seventy-five percent of all surface water supplies.
Snowfall helps to protect plants and some wild animals from winter weather. Fresh snow is made largely of air trapped among the snow crystals (晶体). Because the air has trouble moving, the movement of heat is limited. Snow also influences the movement of sound waves. The surface of the snow takes in, or absorbs, sound waves. As snow grows older or if there have been strong winds, it can become hard and flat. Then, the snow’s surface will help to send back sound waves.
Snow may be beautiful, but it can be deadly. It is responsible for the deaths of hundreds of people. Many people die in traffic accidents on roads covered with snow and ice or from being seriously stuck in the winter storm. Others die from heart attacks caused by too much physical activity out in the cold.
People may not be able to avoid living in areas where it snows often. However, they can avoid becoming victims of snowstorms. People should stop driving and stay at home until the storm has passed. People living in these areas should carry emergency supplies in their vehicle. These include food,emergency medical supplies,and extra clothing to stay warm and dry.. Mountain snowfall _____.
A.provides up to seventy—five percent of water supplies worldwide |
B.has never occurred near the Equator of the earth |
C.brings less of the water the world uses than rain does |
D.is heavier than that in the South and the North Poles |
Snow protects plants and wild animals from cold weather by _____.
A.supplying much more air | B.limiting heat movement |
C.absorbing strong winds | D.sending back sound waves |
Snow can be deadly mainly because it can _____.
A.cause road accidents |
B.make people stuck in winter storms |
C.make people victims of snowstorms |
D.lead to heart attacks |
What will the text probably tell us following the last paragraph? ____.
A.How to prevent heart attacks out in cold |
B.Where we can get emergency supplies |
C.How to drive during snowstorms |
D.Why we should stay warm and dry in winter |
April 11, 2003 12:44 a. m. PST, Associated Press The respiratory(呼吸系统) virus known as SARS has appeared to spread in the United States only to family members of health workers with close contact to a sick person.
On Thursday, the head of the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention said there might be a case of severe acute respiratory syndrome(综合症) spreading through the workplace.
Dr. Julie Gerberding said a suspected SARS virus patient who became ill after traveling to Asia might have infected a co-worker in Florida, which made her “very worried”.
So far, a dozen people—nine family members and three health workers—were infected after coming into close contact with the person with SARS. The rest of the 166 suspected American cases have something to do with people who were infected while traveling in Asia.
In the Gainesville, Fla. area, a 47-year-old woman was believed to have been infected at work by a 60-year-old woman who was the nation’s first suspected SARS case, said Tom Belcuore, director of the Alachua County health department.
Since the World Health Organization announced a worldwide warning last month about SARS, the United States has started infection control in hospitals and among families of suspected cases.
Florida officials said a school in Okaloosa County went through a cleaning after a 6-year-old boy suspected of having SARS appeared at school with slight symptoms. “Health officials are watching the boys’ contacts at school to make sure no one else is infected,” said Rob Hayes, health department spokesman, “The boy may have been infected from a family member,” Hayes said, “We immediately became aware of it and had the child sent home. He’s staying at home with his family until 10 days after symptoms disappear.”
The researchers guessed that the virus might have come from animals. However, the scientists have not ruled out the possibility that some other microbe might also help make SARS more serious or easier to catch.The best title for this text is _______.
A.A Worldwide Warning |
B.Suspected SARS Cases |
C.What Is SARS |
D.Possible Spread of SARS in the USA |
The writer wrote this text mainly to _______.
A.discuss the danger of SARS |
B.report research result about SARS |
C.inform people of the spread of SARS |
D.explain to the readers what SARS is |
How many cases of suspected SARS are there in the U.S.A. according to the text?
A. 166. B.178. C. 12. D. 181.