It is often said that you cannot “teach an old dog new tricks”, but three New Zealand dogs have decided to prove otherwise by learning a skill --- driving a car!
What's even more impressive is that the three who have become skilled in just eight weeks are not special dogs that belong to some rich owners, but abandoned ones at New Zealand's SPCA.
To get their training started, 10-month old Porter, 18-month-old Monty and one-year-old Ginny were selected from a pool of seven potential candidates and moved to Animal Q, a talent agency that teaches animals tricks for movies and television shows.
The driving classes began with teaching the dogs some basic driving techniques like turning the steering wheels(方向盘)and applying the brakes. After that the dogs practiced everything they had learnt behind the wheels of a motorized(装上发动机的)car. Then finally, it was time for the big test--- driving a real car!
Human cars are not really built for four-legged animals, so the car they drove was adjusted so that the dogs could sit comfortably and easily reach the steering wheel with their paws.
Though they all seemed to do very well, the real test came on Monday night when Monty, the best driver of the three, showed his great driving skill on live television.
Why would the SPCA go through so much trouble to highlight the skills of homeless dogs? The reason is to show that adopting a dog from a shelter does not mean owners are getting a pet that is worse than one purchased from a keeper. The CEO of the SPCA is hoping that this unusual event will be enough to convince the residents of New Zealand to consider them, when searching for a pet.
We surely hope so, meanwhile we are almost certain that these three pioneers have at least landed their names in the Guinness World Records, creating a category that probably does not even exist today!
61. Who do the three dogs belong to?
A. Some rich owners. B. Animal Q. C. A shelter. D. A zoo.
62. The car the dogs drove was adjusted ______.
A. because is was too big for the dogs to drive
B. because it had no steering wheels and brakes
C. to ensure the dogs could sit comfortably and drive easily
D. to motorize the car and turn it to be a real one
63. Which is the right order of the following events?
a. Teaching the dogs some basic driving techniques.
b. Selecting three dogs and moving them to Animal Q.
c. The dogs practiced everything they had learnt in a motorized car.
d. Choosing the best driver to show his great driving skill on live television.
e. Driving a real car.
A. a-b-c- d-e B. b-a-c-e-d C. b- d- a-c-e D. a- e- c-b-d
64. Why does the SPCA decide to teach the three dogs to learn to drive a car?
A. To prove old dogs can learn new tricks.
B. To teach them performing tricks for movies and television shows.
C. To provide amusing performances for homeless children
D. To encourage people to adopt the abandoned dogs.
65. What can we learn from the passage?
A. A new Guinness category for driving dogs will probably be created.
B. Abandoned dogs are much cleverer than house-kept ones.
C. All the dogs at New Zealand’s SPCA will soon be adopted.
D. New Zealand has the most homeless dogs among all countries
科目:高中英语 来源:2012届陕西省宝鸡市群力中学高三第一次诊断性考试英语 题型:阅读理解
There are two types of twins; identical and non-identical twins. Identical twins are formed from a single egg in mother’s body which divides to from two separate babies. Identical twins look the same, and are often dressed by their parents in clothes of the same colors. It is often difficult to tell identical twins from each other, even when they are standing side by side. Non-identical twins come into being when the mother produces two separated eggs a the same time, both of which grow to form babies. In this case the twins look like normal brothers and sisters and are easy to tell one from the other.
In the 1970s and 1980s a scientist did some research into twins. He invited many pairs of identical twins to university and asked them to take part in a week of tests. He was particularly interested in adopted (收养) twins who had been separated at birth. He would give the twins different kinds of tests to study their speed of thinking, their speech, their memory, the ways they saw and heard different things, and so on. Time and time again he found separated twins who preferred clothes of the same color, used the same kind of shaving soap, wore the same shaped square glasses and the same colored socks.
There is a third type of twins, but it is a very unusual one. Twins which are joined together at birth are known in western countries as Siamese twins.
【小题1】It is difficult to tell identical twins apart because _______.
A.they are dressed in the same clothes | B.they are dressed in the same color |
C.they are very alike | D.they are standing side by side |
A.very probably non-identical twins | B.surely identical twins |
C.surely identical twins | D.always a brother and a sister |
A.In the 1970s and 1980s a scientist did some research into the two main types of twins. |
B.In the week of tests, he tested their speed of thinking, their speech, their memory and some other things. |
C.There were twins who had been separated from each other as soon as they were born. |
D.Very often, separated twins were found to choose things of the same kind, the same shape and the same color. |
A.the main types of twins | B.what has been found out about twins |
C.how twins are formed | D.how a scientist studied twins |
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科目:高中英语 来源:2012-2013学年浙江杭州西湖高级中学高二8月开学考试英语试卷(带解析) 题型:阅读理解
Last August, Joe and Mary Mahoney began looking at colleges for their 17-year-old daughter, Maureen. With a checklist of criteria (衡量标准)in hand, the Dallas family looked around the country visiting half a dozen schools. They sought a university that offered the teenager’s intended major, one located near a large city, and a campus where their daughter would be safe.
“The safety issue is a big one,” says Joe Mahoney, who quickly discovered he wasn’t alone in his worries. On campus tours other parents voiced similar concerns, and the same question was always asked: what about crime? But when college officials always gave the same answer -----“That’s not a problem here,”-----Mahoney began to feel uneasy.
“No crime whatever?” comments Mahoney today. “I just don’t buy it.” Nor should he: in 1999 the U.S. Department of education had reports of nearly 400,000 serious crimes on or around our campuses. “Parents need to understand that times have changed since they went to college,” says David Nichols, author of Creating a Safe Campus. “Campus crime mirrors the rest of the nation.”
But getting accurate information isn’t easy. Colleges must report crime statistics(统计数字) by law, but some hold back for fear of bad publicity(关注), leaving the honest ones looking dangerous. “The truth may not always be serious,” warns S. Daniel Carter of Security on Campus, Inc., the nation’s leading campus safety watchdog group.
To help concerned parents, Carter promised to visit campuses and talk to experts around the country to find out major crime issues and effective solutions.
【小题1】It is often difficult to get correct information on campus crime because some colleges ____.
A.receive too many visitors |
B.mirror the rest of the nation |
C.hide the truth of campus crime |
D.have too many watchdog groups |
A.mind | B.admit | C.believe | D.expect |
A.that are protected by campus security |
B.that report campus crimes by law |
C.that are free from campus crime |
D.that enjoy very good publicity |
A.Exact campus crime statistics. |
B.Crimes on or around campuses. |
C.Effective solutions to campus crime. |
D.Concerns about kids’ campus safety. |
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科目:高中英语 来源:2012-2013学年甘肃省武威第五中学高一9月月考英语试卷(带解析) 题型:阅读理解
Many teenagers feel that the most important people in their lives are their
friends. They believe that their family members, especially their parents, don’t
know them as well as their friends do. In large families, it is often for brothers and sisters to fight with each other and then they can only turn to their friends for advice.
It is very important for teenagers to have one good friend or many friends. Even when they are not with their friends, they usually spend a lot of time talking among themselves on the phone. This communication is very important in children’s growing up, because friends can discuss something difficult to say to their family members.
However, parents often try to choose their children’s friends for them. Some parents may even stop their children from meeting their good friends. The question of “choice” is an interesting one. Have you ever thought of the following questions?
Who choose your friends?
Do you choose your friends or your friends choose you?
Have you got a good friend your parents don’t like?
【小题1】 Many teenagers think their____ know them better than their parents do.
A.friends | B.teachers |
C.brothers and sisters | D.classmates |
A.turn to their friends |
B.talk with their parents |
C.have a discussion with their family |
D.talk with their friends on the phone |
A.parents cannot choose friends for their children successfully |
B.perhaps some children’s friends are chosen by their parents |
C.children won’t let their parents choose friends for them |
D.parents often try to choose their children’s friends for them |
A.Parents should like everything their children enjoy. |
B.In all families, children can choose everything they like. |
C.Parents should try their best to understand their children better. |
D.Teenagers can only turn to their friends for help. |
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科目:高中英语 来源:2012-2013学年陕西省三原县北城中学高一上学期期中考试英语试卷(带解析) 题型:阅读理解
Many teenagers feel that the most important people in their lives are their friends. They believe that their family members, especially their parents, don’t know them as well their friends do. In large families, it is often for brothers and sisters to fight with each other and then they can only go to their friends for advice. It is very important for teenagers to have one good friend or many friends. Even when they are not with their friends, they usually spend a lot of time talking among themselves on the phone. This communication is very important in children’s growing up, because friends can discuss something difficult to say to their family members.
However, parents often try to choose their children’s friends for them. Some parents may even stop their children from meeting their good friends. The question of “choice” is an interesting one. Have you ever thought of the following questions?
Who choose your friends?
Do you choose your friends or your friends choose you?
Have you got a good friend your parents don’t like?
【小题1】When teenagers stay alone, the usual way of communication is to _________.
A.go to their friends | B.talk with their parents |
C.have a discussion with their family | D.talk with their friends on the phone |
A.Some parents may even not allow their children to meet their good friends. |
B.Some parents may even ask their children to stay away from their good friends. |
C.Some parents may even not let their children meet their good friends. |
D.Some parents may want their children to stop to meet their good friends. |
A.Parents should like everything their children enjoy. |
B.In all families, children can choose everything they like. |
C.Parents should try their best to understand their children better. |
D.Teenagers can only go to their friends for help. |
A.Teenagers need friends |
B.Friends can give good advice |
C.Parents often choose their children’s friends for them |
D.Good friends can communicate with each other |
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科目:高中英语 来源:2012-2013学年广东省高三第一次月考英语试卷(解析版) 题型:阅读理解
America is a mobile society. Friendships between Americans can be close and real, yet disappear soon if situations change. Neither side feels hurt by this. Both may exchange Christmas greetings for a year or two, perhaps a few letters for a while — then no more. If the same two people meet again by chance, even years later, they pick up the friendship. This can be quite difficult for us Chinese to understand, because friendships between us flower more slowly but then may become lifelong feelings, extending (延伸) sometimes deeply into both families. Americans are ready to receive us foreigners at their homes, share their holidays, and their home life. They will enjoy welcoming us and be pleased if we accept their hospitality (好客) easily. Another difficult point for us Chinese to understand Americans is that although they include us warmly in their personal everyday lives, they don’t show their politeness to us if it requires a great deal of time. This is usually the opposite of the practice in our country where we may be generous with our time. Sometimes, we, as hosts, will appear at airports even in the middle of the night to meet a friend. We may take days off to act as guides to our foreign friends. The Americans, however, express their welcome usually at homes, but truly can not manage the time to do a great deal with a visitor outside their daily routine. They will probably expect us to get ourselves from the airport to our own hotel by bus. And they expect that we will phone them from there. Once we arrive at their homes, the welcome will be full, warm and real. We will find ourselves treated hospitably. For the Americans, it is often considered more friendly to invite a friend to their homes than to go to restaurants, except for purely business matters. So accept their hospitality at home!
1.The writer of this passage must be ______.
A.an American |
B.a Chinese |
C.a professor |
D.a student |
2.Which of the following statements is TRUE according to the passage?
A.Friendships between Americans usually extend deeply into their families. |
B.Friendships between Americans usually last for all their lives. |
C.Americans always show their warmth even if they are very busy. |
D.Americans will continue their friendships again even after a long break. |
3.From the last two paragraphs we can learn that when we arrive in America to visit an American friend, we will probably be ______.
A.warmly welcomed at the airport |
B.offered a ride to his home |
C.treated hospitably at his home |
D.treated to dinner in a restaurant |
4.The underlined words “generous with our time” in Paragraph 3 probably mean ______.
A.strict with time |
B.serious with time |
C.careful with time |
D.willing to spend time |
5.A suitable title for this passage would probably be “______”.
A.Friendships between Chinese |
B.Friendships between Americans |
C.Americans’ hospitality |
D.Americans’ and Chinese’s views of friendships |
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