The tragic death of celebrity Wang Bei has made people aware of the risks of cosmetic surgery, which is becoming increasingly popular.
A survey on the reaction to Wang’s death, conducted by Tencent, which runs China’s most popular instant-messaging service, received more than 600,000 responses, as of press time Monday.Forty-one percent of respondents expressed sorrow over her death, saying, "It’s a pity she died at such a young age." Some 31 percent said she should have been more cautious and less vain, while 10 percent were enraged at the hospital that conducted the surgery.The remaining 18 percent were indifferent.
A common thread of online discussion is why someone considered beautiful was so dissatisfied with her looks.Some netizens said Wang was a victim of society’s unrealistic ideal of beauty: double eyelids, an aquiline nose and the pointed chin typical of Western celebrities.Others said her death underscores the limits to which people will go to achieve fame and fortune.Young people, see cosmetic surgery as the key to wealth and love.
"They want to improve their appearance to find better opportunities at work and in marriage," says Ding Xiaobang, a plastic surgeon with the Peking Union Medical College Hospital."We’re living in a highly competitive society.People regard appearance as a weapon and a means of empowerment…Most of them tell me, ’I don’t care how much I spend, just make me look beautiful’." In the past decade, Ding says he Has seen a growing number of patients, like Wang Bei, who are young and naturally good-looking.The surgeon attributes this trend to people becoming richer, the standards of beauty changing, competition and frustration.
"Some are frustrated with life and use surgery as a way to try and recover," lie says.
The surge in demand for plastic surgery has resulted in a rise in the number of unauthorized business establishments and surgeons conducting such procedures.
Meanwhile, experts say, young and beautiful people who still seek plastic surgery need to address their self-awareness issues and be more accepting.
“They’ve built their identity around the admiration of others and fail to establish a system to assess themselves," says Zhu Wenbo, a psychologist with Blue Bay Psychological Consulting Center in Chengdu."People’s opinions always change, so this is not a reliable way to evaluate oneself."Most people are toward the death of Wang Bei according to the survey.
A.sympathetic | B.indifferent | C.enraged | D.not mentioned |
Why is there such a trend of having medical cosmetic surgery according to Ding Xiaobang?
A.People become richer. |
B.The standard the beauty always changes. |
C.People suffer fierce competition and frustration now and then. |
D.All of the above. |
What kind of people is regarded as a beauty nowadays?
A.a person with single eyelid, an aquiline nose and a pointed chin |
B.a person with double eyelids, an aquiline nose and a pointed chin |
C.a person with double eyelids, a snub nose and a pointed chin |
D.a person with double eyelids, a snub nose and a chubby chin |
The purpose of the text is to .
A.inform us that cosmetic surgery becomes popular. |
B.emphasize that young people should re-evaluate themselves rationally. |
C.raise concerns about the risk of medical cosmetology industry. |
D.state that people’s standard of beauty always changes. |
Attractions in Wisconsin
Wisconsin Historical Museum
30 N. Carroll Street on Madison's Capitol Square
Discover Wisconsin's history and culture(文化) on four floors of exhibits. Open for public program. Admission is free.
Open Tuesday through Saturday, 9:00am -- 4:00 pm.
(608) 264-6555www.wisconsinhistory.org/museum
Swiss historical village
612 Seventh Ave., New Glarus
The Swiss Historical Village offers a delightful look at pioneer life in America's heartland. 14 buildings in the village give a full picture of every day life in the nineteenth-century Midwest.
Tue.-Fri., May 1st -October 31st , 10:00 am-4:00 pm. Admission is $20.
(608) 527-2317www.swisshistoricalvillage.com
Artisan Gallery & Creamery Café
6858 Paoli Rd., Paoli, WI
One of the largest collections of fine arts and crafts(手工艺品) in Wisconsin. Over 5000 sp. ft. of exhibition space in a historic creamery. While visiting enjoy a wonderfully prepared lunch at our café overlooking the Sugar River. Just minutes from Madison!
Gallery open Tue. -Sun., 10:00 am-5:00 pm.
Café open Wed. -Sat., 11:00 am -3:00 pm.
Sun. brunch with wine, 10:00-3:00 pm.
(608) 845-6600www.artisangal.com
Christopher Columbus Museum
239 Whitney St., Columbus
World-class exhibit -2000 quality souvenirs(纪念品) marking Chicago's 1893 World Columbian Exhibition. Tour buses are always welcome.
Open daily, 8:15 am - 4:00 pm.
(920) 623-1992www.columbusantiquemall.com
1. |
Which of the following is on Capitol Square?
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2. |
Where can you go for a visit on Monday?
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3. |
Where can visitors have lunch?
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4. |
We learn from the text that.
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Something in chocolate could be used to stop coughs and lead to more effective medicines, say UK researchers.
Their study found that theobromine, found in cocoa, was nearly a third more effective in stopping coughs than codeine, which was considered the best cough medicine at present.
The Imperial College London researchers who published their results online said the discovery could lead to more effective cough treatment. “While coughing is not necessarily harmful(有害的) it can have a major effect on the quality of life, and this discovery could be a huge step forward in treating this problem,” said Professor Peter Barnes.
Ten healthy volunteers(志愿者) were given theobromine, codeine or placebo, a pill that contains no medicine, during the experiment. Neither the volunteers nor the researchers knew who received which pill. The researchers then measured levels of capsaicin, which is used in research to cause coughing and as a sign of how well the medicine are stopping coughs.
The team found that, when the volunteers were given theobromine, the capsaicin need to produce a cough was around a third higher than in the placebo group. When they were given codeine they need only slightly higher levers of capsaicin to cause a cough compared with the placebo.
The researchers said that theobromine worked by keeping down a verve activity(神经活动), which cause coughing. They also found that unlike some standard cough treatments, theobromine caused no side effects such as sleepiness.According to Professor Barnes, theobromine ______.
A.cannot be as effective as codeine |
B.can be harmful to people’s health |
C.cannot be separated from chocolate |
D.can be a more effective cure for coughs |
What was used in the experiment to cause coughing?
A.Theobromine. | B.Codeine. | C.Capsaicin. | D.Placebo. |
We learn from the text that volunteers in the experiment _____.
A.were patients with bad coughs |
B.were divided into the three groups |
C.received standard treatments |
D.suffered little side effects |
Which of the following would be the best title for the text?
A.Codeine: A New Medicine | B.Chocolate May Cure Coughs |
C.Cough Treatment: A Hard Case | D.Theobromine Can Cause Coughs |
Do you know of anyone who uses the truth to deceive (欺骗)? When someone tells you something that is true, but leaves out important in formation that should be included, he can give you a false picture.
For example, some might say, "I just won a hundred dollars on the lottery (彩票). It was great. I took that dollar ticket back to the store and turned it in for on e hundred dollars!"
This guy's a winner, right? Maybe, maybe not. We then discover that he bought $200 worth of tickets, and only on e was a winner. He's really a big loser!
He didn't say anything that was false, but he left out important information on purpose. That's called a half-truth. Half-truths are not technically lies, but they are just as dishonest.
Some politicians often use this trick. Let's say that during Governor Smith's last term, her state lost one million jobs and gained three million jobs. Then she seeks another term. One of her opponents(对手) says, "During Governor Smith's term, the state lost one million jobs!" that's true. However, and honest statement would have been, "During Governor Smith's term, the state had a net gain of two million jobs."
Advertisers(广告商) will sometimes use half-truths. It's against the law to make false statements so they try to mislead you with the truth. An advertisement might say, "Nine out of ten doctors advised their patients to take Yucky Pills to cure toothache." It fails to mention that they only asked ten doctors and nine of them work for the Yucky Company.
This kind of deception happens too of often. It's a sad fact of life: Lies are lies, and sometimes the truth can lie as well.
1. |
How much did the lottery winner lose?
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2. |
We may infer that the author believes people should.
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3. |
What do the underline words "net gain" in Paragraph 5 mean?
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4. |
What can we know from the example of the Yucky Pill advertisement?
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The Queen’s English is now sounding less upper-class, a scientific study of the Queen’s Christmas broadcasts had found. Researchers have studied each of her messages to the Commonwealth countries since 1952 to find out the change in her pronunciation from the noble Upper Received to the Standard Received.
Jonathan Harrington, a professor at Germany’s University of Munich, wanted to discover whether accent (口音) changers recorded over the past half century would take place within one person. “As far as I know, there just is nobody else for whom there is this sort of broadcast records,” he said.
He said the noble way of pronouncing vowels (元音) had gradually lost ground as the noble upper-class accent over the past years. “Her accent sounds slightly less noble than it did 50 years ago. But these are very, very small and slow changes that we don’t notice from year to year.”
“We may be able to relate it to changes in the social classes,” he told The Daily Telegraph, a British newspaper. “In 1952 she would have been hears saying ‘thet men in the bleck het’. Now it would be ‘that man in the black hat’. And ‘hame’ rather than ‘home’. In the 1950s she would have been ‘lorst’, but by the 1970s ‘lost’.”
The Queen’s broadcast is a personal message to the Commonwealth countries. Each Christmas, the 10-minute broadcast is put on TV at 3 pm in Britain as many families are recovering from their traditional turkey lunch. (传统火鸡午餐).
The results were published (发表) in the Journal of Phonetics.The Queen’s broadcasts were chosen for the study mainly because ______.
A.she has been Queen for many years | B.she has a less upper-class accent now |
C.her speeches are familiar to many people | D.her speeches have been recorded for 50 years |
Which of the following is an example of a less noble accent in English?
A.“duaty” | B.“citee” | C.“hame” | D.“lorst” |
We may infer from the text that the Journal of Phonetics is a magazine on _______.
A.speech sounds | B.Christmas customs | C.TV broadcasting | D.personal messages |
What is the text mainly about?
A.The relationship between accents and social classes. |
B.The Queen’s Christmas speeches on TV. |
C.The changes in a person’s accent. |
D.The recent development of the English language. |
There was a story many years ago of a school teacher--- Mrs. Thompson. She told the children on the first day that she loved them all the same. But that was a lie. There in the front row was a little boy named Teddy Stoddard. He didn't play well with the other children and he always needed a bath. She did not like him.
Then Mrs. Thompson got to know that Teddy was actually a very good boy before the death of his mother. Mrs. Thompson was ashamed of herself. She felt even worse when, like all her other students, Teddy brought her a Christmas present too. It was his mother's perfume(香水)。
Teddy said, "Mrs. Thompson, today you smell just like my Mom used to." After the children left she cried for at least an hour. On that very day, she stopped teaching reading, writing and math. Instead, she began to teach children.
Mrs. Thompson paid particular attention to Teddy. The boy's mind seemed to come alive. The more she encourage him, the faster he improved. By the end of the sixth grade, Teddy had become one of the smartest children in the class.
Six years went by before she got a note from Teddy. He wrote that he had finished high school, third in his class, and she was still the best teacher he ever had in his whole lift. He went to college. Mrs. Thompson got two more letters from him with the last one signed, Theodore F. Stoddard, M. D.(医学博士).
The story doesn't end there. On his wedding day, Dr. Stoddard whispered in Mrs. Thompson's ear, "Thank you, Mrs. Thompson, for believing in me. You made me feel important and showed me that I could make a difference."
Mrs. Thompson, with tears in her eyes, whispered back, "Teddy, you have it all wrong. You were the one who taught me that I could make a difference. I didn't know how to teach until I met you."
1. |
What did Mrs. Thompson do on the first day of school?
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2. |
What did Mrs. Thompson find out about Teddy?
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3. |
In what way did Mrs. Thompson change?
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4. |
Why did Teddy thank Mrs. Thompson at his wedding?
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