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Jack had an unusual experience last night. He is sharing it with his friends, Ken and May.
Ken: What were you doing, Jack? What did you see?
Jack: It was half past nine last night and I was getting ready for bed. I heard some strange noise outside while I was brushing my teeth. I wondered what was happening and I went to the window and looked out. To my surprise, I saw a bright yellow green light in the sky.
May: Maybe the light you saw was a UFO! Or a ghost! A few years ago, an American man saw a flying saucer (飞碟) while he was driving along a road. He also saw some strange yellow light. You have heard about it, haven't you?
Ken: Don’t be imaginative, May. Jack didn't see anything, or anybody. It wasn't a ghost. It was probably a plane, or a shooting star. Perhaps Jack just made a horrible dream!
Jack: I am very serious. I did see something. The light disappeared and then suddenly some “tiny people” were standing in the garden. There were four of them. Two of them ate some flowers in the garden.
Ken: Oh, come on, Jack. I really doubt what you have said.
Jack: I am not joking! One of the people was looking at me through the window.
May: Really? What did it look like? Were you frightened?
Jack: Its whole body was green. It had no ears and nose. Its hands were huge. Its eyes were very big and looked like eggs. It looked at me and I could hardly move.
Ken: What happened then?
Jack: I was able to move eventually. I ran and got my camera at once.
May: And?
Jack: I didn’t have a film.
May: Oh no!
1.Ken suggested that Jack________________.
A. saw a ghost last night B. possibly had a dream last night
C. met a UFO last night D. was telling them something serious
2.The underlined word “eventually” means ________________.
A. at home B. at last C. in a short time D. after a long time
3.The best title of the passage might “________________”.
A. A horrible dream B. A flying saucer
C. A ghost’s visit D. Alien’s visit
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When I was a baby, I entertained you and made you laugh. Whenever I was “bad”, you'd shake your finger at me and ask, “How could you?”--but then you'd give up, and roll me over for a belly scratch(腹部抓痒) and I believed that life could not be any more perfect.
My housetraining was a long process, because you were terribly busy, but we worked on that together. We went for long walks, runs in the park and car rides. We stopped for ice cream. I took long naps in the sun waiting for you to come home at the end of the day.
Step by step, you began spending more time at work and on your career, and more time searching for a human friend. Finally, you fell in love. She, now your wife, is not a dog person, but I still welcomed her into our home. I was happy because you were happy. Then the human babies came along and I shared your excitement, I was attracted by their pinkness, how they smelled, and I wanted to mother them too. Your wife was afraid I would bite them. However, as they began to grow, I became their friend.
Now, you have a new job in another city and you and they will be moving to an apartment that does not allow pets. You've made the right decision for your “family”, but there was a time when I was your only family.
I was excited about the car ride until we arrived at the dog pound(收容所). It smelled of dogs and cats, of fear, of hopelessness. You filled out the paperwork and said, “I know you will find a good home for her.” They shrugged（耸肩）and gave you a pained look. The children were in tears as they waved me goodbye. And “How could you?” were the only three words that swept over my mind.
Is it better to live with hope or without hope? At first, whenever anyone passed my pen (围栏), I rushed to the front, hoping it was you, that you had changed your mind and that this was all a bad dream.
My beloved master, I will think of you and wait for you forever. I hope you receive more faithfulness from your family than you showed to me.
1.Who tells this story?
A. A dog. B. A child. C. A dog's owner. D. A dog trainer
2.Which is true about the dog when it lived at the pound?
A. It hoped to be adopted by another family.
B. It continued to love its former owner.
C. It did not trust humans any more.
D. It was excited about the pound.
3.What is the theme of the story?
A. Be ready for changes. B. Never expect too much.
C. Never complain about your life. D. Be faithful to those who love you.
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Where is that noise coming from? Not sure? Try living with your eyes closed for a few years.
Blind people are better at locating sounds than people who can see, a new study says, without the benefits of vision the ears seem to work much better
Previous studies have shown that blind people are better than others at reaching out and touching the sources of sounds that are close by. Researchers from the University of Montreal wanted to see if blind people were also better at locating sounds that are far away.
Twenty-three blind people participated in the study. All had been sightless for at least 20 years. Fourteen of them had lost their vision before age 11. The rest went blind after age 16. The experiment also included 10 people who could see but were wearing blind-folds.
In one task, volunteers had to pick the direction of a sound coming from about 3 metres away. When the sound was in front of them or slightly off center in front, both groups performed equally well.
When sounds came from the side or the back, however, the blind group performed much better than the blindfolded group. The participants（参与者）who had been blind since childhood did slightly better than those who lost their sight later.
“Recognizing（认识）the locations of distant sounds can be a matter of life-or-death for blind people,” say the researchers. Crossing the street, for instance, is much harder when you can’t see the cars coming.
Still, the researchers were surprised by how well the blind participants did, especially those who went blind after age 16. In another experiment, the scientists also found that parts of the brain that normally deal with visual（视觉的）information became active in locating sound in the people who were blind by age 11. These brain parts didn’t show sound-location activity in the other group of blind people or in the sighted people. The scientists now want to learn more about the working of brains of “late-onset” （迟发性的）blind people.
1.The recent study shows blind people are better at telling ________________.
A. The sources of loud sounds. B. the locations of distant sounds
C. the direction of sharp sounds D. the distance of a sound in front of them
2.If people were asked to tell the direction of a sound from the side, who would perform best?
A. Those who are blind.
B. Those who have gone blind since children.
C. Those who went blind at age 16.
D. Those who are blindfolded.
3.Which of the following is true according to the passage?
A. Whether to be able to locate the sounds can be of vital(生死攸关的) importance for the blind.
B. All the volunteers in the experiment are sightless.
C. All the participants did equally well when picking sounds from whatever direction.
D. The later people become blind, the better they can perform in telling the direction of sounds.
4.What do we know about that parts of brain dealing with visual information are active in locating sounds?
A. This happens in almost all the testers.
B. This only happens in the people who were blind after age 16.
C. It remains nothing new to the scientists any more.
D. It remains a mystery why it is so.
