You may have seen a talking parrot on a TV show, in a movie, or even in someone's home. The parrot has learned to copy sounds that people make. Birds are not the only animals that can copy the noises they hear. Dolphins, bats, and some apes also copy sounds. Now we can add elephants to this list of copycats. Dr. Joyce Poole is a zoologist. She studies the sounds of elephants. While she was in Kenya, she would hear strange noises made by Mlaika after sunset. Mlaika was a 10-year-old African elephant. Mlaika lived near a highway. Dr. Poole says, "I could not tell the difference between Mlaika's call and the distant truck noise." She and other scientists studied Mlaika's sounds. It turned out that Mlaika was copying the sounds of the trucks driving by. Why would Mlaika copy trucks that she heard going by on the highway? Animals that are able to copy sounds may enjoy practicing new sounds. When they are kept outside of their natural environment, they may copy unusual sounds. That may be why an elephant would copy the sound of a truck. "Mlaika was not the only copycat elephant," Dr. Poole says. Calimero is a 23-year-old male African elephant. He spent 18 years with two female Asian elephants. Asian elephants make chirping sounds (sounds made by birds) to talk with one another. African elephants usually do not make chirping sounds. But Calimero now does. He is copying his Asian elephant friends. Dr. Poole says that elephants need to form bonds with their family and friends. She says, "They make sounds to communicate with each other. When they are separated, they use sounds to keep in contact." Parrots, dolphins, humans, and elephants show that being a copycat is one way that animals and people make new friends and keep old ones. Why is Calimero mentioned in the passage? A) To clarify the meaning of copycat elephants. B) To show the cleverness of African elephants. C) To add another example of copycat elephants. D) To introduce a special life skill of Asian elephants.
C
Swiss International Air lines(SWISS)will introduce daily non-stop flights between Beijing and Zurich. The new service to the financial center of Switzerland is expected to start on Dec.12,2012,which marks an expansion of services for the Chinese market.In May 2008,SWISS already started direct flights to Shanghai. The first flight to Europe has a special price of 2,680 yuan,which does not include taxes and fuel surcharges. "I am delighted the airlines of Switzerland can contribute to growing economic ties between the two countries with new daily flights scheduled,"says SWISS CEO Harry Hohmeister. "We are witnessing a growing demand for tourist travel in both directions." Apart from Shanghai and Hong Kong,Beijing will be the third Chinese destination for SWISS. The new route marks a return to Beijing for SWISS:the airlines previously flew to the Chinese capital as late as June 2003. SWISS will initially operate its new daily non-stop Beijing-Zurich flights with an Airbus A340-300(219 seats)and Airbu: A330-300(236 seats)air-crafts. The modem SWISS business class offers the most suitable comforts since the seats can be adjusted into a two-meter-long bed. Seating firmness and softness can be adjusted thanks to air cushions. With the introduction of the new SWISS service from Beijing,the Lufthansa Group Airlines may attract more Chinese customers when traveling to Europe. SWISS.Lufthansa and Austrian Airlines already connect five Chinese cities with Europe and beyond. This airlines group is the leading European airlines network in the Chinese market. In the summer of 2011,the Lufthansa Group operated 78 weekly flights from China including Hong Kong to Europe. SWISS is part of the Lufthansa Group as well as a member of the Star Alliance,the world's biggest airlines grouping. What is the passage mainly about? A) SWISS already started direct flights to Shanghai. B) SWISS adds direct flights from Beijing to Europe. C) Beijing will be the third Chinese destination for SWISS. D) SWISS is the world's biggest airlines grouping.
C
Do you know about a series of books that say they are for dummies? These American selfhelp books have been translated into more than thirtynine languages including Chinese, Arabic, Russian, French, German, Greek and Spanish. "Dummy" is a word for a stupid person. The dummy books are not really for stupid people. They are designed to show people how to do something they may never have tried before, like painting a house or learning a language. The books all say in a funny way that they are for dummies, such as WorldHistoryforDummies, RabbitsforDummies, ChineseCookingforDummies, andWeddingPlanningforDummies. The first such book,DOS forDummies, was published in 1991.It helped people learn how to use the DOS operating system for computers. Since then, more than one hundred and fifty million dummy books have been sold. The dummies.comwebsite explains the idea behind the books. It says that they show that people can be taught to do anything. First they can make fun of ideas that are difficult to understand. Then they show how the information can be interesting and easy. he publishers say that the books do not provide more information than necessary. They give readers just enough information to do what they want. They say that the dummy books give the best and easiest way to do something. And the books use simple and easy language. There are more than one thousand different dummy books. A report in NewYorkTimessays that the topselling dummy books are those that explain technology and personal finance. The publishers say that the bestselling dummy books are those providing information many people need--like information about diseases,education and cooking. People interested in opera,car repair and wine can also find dummy books to help them. And there are even more dummy books to come. The publishers say that they publish about two hundred new dummy books every year. According to the dummies.comwebsite,people can _ with the help of dummy books. A) do some personal things B) learn any foreign language C) become expert in cooking D) do anything they want
D