A baby giraffe is born 10 feet high and usually lands on its back. Bringing a giraffe into the world is a tall order. In his book, A View from the Zoo, Gary Richmond describes how a new-born giraffe learns its first lesson.
The mother giraffe lowers her head long enough to take a quick look. Then she puts herself directly over her child. She waits for about a minute, and then she does the most unreasonable thing. She throws her long leg and kicks her baby, so that it’s sent sprawling (四脚朝天).
When it doesn’t get up, what the mother has done is repeated again and again. The struggle (挣扎) to rise is important. As the baby giraffe grows tired, the mother kicks it again. Finally, it stands for the first time. Then the mother giraffe kicks it off again. Why? She wants it to remember how it can get up. In the wild, a baby giraffe must be able to get up as quickly as possible to stay with its group, where there’s safety.
Another writer named Irving Stone understood this. He spent a lifetime studying great people, writing stories about such men as Michelangelo, Vincent van Gogh, Sigmund Freud, and Charles Darwin.
Stone was once asked if he had found something unusual about these great people. He said, “I write about people who sometime in their life have a dream of something. They’re beaten over the head, knocked down and for years they get nowhere. But every time they stand up again. And at the end of their lives they’ve realized some small parts of what they set out (着手) to do.”
The expression “a tall order” in Paragraph 1 most probably means ______.
| A．a happy thing | B．a difficult thing |
| C．a big dream | D．a beautiful place |
A View from the Zoo is a book written by .
| A．Gary Richmond | B．Charles Darwin |
| C．Irving Stone | D．Vincent van Gogh |
The mother giraffe puts herself over her child and throws her long leg and kicks her baby because she .
| A．is an unkind mother |
| B．likes watching her bay sprawling |
| C．doesn’t want her baby to live with her |
| D．wants to train her baby to get up in this way |
The writer mainly wants to tell the readers that
| A．the giraffe is an unusual animal |
| B．we should learn to be a careful writer |
| C．learning to get up leads to success |
| D．A View from the Zoo is a good book to read |
You have waited 45 minutes for the valuable 10 minutes’ break. But when the bell for the next class rings, you can’t believe how quickly time has passed. If you have this experience, you’ll know how time flies when you are having fun and drags when you are bored. Now scientists have come up with a reason why this happens.
They have found that the brain changes its way to work according to how we direct our attention to a task. When we are bored, we pay more attention to how time is passing. And this makes our brains think the clock is ticking more slowly.
Recently some researchers who want to understand the conditions carried out an experiment. In the experiment, twelve volunteers watched a picture while researchers monitored（关注）their brain activity.
The volunteers were told to first notice how long a picture appeared, then the color of the picture, and thirdly, study the both. The results showed that the brain was more active when the volunteers paid attention to more subjects.
It is thought that if the brain is busy noticing many aspects（方面）of a task, it has to spread its resources, and pays less attention to the clock. Therefore, time seems to go quickly. If the brain is not so active, it spends its full energy on the passing of time. As a result, time seems to move slowly.
Next time you feel bored in class, perhaps you should concentrate(专心于) on what the teacher is saying.What does the underlined word “drags” probably mean?
| A．passes slowly | B．runs quickly. |
| C．moves actively | D．goes silently |
What have the scientists found?
| A．Time goes by fast when we have nothing to do. |
| B．The ten minutes’ break is important to students. |
| C．The brain works in different ways in different situations. |
| D．Students pay more attention to the pictures than the passing of time. |
Which of the following is TRUE according to the passage?
| A．We will be full of energy if we’re busy. |
| B．Concentrating on things is a way to make people less bored. |
| C．Time goes slowly when the brain is noticing many things at the same time. |
| D．We should pay no attention to time when we are doing something. |
Which is the best title of the passage?
| A．The best way to save time |
| B．The importance of planning time |
| C．Why time passes quickly |
| D．The reason for time flying and dragging |
Zoos are places where different kinds of animals are Kept and shown for the public. At most modern zoos people can see, smell and hear animals in their natural way. Some zoos even have “friendship farms” where people can touch some of the animals. Here are four reasons why people need zoos.
Firstly, zoos educate people about animals and their natural environment. They give interesting information about each animal, such as where it comes from and how it lives. Special teachers at the zoo help children to understand more about the animals. Trained guides show visitors around the zoo.
Secondly, zoos are working hard to find out more about animals. New knowledge leads to improved ways of looking after animals in the zoo, and better understanding of the same animals in the wild.
Thirdly, zoos play a part in protecting animals and stopping them from disappearing. Zoos work together with each other to help the animals in danger. For example, gorillas(大猩猩) from Taronga Zoo were sent to live with gorillas at the Melbourne Zoo in the hope that they would give birth to babies.
Finally, zoos are important for people’s enjoyment. People enjoy getting close to animals without having to cross the plains（平原）of Africa or climb the mountains of China. In the past, animal shows were common in zoos. Visitors were excited by monkeys in human clothes, and they even took rides on elephants or horses. However, today people prefer to see animals behaving naturally.
So a modern zoo is a place where animals are well cared for. Special teachers at the zoo___________.
| A．show visitors around the zoo |
| B．ride elephants or horses |
| C．look after animals in danger |
| D．help children know about animals |
According to Paragraph 5, visitors to the zoos enjoy themselves because they_____
| A．can get close to animals |
| B．prefer to cross plains |
| C．like climbing mountains |
| D．can organize animal shows |
Which of the following is NOT TRUE according to the passage?
| A．Modern zoos have improved ways of looking after animals. |
| B．At modern zoos people like to see animals behaving naturally. |
| C．At modern zoos baby animals are usually born on the “friendship farms”. |
| D．Modern zoos educate people about animals and their natural environment. |
One day in the eighth grade, I was taking a Math Test on basic trigonometry (三角学). Now for a middle school student, there was nothing basic at all about it. So I had studied for about two hours the night before. After reviewing it for some time, I had started to understand it, so then I closed the book and _________. However, it was not until midnight that I fell asleep. The next day, when I got the test, it might as well have been written in Serbian (which I don’t know how to read). I tried my best to work out the hard problems, but the numbers I came up with were strange. I sat back on my chair and looked for any possible answers, but I could not remember anything or think correctly. I started thinking about my dad coming home from work to find that I failed the test …
“How could you have failed the test? I am certain that nobody else in the whole class got as bad a grade as you did!”
Naturally I didn’t want that to happen. My dad was also really busy at work at present, so I was afraid that this might make him mad. When feeling hopeless, I noticed that my table partner was writing fast on his test. I could see smoke rising up from how fast he was writing. I was attracted to look over at his test, but then the many bad results I had heard about cheating (作弊) came into my mind. I reasoned that if I started cheating now, it would be hard to give up that habit during high school. In the end, I decided not to copy his answers, and got a B- on that test. Even though my dad gave me a hard time about it, it would have been a lot worse if he found out that I had given in and cheated.The writer might feel ______ before the Math Test.
| A．surprised | B．relaxed |
| C．worried | D．excited |
Which is the best expression to fill in the blank (空白处) in the passage?
| A．had breakfast | B．went to bed |
| C．took exercise | D．rode to school |
The writer’s father was ______.
| A．proud of him | B．tired of him |
| C．strict with him | D．pleased with him |
From the passage, we know that the writer ______.
| A．could read Serbian | B．didn’t cheat at last |
| C．got a good grade at last | D．didn’t work hard that night |
Do you care about your memory (记忆力)? The following ways can help improve your memory.
Sleep: Sleep plays an important part in improving your memory. Enough sleep is very important to have a good memory.
Don’t watch TV while eating: Do not watch television while eating. Some people keep talking and eating while watching TV. Eating is a time when you can take a break from studying and rest your eyes.
Healthy food: Healthy food is important for a healthy mind. Have milk, eggs, fish and fruits. These foods have a lot of nutrients (营养成分).
Make the things interesting: If you find the things the teachers ask you to memorize interesting, you will memorize them more easily. For example, include music and different colors in the things you need to memorize.
Repeat(重复)the things: Repeat the things by singing or talking. Repeating is a good way to memorize things.
Exercise: Do exercise every day. It not only improves the body but improves the mind. Air in the morning keeps your mind clear. A clear mind is needed for memorizing things.
Have a rest: Don’t study for long hours. Have a rest from time to time. Studying for a long time will make you tired and you will find it harder to remember and learn things.How many ways of improving memory are there in the passage?
| A．Five. | B．Six. | C．Seven. | D．Eight. |
Why shouldn’t you watch TV while eating?
| A．Because it will make you eat less. |
| B．Because you need to rest your eyes. |
| C．Because you can’t take in enough nutrients in this way. |
| D．Because it is bad for your mind. |
How often should you take exercise according to the passage?
| A．Every day. | B．Every week. |
| C．Twice a month. | D．All the time. |
The passage is written for ______.
| A．parents | B．players |
| C．teachers | D．students |
Life in the year 3044 is very different from life in the 21st century(世纪). We still do many of the things you did, but we do them differently. For example, we now have e-friends to help us and keep us company. An e-friend is a machine that looks just like a human being. It can walk and talk like humans and can do almost the same things as we human beings do. My e-friend is a lot like me and we have much fun together. She helps me with my homework and we often go swimming. She is computerized to take care of me in case (万一) anything happens, so I always feel safe when we are together. She can also send me messages, just like old-fashioned e-mail, and I can download (下载)information from her memory chip. It’s so great to have an e-friend – I feel never lonely and I always have someone to talk to.
Actually, I would plan to tell you more about life in the year 3044, I have to send my e-friend to clean up my room, though. Maybe one day I will be able to fly back in time rocket and visit you and old friends. Looking forward to! An e-friend can do the following EXCEPT________.
| A．It can walk and talk. |
| B．It can help me with my homework. |
| C．It can send me message. |
| D．It can travel back in time. |
What does the underlined word “company” probably mean?
| A．同情 | B．公司 | C．同伴 | D．交通 |
What can we learn from the passage?
| A．In 3044, people won’t do many of the things we do now. |
| B．E-friends make life more convenient in 3044. |
| C．People are able to travel back in time rocket in 3044. |
| D．Life in 3044 is the same as life in the 21 century. |