What’s on Your Pet’s Mind?
In 1977, Irene Pepperberg of Harvard University began studying what was on another creature’s mind by talking to it. Her first experiments began with Alex. Alex was a one-year-old African grey parrot and Irene taught him to produce the sounds of the English language. “I thought if he learned to communicate, I could ask him questions about how he sees the world.”
At the time, most scientists didn’t believe animals had any thoughts. They thought animals were more like robots but didn’t have the ability to think or feel. Of course, if you own a pet you probably disagree. But it is the job of a scientist to prove this and nowadays more scientists accept that animals can think for themselves.
“That’s why I started my studies with Alex,” Irene said, “Some people actually called me crazy for trying this.”
Nowadays, we have more and more evidence that animals have all sorts of mental abilities. Sheep can recognize faces. Chimpanzees (黑猩猩) use a variety of tools and even use weapons to hunt. And Alex the parrot became a very good talker.
Thirty years after the Alex studies began. Irene was still giving him English lessons up until his recent death. For example, if Alex was hungry he could say “want grape”. Alex could count to six and was learning the sounds for seven and eight. “He has to hear the words over and over before he can correctly say them.” Irene said, after pronouncing “seven” for Alex a few times in a row. Alex could also tell the difference between colors, shapes, sizes, and materials (e.g. wood and metal). Before he finally died, Alex managed to say “seven”.
Another famous pet that proved some animals have greater mental skills was a dog called Rico. He appeared on a German TV game show in 2011. Rico knew the names of 200 different toys and easily learned the names of new ones. When Rico became famous, many other dog owners wanted to show how clever their pets were. Another dog called Betsy could understand 300 words.
One theory for dogs’ ability to learn a language is that they have been close companions to humans for many centuries and so their ability to understand us is constantly evolving (进化). While animals can’t do what humans do yet, some scientists believe that examples like Alex and Rico prove that evolution develops intelligence, as well as physical appearance.Irene wanted to find out __________.
| A．what a parrot thinks |
| B．why a parrot can speak |
| C．how parrots make sounds |
| D．if parrots speak English |
Alex learnt new words by __________.
| A．singing them |
| B．reading them |
| C．writing them |
| D．rehearing them |
The two dogs mentioned in the article could _______.
| A．understand some words |
| B．recognize strange voices |
| C．copy human gestures |
| D．tell different colors |
The article concludes that ___________.
| A．our pets understand what we say |
| B．dogs may speak to humans one day |
| C．humans are related to chimpanzees |
| D．mental ability can evolve in animals |
Restaurant owners should not use disposable chopsticks for the good of their health and the environment , an official of the China Cuisine Association（中国烹饪协会）said.
Bian Jiang, its secretary general, recently called on restaurant owners to say no to one-off tableware(餐具), especially wooden chopsticks. “The country produces and throws away over 45 billion pairs of wooden chopsticks every year, at a cost to the environment of about 25 million tree.” Bian said.
“That’s a heavy blow to the county’s shrinking(正在减少的) forests,” he said, “We should not turn a deaf ear to the call for environmental protection. We should stop using disposable tableware from now on.”
In order to discourage the use of wooden chopsticks and to protect wooden resources, the government put a 5% tax on them in April.
The use of disposable chopsticks has been discussed for years. Their supporters say that both restaurant owners and consumers prefer them, and that an industry has grown up around their production.
.
The secretary general suggests that wooden chopsticks be stopped from being used because .
| A．they cause a lot of pollution of the environment |
B．the environment is no longer gre en |
| C．the government is not happy with that |
| D．too many trees are cut |
From the text we know that the idea of no disposable tableware will be .
| A．hard to put into practice | B．welcomed by a lot of people |
| C．receiving indifferent attitudes | D．rejected by some people |
What does the underlined word “disposable” in the first paragraph mean?
| A．Waste | B．Expensive | C．Man | D．One-use |
What’s the main idea of the text?
| A．Many people support the idea of saying no to using wooden chopsticks. |
| B．The government calls on people to stop using wooden chopsticks. |
| C．Disposable tableware wastes a lot of forests and does damage to the environment. |
| D．People are aware of the cost of using disposable tableware |
A young woman carrying a three-year-old child got on a bus. The conductor hurried to give her a warm welcome and then kindly asked the other passengers to make more room for the woman and her child. On seeing this, people began to talk. "You know this conductor used to be very rude. Now suddenly he has changed his bad behavior, "said a middle-aged man.
"Yes, he should be praised and we must write a letter to the company," said a second passenger. "That's right," another lady said, "I wish a newspaper reporter were here so that more people could learn from this conductor.”
Just then a gentleman who looked like a teacher turned to the conductor and said, "Excuse me, but can I know your name, please? Your excellent service must be praised..."
Before he could open his mouth, the three-year-old child sitting on the young woman's lap interrupted, "I know his name. I call him Dad."
One passenger suggested writing a letter to the company to ______ .
| A．make a demand for more buses | B． thank the conductor for his good service |
| C．criticize the conductor for his rude behavior | |
| D．invite a newspaper reporter to write about the conductor |
What was the gentleman?
| A．A teacher. | B．A newspaper reporter. |
| C．Not known from the story. | D．The conductor's friend from his company. |
. The word "he" in the last paragraph refers to _______.
| A．the gentleman | B．the conductor |
| C．the middle-aged man | D．the three-year-old child |
It is clear from the story that the conductor _______.
| A．has changed his attitude towards his work |
| B．has now been kind and polite to all passengers |
| C．has not changed his rude behavior to passengers |
| D．has now been kind and polite to women with children |
Neighbors rescued a woman from her burning home early Monday morning，and three firefighters were hurt putting out the flames in Green Bay.
The fire was discovered around 4 o'clock at a three-story home in the South Quincy Street on the city's east side. Investigators(调查者) say 68-year-old Mary Taylor lives there with her two dogs.
“I got out of bed and went to the front window and could hear somebody was yelling(叫喊)，‘Fire!’” Curt Dworak said.When he realized what was happening, he threw on some clothes and ran to help. “I was just hoping Mary wasn't in there，but her car was in the driveway，so I just reacted,” he said, “I just broke the glass and then went in through the window.”
Dworak yelled for Mary but got no response. As he searched，the fire grew and debris(碎片) started falling around him. I didn't know what to do. I yelled for her a couple more times，and then I heard her. Disoriented(分不清方向的)and unable to move, Mary was sprawling(趴) on the floor in the back of her house，so Dworak picked her up and carried her to safety.
Dworak, who has been hailed as a hero by Green Bay Fire Department but shrugged of the praise，said，“They would have done the same thing. Mary is a nice lady，and how could you live with yourself if you didn't do something like that?”
Mary was up and talking before she was taken to the hospital to be checked out. Dworak escaped without a thin cut.
As soon as Dworak realized there was a big fire，he.
| A．went to his front window and stood watching |
| B．put on his clothes quickly and rushed there |
| C．searched for Mary's crying in her room |
| D．put away his clothes and jumped off his house |
The sentence “ but her car was in the driveway” in Paragraph 3 implies(暗指) that
.
| A．Mary was just in the house. | B．Mary's car was in Dworak's way. |
| C．Mary's car was broken. | D．Mary's car was in good condition. |
The underlined Word “ hailed” in Paragraph 5 can be replaced by “”.
| A．named | B．checked | C．praised | D．trained |
What can we learn from the passage?
| A．It was Dworak who found the fire first. |
| B．Dworak was badly injured by the fire. |
| C．Mary lost consciousness in the flames. |
D． Mary is friendly to her neighborhood. |
Do you know this girl?
I was in the park with my elder sister, Cathy, on Friday. My sister left her jacket on a chair while we talked to some friends. When we went back to the chair, a girl in a red T-shirt was sitting there. She had some money in her hand. When she saw us, she got up and walked away.
I asked my sister, "Did you have any money in your jacket?"
She said, "Yes, Anna, I did."
I said, "Look in your jacket quickly."
Cathy looked in her jacket, but her money was not there.
"That girl stole it!" I said, and we both ran after her. We caught her quickly.
My sister was very angry and she said, "Give me the money." The girl gave the money to Cathy and ran away. We both ran after her, but we lost her.
Then we went home. But before we could tell our parents, my mother said to Cathy, "You left your money at home. It's on the table in the sitting room. You must be more careful with money."
So the girl in the red T-shirt was not a thief! She probably thought we were thieves! We felt terrible.
Please telephone us if you know this girl! We are very sorry for our mistake. We would like to say sorry to her and give the money back to her.
Our number is 512667. My name is Anna.
Cathy thought the money in the girl's hand was .
| A．from her jacket | B．the girl's own money |
| C．from their home | D．from the chair |
The girl ga
ve the money to Cathy because .
| A．she was afraid | B．Cathy asked her nicely |
| C．it was Cathy's money | D．she wanted to help them |
Hearing their mother's words, they knew that .
| A．they did a good deed | B．the girl was a thief |
| C．the money was Anna's | D．they had the girl's money |
The writer writes the passage to .
| A．telephone the girl | B．say thanks to the girl |
| C．say good-bye to the girl | D．return the money to the girl |
Miss Gorgers taught physics in a New York school. Last month she explained to one of her classes about sound, and she decided to test them to see how successful she had been in her explanation. She said to them, “Now I have a brother in Los Angeles. If I was calling him on the phone and at the same time you were 75 feet away, listening to me from the street, which of you would hear what I said earlier, my brother or you and for what reason?”
Tom at once answered, “Your brother. Because electricity travels faster than sound waves.” “That’s very good.” Miss Gorgers answered, but then one of the girls raised her hand, and Miss Gorgers said, “Yes? Kate.”
“I disagree. Your brother would hear you earlier because when it’s 11 o’clock he
re and it’s only 8 o’clock in Los Angeles.” Kate said.
Miss Gorgers was teaching her class .
| A．how to telephone | B．about electricity | C．about time zone | D．about sound |
Miss Gorgers raised this question because she wanted to know whether .
| A．it was easy to phone to Los Angeles |
| B．her student could hear her from 75 feet away |
| C．her students had understood her lesson |
| D．sound waves were slower than electricity |
Kate thought Tom was wrong because .
| A．clocks in Los Angeles showed a different time from those in New York |
| B．electricity was slower than sound waves |
| C．Tom was not good at physics at all |
| D．Tom’s answer had nothing to do with sound waves |
Whose answer do you think is correct according to the laws of physics?
A. Tom’s. B. Kate’s. C. Both A and B. D. Neither A nor B.