D
Trapped on the 37th Floor
Melinda Skaar wasn’t expecting any phone calls．Skaar was working late in her office at the First Interstate bank of California．By 10:45 that night she was almost ready to go home when the phone rang．
Picking it up，she heard a guard shouting．“There is a fire！ Get out of there！”
Skaar didn’t panic．She figured that it was just a small fire．Her office building was huge．There were 62 floors and her desk was on the 37th floor．
Skaar called out to office mate Stephen Oksas，who also stayed late to work．But when they got to the hallway，they were met by a cloud of black smoke．Rushing back，Skaar shut the door and filled the space at the bottom of the door with her jacket to keep the smoke out．
Then they called 911．Before they could call their families，however，the line went dead．That meant that they were completely cut off from the outside world．All they could do was wait and hope someone would come to rescue them．
Minutes ticked by．Smoke began to float into the office．Soon it became hard for them to breathe．
Looking around，Skaar noticed a small workroom．It seemed to have cleaner air．So they crowded there．That helped for a while，but in time even the workroom was filled with deadly smoke．
Hopeless，they tried to break the windows，but the glass was not breakable．Everything they threw at just bounced back．
Defeated，they struggled back to the workroom．They felt weak and dizzy ．Soon Skaar found Oksas had passed out．
As Skaar and Oksas lay near death，rescuers were rushing to find them．At last，at about 4 a．m．，firefighters found them．
Skaar and Oksas knew they were lucky to be alive．“Sunday is my birthday，” Skaar told a reporter．She would be turning 29．But she knew she had already got the best present possible——the gift of life．What did Skaar and Oksas do when they were stopped by the fire？
| A．They called their families． |
| B．They waited where they were． |
| C．They tried to run down the stairs． |
| D．They rushed back and shut the door． |
The first sentence of the passage is to ____________．
| A．introduce Skaar |
| B．get the reader’s attention |
| C．explain the cause of the event |
| D．tell the background information |
The following helped Skaar and Oksas survive the fire except _____________．
| A．calling 911 for help |
| B．breaking the windows to get some fresh air |
| C．crowding in a small workroom for clean air |
| D．shutting the door and keeping the smoke out with a jacket |
What can we conclude from Skaar’s action in the fire？
| A．She is cleverer than Oksas． |
| B．She was trained as a firefighter． |
| C．She remained calm in the face of danger． |
| D．She had had the experience of being caught in fire． |
Honey(蜂蜜)from the African forest is not only a kind of natural sugar, it is also delicious. Most people, and many animals, like eating it. However, the only way for them to get that honey is to find a wild bees' nest(巢)and take the honey from it. Often, these nests are high up in trees, and it is difficult to find them. In parts of Africa, though, people and animals looking for honey have a strange and unexpected helper一a little bird called a honey guide.
The honey guide does not actually like honey, but it does like the wax (蜂蜡) in the beehives (蜂房). The little bird cannot reach this wax, which is deep inside the bees’ nest. So, when it finds a suitable nest, it looks for someone to help it. The honey guide gives a loud cry that attracts the attention of both passing animals and people. Once it has their attention, it flies through the forest, waiting from time to time for the curious animal or person as it leads them to the nest. When they finally arrive at the nest, the follower reaches in to get at the delicious honey as the bird patiently waits and watches. Some of the honey, and the wax, always falls to the ground, and this is when the honey guide takes its share.
Scientists do not know why the honey guide likes eating the wax, but it is very determined in its efforts to get it. The birds seem to be able to smell wax from a long distance away. They will quickly arrive whenever a beekeeper is taking honey from his beehives, and will even enter churches when beeswax candles are being lit.Why is it difficult to find a wild bees' nest?
| A．It's small in size. | B．It's hard to recognize. |
| C．It's covered with wax. | D．It's hidden in trees. |
What do the words "the follower" in Paragraph 2 refer to?
| A．A bee. | B．A bird. | C．A beekeeper. | D．A honey seeker. |
The honey guide is special in the way____________。
| A．it gets its food | B．it goes to church |
| C．it sings in the forest | D．it reaches into bees' nests |
What can be the best title for the text?
| A．Wild Bees | B．Wax and Honey |
| C．Honey-Lover's Helper | D．Beekeeping in Africa |
What makes one person more intelligent than another? What makes one person a genius, like the brilliant Albert Einstein, and another person a fool? Are people born intelligent or stupid, or is intelligence the result of where and how you live? These are very old questions and the answers to them are still not clear.
We know, however, that just being born with a good mind is not enough. In some ways, the mind is like a leg or an arm muscle. It needs exercise. Mental (done with the mind) exercise is particularly important for young children. Many child psychologists (心理学家) think that parents should play with their children more often and give them problems to think about. The children are then more likely to grow up bright and intelligent. If, on the other hand, children are left alone a great deal with nothing to do, they are more likely to become dull and unintelligent.
Parents should also be careful with what they say to young children. According to some psychologists, if parents are always telling a child that he or she is a fool or an idiot, then the child is more likely to keep doing silly and foolish things. So it is probably better for parents to say very positive (helpful) things to their children, such as “That was a very clever thing you did.” or “You are such a smart child.”The words “intelligent” and “brilliant” in the first paragraph probably mean _______ while “dull” in the second paragraph means ________.
| A．great and important; common |
| B．pretty and handsome; ordinary-looking |
| C．bright and splendid; slow in thinking and understanding |
| D．hopeful and helpful; careless |
A person ________ is more likely to become a genius.
| A．whose parents are clever |
| B．often thinking about difficult problems |
| C．often helped by his parents and teachers |
| D．born with a good brain and putting it into active use |
It is better for parents ________.
| A．to praise and encourage their children more often |
| B．to be hard on their children |
| C．to leave their children alone with nothing to do |
| D．to give their children as much help as possible |
Which of the following is NOT true according to the article?
| A．Parents play an important part in their children’s growth. |
| B．Intelligence is obviously the result of where and how you live. |
| C．The less you use your mind the duller you may become. |
| D．What makes a person bright or stupid is still under discussion. |
___1____ Maybe you thought that they were just happy. After all, you probably sing or whistle when you are happy.
However, they sing most of the time for a very different reason. ____2___ Some scientists believe that birds do sing some of the time just because they are happy.
Do you know what a “territory” is? A territory is an area that an animal, usually the male, claims(声称)as its own. ____3___ No other families of the same species are welcome. Your yard and house are your territory where only your family and friends are welcome. If a stranger should enter your territory and threaten you, you might shout. Probably this would be enough to frighten him away. If so, you have actually scared the stranger away without having to fight him. A bird does the same thing. But he expects an outsider almost any time, especially at nesting(筑巢)season. So he is screaming all the time, whether he can see an outsider or not.__4__.
Birds sing loudest in the spring when they are trying to attract a mate and warn others not to enter the territory of theirs. You can see that birds have a language all their own. ___5__
| A．Only he and his family are welcome there. |
| B．Most of it has to do with attracting mates and setting up territories. |
| C．Have you ever wondered why birds sing? |
| D．Their singing is actually a warning to other birds to stay out of their territory. |
E. Have you ever wondered why birds sing?
F. Most of the language is widely used.
G. This screaming is what we call a bird’s song, and it is usually enough to keep an outsider away.
“Write All About It”
Centerville High School Essay（论文）Contest
Rules
1. Students are asked to submit essays of 500 to 700 words of their own work. Any essay containing material plagiarized(剽窃) from another source will be disqualified.
2. Manuscripts should be typed double-spaced, with the student’s name, address, and grade level on a separate sheet of paper.
3. Essays must be turned in by 4:00 p.m. on November 30. They can be brought to Mrs. Elton in Room 104 or to Mr. Markham in the school library.
Essay-Writing Tips
1. Catch your readers’ interest－Your opening should immediately pull your readers into your essay. Asking a question or starting with an anecdote, quotation, or surprising statement are some good ways to do this.
2. Create a picture－Use active words that show your readers what is happening. Instead of telling your readers vaguely that “the room was disordered,” paint a picture using active verbs and lively adjectives.
3. Have a purpose－Well-written essays do more than just describe an incident or express a viewpoint, they also communicate a message.
4.Check for mistakes－Read your paper over to check for mistakes. Ask another student to read your paper and make suggestions. Another pair of eyes will often spot a mistake you’ve overlooked.
5. Format your essay－Neatly type your essay on white paper. Choose an attractive cover for submission. The computer lab will be open after school from 3:15 to 4:45 p.m. each day this month so that students can use the computers.
Prizes
Winning essays will be published in the Centerville Times. Everyone who takes part in it will also receive a free pass to enter one school activity this year.
First Prize:$ 50 savings bond
Second Prize:Dictionary and reference book
Third Prize:Pen set and journalWhich of the following rules is set for the essay contest?
| A．Students can write something exactly as it is written in other books. |
| B．Students’ personal information should be listed on another piece of paper. |
| C．Essays must be brought to Mr. Markham in the computer lab on November 30. |
| D．The students winning second prize will be awarded a dictionary and a book. |
Which of the following writing tips is given in the passage?
| A．Drawing a picture to go with the essay. |
| B．Trying to communicate an important idea to readers. |
| C．Asking a teacher to find the mistakes you haven’t found. |
| D．Making the essay short enough to hold the readers’ interest. |
The article is written to ____.
| A．convince the students of the prizes available |
| B．explain how to write a good essay |
| C．inform the students of the essay contest |
| D．show how to organize an essay contest |
Researchers at San Diego Zoo have been studying what has been described as the “secret language” of elephants. They have been monitoring（监测） communications between animals that cannot be heard by human ears.
The elephant’s call will be familiar to most people, but the animals also give out growls (低吼). Their growls, however, are only partly audible (听得见的); two-thirds of the call is at frequencies that are too low to be picked up by our hearing. To learn more about the inaudible part of the growl, the team attached (附在……上面) a microphone sensitive to these low frequencies and a GPS tracking system to eight of the zoo’s female elephants. The researchers could then relate the noises the animals were making to what they were doing. Matt Anderson, who led the project, told BBC News, “We’re excited to learn how they interact and contact with one another.”
The team has already learned that pregnant females use this low frequency communication to announce to the rest of their long gestation (妊娠期) of over two years, in the last 12 days we see the low part of the growl, which we can’t hear. This we believe is to announce to the rest of the herd that the baby is upcoming,” said Dr Anderson.
The researchers believe that this also warns the elephants to look out for coming danger. “You may think that a baby calf of about 300 pounds would not be as open to predation (捕食) as other species,” he says. “But packs of hyenas (袋狼) are a big threat in the wild.”
Female elephants are only in season for around four days every four years and these calls can be heard by males more than two miles away.Why some elephants’ call is called “secret language”?
| A．Because it can’t be heard by human ears. |
| B．Because it can only be heard by female elephants. |
| C．Because people don’t know its meanings. |
| D．Because people haven’t studied it completely. |
By using a sensitive microphone and a GPS tracking system, the researchers wanted to find out .
| A．where the elephants usually go |
| B．what the elephants’ growls really mean |
| C．how mother elephants raise baby calves |
| D．how elephants protect their babies. |
A pregnant elephant uses inaudible growls to.
| A．show the location where she is staying |
| B．ask for help when she losses her way |
| C．scare away the enemy |
| D．let others know she will have a baby |
What is the passage mainly about?
| A．The elephants can speak like people. |
| B．The wild elephants’ ways to fight against enemies. |
| C．The “secret language” between elephants. |
| D．The special life of female elephants. |