The dodo was a ground nesting(筑巢), flightless bird. An adult dodo could grow to a height of about a meter and weigh between 45-50 pounds. The natural habitat of this kind of bird lay in the forest of Mauritius.
Seed(种子) and fruits that were found in the forest were the main food of the dodo birds. As they could easily get the food they required in the forest, they didn’t need to fly. As time went by, they finally lost the ability to fly. It turned out to be a major disadvantage for dodos, as they were left with no ability to protect themselves against human beings’ attacks in their natural habitat, which drove this kind of bird to extinction(灭绝).
The extinction of the dodo started in 1505, when Portuguese sailors set their foot on the Island of Mauritius. Before this, the dodo didn’t face any danger. People began to hunt them. It was not long before animals, like cats, pigs and monkeys, were also introduced to the island by humans. When ships arrived, the rats on these ships came onto the land. Though these animals were not able to attack huge dodos, it was easy for them to attack dodos’ nests on the ground. These animals continued to feed on dodo eggs.
The dodo became a relatively(相对地) rare bird in Mauritius at the beginning of the 17th century, and became extinct in the end. The last reported sighting of a dodo was in 1681. Why did the dodo lose its ability to fly?
| A．Because it liked walking on the ground. |
| B．Because it had no enemies in the forest. |
| C．Because it was too big to fly. |
| D．Because it didn’t need to fly to look for food. |
What can we learn from the last two paragraphs?
| A．Humans hunted for dodos for money . |
| B．Dodos’ nesting places were attacked by human beings. |
| C．The dodo became extinct because of human activity. |
| D．Other animals on the island lived mainly on dodos’ meat. |
What does the passage mainly talk about?
| A．The extinction of the dodo. |
| B．The appearance of the dodo. |
| C．The actions taken to protect the dodo. |
| D．The punishment for hunting the dodo. |
Last week Lu visited England. He stayed with my grandmother. He found it was strange.
‘I don’t know why， but I frightened your grandmother a lot. When I arrived， I gave her a purse from Dongtai. She looked in it and asked me to take it back. Then I saw a red spider (蜘蛛) on the table， and I killed it for her. She seemed very unhappy. Do English people like spiders?
‘Later we went shopping. Someone was painting a shop front， so there was a ladder. Grandmother stopped me from walking under it and said I must walk around it. I liked the shops and bought some lovely rose soap for my mother， a smart umbrella for my father and some new shoes for myself. When we got back， I put the shoes on the table and opened the umbrella to check if it was all right. Your grandmother came in and screamed!
‘Then I broke a small mirror in the bathroom. Your grandmother’s face went white. I felt very sorry. When I left， I gave your grandmother some flowers. She counted and there were 13. She didn’t like them.’
I explained to Lu， ‘My grandmother follows the old customs. You must not give someone an empty purse， or they will have no money. You must not kill a “money spider”， or the same will happen. Also it is very unlucky to walk under a ladder or put new shoes on the table. An open umbrella in a house means someone will die. Breaking a mirror brings seven years’ bad luck， and 13 is also a very unlucky number. You were really making my grandmother very afraid.’ What did the writer’s grandmother feel when she saw the umbrella?
| A．Excited. | B．Satisfied. |
| C．Afraid. | D．Happy. |
Which of the following is NOT true according to the passage?
| A．Thirteen is an unlucky number in England. |
| B．It is very unlucky to walk under a ladder or put new shoes on the table in England. |
| C．For most British people， breaking a mirror means bad luck. |
| D．People never give purses as presents in England. |
How many wrong things did Lu do altogether?
| A．5. | B．6. | C．8. | D．10. |
Plants are very important for living things. Life could not go on if there were no plants. This is be-cause plants can make food from air， water and sunlight. Animals and man cannot make food from air， water and sunlight. Animals get their food by eating plants and other animals. Therefore animals and man need plants in order to live. This is why we find that there are so many plants around us.
If you look carefully at the plants around you， you will find that there are two kinds of plants： flowering plants and non-flowering plants.
Flowering plants can make seeds（种子）.The seeds are protected by the fruits. Some fruits have one seed， some have two， three or four， and some have many seeds. But a few fruits have no seeds at all. An example of a fruit without seeds is the banana fruit.
Most non-flowering plants do not grow from seeds. They grow from spores（孢子）．Spores are very， very small. Some spores are so small and light that they can float in the air. We may say that spores are quite the same as seeds. When these spores fall on wet and shady places， they usually grow into new plants.What fact does the passage lead you to believe?
| A．Of all living things， animals are most important. |
| B．Spores are seeds. |
| C．All fruits of flowering plants have seeds. |
| D．Without plants， man will die out. |
The paragraph following the passage will be about_______.
| A．how plants can make food from air |
| B．how spores grow into new plants |
| C．why some plants have no seeds |
| D．why non-flowering plants are more important than flowering plants |
This passage is most likely to be taken from_______.
| A．a story book |
| B．a novel |
| C．a science magazine |
| D．a laboratory report |
Sometimes， people are not clear about what kind of food is healthy， and what kind of food may do harm to our health. The USDA has prepared a food guide to help people learn about which kind of food is the healthiest to eat. The food guide describes six main food groups: meat (like fish and chicken)， dairy (like milk and cheese)， grains (like bread and rice) ， fruit， and vegetables. The last group is fats and sweets. The USDA also suggests how much of each food group is healthy to eat daily. Though this guide was prepared by the US government， it is very useful for people all over the world.
As a result of years of study， we know that too much animal fat is bad for our health. For example， Americans eat a lot of meat and only a small amount of grains， fruit and vegetables. Because of the way they eat， they have a high rate (率) of cancer and heart disease. In Japan， people eat large amounts of grains and very little meat. The Japanese also have a very low rate of cancer and heart disease. The Japanese live longer than anyone else in the world. However， when Japanese people move to the US， the rate of heart disease and cancer goes up as their eating habit changes. And as hamburgers， ice creams and other high-fat foods become popular in Japan， the rate of heart disease and cancer is going up there as well. People are also eating more meat and dairy food in other countries， in which the disease rate is going up along with the change of the way people eat. Doctors everywhere suggest people eat more grains， fruit and vegetables and less meat and dairy food.
Eating healthily is important for children as well as their parents. When parents have poor eating habits， their children usually do， too. After all， children eat ‘ the same way as their parents. When parents eat healthy food， the children will learn to enjoy it， too. Then they will develop good eating habits. Doctors suggest parents give their children healthier food such as fruit， vegetables and juice.
Everyone wants to live a long， healthy life. We know that the food we eat affects us in different ways. For example， doctors believe that fruit and vegetables can really protect people from many different diseases. On the other hand， animal fat can cause diseases. We can change our eating habits now and enjoy many years of healthy living.What is the USDA in the passage?
| A．A group of doctors in the US. |
| B．An office of the US government. |
| C．A report on diseases in the US. |
| D．An order given by the US president. |
The second paragraph mainly tells us that__________.
| A．Japanese are always healthier than Americans |
| B．living in the US is not good for people’s health |
| C．if you eat too much fat you will have cancer |
| D．the way we eat may cause some health problems |
Which of the following is true according to the passage?
| A．More and more people have good eating habits now. |
| B．Parents’ eating habits are important to their children. |
| C．Good eating habits develop only when you are young. |
| D．The more fruit and vegetables we eat， the longer we will live. |
The greatest help the passage gives us is__________.
| A．to introduce a food guide to the world |
| B．to provide us with knowledge of six food groups |
| C．to suggest a way of eating for a healthy life |
| D．to find the main cause of some serious diseases |
Although I had left school against the advice of my teacher， I had， without telling anyone， tried to continue my studies in literature at evening classes. It was a tiresome walk from one end of the city to another and to sit among adults was uninteresting. I was the youngest in the class， so the friendship I knew at school was absent， I put up with it for a short period. It was too long a walk on cold winter’s nights and it was hard to put my heart into Shakespeare with wet shoes and trousers. So I continued reading books and started writing poetry at home.
By chance， I won some prizes and rewards for literature. A young woman from a TV company came to the college one day. She wanted to make a short film about me， to which I said， “No， I couldn’t do that.” Not that I had any real excuse， I was just frightened. In the end she persuaded me that I should do it the following day.
So I did. They made a short film of me reading one of my poems and I became more interested in literature than ever. I wondered what I should do after this， and decided some weeks later that I could not imagine myself spending the rest of my days dealing with machines. So one evening， I hesitatingly（支吾其词地） told my parents that I wanted to return to school. They wanted to know if I was sure， if I knew what it meant and whether I realized that if I gave up my job training， it would be very difficult to get a good job. But nothing could stop me， and they asked about the matter on future.Which of the following has most probably been discussed in the paragraphs above this text?
| A．The writer’s unhappy childhood. |
| B．The poor teaching quality of the writer’s school. |
| C．The writer’s leaving school against his teacher’s advice. |
| D．Whether it was worth leaving school for job training. |
The writer did NOT feel comfortable at the evening school because __________.
| A．he found it difficult to make friends with his classmates |
| B．he had to walk a long distance to the evening school |
| C．he could not put his heart into reading books after he was caught in the rain |
| D．all of the above |
After his success， he __________.
| A．decided to get a good job |
| B．decided to continue his studies in literature at the evening school |
| C．decided to return to the school he once left |
| D．began to feel very important and proud |
“Colour” and “color”， “favourite” and “favorite”… Have you ever wondered why Americans spell those words without a “u”? Is it because they are lazy?
Of course not. In fact， the difference in spelling was created by Noah Webster(1758-1843). He is a teacher who reformed English to make American identity stronger. Linguists（语言学家） celebrated his 250th birthday on October 16. After the Revolutionary War（1775-1783）， Webster believed that Americans should have their own dictionary， rather than rely on British versions. He dropped the British “u” in some words. And he changed “centre” into “center” for children to learn English by spelling words more like they sounded.
Webster wasn’t shy about expressing his opinions. In defining preposterous (unreasonable)， he wrote， “A republican government in the hands of females is preposterous.”
Webster spent 28 years on the project before completing the 70，000-word dictionary in 1828 with his American-style spellings. He also added local words. His dictionary was widely used in schools. Linguists believed it helped a new nation achieve unity and cultural independence at a time when most were focused on political freedom.
“He was the shaper of our language and the shaper of American identity，” said Joshua Kendall， who is working on a biography(传记) about Webster. “He at last bonded（联合） us through our language.” According to the passage， when he worked on his dictionary， Noah Webster did all of the following EXCEPT__________.
| A．dropping “u” in all the British words. |
| B．changing “centre” into “center” |
| C．adding local words |
| D．voicing his opinion |
Why did Noah Webster create these differences in his dictionary?
| A．Because he wanted to make English simple and easy. |
| B．Because he wanted American English to have its own characteristics. |
| C．Because he wanted to show that the USA is stronger than the UK. |
| D．Because he wanted to achieve political freedom. |
Which of the following would probably be the best title for the passage?
| A．Webster’s Dictionary. |
| B．American Identity |
| C．The Shaper of American English |
| D．Spelling Differences Between American and British English. |