We desire that immediate help _____ to the local villagers who have been trapped by the flood.

A. be given            B. will be given            C. should give        D. is given

CARDIFF, Wales  Poets, singers and musicians from across the globe gathered in Wales to celebrate the tradition(傳統(tǒng)) of storytelling.

“It might seem strange that people still want to listen in age of watching television, but this is an unusual art form whose time has come again,” said David Ambrose, director of Beyond the Border, an international storytelling festival(節(jié)) in Wales.

    “Some of the tales, like those the Inuit from Canada, are thousands years old. So our storytellers have come from distant lands to connect us with the distance of time,” he said early this month.

Two Inuit women, both in their mid 60s, are among the few remaining who can do Kntadjait, or throat singing, which has few words and much sound. Their art is governed by the cold of their surroundings, forcing them to say little but listen attentively.

    Ambrose started the festival in 1993, after several years of working with those reviving (coming back into use or existence) storytelling in Wales.

    “It came out of a group of people who wanted to reconnect with traditions. and as all the Welsh are storytellers, it was in good hands here.” Ambrose said.

56. Ambrose believes that the art of storytelling _______.

A. will be more popular than TV      B. will be popular again

C. started in Wales           D. are in the hands of some old people

57. From the tales told by the Inuit, people can learn _______.

A. about their life as early as thousands of years ago

B. why they tell the stories in a throat-singing way

C. how cold it has been where the Inuit live

D. how difficult it is to understand the Inuit

58. According to the writer, which of the following is NOT true?

A. Storytelling once stopped in Wales.

B. Storytelling has a long history in Wales.

C. Storytelling is always well received in Wales.

D. Storytelling did not come back until 1993 in Wales.

59. The underlined phrase in good hands means _______.

A. controlled by rich people     B. grasped by good storytellers

C. taken good care of                D. protected by kind people

When an ant dies, other ants move the dead insect out. Sometimes, the dead ant get moved away very soon—within an hour of dying. This behavior is interesting to scientists, who wonder how ants know for sure—and so soon—that another ant is dead.

One scientist recently came up with a way to explain this ant behavior. Dong-Hwan Choe is a biologist. Choe found that Argentine ants have a chemical on the outside of their bodies that signals to other ants, “I’m dead—take me away.”

But there’s a twist to Choe’s discovery. Choe says that the living ants—not just the dead ones —have this death chemical. In other words, while an ant crawls around, perhaps in a picnic or home, it’s telling other ants that it’s dead.

     What keeps ants from dragging away the living ants? Choe found that Argentine ants have two additional chemicals on their bodies, and these tell nearby ants something like, “Wait—I’m not dead yet.” So Choe’s research turned up two sets of chemical signals in ants: one says, “I’m dead,” and the other set says, “I’m not dead yet.”

     Other scientists have tried to figure out how ants know when another ant is dead. If an ant is knocked unconscious, for example, other ants leave it alone until it wakes up. That means ants know that unmoving ants can still be alive.

Choe suspects that when an Argentine ant dies, the chemical that says “Wait- I’m not dead yet” quickly goes away. Once that chemical is gone, only the one that says “I’m dead” is left. “It’s because the dead ant no longer smells like a living ant that it gets carried to the graveyard, not because its body releases new unique chemicals after death,” said Choe. When other ants detect the “dead” chemical without the “not dead yet” chemical, they drag away the body.

Understanding this behavior may help scientists figure out how to stop Argentine ants from invading new places and causing problems. Choe would like to find a way to use the newly discovered chemicals to spread ant killer to Argentine ant nests.

The ants’ removal behavior is important to the overall health of the nest. “Being able to quickly remove dead individuals and other possible sources of disease is extremely important to all animals living in societies, including us,” says Choe. “Think about all the effort and money that we invest daily in waste management.”

51. The underlined word “twist” in Paragraph 3 means _____.

   A. an unexpected change                              B. a clear mistake

   C. an important key                                        D. a shocking conclusion

52. Ants judge whether another one is dead or not depending on ______.

   A. the sense of taste                                      B. the sense of smell

   C. the sense of touch                                               D. the sense of sight

53. The result of the research can be used to ______.

   A. kill troublesome pests

   B. solve the problem of endangered species

   C. prevent further expansion of the ants’ territory

   D. keep the balance of nature

54. Why is it important to remove dead individuals?

   A. Because it is easier to manage the living.

   B. Because it can save money to deal with the waste.

   C. Because it can provide more space for the living.

   D. Because it can keep the living from suffering disease.

55. What might be the best title of the text?

   A. Dead or living? It is easy to judge

   B. Pulling away the dead ants is a difficult task

   C. Ant nests have great undertaking capacity

D. Leaving it alone or taking it away? Ants feel puzzled

He packed his suitcase, ________ the door and rushed downstairs as fast as he could.

How to protect children Web fans from unsuitable material on-line while encouraging them to use the Internet has long been discussed in the U.S.

For some parents, the Internet can seem like a jungle, filled with danger for their children. But jungles contain wonders as well as dangers and with good guides, some education, and a few precautions(預(yù)防措施), the wilds of the Internet can be safely navigated(航行). “Kids have to be on-line. If we tell our kids they can’t have access(機(jī)會(huì)) to the Internet, we’re cutting them off from their future,” said an expert.

Most kids have started to use search engines. Many of them are great for finding tons of interesting Internet sites, and they can also locate places where you might not want your kids to go. There are search engines designed just for kids. A certain software contains only sites that have been selected as safe. The most popular way to limit access would be to use what is known as a “content screener(過濾器)”. But this can’t be wholly reliable(可靠), and the best thing parents can do is to talk to their kids and let them know what is OK or not OK to see or do on the Internet. Another way is that mum or dad is nearby when the child is surfing(瀏覽) the Internet.

A few other tips

●Don’t put the PC in a child’s room but keep it in an area where mum or dad can keep an eye on things. That also makes the Internet more of a family activity.

●Ask your child what he or she has been doing and about any friends they make on-line.

●Tell your child not to give on-line strangers personal information, especially like address and phone number.

●And tell your children never to talk to anyone they meet on-line over the phone, send them anything, accept anything from them or agree to meet with them unless you go along.

The passage is mainly about the subject of _______.

A. American children going on-line             B. Internet in America

C. appreciating Internet                              D. opposing children’s on-line

The best way to protect children from improper material is _______.

A. to install (安裝) a content screener on the computer

B. to buy some search engines for the children

C. to be nearby when they are surfing the Internet

D. to talk to the children and persuade them to tell right from wrong

Which of the following is right according to the passage?

A. Surfing the Internet is the best method of educating children

B. Children’s not having access to Internet may have effect on their progress.

C. Using a content screener is most reliable for keeping children having access to Internet.

D. Searching engines can help children to select materials fit for them.

According to the passage, we can infer that _______.

A. soft wares fit for children want programming

B. a child who is on-line is in danger

C. Internet is a jungle full of danger

D. Internet contains a lot of harmful sites

If you want to stay young, sit down and have agood think. This is the research finding of a team of Japanese doctors who say that most of our brains are not getting enough exercise and as a result, we are aging unnecessarily soon.

    Professor Taiju Matsuzawa wanted to find out why otherwise healthy farmers in northern Japan appeared to be losing their ability to think and reason at a relatively early age, and how the

process of aging could be slowed down.With a team of colleagues at Tokyo National University,

he set about measuring brain volumes of a thousand people of different ages and jobs.

Computer technology enabled the researchers to get right measurements of the volume of the front and side sections of the brain, which relate to intellect and emotion, and determine the human character. Contraction (收縮) of the front and side parts as cells died was observed in some subjects in their thirties, but it was still not clear in some sixty and seventy-year-olds.Matsuzawa concluded from his tests that there is a simple remedy (補(bǔ)救) to the contraction normally associated with age using the head.

    The findings show in general terms that contraction of the brain begins sooner in people in the country than in towns. Those least at risk, says Matsuzawa, are lawyers, followed by university professors and doctors. White collar workers doing routine work in government offices are, however, as likely to have shrinking (萎縮) brains as farm workers, bus drivers and shop assistants.

    Matsuzawa's findings show that thinking can prevent the brain from shrinking. Blood must circulate properly in the head to supply the fresh oxygen the brain cells need. "The best way to keep good blood circulation is through using the brain," he says, "Think hard and engage in conversation. Don't rely on pocket calculators."w

The team of doctors wanted to find out ______.

A. why certain people age sooner than others   B. how to make people live much longer

C. the size of certain people's brains          D. the people with more intelligence

On what are their research findings based?

A. A survey of farmers in northern Japan.

B. Tests performed on a thousand old people.

C. The study of brain volumes of different people.

D. The latest development of computer technology.

Matsuzawa thinks that _______.

A. our brains grow as we grow older

B. the front section of the brain does not shrink

C. sixty-year-old people have better brains than thirty-year-olds

D. the contraction of brains is connected with brain exercise

According to the passage, which people seem to age slower than others?

A. Farmers.     B. Lawyers.     C. Government workers.     D. Shop assistants.w

One day last November, Tom Baker stopped out of his house into the morning light and headed across the rice fields toward the bank of the Rapti River. Tom, a 32-year-old school teacher in the farming village of Madanpur, was going for his morning bath.

As he approached(走近) the river, the head of a tiger(老虎) suddenly appeared over the edge of the river bank. Before he could turn to run, the tiger was upon him. It jumped on his shoulder and threw him to the ground, its huge jaws attacked his head in a killing bite.

Peter Smith was also on his way to the river and saw the attack. He screamed. The tiger lifted its head and roared(吼叫) at him. Peter ran.

From the window of his house John Brown heard the tiger roar and ran out to see it attacking a man. He screamed, too, and all the villagers ran out shouting as the tiger dropped its victim(犧牲品) and ran off. When the villagers reached the river bank, Tom was already dead.

For the villagers, the horror of the incident intensified(加劇) by the tales of man-eating tigers that has once run around in the countryside, killing hundreds.

How many people saw the tiger before it was driven off?

A One person.       B. Two persons.       C. Three persons.      D. Four persons.

The reason why the tiger attacked the man was     .

A. it was hungry                  B. it was angry

C. it was frightened by the man       D. not mentioned in the passage

When did the attack take place?

A. Early in the morning          B. At noon

C. Late in the afternoon          D. At five before dark

According to the passage, the underlined word screamed in the third paragraph    probably means ____.

A. gave a sharp cry because of fear.                 B. shouted out for help.

C. made some loud noise.                         D. cried out in pain.

When he was alive, the old scientist used to say that knowledge ____ from practice and he gained his experience by doing a lot of practical work.

A. was coming      B. had come              C. comes              D. would come

Look at this! I＿＿some magazines and _____ this letter.

A. was looking through； found           B. am looking through； find

C. looked through； had found            D. had looked through； finding

Good heavens! There you are! We _____ anxious about you, and we _____ you back throughout the night.

A. are； expect                        B. were； had expected

C. have been；were expecting            D. are； were expecting