When an ant dies, other ants take it out of the nest, often within an hour after its death. This behavior interests scientists and they wonder how ants know for sure—and so soon—that another ant is dead.
One scientist recently came up with a way to explain this ant behaviour. Dong-Hwan Choe is a biologist, a scientist who studies animals and plants. He found that ants have a chemical on the outside of their bodies that signals to other ants, “I'm dead—take me away” when it is dead.
But there's a question to answer: As we know, if an ant is dead, it stops moving. But when an ant is sleeping or knocked unconscious, it is also not moving. However, other ants don't move the living ant out of the nest. How do they know this ant is not dead? Choe found that ants have another chemical on their bodies, which tells nearby ants something like, “Wait—I'm not dead yet” when it is not dead. Choe suspects that when an ant dies, the chemical that says, “Wait I'm not dead yet” quickly goes away. When other ants detect the “dead” chemical without the “not dead yet” chemical, they move away the body.
To test his theory , Choe and his team put different chemicals on ants. When the scientists used the “I'm dead” chemical, other ants quickly moved the treated ant away. When the scientists used the “Wait—I'm not dead yet” chemical, other ants left the treated ant alone. Choe believes this behavior shows that the “not dead yet” chemical overrides the “dead” chemical when picked up by other ants. And that when an ant dies, the “not dead yet” chemical fades away. Other nearby ants then detect the remaining “dead” chemical and remove the body from the nest.
Understanding this behavior can help scientists figure out how to stop ants from invading new places and causing problems.What is the function of the first paragraph?
| A．Leading the following paragraphs. |
| B．Showing the main idea of the passage. |
| C．Introducing the background of the passage. |
| D．Giving a summary of the passage. |
Which of the following has the closest meaning to the underlined word “overrides” in the fourth paragraph?
| A．is weaker than | B．is stronger than | C．is better than | D．is worse than |
What can we learn from the passage?
| A．Living ants can also be taken away when they are not moving. |
| B．When an ant dies, it can tell others using a certain chemical. |
| C．A living ant can pretend to be dead using a special chemical. |
| D．Ants often use chemicals to communicate with each other. |
Which of the following descriptions about Dong-Hwan Choe is right?
| A．Choe did this study in order to stop ants from invading new places. |
| B．Choe is a biologist who is only interested in animals, especially in ants. |
| C．Choe first came up with an idea to explain this ant behavior，and then did some tests to prove his theory. |
| D．Choe did the research on this ant behavior on his own |
Wilderness activity week, Finland
Set off on a really wild adventure to Finland, where night is a distant memory during the endless days of summer.
From your cottage, set high in the hills above Koli National Park, you can explore a perfect wilderness, and pull over at a lakeside beach whenever you like a dip（游泳）.
Seven-night breaks cost from ￡899 per adult, ￡699 per child, including flights, accommodation, some meals and a guide. The Adventure Company (0845 450 5311; www.adventurecompany. co. uk).
Horseriding in the Tarn France
Learn to ride, or perfect your horse-riding skills at Les Juliannes in the Tarn Valley. Activities include everything from show-jumping to hacking（骑马）through the rolling hills and medieval（中世纪的）villages. Between sessions, you can relax by the pool, cycle along the country lanes or roam the grounds. Guests stay at a rural 17th-century farmhouse.
Seven-night breaks cost from ￡658 per adult, ￡628 per child aged 12-15 years.￡553 for 10 to 11-year-olds and ￡423 for under-nines. Price includes return flights, transfers, half-board accommodation and ten hours’ riding, Inntravel（01653 617906；www. inntravel. co. uk）.
Learn to sail in Greece
Sunvil Sailing has live-aboard learn-to-sail breaks off the island of Lefkas that are designed for both the complete novice（新手）as well as those with a degree of sailing.
Seven-night breaks cost from ￡721pp in peak season, including return flights, transfers, live-aboard accommodation and tuition. Meals and dinner ashore are not included. Sunvil Sailing (020 8758 4780; www. sunvil. co. uk). If you want to have some experiences of country life in the past, you’d better go to .
| A．explore a perfect wilderness |
| B．stay for a few days in Finland |
| C．Horseriding in the Tarn, France |
| D． Learn to sail in Greece |
How much would a family of two adults and a ten-year-old boy pay altogether if they join in Horseriding in the Tarn, France?
| A．￡2030 | B．￡1316 | C．￡1869 | D．￡1211 |
If you join in Wilderness activity week, Finland, the most unusual thing you will see is.
| A．a national park |
| B．a cottage high in the hills |
| C．a perfect wilderness |
| D． summer days without night |
If you want to learn to sail in Greece, you can log on to to find more information.
| A．www. activitiesabroad. com |
| B．www. adventurecompany. co. uk |
| C．www. inntravel. co. uk |
| D．www. sunvil. co. uk |
Deserts are found where there is little rainfall or where rain for a whole year falls in only a few weeks’ time. Ten inches of rain may be enough for many plants to survive if the rain is spread throughout the year. If it falls within one or two months and the rest of the year is dry, those plants may die and a desert may form.
Sand begins as tiny pieces of rock that get smaller and smaller as wind and weather wear them down. Sand dunes（沙丘）are formed as winds move the sand across the desert. Bit by bit, the dunes grow over the years, always moving with the winds and changing the shape. Most of them are only a few feet tall, but they can grow to be several hundred feet high.
There is, however, much more to a desert than sand. In the deserts of the southwestern United States, cliffs（悬崖）and deep valleys were formed from thick mud that once lay beneath a sea more than millions of years ago. Over the centuries, the water dried up. Wind, sand, rain, heat and cold all wore away at the remaining rocks. The faces of the desert mountains are always changing—very, very slowly—as these forces of nature continue to work on the rock.
Most deserts have a surprising variety of life. There are plants, animals and insects that have adapted to life in the desert. During the heat of the day, a visitor may see very few signs of living things, but as the air begins to cool in the evening, the desert comes to life. As the sun begins to rise again in the sky, the desert once again becomes quiet and lonely.Many plants may survive in deserts when ________.
| A．the rain is spread out in a year | B．the rain falls only in a few weeks |
| C．there is little rain in a year | D．it is dry all the year round |
Sand dunes are formed when _______.
| A．sand piles up gradually | B．there is plenty of rain in a year |
| C．the sea has dried up over the years | D．pieces of rock get smaller |
The underlined sentence in the third paragraph probably means that in a desert there is ______.
| A．too much sand | B．more sand than before |
| C．nothing except sand | D．something else besides sand |
It can be learned from the text that in a desert _______.
| A．there is no rainfall throughout the year |
| B．life exists in rough conditions |
| C．all sand dunes are a few feet high |
| D．rocks are worn away only by wind and heat |
HOW TO QUIT SMOKING
When thinking about quitting…
List all the reasons why you want to quit. Every night before going to bed, repeat one of the reasons 10 times. Decide surely that you want to quit. Try to avoid negative（消极的）thoughts about how difficult it might be. Develop strong personal reasons in addition to your health and duties to others. For example, think all the time you waste taking cigarette breaks, rushing out to buy a pack, hunting a light, etc. Set a date for quitting—perhaps a special day like your birthday, or a holiday. If you smoke heavily at work, quit during your vacation. Make the date seriously, and don’t let anything change it. Begin to prepare yourself physically: start a modest（适度的）exercise, drink more water, get plenty of rest.
Immediately after quitting…
The first few days after you quit, spend as much free time as possible in places where smoking is forbidden, e.g. libraries, museums, theatres, department stores, etc. Drink large quantities of water and fruit juice. Try to avoid wine, coffee, and other drinks, which remind you of cigarette smoking. Start a conversation with someone instead of asking for a match for a cigarette. If you miss the sensation（感觉）of having a cigarette in your hand, play with something else—a pencil, a pen, or a ruler. If you miss having something in your mouth, try toothpicks or a fake（假的）cigarette.Which of the following statements is best supported by the author?
| A．When you want a cigarette, try to forget it by starting a conversation with someone. |
| B．Try to drink wine, coffee, and other drinks instead of a cigarette. |
| C．If you miss the sensation of having a cigarette in your mouth, play with a pen. |
| D．Every night before going to bed, repeat the reasons 10 times. |
From the passage, we know smokers _______.
| A．spend a lot of time breaking the habit of smoking |
| B．have to stop to smoke from time to time |
| C．had better quit smoking during their holiday |
| D．start a modest exercise every day |
The author suggests _______ immediately after quitting.
| A．all kinds of drinks be avoided |
| B．drinking water and fruit juice |
| C．trying low-tar（低焦油）cigarettes |
| D．spending as much free time as possible in public places |
If the article is in a newspaper, which section is it in?
| A．Sports. | B．News. | C．Health. | D．Culture. |
Hilton English Language Center
Information for New Students
CLASS TIME: 9:00a.m.---10:30a.m., 11:00a.m.---12:30p.m., 1:30p.m.---3:00p.m.. The Language Center is open Monday to Friday. Each class has one afternoon free per week. On the first day, go to the lecture hall to check your timetable.
SELF-ACCESS: The language laboratory (Room 1110) is open Monday to Friday from 3:15p.m. to 5:00p.m. for all full-time students.
You can learn how to use computers for language games or word-processing（文字处理）. There are tapes for students to borrow to practice their English. Go in and ask the teacher to show you. If you plan to take public examinations, there are dictation（听写）and listening comprehension tapes for you to practice with. There are cloze exercises on the computers. Ask your class teacher for a list of past exam essays. Students can borrow tapes to take home but they must be returned after two days.
ATTENDANCE（出勤）：All students are expected to attend classes regularly. Students who do not attend classes will be reported to OSS. Eighty percent attendance is required for students to receive their certificates（证书）when they finish their courses. It is also required by OSS for an extension to your visa.
BOOKS: If students are given course books, the books are their responsibility. If a book is lost, the student will be expected to pay for it.
If students wish to buy books, there is a bookshop in the college specializing in English books (Room 3520). When do classes begin and end on a full day?
| A．9:00a.m. ---1:30p.m. | B．9:00a.m. ---3:00p.m. |
| C．9:00a.m. ---3:15p.m. | D．3:15p.m. ---5:00p.m. |
How many afternoons does a class meet each week?
| A．Two. | B． Three. | C．Four. | D．Five. |
Which of the following statements is TRUE?
| A．No teachers are in the language lab. |
| B．90% attendance is required for the students. |
| C．Books can’t be taken out of the center. |
| D．Students can prepare for exams by listening to tapes. |
Timetable can be seen in _____.
| A．the lecture hall | B．Room 3520 | C．the classroom | D．Room 1110 |
To discover whether bees can see colors, the following experiment is set up. A table is put in a garden and on the table is a piece of blue cardboard (硬纸板) with a drop of syrup (糖浆) on it. After a short time, bees come to the syrup. The bees then fly to their hive (蜂窝) and give the syrup to other bees in the hive. Then they return to the feeding-place which they have discovered. After a while, the blue cardboard with the syrup on it is taken away. Instead of this card, a blue card is now put on the left side of the first feeding-place and a red card to its right. These new card have no syrup on them. Thus, the blue card is on the left, the red card on the right, and there is nothing where the first blue feeding-card used to be. Very soon bees arrive again, and fly straight to the blue card. None to the red card.To do the experiment, altogether how many cards do you need to prepare?
| A．Two, one blue and one red. | B．Three, two blue and one red. |
| C．Three, one blue and two red. | D．Four, two blue and two red. |
If figure 1 (图1) below shows the table top during step 1 of the experiment, which picture in figure 2 represents (代表) step 2?
(blue card with syrupblue card red card )
Figure 1: 
Figure 2:
A B CDDuring step 2 of the experiment, the bees come to_______.
| A．the original blue card with syrup on it |
| B．the new blue card with no syrup on it |
| C．the empty space where original blue card was |
| D．the new blue card with syrup on it |
The experiment has proved that bees _______.
| A．cannot see colors | B．can see colors |
| C．cannot see blue | D．cannot see red |