Just like humans, birds rely on sound to communicate, too. Often, birds recognize their mates or young by sound rather than sight. Hungry young birds use begging calls to let their mothers know it is feeding time, and warning calls are other sounds given out frequently by the adults. In addition to all these regular calls, some male birds develop beautiful songs intended（打算）to attract the females.

A new study carried out by an American university shows that songbirds practice their songs even in their sleep. The research team discovered that the electrical brain activity of the birds that were asleep was similar to the brain activity produced when the birds were awake and singing. Clearly the bird stores a song after hearing it, then practices it later in its sleep. Scientists now believe the birds dream of songs to help them master the fine art of singing and that sleep plays a key role in the learning process！

It is commonly known that many songbirds learn to sing by listening to adult birds of the same species. If taught the song of an adult of another bird species, the chick grows up singing the new song and passes on the foreign song to its chicks. For instance, researchers carried out an experiment in which a male bullfinch（红腹灰雀）was raised by a female canary（金丝雀）. The bullfinch soon learned the canary's songs and when it was later mated to a female bullfinch, Mr. Bullfinch taught his children the canary's songs.

Early last year, a British survey of London's songbirds showed that the city's birds are losing their melodies. Birds could hardly hear one another over the traffic noise；as a result they had difficulty in learning songs and communicating with potential mates. And instead of copying the sweet notes of the adults, chicks were copying sounds, which they heard most often—namely car horns（喇叭）and mobile phones！

【小题1】What can we learn according to Paragraph 2？

A．Sleep helps songbirds master new songs.

B．Songbirds can even hear songs in their dreams.

C．The study was carried out by Australian scientists.

D．The brain activity of songbirds would stop in their sleep.

【小题2】Why does Mr. Bullfinch teach his children the canary's songs？

A．Because he wants to help them learn a foreign language.

B．Because he can't sing bulfinches' songs.

C．Because he wants to make them get along well with other birds.

D．Because the canary's songs are more attractive.

【小题3】What's the problem of the city's birds according to the passage？

A．They have lost their voices.

B．They are losing their habitats.

C．They are bothered by the city's noises.

D．They tend to refuse to learn songs from adults.

【小题4】What conclusion can we draw from the passage？

A．The city's birds can learn more songs.

B．All birds learn foreign songs during their life.

C．It may be difficult for the city's birds to find their mates.

D．Young birds can tell the difference between songs and noises.

   The sea is home to billions of plants and animals. Many live only near the sunlit surface. Oceanographers sort marine (海洋的) living beings by dividing them into two main groups: plants and animals.

There are two general types of plants found in the ocean, those having roots that grow in the ocean bottom and those not having roots which simply float around with water. The rooted plants in the ocean are only found in shallow waters because there is not enough sunlight to maintain photosynthesis (光合作用) in deeper waters. Since sunlight does not pass more than a few hundred feet into the ocean, most of the ocean is unable to support rooted plants.

The most plants in the ocean are known as phytoplankton (浮游植物群落) . These are usually single-celled, small floating plants that float throughout the surface waters of the ocean. To grow, phytoplankton need nutrients from the sea water and lots of sunlight.

Marine animals are divided into three groups: zooplankton, nekton, and benthos. Zooplankton are floating animals and are usually small; however, they can grow to fairly large size. The jellyfish and the Portuguese man-of-war are examples of larger types of zooplankton which are unable to move themselves effectively.

Nekton are the free swimmers and probably the largest part of familiar animals found in the ocean belong to this class. Common fishes, octopuses, whales, eels and squid are all examples of nekton.

The third type of sea animals spends their entire life on the bottom of the ocean. This group of marine animals is called benthos. Some of these creatures, such as lobsters and snails, may be able to move about on the bottom but their lifestyle is so closely linked with the ocean floor that they are unable to survive away from this environment.

【小题1】What does the text mainly introduce?

A．Marine plants and marine animals.	B．Two types of sea plants.
C．Three kinds of sea animals.	D．Small and big animals in the ocean.

【小题2】Why can’t we find the rooted plants in deep waters of the ocean?

A．Because there are too many rocks at the bottom of the ocean.

B．Because the rooted plants can’t stand the coldness of the ocean.

C．Because there is not enough sunlight for them in deep waters.

D．Because the rooted plants need more sunlight than plants which have no roots.

【小题3】One of the characteristics of zooplankton is that __________ .

A．they are small and never grow to large size

B．some of the zooplankton can’t swim quickly

C．they can swim freely in deep waters of the ocean

D．they need more sunlight than other animals in the ocean

【小题4】According to the last paragraph, we can conclude that __________ .

A．benthos live on the surface of the ocean water

B．some of the benthos can’t live without the ocean floor

C．benthos spend most of their time swimming in the ocean

D．benthos can move about in the middle of the sea water

   Winter begins in the north on December 22nd. People and animals have been doing what they always do to prepare for the colder months. Squirrels (松鼠), for example, have been busy gathering nuts from trees. Well, scientists have been busy gathering information about what the squirrels do with the food they collect.

They examined differences between red squirrels and gray squirrels in the American state of Indiana. The scientists wanted to know how these differences could affect the growth of black walnut (黑胡桃) trees. The black walnut is the nut of choice for both kinds of squirrels. The black walnut tree is also a central part of some hardwood forests.

Rob Swihart of Purdue University did the study with Jake Goheen, a former Purdue student now at the University of New Mexico. The two researchers estimate that several times as many walnuts grow when gathered by gray squirrels as compared to red squirrels. Gray squirrels and red squirrels do not store nuts and seeds in the same way. Gray squirrels bury nuts one at a time in a number of places. But they seldom remember where they buried every nut. So some nuts remain in the ground. Conditions are right for them to develop and grow the following spring. Red squirrels, however, store large groups of nuts above ground. Professor Swihart calls “death traps for seeds”.

Gray squirrels are native to Indiana. But Professor Swihart says their numbers began to decrease as more forests were cut for agriculture. Red squirrels began to spread through the state during the past century.

The researchers say red squirrels are native to forests that stay green all year, unlike walnut trees. They say the cleaning of forest land for agriculture has helped red squirrels invade Indiana. Jake Goheen calls them a sign of an environmental problem more than a cause.

【小题1】The study done by Rob Swihart and Jake Goheen is to ________.

A．find out the living conditions for squirrels

B．learn squirrels’ influence on black walnut trees

C．do something to get rid of squirrels

D．save the forests in the American state of Indiana

【小题2】The difference between gray squirrels and red squirrels mainly lies in ________.

A．the way they gather the walnut

B．the time they have winter sleep

C．the place they have winter sleep

D．the place they store the walnuts

【小题3】When Professor Swihart says “death traps for seeds”, he actually means that ________.

A．red squirrels eat more nuts than gray squirrels

B．gray squirrels and red squirrels will have severe fights

C．nuts above the ground will not develop into plants

D．seeds can be traps for other animals in the forest

【小题4】According to the passage, which of the following is true?

A．The black walnut is equally attractive to both gray and red squirrels.

B．Gray squirrels do more harm to the forest than red squirrels.

C．Red squirrels and gray squirrels have helped the spread of walnut trees.

D．The cleaning of forest land benefits red squirrels directly.

   Many years ago in a zoo，I was shocked by finding that chimpanzees could behave in a more civil manner than youths. Great apes（类人猿）are always one of the favourite attractions in any zoo. The main reason for this is that they are so similar to us.

This similarity has persuaded a group called the Great Ape Project（GAP）to campaign for these animals to be afforded“human rights”.

This has resulted in laws in New Zealand，which could mean that great apes would become the first animals in the world with basic rights protected by the law.

Not everybody is happy with this idea，however. Scientists using animals for scientific research fear that this is just the first stage in a process that will lead to a ban on using all animals for research.

The GAP declaration claims great apes should have“human rights”due to scientific evidence about their abilities. But if we compare the abilities of humans and great apes，then why not the abilities of great apes and monkeys，monkeys and lemurs，and so on until insects are granted“human rights”？This is not foolish. There are people without basic human rights. How long ago，for example，did women not have the right to vote？

Yet another argument by those who don't support GAP is that the human-like qualities of great apes have been exaggerated（夸大）for certain reasons，and that this has led people to exaggerate the similarities but ignore the differences between humans and great apes.

In a fascinating book entitled What It Means to be 98% Chimpanzee，Jonathan M. Marks points out that，although a human and a daffodil（水仙花）share the common ancestry and their DNA matches more than 25% of the time，it is plainly ridiculous to claim that we are one-quarter daffodils.

He goes on to demonstrate that，if looked at from one angle，it is true that we are apes phylogenetically. But also fish from another angle！“It doesn't sound quite so profound now，does it？”

【小题1】What does Paragraph 1 mainly talk about？

A．The experience was unforgettable.

B．Chimpanzees are similar to humans.

C．Chimpanzees are very popular in the zoo.

D．Animals could behave better than humans.

【小题2】Which of the following would the Great Ape Project most probably agree with?

A．Animals should be free from any scientific research.

B．New Zealand should do more to protect the rights of great apes.

C．The differences between humans and great apes have been ignored.

D．Great apes have adequate characteristics to be included as our equals.

【小题3】How does the author develop his idea mainly in Paragraph 5?

A．By reasoning.

B．By giving examples.

C．By making comparisons.

D．By providing scientific evidence.

【小题4】What point does Jonathan M. Marks try to make in his book?

A．Humans are more than one-quarter daffodils.

B．Great apes and fish are phylogenetically similar from another angle.

C．Humans are as similar to fish as they are to great apes.

D．Being 98% genetically identical matters less than thought.

Dinosaurs ruled the planet for millions of years, and they are generally believed to have gone extinct.But the reality is that modern versions of dinosaurs are all around us. Scientists have been exploring similarities between birds and dinosaurs; and new research shows that these two types of animals are directly linked.
The connections between birds and dinosaurs are explored in a new museum exhibit called Dinosaurs Among Us at the American Museum of Natural History in New York City.
According to Mark Norell, the director of the exhibit and an expert at the museum, it is based on new scientific evidence collected over the last two decades. "I think this is really going to shake up the way people think of dinosaurs “ Norell told reporters.” One could argue that we still live in the age of dinosaurs."
The exhibit includes ancient fossils and lifelike models of dinosaurs of all sizes to show the evolution of dinosaurs into birds. It examines several properties that are shared between the two species, including feathers, complex brains, the shapes. And sizes of eggs, and the ability to fly. Birds today make nests, lay eggs and tend to babies.    Fossil research shows that some dinosaurs also made nests and laid eggs. Also，birds have hollow（中空的）bones, which don’t weigh much and allow birds to take more air into their lungs. These adaptations help with flight. Some dinosaurs had these properties as well. In addition, the exhibit shows that there are many similarities between the legs, claws; and feet of dinosaurs and birds.
Norell noted that the research behind this exhibit is the result of advanced scientific, techniques; and new technologies. For example researchers used a scanning (扫描) process called computed tomography (CT) to look inside the brains of extinct dinosaurs. It combines with many X-rays to produce a 3D image. "Modern technology tells us more than we thought
we could ever know about the connections between dinosaurs and birds," Norell said.
【小题1】What' s the main idea of this text?

A．Experts .have discovered many dinosaurs' fossils.

B．A new museum has opened for visitors to New York City.

C．Research has been done on the lifestyles of birds and dinosaurs.

D．An exhibit shows the connections between birds and dinosaurs.

【小题2】What does the underlined word “properties” in Paragraph 4 mean?

A．Advantages.	B．Characters.
C．Changes.	D．Activities.

【小题3】One of the similarities that dinosaurs and birds share lies in________

A．their lungs	B．their light bones
C．the shapes of their nests	D．the number of their eggs

【小题4】What did Mark Norell try to show by mentioning CT?

A．The importance of the research.

B．What connects dinosaurs and birds.

C．The application of modern technology.

D．How dinosaurs lived millions of years ago.