Why do plants grow in some places and not in others? Why does some land have so much growing on it, while other land has almost no plants growing on it at all?
To grow, plants need several things. One is warmth. In very cold places almost nothing grows. Plants also need water. In very dry parts of the earth only a few unusual plants can grow. That’s why dry deserts everywhere are almost not covered by trees or grass.
Plants must also have a place in which to put down their roots and grow. They find it difficult to grow on hard land. The town is built on hard land. The plants here have only the soil found between the cracks of the stones to grow in.
Another thing plants must have before they can grow is food.
What will happen if we try to make things grow on the sandy beach? A few plants, such as beach grass, will grow in sand, but most plants won’t. Even if the weather is warm enough and we water the plants each day, many of them will die because the sand on this beach has almost no food for plants.
【小题1】What things don’t most plants need to grow well according to the passage?
A．Warmth.              B．Food.                C．Sandy beach
【小题2】What does the underlined word “cracks” mean in the passage?
A．表面             B．缝隙                 C．夹层
【小题3】From the passage, we know that it is        for plants to grow in dry places.
A．difficult                B．impossible           C．important
【小题4】The reason why most plants can’t grow on the sandy beach is that       .
A．there isn’t enough sunlight
B．there is too much water
C．it has little food for plants
【小题5】The passage can most probably be found in a        book.
A．science              B．history              C．travel

A neighborhood party is a great way to have fun and get to know the people in your neighborhood. And it’s also the best way to bring the community(社区) together.

Before you begin to do this, you first need to decide where to have the party. The community center is a good place for a neighborhood party. If the weather is nice, many people like to have the party outside. It could be at a park or on a street.

Next, ask your friends and neighbors(邻居) to help. Get（让）them to tell others about the party, set up(策划) the party and clean up after the party.

During the party, be sure to have lots of things to do. Many parties have activities for kids, such as face painting. Most parties have food and drinks. The best parties are when everyone brings something to share. That’s also the special part(地区) of a neighborhood party!

1.What is Paragraph 1（第一段）about?

A. What a neighborhood party is?

B. How good a neighborhood party is?

C. How we can have a good time in the neighborhood.

D. Why we need to know the people in the neighborhood.

2.The writer tells us_____ right place(s) for a neighborhood party.

A.? one?? B.?? two???? C.?? three??? D.? four

3.The writer thinks we can let our friends and neighbors help_____.

① set up the neighborhood party

② clean up after neighborhood party

③ tell others about the neighborhood party?

④ decide where to have the neighborhood party

A. ①②③?? B.? ①②④??? C.?? ①③④?? D.? ②③④

4.The underline word “during” means ________ in Chinese.

A. 在……之前B. 在……之后C. 在……期间D. 在……周围

5.What is special about a neighborhood party?

A. It has food and drinks.

B. It has activities for kids.

C. There are lots of things to do.

D. People bring something to share.

Everybody hates rats. But in the earthquake places of the world – Japan, Los Angeles, Turkey – rats will soon be man’s new best friends.
What happens after an earthquake? We send in rescue(救援) dogs. Why? Because they can smell people. Dogs save lives. They help rescuers to find living people. But dogs are big and they can’t get into small spaces. So now a new research project is using a smaller animal to save lives: the rat.
How does it work? First, the rat is trained to smell people. When this happens, the rat’s brain gives a signal. This is sent to a small radio on its back, and then the rescuers follow the radio signals. When the rat’s brain activity jumps, the rescuers know that someone is alive. The rat has smelled that person.
Although there are already robots which can do this job, rats are better. Christian Linster at Cornell University, New York, says, “ ‘Robot’ noses don’t work well when there are other smells around. Rats are good at that.” Rats can also see in the dark. They are cheaper and quicker to train than dogs, and unlike robots, they don’t need electricity.
The “ rat project” is not finished, but Julie Ryan of International Rescue Corps in Scotland says, “ It would be fantastic. A rat would get into spaces we couldn’t get to and a rat would get out if it wasn’t safe.” Perhaps for the first time in history, people will be happy to see a rat in a building ( but only after an earthquake, of course.)
【小题1】In the earthquake places, rats will become man’s best friends because they can __________.