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 concerned with how the grizzly bear and mountain lion can cross the road. Millions of animals die each year on U.S. roads， the Federal Highway Administration reports. In fact， only about 80 ocelots, an endangered wild cat, exist in the U.S. 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 human conflicts, " said Jodi Hilty of the Wildlife Conservation 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 lion used the passage. Builders of some 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 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. the measure for protecting wildlife fails to work

D. an increasing number of animals are killed in road accidents

2.When the writer says that animals seem “to be catching on”， he means_________.

A. animals begin to realize the dangers on the road

B. animals begin to learn to use ecopassages

C. animals are crossing the road in groups

D. animals are increasing in number

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 in the park

D. they may see wild animals on ecopassages

 

This year some twenty-three hundred teenagers (young people aged from 13-19) from all over the world will spend about ten months in U. S. homes. They will attend U.S. schools, meet U.S. teenagers, and form impressions of the real America. At the same time, about thirteen hundred American teenagers will go to other countries to learn new languages and gain a new understanding of the rest of the world.

Here is a two-way student exchange in action. Fred, nineteen, spent last year in Germany with George’s family. In turn, George’s son Mike spent a year in Fred’s home in America.

Fred, a lively young man, knew little German when he arrived, but after two months’ study, the language began to come to him. School was completely different from what he had expected-much harder. Students rose respectfully when the teacher entered the room. They took fourteen subjects instead of the six that are usual in the United States. There were almost no outside activities.

Family life, too, was different. The father’s word was law, and all activities were around the family rather than the individual(个人). Fred found the food too simple at first. Also, he missed having a car. “Back home, you pick up some friends in a car and go out and have a good time. In Germany, you walk, but you soon learn to like it.”

At the same time, in America, Mike, a friendly German boy, was also forming his idea. “I suppose I should criticize (批评) American schools”, he says. “It is far too easy by our level. But I have to say that I like it very much. In Germany we do nothing but study. Here we take part in many outside activities. I think that maybe you schools are better in training for citizens. There ought to be some middle ground between the two.”

1.This year _____ teenagers will take part in the exchange programme between America and other countries.

A．over three thousand	B．thirteen hundred
C．twenty three hundred	D．less than two thousand

2.The whole exchange programme is mainly to _____.

A．have teen-agers learn new languages

B．send students in America to travel in Germany

C．help teen-agers in other countries know the real America

D．let students learn something about other countries

3.Fred and Mike agreed that _____.

A．American food tasted better than German food

B．Americans and Germans were both friendly

C．German schools were harder than American schools

D．There were more cars on the streets in America

4.What is particular in American schools is that _____.

A．students go outside to enjoy themselves in a car

B．there are a lot of after-school activities

C．students usually take fourteen subjects in all

D．there is some middle ground between the two teaching buildings

5.After experiencing the American school life, Mike thought _____.

A．German schools trained students to be better citizens

B．a better education should include something good from both America and Germany

C．American schools were not as good as German schools

D．the easy life in the American school was more helpful to students

 

1.Anne’s sister Margot was very u        that the family had to move.

2.She s       from loneliness,but she had to learn to like it there.

3.One evening when it was so warm,I stayed awake on p        .

4.I don’t want to set down a s      of facts in a diary as many people do.

5.It was based more on German than the English we speak at p        .

6.Can you find the following command and r        from reading?

7.Which kind of t       do you prefer to use?

8.I am f       of my sister but she has one serious shortcoming.

9.In fifteen terrible seconds a large city lay in r         .

10.People began to wonder how long the d        would last.

 

My love affair with the sea began when I was no more than six years old, walking along the sandy beaches. I always wanted to make the first set of footprints in the wet sand.
Unlike many surfers who sought the perfect wave, my interests always lay beneath the sea’s surface in a world I could only imagine and dream of. Soon, wearing a snorkel and a mask, I made my first solo adventures in the deep.
Perhaps the greatest turning point in my life came when I was in high school and I wrote a letter to the famous Scripps Oceanographic Institution, in San Diego, asking how I might learn more about the sea.
A kind scientist answered my letter and told me how to apply to Scripps for a summer scholarship, which I received. During one of their cruises that summer, I met Dr. Robert Norris, a marine geologist. He loved the sea almost as much as I did. Soon he was asking me what my plans were and where I expected to attend college. I told him I didn’t know, so he suggested I consider his school, the University of California in Santa Barbara.
Now my love affair with the sea became a serious endeavor. If I wanted to be an undersea explorer, I needed to learn as much as I could about the laws of the physical world that controlled the environment I wanted to enter. The undersea world is not our natural world. It is unforgiving to those who make mistakes. At its greatest depths the water temperature is near freezing, the pressure is eight tons per square inch, and it is totally dark. It is easy to get lost in such a world. I needed to learn a lot about geography, navigation, meteorology, geology, biology, and many other things. While I was in school, I took a little of everything.
I decided another important thing for me to do was to join the U.S. Navy. If I was going to be an undersea explorer, I would have to lead men and women on dangerous adventures where they might get hurt, and I didn’t want that to happen. In the Navy I learned discipline, organization, and how to motivate and lead people on expeditions so that we could explore the wonders of the deep.
Finally, the time came to put all that I had learned to use, to go forth with a team of men and women and explore an adventure I am still on and hope to be on for many years to come.
【小题1】In Paragraph 5, the writer discusses “the laws of the physical world.”Which of the following is an example of one of the laws?

A．Water pressure.

B．Various ocean animal life.

C．The appearance of the water.

D．The different colors of the ocean.

【小题2】In college, the writer took many different types of courses because he _____.

A．was not sure what he wanted to study

B．was advised to take them by Dr. Robert Norris

C．believed it would help him succeed in the Navy

D．thought they were needed to fully understand the ocean

【小题3】The writer joined the Navy to _______.

A．develop his leadership skills

B．get along with people under stress

C．learn about the dangers of the ocean

D．gather specific information about ocean life

【小题4】What would the writer recommend to students who want to be underwater explorers?

A．Spend time examining your talents.

B．Join groups to learn to get along on a team.

C．Interview explorers to see if they are happy.

D．Study as many ocean-related topics as you can.

阅读下面短文,从短文后所给各题的四个选项(A、B、C、D)中选出可以填入空白处的最佳选项，并在答题卡上将该项涂黑。

　　At the 1924 Olympic Games in Paris, the sports of canoe (划船) racing was added to the list of international competition. The  31  team in the four-man canoe race was the United States team. One member of that team was a young man named Bill Havens.

   As the time for the Olympics  32 , it became clear that Bill’s wife would give birth to their first child at about the  33  that the U.S. team would be competing in the Pairs games. In 1924 there were no planes form Paris to the United States, only  34  ships. Bill found himself in a dilemma (左右为难的困境).

Bill’s wife insisted that he go to Paris.  35 , competing in the Olympics was a lifelong dream. But Bill felt  36  and, after much soul-searching, decided to remain home, where he could  37  his wife when the child arrived. He considered being at her  38  his highest priority (优先考虑的事), even higher than going to Paris to fulfill his  39 .

The team won the gold medal in Paris. And Bill’s wife was  40  in giving birth to their child.  41 , Bill could have competed in the event and returned home  42  to be with he when she gave birth.

People said, “What a shame!” But Bill said he had no  43 . For the rest of his life, he  44  he had made the better decision.

Bill Havens knew what was most important to him. Not everybody  45  that out. Not everybody has the strength to say no to something he or she truly  46  in order to say yes to something that truly  47 . Peace begins to  48  our lives when we learn to say yes to the things that really matter.

Twenty eight years later, Bill  49  a telegram. It was from Finland, where the 1952 Olympics were being held. The telegram read, “Dad, I won. I’m bringing home the gold medal you  50  while waiting for me to be born.”

A. new B. favorite      C. special       D. weak

A. arrived  B. passed C. neared D. ended

A. moment   B. opportunity       C. time    D. promise

A. fast       B. old     C. small  D. slow

A. In all     B. After all     C. As a result  D. As usual

A. honored   B. worried      C. conflicted   D. delighted

A. persuade       B. accompany C. support      D. satisfy

A. place       B. side    C. door   D. mercy

A. duty B. promise      C. dream D. demand

A. favoring       B. successful   C. safe    D. late

A. In addition    B. For example      C. In fact D. At last

A. on time       B. in time       C. on purpose D. in need

A. judgments   B. excuse C. choices       D. regrets

A. believed      B. wished       C. wondered   D. proved

A. puts     B. takes   C. figures       D. gives

A. trusts     B. wants  C. understands       D. respects

A. matters       B. happens      C. appears      D. continues

A. turn into     B. look into    C. settle on    D. rely on

A. discovered    B. wrote  C. sent    D. received

A. grasped       B. offered       C. took    D. lost