The sea horse is a magical animal, which has puzzled （使困惑） people for thousands of years. In ancient Rome sea horses were believed to be the babies of Neptune’s horses. And Neptune was the god of the ocean. Now we know they are not horses at all — they are a kind of fish. They still seem as magical as ever, especially to divers who have watched them horsing around(瞎闯) in the sea. But today, sea horse populations face an uncertain future. Fishermen are catching too many of them, and their undersea habitats （栖息地） are being destroyed.
At least 20 million sea horses are taken from the ocean each year. More than 95% are used for traditional medicines in Asian countries. The sea horses are usually dried and then made into powder which is used to treat such problems as asthma（哮喘）, throat infections, skin diseases and cuts. How well the medicines work is unclear.
Sea horses are also bought and sold in large numbers as pets. Sea horse expert Amanda Vincent warns against buying pet sea horses. “A lot of people treat them as if they’re goldfish,” she says. But sea horses require very special care and live food. Most captive (被猎取的) sea horses pick up diseases and die.
Sea horse experts are trying to teach fishermen to become sea horse farmers. Instead of pulling nets of sea horses from the ocean, fishermen could learn to raise them in specially designed saltwater “farms”. That way, fishermen would have sea horses to sell, but ocean populations would not be hurt.
Vincent and her team have only discovered the 35 different species of sea horses, and they still have plenty of sea horse secrets left to unlock. That is why, Vincent told TFK, protecting future sea horse populations is especially important: “I promise your readers that by the time they grow up to be marine biologists, we’ll still have a lot to learn.”In the past, Romans thought the sea horse to be ______.
| A．a kind of horse | B．a kind of fish |
| C．the god of the ocean | D．one of Neptune’s pets |
Which of the following is NOT true according to the passage?
| A．People in Asian countries hunt sea horses for food. |
| B．Most sea horses caught are used as medicine. |
| C．The effects of the powder of sea horses are uncertain. |
| D．35 different kinds of sea horses have been discovered. |
The underlined phrase “pick up” in Paragraph 3 probably means “______”.
| A．follow | B．collect | C．get | D．create |
It can be inferred that the best way to protect sea horses is to ______.
| A．do more research on sea horses |
| B．teach fishermen how to farm sea horses |
| C．stop hunting sea horses |
| D．ban the sea horse trade |
A new plan for getting children to and from school is being started by the education authorities in part of Eastern England. This could end the worries of many parents fearful for their children's safety on the roads.
Until now the Country Council has only been prepared to provide bus services for children living more than three miles from their school, or sometimes less if special reasons existed. Now it has been decided that if a group of parents ask for help in organizing transport they will be prepared to go ahead, provided the arrangement will not lose money and that children taking part will be attending their nearest school.
The new scheme is to be tried out this term for children living at Milton who attend Impington school. The children live just within the three-mile limit and the Council has said in the past it will not undertake to provide free transport to the school. But now they have agreed to organize a bus service from Milton to Impington and back, a plan which has the support of the school's headmaster.
Between 50 and 60 parents have said they would like their children to take part. Final calculations have still to be carried out, but a council official has said the cost to parents should be less than £6. 50 a term.
They have been able to arrange the service at a low cost because there is already an agreement with the bus company for a bus to take children who live further away to Impington. The same bus would now just make an extra journey to pick up the Milton children. The official said they would get in touch with other groups of parents who in the past had asked if transport could be provided for their children, to see if they would like to take part in the new scheme.The children the Council ran buses for in the past were those______.
| A．whose parents were worried about them |
| B．who would have had to walk otherwise |
| C．who could not walk |
| D．who had to travel a long way |
The new bus service will run______.
| A．on morning journeys to school only |
| B．in connection with an existing service |
| C．only for children living more than three miles away |
| D．only in wet weather |
Agreement to pay for the new bus service has been achieved from______.
| A．the school's headmaster |
| B．the education department |
| C．the bus company |
| D．the parents |
The parents the Council is now going to get in touch with are those______.
| A．who had not yet answered letters |
| B．who didn't want to pay |
| C．whose children stayed away from school |
| D．who had asked about transport before |
Many young people tell me that they want to be writers. I always encourage such people, but I also explain that there is a big difference between being a writer and writing. In most cases these people are dreaming of wealth and being famous, not the long hours alone at the typewriter.
When I became a writer, I had no future. What I had was a friend called George. He found me a home. It was cold and had no bathroom. I could only afford a used typewriter. A year later, however, I still hadn’t received a break and began to doubt myself. But I knew I wanted to write. I would keep putting my dream to the test—even though it meant living with fear of failure. This is the shadow land (阴影) of hope, and anyone with a dream must learn to live there. Then one day I got a call from a friend who asked me to be an assistant for $6,000 a year. As the dollars were dancing in my head, something brought me to my sense. “Thanks, but no,” I heard myself saying. After that, I walked around my little room and started to feel like a fool. I felt a little low.
Later, I gradually began to sell my articles. It was after 17 years of being a writer that Roots was published. At once I had the kind of fame and success that few writers ever experienced. The shadows had turned into great sunlight. Before that, it was a long and slow climb out of the shadows.The second paragraph is mainly about ______.
| A．the job chance the author ever had |
| B．the difficulties before the author succeeded |
| C．the great help from the author’s friends |
| D．the important choices the author made |
The underlined word “something” in Paragraph 2 refers to _______.
| A．the author’s dream of being a writer |
| B．the author’s trouble in making money |
| C．the author’s hard life before success |
| D．the author’s wish to be successful |
How did the author feel after he refused the job offer?
| A．confident | B．angry |
| C．excited | D．unhappy |
We live in central Phoenix, near the canal（运河）. Every day I used to see a homeless old man and his scruffy little dog hanging out down there.
I would tell my husband we should give him food for the little dog. It wouldn't have been a problem; we have our own "mini farm" of animals! But he would say "OK!" and then blow the idea off because of our business.
Being in Phoenix, Arizona, you can just imagine how hot it gets here, but his winter was really chilly! I had just come from KFC with take-out food for dinner. As I was turning by the canal, the man and his dog were sitting right there all bundled up. Even the doggy had a coat on! Not even thinking about it, I pulled into the parking lot along the canal and piled up a plate of chicken with all the fixings for the man and his little buddy（好友）. I gave it to him with a soda and a bottle of water for the little dog. He said, "Thank you, sweetie. You are an angel." And there were tears welling up in his eyes! I told him he was so welcome, and then went home.
When my husband dug into the KFC bag he asked, "Were you hungry, or what?" I told him what I did and he said, "Only you!" Then he told me I had done a good thing.
A few weeks later, we were walking along the canal and found the man walking to me, with his little dog. He asked whether I would mind adopting the dog. With tears in eyes, he said it had gotten too hard for him to care for the dog. He added that he was planning on heading to Washington State but his dog wouldn't have been up to it, so he hoped to give it to me. "Only you! In this city, you are the only person I can believe in!"
Now, every time I watch and pat the dog lying near the fireplace, I will remember the old man's words and wish him good luck.What can we learn about the author from Paragraph 3?
| A．She gave the old man some food on a cold day. |
| B．She met the old man after finishing her dinner. |
| C．She offered the old man nothing but chicken. |
| D．She burst into tears after helping the old man. |
What did the author's husband feel when she told him what she had done?
| A．thankful | B．delighted |
| C．indifferent | D．disappointed |
Why did the old man hope to give the dog to the author?
| A．Because he knew the author was also a dog lover. |
| B．Because the author was the person he could trust. |
| C．Because the author was the only person he knew. |
| D．Because he believed that his dog liked the author. |
What can we infer from the ending of the passage?
| A．The author refused the old man's request. |
| B．The author misses the old man and his dog. |
| C．The author feels the old man was very lucky. |
| D．The author adopted the old man's dog. |
| FISH FOR FUN! DO NOT FISH FOR FOOD! FISHERMEN! FOR THE PROTECTION OF YOUR HEALTH! FISH FROM THESE WATERS SHOULD NOT BE EATEN BECAUSE OF MERCURY CONTAMINATION. Department of Land and Forests |
What’s this? It’s a ________.
| A．letter | B．diary |
| C．newspaper | D．notice |
It has been put up _______.
| A．to give an order for fish |
| B．for a concert |
| C．to warn fishermen of the danger |
| D．for making fun of fishermen |
It told the fishermen ________.
| A．to stop fishing |
| B．that the fish from the waters is unfit to eat. |
| C．that they would never go fishing. |
| D．that fishing was not allowed here. |
Though we don’t know the actual meaning of “mercury contamination”, we guess it______.
| A．can feed up fish for people to eat |
| B．is helpful for health |
| C．can make people lose weight |
| D．is poisonous (有毒的) and dangerous to health |
Gene technology to benefit people
Among all the fast growing science and technology, the research of human genes, or biological engineering as people call it, is drawing more and more attention now. Sometimes it is a hot topic talked about by people.
The greatest thing that gene technology can do is to cure serious diseases that doctors at present can almost do nothing with, such as cancer and heart disease. Every year, millions of people are murdered by these two killers. And to date, doctors have not found an effective way to cure them. But if the gene technology is applied, not only can these two diseases be cured completely, bringing happiness and more living days to the patients, but also the great amount of money people spend on curing their diseases can be saved, therefore it benefits the economy as well. In addition, human life can be longer.
Gene technology can help people to give birth to more healthy and clever children. Some families, with the English imperial family being a good example, have hereditary (遗传的) diseases. This means their children will for sure have the family disease, which is a great trouble for these families. In the past, doctors could do nothing with hereditary diseases. But gene technology can solve this problem perfectly. The scientists just need to find the wrong gene and correct it, and a healthy child will be born.
Some people are worrying that the gene research can be used to make human beings in large quantities. In the past few years, scientists have succeeded in cloning a sheep, even a cow, therefore these people predict that human babies would be cloned. But I believe cloned babies will not come out in large quantities, for most couples in the world can have babies in very normal way. Of course, the governments must take care to control gene technology.
6What does “these two killers” in the second paragraph refer to?
| A．Gene technology and another treatment of the two diseases. |
| B．The two murderers who killed the cloned baby. |
| C．Hereditary disease and cancer. |
| D．Cancer and heart disease. |
In what way can gene technology help to treat hereditary diseases?
| A．Using gene technology, a scientist finds the wrong gene and corrects it. |
| B．Using gene technology, people with hereditary diseases can live longer. |
| C．Using gene technology, human babies can also be cloned. |
| D．Doctors can cure cancer and heart disease with the help of gene technology. |
What is the main purpose of writing the text?
| A．Explaining that gene technology will also do great harm to human race. |
| B．Telling the readers the positive effects gene technology has on people’s life. |
| C．Expressing the writer’s idea that gene technology will benefit people. |
| D．Informing people that gene technology helps clone babies in large quantities. |