Thomas Edison was a great American inventor. He was born to a poor family in 1847. His mother taught him at home. He often observed things carefully and he made over 1,300 inventions during his life time. He was often said to be the greatest genius(天才) of his age. There are only a few men in all of history, who have changed the lives of other men as much as the inventor of the first useful electric light. But Edison could never be happy only because someone said he was a genius. “There is no such thing as genius,” Edison said. He also said that what people called genius was mostly hard work. But Edison was a dreamer as well as a worker. From his earliest days as a child he wondered about the secrets of nature. Nature, he often said, is full of secrets. He tried to understand them; then, he tried to learn what could usefully be done with them.
Edison enjoyed thinking. He knew that most people will do almost anything instead of the difficult work of thinking, especially if they do not think very often. But he knew, too, that thinking can give men enjoyment and pleasure.
Edison could not understand how anyone could be uninterested in life. As he loved to think, he also loved to work. On the day he became 75 years old, someone asked him what ideas he had about life. “Work, ” he answered back, “discovering the secrets of nature and using them to make men happier.” He said he had enough inventions in his mind to give him another 100 years of work.
【小题1】Edison was______________.

A．interested in changing people’s ideas

B．interested in discovering the secrets of nature

C．very much uninterested in nature

D．uninterested in making people happier by discovering the secrets of nature

【小题2】Which of the following is NOT TRUE according to the passage?

A．Many other people have changed Edison’s life.

B．Edison has changed the lives of many other people.

C．Only a few men in history can change other people’s lives.

D．Edison invented the electric light.

【小题3】The last sentence in the passage most probably implies(意指)___________.

A．people of his time were ready to give Edison another 100 year’s work

B．Life is too short for Edison to invent more for human beings

C．Edison made 100 inventions in his life

D．Edison was able to live and work for 100 years

A rabbit is running into his hole. You may ask, “What happened?”
Well, when a rabbit sees something dangerous, it runs away. Its tail moves up and down as it runs. When other rabbits see this tail moving up and down, they ran, too. They know there is danger. The rabbit has told them something without making a sound. It has given them a signal.
Many other animals use this kind of language. When a bee finds some food, it goes back to his home. It can’t tell the other bees where the food is by speaking to them, but it does dance in the air. This tells the bees where the food is.
But animals say things by making sounds. A dog barks, for examples, when a stranger comes near. A cat purrs(发出呼噜呼噜的声音) when pleased. Some birds make several different sounds, each with its own meaning.
But human beings have something that no animals have---- a large number of words about things, actions, feelings or ideas. We are able to give each other information to tell or inform other people what is in our mind or how we feel. By writing words down we can remind ourselves of the things that have happened, or send messages to people far away. No animals can do this. No animals has the wonderful power of language.
No one knows how man learned to make words. Somehow he learned to make them. As centuries went by, he made more and more new words. This is what we mean by language.
People in different countries made different kinds of words. Today there are about fifteen hundred different languages in the world. A very large English dictionary, for examples, contains four or five hundred thousand words. But we don’t know all these. The words we know are called vocabulary. We should try to make our vocabulary larger. Read as many books as possible. When we met a new word, look it up in the dictionary. A dictionary is the most useful book.
【小题1】What’s the meaning of the underlined word?

A．标语

B．信号

C．唱片

D．图像

【小题2】A dog can tell something__________.

A．by giving signals	B．by making different sounds
C．by purring	D．by barking

【小题3】It has been proved that no animals are able to_________.

A．give the others information

B．express their actions and feelings with words

C．tell others how they feel

D．make different sounds, each with its own meaning.

【小题4】Generally speaking, what we mean by “vocabulary” is_______.

A．all the words that we know	B．more and more words we use
C．all the words we need	D．the dictionary which contains thousands of words

【小题5】What must we do in order to make our vocabulary larger?

A．Make more and more new words

B．look up some new words in a dictionary

C．learn more language

D．Try to read as many books as possible

A rabbit is running into his hole. You may ask, “What happened?”
Well, when a rabbit sees something dangerous, it runs away. Its tail moves up and down as it runs. When other rabbits see this tail moving up and down, they ran, too. They know there is danger. The rabbit has told them something without making a sound. It has given them a signal.
Many other animals use this kind of language. When a bee finds some food, it goes back to his home. It can’t tell the other bees where the food is by speaking to them, but it does dance in the air. This tells the bees where the food is.
But animals say things by making sounds. A dog barks, for examples, when a stranger comes near. A cat purrs(发出呼噜呼噜的声音) when pleased. Some birds make several different sounds, each with its own meaning.
But human beings have something that no animals have---- a large number of words about things, actions, feelings or ideas. We are able to give each other information to tell or inform other people what is in our mind or how we feel. By writing words down we can remind ourselves of the things that have happened, or send messages to people far away. No animals can do this. No animals has the wonderful power of language.
No one knows how man learned to make words. Somehow he learned to make them. As centuries went by, he made more and more new words. This is what we mean by language.
People in different countries made different kinds of words. Today there are about fifteen hundred different languages in the world. A very large English dictionary, for examples, contains four or five hundred thousand words. But we don’t know all these. The words we know are called vocabulary. We should try to make our vocabulary larger. Read as many books as possible. When we met a new word, look it up in the dictionary. A dictionary is the most useful book.
【小题1】What’s the meaning of the underlined word?

A．标语

B．信号

C．唱片

D．图像

【小题2】A dog can tell something__________.

A．by giving signals	B．by making different sounds
C．by purring	D．by barking

【小题3】It has been proved that no animals are able to_________.

A．give the others information

B．express their actions and feelings with words

C．tell others how they feel

D．make different sounds, each with its own meaning.

【小题4】Generally speaking, what we mean by “vocabulary” is_______.

A．all the words that we know	B．more and more words we use
C．all the words we need	D．the dictionary which contains thousands of words

【小题5】What must we do in order to make our vocabulary larger?

A．Make more and more new words

B．look up some new words in a dictionary

C．learn more language

D．Try to read as many books as possible

Animals, including insects, don’t have a ‘language’ like ours. They do not ‘talk’ to each other in words and sentences. But if we watch them, we can see that they do have their ways of communicating (交流) with each other.
Can you see the rabbit’s tail? When rabbits see this white tail moving up and down, they run away. They know that they are in danger. The rabbit has told them something without making a sound. It has given them a signal.
Many other animals use this kind of ‘language’. When a cobra（眼镜蛇）is angry, it raises its head and makes itself look powerful（有力的）. This warns other animals. When a bee（蜜蜂）has found food, it goes back to its home. It cannot ‘tell’ the other bees where the food is by speaking to them, but it does a little dance. This tells the bees where the food is.
Some animals ‘say’ things by making sounds. A dog barks, for example, when a stranger comes near. A cat purrs when it is pleased. Some birds make several different sounds, each with its own meaning. Sometimes we human beings speak in the same way. We make sounds like “Oh” or “Ah” when we are frightened or pleased or when we drop something on our toes.
【小题1】Which one is TRUE according to the passage?

A．Animals have languages like human beings.
B．Bees communicate with each other by dancing.
C．Animals can use words.	D．Animals are brave.

【小题2】A rabbit uses its tail to ___________.

A．warn other rabbits when they are in danger	B．tell other rabbits where food is
C．make itself look powerful	D．help it to run fast

【小题3】When a cobra is angry, it __________.

A．makes a loud noise	B．raises its head
C．moves up and down	D．does a little dance

【小题4】Several different sounds can be made by a __________.

A．rabbit

B．bee

C．bird

D．fish

【小题5】From the passage, we know that ________ use words and sentences to express ideas and thoughts.

A．all living things

B．all animals

C．some birds

D．human beings

Animals, including insects, don’t have a ‘language’ like ours. They do not ‘talk’ to each other in words and sentences. But if we watch them, we can see that they do have their ways of communicating (交流) with each other.

Can you see the rabbit’s tail? When rabbits see this white tail moving up and down, they run away. They know that they are in danger. The rabbit has told them something without making a sound. It has given them a signal.

Many other animals use this kind of ‘language’. When a cobra（眼镜蛇）is angry, it raises its head and makes itself look powerful（有力的）. This warns other animals. When a bee（蜜蜂）has found food, it goes back to its home. It cannot ‘tell’ the other bees where the food is by speaking to them, but it does a little dance. This tells the bees where the food is.

Some animals ‘say’ things by making sounds. A dog barks, for example, when a stranger comes near. A cat purrs when it is pleased. Some birds make several different sounds, each with its own meaning. Sometimes we human beings speak in the same way. We make sounds like “Oh” or “Ah” when we are frightened or pleased or when we drop something on our toes.

1.Which one is TRUE according to the passage?

A．Animals have languages like human beings.

B．Bees communicate with each other by dancing.

C．Animals can use words.                                                 D．Animals are brave.

2.A rabbit uses its tail to ___________.

A．warn other rabbits when they are in danger   B．tell other rabbits where food is

C．make itself look powerful                 D．help it to run fast

3.When a cobra is angry, it __________.

A．makes a loud noise                      B．raises its head

C．moves up and down                     D．does a little dance

4.Several different sounds can be made by a __________.

A．rabbit            B．bee              C．bird              D．fish

5.From the passage, we know that ________ use words and sentences to express ideas and thoughts.

A．all living things      B．all animals         C．some birds        D．human beings