Imagine, one day，getting out of bed in Beijing and being at your office in Shanghai in only a couple of hours，and then，after a full day of work，going back home to Beijing and having dinner there．
Sounds unusual，doesn't it? But it's not that unrealistic，with the development of China’s high-speed railway system．And that’s not all．China has an even greater high-speed railway plan — to connect the country with Southeast Asia，and eventually Eastern Europe．
China is negotiating to extend its own high-speed railway network to up to 17 countries in 10 to 15 years，eventually reaching London and Singapore．
China has proposed three such projects．The first would possibly connect Kunming with Singapore via Vietnam and Malaysia．Another could start in Urumqi and go through Kazakhstan and Uzbekistan，and possibly to Germany．The third would start in the northeast and go north through Russia and then into Western Europe．
If China’s plan for the high-speed railway goes forward，people could zip over from London to Beijing in under two days．
The new system would still follow China’s high-speed railway standard．And the trains would be able to go 346 kilometers an hour，almost as fast as some airplanes．
China’s bullet train（高速客车），the one connecting Wuhan to Guangzhou，already has the World’s fastest average speed．It covers 1,069 kilometers in about three hours．
Of course，there are some technical challenges to overcome．There are so many issues that need to be settled，such as safety，rail gauge（轨距），maintenance of railway tracks．So，it’s important to pay attention to every detail．
But the key issue is really money．China is already spending hundreds of billions of yuan on domestic railway expansion．
China prefers that the other countries pay in natural resources rather than with capital investment．Resources from those countries could stream into China to sustain development．
It’ll be a win-win project．For other countries，the railway network will definitely create more opportunities for business，tourism and so on，not to mention the better communication among those countries．
For China，such a project would not only connect it with the rest of Asia and bring some much-needed resources，but would also help develop China’s far west．We foresee that in the coming decades，millions of people will migrate to the western regions，where the land is empty and resources unused．With high-speed trains，people will set up factories and business centers in the west once and for all．And they’ll trade with Central Asian and Eastern European countries．China’s new high-speed railway plan will be a win-win project because ________．
| A．China will get much-needed resources and develop its western regions |
| B．China and the countries involved will benefit from the project in various ways |
| C．China will develop its railway system and communication with other countries |
| D．the foreign countries involved will develop their railway transportation, business and tourism |
According to the passage，the greatest challenge to the new high-speed railway plan is ________．
| A．technical issues | B．safety of the system |
| C．financial problems | D．maintenance of railway tracks |
Which of the following words best describes the author’s attitude towards China’s high-speed railway plan?
| A．Critical． | B．Reserved． | C．Doubtful． | D．Positive． |
Which of the following might be the best title for the passage?
| A．New Railway Standards. | B．Big Railway Dreams. |
| C．High-speed Bullet Trains. | D．International Railway Network |
For as long as we can remember, we've heard that breakfast is the most important meal of the day. But not only can it boost your energy and memory levels, it also can impact how long you live. Studies show that by eating certain foods, you can help slow the aging process. Here are just six amazing anti-aging treats you might want to go for first thing in the morning.
1. Blueberries
Although tiny, blueberries pack a huge anti-aging health punch. Rich in polyphenols, research suggests that a blueberry-rich diet not only improves your motor skills, but also can help fight diseases such as cancer, heart disease and diabetes. Indeed one recent study published in Circulation: Journal of the American Heart Association showed that women who ate the most blueberries -- as well as their superfood cousin, strawberries -- enjoyed a 32 percent lower heart attack risk than women who only ate these berries once a month (or not at all).
2. Oatmeal
For years, research has shown a strong correlation between oatmeal and cholesterol reduction. Oatmeal is rich in soluble fiber that gets rid of "bad" cholesterol. Oats also are packed with the antioxidants that do battle against cell damage. And that can help plump skin and reduce wrinkles.
3. Eggs
Eggs usually come under fire because of their high cholesterol content. But studies show that healthy men and women who consume an egg a day actually do not experience negative health repercussions. In addition, eggs contain all the essential B vitamins: B1, B2, B3, B5, B6, B12, choline, biotin, and folic acid. Choline has been shown to protect your memory, while two proteins in eggs -- lutein and zeaxanthin -- protect against vision loss.
4. Tea
Many teas are high in anti-aging antioxidants. But green tea is rich in an antioxidant known as EGCG, which helps fight wrinkles and rejuvenate skin cells. Green tea also may protect against cancer, control blood sugar levels, and help reduce inflammation associated with Crohn's disease and ulcerative colitis.
5. Pomegranate Juice
If tea's not your thing, try pomegranate juice instead. Studies show that a glass of pomegranate juice a day could help keep wrinkles at bay. Not only has pomegranate been shown to slow down the natural oxidation ("wear and tear") of DNA, it also has been linked to the prevention of heart disease and stress relief.
6. Grapefruit
In addition to helping you feel full, which in turn may assist with weight loss, grapefruit also can help lower "bad" cholesterol and triglyceride levels while also boosting “good” HDL cholesterol. Deep red varieties are best as studies show they can also help keep heart disease at bay.What is the purpose of this text?.
| A．To tell an interesting story. |
| B．To bring up a problem. |
| C．To present a research result. |
| D．To give practical advice. |
Which food may best help protect against vision loss?
| A．Grapefruit | B．Eggs | C．Blueberries | D．Pomegranate Juice |
California, once regarded as a leader in the United States for its public higher education system, ranks next to the last in the U.S.for its number of adults with at least a high school diploma, according to the report, titled “California at the Edge of a Cliff,” released by the California Faculty Association.
Meanwhile, the state’s investment(投资) in public higher education has dropped over the past three decades, and now ranks 22nd in the country.That’s despite having the country’s largest public higher education system, the report said.
“It's a collapse(衰退),” said Thomas Mortenson, author of the report, who is an independent analyst living in Iowa and a senior scholar at the Pell Institute for the Study of Opportunity in Higher Education in Washington, D. C. “Ranking 49th out of 50 states is an indication that shows the quality of the state’s educational has become much worse in recent decades.” Mortenson said in the report.As of 2007, California ranked 14th in the United States in terms of college educated members of the workforce over 25 years of age, a drop from eighth place in 1981, the report showed.
Mortenson said that California has never been the state of high status in education and economy while other states have made greater gains in building a college-educated workforce.
The California Faculty Association is using the report’s findings to criticize Governor Arnold Schwarzenegger’s proposed funding cuts for education.
Struggling with a 14.8-billion-dollar state budget deficit(赤字), Schwarzenegger has proposed a combination of sales tax increases, borrowing and major budget cuts, including cutting billions of dollars from the state’s education budget.The passage is mainly about __________.
| A．California’s worse situation in higher education |
| B．the dangerous situation in California |
| C．California’s research on education and economy |
| D．funding cuts for high education in California |
From the passage we can infer that __________.
| A．investment in higher education has dropped in all states |
| B．Thomas Mortenson works at California Faculty Association |
| C．governor in California agreed to spend more money on education |
| D．California had higher quality in higher education in the past |
The reason why California has a lower rank in education is that________.
| A．the number of adults has decreased recently |
| B．the result of report has been published late |
| C．the money to invest in education has been cut |
| D．the progress in other states has been made |
According to the report’s findings, ________ is to blame for the drop in rank of education.
| A．Arnold Schwarzenegger | B．Thomas Mortenson |
| C．the Pell Institute | D．California Faculty Association |
语篇解读曾经在大学教育排行榜上位居第一的美国加州，现在的教育排名一下子跌落到倒数第二。这是怎么回事呢？
阅读理解
We are just getting older and older with each New Year. Vigor and wisdom are draining, and bit by bit we are moving away from the amazement of youth.
Yet neither fear nor anxiety helps retain youth. Instead, a few living habits help maintain.
●Laugh to your heart's content as much as you can. Laughter helps reduce pressure and improve your immune system, which makes people look 8 years younger.
●Keep an eye on your blood pressure. Those with a blood pressure of 115/75mmHg look 2.5years younger than those above 160/90mmHg.
●Quit smoking and avoid passive smoking. This can take 8 years off your appearance.
●Spare some time for exercises each day. Exercises need not be tiring. A 20 minute walk every day makes people look 5 years younger.
●Keep learning and absorb something new each day. Speak the same language as the young people. Learning something every day makes people look 2.5 years younger.
●Keep other pressures under control. Too much pressure makes people look 30 years older. If they are good at networking and manage to keep pressure under control, they will look 30 years younger.
●Secure high quality medical care insurance and do whole body check regularly. For those contracted with chronicle diseases, proper treatment and qualification of the diseases makes people look 12 years younger than what they would without proper treatment.The passage is mainly about _________.
| A．the important of retaining youth |
| B．some tips helping people retain youth |
| C．moving away from the amazement of youth |
| D．the connections between the health and the age |
The underlined sentence “This can take 8 years off your appearance.” means _________.
| A．Smoking and passive smoking can make you look 8 years younger |
| B．Smoking and passive smoking can make you die 8 years ahead |
| C．Giving up smoking and avoiding passive smoking can make you live 8 years longer |
| D．Giving up smoking and avoiding passive smoking can make you look 8 years younger |
According to the passage, we can know that _________.
| A．exercises properly every day helps people retain youth |
| B．if you want to be 30 years younger you must keep other pressures under control |
| C．doing whole body check regularly can make people look younger |
| D．fear and anxiety are a part of our life, which help people realize the importance of keeping youth |
Holidays are really important. Many of us will have childhood memories of summer holidays where we were taken away from home to experience new environments and learn in different ways.
But holidays are expensive and, for those on low wages or living on benefits, they are often unobtainable. Even the cheapest holidays require travel and other additional costs that are difficult for many families to meet.
For working parents, the long summer break can be a very difficult problem for childcare. When an annual leave allowance amounts to only five weeks, there is a need to spread this across the year. Couples can find themselves taking leave in turn in order to care for children who are on holiday. For some ’ this makes even an affordable family holiday difficult.
The schools that I visit in Nottingham are full of experienced staff committed to giving our children a caring and inspiring learning environment. The number of children receiving free school meals is quite large in Nottingham and many schools have breakfast clubs to make sure that children get a healthy start to the day. Most schools undertake programs of group or individual educational support. Schools also have an important role in sofeguaiding children's welfare through the ongoing touch and support with their pupils. During the long summer holidays, much of this is missed.
While teachers are holidaying in the UK, many of their pupils spend the whole six weeks on the street where they live. The lack of free school meals for six weeks can result in pressure on a family budget and an inability to afford the inspiring experiences that help children to continue their learning.
In setting out its plans for a five-term year, Nottingham City Council (委员会)is seeking to reduce the summer holiday down lo four and a half weeks, with a more balanced five terms of roughly eight weeks, each followed by a two-week break. We believe this will give real “down time" for school staff and pupils alike but will be short enough not to cause a real break in learning.
We acknowledge that this change may be difficult for some school staff, particularly whose own children are educated in other authorities. However, this must be weighed against the benefits for city children for whom we all have the greatest duty of care.The passage is probably written by.
| A．an experienced teacher | B．a working parent |
| C．an inspired student | D．a city council member |
The underlined word "they" in the second paragraph refers to "’.
| A．environments | B．holidays | C．wages | D．benefits |
It is suggested in the passage that the summer break be reduced to.
.
| A．2 weeks | B．4.5 weeks | C．5 weeks | D．6 weeks |
The plans for a shorter summer holiday will help students_____ .
| A． obtain the cheapest holidays without additional costs |
| B． get a chance to spend six weeks a term with teachers in school |
| C． benefit more from the caring and inspiring learning environment |
| D． have more school days to receive free school meals |
It can be inferred from the passage that _______.
| A． working parents can enjoy a five-week break to care for their children |
| B． the suggested plans for a five-term school year can hardly be carried out |
| C． the long summer holiday gives teachers and students real "down time" |
| D． some school staff will say “ No" to the plans for a shorter summer holiday |
Do you know how it is when you see someone yawn and you start yawning too? Or how hard it is to be among people laughing and not laugh yourself? Well, apparently it's because we have mirror neurons (神经元）in our brains.
Put simply, the existence of mirror neurons suggests that every time we see someone else do something, our brains imitate (模仿)it，whether or not we actually perform the same action. This explains a great deal about how we learn to smile, talk, walk, dance or play sports. But the idea goes further： mirror neurons not only appear to explain physical actions y they also tell us that there is a biological basis for the way we understand other people.
Mirror neurons can undoubtedly be found all over our brains, but especially in the areas which relate to our ability to use languages, and to understand how other people feel. Researchers have found that mirror neurons relate strongly to language. A group of researchers discovered that if they gave people sentences to listen to ( for example ："The hand took hold of the ball" ) , the same mirror neurons were triggered as when the action was actually performed (in this example, actually taking hold of a ball).
Any problems with mirror neurons may well result in problems with behavior. Much researeh suggests that people with social and behavioral problems have mirror neurons which are not fully functioning. However, it is not yet known exactly how these discoveries might help find treatments for social disorders.
Research into mirror neurons seems to provide us with ever more information concerning how humans behave and interact(互动）.Indeed, it may turn out to be the equivalent (相等物）for ncurosciencc of what Einstein's theory of relativity was for physics. And the next time you feel the urge to cough in the cinema when someone else does--well，perhaps you'll understand why.Mirror neurons can explain.
| A． why we cry when we are hurt |
| B．why we cough when we suffer from a cold |
| C． why we smile when we see someone else smile |
| D． why we yawn when we see someone else stay up late |
The underlined word "triggered" in the third paragraph probably means “’’•
| A．set off | B．cut off | C．built up | D．broken up |
We can learn from the passage that mirror neurons .
| A． relate to human behavior and interaction |
| B．control human physical actions and feelings |
| C． result in bad behavior and social disorders |
| D． determine our knowledge and language abilities |
What is the passage mainly about?
| A． Ways to find mirror neurons. |
| B．Problems of mirror neurons. |
| C． Existence of mirror neurons. |
| D． Functions of mirror neurons. |