Although cats may be one of the most popular pets today, little is known about how and when humans and cats set up their close relationship.
The earliest evidence for human–cat interaction dates back to prehistoric Cyprus（史前塞浦路斯）, where the remains of a wild cat and a human — dated 9,500 years old — were found buried together.
A new study in the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences has confirmed the first direct evidence of a human–domestic cat relationship among Chinese farmers 5,300 years ago. Researchers studied the bones of cats, dogs, deer and other animals unearthed in an excavation (挖掘) near a village in Central China. By using some ways, scientists showed that the cats were living on a mostly millet(黍)–based diet, just like the domesticated dogs and pigs from the site.
"The most reasonable explanation for a high consumption of millet–based food is that the cats had formed a stable and mutual relationship with humans and could easily feed on rodents (啮齿动物) around human villages, find leftover food or even have been fed by people intentionally," said Hu Yaowu from the Chinese Academy of Sciences in Beijing, whose research focuses on the relationship between humans and domesticated animals.
"It is very interesting for us to find the consumption of millet-based foods by the cats, since this kind of evidence had long been missing.” Hu explains. Since cats usually eat meat, such a diet would be unexpected, unless the cats were being fed by people, the study argues. The researchers also found that one of the cats survived to reach old age, implying that it had a safe place to live and enough to eat.
Why the farmers wanted to keep cats nearby or make them "pets" could be answered by other evidence. Chinese archaeologists found some storage containers were specifically designed to keep out rodents — a vermin (害兽) that cats could certainly have helped with.
The simplified theory is that rats were attracted to the food of farmers, and so were harmful to farmers. Cats were attracted to the rats, and so farmers formed a mutually beneficial relationship with cats, taking care of them in return for pest control.The evidence found in the remains dating back to prehistoric Cyprus means .
| A．human made cats pets as early as 9,500 years ago |
| B．human interacted with cats very early |
| C．cats didn’t appear until prehistoric Cyprus |
| D．when cats became domesticated |
Apart from cats, Hu Yaowu and his teams may also study .
| A．the preventions of pests from grains |
| B．the history of Chinese farming |
| C．the dogs and pigs |
| D．the ways to keep pets |
Which of the following is NOT the evidence of Chinese farms’ keeping cats?
| A．Cats didn’t feed on meat. |
| B．The cats consumed large amounts of millet–based foods. |
| C．One of the cats survived to reach old age. |
| D．Some storage containers were specifically designed to keep out rodents. |
What are the reasons for farmers to keep cats?
| A．Helping keep other domesticated animals. |
| B．Not letting cats eat food. |
| C．Supplying meat for human. |
| D．Helping reduce the amount of pests. |
In which part of a newspaper would be the passage most probably appear .
| A．Entertainment | B．Environment |
| C．Human and Science | D．Life and fashion |
第三部分阅读理解（共20小题。每小题2分，满分40分）
阅读下列短文，从每题所给的四个选项（A、B、C和D）中，选出最佳选项，并在答题卡上将该项涂黑。
A
In 1971 a young man who grew up very poor was traveling across the country, trying to make a start for himself. Along the way he had completely run out of money and was forced to spend the night in his car. This continued until one morning, after a week of sleeping in his car, he walked nervously into a restaurant and ordered a big breakfast.
After eating his first good meal in weeks, he found himself lying to the waiter, telling him he had lost his wallet. The waiter, who was also the owner, walked behind the chair where the young man had been sitting. He bent down and came up with a $20 bill that looked as if it had been fallen on the floor and said, “Son, you must have dropped this” the owner said. The young man couldn’t believe his luck! He quickly paid for the breakfast, left a tip, bought gas with the change and headed west.
On the way out of town, he began to understand what the waiter did. Maybe nobody dropped the money at all. “Maybe that fellow just knew I was in trouble and he helped me in a way that didn’t embarrass me. So I just made a promise to help other people if I can.”
Later, he worked very hard and became a rich man. Now, he lives near Kansas City. Each year he gives away thousands of dollars. He is known as the “Secret Santa” because at Christmas time each year, he personally hands money out to those on the street and at restaurants. Last year, he gave more than $50,000 away in Kansas City.
56. The young man was traveling across the country in 1971 to ______.
A. find a piece of work to do
B. hand out gifts to passers-by
C. look for a good restaurant
D. show his new car to others
57. The underlined word “this” in paragraph 2 means ______.
A. a wallet B. his luck C. the $20 bill D. his tip
58. On the way out of town, the young man got to know that ______.
A. it was very honest of the owner to return his money
B. another man who had breakfast in the restaurant lost the money
C. he could find a job in the restaurant
D. the owner helped him in a way that didn’t hurt his feelings.
59. From this text we can see that ______.
A. the man dropped $20 on the floor of the restaurant
B. the man did carry out his promise
C. Santa gives the man money each year
D. the man was not successful in the end
60. The best title for this passage may be ______.
A. Secret Santa of Kansas City
B. The Key to Success
C. A Kind Waiter in the Restaurant
D. Never Give Up
D
Dear Mr. Barton,
I am writing for the residents’ association (业主协会) to inform you of our feelings about your act. We’ve really had enough of you. Although we have tried to speak to you politely on several occasions, you have always answered with a stream of verbal abuse(辱骂).
Ever since you moved in three months ago, you have shown very little consideration for the other residents of this building, though many residents expressed their unhappiness with you. For the past six weekends, you have held very noisy parties, which have not finished until early the next morning. As you know, most of the people here are elderly or have very young children, and the noise keeps them awake all night. You don’t have to be so noisy, do you? Last weekend the situation deteriorated when two of your friends fought with each other on the first floor. The fighting was so bad that the police had to be called. What’s more, your friends left the stairs in a terrible state --- they even broke two windows on their way out! We feel that we can’t bear this type of act.
We strongly demand that you pay for this damage to the window soon. If you don’t and you carry on being a nuisance(令人讨厌的人或物). We will kick you out! Legal steps will be taken if necessary.
Yours sincerely,
Resident
57. What does the writer feel?
A. Excited B. surprised C. Angry D. Happy
58. What does the word “deteriorated” mean?
A. Changed B. Improved C. Moved D. Worsened
59. What is the main purpose of the letter?
A. To ask Mr. Barton to leave the building for the peace.
B. To inform Mr. Barton of the noise he made.
C. To talk about what Mr. Barton did.
D. To give a warning to Mr. Barton.
60. What is true according to the letter?
A. Mr. Barton paid no attention to the others’ unhappiness.
B. Mr. Barton never replied to the others’ unhappiness
C. Mr. Barton always said sorry to those unhappy with him.
D. Mr. Barton never apologized to the other residents.
C
BUKHANNON, West Virginia—Two rescue teams slowly moved along a two-mile path on Monday night to the site of a coal mine explosion that trapped 13 miners, who had not been heard from since the early morning accident.
Meanwhile, at a nearby church, more than 250 family members and friends gathered, waiting for updates（最新报道）on the rescuers’ progress.
The miners were trapped at about 6:30 and many families weren’t informed of the accident until about 10 a.m-more than three hours after it happened. “It’s very upsetting, but you’ve got to be patient, I guess,” said John Helms, whose brother, Terry, was trapped in the mine.
The trapped miners were about 260 feet underground and about 10,000 feet from the Sago Mine’s entrance, said Roger Nicholson, general counsel from International Coal Group.
At a late night news conference, Nicholson said one team had advanced about 4,800 feet in the four hours since entering the mine just before 6 p.m. Another team entered the mine about 30 minutes later.
He said the crew was very experienced, with some members having worked underground for 30 to 35 years. The miners were equipped with about one hour of breathable oxygen each. The company has not released the names of the miners.
The teams test the air about every 500 feet, and have to disconnect (remove) the power to the phones they use to communicate with the surface before doing that. “We don’t want to be energizing anything if it’s in an atmosphere with burnable gases,” Kips said. The cause of the explosion was not immediately known. High levels of carbon monoxide were detected shortly after the explosion, which delayed rescue efforts, but those levels have since subsided（减退）, authorities said.
53. According to the passage, we can infer that ______.
A. all the miners who were trapped underground were still alive
B. communication with the trapped miners was cut off
C. the two rescue teams entered the mine at the same time
D. the rescue started as soon as the accident happened
54. If the first team advanced at an average speed, they could dig about ______ per hour.
A. 1,000 feetB. 2,400 feet C. 1,200 feet D. 4,800 feet
55. Where can the passage be seen?
A. In a magazine. B. In a newspaper.
C. In a science book.. D. On an advertisement.
56. Which of the following shows the position where the miners were trapped?
B
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50．If you happen to be the 200th customer to buy Cholesterolblock, you will .
A．be able to buy it at a low price B．be the luckiest one online
C．try it free of charge D．change your diet
51．Liptor®，Zocor®，Crestor® are_______．
A．diseases B．side effects C．medicines D．cholesterol
52．Where can you most probably read this passage?
A．In a travel guide book． B．On a university bulletin board．
C．In a health magazine. D．In a doctor's prescription.
III.阅读理解（共20小题，每小题1.5分，满分30分）
A
When Paul was a boy growing up in Utah, he happened to live near a copper smelter(炼铜厂), and the chemicals that poured out had made a wasteland out of what used to be a beautiful forest. One day a young visitor looked at this wasteland and called it an awful area. Paul knocked him down. From then on, something happened inside him.
Years later Paul was back in the area, and he went to the smelter office. He asked if they had any plans or if they would let him try to bring the trees back. The answer from that big industry was “No.”
Paul then went to college to study the science of plants. Unfortunately, his teachers said there weren't any birds or squirrels to spread the seeds. It would be a waste of his life to try to do it. Everyone knew that, he was told. Even if he was knowledgeable as he had expected, he wouldn’t get his idea accepted.
Paul later got married and had some kids. But his dream would not die. And then one night he did what he could with what he had. As Samuel Johnson wrote, “It is common to overlook what is near by keeping the eye fixed on something remote. Attainable good is often ignored by minds busied in wide ranges.” Under the cover of darkness, he went secretly into the wasteland and started planting.
And every week, he made his secret journey into the wasteland and planted trees and grass. For fifteen years he did this against the plain common sense. Slowly rabbits appeared. Later, as there was legal pressure to clean up the environment, the company actually hired Paul to do what he was already doing. Now the place is fourteen thousand acres of trees and grass and bushes, and Paul has received almost every environmental award Utah has. It took him until his hair turned white, but he managed to keep that impossible vow he made to himself as a child.
46.When Paul was a boy, _____.
A. he had decided never to leave his hometown
B.the economy of Utah depended wholly on the copper smelter
C. no laws were made to protect the environment against pollution
D. he had determined to stop the copper smelter polluting the area
47.Why did Paul go to college to study the science of plants?
A. He wanted to find out the best way to save the area himself.
B. He was interested in planting trees since he was young.
C.He wanted to get more knowledgeable people to help him.
D.He thought his knowledge would make his advice more persuasive.
48. What does the underlined phrase “the plain common sense” probably refer to?
A. That it was impossible for trees to grow on the wasteland.
B.That his normal work and life would be greatly affected.
C.That no one would like to join him in the efforts.
D.That he had to keep everything he did secret.
49.The message of the passage is that _____.
A.action speaks louder than words
B.perseverance(持之以恒) will work wonders
C.God helps those who help themselves
D.many hands make light work