When Paul was a boy growing up in Utah, he happened to live near a copper smelter（炼铜厂），and the chemicals that poured out had made a wasteland out of what used to be a beautiful forest．One day a young visitor looked at this wasteland and called it an awful area．Paul knocked him down．From then on, something happened inside him.
Years later Paul was back in the area, and he went to the smelter office．He asked if they had any plans or if they would let him try to bring the trees back．The answer from that big industry was “No”.
Paul then went to college to study the science of plants．Unfortunately, his teachers said there weren’t any birds or squirrels to spread the seeds．It would be a waste of his life to try to do it．Everyone knew that, he was told．Even if he was knowledgeable as he had expected, he wouldn’t get his idea accepted．
Paul later got married and had some kids．But his dream would not die．And then one night he did what he could with what he had．As Samuel Johnson wrote, “It is common to overlook what is near by keeping the eye fixed on something remote．Attainable good is often ignored by minds busied in wide ranges.” Under the cover of darkness, he went secretly into the wasteland and started planting.
And every week, he made his secret journey into the wasteland and planted trees and grass．For fifteen years he did this against the plain common sense．Slowly rabbits appeared．Later, as there was legal pressure to clean up the environment, the company actually hired Paul to do what he was already doing.
Now the place is fourteen thousand acres of trees and grass and bushes, and Paul has received almost every environmental award Utah has．It took him until his hair turned white, but he managed to keep that impossible vow he made to himself as a child.When Paul was a boy，______________.
| A．he had decided never to leave his hometown |
| B．the economy of Utah depended wholly on the copper smelter |
| C．no laws were made to protect the environment against pollution |
| D．he had determined to stop the copper smelter polluting the area |
Why did Paul go to college to study the science of plants？
| A．Because he wanted to find out the best way to save the area himself. |
| B．Because he was interested in planting trees since he was young. |
| C．Because he wanted to get more knowledgeable people to help him. |
| D．Because he thought his knowledge would make his advice more persuasive. |
What does the underlined phrase “the plain common sense” probably refer to?
| A．That it was impossible for trees to grow on the wasteland. |
| B．That his normal work and life would be greatly affected. |
| C．That no one would like to join him in the efforts. |
| D．That he had to keep everything he did secret. |
The company hired Paul to plant trees and grass because___________.
| A．they realized the importance of environmental protection |
| B．What Paul was doing moved them |
| C．Paul persuaded them to help him |
| D．they had legal pressure |
The message of the passage is that _____________.
| A．action speaks louder than words |
| B．perseverance（持之以恒）will work wonders |
| C．God helps those who help themselves |
| D．many hands make light work |
The malls were filled with people seeking gifts for their loved ones. Some of the malls remained open around the clock, partly to satisfy our needs to buy gifts.
Behind the materialistic aspect of shopping for gifts lies the idea of caring, being attentive to the desires of special people in our lives. However, to use a well-worn play on words: it is our presence, not our presents, that truly counts. Many of us, unfortunately, can be so inattentive, even in the presence of our loved ones, that we might as well not be there at all.
Attention is one of the greatest gifts we can give each other. Companies around the globe spend billions every year on advertising to catch our attention for just a short moment at a time. Whole industries – media, entertainment, education – rely on the precious gift of our attention for their continued existence. A baby lacking attention for a long time is likely to he psychologically unhealthy.
In earlier times, both diet and attention could be left unregulated without major cause for concern. There were natural checks and balances: limited availability of food meant few got fat, for example. Similarly, in bygone times we might have spent a few hours communicating with the village storyteller, today, watching an entire TV series, while speaking to nobody, is common. In traditional societies, with smaller population, everyone would get a fair deal of attention. On many issues we might go to see Grandma or Grandpa; now we have Google and Wikipedia.
“She just wants attention.” people tend to think little of those doing things simply for attention. But the truth is that human beings need attention, and giving attention to each other is, to a large extent, what human civilization is based upon. This perhaps explains the runaway success（一举成功）of social networking sites such as Twitter and Facebook. While we use such sites for “micro blogging”, “idea voicing” and “status updates” – the reality is that we are often doing no more or less than fulfilling our basic human drive for attention exchange.
I friend you, you friend me, I retweet you, you retweet me. The charming case with which we can now get and give attention is why many people appear overly attached to their smartphones. It is also a vicious（恶性）circle. As ever more people are busy exchanging attention online, there is increasingly less attention to be paid in the real world, which forces more people to seek their attention exchange online, or else risk attention-starvation.
The very nature of attention exchange is being rapidly transformed, and there is a danger that some of us will develop unhealthy practices. Just as eating red meat every day is a bad idea, so it is with too much attention exchange. The biological consequences of our technological advancement in food production are highly visible; heart disease, diabetes and obesity. The consequences of our transformed attention exchanges will be psychological and social, and so may take longer to identify, but they will be equally damaging.
Face-to-face attention is becoming rarer, and therefore more valuable. In a sense it is priceless. And it is a gift that can be given all-year-round.In the first two paragraphs the author.
| A．offers advice to attention givers | B．analyses the present problems |
| C．states the necessity of presents | D．puts forward his point of view |
People use social networking sites such as Twitter and Facebook to.
| A．obtain information | B．give attention to others |
| C．voice their opinions | D．notice and get noticed |
Attention exchange was not a major concern in traditional societies because of.
| A．limited availability of food | B．natural checks and balances |
| C．a much smaller population | D．the guidance from old people |
What can we infer from Paragraph 6-7?
| A．More people will risk attention-starvation in future. |
| B．The nature of attention exchange is rarely changed. |
| C．Technological advancement contributes to all diseases. |
| D．Transformed attention exchanges do harm to society. |
The writer’s purpose for writing the passage is to.
| A．advocate more focus on real life attention |
| B．analyze the necessity of attention giving |
| C．give practical tips on attention exchange |
| D．recommend some social networking sites |
Chinese writer Mo Yan’s Nobel Prize for Literature might ignite an explosion of global interest in Chinese literature and lead to more titles translated into English, European experts say.
“Hopefully, the award means more people will read Chinese literature and more works will get translated,” says Michel Hockx, professor of the Languages and Cultures of China and Inner Asia from University of London. “Many very good Chinese writers have been accepted globally for a long time already. Mo Yan is probably the most translated Chinese writer alive, with at least five of his novels made available in English over the past 20 years.”
Jonathan Ruppin, web editor of bookseller Foyles, says Mo’s win coincides with growing interest in Chinese literature and recognizes the talents of a distinctive and visionary（富于幻想的）writer. “We are very excited by the fact that English translations of more of his books should now become available,” Ruppin says. He made the comment after Mo became the first Chinese citizen to win the Nobel Prize for Literature in its century-long history.
As East-West cultural exchange has been booming, Chinese literature has been attracting growing attention in recent years. Hockx explains, “It’s mainly because there are many more opportunities for Chinese writers to visit other countries, to publish their works outside China and to interact with readers abroad. At the same time, more and more people globally are learning Chinese and taking an interest in the Chinese language and culture.”
University of Oxford lecturer in modern Chinese literature Margaret Hillenbrand says, “The obvious reason for the growing global presence of Chinese literature is the growing global presence of China itself. People have come to realize that there is a serious knowledge deficit between China and its international counterparts — in particular, China knows incomparably more about Europe and America than the other way round — and reading Chinese literature is an effective, simple means of solving that gap.”The underlined word “ignite” in Paragraph 1 probably means “________”.
| A．start out | B．burn up | C．set off | D．appeal to |
Which of the following is true according to the passage?
| A．Chinese literature has spread with the development of China. |
| B．The Nobel Prize for Literature has a history of hundreds of years. |
| C．In the past, no Chinese writers were accepted outside China. |
| D．Foreigners know about China mainly by reading Mo Yan’s works. |
Chinese literature has been attracting growing attention mainly because
| A．Chinese writers have been writing more and more books in English |
| B．the Chinese language has become the most widely used language in the world |
| C．the Chinese government attaches great importance to literature |
| D．the cultural communication between China and western countries has developed |
How do you understand the underlined sentence in the last paragraph?
| A．China knows more about Europe and America than before. |
| B．China knows more about Europe and America than they know about China. |
| C．China, Europe and America know one another more than before. |
| D．Compared with America, China knows more about Europe. |
If it really is what’s on the inside that counts, then a lot of thin people might be in trouble.
Some doctors now think that the internal(内部的) fat surrounding important organs like the heart or liver could be as dangerous as the external fat which can be noticed more easily.
“Being thin doesn’t surely mean you are not fat,” said Dr Jimmy Bell at Imperial College. Since 1994, Bell and his team have scanned nearly 800 people with MRI machines to create “fat maps” showing where people store fat.
According to the result, people who keep their weight through diet rather than exercise are likely to have major deposits of internal fat, even if they are slim.
Even people with normal Body Mass Index scores can have surprising levels of fat deposits inside. Of the women, as many as 45 percent of those with normal BMI scores (20 to 25) actually had too high levels of internal fat. Among men, the percentage was nearly 60 percent.
According to Bell, people who are fat on the inside are actually on the edge of being fat. They eat too many fatty and sugary foods, but they are not eating enough to be fat. Scientists believe we naturally store fat around the belly first, but at some point, the body may start storing it elsewhere.
Doctors are unsure about the exact dangers of internal fat, but some think it has something to do with heart disease and diabetes. They want to prove that internal fat damages the body’s communication systems.
The good news is that internal fat can be easily burned off through exercise or even by improving your diet. “If you want to be healthy, there is no short cut. Exercise has to be an important part of your lifestyle,” Bell said.According to the pass age, which of the following is WRONG?
| A．People with heart disease all have internal fat. |
| B．People can get rid of internal fat by improving diet. |
| C．Men are more likely to have too much internal fat. |
| D．Exercise can help to reduce the internal fat. |
From the last paragraph, we can find that ______.
| A．whether internal fat can lead to disease has been proved |
| B．exercise plays an important role in people’s life for keeping healthy |
| C．thin people usually have internal fat even if they are slim |
| D．it is easier to burn off internal fat than external fat |
Doctors have found ______.
| A．the exact dangers of internal fat |
| B．internal fat is the cause of heart disease and diabetes |
| C．being slim doesn’t mean you are not fat inside |
| D．being slim is not dangerous at all |
The underlined part in the last paragraph means ______.
| A．a long road | B．a clear difference |
| C．an easy way | D．a short distance |
The common Chinese greeting of “Ni chi le ma?” may soon be replaced by a new greeting: “Have you cleaned your plate?”
Over the Spring Festival holiday there was a big effort to get people to curb their habit of ordering too much food in restaurants because a lot of that food ended up being wasted. Holiday eaters were urged to “clean their plates” and were asked to take leftover food home in “doggy bags.”
The impetus behind the campaign was the startling government statistic that over 200 billion yuan is spent every year on food that ends up in the garbage bin. And in the midst of all this waste, statistics show that 128 million people are living below the poverty line and going hungry.
The “clean your plate” campaign is part of a worldwide effort to stop precious food from being wasted. The United Nations estimates that $1trillion (yes, that’s a very big number) worth of food is wasted each year. Most of that is lost during food production and transportation, but a significant percentage is attributed to waste by consumers. The United Nations Environment Program (UNEP) has launched a campaign called “Think. Eat. Save.” to make people aware of the problem.
Chinese actress Fan Bingbing is an ambassador for UNEP and she encouraged people to upload pictures of their “clean plates” to show their support for the program. Thousands of people responded and demonstrated that they had a clear conscience to go along with their full stomachs.
Xi Jinping, the incoming Chinese president, is also urging people to be less wasteful and he told Party members to cut back on extravagant holiday banquets and to be more careful when spending the people’s money.
For some, though, Xi Jinping’s and Fan Bingbing’s admonitions don’t go far enough. Yuan Longping, an agricultural scientist, caused a stir by saying that wasting food should be treated as a crime. (Jail time for leftover chicken feet!?)
If not a crime, wasting food is certainly a sin and it goes against what Xi Jinping calls, “the Chinese tradition of being diligent and thrifty.” Having a “clean plate” is just a traditional and responsible thing to do. Which statement is NOT TRUE according to the passage?
| A．Over 200 billion yuan is wasted every year on food around China. |
| B．It’s quite common for Chinese people to order more food than they need in restaurants. |
| C．It’s universally acknowledged that wasting food is a crime. |
| D．Fan did something to promote people’s awareness of saving food. |
What’ the best title for the passage?
| A．Food is important. | B．Have you cleaned your plate? |
| C．Jail time for leftover chicken feet!? | D．Wasting food is crime. |
Eating foods high in trans-fats(fats present in artificial form in industrially-produced cakes and fast food...) and saturated (饱和的) fats increases the risk of depression, according to a Spanish study, confirming previous studies that linked “junk food” with the disease. Researchers also showed that some products, such as olive oil, can fight against the risk of mental illness.
Authors of the wide-reaching study, from the universities of Navarra and Las Palmas, followed and analyzed the diet and lifestyle of over l2,000 volunteers over six years. When the study began, none of the participants had been diagnosed with depression; by the end, 657 of them were new sufferers.
“Participants with an increased consumption of trans-fats presented up to a 48 percent increase in the risk of depression when they were compared to participants who did not consume these fats,” the head study author said. “The more trans-fats were consumed, the greater harmful effect they produced in the volunteers.”
The research team found, at the same time, that after assessing the effect of polyunsaturated fats made up of larger amounts of fish and vegetable oils and olive oil, these products are associated with a lower risk of suffering depression.
The report, published in the online journal PLOS ONE, noted the research was performed on a European population that enjoys a relatively low intake of trans-fats—making up only 0.4 percent of the total energy taken in by the volunteers. “Despite this, we observed an increase in the risk of suffering depression of nearly 50 percent,” said researcher Miguel Martinez. “On this basis we think it of great importance to take this effect into account in countries like the United States, where the percentage of energy derived from these fats is around 2.5 percent.”
The report pointed out that the current number of depression sufferers in the world is around l50 million people, and has increased in recent years. This rise is attributable, according to the authors, “to great changes in the sources of fats consumed in Western diets, where we have replaced certain types of beneficial fats in nuts, vegetable oils and fish with the saturated and trans-fats found in meats, butter and other products such as mass-produced cakes and fast food.”What's the best title of the text?
| A．Junk Food and Depression | B．Depression Prevention |
| C．Types of Fats and Depression | D．Depression Research |
Which of the following increases the risk of suffering depression?
| A．Fish. | B．Vegetable oil. | C．Olive oil. | D．Butter. |
The study tells us that .
| A．2.5% Americans suffer mental illness |
| B．l2,000 volunteers in Navarra took part |
| C．a minority of participants became new sufferers |
| D．l50 million Europeans enjoy a healthier lifestyle |
The underlined word “derived” in Paragraph 5 is closest in meaning to .
| A．obtained | B．chosen | C．separated | D．preserved |
More and more Westerners are suffering depression because .
| A．they have less time for exercise |
| B．they eat more nuts, vegetable oils and fish |
| C．the sources of fats in their diets have changed |
| D．less meat, butter, and cakes are included in their diets |