If you want to stay young, sit down and have a good think. This is the research finding of a team of Japanese doctors, who say that most of out brains are not getting enough exercise, and as a result, we are growing old unnecessarily soon.
Professor Taiju Matsuzawa wanted to find out 
why quite healthy farmers in northern Japan appeared to be losing their ability to think and reason at a rather early age, and how the speed of getting old could be slowed down.
With a team of researchers at Tokyo National University, he set about measuring brain sizes of a thousand people of different ages with different jobs.
Computer technology helped the researchers to get most exact measurements of the sizes of the front and side parts of the brain
, which have something to do with thinking and feeling, and decide the human character. As we all know, the back part of the brain, which controls task like eating and breathing, does not contract(萎缩) with age.
Contraction of front and side parts, as cells(细胞) die off, was seen in some people in their thirties, but it was still not found in some sixty and seventy-year-olds.
Matsuzawa concluded from his tests that there is a simple way to prevent the contraction---using the head.
The fin
dings show that contraction of the brain begins sooner in people in the country than those in the towns. Those with least possibility, says Matsuzawa, are lawyers, followed by university professors and doctors. White-collar workers doing the same work day after day in government offices are, however, as possible to have contracting brains as the farm workers, bus drivers and shop assistants. The team of doctors wanted to find out ____.
| A．at what point people grow live longer. |
| B．how to make people live longer |
| C．the size of certain people’s brains. |
| D．which group of people are the busiest |
Their research findings are based on ______.c
| A．an examination of farmers in northern Japan |
| B．using computer technology |
| C．examining the brain sizes of different people |
| D．tests given a thousand old people |
The doctor’s tests show that ______.
| A．our brains contract as we grow older |
| B．one part of the brain does not contract |
| C．sixty-year-olds have better brains than thirty-year-olds |
| D．contraction of the brain begins sooner in people in the country |
According to the article, _____ are growing mentally old earlier.
| A．engineers | B．office clerks | C．professors | D．researchers |
The most possible conclusion of the article is that ____.
| A．most of us should take more exercise |
| B．it’s better to live in the towns |
| C．the brain contracts if it is not used |
| D．the more one uses his brain, the sooner he becomes old |
Happy birthday! Do birthday really make people happy? Of course they do. Birthday celebrate the day when we were born. Besides, that extra candle on the cake suggest another year of growth and maturity—or so we hope. We all like to imagine that we are getting wiser and not just older. Most of us enjoy seeing the wonder of growth in others, as well. For instance, seeing our children develop and learn new things makes us feel proud. For Americans, like people in most cultures, growing up is a wonderful process. But growing old? That is a different story.
Growing old is not exactly for people in youth-oriented(以年轻人为中心) American culture. Most Americans like to look young, act young and feel young. As the old saying goes, “You’re young as you feel.” Older people joke about how many years young they are, rather than how many years old. People in some countries value the aged as a source of experience and wisdom. But Americans seem to favor those that are young, or at least “young at heart”.
Many older Americans find the “golden years” to be anything but golden. Economically, “senior citizens” often struggle just to get by. Retirement at the age of 65 brings a sharp decrease in personal income. Social security benefits usually cannot make up the difference. Older people may suffer from poor nutrition, medical care, and housing. Some even experience age discrimination. American sociologist Pat Moore once dressed up like an older person and wandered city streets. She was often treated rudely—even cheated and robbed. However, dressed as a young person, she received much more respect.
Unfortunately, the elderly population in America is increasing fast. Why? People are living longer. Fewer babies are being born. And middle-aged “baby boomers” are rapidly entering the group of the elderly. America may soon be a place where wrinkles(皱纹) are “in”. Marketing experts are ready noticing this growing group of consumer. Growing up is a wonderful thing because ____________.
| A．people can celebrate their birthday | B．people can receive many presents |
| C．people can become more mature and wiser | D．people will feel younger at heart |
We can infer from the second paragraph that __________.
| A．different countries have different opinions on the old age |
| B．American older people often joke about their old age |
| C．American culture is very young |
| D．young people lack experience and wisdom |
What does the third paragraph mainly tell us?
| A．The golden years can make the old earn lots of money. |
| B．American social security benefits are not good. |
| C．The old in America are leading a hard life. |
| D．The old in America have to retire at the age of 65. |
What does the underlined word “in” in the last paragraph mean?
| A．serious | B．disappearing slowly | C．cool | D．growing fast |
According to the text, which of the following is correct?
| A．The young are often discriminated in America. |
| B．The young are more respected than the old in America. |
C．Growing old makes people fee l proud in America. |
| D．The old are more respected than the young in America. |
阅读下面一篇短文，根据所读内容在文后表格中的空白处填入恰当的单词。注意：每一个空只填一个单词。
Diversity means the differences between things or people; the variety makes us unique.
People have a great deal of diversity. Even though our basic body structure is the same (head, eyes, heart, arms, legs, feet, etc.), our physical characteristics are different. For instance, the color of our skin, hair, and eyes are different. Also, our height and shape provide some diversity too. Even our fingerprints are unique and different.
People have to develop their own thoughts ,opinions, feelings, and ideas about different topics and beliefs.We are influenced by different people, places, and experiences in our lives which may influence us when we have to make a decision. A person has to keep open-minded when developing an opinion. Gathering information is also crucial（决定性的） to make a decision. The more you know about a topic, the easier it will be to make a good decision. As people grow up, they may even change their previous opinions and have new ideas.
Every person has unique talents, characteristics, and challenges to share with the world. Some people are good at reading and writing. Other people are talented at art and music. Some people are good at working with numbers or science. Others are talented by sharing their creativity. Some people have challenges to work with like being deaf, blind, or learning differently than others. It is important to remember that no matter what a person is good at or struggles with, we are all special in our own way.
When we are used to other people’s differences, we are showing respect. And we can find that we belong to the world and can give any thing a reason throughout the world. We can learn about a variety of cultures, places , and different ways to look at the world.
Title: The _______ in the world
| Definition |
Diversity means the differences between things or people |
|
Types of diversity |
The physical diversity |
Our |
The |
We have our own different viewpoints and |
|
| We make different decisions when we are facing the same situation. |
||
| Our opinions |
||
| The personal diversity |
We have different |
|
| We have different |
||
| The benefits from |
We can let other people know that we respect them. |
|
| We become |
||
| We can |
A cheap drug that can stop bleeding in people recently injured in an accident could potentially save the lives of tens of thousands worldwide, a new study says.
Researchers studied the effects of tranexamic acid （凝血酸）, or TXA, in more than 10,000 injured people in 40 countries who received the drug within 8 hours of being injured. The study was published in the medical journal Lancet. Doctors found that patients who got TXA had a 15percent lower chance of dying from hemorrhage than those who didn’t get it . They also had a 10 percent lower chance of dying from any other cause, including organ failure and a head injury. The study was paid for by the British government.
The drug is commonly used in wealthy countries during elective surgeries(外科手术) to stop bleeding , but isn’t used for accident victims. TXA is off-patent and made by many companies. It costs about $4.5 per gram, and a typical dose is two grams. It is usually given via an injection（注射） and would be relatively easy to introduce, even in poor countries, experts said.
Previous tests of the drug regarded its use in elective surgeries, such as heart operations, but this was the first study to test the drug on accident victims. Doctors were worried it might increase side effects such as blood clots （凝块）in the heart and lungs, strokes, or heart attacks. There was no evidence of that in the Lancet study, though the authors said it was possible they might have missed some of these incidents.
For people between 5 and 45, accidents are the second leading cause of death worldwide after AIDS, and about 600,000 injured patients bleed to death every year. Experts estimated that if TXA were readily available, between 70,000 and 100,000 lives a year could be saved. Though the drug wasn’t tested on children , experts said it would almost certainly work with them as well.The underlined word” hemorrhage” in Paragraph 2 probably means ________
| A．serious illness | B．heart disease | C．heavy bleeding | D．lack of drug |
What can we learn about TXA from the passage?
| A．It can only be made in England | B．It was only used in operations before |
| C．It is a patented drug | D．It is mainly used in poor countries |
Doctors were worried about using TXA because ________
| A．a lot of patients died unexpectedly after using it |
| B．it has no treatment effect on patients |
| C．it can cause blood clots or stroke |
| D．they hadn’t used it on accident victims before |
What do we know from the last paragraph?
| A．It is a pity that TXA wasn’t widely used on injured patients before |
| B．Tests have proved that TXA can be used on children |
| C．People between 5 and 45 should be injected with TXA every year |
| D．Accidents are the first leading cause of death worldwide. |
A NATIONWIDE BESTSELLER
It’s likely that everything you learned about America’s ancient history is wrong.
The new book, 1491, completely changes our understanding of the Americas before the arrival of Columbus in 1492.
When Columbus landed there were probably more people in the Ameicas than there were in Europe.
The peoples of North America had such healthy lifestyles that as late as the 19th century they continued to be the tallest people on earth.
Facts have shown that the Americas were populated as long as 33000 years ago.
4000 years ago Mesoamerican farmers developed corn in a feat （技艺）of genetic engineering that still isn’t completely understood.
Comments On 1491
“In the tradition of Jared Diamond& John McPhee, a totally new view of pre-Columbian America.”
------ Richard Rhodes
“Attractively written and really absorbing… Charles C. Mann has produced a book that’s part detective story, part epic（史诗） and part tragedy（悲剧）. He has taken on a vast topic: thousands of years, two huge continents, and cultures.”
------Charles Matthews, San Jase Mercury News
“Powerful and challenging.”
------ Alan Taylor, Washington Post
“A pleasure to read as well as a wonderful education.”
------ Howard Zinn On the whole, 1491 is a book mainly about Amerca’s _______
| A．life-style | B．population | C．history | D．agriculture |
Which of the following is NOT TURE about the comments on the book 1491?
| A．It is interesting and instructive. | B．It is attractive and culturally related. |
| C．It is challenging and revolutionary. | D．It is humorous and persuasive |
From this passage, we can learn _______.
| A．people settled in the Americas a little earlier than 1492 |
| B．North Americans were the tallest in the 18th century in the world |
| C．Mesoamerican farmers knew genetic engineering 5000 years ago |
| D．the population in the Americas was smaller than that in Europe in 1492 |
According to a report by the China News Weekly, Chinese white collars are becoming fully occupied in the office. They pursue many of their activities in the office building, eating, doing exercise, resting, playing games or even dating.
In large cities such as Shenzhen, Shanghai and Beijing, where economy is developing at a fast speed, office workers face an increasing work pressure day by day and many of them have begun to make office their home.
As the young generation in society, most of them are aged between 25 and 45. In the eyes of outsiders, they enjoy a comfortable life: they lead the fashion trend in the city and earn a high salary; they enjoy a flexible working schedule and a very good working environment; having a good education background, they don’t have to worry that one day they will lose their jobs.
However, only the white collars themselves know what others see as a good life is in fact a boring life. They often work extra hours, suffer from loss of creative ability and have little time to make friends. When they go off from work late at night, somethimes they might think of asking for a leave the next day and having a holiday somewhere. However, when a new day begins, they find everything back to normal and themselves pushed by new tasks.
In fact, even if they don’t work extra hours in the office, they have no place to go. Many of the young people are fresh from college, or have come to work in large cities from their hometowns. As newcomers, they haven’t established （建立）a social network. They have few friends to go dating. Meanwhile, many of them face a great pressure for earning money to buy a house or a car. If they cannot afford to buy these, they still have to work to pay for high apartment rents and communication fares.The underlined sentence probably means _______
| A．Chinese white collars are not allowed to get out of the office |
| B．The office is crowded with Chinese white collars |
| C．Chinese white collars make the office filled with odds and ends |
| D．Chinese white collars spend most of their time in the office |
The followings are all reasons why white collars want to have a rest EXCEPT that _______
| A．They have to continue to stay at office after work |
| B．They feel more and more difficult to think up a good idea |
| C．They have no interest in anything |
| D．They have little time to make friends |
The main idea of the third paragraph is that_______
| A．white collars are admired by other people |
| B．white collars needn’t worry about losing jobs |
| C．white collars can earn high salary and work freely |
| D．white collars are in the lead in the way of behaving |
From the passage , we can infer that _______
| A．white collars are all workaholics who regard the office as home |
| B．white collars suffer from material and mental pressure in life |
| C．white collars are the models of young people in society |
| D．people have a good understanding of what white collars’ life is |