Scientists in Colombia have trained a team of rats to help remove land mines from the countryside. Land mines are small bombs hidden in the ground and designed to explode(爆炸) when someone steps on them.

When trained, the rats can smell special metals in the mines and then signal(发信号) to their human team. Then why use rats for such an important job?

In the past, dogs have been used to find bombs. Rats have a good sense of smell and can respond to orders, just like dogs do. But rats are much lighter than dogs. They stand less of a chance of setting off the mines, which explode under a certain amount of weight. What’s more, the best rats are cheaper to keep than dogs. It costs about the same amount of money to take care of one dog as it does 70 rats.

The rats have already been used in Tanzania, an African country with many land mines. Luisa Fernanda Méndez and her team in Colombia are training the even lighter Wistar rats. These are the white rats with red eyes that scientists often use in laboratory experiments. “They even train their babies to perform their jobs, which saves us a lot of time, ” Méndez said.

Colombia has the second-highest rate(比率) of deaths from land mine accidents in the world. Last year, land mines killed 695 people — 56 of whom were children. A criminal group called the Revolutionary Armed Forces of Colombia, or FARC, as well as other organizations, have placed the mines. FARC are strongly against Colombia’s government. The group has placed mines all around its own bases and in many places in the countryside.

In the past, the Colombian government hired peasants and poor farmers to find mines. Many of them died trying to find the well-hidden bombs.

Colombian police official Erick Guzmán hopes the team of rats can come to the rescue(援救). “These rats will be a great help,” he said.

1.How do rats help to find land mines?

A．By their special sight.                     B．By their light weight.

C．By their sense of smell.                   D．By their excellent hearing.

2.The advantage of rats over dogs in finding bombs is that _____.

A．they are cleverer.

B．they run faster

C．they have a better sense of smell

D．they don’t make mines explode as easily

3.The underlined word “They” may refer to ______.

A．scientists                              B．Wistar rats

C．dogs                                 D．Méndez and her team

4. What is the passage mainly about?

A．Specially-trained rats help clear land mines.

B．People in Tanzania are suffering from land mines.

C．Dogs are no longer used to find land mines.

D．Land mines have become a great danger to Colombians.

 

Global financial big dogs are no match for China's "Da Ma", or housewives, who have crowded into gold stores across China, buying up 300 tons of gold over the past two weeks. No wonder gold prices have steadied after taking a dive.

During the May Day holiday, gold stores were crowded with mostly female customers. Most of them are middle-aged "Chinese housewives". This group of buyers has risen to fame recently. They are big spenders and are desperate to get their hands on a bargain. "I bought some gold jewellery and kept them as a gift for my son when he gets married," said a buyer from Shanghai.

The gold business is skyrocketing. "Our sales are growing by the day. Yesterday we sold more than ten million yuan of gold products," a gold store salesperson said. The gold rush in China started about two weeks ago thanks to a decline in global gold prices. Media reports suggest that Chinese housewives have spent about 100 billion yuan, or about 16 billion US dollars, purchasing 300 tons of gold since mid-April. That has helped support gold prices.

"Gold prices depressed since the middle of last month but have risen gradually. That is mainly due to the strong demand from Asian markets," said foreign trader Zhang Chen from Industrial & Commercial Bank of China. "Some people even joked that Chinese housewives have beaten Wall Street analysts." For Chinese people, with limited investment options, the only thing better than buying gold is buying gold at discount prices.

1.What does the author indicate(表明;预示)in the first sentence of the first paragraph?

A. The global big dogs can’t match with Chinese housewives.

B. Chinese housewives spend a great deal of money on gold

C. China's "Da Ma" help a lot to support the global economic crisis

D. Chinese housewives have a better consumption idea than global financial big dogs .

2.We can infer from the passage that_______________

A. China’s "Da Ma" become the largest gold buyers due to a decline in global gold prices.

B. China's "Da Ma" crowded into stores to get gold as the best gifts for sons when they get married.

C. China's "Da Ma" are bigger spenders and cleverer than global financial big dogs.

D. Chinese housewives are most willing to spend money in buying gold .

3.In the writer’s view, Chinese housewives are desperate to get their hands on a bargain because_____.

A. it is worthy to buy gold.

B .they have a strong demand

C. it is at discount prices.

D they have unlimited investment options

4.The author’s description about the passage is ______.

A. doubtful   B. subjective    C. objective    D. Negative

 

There is a very special wolf that lives in Africa. They are actually called, the African wild dog, of painted dogs.
These animals live in open woodlands, or in the plains of Africa. Today, however, most of the animals can be found in eastern or southern Africa. These animals are beautiful. They have rounded ears instead of pointed like most dogs, and they have four toes (脚趾) on each of their four feet, also a unique characteristic because other dogs have five. Their fine fur is always different from each other. The fur is usually a combination of black, brown, red, and white, and sometimes even yellow. No wonder they’re called the painted wolf.
The African wild dog is a very social animal. They live in groups and have numbers from five to about twenty. The members of a group are always very close to one another. They communicate in their own language or body language. When someone is very old or sick, the others will help, and they are willing to share the food with the elders and with those who are weak, which is what we should learn from.
The family does everything together, from raising young, to sleeping together, to hunting. When they hunt, they will work together suing team work to kill animals that are larger than them.
They sometimes hunt farm animals. This is unfortunate, because both poachers (偷猎者), and people who own farms shoot the painted dogs who are just trying to survive.
Before, there used to be many large groups throughout the land, but now the African wild god is very rare. They are also losing their population because of their own loss of habitat thanks to human’s farming and forest cutting.
【小题1】From the text we learn that the African wild dog         .

A．lives in the north of Africa

B．has sixteen toes altogether

C．has pointed ears like most dogs

D．lives in forests in groups

【小题2】Why do African wild dogs get the name “painted dogs”?

A．They all have colorful fur.

B．The dogs in the same group are of different colors.

C．Artists love to paint them in different colors.

D．None of them has the same color.

【小题3】According to the author, what should we learn from African wild dogs?

A．They always do everything together.

B．They help the sick, the elderly and the weak.

C．They are always very close to one another.

D．They communicate in their own language.

【小题4】Which of the following is NOT the reason why African wild dogs are becoming very rare?

A．Poachers kill some of them.

B．They are short of food sometimes.

C．They are losing their habitat.

D．Farmers shoot some of them.

【小题5】Where could this passage probably be found?

A．The Travelers

B．Fashion Weekly

C．Animal World

D．Star Magazine

To those who love pets, it’s hard to imagine any other way of life. However, raising your first pet can be a rewarding    31   or a major disaster. Animals make extra work, cost money and require a sense of    32    . They are not for everyone.  

Pets such as dogs and cats bring in mud and    33   hairs on carpets and furniture. Young animals     34   training. Young dogs are    35   causing damage to things; they chew things and dig holes in the garden.

    Many parents    36   to get pets because children keep asking for them, but pets are not toys which can be    37    when novelty(新奇）has disappeared. It must be realized that the responsibility for the pet lies with the    38   —usually mother!

    Some parents expect their children to    39    their pets themselves, but such responsibility should never be placed upon young children. You’d better    40   them to help, but when daily tasks become a    41   , they will feel bored, and it is the pet that    42   .

    The best way for a child to learn about the    43    animals need is by example, but in order to set that    44    , parents themselves have to treat pets as part of their family and     45    caring for them.

    By    46    pets receiving love and care, children are learning a valuable lesson without realizing they are being     47    .

    So when it comes to making a     48    —to have or not to have a pet—

49    the person who will do most of the work and who must accept the responsibility for that pet is you. Think about it     50    .

31. A. theme        B. tradition

C. experience       D. requirement

32. A. achievement       B. responsibility        C. fairness       D. humour

33. A. leave       B. put        C. decrease       D. send

34. A. deserve       B. direct       C. gain             D. need

35. A. just       B. already        C. often         D. once

36. A. learn       B. happen        C. prove          D. decide

37. A. depended on     B. picked out     C. given away    D. cared about

38. A. parents       B. neighbours        C. friends          D. teachers

39. A. decide on      B. look after       C. leave out         D. calm down

40. A. force       B. encourage        C. admit         D. warn

41. A. must       B. mistake        C. hope        D. habit

42. A. works       B. adjusts        C. suffers       D. escapes

43. A. entertainment       B. freedom        C. shelter       D. care

44. A. limit       B. rule        C. example       D. test

45. A. enjoy       B. imagine        C. risk       D. mean

46. A. smelling       B. hearing        C. asking       D. observing

47. A. exposed       B. taught        C. supported       D. praised

48. A. decision       B. statement        C. comment       D. reference

49. A. inform       B. remember        C. wish       D. announce

50. A. fairly       B. highly        C. quickly       D. carefully

-There is a very special wolf that lives in Africa. They are actually called, the African wild dog, or painted dogs.

These animals live in open woodlands. or in the plains of Africa. Today, however, most of the animals can be found in eastern or southern Africa. These animals are beautiful. They have rounded ears instead of pointed like most dogs, and they have four toes (脚趾) on each of their feet, also a unique characteristic because other dogs have five. Their fur is always different from each other. The fur is usually a combination of black, brown, red, and white, and sometimes even yellow. No wonder they’re called the painted wolf.

The African wild dog is a very social animal. They live in groups and have numbers from five to about twenty. The members of a group are always very close to one another. They communicate in their own language or body language. When someone is very old or sick, the others will help, and they are willing to share the food with elders and with those who are weak, which is what we should learn from.

The family does everything together, from raising young, to sleeping together, to hunting. When they hunt, they work together using team work to kill animals that are larger than them.

They sometimes hunt farm animals. This is unfortunate, because both poachers (偷猎者), and people who own farms shoot the painted dogs who are just trying to survive.

Before, there used to be many large groups throughout the land, but now the African wild dog is very rare. They are also losing their population because of their own loss of habitat thanks to human’s farming and forest cutting.

1.Why do African wild dogs get the name “painted dogs” ?

A．They all have colorful fur.

B．The dogs in the same group are of different colors.

C．Artists love to paint them in different colors.

D．None of them has the same color.

2.According to the author, what should we learn from African wild dogs?

A．They always do everything together.

B．They are always very close to one another.

C．They help the sick, the elderly and the weak.

D．They communicate in their own language.

3.Which of the following is NOT the reason why African wild dogs are becoming very rare?

A．Poachers kill some of them.

B．They are short of food sometimes.

C．They are losing their habitat.

D．Farmers shoot some of them.

4.Where could this passage probably be found?

A．The Travelers	B．Fashion Weekly
C．Animal World	D．Star Magazine