From the moment that an animal is born it has to make decisions. It has to decide which of the things
around it are for eating, and which are to be avoided ; when to attack and when to run away. The animal
is, in fact, playing a very dangerous game with its environment, a game in which it must make decision-a
matter of life or death.
     Animals' ability to act reasonably is believed to come partly from what we may call"genetic (遗传性的)
learning", which is different from the individual (个体的) learning that an animal does in the course of its
own lifetime. Genetic learning is learning by a species -animals of the same kind-as a whole, and it is
achieved by selection of those members of each generation that happen to act in the right way. However,
the role of genetic learning depends upon how similar the future environment is to the past. The more
important individual experience is likely to be, the less important is genetic learning as a means of getting over
the problems of the survival game. Because most animals live in ever changing environments from one
generation to the next, it is not surprising to find that very few species indeed depend wholly upon genetic
learning.
     In the great majority of animals, their particular ways of acting in a new environment are a compound
(复合体) of individual experience added to the action patterns animals are born with.That is why animals
can survive.

1. The animal's life will come to an end _____.

A. if the animal makes a wrong decision
B. if the animal plays a dangerous game
C. when the animal attacks its enemy
D. when the animal runs too slowly

2. Very few species depend entirely on genetic learning because _____.

A. each generation has its own way of learning
B. their environments change all the time
C. they can act reasonably on their own
D. it takes their whole life to learn

3. When the environment doesn't change much,  _____.

A. animals cannot act in a right way
B. genetic learning is less important for animals
C. individual learning plays a less important role
D. animals cannot get over problems on their on their own

4. Animals' living on generation after generation depends on _____.

A. their natural action pattern with their own experience
B. the lessons they have learnt during their lifetime
C. their experience in particular environments
D. the knowledge passed on by their parents

     Walk through the Amazon rainforest today and you will find it is steamy,warm,damp and thick.But if you
had been around 15,000 years ago, during the last ice age, would it have been the same?For more than 30
years, scientists have been arguing about how rainforests like the Amazon might have reacted (反应) to the
cold, dry climates of the ice ages, but until now, no one has reached a satisfying answer.
     Rainforests like the Amazon are important for mopping up CO2 from the atmosphere and helping to slow
global warming. Currently the trees in the Amazon take in around 500 million tonnes of CO2 each year; equal
to the total amount of CO2 giving off in the UK each year. But how will the Amazon react to future climate
change? If it gets drier, will it still survive and continue to draw down CO2? Scientists hope that they will be
able to learn in advance how the rainforest will manage in the future by understanding how rainforests reacted
to climate change in the past.
     Unfortunately,getting into the Amazon rainforest and collecting information are very difficult. To study past
climate, scientists need to look at fossilized pollen,kept in lake muds. Going back to the last ice age means
drilling deep down into lake sediments (沉淀物),which requires specialized equipment and heavy machinery.
There are very few roads and paths,or places to land helicopters and aeroplanes. Rivers tend to be the easiest
way to enter the forest,but this still leaves vast ares between the rivers completely unsampled (未取样). So far,
only a handful of cores have been drilled that go back to the last ice age and none of them provide enough
information to prove how the Amazon rainforest reacts to climate change.

1. The underlined phrase "mopping up" in the second paragraph means _____.

A. cleaning up
B. taking in
C. wiping out
D. giving out

2. How will the Amazon rainforest react to future climate change? 

A. It'll get drier and continue to remove CO2.
B. It'll remain steamy,warm,damp and thick.
C. It'll get warmer and then colder and drier.
D. There is no exact answer up to present.

3. What's the main idea of the last paragraph?

A. It's important to drill deep down into lake sediments to collect information.
B. It's impossible to prove how climate changes in the Amazon rainforest.
C. It's hard to collect information for studies of the past climate in the Amazon rainforest.
D. It's necessary to have specialized equipment and machinery to study the past climate.

4. The best title for this passage may probably be _____.

A. Studies of the Amazon
B. Climates of the Amazon
C. Secrets of the Rainforests
D. Changes of the Rainforests

     Animals can move from place to place, but plants cannot. When an animal is under attack, it can run away
or fight back.. Plants certainly cannot run away, and they lack teeth and claws. But plants can defend
themselves by using both physical and chemical means.
     Some plants have their own ways to keep animals away. For example, the leaves of the holly plant have
sharp spines (刺) that discourage grass-eating animals. Holly leaves on lower branches have more spines than
leaves on upper branches. This is because the lower leaves are easier for most animals to reach.
     Some plants, such as the oak tree, have thick and hard leaves that are difficult for animals to eat. Some
grasses may contain a sandy material; eating such grasses wears down the animal's teeth. 
     Many plants also have chemical defenses. Some plants produce chemicals that taste bitter or cause an
unpleasant reaction. Some plants may fight against an attack by increasing the production of these chemicals.
When a caterpillar (毛虫) bites a tobacco leaf, the leaf produces a chemical messenger. This messenger sends
to the roots the information to produce more nicotine. The higher levels of nicotine discourage the caterpillar.
     Many plants depend on both physical and chemical defenses. A certain plant in China, for instance, has
prickly (多刺的) leaves, and each prickle contains poisonous venom (毒液) A single experience with this kind
of plant will teach an animal to stay away from it in the future.

1. The holly plant has more spines on the lower leaves because most animals ______.

A. are not tall enough
B. like the lower leaves only
C. are not clever enough
D. can get the lower leaves easily

2. To defend themselves, oak trees use ______.

A. chemical means
B. physical means
C. bitter chemicals
D. sandy materials

3. How does tobacco protect itself against an attack from a caterpillar?

A. Its leaves fight against the attack by physical means.
B. Its roots send a messenger to discourage the caterpillar.
C. Its roots increase the production of nicotine when it is attacked.
D. Its leaves produce poisonous sand to drive the caterpillar away.

4. What would be the best title for this passage?

A. Plants and Animals
B. How Plants Defend Themselves
C. Attacks and Defenses
D. How Animals Eat Plant Leaves

     "Have you ever been out on a boat and felt it lifted up by a wave? Or have you jumped in the water and felt
the rush of energy as waves came over you.'?" asked Jamie Taylor of the Wave Energy Group at the University of Edinburgh. "There is certainly a lot of energy in waves," he said.
     Scientists are working to use that energy to make electricity. Most waves are created when winds blow
across the ocean. "The wind starts out by making little ripples (涟漪), but if they keep on blowing, those
ripples get bigger and bigger and turn into waves," Taylor said."Waves are one of nature's ways of picking up
energy and then sending it off on a journey."
     When waves come toward the shore, people can set up darns to block the water and send it through a large wheel called a turbine (涡轮机). The turbine can then power an electrical generator to produce electricity.
     "The resource is huge," said Janet Swain of the Worldwatch Institute. "We will never run out of wave
power." Besides, wave energy does not create the same pollution as other energy sources, such as oil or coal.
Oceans cover three-quarters of the Earth's surface-that would make wave power seem ideal for creating energy throughout the world, though there are some weak points yet to overcome.
    Swain said that wave power still costs too much money. She also said that its effects on sea animals are still
unknown. What is more, wave power could affect fishing and boat traffic.
     Traditional sources of energy like oil and gas may someday run out. "Demand for energy to power our TVs
and computers, drive our cars, and heat and cool our homes is rising rapidly throughout the world," Swain said. In the future when you turn on a light, an ocean wave could be providing the electricity!

1. The writer uses the two questions at the beginning of the passage to ______.

A. test the readers' knowledge about waves
B. draw the readers' attention to the topic
C. show Jamie Taylor's importance
D. invite the readers to answer them

2. The underlined phrase "picking up" (paragraph 2) is closest in meaning to ______.

A. starting again
B. speeding up
C. gathering
D. improving

3. We can make better use of wave energy if we ______.

A. shorten its journey to thousands of homes
B. build more small power stations on the oceans
C. reduce the cost of turning it into electric power
D. quicken the steps of producing electricity

4. It can be inferred that some day we might not worry about ______.

A. air pollution
B. our boat traffic
C. our power supply
D. our supply of sea fish

     The tea gardens in Sri Lanka are actually large estates (种植园). The best tea usually comes from plants
grown on high grounds, the cool hilltops with rows and rows of tea plants. The plants are about one metre
apart. The plant is often pruned so that it remains only 60 to 90 centimetres high. Pruning is important
because it encourages the growth of tender shoots, or young leaves. It is from these shoots that the best tea
is got.
     Practically all the tea pickers are women. The estates prefer to employ women pickers because they are
more careful. Their thin fingers can easily remove the twin leaves and new shoots from the plant, which are
the parts used for processing (加工) tea. The pickers carry large baskets into which they throw their pickings.
A skilled worker can harvest between 9 to 14 kilogrammes of tea leaves a day. Usually new shoots can be
picked from the plants about every ten or fifteen days.
      Processing tea shoots into the familiar dry tea leaves requires great care and skill. There are various
methods of processing depending on the type of tea required.For black tea,the young green leaves are first
spread out shelves to dry. This process removes much of its water and the leaves become soft. After this, the
leaves are passed through heavy rollers.This operation will press the leaves for juices which give the tea both
its colour and taste.Then the leaves are spread out on floors and left to ferment (发酵) under wet conditions.
Fermentation develops the rich taste of black tea.The fermented leaves are then dried with a hot-air blower
until they become rolled-up black leaves.The final step is to sort and grade them before the black tea is ready
for sale to countries all over the world.

1. In the first paragraph,the word "pruning" means _____.

A. regular cutting of the plants
B. frequent watering
C. regular use of chemicals
D. growing the plants high in the mountain

2. One of the reasons why women are employed to do the picking is that _____.

A. they work harder than men do in the picking
B. they can throw their pickings more easily into the baskets
C. their fingers fit them better for the job.
D. they can more easily find the twin leaves.

3. How many processing steps are mentioned in the last paragraph?

A. Three.
B. Four.
C. Five.
D. Six.

3. What is the writer's purpose in writing the passage?

A. To introduce various methods of tea processing.
B. To persuade readers to buy tea from Sri Lanka.
C. To tell a story that had happened in the tea gardens.
D. To inform readers of tea growing, picking and processing.

     Do you have any strong opinion on co-educational or single-sex schools?
     A supporter of co-educational schools would probably say that schools should be like the societies they
belong to. In Hong Kong, men and women mix socially on a day-to-day basis. In many fields men are even
likely to have female bosses. It is, therefore, desirable that boys and girls grow up together,go to school
together, and prepare themselves for a society that does not value sexual separation.
     Some would go on to argue further that growing up with members of the opposite sex is important for
personal development. Regular contact (接触) can remove the strange ideas about the opposite-sex and lead
to more natural relationships. Single-sex conditions are seen as leading to more extreme opinions, and possibly
even as encouraging homosexuality (同性恋), though there is no proof that this is the case.
     Those who are against coeducation often also fix their attention on the sexual side. Some parents fear that
close contact with members of the opposite sex is dangerous for teenagers. They want their children to be
attentive to their studies. Such parents feel uncomfortable with modern ways and the free mixing of the sexes.
     A stronger argument comes from research into school results. Girls grow up earlier than boys, tend to be
more orderly and are likely to be better at languages. In a mixed class,boys who might do well in a single-sex
class become discouraged and take on the rule of troublemaker. Certainly in the UK this situation has greatly
alarmed (惊动) the government for it to be encouraging co-educational schools to have some single-sex
classes.　In the UK the best schools are all single-sex, strongly suggesting that co-education is not the best
answer. This may, however, not be as simple as it looks.It may simply be that the famous old schools that
attract the best students happen to be single-sex,　rather than that being single-sex makes them better schools.

1. In the third paragraph, by saying "though there is no proof that this is the case", the writer
means that _____.

A. students in single-sex schools will certainly become homosexual
B. students in co-educational schools cannot have extreme opinions
C. students in co-educational schools are likely to be homosexual
D. single-sex school conditions may or may not have effects on the students.

2. All the following arguments can be found in the passage EXCEPT that _____.

A. co-education can produce a society-like situation
B. co-educational schools may lead to love affairs between boys and girls
C. co-education will help develop a better understanding about the opposite sex
D. co-education can make boys perform well in mixed classes

3. Alarmed by the situation,the UK government encourages _____.

A. co-education
B. single-sex education
C. single-sex classes in co-educational schools
D. co-educational classes in single-sex schools

4. At the end of the passage the writer suggests that _____.

A. single-sex schools are the best schools in the UK
B. being single-sex does not necessarily make a school better
C. co-educational schools are better for both sexes in personal development
D. because boys cannot compete with girls in study,they go to single-sex schools

     Collections were the inspiration (灵感) for a project at Thomas Tallis School, which formed part of the
Imagine Children's Literature Festival last autumn. Each child (aged 12-13) beatified a box and wrote a story
on the subject of collections to throw inside it. The boxes were spread within the Royal Festival Hall's
Ballroom. Some were left empty to encourage
     The subject chosen by Luren was an imaginative one. "It's a sort o f Cinderella (灰姑娘) story," she told
me, inspired by a collection of letters from her cousin, ha the story these become love letters, burned by a
creel stepmother. Lauren's best friend Charlotte is the stepmother. "I'm in Charlotte's story too," says Lauren,
"and I get run over." Charlotte's tale was inspired by the girls' coin collection."We've collected foreign coins
for years-since our families went on holiday to Tenerife." she explains."That was before the Euro, so we put
pesetas in." Lauren continues: "I fred a coin in the road, go to get it and get run over. I'm in hospital and then
I die." Charlotte adds: "Or she might not die. I haven't decided yet."
     Millie Murray, who is a tea-novel author, thinks that setting the subject of collections was a useful
inspiration to their creativity rather than a restriction (限制). "In the beginning I thought, 'Will the children be
able to do it?'" she says. "But it's been fruitful. Some have their own collection, some have parents who do,
and some have wlstten complete stories. It's made them think about something they wouldn't have otherwise,
winch can only be a good thing."

1. What were the children asked to do in the project?

A. To meet friends at Thomas Tallis School
B. To write stories on the subject of collections.
C. To encourage visitors to write their own stories.
D. To have their friends for characters in the stories.

2. The underlined word "pesetas" in Paragraph 2 is a kind of _____.

A. story
B. collection
C. inspiration
D. foreign coin

3. From the stories by Lauren and Charlotte, we know that _____.

A. Charlotte hurt herself when getting a coin
B. both of them developed their imagination
C. both of tram will die in each other's stories
D. Latwen's cousin posted her some love letters

4. Millie Murray thinks ______.

A. collections could inspire writing creativity
B. it was good for parents to have collections
C. inspirations were very useful in writing stories
D. setting collection subjects restricted inspirations

     Last year my sixth-grader daughter, Elizabeth, was forced to put up with science. Her education week after
week, contained mindless memorization of big words like "batholith" and "saprophyte" She learned by heart the
achievements of famous scientists who did things like "improved nuclear fu-sion (核聚变)"-never mind that
she hasn't the least idea of what nuclear fusion means. Eliza-beth did very well (she's good at memorizing things ). And now she hates science. My eighth-grad-er son,Ben,also suffered from science education. Week after
week he had to perform lab experiments with answers already known.Ben figured out how to guess the right
answers, so he got good grades. Now he hates science, too.
     Science can provide an exciting way to develop children's curiosity. Science education should teach ways
to ask questions and week answers. But my children got the mistaken idea in school than science is difficult
dull and has no relation to their everyday interests.
     As a physicist, I am saddened and angered to see "the great science turnoff" I know that science is
important in our lives.Yet studies prove that our schools are turning out millions of graduates who know
almost nothing about and have almost no interest in science. What's gone wrong? Who is to blame?

1. We learn from paragraph 1 that _____.

A. the writer was proud of Elizabeth and Ben
B. both Elizabeth and Ben could become scientists
C. Elizabeth had to learn much about great scientists
D. Ben was good at trying new ideas in lab experiments

2. The writer thinks that in science education we should first _____.

A. get students interested in the subject
B. answer students' questions in delightful ways.
C. smooth out difficulties in lab experiments
D. explain the special terms clearly

3. By writing the text,the author questions _____.

A. the difficulty level of the science texts
B. the way science is taught in school
C. the achievements of famous scientists
D. students' poor records in science classes