We now think of chocolate as sweet, but once it was bitter. We think of it as a candy, but once it was a medicine. Today, chocolate can be a hot drink, a frozen dessert, or just a snack. Sometimes it’s an ingredient(配料) in the main course of a meal. Mexicans make a hot chocolate sauce called mole and pour it over chicken. The Mexicans also eat chocolate with spices(香料) like chili peppers.
Chocolate is a product of the tropical cacao tree. The beans taste so bitter that even the monkeys say “Ugh!” and run away. Workers must first dry and then roast the beans. This removes the bitter taste.
The word “chocolate” comes from a Mayan word. The Mayas were an ancient people who once lived in Mexico. They valued the cacao tree. Some used the beans for money, while others crushed them to make a drink.
When the Spaniards came to Mexico in the sixteenth century, they started drinking cacao too.Because the drink was strong and bitter, they thought it was a medicine. No one had the idea of adding sugar. The Spaniards took some beans back to Europe and opened cafes. Wealthy people drank cacao and said it was good for the digestion.
In the 1800s, the owner of a chocolate factory in England discovered that sugar removed the bitter taste of cacao. It quickly became a cheap and popular drink. Soon afterwards, a factory made the first solid block of sweetened chocolate. Later on, another factory mixed milk and chocolate together. People liked the taste of milk chocolate even better.
Besides the chocolate candy bar, one of the most popular American snacks is the chocolate chip cookie. Favorite desserts are chocolate cream pie and, of course, an ice cream sundae with hot fudge sauce.
1. It was ________that discovered sugar could remove the bitter taste of cacao.
A. The workers in the chocolate factory B. The Spaniards
C. The people in England D. The owner of a chocolate factory
2. According to the passage which of the following statements is true?
A. Nobody had the idea of adding sugar until the sixteenth century.
B. The word “chocolate” comes from a Mexican word.
C. The beans taste so bitter that even the monkeys like them.
D. Workers must dry and roast the beans to remove the bitter taste.
3. The Spaniards think that cacao was a medicine because________
A. it was strong and bitter. B. it was good for digestion.
C. it cured man’s diseases. D. it was a kind of drink for good health.
4. Which is the right time order of the events regarding chocolate?
a. Chocolate became a cheap and popular drink in England.
b. A factory made the first solid block of sweetened chocolate.
c. The Spaniards started drinking cacao.
d. It was found that sugar removed the bitter taste of cacao.
e. A factory mixed milk and chocolate together.
A. a-b-c-d-e B. c-d-e-b-a C. c-d-a-b-e D. c-d-b-e-a
5. It can be inferred from the passage that ________.
A. chocolate can be a hot drink, a frozen dessert, or a candy bar
B. Mexicans like chocolate very much
C. chocolate is a product of the cacao tree
D. people liked the taste of chocolate mixed with milk
When Charles Strattion was five, he stopped growing. His mother took him to see the famous showman, P.T.Barnum, and thought a small person would be the perfect addition to his show. He hired Charles’ parents along with him, and they traveled around the world together.
He gave the two-foot-tall Charles a new name, general Tom Thumb. He taught Tom how to sing, dance, act, and tell jokes. When he felt Tom was ready to perform on stage, he made up ads. To stir up great interest, he said that Tom was eleven years old and had come from England.
During the show, Tom fought battles pretendedly with tall people. He also danced upon a wooden plate held by a person who was eight feet tall.
Tom’s act was very popular and brought in a lot of money. By the time Tom was an adult, he had grown very rich. He had become a billionaire at the age of twenty-five.
Fortunately for Tom, Mr. Barnum added more little people to his show, and Tom became lucky in love as well. One of the little people was Lavinia Warren, a school teacher. Tom was able to win her love, and they married.
The ceremony and reception were the talk of the town. They were attended by many rich and famous people and by about two thousand guests. Crowds filled the streets of New York to have a look at their tiny wedding carriage. The couple even met with President Abraham Lincoln on their honeymoon, just before going to live in Tom’s house in Connecticut.
Their wedding, which took place during the Civil War, provided a welcome escape from the sad problems of war. Not willing to let this bit of sunshine fade, communities throughout the country sponsored “Tom Thumb” weddings. In these weddings, small boys and girls, all dressed up, went through marriage ceremony for fun.“the talk of the town” means _________ .
| A．they were in the newspaper |
| B．people spread mean rumors about them |
| C．they were the most popular things happening |
| D．they were discussed in a city meeting |
What does the author think about Tom Thumb’s wedding?
| A．People gave it too much of their attention. |
| B．It helped people cheer up in a dark time. |
| C．It was funny and ridiculous. |
| D．Tom and Lavinia were stupid. |
Which of the following is the best clue to the fact that Tom was smart?
| A．He became a billionaire at twenty-five. |
| B．He learned how to sing, dance, and act at a very young age. |
| C．He met with President Lincoln during his honeymoon. |
| D．He married a school teacher. |
It was very funny when Tom danced on a wooden plate held by a person who was eight feet tall because ________ .
| A．the wooden plate would make it sound as if Tom were tap dancing |
| B．it made Tom feel taller |
| C．the eight-foot-tall man was the only tall person Tom trusted |
| D．the difference between them would make Tom look even smaller |
What does the author imply in the last paragraph?
| A．Weddings always make people feel full of sunshine. |
| B．People are always disappointed during wartime. |
| C．Entertainment can serve an important purpose. |
| D．People should be married even if they are small. |
Four hundred years ago, an Italian scientist named Galileo Galilei became the first person to see the craters（环形山） on the moon. Galileo was one of the first people to use a telescope to study the sky. Since then, telescopes have become the most important tool used by astronomers. Scientists never stop finding new ways to make these instruments more powerful. In the next several years, two new telescopes with different purposes are to be used.
One of the telescopes, called Pan-STARRS, could save humans from dying out. Nick Kaiser, a scientist who works on the project, says the Pan-STARRS telescope has been designed to find “90 percent of all killer asteroids(小行星) near Earth”.
Pan-STARRS, like most telescopes, uses mirrors and lenses(透镜) to provide pictures of outer space. Giant mirrors are used to “gather” light. They reflect the light onto the lens of a camera, which can then record the image.
When completed, Pan-STARRS will include four telescopes which will be put on top of a mountain on the Hawaiian island of Maui. Only one telescope is in place and working now. Each telescope will take pictures of one patch of sky for about 30 seconds, and then move on to another patch. Every night, each telescope will take pictures of about 1,000 patches. Every week, each telescope will have photographed the whole sky.
Each of the four telescopes will take pictures of the same patches of sky. One telescope, working alone, may sometimes incorrectly show an asteroid. If there are three other telescopes working, astronomers can use them to see if there really is an asteroid coming our way. By using four telescopes instead of one, scientists hope to get a better picture of space. If a giant asteroid was identified, astronomers would try to break it up long before it reached Earth. Galileo Galilei is mentioned to ____________.
| A．tell us the history of telescopes |
| B．introduce the topic of the passage |
| C．show people his contributions |
| D．tell us about the craters on the moon |
For what purpose is Pan-STARRS designed?
| A．To find more asteroids around Earth. |
| B．To help scientists know Earth better. |
| C．To find killer asteroids coming towards Earth. |
| D．To learn about asteroids in outer space. |
What is paragraph 3 mainly about?
| A．The use of mirrors in a telescope. |
| B．Why Pan-STARRS is different. |
| C．How telescope “gather” light |
| D．How a telescope works. |
How many patches is the whole sky divided into when Pan-STARRS is working?
| A．1,000 | B．7,000 | C．21,000 | D．28,000 |
The four telescopes will take pictures of the same patches of sky because _____.
| A．one telescope often takes unclear pictures |
| B．one telescope may provide incorrect information |
| C．information from just one telescope is usually incorrect |
| D．no information is allowed to be identified based on single information |
The Global Heritage Fund organization recently released a list of cultural treasures in the developing world that are in danger of disappearing. These“On the Verge” places face many threats. They included war, development pressures, stealing and misuse by visitors. The Global Heritage Fund says these places are important because they are records of our human civilization. And the group says countries can learn to use these treasures to help support responsible development in the future.
One such place is the town of Lamu. Lamu was once a very important trading center in East Africa. This ancient city became part of the United Nations Heritage list in 2001. But it still faces threats. For example, a modern port might be built nearby.
Other endangered places include Ani, a city in Turkey, the town of Maluti in India, the ancient city of Ninevah in northern Iraq, the Sans-Souci palace in Haiti, and the former capital of Ayutthaya in Thailand.
The Global Heritage Fund is nonprofit organization based in California. The group says it only focuses on developing countries which often have few resources to protect places of cultural importance. And, other major cultural organizations often pay more attention to protecting places in the developed world. For example, the fund points out the United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization has forty-five World Heritage places in Italy. UNESCO has forty-two in Spain. But Peru, famous for its ancient Incan buildings, has only nine World Heritage places. Guatemala has only three.
The Global Heritage Fund says its new report tries to place a value on cultural places so that they can also be considered as economic resources. It estimates that by 2025 these places of cultural importance could produce one hundred billion dollars a year in income for developing countries. The underlined part “On the Verge” in Paragraph 1 is used to show the places are _____.
| A．popular | B．famous |
| C．endangered | D．dangerous |
The town of Lamu faces danger from ________.
| A．development pressures | B．stealing |
| C．misuse by visitors | D．a war |
We can know that The Global Heritage Fund organization mainly _____.
| A．protects places of cultural importance in developing countries |
| B．protects places of cultural importance in developed countries |
| C．provide resources to protect cultural places in every country |
| D．helps people know the importance of protecting cultural treasures |
Which of the following countries has the fewest World Heritage places?
| A．Italy | B．Guatemala |
| C．Peru | D．Spain |
According to The Global Heritage Fund organization, saving the places of cultural
importance_______.
| A．has attracted a lot of attention worldwide |
| B．will start to benefit developing countries in 2015 |
| C．is mainly to increase income of developing countries |
| D．can help developing countries make money out of them |
Trees should only be pruned (修剪) when there is a good and clear reason for doing so and , the number of such reasons is small. Pruning involves the cutting away of overgrown and unwanted branches, and the inexperienced gardener can be encouraged by the thought that more damage results from doing it unnecessarily than from leaving the tree to grow in its own way.
First, pruning may be done to make sure that trees have desired shape or size. The object may be to get a tree of the right height, and at the same time to help the growth of small side branches, which will thicken its appearance or give it a special shape. Secondly, pruning may be done to make the tree healthier. You may cut out diseased or dead wood, or branches that are rubbing against each other and thus cause wounds. The health of a tree may be encouraged by removing branches that are blocking up the center and so preventing the free movement of air.
One result of pruning is that an open wound is left on the tree and this provides an easy entry for disease , but it is a wound that will heal (愈合). Often there is a race between the healing and the disease as to whether the tree will live or die, so that there is a period when the tree is at risk. It should be the aim of every gardener to reduce that risk of death as far as possible. It is important to make the area, which has been pruned, smooth and clean, for healing will be slowed down by roughness. You should allow the cut surface to dry for a few hours and then paint it with one of the materials available from garden shops produced especially for this purpose. Pruning is usually done in winter , for then you can see the shape of the tree clearly without interference (妨碍) from the leaves and also it is very unlikely that the cuts you make will bleed. If this does happen, it is, of course, impossible to paint them properly .．Why should pruning be done?
| A．To make the tree grow taller. | B．To improve the shape of the tree. |
| C．to get rid of the small ranches . | D．To make the small branches thicker. |
．Trees become unhealthy if the gardener__________.
| A．giving a tree a special shape and a definite height |
| B．removing small side branches and making a tree look less thick |
| C．allowing too many branches to grow in the middle |
| D．having a tree surrounded by many other trees |
．Why is a special material painted on the tree?
| A．To help a wound to dry. | B．to cover a rough surface. |
| C．To make a wound smooth. | D．To prevent disease entering a wound. |
．A good gardener prunes a tree _________ .
| A．several times throughout the year | B．as quickly as possible |
| C．occasionally when necessary | D．regularly every winter |
．What was the author’s purpose when writing this passage?
| A．To discuss different methods of pruning. |
| B．To introduce some common knowledge of pruning. |
| C．To explain how trees develop disease. |
| D．To give practical instruction for pruning a tree. |
That “Monday morning feeling” could be a crushing pain in the chest which leaves you sweating and gasping for breath. Recent research from Germany and Italy shows that heart attacks are more common on Monday mornings and doctors blame the stress of returning to work after the weekend break.
The risk of having a heart attack on any given day should be one in seven, but a six-year study helped by researchers at the Free University of Berlin of more than 2,600 Germans showed that the average person had a 20 percent higher chance of having a heart attack on a Monday than on any other day.
Working Germans are particularly not protected against attack, with a 33 percent higher risk at the beginning of the working week. Non-workers, by comparison, appear to be no more at risk on a Monday than any other day.
A study of 11,000 Italians proved 8 am on a Monday morning as the most stressful time for the heart, and both studies showed that Sunday is the least stressful day, with fewer heart attacks in both countries.
The findings could lead to a better understanding of what is the immediate cause of heart attacks, according to Dr Stefan Willich of the Free University. “We know a lot about long-term risk factors such as smoking and cholesterol（胆固醇）but we don’t know what actually causes heart attacks, so we can’t give clear advice on how to prevent them,” he said.
Monday mornings have a double helping of stress for the working body as it makes a rapid change from sleep to activity, and from the relaxing weekend to the pressures of work.
“When people get up, their blood pressure and heart rate go up and there are hormonal（内分泌）changes in their bodies,” Willich explained. “All these things can have an unfavourable effect in the blood system and increase the risk of a clot（血凝块）in the arteries（动脉）which will cause a heart attack.”
“When people return to work after a weekend off, the pace of their life changes. They have a higher workload, more stress, more anger and more physical activity,” said Willich.．Monday morning feeling, as this passage shows, .
| A．is not so serious as people thought |
| B．is harmful to working people in Germany and Italy |
| C．is the first killer in Germany and Italy. |
| D．is created by researchers in Germany and Italy |
．To protect people from suffering from heart attack, doctors have paid much attention to .
| A．people’s working time | B．people’s living place |
| C．people’s diet and lifestyle | D．people’s nationalities |
．It can be learned from this passage that heart attack has nothing to do with.
| A．blood pressure | B．heart rate | C．hormonal changes | D．blood group |
．If the researchers give us some advice to avoid Monday morning feeling, what might it be?
| A．Stop working on Monday | B．Create a pleasant working environment |
| C．Get up late on Monday morning | D．Go to work with a doctor |
.Which of the following is true according to the passage?
| A．The risk of having heart attacks on Monday mornings is the same as on any other day of the week to non-workers |
| B．33% of the Germans have heart diseases, therefore heart attacks are more common in Germany than in any other country. |
| C．20%of the Italians appear to have higher possibility of having heart attacks. |
| D．Non-smokers are more likely to have heart attacks on Sundays. |