Honey(蜂蜜)from the African forest is not only a kind of natural sugar, it is also delicious. Most people, and many animals, like eating it. However, the only way for them to get that honey is to find a wild bees' nest(巢)and take the honey from it. Often, these nests are high up in trees, and it is difficult to find them. In parts of Africa, though, people and animals looking for honey have a strange and unexpected helper一a little bird called a honey guide.
The honey guide does not actually like honey, but it does like the wax (蜂蜡) in the beehives (蜂房). The little bird cannot reach this wax, which is deep inside the bees’ nest. So, when it finds a suitable nest, it looks for someone to help it. The honey guide gives a loud cry that attracts the attention of both passing animals and people. Once it has their attention, it flies through the forest, waiting from time to time for the curious animal or person as it leads them to the nest. When they finally arrive at the nest, the follower reaches in to get at the delicious honey as the bird patiently waits and watches. Some of the honey, and the wax, always falls to the ground, and this is when the honey guide takes its share.
Scientists do not know why the honey guide likes eating the wax, but it is very determined in its efforts to get it. The birds seem to be able to smell wax from a long distance away. They will quickly arrive whenever a beekeeper is taking honey from his beehives, and will even enter churches when beeswax candles are being lit.Why is it difficult to find a wild bees' nest?
| A．It's small in size. | B．It's hard to recognize. |
| C．It's covered with wax. | D．It's hidden in trees. |
What do the words "the follower" in Paragraph 2 refer to?
| A．A bee. | B．A bird. | C．A beekeeper. | D．A honey seeker. |
The honey guide is special in the way____________。
| A．it gets its food | B．it goes to church |
| C．it sings in the forest | D．it reaches into bees' nests |
What can be the best title for the text?
| A．Wild Bees | B．Wax and Honey |
| C．Honey-Lover's Helper | D．Beekeeping in Africa |
Gossip moves so quickly that few people have time to cover their ears, even if they want to.
“I hate it when others gossip about me,” said Mandy Miraglia, 16, a high school student from California, “but to be honest, gossip about my friends makes me feel I am trusted and belong to the group.” Miraglia is not the only person feeling like that.
Gossip has long been looked down on as little more than nonsense and bad manners. But recent research has shown that gossip has many positive effects on your social life.
“There has been a trend among people to dislike gossip,” said David Sloan Wilson, Professor from the State University of New York in Binghamton, US, “but gossip appears to be a very important form of behavior in a group of friends, defining their group membership.”
For 18 months, Kevin Kniffin, from the University of Wisconsin, US, researched the behavior of 50 people. He found that gossip levels peaked when a sports team included a slacker, someone who regularly missed practices or showed up late. Other members of the team would soon start to joke about the slacker’s shortcomings behind his back, because they thought they were bad for the whole team.
Gossip about the mistakes of senior members helps newcomers rebuild their confidence after a failure.
It also helps relieve social and professional anxiety. Long-term studies show that people around the world devote from a fifth to two-thirds or more of their daily conversation to gossip, and men appear to be just as eager for gossip as women.
It is hard to judge gossip, but it is more powerful than you think. The author would probably agree that______________.
| A．gossip is bad manners |
| B．gossip has many good effects |
| C．gossip is somewhat like nonsense |
| D．gossip is more powerful than advice |
What does the underlined word “slacker” mean according to the context?
| A．Someone who values the team benefit much. |
| B．Someone who does not do what they should well. |
| C．Someone who is active in sports. |
| D．Someone who shows no much interest in sports. |
Which of the following is NOT true according to the passage?
| A．Gossip is a useful way of building group membership. |
| B．Gossip can possibly make someone confident. |
| C．Generally, women are fonder of gossip than men. |
| D．Actually, everyone gossips to some degree in their daily conversation. |
| Opening week specials at Munchies Food Hall. At the corner of Green and Brown Streets in the city Monday 7th of January until Sunday.13rd of January 2008 Feast until you’re full! Come down to Monetizes time week to enjoy the special dishes on offer at all of our food outlets. Order from the following: ● Succulent chicken rice ● spicy satay beef ● Delicious noodle dishes ● plump pork chips ● seafood specialties ● crunchy vegetables
● sweet tropical fruit Halal food is available at the stall Malay Mood Heaven Win Prizes and Gifts! ● Spend $20.00 or more and win instant prizes from our lucky draw box. ● Collect a free party balloon and whistle for each young diner. ● Enjoy a free meal if you are the first customer of the day at any of our stalls. ● Win a holiday to Western Australia. A free raffle ticket is given with every receipt. Just fill in your information and place your entry in the box provided. Winner to be announced in The strait Times on the 15th of January. Join in the Fun! Between 7:00 pm and 8:00 pm each evening until the 15th of January, your favorite Channel 3 television actors and singers will entertain you: ● May Lee ● Jackie Chen ● Kim Yap ● Kamal Autograph sessions will follow each performance! And who will be our extra special mystery star? Come down on Saturday at noon to find out. |
The prices at Munchies are ______.
| A．lower than usual | B．bargain prices for the opening |
| C．lower for two people | D．lower if you spend $21.00 |
Everyone who eats at Munchies well receive a ______.
| A．free raffle ticket | B．lucky draw coupon |
| C．free meal | D．balloon and whistle |
I will find out who has won the top to Western Australia when I ______.
| A．watch Channel 3 television |
| B．come down to Munchies at moon |
| C．read The Straits Times on the 15th of January |
| D．attend the lucky draw at Munchies Food Hall |
How do you feel after you've stayed up late to finish schoolwork? Or the day after a slumber party? Scientists now say that your answers to these questions may depend on your genes.
Genes are stretches of DNA that work like an instruction manual for our cells. Genes tell our bodies and brains what to do. People have about 40,000 genes, and each gene can have different forms. So, for example, certain forms of some genes make your eyes blue. Other versions of those genes make your eyes brown.
In a similar way, new research suggests that a gene called period3 affects how well you function without sleep. The discovery adds to older evidence that period3 helps determine whether you like to stay up late or get up early.
The period3 gene comes in two forms: short and long. Everyone has two copies of the gene. So, you may have two longs, two shorts, or one of each. Your particular combination depends on what your parents passed on to you.
Scientists from the University of Surrey in England studied 24 people who had either two short or two long copies of period3. Study participants had to stay awake for 40 hours straight. Then, they took tests that measured how quickly they pushed a button when numbers flashed on a screen and how well they could remember lists of numbers.
Results showed that the people with the short form of period3 performed much better on these tests than the people with the long form did. In both groups, people performed worst in the early morning. That's the time when truck drivers and other night-shift workers say they have the most trouble concentrating.
After the first round of experiments, participants were finally allowed to sleep. People in the group that performed well on the tests took about 18 minutes to nod off.
People with the long period3 gene, by contrast, fell asleep in just 8 minutes. They also spent more time in deep sleep. That suggests that people with the long form of the gene need more and deeper sleep to keep their brains working at top form.We can know from the passage that genes can not ________.
| A．tell our bodies and brains what to do |
| B．make our eyes blue or brown |
| C．decide how well you work without sleep |
| D．ensure whether you’re good at driving |
Which of the following statements about the period3 is wrong?
| A．It affects whether you like to stay up late or get up early. |
B．It comes in two forms: short and long. |
C．One has either two longs or two shorts of it. |
D．Your parents determine what particular combination you have. |
People with the short form of period3__________.
| A．need to go to bed early and get up early |
B．can work better than the people with long form of period3 without sleep |
| C．take less time to fall asleep after they stay up late | |
| D．need more and deeper sleep to keep their brains working at top form |
What’s the best title of the passage?
| A．The Period3 Gene | B．The Function of Genes |
| C．Wake up, Sleepy Gene | D．Stay up Late or Get up Early? |
“I’ve changed my mind. I wanted to have a telescope, but now I want my dad back.” Lucien Lawrence’s letter to Father Christmas, written after his father had been knifed to death outside his school gate, must have touched everyone’s heart. Lucien went on to say that without his father he couldn’t see the stars in the sky. When those we love depart from us, we cannot see the stars for a while.
But Lucien, the stars are still there, and one day, when you are older and your tears have gone, you will see them again. And, in a strange way, I expect that you will find your father there too, either in your mind or heart. I find that my parents, who died years ago, still linger (留连) in many of my dreams and that I think of them perhaps more than I ever did when they were alive. I still live to please them and I’m still surprised by their reactions. I remember that when I became a professor, I was so proud, or rather so pleased with myself that I couldn’t wait to cable my parents. The reply was a long time in coming, but when it did, all my mother said was “I hope this means that now you will have more time for the children!” I haven’t forgotten. The values of my parents still live on.
It makes me pause and think about how I will live on in the hearts and minds of my children and of those for whom I care. Would I have been as ready as Philip Lawrence has been to face the aggressors（入侵者）, and to lay down my life for those in my care? How many people would want me back for Christmas? It’s a serious thought, which gives me pause.
I pray silently, sometimes, in the dead of night, that ancient cry of a poet “Deliver my soul from the sword and my darling from the power of the dog.” Yet I know death comes to us all, and sometimes comes suddenly. We must therefore plan to live together, but live as if we will die tomorrow. We live on, I’m sure, in the lives of those we loved, and therefore we ought to have a care for what they will remember and what they will treasure. If more parents knew this in their hearts to be true, there might be fewer knives on our streets today. According to the whole text we can see that the first paragraph ___________.
| A．puts forward the subject of the text |
| B．shows the author’s pity on the kid |
| C．serves as an introduction to the discussion |
| D．makes a clear statement of the author’s views |
In the second paragraph the author mainly wants to explain to us____________.
| A．how much he misses his parents now |
| B．why his parents often appear in his dream |
| C．when Lucien will get over all his sadness |
| D．how proud he was when he succeeded in life |
What feeling did the author’s mother express in her reply?
| A．Proud. | B．Happy. | C．Disappointed. | D．Worried. |
In the author’s opinion, the value of a person’s life is _____________.
| A．to leave a precious memory to the people related |
| B．to have a high sense of duty to the whole society |
| C．to care what others will remember and treasure |
| D．to share happiness and sadness with his family |
What does the writer mean by the sentence taken from an old poem?
| A．Call on criminals and murderers to lay down their guns. |
| B．Advise parents stay with their children safely at home. |
| C．Spend every day meaningfully in memory of death. |
| D．Try to keep violence and murder far away from society. |
The USA, New York—Whales and dolphins are facing increasing threats from climate change, according to a new report published by WWF and the Whale and Dolphin Conservation Society （WDCS）．
The report "Whales in hot water?" draws attention to the growing impacts of climate change on whales．They range from changes in sea temperature and the freshening of the seawater because of the melting of ice and increased rainfalls, to a sea level rise, loss of icy polar habitats and the decline of krill populations in key areas．Krill, a tiny shrimp that is dependent on sea ice, is the main source of food for many of the great whales．
The speeding up of climate change adds greatly to trouble from other human activities, such as chemical and noise pollution, which kills some 1000 whales every day．
"Whales and dolphins have an ability to adapt to their changing environment," said Mark Simmonds, International Director of Science at WDCS．"But the climate is now changing at such a fast pace that it is unclear to what extent whales and dolphins will be able to adjust．"
Climate change impacts are currently greatest in the Arctic and the Antarctic．According to the report, cetaceans that rely on polar, icy waters for their home and food resources are likely to be greatly affected by the reduction of sea ice cover．
WDCS and WWF are urging governments to cut global production of C02 by at least 50 percent by the middle of this century．The latest report of the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change showed it was possible to stop global warming if the world's emissions start to decline before 2015．Which of the following is the most important for whales and dolphins?
| A．Rainfall | B．Krill | C．Sea ice cover | D．High sea level |
From the passage, we can learn that whales mainly feed on _____．
| A．dolphins | B．krill | C．sea horses | D．sharks |
The underlined word "decline" in Paragraph 2 means _____．
| A．increase | B．control | C．protection | D．fall |
In what place is climate change greatest?
| A．The Pacific Ocean | B．Asia． |
| C．Two polar areas． | D．Equator． |
Which of the following is not right according to the passage?
| A．Climate change will lead to the changes in sea temperature． |
| B．Climate change will result in the freshening of the sea water． |
| C．Climate change will have a bad effect on human activities and whales． |
| D．Human beings will forever have no ability to stop global warming． |