The South China tiger could become extinct within 30 to 50 years if it does not receive protection. There are only 20 to 30 South China tigers in their earliest natural places, with Guangdong Province having only five left because forests are being destroyed as a result of rapid industrial growth.
The South China tiger can live 20 to 25 years, but the survival rate for the young is becoming lower as a result of rapid growth in industry and tourism. Even with hard work, it is hoped that the number of South China tigers can only reach 150 to 180 in the coming century.
68. The underlined word “extinct ” means ______.
A. different B. seriously ill C. no longer exist D. frightening
69. The best title for this news could be ______.
A. The Life Span of the South China Tiger
B. The Coming Century for the South China Tiger
C. Chinese Scientists Call SOS for South China Tigers
D. Industrial Growth—The Enemy of South China Tiger
The US government has started a website, Admongo, to help children think critically about the advertising aimed at them. It claims to provide visitors with an “aducation” through games and other entertainment.
A cartoon man dressed in old time pilot clothing greets visitors to Admongo. "Call me Haiz", he says upon arrival in a rocket ship that opens up with a crazy world inside it. Spacey dance music plays in the background as Haiz tells visitors that they need to learn about advertising.
Its inventors say eight to twelve years old is the age kids develop their critical thinking abilities. Kids that age are also a big market for advertisers.
The idea behind Admongo is to teach children three things: To identify the advertiser. To know what the advertiser is really saying. And to know what the advertisement is trying to get the child to do.
Children learn these things through a video game. They create their own game character. They can choose different skin colors, hair styles, eye and mouth shapes. Then they begin a trip through ad-land, where there are ads on buses and billboards. The players have to find all the marketing in the neighborhood before they can move on to the next level.
The Admongo game takes players inside a home, to the advertising studio and everywhere else ads can be found. It is a complete exploration of the world of marketing.
One such area is food marketing. The Federal Trade Commission(FTC) says it is a big business. The FTC estimates that food, drink and fast-food restaurants spent more than one and a half billion dollars on advertising to young people in 2009.
The FTC says children are important for three reasons. They buy products. They influence parents and caregivers to buy. And they are the future adult buyers of the products.
A recent study says most advertising aimed at children is for foods of the lowest nutritional value. First Lady Michelle Obama has said she would like to see advertisers marketing healthy foods for children.
What is the best title of the text?
A.The guide of Admongo |
B.An aducation website for children |
C.A popular online video game |
D.A website aimed at children |
Why did the government start the website?
A.To attract the biggest market of buyers. |
B.To sell the products of its company. |
C.To help children know about advertising. |
D.To advertise the video game for children. |
What can players do in the website game?
A.Choose hair styles for their character. |
B.Travel to a supermarket. |
C.Eat in a fast-food restaurant. |
D.Play video games during the trip. |
Children are important for advertising because they are.
A.important for the society |
B.the most potential buyers |
C.easily influenced by ads |
D.easily affected by poor products |
According to Michelle Obama, lots of food advertised for children are ________.
A.healthy | B.of high nutrition |
C.yummy | D.of low quality |
Tobacco is the second major cause of death in the world. It is responsible for the death of one in ten adults worldwide (about 5 million deaths each year). If current smoking patterns continue, it will cause some 10 million deaths each year by 2020. Half the people that smoke today, that is about 650 million people, will eventually be killed by tobacco.
Tobacco is the fourth most common risk factor for disease worldwide. The economic costs of tobacco use are equally devastating (破坏性的). In addition to the high public health costs of treating tobacco-caused diseases, tobacco kills people at the height of their productivity, depriving (剥夺) families of breadwinners(养家糊口的人) and nations of a healthy workforce. Tobacco users are also less productive while they are alive due to increased sickness. A 1994 report estimated that the use of tobacco resulted in an annual global net loss of 200 thousand million US dollars, a third of this loss being in developing countries.
Tobacco and poverty are closely linked. Many studies have shown that in the poorest households in some low-income countries as much as 10% of total household expenditure is on tobacco. This means that these families have less money to spend on basic items such as food, education and health care. It contributes to a higher illiteracy rate, since money that could have been used for education is spent on tobacco instead.
Which of the following statements is TRUE according to the first paragraph?
A.Smoking causes 10 percent of the deaths worldwide. |
B.About 10 million people will die from smoking each year by 2020. |
C.Half the people in the world will be killed by smoking. |
D.Roughly there are 1,300 million smokers nowadays. |
According to the passage, tobacco affects a family in the following aspects EXCEPT _______.
A.relationship | B.education |
C.health | D.economy |
The text uses a lot of figures to _____.
A.show we shouldn’t smoke too much |
B.tell people exactly the number |
C.warn people of the harm of smoking |
D.indicate the writer had a careful investigation |
The underlined word “illiteracy” in the last paragraph means ____.
A.great intelligence | B.good education |
C.bad behaviors | D.inability to read or write |
What is the best title of the passage?
A.Tobacco Should Be Banned. |
B.Why Is Tobacco a Major Threat to Public Health. |
C.Tobacco and Poverty Go Hand in Hand. |
D.Tobacco May Cause Death. |
Since we are social beings, the quality of our lives depends in large measure on our interpersonal relationships. One strength of the human condition is our possibility to give and receive support from one another under stressful conditions. Social support makes up of the exchange of resources among people based on their interpersonal ties. Those of us with strong support systems appear better able to deal with major life changes and daily problems. People with strong social ties live longer and have better health than those without such ties. Studies over types of illnesses, from depression(沮丧) to heart disease, show that the presence of social support helps people defend themselves against illness, and the absence of such support makes poor health more likely.
Social support cushions stress in a number of ways. First, friends, relatives and co-workers may let us know that they value us. Our self-respect is strengthened when we feel accepted by others in spite of our faults and difficulties. Second, other people often provide us with informational support. They help us to define and understand our problems and find solutions to them. Third, we typically find social companionship supportive. Taking part in free-time activities with others helps us to meet our social needs while at the same time distracting (转移注意力) us from our worries and troubles. Finally, other people may give us instrumental support money
aid, material resources, and needed services - that reduces stress by helping us resolve and deal with our problems.
Interpersonal relationships are important because they can ________
A.make people live more easily |
B.smooth away daily problems |
C.deal with life changes |
D.cure types of illnesses |
Which of the following is closest in meaning to the underlined word "cushions"?
A.takes place of | B.makes up of |
C.lessens the effect of | D.gets rid of |
What is the subject discussed in the text?
A.Interpersonal relationships. |
B.Kinds of social support. |
C.Ways to deal with stress. |
D.Effects of stressful condition. |
Watercolor(水彩画) is the oldest paints known. It dates back to the early cave men. They discovered that they could mix the natural colors found in the earth with water. In this way they could add lifelike qualities to drawings of animals and other figures on the wall of caves.
Fresco(壁画), one of the greatest art forms, is done with watercolor, it is created by mixing paints and water and applying these to wet plaster(灰泥). Of the thousands of people who stand under Michelangelos’ works in the Sistine Chapel, very few know they are looking at perhaps the greatest watercolor painting in the world.
The invention of oil painting by the Glemish masters in the fifteenth century made fresco painting go downhill, and for the next several centuries watercolor was used mainly for doing sketches(素描) or as tool for study. It was not until the eighteenth and nineteenth centuries that English painters put back watercolor as a serious art form. The English have widely-known love for the outdoors and also for small, private pictures. The softness of watercolor had a strong attraction for them.
The popularity of watercolor continued to grow until the twentieth century. The United States took the place of England and became the center of watercolor. It produced such well-known watercolor artists as Thomas Eakins and Andrew Wyeth.
The first watercolor users were___________
A.the early cave men |
B.Italian fresco artists |
C.Flemish masters |
D.the English artists in the 18th century |
In the 16th and 17th centuries the artists thought__________.
A.watercolor was more costly, but better |
B.oil painting lasted less long, but clearer and brighter |
C.watercolor was not suitable for serious works |
D.oil painting![]() |
According to the passage, watercolor painting was put back in England because ______
A.it was easy to use outdoors |
B.it was a strong tool |
C.it was extremely bright in color |
D.it was well suited to popular tastes |
What is the passage mainly about?________
A.the gradual weakness of fresco painting. |
B.Oils having more power of influence over watercolor. |
C.The rediscovery of watercolor in England. |
D.The start and development of watercolor. |
What will people die of 100 years from now? If you think that is a simple question, you have not been paying attention to the revolution that is taking place in bio-technology(生物技术). With the help of new medicine, the human body will last a very long time. Death will come mainly from accidents, murder and war. Today's leading killers, such as heart diseases, cancer, and aging itself, will become distant memory.
In discussion of technological changes, the Internet gets most of the attention these days. But the change in medicine can be the real technological event of our times. How long can humans live? Human brains were known to decide the final death. Cells(细胞) are the basic units of all living things, and until recently, scientists were sure that the life of cells could not go much beyond 120 years because the basic materials of cells, such as those of brain cells, would not last forever. But the upper limits will be broken by new medicine. Sometime between 2050 and 2100, medicine will have advanced to the point at which every 10 years or so, people will be able to take medicine to repair their organs(器官). The medicine, made up of the basic building materials of life, will build new brain cells, heart cells, and so on---in much the same way our bodies make new skin cells to take the place of old ones.
It is exciting to imag
ine that the advance in technology may be changing the most basic conditional human existence, but many technical problems still must be cleared up on the way to this wonderful future.
According to the passage, human death is now mainly caused by _______.
A.diseases and aging | B.acci![]() |
C.accidents and aging | D.heart diseases and war |
In the author's opinion, today's most important advance in technology lies in _____.
A.medicine | B.the internet | C.brain cells | D.human organs |
Humans may live longer in the future because ______.
A.heart disease will be far away from us |
B.human brains can decide the final death |
C.the basic materials of cells will last forever |
D.human organs can be repaired by new medicine |
We can learn from the passage that _____.
A.human life will not last more than 120 years in the future |
B.human have to take medicine to build new skin cells now |
C.much needs to be done before humans can have a longer life |
D.we have already solved the technical problems in building new cells. |