As they migrate (迁移), butterflies and moths choose the winds they want to fly with, and they change their body positions if they start floating in the wrong direction. This new finding suggests that insects may employ some of the same methods that birds use for traveling long distances. Scientists have long thought that insects were simply at the mercy of the wind.
Fascinating as their skills of flight are, migrating behavior has been difficult to study in insects because many long distant trips happen thousands of feet above ground. Only recently have scientists developed technologies that can detect (测出) such little creatures at such great heights.
To their surprise, though, the insects weren’t passive travelers on the winds. In autumn, for example, most light winds blew from the east, but the insects somehow sought out ones that carried them south and they positioned themselves to navigate directly to their wintering homes.
Even in the spring, when most winds flowed northward, the insects didn’t always go with the flow. If breezes weren’t blowing in the exact direction they wanted to go, the insects changed their body positions to compensate (补偿). Many migrating birds do the same thing.
The study also found, butterflies and moths actively flew within the air streams that pushed them along. By adding flight speeds to wind speeds, the scientists calculated that butterflies and moths can travel as fast as 100 kilometers an hour. The findings may have real-world applications. With climate warming, migrating insects are growing in number. Knowing how and when these pests move could help when farmers decide when to spray their crops. What’s the main idea of the text?
A.Insects migrate with the seasons. |
B.Wind helps insects greatly in migrating. |
C.Windsurfing insects have real direction. |
D.Scientists have trouble in observing insects. |
Scientists originally thought that ________.
A.insects always waited for their favorable winds |
B.insects chose the winds they wanted to ride |
C.insects were just blown about by the wind |
D.insects positioned themselves in the winds |
It is not easy to study the migrating behavior of the insects because ________.
A.the little creatures can fly very fast |
B.they have no regular migrating courses |
C.the wind’s direction is hard to foresee |
D.their flight is long and high above ground |
We can learn from the text that _________.
A.insects fly in the way birds do |
B.insects travel more easily in autumn |
C.insects never position themselves when flying low |
D.insects rest a lot when the wind pushes them along |
According to the passage, the findings can__________.
A.increase insects in number | B.instruct farmers when to spray |
C.prevent climate warming | D.help protect insects |
Joanne was stuck in a traffic jam in central Birmingham at 5:30 and at 6:30 she was expected to be chairing a meeting of the tennis club. At last, the traffic was moving. She swung quickly racing to her house. As she opened the door , she nearly tripped over (被绊倒)Sheba.
“Hey, Sheba,” she said, “I've got no time for you now, but I'll take you out as soon as I get back from tennis club.” Then she noticed Sheba seemed to be coughing or choking. Obviously, she could hardly breathe. Immediately, Joanne realized she would have to take her to the vet (兽医).
When she got there, the vet was just about to close for the day. Seeing the state of Sheba, Dr. Sterne brought her quickly into his office.
“Listen, doctor, I'm really in a rush to get to a meeting, can I leave her with you, and go and get changed? I'll be back in ten minutes to pick her up, and then I'll take her on to the meeting with me. Is that OK?”
“Sure.” said the doctor.
Joanne made the quick trip back to her house in a couple of minutes. As she was once moreentering the hallway, the phone by the door began to ring.
“This is Dr. Sterne,” said an anxious voice. “I want you to get out of that house immediately, ”said the doctor's voice. “I'm coming round right away, and the police will be there any time now. Wait outside!”
At that moment, a police car screeched (发出尖锐的声音)to a stop outside the house. Two policemen got out and ran into the house. Joanne was by now completely confused and very frightened. Then the doctor arrived.
“Where’s Sheba? Is she OK?” shouted Joanne.
“She’s fine, Joanne. I took out the thing which was choking her, and she’s OK now. ”
Just then, the two policemen reappeared from the house, half-carrying a white—faced man, who could hardly walk. There was blood all over him.
“My God, ” said Joanne,“how did he get in there? And how did you know he was there?”
“I think he must be a burglar.” said the doctor. “I knew he was there because when I finally removed what was stuck in Sheba’s throat:it turned out to be three human fingers.”What was Joanne supposed to do at 6:30?
A.To walk her dog. |
B.To see her doctor. |
C.To attend a club meeting. |
D.To play tennis with her friends. |
Joanne wanted to get back to her home again __________ . .
A.to dress up for the meeting |
B.to phone the police station |
C.to catch the badly hurt burglar |
D.to wait for her dog to be cured |
From the passage, we can infer that________ .
A.Sheba fought against the burglar |
B.the police found the burglar had broken in |
C.Joanne had planned to take her dog to the meeting |
D.the doctor performed a difficult operation on the dog |
In this passage, the writer intends to tell us that the dog is _________.
A.clever | B.friendly | C.frightening | D.devoted |
The underlined word “a burglar” in the last paragraph probably means ________.
A.a cleaner | B.a physician | C.a thief | D.a murderer |
Every day on the road, accidents are caused. They do not only happen. The reason may be easy to see: an overloaded tray, a shelf out of reach, a patch of ice on the road. But more often than not there is a chain of events leading up to the misfortune-frustration, tiredness or just bad temper-that show what the accident really is, a sort of attack on oneself.
Road accidents, for example, happen frequently after a family quarrel, and we all know people who are accident-prone, so often at odds with themselves and the world that they seem to cause accidents for themselves and others.
By definition, an accident is something you cannot predict or avoid, and the idea which used to be current, that the majority of road accidents are caused by a minority of criminally careless drivers, is not supported by insurance statistics. These show that most accidents involve ordinary motorists in a moment of carelessness or thoughtlessness.
It is not always clear, either, what sort of conditions make people more likely to have an accident. For instance, the law requires all factories to take safety actions and most companies have safety committees to make sure the regulations are observed, but still, every day in Britain, some fifty thousand men and women are absent from work due to an accident. These accidents are largely the result of human error or misjudgment-noise and fatigue, boredom or worry are possible factors which contribute to this. Doctors who work in factories have found that those who drink too much, usually people who have a high anxiety level, run three times the normal risk of accidents at work.This passage might be written to .
A.college students | B.drivers |
C.ordinary citizens | D.businessmen |
“Accident-prone” in Paragraph 2 means.
A.likely to have accidents | B.injured in accidents |
C.likely to die in accidents | D.responsible for road accidents |
The passage suggests that .
A.accidents mostly result from slippery roads |
B.accidents are usually caused by psychological factors |
C.doctors run three times the normal risk of accidents in factories |
D.about 50,000 people lost their lives at work in Britain every day |
Which of the following is NOT discussed as a factor of accidents in this passage?
A.Mood | B.Carelessness | C.Tiredness | D.Weather |
What do you think would be the best title for the passage?
A.Accidents and Human | B.Why accidents happen |
C.Human Factors in Accidents | D.How to Prevent Accidents |
Researchers have found more evidence that suggests a relationship between races (种族) and rates (率) of lung cancer among smokers. A new study shows that black people and Native Hawaiians are more likely to develop lung cancer from smoking. It compared their risk to whites, Japanese-Americans and Latinos.
Researchers at the University of Southern California and the University of Hawaii did the new study. The New England Journal of Medicine published the findings. The eight-year research studied more than 180,000 people. They included present and former smokers and people who never smoked. Almost 2.000 people in the study developed lung cancer.
Researchers say genetics (遗传学) might help explain the racial and ethnic(种族的) differences. There could be differences in how people's bodies react to smoke. But environmental influences, including the way people smoke, could also make a difference.
African-Americans and Latinos in the study are reported smoking the fewest cigarettes per day. Whites are the heaviest smokers. But the scientists point out that blacks have been reported to breathe cigarette smoke more deeply than white smokers. This could fill their lungs with more of the chemicals in tobacco that cause cancer.
Scientists know that some diseases effect different groups differently. And some drug companies have begun to develop racially targeted (针对) medicines. Last June, the United States Food and Drug Administration approved a drug designed to treat heart failure in black patients. The name is BiDil. The agency called it "a step toward the promise of personalized medicine." Researchers agree that it isthat may probably determine black people’s risk of lung cancer.
A.the larger amount of smoking than white people |
B.the living style or habit of the blacks |
C.the depth of cigarette smoke into their lungs |
D.the physical strength to react to cigarette smoke |
People in the new study are made up of.
A.heavy smokers in America | B.smokers and non-smokers |
C.the Asians and Hawaiians | D.the black and white people |
The production of BiDil referred to in the last paragraph is to.
A.explain different races react to some diseases differently |
B.tell the readers that racial differences exist in smokers |
C.show a big step people have taken in the medicine area |
D.support the idea that it is easy for blacks to have cancers |
Which of the following statements is TRUE according to the author?
A.The way of smoking may increase the risk of lung cancer. |
B.Race has nothing to do with the risk of having a lung cancer. |
C.The research was started by the New England Journal of Medicine. |
D.he risk of lung cancer lies I how much a person smokes. |
London, Reuters--What could annoy teenagers enough to make them stop hanging out with friends and go home?
No, it's not a visit from their mothers, and not a threat to take away their cellphones or pocket money.
It's high-frequency noise. The UK police recently agreed to use a device (装置) called the Sonic Teenager Deterrent. It sends out a sound that makes teenagers become so impatient and angry that they have to cover their ears tightly and walk away.
The sound is at extreme high-pitch that can be heard by those under 20. The body's natural ability to detect some wave bands decreases almost entirely after 20, so few adults can hear the sounds. The black-box device, nicknamed the Mosquito because of its sound, can be fixed to the outside walls of shops, offices and homes. It sounds to youngsters like a crazy insect or a badly played violin. But it causes no physical damage.
A number of police forces and councils have given permission to use the system and want to install (安装) it at trouble spots.
Staffordshire Police Inspector Amanda Davies, who has given the device to shopkeepers in the Moorlands area, said," It is controlled by the shopkeepers--if they can see through their window that there is a problem, they turn the device on for a while until the group has run away."The device can be used to _______.
A.threaten teenagers in public |
B.drive away trouble-makers under 20 |
C.help mothers control their teenage children |
D.help the police control shopkeepers |
From the passage we can know that _______.
A.young people often suffer from pains in ears |
B.shopkeepers are troubled by noisy insects |
C.high-frequency noise is beyond the listening ability of people over 20 |
D.the police invented a new device to deal with teenagers |
The purpose of the writer to write the passage is ______.
A.to advertise a new hi-tech device |
B.to tell the reader a piece of news |
C.to sell the device to shopkeepers |
D.to inform the public as the spokesman of the police |
Who will welcome the device most?
A.Shopkeepers. | B.The police. | C.Young people. | D.The producer. |
Luo Gaoqi hopes to join the increasing number of Chinese students in the United States because he wants the experience of studying in a foreign land as it will help his future job at home. “I want to try Western education because people there think differently,” said the 21-year-old who is in his final year of undergraduate studies. “I also hope to meet friends from different cultures. The social connections may help in the future.”
The latest report from the US-based institute of International Education said China, for the first time, has become the top country of origin for international students in the United States.
For Yang Fan, a journalism student, said studying in the United States is a way to escape the competition for places in China’s top universities.
“Due to limited education resources, only about 60 percent of high school graduates in China enter college, and a much lower rate enters the top-level ones. “A foreign degree will definitely help when I seek a job in China,” Yang said.
Both Yang’s and Luo’s parents are supportive of them studying abroad. Neither of them is thinking of settling down in the United States after graduation.
“It is not realistic to do so. As a journalism student, there would be no advantage for me to work in the United States,” Yang said. “But in China, with a US degree and good English, I may stand out against other students who have only studied in China.”
China still needs to improve its environment for scientists and high-level talents, said Xiao Mingzheng, director of the Center for Human Resource Development and Management Research of Peking University, adding that, in particular, the country needs to improve its policies relating to research environments.
In June, the Chinese government published a plan concerning talent development for the next 10 years. In it, it has improved policies and increased budgets to attract talented students back home.Why does Luo Gaoqi wants to study in a foreign land according to his words?
A.Because the people there are more intelligent. |
B.Because the foreign countries are more developed. |
C.Because he can make more friends there. |
D.Because the culture there is different from that in China. |
What do Guo Gaoqi and Yang Fan have in common?
A.Their major is the same, which is journalism. |
B.Both of them want to go back to China after graduation. |
C.Their parents are against their decision. |
D.They are forced to study in a foreign land by their parents. |
From the passage, we can infer that _______.
A.scientists and high-level talents need a better environment in China |
B.the students abroad are unwilling to go back to China |
C.China doesn’t need those people to come back to our country at all |
D.we all need to go abroad to study and then serve our own country |