If you are looking for an animal to take the title of “most violent fish in the sea”, then the tiger puffer (河豚) fish would have to be a strong contestant. Not only is it deadly poisonous --- though that doesn’t stop people trying to eat it --- but it is also able to scare off enemies by inflating itself to become much larger than normal, when it is young it even chews on its own brothers and sisters.
Tiger puffer fish attach their eggs to rocks near the bottom of the sea, often at the mouths of bays. Then the larvae (幼魚) move to the entries of rivers and lakes once they have grown a little. Then, having put on a lot of weight, they head out to sea. There’s no innocent childhood for the puffer fish, as Shin Oikawa of Kyushu University in Japan and his colleagues found out when they put the larvae of tiger puffer fish in the lab and monitored them for two months. They found that the larvae went through three steps in which their metabolic(新陳代謝) rates increased dramatically when they reached body weights of 0.002g, 0.01g, and 0.1g. When a larva went through one of these steps, its behavior also changed. For instance, once a larva had passed the first level it would have grown its first tooth and could start attacking larvae that had not yet reached that stage. Similarly, any larva that had reached the 0.01g or 0.1g levels would start attacking lighter larvae.
The researchers noted that the baby fish had a “relatively small mouth”, so rather than swallowing their brothers and sisters whole, they would bite pieces out of them. Despite this limitation, the fish caused plenty of deaths --- up to 12 per cent of the deaths that happened in the lab each day.
Those fish that grew fast enough to be able to chew on their fellows had an advantage. The extra food accelerated their growth and development. Tiger puffer fish are likely to be faster and swifter, so they can deal better with enemies.
As the name suggests, puffer fish can inflate to make themselves seem much larger than they really are, thus scaring off enemies. They do this by filling their stomachs, which are extremely elastic(彈性的), with water. If that’s not enough of a threat, the tiger puffer fish --- like most of the other puffer fish in the family --- carries a deadly toxin(毒素). Eat one puffer fish and the poison will paralyze (癱瘓) your muscles, including the muscles responsible for breathing, so death is usually caused by a lack of oxygen. Famously, the fish is a delicacy in Japan, where highly qualified chefs produce dishes that contain the safe level of the poison. Interestingly, the puffer fish does not go to the trouble of producing the poison itself. Instead, it hosts bacteria (細菌) that produce the stuff. It obtains these bacteria from its diet, so the youngest adult fish are not poisonous.
【小題1】All of the following statements account for the violence of puffer fish except that_____.

If you are looking for the place that has everything, there’s only one place to visit, and that’s New York. It’s a whole world in a city.
The World of Theatre: All of New York is a stage. And it begins with Broadway. Where else can you find so many hit(成功) shows in one place? Only in New York.
The World of Music: Spend an evening with Beethoven at Lincoln Centre. Swing to the great jazz of Greenwich Village. Or rock yourself silly at the hottest dance spots found anywhere.
The World of Art: From Rembrandt to Picasso. From Egyptian tombs to Indian teepees. Whatever kind of art you like, you’ll find in New York.
The World of Fine Dining: Whether it’s roast Beijing duck in Chinatown, or the finest French coq au vin found anywhere, there’s a world of great taste waiting for you in New York.
The World of Sights: What other city has a statue of Liberty(自由女神像), a Rocketfeller Centre or a Bronx Zoo? Where else can you take a horse-drawn carriage through Central Park, only in New York.
【小題1】Which of the following programme can a visitor have only in New York?

If you are looking for the place that has everything, there’s only one place to visit, and that’s New York. It’s a whole world in a city.

  The World of Theatre: All of New York is a stage. And it begins with Broadway. Where else can you find so many hit(成功) shows in one place? Only in New York.

  The World of Music: Spend an evening with Beethoven at Lincoln Centre. Swing to the great jazz of Greenwich Village. Or rock yourself silly at the hottest dance spots found anywhere.

  The World of Art: From Rembrandt to Picasso. From Egyptian tombs to Indian teepees. Whatever kind of art you like, you’ll find in New York.

  The World of Fine Dining: Whether it’s roast Beijing duck in Chinatown, or the finest French coq au vin found anywhere, there’s a world of great taste waiting for you in New York.

  The World of Sights: What other city has a statue of Liberty(自由女神像), a Rocketfeller Centre or a Bronx Zoo? Where else can you take a horse-drawn carriage through Central Park, only in New York.

1.Which of the following programme can a visitor have only in New York?

A. To enjoy Beijing duck.                    B. To taste the finest French coq au vin.

C. To spend an evening with Beethoven.        D. To see the statue of Liberty.

2. From the text we know that ‘Rembrandt’ is most likely the name of a famous _______.

A. singer    B. painting    C. play    D. painter

3.What the writer really wanted to do is to _______.

A. try to persuade readers to pay a visit to New York 

B. give readers some information about New York

C. supply readers some wonderful programmes in New York

D. help readers to get a better understanding of New York

    If you are looking for a new pet, don’t even think about Komodo dragons, which are the largest lizards and can grow to be 10 feet long and weigh more than 300 pounds. Komodo dragons run fast and eat almost any kind of meat, including dead or live animals, other Komodo dragons and people. “These things are powerful killing machines,” says Bryan Fry, a biologist.

      If those reasons aren’t good enough, consider the bite of a Komodo dragon. According to a new study, it may kill prey like snakes by injecting venom. This chemical, according to Fry and his team of scientists at the University of Melbourne in Australia, can cause shock in the unlucky victim. A person or animal goes into shock when the body can’t offer enough blood to organs to keep functioning. As a result, the body starts to shut down.

      Scientists have only recently begun to understand why a Komodo dragon is so deadly. Some people used to believe that a Komodo dragon’s bite contained bacteria from the mouth that would cause a severe infection in the victim’s blood. The infection would finally kill the animal. Fry says that after being bitten by a Komodo dragon, animal usually die quickly.

      After more studies, Fry and his team found that Komodo dragon venom contained some of the same ingredients as snake venom. These ingredients thin the blood and cause blood vessels to become larger. To test the venom, the scientists injected rats with it and observed that the rats became still.

      Fry’s work shows that Komodo dragons kill their prey with venom, and not by bacteria — and gives us another reason why we should avoid coming across them. That is easy to do, since they live on a few islands in the tropical country of Indonesia.

46. From the passage we can learn that ______.

   A. Komodo dragons live on a few islands of India

   B. a Komodo dragon weighs more than 300 kilograms

   C. a Komodo dragon is more than eleven feet long

   D. nobody dares to keep a Komodo dragon as a pet

47. The underlined word “venom” in Paragraph 2 probably means ______.

   A. the chemical that does no harm  

B. a kind of way that kills its enemy

   C. a kind of poisonous liquid of some animals 

D. the gas which could cause death

48. Why does a victim get into shock after being injected?

   A. He or it is too afraid to move about.

   B. His or its organs can’t get enough blood.

   C. His or its body was hurt and shuts down.

   D. He or it is bitten and loses much blood.

49. Komodo dragons can’t easily hurt us because ______.

   A. they are afraid of human beings

   B. the venom in them is not so powerful

   C. our blood can make them close to us

   D. they only inhabit a few islands in Indonesia

If you are looking for a new pet, don’t even think about Komodo dragons, which are the largest lizards and can grow to be 10 feet long and weigh more than 300 pounds. Komodo dragons run fast and eat almost any kind of meat, including dead or live animals, other Komodo dragons and people. “These things are powerful killing machines,” says Bryan Fry, a biologist.
If those reasons aren’t good enough, consider the bite of a Komodo dragon. According to a new study, it may kill prey like snakes by injecting venom. This chemical, according to Fry and his team of scientists at the University of Melbourne in Australia, can cause shock in the unlucky victim. A person or animal goes into shock when the body can’t offer enough blood to organs to keep functioning. As a result, the body starts to shut down.
Scientists have only recently begun to understand why a Komodo dragon is so deadly. Some people used to believe that a Komodo dragon’s bite contained bacteria from the mouth that would cause a severe infection in the victim’s blood. The infection would finally kill the animal. Fry says that after being bitten by a Komodo dragon, animal usually die quickly.
After more studies, Fry and his team found that Komodo dragon venom contained some of the same ingredients as snake venom. These ingredients thin the blood and cause blood vessels to become larger. To test the venom, the scientists injected rats with it and observed that the rats became still.
Fry’s work shows that Komodo dragons kill their prey with venom, and not by bacteria — and gives us another reason why we should avoid coming across them. That is easy to do, since they live on a few islands in the tropical country of Indonesia.

1. 1.

   From the passage we can learn that ______.
   

   1. A.
      Komodo dragons live on a few islands of India
   2. B.
      a Komodo dragon weighs more than 300 kilograms
   3. C.
      a Komodo dragon is more than eleven feet long
   4. D.
      nobody dares to keep a Komodo dragon as a pet
2. 2.

   The underlined word “venom” in Paragraph 2 probably means ______.
   

   1. A.
      the chemical that does no harm  
   2. B.
      a kind of way that kills its enemy
   3. C.
      a kind of poisonous liquid of some animals 
   4. D.
      the gas which could cause death
3. 3.

   Why does a victim get into shock after being injected?
   

   1. A.
      He or it is too afraid to move about.
   2. B.
      His or its organs can’t get enough blood.
   3. C.
      His or its body was hurt and shuts down.
   4. D.
      He or it is bitten and loses much blood.
4. 4.

   Komodo dragons can’t easily hurt us because ______.
   

   1. A.
      they are afraid of human beings
   2. B.
      the venom in them is not so powerful
   3. C.
      our blood can make them close to us
   4. D.
      they only inhabit a few islands in Indonesia