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Why would an animal kill itself? It seems a strange question, and yet it is one that has made some scientists curious for a long time. For there is a kind of animal called lemming（旅鼠）, that periodically killed themselves together, and no one knows just why!
The small creatures which live in the Scandinavian mountains, feed on a diet of roots and special insects and live in nests they dig underground. When their food supply is large, the lemmings live a normal and undisturbed life.
However, when the lemmings’ food supply becomes too low to support the population, a singular migration（迁徙）begins. The lemmings leave their nests in groups. Great numbers of them begin to travel across the Scandinavian plains, a journey that may last weeks. The lemmings eat everything in their path, continuing their long march until they reach the sea.
The reason for what follows remains unbelievable to naturalists. Upon reaching the coast, the lemmings do not stop but swim by the thousands into the sea. Most stay afloat only a short time before they tire, sink and drown.
A common theory for this mass self-killing is that the lemmings do not realize that the ocean is such a huge body of water in their cross-country journey, the animals must cross many smaller bodies of water, such as rivers and small lakes. They may think that the sea is just another such swimmable path to go through. But no final answer has been found to the strange happening.
1.The passage is mainly about______.
A. how lemmings find food
B. why animals kill themselves
C. the lemmings’ self-killing
D. the food supply in the Scandinavian mountains
2.A reason for the lemmings’ self-killing might be that they______.
A. go mad from a lack of food
B. hope to find fish for food
C. decide to reduce the population
D. think they can cross the sea
3.Why are scientists curious about the lemmings’ behavior?
A. Because they are the only animals that live in Scandinavia.
B. Because it is very unusual for animals to kill themselves.
C. Because of the amount of food they can eat on their march to the sea.
D. Because they can gather together in such huge numbers.
4.The underlined word “singular” means______.
A. unusual B. single C. wonderful D. common
难度: 简单查看答案及解析
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Shoppers throughout the West, wary(警惕的) of a double-dip recession（经济衰退）, are still pinching their pennies. However, Chinese consumers are opening their wallets—big time. According to McKinsey, shop sales in China have grown by 25 percent annually from 2007 to 2009. Consumer confidence is now at its highest point since 2007 and female shoppers are leading the way.
Chinese women saved just 24 percent of their income, compared with 55 percent in 2006, according to a recent study in Women of China Magazine. What’s more, three quarters of Chinese women say that they’re the ones who control the family purse strings .That means the nation’s 650 million women are an “emerging powerhouse within the powerhouse” of China.
In the 1950s women contributed just 20 percent of household income. That rose to about 40 percent in the 1990s and then reached 50 percent last year.
In a recent study of Chinese consumer behavior, McKinsey found that women tend to shop more frequently than men, and spend more on personal-care products and food. Men, by contrast, tend to spend more of their income on gadgets(小玩意) , drinks and alcohol, dining out, and socializing. They also tend to save for the bigger-ticket items, like cars and houses.
Chinese women make up an ever-growing small part of the market—up from 20 percent a decade ago to 50 percent last year. It’s estimated that in the next five years women will account for 55 percent of the $9 billion market. “The future is female,” concludes a January HSBC(汇丰银行) report on luxury goods(奢侈品) in China.
The Chinese Market Research Group recently found that women younger than 35 are the most optimistic segment(群体) in China. A very large 80 percent of the 3,500 women surveyed saying they’ll spend more in the second half of 2010 than they did in the first half. With trends like these, Chinese women may bring new meaning to the term “the power of the purse.”
1.According to the passage, Chinese women _________.
A. save more of their income than before
B. save less of their income than before
C. make as much money as men in the 1990s
D. spend half of their income on luxury goods
2.The fourth paragraph mainly tells us that _________.
A. women go shopping more frequently than men
B. women spent more on personal care products than men
C. men tend to save for the bigger-ticket items than women
D. Chinese women and men have different consuming behavior
3.The underlined phrase in the first paragraph probably means_________.
A. making more money in a careful way
B. wasting their money without hesitation
C. spending their money in a careful way
D. recovering the economy at a fast speed
4.Which of the following might be the best title of the passage?
A. Chinese Men Go Socializing B. Chinese Women Go shopping
C. The Future Is Female D. The Purse Is Powerful
难度: 中等查看答案及解析
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Below is a web page from http://www.parents.com/.
Kid of the Year Photo Competition
Enter your kid’s photo today and win! We’re giving away
52 weekly $250 prizes from Readers’ Choice votes. PLUS our
editors will select one entry to win our grand prize of $7,000.
Official Competition Rules
No purchase necessary to enter or win.
The Kid of the Year Photo Competition entry period begins at 12:00 a.m. January 23, 2011, and ends January 21, 2012 (“Entry Period”). Entries must arrive by 9:00 p.m. on January 21, 2012 (“Entry Deadline”). Entries will not be acknowledged or returned.
SPONSOR(赞助商): Meredith Corporation, 1716 Locust Street, Des Moines, Iowa.
ENTRY: There will be two methods of entry.
Share My Entry:
Visit http://www.parents.com/photos/photo-contests-1/kid-of-the-year/ and click the button to enter.
Facebook Entry:
Visit http://Facebook.com/ParentsMagazine and click the Kid of 2011 tab(选项卡).
Then complete the registration form and follow the instructions to upload one album of up to six photos of your child aged three months to eight years. You may provide one description and one album title that will be applied to all photos. Photos, without any brand names or trademarks, must be taken by participants, non-professional, unpublished and may not have won any prize or award. Photos must be .jpeg or .bmp image formats (格式) and cannot be over 3 MB
This promotion is in no way sponsored, supported or run by, or associated with Facebook. You are providing your information to Parents Magazine and not to Facebook. The information you provide will only be used to run the promotion and register for Parents.com.
LIMIT: One entry per family, per child, per week. One weekly prize per child. For entries of more than one child in a family, the entry process must be completed separately for each child. No group entries.
1.We can learn from the passage that _________.
A. you should buy something first before you enter the contest
B. your entry will not be returned even if you don’t win the contest
C. you should send your entry before 9:00 p.m. on January 21, 2011
D. the editors of the contest will decide who will win the 20,000 dollars in prizes
2.Linda, a mother with seven-year-old twins, wants to enter the competition. She must _________.
A. provide a description and an album title for the kid’s photos
B. go to Meredith Corporation to fill out the registration forms
C. complete the entry process separately for each of her kids
D. provide the information to Facebook if she chooses Facebook Entry
3.To enter the competition, photos must __________.
A. be taken by non-professional participants
B. have won some prize or award
C. contain brand names or trademarks
D. contain parents’ personal information
4.The purpose of the passage is __________.
A. to advertise the website Facebook. com
B. to attract photographers’ interest in a photo contest
C. to introduce two methods of entering a photo contest
D. to encourage parents with children to enter a photo contest
难度: 中等查看答案及解析
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A mother is devastated, crying, yelling all she can in that dark corner. There was nobody to hear her yell and not a soul to calm her, because outside her house is a long winding lonely road. The wind was at rest and the leaves didn't rustle, silence filling the air. Loneliness was already killing her, but no one knows what made her cry?
Losing something you love with all your heart isn't really the pain you can ever overcome. Radha lost her baby, her only means to live. She saw her child getting killed and the accident was terrible. One lonely night, she was walking down the street to get a breath of fresh air with her child hugged tight in her arms.
The whole time she walked with her child in her arms, the only thing that worried her was Aryan's future. She was imagining and feeling every day of the child's growth and figuring what she would have in store for him. But who knows what's in store for us tomorrow, life can change in a second.
On that deserted road, were a few streetlights barely enough? It was this one light that could be seen from a distance, but as it came closer it got brighter and brighter. That light changed Radha's life into darkness forever. A speeding car came down that road. The driver came with a full speed throwing beer bottles out of his half open window. He was definitely drunk, and the speed took, everything in its path. Just then, there was a loud cry, and silence set in again.
But the mother wasn't hurt. She opened her eyes, unable to focus her eyes, and didn't see Aryan. After a few minutes when her sight cleared up she looked all over in a panic for her baby, but alas! ... The child hadn't even seen life.
Simple, don't drink and drive. You could take a life, but kill a number of people.
1.The word "devastated" in Paragraph 1 would probably mean ________.
A. worried B. scared C. heart-broken D. weather-beaten
2.Which of the following statements is TRUE of Radha?
A. She had expected much of Aryan.
B. She got her eyes injured in the accident.
C. She was hit by one bottle on the arm.
D. She had everything ready for Aryan's future.
3.The last sentence underlined implies that ________.
A.drunk driving is absolutely forbidden
B.drunk driving is certain to kill a lot of people
C.the driver killed Aryan and his mother
D.there is more than one victim in a car accident
4.What would be the best title for the passage?
A. The Death of a Miserable Child
B. A Sad Mother on a Windy Night
C. The Price for Another Man's Mistake
D. Overspeeding from Drunk Driving
难度: 中等查看答案及解析
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“Image is everything．” An entire industry has been built upon the assumption that image is everything, but when it comes down to it, an appealing image is not enough．If there is no substance（事实） behind the image, the product, service or person will fail eventually．
First of all, one should consider how important image is in the selling of products and services．Advertising agencies have raised the art of creating an image to a state of near perfection．Public concept of that product or service is certainly managed by the images created by the advertising agencies．But if the product or service does not live up to the image that was created, the customer will be very dissatisfied and possibly ask for their money back．For example, the Arthur Andersen accounting firm had spent decades building up an image of trustworthiness．But the recent scandal(丑闻) showed that behind that image, it cheated in business practices．Despite the previous positive image, the firm is being accused of criminal actions and it will probably not survive as a business unit．Although the image had been nearly perfect, the reality behind the image has led to the downfall of the world famous accounting firm．
Similarly, personal advisers can build up a public image for politicians and movie stars．Putting out positive news releases, making sure that only the best photographs are published, and ensuring that the person is seen in all the right places can build up a very positive image in the view of the general commons．But once again, history is filled with examples of both politicians and movie stars that fell from grace like the story of the Hollywood actor giving in to the pressures of fame and fortune．With people, just as with products and services, image is certainly important, but without positive substance behind the image, failure is close．
To summarize, it is clear that an appealing image is extremely important to success, whether that image is related to selling a product or service or to the “selling” of a person．But image is only half of the equation．What lies behind that image is every bit as important as the image itself —— the person or product must deliver on that image or there is little chance for long-term success．
1.The downfall of the Arthour Andersen accounting firm is due to ________．
A. its dishonesty in business B. its previous images
C. its bad management D. its poor service
2.Why did some famous people fall from grace?
A. Their images were not well built up
B. They failed to live up to their images．
C. They felt much pressure from the public
D. They paid little attention to fame and fortune
3.The structure of the passage is ________．
A: Argument P: Point C: Conclusion
4.The author tries to argue that _________．
A. image creates everything
B. image is the key to success
C. truth is unlikely ever to be equaled
D. truth and image are equally important
难度: 中等查看答案及解析