姜紅偉　陳　娟

(A)

Can Fish Hear Sounds?

魚能聽到聲音嗎？

我們都知道，魚能聽到聲音。然而你看到過魚的耳朵嗎?其實，科學(xué)家們一直在研究海洋中的奇特現(xiàn)象，例如：魚的耳朵在哪里；聲音在水里怎樣傳播；魚類的聲音所傳達的信息是什么等等。那么在這些問題中，哪些已經(jīng)了解清楚，哪些還有待于進一步探索呢?

People want to know how fish can hear sounds without ears. But fish do have ears. We cannot see the ears because they are inside their bodies, and they hear very well with them. Their listening is much better than mans.

Many water animals make noises while they are doing something. Sounds are real words of them. By sounds, they know where they are and which way to go. When they face danger or they find food, they always make sounds to tell others the good news.

A new field in science is to learn the meanings of underwater sounds. People use same skill1 that they have used in learning the secrets of birds calls2. But this method is more difficult to use in the sea because many of the sea animals cannot be easily followed and studied. We have no any other better way to study the sounds in the sea. Perhaps the meaning3 of the calls of the sea animals will be known more clearly someday. It will be useful for us to learn the secrets of the sounds in the sea.

Notes:

1.skill: n. 技能 2.birds calls: 鳥鳴

3.meaning: n. 意義

True or False

1. Fish have ears outside their bodies.

2. Studying fish sounds is more difficult than that of birds.

3. Fish can make sounds to tell others the danger they meet.

4. We know only a little of fish noises up till now.

5. If you are clever, you will know the secrets of the sounds in the sea.

(B)

The Mobiles1

會動的雕塑

不同形狀的金屬片，色彩斑斕，懸垂于纖細的鐵絲上，微風(fēng)吹來，這些小片片舞動起來，發(fā)出悅耳的叮當(dāng)聲，令人心曠神怡，你見過這種會“跳舞”的雕塑嗎?你知道它們是由什么演變而來的嗎?

Pictures hang on the hall. They are flat2. You can touch a picture. But you cannot feel the shape of anything in it. Everything in the picture stays in the same place. It cannot move. Sculptures3 have shapes. You can feel them. You can turn them or walk around them. But sculptures cannot move, either.

In todays world, everything seems to be moving. We have fast cars and airplanes. Man is going into space. We keep learning new things. There are more new things in the world of art now.

Mobiles are a modern kind of sculpture. They are made from such things like thin pieces of metal, paper, or wood. The pieces may be of any shape. Most mobiles hang from wires or string4. As the air moves, the mobile moves. Each piece moves by itself.

Mobiles are found in many art museums5. This sculpture began in America. But, artists in many parts of the world now make mobiles.

Notes:

1.mobiles: n. 浮動雕塑 2.flat: adj. 平面的

3.sculpture: n. 雕塑 4.wires or string: 鐵絲或繩子

5.museum: n. 博物館

1. Today, everything seems to be ____.

A. singing B. dancing C. moving D. hanging

2. What is man doing now? ____.

A. Man is learning new songs B. Man is moving slowly in cars

C. Man is going into space D. Man is riding horses

3. The story mainly tells us that ____.

A. cars and airplanes move fast today

B. mobiles are a new kind of sculpture

C. flat pictures have to hang on walls

D. people will not buy pictures

Key(1)