猫总能引起人们的极大兴趣。它们可以对人友好，充满柔情。但是，它们又有自己神秘的生活方式。它们从不像狗和马一样变得那么顺从。结果是人们已经学会尊重猫的独立性。在它们的一生中，大多数猫都对人存有戒心。最使我们感兴趣的一件事情就是一种通俗的信念——猫有九条命。显然，这种说法里面包含着许多真实性。猫在跌落时能够大难不死是有事实作为依据的。

最近，纽约动物医疗中心对132只猫进行了为期5个月的综合研究。所有这些猫都有一个共同的经历：它们都曾从高层建筑上摔下来过，但只有其中的8只猫死于震荡或跌伤。当然，纽约是进行这种有趣的试验的一个理想的地方，因为那里根本不缺乏高楼大厦，有的是高层的窗槛从上往下坠落。有一只叫萨伯瑞娜的猫从32层楼上掉下来，但只摔断了一颗牙。“猫就像训练有素的跳伞队员，”一位医生说。看起来，猫跌落的距离越长，它们就越不会伤害自己。在一个长长的跌落过程中，它们可以达到每小时60英里甚至更快的速度。在高速下落中，猫有时间放松自己。它们伸展开四肢，就像飞行中的松鼠一样。这样就加大了空气阻力，并减小了它们着地时冲击力带来的震动。

Summary writing摘要写作

In not more than 80 words describe the study of cats made by the New York Animal Medical Centre. Do not include anything that is not in the last paragraph.

Answer these questions in note form to get your points:

1 How many cats did the New York Animal Medical Centre make a study of?

2 What had all these cats done?

3 How many of these cats had been killed?

4 What happened to a cat called Sabrina?

5 What do cats do when falling at speeds of 60 miles an hour or more?

6 What effect does this have?

Vocabulary词汇

Give another word or phrase to replace the following words as they are used in the passage: affectionate (1. 2); as a result (1. 4); remain (1. 5); there is no shortage of (11. 11-12); behave (1. 13); injure (1. 14); increases (1. 16); reduces (1. 16).

Composition作文

Write an account of cats as pets. Expand the following into a paragraph of about 150 words.

Human beings like to keep dogs and ... Dogs are ... , but cats like to ... Cats are especially lovable when they are still kittens. As kittens they ... That's how they learn to ... A lot of people keep cats so they ... As kittens grow into cats, they like to ... They like regular meal times and enjoy ... However, they also ... During the day time and at night they like to ... They often have fights with other cats. Sometimes during the night ... Cats are very clean animals. You often see them ...Human beings ... (88 words)

Letter writing书信写作

You borrowed a book from a friend but your baby tore some of the pages. Write a letter of about 80 words offering to replace it. Supply a suitable Introduction and Conclusion. Use the following ideas to write the Purpose: very sorry for what has happened --- had left book on low table ---- baby got hold of it ---- tore several pages ---- you have bought another book and are sending it.

Key structures关键句型