CallingforContributionsKeentos-优题课

Winter begins in the north on December 22nd. People and animals have been doing what they always do to prepare for the cold months. Squirrels, for example, have been busy gathering nuts from trees. Well, scientists have been busy gathering information about what the squirrels do with the food they collect.
They examined differences between red squirrels and gray squirrels in the American state of Indiana. The scientists wanted to know how these differences could affect the growth of black walnut trees. The black walnut is the nut of choice for both kinds of squirrels. The black walnut tree is also a central part of some hardwood forests.
Rob Swihart of Purdue University did the study with Jake Goheen, a former Purdue student now at the University of New Mexico. The two researchers estimate that several times as many walnuts grow when gathered by gray squirrels as compared to red squirrels. Gray squirrels and red squirrels do not store nuts and seeds in the same way. Gray squirrels bury nuts one at a time in a number of places. But they seldom remember where they buried every nut. So some nuts remain in the ground. Conditions are right for them to develop and grow in the following spring. Red squirrels, however, store large groups of nuts above ground. Professor Swihart calls “death traps for seeds”.
Gray squirrels are native to Indiana. But Professor Swihart says their numbers began to decrease as more forests were cut for agriculture. Red squirrels began to spread through the state during the past century.
The researchers say red squirrels are native to forests that stay green all year, unlike walnut trees. They say the cleaning of forest land for agriculture has helped red squirrels invade Indiana. Jake Goheen calls them a sign of an environmental problem more than a cause.
The study done by Rob Swihart and Jake Goheen is to ________.

A．find out the living conditions for squirrels

B．do something to get rid of squirrels

C．learn squirrels’ influence on black walnut trees

D．save the forests in the American state of Indiana

The difference between gray squirrels and red squirrels mainly lies in ________.

A．the way they gather the walnut

B．the place they store the walnuts

C．the number of the nuts they can collect

D．the fact that the gray squirrels have a bad memory

When Professor Swihart says “death traps for seeds”, he actually means that ________.

A．nuts above the ground will not develop into plants

B．red squirrels eat more nuts than gray squirrels

C．gray squirrels and red squirrels will have severe fights

D．seeds can be traps for other animals in the forest

According to the passage, which of the following is true?

A．Gray squirrels do more harm to the forest than red squirrels.

B．Red squirrels and gray squirrels have helped the spread of walnut trees.

C．The cleaning of forest land benefits gray squirrels directly.

D．Human beings should bear some responsibility for the decreasing number of gray squirrels.

I went to the Tsavo National Park in northern Kenya for a film. We set off early for a distant water hole. A huge elephant covered with dry mud, drank calmly and deeply. He might have traveled 50 km to reach the water. He wasn’t going to hurry now. He’d drink a while and rest in the shade, and then drink again or so we thought. What actually happened was that he drank deeply and stepped away. Then he suddenly fell down. Within minutes he was dead.
We called animal doctor Jeremiah Poghon immediately. He removed the head of a poisoned arrow from the elephant’s body, and let out over 100 liters of pus (胺)－the result of the elephant’s meeting with a poacher（偷猎者）months before.
Today's poacher shoots from a blind. He fires an arrow, covered with poison, into the body of an elephant. If the poacher is lucky, the elephant might die in an hour or two; if not, he might have to follow the elephant for days before it dies. Often the arrow head fails to kill the elephant at once－it doesn't mean the poison won't finally kill the elephant, but it will be a slow death.
Living in Tsavo through these times, I could see the results of poaching from time to time. When I think about the death of that elephant, what stays with me is the extraordinary silence after the shocking sound of his body hitting the ground. I took some comfort from the knowledge that as the dead body returned to the soil, some animals would benefit－but I couldn't escape the feeling that with the death of such a large animal, the world seemed to be a poorer and emptier place.
While filming near the water hole, the author and his team ________.

A．knew the elephant was injured

B．found the elephant acted violently

C．tried their best to save the elephant

D．thought the elephant was in good condition

Further examination showed that the dead elephant________.

A．had suffered an hour or two

B．was killed by a poisonous needle

C．had suffered a lot

D．had had a good fight with a poacher

How does the author feel when thinking about the elephant s death?

A．empty.	B．comfortable.
C．upset.	D．relieved.

Why did the author write the text?

A．To introduce African elephant.

B．To show the cruelty of poaching.

C．To describe his filming experience.

D．To ask readers to protect wild animals.

In modern society there is a great deal of argument about competition. Some value it highly, believing that it is responsible for social progress and prosperity （繁荣）. Others say that competition is bad; that it sets one person against another; that it leads to unfriendly relationship between people.
I have taught many children who held the belief that their self-worth relied on how well they performed at tennis and other skills. For them, playing well and winning are often life-and-death affairs. In their single-minded pursuit（追求）of success, the development of many other human qualities is sadly forgotten.
However, while some seem to be lost in the desire to succeed, others take an opposite attitude. In a culture which only values the winner and pays no attention to the ordinary players, they strongly blame competition. Among those who are against competition are young people who have suffered under competitive pressures from their parents or society. Teaching these young people, I often observe in them a desire to fail. They seem to seek failure by not trying to win or achieve success. By not trying, they always have an excuse: “I may have lost, but it doesn’t matter because I really didn’t try.” What is not usually admitted by them is the belief that if they had really tried and lost, that would mean a lot.
Such a loss would be a measure of their worth. Clearly, this belief is the same as that of true competitors who try to prove themselves. Both are based on the mistaken belief that one’s self-respect relies on how well one performs in comparison with others. Both are afraid of not being valued. Only as this basic and often troublesome fear begins to disappear can we discover a new meaning in competition.
What is the best title of this passage?

A．Competition! Why Friends Turn into Enemies

B．Competition! What Self-respect Depends on

C．New Meaning Found in Competition

D．Two Mistaken Beliefs about Competition

Why do some young people suffering from competitive pressures seek failure?

A．Because they are aware that they will not succeed in competition.

B．Because they don’t think it worthwhile to compete with others.

C．Because they are afraid that they would not be valued if they lost.

D．Because they are fed up with the great efforts needed to compete with others.

Which of the following will the author probably agree with?

A．One should treat competition as a life-and-death affair.

B．One should make every effort to avoid competition.

C．One should get rid of the fear of failure in competition.

D．One should be given rewards after competing with others.

The true competitors and those with a desire to fail both believe ________.

A．one’s self-worth comes from how well he performs in comparison with others

B．one’s dream can be achieved if he has mastered good communication skills

C．one’s failure happens when he is suffering from emotional problems

D．one’s success is based on how hard he has tried

Some people collect stamps. Other people collect works of art or musical instruments. But a man in the American state of Maryland collects secrets.
For the past 10 years, people have been sending Frank Warren postcards and other objects with secrets written on them. He now has a million secrets. “It’s a drawing of a lift. And the secret says: ‘I feel guilty when I take lifts for one floor, so I limp when I get out.’” Frank said.
Ten years ago, Mr. Warren created an art project called PostSecret. People then began to send him postcards, other objects and emails telling their secrets. Every Sunday, he chooses 10 secrets and puts them on the website.
Mr. Warren says he created PostSecret so people could share their secrets in a safe place. “I was struggling with secrets in my own life. And it was by creating this safe place where others could share their secrets with me, I think that space was something I needed just as much as they did.”
He has published six books full of the secrets people have shared with him. One secret in each book is his. Eric Perry delivers mail for the U.S. Postal Service. He has brought thousands of secrets to Frank’s home over the past three years. “I have a couple of the books that Frank’s given me and I’ve read them all and my family has read them all and it’s wild!”
The project itself was once one of Frank’s secrets. His wife Jan didn’t know exactly what he was doing until the first book was published. The publisher told him that the address was going to be on the book, and he refused. However, the address was there just because of the contract between them. Actually Warren wasn’t very happy about that.
Some people tell Frank of their secret desire to kill themselves. So he and the PostSecret community have raised more than $1 million to help prevent suicides（自杀）.
It is implied in Mr. Warren’s words in Paragraph 2 that ________.

A．the person was ashamed of using an elevator for one floor

B．Americans are not allowed to use an elevator for one floor

C．the person felt guilty when pretending to be a disabled one

D．he has received different secrets about using an elevator

Mr. Warren created PostSecret in order to ________.

A．satisfy his curiosity about others’ secrets

B．collect more materials for his series of books

C．offer a safe place for people to share their secrets

D．earn a lot of money by sharing others’ secrets online

What do we know about Eric Perry from the passage?

A．His family are eager to collect the books written by Frank.

B．His main job is to deliver mails and postcards for Frank.

C．He has been a postman who has a great many secrets.

D．He has developed a good relationship with Frank.

What was Mr. Warren’s secret according to the passage?

A．He once took the lift only for one floor.

B．He is interested in collecting others’ secrets.

C．He created an art project without telling his wife.

D．He helped prevent others from committing suicides.

Thanks to a young waiter, I recently found a friend of 20 years was once a yo-yo virtuoso（大师）.
“Oh, stop it!” Jackie said when I started laughing during our dinner. “I was, too. And I knew how to ‘Walk the Dog.’”
“Wow, really?” said our waiter, Jumario Simmons, flashing a big smile at us.
“Don’t encourage her,” I said.
“What else could you do?” he asked.
“I did ‘Round the World,’” Jackie said, now ignoring me completely. “That was cradle（婴儿时期的）thing, too.”
I’d asked Jumario what he did when he wasn’t waiting on tables. The 24-year-old waiter was so smart that I knew there had to be more to his story. It turns out that he won a regional yo-yo competition last year. He also gives free lessons to kids. “It gives them something to do,” Jumario said. “Keeps them off the streets.”
One of the great things about eating out is the table talk with strangers, which reminds us that everyone has a life and a name. But the other day I heard that some restaurants are ending this talk between diners and servers. I listened to the reporter describe how their improvements are allowing customers to text orders from their tables to speed up service.
The reporter got my attention with this sentence “Five minutes after typing ‘I’m at table 3’, a meal arrives at the table.” But there wasn’t a “please” with this order, which should have been a request. If you’ve ever waited on tables, you know that the last thing you need is yet another way for a customer to be unpleasant.
Most servers are often mediating（调解）between customers’ requests for substitutions and overworked cooks’ accusations of treason（背叛）. Except at high-end restaurants, servers also have to walk back and forth like mothers of preschoolers so that we might consider them worthy of a large enough tip to lift their pay to minimum wage.
Texting a server from a table a few feet away is equal to moving our fingers and shouting, “Hey, you!” It was rude in 1957, and it’s rude now. You won’t ever find me texting a waiter or waitress.
What do we know from the text?

A．The waiter knows Jackie well.

B．The waiter is good at playing yo-yo.

C．Jackie plays yo-yo in her spare time.

D．The author has a great interest in playing yo-yo.

Some restaurants allow diners to text a server from a table to ________.

A．improve their service

B．reduce the cost of service

C．show respect for diners

D．stop talks between diners and servers

What’s the last but one paragraph mainly about?

A．The pay of servers.

B．The work of servers.

C．The customers’ request.

D．The work of mothers of preschoolers.

From the passage, the author’s attitude towards texting a server from a table is ________.

A．indifferent	B．positive
C．curious	D．negative

A．journals of travels	B．well-taken photographs
C．stories of Leonard Maltin	D．opinions on restaurants