A desert is a very dry land where there is hardly any rain. In the day, it can be so hot that you could fry an egg on the ground. But during the night it is sometimes so could that water would turn into ice.






Many desserts are covered in sand. But some have mountains, rocks, or lakes that have dried up in the heat. The Great American Dessert has cliffs(悬崖) that have been made into amazing and beautiful shapes by the wind. The Sahara Desert in Africa is mostly sand. The Australian Desert has red sand.
Sometimes it does not rain for a whole year in the desert. But there is water deep under the ground and some plants have roots that go very deep to find it. Other plants have roots that spread out(延伸) a long way so they can suck up the rain as soon as it falls.
One desert plant is the cactus, which has long, spreading roots. The cactus stores water inside its hard skin. This skin protects it from heat and cold.
Camels are a bit like cactus plants! They store water too—inside their bodies. They have special fur which protects them from the sun during the day and keeps them warm at night.
Some other animals live in deserts, too. They have to be very good at seeing and hearing because most of them only come out at night. This is why many desert animals have extra big eyes or ears.
A desert fox has bigger ears than a normal for. A gerbil has huge eye, so that it can see at night. It stays cool in the day by staying underground, like most desert animals.
Some people live in the desert but they always make their homes near an oasis. An oasis is where water comes from an underground river. Near an oasis, people can grow lots of plants and keep animals.
Life is hard in the desert, for people, animals and plants. But desert people like to live there.
【小题1】A desert is very dry because__________.

A．it is sandy	B．there is so little rain
C．the wind is strong	D．there is no water deep under the ground

【小题2】What does the underlined phrase"suck up"in paragraph 3 mean_________?

A．围堵

B．讨好

C．释放

D．吸收

【小题3】Some desert animals have extra big eyes or ears because__________.

A．the sunlight is too strong in the day	B．they need to see and hear well at night
C．it is very cold at nigh	D．they store water in them.

【小题4】Most desert animals stay cool in the day by_________.

A．storing water in side their bodies	B．drinking water as much as they can
C．staying underground	D．growing lots of plants

【小题5】Which of the following is true?

A．Desert people like to live in the desert though life is hard.

B．People in the desert usually fry eggs on the ground.

C．Camels have special fur to store water.

D．All the deserts are covered in sand.

Is there someone you hate? Well, maybe you don’t really hate them. But
you get really angry every time you think of them. If you don’t let this anger go, it can turn into bitterness(痛苦)
Bitterness appears when we can’t forgive(原谅) someone who has hurt us or made us angry. Someone might say or do something that hurts us. But Instead of controlling the anger, we keep it deep inside. Before long, a bitter feeling begins to grow. We may think we’re hurting that person by criticizing him or her often, but we’re really only hurting ourselves.
Bitterness can not only lead to serious health problems such as heart disease, but also hurt our relationships with friends and family members. No one enjoys being around an anger person for very long.
If you see bitterness in your life, here are some ways to deal with it.
Accept it
Instead of trying to deny your anger, make it clear to yourself and accept it. See your anger for what it is and quickly deal with it.
Stop making excuses for it
You may feel you have a right to be anger. You may think you’re right  and the other person is wrong. You may even secretly enjoy making the other person look bad. But in the end, bitterness hurts you much more than the other person. The bitterness will hold you back, and the other person will go on with his or her life.
Forgive and forget it
You probably can’t completely put the anger out of your mind. But you can decide to forgive the other person. Forget it and move on. You’ll enjoy better health and peace of mind.
阅读上面的短文，从每题所给的四个选项中，选出一个最佳答案
【小题1】According to the passage, we might get angry when someone ______.

A．holds us back	B．forgets us
C．doesn’t like us	D．does hurt us

【小题2】 bitterness comes from_______.

A．our health problems like heart disease

B．the anger that lives deep inside our mind

C．the person who says something that hurts us

D．our relation with friends and family members

【小题3】The underlined word “deny” in the passage means “_____’’.

A．误解

B．否认

C．疏远

D．减轻

【小题4】The best way to deal with the bitterness is to ______.

A．make the person who hurts us look bad

B．hate the person who hurts us very often

C．accept that you are hurting the other person

D．forgive the person who hurts us and forget it

【小题5】What can we learn from the passage?

A．We should enjoy someone who hurts us.

B．We should pay more attention to our friends.

C．The peace of mind is more important than the hurt itself.

D．It’s better to let bitterness go along with the other person.

A study finds that not enough morning light causes teenagers not to get enough sleep at night. “As teenagers spend more time indoors, they miss necessary morning light. Day light is needed to keep the balance of the body’s 24-hour biological system (生物系统), which regulates (调节) body temperature and sleep styles,” reports Dr. Mariana Figueiro. “These teenagers who receive little morning light are going to bed later, getting less sleep and doing badly in tests. They are more likely to fail in their exams.”
In the study, Dr. Figueiro asked 11 students in Grade 8 to wear special glasses to prevent blue morning light from reaching their eyes. At the end of the 5-day study she found that they fell asleep 30 minutes later than usual.
Throughout her research, Dr. Figueiro has been very worried about teenagers going to bed too late. The problem is that today’s schools require teenagers to be in school very early in the morning. These students are likely to miss the morning light because they often go to school before the sun is up or as it’s just rising.
Furthermore (此外), the schools are not likely to provide enough electric light to keep the balance of this biological system. Our biological system is much more sensitive (敏感的) to blue light. Therefore, having lots of light in the classroom does not make sure that there is enough light to keep our biological system balanced.
【小题1】Which of the following is the result of the study?

A．Blue light in the morning harms the biological system.

B．Not enough morning light keeps teenagers sleep less.

C．Not getting more light in the morning make teenagers happy.

D．Not enough sleep makes teenagers fail in tests.

【小题2】We know from the passage that morning light __________.

A．has the same effects as afternoon light

B．may change studying habits of teenagers

C．is important to children’s biological system

D．has no effect on students’ tests

【小题3】What’s the problem of the students according to the study?

A．There are not enough electric lights in the classroom.

B．Being in school early affects their study habits.

C．They have to go to bed very early to have enough sleep.

D．They go to school too early to get enough morning light.

A dog has a piece of meat in his mouth. He’s going to eat it at home. As he is walking on a bridge, he looks down and sees himself in the river. That dog looks like him and he has a piece of meat in his mouth, too. The dog thinks it’s another dog. So he says to himself, “I want to eat more meat. I must make him run away from here and get the meat in his mouth. Then I can have two pieces.” He opens his mouth to bark. That dog in the water barks at him. Suddenly, his meat goes down into the water. The dog is so angry, he jumps into the water to catch the other dog.
【小题1】How many dogs are there in the river?

A．None.

B．one.

C．Two.

D．We don’t know.

【小题2】The dog in the water         .

A．is more hungry

B．is very angry at him

C．is very kind

D．is not a real dog at all

【小题3】What does the story tell us?

A．The greedy(贪心的) dog gets nothing at last.

B．The dog is a clever one.

C．A dog always wants two pieces of meat.

D．The dog can get two pieces of meat.