How clean are the nation’s homes?
According to a survey by CIF, there’s room for improvement all over Britain.
Love or hate it — cleaning your home is one job you simply can’t ignore（忽视）. But that’s not to say everyone spends the same amount of time or effort on making their places spotless. A new survey by CIF— experts on making tough cleaning jobs easier—— shows that when it comes to washing windows or cleaning the oven（烤箱）,where you live in the UK it may show how much effort you put into the task.
BATHROOM
25% of men have never cleaned the toilet — but those in Wales are the worst. Nearly four in 10 Welsh men said they never cleaned anywhere in the house. Hate cleaning the shower head? You’re not alone — a quarter of a million Brits say the same. 20% of Scots regard window-cleaning as their most hated job.
KITCHEN
36% of people in the south-east say cleaning the cooker is their hated task. 68% of those in the north-east spend more than six hours a week cleaning their homes — especially the kitchen — in sharp contrast to the 49% of Welsh and West Country folk, who put their hands up to cleaning for under an hour.
BEDROOM
18% believe cleaning starts here: that’s the percentage of women who clean wearing their dressing gowns. 51% of women in the north-west may be staying in bed and giving their husband a cuddle（拥抱）—as a thank-you for helping them clean. In other places, there are far fewer helpful men.
LIVING ROOM
32% of women in the north-east turn up the stereo to help make the dusting more fun. Almost six in 10 women agree, however, that cleaning is seriously energetic exercise.
SHIFT THE DIRT WITH CIF
It’s no secret that the right cleaning products will cut cleaning time and effort in half— and no one knows that better than How Clean Is Your house? Presenters Aggie Mackenzie and Kim Woodburn. For solutions（解决办法）to all your cleaning needs, here are some of CIF’s top tips:
·Stop a lot of build-up on your shower head—give it a quick squirt（喷洒）with CIF bathroom spray once a week.
·Stainless steel（不锈钢）tools seem to need endless cleaning. The CIF Wild Qrchid Qxy-Gel-it lifts dirt easily and leaves the kitchen smelling fresh and clean.
·Cooking outside? CIF cream will get your barbecue （烤架）spotlessly clean, ready for those long, lazy summer evenings. Perfect!The main purpose of this passage is to ______.
| A．tell us the results of a certain survey |
| B．advertise a certain product |
| C．advise men to do more cleaning housework |
| D．tell us which is the hardest job at home |
It can be concluded from the survey that people in different parts of Britain______.
| A．have different views on house cleaning |
| B．spend different amounts of time and effort on house cleaning |
| C．like to do different kinds of housework |
| D．have different ways to do housework |
According to the survey,______ spend the most time cleaning their homes.
| A．the Welsh | B．people in the north-west |
| C．people in the south-east | D．people in the north-east |
CIF in the passage probably refers to ______.
| A．an organization doing research on housework |
| B．a group of experts who give advice on doing housework |
| C．a company providing advice and products on cleaning |
| D．a company providing cleaning services |
In many African countries, the care of orphans has been mainly led by foreign donor organizations. However, Sister Florence has changed all that. Using her own resources, Sister Florence is leading the work of raising orphans from different backgrounds. Sister Florence Wanjala’s biggest motivation to start the orphan program was when she saw a little boy whose parents had died. The boy was living with a cruel grandparent and he would visit the grave of his mother, crying for support. Sister Wanjala wanted to give a helping hand and give him hope. From that time, she started feeling the call to help a larger number of orphans.
She opened an office with a few friends and coordinated (协调)a program to help the orphans. All the registrations were done in the office and the program so far has 8000 children. Sister Wanjala said, “My dream is to help the orphan to live a holistic (完整)life and be a good Kenyan citizen to help this country. Many people think that the way to support orphans is to put them in an institution. Others support them up to the age of eighteen, but here, we do it very differently.” For Sister Wanjala, putting a child in an institution is normally her last choice. She prefers the orphans to live in a foster home.
She said, “I’m so encouraged and happy to see the orphans succeeding. When they come first or second in class, it shows how the program has helped them, and that’s encouraging to me as I continue to coordinate the program.” Through her charity work, more than 1000 orphans have been able to find a home. Sister Wanjala, as a mother, takes care of her own family.What inspired Sister Wanjala to start the orphan program?
| A．Her preference for kids. | B．Her own similar experience. |
| C．A sad story about an orphan. | D．Her successful charity work. |
Sister Wanjala opened an office mainly to ______.
| A．set up as many institutions as possible for orphans |
| B．start a program to offer orphans a foster family |
| C．provide school education for those orphans |
| D．raise more money for the homeless kids |
What does the underlined sentence probably mean?
| A．She didn’t want orphans to live in an institution. |
| B．She preferred to put orphans into an institution. |
| C．She had no choice but to put orphans in institutions. |
| D．She sent orphans into an institution in the end. |
What can we learn from the text?
| A．Sister Wanjala finally adopted the little boy. |
| B．Sister Wanjala found foster homes for 8000 orphans. |
| C．Sister Wanjala was too busy to care for her own family. |
| D．Sister Wanjala was not alone in helping orphans. |
Dieters' who eat meals high in protein might lose a bit more weight than those who get less protein and more carbohydrates (碳水化合物)一all other things being equal, a new analysis of past studies suggests. Researchers found that over an average of 12 weeks, people having a high一protein diet lost about 1.8 extra pounds, and more body fat, than those having a standard-protein diet.
Wycherley from the University of South" Australia in Adelaide, the lead author on the study says it’s possible that the body may spend more energy and bum more calories while dealing with protein, compared to carbohydrates. Another explanation for the link his team observed is that eating protein helps preserve muscle mass and muscle mass bums more calories, even when the body is resting, than other types of mass. He says people in the studies tend to get protein from a variety of animal and vegetable sources. Vegetable sources of protein include beans.
It is not obvious why a higher protein-to-carbohydrate ratio might help people lose more pounds——and one obesity researcher not involved in the new analysis questioned whether the trials were strong enough to make that conclusion. “The studies are generally far too short to tell effect,” Dr. James Levine from the Mayo Clinic in Scottsdale, Arizona, told Reuters Health in an e-mail. But given the limitations of the present evidence, Levine said, “It makes no real difference which of the weight-loss ways one chooses.”According to Wycherley’s analysis, dieters should take in more ______.
| A．fat | B．carbohydrates | C．protein | D．calories |
What can we learn from the studies?
| A．It bums more calories to deal with carbohydrates. |
| B．Protein helps keep muscle mass which bums calories. |
| C．Vegetables contain more protein than animals. |
| D．No more calories are burned while the body is resting. |
What is Levine’s attitude towards the conclusion of the studies?
| A．Doubtful. | B．Supportive. | C．Curious. | D．Agreeable. |
Legends about the development of coffee are varied and interesting, involving chance occurrences, political tricks, and the pursuit of wealth and power.
According to one story, a sheepherder named Kaldi, as he tended his sheep, noticed the effect of coffee beans. He noticed that the sheep became excited after eating the red “cherries" from a certain plant when they changed pastures (牧场). He tried it himself, and was soon as overactive as his sheep. Another story relates that a monk happened to discover that this fruit from the shiny green plant could help him stay awake.
Another legend gives us the name for coffee, “mocha”. Omar, an Arabian was thrown to the desert with his followers to die of starvation. In desperation, Omar had his friends boil and eat the fruit from an unknown plant. Not only did the soup save the group, but the residents of the nearest town, Mocha, took their survival as a religious sign. The plant and its beverage (饮料) were named Mocha to honor this event.
Coffee was introduced much later to countries beyond Arabia, whose inhabitants believed it to be a tasty thing and guarded its secret as if they were top secret military plans. The government forbade transportation of the plant out of the Moslem nations. The actual spread of coffee was started illegally. One Arab named Baba Budan smuggled (走私) beans to some mountains near Mysore, India, and started a farm there. Early in this century, some of those original plants were found still growing fruitfully in the region.
Coffee today is grown and enjoyed worldwide, and is one of the few crops that small farmers in third-world countries can profitably export.What does the second paragraph mainly talk about?
| A．A sheepherder used coffee beans to keep sheep excited. |
| B．Coffee was a special kind of red cherry from a certain plant. |
| C．A sheepherder and a monk accidently discovered coffee’s effect. |
| D．Sheep ate a lot of coffee beans while they changed pastures. |
Which of the following involves political tricks?
| A．Kaldi’s story. | B．The monk’s story. |
| C．Omar’s story. | D．Baba Budan’s story. |
Mocha is originally the name of ______.
| A．a town | B．an Arabian | C．a kind of coffee | D．a sheepherder |
What can be the best title for the text?
| A．The Secret of Coffee | B．The Tales of Coffee |
| C．People’s Love for Coffee | D．The Function of Coffee |
One day I walked down to get to my car, thinking about what I had to accomplish and scolding myself for being late for work, but surprisingly the car was nowhere to be found.
This was at 8 a.m. in the morning. I made trips to all the towing places and police stations, all the time thinking that it was towed (拖走）by cops (巡警).By around 10 a.m., the cops decided that it was actually stolen. After filing a report with them, I finally got to work thinking how my day was completely messed up.
Later in the day I went to pick up a rental car at Enterprise only to realize that my license was missing, too, along with my car. I told the enterprise guy the whole story and he offered to take me to the closest DMV and get a duplicate (副本) license. 1 was totally shocked. I did not know why this complete stranger would want to take some time off his day to help me. He actually took me to DMV, got a duplicate and then rented me a car. I was upset the whole day because of the events happening to me but somehow this simple act of kindness from a complete stranger made it all worth it. It cheered me up and made me forget all the troubles of the day. I was so moved by this kind act that the next day I made sure someone else got a similar surprise. I took some smiley shaped chocolates and left them on some of my colleagues’ desks.
There is still a lot of goodness out there in the world. We just need to take the time to notice it. I hope that this story would inspire many others like me to do more acts of kindness.The moment the author found the car missing, he thought ______.
| A．it was stolen by a stranger | B．it was towed by the police |
| C．he placed it in a wrong place | D．he should rent another one |
We can infer that DMV is ______.
| A．an office for license | B．a towing place |
| C．a renting place | D．a parking lot |
Why did the author put some chocolates on his colleagues’ desks?
| A．His colleagues were fond of chocolates. |
| B．He wanted to thank his colleagues. |
| C．He was touched and hoped to cheer others. |
| D．He wanted to do his colleagues a favor. |
The author writes about his experience ______.
| A．to criticize the person stealing his cars |
| B．to praise the rental place at Enterprise |
| C．to tell us a surprising but moving story |
| D．to encourage people to do acts of kindness |
While many young people may resist getting a "real job" or becoming independent, these are the things that make you happy and give you purpose. Some people underestimate the satisfaction of working, thinking they'll be miserable. The 20-somethings that do work are happier than those who don' t or are underemployed.
If you invest in your career early，you'll have longer to build it up. 70% of wage growth happens in the first 10 years, so you need to get the best job you can get and negotiate your salary. No one can be sure that people who will wait until their 30s to get going are expecting to experience later to catch up with those of their ages.
Many 20-somethings don't know what they want to do, so they hang around the house or in. low-level jobs waiting for the spirit to move them. Not making a choice is a choice. These 20-somethings think they are keeping their options open, but they are actually closing doors. Resumes start to look thin, their peers(同龄人) begin surpassing them and they may get stuck in underemployment.
It will take about 10,000 hours(or about five years)to really master their jobs. If you're wondering why colleagues seem so smart and confident, it's partly because they've been doing it longer. Young people should learn as much as they can in their first jobs and remember it will take some time to really get good.
The 20-something brain is still developing, which is in charge of critical emotion with reason. This, coupled with less on-the-job experience, means 20-somethings are more sensitive to surprise and criticism. They are more likely to take feedback personally. Step back and get some perspective. You're not going to be fired because your boss is angry. Hear the criticism and learn from it.
The brain doesn't fully mature until your mid-20s, particularly the parts that plan for the future and manage emotions. That doesn't mean you should sit around and wait for it to develop. In. fact, what you learn and experience in your 20s becomes hardwired into your brain and this is the best chance you have to change your brain and change how you think and react. What people do in their 20s determines who they'll be as adults. What is the best title of the passage?
| A．How You Spend Your 20s Will Define You. |
| B．The 20-something Brain Remains To Be Developed. |
| C．Young People Need Employment And Experiences. |
| D．Becoming Mature Should Invest In The Career. |
What can we infer from the whole passage?
| A．Not all people resist becoming independent. |
| B．Adult responsibilities make you happier. |
| C．Not making a choice is a better policy |
| D．It takes chances to get good jobs. |
What does the underlined part "coupled with" mean according to the passage?
| A．multiplied by | B．recounted in. |
| C．composed of. | D．combined with. |
What idea does the writer of the passage support?
| A．Take feedback personally anytime and anywhere. |
| B．It is never too late to wait till a choice is made. |
| C．A lesson should be learned from criticism. |
| D．The satisfaction of working is not contented. |