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 worried about how the grizzly bear(灰熊)and mountain lion can cross the road.

"Millions of animals die each year on US roads," the Federal Highway Administration reports. In fact，only about 80 ocelots, an endangered wild cat, exist in the US today. The main reason? Road kill. "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 road accidents," said Jodi Hilty of the Wildlife Protection 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 lions used the passage.

Builders of 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(火蜥蜴) 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!

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. an increasing number of animals are killed in road accidents

D. the measure for protecting wildlife fails to work

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 path for animals to cross the road

3..

. 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 on ecopassages D. they may see wild animals in the park

 

Dear Friend,
The recent success of children's books has made the general public aware that there's a huge market out there.
And there's a growing need for new writers trained to create the $3 billion worth of children's books bought each year ... plus stories and articles needed by over 650 publishers of magazines for children and teenagers.
Who are these needed writers? They're ordinary folks like you and me.
But am I good enough?
I was once where you might be now. My thoughts of writing had been pushed down by self-doubt, and I didn't know where to turn for help.
Then, I accepted a free offer from the Institute to test my writing aptitude(潜能), and it turned out to be the inspiration I needed.
The promise that paid off.
The Institute made the same promise to me that they will make to you, if you show basic writing ability:
You will complete at least one manuscript(手稿) suitable to hand in to a publisher by the time you finish our course.
I really didn't expect any publication before I finished the course, but that happened. I sold three stories. And I soon discovered that was not unusual at the Institute.
Since graduation, I have authored 34 nationally published children's books and over 300 stories and articles.
Free test and brochure
We offer a free aptitude test and will send you a copy of our brochure describing our recognized home-study courses on the basis of one-on-one training.
Realize your writing dream today. There's nothing sadder than a dream delayed until it fades forever.
Sincerely,

Kristi Holl, Instructor
Institute of Children's Literature
【小题1】From the first three paragraphs, we learn that_____.

A．children's books are usually bestsellers.

B．publishers are making $3 billion each year.

C．magazines for teenagers have drawn public attention.

D．there is a growing need for writers of children's books.

【小题2】When finishing the course, you are promised to_____.

A．be a successful publisher

B．become a confident editor

C．finish one work for publication

D．get one story or article published

【小题3】Kristi Holl mentions her experience mainly to_____.

A．prove she is a good instructor

B．promote the writing program

C．give her advice on course preparation

D．show she sold more stories than article

I believe that families are not only blood relatives, but sometimes people who show up and love you when no one else will.

In May 1977, I was living in a Howard Johnson’s motel off Interstate 10 in Houston. My dad and I  1  a room with two double beds and the bathroom was too 2  for a 15-year-old girl and her father. Dad’s second marriage was   3   and my stepmother had   4  us both out of the house the previous week. Dad had no  5_   of what to do with me. And that’s when my other family   6  .

Barbara and Roland Beach took me into their home   7   their only daughter, Su, my best friend, asked them to. I   8  with them for the next seven years.

Barb washed my skirts the same as Su’s. She   9   I had lunch money, doctors’ appointments, help with homework and nightly hugs. Barbara and Roland attended every football game where Su and I were being cheerleaders. As far as I could tell, for the Beaches there was no 10 between Su and me; I was their daughter, too.

When Su and I 11  college they kept my room the same for the entire four years I attended school. Recently, Barb presented me with an insurance they _12_ when I first moved in with them and had continued to pay on for 23 years.

The Beaches knew 13  about me when they took me in – they had heard the whole story from Su.        When I was seven, my mother died and from then on my father relied on other people to _14  his kids. Before I went to live with the Beaches I had believed that life was entirely   15__ and that love was shaky and untrustworthy. I had believed that the only person who would take care of me was me.

   16  the Beaches, I would have become a bitter, cynical (愤世嫉俗的) woman. They gave me a(n) 17  that allowed me to grow and change. They kept me from being paralyzed(麻痹的) by my _18 , and they gave me the confidence to open my heart.

Now I   19 family. For me, it wasn’t the family that was there on the day I was 20  , but the one that was there for me when I was living in a Howard Johnson’s on Interstate

1.	A．lived B．shared C．possessed D．bought

 

2.	A．cheap B．noisy C．small D．limited

 

3.	A．in trouble B．in sight C．in place D．in parts

 

4.	A．struck B．took C．kicked D．knocked

 

5.	A．plan B．choice C．chance D．idea

 

6.	A．looked after B．showed up C．turned over D．came across

 

7.	A．so B．because C．until D．while

 

8.	A．worked B．traveled C．lived D．learned

 

9.	A．worked out B．called up C．watched out D．made sure

 

10.	A．change B．problem C．conflict D．difference

 

11.	A．set off B．left for C．entered into D．admitted into

 

12.	A．paid B．bought C．had D．owned

 

13.	A．all B．little C．something D．nothing

 

14.	A．supply B．teach C．encourage D．raise

 

15.	A．different B．unfair C．easy D．hopeful

 

16.	A．Thanks to B．In spite of C．Except for D．But for

 

17.	A．home B．house C．ability D．lesson

 

18.	A．choice B．failure C．past D．present

 

19.	A．doubt about B．call on C．center on D．believe in

 

20.	A．born B．accepted C．educated D．deserted

 

根据短文内容，从下框的A-F选项中选出能概括每一段主题的最佳选项。选项中有一项为多余项。

A．The secret of the writer’s success

B．A writer with enduring popularity

C．Well-received creation to encourage Brits

D．The insight into human nature

E. Writing styles in different stages
F. The story appreciate for school students
1. ____________
Charles Dickens is often thought of as one of England’s great writers. Yet for many his language is old-fashioned and his story plots often improbable. Why, Dickens, out of so many other great English writers, has made the list? How then to explain Dickens’s enduring popularity?
2. _____________
One reason undoubtly is the British government’s insistence that every child studies a Dickens novel at school. Alongside Willian Shakespeare, Charles Dickens is a compulsory (必读的)writer on every English literature school reading list. His stories, though often over-long by today’s standard, are superbly written moral tales. They are filled with colorful characters.
3. ______________
But what makes his books stand out from other English writers is his insight into human nature. Dickens, like Shakespeare, tells us truths about human behavior that are as true to citizens of the 21st century as they were to his readers in the 19th century. Readers have returned to Dickens’s books again and again over the years to see what he has to say about readers’ own time.
4. _______________
The BBC adapted one of his less well-known novels, Little Dorrit, into a popular television drama that introduced many Brits to the novel for the first time. A dark story about greed and money, it was the perfect story to illustrate the bad times. No surprise then that it was Dickens Britons turned to, during the economic crisis last year, to make sense of world rapidly falling apart.
5. _______________
Readers of the 19th and early 20th century usually prized Dickens’s earlier novels for their humor and pathos(悲痛). While recognizing the virtues of these books, critics today tend to rank more highly the later works because of  their formal coherence and acute perception(洞察力) of the human condition. For as long as Dickens’s novels have something to say to modern audiences, it seems likely that he will remain one of Britain’s best loved writers.

Everyone knows about straight-A students. We see them frequently in TV situation comedies and in movies like Revenge(报复)of the Nerds. They get high grades, all right, but only by becoming dull laborers, their noses always stuck in a book. They are not good at social communication and look clumsy while doing sports.

How, then, do we account for Domenica Roman or Paul Melendres?

Roman is on the tennis team at Fairmont Senior High School. She also sings in the choral group, serves on the student council and is a member of the mathematics society. For two years she has maintained A’s in every subject. Melendres, a freshman at the University of New Mexico, was student-body president at Valley High School in Albuquerque. He played soccer and basketball well, exhibited at the science fair, and meanwhile worked as a reporter on a local television station. Being a speech giver at the graduation ceremony, he achieved straight A’s in his regular classes, plus bonus points for A’s in two college-level courses.

How do super-achievers like Roman and Melendres do it? Brains aren’t the only answer. “Top grades don’t always go to the brightest students, ” declares Herbert Walberg, a professor of education at the University of Illinois at Chicago, who has conducted major studies on super-achieving students.“Knowing how to make the most of your innate(天生的)abilities counts for more. Much more.”

In fact, Walberg says, students with high IQ sometimes don’t do as well as classmates with lower IQ. For them, learning comes too easily and they never find out how to get down.

Hard work isn’t the whole story, either.“It’s not how long you sit there with the books open, ” said one of the many-A students we interviewed.“It’s what you do while you’re sitting.”Indeed, some of these students actually put in fewer hours of homework time than their lower-scoring classmates.

The kids at the top of the class get there by mastering a few basic techniques that others can readily learn.

1.The underlined word “nerds” can probably be________ .

A．dull bookworms lacking sports and social skills

B．successful top students popular with their peers

C．students with certain learning difficulties

D．born leaders crazy about social activities

2.What can we conclude from the first paragraph?

A．Most TV programs and films are about straight-A students.

B．People have unfavorable impression on straight-A students.

C．Everyone knows about straight-A students from TV or films.

D．Straight-A students are well admired by people in the society.

3.Some students become super-achievers mainly because_________ .

A．they are born cleverer than others

B．they work longer hours at study

C．they make full use of their abilities

D．they know the shortcut to success

4.What will be talked about after the last paragraph?

A．The interviews with more students.

B．The role IQ plays in learning well.

C．The techniques to be better learners.

D．The achievements top students make.

5.What can we infer from the passage?

A．IQ is more important than hard work in study.

B．The brightest students can never get low grades.

C．Top students certainly achieve all-around developments.

D．Students with average IQ can become super-achievers.