Summary专项练习

Summary

专项练习

一、

Original:

My neighbor's children love playing hide-and-seek as all children do, but no one

imagine that a game they played last week would be reported in the local newspaper.

One afternoon, they were playing in the vacant lot down the corner. Young Paul,

who is only five years old, found the perfect place to hide. His sister, Natalie, had shut

her eyes and was counting to ten when Paul noticed the storage mail box at the corner

and

saw

that

the

metal

door

was

standing

open.

The

mailman

had

just

taken

out

several sacks of mail and had carried them to his truck which was standing at the curb

a few feet away. Paul climbed into the storage box and pulled the door closed so hard

that

it

locked.

Soon

realizing

what

he

had

done,

he

became

frightened

and

started

crying. Meanwhile, Natalie was looking for him everywhere but could not find him. It

was

lucky

that

she

happened

to

pause

at

the

corner

for

a

minute

and

heard

her

brother's cries. She immediately ran to

tell

the

mailman who hurried back from

his

truck to unlock the metal door. Paul was now free, but he had had such a bad scare

that he could not stop

crying. The mailman, however, soon

found a way

of making

him laugh again. He told him that the next time he wanted to hide in a mail box, he

should remember to put a stamp on himself!

Summary:

The children were playing hide-and-seek in a vacant lot one afternoon. Finding

that

the

storage

mailbox

had

been

left

open,

Paul

hid

and

locked

himself

in

it

accidentally. His sister, Natalie, heard his cries and realized where he was hiding, so

she immediately told the mailman to unlock the metal door. After letting him out, the

mailman made him stop crying by telling him to put a stamp on himself the next he

wanted to hide in a mailbox.

二、

Original:

Why do some animals die out?

In the past two hundred years people have caused many kinds of animals to die

out--to become extinct. People keep building houses and factories in fields and woods.

As they spread over the land, they destroy animals' homes. If the animals can't find a

place to live, they die out. Sixteen kinds of Hawaiian birds have become extinct for

this reason. Other animals, such as the Florida Key deer, may soon die out because

they are losing their homes. Hunters have caused some animals to become extinct, too.

In the last century, hunters killed all the passenger pigeons in North America and most

of the buffalos.

Today

they

are

fast

killing

off

hawks

and

wolves.

Pollution

is

killing

many

animals today, too. As rivers become polluted, fish are poisoned. Many die. Birds that

eat the poisoned fish can't lay strong, healthy eggs. New birds aren’t born. So far, no

animals have become extinct because of pollution. But some, such as the bald eagle

and the brown pelican, have become rare and may die out.

Scientists think that some animals become extinct because of changes in climate.

The places where they live become hotter or cooler, drier or wetter. The food that they

eat cannot grow there any more. If the animals can't learn to eat something else, they

die. Dinosaurs may have died out for this reason.

Summary:

In the past two hundred years, many kinds of animals have died out. There are

several

reasons

for it. First, people keep building houses and factories

in fields

and

woods, which destroys animals' homes. Then, hunters' killing has also caused some

animals to become extinct. Besides, some animals aren't able to bear strong offspring

and nor do they have enough food to eat because of pollution and climatic changes.

三、

Original:

Of all the games held

throughout

Greece, those staged at

Olympia in

honor of

Zeus are the most famous. The Games, like all Greek games, were an intrinsic part of

a religious festival. Held every four years between August 6 and September 19, they

occupied such an important place in Greek life that time was measured by the interval

between

them

–

an

Olympiad.

Although

the

first

Olympic

champion

listed

in

the

records was one Coroebus of Elis, a cook, who won the sprint race in 776 BC, it is

generally accepted that the Games were probably at least 500 years old at that time.

According to one legend, they were founded by Heracles, son of Alcmene.

The Games were held at Olympia in the city-state of Elis, on a track about 32

meters

(35

yards)

wide.

The

racing

length

was

one

stade,

a

distance

of

about

192

meters (210 yards) which was one length of the track. At the meeting in 776 BC, there

was

apparently

only

one

event,

the

stade,

but

other

events

were

added

over

the

ensuing

decades.

In

724

BC

a

two-length

race,

diaulos,

roughly

similar

to

the

400-meter race, was included and four years later, the dolichos, a long-distance race

possibly to be compared to the modern 1500- or even 5000-meter event, was added .

wresting and the pentathlon were introduced in 708BC. The latter was an all-around

competition

consisting

of

five

events

–

the

long

jump,

javelin

throw,

discus

throw,

foot race, and wresting.

Boxing

was

introduced

in

688

BC,

and

in

680

a

chariot

race.

In

648,

the

pancratium, a kind of all-strength, or no-hold-barred, wresting was included. Kicking

and hitting were allowed; only biting and gouging (thrusting a finger ot thumb into an

opponent’s

eye)

were

forbidden.

Between

632

and

616

BC,

events

for

boys

were

introduced. And from time to time, further events were added including contests for

fully armed soldiers, for heralds, and for trumpeters. The program must have been as

varied as that of the modern Olympics, although the athletics (track and field) events

were limited: there was no high jumping in any form and no individual field event,

except in the pentathlon.

Until the 77th Olympiad (472 BC) all of the contests took place on one day; later

they

were

spread,

with,

perhaps,

some

fluctuations,

over

four

days,

with

a

fifth

devoted

to

the

closing

ceremony

presentation

of

prizes

and

a

banquet

for

the

champions. Sources generally agree that women were not allowed as competitors or,

except

for

the

priestess

of

Demeter,

as

spectators.

In

most

events,

the

athletes

participated in the nude.

The

Olympic

Games

were

originally

restricted

to

free-born

Greeks.

The

competitors, including those who came from the Greek colonies, were amateur in the

sense

that

the

only

prize

was

a

wreath

or

garland.

The

athletes

underwent

a

most

rigorous

of

supervised

training,

however,

and

eventually,

the

contestants

were

true