21世纪阅读 Grade9.doc

The end of the stripy puzzle?作者： Imogen Champagne时间：2014-04-21斑马为什么有条纹？MCT ZEBRAS stripes (条纹) have puzzled scientists around the world for centuries. What is the biological purpose of being covered in black and white stripes? There are many theories that try to answer that question. Charles Darwin, the famous biologist, thought that Zebras stripes were used to attract partners. Alfred Wallace, the British naturalist and biologist thought the stripes were for camouflage (伪装). They make the zebras hard to see at night and create an optical illusion (视错觉) in the day. This protects them from being hunted by lions and other fierce animals. But the zebras real enemy might be a whole lot smaller. A new study by Tim Caro from the University of California has come up with an entirely new theory on why zebras have stripes. He thinks that their stripes will keep biting flies (螫蝇) away from them. Caro and his colleagues took a different route to other scientists who have studied zebras stripes. Instead of looking just at zebras, he looked at all equids (马科动物) (horses, zebras and asses) and the different patterns of their stripes. He found that species that live in areas with dangerous flies were more likely to have stripes all over their bodies. Zebras live in Africa, where biting flies can cause great harm by both passing on diseases and sucking out dangerous amounts of blood. Caro is happy that they have answered the question of why zebras have stripes, but now he is left with another question: why dont flies like stripes? “Thats what happens in science”, he told The New Yorker magazine. “You answer one question and it leads to six more.”一、while reading 1. What did Darwin think of zebrasstrips? 2. Whats the stripsfunction according to Alfred? 3. What is Tims new theory? 4. How do biting flies cause harm to other animals? 5. What does “colleagues” mean in Chinese? Choose the best answer:1. According to Tim Caro, zebras have stripes to _.A. protect them from being seen B. attract partnersC. create illusions D. keep biting flies away2. Caro and his colleagues found evidence by _.A. examining the strips of zebras B. staying with zebras in AfricaC. observing zebras at night D. studying all animals with strips3. The last sentence suggests that _.A. scientists sometimes find it difficult to answer the questionB. people can never really find the answer to the questionC. there are always unknown things for people to exploreD. scientists need to answer seven questions to find out the truth4. Where can we probably read this passage?A. In a guidebook. B. In a science fiction book.C. In a science magazine. D. In an introduction to a zoo.Students earn bus shelter victory 2014.4.26The Alice Deal Middle School Student Council takes seats at the city council hall. PROVIDED TO 21ST美国中学生成功说服政府为学生建造公交站站台。词数 260 建议阅读时间 5分钟 WHILE many people walk away from real-life problems, four students at Alice Deal Middle School in Washington D.C. faced them head on and made a difference. The four testified (作证) at the Washington D.C. Council (议会) in mid February. They successfully asked the government to build a bus shelter (遮蔽处) at a bus stop near their school. Ben Korn, 13, told the council a story of him waiting for the bus on one rainy fall afternoon. He waited for more than an hour. By the time he got home, he was cold and wet. “I know many Deal students have faced similar situations. That is why we are here,” Ben said. According to the regulations of the city, a bus stop can only have a bus shelter if it is used by at least 40 people a day. The students counted at least 100 each day at the Nebraska Avenue stop. Aysha Nunes, 14, showed the data to the officers at the meeting. Joe Inglima, 13, presented a birds-eye view of the possible location for the shelter. Isaac Frumkin, 13, offered one final argument: “The shelter would come at no cost to D.C. taxpayers.” They found that the government planned to build up to 788 bus shelters in 2005 so that a company could put advertisements on them. So far, theyve built 745, leaving plenty of room for new shelters. These strong arguments won applause (赞同) at the meeting. The shelter was built late last month. Mary M. Cheh, transportation committee chairman, praised the students hard work.“Its never too early for people to care about their community,” Cheh said.Choose the best answer:1. Ben believed that a bus shelter should be built near his school because _.A. the government promised to build oneB. the taxpayer would pay for itC. it was sometimes hard for students to wait for the busD. it could help advertise his school2. In Washington D.C., a bus stop can have a shelter if it is used by at least_ a day.A. 40 people B. 35 people C. 30 people D. 100 people3. In order to persuade the council, Aysha Nunes _.A. collected the data and showed it to themB. offered one final argument C. told of her personal storyD. suggested the possible location for the shelter4. According to the writer, when facing problems, we should _.A. ask the government for help B. take action and solve itC. collect enough data D. present our argumentsUK gets kids cooking作者：21st时间：2014-03-28The UK government says students can learn to love good food in cooking classes.XINHUA烹饪课让学生爱上健康美食。词数 260 建议阅读时间 5分钟 A 14-YEAR-OLD British student is packing for the next day of school: textbooks, notebooks, pens, 250 grams of flour, an egg and some cooking oil. Wait, what? Its not a joke. From September, cookery will be a compulsory (必修的) course for kids aged 7-14 in the UK. Primary school students will learn how to put things together and make simple, healthy food. At high school, students will then master a number of different meals. They will also learn some cooking skills including baking. Britain is sometimes known as a country with bad food and unhealthy eating habits. These new courses are part of the countrys effort to bring healthy food back onto the table. One out of every two meals we eat is eaten alone. Only four out of ten of us enjoy eating meals with our children,” British writer Joanna Blythman wrote in her book Bad Food Britain: How A Nation Ruined Its Appetite in 2006.u“One in four British families no longer has a table that everyone can eat around. Instead, ready meals have become the first choice for many British kids, because their parents are often too busy to cook a proper meal. The Department for Education hopes that the cookery courses can introduce children to good food and reduce childhood obesity (肥胖). “Its important that children can develop an interest and understanding of good food,” said a spokesman for the department. “We want to encourage them to develop a love of food and cooking that will stay with them as they grow up. Ready meals Market share in Western Europe for frozen, chilled, canned and other easy-to-cook meals in 2008:Choose the best answer:1. Students under 14 in the UK _.A. are fond of cooking B. will learn how to cook at schoolC. have to prepare breakfast by themselves D. love to eat junk food2. From the passage, we can learn that_.A. many British people have unhealthy eating habitsB. people in Britain dont love to eat around the tableC. parents cook meals for their kids although they are busyD. many British people dont like to eat with their families3. The aim of the cookery course is to help children _.A. have a good appetite B. learn more life skillsC. learn to do housework at home D. enjoy eating and cooking healthy foodA gift for my parents作者：Joshua Mu时间：2014-03-28Hello! Im Joshua Mu, a 12-year-old Chinese Australian boy. I study at Kingsgrove High School in Sydney. Do you want to know more about life down under? Please enjoy my stories.看我大显身手为父母做澳式早餐。词数 240 建议阅读时间 5分钟 课件及教案见网站 测试见7版 MARCH 14 is my parents wedding anniversary (周年纪念日). I decided to make them breakfast as their present. The only problem was that I never got to cook anything by myself. On that day I got up early at 6 am to get things ready so I could serve them in bed. At first I got the lighter (打火器) to light the gas before putting oil in the pan. I evened the oil out before my dad woke up from the kitchen noise. When he saw me he was very surprised and happy. But I was kind of sad because it ruined (毁坏) part of the surprise and my freedom to do what I wanted to do. Anyway, from then on, he taught me to cook to make sure I didnt mess up. I wanted to make sunny-side-up eggs, which means they are fried on one side only. So I cracked (打碎) one egg at a time into the pan and after a few seconds, I put salt and pepper on the eggs. It smelt good but the shape did not look like the bright sun. After the eggs were ready, I heated up baked beans, some sausages and hash browns (煎薯饼), which look like a pancake and are made out of potatoes. They made up a typical Au