The literature works is said ______ into many foreign languages ______ in the past few years.

A．to have translated; in length

B．to have been translated; at length

C．to be translated; at length

D．to being translated; for length

 

Sharks are among the oldest animals on Earth. There are hundreds of kinds of sharks. Most are about two meters long. The dogfish shark, however, is less than twenty centimeters in length. A shark has an extremely good sense of smell. It can find small amounts of substances in water, such as blood, body liquids and chemicals produced by animals. 71 Sharks eat fish, other sharks, and plants that live in the ocean.
Sharks grow slowly. About forty percent of all sharks lay eggs. 72 Some sharks carry their young inside their bodies as humans do. Some sharks are not able to reproduce until they are twenty years old．Most reproduce only every two years. And they give birth to fewer than ten young sharks. For this reason, over-fishing of sharks is of special danger to the future of the animal.
Sharks are important for the world’s oceans. They eat injured and diseased fish. Their hunting activities mean that the numbers of other fish in ocean waters do not become too great. 73.
People hunt sharks for sport, food, medicine and their skin. Experts say the international market for some kinds of sharks has increased because many parts of a shark are valuable.
Collectors pay thousands of dollars for the jaws of a shark. 74 The skin of a shark can be used like leather.
In Asia, people enjoy a kind of soup made from shark fins. Experts say a fisherman can earn a lot of money for even one kilogram of shark fins. Sharks are among the oldest animals on Earth, but some sharks are in danger of disappearing from Earth.75.

A．Shark liver oil is a popular source of Vitamin A

B．This protects the plants and other forms of life that exist in the oceans

C．Sharks are valuable to us and we can make full use of them

D．These powerful senses help sharks find their food

E．If too many sharks in one area are killed, that group of sharks may never return to normal population levels
F． his is a threat to other forms of life in the ocean.
G．The others give birth to live young

I entered high school having read hundreds of books.But I was not a good reader.Merely bookish,I lacked a point of view when I read.Rather,I read in order to get a point of view.I searched books for good expressions and sayings,pieces of information,ideas,themes—anything to enrich my thought and make me feel educated.When one of my teachers suggested to his sleepy tenth-grade English class that a person could not have a “complicated(复杂的) idea” until he had read at least two thousand books,I heard the words without recognizing either its irony(嘲讽) or its very complicated truth.I merely determined to make a list of all the books I had ever read.Strict with myself,I included only once a title I might have read several times.(How,after all,could one read a book more than once?)And I included only those books over a hundred pages in length.(Could anything shorter be a book?)

There was yet another high school list I made.One day I came across a newspaper article about an English professor at a nearby state college.The article had a list of the “hundred most important books of Western Civilization.”“More than anything else in my life,”the professor told the reporter with finality,“these books have made me all that I am.”That was the kind of words I couldn’t ignore(忽视).I kept the list for the several months it took me to read all of the titles.Most books,of course,I hardly understood.While reading Plato’s The Republic,for example,I needed to keep looking at the introduction of the book to remind myself what the text was about.However,with the special patience and superstition(迷信) of a schoolboy,I looked at every word of the text.And by me time I reached the last word,pleased,I persuaded myself that I had read The Republic,and seriously crossed Plato off my list.

On heating the teacher’s suggestion of reading,the writer thought ______.

A.one must read as many books as possible

B.a student should not have a complicated idea

C.it was impossible for one to read two thousand books

D.students ought to make a list of the books they had read

While at high school,the writer ______.

A.had plans for reading

B.learned to educate himself

C.only read books over 100 pages

D.read only one book several times

The underlined phrase “with finality” probably means ______.

A.firmly                                                                 B.clearly

C.proudly                                                               D.pleasantly

The writer’s purpose in mentioning The Republic is to ______.

A.explain why it was included in the list

B.describe why he seriously crossed it off the list

C.show that he read the books blindly though they were hard to understand

D.prove that he understood most of it because he had looked at every word

The writer provides two book lists to ______.

A.show how he developed his point of view

B.tell his reading experience at high school

C.introduce the two persons’ reading methods

D.explain that he read many books at high school

 

Humpback whales

Humpback whales are sometimes called performers of the ocean. This is because they can make impressive movements when they dive. The name “humpback”, which is the common name for this whale, refers to the typical curve shape the whale’s back forms as it dives.    Sometimes the humpback will dive with a fantastic movement, known as a breach. During breaching the whale uses its powerful tail flukes to lift nearly two-thirds of its body out of the water in a giant leap. A breach might also include a sideways twist with fins stretched out like wings, as the whale reaches the height of the breach.    A humpback whale breathes air at the surface of the water through two blowholes which are located near the top of the head. It blows a double stream of water that can rise up to 4 meters above the water.    The humpback has a small dorsal fin located towards the tail flukes about two-thirds of the way down its back. Other distinguishing features include large pectoral fins, which may be up to a third of the body length, and unique black, and white spots on the underside of the tail flukes. These markings are like fingerprints: no two are the same.    Humpback whales live in large groups. They communicate with each other through complex “songs”.	Quick Facts
Size:	14m~18m in length 30~50 tons in weight
Living environment:	Open ocean and shallow coastline waters
Migration:	From warm tropical (热带的) waters, where they breed, to cold polar waters, where they eat.
Diet:	Shellfish, plants and fish of small size
Hunting:	Sometimes in groups, in which several whales form a circle under the water, blowing bubbles that form a “net” around a school of fish. The fish are then forced up to the surface in a concentrated mass.
Current state:	Endangered: it is estimated that there are about 5000~7000 humpback whales worldwide.

 

1.According to Quick Facts, a humpback whale ______.

A. cannot survive in waters near the shore          B. doesn’t live in the same waters all the time

C. lives mainly on underwater plants            D. prefers to work alone when hunting food

2.To make a breach, a humpback whale must ______.

A. use its tail flukes to leap out of the water     B. twist its body sideways to jump high.

C. blow two streams of water               D. communicate with a group of humpbacks.

3.From the passage we can learn that a humpback whale ______.

A. has its unique markings on it tail flukes        B. has black and white fingerprints

C. gets its name from the way it hunts         D. is a great performer due to its songs

 

In a recent class I was asked “What is a short story?” My first answer was that it was something that could be read in one sitting and brought an illumination（启示）to the reader, sudden and golden like sunlight cracking(破裂, 砸开) through a heavy cloud. I went on to say that in my opinion a “real” short story was closer to poetry than to a novel.

Here are some definitions of the short story. My favorite is Benet's: “something that can be read in an hour and remembered for a lifetime”. One writer said, “The theme of a novel won't fit into the framework of a short story; It's like trying to squeeze a large painting done on a wall into the frame of a miniature （微型画）。 And as in a miniature painting, the details need to be sharp. ”

The short story is an example of one aspect of human nature. Often a character undergoes some event, something that offers him or her change. This is why it’s said that short stories usually “say something ”， often a small something, but sometimes delivered with such accuracy that the effect is strongly felt, even a life-moment for some readers, something similar to a religious experience or to witnessing a never-to-be-repeated scene in nature.

Ok, let’s form a definition here: A short story is an account, rarely over 10, 000 words or below 500 words-more commonly 1, 500 to 5, 000 words-a single-sitting read, but with enough time and weight to move the reader. It is narrow and focused to produce an effect through the story, most commonly through events affecting some change in an individual.

Writer Isabelle Allende once wrote: “Novels are, for me, adding up details, just work, work, work, then you're done. Short stories are more difficult-they have to be perfect, complete in themselves. ”

1.The writer of the passage is probably a ______.

A. poet            B. painter           C. teacher            D. student

2.What should the ideal short story be in length?

A. at most 10, 000 words        B. below 500 words    C. over 5, 000words         D. around 2, 000 words

3.The underlined word “undergoes ” in the third paragraph probably means “________ ”。

A. experiences    B. discovers       C. discusses          D. appreciates

4.What’s the difference between novels and short stories?

A. Novels are too long for us to read.

B. Short stories are too short for us to read.

C. Short stories have more details than novels.

D. Short stories are more perfect and difficult than novels.

5.What would be the best title for the passage?

A. How Do You Write a Short Story?        B. What Exactly Is a Short Story?

C. Is a Short Story Similar to Poetry?      D. Are Short Stories Perfect and Complete?