Which animal has the fastest snapping jaw (颚)? If you're guessing a shark or perhaps a larger animal, you'll have to think smaller. The trap­jaw ant, which lives in Central and South America, moves its mouth parts at 35 to 63 meters per second. Another way to think about this is that the ant's jaws close at 125 to 233 kilometers per hour. That's 2, 300 times faster than the blink of an eye.
Scientists were able to measure the amazing jaw speed using high­speed video techniques. Sheila Patek, a biologist, says the key is that the jaws have a springy (有弹性的) system, which is critical in getting explosive (爆发性的) speeds.
Consider a bow and arrow. If you try to throw an arrow with your arm, it won't go very far. If you use a bow, elastic energy stored in the bow is released almost instantly when you release the arrow with your finger or a latch. The combination of the springy bow and latch mechanism is what makes the arrow zoom through the air.
Maybe even more amazing than how fast these ants grab food or even enemies is how they use this same energy to move. As the ant closes its jaws, it uses them to push off the ground—all faster than the eye can see without slow motion video. A snap of the jaw can send an ant up to 8.3 centimeters into the air. That's like someone who is 1.7 meters jumping 13 meters high! Not only can they quickly escape from enemies, but often a group of ants will start jumping all at once. It would be hard for their enemies to grab just one.
People have suspected the ants used their jaws to jump for over a century, but could only prove it with today's modern video equipment.
【小题1】The fast speed of the trap­jaw ant's jaw lies in ________.

One day while walking along the bank of a river, a rabbit couple(夫妇) saw a wounded(受伤的) ant lying unconsciously(没有直觉地) on the grass. The rabbit couple gently put the ant on the leaf(叶子) of a nearby plant. She soon recovered and saw the rabbit couple sitting beside her.
The ant remembered that she had found herself under the foot of a cat by chance and fainted(晕倒). She asked how she reached the leaf top. The rabbit couple told her what had happened. The ant thanked them and said she would help them when they needed help.
The rabbit couple went further up the river to enjoy the bright sun. They had been there many times and would spend many hours playing and relaxing in the sun.
One fine day, the couple were again on their way to the river while the ant was playing on the leaf of a tree. She saw the rabbit couple walking towards the river. A few hours later she saw the rabbit couple sleeping peacefully on the soft grass by the river. Suddenly she saw a lion moving towards the grass where the rabbit couple were sleeping. The loin saw the rabbit sleeping, and started walking quietly to attack them.
Realizing the hazard getting close to the rabbits, the ant jumped from the leaf to the lion’s shoulder and bit(咬) the lion’s back. The lion cried out in pain, waking the rabbit couple. The rabbits ran away quickly and the ant jumped off the lion’s back into the grass.
A white pigeon(鸽子) who watched this event cheered at the courage(勇气) of the ant and told the whole story to the rabbits. The rabbit couple were moved and thanked the ant. They became best friends.
【小题1】From the first three paragraphs, we can learn that _____.

During the first week of the term, every student was given a job for which they would be responsible for the rest of that school year.

   Some jobs were more  26  than others, and the children were eager to be given one of the best ones. And the teacher would  27  who had been most responsible during the previous year. Among them Rita  28  . During the previous year she had followed all the teacher’s  29  perfectly.

   But that year there was a big  30  . Each child received one of the normal  31  , like cleaning the blackboard. But Rita’s job was very  32  . She was given a little box containing some sand and one ant. And even though the teacher  33  that this ant was a very special ant, it  34  Rita. Most of her classmates felt sorry for her and even her father  35  Rita to ignore it.  36  , Rita preferred to show the teacher her error by making the unimportant task into a special job.

   “ I will turn this little task into  37  great,” Rita said to herself.

   So Rita started  38 her little ant. She gave the ant the best food, and it grew bigger than anyone had expected…

   One day, the teacher  39  a man to the students and said he would tell them a  40  piece of news. The man said, “ Today they have announced the winner of the  41  , and this class is the winner! This class has been chosen to accompany me on a  42  to the tropical rainforest to investigate all kinds of insects.  43  all the schools of this region, it is this one that has best  44  for the little ant given to you. Well done!”

   That day the class was filled with joy. Everyone  45  Rita and thanked the teacher. And many children learnt that to be given the most important tasks you have to know how to be responsible for even the smallest tasks.

1.A. interesting  B. possible      C. necessary        D. creative

2.A. realize      B. doubt          C. argue            D. consider

3.A. stood up     B. stood out     C. stood for        D. stood by

4.A. opinions     B. concerns      C. instructions      D. experiments

5.A. curiosity    B. movement       C. surprise         D. chance

6.A. tasks        B. promises      C. dreams           D. purposes

7.A. different    B. ordinary           C. familiar         D. valuable

8.A. hoped        B. insisted    C. agreed          D. guessed

9.A. annoyed      B. inspired     C. satisfied          D. disappointed

10.A. supposed     B. forced       C. encouraged      D. admitted

11.A. Therefore    B. Otherwise    C. However        D. Moreover

12.A. something    B. nothing      C. everything        D. anything

13.A. developing   B. studying     C. comforting        D. writing

14.A. introduced   B. exposed      C. appealed        D. connected

15.A. terrible     B. confusing    C. wonderful       D. foolish

16.A. competition  B. challenge    C. conference        D. negotiation

17.A. journey      B. vacation     C. meeting           D. story

18.A. Between      B. Along      C. Besides         D. Among

19.A looked        B. paid        C. cared              D. worked

20.A. prized       B. congratulated    C. respected     D. celebrated

There was once a famous king whose name was Tamerlane. Like Alexander the Great, he   36  to become the master of the whole world. So he raised a great   37  and made war on other countries. He conquered(征服，打败） many kings and   38  many cities. But at last his army was beaten; and Tamerlane escaped alone from the field of   39 .
For a long time he wandered in   40  from place to place. His enemies were   41  him. He was about to lose all hope.
One day he was   42   under a tree, thinking of his failure. He had now been a wanderer for twenty days. He couldn’t   43  any longer. Suddenly he saw a small object climbing up the trunk (树干) of the tree. He looked more   44  and saw it was an ant,  45  a grain of wheat（麦粒） as large as itself.
There was a   46  in the tree only a little way above, and that was the home of the ant.
“You are   47  , Mr. Ant,” he said, “but you are carrying something that is too heavy for you.” Just as he   48 , the ant lost its footing and fell to the ground. But it   49  held on to the grain of wheat. Tamerlane 50  the little insect. It tried the second time, the third time ... the twentieth time — but always with the same  51  . Then it tried the twenty-first time.   52 , one little step at a time, it climbed across the rough place where it had   53  so often. The next minute it climbed   54  into its home, carrying the grain of wheat. “Well done!” said Tamerlane, “you’ve taught me a lesson. I, too, will try, try again,   55  I succeed.”
And this he did.

Every day Yang Hongwei takes the bus home from work, staring silently at the European-style villas(别墅), luxury cars and twinkling lights from the shopping center that he sees through the window.
Yang works for a software company in Zhongguancun. He dreams of such a life, away from poverty, and that hope has kept him in Beijing for three years since he graduated from university.
Soon Yang squeezes his way off the bus to the reality of his life: his home—a 10-square-metre room that costs 550 yuan(81 US dollars) or about one-fifth of his salary in rent every month. It’s very cold inside the house as it has no central heating system. He has to stand the long and cold winter. Determined to achieve his dream, Yang says he has changed jobs “numerous” times in the past three years and is considering quitting his present job.
Yang’s frustration over his life as a migrant(移民) is shared by many other graduates that have moved into big cities. Together they have come to be called the “ant tribe”, a term created by Chinese sociologists to describe the struggles of young migrants, who, armed with their diplomas, flood to big cities in hopes of a better life only to put up with low-paying jobs and poor living conditions. They share every similarity with ants. They live in colonies in crowded areas. They’re intelligent and hardworking, yet unknown and underpaid. The term, sociologists have said, also reflects their helplessness in a world governed by the law of the concrete jungle—only the strongest survive.
A survey in Ant TribeⅡ found nearly 30 percent of the “ants” are graduates of famous key universities—almost three times the percentage of 2009. Most have degrees in popular majors, such as medicine, engineering, economics and management. In addition, 7.2 percent of the “ants” have at least a master’s degree compared to 1.6 percent in 2009. Most said the economic recovery did not really improve their financial situations, and 66 percent said their incomes fell short of their expectations, the survey also found.
For two years, Lian Si, a post-doctoral fellow at the Center for Chinese and Global Affairs of Peking University, who has studied the phenomenon, led a team of more than 100 graduate students to follow the groups in university towns like Beijing, Shanghai, Guangzhou, Wuhan and Xi’an. Lian evaluates the total population of the “ant community” in major cities at one million across China, with about 100,000 found in Beijing alone. Lian predicts that an increasingly challenging job market will see the ant tribe growing further in number. Another 6.3 million graduates are expected to join migrant workers and other job hunters in what promises to be a fierce labour competition.
The ant tribe’s embarrassing living situations have become a serious social issue, and the government should develop “second-and-third-tier cities” to attract more graduates from big cities. However, “ants” expect more study and training opportunities in big cities, which keeps them in positive mindsets despite their situations. As in the case of Yang, he is optimistic about getting a new job soon, having received eight interview offers in a week after sending out his resume. The prospect of landing a higher-paying job keeps him hopeful of moving out of the slum district(贫民区) soon. The sooner the better.
【小题1】. Yang has worked in Beijing since graduation from university ______.