John Steinbeck once said, “All American believe they are born fishermen. For a man to admit to a distaste in fishing would be like speaking publicly against mother-love or hating moonlight”.

I can’t say I’m the biggest John Steinbeck fan. Actually, the only thing I can ever remember reading by him was “The Pearl” when I was in middle school, but I couldn’t agree more with the man when it comes to fishing. When I am on a boat in the middle of the lay Lake, fishing off the shores of the Florida Keys for tarpon or catching rainbow trout in the Shoshone River of Wyoming. Fishing is my life.

According to the American Sports Fishing Association, the fishing industry brings in more than $ 116 billion per year from fishermen across the country.

Though a beautiful picture to imagine, fishing is much more than that. Fishing is a way of life from many people and a way to escape everyday stress. Being a fisherman makes me a member of a wonderful group of people extending to all walks of life. Even President Bush can be found fishing on his farm in Texas with his good friend Roland Martin when the jobs gets too stressful.

I can remember fishing with my grandfather when I was 5 years old on his boat at Lake Michel. Although I didn’t understand what I was doing, I did know that my grandfather was happy and that made me happy. Since then I’ve spent the past 16 years on the rivers and lakes of Alabama.

After days of practice, before and after work, I slowly developed an understanding of fishing. My boss, Ric Horst, took me back to the Shoshone, and I managed to bring in a 19-inch cutthroat trout. Fishing with Ric was a life-changing experience for me. He not only showed me how to fish correctly, but also told me how fishing could be a way to escape your problems.

Since then, prime-time season seems to take forever to arrive.

Now, with the ending of February and beginning of March is sight, the excitement of heading out to Lake Tus caloosa or Lake Lurleen before classes and catching something has finally returned.

What John Steinbeck said in the first paragraph implies that ______

A．American are believed to be the offspring of fishermen.     

B．it is unthinkable for an American to admit his dislike of fishing.

C．all American are expert at fishing.

D．those who dislike fishing would not love their mother.

The writer came to understand the real meaning of fishing ______.

A．when he was reading “The Pearl” by John Steinbeck   

B．when he went fishing with his grandfather at Lake Mitchell

C．after he had spent 16 years on the rivers and lakes of Alabama

D．after he went fishing with his boss, Ric Horst on the Shoshone

According to the author, ______.

A．people can get to know VIPs when fishing   

B．people can smooth away all the troubles by fishing      

C．fishing is a way of communication

D．fishing is a way of life for most American people

What is the purpose of the writing?

A．To describe the writer’s experience and understanding of fishing.      

B．To explain the reason why so many Americans like fishing.

C．To make others understand the industry of fishing.

D．To express his opinions about fishing in different time of the year.

The family had just moved. The young woman was feeling a little__31__. It was Mother's Day — and 800 miles separated her from her parents.

    She had called them that morning, and her mother had__32__ how colorful their backyard was__ 33__ spring had arrived. Later, she told her husband how she__34__ those lilacs（丁香）in her parents' yard. “I know where we can find some,” he said. “Get the__35__ and come on.” So off they went.

    Some time later, they stopped at a hill and there were lilacs all round. The young woman rushed up to the nearest__ 36__ and buried her face in the flowers. Carefully, she__37__ some. Finally, they returned to their car for the__38__ home. The woman sat smiling, surrounded by her__39__.

    When they were near home, she shouted “stop,” got off quickly and__40__ to a nearby nursing home.  She went to the end of the porch(门廊), where a(n)__41__ patient was sitting in her wheelchair, and put the flowers into her lap. The two__42__, bursting into laughter now and then. Later the young woman turned and ran back to her__43__. As the car pulled away, the woman in the wheelchair__44__ with a smile, and held the lilacs__45__.

“Mom,” the kids asked, “__46___ did you give her our flowers?” “It is Mother's Day, and she seems so__47__ while I have all of you. And anyone would be__48__ by flowers.”

This satisfied the kids, but not the husband. The next day he__49__ some young lilacs around their yard.

I was the husband. Now, every May, our yard is full of lilacs. Every Mother's Day our kids__50__ purple lilacs. And every year I remember that smile of the lonely old woman.

1.A. moved   B. worried   C. angry    D. depressed

2.A. learned   B. imagined   C. mentioned   D. realized

3.A. now that   B. so that   C. as if     D. even if

4.A. missed   B. grew     C. watered   D. showed

5.A. cars      B. kids      C. clothes   D. lilacs

6.A. bush     B. hill     C. yard     D. door

7.A. bought   B. picked    C. set        D. raised

8.A. break    B. holiday   C. trip       D. dinner

9.A. friends   B. memory   C. flowers   D. honor

10.A. responded   B. pointed   C. drove   D. hurried

11.A. loving    B. elderly   C. serious   D. sensitive

12.A. hesitated   B. waited    C. sat    D. chatted

13.A. family   B. mother   C. path      D. home

14.A. nodded    B. waved      C. left   D. continued

15.A. sadly    B. politely   C. quickly   D. tightly

16.A. why     B. when     C. how     D. where

17.A. quiet    B. confused   C. alone    D. patient

18.A. calmed   B. persuaded   C. disappointed   D. cheered

19.A. arranged    B. dried    C. planted   D. hid

20.A. find      B. gather    C. receive   D. sell

Plants have family values, too; it seems, with new research suggesting they can recognize close relatives in order to work together.

An ability to tell family from strangers is well known in animals, allowing them to cooperate and share resources, but plants may possess similar social skills, scientists believe.

Susan Dudley and Amanda File of McMaster University in Ontario, Canada, report they have demonstrated for the first time that plants can recognize their kin.

This suggests that plants, though lacking recognition and memory, are capable of complex social interactions.

“Plants have this kind of hidden but complicated social life，” Dudley said.

The study found plants from the same species of beach­-dwelling wildflower grew aggressively alongside unrelated neighbors but were less competitive when they shared soil with their families.

Sea rocket, a North American species, showed stronger and healthier root growth when planted in pots with strangers than when raised with relatives from the same maternal(母系的) family, the study found.

This is an example of kin selection, a behavior common in animals in which closely related individuals take a group approach to succeeding in their environment, the researchers said.

Kin selection also applies to competition, because if family members compete less with each other, the group will do better overall. “Everywhere you look, plants are growing right up next to other plants，” Dudley said，“ Usually it’s a case of each plant for itself. But sometimes those plants are related, and there are benefits to not wasting resources on being competitive, and there is not really a cost to not being competitive as long as your neighbor is also not being competitive.”

Learning and memory appear to be important for kin recognition in animals, but this isn’t an option for plants, she noted.

Some researchers speculate(猜测) that plants communicate through their roots, identifying themselves using tiny chemical signatures specific to each plant’s family.

1.What’s the main idea of the message?

A．Studies find plants can recognize, communicate with relatives.

B．Kin selection is important for plants.

C．Animals can recognize and memorize their relatives.

D．Competition asks plants to recognize their relatives.

2.Which of the following is NOT right about animals’ social skill?

A．Animals can recognize and memorize their relatives.

B．Animals’ social skill is to cooperate and share resources.

C．Animals’ social skill can recognize close relatives in order to work together.

D．Animals’ social skill is no use at all.

3.Plants’ kin selection is to ________.

A．grow well                             B．compete with other kinds of plants

C．strengthen the relationship among siblings    D．find which one is the best

4.From the passage，we learn that ________.

A．sea rocket is a South American species

B．sea rocket grows aggressively alongside unrelated neighbors

C．sea rocket grows aggressively alongside its siblings

D．sea rocket is a kind of bush without flowers

5.How can the plants communicate with each other according to experts’ suppose?

A．Plants communicate by using tiny chemical signatures specific to each plant’s family.

B．Plants communicate with each other through their roots.

C．Plants communicate with each other by their leaves.

D．Plants communicate with each other with their flowers.

Barack Obama
In the past hundred years, the U.S. presidency has turned more and more to the left – not in policy, but in handedness. Barrack Obama is the latest to join a long list of left – handed presidents from the 20th century: James Garfield, Herbert Hoover, Henry Truman, Gerald Ford, Ronald Reagan, George H.W. Bush and Bill Clinton were all southpaws.
What makes lefties so electable? Some experts think left-handed people have a greater aptitude for language skills, which may help them craft the rhetoric necessary for political office. And as for the bout of recent left-handed presidents, some think it’s because teachers only recently stopped working to convert lefties to rightist at an early age.
Bill Gates
Claiming the nation’s richest man among their number is a source of considerable pride for America’s society of southpaws. In fact, the Microsoft titan and philanthropist(巨头兼慈善家) is one of a surprising number of U.S. business moguls to be left-handed, including Henry Ford, John D. Rockefeller and former IBM head Lou Gerstner. But the club seems to be a guys-only fraternity — research suggests that while left-handed men tend to earn more than their right-handed colleagues, there is no similar advantage for women. A study by the National Bureau of Economic Research floated the idea that left-handed men favor "divergent" thinking, a form of creativity in which the brain moves "from conventional knowledge into unexplored association." Maybe that’s what it takes to develop a net worth estimated at $ 57 billion.
Oprah Winfrey
The talk-show queen doesn’t need much more to set her apart from the rest — what with her estimated $ 2.7 billion fortune and a magic ability to sell books just by glancing at them — but she also has the distinction of being a member of the left-handed club. Since men are more likely to be left-handed than women, that makes Oprah doubly impressive. She’s in good company: Other show-business ladies of the left – handed  persuasion include Whoopi Goldberg, Julia Roberts and Angelina Jolie
Marie Curie
Not only was atomic scientist Marie Curie left-handed, but she was the matriarch of a whole family of accomplished, southpaw scientists. Curie, who discovered the principles of radioactivity and won two Nobel Prizes, was married to fellow lefty Pierre Curie, who was instrumental in helping Marie’s atomic research and shared one of her Nobel awards. Historians believe their daughter, Irene, was also left-handed. Irene went on to win a Nobel Prize of her own with her husband — who, you guessed it, was also left-handed.
59．The underlined word “southpaws” in the last sentence of Paragraph 1 means_______.
A．people coming from the south B．powerful presidents
C．people who use their left hand D．forceful speakers
60．What makes it so easy for lefties to be elected as presidents according to the passage?
A．Their great gift for foreign language.
B．Their great language skills to make speeches.
C．The need of left – hinders in the political office.
D．Teachers stopping to force them to use their right hand.
61．It can be implied that Bill Gates, Henry Ford, John D. Rockefeller and Lou Gerstne_______.
A．have creative thinking              B．have formed a special club.
C．earn more money than their wives   D．are wealthy philanthropists
62．The underlined sentence in Paragraph 4 “She is in good company” means “_______”.
A．she works in a very good company   B．she has many good friends
C．she has got on well with others        D．she is among many female lefties

Barack Obama

In the past hundred years, the U.S. presidency has turned more and more to the left – not in policy, but in handedness. Barrack Obama is the latest to join a long list of left – handed presidents from the 20th century: James Garfield, Herbert Hoover, Henry Truman, Gerald Ford, Ronald Reagan, George H.W. Bush and Bill Clinton were all southpaws.

What makes lefties so electable? Some experts think left-handed people have a greater aptitude for language skills, which may help them craft the rhetoric necessary for political office. And as for the bout of recent left-handed presidents, some think it’s because teachers only recently stopped working to convert lefties to rightist at an early age.

Bill Gates

Claiming the nation’s richest man among their number is a source of considerable pride for America’s society of southpaws. In fact, the Microsoft titan and philanthropist(巨头兼慈善家) is one of a surprising number of U.S. business moguls to be left-handed, including Henry Ford, John D. Rockefeller and former IBM head Lou Gerstner. But the club seems to be a guys-only fraternity — research suggests that while left-handed men tend to earn more than their right-handed colleagues, there is no similar advantage for women. A study by the National Bureau of Economic Research floated the idea that left-handed men favor "divergent" thinking, a form of creativity in which the brain moves "from conventional knowledge into unexplored association." Maybe that’s what it takes to develop a net worth estimated at $ 57 billion.

Oprah Winfrey

The talk-show queen doesn’t need much more to set her apart from the rest — what with her estimated $ 2.7 billion fortune and a magic ability to sell books just by glancing at them — but she also has the distinction of being a member of the left-handed club. Since men are more likely to be left-handed than women, that makes Oprah doubly impressive. She’s in good company: Other show-business ladies of the left – handed  persuasion include Whoopi Goldberg, Julia Roberts and Angelina Jolie

Marie Curie

Not only was atomic scientist Marie Curie left-handed, but she was the matriarch of a whole family of accomplished, southpaw scientists. Curie, who discovered the principles of radioactivity and won two Nobel Prizes, was married to fellow lefty Pierre Curie, who was instrumental in helping Marie’s atomic research and shared one of her Nobel awards. Historians believe their daughter, Irene, was also left-handed. Irene went on to win a Nobel Prize of her own with her husband — who, you guessed it, was also left-handed.

59．The underlined word “southpaws” in the last sentence of Paragraph 1 means_______.

A．people coming from the south B．powerful presidents

C．people who use their left hand D．forceful speakers

60．What makes it so easy for lefties to be elected as presidents according to the passage?

A．Their great gift for foreign language.

B．Their great language skills to make speeches.

C．The need of left – hinders in the political office.

D．Teachers stopping to force them to use their right hand.

61．It can be implied that Bill Gates, Henry Ford, John D. Rockefeller and Lou Gerstne_______.

A．have creative thinking              B．have formed a special club.

C．earn more money than their wives   D．are wealthy philanthropists

62．The underlined sentence in Paragraph 4 “She is in good company” means “_______”.

A．she works in a very good company   B．she has many good friends

C．she has got on well with others        D．she is among many female lefties