Section B
(A)
This book is designed to help you improve your reading comprehension skills by studying 20 minutes a day for 20 days. You’ll start with the basics and move on to more complex reading comprehension and critical thinking strategies.

Please note that although each chapter can be an effective skill builder on its own, it is important that you proceed through this book in order, from Lesson I through Lesson 20. Each lesson builds on skills and ideas discussed in the previous chapters. As you move through this book and your reading skills develop, the passages you read will increase both in length and in complexity.

The book begins with a pretest, which will allow you to see how well you can answer various kinds of reading comprehension questions now, as you begin. When you finish the book, take the posttest to see how much you’ve improved.

The text is divided into four sections, each focusing on a different group of related reading and thinking strategies. These strategies will be outlined at the beginning of each section and then reviewed in a special “putting it all together” final lesson.

Each lesson provides several exercises that allow you to practice the skills you learn. To ensure you’re on the right track, each lesson also provides answers and explanations for all of the practice questions. Additionally, you will find practical suggestions in each chapter for how to continue practicing these skills in your daily life.

The most important thing you can do to improve your reading skills is to become an active reader. The following guidelines and suggestions outlined will familiarize you with active reading techniques. Use these techniques as much as possible as you work your way through the lessons in this book.

65. According to the passage, the pretest aims to __________.
A. tell you where your starting level is B. arouse your interest in using the book
C. illustrate the structure of the text D. introduce the test-taking techniques

66. According to the passage, which of the following is NOT true?
A. Each chapter has an internal relationship with the previous chapter.
B. The texts are arranged in the order of length and complexity.
C. Different reading strategies are listed at the beginning of each section.
D. The author suggests using the book selectively according to readers’ level.

67. What is the author most likely to talk about in the following paragraph?
A. The function of each chapter. B. The outline of each section.
C. The ways to be an active reader. D. The guidelines in using the book.

(B)
The canopy, the upper level of the trees in the rain forest, holds too much of climbing mammals (哺乳动物) of moderately large size, which may include monkeys, cats, civets, and porcupines. Smaller species, including such as nice and small squirrels, are not as common overall in high tropical canopies as they are in most habitats globally.

Small mammals, being warm blooded, suffer hardship in the exposed and uncertain environment of the uppermost trees. Because a small body has more surface area per unit of weight than a large one of similar shape, it gains or loses heat more rapidly. Thus, in the trees,where protection from heat and cold may be scarce and conditions may be changeable, a small mammal may have trouble maintaining its body temperature.

Small size makes it easy to scramble among twigs (嫩枝) and branches in the canopy for insects, flowers, or fruit, but small mammals are defeated, in the competition for food, by large ones that have their own strategies for browsing among food-rich twigs. The weight of an ape hanging below a branch draws the leaves down so that fruit-bearing leaves drop toward the ape’s face. Walking or leaping species of a similar or even larger size access the outer twigs either by breaking and gaining the whole branch or by catching hold of hard branches with the feet or tail and picking food with their hands.

Small climbing animals may reach twigs readily, but it is harder for them than for large climbing animals to cross the wide gaps from one tree top to the next that typify the high canopy. A gibbon can hurl itself farther than a mouse can: it can achieve a running start, and it can more effectively use a branch as a springboard (跳板). The forward movement of a small animal is seriously reduced by the air friction (摩擦) against the relatively large surface area of its body. 

68. Which of the following questions does the passage answer?
A. How is the rain forest different from other habitats?
B. How does an animal’s body size influence an animal’s need for food?  
C. Why does rain forest provide an unusual variety of food for animals?
D. Why do large animals tend to dominate the upper canopy of the rain forest?

69. According to paragraph 2, which of the following is true about the small mammals in the
rain forest?
A. They have body shapes that are adapted to life in the canopy.
B. They prefer the temperature and climate of the canopy to that of other environments.
C. They have difficulty with the changing conditions in the canopy.
D. They use the trees of the canopy for protection from heat and cold.

70. When discussing animal size in paragraph 3, the author indicates that ________.
A. small animals require appropriately more food than larger animals do
B. a large animal’s size is an advantage in obtaining food in the canopy
C. small animals are often attacked by larger animals in the rain forest
D. small animals and large animals are equally good at obtaining food in the canopy

71. According to the last paragraph, what makes jumping from one tree crown to another
difficult for small mammals?
A. Air friction against the body surface.
B. The thickness of the branches.
C. The dense leaves of the tree top.
D. The inability to use the front feet as hands.