The Cuban iguana is a species of lizard(蜥蜴) of the iguana family. It is the largest of the West Indian rock iguanas, one of the most endangered groups of lizards. This species with red eyes and a thick tail is one of the largest lizards in the Caribbean.
The Cuban iguana is primarily herbivorous; 95% of its diet consists of the leaves, flowers and fruits from as many as 30 plant species, including the seaside rock bush and various grasses. However, Cuban iguanas occasionally consume animal matter, and individuals have been observed eating the dead flesh of birds, fish and crabs. The researchers wrote that quite a few people on Isla Magueyes could have caused this incident.
The Cuban iguana is distributed throughout the rocky southern coastal areas of mainland Cuba and its surrounding islands with a wild population booming on Isla Magueyes, Puerto Rico. It is also found on the Cayman Islands of Little Cayman and Cayman Brac, where a separate subspecies occurs. Females guard their nest sites and often nest in sites half destroyed by Cuban crocodiles. To avoid the attack from them, the Cuban iguana often makes its home within or near prickly-pear cacti(仙人掌).
In general the species is in decline, more quickly on the mainland than on the outlying islands. One of the reasons for their decline is habitat destruction caused by the over consuming of farm animals, housing development, and the building of tourist resorts on the beaches where the animals prefer to build their nests. Although the wild population is in decline, the numbers of iguanas have been sharply increased as a result of captive-breeding(圈养)and other conservation programs.
The underlined word "herbivorous" (Paragraph 2) probably means .
A.dangerous | B.gentle |
C.plant-eating | D.flesh-eating |
Why does the Cuban iguana build its nest near prickly-pear cacti?
A.To keep itself cool. |
B.To get the food easily. |
C.To stay away from people. |
D.To avoid crocodiles' attack. |
How many reasons are mentioned for the habitat destruction?
A.Two. | B.Three. | C.Four. | D.Five. |
What's the author's purpose of writing the text?
A.To give us a brief introduction to the Cuban iguana. |
B.To show he is concerned about the Cuban iguana. |
C.To explain reasons for the Cuban iguana's decline. |
D.To draw people's attention to the endangered Cuban iguana. |
February has long been a month of romance. With the sweet smell of roses in the air, romantic films hit cinemas and love stories fill newspapers and magazines.
On the 14th day, it is a custom for a boy to take his girlfriend out to dinner, buy her flowers and chocolates, write poems, sing to her or even spell out her name with rose petals! This is what you see on Valentine’s Day, a day named after Valentine who was a priest in the third century Rome. When the emperor (皇帝) decided that single men could become better soldiers than those with wives, he didn’t allow marriage.
But Valentine continued to perform marriage ceremonies for young lovers in secret. When his actions were discovered, the emperor sentenced him to death. While in prison, it is said that Valentine fell in love with the daughter of his prison guard. Before his death, he wrote her a letter, which he signed “From your Valentine”, an expression that is still in use today. Valentine died for what he believed in and so he was made a Saint (圣徒), as well as becoming one of history’s most romantic characters.
Nowadays, Valentine’s Day is also popular among Chinese young people. Some students are planning to make Valentine’s cards for parents, teachers and friends. Others want to hold parties at which they will exchange small gifts and eat heart-shaped cakes. The idea is to have fun and encourage people to share in the spirit of St. Valentine. Why did the emperor in Rome not allow marriage in his country?
A.Because there were few women in his country at that time. |
B.Because he thought men without wives could be better soldiers. |
C.Because there wasn’t enough food for so many people. |
D.Because he wanted to control the birth rate. |
Valentine was put into prison because ______.
A.he killed one of the soldiers | B.he stole a lot of food |
C.he didn’t obey the emperor’s order | D.he didn’t want to be a soldier |
The last paragraph mainly tells us ______.
A.students in China send cards to their teachers |
B.it is a good idea to celebrate Valentine’s Day in China |
C.it is interesting to celebrate Valentine’s Day in China |
D.Valentine’s Day is also popular in China now |
The best title for this passage should be ______.
A.Valentine’s Day | B.A Brave Priest |
C.Valentine’s Day in China | D.A Romantic Man |
Bungee jumping is not a new activity. Men on Pentecost Island in the South Pacific have been doing land jumping for hundreds of years. The men tie long vines(藤) from plants around their ankles(踝关节). They spend days building tall towers out of vines and logs(圆木). Then they jump off them.
According to their beliefs, the first land diver was a woman. She decided to run away from her rude husband. So she climbed up a tall tree and tied some vines around her feet. Her husband also climbed up the tree and tried to catch her, but the woman jumped and the man followed. The vines saved her life, but her husband died.
This ancient custom caught the interest of some students at Oxford University in England. In the late 1970s, they formed a group called the Dangerous Sports Club. They were some of the first people to test several of what are now called extreme sports. They are said to have invented modern bungee jumping.
In the spring of 1979, members of the group jumped off the Clifton Suspension Bridge in Bristol, England. They were attached to the bridge by a bungee cord, a long elastic rope that stretches. The group soon received even more attention when they organized a bungee jump off the Golden Gate Bridge in San Francisco, California.
A man named A. J. Hackett of New Zealand decided to make the sport into a business. He started developing bungee ropes and material with a friend. They held a major jump in 1987 off the famous Eiffel Tower in Paris, France. They later got permission to open the first bungee jumping operation on the Kawarau Bridge in Queenstown, New Zealand. Many people paid 75 dollars to jump off the bridge with a bungee cord attached to their ankles.The second paragraph tries to tell us________________.
A.a story about a woman land diver |
B.the beginning of modern bungee jumping |
C.the beginning of land jumping on Pentecost Island |
D.a story about a brave woman and her rude husband |
The underlined word them in the first paragraph refers to__________.
A.plants | B.tall towers | C.vines | D.logs |
The Dangerous Sports Club first caught people’s attention when they jumped off_________.
A.the Eiffel Tower | B.the Kawarau Bridge |
C.the Golden Gate Bridge | D.the Clifton Suspension Bridge |
We human beings haven’t been good friends to animals. For thousands of years, we have been polluting the environment, making it hard for animals to live on the planet. We have been killing animals for their fur, feathers or meat, or simply because they are dangerous. As a result, many kinds of animals have disappeared forever. Hundreds more are on the endangered list today.
Should we care about animals? Of course we should. If animals of a certain kind all disappear, they will never come back again. Animals are more than just resources of things we need. Every kind of animal has its place in the balance of nature. Destroying any kind of animal can lead to many problems. For example, when farmers killed large numbers of hawks, the corn and grain that the farmers stored were destroyed by rats and mice. Why? Because hawks eat rats and mice. With less and less hawks to keep down their numbers, rats and mice multiplied quickly. And if people kill too many birds, more and more insects will eat the crops.
Luckily, we’ve realized that we shouldn’t kill animals any more. And people are working hard to save those animals that would disappear soon. The government also passed laws to protect the endangered animals. In fact, quite a few countries have passed such laws. These laws forbid the killing of any kind of animal on the endangered list. We should try our best to protect and save the endangered animals.The text calls on us to__________.
A.keep animals at home | B.protect the environment |
C.protect the endangered animals | D.know more about the balance of nature. |
Why do people kill animals?
A.Animals cause many serious problems. |
B.They kill animals for something they need. |
C.Animals destroy their natural resources. |
D.They kill animals to protect the environment |
The example that farmers killed hawks shows that__________.
A.there were too many rats and mice |
B.hawks are the most important in the nature |
C.animals are good food resources |
D.every kind of animal is important in nature |
The Museum of Childhood is Australia’s most comprehensive collection of childhood items including toys , dolls , infant and school material.
Housed in a modern facility , the displays reflect Australian childhood experience over time including play , child rearing , orphanage childhood , and home , school , and war time experience .
There are many hands –on exhibits and education sessions including the famous ‘lesson’ in the 1920s One Teacher Bush Classroom .
The Museum also hosts national touring exhibitions and conducts special activities on Sundays and school holidays(ring for details ).
Open: Tuesday- Friday 10am – 4pm , Sunday 10am – 4:30 pm , or by arrangement .
Special activities on Sundays as advertise .
Closed: Public holidays ,16 December-18 January .
Location: Edith Cowan University campus , Bay Road , Claremont (take bus 208 and alight at the Bay Road and Princess Road intersection . The Museum is 15 minutes’ walk from Claremont train station )
Tel :(08) 9442 1373 ; Fax ; (08 ) 9442 1314Onyou can stay at the Museum until half past four .
A.Wednesday | B.Friday | C.Sunday | D.Monday |
If you want to attend a special activity , you’d better come on .
A.Monday | B.Tuesday | C.Saturday | D.Sunday |
When you come on December 20th , Friday ,you will find the Museum.
A.closed | B.holding special activities |
C.not closed until 4:00 | D.not closed until 4:30 |
The main purpose of the Museum of Childhood is to .
A.display toys , dolls , infant and school material |
B.reflect Australian childhood experience over time |
C.host national touring exhibition |
D.tell you the famous ‘lesson’ in the 1920s |
Next time a customer comes to your office, offer him a cup of coffee. And when you’re doing your holiday shopping online, make sure you’re holding a large glass of iced tea. The physical sensation(感觉)of warmth encourages emotional warmth, while a cold drink in hand prevents you from making unwise decisions—those are the practical lesson being drawn from recent research by psychologist John A. Bargh.
Psychologists have known that one person’s perception(感知)of another’s “warmth” is a powerful determiner in social relationships. Judging someone to be either “warm” or “cold” is a primary consideration, even trumping evidence that a “cold” person may be more capable. Much of this is rooted in very early childhood experiences, Bargh argues, when babies’ conceptual sense of the world around them is shaped by physical sensations, particularly warmth and coldness. Classic studies by Harry Harlow, published in 1958, showed monkeys preferred to stay close to a cloth “mother” rather than one made of wire, even when the wire “mother” carried a food bottle. Harlow’s work and later studies have led psychologists to stress the need for warm physical contact from caregivers to help young children grow into healthy adults with normal social skills.
Feelings of “warmth” and “coldness” in social judgments appear to be universal. Although no worldwide study has been done, Bargh says that describing people as “warm” or “cold” is common to many cultures, and studies have found those perceptions influence judgment in dozens of countries.
To test the relationship between physical and psychological warmth, Bargh conducted an experiment which involved 41 college students. A research assistant who was unaware of the study’s hypotheses(假设), handed the students either a hot cup of coffee, or a cold drink, to hold while the researcher filled out a short information form. The drink was then handed back. After that, the students were asked to rate the personality of “Person A” based on a particular description. Those who had briefly held the warm drink regarded Person A as warmer than those who had held the iced drink.
“We are grounded in our physical experiences even when we think abstractly,” says Bargh.According to Paragraph 1, a person’s emotion may be affected by ______.
A.the visitors to his office | B.the psychology lessons he has |
C.his physical feeling of coldness | D.the things he has bought online |
The author mentions Harlow’s experiment to show that ______.
A.adults should develop social skills | B.babies need warm physical contact |
C.caregivers should be healthy adults | D.monkeys have social relationships |
In Bargh’s experiment, the students were asked to ______.
A.hold coffee and cold drink alternatively | B.write down their hypotheses |
C.fill out a personal information form | D.evaluate someone’s personality |
We can infer from the passage that ______.
A.abstract thinking does not come from physical experiences |
B.feelings of warmth and coldness are studied worldwide |
C.physical temperature affects how we see others |
D.capable persons are often cold to others |
What would be the best title for the passage?
A.Physical Sensations and Emotions. |
B.Experiments of Personality Evaluation. |
C.Developing Better Drinking Habits. |
D.Drinking for Better Social Relationships. |