In 2030, 42 percent of American adults will be obese, and about one-quarter of that group will be severely obese, a condition that shortens life and wastes large medical expenses, a new study predicts.
Obesity related ailments — diabetes, heart disease, kidney failure — consume at least 9 percent of health-care spending the United States. Some researchers believe the cost may be twice that estimate. Total health spending is about $2.6 trillion a year.
In 2030, 42 percent of people are projected to be obese, and 11 percent severely obese. Obesity is a body mass index , which suggests 85 kg for someone 1.67 meters tall. Severe obesity is 112 kg for someone that height.
Obesity is rising in higher-income men. Severe obesity is increasing in both sexes. It was 6.2 percent in women in 1999 and 8.1 percent in 2010. For men, it was 3.1 percent in 1999 and 4.4 percent in 2010.
It is believed that the obesity rate is closely related to the following factors: the price of gasoline, which discourages walking when it is low; access to the Internet (and other technologies), which encourages long periods of sitting still; and restaurants per 10,000 people, which increases eating out and weight gain when the number goes up.
Urgent measures must be taken to inspire people to exercise more and educate people about better eating habits before too many people will be suffering from being . obese.The word “ailments” in the second paragraph is equal to _______.
| A．Diabetes | B．Heart disease | C．Kidney failure | D．Diseases |
If a man aged 35 is about 1.65 meters tall and weighs 65 kg, he is
probably _____ according to the passage.
| A．Obese | B．Severely obese | C．Normal | D．Overweight |
According to the passage, which of the following facts contributes to the obesity rate?
| A．People are used to eating out in restaurants. |
| B．People do not have free access to the Internet. |
| C．The price of gasoline is going up steadily. |
| D．The number of higher-income women is on the increase. |
Bark
Cover Price: $19.80 Price: $15.00($2.50 / issue (期) )
You save: $4.80 (24%) Review: By Pat Kane
I absolutely love Bark magazine! I love the “smiling” pages and the tips on every issue. I am a dog lover and have saved all of my dogs from either death row or from people who were going to put them down. Everyone should have a chance to live and Bark stresses that with its articles. This magazine is a MUST HAVE for any dog lover!!
Dog Fancy
Cover Price: $54.00 Price: $14.99 ($1.25 / issue)
You save: $39.01 (72%) Review: By Berner Mom
Don't waste your money on this magazine. 60-70 percent of it are advertisements, and the articles offer little useful information. It might be suitable for children, but not adults who are serious about educating themselves about dogs.
Dog World
Cover Price: $48.88 Price: $14.99 ($1.25 / issue)
You save: $33.89 (69%) Review: By one critic
Dog World has many very interesting and thought-provoking (令人思考的) articles for people involved in dog showing, breeding(饲养), performance events, etc. However，over half of the magazine is devoted to breeder ads, which is boring. Still, as a whole, I recommend(推荐) it for the articles. Good articles, but tons of ads.
Modern Dog
Cover Price: $45.00 Price: $15.00 ($3.75 / issue)
You save: $30.00 (24%) Review: By Dinah
My new favorite magazine! Beautiful photos, smart and amusing articles, fashion, art, interviews with famous people… all with a dog focus！Cover models range from Paris Hilton and Tinkerbell to Virginia Madsen and her dogs. Thanks to Modern Dog I now know how to give a dog-friendly cocktail party and how to actually get my dog to come when she’s called. Surely worth checking out.Which of the following magazines saves the most money?
| A．Bark | B．Dog Fancy |
| C．Dog World | D．Modern Dog |
Dog world is recommended for its _________.
| A．wonderful articles | B．fashionable cover |
| C．low price | D．good paper quality |
According to the text, Modern Dog ________.
| A．has lovely dog pictures on the cover |
| B．is interesting but not helpful |
| C．has some photos but no articles |
| D．has interviews with famous people |
The purpose of the text is to introduce _________.
| A．some cheap magazines |
| B．different magazines for different readers |
| C．some magazines about dogs |
| D．information on raising dogs |
At heart, parents always wish the best for their children, and they work hard for that. Nowadays, we see parents deciding the schools for their little ones before the baby is even born. Once kids start going to school, some parents want to have a time-to-time update of their kid's activities. They want to come to the classroom every day, keep an eye on whom they talk to, know the friends they keep, start telling them how to do their job, and keep talking or giving a feedback (反馈) to them about everything under the sun. Besides, they send their kids for extra hobby classes, as they want their children to do best in every field.
When it comes to the education, super mom and dad have all the plans made for their children, and I am sure that they have come up with the best. So, try to fight for the dreams that your parents have seen for you. However, in some cases, it may happen that the kids have some different dreams. Parents sometimes don't even consider the choice of their kids and may force them to do what they wanted to do in life. It's good to plan the future for the children, but leave at least some decisions to them.
So what should the children do? First, hear out all the plans that your parents have made for you. If you have some different ideas, then sit down and talk to your family about it. Be patient and respect their decisions, but put your plan forth, and make them understand what you want to do and why. Many times, you are not aware about the difficulties that you may have to face while pursuing your dreams. Ask your parents for suggestions, which will make them feel good and involved. That way, they may support you if you are going on the right path.The parents described in Paragraph 1 tend to __________．
| A．have a good understanding of their children |
| B．worry a lot about their children |
| C．take good care of their children |
| D．expect too much from their children |
With respect to educational plans, the author advises ___________.
| A．children to do as they are told |
| B．children to turn a deaf ear to their parents |
| C．parents to respect their children’s choices |
| D．parents to do everything for their children |
The underlined word “pursuing” in Paragraph 3 is closest in meaning to “__________”.
| A．going after | B．planning for |
| C．adapting to | D．preparing for |
What is the author’s attitude towards these super parents’ behaviors?
| A．Objective. | B．Doubtful. |
| C．Uncaring | D．Supportive |
Imagine what you could do with a machine that could make things disappear.
For inspiration, you could read some books. In the books of J.R.R. Tolkein, Bilbo Baggins finds a ring that can make him disappear. Of course, there’s also poor Harry Potter, who used his invisibility cloak (隐形斗篷) to hide from danger.
Now that you’ve got some ideas, it’s time for the hard part: building the cloak. To do that, you have to give up science fiction and turn to real science. An invisibility cloak has to cheat anything or anyone who might be watching. In order to understand how something can be seen, it’s important to understand how we see.
Human beings can only see objects that reflect (反射) light waves. These waves enter the eye and are then processed by the brain. However, if an object doesn’t reflect light, then the waves don’t enter the eye, and the brain doesn’t process. So building an invisibility cloak is building something that doesn’t reflect light.
Cummer was part of a team of scientists from Duke University, including David Smith and David Schurig, who built the world’s first version (版本) of an invisibility cloak. They had been inspired by the work of a British physicist, John Pendry. He in May said that an invisibility cloak was possible and Pendry was not the only one thinking about a disappearing act. At the same time, a Scottish physicist, UIf Leonhardt published a paper on building invisibility equipment.
“It wasn’t easy,” says Cummer. “As often happens in science and research, it didn’t work very well the first time. That first cloak didn’t work like Harry Potter’s --- the scientists didn’t actually see anything disappear. So the research is still under way. ”The first two paragraphs serve as a (n) ________.
| A．introduction | B．explanation |
| C．comment | D．summary |
Cummer and other scientists got the idea of building an invisibility cloak from _________.
| A．the film Harry Potter |
| B．the work of a British physicist |
| C．a paper published by a Scottish physicist |
| D．the book of J.R.R. Tolkein |
From the text we learn that the research on an invisibility cloak __________.
| A．was led by Pendry |
| B．was very successful |
| C．was used in most popular movies |
| D．is still in progress |
What can be the best title for the text?
| A．The Science of Disappearing |
| B．The Hardest Part of Building a Cloak |
| C．The Invention of an Invisibility Cloak |
| D．Turn Science Fiction into Real Science |
After a particularly busy period at work, I decided to get away from it all by going on a hike in the mountains in southern France.
Before I left, I read an interesting story in a magazine. It read, “Once, while I was riding on a crowded bus, the man sitting next to me threw his cell phone out of the window when his phone rang. I was surprised. He looked at me, shrugged (耸耸肩) and looked away. I had no idea whether it was his or stolen or whether he even knew what a cell phone was or not, but he clearly wanted to be free of it, because it clearly troubled him. ”
Billions of people across the world use cell phones. Though cell phones are a wonderful way for communication, they often do the exact opposite. Using cell phones can increase stress within families and friends.
So when I recently returned home, I got rid of my cell phone. Now I go outside without taking my phone with me. I’ve noticed things in my neighborhood I never noticed before, such as gardens. I’ve met new people, started conversations with neighbors I didn’t speak to before and talked with some of my friends face to face instead of chatting over the phone.
Instead of keeping me off from the world, stopping using my cell phone has helped me get even closer to my family and friends.According to the story, the man on the bus threw away his cell phone because ______.
| A．it didn’t work properly |
| B．it was stolen from someone else |
| C．he didn’t like the phone’s style |
| D．he didn’t want to be bothered by it |
We can learn from the passage that cell phones _____.
| A．are too expensive for many people |
| B．can also get people into trouble |
| C．stop people from communicating face to face |
| D．can make life more interesting |
What can we learn about the author?
| A．He wants to own a garden now. |
| B．He always chatted with his neighbors. |
| C．He used to take his cell phone when going outside. |
| D．He once rode on a crowded bus in France. |
The main purpose of the passage is to _______.
| A．tell us not to let cell phones control our lives |
| B．encourage others to hike with him in France |
| C．share his experiences in France with us |
| D．teach us how to get along with neighbors |
Grandpa was a carpenter (木匠). One day he was making some boxes for the clothes his church was sending to an orphanage (孤儿院) in Egypt. On his way home, he reached into his shirt pocket to find his glasses, but they were gone. He drove back to the church, but his search turned out to be fruitless.
Suddenly, he realized what happened. The glasses had slipped out of his pocket and fallen into one of the boxes, which he had nailed shut. His new glasses were heading for Africa!
Grandpa had six children and he had paid twenty dollars for the glasses that morning. “It's not fair,” he told God as he drove home. “I've been very faithful (忠诚的) in giving my time and money to YOUR work.”
Several months later, the director of the orphanage was on holiday in the United States. He wanted to visit all the churches that helped him in Egypt, so he came to speak on Sunday night at my grandfather's small church in Chicago.
“But most of all,” he said, “I must thank you for the glasses you sent last year. You see, I had just broken my glasses. Then your boxes arrived. To my surprise, I found a pair of glasses in it and it fit me very well!”
The people listened, happy for the amazing glasses, but thought that the man must have confused their church with another. There were no glasses on their list of items to be sent overseas. Sitting quietly in the back, with tears in his eyes, Grandpa realized that God had played a big trick on him.Where were Grandpa’s glasses lost?
| A．In a church in Egypt. | B．In the box he made. |
| C．On his way home. | D．At the orphanage. |
How did Grandpa feel when he found his glasses were lost?
| A．Calm. | B．Worried. |
| C．Surprised. | D．Disappointed. |
Who got the glasses in the end?
| A．Grandpa. |
| B．The orphanage. |
| C．Grandpa’s workmate. |
| D．The director of the orphanage. |
The people except the author’s grandpa in the church _________.
| A．sent the pair of glasses to Africa on purpose |
| B．knew the glasses that belonged to Grandpa |
| C．thought the director had made a mistake |
| D．were not interested in the director’s speech |