How would you like to sleep with one half your brain asleep and the other half awake? Dolphins sleep this way. Recently, scientists at Indiana State University have discovered that ducks sleep this way too. They found that ducks sleep half awake so they can rest and watch for danger at the same time.
After putting their ducks in a row and videotaping them, some researchers found ducks on the end of each row spent more time asleep with one eye open, apparently looking for predators.
“The more the ducks felt threatened, the more they slept with one eye open,” said lead author Niels C. Rattenborg, a graduate student at Indiana State University, Terre Haute. “The unique aspect is not that they do it, but that they control it. When they sleep at the edge of a group, they tend to realize greater danger, so they spend more time sleeping with one half of their brain.” Ducks with one eye open were still awake enough to detect predators, said the authors of the study, which appears today in the journal Nature.
The researchers studied four groups of four ducks held in plastic boxes, which were arranged in a row. Ducks on the end were found to sleep with one eye open 31.8 per cent of the time, compared to 12.4 percent of the time for ducks in the central position.
Also, ducks in the central position did not open one eye more than the others, while ducks on each end kept the eye facing away from the group open 86.2 per cent of the time. Brain wave readings of the ducks showed that the half of the brain receiving signals from the closed eye indicated that half of the brain was sleeping. Signals from the half of the brain receiving signals from the open eye showed a state between fully awake and asleep.The under lined word “predator” is most likely to mean .
| A．an animal that is likely to be friends with ducks |
| B．a human being who looks after and feeds ducks |
| C．a scientist who does research work on animals |
| D．an animal that hunts, kills and eats other animals |
Ducks at the end of each row sleep with one eye open because .
| A．they are looking for food |
| B．they are watching out for danger |
| C．they want to enjoy the scenery |
| D．they are unique in their sleeping habit |
Which of the following is true according to the passage?
| A．Ducks with one eye open at the edge can still enjoy a certain degree of sleep. |
| B．Ducks with less sense of duty usually choose to stay in the center of a row. |
| C．Ducks on the northern end of a row would keep their eye facing the south open. |
| D．A video tape recorder was the only electronic device used in the experiment. |
Many people earn their living with their hands. Ed earns his living with his feet! And a very good living it is, too.
Ed’s story began in a very small town in Brazil. His father and mother were very poor. Seven people lived in their tiny house. Ed’s father often played football. Little Ed wanted to play football too. So his father made a soft ball for him to kick. It was a sock filled with soft materials. The little boy kicked it every day.
At last Ed learned to kick a real football. By the time he was 11, he played football very well.
One day Ed was playing with some men. A man passing by saw how fast the boy ran. He stopped to watch. How well Ed kicked the ball!
After the game, the man called Ed to him. “My name is Mr. Dee,” he said. “I used to play football for a living. Will you let me teach you what I know?”
“Oh, yes!” Ed answered.
In the next four years, Mr. Dee trained Ed to be a fine player. The boy worked hard. At last Mr. Dee talked to Ed’s father. “This boy is ready to play with the big teams,” he said. “Let me take him to a city that has a good team.”
Mr. Dee took Ed to Santos, Brazil. There, the boy joined the Santos Football Club.
In his first big game, Ed helped his team win by seven points. He made four of the seven points!
Many people thought he was the best football player in the world. He was “The King of Football”What is said about Ed’s family when he was a little child?
| A．There were seven people in his family. |
| B．His father made soft balls for a living. |
| C．His parents liked playing football. |
| D．His parents bought him a football. |
When he first saw Ed playing football, Mr. Dee was attracted by .
| A．his young age |
| B．his running speed |
| C．his love for football |
| D．his playing with men |
What can we know about Mr. Dee from the text?
| A．He joined the Santos Football Club. |
| B．He and Ed used to live in the same town. |
| C．He had been the best football player in Brazil. |
| D．He happened to find a very good football player. |
All around the world, people drink tea. But tea does not mean the same thing to everyone. In different countries people have very different ideas about drinking tea.
In China, for example, tea is always served when people get together. The Chinese drink it at any time of the day at homes or in tea houses. They prefer their tea plain(原味), with nothing else in it.
Tea is also important in Japan. The Japanese have a special way of serving tea called a tea ceremony. It is very old and full of meaning. Everything must be done in a special way in the ceremony. There is even a special room for it in Japanese homes.
Another tea-drink country is England. In England, the late afternoon is “teatime”. Almost everyone has a cup of tea then. The English usually make tea in a teapot and drink it with cream and sugar. They also eat cakes, cookies and little sandwiches at teatime.
In the United States people drink tea mostly for breakfast or after meals. Americans usually use tea bags to make their tea. Tea bags are faster and easier than making tea in teapots. In summer, many Americans drink cold tea—“iced tea”. Sometimes they drink iced tea from cans, like soda.The passage is about .
| A．Chinese tea |
| B．why tea is important |
| C．the teatime in England |
| D．different ways of tea drinking in different countries |
Tea is popular .
| A．all around the world |
| B．only in the United States |
| C．only in English-speaking countries |
| D．in Asian countries |
The English like to .
| A．eat cakes and cookies with their tea |
| B．drink their tea plain |
| C．have tea with dinner |
| D．drink their tea in a special room |
One is not born able to speak a language. One is born able to make a noise. I have heard babies cry in America and in China. I can't tell any difference. But when I hear someone from America speak English and hear someone speak Chinese, I can tell you there are a lot of differences.
I believe a common problem with Chinese students' learning English is that they were not taught to think in English. They have an idea spoken in English and want to translate the idea into Chinese, then they think in Chinese of the proper reply and translate it into English. After a long period of speaking the language, one begins to think in the foreign language naturally. You will learn faster if you begin to think in English at the very beginning of your study. Many students ask me: What can I do to improve my spoken English? My reply is : The more English you speak, the better English you will speak. There are many things you can do to improve your spoken English. Of course, the best way is to live where English is spoken as a language of the country.The cries of American and Chinese babies are ________.
| A．different | B．the same |
| C．not like each other | D．like each other |
According to the article, which of the following is TRUE?
| A．You must think in English all the time. |
| B．If you translate a sentence into Chinese, you should think about the meaning of the sentence in Chinese carefully first. |
| C．After speaking English for a long time, you may probably think in English language naturally. |
| D．The best way of learning English is to live in America. |
The article mainly tells us __________ .
| A．American English and Chinese |
| B．the differences between English and Chinese |
| C．the English language |
| D．how to learn English well |
A couple had a son eleven years after they married. They were a loving couple and the boy was the apple of their eye. When the boy was around four years old, one day the father was very tired after work so he asked his wife to pick up their son. The mother, who was very busy in the kitchen, totally forgot about it.
Later the boy lost his way on the street. When the son was found missing, the mother hurried to look for him, but she didn’t find him. The mother felt very sad and didn’t know how to face her husband.
When the father went to the police station after hearing that the son was missing, he looked at his wife and said just four words. What do you think the four words were? The husband just said "I love you, darling."
The son was missing. If he had picked him up earlier, this would not have happened. There is no point in blaming (责备) anyone. His wife had also lost her only child. What his wife needed at that moment was comfort and understanding from her husband. That is what the husband gave his wife. Several weeks later, with the help of the police, the couple finally found their lost son. The family’s relationship became stronger over that time.
Sometimes we spend lots of time asking who is to blame. We miss many chances to give each other support and let each other feel the warmth of human relationships. Get rid of all your unwillingness to forgive, selfishness, and fears and you will find the world is much more wonderful.What is the meaning of the underlined phrase "the apple of their eye”?
| A．A person who always has a sweet smile. |
| B．A person who is as pretty as an apple. |
| C．A person who is loved more than anyone else. |
| D．A person who looks like an apple. |
Why didn’t the father pick the boy up himself?
| A．He was very lazy. |
| B．He thought the mother had picked him up. |
| C．He forgot to pick him up. |
| D．He was too tired to do it. |
What can we learn from this passage?
| A．Be careful in everything you do. |
| B．Love is the most important thing. |
| C．Learn to forgive others |
| D．Everyone can make mistakes. |
what do you think of the husband?
| A．Warm-hearted. | B．Careful. |
| C．Hard-working. | D．Broad-minded |
Friends play a very important part in everyone’s life. Friendship usually develops during childhood. New friends are made when you progress through school. Those friends that you make as a student can usually last long. Friends influence your development, maturity (成熟) and sense of responsibility (责任). A familiar expression is “you can tell a lot about a person by knowing who his friends are.”. Friendship is based on common interests. If you like sports, most of your friends are likely to be athletic (竞技的). If you enjoy reading and shopping, most of your friends do the same.
Some people call you their friends for the wrong reason. These people are not really friends. They are superficial (表面的) only “friends” on the outside, not the inside where it counts. Superficial friends only want to be your friends if it is to their advantage. True friends are there if you are rich or poor. It is easy to have many so-called “friends” if you are rich. By this time you should be able to separate your friends into the real or the “phoney”.
True friends are most special. They are also difficult to find. You can consider yourself very lucky if you have one true friend. This friend is eager to help you whenever necessary. He or she knows you would do the same for them. A true friend is someone you can talk to about any subject or problem. You and your true friend have good understanding of each other. True friends support you, take your side, and build up your confidence.“So-called” friends refer to .
| A．real friends |
| B．those who want to help you |
| C．the friends who are on the surface only |
| D．the friends who are honest |
Which of the following is NOT true?
| A．You should tell true friends from phoneys. |
| B．True friendship is too difficult to find. |
| C．You can share your joys and sorrows with a true friend. |
| D．A true friend will stand by you whatever happens. |
The proper title for this article may be “”.
| A．Friendliness | B．What friends like |
| C．True Friends | D．So-called Friends |