Forests have always been useful and important to men who make use of them in many ways. Every day trees are serving man everywhere. Trees supply man with fruits and building materials in the form of wood. Without trees it would be impossible to build houses, boats, bridges and so on. Furniture such as desks, chairs and beds is made of wood. Trees can stop man from the terrible heat. They're also useful in preventing(阻止) good and rich top soil from being washed away during heavy rains. If there were no forests, heavy rains would wash away the rich surface(表层) soil that is so important to plants. The result is that the land will become a desert. There are plenty of desert areas in the world. A long time ago these desert areas used to be very rich areas, but men in the past had no enough knowledge about science of nature, and they cut down too many trees in the area where they lived and never planted new ones. By and by, the rich surface soil was blown and washed away by strong winds and heavy rains. In the end the rich land changed into useless deserts where nothing could grow.

   Which animal do you think is "the king of the animals", the elephant, the lion or the tiger? They are all large and strong. But I think the tiger is "the king of the animals". If you watch carefully, you can find some black lines on the tiger's forehead(前额). The lines look like the Chinese word "WANG". The word means "the king of the world" in Chinese.
   Most of the tigers come from China and India. Tigers are dangerous animals. They look scary(吓人的). They like eating meat. They have yellow fur with black lines. They usually weigh about 200 to 300kg. Tigers can run fast. They run at a speed of 20 meters per second.
Some people think they are dangerous. But they don't know tigers are in danger now. There are only 20 to 30 wild South China Tigers in China and less than 300 in the world. Lots of people kill them for their fur. We should take action to protect them.

    If you put your history notes under your pillow (枕头) and sleep on them the night before an exam, will you do any better on the test? Most of us have hoped this might help. However, _______ can't go through the pillow into your brain. But that doesn't mean you can't learn while you sleep.  

    Scientists aren't exactly sure how it works, but they have discovered that the brain can learn things during sleeping hours.

    In one experiment(实验), researchers gave German speakers some Dutch words to learn. Then, they divided them into three groups. The researchers played Dutch words for people in Group 1 while they slept, without telling these German speakers what they were doing. The sound was low so it didn't wake them up, and only the newly introduced words were used.

    Another group listened to the same words while they were awake. The researchers found the people in Group 1 were better able to identify(确认) and translate the words later. This was true only for the words that were played while they slept. The third group listened to words while they walked. The walkers did not have the same success remembering the words as the sleeping group.

    The researchers later found that people had more slow-wave(慢波的) brain activity throughout the night. They said that more slow waves made people have better memory for the new words.

根据短文理解，选择正确答案。

    Every minute，someone is setting up an Internet company somewhere, in the world． Each one is searching for the one great idea that could make his web company click in a big way．And they are trying all kinds of tricks to attract people towards their websites．While some websites offer sounds，cartoons and amazing photos on screen to make their sites almost a movie-like experience for the viewers，others provide free downloads and competitions．

    A company in California，US，has decided to offer online smells to people who visit its website．

    That is，if a pizza image comes on screen，your nose will catch the smell of bread and cheese！All you need to do is to connect a device（设备）called “iSmell” with your computer．This smart little device contains（包含）some chemicals that can create different kinds of smells．

    The company has invented software that changes the chemical composition（成分）of different smells into digital signals(数字信号）．An onscreen image，which is programmed with the proper digital signal，will start the“ iSmell" device．The device will use the software to change' the digital signal again and let go of the correct smell．This device reads the digital smell code（代码）from the website and creates the proper smell from its store of chemicals．This smell is then made to blow softly in the direction of the user with the support of a small fan．

    In order to let go of the correct smell，the company has created a “Scent Registry”，which contains a digital index of thousands of smells．The company plans to allow website developers to integrate（合成）the proper smells in digital code to their games and images．The company is also hoping that Hollywood filmmakers will use the smell technology in their movies．Imagine audiences getting the smell of rocket fuel as a spacecraft takes off on the cinema screen！Of course，filmmakers will have to be careful not to shoot in dirty neighborhoods，which have a lot of rubbish lying around．

E

Recently, China announced it had achieved success in drilling fire ice or methane hydrate (天然气水合物，即可燃冰), from the seabed in the Shenhu area of the South China Sea. It produces high amount of energy when it is burned, leaving nothing but dioxide and water.     Many countries, including the United States and Japan, have long beeaban doing research on methane hydrate, but taking it from bottom of the sea has been a common problem they are facing. According to reports, China succeeded in drilling methane hydrate for a number of days continuously and got an average of over 16,000 m3 daily. It is believed to be a big breakthrough.

Scientists say there is about 21, 000 trillion (万亿) m3 of methane hydrate in the world. If we can use it, it can meet the world's energy need for 1, 000 years. However, it is too early to say a new energy source (来源) has been found because we are still facing two main challenges—environmental risk and economic (经济的)cost. When methane hydrate is taken from the seabed, it may go into the air easily. That's very bad for the environment because methane is one of the worst greenhouse gases. Besides, drilling methane hydrate is very expensive as well.     However, China's technology breakthrough is very important because it shows the way researchers across the world should take. It also raises hopes that one day we can drill methane hydrate as a source of energy.

    One morning while Officer Vogel was on his coffee break in a restaurant, a man ran in a yelled. "Officer! A little kid is driving a car down the street!"

    He ran out at once and saw a car going slowly--about 25 miles an hour--but it was going very straight. He jumped into his police car and followed it. When the car was stopped, Officer Vogel looked inside. The driver was a little boy. His name was Rocco Morabiro and was 5. In the back seat was his two-year-old sister. Both children wen crying.

    "I want my mummy!" the boy cried." But she can't get here. I have the car." Then he had an idea." Just a minute." He told Officer Vogel." I can drive. I'll go to get her."

    "No!" Officer Vogel said. "You stay with me!" Then he drove them to the police station and he called their mother. They had many questions for Rocco. The first question was: "Where did you get the car keys?"

    Rocco said. "From the top of the refrigerator." At seven that morning Rocoo's father was work and his mother was sleeping, Rocco saw the keys on top of the refrigerator. He climbed on a chair, and took the keys.

Rocco got into the car and started the engine (引擎). When Rocco's sister heard the engine she ran to the car and cried. She wanted to go with him.

It was 7 a. m.—rush hour—so there was much traffic. Rocco drove one mile in heavy traffic. Then Officer Vogel stopped him.

    Newspapers and TV stations heard about Rocco, and a lot of reporters went to his house. Areporter asked Rocco, "What do you want to be when you grow up?"

    "A truck driver," he said, smiling.