In ancient China tea was probably used as a relish(开胃小菜) and as a medicine. Tea was first brewed(煮泡) as a medicine around 2,700 BC in the western mountains of China. Tea was likely seen as healthy in part because it was made with boiled water, which is safer to drink in an area of polluted water.
Tea drinking, and commercial cultivation(种植)，spread during the Tang Dynasty, 618-907, especially after a Buddhist monk(佛教僧侣), wrote a book on the virtues of tea, Cha Ching. Tea gradually became one of the seven basic necessities of Chinese life (The others are fuel, rice, oil, salt, soy sauce, and vinegar.)
A Japanese Buddhist priest, Saicho, is believed to have introduced tea to Japan, when he returned from a visit to China in 805. In Japan tea drinking was considered medicinal, and became closely associated with Zen Buddhism(禅宗).
Tea drinking also spread to Korea and Southeast Asia, and was taken over the Silk Road to Central Asia, Russia, and the Middle East.
Dutch explorers became familiar with tea in the 1590s and were soon importing tea to Europe. In 1657 the British East India Company held the first public sale of tea in England, while that same year Thomas Garraway began offering tea at his London coffee house.
In 1662 tea received a big boost(推进) in England when the Portuguese Catherine of Braganza, married King Charles II and introduced tea drinking to the British court.
Gradually, the British fell in love with tea, and with the sugar that went in it. In 1665, less than 88 tons of sugar was imported to Great Britain. By 1700, it had increased to 10,000 tons of sugar. In 1768 the East India Company imported 10 million pounds of tea to Britain.
1. Tea has been used as a medicine in China for _________.
A. about 8,000 years B. about 4,700 years
C. about 2,200 years D. about 2,700 years
2. Tea began to spread as a popular drink in China because of _______.
A. the Silk Road B. the basic necessities of Chinese life
C. a famous book about tea D. its association with Zen Buddhism
3. According to the text, we can infer that Britain________.
A. first introduced tea to Europe
B. was the first country to trade with China for tea
C. was the first country to have learned about tea from China
D. may be the biggest imported country of tea in Europe even today
4. What is the text mainly about?
A. The history of tea B. How tea was introduced to other countries
C. China is the home of tea D. The importance of tea
America is a country on the move. In unheard of numbers, people of all ages are exercising their way to better health. According to the latest figures, 59 percent of American adults exercise regularly-up 12 percent from just two years ago and more than double the figure of 25 years ago. Even non-exercisers believe they would be more attractive and confident if they were more active.
It is hard not to get the message. The virtues of physical fitness are shown on magazine covers, postage stamps, and television ads of everything from beauty soaps to travel books. Exercise as a part of daily life did not catch on until the late 1960s when research by military doctors began to show the health benefits of doing regular physical exercises. Growing publicity (宣传) for races held in American cities helped fuel a strong interest in the ancient sport of running. Although running has leveled off in recent years as Americans have discovered equally rewarding—and sometimes safer-forms of exercise, such as walking and swimming, running remains the most popular form of exercise.
As the popularity of exercise continues to mount, so does scientific evidence of its health benefits. The key to fitness is exercising the major muscle groups vigorously (强有力地) enough to approximately double the heart rate and keep it doubled for 20 to 30 minutes at a time. Doing such physical exercises three times or more a week will produce considerable improvements in physical health in about three months.It can be learnt from the passage that the health benefits of exercise ___________.
| A．are to be further studied |
| B．are yet to be proved |
| C．are self evident |
| D．are supported by scientific evidence |
A growing interest in sports developed after ______________.
| A．an increasing number of races were held in American cities |
| B．research showed their health benefits |
| C．scientific evidence of health benefits was shown on TV ads |
| D．people got the message from magazine covers and postage stamps |
Which of the following would be the best title for the passage?
| A．Running—A Popular Form of Sport |
| B．Scientific Evidence of Health Benefits |
| C．Different Forms of Exercise |
| D．Exercise—The Road to Health |
Which of the following is closest in meaning to the phrase “leveled off” in the paragraph 2?
| A．“reached its lowest level in popularity” |
| B．“stopped being popular” |
| C．“stopped increasing in popularity” |
| D．“become very popular” |
I know what you're thinking: pizza? For breakfast? But the truth is that you can have last night's leftovers in the a. m. if you want to.
I know lots of women who skip breakfast, and they have a ton of different excuses for doing it. Some say they don't have time, others think they're “saving” calories, still others just don't like breakfast food.
But the bottom line is that eating in the morning is very important when you’re trying to lose weight. “Eating just about anything from 300 to 400 calories would be better than nothing at all,” says Katherine Brooking, R, D, who developed the super-easy eating plan for this year’s “SELF CHALLENGE”. And even pizza can be healthy if it's loaded with vegetables, and you stick to one small piece.
Breakfast is one meal I never miss, and the same goes for most weight loss success stories. Research shows that eating breakfast keeps you from overeating later in the day. Researchers at the University of Southern California found that breakfast skippers have a bigger chance of gaining weight than those who regularly have a morning meal.
So eat something in the morning, anything. I know plenty of friends who end up having no breakfast altogether, and have just coffee or orange juice. I say, try heating up last night’s leftovers－it may sound crazy, but if it works for you, do it! I find if I tell myself, “You can always eat it tomorrow,” I put away the leftovers instead of eating more that night. Try it... you may save yourself some prebedtime calories. And watch your body gain the fatburning effects.The underlined word "leftovers" in Paragraph 1 probably means ______.
| A．food remaining after a meal | B．things left undone |
| C．meals made of vegetables | D．pizza topped with fruit |
What can we infer from the text?
| A．Working women usually have breakfast in a hurry. |
| B．Many people have wrong ideas about breakfast. |
| C．There are some easy ways of cooking a meal. |
| D．Eating vegetables helps save energy. |
According to the last paragraph, it is important to ______.
| A．eat something for breakfast | B．be careful about what you eat |
| C．heat up food before eating it | D．eat calorie- controlled food |
The text is written mainly for those _______.
| A．who go to work early | B．who eat before sleep |
| C．who stay up late | D．who want to lose weight |
The rising costs of health care have become a problem for many countries in the world. To deal with this problem, it is recommended that a big part of the government's health budget be used for health education and disease prevention instead of treatment. Actually, many kinds of diseases are preventable in many ways and preventing a disease is usually much cheaper than treating it. For example, people could avoid catching a cold if they dressed warmly when the weather starts getting cold. But many people get sick because they fail to do so, and have to spend money seeing a doctor
Daily habits like eating more healthy food would have kept millions of families from becoming bankrupt if the patients had taken measures for early prevention. For instance, keeping a balanced diet, such as not consuming too much animal fat and insuring a steady intake of vegetables and fruits, seems to be quite important.
One very effective and costless way of prevention is regular exercise, which is necessary for a healthy mind and body. Regular exercise, such as running, walking, and playing sports is a good way to make people feel better or reduce stress
In addition, health education plays a key role in improving people's health. By giving people more information about health, countries could help people understand the importance of disease prevention and ways to achieve it. For example, knowing one's family medical history is an effective way to help keep healthy. Information about health problems among close relatives will make them aware of what they should do to prevent certain diseases through lifestyle changes, which will work before it is too late
However, stressing disease prevention does not mean medical treatment is unimportant. After all, prevention and treatment are just two different means toward the same effect. In conclusion, we could save money on health care and treat patients more successfully if our country spends more money on health prevention and educationWhat’s the best title of the passage?
| A．Prevention or Education? |
| B．Prevention or Treatment? |
| C．Health or Illness? |
| D．Exercise or Illness? |
Which of the following can replace the underlined word “bankrupt’’?
| A．Unable to be cured |
| B．Unable to pay one’s debts |
| C．Stronger than ever before |
| D．More successful than ever before |
We learn from the passage that
| A．dressing warmly can prevent diseases |
| B．a balanced diet is cheaper than regular exercise |
| C．the more health education, the better |
| D．the government’s health budget should be increased |
Which of the following shows the structure of the passage?
CP (Central Point) P (Point) Sp (Sub-point次要点) C (Conclusion 结论)
Summer Holiday Fun 2010 !
The summer holidays are upon us again. Here is our guide to summer holiday fun in Peterborough!
Peterborough Museum
The Age of the Dinosaurs’is the museum’s main attraction this summer．Get up close to prehistoric creatures via some great hands—on exhibits! Watch out for monsters lurking around every ember! The museum is open from 10：00am to 5：00pm Monday to Saturday，and from 12：00pm to 4：00 pm on Sundays in August．
Call 01733 864663 for details
Saxon Youth Club
School holiday fun：Young people aged 13—19 will be able to produce their own music, compete in spots activities，or try their hand at cooking at Saxon Youth Club，Saxon Community Centre, Norman Road．Peterborough every Monday and Wednesday from 3：00pm．PLUS an aero ball tournament will take place on Thursday 12th August between 3：30pm and 6：30pm．
Call 01 353 720274 for details
Houghton Mill
Alice through the Looking Class—a new production of the family favorite on Monday 30th．August．Bring rugs or chairs to sit on and a picnic if you wish to eat during the play．Gates open 5：30pro，performance 6：30pm—8：30pm．Tea room will be open until end of the interval．Adult ￡10．Child￡7．Family ￡20．
Booking advisable on 0845 4505157．
Farmland Museum and Denny Abbey
Farmland Gaines：From Wellie Wanging to Pretend Ploughing matches，come and join the Farmland Team．Collect your sporting stickers and create a colorful rosette that is fit for a winner！No need to book，just turn up between 12：00pm and 4：00pm on Thursday 19th August Suitable for children aged four and above，each child should be accompanied by an adult and all
activities are included in the normal admission price Tickets Cost￡7 per child．
For further information，call 01223 810080．If you are interested in cooking, you can go to.
| A．Peterborough Museum | B．Houghton Mill |
| C．Saxon Youth Club | D．Farmland Museum |
You want to watch the new play with your parents， so it will cost you．
| A．￡7 | B．￡17 | C．￡27 | D．￡20 |
If Tom comes to Peterborough for amusement on August 19，he will haveto choose from activities for himself．
| A．one activity | B．two activities |
| C．three activities | D．four activities |
LONDON: What could possibly be wrong with planting trees? The advantages are obvious; they firm the soil, soak up (摄取) extra water and take carbon dioxide (二氧化碳) out of the atmosphere.
However, it now turns out that planting trees could add to global warming.
Tree roots do a great job of keeping soil firmly on the ground and out of the wind’s power. The problem is that some of those dust clouds play an important part in soaking up carbon dioxide.
Huge dust storms blow out over the oceans from dry parts of North Africa and central Asia. Tons of dust are lifted and left as a thin film over the ocean surface. The dust fuels oceanic life.
Dust from China is carried east and left in the Pacific Ocean. If a tree-planting programme there is successful and the dust supply reduced, the net result may be that less carbon dioxide gets locked away in the ocean.
Andy Ridgwell, an environmental scientist from the University of East Anglia, has spent the past few years studying dust and says his work “shows clearly the complexity of the system and the importance of not tinkering(粗劣地修补) with it without understanding the results. For this reason there is the need to focus(集中) on cutting carbon dioxide giving off rather than monkeying (瞎弄) about with the land surface.”
An American scientist, Robert Jackson, has shown that when native grassland areas are invaded(侵入) by trees, carbon is lost from the soil. “We are studying why the soil carbon disappears, but one theory is that trees do a lot more of their growing above ground compared to grasses, so less carbon goes directly into the soil from trees, ” says Jackson.
In wet areas of the world, the gain from trees absorbing carbon dioxide above ground seems to be outweighed(超过) by the loss of carbon from the soil below ground. Countries that plan to combat global warming by planting trees may have to think again. Solutions(解决办法) to environmental problems are often more complex than they first appear, and understanding the Earth’s climate is a very great challenge.People usually hold the opinion that
| A．huge dust storms can destroy carbon dioxide |
| B．huge dust storms can destroy the oceans on the earth |
| C．huge dust storms can’t do anything beneficial for man |
| D．planting trees is the only way to control huge dust storms |
Andy Ridgwell, the environmental scientist, believes that
| A．dust plays a more important part than trees |
| B．trees shouldn’t have been planted in dry places |
| C．carbon dioxide is harmful to everything on the earth |
| D．environmental problems are more complex than expected |
Robert Jackson’s experiment proves that
| A．grassland areas should be covered by forests |
| B．trees hold more carbon than grass |
| C．carbon can turn grass into dust |
| D．less carbon can make trees grow faster |
The underlined word “combat” in the last paragraph means
| A．learn about | B．fight against | C．live with | D．give up |