Three years ago, five parrots were set free in a wild place of Arizona, thousands of miles from the Channel Islands in Jersey where they had been looked after by zookeepers. No evolutionary strategies informed them how to behave in this new landscape of mountainous pine forest unoccupied by their kind for 50 years. To the researchers’ surprise, they failed to make contact with a group of wild parrots imported from Mexico and set free at the same time. Within 24 hours the reintroducing ended in failure, and the poor birds were back in cages, on their way to the safety of the Arizona reintroduction programme.

 Ever since then, the programme has enjoyed great success, mainly because the birds now being set free are Mexican birds illegally caught in the wild, confiscated （没收） on arrival north of the border, and raised by their parents in the safety of the programme. The experience shows how little we know about the behaviour and psychology （心理） of parrots, as Peter Bennett, a bird researcher, points out: “Reintroducing species of high intelligence like parrots is a lot more difficult. People like parrots, always treating them as nothing more than pets or valuable ‘collectables’.”

 Now that many species of parrot are in immediate danger of dying out, biologists are working together to study the natural history and the behaviour of this family of birds. Last year was an important turning point: conservationists founded the World Parrot Trust, based at Hayle in Cornwall, to support research into both wild and caged birds.

 Research on parrots is vital for two reasons. First, as the Arizona programme showed, when reintroducing parrots to the wild, we need to be aware of what the birds must know if they are to survive in their natural home. We also need to learn more about the needs of parrots kept as pets, particularly as the Trust’s campaign does not attempt to discourage the practice, but rather urges people who buy parrots as pets to choose birds raised by humans.

What do we know about the area where the five parrots were reintroduced?

A. Its landscape is new to parrots of their kind.

B. It used to be home to parrots of their kind.

C. It is close to where they had been kept.

D. Pine trees were planted to attract birds.

The reintroducing experience three years ago shows that man-raised parrots

A. can find their way back home in Jersey

B. are unable to recognize their parents

C. are unable to adapt to the wild

D. can produce a new species

Why are researches on parrots important according to the passage?

A. The Trust shows great concern for the programme.

B. We need to know more about how to preserve parrots.

 C. Many people are interested in collecting parrots.

 D. Parrots’ intelligence may some day benefit people.

According to the passage, people are advised ______.

 A. to treat wild and caged parrots equally

 B. to set up comfortable homes for parrots

 C. not to keep wild parrots as pets

 D. not to let more parrots go to the wild

Bicycles for rent could become as common as newspaper stands and mail boxes on Germany’s street corners if a scheme launched by Deutsche Bahn is successful.

The German rail operator has launched a bicycle-hire scheme designed for simple one-way trips.

“It’s a new concept,”said Andreas Knie, head of the project.

Users must first register with Call-A-Bike at a cost of 15 euros（US$14.7）. With a simple phone call, they can hire one of the many bikes parked outside stations, at a cost of 3 to 5 cents per minute. At the end of their journey, they ring a computer and tell it where the bike is parked.

The bikes are available 24 hours a day, seven days a week.

No one will be breaking speed records with Call-A-Bike bicycles. They weigh in at 25 kilograms, at least double the weight of a normal bicycle, though they do have eight gears（齿轮）.

“They are pretty heavy, but we don’t want people taking them on the train or into the subway,” Knie said.

They are also designed with parts that do not fit a normal bicycle. Even the screws are irregular and the bike looks so odd that thieves would stand out.

Vandalism and theft have led to the downfall of previous schemes which date back to Amsterdam’s 1966“White Bike”scheme.

In that short-lived experiment, anti-establishment groups painted bikes white and left them around the Dutch capital.

However, many were taken permanently and repainted, while the police took away others on the basis that ownerless bikes were street rubbish.

Copenhagen, Vienna and Helsinki also have free bike schemes, in which users deposit a coin in Copenhagen’s case 20 crowns（US$2.50）—to free a bike from a rack.

“The advantage these schemes have is ease of use. But because they’re so cheap, people tend to hold on to the bikes and then there are none on the streets,”the person in charge said.

Oslo is also planning a bike-hire system where users will pay a symbolic fee of 50 Norwegian crowns（US$6.50）for unlimited use in the city for a year.

Users will buy an electronic identity card as a key that will register when the bike is parked or taken from a rack.

59. How many European countries have already launched the free bike schemes?

A. Four.                                B. Five.                                C. Six.                                   D. Seven.

60.What can be learned about Amsterdam’s 1966“White Bike”scheme?

A. The bicycles were twice as heavy as a normal bicycle.

B. A heavy rain stopped the scheme from being carried out.

C. Some bicycles were damaged or stolen and the scheme failed.

D. The police ended the scheme for traffic safety

61.What can be inferred from the text?

A. Bicycles for rent have become as common as newspaper stands and mail boxes on Germany’s street corners.

B. The bikes in Germany are available 24 hours a day, seven days a week.

C. German bicycles for rent are designed specially so that they will draw people’s attention.

D. Germany has taken some measures to stop the bicycles for rent from being taken away.

62.Which do you think is the best title?

A. Free Bicycles for Europeans.                                  

B. Tough Transporters.

C. Customer is King.                                                      

D. Unpractical Scheme.

 

WASHINGTON — President Obama and his wife, Michelle, handed out Halloween treats to area children and military families at the White House Sunday evening．

Local students between 6 and 14 years old, along with children from military families, were invited to celebrate Halloween on the North Lawn．

The president and first lady, along with Mrs．Obama's mother, Marian Robinson, spent about 30 minutes passing out goodie bags．Obama wished each child a happy Halloween as he distributed the treats, pausing occasionally for hugs or to comment on costumes．

Later, the military families continued the celebration inside the White House．

The first couple joked to assembled reporters about children walking the long driveway in order to work off （消化掉） the snacks．"This is the Let's Move method of trick-or-treating （不给糖就捣蛋）," Obama said, referring to Mrs．Obama's campaign to combat childhood obesity （肥胖）．

The goodie bags contained a box of White House M&Ms, a cookie made by pastry chef （点心师） Bill Yosses, and dried fruit．

As they made their way across the lawn, the children meet a vast range of costumed characters ranging from a spooky Frankenstein （科学怪人,小说《弗兰肯斯坦》的主角） to the Scarecrow from "The Wizard of Oz．" Music from a jazz band dressed in pirate gear rang out across the White House grounds．

Multicolored pumpkins and gourds lined the driveway — individually, in gravity-defying stacks and as part of a large mound over 5 feet tall．Pumpkin-headed scarecrows （稻草人） made of cornstalks loomed over the path with menacingly raised arms．Under the White House portico, a mobile resembling bats flying through clouds fluttered around a lantern．

Some of the local trick-or-treaters were students at Bancroft Elementary, which helps tend the first lady's White House garden, and Tubman Elementary, which has a relationship with the White House chefs．

After trick-or-treating ended, the Obamas stood near the front door, welcoming the military families inside, helping children climb the short flight of steps and thanking parents for their service．

1.What is the news report mainly about?

A．President Obama and first lady celebrated Halloween with children．

B．President Obama and his wife Michelle handed out Halloween treats to children．

C．Children from military families were invited to celebrate Halloween at the White House．

D．Trick-or-treaters met a vast range of costumed characters from Frankenstein to the Scarecrow．

2.From the passage, we know that ______ do not necessarily appear when people celebrate Halloween．

A．Goodie bags

B．Pumpkins and Gourds

C．White House M&Ms

D．Costumed characters

3.When celebrating Halloween at the White House, the Obamas did the following EXCEPT______．

A．Wishing each child a happy Halloween

B．Thanking reporters for their covering the event

C．Helping children climb the short flight of steps

D．Hugging children and commenting on their costumes

4.The passage is mainly developed by ______．

A．analyzing causes	B．making comparisons
C．examining differences	D．following the time order

 

　In his youth, Darwin was an average student.__1__ he was a big reader. He also was an eager __2__， especially of beetles and butterflies. (He once carried two beetles, one in each hand, and then saw a __3__ so interesting that he decided to put it in his mouth.)

__4__ it came time for higher education, Darwin went to Edinburgh in Scotland to study medicine. But he soon found that he couldn't __5__ the sight of blood. So he left and went to school at the University of Cambridge in England __6__. He was preparing to become a minister, a profession in which blood shouldn't be a(n) __7__.

His heart was not in __8__， though. He spent his time at Cambridge collecting __9__ bugs and talking about science with people like the geologist Adam Sedgwick and the botanist John Stevens Henslow. Henslow saw that Darwin could be a __10__， and helped him get the chance to go on a long sea __11__ of exploration on a ship called the Beagle.

__12__ that ship's five－year trip around the world, Darwin observed many __13__ of life and various geological formations and fossils in South America and islands in the Pacific Ocean.__14__ the time the voyage ended, in 1836, Darwin knew more about life than anybody else.

During this trip, Darwin sent __15__ back to England. So he was well known as a scientist when he __16__. But __17__ becoming a professor, Darwin moved to the __18__. For some reason he was almost always __19__ with a stomach disorder. Doctors couldn't help him. (Even today, experts __20__ what disease he might have had.) So he lived an isolated life with his wife and family. He did experiments, studied plants and animals, read books and wrote papers in the comfort of his country home.

1. A. And         B. So             C. Or            D. But

2. A. collector   B. learner        C. instructor    D. farmer

3. A. larger      B. third          C. beetle        D. second

4. A. Before      B. Although       C. When         D. Until

5. A. meet        B. like           C. catch        D. stand

6. A. yet         B. instead        C. too          D. soon

7. A. sight       B. operation      C. problem      D. necessary 

8. A. religion    B. study          C. research     D. science

9. A. fewer       B. more           C. rarer        D. bigger

10. A. scientist    B. minister      C. geologist    D. learner

11. A. discoveries  B. voyage        C. fishing      D. passage 

12. A. Before       B. After         C. Until        D. During

13. A. forms        B. sizes         C. heights      D. years

14. A. In           B. After         C. By           D. During

15. A. reports      B. application   C. news         D. bugs

16. A. started out  B. came back     C. passed away  D. sailed out

17. A. fond of      B. content with  C. rather than  D. sticking to

18. A. city         B. university    C. office       D. countryside

19. A. disturbed    B. content       C. concerned    D. curious

20. A. know about   B. argue about   C. find out     D. care about

　

In the United States, when one becomes rich, he wants people to know it. And even if he does not become very rich, he wants people to think that he is. That is what “keeping up with the Joneses” is about. It is the story of someone who tried to look as rich as his neighbors.
The expression was first used in 1913 by a young American called Arthur Momand. He told this story about himself. He began earning $ 125 a week at the age of 23. That was a lot of money in those days. He got married and moved with his wife to a very wealthy neighborhood. When he saw that rich people rode horses, Momand went horseback riding every day. When he saw that rich people had servants. Momand and his wife also hired a servant and gave big parties for their new neighbors.    
It was like a race, but one could never finish this race because one was always trying to keep up. The race ended for Momand and his wife when they could no longer pay for their new way of life. They had to move back to an apartment in New York City.
Momand looked around him and noticed that many people do things just to keep up with rich lifestyle of their neighbors. He saw the funny side of it and started to write a series of short stories. He called it “Keeping up with the Joneses” because “Jones” is a very common name in the United States. “Keeping up with the Joneses” came to mean keeping up with rich lifestyle of the people around you. Momand’s series appeared in different newspapers across the country for over 28 years.
People never seem to get tired of keeping up with the Joneses. And there are “Joneses” in every city of the world. But one must get tired of trying to keep up with the Joneses because no matter what one does, Mr. Jones always seems to be ahead.
【小题1】Some people want to keep up with the Joneses because they ______.

A．want to be as rich as their neighbours

B．want others to know or to think that they are rich

C．don’t want others to know they are rich

D．want to be happy

【小题2】It can be inferred from the story that rich people like to ________.

A．live outside New York City	B．live in New York City
C．live in apartments	D．live with many neighbours

【小题3】What’s the author’s attitude to keeping up with the Joneses?

A．Negative.	B．Positive.
C．Supportive.	D．Objective.