Special Bridges Help Animals Cross the Road-- Reported by Sheila CarrickWhy did

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Special Bridges Help Animals Cross the Road
-- Reported by Sheila Carrick
Why did the chicken cross the road? To get to the other side.
Most people know this joke. But recently, some people have been much more concerned with how the grizzly bear and mountain lion can cross the road.
Millions of animals die each year on U.S. roads, the Federal Highway Administration reports. In fact, only about 80 ocelots, an endangered wild cat, exist in the U.S. today. The main reason? Roadkill.
"Ecopassages" may help animals cross the road without being hit by cars. They are paths both over and under roads. "These ecopassages can be extremely useful, so that wildlife can avoid human conflicts," said Jodi Hilty of the Wildlife Conservation Society.
But do animals actually use the ecopassages? The answer is yes. Paul Beier of Northern Arizona University found foot marks left by mountain lions on an ecopassage that went under a highway. This showed that the lion used the passage.
Builders of some ecopassages try to make them look like a natural part of an area by planting trees on and around them. Animals seem to be catching on. Animals as different as salamanders and grizzly bears are using the bridges and underpasses.
The next time you visit a park or drive through an area with a lot of wildlife, look around. You might see an animal overpass!
小题1:The writer uses the example of “ocelots” to show that_________.

A．wild animals have become more dangerous

B．the driving conditions have improved greatly

C．the measure for protecting wildlife fails to work

D．an increasing number of animals are killed in road accidents

小题2:From the news story, we know an ecopassage is_________.

A．an underground path for cars	B．a fence built for the safety of the area
C．a bridge for animals to get over a river	D．a pass for animals to cross the road

小题3:When the writer says that animals seem “to be catching on”, he means_________.

A．animals begin to realize the dangers on the road

B．animals begin to learn to use ecopassages

C．animals are crossing the road in groups

D．animals are increasing in number

小题4:The writer asks visitors and drivers to look around when traveling because_________.

A．wild animals may attack cars	B．wild animals may jam the road
C．they may see wild animals in the park	D．they may see wild animals on ecopassages

答案

小题1:D
小题2:D
小题3:B
小题4:D

解析

小题1:第三段告知ocelot这种动物只剩下约80只了，原因是roadkill，说明在公路交通事故中

大量的动物被撞死。
小题2:第四段中The ecopassages can be extremely useful ,so that wildlife can avoid road accidents 。以及下段提到的But do animals actually use the ecopassages? The answer is yes .说明是为动物穿越公路而用的。
小题3:倒数第二段告知，连salamander与 grizzly bear 这两种差异巨大的动物都使用这种ecopassage,说明动物正学着用这种通道。
小题4:文章最后一段明确告知，人们在行车时需要留神，公路是可能会有ecopassage, 此时应注意保护动物。

举一反三

PITTSBURGH – For most people, snakes seem unpleasant or even threatening. But Howie Choset sees in their delicate movements a way to save lives.
The 37-year-old Carnegie Mellon University professor has spent years developing snake-like robots he hopes will eventually slide through fallen buildings in search of victims trapped after natural disasters or other emergencies.
Dan Kara is president of Robotics Trends, a Northboro, Mass.-based company that publishes an online industry magazine and runs robotics trade shows. He said there are other snake-like robots being developed, mainly at universities, but didn’t know of one that could climb pipes.
The Carnegie Mellon machines are designed to carry cameras and electronic sensors and can be controlled with a joystick(操纵杆). They move smoothly with the help of small electric motors, or servos, commonly used by hobbyists in model airplanes.
Built from lightweight materials, the robots are about the size of a human arm or smaller. They can sense which way is up, but are only as good as their human operators, Choset added.
Sam Stover, a search term manager with the Federal Emergency Management Agency based in Indiana, said snake-type robots would offer greater mobility than equipment currently available, such as cameras attached to extendable roles.
“It just allows us to do something we’ve not been able to do before,” Stover said, “We needed them yesterday.”
He said snifter dogs are still the best search tool for rescue workers, but that they can only be used effectively when workers have access to damaged building.
Stover, among the rescue workers who handled the aftermath (后果) of Hurricane Katrina, said snake robots would have helped rescuers search flooded houses in that disaster.
Choset said the robots may not be ready for use for another five to ten years, depending on funding.
小题1:Which institution is responsible for the development of Choset’s robots?

A．Robotics Trends.	B．Pittsburgh City Council.
C．Carnegie Mellon University.	D．Federal Emergency Management Agency.

小题2:Choset believes that his invention ______.

A．can be attached to an electronic arm

B．can be used by hobbyists in model airplanes

C．can find victims more quickly than a snifter dog

D．can sense its way no better than its operators

小题3:By saying “We needed them yesterday” (paragraph 7), Stover means that snake-like robots _____.

A．could help handle the aftermath of Hurricane Katrina

B．would have been put to use in past rescue work

C．helped rescuers search flooded houses yesterday

D．were in greater need yesterday than today

小题4:What is the text mainly about?

A．Snake-like robots used in industries.

B．Snake-like robots made to aid in rescues.

C．The development of snake-like robots.

D．The working principles of snake-like robots.

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Indonesia’s coral reefs(珊瑚礁) are in trouble. Coral mining, Industrial pollution and poisonous agricultural runoff all play a role in their destruction, but the fishermen have been the worst offenders. They not only bomb fish but also poison them with cyanide, an equally destructive practice. The fishermen are also among the biggest potential victims(受害者). Two thirds of Indonesia’s 7, 000 coastal villages are close to coral reefs and thus depend for their livelihood on the harvest of reef fish. The disappearing reefs are already leading to a dramatic decline in the productivity of coastal fisheries and to increasing fights among fishermen.
Indonesia’s reefs are vast – they cover 51, 000 square kilometers, surround 17, 500 islands and stretch 3,500 kilometers – but they are not infinite. Many foreign experts and Indonesians fear that the region’s entire marine environment could be seriously damaged if the reefs keep dying at their present rate. “The overall picture is depressing,” says Ian Dutton, Indonesian director of an environmental group.
Depressing, but not hopeless. Despite the destruction, environmentalists have in recent years made significant progress in changing the hearts and minds of the fishermen. Working closely with local Indonesian authorities in North Sulawesi and less populated eastern Indonesia, where most of the country’s reefs are located, they have succeeded in preventing destructive fishing practices and coral mining from overwhelming the reefs.
Increasing numbers of fishermen are waking up to the threat and protecting the life-sustaining coral before it’s too late. Nuhung, a 56-year-old fisherman, says, “I always knew blast fishing was harmful. Then I suddenly realized that by bombing the reefs I was destroying not only my own but my children’s future.”
小题1:The fishermen are named “worst offenders” because .

A．they defend their rights of mining the coral reefs too eagerly

B．they wake up too late to realize the terrible situation

C．they use the fishing ways, which destroy the coral reefs

D．they pretend to follow the government’s rules

小题2:In the text the author .

A．presents us some facts and people’s opinions as well

B．shows that he’s worried about the situation, but still feels a little hopeful

C．says he’s delighted and meanwhile, depressed

D．disagrees with what’s being done and gives suggestions

小题3:The underlined word “infinite” in the 2nd paragraph most probably means .

A．incomplete

B．short

C．unfit

D．limitless

小题4:Which of the following is NOT TRUE according to the text?

A．But for the fishermen’s protection, the reefs would disappear soon.

B．More and more fishermen have realized their mistakes.

C．Without the coral reefs, the fishermen would have nothing for their livelihood.

D．Some practical measures have been taken to stop the situation worsening.

小题5:This passage may be taken from______.

A．a magazine

B．a novel

C．a newspaper

D．a storybook

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“Creativity is the key to a brighter future,” says education and business experts. Here is how schools and parents can encourage this important skill in children.
If Dick Drew had listened to his boss in 1925, we might not have a product that we now think of as of great importance: a new type of tape. Drew worked for the Minnesota Mining Company. At work he developed a kind of material strong enough to hold things together. But his boss told him not to think more about the idea. Finally, using his own time, Drew improved the tape, which now is used everywhere by many people. And his former company learned from its mistake. Now it encourages people to spend 15 percent of their work time just thinking about and developing new ideas.
Creativity is not something one is just born with, nor is it necessarily a character of high intelligence. The fact that a person is highly intelligent does not mean that he uses it creatively. Creativity is the matter of using the resources one has to produce new ideas that are good for something.
Unfortunately, schools have not tried to encourage creativity. With strong attention to test results and the development of reading, writing and mathematical skills, many educators give up creativity for correct answers. The result is that children can give back information but can’t recognize ways to use it in new situations. They may know the rules correctly but they are unable to use them to work out practical problems.
It is important to give children choices. From the earliest age, children should be allowed to make decisions and understand their results. Even if it’s choosing between two food items for lunch, decision-making helps thinking skills. As children grow older, parents should let their children decide how to use their time or spend their money. This is because the most important character of creative people is a very strong desire to find a way out of trouble.
小题1: What did the company where Drew once worked learn from its mistake?

A．They should encourage people to work a longer time.

B．People should be discouraged to think freely.

C．People will do better if they spend most of their work time developing new ideas.

D．It is necessary for people to spend some of their work time considering and improving new ideas.

小题2:According to the passage, creativity is ________.

A．something that most people are born with

B．something that depends mainly on intelligence

C．a way of using what one has learned to work out new problems

D．something that is not important to the character of a person at all

小题3:Why do schools tend to fail to encourage creativity?

A．They give children too many choices.

B．They are not strict enough with children.

C．They care too much about examination marks.

D．They don’t understand the importance of education.

小题4:Which of the following skills is the most important in developing creativity?

A．Reading.

B．Writing.

C．Mathematical skill.

D．Decision-making.

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No poem should ever be discussed or “analyzed”, until it has been read aloud by someone, teacher or student. Better still, perhaps, is the practice of reading it twice, once at the beginning of the discussion and once at the end, so the sound of the poem is the last thing one hears of it.
All discussions of poetry are, in fact, preparations for reading it aloud, and the reading of the poem is, finally, the most telling “interpretation” of it, suggesting tone, rhythm, and meaning all at once. Hearing a poet read the work in his or her own voice, on records or on film, is obviously a special reward. But even those aids to teaching can not replace the student and teacher reading it or, best of all, reciting it.
I have come to think, in fact, that time spent reading a poem aloud is much more important than “analyzing” it, if there isn’t time for both. I think one of our goals as teachers of English is to have students love poetry. Poetry is “ a criticism of life”, and “ a heightening(提升) of life”. It is “an approach to the truth of feeling”, and it “can save your life”. It also deserves a place in the teaching of language and literature more central than it presently occupies.
I am not saying that every English teacher must teach poetry. Those who don’t like it should not be forced to put that dislike on anyone else. But those who do teach poetry must keep in mind a few things about its essential nature, about its sound as well as its sense, and they must make room in the classroom for hearing poetry as well as thinking about it.
小题1:To have a better understanding of a poem, one should________.

A．discuss it with others	B．analyze it by oneself
C．copy it down in a notebook	D．practise reading it aloud

小题2:Which of the following is NOT mentioned as a function of poetry?

A．Extending your life	B．Saving your life
C．Criticizing life	D．Heightening life

小题3:According to the writer, one of the purposes of teaching English is to get students________.

A．to understand life.	B．to enjoy poetry.
C．to become teachers.	D．to become poets

小题4:What does the last sentence in the third paragraph imply?

A．More stress should be laid on the teaching of poetry.

B．Poetry is more important than any other subject.

C．One cannot enjoy life fully without an understanding of poetry

D．Poetry is the foundation of all language and literature courses

小题5:The phrase “make room” in the last paragraph could be best replaced by

A．“build a booth”	B．“provide equipment”
C．“leave a certain amount of time”	D．“set aside enough space”

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Reading to oneself is a modern activity which was almost unknown to the learned in the early days of the history, while during the fifteenth century the term “reading” undoubtedly meant reading aloud. Only during the nineteenth century did silent reading become popular.
One should be careful, however, of supposing that silent reading came about simply because reading aloud is distraction（分散注意力）to others. Examination of reasons connected with the historical development of silent reading shows that it became the usual mode of reading for most adult reading tasks mainly because the tasks themselves changed in character.
The last century saw a gradual increase in literacy（读写能力）and thus in the number of readers. As readers increased, so the number of listeners dropped, and thus there was some reduction in the need to read aloud. As reading for the benefit of listeners grew less common, so came the popularity of reading as a private activity in such public places as libraries, trains and offices, where reading aloud would disturb other readers in a way.
Towards the end of the century there was still heated argument over whether books should be used for information or treated respectfully, and over whether the reading of material such as newspapers was in some way mentally weakening. Indeed this argument remains with us still in education. However, whatever its advantages are, the old shared literacy culture had gone and was replaced by the printed mass media on the one hand and by books and magazines for a specialized readership on the other.
By the end of t he century students were being advised to have some new ideas of books and to use skills in reading them which were not proper, if not impossible, for the oral reader. The social, cultural, and technological developments in the century had greatly changed what the term “reading” referred to.
小题1:Why was reading aloud common before the nineteenth century?

A．Because silent reading had not been discovered.

B．Because there were few places for private reading.

C．Because few people could read for themselves.

D．Because people depended on reading for enjoyment.

小题2:The development of silent reading during the nineteenth century showed_______.

A．a change in the position of literate people

B．a change in the nature of reading

C．an increase in the number of books

D．an increase in the average age of readers

小题3: Educationalists are still arguing about__________.

A．the importance of silent reading

B．the amount of information provided by books and newspapers

C．the effects of reading on health

D．the value of different types of reading material

小题4:What is the writer of this passage attempting to do?

A．To explain how present day reading habits developed.

B．To change people’s way to read.

C．To show how reading methods have improved.

D．To encourage the growth of reading.

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