Scientists are placing robotic dogs in the homes of lonely old people to test whether they can improve the quality of life for humans. Alan Beck, an expert(专家) in human-animal relationship, and Nancy Edwards, a professor of nursing, are leading the animal-assisted study on the effect of robotic dogs on old people’s depression (沮丧) , physical activity, and life satisfaction.

         In the study, the robot, called AIBO, is placed for six weeks in the houses of some old people who live alone. Before placing AIBO in the home, scientists will collect baseline data(数据) for six weeks. These old people will keep a diary to note their feelings and activity before and after AIBO. Then, the scientists will review the data to test if it has produced any changes in the life of its owner.

         “I talk to him all the time, and he responds to my voice,” says a seventy-year-old lady. “When I’m watching TV, he’ll stay in my arms until he wants down. He has his own mind.”

The AIBOs respond to certain orders. The scientists say they have some advantages over live dogs, especially for old people. Often the elderly are disabled and cannot care for an animal by walking it or playing with it. A robotic dog removes exercise and feeding concerns.

       “At the beginning, it was believed that no one would relate(与……相关) to the robotic dog, because it was metal and not furry.” Beck says. “Hopefully, down the road, these robotic pets could become a more-valuable health helper. They will record their masters’ blood pressure, oxygen levels or heart rhythms(心律). AIBOs may even one day have games that can help stimulate(刺激) older people’s minds.”

1.The purpose of Beck and Edwards’ study is to _____________.

A. understand human-animal relationship

B. make lonely old people’s life better

C. find the causes of old people’s loneliness

D. improve the animal-assisted research

2. In the research, the old people are asked to _____________.

A. note the activities of AIBOs

B. keep AIBOs at home for 12 weeks

C. record their feelings and activity

D. study the collected information

3.What does the underlined word “removes” mean?

A. moves again                   B. is movable         C. doesn’t need                      D. need

4.What is the better point of AIBO than live dogs?

A. It is easier to keep at home.

B. It can help the disabled people.

C. It responds to all the human orders.

D. It can watch TV with its owner.

5.The writer seems to suggest that the future robotic dogs may__________.

A. cure certain diseases                                                B. keep old people active

C. change people’s ideas                                                        D. look more like real dogs

 

Do animals have a culture? What do we mean by "culture"? Recently social scientists have begun to ask if culture is found just in humans, or if some animals have a culture too.  When we speak of culture, we mean a way of life that a group of people have in common. Culture is the forms of behavior (行为)hat help people to live together. It is also the forms of behavior that make one group of people different from another group.

     Human beings use tools, cooperate with one another, and communicate with language.  But these aspects(方面) of human behavior, or "culture", can also be found in the lives of certain animals, Animals can make tools, for example. We used to think that the ability to use tools was the dividing line between human beings and other animals.  Lately, however, we have found that this is not the case. Chimpanzees(黑猩猩) can not only use tools but actually make tools themselves. Animals can also share knowledge with each other and use their own language to communicate. So it may be important for us to know that the line dividing us from animals is not as clear as we used to think.

1.According to the article, "culture" means         

          A. the languages we learn            

B. the good habits we' share with each other

          C. the forms of behavior we have in common

2.From the fact that chimpanzees can use and make tools，we know         

          A. animals may have a culture like our own

          B. animals can be as clever as human beings

          C. animals have the ability to help human beings

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

          A. Chimpanzees never help each other.

          B' Animals use their own language to communicate.

          C. People from different places have the same culture.

4.The traditional idea about dividing animals from human beings is that         

          A. human beings can use tools       

B. human beings can depend on each other

          C. human beings have the language to communicate

5.The main idea of the article is that         

        A. the animal culture is different from the human culture

        B. knowledge and communication are no longer signs of only human behavior

        C. the line dividing human culture from animal culture is not as clear as we might think

 

Can plants eat people? Probably not, but there are many plants that eat meat. Some of them are big, and they can eat small animals. One famous meat-eating plant is the Venus flytrap(捕蝇草).
The Venus flytrap is a very strange plant. It grows in dry parts of the United States. Its leaves are like the pages of a book. They can open and close very quickly. Inside the leaves, there are three small hairs. If a fly(苍蝇) touches one of the hairs, the leaf closes quickly. The fly cannot get out. In about half an hour, the leaf presses the fly until it is dead. Then, the plant covers the fly. Slowly, the plant eats the fly.
Why do plants do it? Most plants get what they need from the sun, the air and the ground. In some places, the ground is very poor. It doesn’t have all these important things, especially nitrogen(氮). Animal meat has a lot of nitrogen, so some plants eat meat to get what they need. Let’s hope that some of the bigger plants don’t get the same idea!
根据短文内容，选择正确的答案（每小题2分，共10分）
【小题1】The Venus flytrap is a kind of      .

A．plant

B．animal

C．food

D．meat

【小题2】The Venus flytrap grows in      .

A．most parts of the world	B．some parts of Africa
C．dry parts of the United States	D．wet parts of England

【小题3】From the passage, we learn that     .

A．all plants can eat people	B．all plants can eat animals
C．some plants can eat people	D．many plants can eat animals

【小题4】The underlined word “presses” probably means       in Chinese.

A．挤压

B．关上

C．打开

D．松开

【小题5】Why do some plants eat animal meat? Because     .

A．plants are dangerous to animals

B．animals are dangerous to plants

C．plants want to get what they need from animal meat

D．Plants want to protect themselves against animals

There are about 80,000,000 mines*  under the ground in more . than 60 countries. It is difficult and dangerous to clear these rnines, About 50  people including many children were’ killed ‘or htirt each iay.  In 2003,  APOPO,  a Dutch research com pan y that uains the an imals, came up with the-idea of s\ng rats to search for the mines.

The animal trainers ‘found that a kind of rats from Africa were clever and had.a sharp*  sense of smell.  The rats were about 75 cm long and.weighed about l.35 kg, light enough to run across a minefield without setting off the mines.

  In January 2004, the APOPO started this project. First, the trainers let the 4-week-old baby rats get familiar with humans. A few weeks later, the rats were no Ionger afraid of people and ‘the things around them. Then they were trained to connect a click* sound with food. After the rats had leamed that, the trainers then taught them to tell the difference between the smell of mines and other smells. When the rats could do it, the click was sounded and they were given a bit of banana.  The method was called clicker training. “The training isn’t easy, said trainer Abdullah Mchomvu.  “You have to be patient. Sometimes I get angry, but then again, I tell myself these are animals.”

  After nine months’  training, the rats were taken to a minefiel山  They’ran across the minefield, stopped, sat and scratched the ground to tell the deminers*  that they smelt out’a mine.  Then the mine was cleared. It had  taken two ‘deminers  a day to clear a 200㎡ . minefield,  but with the help of two rats ‘they could finish it in two hours.

  The rats and ~he deminers saved thousands of lives,  “The rats did this job much better than we expected. So far they have helped to make almost 2,000,000㎡ of land safe. They are heroes,” said Bart Weeqens, the head of the APOPO.

1. The APOPO trained the rats to search for     .

A. children    B. animals      C. mines     D. bananas

2. While training the rats, the trainers have to be

A. patient     B. clever        C. brave         D. serious

3. How long did the training last?

A. Two hours.    B. One day.    C. Four weeks.    D. Nine months.

4.Which of the following is NOT TRUE according to the passage?

A. Each day about 200 people were killed or hurt by mines,

B.The APOPO started to train the rats in January 2004.

C. The trainers gave the rats food after they smelt out a mine.

D.The rats and the deminers saved thousands of lives.

 

What is your zodiac（生肖） animal? According to the Chinese lunar calendar（农历）, 12 animals mark 12 different years. It is the basis of the Chinese zodiac. Nowadays, Chinese zodiac animals have worldwide fame and are increasingly popular among western people.
The zodiac is an important part of Chinese culture. People believe that the characteristics of a zodiac animal influence the personality of every person born in that year. For example, people born in the Year of the Tiger are considered powerful and brave.
Zodiac animals also have some social functions. When people think it is not proper to ask: “How old are you”, they may change their question to “What is your zodiac animal?” With this question, you can figure out roughly which year someone was born and the person’s age.
Zodiac animals are not special to China. Many countries share a similar zodiac culture with China. For example, in the Japanese Zodiac, a wild boar（野猪）takes the place of a pig and the Vietnamese（越南的）zodiac has a cat instead of a rabbit.
But have you ever wondered how these 12 animals were chosen to represent each year? According to legend, the Jade Emperor（玉皇大帝）invited all the animals to join him for Chinese New Year. Only 12 animals went to see him. As a reward he named a year after each one in the order they arrived. The ox would have been the first to arrive, but the rat sat on his back and jumped off just before they arrived to come in first place.
【小题1】The characteristics of a zodiac animal may influence the _____ of every person born in that year.

A．appearance

B．personality

C．hobby

D．education

【小题2】“What is your zodiac animal?” is a question used to find out a person’s______.

A．age

B．name

C．job

D．weight

【小题3】In the Japanese zodiac, we don’t see the zodiac animal：_______

A．wild boar

B．rabbit

C．dragon

D．pig

【小题4】According to the last paragraph, we know that ____ was the first animal to arrive.

A．ox

B．rat

C．pig

D．cat