In the cold, dark waters of the Antarctic hides a creature with eight arms, two super long tentacles（触须）and eyes as big as dinner plates. Sound like something out of a science fiction movie? This sea monster is the real deal.
On February 21, New Zealand fishermen landed a colossal squid the length of a school bus. They had been fishing with long lines for Chilean sea bass in the waters off the coast of New Zealand when they caught the rare squid. With two hours of hard work, the crew skillfully pulled the creature into a net and dragged in aboard their ship.
Scientists estimate(估计) that the animal weighs about a half ton and is about 40 feet long. That would make this colossal squid the biggest on record.
First identified in 1925 after two tentacles were found in a whale’s stomach, the colossal squid has long been a mystery. The animals are not easy to observe because they can go down to ocean depths of 6,500 feet. What scientists do know from studying the bodies of a half dozen colossal squids is that they are fierce hunters. So the recently discovered huge squid has been frozen in order to keep it for scientific study.
It will be transported to New Zealand’s national museum in the capital city of Wellington. Experts believe it to be the first adult male ever caught undamaged. “Scientists will be very interested in this amazing creature,”said New Zealand Fisheries Minister Jim Anderson. “It adds immeasurably to our understanding of the marine(海洋的) environment Why did the fishermen catch the squid?
| A．Because the squid could help them catch Chilean sea bass |
| B．Because the squid is of world-record-breaking size |
| C．They found the squid by accident and caught it |
| D．They caught the squid for scientific research |
According to Paragraph 4 the huge squid may be ___.
| A．hard identified |
| B．easily frightened |
| C．sheep-like |
| D．aggressive |
Which of the following statement is TRUE according to the text?
| A．Scientists had known much about the huge squid’s diet and behavior |
| B．The recently discovered squid will be exhibited around New Zealand |
| C．The recently discovered squid is the first male squid ever caught |
| D．Research on the squid will help us understand the marine environment better |
The best title for the text would be ___.
| A．Science Fiction and the Real |
| B．Fishermen and the Monster |
| C．Huge Squid Caught |
| D．New Research |
The price of coffee beans hits a 12 – year high today. I thought there might
be some kind of coffee – market story, like we saw with cocoa earlier this summer.
But the main driver of coffee prices right now is simpler: Colombia has had
a few years of weak coffee harvests because of too much rain, which has reduced
the global supply. And coffee drinkers keep buying coffee, even as prices rise, in
other words, demand is unchanged.
The higher price of beans – up about 40 percent since March – means higher prices for the coffee you buy by the pound. But it probably won’t affect the coffee you buy by the cup.
Smuckers, which sells Folgers and Millstone coffees, recently said it was raising its prices because of the higher cost of beans. Starbucks, however, said it would absorb the higher cost of beans without raising prices.
“You see it much more in the grocery store because the raw materials are a big factor of cost,” Jose Sette of the International Coffee Organization told me. “In a coffee shop, your big expenses are rent and labor.”
While real – world supply and demand is the big driver of the price of beans, there may be some speculative action in coffee business in the future.
But futures (期货) of the high – grade Arabica beans are traded in the US, where regulations prevent speculators (投机商) from controlling the market, hoping such things won’t happen just as in London summer market. That suggests that prices should fall when supply improves – which may happen next year.
Some experts say that farmers in third world countries won’t actually benefit from higher prices in this case. When the price difference is due to supply and demand, the profit of the seller usually doesn’t go up.Which of the following is the best title for the passage?
| A．Why coffee is getting more expensive? |
| B．How farmer benefits from the high price? |
| C．Whether the US will control the coffee market? |
| D．What has caused the reduction of coffee? |
From the second paragraph we can infer that _______________________.
| A．Colombia is the coffee trading center of the world |
| B．Colombia coffee output contains a final share of the world |
| C．People need more and more coffee |
| D．Coffee sales will be getting less and less |
In this summer’s coffee bean market, ____________________________.
| A．the US made more rules about coffee prices |
| B．speculators once held the coffee bean market in London |
| C．coffee bean trading was seriously disorganized |
| D．coffee bean prices were very low in the US |
Which of the following is TRUE according to the text?
| A．The price difference determines the profit of the seller. |
| B．Smuckers is a famous coffee manufacturer. |
| C．Real – world supply and demand decides the prices. |
| D．Coffee prices will become much higher next year. |
When most people think of giant pandas, the pictures of the cute, black-and-white bears from China that eat bamboo will immediately jump into their mind. Scientists from Mississippi State University, however, are interested in what they leave behind: their poop(排泄物). At a recent meeting in Denver, Professor Brown at the university presented her research showing how panda poop could inspire a new way to obtain energy from plants, which are a renewable energy source. Usually, plants can be called biomass(有机燃料) when they are used as an energy source.
Burning biomass is one way to capture its energy, but Brown hopes panda poop can teach scientists something about breaking down biomass. Pandas—or at least the bacteria in their stomachs—are very good at getting energy out of bamboo. Unlike cows, which use 4 stomachs to digest large amounts of grass, a panda has only one stomach. Bamboo comes in, and poop goes out.
Every day for 14 months, Brown and her team on this project, counted the bacteria in the poop of the two pandas, YaYa and LeLe living at the Memphis Zoo. Her studies turned up 12 species of bacteria that break down biomass, including one that had never been found in pandas. Brown says that because the poop contains bacteria that break down biomass, it could also be used to break down other types of biomass.
Now the scientists hope to identify the chemicals that help with the process of breaking down biomass and then figure out how the bacteria work. If those chemicals can be made in the lab, they could be used to turn biomass—like grass or other plants—into fuel.
Brown says she doesn’t mind handling panda poop. “It’s probably the most pleasant material to work with,” she says, “My colleagues and I have been working with other poop for a long time, and we can assure you it has a fairly pleasant smell associated with it.”The importance of studying panda poop is _______.
| A．to create a renewable energy from plants |
| B．to explore a new way to get energy from plants |
| C．to learn a lesson of energy from panda poop |
| D．to figure out how the bacteria work for us mankind |
The process of the panda poop project can be described as ______.
| a. Identify the chemicals helpful to break down biomass. b. Find the bacteria in panda poop which break down bamboo. c. Reproduce the chemicals in the lab to turn biomass into energy. d. Analyze how the bacteria in panda poop work in panda’s stomach. |
A. a, b, d, c B. a, d, c, b C. b, a, d, c D. b, d, a, cWhat does the author mainly want to express in the 2nd paragraph?
| A．Pandas don’t digest bamboo the same way as cows. |
| B．Pandas are capable of getting energy using stomachs. |
| C．Pandas can get energy from bamboo more efficiently. |
| D．Scientists have learnt something new from panda poop. |
What does Professor Brown think of working with panda poop?
| A．Sick | B．Challenging | C．Inspiring | D．Enjoyable |
I fell in love with music from a young age and often sat down making a few songs of my own．What would life be like, I wondered, without a beautiful song? In 1992, I made two love songs to my darling wife and watched tears run down her face as I sang．"Sam," she said earnestly, "Your songs should be heard by more people."
She got my ballads and started bothering various media people about me, her singing barber husband．Two radio stations took an interest and played the songs．After the programme was aired, I became known in our community as the Singing Barber．
The biggest surprise, however, was still to come．I received a call from a music promoter who offered me a long-term recording contract．He explained that he would be investing a lot of money to market my songs．I needed to be wholly focused on selling my records all over Australia．
But I hesitated．
My friends all told me to go for it．And Mary also thought I should do．"Go, Sam．I'll manage with the family．．．it'll be OK．"
I watched my daughter and son playing in the backyard．Soon they would both be in high school．．．and where would I be? I was so used to my family turning to me for love and support．If I were to start a singing career, I would not only miss them terribly, I'd also certainly miss out on watching them grow up．Signing this contract would put a huge gap between my family and me．．．and I couldn't bear it．My family was my life．So I refused the music promoter's offer．I'm still making music, I'm rich in love and I have no regrets．When the author was offered the contract, most of his friends _____．
| A．envied him | B．laughed at him | C．encouraged him | D．didn't believe him |
Why did the author give up the contract?
| A．Because his wife was strongly against it． |
| B．Because the pay was not attractive enough． |
| C．Because he wanted to care about his two kids． |
| D．Because he didn't want his family life damaged． |
According to the passage, we can infer the author _____．
| A．used to be a country singer |
| B．preferred his present life |
| C．went on the road to fame |
| D．regretted giving up his contract |
What does the author mainly intend to tell us?
| A．One should know himself． |
| B．Interest is the best teacher． |
| C．Family should come first． |
| D．Every dog has its day． |
All Eskimos live most of their lives close to sea or fresh water. They may follow game inland for several hundred miles, but they always return to the shores of rivers, lakes, or seas. Eskimo land has a bare look. Large rocks, pebbles, and sand cover much of the surface. Plants called lichen (地衣) grow on the rocks, and where there is enough soil, grass, flowers, and even small bushes manage to live. No trees can grow on Eskimo land, so geographers sometimes call it the Arctic plains. There are some animals in Eskimo land, such as rabbits, which eat the plants. Other animals, like the white fox and the gray wolf, eat the rabbits. The Eskimo is a meat-eater, too, and may even eat a wolf when food is scarce.
The Eskimo year has two main parts: a long, cold winter and a short, cool summer. Spring and fall are almost too short to be noticed. Summer is the best time, as food is usually plentiful. But it is also the time when Eskimos are very busy. Winter is never far away, and the men must bring home extra meat for the women to prepare and store, for seldom can enough animals be killed in winter to feed a family.
The Far North is sometimes called the land of the midnight sun. This is true in the middle of summer, for between April 21st and August 21st the sun never sets in Northern Greenland. But in midwinter the Far North is a land with no sunshine at all. Around Oct. 21st the Eskimos of Northern Greenland see the sun set directly south of them, and they don’t see it again until February 22nd. All places on earth get about the same amount of daylight during a year. As a result, if summer is lighter, winter has to be darker.
Winter nights in the Far North are seldom pitch-black. As in the rest of the world, the stars and moon provide a little light. The northern lights also help the Eskimo to see. And with the ground covered with snow, even a little light is reflected back to the Eskimo’s eyes. Which of the following statements is NOT true?
| A．Eskimos do not usually eat wolves. |
| B．Eskimos like to chase one another. |
| C．Eskimos depend heavily on water. |
| D．Eskimos are meat-eaters. |
What’s the meaning of the underlined words “pitch-black” in Paragraph 4?
| A．Dark with a little light. |
| B．A little dark. |
| C．Not dark at all. |
| D．Extremely dark. |
From the passage, we can infer all of the following EXCEPT that_______.
| A．Eskimos are more likely to eat wolves in summer |
| B．Eskimo women are responsible for housework |
| C．meat is the main source of food for the Eskimo |
| D．hunting is an important part of Eskimo life |
Have you ever heard of blogs (博客)? If you haven’t, you should have. It’s here, it’s growing and it’s having an influence on our life. Surf the Internet and you’ll find blogs everywhere. A blog, shortened from “weblog”, is a public Internet journal written by one person or a group of people. It is a website in which a person or a group can place news, personal thoughts, text, photos, video or audio files, or links upon which visitors can comment. A blog lets you post on the Internet without having to know web design or be technical. You are given an environment to make dated entries on the topic of your choice which are “published”, so other people can read them.
Authoring a blog, maintaining a blog or adding an article to an existing blog is called “blogging”. Blogging has revolutionized Internet publishing in the last several years because it gives everyone with Internet access the opportunity to become an online writer. Objects, such as “text and photos” in a blog can be called “blog posts”, “posts”, or “entries”. The person who posts these entries is called a “blogger”.
Now, somewhere around the world, a blog is created almost every 6 seconds. Because it’s great potential, Bill Gates views it as important as e-mail, BBS, and MSN. He’s trying to make blogs the important tools for future business communications.A blog is __________ .
| A．a comment | B．an Internet journal | C．a design | D．a link |
A person can do the following things in a blog EXCEPT _______.
| A．talk to others | B．give comments | C．read articles | D．enjoy photos |
Who is a blogger?
| A．A person who posts letters. |
| B．A person who writes articles. |
| C．A person who posts text or photos in a blog. |
| D．A person who is an online publisher. |
From the passage we know that _________. .
| A．Bill Gates will invent some tools for blogs |
| B．blogs will be an important business communication tool in the future |
| C．so far, only a few persons have created blogs |
| D．blogs will replace e-mail, BBS and MSN in the future |