Why do men die earlier than women? The latest research makes it known that the reason could be that men’s hearts go into rapid decline when they reach middle age.
The largest study of the effects of ageing on the heart has found that women’s longevity may be linked to the fact that their hearts do not lose their pumping power with age.
“We have found that the power of the male heart falls by 20-25 percent between 18 and 70 years of age,” said the head of the study, David Goldspink of Liverpool John Moores University in the UK.
“Within the heart there are millions of cells that enable it to beat. Between the age of 20 and 70, one-third of those cells die and are not replaced in men,” said Goldspink. “This is part of the ageing process.”
What surprises scientists is that the female heart sees very little loss of these cells. A healthy 70-year-old woman’s heart could perform almost as well as a 20-year-old one’s.
“This gender difference might just explain why women live longer than men,” said Goldspink. They studied more than 250 healthy men and women between the ages of 18 and 80, focusing on healthy persons to remove the confusing influence of disease. “The team has yet to find why ageing takes a greater loss on the male heart,” said Goldspink.
The good news is that men can improve the health of their heart with regular exercise. Goldspink stressed that women also need regular exercise to prevent their leg muscles becoming smaller and weaker as they age.The underlined word “longevity” in the second paragraph probably refers to “________”.
| A．health | B．long life | C．ageing | D．effect |
The text mainly talks about ________.
| A．men’s heart cells | B．women’s ageing process、 |
| C．the gender difference | D．hearts and long life |
according to the text, the UK scientists have known that ________.
| A．women have more cells than men when they are born |
| B．women can replace the cells that enable the heart to beat |
| C．the female heart loses few of the cells with age |
| D．women never lose their pumping power with age |
If you want to live longer, you should ________.
| A．enable your heart to beat much faster |
| B．find out the reason for ageing |
| C．exercise regularly to keep your heart healthy |
| D．prevent your cells from being lost |
We can know from the passage that ________.
| A．the reason why ageing takes a greater loss on the male heart has been found out |
| B．scientists are on the way to finding out why the male heart loses more of the cells |
| C．the team has done something to prevent the male from suffering the greater loss |
| D．women over 70 could lose more heart cells than those at the age of 20 |
World Reading Day was set up by the UNESCO in 1995 to encourage people, especially teenagers, to discover the pleasure of reading. It is also the day to honor great writers, for example, William Shakespeare, born or dead on that day.
Many countries celebrated World Reading Day. Take the UK as an example, on that day, millions of schoolchildren can buy book of special price, a much lower price than usual, in any bookstore. It has been done every year since 1998. World Reading Day 2010 in the UK will take place on Thursday 4th March. Please note that this date applies to the UK and Ireland only. The goal is so well set in schools there that they want to make sure that the Day happens in term time to really make the most of this opportunity to celebrate books and reading. Most other countries hold World Reading Day on 23 rd April every year.
World Reading Day is also celebrated in China. Chinese former premier Wen Jiabao, an avid reader, does lots of reading every day though he is very busy. On World Reading Day 2009 he encouraged citizens to do more reading. Wen suggested that young people should spend more time reading. “Books cannot change the world, but people can change the world by changing themselves through reading.”
Reading can benefit people a lot. Reading helps us to follow the latest developments of science and technology. Reading gives us information about other cultures and places of the world. Reading is also one of the most important ways to learn a foreign language like English.
“Reading makes a full man.” (Bacon, 1597) Books, magazines, newspapers and other kinds of reading materials can help us to know more about the outside world and perfect us. Therefore, it is necessary for us to spend time on reading every day.Which of the following statements about World Reading Day is TURE?
| A．It was set up to encourage people to learn English. |
| B．China also celebrates it on 4th March every year. |
| C．It is also the same day as some great writers were born or dead. |
| D．Only since 1998 has the UK begun to celebrate it. |
An avid reader is a person who________.
| A．loves reading | B．never reads |
| C．does little reading | D．hates reading |
According to the passage, reading can help people EXCEPT________.
| A．learn a foreign language better |
| B．know more about culture |
| C．improve their memory greatly |
| D．know more about the outside world |
What’s the best title for the passage?
| A．World Reading Day in the UK. |
| B．Reading makes a full man. |
| C．World Reading Day in China. |
| D．World Reading Day and Reading. |
An English saying goes: “All work and no play makes Jack a dull boy.” That means we should relax after a day’s hard work or we’ll be unhealthy.
Many students know that if they want to get ideal jobs with good salaries, they must do well in high school so they can enter good universities. Therefore, they spend all day studying without time to relax.
However, not all students can go to top universities even if they work very hard. Students are pressurized by parents and teachers who are just concerned about their studies and exam scores while ignoring their hobbies and individual differences. As a result, students are forces to work harder and harder. Furthermore, there is pressure coming from students themselves. They realize they have a slim chance of getting into a top university as competition is fierce. So, they put a lot of stress on themselves and stay in a nervous state day after day. If they keep it up, they’ll suffer illnesses; both psychological and physical.
What students need is relaxation. This doesn’t mean that they should give up their ambitions and stop studying hard. It means “work while you work, play while you play”. If you can do this, you will improve your health greatly. You’ll feel yourself suddenly fresh, just like recovering from a terrible illness. You’ll find that your studies are not a burden anymore.The underlined part in the first paragraph might mean all the following EXCEPT______.
| A．too much work may bring trouble to anyone |
| B．overwork without rest is sure to make one foolish |
| C．Jack becomes dull because he works too much |
| D．Anyone who doesn’t work will break down |
What trouble have both the parents and teachers brought to the students?
| A．They don’t know how to let the students relax. |
| B．They give too much burden for them to bear. |
| C．They don’t love those who work the hardest. |
| D．They fail to understand what the students need most. |
What causes the student’ pressure from themselves?
| A．That they don’t know how to get top universities. |
| B．That they want to relax but have no chance. |
| C．That they fail to relax themselves during their work. |
| D．That they think too much about the result of their work. |
What is the passage mainly about?
| A．What to do to relax yourself. |
| B．The serous situation for the poor students. |
| C．Some problems caused by the misunderstanding of learning. |
| D．How to be a healthy and successful learner. |
volcanic eruption in Iceland has sent ash across northern Europe. Airlines have stopped or changed the flights across the Atlantic Ocean, leaving hundreds of passengers stuck in airports.
Grimsvotn is one of the largest and most active volcanoes in Europe. What makes Grimsvotn different is that it lies under a huge glacier（冰川）of ice up to 12 metres thick. The hot volcano heats up the ice above it, which then forms a layer of water between glacier and the volcano, keeping it stable. As the water flows out from under the glacier, the pressure lifts. The lava from the volcano then comes up to the surface. This is exactly what is happening today.
Now airlines have to make changes to their flights so as not to fly through the clouds of volcanic ash. According to KLM, one of Europe’s biggest airlines, airplanes cannot go under the cloud or over it. Going through the cloud can result in ash getting stuck in the airplane’s engines, causing damage to the plane.
The eruption has also caused problems for animals in Iceland. The volcano left ash and sharp, glass-like rocks all over the countryside. Farmers are keeping their animals inside to stop them eating ash-covered grass or the sharp objects.What makes Grimsvotn different from other volcanoes?
| A．It is under the sea. |
| B．It is below ice. |
| C．It is the largest volcano. |
| D．Its lava affects the airlines. |
What keeps Grimsvotn still?
| A．The water pressure. |
| B．The thick glacier. |
| C．The slow flow of water. |
| D．The low water temperature. |
Which of the following is the result of the volcano eruption?
| A．People stop traveling in Europe. |
| B．Farmers have lost many of their animals. |
| C．Airlines suffer from the loss of planes. |
| D．It becomes dangerous for animals to eat outside. |
You may think that sailing is a difficult sport, but it is really not hard to learn it. You do not need to be strong. But you need to be quick. And you need to understand a few basic rules about the wind.
First, you must ask yourself, “Where is the wind coming from? Is it coming from ahead or behind or from the side?” You must think about this all the time on the boat. The wind direction tells you what to do with the sail.
Let’s start with the wind blowing from the behind. This means the wind and the boat are going in the same direction. Then you must always keep the sail outside the boat. It should be at a 90° angle to the boat. Then it will catch the wind best.
If the wind is blowing from the side, it is blowing across the boat. In this case, you must keep the sail half way outside the boat. It should be at a 45° angle to the boat. It needs to be out far enough to catch the wind, but it shouldn’t flap (摆动). It shouldn’t look like on a flagpole. If it is flapping, it is probably out too far, and the boat will slow down.
Sailing into the wind is not possible. If you try, the sail will flap and the boat will stop. You may want to go in that direction. It is possible, but you can’t go in a straight line. You must go first in one direction and then in another. This is called tacking. When you are tacking, you must always keep the sail inside the boat.What should you consider first while sailing?
| A．Sailors’ strength | B．Wave levels |
| C．Wind directions | D．Size of sails. |
What does the word “It” underlined in Paragraph 4 refer to?
| A．The boat | B．The wind |
| C．The sail | D．The angle |
What do you have to do when sailing against the wind?
| A．Move in a straight line. |
| B．Allow the sail to flap. |
| C．Lower the sail. |
| D．Tack the boat. |
Where can you probably find the text?
| A．In a popular magazine. | B．In a tourist guidebook. |
| C．In a physics textbook. | D．In an official report. |
Brenda Bongos was a happy, artistic girl. She had one big dream—to play the drums in a band. But one big problem lay in her way. To be good enough to play in a band, Brenda had to practice a lot, but she lived next-door to a lot of old people. Many of them are sick. She knew that the sound of beating drums would really get on their nerves. So, she had tried playing in the strangest places: a basement, a kitchen, and even in a shower. But there was always someone it would annoy.
One day, while watching a science documentary on TV, she heard that sound cannot travel in space, because there's no air. At that moment, Brenda Bongos decided to become a sort of musical astronaut.
With the help of a lot of time, books and work, Brenda built a space bubble. This was a big glass ball connected to a machine which sucked out all the air inside. All that would be left inside was a drum kit（成套设备） and a chair. Brenda got into the space suit she had made, entered the bubble, turned on the machine, and played those drums like a wild child.
It wasn't long before Brenda Bongos came very famous. Many people came to see her play in her space bubble. Shortly afterwards she came out of the bubble and started giving concerts. Her fame spread so much that the government suggested that she be part of a unique space journey. Finally, Brenda was a real musical astronaut, and had gone far beyond her first ambition of playing drums in a band.
Years later, when asked how she had achieved all this, she thought for a moment, and said: ''If those old people next – door hadn't mattered so much to me, I wouldn't have found a solution, and none of this would have ever happened.''Why did Brenda try to play in the strangest places?
| A．Because she didn't want others to hear her play |
| B．Because she didn't mean to disturb others. |
| C．Because she didn't have her own room |
| D．Because she didn’t like her neighbors. |
Brenda started to give concerts _______.
| A．after she practiced in her space bubble |
| B．when she became part of the unique space journey |
| C．after she became a real musical astronaut |
| D．when people came to see her in the space bubble |
Brenda became famous because ______.
| A．she was good at music and science |
| B．she became a real musical astronaut |
| C．she invented a special way of practice |
| D．she played well and had a talent |
It can be inferred from the text that: " _______".
| A．He laughs best who laughs last |
| B．It's never too old to learn |
| C．Two heads are better than one |
| D．One good turn deserves another |