There is much to see Australia that you can't see easily in its natural setting anywhere else. A visit to Australia would not be complete without taking the chance to see some of these animals in their natural environment.

Bandicoot

    There are several species of Bandicoot around Australia, and although occasionally they can be seen during the day, they are generally nocturnal. Bandicoots are small creatures only about the size of a rat and eat small insects and plants. Several of the Bandicoots around Australia include the Eastern Barred Bandicoot, which is now rare around Australia and the Southern Brown Bandicoot found in eastern and western parts of Australia.

Koala

    Koalas are small bears like creatures that live along the east coast of Australia, with their habitat amongst the famous Eucalyptus trees. However, koalas only like to eat a small percentage of the Eucalyptus trees found around Australia. Koalas have hard black noses, with sharp claws and a thick furry coat and can grow to a weight of about 10kg, most of their time is spent asleep in the trees, which is the best place to see a koala.

Dingo

    Dingoes are found in various areas across Australia, and unlike domestic dogs do not bark. Instead, the Dingo makes a howling sound that is very particular. Dingoes generally eat mice, rabbits and rats, although sometimes they can also attack livestock(家畜) when hungry.

Frilled Lizard

    The Frilled Lizard is found in the eastern and northern parts of Australia, living within the bush. The Frilled Lizard frill normally hangs around its neck, and is made out of a flap of skin. When threatened, the Frilled Lizard will raise its frill making it seen more dangerous.

阅读下列短文，从每题所给的四个选项（A、B、C和D）中，选出最佳选项。

    The Price of Success

    One problem for schools is that many students do not want to study hard. As a result, they perform (表现) poorly in their classes. This is especially true in the United States, where average scores for math and science are lower than in many other countries. In recent years, schools and charities have been looking for ways to help students get better grades in these subjects. An organization called the LMD Foundation introduced a program called Learn and Earn recently.

    In the program, money was used to get a group of students to study harder in math and science. In addition to the normal school day, they went to after-school classes for four hours each week. The students were paid eight dollars for each hour of after-school class. By the end of the year, the students in the program had higher grades than a similar group of students who had not taken part.

    Not everyone thinks that this is a good idea, though. TV reporter John Tulenko studied data (数据) from a similar program. He found that students' grades went back down when they stopped getting paid. Many people are worried about this. They think that the students study because they want money, not because they enjoy learning. Also, some people believe that these types of programs are a bad idea because it is a large part of a teacher's job to get students to study. If students are given money, some teachers might stop trying to do this.

    However, others believe that these learning programs can be helpful for students from poor families. Many of these students do part-time jobs after school, and some even quit school at a young age to work. Some do this to help get money for their families. Others feel that they can learn more by working than by going to school. Programs like Learn and Earn let these students stay in school and still make money.

    If you thought pilots dimmed（调暗）the lights before takeoff to give you some shuteye, think again. Believe it or not, the dim lighting could actually help save your life in case of a plane emergency.

    The dimmed lights before taking off the runway and landing are a flight precaution used to help passengers' eyes adjust quicker during an emergency escape. “Going from a brightly lit environment to one that's completely dark would require some time for our eyes to focus and see the escape slide,” Alice Theriault, service director for Air Canada wrote in a press statement. “Since we need to have all the seconds on our side in the event of an emergency, dimming the lights is one of many steps we take to ensure the safety of our customers.”

    The phenomenon that your eyes see those strange speckles (小斑点) as your sight adjusts to a dark place after being in a light place is called dark adaptation. It normally takes our eyes about 20 to 30 seconds to see best in a dark room. The brighter the lights, the longer it takes for our eyes to adjust, which is why dimming the plane lights could shorten your “dark adaptation” time since you haven't been sitting under fluorescent bulbs (荧光灯) all flight.

    Not only does dimming lights add valuable time to the escape process, but it reduces the tension on your eyes if you need to look outside, or see the emergency lighting along the passage. “It helps keep you in the right direction.” Patrick Smith, an airline pilot and author of Cockpit Confidential told The Telegraph. “It also makes it easier for flight attendants to assess any outside risks, such as fire or debris, that might affect an escape.” So next time a pilot dims the lights, just know it's for your safety, even though it creates a gentle atmosphere for your takeoff into the sky.

    A serious problem for today's society is who should be responsible for our elderly and how to improve their lives. It is not only a financial problem but also a question of the system we want for our society. I would like to suggest several possible solutions to this problem.

    First, employers should take the responsibility for their retired employees. To make this possible, a percentage of profits should be set aside for this purpose. But when a company must take life-long responsibility for its employees, it may suffer from a commercial disadvantage due to higher employee costs.

    Another way of solving the problem is to return the responsibility to the individual. This means each person must save during his working years to pay for his years of retirement. This does not seem a very fair model since some people have enough trouble paying for their daily life without trying to earn extra to cover their retirement years. This means the government might have to step in to care for the poor.

    In addition, the government could take responsibility for the care of the elderly. This could be financed through government taxes to increase the level of pensions. Furthermore, some institutions should be created for senior citizens, which can help provide a comfortable life for them. Unfortunately, as the present situation in our country shows, this is not a truly viable answer. The government can seldom afford to care for the elderly, particularly when it is busy trying to care for the young.

    One further solution is that the government or social organizations establish some working places especially for the elderly where they are independent.

    To sum up, all these options have advantages and disadvantages. Therefore, it is reasonable to expect that some combination of these options may be needed to provide the care we hope to give to our elderly generations.

    "Don't answer it," I said to Sam. Our door in the inner city is constantly knocked on; our previous door in the suburbs rarely so. Sam has a full-time job and cannot spend his days answering requests to fix leaking baths or carry cash to the bank.

    Sam opened the door and it was Mervin.

    "There's a bird on the second floor," he said. "It's in trouble."

    Sam followed Mervin upstairs. Mervin pointed and turned to let Sam look. It was a pigeon, the most common of all birds, the bird most likely to foul (弄脏) your newly washed car. And it wasn't flying away. It was stamping in circles. As Sam bent to look, Mervin coughed, "Number two."

    Sam asked him to repeat that. "Number two," Mervin said. "The pigeon has been sitting in his own number two, and now it's stuck to his foot."

It had rained for five days, and the bird was young. It could have been sheltering in a     wet nest of its own waste, which had then dried on its foot, preventing it from flying away. The pigeon moved in a few more circles. Sam bent to take another look. Mervin said, "All right, then." and walked away.

    "Why does everyone think you must solve the problems around here?" I said to Sam when he returned with his story. "It's a bird. Just leave it on the stairs, and let nature take its course." Sam didn't agree. Then he went to the garage and emptied the cardboard box containing our imported camping mats. He returned with the gray pigeon in the box. He showed the bird to our children and they decided to keep it.

    They put its foot in the warm water bath and got rid of its waste. Immediately the pigeon erupted in a bomb of feathers and began flying.

One Canada, Two Languages

    Canada is one of the few nations in the world to have two official languages: English and French. There are 10 provinces in the country but only one of these—Quebec is known as "French Canada". This is because it was founded by French explorers while British adventurers discovered the rest.

    Canada left the British empire(帝国) in 1867 to become an independent country and English and French have been recognized as the official languages ever since.

    Most people speak English as their first language and the two national television networks broadcast in English throughout the country. Apart from in Quebec and a few places on the east coast, French television is very rare.

    The same goes for traffic signs and menus, for example, outside of Quebec, there are only a few places where you'll see traffic signs in French. In restaurants, it's almost impossible to find French on the menu unless you are in the heartland (中心地带) of French Canada. However, all products sold in Canada must, by law, have labels (标签) and instructions in both languages.

    In Canada's English-speaking provinces, official bilingualism (双语) means that students can choose to complete a special French language course. Under this program, they are taught most of their subjects in French.

    If a student begins the course in kindergarten(幼儿园) or Grade One, it is likely that all their lessons will be in French. However, if they start at junior high school, 25 percent of the teaching will continue to be in English.