The African elephant, which is the largest land animal remaining on earth, is of great importance to African ecosystem. Unlike other animals, the African elephant is to a great extent the builder of its environment. As a big plant-eater, it largely shapes the forest-and-savanna (大草原) surroundings in which it lives, therefore setting the terms of existence for millions of other animals that live in its habitat.
It is the elephant's great desire for food that makes it a disturber of the environment and an important builder of its habitat. In its continuous search for the 300 pounds of plants it must have every day, it kills small trees and under-bushes, and pulls branches off big trees. This results in numerous open spaces in both deep tropical forests and in the woodlands that cover part of the African savannas. In these open spaces are numerous plants in various stages of growth that attract a variety of other plant-eaters.
Take the rain forests for example. In their natural state, the spreading branches overhead shut out sunlight and prevent the growth of plants on the forest floor. By pulling down trees and eating plants, elephants make open spaces, allowing new plants to grow on the forest floor. In such situations, the forests become suitable for large hoofed plant-eaters to move around and for small plant-eaters to get their food as well.
What worries scientists now is that the African elephant has become an endangered species. If the elephant disappears, scientists say, many other animals will also disappear from vast areas of forest and savanna, greatly changing and worsening the whole ecosystem.What is the passage mainly about?
| A．Disappearance of African elephants. |
| B．The effect of African elephants’ search for food. |
| C．Forests and savannas as habitats for African elephants. |
| D．The eating habit of African elephants. |
What does the underlined phrase “setting the terms” most probably mean?
| A．Fixing the time. |
| B．Deciding the conditions. |
| C．Improving the quality. |
| D．Worsening the state. |
What do we know about the open spaces in the passage?
| A．They result from the destruction of rain forests. |
| B．They provide food mainly for African elephants. |
| C．They are attractive to plant-eating animals of different kinds. |
| D．They are home to many endangered animals. |
The passage is developed mainly by ______.
| A．giving examples |
| B．pointing out similarities and differences |
| C．describing the changes in space order |
| D．showing the effect and then explaining the causes |
Years ago, there lived a wealthy man named Mr. Cooper who, with his dearest young son John, loved art collecting. Together they traveled around the world, collecting the finest art treasures.
One winter, war came to the nation, and John left to serve his country. After only a few short weeks, his father received a telegram reading that John had died while saving a fellow soldier. Filled with sadness, the old man cried. On the coming Christmas morning, a soldier called on him and gave him a picture of John.
The following spring, the old man became ill and passed away. According to his will, all of his works of art would be auctioned (拍卖) on Christmas Day, when he had received the greatest gift of his life. The day soon arrived and art collectors from around the world gathered to buy some of the world’s greatest paintings. The auction began with a painting of the old man’s son. “Who will open the bidding (出价) with $100?” the auctioneer (拍卖人) asked. Minutes passed, but no one spoke. Finally, a neighbor of the old man’s spoke. “Can I take the painting for ten dollars? It is all I have, and he is a good man.”
“Will anyone go higher?” called the auctioneer. After more silence, the auctioneer said, “Going once, going twice, gone.” The gavel(槌) fell. “Now we can get on to the real treasures,” someone shouted angrily. But the auctioneer said that the auction was over. Someone asked, “It’s over? We didn’t come here for a picture of some old guy’s son. There are millions of dollars worth of art here!” The auctioneer replied, “It’s very simple. According to the will of the father, whoever takes the son ... gets all.” Why did they travel around the world?
| A．They wanted to visit some well-known artists. |
| B．They had their own companies around the world. |
| C．They wanted to visit all kinds of places of interest. |
| D．They wanted to collect the world’s finest art. |
When did the old man die?
| A．The morning when the solider visited him. |
| B．Several months after John died. |
| C．A few days after John served in the army. |
| D．The day he received the news of John’s death. |
The underlined words “the greatest gift” in Paragraph 3 refer to ________.
| A．a picture of John |
| B．the painting John collected |
| C．the finest work of art |
| D．the telegram about his son |
A neighbor of the old man’s bought the painting of John ________.
| A．because he knew the will of the old man |
| B．to pick up the world’s greatest paintings |
| C．in honor of John, who was worth respecting |
| D．because no one else was willing to buy it |
It can be inferred from the passage that ________.
| A．the old man and the auctioneer were good friends |
| B．no art collectors wanted to buy Mr. Cooper’s collection of art |
| C．John was a successful art collector and an excellent artist |
| D．the old man, Mr. Cooper, loved his son very much |
Kieron Williamson, a seven-year-old British boy, is being recognized as an art genius after selling 16 paintings for 18, 000 pounds in just 14 minutes. This boy has artistic skills that would
be the envy of any serious painter and drawn comparisons to Pablo Picasso, a child prodigy（神童）who became one of the most recognized artists of the 20th century. It all began on a family holiday to Cornwall on the southwest English coast when Kieron was five. Inspired by the view, he asked his parents for his first sketch-pad （速写纸）. From that moment on, he became deeply interested. While supportive, Kieron’s parents are careful not to push their son. He only paints when and what he wants.
He has a waiting list of hundreds and requests for his works have been flooding in. His father said a sale of Kieron’s works held in November even drew a buyer from Japan. “We had people driving down that night, there were people on the door waiting to come in the morning who had been standing outside, the phones were going mad as soon as the door opened at nine o’clock and within 14 minutes all the 16 pictures had gone, ” he said.
All this talent, money and high praise could so easily go to a young boy’s head, but Kieron said his friends keep him grounded. “Some of them want to be as good as me and some of them think. . . Umn, ‘you are not too special’,” he said.
Kieron’s favourite painter is British artist Edward Seago and he has spent some of his earnings buying a work by his hero. The rest is being invested by his parents until he reaches 25. Kieron’s parents and his younger sister Billi-Jo don’t see him as anything other than a normal seven-year-old boy who likes to tear around the house and who’s mad about football. But for now, with so much still to learn, there’s only one thing he wants to be when he grows up. He said, “I think I’ll definitely be an artist. ”According to Paragraph 1, we can know Kieron Williamson ______ .
| A．painted 16 paintings in only 14 minutes |
| B．draws as well as Picasso did |
| C．is one of the most recognized artists |
| D．has unusual ability in painting |
What made Kieron Williamson begin to love painting?
| A．His first sketch-pad. |
| B．His parents’ encouragement. |
| C．The view at the seaside. |
| D．His swimming near the coast. |
In Kieron Williamson’s friends’ opinion, he ______.
| A．is famous but a little proud |
| B．isn’t very special from other children |
| C．isn’t worth praising at all |
| D．is hard to get along with |
It can be inferred from the last paragraph that ______.
| A．Edward Seago thinks highly of Kieron’s painting |
| B．Kieron likes doing sports and painting instead of studying |
| C．Kieron’s family is very poor |
| D．Kieron wants to be a great painter |
The passage mainly tells us ______.
| A．a seven-year-old painting genius |
| B．how to be a great painter |
| C．Kieron Williamson may become the second Picasso |
| D．the painting changed Kieron Williamson’s life greatly |
Tea drinking was common in China for nearly one thousand years before anyone in Europe had ever heard about tea. People in Britain were much slower in finding out what tea was like, mainly because tea was very expensive. It could not be bought in shops. People had it sent from Holland. And even those people who could afford it did so only because of curiosity. Some of them were not sure how to use it. They thought it was a vegetable and tried cooking the leaves. Then they served them mixed with butter and salt. They soon discovered their mistake but many people used to spread the used tea leaves on bread and give them to their children as sandwiches.
Tea remained very expensive in England until the ships of the East India Company began to bring it direct from China early in the seventeenth century. During the next few years so much tea came into the country that the price fell and many people could afford to buy it.
At the same time people on the Continent were becoming more and more fond of tea. Until then tea had been drunk without milk in it, but one day a French lady named Madame de Sevigne decided to see what tea tasted like when milk was added. She found it so pleasant that she would never again drink it without milk. Because she was so famous a lady that people liked to copy everything she did, they also drank their tea with milk in it. Slowly this habit spread until it reached England and today only very few Britons drink tea without milk.
At first, tea was usually drunk after dinner in the evening. No one ever thought of drinking tea in the afternoon until a duchess （公爵夫人） found that a cup of tea and a piece of cake at three or four o'clock stopped her getting “a sinking feeling” as she called it. She invited her friends to have this new meal with her and so, tea-time was born.The word “curiosity” in the first paragraph probably means ________.
| A．好奇 | B．臆测 | C．迷恋 | D．决心 |
Which of the following is true of tea-drinking in Britain?
| A．The British people got expensive tea from India. |
| B．The habit of tea-drinking reached Britain from France. |
| C．The British people were much slower in getting the habit. |
| D．People in Britain began drinking tea one thousand years ago. |
Some people cooked tea leaves because ______
| A．most children liked to have them |
| B．they were very good vegetables |
| C．they didn’t know how to use them |
| D．sandwiches needed mixing with them |
People in Britain like to drink tea with milk because of the influence of _______.
| A．a famous French lady |
| B．people in Holland |
| C．the upper social class |
| D．the ancient Chinese |
This passage mainly discusses _______.
| A．how tea-time was born in history |
| B．the history of tea-drinking in Britain |
| C．the habit of drinking tea with milk in it |
| D．differences about tea-drinking Europe |
Course A: Understanding computers
1. A twelve-hour course for people who do not know very much about computers but need to learn about them. You can learn what computers are, what computers can do and cannot do, and how to use them.
2. Course fee: $75, from June 1 to June 28, 9~12am every Sunday.
3. Equipment fee: $10.
4. Teacher: Joseph Saunders, professor of computer science at New Urban University, with twelve years of experience in computer field.
Call 67801642 or 67801643 for more information.
Course B: Learning to speak French
1. A course with a small class of less than 20 people, twice a week. Your French level is tested in the first class. Then you can begin practicing at one of eight different skill levels. This allows you to learn at your own speed, and prepares you to learn through situations of real life with a funny and easy method.
2. Course fee: $200, from June 1 to June 25, 4~7pm every Monday and Thursday.
3. Personal tutoring fee: $100.
4. Teacher: From the first day on you can have your own personal French teacher that corrects your exercises and assists you along the course, who has successfully taught French course before.
Phone 67353019 for more information.
Course C: Learning to swim
1. A course for people who have interest in swimming. We offer morning and afternoon classes, where swimming knowledge will be taught. Then you can gain swimming skills through practicing in water.
2. Course fee: $150, from June 9 to June 29, 10am~4pm every Tuesday and Friday..
3. Personal tutoring Fee: $100
4. Teacher: Teachers from sports college and experienced swimming-loves.
Very close to the Central Park. For further information call 67432308.The computer professor has got _____ years of experience in computer field.
| A．seven | B．nine | C．ten | D．twelve |
If you want to take Course A, you need to go ______ learn something about computers.
| A．twice every week |
| B．three times a week |
| C．four times altogether |
| D．every Sunday afternoon |
Having a test in the first French class is to ____.
| A．correct your exercises |
| B．learn your speaking speed |
| C．practice your eight different levels |
| D．know your French level for the course |
With a personal swimming trainer helping you along the course, you should pay ______ for the course altogether.
| A．$100 | B．$150 | C．$200 | D．$250 |
If you want to know more about the French-learning course, you can phone ____.
| A．67801642 | B．67353019 |
| C．67432308 | D．67801643 |
How important can a fifteen-year-old boy’s work be? Well, Louis Braille’s work changed the world. Born in a small town near Paris in 1809, shortly after his third birthday Louis blinded himself in one eye while playing with a sharp pointed tool in his father’s workshop. He soon lost the sight in his other eye when the infection(感染) spread.
He wanted to go to school, but in his small town there was no school for him. At that time, blind people did not get any school education. Braille went to Paris to study, but there were few books for the blind.
Louis knew that books were the key to learning. He struggled with ideas for three years. Finally, at fifteen, he invented an alphabet made with raised dots(点). Blind people could “read” by feeling the patterns of the dots.
Being able to read Braille allows blind children to learn together with the sighted at school, and go on to get jobs. It allows people who lose their eyesight to continue to read, learn and get information.Braille got blind as a result of _________.
| A．an illness | B．an accident |
| C．a party | D．a fired |
From the passage we know in Braille’s day, _________
| A．there were no schools in the town |
| B．none of blind could go to school |
| C．there were few books for the blind |
| D．blind children could read by talking |
It took Braille _______ to invent the alphabet.
| A．three years | B．six years |
| C．fifteen | D．many years. |
The Braille alphabet _________.
| A．was of no use for the blind people. |
| B．helped Louis make much money. |
| C．allowed people to get information directly. |
| D．made the blind read and learn more easily. |
Which could be the best title for the passage?
| A．Louis Braille changed the world |
| B．Louis Braille struggled in his life |
| C．Louis Braille saved sighted children |
| D．Louis Braille set up a blind school |