It's very early in the morning and I'm sitting outside. It's also very cold and dark. With me is Jim Nightingale, and he is the reason I'm up so early. He passes me a hot cup of coffee. "Not long to wait now," he says. I hope he's right.

    After a few minutes there is a very weak light in the east, and then I hear a bird singing. It sings very loud and very clear. "That's the robin(知更鳥)," says Jim. A few more birds start singing with the robin and Jim knows the names of them too. Half an hour later, there are more and more birds singing, and it's very loud! Suddenly, all around us the air is full of the sound of birdsong. This is the dawn chorus(晨鳴), and it's beautiful.

    "Wow, this is amazing!" I tell Jim, who is smiling. "Is there a dawn chorus every morning?"

    "Birds can sing any time of the year but the best time is the end of winter and during the spring. This is when the birds sing most."

    "Really? So, why do they sing?" I ask.

    "Well, there are two reasons," explains Jim. "Most of the songbirds who sing are males. They want to find a female(雌性)so they sing to show how strong they are. The females listen and choose the best singer! The birds also sing to tell other males to go away. They need their own area; they don't like sharing with another male."

    I listen to the birds; the songs seem too much to me. "Do the birds sing a special song in the morning?"

"That's a good question," replied Jim. "The successful birds have many kinds of calls and songs. Sometimes they copy the songs of other birds. This makes it sound like there are many birds in that place already and other males stay away. Also the female likes songs with different notes. Some birds, for example the European wren, have songs that contain over 700 different notes per minute!"

So, how does Jim know so much about birds? Well, he works as a volunteer for the Royal Society for the Protection of Birds. He is trying to help the birds live in the modern world. "More and more of the birds' habitat disappears every year. The sparrow, for example, was a very common bird in the UK, now it's in danger."

    By now the sun is up and the birds are quiet. It's light so they can start looking for food, they need a big breakfast after all that singing.

1.Why does the writer get up early in the morning?

A. To visit her friend.               B. To drink hot coffee.  

C. To see different birds.                  D. To hear birds sing.

2.A bird sings early in the morning mainly_______.

A. to call a female's attention          B. to fight with other males

C. to find a place to live in      D. to start looking for food

3. According to the text, which of the following statements is true?

A. At first the writer is happy to be up so early in the morning.

B. Male birds have their own ways of fooling other birds.

C. It's easier for the birds to find food early in the morning.

D. Jim has a job with the Royal Society for the Proteciton of Birds.

4.The text is mainly about_______.

A. the robin's songs                          B. the birds' habitat    

C. why birds sing                                D. how to protect birds

 

閱讀短文，用方框內(nèi)所給單詞的正確形式填空，使短文意思通順、完整。請(qǐng)將答案寫在短文后相應(yīng)題號(hào)的橫線上。注意：①每個(gè)詞只能用一次。②每空限填一詞，有些詞需要做相應(yīng)的變化。③其中有兩個(gè)多余選項(xiàng)。

usual, eat, mean, Britain, little, exciting, chance, or, although, common, if, spend

  In many European countries it is normal to have a long break in the middle of the day when all members of the family return to their houses to eat together. This is not very ___1.______in Britain because normally it is a long way from the place of work or school to the home. The __2._____ people often have a big breakfast before they go to work and the meal at midday is not __3.____with the members of the family but with workmates or schoolmates. Lunch is normally ___4.____ between 12:30 pm and 1:30 pm. Most people finish work at five thirty. It often take at ____5._____ an hour to get home from the school or workplace so people eat their meal ___6.___ "dinner" between 6:30 pm and 9 pm.

   On Sundays people don't have to work so they take the ___7.____ to eat together with their family. Sunday lunch is ____8.____ the best meal of the week and many of the meals which are considered real British food are eaten for Sunday lunch, such as roast beef and pudding.

   _____9.______ everyone in Britain understands that "breakfast" is the first meal of the day, there is a lot of confusion(混亂) about the words for other meals such as "dinner, lunch, tea, high tea, elevenses, brunch, supper". And if you ask a British person what these words ___10._____, most of them will give you a different answer according to what part of the country they are from.

 

What makes 15,000 men and women run for hours, and what makes them run through the streets on a cold day without coats? I was one of those runners.  The race is called marathon (馬拉松).

I had never run more than eight miles before, and here I was training.  Since the race is in April, I had to run throughout the winter, and in Boston, winters are cold. For most people, just putting on their shirts, sweaters, jackets, and hats is exercise enough. I found myself out on the dark streets, running along ice sidewalks (人行道). Even in gloves, my fingers got so cold that they looked like red carrots. My nose didn't get warm until lunchtime !

Finally, the big day arrived. The weather was cold, with ice and rain. Bang! The gun sounded, and we started. I didn't go anywhere at first because I was standing behind so many people. I had to wait for them to move.

At first, the running was easy.  The other runners just seemed to pull me along. Somewhere around the 20-mile mark I even said to myself, "This is nothing, why did I train so hard?"

Then I hit "the wall". "The wall" is what marathon runners call the special point. I knew my body reached the point and I thought I couldn't go any more. I was out of breath and my legs turned into pieces of wood.  I was almost falling down.  I can't remember anything about the last five miles of the race.

I kept running though. At last, I heard a voice at the finishing line.

"You look good," my friend Ted said. "How did it feel?"

"Wonderful !" I replied.

For everything, if you devote yourself into it, there will be a way. I finished the race, at least, in my heart, I was the winner.

1.Which one best describes the weather on the race day?

A．Cold and rainy.

B．Cold and sunny.

C．Dry and cloudy.

D．Wet and foggy.

2. How did the writer feel about the race during the first 20 miles?

A．Difficult.

B．Boring.

C．Easy.

D．Interesting.

3. According to the article, what must someone do to prepare for a marathon?

A．One must eat certain food and get plenty of sleep.

B．One must be willing to eat, sleep, and train twenty-four hours a day.

C．One must run along ice sidewalks every day.

D．One must be willing to train a lot and doesn't give up easily.

4.Then I hit "the wall". What do you think "hit the wall" means here?

A．撞擊墻壁

B．到達(dá)極限

C．抵達(dá)終點(diǎn)

D．中途加速

 

"Here's the advance payment(預(yù)期款) of 10,000 dollars. You will get the other half when we get those papers," the agent told Mike. "But sir, Mr. Smith has been very suspicious (懷疑) since last week," Mike replied.

    "In that case, be careful and don't worry. You are very clever," the agent said." Take 5,000 dollars more," Mike looked around uneasily but took the money.

    Mike was a clerk in a large company. A few years ago he started to get very worried because it was very hard for him to support his family. He wanted to give his child an excellent education and a bright future, but the future looked rather hopeless.

    One day some agents called him. They were his company's competitors. At first he refused their offers. But when he thought his dream could come true, he agreed to their offers and began giving them information.

   However, his spy work started to get more and more difficult because his owner had become suspicious, since a lot of important information was leaking out.

   One night when Mike was on one of his spying tasks, he met Alim, the night watchman." What are you doing here, Mike?" shouted Alim.

  "Oh, I had just forgotten some documents here, Alim, "Mike replied, trying to look comfortable." I just came to get them."

    "Is that true?" Alim said." We’ll see what Mr. Smith says."

    Alim called Mr. Smith and told him to come right away. Mr. Smith looked at Mike and said. "So you are the thief! I believed in you, Mike."

   "Call the police, Alim. We have finally caught the spy," Mr. Smith said. "And by the way, Mike ,no man can serve two masters. You should have left if you did not work with us any longer."   

1.Why did Mike take the job as a spy? Because ______________.

A、he didn't want to work for his company any longer.

B、some agents forced him to do so.

C、he wanted to give his child an excellent education and bright future.

D、Mr. Smith did not give treat him very well.

2.What did the agents ask Mike to do?  

A、To give them some important information of his company.

B、To follow his boss secretly.

C、To serve his master very honestly.

D、To leave his company and join them.

3.Mr. Smith thought Mike was______ before he knew that Mike was a spy.

A、kind          B、clever        C、honest          D、dishonest

4.What's the meaning of the phrase "leak out" in the passage?___________.

A、land on        B、cross out     C、become known     D、come out

5.What can you learn from the passage?______________.

A、We should be careful at work.       B、We should be honest at work.

C、We should work hard.             D、We should serve the masters.

 

 

※When parents get angry, it isn't the time to get angry back. A lot of times they're not upset with you, but with their boss, the neighbor, or the price of vegetables. You just happen to be there at the wrong time. Look hurt? Get out of the way when they're in a bad mood. They need some time and space. Go outside, to a friend's house, or to your room. At last they will become calm and miss you.

※If you have trouble talking to your parents, or if they get angry every time you try to discuss something, write a note. Put it on their bedside table. Parents are easily moved by notes like this and will probably keep them forever.

※Do not create situations where there is a winner and a loser. You're the child and will probably lose most of the time. How many times have you grounded your mother or taken away the phone privileges(特權(quán)) from your dad? Try to compromise with each other and work out a situation where both of you win.

※Ask your parents once a day, "Is there anything I can do for you?"  Most of the time they will probably say no, or give you something that will take a few minutes to complete. Your parents will love this and see you as a very cooperative(可合作的) person. When this happens, they will probably be more cooperative with you. You could also surprise them by doing something they don't make you do. They'll tell everyone you are the best possible son or daughter and, what's more, they will believe it. ※Click for more information at the red icon on the left.

1.Leave a note on your parents’ bedside table if___________.

A. your parents quarrel with each other

B. you find it difficult to talk with them

C. you want to be the best possible child

D. you go outside to your friend’s house

2.From the above we learn_________.

  A. if we want to help do house work, parents always refuse us.

B. your parents will be hurt if you get angry back at a wrong time.

C. parents often ground children and control their use of the telephone

  D. if we want to discuss with parents, we should wait till they are happy

3.The underlined word “compromise” probably means_________.

  A. 抗?fàn)?nbsp;          B. 妥協(xié)             C. 承諾         D. 辯論

4.What’s the topic of the above?

A. How to cooperate with family and friends

B. Arguments between children and parents

C. Tips for teenagers on family problems

D. Advice on educating angry children

5.You can read the above _________.

  A. in a magazine      B. in a newspaper

C. in a poster      D. on the Internet