The baby elephant, Sheila, was moved out of Belfast Zoo because of fears she might be hit by bombers during the Belfast Blitz (闪电战) of 1941.
She was one of the lucky ones. A lot of the animals were killed because of fears they might escape during the bombing and attack people. They included a tiger, a black bear, a wolf, a penguin, and two polar bears.
But Sheila was walked down the road by zoo-keepers to a nearby house where a woman took her in and kept her in her backyard for several months until the bombing was over.
The woman has never been identified (确认) and the zoo knows her only as “the elephant angel”. As the zoo celebrates its 75th birthday, people have decided to try to find the elephant’s saver. Mark Challis is the manager of Belfast Zoo. He explained a bit more about Sheila’s story.
“Well, we know that Sheila, the elephant that was in the zoo at that time spent some time living with a lady relatively near to the zoo and we have one sweet photo, you can see it on our zoo website.”
“In the photo you can see the elephant with the lady in her back garden and that’s almost all we know. So we’re just trying to find a little bit more information and we are not even sure if the lady is alive today, but maybe her relatives or somebody will recognize the back of that house and we can fill in some detail on this story.”
Once the bombing was over, Sheila went back to the zoo and lived for another quarter of a century. She died of a skin disease in 1966. How many years has the zoo been open?
| A．For 25 years. | B．For 75 years. |
| C．For half a century. | D．For several months. |
Which of the following is right according to Paragraph Three?
| A．The zoo-keepers walked her there. |
| B．The zoo-keepers used a big truck to get her there. |
| C．The elephant escaped and ran to the garden herself. |
| D．The zoo-keepers used bombers to frighten her away from the zoo. |
What happened to the unlucky animals in the zoo before the bombing?
| A．They were taken to a safe place. |
| B．They started to attack people. |
| C．They were killed. |
| D．They all escaped from the zoo. |
What information do people have about “the elephant angel”?
| A．She owned a zoo website. |
| B．She used to live close to the zoo. |
| C．She is still alive. |
| D．Her relatives live in her old house. |
Why was the photo posted on the website?
| A．To attract more visitors to the zoo. |
| B．To celebrate the zoo‘s birthday. |
| C．To find the elephant angel. |
| D．To explain the war to the public. |
A Brown University sleep researcher has some advice for people who run high schools: Don’t start classes so early in the morning. It may not be that the students who nod off at their desks are lazy. And it may not be that their parents have failed to enforce(确保) bedtime. Instead, it may be that biologically(生物学上) these sleepyhead(瞌睡虫)students aren’t used to the early hour.
“Maybe these kids are being asked to rise at the wrong time for their bodies,” says Mary Carskadon, a professor looking at problem of adolescent (青春期的)sleep at Brown’s School of Medicine.
Carskadon is trying to understand more about the effects of early school time in adolescents. And, at a more basic level, she and her team are trying to learn more about how the biological changes of adolescence affect sleep needs and patterns(方式).
Carskadon says her work suggests that adolescents may need more sleep than they did at childhood, no less, as commonly thought.
Sleep patterns change during adolescence, as any parent of an adolescent can prove. Most adolescents prefer to stay up later at night and sleep later in the morning. But it’s not just a matter of choice---their bodies are going through a change of sleep patterns.
All of this makes the transfer(迁移)from middle school to high school---which may start one hour earlier in the morning—all the more difficult, Carskadon says. With their increased need for sleep and their biological clocks set on the “sleep late, rise late” pattern, adolescents are up against difficulties when they try to be up by 5 or 6 a.m. for a 7:30 a.m. first bell. A short sleep on a desktop may be their body’s way of saying. “I need a timeout.”Carskadon suggests that high schools should not start classes so early in the morning because
_______.
| A．it is really tough for parents to enforce bedtime |
| B．it is biologically difficult for students to rise early |
| C．students work so late at night that they can’t get up early |
| D．students are so lazy that they don’t like to go to school early |
The underlined phrase nod off most probably means _______.
| A．turn around | B．agree with others | C．fall asleep | D．refuse to work |
What might be a reason for the hard transfer from middle school to high school?
| A．Adolescents depend more on their parents. |
| B．Adolescents have to choose their sleep patterns. |
| C．Adolescents sleep better than they did at childhood. |
| D．Adolescents need more sleep than they used to. |
What is the passage mainly about?
| A．Adolescent health care. |
| B．Problems in adolescent learning. |
| C．Adolescent sleep difficulties. |
| D．Changes in adolescent sleep needs and patterns. |
Once there was a child ready to be born. So he asked God, “They tell me you are sending me to earth tomorrow, but how am I going to live there being so small and helpless?”
God replied, “Among the many angels, I chose one for you. She will take care of you.” But the child wasn’t sure he really wanted to go. “But here I don’t do anything else but sing and smile, that’s enough for me to be happy.”
“Your angel will sing for you and will also smile for you every day. And you will feel your angel’s love and be happy.”
“And how am I going to be able to understand when people talk to me, ”the child continued,”if I don’t know the language that men talk? ”
God patted (轻怕)him on the head and said, “Your angel will tell you the most beautiful and sweet words you will ever hear.Your angel will teach you how to speak. ”
“And what am I going to do when I want to talk to you?”
But God had an answer for that question too. “Your angel will place your hands together and will teach you how to pray(祈祷). ”
“I’ve heard that on earth there are bad men,who will protect me? ”
“Your angel will defend(保卫)you even if it means risking her life! ”
“But I will always be sad because I will not see you any more, ”the child continued warily.
God smiled on the young one. “Your angel will always talk to you about me and will teach you how to come back to me, even though I will always be with you.”
At that moment there was much peace in Heaven, but voices from earth could already be heard. The child knew he had to start on his journey very soon. He asked God one more question, softly, “God, please tell me my angel’s name.”
God answered, “Your angel’s name is not hard to remember. You will simply call her _______.”Which of the following can best replace the underlined word “warily”?
| A．angrily | B．proudly | C．carefully | D．happily |
Which is the suitable word for the blank in the last paragraph?
| A．Daddy | B．Grandpa | C．Mommy | D．Grandma |
The child asked God questions in the order of ________.
a. Who will protect me?
b. How can I understand what people talked about?
c. How can I live there being small and helpless？
d. What shall I do when I want to talk to you?
e. What’s my angel’s name?
| A．c, d, b, e, a | B．d, a, e, c, b | C．b, d, c, a, e | D．c, b, d, a, e |
Every day we use money to buy what we want. But have you ever really noticed the bill (钞票) in your hand? There are different pictures on both sides of banknotes (纸币) and interesting stories behind them.
Most banknotes have famous people on the front, such as a country’s leader or a great scientist, while on the back of the paper note there are usually some well-known scenes or national buildings.
The latest editions of Chinese banknotes use the picture of Mao Zedong, founding father of the People’s Republic of China, on the front of all yuan bills. However, the backs of the bills are different. The Great Hall of the People, on the 100-yuan note, is a landmark (地标) in Beijing. Important meetings are always held there. The Lijiang River in Guilin, on the 20-yuan note, is one of the most beautiful scenes in the world.
The US 1-dollar bill has the first president, George Washington, on the front side. A 13-level pyramid is on the back. Benjamin Franklin, a great scientist and politician (政治家) from the US, appears on the front of the 100-dollar bill. You can see the White House, where the presidents live, on the back of the 20-dollar bill.According to Paragraph 2, which one probably appears on the back of the banknotes?
| A．Abraham Lincoln. | B．Elizabeth II. |
| C．Taishan Mountain. | D．Titanic. |
The Lijiang River of Guilin is __________.
| A．on the back of 20-yuan note | B．on the front of 20-yuan note |
| C．on the front of 100-yuan note | D．on the back of 100-yuan note |
On the front of the 100-dollar bill, we can see __________.
| A．George Washington | B．Benjamin Franklin |
| C．a 13-level pyramid | D．the White House |
| Country |
Soviet Union |
The USA |
China |
| Date |
12 April, 1961 |
5 May, 1961 |
15 October, 2003 |
| Astronaut |
Yuri Gagarin |
Alan Shepherd |
Yang Liwei |
| Age |
27 |
38 |
38 |
| Spaceship |
Vostok 1 |
Mercury 3 |
Shenzhou 5 |
| Time |
1 hour 48 minutes |
15 minutes |
21 hours |
| Height |
327 kilometers |
185 kilometers |
343 kilometers |
| Circles around the Earth |
1 |
0 |
14 |
The form above shows us________.
| A．three journeys into space |
| B．daily life of three famous people |
| C．differences between three spaceships |
| D．something about three famous astronauts |
________went into space first.
| A．China | B．The USA | C．Soviet Union | D．The UK |
The Chinese astronaut stayed in space for________.
| A．1 hour 48 minutes | B．only 15 minutes |
| C．the shortest time | D．the longest time |
Life comes in a package. This package includes happiness and sadness, failure and success, hope and despair. Life is a learning process. Experiences in life teach us new lessons and make us a better person. With each passing day we learn to deal with various situations.
Love plays a main role in our life. Love makes you feel wanted. Without love a person could become cruel. In the early stage of our life, our parents are the ones who show us with love and care. They teach us about what is right and wrong, good and bad. But we don’t always care about it. It is only after marriage and having kids that a person understands others’ feelings.
Happiness can bring people a peaceful mind. No mind is happy without peace. Sadness is the cause of the death of a loved one or the failure. But all of these things will pass away.
Failure is the path to success. It helps us to touch the sky, teaches us to survive and shows us a specific way. Success brings in money, pride and self-respect.
Hope is what keeps life going. Parents always hope their children will do well. Hope makes us dream. Hope builds in patience. Life teaches us not to despair even in the darkest hour, because after every night there is a day.
Life teaches us not to regret over yesterday, for it has passed and is out of our control. Tomorrow is unknown, for it could either be bright or dark. So the only choice is to work hard today, so that we will enjoy a better tomorrow.We usually have to accept _______ if we want to be successful.
| A．love | B．failure | C．sadness | D．hope |
In which section can readers probably read the passage?
| A．Business. | B．Travel. | C．Lifestyles. | D．Education. |
What does the word “despair” mean in Chinese?
| A．颓废 | B．遗憾 | C．悲伤 | D．绝望 |
What’s the meaning of the last sentence of the whole passage?
| A．When choosing between “today” and “tomorrow”, you’d better enjoy tomorrow. |
| B．If you work hard today, you’ll have a better life in the future. |
| C．What you can only choose is to work hard today rather than tomorrow. |
| D．The only choice you make is that you should enjoy a better tomorrow. |
What’s the purpose of the passage?
| A．To encourage people to love each other. |
| B．To tell people how to deal with happiness and sadness. |
| C．To give readers some information about life. |
| D．To remind people to keep having a beautiful dream. |