Winter begins in the north on December 22nd. People and animals have been doing what they always do to prepare for the colder months. Squirrels (松鼠), 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 (黑胡桃) 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 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．learn squirrels’ influence on black walnut trees |
| C．do something to get rid of squirrels |
| 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 time they have winter sleep |
| C．the place they have winter sleep |
| D．the place they store the walnuts |
When Professor Swihart says “death traps for seeds”, he actually means that ________.
| A．red squirrels eat more nuts than gray squirrels |
| B．gray squirrels and red squirrels will have severe fights |
| C．nuts above the ground will not develop into plants |
| D．seeds can be traps for other animals in the forest |
According to the passage, which of the following is true?
| A．The black walnut is equally attractive to both gray and red squirrels. |
| B．Gray squirrels do more harm to the forest than red squirrels. |
| C．Red squirrels and gray squirrels have helped the spread of walnut trees. |
| D．The cleaning of forest land benefits red squirrels directly. |
For many centuries，countless scholars have asked the question：What is beauty? As designers update the latest fashions and artists create their masterpieces, what is considered beautiful changes at an alarming pace. Fifty years ago, the full-figured American actress Marilyn Monroe was a symbol of the American aesthetic(美学的)value；today, many Hollywood actresses different in appearance from Marilyn’s have taken her place. However，aesthetic values not only differ from generation to generation，but do so along cultural lines as well. Often, what is considered hating one civilization is just the aesthetic appeal in another. Thus it is difficult to give an absolute definition(定义)of beauty.
As fundamental(基础的)physicists，my colleagues and I like to believe that we are involved in a search for a beauty that affects definition. The beauty that we search for is not what is set up through the work of people and subject to the tastes, but rather what has been laid down by nature Physics allows its students to look past outer appearances，into a deeper beauty. As a human being, I am attracted by the visual appeal of a wave crashing on the beach. As a physicist, however I am able to see the deeper beauty of the physical laws that govern such a phenomenon.
In truth，since Albert Einstein put forward the idea that there might be one main physical theory that governs the universe，aesthetics have become a driving force in modern physics. Einstein and other later physicists have discovered that：Nature, as its most fundamental level，is beautifully constructed. The extraordinary simplicity (朴素)of the laws that govern the universe is really breathtaking. As Einstein said, it would seem more likely that we should find ourselves living in a “chaotic (无秩序曲)world，in no way graspable（能理解的） through thinking”. Yet we are now closer than ever to a full understanding of the universe’s beautiful clockwork. As new discoveries and technologies allow us to examine the physical world on deeper and deeper levels，we find that the beauty itself becomes much deeper.【改编】The reference to “Marilyn Monroe” in Paragraph 2 mainly serves to___________.
| A．compare traditional concept of the East with the West |
| B．express there is no fixed definition of aesthetics |
| C．set an example of today’s beauty standards |
| D．discuss her abilities as an actress |
When appreciating a wave crashing on the beach，a physicist sees the beauty of_____.
| A．the visual attraction |
| B．the powerful sounds |
| C．the physical laws behind |
| D．the lovely creatures |
Why are Albert Einstein’s words mentioned in Paragraph 3?
| A．To detail the functions of physical laws. |
| B．To highlight the range of Einstein’s influence. |
| C．To show that Einstein doubted the beauty of physics. |
| D．To stress the very simplicity of the laws of the universe. |
【改编】what does the passage mainly talk about ?___________.
| A．a special way of seeing beauty |
| B．the influence of physics |
| C．the awareness of cross-culture |
| D．the traditional ideas on value |
Rocky Lyons was five years old when his mother, Kelly, was driving along the country road with him. He was asleep on the front seat of their truck, with his feet resting on her lap. As his mom drove carefully down the winding country road, she turned onto a narrow bridge. The truck hit a rock and slid off the road. She tried to bring it back up onto the road by pressing hard on the gas pedal and turning the steering wheel to the left. But Rocky’s foot got caught between her leg and the steering wheel and she lost control of the truck.
The truck fell into a 20-foot ravine（峡谷）. When it hit bottom, Rocky woke up. “What happened, Mama?” he asked. “Our wheels are pointing toward the sky. ”Kelly was seriously wounded and blinded by blood. “I’ll get you out, Mama,” announced Rocky, who had surprisingly escaped injury. He climbed out from under Kelly, slid through the open window and tried to yank（用力拉）his mother out. But she didn’t move.
“Just let me sleep,” begged Kelly, who was out of consciousness. Rocky insisted, “Mom, you can’t go to sleep.”
Rocky managed to push Kelly out of the truck and told her he’d climb up to the road and stop a car to get help. Fearing that no one would be able to see her little boy in the dark, Kelly refused to let him go alone. Instead they slowly moved up to the road. The pain was so great that Kelly wanted to give up, but Rocky wouldn’t let her.
Rocky kept repeating the inspirational phrase, “I know you can, I know you can.” When they finally reached the road, Rocky broke into tears seeing his mother’s torn face clearly for the first time. Waving his arms and shouting, “Please stop!” the boy stopped a truck. His mother was sent to hospital.
It took 8 hours to rebuild Kelly’s face. She looks quite different today---“I used to have a straight long nose, thin lips and high cheekbones; now I’ve got a flat cheeks and much bigger lips”--- but she has few scars and has recovered from her injuries.
Rocky’s heroics were big news. Everyone was surprised at this little boy’s power. “It’s not like I wanted it to happen,” The boy explained. “ I just did what anyone would have done. ” “If it weren’t for Rocky, I’d have died,” said his mother.【改编】According to the content of the text,both Rocky and Kelly _________ .
| A．knew little of what happened to them |
| B．had no time to search their way |
| C．suffered a truck accident |
| D．were lost on a country road |
【改编】When he came to her senses, Rocky ___________ .
| A．was stuck against the door of the truck |
| B．found his mother had fallen asleep |
| C．was scared by his mother’s blood |
| D．found the car had disappeared |
What is the best title for the text?
| A．A Boy and His Mother |
| B．How to Behave Well？ |
| C．I Think I Can |
| D．Nothing is Lost |
【原创】On Sunday, Samsung used the 2015 installment of Mobile World Congress to announce the latest models of its Galaxy line of smartphones: the S6 and S6 Edge, aiming to retake its throne.
Both devices take the Galaxy line in a completely new direction. The most apparent change is the noticeable lack of plastic formerly synonymous with Samsung smartphones. With the S6 lineup, Samsung chose to go with a combination of metal and a glass housing.
The S6 Edge features a curved display on both edges of the screen. A fingerprint sensor sits below the home button. The user only needs to place a finger on the button and wait for the scan to complete. The change makes the experience nearly identical to that of Apple’s Touch ID.
Sure to disappoint Samsung loyalists, the South Korean company rejected two features long used to mock(嘲弄)Apple’s AAPL 0.49% iPhone: expandable storage and a replaceable battery. Looking beyond the changes in appearance are a faster processor, higher-quality camera, curved display, and wireless charging capabilities.
The new feature called Samsung Pay is very appealing and will bring users more convenience.
And it has a leg up on Apple Pay, which is limited to working only at retail locations and outlets with the necessary equipment to process NFC payments. With Samsung Pay, users won’t be caught in the middle of a spat between competing payment platforms. So go right ahead.
Another thing: Each year when Samsung would announce the latest Galaxy device, it would announce some software-based features that served little purpose. With this year’s release, Samsung cut the fat. Any unnecessary menus were left out.
For years, Samsung’s flagship phones have been long on features, but short on follow-through. The new Galaxy S6 and Galaxy S6 Edge appear to lay the groundwork for a lineup of devices that are quite the opposite. What is the main idea of this passage?
| A．The competition between Samsung and Apple. |
| B．The introduction of the latest models of Samsung. |
| C．The development of Samsung company. |
| D．The similarity between Apple and Samsung. |
Which is NOT the new feature of the S6 and S6 Edge?
| A．An emergency battery | B．A faster processor. |
| C．Samsung Pay. | D．Higher-quality camera. |
According to the passage, we can know Apple ______.
| A．has a replaceable battery |
| B．has Touch ID |
| C．uses plastics as material |
| D．has no payment function |
In which aspect may Samsung’s latest models disappoint its users?
| A．It is more expensive than expected. |
| B．Mobile payment function is inconvenient. |
| C．It has more useless software. |
| D．Its storage can’t be expanded any longer. |
What can we know from the last paragraph?
| A．Samsung is longer in shape. |
| B．Samsung is good at creating new models. |
| C．Samsung has an advantage of function. |
| D．Samsung is always following trends. |
Like many other parts of our lives today, education has become a global enterprise. In microcosm(微观世界), my school is proof of just how global. Monkseaton High School is an ordinary state-funded school of 850 students in the unfashionable part of northeastern England. Over the past seven years it has sent 12 students to American universities --- two of them to Harvard. Monkseaton has, in turn, attracted students from other countries, including Germany and Latvia. Monkseaton now almost routinely receives inquiries from students in Eastern European countries. Obviously, learning English is a big draw, but his pattern of student movement was unheard of five years ago.
The brain drain is a universal phenomenon, and countries that don’t face up to the new reality will be losing some of their most precious resources. The northeast of England is its poorest region, and has experienced a severe loss of highly qualified professionals-to-be. Some of the most able 18-year-olds are going to other parts of Britain, even to other countries. What is happening here is happening to Britain as a whole. Most noticeably, there is a growing trend of British students taking degrees in American universities. This year the number will break the psychological barrier of 1,000 students for the first time.
And what is happening at the secondary-school level is happening to higher education. Wherever they come from, today’s students have a very different perspective on education from their parents. Because of television, the Internet and their travels, these students see the world as a much smaller place than their parents once did. They are more confident in accepting the challenge of moving from one country to another, from one culture to another; in many cases they can even apply to schools over the Internet. Students are also more aware of the overall cost of education and are looking for value for money. Plus, for many, education linked to travel is a better option than education at home.Why does the author say education has become a global enterprise?
| A．Monkseaton High School used to be a very unfashionable school in the Northeast England. |
| B．Monkseaton High School is now one of the state-funded middle schools in England. |
| C．Monkseaton High School has sent two top students to the Harvard University in U.S. |
| D．There is now an extensive exchange of students among different countries. |
What can we infer about northeast England from the passage?
| A．It is one of the poorest regions in England. |
| B．It has experienced a severe loss of professionals. |
| C．It will face a more serious brain drain in the near future. |
| D．It is losing its young talents to other parts of the world. |
According to the passage, students today have different perspective from their parents on the following EXCEPT that _________________.
| A．education linked to travel is much better than education at home |
| B．overall cost of education should be considered against money value |
| C．moving from one culture to another is a welcomed challenge |
| D．the Internet is more popular and easier to access in the near future |
The students today tend to see the world as a much smaller place NOT because __________.
| A．they are having more exposure to the television programs |
| B．they are having easier access to the Internet |
| C．they are having frequent travels to the other parts of the world |
| D．they are having better communication with their parents |
The purpose of the author in writing this passage is to __________.
| A．tell us the benefit of globalization of education |
| B．analyze the causes for students’ moving trend in Great Britain |
| C．criticize the universal phenomenon of brain drain worldwide |
| D．draw attention to students’ moving from one country to another |
【改编】Australian scientists say an organic compound used by Indian women to paint dots or bindi on their foreheads could hold the key to a breakthrough in cancer treatment. Rose Bengal (玫瑰红)was first used in the early 1900s as a dye for food, textiles and cosmetics. But now it is proving to be a useful weapon in the fight against skin cancer.
Television advertisements constantly warn of the dangers of overexposure to the fierce sun. Among them is the possibility of the disease melanoma(黑瘤), a type of skin cancer. More than 1,200 Australians die every year from the disease.
Initial trials of a solution of Rose Bengal injected into some melanoma cells have had a 75 percent success rate in controlling the disease. Professor John Thompson, the director of the Melanoma Unit at the University of Sydney, says this organic dye could become a powerful cancer-fighting treatment.
“We believe it works by getting into the tumor(肿块) cells and causing them to self-destruct. But the exact mechanism by which it works is not totally clear. It’s not useful for people who have a primary melanoma. The treatment of primary melanoma is surgical excision(切除),”he said. “It’s useful to inject tumors for people who have recurrences; when the primary treatment has failed and when recurrence in the area, or at more distant sites has occurred.”
About 90 percent of Australians who develop melanoma survive thanks to early diagnosis and treatment. If left untreated, however, the disease can be fatal.
Convincing younger people in Australia about the dangers of overexposure to the sun is a battle campaigners are constantly waging.
Veronica Manock, a 21-year-old student, had two major operations to remove a cancerous tumor from her leg.
“I’ve had a lot of friends who just said ‘I thought it was just, you know, I’ll get a mole(痣) cut out and that’s it’, whereas I don’t think people realize how much danger they’re putting themselves into and how easy it is to stop something like this happening to you just from doing little things,”said Marock.
Other researchers in Australia are investigating genetic treatments to skin cancer. There is a pressing need for such research to produce effective treatments. Australians, the majority of whom are fair-skinned(浅肤色的), are four times more likely to develop a melanoma than people in Canada, the United States or Great Britain.Which can be the best title of the passage?
| A．Rose Bengal—the cause of skin cancer. |
| B．Rose Bengal—a tool to fight against skin cancer. |
| C．Skin cancer—the first killer. |
| D．Melanoma—the threat to health. |
What does the underlined word “fatal” mean?
| A．Curable. | B．Serious. | C．Deadly. | D．Self-healing. |
From what Veronica Manock said , we can know _______.
| A．people haven’t realized overexposure to the sun is dangerous |
| B．mole on the leg is dangerous. |
| C．people can do nothing to protect themselves from melanoma |
| D．nothing can be done to deal with the disease. |
Who are likely to develop a melanoma?
| A．Englishmen. | B．Canadians. |
| C．Americans. | D．Australians. |
In which section of a newspaper does the passage possibly appear?
| A．Economy. | B．Agriculture. | C．Health. | D．Fashion. |