We have known for a long time that flowers of different plants open and close at different time of day.
This is so familiar that there seems to be no need to ask the reason for it. Yet no one really understands why
flowers open and close like this at particular times. The process (过程) is not as simple as we might think, as
recent experiments have shown. In one study, flowers were kept in constant (连续的) darkness. We might
expect that the flowers, without any information about the time of day, did not open as they normally do. In
fact, they continued to open at their usual time. This suggests that they have some mysterious (神秘的) way
of knowing the time. Their sense of time does not depend on information from the outside world; it is, so to
speak, inside them, a kind of "inner clock".
         This discovery (发现) may not seem to be very important. However, it was later found that not just
plants but also animals -including man -have this "inner clock" which controls the working of their bodies and
influences (影响) their activities. Men, then, are also influenced by this mysterious power. Whether we wish
it or not, it affects such things in our life as our need for sleep, our need for food.
         In the past, this did not matter very much because people lived in natural condition. In the modern
world, things are different; now there are spacemen, airplane pilots and, in ordinary life, a lot of people who
have to work at night. It would be very useful, then, to know more about the "inner clock". Such ordinary
things as flowers might help us understand more about ourselves.

A. different flowers open and close at different times of day
B. for their opening and closing, flowers do not need information from the outside world
C. flowers are influenced by weak light even when they are in a dark room
D. flowers can be used for telling the time

2. The "inner clock" _______.

A. is an unimportant discovery
B. is only found in animals
C. has not been understood by far
D. has an effect on human life

3. Further study of the "inner clock" will be useful because             .

A. it might help us in some way
B. we do not yet understand plants and animals well enough
C. the number of spacemen and airplane pilots is fast increasing
D. we should try to live more naturally than we do now

4. Kept in constant darkness, flowers _______.

A. will not open or close as usua
B. will not open any longer
C. will open as they do in natural conditions
D. will always remain in full blossom (开花)

5. ______ have a mysterious power of knowing time without information from the outside world.

A. Animals including man as well as plants
B. All living things except man
C. Flowers are the only things in the world that
D. Neither animals nor plants

1. The writer thinks music           .

A. is an exciting part of our lives
B. is an amazing part of our lives
C. is an important part of our lives

2. The writer likes           ?

A. rock and pop music.
B. rock and dance music.
C. jazz and country music.

3.            likes dancing.

A. The writer.
B. Jane.
C. Li Lan.

4.            likes dance music and rock very much.

A. The writer.
B. The writer's brother.
C. Jane.

5. The writer's mother thinks country music is            .

A. amazing
B. boring
C. relaxing

     Chess must be one of the oldest games in the world. An Arab traveler in the year 900 wrote that it
was played "long long ago". Chess was probably invented in India, and it has been played everywhere
from Japan to Europe since 1400. The name "chess" is interesting. When one player is attacking the
other's king, he says, in English,"check". When the king has been caught and cannot move anywhere,
he says "check mate (将死)". These words come from Persian (波斯人). It means "the king is dead".
That is when the game is over, and one player has won.    
     Such an old game changes very slowly. The rules have not always been the same as they are now.
For example, at one time the queen could only move one square (方块) at a time. Now she is the strongest
piece on the board. It would be interesting to know why this has happened! Chess takes time and thought,
but it is a game for all kinds of people. You don't have to be winner in order to enjoy it. It is not always
played by two people sitting at the same table. The first time the Americans beat the Russians was in a
match played by radio. Some people are able to play many people at the same time. One man played 400
games! It is said that some people play chess by post. This must make chess the slowest game in the
world.