Everybody hates rats. But in the earthquake capitals of the world – Japan, Los Angeles, Turkey – rats will soon be man’s new best friends.

What happens after an earthquake? We send in rescue dogs. Why? Because they can smell people. Dogs save lives. They help rescuers to find living people. But dogs are big and they can’t get into small spaces. So now a new research project is using a smaller animal to save lives: the rat.

How does it work? First , the rat is trained to smell people. When this happens, the rat’s brain gives a signal（信号）.This is sent to a small radio on its back, and then the rescuers follow the radio signals. When rat’s brain activity jumps, the rescuers know that someone is alive. The rat has smelled that person.

Although there are already robots which can do this job, rats are better. Christian Linster at Cornell University, New York, says, “Robots’ noses don’t work well when there are other smells around. Rats are good at that. ” Rats can also see in the dark. They are cheaper and quicker to train than dogs, and unlike robots, they don’t need electricity!

The “rat project” is not finished, but Julie Ryan of International Rescue Corps in Scotland says, “It would be fantastic. A rat could get into spaces we couldn’t get to, and a rat would get out if it wasn’t safe.” Perhaps for the first time in history, people will be happy to see a rat in a building（but only after an earthquake, of course.）

1．In the world earthquake capitals, rats will bee man’s best friends because they can          .

         A．take the place of man’s rescue jobs

         B．find the position of people alive who are trapped in buildings

         C．serve as food for people alive who are trapped in buildings

D．get into small spaces

2．From the third paragraph we know the rescuers can judge a person is alive by          .

         A．the noise made by the rat

B．the rat’s unusual behaviour

         C．the signal sent by the radio on the rat’s back

D．the smell given off by the person

3．In doing rescue jobs,         .

        A．rats smell better than dogs

         B．dogs don’t need to be trained to smell people

         C．robots’ sense of smell can be affected by other smells around  

         D．rats can see in the dark and smaller than robots

4．Rats have all the following advantages except that         .

         A．they are more fantastic than other animals

         B．they are less expensive to train than dogs

         C．they don’t need electricity  

         D．they are small and can get into small places

5．After reading the passage we can know         .

         A．at present rats have taken the place of dogs in searching for people

         B．the “rat project” has been finished

         C．people are now happy to see a rat in a building

         D．now people still use dogs and robots in saving people

 

It tastes just like chicken

Away from home, eating is more than just a way to keep your stomach full．It is a language all its own, and no words can say, "Glad to meet you ．．．glad to be doing business with you ．．．" quite like sharing a meal offered by your host．

Clearly, mealtime is not the time for you to say, "Thanks, but no thanks．" Acceptance of the food on your plate means acceptance of host, country, and company．So, no matter how difficult it may be to swallow, swallow it．Or, as one experienced traveler says, "Travel with a cast-iron stomach and eat everything everywhere．"

Often, the food offered represents proudly your host country's eating culture．What would Ataiericans think of a French person who refused to take a bite of homemade apple pie ? Our discomfort comes not so much from the thing itself; it comes from our umamiliarity with it．After all, an oyster has remarkably the same look as a sheep's eye; and a first look at a lobster would remind almost anybody of a creature from a science fiction movie, not something you dip in butter and eat．By the way, in Saudi Arabia sheep's eyes are a famous dish and in parts of China it's bear's paw soup．

Can you refuse such food without being rude? Most experienced business travelers say no, at least not before taking at least a few bites．It helps, though, to cut any item very thin．This way, you minimize the taste and the reminder of where it came from．Or, " Swallow it quickly, " as one traveler recommends．"I still can't tell you what sheep's eyeballs taste like．" As for dealing with taste, the old line that "it tastes just like chicken" is often thankfully true．Even when the "it" is really rat or snake．

Another useful piece of advice is not knowing what you are eating．What's for dinner? Don't ask． Avoid glancing into the kitchen or looking at English-language menus．Your host will be pleased that you are eating the food he offers, and who knows? Maybe it really is chicken in that soup．

1.The purpose of the article is to ____．

A．introduce unfamiliar food       

B．share the writer's personal experiences

C．suggest ways to overcome a cultural barrier

D．advise on how to politely refuse to eat foreign food

2.According to the writer, people hesitate at strange food mainly due to ____．

A．the way it looks  

B．safety worries

C．lack of information about it      

D．the unfamiliar atmosphere

3.From the article we can infer that ____．

A．an American may feel comfortable with sirloin

B．one should refuse strange food after a few bites

C．English-language menus are not always dependable

D．one needs a cast-iron stomach to travel in other cultures

4.One may say "It tastes just like chicken．" when ____．

A．showing respect for chicken-loving nations

B．greeting people with different dieting habits

C．evaluating chefs at an international food festival

D．getting someone to try a visually unpleasant meal

 

One day a mother rat and her babies were out in an open field. They were playing and having a good time when   26  a hungry cat came on the scene! It hid   27  a big tree and then   28  forward through the tall grass   29  it could almost hear them talk.  30  the mother rat and her babies knew   31  had happened, the cat   32  from its hiding place and started to run   33  them.

The mother rat and her babies all   34  at once. They hurried towards   35  home, which was under a pile of large stones.   36  the baby rats were   37  frightened that they could not run very   38 . Closer and closer the cat came. In no time the cat would be upon   39 . What was to be done?

The mother rat stopped running,   40  round and faced the cat,   41，"Bow Wow! Bow Wow! "just like   42  angry dog. The cat was so surprised and   43  that it ran away.

The mother rat turned to the babies, "Now you see  44  important it is to learn 45   second language!"

1.                A．naturally        B．suddenly        C．nearly    D．certainly

 

2.                A．on            B．between        C．by   D．behind

 

3.                A．crawled(爬)     B．jumped         C．looked   D．put

 

4.                A．before         B．when          C．until D．while

 

5.                A．Before         B．After           C．Unless    D．Otherwise

 

6.                A．where         B．what           C．which    D．when

 

7.                A．jumped         B．started         C．jumping  D．starting

 

8.                A．over           B．through         C．after D．against

 

9.                A．runing away     B．ran away        C．run away  D．to run away

 

10.               A．to             B．for            C．its    D．their

 

11.               A．Because        B．But            C．Thus  D．Although

 

12.               A．as             B．very           C．so    D．much

 

13.               A．freely          B．hardly          C．soon  D．quickly

 

14.               A．ahead          B．down          C．that  D．them

 

15.               A．turned         B．walked         C．jumped   D．ran

 

16.               A．saying          B．said           C．shouting   D．shouted

 

17.               A．a             B．an             C．their  D．that

 

18.               A．pleased        B．excited         C．frightened D．worried

 

19.               A．so             B．why           C．what  D．how

 

20.               A．\              B．the            C．a D．an

 

 

  When scientists set out to explore the roots of human laughter, some apes（类人猿） were just tickled（胳肢）to help. That’s how researchers made a variety of apes and some human babies laugh. After analyzing the sounds, they concluded that people and great apes inherited laughter from a shared ancestor that lived more than 10 million years ago. Experts praised the work, it gives strong evidence that ape laughter and human laughter are related through evolution（进化）.

Scientists have noted that apes make characteristic sounds during play or while being tickled, especially to signal that they’re interested in playing. It’s been suggested before that human laughter grew out of primate（灵长类动物） roots. But ape laughter doesn’t sound like human laughter. It may be slower noisy breathing. So what does that have to do with the human ha-ha? To investigate that, Marina Davila Ross and her colleagues carried out a detailed analysis of the sounds made by tickling three human babies and 21 other primates, apes included.

After measuring 11 features in the sound from each species, they tried to find out how these sounds appeared to be related to each other. The result looked like a family tree. Significantly, that tree matched the way the species themselves are related, the scientists reported online in the journal Current Biology. They also concluded that while human laughter sounds much different from ape laughter, their typical features could have come from the same ancestor.

Panksepp, who studies laughter-like responses in animals but didn’t participate in the new work, called the paper exciting. Panksepp’s own work concludes that even rats produce laughter in response to playing and tickling, with sounds that can hardly be heard by people. Robert Provine, a scientist, who wrote the book, Laughter: A Scientific Investigation, said the new paper showed some important clues, like ape sounds that hadn’t been realized before.

69. Why did the scientists analyze the laughter made by tickling human babies and apes?

A. To try to discover if they can make characteristic sounds.

B. To see if they interested in playing.

C. To find out if the laughter of apes and humans is related.

D. To find out the differences between humans and apes.

70. Based on Paragraph 3 we can know that researchers measured the features in the sound to ________.

A. find out ape sounds that hadn’t been realized before

B. find out relations among primates’ laughter

C. see what a family tree from each species looks like

D. make a report online in the journal Current Biology

71. What can be inferred from the last paragraph?

A. Panksepp spoke highly of the new research.

B. Rat laughter is likely to be related to ape laughter.

C. Robert Provine provided some new clues for the researchers.

D. Humans don’t enjoy listening to ape laughter.

72. What would be the best title for the passage?

A. Ape study explores evolution of laughter.

B. Apes like to laugh when being tickled.

C. Human laughter and ape laughter are different.

D. Laughter: A Scientific Investigation.

 

“I don’t believe in Santa Claus!” Trogmire announced.
Tremor looked shocked. “Why not?” he asked.
“Because he never leaves me any gifts at all,” Trogmire growled.
Tremor thought about the evidence for a few seconds. “Maybe,” he suggested, “it’s because when Santa checked his list, your name wasn’t in the ‘nice’ column.”
“So, he could at least bring me a lump of coal!” Trogmire replied. “And,” he went on, “Troubled doesn’t believe in Santa, either.”
“Right,” Tremor said, “because he saw his parents putting the ‘From Santa’ presents under the tree. But I know the truth about that. My mother found out from Troubled’s mother. When Troubled’s parents got an e-mail from Santa, saying that he would never bring Troubled another gift, they didn’t want to tell him the truth. So now they buy presents and pretend they’re from Santa.”
“What did Troubled do to get Santa so mad?” Trogmire questioned.
“I think it had something to do with the time he put glue paper all over the living room floor on Christmas Eve, and left a sign that said, ‘Trapped like a rat!’ hanging over the fireplace.” said Tremor.
“I guess Santa doesn’t have a sense of humour,” sighed Trogmire. “Well, at least I’m not the only one who Santa scratched off his name list.”
【小题1】Why doesn’t Santa leave presents for Trogmire or Troubled?

A．Their parents won’t let him leave gifts.	B．He can’t find their homes.
C．He often forgets their names.	D．They have behaved badly.

【小题2】Trogmire and Troubled don’t believe in Santa because ________.

A．Santa has no sense of humor	B．Santa doesn’t give them anything
C．they are too naughty to believe	D．Tremor convinced them he wasn’t real

【小题3】Troubled’s parents never ________.

A．told him about the message from Santa	B．loved him very much
C．cared about how he behaved	D．bought him anything

【小题4】Trogmire’s last comment could be an example of the saying _______.

A．Misery(苦难,不幸) loves company	B．Easy come, easy go
C．Beauty is only skin deep	D．Love me, love my dog