C
Life in the Clear
Transparent animals let light pass through their bodies the same way light passes through a window. These animals typically live between the surface of the ocean and a depth of about 3,300 feet—as far as most light can reach. Most of them are extremely delicate and can be damaged by a simple touch. Sonke Johnsen, a scientist in biology, says, “These animals live through their life alone. They never touch anything unless they’re eating it, or unless something is eating them.”
And they are as clear as glass. How does an animal become see-through? It’s trickier than you might think.
The objects around you are visible because they interact with light. Light typically travels in a straight line. But some materials slow and scatter(散射) light, bouncing it away from its original path. Others absorb light, stopping it dead in its tracks. Both scattering and absorption make an object look different from other objects around it, so you can see it easily.
But a transparent object doesn’t absorb or scatter light, at least not very much, Light can pass through it without bending or stopping. That means a transparent object doesn’t look very different from the surrounding air or water. You don’t see it ----you see the things behind it.
To become transparent, an animal needs to keep its body from absorbing or scattering light. Living materials can stop light because they contain pigments(色素) that absorb specific colors of light. But a transparent animal doesn’t have pigments, so its tissues won’t absorb light. According to Johnsen, avoiding absorption is actually easy. The real challenge is preventing light from scattering.
Animals are built of many different materials----skin, fat, and more----and light moves through each at a different speed. Every time light moves into a material with a new speed, it bends and scatters. Transparent animals use different tricks to fight scattering. Some animals are simply very small or extremely flat. Without much tissue to scatter light, it is easier to be see—through. Others build a large, clear mass of non-living jelly-lie(果冻状的)material and spread themselves over it .
Larger transparent animals have the biggest challenge, because they have to make all the different tissues in their bodies slow down light exactly as much as water does. They need to look uniform. But how they’re doing it is still unknown. One thing is clear for these larger animals, staying transparent is an active process. When they die, they turn a non-transparent milky white.According to Paragraph 1, transparent animals_______.
| A．stay in groups | B．can be easily damaged |
| C．appear only in deep ocean | D．are beautiful creatures |
The underlined word “dead” in Paragraph 3 means__________.
| A．silently | B．gradually |
| C．regularly | D．completely |
One way for an animal to become transparent is to ________.
| A．change the direction of light travel |
| B．gather materials to scatter light. |
| C．avoid the absorption of light |
| D．grow bigger to stop light. |
The last paragraph tells us that larger transparent animals________.
| A．move more slowly in deep water |
| B．stay see-through even after death |
| C．produce more tissues for their survival |
| D．take effective action to reduce light spreading |
On a cold evening of April our ship was sailing for Ireland. Suddenly a violent storm rose and overturned our ship. Fortunately I held a board and was washed up on an island.
It was completely dark. On reaching the island，I found a smooth place to lie down. Quite tired I slept for a long time. I woke up with a start when I was dazzled (使目眩) by glaring sunlight. How I felt hungry and thirsty！The island with its beautiful landscape at dawn appeared before my eyes.
I began to explore the island. It was an uninhabited island surrounded by trees. Yellow fruits on the trees made me feel hungry. I tasted one. How sweet and delicious it was！I ate greedily a lot then I lay down comfortably on the soft grass. Around me were fragrance (芳香) and singing of birds. There, far away, on the right, a waterfall was falling down the mountainside. I rushed toward it. In the afternoon when I was wandering around the island, I happened to find out a cave hidden behind the thick forest. It was convenient for me to turn it into a place for sleeping for the night.
Day in day out,nearly two weeks passed by. My food was mere fruit and some fish caught from the stream. Sometimes I tried to hunt some wild animals but in vain. Had I been equipped with necessary things，I would have enjoyed remaining here for food.
One morning I caught sight of a boat. I signaled and shouted loudly. I was rescued but so far I have had the memories of a fairy land which I had once happened to discover!What did the author do first after he was washed up on the island?
| A．He looked for a passing ship. |
| B．He found something to eat. |
| C．He found a place to take a rest. |
| D．He made the island clean. |
What is the RIGHT time order of the following things?
A.HE wandered around the island
B.He was dazzled by glaring sunlight
C.He ate a lot of wild fruits
D.He found the island’s landscape was beautiful
A.bdac B.cdab C.acdb D.bdcaWhat does the underlined part “an uninhabited island”in Paragraph 3 mean?
| A．An island with beautiful scenes but no fruit. |
| B．An island without humans living on it. |
| C．An island that no humans have visited. |
| D．An island with fresh air and trees. |
What does this passage specially describe?
| A．How the author overcame difficulties on the island |
| B．How the author spent the first night and the first day on the island |
| C．How the author got to the island |
| D．How the author escaped from the island |
The author wrote his experience in a ________ tone.
| A．light | B．serious | C．scared | D．sharp |
Theangelshavefinallybeenconnected together and the bows have all been carefully fixed across the branches.After three months of hard work, 16-year-old Suzy Jordan’s tree is finally appearing at the yearly Festival of Trees in honor of her best friend, Emily Austin.
“All that’s needed now is a real angel,”says Suzy,”to help 13-year-old Emily recover from a recent bone marrow transplant(骨髓移植)and finally remove the leukemia(白血病)”
“Emily is the strongest person I know.There’s always such brightness about her,”says Suzy,a student ar Orem High School.
Last year,when Emily’s cancer was in remission,she helped Suzy and other students decorate a red-and-white Christmas tree for Primary Children’s Medical Center at the Festival of Trees.
“It was so much fun for her,”says Emily’s mother, Laurie,”she’s seen the inside of the hospital more than a school since she was 5”.
But the good conditions didn’t last long.In August, Suzy learned that her friend’s leukemia returned, becoming worse.And she knew exactly what to do show her support.
“Emily was so excited about helping out with the festival tree last year that I decided to surprise her by giving away a tree of my own,”she says.
Because of being in hospital, Emily won’t be able to see the tree.”But I’m taking pictures to surprise her,”says Suzy.”I want her to know that she’ll always be an angel to me.”
Suzy’s tree has given Emily’s family hope for a miracle(奇迹).”It has given Emily hope that she has a chance to be a normal girl and do all the things other girls do,”says Laurie Austin.
Suzy’s greatest hope is that she’ll be able to give away more trees to the festival, with one big difference.”The best wish of all,”she says,”is that Emily will be there with me, putting on the decoration.” What’s the best title for this passage?
| A．A christmas tree gives hope for a miracle |
| B．Friends’ help means a lot |
| C．A Christmas tree for a hospital |
| D．The best hope of Suzy Jordan |
Suzy Jordan decorated a tree to ___.
| A．help Emily realize her dream |
| B．prepare for the Festival of Trees |
| C．show admiration for Emily Austin |
| D．call on more people to help Emily |
The underlined phrase”in remission”in Paragraph 4 probably means”___”.
| A．less serious |
| B．much worse |
| C．as bad as before |
| D．fully cured |
Which of the following statements is NOT true according to the passage?
| A．Emily probably got the leukemia eight years ago |
| B．Emily is excited and surprised to see the Christmas tree |
| C．Emily is fond of decorating Christmas trees |
| D．Emily faces her illness actively and strongly |
How to say hello in Japanese depends on when you say it. This is very much like different greetings used in English at different times of the day or night. In Japanese culture, it also depends on whether you are on the phone or meeting somebody or whether you are close to the person you are greeting. We don’t get formal with our close friends. We seldom greet them with “Good morning” or “Good evening”. A “Hi” is enough.
Although the most popular and most well-known translation for “Hello” is still “Konniqiwa”, it is not exactly how to say hello in Japanese. Perhaps it is not the most suitable word for it. Actually, the correct greeting in English for “Konniqiwa” is “Good day” or “Good noon”, and I am sure you wouldn’t like to greet people with a “Good day” at any time, and neither do Japanese like saying “Konniqiwa” when they want to say “Hello”.
So what to do? Let’s do it in the way the Japanese do. Use “Ohaiyo Gozaimasu” for “Good morning”, “Konniqiwa” when it’s noon and “Konbanwa”to greet somebody in the afternoon. Things differ when you are on the phone. Just say “Moshi, Moshi”, which is actually similar to saying “Hello” over the phone, because one hardly ever uses “Good morning” or “Good afternoon” or “Good evening” right after picking up the phone. It is invariably the sweet old “Hello”.
Next time, I’ll tell something about my life in Japan. What is the best title for this passage?
| A．How to say hello |
| B．How to greet close friend in Japanese |
| C．How to greet people in Japanese |
| D．Some differences between English and Japanese |
Japanese people greet each other by saying “___” in the afternoon.
| A．Moshi, Moshi |
| B．Konniqiwa |
| C．Ohaiyo Gozaimasu |
| D．Konbanwa |
In the writer’s opinion, ____.
| A．Japanese culture is similar to American culture |
| B．Japanese people don’t like using “Konniqiwa” as a greeting for the whole day |
| C．people don’t need to be polite to their close friends |
| D．Japanese people are very friendly to each other |
The word “invariably” in the third paragraph means “___”.
| A．Probably |
| B．Always |
| C．Sometimes |
| D．Likely |
Last year,I lived in Chile(智利) for half a year last year. I lived with a Chilean family and had to do the same things as any Chilean teenager. I had good days and bad days I didn't understand.
Chuquicamata, my host community, is a mining camp. When I arrived there,I was scared. It was so different from what I was used to. There were lots of dogs on the streets,and there was no downtown(商业区),few good streets,and little to do for fun. Rain was not seen very often, earthquakes and windstorms happened quite often.
I had studied Spanish for two and a half years and was always one of the best students in my class. But in my first week in Chile,I was not able to communicate and I needed a person to whom I could explain my shock.But I couldn't speak the thoughts in my head and there were so many. Most exchange students experience this like me.And I had to deal with all the difficulties on my own.
However, as time passé, everything changed. I began to forget words in English and started to dream in Spanish and love Chilean food. I got used to not buying expensive things for fun. Fun in Chuquicamata was being with people. I took math, physics, chemistry, biology, Spanish, art, and philosophy in school.
What I lost was nothing compared to what I acquired. I learned how to accept and to succeed in another culture. I now have a deeper understanding of both myself and others. What is this passage mainly about?
| A．People’s life in Chile |
| B．The hard life of an exchange student |
| C．The writer’s life in Chile as an exchange student |
| D．What the writer learned in Chile as an exchange student |
When the writer arrived at Chuquicamata, he/she most probably felt ___.
| A．happy |
| B．excited |
| C．sad |
| D．angry |
What does the underlined word”acquired”in the last paragraph mean?
| A．Enjoyed |
| B．Learned |
| C．Did |
| D．Picked |
According to the passage, which of the following facts about Chile is TRUE?
| A．All people there speak English |
| B．It has a lot of rain all year round. |
| C．It has a lot of earthquakes and windstorms |
| D．Its people like shopping very much |
Mr. Templat was a teacher that I will never forget. I truly believe the teen years were the hardest time of my life. At that time, as a girl, I hated it when my parents asked me directly about my problems, making me more comfortable. I also remember many times when Mr. Templat would take me aside and talk to me. He had a special way of drawing out what the problem was. Every time he talked with me, I felt better.
He had a way of making his classes enjoyable. We always got the highest marks in math in our grade with his teaching. If there was a big world ball game on the radio, we would drop everything and he would put the name on so we could all enjoy it. That’s just the way he is.
Teens often hear things on TV or from adults about world problems that can frighten them. Now it is terrorism（恐怖主义）. Back in my teen years, it was the cold war. It worried me so much that I thought each day would be my last. Mr. Templat knew how much it troubled his students. He opened the subject up to discussion. He gave us a way to express our greatest fears and helped us understand war and politics. “One can feel afraid however brave he is.” We were told.
When I think back to those special days, I appreciate that he helped me through such a difficult time in my life. To learn about the problems the writers had, Mr Templat would _________________.
| A．ask her about the problems directly |
| B．wait until she told him about them |
| C．ask her parents about the problems without letting her know |
| D．ask her about them without making her feel uncomfortable |
From the second paragraph, we learn that __________________.
| A．Mr. Templat was a very serious man |
| B．the students like Mr. Templat’s teaching very much |
| C．the students could do whatever they like in Mr. Templat’s class |
| D．the students were more interested in sports than in their studies |
What does the underlined part “the subject” in the third paragraph most probably refer to?
| A．War and politics. |
| B．World history. |
| C．Terrorism. |
| D．The cold war. |