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READING COMPREHENSION (20) C1 All spiders spin webs That's because webs help spiders Webs help spiders three things Webs help spiders hold eggs Webs help spiders hide And webs help spiders catch food Webs help spiders hold eggs Many spiders like to lay their eggs in their webs The webs help keep the eggs together Webs help spiders keep their eggs safe Webs help spiders hide Most spiders are dark They are brown, grey, or black But spider webs are light They are white and cloudy When spiders hide in their webs, they are harder to see Webs help spiders catch food Spider webs are sticky When a bug flies into the web, it gets stuck It moves around It tries to get out But it can't It is trapped! Spiders can tell that the bug is trapped That's because spiders feel the web move And the spider is hungry The spider goes to get the bug As you can see, webs help spiders hold eggs Webs help spiders hide And webs help spiders catch food Without webs, spiders would not be able to live like they Spiders need their webs to survive C2 Most human beings are awake during the day and sleep all night Owls live the opposite way Owls are nocturnal This means that they sleep all day and stay awake at night Because owls are nocturnal, this means they must eat at night But finding food in the dark is difficult To help them, they have special eyes and ears Owls have very large eyes These eyes absorb more light than normal Since there is little light during the night, it is helpful to be able to absorb more of it This helps owls find food in the dark Owls also have very good hearing Even when owls are in the trees, they can hear small animals moving in the grass below This helps owls catch their prey even when it is very dark Like owls, mice are also nocturnal animals Mice have an excellent sense of smell This helps them find food in the dark Being nocturnal helps mice to hide from the many different animals that want to eat them Most of the birds, snakes, and lizards that like to eat mice sleep at night—except, of course, owls! Some animals are nocturnal This means they are active at night The owl and the mouse are good examples of nocturnal animals that use their senses to find food in the dark C3 When we are young, we learn that tigers and sharks are dangerous animals We might be scared of them because they are big and powerful As we get older; however, we learn that sometimes the most dangerous animals are also the smallest animals In fact, the animal that kills the most people every year is one that you have probably killed yourself many times: the mosquito While it may seem that all mosquitoes are biters, this is not actually the case Male mosquitoes eat plant nectar On the other hand, female mosquitoes feed on animal blood They need this blood to live and produce eggs When a female mosquito bites a human being, it transmits a small amount of saliva into the blood This saliva may or may not contain a deadly disease The result of the bite can be as minor as an itchy bump or as serious as death Because a mosquito can bite many people in the course of its life, it can carry diseases from one person to another very easily Two of the most deadly diseases carried by mosquitoes are malaria and yellow fever Mosquitoes have many natural enemies like bats, birds, dragonflies, and certain kinds of fish Bringing more of these animals into places where mosquitoes live might help to cut down the amount of mosquitoes in that area This is a natural solution, but it does not always work very well Mosquitoes can also be killed with poisons or sprays Even though these sprays kill mosquitoes, they may also harm other plants or animals C4 Rainforests circle the globe for twenty degrees of latitude on both sides of the equator In that relatively narrow band of the planet, more than half of all the species of plants and animals in the world make their home Several hundred different varieties of trees may grow in a single acre, and just one of those trees may be the habitat for more than ten thousand kinds of spiders, ants, and other insects More species of amphibians, birds, insects, mammals, and reptiles live in rainforests than anywhere else on earth Unfortunately, half of the world’s rainforests have already been destroyed, and at the current rate, another 25 percent will be lost by the year 2030 Scientists estimate that as many as fifty million acres are destroyed annually In other words, every sixty seconds, one hundred acres of rainforest is being cleared By the time you finish reading this passage, two hundred acres will have been destroyed! When this happens, constant rains erode the former forest floor, the thin layer of soil no longer supports plant life, and the ecology of the region is altered forever Thousands of species of plants and animals are condemned to extinction and since we aren’t able to predict the ramifications of this loss to a delicate global ecology, we don’t know what we may be doing to the future of the human species as well C5 Should women find their happiness inside or outside the home? In the United States people used to believe the saying, “A woman’s place is in the home.” But now both women and society are changing More than fifty percent of American women continue their work even after they are married What has brought about these changes? What is happening to the American family today? Up until the 1950’s a typical American woman got married in her early 20’s In those days she quit her job and became a mother “A woman’s place is in the home” was a popular saying Most women felt that taking care of their home and family was their full-time job But times have changed Women are getting married later these days and more have chosen to stay single Others get married but decide not to have any children Today more than fifty percent of all married women work full-time Many others run businesses in their homes What has caused these major changes? One reason is economic necessity It may be that the husband has lost his job and the wife must support the family Or even if the husband is working, some families say they can’t survive on only one paycheck But probably a more important influence has been the “women’s liberation movement.” Women are being told in many magazines and TV programs: “You can be successful on your own Don’t be satisfied with just being a wife and mother Use your intelligence and talents to something bigger And you should be paid as much as a man.” No doubt this movement has accomplished much good But it has also contributed to a selfish “me first” attitude that is breaking up many families Sometimes women who are happy staying at home feel that working women look down on them There are no easy answers to these problems But certainly women’s influence will continue to grow in business, education and politics C6 When John Mills was going to fly in an aeroplane for the first time, he was frightened He did not like the idea of being thousands of feet up in the air “I also didn’t like the fact that I wouldn’t be in control,” says John “I’m a terrible passenger in the car When somebody else is driving, I tell them what to It drives everybody crazy” However, John couldn’t avoid flying any longer It was the only way he could visit his grandchildren in Canada To get ready for the flight John did lots of reading about aeroplanes When he booked his seat, he was told that he would be flying on a Boeing 777, which is better known as a jumbo jet “I needed to know as much as possible before getting on that plane I suppose it was a way of making myself feel better The Boeing 777 is the largest passenger aircraft in the world at the moment Even though I had discovered all this very interesting information about the jumbo, when I saw it for the first time, just before I was going to travel to Canada, I still couldn’t believe that something so enormous was going to get up in the air and fly I was even more impressed when I saw how big it was inside with hundreds of people!” The biggest surprise of all for John was the flight itself “The take-off itself was much smoother than I expected although I was still quite scared until we were in the air In the end, I managed to relax, enjoy the food and watch one of the movies and the view from the window was spectacular I even managed to sleep for a while! Of course,” continues John, “the best reward of all was when I arrived in Canada and saw my son and his family, particularly my beautiful grandchildren Suddenly, I felt so silly about all the years when I couldn’t even think of getting on a plane I had let my fear of flying stop me from seeing the people I love most in the world I can visit my son and his family as often as I like now!” C7 With the onset of the winter season, man’s natural enemies, the common cold and the flu, arrive with full force It seems that the fluctuations in temperature and weather are guarantees that coughs and sneezes will spread infecting germs among family and friends More than 100 different types of bacteria can cause a cold, and doctors sometimes use antibiotics to treat bacterial colds However, there are an equal number of viruses that can cause influenza, and modern science offers no drug capable of curing viral infections In most cases, the best advice is the usual prescription: get plenty of rest, drink lot fluids, and be prepared to suffer for three to ten days Some home cures help to relieve the symptoms of colds and flus Mother’s chicken soup, rich in fats and oils, helps to revitalize a tired body and to soothe a sore throat Garlic, containing the active ingredient allicin, has long been used to fight off the effects of bacteria and viruses Hot toddies consisting of small amounts of liquor mixed with honey, sugar, and lemon juice can relieve soreness and draw out cold germs Finally, recent evidence suggests that large doses of vitamin C not only boost the immune system before a cold arrives, but also relieve cold symptoms after they have set in C8 Today’s cars are smaller, safer, cleaner, and more economical than their predecessors, but the car of the future will be far more pollution-free than those on the road today Several new types of automobile engines have already been developed that run on alternative sources of power, such as electricity, compressed natural gas, methanol, steam, hydrogen, and propane Electricity, however, is the only zero-emission option presently available Although electric vehicles will not be truly practical until a powerful, compact battery or other dependable source of current is available, transportation experts foresee a new assortment of electric vehicles entering everyday life: shorter-range commuter electric cars, three-wheeled neighborhood cars, electric delivery vans, bikes, and trolleys As automakers work to develop practical electric vehicles, urban planners and utility engineers are focusing on infrastructure systems to support and make the best use of the new cars Public charging facilities will need to be as common as today’s gas stations Public parking spots on the street or in commercial lots will need to be equipped with devices that allow drivers to charge their batteries while they shop, dine, or attend a concert To encourage the use of electric vehicles, the most convenient parking in transportation centers might be reserved for electric cars Planners foresee electric shuttle buses, trains, buses, and neighborhood vehicles all meeting at transit centers that would have facilities for charging and renting Commuters will be able to rent a variety of electric cars to suit their needs: light trucks; one-person three-wheelers; small cars; or electric, gasoline hybrid cars for longer trips, which will no doubt take place on automated freeways capable of handling five times the number of vehicles that can be carried by a freeway today C9 Being able to forecast the weather isn’t just to with informing people about whether or not they can go to the beach or have a picnic When there are going to be severe weather conditions, the ability to prepare for them can be a matter of life or death A hurricane needs certain weather conditions to start forming: warm tropical oceans with moisture and heat above them The centre of the hurricane is very calm and it is called the “eye”, but the most violent activity takes place in the area immediately around the eye which is called the “eyewall” When hurricanes move onto the land from the sea, the heavy rain, strong winds and huge waves can cause unbelievable damage to buildings and trees, and cars can be picked up and thrown like matchboxes The greatest danger, however, is in the rise in the sea level as it hits the land This is called the ‘storm surge’ and can be catastrophic To measure how powerful an approaching hurricane is, meteorologists use something called the Saffir-Simpson Hurricane Scale This means that a hurricane coming towards the land is given a number from to depending on how fast its winds are The calmest hurricane is given the number on the scale As technology has developed and we can now forecast the weather, it has meant that the advance warnings given have greatly reduced the number of deaths caused by hurricanes However, the damage to property, which cannot be avoided, still costs billions of dollars to repair C10 To be successful, a business traveler must be able to maintain contact with the office, no matter what the time or place Negotiations often involve decisions based on the latest figures New telecommunications products and services now on the market make staying in touch easier than ever before The most widespread device is the cellular telephone, the price of which has dropped from several thousand dollars to a few hundred, including installation There are over two million mobile cellular phones in use today, including both car phones and cordless transportable units Car phones have proven indispensable for road emergencies as well as routine business transactions Phone service is also available on airplanes and on the rails Recently introduced pocket-size organizers help business travelers with heavy schedules keep track of clients These are tiny computers that can store all kinds of information They can serve as phone and address directories, calendars, electronic memo pads, and calculators, among other uses Another invaluable telecommunications tool is smaller, lighter fax machines that plug into any standard electrical outlet and phone line The devices allow instantaneous transmission of hard copy to any location having a compatible fax machine It is expected that faxing will soon become the primary means of sending and receiving short documents requiring prompt action C11 During the nineteenth century, women in the United States organized and participated in a large number of reform movements, including movements to reorganize the prison system, improve education, ban the sale of alcohol, grant rights to people who were denied them, and, most importantly, free slaves Some women saw similarities in the social status of women and slaves Women like Elizabeth Cady Stanton and Lucy Stone were not only feminists who fought for the rights of women but also fervent abolitionists who fought to away with slavery These brave people were social leaders who supported the rights of both women and blacks They were fighting against a belief that voting should be tied to land ownership, and because land was owned by men, and in some cases by their widows, only those who held the greatest stake in government, that is the male landowners, were considered worthy of the vote Women did not conform to the requirements A number of male abolitionists, including William Lloyd Garrison and Wendell Phillips, also supported the rights of women to speak and to participate equally with men in antislavery activities Probably more than any other movement, abolitionism offered women a previously denied entry into politics They became involved primarily in order to better their living conditions and improve the conditions of others However, they gained the respect of those they convinced and also earned the right to be considered equal citizens When the civil war between the North and the South ended in 1865, the Fourteenth and Fifteenth Amendments to the Constitution adopted in 1868 and 1870 granted citizenship and suffrage to blacks but not to women Discouraged but resolved, feminists worked tirelessly to influence more and more women to demand the right to vote In 1869, the Wyoming Territory had yielded to demands by feminists, but the states on the East Coast resisted more stubbornly than before A women’s suffrage bill had been presented to every Congress since 1878, but it continually failed to pass until 1920, when the Nineteenth Amendment granted women the right to vote C12 The first settlers who came to America were not rich The ships, food, tools and weapons necessary for voyage to America and new life there were financed by companies in England One person’s voyage to the New World cost about ten pounds Settlers also needed help until they harvested crops The total cost was probably more than ten thousand dollars, in today’s dollars, for each settler Settlers had to find out how to repay this debt Almost all the settlers became farmers and raised food and made material for their clothes They also produced raw materials which they could send back to England In the South, in such colonies as Virginia, Maryland and North Carolina, tobacco was found most profitable In South Carolina and Georgia, rice was the most popular crop Slaves worked in the tobacco and rice fields on large plantations There were also some independent farms which raised them On farms from New York to Pennsylvania, settlers produced large quantities of grain, beer, beef and pork, and they exported them to England and the West Indies They also exported large quantities of furs, which they received in trade from Indians Settlers in New England had a hard time at the beginning Raising crops in the stony soil was difficult, so they had to find other means to make a profit They depended on lumber and other natural resources They had to use the sea to make a living They did ship-building, fishing and trading C13 Thomas Alva Edison lit up the world with his invention of the electric light Without him, the world might still be a dark place However, the electric light was not his only invention He also invented the phonograph, the motion picture camera, and over 1,200 other things About every two weeks he created something new Thomas A Edison was bom in Milan, Ohio, on February 11, 1847 His family moved to Port Huron, Michigan, when he was seven years old Surprisingly, he attended school for only two months His mother, a former teacher, taught him a few things, but Thomas was mostly self-educated His natural curiosity led him to start experimenting at a young age with electrical and mechanical things at home When he was 12 years old, he got his first job He became a newsboy on a train that ran between Port Huron and Detroit He set up a laboratory in a baggage car of the train so that he could continue his experiments in his spare time Unfortunately, his first work experience did not end well Thomas was fired when he accidentally set fire to the floor of the baggage car Thomas then worked for five years as a telegraph operator, but he continued to spend much of his time on the job conducting experiments He got his first patent in 1868 for a vote recorder run by electricity However, the vote recorder was not a success In 1870, he sold another invention, a stock-ticker, for $40,000 Thomas Edison was totally deaf in one ear and hard of hearing in the ether, but thought of his deafness as a blessing in many ways It kept conversations short, so that he could have more time for work He left numerous inventions that improved the quality of life all over the world C14 Have you ever heard someone use the phrase “once in a blue moon?” People use this expression to describe something that they not very often For example, someone might say that he tries to avoid eating sweets because they are unhealthy, but will eat chocolate “once in a blue moon.” Or someone who does not usually like to go to the beach might say “I visit the shore once in a blue moon.” While many people use this phrase, not everyone knows the meaning behind it The first thing to know is that the moon itself is never actually blue This is just an expression The phrase “blue moon” actually has to with the shape of the moon, not the color As the moon travels around the earth, it appears to change shape We associate certain names with certain shapes of the moon For example, when we can see a small part of the moon, it is called a crescent moon A crescent is a shape that looks like the tip of a fingernail When we cannot see the moon at all, it is called a new moon When we can see the entire moon, it is called a full moon Usually, there is only one full moon every month Sometimes, however, there will be two full moons in one month When this happens, the second full moon is called a “blue moon.” Over the next 20 years, there will only be 15 blue moons As you can see, a blue moon is a very rare event This fact has led people to use the expression “once in a blue moon” to describe other very rare events in their lives C15 Many people like to eat pizza, but not everyone knows how to make it Making the perfect pizza can be complicated, but there are lots of ways for you to make a more basic version at home When you make pizza, you must begin with the crust The crust can be hard to make If you want to make the crust yourself, you will have to make dough using flour, water, and yeast You will have to knead the dough with your hands If you not have enough time to this, you can use a prepared crust that you buy from the store After you have chosen your crust, you must then add the sauce Making your own sauce from scratch can take a long time You have to buy tomatoes, peel them, and then cook them with spices If this sounds like too much work, you can also purchase jarred sauce from the store Many jarred sauces taste almost as good as the kind you make at home Now that you have your crust and your sauce, you need to add the cheese Cheese comes from milk, which comes from cows Do you have a cow in your backyard? Do you know how to milk the cow? Do you know how to turn that milk into cheese? If not, you might want to buy cheese from the grocery store instead of making it yourself When you have the crust, sauce, and cheese ready, you can add other toppings Some people like to put meat on their pizza, while other people like to add vegetables Some people even like to add pineapple! The best part of making a pizza at home is that you can customize it by adding your own favorite ingredients C16 When you imagine the desert, you probably think of a very hot place covered with sand Although this is a good description for many deserts, Earth’s largest desert is actually a very cold place covered with ice: Antarctica In order for an area to be considered a desert, it must receive very little rainfall More specifically, it must receive an average of less than ten inches of precipitation—which can be rain, sleet, hail, or snow—on the ground every year Antarctica, the coldest place on earth, has an average temperature that usually falls below the freezing point And because cold air holds less moisture than warm air, the air in Antarctica does not hold much moisture at all This is evident in the low precipitation statistics recorded for Antarctica For example, the central part of Antarctica receives an average of less than inches of snow every year The coastline of Antarctica receives a little bit more—between seven and eight inches a year Because Antarctica gets so little precipitation every year, it is considered a desert.When precipitation falls in hot deserts, it quickly evaporates back into the atmosphere The air over Antarctica is too cold to hold water vapor, so there is very little evaporation Due to this low rate of evaporation, most of the snow that falls to the ground remains there permanently, eventually building up into thick ice sheets Any snow that does not freeze into ice sheets becomes caught up in the strong winds that constantly blow over Antarctica These snow-filled winds can make it look as if it is snowing Even though snowfall is very rare there, blizzards are actually very common on Antarctica C17 A recent survey of crime statistics shows that we are all more likely to be burgled now than 20 years ago and the police advise everyone to take a few simple precautions to protect their homes The first fact is that burglars and other intruders prefer easy opportunities, like a house which is very obviously empty This is much less of a challenge than an occupied house, and one which is well-protected A burglar will wonder if it is worth the bother There are some general tips on how to avoid your home becoming another crime statistic Avoid leaving signs that your house is empty When you have to go out, leave at least one light on as well as a radio or television, and not leave any curtains wide open The sight of your latest music centre or computer is enough to tempt any burglar Never leave a spare key in a convenient hiding place The first place a burglar will look is under the doormat or in a flower pot and even somewhere more ‘imaginative’ could soon be uncovered by the intruder But if your house is in a quiet, desolate area be aware that this will be a burglar’s dream, so deter any potential criminal from approaching your house by fitting security lights to the outside of your house But what could happen if, in spite of the aforementioned precautions, a burglar or intruder has decided to target your home Windows, no matter how small, are usually the first point of entry for many intruders For extra security, fit window locks to the inside of the window C18 Today, Mike and his mom are going to the library Mike wants to find a book to read His mom wants to use a computer there When they get to the library, Mike finds a book about detectives He also finds a book with chapters about a friendly ghost Finally, he finds a book about a man who lives in the woods without food or water He puts the books on the front desk and waits for his mom Mike's mom sits at one of the computers in the library She checks her email and looks at pictures of flowers on the internet Then she reads a news article on a website Mike's mom leaves the computer and walks over to Mike, holding up something out for him Mike looks at her quizzically It takes him a moment to recognize what she is holding “I got that movie for us to watch tonight," says Mike's mom “Are you ready to leave?” "Sure," Mike says, now holding the movie out in front of him He reads the cover while walking back to the library entrance He puts his books and the movie on the front desk to check out A librarian stands behind the counter holding an electronic scanner "How long can we keep them?" Mike asks her "Three weeks," says the librarian "Cool," says Mike Suddenly, Mike is surprised His mother is checking out something else that is too big to put on the desk It’s a picture of the ocean "What is that for?" Mike asks "To put on our wall at home," says Mike's mom "You can that?" Mike asks Mike's mom smiles at the librarian "Yes," she says, "but we have to return it in three months" C19 Although Edgar Allan Poe is recognized as the originator of the mystery story genre and as a master of the short story, literary critics and the general public have debated the extent of both his genius and his madness since his death in 1849 Poe rose from destitute beginnings as an orphan to a childhood of relative comfort when a wealthy businessman took him in As a young man, however, he descended through poverty and mental illness to an early death at the age of forty In his short career, he produced dozens of poems, stories, and critical essays that reflect his brilliant creative intellect At twenty, Poe moved to Baltimore to live with his impoverished aunt and her daughter, where he eventually married his fourteen-year-old cousin, Virginia Poe was obviously devoted to his young wife, and idealized images of her appear in many of his female characters It is difficult to suppose, however, that they had a close relationship, since she was many years younger than he was and chronically ill with tuberculosis Although Poe wrote for various newspapers and magazines during this time, making great strides in literary criticism and developing his short-story style, he achieved no monetary success His sensitive personality and a hereditary tendency to neurosis contributed to a tragic mental decline; however, this only seems to have reinforced the brilliant imagery and fascinating morbidity that he achieved in his tales Many critics speculate that Poe also suffered from alcoholism and opium addiction The fantastical quality of his work earned him a devoted posthumous following in France, but he was generally disparaged by his American contemporaries C20 I’ve always been a bit of an entertainer and played the funny man I was a part-time comedian for years, so I learned how to stand in front of audiences It made me sure of myself I like being liked and I love making everyone smile I’ve lived in London all my life and have just moved to a larger house with my wife Clare and our two children, Jimmy and Madeleine We spend a lot of time just singing and dancing around the house I grew up with music because my dad is the pianist, Chester Harriott - who’s still playing, by the way My working day is divided between television and writing cook books, though TV takes most of my time I spend about five days a fortnight working on the cooking programmes I appear in I eat all sorts of things at home but I only buy quality food When I’m cooking, I experiment with whatever is in the fridge - it’s good practice for my TV series I’m a football fan and enjoy going to matches, but I’m a homeloving person really I don’t like going to the pub but we go out to eat about twice a month There’s nothing better than a night at home playing with the children I rarely go to bed before midnight Late evening is when fresh thoughts on cooking usually come to me, so I often write or plan my programmes then When I eventually get to bed, I have no trouble sleeping!