Autumn means different things to different people. It all depends on your personality, said British naturalist Richard Mabey. "Personality shapes your view of the season," he said. "You may see it as a fading away, a packing up（结束）, or as a time of packing in another sense – the excited gathering of resources before a long journey."

If this is true, perhaps it tells us a little about, for instance, Thomas Hood, the 19th Century English poet. About November, he wrote:

No warmth, no cheerfulness, no healthful ease

No shade, no shine, no butterflies, no bees

November!

On the other hand, another English poet John Keats, already sensing he was seriously ill, was inspired by a late September day to pen one of the most famous poems in the English language, To Autumn. He wrote to a friend afterwards that there was something comforting and healing about it.

According to Richard Mabey, Keats has the biological evidence on his side. Autumn is not a time of slowing down, but a time of new beginnings and great movements of creatures. For example, just at the moment that Keats's "gathering swallows" （in To Autumn） are departing for Africa, millions of creatures are fleeing from the frozen north like Iceland, Greenland and Russia to winter along the east and south coasts of Britain. According to scientists, before falling, the leaves transfer their chlorophyll（叶绿素） and carbohydrates into the woody parts of the tree for safe-keeping over winter. What remains are the natural antioxidants（防老剂） in the leaves: the yellow and orange carotenoids（类胡萝卜素）, and another protective chemical specially produced for autumn, the bright-red anthocyanin（花青素）. High color is not a signal of deterioration（退化） and decline, but of detox（排毒的） ability and good health.

A century after Keats, the American poet Loren Eiseley wrote in his journal: "Suppose we saw ourselves burning like maples in a golden autumn. [And that we could] disintegrate（瓦解） like autumn leaves…dropping their substance like chlorophyll. Would not our attitude towards death be different?"

1.From Thomas Hood’s poem, we may infer that _______.

         A．he suffered a lot from cold November

         B．he missed the shining summer days very much

         C．he had a negative attitude towards autumn

         D．he enjoyed butterflies and bees very much

2.Which word can best describe Loren Eiseley’s attitude towards autumn?

         A．Optimistic.             B．Fearful.                   C．Doubtful.                 D．Realistic.

3.In autumn, leaves turn yellow before falling because ______.

         A．they can’t bear the freezing

         B．they can’t get enough water from the wood part

         C．chlorophyll and carbohydrates have been lost through leaves

         D．chlorophyll and carbohydrates have come back to the wood part

4.What does the underlined sentence mean?

         A．Man can never live long, just as leaves must leave the tree annually.

         B．Man is different from autumn leaves, which will come again the next spring.

         C．Man should treat death calmly, just like autumn leaves fall to the ground.

         D．Man should have a positive attitude towards death, quite different from autumn leaves.

 

CANYOUIMAGINEHOWHARDITWOULDBETOREADSENTENCESLIKETHIS? The ancient Greeks wrote this way. The lack of punctuation marks(标点符号) probably didn’t bother good readers, though. As they read, they just put pauses where they fit best. Also at this time, sentences switched directions. A sentence read from left to right. The next one read right to left, and then left to right again, etc.

The ancient Romans sometimes punctuated like this: They·put·a·point·between·each·word·in·a·sentence. The word punctuation actually comes from this idea and the Latin word punctum, which means a prick(刺).

       When the 5^th century arrived, there were just two punctuation marks: spaces and points. The space separated words and while the points showed pauses in reading. Then in the 13^th century, a printer named Aldus Manutius tried to standardize punctuation. He always used a period for a complete stop at the end of a sentence. He used a slash (/) to indicate a short pause. Over time, that slash was shortened and curled, and it became the modern comma.

       Since that time, other marks have enlarged the punctuation family. The exclamation mark comes form the Latin word xt. It was originally formed by putting an upper-case(大写字母) I on the lower-case xt. The Latin word xt means “exclamation of joy.” The question mark originally started out as the Latin word question, meaning question. Eventually, scholars put it at the end of a sentence to show a question. Over time, it became a symbol formed by putting a lower-case q on an o.

         Punctuation is still changing today. New marks are coming into existence, and old punctuation marks are used in new ways. Take for example, the “interrobang.” This 1962 invention combines the question mark and exclamation mark for times when writers want both. For example, “She did what??” or “How much did you pay for that dress??” Obviously, the interrobang is not widely used or recognized – yet. But its invention shows that English is not yet finished with its punctuation.

Which of the following is a comma?

A. ,                             B. :                       C.   ;                    D. !

What’s the first paragraph mainly about?

A. The history of punctuation.

B. The introduction of punctuation.

C. The very beginning of punctuation.

D. The ancient Greek way of writing without punctuation.

Please put the following events in the order they happened.

a. The exclamation mark and question mark came into the punctuation family.

b. Comma came into existence.

c. Romans put a dot between words to separate words.

d. A period was used to end a sentence.

e. The “interrobang” was invented.

A. cbdae                B. dcbae                C. dbcea                D. cdbae

What is the most possible situation for “She did what??”?

A. You are told she gave her baby boy a good beat.

B. You are wondering what she did to save the poor boy.

C. You want to know what she did for a living after fleeing to a foreign country.

D. You demand someone else tell you what in the world happened to her.

According to the article, we learn ________.

A. punctuation didn’t come into being until the 5^th century.

B. no one can really tell what new marks we may have in the future.

C. the invention of “interrobang” is a failure since it is not widely used.

D. both the exclamation mark and the question mark come from Greek words.

Toyota is the world's largest automaker, but its road to success has been long and filled with speed bumps（颠簸）.

1958：The company's first foray into the American market was the Toyopet in 1958. It was a flop.

1964：Toyota introduced their Corona line of automobiles and sales hit 6, 400 in 1965,

marking an increase in popularity.

1969：Toyota began importing the Corolla and in 1985 it would become the first Toyota built in the U.S.

1975：Toyota surpassed the popular German brand Volkswagen to become the top import sold in the U.S.

1986：The National Highway Traffic Safety Administration ordered its first recall of Toyota cars due to "speed control" problems.

1988：The First North American Toyota plant opened in Georgetown, Ky.

1989：Toyota introduced the Lexus LS 400, the company's first U.S. luxury car. It was a major hit.

1997：Toyota debuted their Prius gas-electric hybrid car.

2002：The first consumer complaints emerged of the Camry's engine surging under braking.

2004：The NHTSA opened a defect investigation into 2002-2003 Camry, Camry Solara and Lexus ES models.

2006：Toyota "Americanizes" and opened a new plant in Texas to build full-size pickups

2007：Toyota surpassed General Motors to become the world's largest automaker.

2007：The NHTSA investigated pedal entrapment in some Toyota vehicles, which led recalls of floor mats on Camry and Lexus models.

2007：The NHTSA investigated pedal entrapment in some Toyota vehicles, which led recalls of floor mats on Camry and Lexus models.

Aug. 2009：An off-duty California Highway Patrol officer and three family members were killed when their rental 2009 Lexus ES speeds out of control.

Nov. 2009：Toyota recalled 3.8 million Lexus and Toyota models to remove floor mats that can trap pedals.

Jan. 2010：Toyota recalled approximately 2.3 million more vehicles with potential sticking pedal problems. On Jan. 26, Toyota stopped selling eight models involved in the recall.

Feb. 2010：Prius and Lexus hybrids are now being recalled for brake problems in 2010 models.

Which of the following brands belong to Toyota family？

Toyopet, Volkswagen, Lexus, Prius

Camry, Prius, Lexus, Georgetown

Corona, Prius, Lexus, Corolla

General Motors, Lexus, Camry, Corolla

The underlined the word in Para.6 probably means:

A. appreciation    B. sorrow     C. withdrawal      D. resolve

  We can infer from the passage that____________

A. Lexus LS 400 is a cheaper car

B. Prius may be a kind of environmentally friendly car

C. Corona became popular as soon as introduced to the US

D. Toyota’s plant opened in Georgetown symbolized its “Americanize” tactics

The purpose of this passage is to

   A. advertise for Toyota

   B. introduce Toyota’ s struggle in the US

   C. uncover Toyota’s braking problems

   D. display Toyota’s glory

What is the best title of the passage?

  A. The world’s largest automaker          B. The rise of Toyota

  C. Toyota meeting problems in the US      D. Toyota’s failure in the US

Burn rate is the speed at which a startup business consumes money. My rate was $ 75,000  a month. Four months after my company was set up, I had only a quarter of the starting capital left in the bank.

     Looking for guidance, I went to talk to my friend, Arthur Walworth about my new venture. “Times of great change always bring out the risk-takers,” he said. “And they leave winners and losers. My grandfather invested a lot of money in a project of Thomas Edison’ s that ended up in failure. ”

     I was lost in thought at the notion(an idea or belief about something) of a Thomas Edison project ending in failure. Damn. It could happen to anybody! I must continue.

    At that time CD-ROM sales had bombed, so investors were fleeing from the field. I didn’t turn away from mine entirely, but instead linked it to the internet.

    My plan was to offer consumers descriptions of home-design products by using a special software and let them modify the designs. Then we can enable them to get online professional and constructional help to have their houses built, decorated and furnished according to their own choice.

   To realize my plan I needed investors, so I continued to meet regularly with venture capitalists. One said I had a great idea. But I needed to test it. Get the money somewhere. To get this money from a venture capitalist is going to cost my wife and my children! He turned down my request.

    Wife? Children? I hardly remembered them.

    I was working nonstop---struggling to turn the key in the lock, to find the right way ahead. The pressure was terrible. It was just at this time that my parents and sisters stepped up. Two hundred thousand dollars. A lot of money to them, invested in this crazy son and brother without a moment’s hesitation. Dad and Mom had driven out from Chicago and seen the passion in my little office and the trouble at home.

   With their help my company survived and has been prospering ever since.

1.When the author’s company started operation, he had _______ .

    A. $ 450,000    B.$ 400,000   C.$ 350,000     D. $ 300,000

2.Arthur implies that to start a business in times of change, people have to _______ .

   A. rely on famous people all be time   B. invest as much money as possible

   C. face the risks of possible failure    D. think about nothing but success

3.The author’s company was engaged in _______

    A. furniture design and production      B. online home-design service

    C. traditional home designing          D. home decoration business

4. Faced with a very unfavorable market situation, the author decided  _______  .

    A.  to improve his service       B.  to start a new business

    C. to withdraw his money        D. to reduce his investment

 

Any observant person has noticed that a wild animal will allow a man or other potential enemy to approach only up to a given distance before it flees. “Flight distance” is the term used for this interspecies spacing. As a general rule, there is a positive relationship between the size of an animal and its flight distance—the larger the animal, the greater the distance it must keep between itself and the enemy. An antelope will flee when the enemy is as much as five hundred yards away. The wall lizard’s(壁虎) flight distance, on the other hand, is about six feet. Flight is the basic means of survival for mobile creatures.
　 Critical distance apparently is present wherever and whenever there is a flight reaction. “Critical distance” includes the narrow zone separating flight distance from attack distance. A lion in a zoo will flee from an approaching man until it meets a barrier that it cannot overcome. If the man continues the approach, he soon penetrates(进入) the lion’s critical distance, at which point the cornered lion turns back and begins slowly to stalk (逼近) the man.
　 Social animals need to stay in touch with each other. Loss of contact with the group can be fatal(致命的) for a variety of reasons including exposure to enemies. Social distance is not simply the distance at which an animal will lose contact with his group—that is, the distance at which it can no longer see, hear, or smell the group—it is rather a psychological distance, one at which the animal apparently begins to feel anxious when it goes beyond its limits.
Social distance is not always rigidly(刻板的) fixed but is determined in part by the situation. When the young of apes and humans are mobile but not yet under control of the mother’s voice, social distance may be the length of her reach. When added control is needed because of danger, social distance shortens. To show this in man, one has only to watch a family with a number of small children holding hands as they cross a busy street.
【小题1】.
Which of the following is the correct explanation of “Flight Distance” in paragraph 1?

A．Distance between animals of the same species before fleeing.

B．Distance between large and small animals before fleeing.

C．Distance between an animal and its enemy before fleeing.

D．Distance between certain animal species before fleeing.

【小题2】.
If a lion’s critical distance is penetrated, it will __________.

A．begin to attack.

B．try to hide.

C．begin to jump.

D．run away.

【小题3】.
. The example of “children holding hands when crossing the street” in the last paragraph shows that ________.

A．social distance is not always needed.

B．there is no social distance among small children.

C．humans are different from animals in social distance.

D．social distance is sometimes determined by outside factors.

【小题4】.
. Which of the following can be the best title of the passage?

A．Critical Distance

B．Social Distance

C．Relationship Between Animals

D．Spacing in Animals