Along the river banks of the Amazon and the Orinoco there lives a bird that swims before it can fly, flies like a fat chicken, eats green leaves, has the stomach of a cow and has claws(爪)on its wings when young .They build their homes about 4.6m above the river ,an important feature(特征)for the safety of the young. It is called the hoatzin.
In appearance，the birds of both sexes look very much alike with brown on the back and cream and red on the underside .The head is small, with a large set of feathers on the top, bright red eyes, and blue skin. Its nearest relatives are the common birds, cuckoos. Its most striking feature, though, is only found in the young.
Baby hoatzins have a claw on the leading edge of each wing and another at the end of each wing tip .Using these four claws ,together with the beak(喙),they can climb about in the bushes, looking very much like primitive birds must have done. When the young hoatzins have learned to fly, they lose their claws.
During the drier months between December and March hoatzins fly about the forest in groups of 20 to 30 birds, but in April, when the rainy season begins, they collect together in smaller living units of two to seven birds for producing purposes.What is the text mainly about?
| A．Hoatzins in dry and rainy seasons. |
| B．The relatives and enemies of hoatzins. |
| C．Primitive birds and hoatzins of the Amazon. |
| D．The appearance and living habits of hoatzins. |
Young hoatzins are different from their parents in that ．
| A．they look like young cuckoos |
| B．they have claws on the wings |
| C．they eat a lot like a cow |
| D．they live on river banks |
What can we infer about primitive birds from the text?
| A．They had claws to help them climb. |
| B．They could fly long distances. |
| C．They had four wings like hoatzins. |
| D．They had a head with long feathers on the top. |
Why do hoatzins collect together in smaller groups when the rainy season comes?
| A．To find more food. |
| B．To protect themselves better. |
| C．To keep themselves warm. |
| D．To produce their young. |
It is an exciting start to the college football season. A team that many people never heard of defeated one of the best in the country. If you follow American sports, then you know we are talking about the Michigan-Appalachian State game, which took place on September 1st at Michigan Stadium, in front of more than 100,000 people.
Appalachian State University is in Boone, North Carolina. Its team often plays in a stadium that holds about 25,000 people. Also, Appalachian State plays in the Football Championship Subdivision. Michigan is in the newly named Football Bowl Subdivision, the top level of college football. So the Mountaineers of Appalachian State and the Wolverines of the University of Michigan normally do not even play each other.
But they decided to meet for the first time. Michigan agreed to pay Appalachian State 400,000 dollars, win or lose. Teams like Michigan need victories, even a victory over a lower division team, to get into big, nationally broadcast bowl games. These games are worth millions of dollars at the end of the season.
Fans expected an easy Michigan win. After all, in the preseason, sports experts had considered Michigan the fifth best college football team in the country. But Appalachian State is a two-time national champion at its own division level. Its players wanted to show they could play well against a nationally ranked team. And they did. The final score was Appalachian State thirty-four, Michigan thirty-two. The game quickly became known as one of the greatest upsets in college football history.
The win has brought national attention to Appalachian State. Local stores reported a huge increase in orders for college clothing and other items. And the university official head expects more students to seek admission next year. Last Saturday, at home, Appalachian State defeated another North Carolina school, Lenoir-Rhyne College, forty-eight to seven.The Michigan-Appalachian State game ________.
| A．is a regular competition held in the US every year |
| B．is a state competition held for the football championship |
| C．is part of a national competition held on September 1st every year |
| D．was an occasional football competition between two universities |
Michigan wanted to play with Appalachian State because Michigan ________.
| A．needed money to support its development |
| B．wanted to test the skills of Appalachian State |
| C．was a new football team without experience |
| D．needed victories to enter nationally broadcast bowl games |
After the game, the Appalachian State University got _________.
| A．much economic support from the government |
| B．much national assistance |
| C．national recognition |
| D．many applicants for admission |
The Spanish exploration was the beginning of the history of San Francisco Harbor. That long history is celebrated at the San Francisco Maritime National Historical Park. The park’s main visitor center is only a few hundred meters from the waters of the great harbor. It is a memorial to the great ships and those who sailed them.
The visitor center holds many objects linked to the past of the great harbor. There are small ships, ship equipment, and hundreds of beautiful old photographs. Many visitors stop to look at a large painting of a huge sailing ship named the Balclutha.
Visitors who look at the painting can go out through the front door of the visitor center and see the real Balclutha. People walking near Fisherman’s Wharf often do not believe their eyes when they first see the Balclutha. Almost everyone stops and looks at the huge ship. The ship looks almost new. Several years ago, more than one million dollars was spent in repairing and painting it. Now, more than two hundred thousand people a year visit the ship.
The Balclutha is perhaps the most popular ship with visitors at the Maritime Park. However, there are also several other ships which are very important to the history of the great harbor. But not all of these ships are open to the public. One that is open is a small steam-powered workboat, called the Hercules. The Hercules was a tugboat. Until 1924 it pulled ships around the harbor.
Another boat popular with visitors is the Eureka. It was built in 1890. It is the largest wooden ship still floating today. The Eureka was a ferryboat. It carried people and cars across the bay. It did this until the Golden Gate Bridge and the Oakland Bay Bridge were built.
The park also has a very unusual looking museum. It is a large building that almost looks like a ship. The museum is filled with interesting equipment. One of the most interesting objects in the museum is a small sailboat called the Mermaid, which is only large enough for one person to sit in.The underlined word “It” in Paragraph 1 refers to _________.
| A．the San Francisco Maritime National Historical Park |
| B．the Spanish exploration |
| C．the main visitor center |
| D．San Francisco Harbor |
What can we know about the Balclutha according to the passage?
| A．It is the largest wooden ship. |
| B．It is worth about one million dollars now. |
| C．It is a steam-powered workboat used to pull ships. |
| D．The huge ship attracts lots of visitors every year. |
The ships are described in the passage in order to _______.
| A．show the history of the great harbor |
| B．tell us each ship has its own features |
| C．tell us which one is the most popular |
| D．tell us these ships’ functions |
We know from the passage that ________.
| A．the Eureka is still used for carrying people and cars |
| B．the Hercules has not been used for pulling ships since 1924 |
| C．the Mermaid is a small tugboat that can only hold one person |
| D．most of the ships in the park are open to the public |
The largest-ever chariot pit (战车坑) of relics with carts and horse bones has been discovered in Henan Province. It may lead to the uncovering of chariot pit groups that could be a key to understanding Chinese civilizations that existed more than 2,000 years ago.
Experts said the relics are dated more than 300 years earlier than the famous warriors (武士) in Shaanxi Province. What excited the experts were two other projects that located two huge pits with similar features.
“It is absolutely a miracle. These relics indicate that there could be a tomb group in this area, which is likely to be important for China’s archaeological (考古学的) studies,” said Ma Juncai, a leading relic researcher in the province.
In ancient China, carts, sheep, spoons and so on were buried to ensure that dead people had a happy afterlife. The number and quality of the sacrifices indicated the social status of the dead. The custom was carried into the Qin Dynasty. Emperor Qinshihuang’s tomb, located near Xi’an, the capital of Shaanxi Province, is accompanied by thousands of wood or clay figures of warriors and horses. The tomb is probably the most well-known.
The discovered pit measures 10.4 meters long, 8.4 meters wide and 5 meters deep. It holds 20 carts in different sizes. The smallest one is 1.05 meters long and 1.3 meters wide.
Experts think that 40 horses are likely to be found as well. Careful plans need to be made to deal with the demanding uncovering. “The clay is very weak and a small misstep can destroy the whole project. That’s why we need to take every step very carefully to protect these cherished cultural relics,” Ma said. What’s the passage mainly about?
| A．The dead people’s sacrifices in ancient China. |
| B．China’s archaeological studies. |
| C．The discovery of a large chariot pit in Henan. |
| D．The history of Chinese civilizations. |
According to Ma Juncai, the uncovering of the three pits is a miracle because _______.
| A．it shows there may be a tomb group there |
| B．it’s helpful in discovering Emperor Qinshihuang’s tomb |
| C．the relics are dated such a long time ago |
| D．the relics are more than 300 years older than the ones in Shaanxi |
It can be inferred from Paragraph 4 that ______.
| A．all dead people had sacrifices in ancient China |
| B．the discovered pit is the most well-known in the world |
| C．the discovered pit dates back to the Qin Dynasty |
| D．Emperor Qinshihuang wanted to maintain his power after death |
Careful plans for the uncovering are needed because ______.
| A．another 40 horses are likely to be found as well |
| B．the whole uncovering could be destroyed easily |
| C．experts are too busy to spare time for it |
| D．the government hasn’t agreed to it |
Which of the following statements is TRUE according to the passage?
| A．The discovery has drawn the leading experts’ attention. |
| B．A lot of cultural relics have been discovered in Henan. |
| C．40 horses have been discovered together with the chariot pit. |
| D．The discovered carts in the chariot pit are similar in size. |
The Baima is a minority group of about 1,400 people. They have lived in Northern Sichuan and Southern Gansu Provinces for centuries. They have long depended on the forests as their main source of income. But since a ban on cutting down forests was introduced in the late 1990s to fight yearly flooding, the villagers have had to look for other means of earning a living.
Several are now in the process of developing a small tourism industry as their lands are rich in forests and natural scenery and are the home of the giant pandas. Xiangshujia, in particular, is becoming a popular bed and breakfast centre for tourists heading to Wanglang to see the giant pandas. Visitors are also starting to take notice of the Baima people themselves.
As our jeep stopped in the courtyard of a house, we were greeted by the village leader Li Qin and young Baima girls dressed in traditional costumes with white feathers in their hair. As we took our places on wooden benches near an open fire, the girls began to sing traditional songs as they served us.
“The number of tourists is growing,” said Li Qin. “We realize that to attract visitors we have to show our culture by offering more traditional singing and dancing and ensuring our houses are built in the traditional way.”
Relations between the Baima people and the reserve were once tense following the ban on cutting down forests. Villagers had to make a new living. They entered the Wanglang Nature Reserve to collect wild mushrooms and herbs (药草), often at the expense of disturbing the pandas’ habitat. But things greatly improved as villagers started receiving training in how to sell things to tourists.
“Our aim was to deter the villagers, because they often disturbed the pandas’ habitat, and to ensure they could have a long-lasting means of earning a living,” emphasized Chen Youping, director of the Wanglang Nature Reserve. “All the money from the reserve goes back into the community and conservation projects,” said Chen. “We take into consideration first the animals and then tourism.”From Paragraph 1 we learn that ________.
| A．the Baima has the longest history among all the minority groups in China |
| B．the Baima people live in most areas of Sichuan and Gansu Provinces |
| C．forests are the main source of firewood for the Baima people |
| D．in order to fight floods, the Baima people are forbidden to cut down forests |
We can infer that the Baima girls wore their traditional costumes to greet visitors mainly because _______.
| A．they wanted to look more beautiful |
| B．their leader Li Qin asked them to do so |
| C．it was a way to show their culture to attract visitors |
| D．it was necessary before they sang traditional songs |
Which of the following was NOT an effect of the ban on cutting down forests?
| A．The Baima people had a tense relationship with the reserve. |
| B．Villagers had to look for other means of making a living. |
| C．The pandas’ habitat was often disturbed by villagers. |
| D．Villagers stopped selling things to tourists. |
The underlined word “deter” in the last paragraph can be replaced by “________”.
| A．punish | B．stop | C．encourage | D．threaten |
Wine drinkers tend to buy healthier food than beer drinkers, according to a Danish study published on Tuesday on the website of a weekly medical magazine.
People who bought wine at the store were also more likely to buy fruit, vegetables, fish, lean meat (瘦肉) and milk than beer buyers did, said the study.
Beer buyers were more likely to buy frozen dinners, cold cuts, pork, sugary products, and soft drinks.
The study was conducted by four researchers from the National Institute of Public Health over the course of six months.
Alcohol researchers Erik Schulenburg and Marten Greenback and two other doctors collected 3.5 million receipts from 98 stores. The customers at the stores represented a large number of Danish people, they said.
“Our results confirm international studies which show that wine drinkers tend to eat more fruit, vegetables and fish and rarely eat fats, compared to those who like other kinds of alcoholic drinks,” they concluded.
Wine buyers also tended to have higher education levels, higher earnings and be in better mental health, they added.
Their interest in consumers’ shopping bags followed a series of studies in the Danish media. The studies suggested that wine drinkers ran a lower risk of cardiovascular (心血管的) disease and some types of cancer than beer drinkers.The passage mainly tells us that wine drinkers ______.
| A．eat more vegetables than beer drinkers |
| B．usually buy healthier food than beer drinkers |
| C．are mostly healthier than beer drinkers |
| D．run a lower risk of diseases than beer drinkers |
According to the passage, beer buyers are less likely to buy ______.
| A．cold cuts | B．pork | C．soft drinks | D．vegetables |
The researchers did the study mainly by means of ______.
| A．handing out papers with a list of questions |
| B．collecting receipts from stores |
| C．watching what customers bought at stores |
| D．visiting some families throughout the country |
Which of the following is NOT a feature of wine drinkers according to the passage?
| A．Rarely eating fats. | B．Being in better mental health. |
| C．Exercising more. | D．Having higher education levels. |