The rising costs of health care have become a problem for man y countries in the world. To deal with this problem, it is recommended that a big part of the state health budget be used for health education and disease prevention instead of treatment. Actually, many kinds of diseases are preventable in many ways and preventing a disease is usually much cheaper than treating it. For example, people could avoid catching a cold if they dressed warmly when the weather starts getting cold. But many people get sick because they fail to do so, and have to spend money seeing a doctor.
Daily habits like eating more healthy food would have kept millions of families from becoming bankruptif the patients had taken ways for early prevention. For example, keeping a balanced diet, such as not consuming too much animal fat and trying to have enough vegetables and fruits, seems to be quite important.
One very effective and costless way of prevention is regular exercise, which is necessary for a healthy mind and body. Regular exercise, such as running, walking, and playing sports is a good way to make people feel better or reduce stress.
In addition, health education plays a key role in improving people’s health. By giving people more information about health, countries could help people understand the importance of disease prevention and ways to achieve it. For example, knowing one’s family medical history is an effective way to help keep healthy. Information about health problems among close relatives will make them aware of what they should do to prevent certain diseases through lifestyle changes, which will work before it is too late.
However, paying more attention to disease prevention does not mean medical treatment is unimportant. After all, prevention and treatment are just two different means toward the same effect. In conclusion, we could save money on health care and treat patients more successfully if our country spends more money on health prevention and education.What’s the best title of the passage?
| A．Prevention or Education? | B．Exercise or Illness? |
| C．Health or Illness? | D．Prevention or Treatment? |
Which of the following can replace the underlined word “bankrupt”?
| A．Unable to be cured. | B．Unable to pay one’s debts. |
| C．Stronger than ever before. | D．More successful than ever before. |
We learn from the passage that ______．
| A．dressing warmly can prevent diseases. |
| B．a balanced diet is cheaper than regular exercise. |
| C．the more health education, the better. |
| D．the government’s health budget should be increased. |
Which of the following shows the structure of the passage?
Everyone’s at it, even my neighbors. I thought I might be the only person left in the world who hadn’t done an eBay deal. So, I decided to try my hand at online auction（网上拍卖）.
Buying for Beginners
Sign up on www. eBay. co. uk. Most items (e.g. tables, computers and books) ready for auction will come with a picture and a short description; others may be marked with “Buy It Now” and have a fixed price. You can buy these right away.
If the item is being auctioned, you offer the highest price you are prepared to pay and eBay bids (出价) for you. The bid will be increased little by little until it goes beyond your highest bid, then you are emailed and asked if you would like to bid again. Auctions last up to 10 days and when they finish, you get an email telling you whether you have won the item. 
How to Pay
Sellers decide how they would like to be paid and you need to check this before placing a bid as you might not want to post a check or postal orders. The easiest way is through PayPal, an online payment system that takes the money away from your credit card.
Selling Made Simple
If you plan to sell on eBay, it helps to include a picture of the item. I followed my friends’ advice and put up the items I wanted to sell for a 10-day auction, starting on a Thursday. This way buyers had two weekends to bid.
The big Things in Life
It’s easy to post a small item, but furniture is a big part of eBay and this has to be collectively sent by deliverymen. Check the ways of delivery before you bid.What is the passage mainly about?
| A．How to make payment online. | B．Ways of making delivery online. |
| C．Advantages of an online auction system. | D．How to use an online-auction system. |
After bidding for an item, a buyer ________.
| A．has chances to make higher bids | B．will get what he wants in ten days |
| C．should make payment immediately | D．may check its picture and description |
The easiest way of making payment mentioned in the passage is ________.
| A．through a local banking system | B．by sending the money to the seller |
| C．by paying the deliveryman directly | D．through an online payment system |
In the 1960s, medical researchers Thomas Holmes and Richard Rahe developed a checklist of stressful events. They found out that any major change can be stressful. Negative events like “serious illness of a family member” were high on the list, but so were some positive life-changing events, like marriage. When you take the Holmes-Rahe test you must remember that the score does not show how you deal with stress—it only shows how much you have to deal with. And we now know that the way you deal with these events has a great effect on your chances of staying healthy.
By the early 1970s, hundreds of similar studies had followed Holmes and Rahe. And millions of Americans who work and live under stress worried over the reports. Somehow, the research got boiled down to a memorable message. Women's magazines ran headlines like “Stress causes illnesses”.If you want to stay physically and mentally healthy, the articles said, avoid stressful events. But such simplistic advice is impossible to follow. even if stressful events are dangerous, many—like the death of a loved one—are impossible to avoid. Moreover, any warning to avoid all stressful events is a prescription(处方) for staying away from opportunities as well as trouble. Since any change can be stressful, a person who wanted to be completely free of stress would never marry, have a child, take a new job or move.
The idea that all stress makes you sick also takes no notice of what we know about people. It is supposed that we're all weak and passive in the face of difficulty. But many come through periods of stress with more physical and mental strength than they had before. We also know that a long time without change or challenge can lead to boredom, and physical and mental damage.The result of Holmes-Rahe’s medical research tells us _______.
| A．what should be done to avoid stress |
| B．the way of dealing with major events may cause stress |
| C．what kind of event would cause stress |
| D．how to deal with sudden changes in life |
The studies on stress in the early 1970's led to_______.
| A．great fear about the mental problems it could cause |
| B．widespread worry over its harmful effects |
| C．a deep research into illnesses connected with stress |
| D．popular avoidance of stressful jobs |
According to the passage people who have experienced ups and downs may become___.
| A．discouraged when faced with difficulty |
| B．physically and mentally weak |
| C．more experienced in the face of difficulty |
| D．uninterested in what happens to them |
What’s the purpose of writing the text?
| A．To tell people the discoveries about stress. |
| B．To tell people how to keep healthy. |
| C．To help people avoid stressful events. |
| D．To help people view stress properly. |
In Europe people hold the fork in the left hand and the knife in the right throughout the meal, a system that is generally agreed to be more efficient than the American zigzag（曲折的）method. Americans hold both the fork and the knife in their right hands throughout the meal, so they continually change their forks to the left hand when they have to cut their meat. It seems to be funny for the Europeans to see Americans busy changing their dinner sets, making a lot of noises. A few explanations for this American style are as follows:
(1)Americans are practical and efficient. Since most of us are right-handed, it is reasonable to keep our working tools at all times in the right hand that can use them most efficiently.
(2)Americans, the master of the New World are rebels（叛逆者）.They use the zigzag method to break the rules in the Old World and in this way they are thumbing their nose at Mother England. Americans are a restless kind. They do not like to sit in one spot for very long when dining.
(3)Forced to do so, they respond by “playing” with the silver.
Whatever the reason for the practice, it is now certainly as American as apple pie. Europeans recognize this and are quick to attack it as evidence of American innocence（无知）of form. Arguments against the zigzag method rest not only on grounds of efficiency but also on those of tradition. In Old World dining, the knife is held in the right hand continually because it can serve as an instant defense against the uninvited intruders（入侵者）.However, such alertness（警觉） is out of place in the New World, as every American believes that this is the home of the brave. Americans juggle their silverware, perhaps, to show that they are not afraid and that one of them holding a fork is worth any number of them holding blades（刀）.Americans use _______ to hold their fork to pick up the salad.
| A．the right hand | B．the left hand |
| C．both hands | D．either of the two hands |
As the masters of the New World, Americans use a different cutting method from that in the Old World to _______.
| A．show their independence of Mother England |
| B．show their disrespect to Mother England |
| C．add a new tradition to those in Mother England |
| D．show off their creativeness to Mother England |
In the sentence, the word “juggle” probably means _______.
| A．hold | B．play with | C．pick up | D．lay down |
Which of the following statements is NOT true?
| A．European people hold the fork in the left hand and the knife in the right hand. |
| B．The zigzag eating method is related to American characteristics. |
| C．The zigzag eating method has become an American feature. |
| D．European people will use the American method because of its efficiency. |
Fading beauty
She is widely seen as proof that good looks can last for ever. But, at nearly 500 years of age, time is catching up with the Mona Lisa.
The health of the famous picture, painted by Leonardo Da Vinci in 1505, is getting worse by the year, according to the Louvre Museum (卢浮宫博物馆) where it is housed.
“The thin, wooden panel on which the Mona Lisa is painted in oil has changed shape since experts checked it two years ago,” the museum said. Visitors have noticed changes but repairing the world’s most famous painting is not easy. Experts are not sure about the materials the Italian artist used and their current chemical state (化学状态).
Nearly 6 million people go to see the Mona Lisa every year, many attracted by the mystery of her smile. “It is very interesting that when you’re not looking at her, she seems to be smiling, and then you look at her and she stops,” said Professor Margaret Livingstone of Harvard University. “It’s because direct vision (视觉) is excellent at picking up detail, but less suited to looking at shadows. Da Vinci painted the smile in shadows.”
However, the actual history of the Mona Lisa is just as mysterious as the smile. Da Vinci himself loved it so much that he always carried it with him, until it was eventually sold to France’s King Francis I in 1519.
In 1911, the painting was stolen from the Louvre by a former employee, who took it out of the museum hidden under his coat. He said he planned to return it to Italy. The painting was sent back to France two years later.
During World War II, French hid the painting in small towns to keep it out of the hands of German forces.
Like many old ladies, the Mona Lisa has some interesting stories to tell.What does the writer mean by “time is catching up with the Mona Lisa”?
| A．The painted woman is not so beautiful any more. |
| B．Ageing is something that affects us all. |
| C．The painting needs repairing. |
| D．At such an old age, she is no longer popular. |
What makes the repair work difficult?
| A．The wooden panel is thin and old and has also changed shape. |
| B．The health of the painting is suffering |
| C．Experts can’t agree on how the painting might respond to treatment. |
| D．No one knows exactly what materials were used to create the painting. |
What makes her smile so mysterious according to Professor Livingston?
| A．The materials the Italian artist used. | B．The way Da Vinci painted the smile. |
| C．The way she smiles. | D．It plays a trick upon the human eye. |
Which of the following is in the right order?
①The painting was stolen from the Louvre.
②The painting was sent back to France.
③It was sold to France’s King Francis I
④Da Vinci carried the painting with him.
⑤French hid the painting to keep it out of the hands of German forces.
| A．④→③→①→②→⑤ | B．④→①→③→②→⑤ |
| C．①→④→③→②→⑤ | D．①→③→④→②→⑤ |
根据短文内容，从短文后的选项中选出能填入空白处的最佳选项。选项中有两项为多余选项。
During the first half of the nineteenth century in the United States, Christmas was a very different kind of holiday than it is today. There was no set of way of celebrating the day,which was not yet an official holiday. 71Some observed Christmas as an important Christian religious day honoring the birth of Jesus.Others celebrated the day with parties,music,drinking and eating. 7273 .Calvinist Christians banned the celebration of Christmas.But groups such as Episcopalians
and Moravians honored the day with religious services and seasonal decorations.
By mid-century,Christian groups began to ignore their religious diffrences over the meaning of Christmas and honored the day in special ways.
Christmas became an important time for families to celebrate at home. More and more Christians Americans also began to follow the European traditions of Christmas trees and giving gifts.Christians believed that the tree represented Jesus and was also a sign of new beginnings. German immigrants brought their tradion of putting lights,sweets and toys on the branches of evergreen trees placed in their homes.
This tradition of setting up a Christmas tree soon spread to many American homes. 74As these traditions increased in popularity,the modern trade and business linked to Christmas also grew.
As Christmas became more popular,some states declared the day a state holiday.Louisiana was the first state to make the move in eighteen thirty-seven. 75 .It was not until eighteen seventy that President Ulysses Grant made Christmas a federal holiday.
| A．So did the practice of giving people presents. |
| B．By eighteen sixty,fourteen other states had followed. |
| C．And,some communities did not celebrate the day at all. |
| D．Americans seldom gave each other presents on Christmas Day. |
E. But many new American Christmas songs started to become popular.
F. Religion played a big role in how an American might celebrate the holiday.
G. Communities around the country honored the day in different ways.