On a hill 600 feet above the surrounding land, we watch the lines of rain move across the scene, the moon rise over the hills, and the stars appear in the sky. The views invite a long look from a comfortable chair in front of the wooden house.
Every window in our wooden house has a view, and the forest and lakes seldom look the same as the hour before. Each look reminds us where we are.There is space for our three boys to play outside, to shoot arrows, collect tree seeds, build earth houses and climb trees.
Our kids have learned the names of the trees, and with the names have come familiarity and appreciation. As they tell all who show even a passing interest, maple(枫树)makes the best fighting sticks and white pines are the best climbing trees.
The air is clean and fresh. The water from the well has a pleasant taste, and it is perhaps the healthiest water our kids will ever drink. Though they have one glass a day of juice and the rest is water, they never say anything against that.
The seasons change just outside the door. We watch the maples turn every shade of yellow and red in the fall and note the poplars'(杨树)putting out the first green leaves of spring. The rainbow smelt fills the local steam as the ice gradually disappears, and the wood frogs start to sing in pools after being frozen for the winter. A family of birds rules our skies and flies over the lake.
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What can be learned from Paragraph 2?
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2. |
By mentioning the names of the trees, the author aims to show that.
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3. |
What does the underlined sentence in the last paragraph mean?
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4. |
What is the main purpose of the author writing the text?
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Welcome to our school. You can do a lot of things here. Come and join us.
Timetable | |
Sunday8:30---11:30 Personal Inventions You can see many inventions by the students; you may also bring your own inventions. |
Monday19:00---21:00 Space and Man Dr. Thomas West If you want to know more about the universe. |
Wednesday 19:30---21:00 Modern Medicine Mrs. Lucy Green Would you like to know medical science? |
Friday18:30---21:00 Computer Science Mr. Harry Morison from Harvard University Learn to use Windows XP. |
You may have a chance to introduce your inventions on ___.
A.Sunday | B.Monday | C.Wednesday | D.Friday |
The person who teaches Computer Science is from______.
A.Canada | B.Australia | C.New Zealand | D.America |
You may learn something about a disease called TB from ___.
A.Dr. West | B.Mr. Morison | C.Mrs. Green | D.Mr. Thomas |
If you want to learn something about space, you can go to the class from______.
A.8:30 to 11:30 on Sunday | B.19:00 to 21:00 on Monday |
C.19:30 to 21:00 on Wednesday | D.18:30 to 21:00 on Friday |
Even a small reduction in salt in the diet can be a big help to the heart. A new study used a computer model to predict how just three grams less a day would affect heart disease in the United States.
The result:10% fewer heart attacks. 8% fewer strokes. 4% fewer deaths. 11% fewer new cases of heart disease. And 240 billion dollars in health care savings.
Researchers found it could prevent 10,000 heart attacks and 9。200 deaths every year.
The study is in the New England Journal of Medicine. Kirsten Bibbins-Domingo at the University of California San Francisco was the lead author. She says people would not even notice a difference in taste with three grams, or one-half teaspoon,less salt per day. The team also included researchers at Stanford and Columbia Uni versity.
Each gram of salt contains four hundred milligrams of sodium(钠),which is how foods may list their salt content.
The government says the average American man eats ten grams of salt a day. The American Heart Association advises no more than three grams for healthy people. It says salt in the American diet has increased fifty percent since the nineteen seventies, while blood pressures have also risen. Less salt can mean a lower blood pressure.
New York City Mayor Michael Bloomberg is leading an effort called the National Salt Reduction Initiative. The idea is to put pressure on food companies and restaurants. Critics call it government interference.
Mayor Bloomberg has already succeeded in other areas, like requiring fast food places in the city to list calorie information. Now a study by the Seattle Children’s Research Institute shows that the calorie information on the menu can influence what parents order for their children.We can tell from the passage that now heart attacks occur in the US every year.
A.240,000 | B.900,000 | C.100,000 | D.92,000 |
It can be inferred from the passage that .
A.all the heart diseases result from eating too much salt |
B.the American Heart Association suggests less than 3 grams of salt a day for everyone |
C.Americans ate no more than 5 grams of salt per day in the 1970s |
D.the less salt one eats, the healthier he will be |
The last paragraph mainly tells us .
A.Bloomberg has made some other efforts to improve people’s health |
B.Bloomberg is very successful in his career |
C.parents must pay great attention to calorie information |
D.a new study is being done about calorie information |
Students who want to study in the United States may find that their chances for financial aid are limited. They often have to pay for their education with their own savings or their family's money.
A recent report from the Institute of International Education in New York looked at 2008-2009 school year.
Colleges and universities in the United States had more than half a million foreign students. 63% of them paid for school mostly by themselves or with family help. 26% percent were supported by the school they attended.
There are other sources of financial aid for international students. These include a student's home government or university, or the United States government. Private sponsors, international organizations and employers may also provide support. Yet during the last school year, not many students were able to depend on any of these other sources. Current employers provided the most help. Still, they represented the main support for just four percent of international students.
Those at the graduate level, however, are more likely than undergraduates to receive financial aid in the United States. More than 80% percent of foreign undergraduates depended mostly on personal and family money to pay for school last year. The same was true of less than half of graduate students. Most of the others received financial aid from their college or university in the United States.
A list of American schools that offer financial aid to foreign students can be found at a useful Web site. The address is edupass.org. This site also provides information about scholarship programs. But it warns foreign students not to pay if there is any charge for scholarship application forms. You could be cheated out of your money. Most foreign students depend on _______ to pay for their education.
A.the home universities | B.personal or family money |
C.the American schools | D.international organization |
How many sources of financial aid are mentioned in the text?
A.9 | B.3 | C.6 | D.12 |
Which of the following statements is true according to the text?
A.Foreign students have no chance to get money from American schools. |
B.Most foreign graduate students depend on their own savings. |
C.Edupass.org offers financial aid and scholarship information. |
D.Usually the present employers provide the most financial help. |
The text mainly talks about ________.
A.financial aid for foreign students in US |
B.the hard life for foreign students in US |
C.the variety of educational choices in US |
D.the disadvantages of studying in US. |
Compulsive(强迫的)shoppers may have a new psychological excuse to blame for their wild shopping. Psychologists at the University of Canterbury in New Zealand are studying the “shop-till-you-drop” habit as a behavioral disorder similar to compulsive eating. Compulsive shoppers frequently buy more than they can afford or more than they need, and it causes them distress(苦恼).
“It becomes a problem when you are out of control,” psychology lecturer Neville Blampied said. “When you are feeling bad and blue, what do you do? Some people eat chocolate cake and ice cream. Some people take the credit card and go out to the shop.” Bank managers understand the problem because they have to deal with people who have to be persuaded to stop using their cards drawing money.
Compulsive shopping was first discovered in 1915, although it was then known as monomania. Few studies have been done on the problem.
An advertisement in a Christchurch paper, calling for people to take part in an experimental treatment program designed by Mr. Wilson, attracted 10 replies. But the problem, said Mr. Wilson, is “clearly not rare”. He thinks that compulsive shopping should be treated with drugs. “As psychologists we are interested in non-drug treatments for behavioral difficulties,” Mr. Wilson said.
Compulsive eaters or shoppers get a kick from their habit. “Both activities provide an immediate kind of kick and you feel a bit better,” he said. “You have long-term problems, but human beings are extremely good at not seeing long-term problems and are very sensitive to short-term benefits,” he said.
The aim of the treatment was to help people find better ways of managing their emotions. The program, consisting of 10 one-hour weekly lessons and two follow-up treatments, is loosely based on teaching stress management.
“You often have to start to get people to correctly recognize their emotions. Not being able to know what you really feel weakens your ability to solve the problems connected with what’s making you feel that way,” Mr. Wilson said.The compulsive shoppers will go shopping when ______.
A.they have lots of money | B.they are taking drugs |
C.they are feeling sad | D.they win a prize |
The underlined word “it” in the first paragraph most probably refers to __________.
A.compulsive eating | B.a new psychological excuse |
C.the study done by Blampied | D.the behavior of wild shopping |
Which of the following is considered important in treating compulsive shoppers?
A.Teaching them to manage their money better. |
B.Teaching them to understand their emotions. |
C.Persuading them not to draw money from the bank. |
D.Treating them with right drugs. |
When the writer says that compulsive shoppers get a kick from their habit, he means that they __________.
A.feel distressed after their wild shopping |
B.feel better after treatment from psychologists |
C.are better able to deal with stress problems |
D.have a feeling of excitement after shopping |
I began working in journalism when I was eight. It was my mother’s idea. She wanted me to “make something” of myself, and decided I had better start young if I was to have any chance of keeping up with the competition.
With my load of magazines I headed toward Belleville Avenue. The crowds were there. There were two gas stations on the corner of Belleville and Union. For several hours I made myself highly visible, making sure everyone could see me and the heavy black letters on the bag that said THE SATURDAY EVENING POST. When it was suppertime, I walked back home.
“ How many did you sell, my boy?” my mother asked.
“ None.”
“ Where did you go?”
“ The corner of Belleville and Union Avenues.”
“ What did you do?”
“ Stood on the corner waiting for somebody to buy a Saturday Evening Post.”
“ You just stood there?”
“ Didn’t sell a single one.”
“ My God, Russell!”
Uncle Allen put in, “ Well, I’ve decided to take the Post.” I handed him a copy and he paid me a nickel. It was the first nickel I earned.
Afterwards my mother taught me how to be a salesman. I would have to ring doorbells, address adults with self-confidence, and persuade them by saying that no one, no matter how poor, could afford to be without the Saturday Evening Post in the home.
One day, I told my mother I’d changed my mind. I didn’t want to make a success in the magazine business.
“ If you think you can change your mind like this,” she replied, “ you’ll become a good-for-nothing.” She insisted that, as soon as school was over, I should start ringing doorbells, selling magazines. Whenever I said no, she would scold me.
My mother and I had fought this battle almost as long as I could remember. My mother, dissatisfied with my father’s plain workman’s life, determined that I would not grow up like him and his people. But never did she expect that, forty years later, such a successful journalist as me would go back to her husband’s people for true life and love.Why did the boy start his job young?
A.He wanted to be famous in the future. | B.The job was quite easy for him. |
C.His mother had high hopes for him. | D.The competition for the job was fierce. |
From the dialogue between the boy and his mother, we learn that the mother was _______.
A.excited | B.interested | C.ashamed | D.disappointed |
What did the mother do when the boy wanted to give up?
A.She forced him to continue. | B.She punished him. |
C.She gave him some money. | D.She changed her plan. |
What is the text mainly about?
A.The early life of a journalist. |
B.The early success of a journalist. |
C.The happy childhood of the writer. |
D.The important role of the writer in his family. |