阅读理解。 |
Sometimes we cry because we are sad and sometimes because we are extremely happy. An irritant (刺激 物),such as onion (洋葱) smell or grains of sand in the eye,can also make cry. In this case tears perform an obvious role in getting rid of substances that might harm the surface of the eye. Dr. William Frey of the Dry Eye and Tear Research Center at St. Paul in Minnesota,USA,believes that tears from emotional causes may perform a similar role. He thinks that crying could get rid of emotional stress by washing away a chemical in the blood caused by strong emotions. To prove his theory, he hopes first to identify this chemical and then see if it is found in tears of sadness or happiness. So far, Dr. Frey has failed to find out the difference between emotional tears and tears caused by an irritant in the eye. This may be because these substances themselves cause a degree of stress and emotion. What he has identified in all tears is a variety of biochemicals (生化物) which are one of the causes of stress. A more detailed study may help us understand why sufferers from stress-related disorders cry less often than healthy people. Dr. Frey is also very interested to see if there are any physiological (生理学的) explanations for why women, in general, cry five times more often than men,on average. |
1. The main purpose of Dr. Frey"s study of tears is to _____. |
A. show that there are two types of tears,caused by irritants and by emotions B. find out the cause of stress-related problems and emotional disorders C. explain why women cry more often than men D. prove that tears can remove a chemical in the blood caused by strong emotions |
2. Which of the following is true according to the passage? |
A. Tears fail to help get rid of emotional stress. B. Irritants in the eye result in tears without causing stress and emotion. C. Healthy people cry more often than those with stress-related problems. D. The biochemical identified by Dr. Frey has nothing to do with stress. |
3. We can learn from the passage that _____. |
A. crying does us more harm than good B. inner feelings don"t affect our bodies C. sorrow may cause some chemicals in our blood D. emotional tears are different from tears caused by irritants in the eye |
4. Dr. Frey believes that tears from emotional causes may play a role in getting rid of _____. |
A. emotional stress by washing away a chemical in the blood B. onion smell or grains of sand C. sufferings from irritants D. substances that might not harm the surface of the eye |
阅读理解。 |
Be careful what you say around your dog. It might understand more than you think. A border collie named Rico recognizes the names of about 200 objects, say researchers in Germany. The dog also appears to be able to learn new words as easily as a 3-year-old child. Its word-learning skills are as good as those of a parrot or chimpanzee (黑猩猩). In one experiment, the researchers took all 200 items that Rico is supposed to know and divided them into 20 groups of 10 objects. Then the owner told the dog to go and fetch one of the items and bring it back. In four tests, Rico got 37 out of 40 commands right. As the dog couldn"t see anyone to get clues, the scientists believe Rico must understand the meanings of certain words. In another experiment, the scientists took one toy that Rico had never seen before and put it in a room with seven toys whose names the dog already knew. The owner then told Rico to fetch the object, using a word the dog had never heard before. The correct object was chosen in seven out of l0 tests, suggesting that the dog had worked out the answer by process of elimination (排除法). A month later, Rico remembered half of the new names, which is even more impressive. Rico is thought to be smarter than the average dog. For one thing, Rico is a border collie, a breed (品种) known for its mental abilities. In addition, the 9-year-old dog has been trained to fetch toys by their names since the age of nine months. It"s hard to know if all dogs understand at least some of the words we say. Even if they do, they can"t talk back. Still, it wouldn"t hurt to sweet-talk your dog every now and then. You might just get a big, wet kiss in return! |
1. From paragraph 2 we know that _____. |
A. animals are as clever as human beings B. dogs are smarter than parrots and chimpanzees C. chimpanzees have good word-learning skills D. dogs have similar learning abilities as 3-year-old children |
2. Both experiments show that _____. |
A. Rico is smart enough to get all commands right B. Rico can recognize different things including toys C. Rico has developed the ability of learning mathematics D. Rico won"t forget the names of objects once recognizing them |
3. Which of the following statements is true? |
A. The purpose of the experiments is to show the border collie"s mental abilities. B. Rico has a better memory partly because of its proper early training. C. The border collie is world-famous for recognizing objects. D. Rico is born to understand its owner"s commands. |
4. What does the writer want to tell us in the last paragraph? |
A. To train your dog. B. To talk to your dog. C. To be friendly to your dog. D. To be careful with your dog. |
阅读理解。 |
Every year farmers in areas which often suffer flood in Southeast Asia lose millions of tons of rice to high water that kills their crops. That large amount of waste may soon be a thing of the past: SUBIA, a gene discovered by researchers which the International Rice Research Institute (IRRI) and the University of California, allows rice plants carrying the gene to live completely under water for two weeks. Flood - resistant (抗水浸) rice turned up among the 110,000 types of seed stored at the institute. It produced disappointingly low yields (产量), but scientists were able to transfer the gene into more bountiful varieties. These have shown promising results in tests by growers in India and Bangladesh over the past two years. This rice success story would not have been possible without the treasure of genetic diversity hidden in the IRRI"s vault (underground room). As the world faces new agricultural challenge-charging climate, bugs and diseases that have developed resistance (抵抗力) to old defenses - such genetic resources are likely to become increasingly valuable. Fortunately, the IRRI is one of more than 1,000 organizations around the world working to protect crop genes. Most plant species grown for food have an associated bank that stores thousands of samples; seeds of landraces, wild relatives, and varieties that are rare, old, or adapted to very specific environments. The banks ensure that it will be possible to develop new varieties in the future. The need for these botanical libraries has its roots in modern agricultural practices. According to the U. N. Food and Agriculture Organization, 75 percent of plant diversity has been lost over the last century. Of more than 30,000 eatable species, humans grow just 200 for food; 60 percent of plant calories in our diet comes from wheat, rice, and corn. |
1. According to the second paragraph, what can we learn about the flood-resistant rice? |
A. It produces a small amount of rice. B. Scientists have developed many more varieties of it. C. Scientists have managed to improve its output. D. It can produce more rice than the other 110,000 types at the institute. |
2. From the passage we can infer that _____. |
A. the newly - discovered gene will bring hope to the farmers in the areas often suffering flood B. scientists will not be able to change the fact that rice plants carrying the gene produce low yields C. the tests by growers in India and Bangladesh were hopeless D. 110,000 types of seed stored at the Institute are flood - resistant |
3. What"s the main idea of the third paragraph? |
A. The world faces new agricultural challenges. B. Such genetic resources are likely to become valuable. C. Scientists set up banks to store thousands of seed samples. D. We should owe the rice success story to the seed banks. |
4. As to the botanical libraries, the writer thinks they are _____. |
A. useless |
阅读理解诶。 |
Primary teachers are responsible for guiding children through the formation of many important life skills, and also watching over their students" social development. Primary teachers come into contact with about 30 students every day, and teach them a variety of subjects. Many hours are spent before and after class on planning, preparation and correction. One should be a very patient, caring, yet firm person to be able to deal with the demands of children in the four to twelve-year-old age group. Secondary teachers teach specific subjects to various groups of students. Just like primary teachers, they spend an amount of time planning and preparing lessons and correcting homework-their duties are not restricted to face-to-face teaching. Dealing with twelve to eighteen-year-olds requires a wide range of skills. If you become a primary teacher, you will need to decide whether to be a "generalist" (多面手), teaching a wide range of subjects, or a "specialist", teaching only one or two. Most primary teachers are specialists. Generalist teachers spend the greatest part of their day with one class, which means that they spend more time with the same children. Specialist teachers have more time away from their students. It is therefore very important for generalist teachers to develop a strong working relationship with their students. The unique rapport (和谐) you can develop with a particular set of students is one of teaching"s greatest pleasures. However, the disadvantage of primary teaching is that if you have a difficult student, you will be forced to deal with him or her, all day, every day, throughout the school year. Teachers need to work out strategies to get themselves and their students through such difficulties. Primary teachers today are generally four-year trained. They usually do a three or four-year undergraduate degree, and if this degree does not include teacher training, they will have to undertake postgraduate study in education as well. |
1. After class primary teachers usually _____. |
A. come into contact with students B. teach students a variety of subjects C. deal with the demands of children D. make planning, preparation and correction |
2. What does the second paragraph mainly discuss? |
A. What a primary teacher needs to do in the classroom. B. The differences between generalist and specialist teaching. C. How a primary teacher should try his best in the school. D. The relationship between the primary teachers and students. |
3. We can learn from this passage that _____. |
A. a primary teacher needs a wide range of skills B. the disadvantage of primary teaching is having difficult students C. teacher training is not important for a primary teacher D. secondary teachers mainly teach children two subjects |
4. The author writes the article in order to _____. |
A. tell teachers how primary teachers guide students B. tell teachers what you should do as a primary teacher C. let readers know more about primary teachers D. let readers know how to be a primary teacher |