We have known for a long time that flowers of different plants open and close at different time of day. Yet no one really understands why flowers open and close like this at particular times. It is not as simple as we might think, as new experiments have shown. In one experiment, flowers were kept in darkness. We might expect that the flowers, without any information about the time of the day, did not open as they usually do. In fact, they continued to open at their usual time. This shows that they have some mysterious (神秘的) way of knowing the time.
Their sense of time does not depend on information from the outside world; it is, so to speak, inside them, a kind of “inner clock”. This discovery may not seem to be very important. However, it was later found that not just plants but also animals including man have this “inner clock”which controls working of their bodies and their activities.
Human beings, then, are also controlled by this mysterious power. Whether we wish it or not, it affects such things in our life as our need for sleep, our need for food. And our ability to concentrate(集中).One experiment was done for finding out .
| A．when different flowers open and close |
| B．if flowers have a mysterious way of knowing the time |
| C．how flowers are used to tell the time in the darkness |
| D．why flowers open and close at particular time |
Before the experiment arrived at a conclusion, people had thought that the flowers .
| A．would never open in darkness |
| B．would change their usual time to open |
| C．would continue to open at their usual time |
| D．would open earlier than the usual time |
That flowers have the sense of time is related to .
| A．sunlight |
| B．weak light |
| C．the “inner clock” |
| D．the information from the outside world |
From the passage, we know that don’t have mysterious power inside.
| A．wild animals | B．human beings |
| C．all creatures(生物) | D．lifeless things |
We may know that if we make good use of the ‘inner clock’, .
| A．we will have more strength to do our work. |
| B．clocks or watches are no longer useful to us |
| C．we will be able to live as long as we wish to |
| D．human beings will need less sleep, less food or less movement |
根据下面短文内容，选择最佳答案。
My mother was telling me about how she and her family got their first television when she was a teenager. Of course, it was black and white. She said she only watched it at night.
When I was young, we had only about 3 or 4 different channels. My brothers, my sisters and I would sometimes fight about which channel to watch. But we usually enjoyed the same shows.
Nowadays, we can get hundreds of channels on TV. There are channels with old movies, cooking, fishing and so on. It's amazing! I wonder how much my brothers, my sisters and I would fight if we had hundreds of channels when I was a child. Of course, we had only one television set.
These days I notice families with 2 or 3 or more television sets in their homes. I guess it stops
People from arguing over which channel to choose. In the old days, what kind of television sets did people only have?
A. Black and white ones. B. Colors ones.
C. All kinds of television sets. D. Both A and B.My mother watched TV when she was young.
| A．in the morning | B．in the afternoon |
| C．at night | D．at noon |
Nowadays, how many channels can we get on TV?
| A．3 or 4 different channels. | B．Only one channel. |
| C．Hundreds of channels. | D．Several channels. |
When I was a teenager, my brothers, my sisters and I usually enjoyed .
| A．four shows | B．the same shows |
| C．different shows | D．hundreds of shows |
Which of the following is NOT true?
| A．My brothers, my sisters and I would sometimes fight about which channel to watch when I was a child. |
| B．These days, there is only one channel with old movies, cooking and fishing. |
| C．People have many channels to choose from now. |
| D．These days some families have 2 or 3 or more television sets in their homes. |
根据短文，判断正（A）误（B）。
Many Chinese students don't pay much attention to spoken English at school. They think it necessary to practice speaking English in class, but not out of class. Here is a story to show you how important it is to speak the English language freely in everyday life.
A foreigner once got hungry and went into a restaurant in London. He sat down at a table. When the waiter came, the foreigner opened his mouth, put his fingers into it and took them out again in order to express that he wanted something to eat, for he could not speak English. The waiter soon brought a cup of tea. The man shook（摇动）his head. The waiter then took away the tea and brought a cup of coffee. The man again shook his head. He tried again and again, but he wasn't able to make the waiter understand him. Finally another man came in. He spoke English clearly and fluently. In a few minutes, there was a large plate of meat and vegetables on the table before him.
So you can see a man will go hungry if he doesn't master（掌握）a foreign language.Many Chinese students pay little attention to spoken English.
Many Chinese students only practice speaking English in class.
The story happened in a restaurant in New York.
The man wanted to eat something because he was hungry.
Another man spoke English very well.
If your mother told you to eat carrots so you’d be able to see in the dark, she was right. It turns out that feeding kids carrots is just one of a number of things to keep eyes healthy. Other things include regular eye exams, and sunglasses or hats are also very helpful, experts say.
While eye disease is sometimes hereditary(遗传的), some are still preventable（可预防的）, said Dr. Ron Weber, an Atlanta-based ophthalmologist. For example, nearsightedness, “not only has a genetic(基因的) component but is also influenced by how kids use their eyes during childhood,” he told Reuters Health by phone.
He said that extended close work, such as reading, has long been thought to cause nearsightedness. Recent support has come from a study in which people with a higher level of education were more likely to have nearsightedness, because they spend more time reading or working on computers. Another study showed that children who spend more time outdoors are less likely to become nearsighted.
But these findings don’t mean kids should be stopped from reading or working on the computer. Instead, Weber suggests, make sure a child’s environment is bright enough while they are doing close work. Parents should also help kids get into the habit of holding their reading material at the perfect distance – about 18 to 22 inches, he said. Finally, taking a break every five minutes or so, to let the eyes relax and focus on an object in the distance, will also help.
One of the most important things a parent can do to help head off eye disease and vision problems is to make sure their child gets regular eye exams, beginning early in life. “The majority of vision problems in children are preventable and treatable,” said Dr. Ida Chung.What does the writer want to tell us in the passage?
| A．It is important to keep your eyes healthy. |
| B．People seldom pay attention to eye health. |
| C．It is necessary to give your kids carrots. |
| D．All the eye disease are hereditary. |
Which one is good for our eye health according to the third paragraph?
| A．Spend more reading on computers. |
| B．Spend more time indoors. |
| C．Spend more time doing outdoor activities. |
| D．Spend more time working on computers. |
The underlined part in the last paragraph means__________.
| A．treat | B．stop | C．cover | D．increase |
Which can be the BEST title for this passage?
| A． Eating carrots |
| B．Eye disease |
| C．How to keep eyes healthy |
| D．The importance of eye health. |
Social customs and ways of behaving change．Things which were considered impolite many years ago are now acceptable．Just a few years ago，it was considered impolite behavior for a man to smoke on street．No man who thought of himself as being a gentleman would make a fool of himself by smoking when a lady was in a room．
Customs also differ from country to country．Does a man walk on the left or the right of a woman in your country? Or doesn’t it matter? What about table manners? Should you use both hands when you are eating? Should you leave one in your lap，or on the table?
The Americans and the British not only speak the same language but also share a large number of social customs．For example，in both America and England people shake hands when they meet each other for the first time．Also Englishmen will open a door for a woman or offer their seat to a woman，and so will most Americans. While waiting in line, Englishmen will never push their way to the front. Neither do Americans. Promptness is important both in England and in America．That is，if a dinner invitation is for 7 o’clock，the dinner guest either arrives close to that time or calls up to explain his delay．
The important thing to remember about social customs is not to do anything that might make other people feel uncomfortable——especially if they are your guests．There is an old story about a man who gave a formal dinner party. When the food was served，one of the guests started to eat his peas with a knife．The other guests were amused or shocked，but the host calmly picked up his knife and began eating in the same way．It would have been bad manners to make his guest feel foolish or uncomfortable．According to Paragraph1,____________________________.
| A．Customs differ from country to country. |
| B．Some customs considered impolite in the past are accepted by people now. |
| C．Gentlemen like to smoke in front of women. |
| D．Smoking on streets were considered polite behaviors in the past. |
If one has accepted a dinner invitation, what should he do if he can’t arrive on time?
| A．He should find an excuse. |
| B．He should ask for excuse. |
| C．He should say “sorry”. |
| D．He should telephone to explain his being late. |
The Americans and the British also share a large number of social customs except(除了)___________.
| A．shaking hands when meeting for the first time |
| B．offering their seat to a woman |
| C．waiting in line |
| D．being late for dinner |
According to the passage, the best host______________.
| A．tries his best to make his guests feel comfortable |
| B．makes his guests feel excited |
| C．tries to avoid being foolish to his guests |
| D．tries to behave the same as the guests |
Some people like to collect stamps. Others prefer posters or coins. But Pinky Bhutia is different. She collects children. In her mountain village, in Sikkim, she is known as the wonderful young woman who adopts(领养) all the children she can.
Pinky was 14 when she adopted her first child, a Nepali baby girl, whose patents passed away. Pinky’s parents did not mind. Pinky left school and started working full time because she had a baby to feed. Today , she has twelve adopted children, and two sons from her marriage.
Pinky is about 30 years old and she comes from a common family. If you passed her on the street, you wouldn’t give her a second look. She lives in a brown mud-washed(泥刷的) house. There is a vegetable garden outside. Red hens with noisy chicks run all over the garden looking for food.
If you ask her why she provides a home to so many kids, she smiles shyly. But her eyes are serious. “I know what it is to be poor and hungry.” As a child, her only dream was to eat a full meal, and her favorite amusement was watching people with shoes and imagining what it felt like. By adopting poor and homeless children she is making sure that they never feel that hopeless.
Pinky feels very proud when she sees her children happy and bright, Her oldest baby, Aarita Rai, is now 20 years old, Then, there is 19-year-old Nimbe who came to Pinky because her mother was unable to look after her. She started to work in a government office two years ago. Ten-year-old Bhim and 14-year-old Kumar came to Pinky five years ago, after their father’s death. They started living on a patch of land given by Pinky and grew vegetables for sale.
“I like children. It’s not one more mouth to feed but one more soul saved,” Pinky says.After Pinky adopted her first child, she______________.
| A．began to raise some chickens |
| B．didn’t go to school anymore |
| C．asked her parents for help |
| D．left her mountain village |
By adopting those poor and homeless children, Pinky wants to ______________.
| A．teach them to grow vegetables | B．offer them good jobs |
| C．make sure they live in hope | D．help them become rich |
Whic of the following statements is TRUE?
| A．Pinky likes collecting coins and posters. |
| B．Bhim and Kumar are from the same family. |
| C．People in Pinky’s village have no shoes to wear. |
| D．Sartita Rai works in a government office. |
We can infer from the passage that Pinky is a ________ person.
| A．kind | B．strict | C．bright | D．careful |