Norm Pethrick, a 36-year-old man in Australia’s northern city Darwin, was praised on Thursday for jumping onto a crocodile’s back to save his wife Wendy at Litchfield National Park, a popular tourist spot southwest of Darwin, a local newspaper reported.
Ms Pethrick was standing on a river bank Wednesday afternoon when the saltwater crocodile lunged (扑), locking its jaws on both her legs as it tried to drag her underwater.
Norm Pethrick, who with his wife had been collecting water, immediately went to help her. He jumped onto the back, poked (戳) the eyes of the crocodile and finally got his wife free.
Ms Pethrick was later taken to Royal Darwin Hospital for a medical treatment. The doctors said she was suffering eight puncture wounds (伤口) in her right leg, a puncture wound in her left leg and a serious cut to one of her fingers.
“This could have been a fatal and tragic situation,” said the general manager of Royal Darwin Hospital (RDH), Dr Len Notaras, according to a local report.
He said Ms Pethrick was saved by her husband’s “quick and diligent actions”.
Dr Notaras also said she would remain in hospital for three to four days and have an operation to clean the wounds, which are easy to get infected because of bacteria (细菌) on the teeth of the crocodile.This passage is most likely to be found in _____.
| A．a travel guide | B．a newspaper |
| C．a textbook | D．a novel |
The crocodile attacked Ms Pethrick when she was ______.
| A．swimming in the river |
| B．standing on the river bank |
| C．watching the crocodile |
| D．fishing in the water |
Which of the following statements is TRUE about Ms Pethrick?
| A．Her eyes were badly poked. |
| B．She had eight wounds altogether. |
| C．One of her fingers also got hurt. |
| D．One of the crocodile’s teeth was found in her leg. |
According to the passage, Norm Pethrick can be described as following EXCEPT ______.
| A．brave | B．diligent |
| C．quick | D．humorous |
Which of the following would be the best title for this passage?
| A．The husband should save the wife |
| B．A man saves wife’s life from crocodile’s jaws |
| C．A crocodile is not so dangerous as people imagine |
| D．Human beings can beat crocodiles sometimes |
In Wiltshire, England, volunteers are being sought to visit a nature protection area to count the butterflies living there and on surrounding fields. The project is promoted by all environmental protection organization, which has contributed to improving the living environment for wild animals. Recently, the organization has issued an appeal to help it observe environmental changes based on the record of butterflies and protect the environment.
In the area, the local people have planted many special flowers with the help of the organization, aiming to see whether these flowers will interest the rare and beautiful butterflies. The project officer Sarah Marshall says,“It will be a suitable habitat (栖息地) for butterflies. They are great‘indicator species’ as they are easily affected by climate changes so they make a brilliant early-warning system for the environment.” She also points out that volunteers are needed to record the number or species of butterflies, and based on the change happening to the butterflies, the hidden environmental problems in the area can be found out in time.
The organization is seeking volunteers to help monitor butterflies from April through to September. They will walk a fixed route and record the different butterflies they encounter along the way. Each visit should take no more than two hours, and each volunteer is expected to visit once a month to count the wildlife. “Staff will provide back up, so if the weather is poor on the day you are to visit (butterflies don’t like to fly in the rain, wind or if it’s too cloudy) we can have someone else do your job,” Sarah points out.
No previous experience is necessary as training and support will be provided, but a keen interest is essential. If you are interested please contact Sarah on (01380) 725670, ext 278, email—sarahm @ wiltshirewildlife. org. According to Paragraph 1, what is the purpose of the Project?
| A．To appeal to more visitors |
| B．To protect the environment |
| C．To control butterfly population |
| D．To expand the area for wildlife |
Butterflies are called “indicator species” because _______.
| A．they can provide support for visitors |
| B．they can give information to other species |
| C．they are not easily found out in their habitats |
| D．they are very sensitive to environmental changes |
Volunteers are required to do the things EXCEPT __________.
| A．having some special previous experience |
| B．being interested in protecting the environment |
| C．walking a regular route and do some recordings |
| D．visiting the nature protection area once a month |
What is the text mainly about?
| A．Visitors are being trained to identify butterflies. |
| B．Wildlife areas are being protected by butterflies. |
| C．Volunteers are being needed to count butterflies. |
| D．Organizations are being put up to protect butterflies. |
Have you ever lost your temper? Did you yell or scream at those around you, even people you like or love? Did you want to break something or hit someone?
Everyone gets angry. We have lots of emotions. At different times, we may be happy, sad or jealous. .
It’s perfectly okay to be angry at time--- in fact, it’s important to get angry sometimes. Anger can even be a good thing. When we are treated unfairly, anger can help us stand up for ourselves.
_____ some people keep their anger buried deep inside. If you do this, you might get a headache or your stomach might start to hurt. You may just feel crummy (糟糕的) about yourself or start to cry. It’s not good to hide your anger, so you should find a way to let it out without hurting yourself or others.
When you start to feel angry, you can count to 10, draw a picture of anger, play a video game, run as fast as you can or do something active. An effective way is to talk to a friend you can trust. .
Instead, admit to yourself that you are angry and try to figure out why you are angry and what you can do to keep the situation from happening again.
Never getting angry is impossible. But, you should always remember that how you act when you’re angry can make the situation better or worse.Take charge of it!
| A． Once you talk about anger, those bad feelings usually start to go away. |
| B． Taking it out on others never solves anything. |
| C． Anger is just another way we feel. |
| D． Here is an important way to deal with anger. |
E. But anger must be released in the right way.
F. Every coin has two sides.
G. Don’t let anger be the boss of you.
Ask someone what they have done to help the environment recently and they will almost certainly mention recycling. Recycling in the home is very important of course. However, being forced to recycle often means we already have more material than we need. We are dealing with the results of that over-consumption in the greenest way possible, but it would be far better if we did not need to bring so much material home in the first place.
The total amount of packaging increased by 12% between 1999 and 2005. It now makes up a third of a typical household’s waste in the UK. In many supermarkets nowadays food items are packaged twice with plastic and cardboard.
Too much packaging is doing serious damage to the environment. The UK, for example, is running out of it for carrying this unnecessary waste. If such packaging is burnt, it gives off greenhouse gases which go on to cause the greenhouse effect. Recycling helps, but the process itself uses energy. The solution is not to produce such items in the first place. Food waste is a serious problem, too. Too many supermarkets encourage customers to buy more than they need. However, a few of them are coming round to the idea that this cannot continue, encouraging customers to reuse their plastic bags, for example.
But this is not just about supermarkets. It is about all of us. We have learned to associate packaging with quality. We have learned to think that something unpackaged is of poor quality. This is especially true of food. But is also applies to a wide range of consumer products, which often have far more packaging than necessary.
There are signs of hope. As more of us recycle, we are beginning to realize just how much unnecessary materials are collecting. We need to face the wastefulness of our consumer culture, but we have a mountain to climb.What does the underlined phrase “over-consumption” refer to?
| A．Using too much packaging. |
| B．Recycling too many wastes. |
| C．Making more products than necessary. |
| D．Having more material than is needed. |
The author uses figures in Paragraph 2 to show _______.
| A．the tendency of cutting household waste |
| B．the increase of packaging recycling |
| C．the rapid growth of super markets |
| D．the fact of packaging overuse |
According to the text, recycling ______.
| A．helps control the greenhouse effect |
| B．means burning packaging for energy |
| C．is the solution to gas shortage |
| D．leads to a waste of land |
What can we learn from the last paragraph?
| A．Fighting wastefulness is difficult. |
| B．Needless material is mostly recycled. |
| C．People like collecting recyclable waste. |
| D．The author is proud of their consumer culture. |
A study by St.. Louis University has found that a lovable dog named Sparky and a robotic dog, AIBO, were about equally effective at reducing the loneliness of nursing home residents. The study confirmed previous findings that dogs have a good effect on nursing home residents.
Dr. Andrew Smith led the Stanford University team that built a home-assistance robot. “If humans can feel an emotional tie with robots, some day they could be not just our assistants, but also our companions,” he said.
To test whether residents responded better to Sparky, a trained dog, or the Sony-made robotic dog, researchers divided 38 nursing home residents into three groups at three long-term care centers in St. Louis.
One group had weekly 30-minute one-on-one visits with Sparky; another group had similar visits with AIBO; a control group had no contact with either dog. The groups’ respective levels of loneliness were tested by having them answer a number of questions at the beginning and near the end of the visits.
After two months, both groups that had contact with the dogs were less lonely and more attached. Most of the elderly regarded Sparky, a 9-year-old dog, as an audience for their life stories, said investigator Marian Banks.
“He listened attentively, wagged his tail, and allowed them to pet him,” said Banks, who adopted and trained Sparky after finding him in a street behind her home seven years ago.
Those who were together with AIBO took a little longer to warm to the robotic creature. Over time, however, they grew comfortable with him, and petted and talked to him. He would respond by wagging his tail, vocalizing, and blinking his lights..
“AIBO is charming once you start to interact with him,” said the study’s author, Dr. William Banks, “He’s an attractive sort of guy. He gives a feeling of being personal, not just a robot.”Before the new study, it was known that ____.
| A．robots were effective at reducing people’s loneliness |
| B．robots could build close connection with humans |
| C．dogs could help get rid of old people’s loneliness |
| D．dogs and robots were equally effective at reducing loneliness |
Those who had contact with the robotic dog found that ___.
| A．they didn’t feel comfortable with it |
| B．it was hard for them to interact with it |
| C．they weren’t comfortable with it at first |
| D．the robot’s vocalizing and blinking confused them |
The findings of the researchers tell us that___.
| A．robots are better at caring for old people than nurses |
| B．robots can to some degree replace dogs as companions for old people |
| C．it’s easy for people to become close with robots |
| D．every home will have a robot assistant one day |
What would be the best title for the passage?
| A．Robots Serve People Better Than Thought |
| B．No More Lonely Old Age with Emotional Robots |
| C．Advanced Technology Used to cheer up the Elderly |
| D．Robots and Dogs Can Equally Cheer up the Elderly |
Skinner Creek ESL Guest Ranch offers a unique outdoor adventure camp for international students.
Students who come to Skinner Creek have the opportunity to learn English in an environment entirely different from a regular school setting. English classes are designed to meet the academic and spoken levels of each student. All English classes will be taught by instructors qualified in teaching English as a second language. All levels of English are available.
After class, students can enjoy many outdoor activities in a controlled and safe environment. Experienced managers and camp teachers will prepare each activity to the level appropriate for each student.
Students’ safety is a priority for the staff of Skinner Creek ESL Guest Ranch. Students are monitored at all times and supervisors are in the cabins with the students at night. Staff members have St. John’s First Aid and Transportation and Wilderness First Aid. An emergency clinic is nearby and accessible 24 hours.
English Classes:
Class hours are from Monday to Friday, 9:00 am—2:00 pm with a one-hour break for lunch.
Students are challenged in reading, writing, grammar, vocabulary building and conversational English.
Fun After-class Activities:
Great after-class activities include: horseback riding lessons, hiking, baseball, volleyball, badminton, mountain hiking, bonfires and much more.
Time to watch videos and TV and play games.
Experience Canadian family life.
Weekends:
Special all-day and overnight weekend activities include: camping, days at the lake (fishing, swimming and boating) and more.
Travel Information:
Students will be picked up at Vancouver airport and dropped off again for their individual flights. Transportation to and from the ranch will be provided as well as overnight stays in Vancouver.
Please contact the ranch directly for prices: skinnercreek@telus. net.If you attend Skinner Creek Summer Camp, you will___.
| A．sometimes have English Classes outdoors. |
| B．learn how to deal with dangers in the wild. |
| C．enjoy different sports activities after class |
| D．experience the traditional farmer lifestyle. |
How many hours of English classes do students have every week in Skinner Creek?
| A．35 hours | B．28 hours |
| C． 25 hours | D．20 hours |
How will most students travel to Skinner Creek if they want to attend the camp?
| A．By air | B．By car |
| C．By boat | D．By train |