The Atlantic Ocean is one of the oceans that separate the old world from new. For centuries it kept the Americans from being discovered by the people of Europe.

　　Many wrong ideas about the Atlantic Ocean were believed in by people that they didn't 1 to go far out into it. One idea was that it reached out to the 2 that they might go right 3 the earth. 4 idea was that at the equator the ocean would be boiling hot.

　　The Atlantic Ocean is only half as 5 as the Pacific. It is the second 6 ocean in the world. It is more than 4,000 miles 7 . Even at the narrowest it is about 2,000 miles wide.

　　Something makes the Atlantic Ocean rather unusual. For so 8 an ocean it has very few islands.

　　There is 9 much water in the Atlantic that it is hard to 10 how much there is. But suppose no more 11 fell into it and no more 12 was brought to it by 13 . It would take the ocean about 4,000 years to dry up. In most places the water is little more than two miles 14 , but in some places it is much 15 . The deepest 16 is Puerto Rico (波多黎哥). This “deep” measures 30,246 feet.

　　The Atlantic gives much 17 to the people on its shores. There are a lot of famous fishing places there.

　　Today the Atlantic is a great high way. It is not, 18 , always a smooth safe one. We now have such fast ways of traveling that this big ocean seems to have grown 19 . It took Columbus two months to cross it. A fast modern ship can make the 20 in less than four days. Planes fly from New York to London in only eight hours and from south America to Africa in four!

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Ears are for hearing — everyone knows that. But for a creature called the Cuvier’s beaked whale, hearing starts in the throat (喉咙), a new study found.

    The observation might help explain how all whales hear. The work might also help scientists understand how animals are affected by underwater sonar (声呐). This sonar, used by some ships, sends out sound waves to locate underwater objects.

    The Cuvier’s beaked whale is a so-called toothed whale. Toothed whales dive deep into the ocean in search of food. As the whales hunt, they produce sounds that reach objects and then return to the whales. This allows the animals to “see” the shape, size, and location of objects, even when they’re 1,000 meters under the sea, where it is totally dark.

    To better understand how the whale hears, researchers from San Diego State University in California took X rays of two Cuvier’s beaked whales. The whales had died and washed up on the beach.

    Ted Cranford and his colleagues used the images to make a computer model of a Cuvier’s beaked whale’s head. Then, they modeled the process of sound traveling through the head.

    The researchers knew that some sounds get to the ears of a toothed whale through a structure (构造) called “the window for sound”. Found on the lower jaw, this structure is very thin on the outside and has a large pad (垫) of fat on the inside.

    When the researchers used their computer model to work out how sound waves travel in the whale’s head, they were surprised to find that sounds coming from right in front of the whale actually travel under the animal’s jaw. From there, sound waves move through the throat, into a hole in the back of the jaw, and finally to the pad of fat near the animal’s ears.

1.

Toothed whales look for food under the sea by ______.

  A. watching the shape and size of their objects       B. diving deep into the sea

  C. sending and receiving sounds                   D. making lots of noises     

2.

    Researchers took X rays of two Cuvier’s beaked whales in order to ______.

  A. find out why they had died and washed up on the beach

  B. make a computer model of a Cuvier’s beaked whale’s head

  C. make sure that sound travels through the head

  D. know more about the way the whale hears   

3.

Which of the following describes the way taken by sound waves through a Cuvier’s beaked whale?

  A. A hole in the back of the jaw → the ears → the jaw → the throat.   

  B.    The jaw → the throat → a hole in the back of the jaw → the ears.

  C.    The throat → the jaw → the ears → a hole in the back of the jaw.   

  D. The ears → the throat → a hole in the back of the jaw → the jaw.

4.

 Which of the following is TRUE according to this passage?

  A. The throat is important to the Cuvier’s beaked whale’s hearing.

  B. Ships send out sound waves like a Cuvier’s beaked whale.

  C. The ears are actually useless to the Cuvier’s beaked whale.

  D. The researchers haven’t found how the whales hear.

 

Do you want to live with a strong sense of peacefulness, happiness, goodness, and self- respect? The collection of happiness actions broadly categorized as "honor" help you create this life of good feelings.

Here's an example to show how honorable actions create happiness.

Say a store clerk fails to charge us for an item. If we keep silent, and profit from the clerk's mistake, we would drive home with a sense of sneaky excitement. Later we might tell our family or friends about our good fortune. On the other hand, if we tell the clerk about the uncharged item, the clerk would be grateful and thank us for our honesty. We would leave the store with a quiet sense of honor that we might never share with another soul.

Then, what is it to do with our sense of happiness?

In the first case, where we don't tell the clerk, a couple of things would happen. Deep down inside we would know ourselves as a type of thief. In the process, we would lose some peace of mind and self-respect. We would also demonstrate that we cannot be trusted, since we advertise our dishonor by telling our family and friends. We damage our own reputations by telling others. In contrast, bringing the error to the clerk's attention causes different things to happen. Immediately the clerk knows us to be honorable. Upon leaving the store, we feel honorable and our self-respect is increased. Whenever we take honorable action we gain the deep internal rewards of goodness and a sense of nobility.

There is a beautiful positive cycle that is created by living a life of honorable actions. Honorable thoughts lead to honorable actions. Honorable actions lead us to a happier existence. And it's easy to think and act honorably again when we're happy. While the positive cycle can be difficult to start, once it's started, it's easy to continue. Keeping on doing good deeds brings us peace of mind, which is important for our happiness.

1.According to the passage, the positive action in the example contributes to our ________.

A．self-respect	B．financial rewards
C．advertising ability	D．friendly relationship

2.The phrase "bringing the error to the clerk's attention" (in Para.5) means ________.

A．telling the truth to the clerk

B．offering advice to the clerk

C．asking the clerk to be more responsible

D．reminding the clerk of the charged item

3.How will we feel if we let the clerk know her mistake?

A．We'll be very excited.

B．We'll feel unfortunate.

C．We'll have a sense of honor.

D．We'll feel sorry for the clerk.

4.Which of the following can be the best title of this passage?

A．How to Live Truthfully

B．Importance of Peacefulness

C．Ways of Gaining Self-respect

D．Happiness through Honorable Actions

 

Beijing had its biggest snowfall since 1951. Britain is suffering through its longest cold snap (寒潮) since 1981. And freezing weather is hitting the Deep South, including Florida’s orange groves and beaches.
Whatever happened to global warming?
Such weather doesn’t seem to fit with warnings from scientists that the Earth is warming because of greenhouse gases. But experts say the cold snap doesn’t contradict global warming at all—it’s just a temporary phenomenon in the long-term heating trend. “It’s part of natural variability,” said Gerald Meehl, a senior scientist. With global warming, he said, “we’ll still have record cold temperatures. We’ll just have fewer of them.”
Scientists say man-made climate change does have the potential to cause more frequent and more severe weather extremes. But experts did not connect the current cold snap to climate change.
So what is going on?
“We basically have seen just a big outbreak of Arctic air over populated areas of the Northern Hemisphere”, Arndt said.
In the atmosphere, large rivers of air travel roughly west to east around the globe between the Arctic and the tropics. This air flow acts like a fence to keep Arctic air restricted. But recently, this air flow has become bent into a zigzag (之字形) pattern, wandering north and south. If you live in a place where it brings air up from the south, you get warm weather. In fact, record highs were reported this week in Washington state and Alaska.
But in the eastern United States, like some other unlucky parts of the globe, Arctic air is coming from the north. And that’s how you get a temperature of 3 degrees in Beijing, a reading of minus-42 in mainland Norway, and 18 inches of snow in parts of Britain. The zigzag pattern arises naturally from time to time, but it is not clear why it’s so strong right now.
【小题1】What is the best title of the text?

A．Freezing weather is hitting the Deep South.

B．We’ll still have record cold temperatures.

C．The air flow has become a zigzag pattern.

D．Cold snap doesn’t contradict global warming.

【小题2】With global warming, we will ______.

A．also meet with severe cold snap

B．have more hot temperatures forever

C．never experience cold temperatures

D．have more cold temperatures

【小题3】According to experts, the current cold snap ______.

A．suggests that the climate has changed greatly

B．is not related to the climate change

C．shows that the climate will turn cold

D．is affected by global warming

【小题4】Beijing had its biggest snowfall since 1951 because of ______.

A．a fence from the Arctic	B．a cooling trend in climate
C．a big outbreak of Arctic air	D．its large population

【小题5】We can conclude that ______.

A．not all the parts of the Northern Hemisphere are cold in face of the cold snap

B．the zigzag pattern arises naturally accidentally

C．Beijing will get cold weather next year

D．Washington state and Alaska will not face cold weather next year

  The sea has always interested man. From it he can get food, minerals, and treasure. For thousands of years, he could sail on it. But he could not go far beneath its surface.
Man wants to explore deep into the sea. However, he is not a fish. He must breathe air, so he can’t stay under the water’s surface for any length of time. To explore deep water, man faces even more dangers and problems.
A diver who wants to stay under water for more than a few minutes must breathe air or a special mixture of gases. He can wear a diving suit and have air pumped to him from above. He can carry a tank of air on his back and breathe through a hose(软管) and a mouthpiece. Water weighs 800 times as much as air. Tons of water pushes against a diver deep in the sea. His body is under great pressure.
When a diver is under great pressure, his blood takes in some of the gases he breathes. As he rises to surface, the water pressure becomes less. If the diver rises too quickly, the gases in his blood form bubbles(气泡). The diver is then suffering from the bends(潜函病). The bends can cause a diver to double up in pain. They can even kill him.
【小题1】 On the whole, this text is about _________.

A．special mixtures of gases in deep sea.

B．the problems a diver faces in deep sea.

C．air pressure under the surface of sea water.

D．a kind of illness that man suffers in the sea.

【小题2】The text does not say so, but it makes you think that ____________.

A．deep-sea divers should be in good health.

B．divers explore the deep sea only for treasure.

C．there is a special mixture of gases under the sea.

D．diving under the water too quickly causes a kind of illness.

【小题3】Why does a diver get the bends?

A．The air in his blood is used up.	B．His diving suit weighs too much.
C．He comes to the surface too quickly.	D．He tries to do exercise under the sea.