Read “African Animals” and answer questions 1 to 6.

　　The waterbuck is a type of antelope. All male waterbucks have horns, which may be big or small, straight or curved. Waterbucks use their horns when fighting and defending themselves.

　　Zebras have sturdy bodies and long, straight legs that are good for running. Zebras help one another to look and listen for danger. If one zebra sees a lion, it makes a loud noise to warn the others. A zebra can run faster than a lion unless it is caught by surprise. No two zebra have exactly the same stripes.

　　Cheetahs can run as fast as seventy-five miles an hour. Strong claws on the cheetah's feet help it to grip the ground when it is running fast. Powerful back legs help it spring forward.

　　A meerkat is a type of mongoose, and it makes its home in an underground burrow. When a group of meerkats goes out hunting for food, one of them acts as a sentry and looks out for larger predators that might be hunting them. If it spots danger, it calls out a warning, and all the meerkats race back to the burrow.

1．Which of these animals has horns?

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2．According to the information, a zebra's long, straight legs help it to ________.

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3．The two animals which help to warn others of danger are the ________.

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4．According to the information, what is unusual about zebras?

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A．Male zebras can run at seventy-five miles an hour.

B．Zebras hide from predators in a burrow.

C．No zebra has the same pattern of stripes as any other zebra.

D．Zebras have powerful back legs to help them spring forward.

5．According to the information, which of the following statements is TRUE?

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A．A lion can run faster than a zebra.

B．Strong claws help the cheetah to run fast.

C．The waterbuck is a type of mongoose.

D．Meerkats like to be on their own when hunting for food.

6．The best word to replace “defending”, as it is used in the information, is________.

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Read “The Write Stuff” and answer questions 1 to 6.

　　Throughout history people have written with many different tools and on many different surfaces.

　　PAPYRUS

　　Papyrus was one of the earliest known writing surfaces. For almost 4000 years papyrus was the main writing material used in the Middle East and around the Mediterranean. The Egyptians first made papyrus from the stem of the papyrus plant which grew along the banks of the River Nile.

　　1．Papyrus was made by cutting a papyrus stem into thin strips.

　　2．Two layers of strips were then pressed together until they stuck.

The Egyptians wrote on papyrus with brushes.

　　ANIMAL SKINS

　　When papyrus became scarce, people used animal skins to write on. This was called parchment. It was made from sheep skin which was washed, scraped, stretched and dried.

　　Parchment had a very smooth writing surface. It was used in Europe until the late Middle Ages.

　　Scribes wrote on parchment with quill pens made from goose feather.

　　PAPER

　　Around AD 105, a Chinese official called Cai Lun invented a new writing material made from old rags. This was known as paper. Paper is still made approximately the same way today as it was by Cai Lun, except that now machines are used.

　　The problem with quill pens and later metal pens was that they had to be dipped in ink every few seconds. In the 19th century fountain pens were invented. These had a container for ink inside them－no more dipping or dripping!

　　The nib of a modern fountain pen is very similar to the point of the reed pen invented by the Ancient Greeks.

1．According to the information, in which order were the following surfaces developed?

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A．Paper→Parchment→papyrus

B．papyrus→parchment→paper

C．parchment→papyrus→paper

D．papyrus→paper→parchment

2．The information states that parchment was used by the ________.

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3．Parchment was made instead of papyrus mainly because ________.

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A．parchment was easier to make

B．parchment had a better writing surface

C．papyrus became scarce

D．papyrus was more suited for use with quill pens

4．The writer suggests that compared to a quill pen, using a fountain pen is more ________.

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5．Which of the following statements is TRUE?

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A．The Ancient Greeks wrote with brushes.

B．Papyrus was first used in the late Middle Ages.

C．Reed pens have similar points to fountain pens.

D．The first paper was made using machines.

6．The best word to replace “approximately”, as it is used in the passage, is ________.

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Libraries give kids a quiet and safe place to read and learn. For over 100 years, libraries have played an important role in Americans’ education. But how are these book-filled buildings changing with the times? You may be surprised to find out.
Benjamin Franklin famously founded (创建) America’s first lending library in 1731. But the public library system got its biggest development in the American history in the late 1800’s. Businessman Andrew Carnegie donated millions of dollars to help build free public libraries across the country. Between 1886 and 1919, Carnegie’s donations helped build 1,679 new libraries.
Carnegie believed that libraries could offer the chances to Americans, young and old. He knew that the more libraries there were, the more people would have opportunities to read and use books, speeches and news. 
If you can easily find a public library in your community(社区), you’ll get more chances. After all, the United States has 9,225 public libraries. Today, libraries keep growing. Seven tenths of the libraries have free Internet. It provides much more information and opportunities to ask for jobs online.
Libraries are also teaching kids about the fun of reading. The new program Read! Build! Play! adds reading into playtime. As kids listen to a book that is being read aloud, they use Legos (乐高积木) to build images(图像) from the story happily. Today’s libraries are always looking for creative programs to bring people into the library.
Benjamin Franklin once said, “The doors of wisdom(智慧) are never shut.” As long as the doors of public libraries are open, what he said is most certainly correct!
【小题1】 Benjamin Franklin founded the first lending library in _______.