Many gardeners believe that “talking” to their plants helps them grow---it turns out that they may not be crazy after all. According to the scientists from the University of Exeter, plants may keep communicating with each other through a secret “unseen” language.
For their experiment, the scientists picked a cabbage plant that is known to send out a gas when its surface is cut. In order to get video evidence of the communication, they changed the cabbage gene by adding the protein---luciderase(虫荧光素酶), which is what makes fireflies(萤火虫) glow in the dark.
When the changed cabbage plant was in full bloom, they cut a leaf off with a pair of scissors, and almost immediately, thanks to the luciderase, they could see the plant sending out “methyl jasmonate(茉莉酸甲酯)”.
While this was a known fact, what was surprising was the fact that the minute this gas began to give out, the nearby cabbage plants seemed to sense some kind of danger and started to send out a gas that they normally have to keep predators(捕食者) like caterpillars(毛虫) away.
What the scientists are not sure is whether the plants are trying to warn the other leaves or the near plants about the danger---something that will require further research However, the team, which is led by Professor Nick Smirnoff, is quite excited about the findings because this is the first time it has been proved that plants do not live a passive life, but actually move, sense and even communicate with each other.
However, before you get all concerned, they are quite sure that plants do not feel the pain when they are cut, since they do not have nerves---so go ahead and bite into that juicy carrot!What’s the best title of the passage?
| A． Plants Can Send Some Gas |
| B． Plants Can Communicate with Each Other |
| C． The “Unseen” Language of Plants |
| D． Plants Can’t Feel Pain |
What does the underlined word “they” in Paragraph 1 mean?
| A． Gardeners | B． Plants |
| C． Scientists | D． Fireflies |
When the plant sent out methyl jasmonate, which of the following statements is NOT TRUE?
| A． The nearby cabbage plants seemed to sense some kind of danger. |
| B． The nearby cabbage plants started to send out a gas. |
| C． The nearby cabbage plants tried to warn the near plants. |
| D． The nearby cabbage plants communicated through a secret language. |
According to the experiment, plants ________________.
| A． don’t live a passive life |
| B． can feel pain when they are cut |
| C． can warn the other leaves about danger |
| D． can talk with each other |
From a plane we can see the fields, cities, mountains or seas below． If we go into space, we see more and more of the earth． People and man-made satellites have been sent out into space to look at the earth carefully and people have learnt more about the earth in the last years．
The sea looks very beautiful when the sun is shining on it． But it can be very terrible when there is a strong wind．
The sea is very big, it nearly covers three quarters of the earth． The sea is also very deep in some places． There is one place in the sea is about 11 kilometres deep． The highest mountain in the world is about 9 kilometres high． If that mountain was put into the sea at that place, there would be still 2 kilometres of water above it!
In most parts of the sea, there are many kinds of fishes and plants． Some live near the top of the sea． Others live deep down． There are also a lot of small living things, and lots of fishes live by eating them．
The sea can be very cold． The further people go down, the sea becomes colder and colder． At one time only some men could go down into the deep sea． But, in 1970, five women scientists lived in the deep sea for fourteen days．The sea covers about _________ of the earth．
| A．1/3 | B．1/4 | C．1/2 | D．3/4 |
_________ are not mentioned in this passage．
| A．Fishes | B．Plants |
| C．Islands | D．Living things |
Which of the following is NOT true？
| A．The sea is usually beautiful when the sun is shining． |
| B．The sea is always very terrible when the wind blows hard． |
| C．The highest mountain is in the deepest place of the sea． |
| D．The deeper the people go into the sea, the colder they will feel． |
One day a teacher was giving her young students a lesson on how the government works . She was trying to explain the principle of income tax (收入税).
“You see ,” she began , speaking slowly and carefully , “each person who works must pay part of his or her salary (薪水) to the government . If you make a high salary , your taxes are high . If you don’t make much money , your taxes are low .”
“Is that clear ?” she asked . “Does everyone understand the meaning of income tax ?” The students nodded. “Are there any questions ?” she asked . The students shook their heads .
“Very good !” she said . “Now ,I would like you to take a piece of paper and write a short paragraph on the subject of income tax .”
Little Joey was a slow learner . He had lots of problems with spelling and grammar , but this time he at least seemed to understand the task . He took his pen and after a few minutes , he handed the teacher the following composition :
Once I had a dog . His name was Tax .
I opened the door and in come Tax .The teacher was trying to explain one day .
| A．the basic principles of the income tax |
| B．how the government works |
| C．everyone should pay income tax |
| D．how much tax one should pay for his income |
After the teacher’s explanation ,.
| A．all the students shook their heads |
| B．many of the students were still puzzled |
| C．not all the students understood the meaning of income tax |
| D．a few students disagreed with their teacher |
The students were asked .
| A．to say something about income tax |
| B．to answer some questions on income tax |
| C．to write a composition on “income tax” |
| D．to explain the principle of income tax |
Little Joey .
| A．was clever |
| B．understood what the teacher said |
| C．was not clever enough |
| D．did as what he was told to do |
Teacher’s Day around the world is not celebrated on the same day. In some countries, Teacher’s Day is celebrated on working days. However, in other countries, it is celebrated on holidays. Here we are giving you a list of countries that celebrate Teacher’s Day on holidays.
China
Teacher’s Day was proposed (提议) at National Central University in 1931. It was adopted (采纳) by the central government of Republic of China in 1932. In 1939, the day was set on August 27, Confucius’s birthday. The government of the People’s Republic of China called it off in 1951. It was reestablished in 1985, and the day was changed to September 10. Now more and more people are trying to celebrate Teacher’s Day back to Confucius’s birthday.
India
In India, Teacher’s Day is celebrated on September 5, in honor of Dr Sarvepalli Radhakrishnan, the second President of India. Because his birthday was September 5.
Russia
In Russia, Teacher’s Day is on October 5. Before 1994, this day was set on the first Sunday of September.
The USA
In the United States, Teacher’s Day is a holiday on the Tuesday of the first full week of May.
Thailand
January 16 was adopted as Teacher’s Day in Thailand by a resolution (决议) of the government on November 21, 1956. The first Teacher’s Day was celebrated in 1957.
Iran
In Iran, Teacher’s Day is celebrated on May 2 every year. It is in honor of the famous Iranian professor Ayatollah Morteza Motahhari who died on May 2, 1980.
Although different countries celebrate Teacher’s Day on different days, the activities people take to celebrate it just stay the same.The best title for the passage is ____.
| A．Teacher’s Day around the world |
| B．The history of Teacher’s Day |
| C．Activities on Teacher’s Day |
| D．How to celebrate Teacher’s Day |
In which year was Teacher’s Day changed from August 27 to September 10 in China?
| A．1931. | B．1939. | C．1951. | D．1985. |
In which country is Teacher’s Day celebrated in honor of its leader?
| A．Iran. | B．India. |
| C．Russia. | D．Thailand. |
What will probably be discussed next?
| A．How Teacher’s Day became popular in the world. |
| B．Which country is the first to celebrate Teacher’s Day. |
| C．What activities people take to celebrate Teacher’s Day. |
| D．Which country has the longest vacation for Teacher’s Day. |
The best way of learning a language is using it. The best way of learning English is talking in English as much as possible. Sometimes you’ll get your words mixed up(混合)and people will not understand you. Sometimes people will say things too quickly and you can‘t understand them. But if you keep your sense of humor(幽默感),you can always have a good laugh at the mistakes you make. Don’t be unhappy if people seem to be laughing at your mistakes. It‘s better for people to laugh at your mistakes than to be angry with you, because they don’t understand what you are saying. The most important thing for learning English is：“Don‘t be afraid of making mistakes because everyone makes mistakes.”What should you do in learning English?
| A．Be careful not to make any mistake. |
| B．Write as quickly as you can. |
| C．Speak English as much as you can. |
| D．Laugh more often. |
When people laugh at your mistakes, you should______.
| A．not care | B．be happy |
| C．feel worried | D．be unhappy |
When you make a mistake, you should______.
| A．keep quiet | B．get angry |
| C．be kind | D．keep your sense of humor |
The story tells us:“________”
| A．Only foolish(愚蠢的)people make mistakes |
| B．Few people make mistakes |
| C．People never make mistakes |
| D．There is no one who doesn’t make mistakes |
You don’t know what you’ve got until it’s gone. I’ve learned that through my personal experiences. A few months ago, I woke up deaf in one ear. I did not pay much attention to it at first. It felt that I had water in my ear. However, I began to hear less and less out of that ear. I even had to ask people to talk into my other ear so that I could hear them. I didn’t realize how serious it was until late in the day (为时太晚). One evening, when I was sitting on my bed doing chemistry homework, I fell off my bed. When trying to get up, I was incredibly dizzy (头晕的).
I went to see a doctor and he told me that hearing loss was common. However, hearing loss is usually bilateral, or occurs in both ears. He said that my hearing should come back within a week. After about a week the dizziness eventually went away, but the hearing loss did not. The medicine helped and I gained some of my hearing back. After many hearing tests, the doctor diagnosed (诊断) that I had permanent hearing loss in that ear.
School became harder for me because I couldn’t hear my teachers. I was very depressed. Finally, I bought a hearing aid. With the hearing aid, my hearing is almost back to normal. It makes school and group conversations easier.
My friends, teachers and even complete strangers always ask me questions about hearing loss. I answer them patiently. I never get offended because I know this is new to them. I am delighted that I can teach them something new.
What I have learned from this particular situation is that when things are desperate（绝望的；急切的）, there is always something good that can come out of it. My experiences have given me an opportunity to teach people about hearing loss and also taught me about the value of hearing.What happened to the author?
| A．He is born deaf. |
| B．He becomes deaf in a traffic accident. |
| C．He woke up deaf in one ear one day. |
| D．He becomes deaf due to taking some medicine. |
The author fell off his bed when .
| A．getting up from bed | B．doing his homework |
| C．waking up from a dream | D．wearing his clothes |
From the text we can infer that .
| A．the author’s hearing loss was cured after the treatment |
| B．the author is unwilling to talk about his hearing loss with others |
| C．the author took some medicine to treat his hearing loss |
| D．the medicine that doctors gave him didn’t work at all |
At present, the author is.
| A．desperate | B．optimistic |
| C．depressed | D．angry |