F
More than 3 million years ago,our ancestors(祖先) were already on the march, rising on two legs to search for food, seek greener lands and, above all,to grow in body and brain. Let’s meet some of them:
1. Australopithecus afarensis
They had apelike faces and their brains were a third the size of modern humans’ brains. They lived 3?鄄3.9 million years ago. Fossils(化石) were found in Ethiopia?穴埃塞俄比亚?雪 in 1974.
2. Paranthropus boisei
Covered with fur, they had strong arms and gorilla-like faces. They lived 1-2.5 million years ago. Fossils were found in Tanzania(坦桑尼亚) in 1959.
3. Homo habilis
Homo habilis, which actually means “ handy man”, was the first species to make and use primitive stone tools. They lived 1.6-2.2 million years ago. Fossils were found in Tanzania in 1960.
4. Homo erectus
With skeletons very similar to those of modern humans, they were probably the first to use fire. They lived 30,000-1.8 million years ago. Fossils have been found in Africa and Asia since 1893.
5. Homo heidelbergensis
They were skilled hunters who used spears to kill animals. Their bodies were similar to ours, although more muscular and larger boned. They lived 200,000-500,000 years ago. Fossils have been found in Ethiopia, Germany, France and Spain since 1921.
6. Homo Neanderthal
Their brains were at least as large as the average modern humans’, while their smaller bodies helped them deal with cold climates. They lived 30,000-230,000 years ago. Fossils have been found in France and Iraq since 1856.
20. What is considered more important in the develop-
ment of the human?
A. Man could stand on two feet.
B. Man’s brain became big enough.
C. Man’s arms became strong.
D. Man could use the stone tools.
21. Handy man’s fossils were found in _____.
A. Tanzania in 1960 B. Germany in 1921
C. France in 1856 D. Tanzania in 1959
22. Which of the following lived earliest on the earth?
A. Homo Neanderthal.
B. Homo habilis.
C. Paranthropus boisei.
D. Australopithecus afarensis.
G
Both warm-blooded and cold-blooded desert animals have ways to escape the desert heat. Warm- blooded desert animals, such as rats and mice, rest during the day, often staying in cool underground burrows. At night they search for food. Animals that are out during the day,such as cold-blooded lizards and snakes, are active only for short periods. As their body temperature rises,these reptiles move into the shade in order to cool down. In the early evening, when the sun grows weaker,he reptiles become more active and begin their search for food again.
Getting enough water to survive is a major problem for all desert animals. Some desert animals, like desert birds, manage to find water holes. Other desert animals, such as the kangaroo rat and the related jerboa, get water only from the food that they eat. Because these animals eat mainly dry seeds, they must survive on a tiny amount of water.
Most deserts have only a small number of frogs and toads because these animals must be near water to survive. Yet even these creatures have adapted(适应) to desert conditions. When small amounts of water collect in temporary streams, the desert-living frogs and toads become active. After a rainfall, they lay their eggs. The eggs grow into tadpoles in a few days and into adults in just four weeks. When the puddles(水坑) dry up, the adult frogs or toads dig into the ground. Their metabolism(新陈代谢) slows, and they stay beneath the ground until the next rain, which may be as good as a year away. Until then, their bodily activities continue at a reduced rate.
The camel — often called the ship of the desert — is one of the most successful desert animals. Camels can go for long periods without water, but eventually they must drink. When water becomes available to them after a long drought, they may drink 95 liters of water or more. When water is not available, what helps camels survive the desert heat is the fat stored in their humps(驼峰). A camel’s hump contains about 12 kilograms of fat. Fat is rich in hydrogen. As the fat is digested, hydrogen from the fat combines with oxygen in the air that the camel breathes. The result is H2O, or water. Each kilogram of fat that a camel digests produces about a liter of water.
23. Desert animals are usually more active at night
because _____.
A. it is cooler at night
B. it is easier to find water
C. they like the dark
D. they are less likely to be attacked at night
24. Which of the following desert animals can get water only from the food?
A. The camel. B. The kangaroo.
C. The frog. D. The rat.
25. Which of the following is TRUE according to the passage?
A. All the desert animals rest during the day.
B. All the desert animals don’t rest during the day.
C. Cold-blooded desert animals are out most of the day.
D. None of the cold-blooded desert animals go out during the day.
26. The title for this passage could probably be _____.
A. Hot Deserts B. Desert Animals
C. How Desert Animals Get Water
D. Ways To Escape the Desert Heat
27. The underlined word “burrows” in the first paragraph can be replaced by _____.
A. holes B. caves C. rooms D. openings
H
An allowance(零用钱) is an important tool for
teaching kids how to budget, save and make their own decisions. Children remember and learn from mistakes when their own dollars are lost or spent foolishly.
How large an allowance is appropriate(合适的)?
Experts say there is not right amount. Actual amounts differ from area to area,and from family to family.
To set an appropriate allowance for your child, work up a weekly budget. Allow for entertainment expenditures(花费) such as movies and snack. Next, include everyday expenses such as lunch money, bus fare, school supplies. “If you make the child responsible for these bills,” says Josephine Swanson, a consumer specialist, “he or she will learn to budget for necessary expenditures.”
It can be tough, but avoid excusing your children when they make a mistake with their allowance. When Brooke Stephens was ten and growing up in Jacksonville, her mother gave her ＄5 a week,＄1.75 of which was for bus fare and lunch.“If you lose money,” Brooke’s mother told her, “you walk home.”
One week the girl spent all her allowance in a candy store, and then she called home for a ride. “Mom made me walk home,” recalls Stephens, now a financial planner in Brooklyn. “At first I was angry. But I finally realized that she was trying to teach me an important lesson.”
Experts advise an allowance should not be tied directly to a child’s daily chores(琐事). Kids should help around the house not because they get paid for it but because they share responsibilities(责任) as members of family. You might, however, pay a child for doing extra jobs at home. That can develop his or her initiative(主动性).
28. What does the text mainly discuss?
A. How to develop a child’s initiative.
B. How to work up a budget.
C. How to teach a child to save money.
D. How to teach a child to manage money matters.
29. It can be inferred from the text that if a child is given an allowance, he or she may _____.
A. spend all the money very soon
B. be spoiled and finally ruined
C. lose the money and can not return home
D. feel responsible and careful about money
30. The underlined part “ his peers”( in Paragraph 4) probably refers to _____.
A. his friends B. his brothers
C. his parents D. his teachers
31. Why does the author mention Brooke Stephens?
A. To question the opinion about pocket money.
B. To compare Stephens with other experts.
C. To explain that parents should be strict when children are developing habits about money.
D. To suggest that pocket money is useless in developing a child’s sense of responsibility.
I
Museums have changed. They are no longer places that one “should” go but now they are places to enjoy.
At a science museum in Canada, you can feel your hair stand on end as harmless electricity passes through your body. At the Children’s Museum in New York, you can play an African drum. There are no “Do Not Touch” signs in some other museums in the USA.
More and more museum directors have realized that people learn best when they can become part of what they are seeing. In many science museums, the visitors are encouraged to touch, listen, operate and experiment so as to discover scientific rules for themselves.
The purpose is not only to provide fun, but also help people feel at home in the world of science. If people don’t understand science, they will be afraid of it; and if they are afraid of science, they will not make the best use of it.
One cause of all these changes is the increase in wealth and spare time. Another cause is the growing number of young people in the population. Many of them are college students or college graduates. They see things in a new and different way. They want art that they can take part in. The same is true of science and history.
The old museums have been changing and the government is encouraging the building of new, modern museums. In the United States and Canada, there are more than 6,000 museums,almost twice as many as there were 25 years ago.
32. The directors of the museums have realized _____.
A.the importance of scientific rules
B.people learn best when they look at something
C.visitors prefer to learn from museums
D.the museum needs changes
33. The growing population of young people caused the changes in museums because _____.
A. many of them hope to take part
B. many of them have a new way of thinking
C. many of them are better educated
D. All of the above.
34. How many museums or so were there in the United States and Canada 25 years ago?
A. 3,500. B. 2,000. C. 3,000. D. 6,000.
35. Which of the following is NOT true according to the passage?
A. People learn best in modern museums only in theUS.
B. People are encouraged to take part in what they are seeing in modern museums.
C. People are enjoying themselves fully in modern museums.
D. People will understand science better by trying to discover the scientific rules themselves.
J
In bringing up children, every parent watches eagerly the child’s acquisition(学会)of each new skill — the first spoken words, the first independent steps, or the beginning of reading and writing. It is common that parents hurry the child beyond his natural learning rate, but this can set up dangerous feelings of failure and states of worry in the child. This might happen at any stage. A baby might be forced to use a toilet too early, and a young child might be encouraged to learn to read before he knows the meaning of the words he reads. On the other hand, though, if a child is left alone too much, or without any learning opportunities, he loses his natural enthusiasm(热情) for life and his desire to find out new things for himself.
Parents vary greatly in their degree of strictness towards their children. Some may be especially strict in money matters; others are severe over time of coming home at night or punctuality(准时) for meals. In general, the controls imposed(强加的) represent the needs of the parents and the values of the community(社区) as
much as the child’s own happiness.
As regards the development of moral standards in the growing child, consistency is very important in parental teaching. To forbid a thing one day and excuse it the next is no foundation for morality. Also, parents should realize that “example is better than precept”. If they are not sincere and do not practise what they preach(说教), their children may grow confused, and emotionally insecure when they grow old enough to think for themselves, and realize they have been to some extent fooled.
A sudden awareness of a marked difference between their parents’ principles and their morals can be a dangerous disappointment.
36. Eagerly watching the child’s acquisition of new skills_____.
A. should be avoided
B. is universal among parents
C. sets up dangerous states of worry in the child
D. will make him lose interest in learning new things
37. When children are learning new skills, parents should_____.
A. encourage them to read before they know the meaning of the words they read
B. not expect too much of them
C. achieve a balance between pushing them too hard and leaving them on their own
D. create as many learning opportunities as possible
38. The second paragraph mainly tells us that _____.
A. parents should be strict with their children
B. parental controls satisfy only the needs of the parents and the values of the community
C. parental restrictions vary, and are not always enforced for the benefit of the children alone
D. parents vary in their strictness towards their children according to the situation
39. The underlined word “precept” (in Paragraph 3) probably means “_____”.
A. idea B. punishment
C. behaviour D. instruction
40. In moral matters, parents should _____.
A. observe the rules themselves
B. be aware of the marked difference between adults and children
C. forbid things which have no foundation in morality
D. satisfy their children’s needs
