Many countries follow special customs when a child’s baby teeth fall out. Many of these customs tell stories about animals taking the teeth.
For example, Koreans have the custom of throwing the fallen tooth onto the roof of a house so that a magpie (喜鹊) can take the tooth away and bring a new tooth for the child. This custom is also followed by some other Asian countries, such as Japan and Vietnam.
Other countries, though, have tooth customs about other animals. In Mexico and Spain, for example, it is thought that a mouse takes a fallen tooth away and leaves some money. But in Mongolia, it is dogs that take children’s teeth away. Dogs are highly respected in Mongolian culture. It is believed that the new tooth will grow strong if the baby tooth is fed to a dog, so parents in Mongolia will put their children’s fallen teeth in a piece of meat and feed it to a dog.
In France and the USA, a child will put a fallen tooth under his or her pillow before going to bed. It is thought that in the early morning, when the child is still sleeping, the Tooth Fairy will take the tooth away and leave something else under the pillow. What she will leave is hard to know. It is said that in France the Tooth Fairy may leave some candies; however, in the United States, she may leave money.
| A．get money | B．feed magpies |
| C．get candies | D．get a new tooth |
| A．throw it onto the roof of a house |
| B．feed it to a mouse |
| C．put it in a piece of meat and feed the meat to a dog |
| D．leave it to the Tooth Fairy |
| A．a child will put his or her fallen tooth beside the pillow |
| B．the Tooth Fairy takes the fallen teeth away at midnight |
| C．the Tooth Fairy will leave some candies to the children after taking the fallen teeth away |
| D．no one knows for sure what the Tooth Fairy will leave to the children after taking the fallen teeth away |
| A．customs about fallen teeth in western countries |
| B．customs about fallen teeth in different countries |
| C．stories about human teeth |
| D．stories about some animals |
Everybody is happy as his pay rises. Yet pleasure of your own can disappear if you learn that a fellow worker has been given a bigger one. Indeed, if he is known as being lazy, you might even be quite cross. Such behavior is regarded as “all too human”, with the underlying belief that other animals would not be able to have this finely developed sense of sadness. But a study by Sarah Brosnan of Emory University in Atlanta, Georgia, which has just been published in Nature, suggests that it is all too monkey, as well.
The researchers studied the behaviors of some kind of female brown monkeys. They look smart. They are good-natured, co-operative creatures, and they share their food happily. Above all, like female human beings, they tend to pay much closer attention to the value of “goods and services” than males.
Such characteristics make them perfect subjects for Doctor Brosnan’s study. The researchers spent two years teaching their monkeys to exchange tokens (奖券) for food. Normally, the monkeys were happy enough to exchange pieces of rock for pieces of cucumber. However, when two monkeys were placed in separate and connected rooms so that each could observe what the other is getting in return for its rock, they became quite different.
In the world of monkeys, grapes are excellent goods (and much preferable to cucumbers). So when one monkey was handed a grape in exchange for her token, the second was not willing to hand hers over for a mere piece of cucumber. And if one received a grape without having to provide her token in exchange at all, the other either shook her own token at the researcher, or refused to accept the cucumber. Indeed, the mere presence of a grape in the other room (without an actual monkey to eat it) was enough to bring about dissatisfaction in a female monkey.
The researches suggest that these monkeys, like humans, are guided by social senses. In the wild, they are co-operative and group-living. Such co-operation is likely to be firm only when each animal feels it is not being cheated. Feelings of anger when unfairly treated, it seems, are not the nature of human beings alone. Refusing a smaller reward completely makes these feelings clear to other animals of the group. However, whether such a sense of fairness developed independently in monkeys and humans, or whether it comes from the common roots that they had 35 million years ago, is, as yet, an unanswered question.The underlined statement “it is all too monkey” means that ____________.
| A．monkeys are also angry with lazy fellows |
| B．feeling bitter at unfairness is also monkey’s nature |
| C．monkeys, like humans, tend to be envious of each other |
| D．no animals other than monkeys can develop such feelings |
It can be learned from the passage that ____________.
| A．only monkeys and humans can have the sense of fairness in the world |
| B．women will show more dissatisfaction than men when unfairly treated |
| C．in the wild, monkeys are unhappy to share their food with each other |
| D．monkeys can exchange cucumbers for grapes, for grapes are more attractive |
Which of the following conclusions is true according to the passage?
| A．Human beings’ feelings of anger developed from the monkeys. |
| B．In the research, male monkeys are less likely to exchange food with others. |
| C．Co-operation between monkeys stays firm before the realization of being cheated. |
| D．The sense of fairness among monkeys probably dates back to 35 million years ago. |
What do we know about the monkeys in Sarah’s study?
| A．The monkeys can be trained to develop social senses. |
| B．They usually show their feelings openly as humans do. |
| C．The monkeys may show their satisfaction with equal treatment. |
| D．Co-operation among the monkeys remains more effective in the wild. |
A man may usually be known by the books he reads as well as by the company he keeps; for there is a companionship of books as well as of men; and one should always live in the best company, whether it be of books or of men.
A good book may be among the best of friends. It is the same today that it always was, and it will never change. It is the most patient and cheerful of companions. It does not turn its back upon us in times of adversity or distress. It always receives us with the same kindness; amusing and instructing us in youth, and comforting and consoling us in age.
Men often discover their affinity(亲密) to each other by the mutual love they have for a book just as two persons sometimes discover a friend by the admiration which both entertain for a third. There is an old proverb, ‘Love me, love my dog.” But there is more wisdom in this:” Love me, love my book.” The book is a truer and higher bond of union. Men can think, feel, and sympathize with each other through their favorite author. They live in him together, and he in them.
A good book is often the best urn（瓮）of a life enshrining the best that life could think out; for the world of a man’s life is, for the most part, the world of his thoughts. Thus the best books are treasuries of good words, the golden thoughts, which, remembered and cherished, become our constant companions and comforters.
Books possess an essence of immortality. They are by far the most lasting products of human effort. Temples and statues decay, but books survive. Time is of no account with great thoughts, which are as fresh today as when they first passed through their author’s minds, ages ago. What was then said and thought still speaks to us as vividly as ever from the printed page. The only effect of time have been to sift(筛) out the bad products; for nothing in literature can long survive but what is really good.
Books introduce us into the best society; they bring us into the presence of the greatest minds that have ever lived. We hear what they said and did; we see them as if they were really alive; we sympathize with them, enjoy with them, grieve with them; their experience becomes ours, and we feel as if we were, in a measure, actors with them in the scenes which they describe.
The great and good do not die, even in this world. Embalmed（加以防腐处理） in books, their spirits walk abroad. The book is a living voice. It is an intellect to which one still listens.What’s the meaning of the underlined word “immortality”?
| A．difficult to find | B．last for a long time |
| C．very important | D．hard to destroy |
How do we get close to the greatest minds through reading?
| A．by talking to them about what we thought |
| B．by experiencing what they have gone through in life |
| C．by sharing their feeling and reading their minds |
| D．by acting with them on the stage |
What is the best title of this text?
| A．Companionship of books | B．Life without books |
| C．Unforgettable books | D．Sorting out books |
This passage is mainly developed by __________.
| A．analyzing causes |
| B．making comparisons |
| C．examining differences |
| D．following the order of importance |
Jenny was a bright-eyed, pretty five-year-old girl.
One day when she and her mother were checking out at the grocery store, Jenny saw a plastic pearl(珍珠) necklace priced at $2.50. How she wanted that necklace, and when she asked her mother if she would buy it for her, her mother said, "Well, it is a pretty necklace, but it costs an awful lot of money. I'll tell you what. I'll buy you the necklace, and when we get home we can make up a list of housework that you can do to pay for the necklace. And don't forget that for your birthday Grandma just might give you a whole dollar bill, too. Okay?" Jenny agreed, and her mother bought the pearl necklace for her.
Jenny worked on her chores very hard every day, and sure enough, her grandma gave her a brand-new dollar bill for her birthday. Soon Jenny had paid off the pearls. How Jenny loved those pearls. She wore them everywhere to kindergarten, bed and when she went out with her mother to run errands（差事）.
The only time she didn't wear them was in the shower. Her mother had told her that they would turn her neck green!
Jenny had a very loving daddy. When Jenny went to bed, he would get up from his favorite chair every night and read Jenny her favorite story.
One night when he finished the story, he said, "Jenny, do you love me?"
"Oh yes, Daddy, you know I love you," the little girl said.
"Well, then, give me your pearls."
"Oh! Daddy, not my pearls!" Jenny said. "But you can have Rosy, my favorite doll. Remember her? You gave her to me last year for my birthday. And you can have her tea party outfit, too. Okay?"
"Oh no, darling, that's okay." Her father brushed her cheek with a kiss. "Good night, little one."
A week later, her father once again asked Jenny after her story, "Do you love me?"
"Oh yes, Daddy, you know I love you."
"Well, then, give me your pearls."
"Oh, Daddy, not my pearls! But you can have Ribbons, my toy horse. Do you remember her? She's my favorite. Her hair is so soft, and you can play with it and braid（编辫子）it and everything. You can have Ribbons if you want her, Daddy," the little girl said to her father.
"No, that's okay," her father said and brushed her cheek again with a kiss. "God bless you, little one. Sweet dreams."
Several days later, when Jenny's father came in to read her a story, Jenny was sitting on her bed and her lip was trembling." Here, Daddy," she said, and held out her hand. She opened it and her beloved pearl necklace was inside. She let it slip into her father's hand.
With one hand her father held the plastic pearls and the other he pulled out of his pocket a blue velvet (天鹅绒) box. Inside of the box were real, genuine, beautiful pearls. He had had them all along. He was waiting for Jenny to give up the cheap stuff so he could give her the real thing.Which statement is NOT correct?
| A．Jenny loves her father very much. |
| B．Jenny’s pearl necklace can turn green when it is wet. |
| C．Jenny has other toys she loves very much besides the necklace. |
| D．Jenny didn’t want to give up her necklace though she did so. |
The reason why little Jenny wanted to give her father doll and toy horse is that __________.
| A．they were lovely |
| B．she liked them very much |
| C．they were worth much more |
| D．she loved her necklace too much |
What does the writer mainly want to tell us through the loving story?
| A．Whatever you want, you need to earn it yourself. |
| B．Life is both disappointing and hopeful at the same time. |
| C．Your parents are always the people who would like to spoil you. |
| D．Only if you show your real deep love to others, will you get the same in return. |
Do you ever wonder why the English have one word for some animals and a different one for their meat?
Why do they use pig and pork, cow and beef, and sheep and mutton?
To find out, we have to go back to 1066, when the Norman French invaded England and put a French king on the English throne (王位), which not only changed the government but also changed the language. French became the language of the upper classes of society. And it remained that way for 300 years. Only these high society people could afford to eat meat. As a result, French words like porc（pork）and beouf （beef） came into the English language. However, poor English farmers raised the animals. So the English language retained the words pig and cow from the Native Anglo-Saxon．
The Norman French added about 10,000 French words to the English language. Seventy-five percent of them are still in use today.
According to language experts, English speakers who have never studied French may already know 15,000 French words! Between one-third and two-thirds of all English words have French origins. Some words such as “possible” and “avenue” are the same in French and English; only the pronunciations change. Other words such as “ballet” keep their French pronunciations in both languages.
In French grammar, nouns have either a male or female gender (性别), so adjectives take different forms for each. English has only one adjective that does this, and it came from French. The word “blond” describes someone with light-colored hair. “Blond” is used for men, and “blonde” describes women. And they are also nouns.
Some French words that entered the English language have completely different meanings. The French phrase “a la mode” means “in style”. In English, the phrase means “with the ice cream”. Someone must have decided something eaten with ice cream was in style!
Now, as you learn English, you’re on your way to learning French!French was once popular among the upper classes of the UK because __________.
| A．too many French moved to Britain |
| B．French brought animals with them |
| C．the king and his officials spoke French |
| D．the king allowed French to be spoken |
Why does an English speaker find French easy to learn?
| A．Because English and French share similar pronunciations． |
| B．Because English grammar and French grammar are similar． |
| C．Because a large number of English words have French origins． |
| D．Because English has great influences on the French language． |
What conclusion can we draw from the text?
| A．Language is closely related to history and culture. |
| B．French and English words have little in common. |
| C．Language is controlled by the upper classes of society. |
| D．French combines English and the Native Anglo-Saxon. |
Children start out as natural scientists, eager to look into the world around them. Helping them enjoy science can be easy; there is no need for a lot of scientific terms or expensive lab equipment. You only have to share your children’s strong desire to know about things. Firstly, listen to their questions. I once visited a classroom of seven–year-olds to talk about science as a job. The children asked me “textbook questions” about schooling, salary and whether I liked my job. When I finished answering, we sat facing one another in science. Finally I said,” Now that we’ve finished with your lists, do you have questions of your own about science?”
After a long pause, a boy raised his hand, “have you ever seen a grasshopper (蚱蜢) eat? When I try eating leaves like that, I get a stomachache. Why?”
This began a set of questions that lasted nearly two hours.
Secondly, give them time to think. Studies over the past 30 years have shown that. After asking a question, adults typically wait only one second or less for an answer, no time for a child to think. When adults increase their “wait time” to three seconds or more, children give more logical, complete and creative answers.
Thirdly, watch your language. Once you have a child involved in a science discussion, don’t jump in with “That’s right” or “very good”. These words work well when it comes to encouraging good behavior. But in talking about science, quick praise can signal that discussion is over. Instead, keep things going by saying, “That’s interesting” or “I’d never thought of it that way before”, or coming up with more questions or ideas.
Never push a child to “think”. It doesn’t make sense; children are always thinking, without your telling them to. What’s more, this can turn a conversation into a performance. The child will try to find the answer you want, in as few words as possible, so that he will be a small target for your disagreement.
Lastly, show; don’t tell. Real-life impressions of nature are far more impressive than any lesson children can learn from a book or a television program. Let children look at their fingertips through a magnifying glass, and they’ll understand why you want them to wash before dinner. Rather than saying that water evaporates(蒸发), set a pot of water to boil and let them watch the water level drop.According to the passage, children are natural scientists, and to raise their interest, the most important thing for adults to do is______.
| A．to share the children’s curiosity |
| B．to let them see the world around |
| C．to explain difficult phrases about science |
| D．to supply the children with lab equipment |
In the last sentence of the first paragraph, the word “list” could best be replaced by______.
| A．any problems | B．questions from the textbooks |
| C．any questions | D．any number of questions |
According to the passage, children can answer questions in a more logical, complete and creative way if adults______.
| A．ask them to answer quickly |
| B．wait for one or two seconds after a question |
| C．wait at least for three seconds after a question |
| D．tell them to answer the next day |
The author mentions all of the following techniques for adults to share with their children’s curiosity EXCEPT that adults should______.
| A．encourage their children to ask questions of their own |
| B．offer their children chances to see things for themselves |
| C．be patient enough when their children answer questions |
| D．tell their children stories instead of reciting (背诵) facts |