PALO ALTO, California----"Switching off the television may help prevent children from getting fatter---- even if they do not change their diet or increase the amount they exercise," US researchers said last week.
A study of 192 third and fourth graders, generally aged eight and nine, found that children who cut the number of hours spent watching television gained nearly two pounds(0.9kg) less over a one-year period than those who did not change their television diet.
"The findings are important because they show that weight loss can only be the result of a reduction in television viewing and not any other activity," said Thomas Robinson, a pediatrician(儿科专家) at Stanford University.
"American children spend an average of more than four hours per day watching television and videos or playing video games, and rates of childhood being very fat have doubled over the past 20 years," Robinson said.
In the study, presented this week to the Pediatric Academic Societies‘ annual meeting in San Francisco, the researchers persuaded about 100 of the students to reduce their television viewing by one-quarter to one-third.
Children watching fewer hours of television showed a significantly smaller increase in waist size and had less body fat than other students who continued their normal television viewing, even though neither group ate a special diet or took part in any extra exercise.
"One explanation for the weight loss could be the children unstuck to the television may simply have been moving around more and burning off calories," Robinson said.
"Another reason might be due to eating fewer meals in front of the television. Some studies have suggested that eating in front of the TV encourages people to eat more," Robinson said.The author tries to tell us in the first two paragraphs that ________.
| A．children will get fatter if they eat too much |
| B．children will get thinner if they eat less |
| C．children will get fatter if they spend less time watching TV |
| D．children will get fatter if they spend more time watching TV |
According to the passage, the time American children usually spend on watching TV_____.
| A．is more than four hours a day |
| B．is less than four hours a day |
| C．doubled in the last twenty years |
| D．is more than on any other activities |
The time children spend on TV viewing every day is suggested to be about
| A．six hours | B．eight hours | C．three hours | D．one hour |
Why can watching TV increase kids’ weight according to the passage?
A. They usually eat more while watching TV.
B. They burn off fewer calories.
C. They change their diet while watching TV.
D. Both A and B.
Last week, I bought an alarm system for about $ 450. It consisted of a control unit with three small units. I put the control unit in the sitting-room and fastened the other units by the front door, back door and living-room windows. The instructions told us to choose three numbers, so we chose 491, the last three numbers of our telephone number.
Now I will explain how the alarm works:
1. There is a power siren in the control unit. It makes a very loud noise.
2. Each of the small units sends out beams or rays in different directions. If anything moves, it breaks a beam. This sends signal to the control unit. The siren makes a noise which you can hear 50 meters away.
3. When we go to bed, I press the three buttons numbered 4, 9 and 1. Then we have 30 seconds to get out of the room before the alarm starts to work. That night I slept soundly because I was sure that no burglar could get into our house. However, at about 2:10 a. m. , I woke up and heard the siren.
"There must be a burglar in the house?" Mary said, "What shall we do?"
"I'll go and see who's there," I said, "Stay here. Don't make a noise. "
I went down stairs quietly. When I reached the living-room, I switched on my torch and looked round the room. Then I turned the light on. I switched the siren off and searched the rooms downstairs. There was nothing wrong except that the back door was unlocked. I locked it, re-set the alarm and went back to bed.
About an hour later, the alarm started again. I jumped out of bed, fell over a chair in the dark and bumped into the bedroom door. Mary woke up and started hitting me with a torch. "Hey! Wait a minute!" I whispered, "It's only me. I'm going downstairs to see what's wrong."
I went down into the living-room and listened for a moment. The only sound I could hear was the siren. I tamed on the light and switched the siren off. As I did so, I glanced across at the curtains in front of the windows. I saw a house lizard (a kind of small animals)(壁虎) disappear behind the curtains.
"Oh!" I said to myself. "That's our burglar.”
When the lizard moved, it started the siren. I guessed the alarm had been made in Europe, where there are no house lizards.
Well, I won't finish this story but if you want an alarm system free of charge, let me know. I'll send you ours. We bought a dog this morning. It knows the difference between a lizard and a burglar(强盗).The writer bought an alarm system to_________.
| A．make sure that he got up early every day |
| B．warn him when there were lizards in his house |
| C．frighten burglars and tell him that somebody had got into the house |
| D．make Mary feel safe to live in the large room |
The writer used numbers 4, 9 and 1 to________.
| A．set the alarm system |
| B．make a telephone call |
| C．give numbers to each of the three units in the downstairs rooms |
| D．name his alarm system |
The purpose of the three units was to_________.
| A．sound their own siren when the control unit told them to |
| B．send a message to the control unit and start the siren |
| C．check that the control unit worked properly all the time |
| D．give them enough light |
If the writer set the alarm and remained in the room for more than half a minute,__________.
| A．nothing would happen |
| B．the control unit would not work |
| C．the siren would make a noise |
| D．the dog would bark |
The purpose of the writer in writing the passage is to__________.
| A．tell us that the alarm system doesn't work |
| B．make it clear that he wants to give away his alarm system |
| C．show us how the alarm system works |
| D．tell us an interesting experience |
I found out one time that doing a favor for someone could get you into a lot of trouble. I was in the eighth grade at the time, and we were having a final test. During the test, the girl sitting next to me whispered something, but I didn’t understand. So I leaned over her way and found out that she was trying to ask me if I had an extra pen. She showed me that hers was out of ink and would not write. I happened to have an extra one, so I took it out of my pocket and put it on her desk.
Later, after the test papers had been turned in, the teacher asked me to stay in the room when all the other students were dismissed（解散）. As soon as we were alone she began to talk to me about what it meant to grow up; she talked about how important it was to stand on your own two feet and be responsible for your own acts. For a long time, she talked about honesty and emphasized（强调） the fact that when people do something dishonest, they are really cheating（欺骗） themselves. She made me promise that I would think seriously（认真地） about all the things she had said, and then she told me I could leave. I walked out of the room wondering why she had chosen to talk to me about all those things.
Later on, I found out that she thought I had cheated on the test. When she saw me lean over to talk to the girl next to me, it looked as if I was copying answers from the girl’s test paper. I tried to explain about the pen, but all she could say was it seemed very strange to her that I hadn’t talked of anything about the pen the day she talked to me right after the test. Even if I tried to explain that I was just doing the girl a favor by letting her use my pen, I am sure she continued（继续） to believe that I had cheated on the test.The story took place（发生） exactly ____ .
| A．in the teacher’s office | B．in an exam room |
| C．in the school | D．in the language lab |
The girl wanted to borrow a pen, because ____ .
| A．she had not brought a pen with her |
| B．she had lost her own on her way to school |
| C．there was something wrong with her own |
| D．her own had been taken away by someone |
The teacher saw all this, so she asked the boy ____ .
| A．to go on writing his paper |
| B．to stop whispering |
| C．to leave the room immediately |
| D．to stay behind after the exam |
The thing(s) emphasized in her talk was(were) ____ .
| A．honesty | B．sense of duty |
| C．seriousness | D．all of the above |
The boy knew everything ____ .
| A．the moment he was asked to stay behind |
| B．when the teacher started talking about honesty |
| C．when he was walking out of the room |
| D．only some time later |
At 18, many American young people go off on their own. They go away to college or find full-time jobs, and they often rent their own apartments. Some get married and start families. This independence(独立性) is learned from childhood.
From an early age, American children learn responsibility（责任感）. Children as young as 2 begin to put away their toys and dress themselves. At 3, many children do simple chores like setting the table.
Using money wisely is also taught early. As soon as a child understands the value of money, he or she receives a weekly allowance. This is used for things the child wants, like toys or treats. The child can spend or save it, usually with little guidance（指导） from parents. If the child wants money besides his or her allowance, it must be made by doing extra chores.
Children are taught early in life to think for themselves. They are allowed to make some decisions—and make mistakes. Failure（失败）often teaches more than success.Many American young people begin to live on themselves __________.
| A．at eighteen years old | B．from childhood |
| C．after they get married | D．from an early age |
An American child learns to __________ at the age of 2.
| A．find a full-time job |
| B．rent an apartment |
| C．put on his or her own clothes |
| D．do lots of chores |
The word “allowance”（in paragraph 3）means __________ in Chinese.
| A．零花钱 | B．奖品 | C．财产 | D．礼物 |
A child can get some more money by __________.
| A．understanding the value of money |
| B．helping the rich |
| C．reading many books |
| D．doing extra chores |
The passage is mainly about __________.
| A．the guidance from parents |
| B．the value of money |
| C．the independence of American children |
| D．failure and success of American children |
Kept inside on a rainy day? Take the kids to your closest children’s museum, where they can learn about their world while having a fantastic time.
| Please Touch Museum It can make your children’s life rich and colorful by offering play and hands-on（亲身实践）programs… Address ² 4231 Avenue of the Republic, Philadelphia Hours & Admission  ² Tuesday—Sunday: 9 a.m. to 5 p.m.² CLOSED: Mondays ² Under the age of 2: FREE ² Children and adults: $15 each For more information, visit www.pleasetouchmuseum.org |
Madison Children’s Museum In this green museum, kids can get hands-on learning about nature… Address ² 100 N. Hamilton Street, Madison, WI 53703 Hours & Admission  ² Tuesday—Sunday: 9:30 a.m. to 5 p.m.² CLOSED: Mondays ² Under the age of 1: FREE ² Children and adults: $12 each For more information, visit www.madisonchmuseum.org |
| National Museum of Play It is an exciting, hands-on place to play, learn, dream, wonder, and… Address ² Manhattan Square, Rochester, New York Hours & Admission ² Monday—Thursday: 10 a.m. to 5 p.m. ² Friday & Saturday: 10 a.m. to 8 p.m. ² Sunday: Noon to 5 p.m. ² Under the age of 2: FREE ² Children and adults: $15 each  For more information, visit www.childrensmuseums.org |
Children’s Museum of Phoenix It is a fantastic place of imagination, creativity and fun with over 300 hands-on activities and many kinds of classes and programs… Address ² 215 N. 7th Street, Phoenix, AZ 85034 Hours & Admission ² Tuesday—Sunday: 9 a.m. to 4 p.m.  ² CLOSED: Mondays² Under the age of 1: FREE ² Children and adults: $18 each For more information, visit www.childmusephx.org |
Which museum opens on Monday afternoon?
| A．Please Touch Museum. |
| B．Madison Children’s Museum. |
| C．National Museum of Play. |
| D．Children’s Museum of Phoenix. |
If Mr. Moor takes his one-year-old son to Please Touch Museum, they will pay .
| A．$12 | B．$15 | C．$18 | D．$30 |
If Adam would like his children to learn more about nature, he can go to for more information.
| A．www.childrensmuseums.org |
| B．www.childmusephx.org |
| C．www.pleasetouchmuseum.org |
| D．www.madisonchmuseum.org |
Which of the following about the four museums is TRUE?
| A．They all offer children hands-on activities. |
| B．They are all open on weekdays. |
| C．They are all closed after 5 in the afternoon. |
| D．They are all in the city of Phoenix. |
Where does the text probably come from?
| A．A science textbook. | B．A news report. |
| C．A museum guide. | D．A tourist map. |
Many centuries ago, birthdays were considered a time when the bad spirits were able to harm you. It was believed that you should have your friends and family around you so that their good wishes and present-giving would keep the bad spirits away. People also believed that, by lighting candles, they were sending a signal or wishes to the gods.
Later on, candles started to be used on birthday cakes. One story about the beginnings of the birthday cake is that it started with the Greeks, who made round cakes standing for the full moon for their moon goddess（女神）. They also placed candles on the cake to make it light, again like the moon.
However, the Germans are said to have first used cakes and candles. They used a sweet cake and they put a large candle in the centre of the cake to mean “the light of life”.
The “Happy Birthday” song is more than a hundred years old. The music was written in 1893 by two sisters, Patty and Mildred Hill, who were schoolteachers in Louisville, Kentucky. The music was first used as a morning greeting to their students with the title, “Good Morning To All”. In 1935, the words legally belonged to the Hill sisters, and the copyright（版权）has been bought and sold for millions of dollars ever since. The present copyright is owned by Warner Communications. They bought it in 1989 for more than $22 million. The text mainly talks about .
| A．the ways of making cakes |
| B．the customs of lighting candles |
| C．the beginnings of birthdays |
| D．the history of the birthday song |
People celebrated birthdays many centuries ago to .
| A．have a great dinner |
| B．get birthday presents |
| C．light birthday candles |
| D．keep the bad spirits away |
Why did the Greeks put candles on the cake?
| A．To light up the dark room. |
| B．To make the cake beautiful. |
| C．To see where the cake was. |
| D．To make it look like the moon. |
When was the music written?
| A．In 1893. | B．In 1913. |
| C．In 1935. | D．In 1989. |
Who is the present owner of the song “Happy Birthday”?
| A．Patty and Mildred Hill. |
| B．Warner Communications. |
| C．A Greek cake company. |
| D．A German schoolteacher. |