Americans this year will swallow 15,000 tons of aspirin, one of the safest and most effective drugs invented by man. The most popular medicine in the world today, it is an effective pain reliever. Its bad effects are relatively mild and it is cheap.
For millions of people suffering from arthritis(关节炎), it is the only thing that works. Aspirin, in short, is truly the 20th-century wonder drug. It is also the second largest suicide drug and is the leading cause of poisoning among children. It has side effects that, although relatively mild, are largely unrecognized among users.
Although aspirin was first sold by a German company in 1899, it has been around much longer than that. Hippocrates, in anc
ient Greece, understood the medical value of the leaves and tree bark which today are known to contain salicylates(水杨酸碱), the chemical in aspirin. During the 19th century, there was a great deal of experimentation in Europe with this chemical, and it led to the introduction of aspirin. By 1915, aspirin tablets were available in the United States.
A small quantity of aspirin (two five-grain tablets) relieves pain and inflammation(炎症). It also reduces fever by interfering with some of the body’s reactions. The passage is written to .
| A．suggests us using more aspirin | B．reminds us of the side effects of aspirin |
| C．gives us a whole view of aspirin | D．discusses the good effects of aspirin |
According to the author, aspirin .
| A．is very safe | B．first appeared in 1899 |
| C．can be harmful to children | D．can hardly be dangerous |
Generally speaking, the author seems to be .
| A．in favor of aspirin | B．against the use of sapirin |
| C．not interested in aspirin | D．careful in using aspirin |
What is the best title for this passage?
| A．How to Use Aspirin | B．Why I Take Aspirin |
| C．The Most Popular Medicine | D．The Side Effects of Aspirin |
Doris Lessing was born in 1919 in Persia, moving as a child with her family to southern Rhodesia, now Zimbabwe, where she stayed in school only to the age of 14.
A year after moving to London, she published her first novel in 1950. The Grass is Singing examines unbridgeable racial conflict in colonial Africa through the eyes of a white farmer's wife and her black servant.
Her literary breakthrough came in 1962 with publication of The Golden Notebook, seen by many, though not necessarily Lessing, as a pioneering work of modern feminism（女权运动）. A disjointed study of the mind of the main character, Anna Wulf, the novel explores her thoughts about Africa, politics, relationships with men and sex, and Jungian analysis and dream interpretation.
Lessing's themes changed to psychology in her works from the 1960s, and by the 1970s she was interested in the Islamic mystic tradition of Sufism（苏菲教派）. Her turn toward science fiction with the Canopus series in the early 1980s was not warmly received by traditional critics, but she has continued to be popular with new readers and numerous literary awards, including the David Cohen British Literary Prize and the Companion of Honour from the Royal Society of Literature, both in 2001.
Following the announcement, the Horace Engdahl told VOA why he was personally so pleased with Lessing's selection.
“She is one of the truly great writers -- of novels, short stories, fiction and non-fiction,” Engdahl said. “She is one of the few writers who have had the courage to uphold the principle of equality between the male and female experience, and she has given the impulse to numbers of other women writers. And she is really the mother of a school that is one of the most important in our contemporary literature.”
At 87, Doris Lessing is the oldest Nobel Literature winner since the first prizes were awarded in 1901. What would be the best title of the passage?
| A．Doris Lessing’s Great Writings. |
| B．Doris Lessing’s Concern about Africa. |
| C．A Great Writer of Novel and a Pioneer of Modern Feminism. |
| D．A Nobel Prize Winner for Literature. |
It can be inferred from the passage that _______.
| A．there are only two characters in The Grass is Singing |
| B．The Golden Notebook is regarded as Lessing’s masterpiece by herself |
| C．life in Africa in her early age lays solid foundation for her writing |
| D．Doris Lessing is strongly against traditional culture in Africa |
According to the fourth paragraph, _______.
| A．Lessing began to believe in Christ in the 1970s |
| B．Lessing’s science fiction won readers |
| C．Lessing had won two literary medals for her writings |
| D．Lessing changed her themes to meet the needs of traditional critics |
The underlined word “impulse” in the 6th passage is closest in meaning to _______.
| A．pressure | B．inspiration | C．energy | D．desire |
Archaeologists believe they are on the turning point of throwing light on the life of William Shakespeare — by excavating (发掘) what may have been the playwright’s dust hole.
Experts have begun excavating the ruins of New Place, Shakespeare’s former home in Stratford-upon-Avon, which was destroyed 250 years ago. Although little remains of the property, the team, led by Birmingham Archaeology, believes it has identified a dust hole used by the 16th century poet.
Small pieces of pottery (陶瓷) and broken clay pipe have already been found from a muddy hole on the site, which they claim could yield some of the most significant discoveries about Shakespeare in decades. The dig focuses on three areas of the property, which Shakespeare bought in 1597 when he returned to his home town from London having achieved fame — including the so-called knot garden at the back of the building.
Dr Diana Owen, Director of the Shakespeare Birthplace Trust, which owns the site, said, “We do not know if the knot garden was an area used by Shakespeare — it may have been a yard simply used by his servants. But this could actually yield some fantastic results, especially if it was an area where rubbish was thrown or the dust hole was located.”
Kevin Colls, from Birmingham Archaeology,added, “Through documentary evidence we know Shakespeare lived at New Place but we have very little information regarding the layout (布局) of the house and gardens at this time. Through archaeological fieldwork, in particular the dig of structural remains and the recovery of artifacts, we hope to fill in the blanks.”
Until October, visitors will be able to watch archaeologists and volunteers at work as they excavate the remains of the house, which was knocked down in 1759. Experts hope to unearth evidence to support theories that Shakespeare wrote many of his most famous works at the property. This excavation intends to ______.
| A．know something about the playwright’s dust hole |
| B．search for some treasure in the dust hole |
| C．explore the life of William Shakespeare |
| D．find something that Shakespeare lost |
New Place was destroyed in the ______ century.
| A．15th | B．16th | C．17th | D．18th |
Small pieces of pottery and broken clay pipe on the site ______.
| A．could show Shakespeare’s luxurious life |
| B．could lead to important discoveries about Shakespeare |
| C．could show us that Shakespeare lived at New Place |
| D．could prove when New Place was knocked down |
What can we learn from the text?
| A．Shakespeare used to live at New Place. |
| B．Shakespeare became famous after 1597. |
| C．Only his servants used the knot garden. |
| D．Dr Diana Owen owns Shakespeare’s property. |
You're busy filling out the application form for a position you really need. Let's assume you once actually completed a couple of years of college work or even that you completed your degree. Isn't it appealing to lie just a little, to claim on the form that your diploma represents a Harvard degree? Or that you finished an extra couple of years back at State University? More and more people are turning to cheat like this to land their job or to move ahead in their careers, for personnel officers, like most Americans, value degrees from famous schools. A job applicant may have a good education anyway, but he or she assumes that chances of being hired are better with a diploma from a well-known university.
Registrars（登记员） at most well-known colleges say they deal with deceitful claims like these at the rate of about one per week. Personnel officers do check up on degrees listed on application forms, then. If it turns out that an applicant is lying, most colleges are unwilling to accuse the applicant directly. One Ivy League school calls them "cheats"; another refers to them as "special cases". One well-known West Coast school, in perhaps the most delicate phrase of all, says that these claims are made by "no such people". To avoid outright(彻底的) lies, some job-seekers claim that they "attending" means being dismissed after one semester. It may be that "being associated with" a college means that the job-seeker visited his younger brother for a football weekend. One school that keeps records of false claims says that the practice dates back at least to the turn of the century—that's when they began keeping records, anyhow. If you don't want to lie or even stretch the truth, there are companies that will sell you a false diploma.
One company, with offices in New York and on the West Coast, will put your name on a diploma from any number of nonexistent colleges. The price begins at around twenty dollars for a diploma from "Smoot State University". The prices increase rapidly for a degree from the "University of Purdue". As there is no Smoot State and the real school in Indiana is properly called Purdue University, the prices seem rather high for one sheet of paper.The main idea of this passage is that ______.
| A．employers are checking more closely on applicants now |
| B．lying about college degrees has become a widespread problem |
| C．college degrees can now be purchased easily |
| D．employers are no longer interested in college degrees |
According to the passage, "special cases" refers to cases that ______.
| A．students attend a school only part-time |
| B．students never attended a school they listed on their application |
| C．students purchase false degrees from commercial firms |
| D．students attended a famous school |
We can infer from the passage that _______.
| A．performance is a better judge of ability than a college degree |
| B．experience is the best teacher |
| C．past work histories influence personnel officers more than degrees do |
| D．a degree from a famous school enables an applicant to gain advantage over others in job competition |
This passage implies that ______.
| A．buying a false degree is not moral |
| B．personnel officers only consider applicants from famous schools |
| C．most people lie on applications because they were dismissed from school |
| D．society should be greatly responsible for lying on applications |
Making greener choices and encouraging healthy lifestyles can promote your health and benefit the environment. Here are some guidelines to follow:
Choose foods thoughtfully
Americans have never had such a variety or abundance of food to choose from. Besides so many choices, we now hear about our “food print”, the amount of land needed to supply one person’s nutritional needs for a year. Do we buy cherry tomatoes from Mexico or tomatoes grown locally in a hothouse? Do we get the Granny Smiths from the farmers’ market or the supermarket? Is organic produce healthier for us and the planet?
These are very complex issues that require analysis of many criteria, including the energy used in producing and transporting the food, as well as the type of soil and methods of raising the food.
Despite the complexities, there are some general guidelines you can follow. For instance, eat less meat or eat low on the food chain. Your doctor may have recommended you to restrict your consumption of red meat because of its too much fat content. Beyond that, there are environmental reasons, too. Raising food animals contributes substantially to climate change because a meat-based diet requires more land, energy and water than a plant-based one.
______________________________
Drinking plenty of fluids is significant during hot weather or when exercising. But is bottled water the way to go? You may not think so when seeing the true costs. Based on a survey, manufacturing the 30-plus billion plastic water bottles can produce more than 2.5 million tons of carbon dioxide and use three times the amount of water in the bottle. Adding in transportation, the energy used comes to over 50 million barrels of oil equivalent (等价物). Consequently, skip the bottled water and drink tap water, both at home and at restaurants. Additionally, bottled water is not necessarily cleaner than tap.In Paragraph 2 the author puts forward three questions mainly ______.
| A．to prove Americans have less food to choose from |
| B．to show us the shopping habits of most Americans |
| C．to indicate Americans tend to buy food from abroad |
| D．to remind people to reconsider their food purchase |
According to the text, which of the following is true?
| A．Americans all prefer to buy cherry tomatoes from Mexico. |
| B．The plant-based diet is responsible for the climate change. |
| C．Americans have a variety of food to choose from. |
| D．Organic produce is the only choice for Americans. |
Based on the last paragraph, we know that ______.
| A．bottled water is cleaner than tap water |
| B．tap water is economical as well as eco-friendly |
| C．bottled water is more available than tap water |
| D．tap water uses one-third the cost of bottled water |
What is the best subtitle for the last paragraph?
| A．Skip bottled water, carry tap | B．Drink bottled water |
| C．Produce plastic water bottles | D．Save water resources |
Greece declared a national state of emergency on Saturday as scores of forest fires that have killed at least 46 people continued to burn out of control, leaving some villages trapped within walls of flames, cut off from firefighters.
Although most of the fires have been on the Peloponnesian Peninsula, some broke out on the outskirts of Athens on Saturday, forcing the evacuation of homes and closing a major road linking the capital to the main airport for several hours. The national fire brigade said that by evening it had brought those blazes under control, including one that came within about six miles of the city.
The country has been helpless to fire this summer because of drought and three consecutive heat waves that sent temperatures high over 100 degrees. More than 3,000 forest fires have destroyed thousands of acres of wooded areas since June; the earlier fires killed nine people.The latest wave of fires on the peninsula started Friday. Strong, hot winds have spread the flames.
Firefighters expect the death toll to rise, because they have not yet been able to search some areas that had been overrun by flames.
Hardest hit by the fires were a dozen small villages around the town of Zaharo in the western peninsula, where at least 12 people, including some who may have been trying to flee by car, were killed. Scores of other residents, including elderly and disabled people, remained trapped in their homes, phoning into local television and radio stations, crying for help.
Late Saturday, Mr. Karamanlis, Prime Minister of Greece appeared on national television and declared that he was mobilizing all of the country’s resources to control the fire. Mr. Karamanlis also suggested that the recent fires might have been purposely set. “So many fires sparked at the same time in so many regions is no coincidence,” he said, “We will get to the bottom of this and punish those responsible.”
The overstretched national fire services are being helped by an estimated 6,000 soldiers mobilized for the operation. A fleet of water-dumping aircraft was expected from France, Germany and Norway, after Greece appealed to the European Union for “urgent assistance.”The writer mainly wants to tell us that ______ in the passage.
| A．firefighters battles fearlessly in Greece to control the fire |
| B．constant fires in Greece have caused great life and wealth lose |
| C．Greece is facing great danger as forest fires continue to break out |
| D．Greek government is investigating the cause of recent forest fires |
According to the passage, which of the following might not contribute to the recent forest fires in Greek?
| A．Storm thunders in summer | B．Lack of rainfall |
| C．Extremely hot weather this summer | D．Hot and strong wind |
We can learn from the passage that ______.
| A．now the fire crisis in Greece has come to an end |
| B．assistance from EU members is expected to come to help Greece |
| C．firefighters in Greece so far can still manage the situation |
| D．the number of people who die in the fire is expected not to rise any more |
Mr. Karamanlis believes the forest fires in Greece _______.
| A．is a happening by chance | B．is a natural disaster |
| C．might be caused by human on purpose | D．is a punishment of nature |