What causes an earthquake?
     An earthquake is caused by rocks moving underground. The surface of the earth is made up of about 20
huge plates. The plates are thousands of miles wide and many miles thick. Like turtles with their shells, they
carry oceans and continents right on their backs.
     All the earth's plates are constantly in motion, although they move very slowly, maybe an inch a year. They
push each other, trying to slip under or over each other, or to slide past one another. Earthquakes often happen
when two plates come together. Along the plates where the plates meet, there is a kind of crack in the earth's
surface called a fault. The most famous fault in the United States is the San Andreas Fault, which runs 600 miles
through California and is more than 30 million years old.
     An earthquake happens along a fault where two plates rub together while moving in different directions. The
earth shakes and shivers and vibrates like a rubber band that's been snapped. Those vibrations are picked up by
an instrument which enables experts to figure out where the earthquake occurs and how strong it is. Scientists
measure an earthquake's strength by what they have named the Richter Scale. The Scale runs from zero to nine,
with nine being the most powerful. Sometimes an earthquake occurs so far below the surface, we can hardly
feel it on top. Sometimes an earthquake is so strong that it has more power than a nuclear explosion. An
earthquake can last five seconds or up to ten minutes and create enough heat to melt any rock.
(Help: 1. plate n.板块 2. turtle n.海龟 3. shell n.壳 4. constantly adv.不断地 5. occur v.发生
         6. rub v. 摩擦 7. vibrate v. 振动 8. figure out计算出 9. measure v. 测量 10. melt v. 熔化)

根据文章内容判断下列句子的对(T)与错(F)。
(     )1. An earthquake is caused by rocks moving underground.
(     )2. All the earth's plates are constantly in motion, and they move very fast.
(     )3. The most famous fault in the United States is the San Andreas Fault, which runs 600 miles through
           California.
(     )4. The Scale runs from zero to nine, with zero being the most powerful.
根据文章内容，回答下列问题。
5. When can an earthquake occur according to the passage?
    ____________________________________________________________________________
6. How strong can an earthquake sometimes be? 
    ____________________________________________________________________________
7. What is your feeling if an earthquake occurs far below the surface of the earth? 
    ____________________________________________________________________________

     Many children first learn the value of money by receiving an allowance (零用钱). The purpose is to let
children learn from experience at an age when financial mistakes are not very costly.
     The amount of money that parents give to children to spend as they wish differs from family to family.
Timing is another consideration. Some children get a weekly allowance. Others get a monthly allowance.
     In any case, parents should make clear what, if anything, the child is expected to pay for with the money.
     At first, young children may spend all of their allowance soon after they receive it. If they do this, they
will learn the hard way that spending must be done with a budget (预算). Parents are usually advised not to
offer more money until the next allowance.
     The object is to show young people that a budget demands choices between spending and saving. Older
children may be responsible enough to save money for larger costs, like clothing or electronics.
     Many people who have written on the subject of allowance say it is not a good idea to pay your child for
work around the home. These jobs are a normal part of family life.
     Paying children to do extra work around the house, however, can be useful. It can even provide an
understanding of how a business works.
     Allowances give children a chance to experience the three things they can do with money. They can share
it in the form of gifts or giving it to a good cause. They can spend it by buying things they want. Or they can
save it.

1. What is special about children's learning financial management by experience?

A. They learn more quickly.
B. They are not as likely to make-mistakes.
C. Their mistakes won't matter too much.
D. They have plans made by their parents.

2. When the writer says some young children will learn the hard way that..., he means ____.

A. they will know a budget is hard to carry out
B. they will have a hard time learning the lesson
C. what they will learn is absolutely true
D. their parents will teach them a hard lesson

3. Judging from the article, it is all right if a couple gives their son an allowance ____.

A. regularly twice every month
B. whenever he has run out of money
C. telling him to ask for permission before spending
D. without telling him what to spend on

4. The writer would agree to encourage the kids to ____ to deal with a tight budget.

A. borrow money from others
B. ask their parents for more money
C. get paid for their good exam results
D. earn money by extra work at home

5. When a kid donates some of his allowance to wild animal protection, he is ____.

A. sharing it with others
B. giving it to a good cause
C. buying things for himself
D. saving for his future spending

     Some countries have a large number of earthquakes. Japan is one of them, while others do not have many,
for example, there are few in Britain.
     There is often a great noise during an earthquake. The ground vibrates. Houses fall down. Railways are
broken, which causes trains to run off. Sometimes thousands of people are killed in different ways. About
60,000 were killed in 1783 in the south of Italy. Some people say that earthquakes often happen near volcanoes
(火山), but this is not true. The centres of some earthquakes are under the sea. The bottom of the sea suddenly
moves. The powerful forces inside the earth break the rocks. The coast is shaken and great waves appear.
These waves travel long distances and rush over the land when they reach it, breaking down houses and other
buildings. Sometimes they break more buildings than ____.
     A terrible earthquake happened in Assam, India, in 1986. The land near Shillong suddenly moved l.5 feet to
one side, and then back again. It continued to act like this 20 times a minute. Few buildings could stand what
was happening and great stones flew four feet high into the air. What kind of buildings stays up best in an
earthquake? The Americans studied carefully the results of the earthquake at San Francisco (1906) and believed
it best for buildings to be made with concrete (水泥) walls together by steel frame. Such are the buildings that
can't burn or fall easily.

1. What is the best title of the passage? (Please answer within lo words.)
    _____________________________________________________________________________________
2. Which sentence in the passage can be replaced by the following one? These buildings are very strong and
    do not burn easily. 
    _____________________________________________________________________________________
3. Please fill in the blank in the passage with proper words or phrases. (Please answer within 10 words.)
    _____________________________________________________________________________________
4. What do you think may happen before an earthquake? (Please answer within 30 words.) 
    _____________________________________________________________________________________
5. Translate the underlined sentence in the last paragraph into Chinese. 
    _____________________________________________________________________________________

     The research, which followed 200 students for four years, showed that women time and again
outperformed (胜过) men in their studies even though they had started their courses with almost
identical (相同) a-level grades.
     An analysis of the results showed that while 65 percent of female graduates were awarded, only
35 percent of male graduates did as well. Girls are known to outperform boys at school, but this
research showed that the trend continued at university.
     Fiona Smith who led the research said, "The research shows that the difference has something
to do with schools in general."
     "It also shows something about the inequality for working women in terms of pay and promotion.
Women work harder at school, harder at university, and do better at both, but they still receive less pay."
     The research found that female students were more faithful, less likely to miss lectures, and more
likely to believe that their marks reflected their abilities than male students. Female students were also
more likely to ask for and receive support from their professors.
     Women were also more likely to choose their universities because they liked the courses offered.
     In contrast, men were more likely than women to miss lectures due to "other affairs" and "laziness",
and to believe that playing sports was an important part of university life.
     Generally, people think that women's success comes from more emphasis on coursework, but the
research showed that female geographers at Brunel did better in their exams than in their coursework.
     Dr. Smith said, "Most women feel that getting grades is the most important part of university life.
They believe that they need to work harder in order to compete in the male-dominated (控制) environment
they will meet at work. Good grades are viewed as an 'insurance policy' for success. Men, on the other
hand, prefer going out and playing sports to academic work."
     "This research shows how important it is to get all young people working hard and teach them the
value of higher education," he said.

1. What is the main purpose of the research? (Please answer within 20 words.)
    _________________________________________________________________________________
2. Which sentence in the passage can be replaced by the following one? Men would play rather than do
    academic work. 
    ________________________________________________________________________________
3. Please fill in the blank with proper words or phrases to complete the following sentence. (Please answer
    within 20 words.) Most women think ____ in the competition against men.
4. From the passage, we can infer that compared with men, women ____. (Please answer within 10 words.)
5. Translate the underlined sentence in the passage into Chinese. 
    ________________________________________________________________________________

     Learning disabilities are disorders in the ways people understand or use language. They can affect the
ability to listen or think, or to speak, or to read, or to write and do mathematics.
     A person with a learning disability has unusual difficulty in developing these skills. Researchers believe
that learning disabilities are caused by differences in the way that the brain works with information. They
say children with learning disabilities are not unintelligent or do not want to work. Their brains just process
information differently than other people. Researchers say that one in five people in America has some kinds
of learning disability. Almost three million children in America receive some kinds of help in school for a
learning disability.
     How can you tell if someone has a learning disability? Experts look for a difference between how well
a child does in school and the level of intelligence or ability of the child. But there is no sign of a disorder.
A few signs of a learning disability include not connecting letters with their sounds or not understanding
what is read. A person with a learning disability may not be able to understand a funny story. They may
not follow directions. They may not read numbers correctly or know how to start a task Different people
have different kinds of learning disabilities. Another may have difficulty understanding what people are
saying. Still another may not be able to express ideas in writing.
     These different kinds of learning disabilities are known by different names. For example, a person who
has difficulty reading may have dyslexia. Someone who cannot do mathematics may have a disorder called
dyscalculia (计算困难).
     Experts say learning disabilities cannot be cured. But people who have them can be helped. Teachers
and parents can help young people with learning disabilities to learn successfully.

1. What does the passage mainly talk about?

A. Some kinds of help in school for a learning disability.
B. How to cure learning disabilities.
C. Causes of learning disabilities.
D. Learning disabilities.

2. It is believed that ____ is the main cause of learning disabilities.

A. different brain
B. unintelligence
C. not wanting to work
D. the way the brain works with information

3. People with learning disabilities may have no trouble ____.

A. understanding a funny story
B. following directions
C. dressing themselves
D. reading numbers correctly  

4. The underlined word in the 4th paragraph probably means ____.

A. difficulty in seeing
B. problem in reading
C. trouble in listening
D. brain disorder

     Father's Day may be over in the United States, but animal dads are still hard at work. From penguins
to catfish (鲶鱼), some animal-fathers play a big part in raising their babies.
     "Seahorses are possibly the best example of fathers caring for their young in the animal world," said
Heather Mason Jones, a biologist at the University of Tampa in Florida. Human mothers carry their babies
in their bodies for nine months. But seahorses are different. A female seahorse lays eggs and then puts
them in a pouch on a male seahorse's belly (腹部), where the eggs stay until they hatch.
     Male seahorses aren't the only animal dads caring for eggs. The male hardhead catfish carries up to 48
marble-size eggs in his mouth for 60 days! He doesn't eat for the entire time. "You'd think it would be hard
for them to give up a meal," said Ed Matheson, a fish expert at the Florida Marine Research Institute.
     Emperor penguins sit on eggs to hatch them during Antarctica's freezing winter. The males have to gather
closely together for warmth and can lose half of their weight in the two months that it takes the baby penguins
to hatch.
     Even mammal (哺乳动物) dads play a role in raising their young. The male South American marmoset (狨
猴) takes care of the baby in place of the mother a few weeks after she gives birth.
     So next Father's Day, remember the millions of dads hard at work in the animal kingdom!

1. What purpose does the first paragraph serve in the passage?

A. To provide background information.
B. To tell readers an interesting fact.
C. To bring in the topic interestingly.
D. To offer basic knowledge for the text.

2. How many kinds of animal dads does this text mention?

A. One.
B. Two.
C. Three.
D. Four.

3. Which of the following statements is TRUE according to this text?

A. The female hardhead catfish carries eggs in her mouth for 60 days.
B. The male marmoset takes care of the baby as soon as the mother gives birth.
C. The eggs stay in a pouch on a male seahorse's belly until they hatch.
D. Emperor penguins sit on eggs to keep warm during the freezing winter.

4. Who is the text mainly written for? 

A. Biologists.
B. Fish experts.
C. Ordinary readers.
D. American fathers.

                                  

1. According to Quick Facts, a humpback whale _____.

A. cannot survive in waters near the shore
B. doesn't live in the same waters all the time
C. lives mainly on underwater plants
D. prefers to work alone when hunting food

2. To make a breach, a humpback whale must _____.

A. use its tail flukes to leap out of the water
B. twist its body sideways to jump high
C. blow two streams of water
D. communicate with a group of humpbacks

3. From the passage we can learn that a humpback whale _____.

A. has its unique markings on it tail flukes
B. has black and white fingerprints
C. gets its name from the way it hunts
D. is a great performer due to its songs

     In a six-week study, experts found people who played online games designed to improve their cognitive
(认知的) skills didn't get any smarter.
     More than 8,600 people aged 18 to 60 were asked to play online brain games designed by the researchers
to improve their memory, reasoning and other skills for at least 10 minutes a day, three times a week. They
were compared to more than 2,700 people who didn't play any brain games, but spent a similar amount of
time surfing the Internet and answering general knowledge questions. All participants were given a sort of
I.Q test before and after the experiment.
     Researchers said the people who did the brain training didn't do any better on the test after six weeks than
people who had simply been on the Internet. On some sections of the test, the people who surfed the Net
scored higher than those playing the games.
     "If you're (playing these games) because they're fun, that's absolutely fine," said Adrian Owen, the study's
lead author. "But if you're expecting (these games) to improve your I.Q., our data suggests this isn't the case,"
he said during a press briefing on Tuesday.
     One maker of brain games said the company's games have been proven to boost brain power. "Their
conclusion would be like saying, 'I cannot run a mile in under 4 minutes and therefore it is impossible to do
so," Aldrich said in a statement.
     "There is precious little evidence to suggest the skills used in these games transfer to the real world," said
Art Kramer, who was not linked to the study and has no ties to any companies that make brain training games.
     Instead of playing brain games, Kramer said people would be better off getting some exercise. He said
physical activity can spark (激发) new connections between nerves and produce new brain cells."Fitness
changes the building blocks of the brain's structure," he said.

1. It can be inferred that the online brain games mentioned in the text are _______.

A. costly
B. unreliable
C. illegal
D. effective

2. Which of the following statements is true about the experiment in the second paragraph?

A. The experiment lasted for a week.
B. Age didn't affect the result of the research.
C. Every person played online brain games three times a day.
D. People who didn't play online brain games did better in I.Q test

3. What can we learn from the text?

A. Playing games which are fun can improve your I.Q.
B. There is a lot of evidence to suggest skills can transfer to the real world.
C. Do physical activity can boost your brain power.
D. Playing online games can spark new brain cells

4. The underlined sentence suggests that ______.

A. The research was not linked to the study
B. Those playing the games can score higher in the test
C. playing the games can spark new connections between nerves
D. This isn't the case that these games can improve your I.Q. 

     How can a creature weighing over 5 tons and normally taking 150 kilograms of food and 120 liters
of water per day survive in a desert environment?
      In the southwest African country of Namibia, and the Sahara lands of Mali further north, the desert
elephant does just that.
     Although not regarded as a separate species from the African elephant, the desert cousin differs in
many ways. Their bodies are smaller, to absorb less heat, and their feet are larger for easier walking across
sandy surfaces, They are taller, to reach higher branches. They have shorter tusks (象牙), and most
importantly, longer trunks to dig for water in riverbeds.
     Desert elephants can travel over 70 kilometers in search for feeding grounds and waterholes, and have
a larger group of families. They drink only every 3-4 days, and can store water in a "bag" at the back of
their throat, which is only used when badly needed. Desert elephants are careful feeders-they seldom root
up trees and break fewer branches, and thus maintain what little food sources are available. Young elephants
may even eat the dung (粪便) of the female leader of a group when facing food shortage.
     During drought they are unlikely to give birth to their young but with good rains the birthrate will increase
greatly. Desert elephants have sand baths, sometimes adding their own urine (尿液) to make them muddy!
     As we continue to overheat our weak planet, it can only be hoped that other animal species will adapt as
extraordinarily well to change as the desert elephant.

1. The underlined part in Paragraph 2 means"_____ ".

A. remains in the African countries
B. drinks 120 liters of water a day
C. manages to live in desert areas
D. eats 150 kilograms of food daily

2. Desert elephants are called careful feeders because they _____.

A. rarely ruin trees
B. drink only every 3-4 days
C. search for food in large groups
D. protect food sources for their young

3. The author answers the question raised in the first paragraph with _____.

A. stories and explanation
B. facts and descriptions
C. examples and conclusion
D. evidence and argument

4. What can be inferred from the last sentence in the passage?

A. Overheating the earth can be stopped.
B. Not all animal species are so adaptable.
C. The planet will become hotter and hotter.
D. Not all animals are as smart as desert elephants.