Birds don’t need lessons in building nests. Fish don’t need coaching to learn how to swim. All animals have instincts. They’re born with natural abilities to do certain things. Wild animals also learn by copying their parents and practicing. And pets learn through training.[来源:学#科#网]

But instincts and training aren’t the only keys to animals’ behavior. Scientists say animals’ thoughts and feelings also influence their actions. Animals often make choices, plans, and sensible changes. They can help others and solve problems. Some even make and use tools!

If animals could talk, what would they say about their thoughts and feelings? A gorilla (大猩猩) born in captivity (关在笼子里) has helped answer that question. Koko, a gorilla, was taught to use sign language. She has learned hundreds of words!

Koko once had a pet cat she named All Ball. “Koko love Ball,” she signed. “Soft good cat.” One time, she blamed the cat for biting her by signing “You bad dirty toilet!” When her pet died, Koko cried. “Sad for sleeping cat,” she signed.

Koko calls herself “fine animal gorilla”. She uses sign language to argue, joke, and ask and answer questions.

“Most animals can’t use words to tell us their thoughts,” says Dr. Jonathan Balcombe. “But Koko shows us that animals have their own ideas and feelings.” Dr. Balcombe is a scientist at the Humane Society of the United States. He says there’s even more to discover about animals through field studies. In field studies, people watch animals in their natural environment.

“Scientists who study animals’ natural behaviors learn how animals live and think,” Balcombe says. “That knowledge can help others respect every animal who shares the planet with us.”

1.The underlined word “instincts” in Paragraph 1 probably refers to the ability that ________.

A. animals copy their parents                      B. animals learn by practicing

C. animals are born with                            D. animals learn through training

2.The example of Koko shows that ________.

A. an animal likes to have its own pet    B. an animal can learn to speak through training

C. an animal has the natural ability to speak   D. an animal can speak its mind

3.According to Balcombe, learning how animals live and think can ________.

A. help people care for animals                   B. teach animals to use words

C. train animals to use tools                        D. train animals to be cleverer

4.What might be the best title for the passage?

A. Raising animals as pets                          B. Understanding animals

C. Training animals to speak                       D. Protecting animals from danger

After lunch,I walked back home. I was just to cross the street when I heard the sound of a coin dropping. It wasn’t much but,as I turned, my eyes caught the heads of several other people turning too. A woman had dropped what appeared to be a dime.

The tinkling sound of a coin dropping on pavement is an attention-getter．It Can be nothing more than a penny．Whatever the coin is，no one ignores the sound of it．It got me thinking about sounds again．We are surrounded by so many sounds that attract the most attention．

People in New York City seldom turn to look when a fire engine，a police car or an ambulance comes screaming along the street．When I’m in New York，I’m a New Yorker．I don’t turn either．Like the natives，I hardly hear a siren(警报)there．

However，at home in my little town in Connecticut，it’s different．The distant sound of a police car, all emergency vehicle or a fire siren brings me to my feet if I’m seated and brings me to the window if I’m in bed．It’s the quietest sounds that have most effect on us．not the loudest．In the middle of the night, I can hear a dripping tap a hundred yards away thigh three closed doors．I’ve been hearing little creaking noises and sounds which my imaginnation turns into footsteps in the middle of the night for twenty-five years in our house．How come I never hear those sounds in the daytime?

I’m quite clear in my mind what the good sounds are and what the bad sounds are,I’ve turned against whistling，for instance：I used to think of it as the mark of a happy worker but lately I’ve been associating the whistler with a nervous person making unconscious noises．The tapping，tapping，tapping of my typewriter as the keys hit the paper is a lovely sound to me．I often like the sound of what I write better than the looks of it．

1.The sound of a coin dropping makes people________

A．think of money    B．look at each other

C．pay attention to it    D．stop crossing the street

2.The author dislikes whistling because__________

A．he has got tired of it    B．it reminds him of tense people

C．he used to be happier D．he doesn’t like workers

3.What kind of sound does the author find pleasant?

A．Tapping sound of his typewriter．    B．Clinking sound of keys

C．Tinkling sound of a coin dropping．  D．Creaking sound of footsteps

4.How does the author feel about sounds in general?

A．They make him feel al home．      B．He thinks they should be ignored

C．He prefers silence to loud noises．   D．He believes they are part of our life

For more than six million American children, coming home after school means coming home to an empty house. Some deal with the situation by watching TV. Some may hide. But all of them have something in common. They spend part of each day alone. They’re called latchkey children. They’re children who look after themselves while their parents work and their bad condition has become a subject of concern（关心）。
Lynette Long was once the principal（校长）of an elementary school. Said, “We had a school rule against wearing jewelry. A lot of the kids had chains around their necks with keys attached（附带）。 I was often telling them to put them inside their shirts. There were so many keys that it never came to my mind what they meant.” Slowly, she learned they were house keys.
She and her husband began talking to the children who had them. They learned of the effect working couples and single parents had on their children Fear is the biggest problem faced by children at home alone. One in each three latchkey children the Longs talked to reported being scared（害怕）.Many had nightmares and were worried about their own safety.
The most common way latchkey children deal with their fears is by hiding. It might be in a shower stall, under a bed, in a closet. The second is TV. They’ll often play it high volume.
It’s hard to get statistics（统计数字）on latchkey children, the Longs learned. Most parents are slow to admit they leave their children alone.
1. The main idea about “latchkey” children is that they ______.
are growing in numbers
are also found in middle-class neighborhoods  
watch too much TV during the day
suffer problems from being left alone
2. Which sentence in the second paragraph is the topic sentence?
We had a school rule against wearing jewelry.
A lot of kids had chains around their necks.
I was often telling them to put them inside their shirts.
She learned they were house keys.
3. The main feeling these children have when they are at home by themselves is ______.
A. tiredness     B. freedom     C. loneliness     D. fear
4. The word “nightmare” in the third paragraph probably means______.
A. night suit                                 B. night habit
C. terrible dream at night         D. staying up at night
5. We may draw a conclusion that_______.
latchkey children enjoy having such a large amount of time alone
latchkey children try to hide their feeling
latchkey children often watch TV with their parents
it’s difficult to find out how many latchkey children there are

“What is the most important thing you’ve done in your life?” The question was put to me during a presentation I gave to a group of lawyers.
The answer came to me in an instant. It’s not the one I gave, because the situation was not right. As a lawyer in the entertainment industry, I knew the audience wanted to hear some amusing stories about my work with well-known people, but here’s the true answer:
The most important thing I’ve ever done occurred on October 8,1990. I began the day playing tennis with an old friend I hadn’t seen for a while. Between points we talked about what had been happening in each other’s lives. He and his wife had just had a baby boy, who was keeping them up at night.
While we were playing, a car came screaming up the road toward the courts. It was my friend’s father, who shouted to my friend that his baby had stopped breathing and was being rushed to the hospital. In a flash my friend was in the car and gone, disappearing in a cloud of dust.
For a moment I just stood there, paralyzed(呆若木鸡). Then I tried to figure out what I should do. Follow my friend to the hospital? There was nothing I could accomplish there, I convinced myself. My friend’s son was in the care of doctors and nurses, and nothing I could do or say would affect the outcome. Be there for moral support? Well, maybe. But my friend and his wife both had large families, and I knew they’d be surrounded by relatives who would provide more than enough comfort and support, whatever happened. All I could do at the hospital, I decided, was to get in the way. Also, I had planned a full day with my family, who were waiting for me to get home. So I decided to head back to my house and check in my friend later.
As I started my car, I realized that my friend had left his truck and keys at the courts. I now faced another problem. I couldn’t leave the keys in the truck. So I decided to go to the hospital and give him the keys.
When I arrived, I was directed to a room where my friend and his wife were waiting. As I had thought, the room was filled with family members silently watching my friend comfort his wife. I went in and stood by the door, trying to decide what to do next. Soon a doctor appeared. He approached my friend and his wife, and in a quiet voice told them that their son had died.
For a long time the two held each other and cried, unaware of the rest of us standing around in pained silence. After they had calmed themselves, the doctor suggested they spend a few moments with their son.
My friend and his wife stood up and walked past their families. When they reached the door, my friend saw me standing in the corner. He came over and hugged me and started to cry. My friend’s wife hugged me, too, and said , “Thanks for being here.”
For the rest of that morning, I sat in the emergency room of that hospital and watched my friend and his wife hold the body of their infant son, and say goodbye.
It’s the most important thing I have ever done. The experience taught me two lessons.
First: The most important thing I’ve ever done happened when I was completely helpless. None of the things I had learned in university, in three years of law school or in six years of legal practice were of any use in that situation. Something terrible was happening to people I cared about, and I was powerless to change the outcome. All I could do was standing by and watching it happen. And yet it was critical that I do just that--- just be there when someone needed me.
Second: The most important thing I’ve done almost didn’t happen because of things I had learned in classroom and professional life. Law school taught me how to take a set of facts, break them down and organized them. These skills are critical for lawyers. When people come to us for help, they’re often stressed out and depend on a lawyer to think logically. But while learning to think, I almost forget how to feel. Today I have no doubt that I should have leapt into my car without hesitation and followed my friend to the hospital.
From that one experience I learned that the most important thing in life isn’t the money you make, the status you attain or the honors you achieve. The most important thing in life is the kids’ team you coach or the poem you write----or the time when you’re just somebody’s friend.
【小题1】 When he was asked about the most important thing he had done in life at a presentation, the author _______.

I met Ryan, a young man with cerebral palsy (脑瘫), in my biology class. My simple "Hello!" and his cheerful reply were the   36  to our friendship from the first day of school. There was a time when Ryan was not able to come to school. He was in a great deal of   37    after having a surgery on his legs, but he   38  his sufferings from everyone.
In our junior year, we found that we didn't   39  a single class. This was not a problem, though. We just talked a little more in the hallway   40  passing periods. That year seemed to fly by. One day, Ryan asked me to hold the torch (火炬) runner's flag that would   41  the spot where Ryan would   42  his Olympic torch run. He gently explained that he would be honored   43  I would accept this position for him. The Olympic committee sent a letter saying that the person that holds the flag for him must be someone   44  to him. He said I was the only true friend he had   45  made that talked to HIM and not to his wheel chair. How could I   46  such a request?
On the morning of June 5th, as I walked down the sidewalk, my heart   47  and my mind became a factory of questions. I kept wondering how everything was going to happen and how Ryan would   48  the huge crowd of thousands of people.
After the van arrived, the other runners got out and lined up outside the van, chanting his name, "Ryan! Ryan!" Then all of the people   49  in, “Ryan! Ryan!” The lift then lowered Ryan to the ground. There he was, in all his   50 .
It all became slow motion at the sight of the arriving torch. The runner lit Ryan's torch and then Ryan began his   51 . As he took off down the street, the chanting became louder and louder. The   52  filled the air and even I felt like I was on cloud number nine. I could not have been any prouder of Ryan！ He   53  this moment in time --a historic moment--a moment that he was a part of and   54  me to be a part of, too.
Mr. Weinheimer, the next torch runner, bent over and gave Ryan a hug. That moment will last in time forever. It symbolized the whole   55  of the flame: love, excitement, enthusiasm, brotherhood, and life of any man. The flame united us all and showed that love is really what makes this small world go around after all.