Can dogs and cats get along well in the same home? People who are thinking about getting a dog as a friend for their cat are worried that they will fight. A recent research has found that if the cat is taken back home before the dog, and if they are introduced when still young (less than 6 months for cats, a year for dogs), it is highly probable that the two pets will get along swimmingly. In two-thirds of the homes cats and dogs have a good relationship.
However, it wasn’t all sweetness and light. There was a reported coldness between the cat and dog in 25% of the homes, while aggression(侵略，好斗) and fighting were found in 10% of the homes. One reason for this is probably that some of their body languages are just different. For example, when a cat turns its head away it means aggression, while a dog doing the same means submission(顺从).
In homes with cats and dogs living peacefully, researchers found a surprising behavior. They are learning how to talk each other’s language. It is a surprise that cats can learn how to talk “Dog”, and dogs can learn how to talk “Cat”.
What’s interesting is that both cats and dogs have appeared to become smarter. They can learn to read each other’s body languages, suggesting that the two may have more in common than was expected. Once familiar with each other’s body language, cats and dogs can play together, and enjoy sleeping together on the sofa.
The importance of this research on cats and dogs may go beyond pets — to people who don’t get along well, including neighbors, colleagues at work, and even countries. If cats and dogs can learn to get along, surely people have a good chance.
1.The underlined word “swimmingly” in Paragraph 1 is closest in meaning to ________.
A. early B. mostly
C. quickly D. smoothly
2.Some cats and dogs may fight when ________.
A. they are cold to each other
B. they look away from each other
C. they are introduced at an early age
D. they misunderstand each other’s body languages
3.It is suggested in Paragraph 4 that cats and dogs ________.
A. have common interests
B. are less different than was thought
C. have a common body language
D. are not so smart as was expected
4.What can we human beings learn from cats and dogs?
A. We should learn to get along well with others.
B. We should know more about animals.
C. We should live in peace with animals.
D. We should learn more body languages.
When an ant dies, other ants take it out of the nest, often within an hour after its death. This behavior interests scientists and they wonder how ants know for sure—and so soon—that another ant is dead.
One scientist recently came up with a way to explain this ant behavior. Dong-Hwan Choe is a biologist, a scientist who studies animals and plants. He found that ants have a chemical on the outside of their bodies that signals to other ants, “I'm dead—take me away” when it is dead.
But there's a question to answer: As we know, if an ant is dead, it stops moving. But when an ant is sleeping or knocked unconscious, it is also not moving. However, other ants don't move the living ant out of the nest. How do they know this ant is not dead? Choe found that ants have another chemical on their bodies, which tells nearby ants something like, “Wait—I'm not dead yet” when it is not dead. Choe suspects that when an ant dies, the chemical that says, “Wait— I'm not dead yet” quickly goes away. When other ants detect the “dead” chemical without the “not dead yet” chemical, they move away the body.
To test his theory, Choe and his team put different chemicals on ants. When the scientists used the “I'm dead” chemical, other ants quickly moved the treated ant away. When the scientists used the “Wait—I'm not dead yet” chemical, other ants left the treated ant alone. Choe believes this behavior shows that the “not dead yet” chemical overrides the “dead” chemical when picked up by other ants. And that when an ant dies, the “not dead yet” chemical fades away. Other nearby ants then detect the remaining “dead” chemical and remove the body from the nest.
Understanding this behavior can help scientists figure out how to stop ants from invading new places and causing problems.
1.What is the function of the first paragraph?
A. Leading the following paragraphs.
B. Showing the main idea of the passage.
C. Introducing the background of the passage.
D. Giving a summary of the passage.
2.Which of the following has the closest meaning to the underlined word “overrides” in the fourth paragraph?
A. is weaker than B. is stronger than
C. is better than D. is worse than
3.What can we learn from the passage?
A. Living ants can also be taken away when they are not moving.
B. When an ant dies, it can tell others using a certain chemical.
C. A living ant can pretend to be dead using a special chemical.
D. Ants often use chemicals to communicate with each other.
4.Which of the following descriptions about Dong-Hwan Choe is right?
A. Choe did this study in order to stop ants from invading new places.
B. Choe is a biologist who is only interested in animals, especially in ants.
C. Choe first came up with an idea to explain this ant behavior，and then did some tests to prove his theory.
D. Choe did the research on this ant behavior on his own.
The National Gallery
Description:
The National Gallery is the British national art museum built on the north side of Trafalgar Square in London. It houses a diverse collection of more than 2,300 examples of European art ranging from 13th-century religious paintings to more modern ones by Renoir and Van Gogh. The older collections of the gallery are reached through the main entrance while the more modern works in the East Wing are most easily reached from Trafalgar Square by a ground floor entrance.
Layout:
The modern Sainsbury Wing on the western side of the building houses 13th-to15th-century paintings, and artists include Duccio, Uccello, Van Eyck, Lippi, Mantegna, Botticelli and Memling.
The main West Wing houses 16th-century paintings, and artists include Leonardo da Vinci, Cranach, Michelangelo, Raphael, Bruegel, Bronzino, Titan and Veronese.
The North Wing houses 17th-century paintings, and artists include Caravaggio, Rubens, Poussin, Van Dyck, Velazquez, Claude and Vermeer.
The East Wing houses 18th-to early 20th-century paintings, and artists include Canaletto, Goya, Turner, Constable, Renoir and Van Gogh.
Opening Hours:
The Gallery is open every day from 10 am to 6 pm (Fridays 10 am to 9 pm) and is free, but charges apply to some special exhibitions.
Getting There:
Nearest underground stations: Charing Cross (2-minute walk), Leicester Square (3-minute walk), Embankment (7-minute walk), and Piccadilly Circus (8-minute walk).
1.In which century’s collection can you see religious paintings?
A. The 20th B. The 17th
C. The 18th D. The 13th
2.Where are Leonardo da Vinci’s works shown?
A. In the East Wing. B. In the main West Wing.
C. In the Sainsbury Wing. D. In the North Wing.
3.Which underground station is closest to the National Gallery?
A. Charing Cross. B. Leicester Square.
C. Embankment. D. Piccadilly Circus.
Winter begins in the north on December 22nd. People and animals have been doing what they always do to prepare for the colder months. Squirrels (松鼠), for example, have been busy gathering nuts from trees. Well, scientists have been busy gathering information about what the squirrels do with the food they collect.
They examined differences between red squirrels and gray squirrels in the American state of Indiana. The scientists wanted to know how these differences could affect the growth of black walnut (黑胡桃) trees. The black walnut is the nut of choice for both kinds of squirrels. The black walnut tree is also a central part of some hardwood forests.
Rob Swihart of Purdue University did the study with Jake Goheen, a former Purdue student now at the University of New Mexico. The two researchers estimate that several times as many walnuts grow when gathered by gray squirrels as compared to red squirrels. Gray squirrels and red squirrels do not store nuts and seeds in the same way. Gray squirrels bury nuts one at a time in a number of places. But they seldom remember where they buried every nut. So some nuts remain in the ground. Conditions are right for them to develop and grow the following spring. Red squirrels, however, store large groups of nuts above ground. Professor Swihart calls “death traps for seeds”.
Gray squirrels are native to Indiana. But Professor Swihart says their numbers began to decrease as more forests were cut for agriculture. Red squirrels began to spread through the state during the past century.
The researchers say red squirrels are native to forests that stay green all year, unlike walnut trees. They say the cleaning of forest land for agriculture has helped red squirrels invade Indiana. Jake Goheen calls them a sign of an environmental problem more than a cause.
1.The study done by Rob Swihart and Jake Goheen is to ________.
A. find out the living conditions for squirrels
B. learn squirrels’ influence on black walnut trees
C. do something to get rid of squirrels
D. save the forests in the American state of Indiana
2.The difference between gray squirrels and red squirrels mainly lies in ________.
A. the way they gather the walnut
B. the time they have winter sleep
C. the place they have winter sleep
D. the place they store the walnuts
3.When Professor Swihart says “death traps for seeds”, he actually means that ________.
A. red squirrels eat more nuts than gray squirrels
B. gray squirrels and red squirrels will have severe fights
C. nuts above the ground will not develop into plants
D. seeds can be traps for other animals in the forest
4.According to the passage, which of the following is true?
A. The black walnut is equally attractive to both gray and red squirrels.
B. Gray squirrels do more harm to the forest than red squirrels.
C. Red squirrels and gray squirrels have helped the spread of walnut trees.
D. The cleaning of forest land benefits red squirrels directly.
假定你是李华，你的加拿大网友Peter成立一个网上“读书俱乐部”，邀请世界各地中学生参加。假定你对读书特感兴趣，希望加入该俱乐部，请用英文写一封自荐信。要点如下：
1.你对此事情的看法，并表达积极参加的愿望；
2.陈述自己的有利条件，如痴迷于读书，中英文阅读和写作能力强等；
3.若成为会员，会给其他会员提供更多帮助并使自己读更多的书。
注意：1.不要逐词逐句地翻译；
2.为使语句连贯，可以适当增加细节；
3.词数100左右，开头和结尾已给出，不计入总数。
Dear Peter,
I’m Li Hua. I’d like to join your “Reading Club” on the Internet. ……
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Yours sincerely,
Li Hua
假定英语课上老师要求同桌之间交换修改作文，请你修改你同桌写的以下作文，文中共有10处错误，每句中最多有两处。错误涉及一个单词的增加、删除或修改。
增加：在缺词处加一个漏字符号（∧），并在其下面写出该加的词。
删除：把多余的词用斜线（\）划掉。
修改：在错的词下划一横线，并在该词下面写出修改后的词。
A musician friend of me once went on an English course during his summer holidays. What he really wants to do was to improve his ability to think and react quick in spoken English. He said speaking a foreign language always made him to feel nervous, even if after three years of study. One of the teacher on the course had very strong views on music, but was not afraid to express them in the lessons. My friend spent most of the class time argue about music with a teacher. When his course finished, he found that his nervousness in English has completely disappeared, and he was speaking far fluently than before.
