America is a country on the move. In unheard of numbers, people of all ages are exercising their way to better health. According to the latest figures, 59 percent of American adults exercise regularly-up 12 percent from just two years ago and more than double the figure of 25 years ago. Even non-exercisers believe they would be more attractive and confident if they were more active.
It is hard not to get the message. The virtues of physical fitness are shown on magazine covers, postage stamps, and television ads of everything from beauty soaps to travel books. Exercise as a part of daily life did not catch on until the late 1960s when research by military doctors began to show the health benefits of doing regular physical exercises. Growing publicity (宣传) for races held in American cities helped fuel a strong interest in the ancient sport of running. Although running has leveled off in recent years as Americans have discovered equally rewarding—and sometimes safer-forms of exercise, such as walking and swimming, running remains the most popular form of exercise.
As the popularity of exercise continues to mount, so does scientific evidence of its health benefits. The key to fitness is exercising the major muscle groups vigorously (强有力地) enough to approximately double the heart rate and keep it doubled for 20 to 30 minutes at a time. Doing such physical exercises three times or more a week will produce considerable improvements in physical health in about three months.It can be learnt from the passage that the health benefits of exercise ___________.
| A．are to be further studied |
| B．are yet to be proved |
| C．are self evident |
| D．are supported by scientific evidence |
A growing interest in sports developed after ______________.
| A．an increasing number of races were held in American cities |
| B．research showed their health benefits |
| C．scientific evidence of health benefits was shown on TV ads |
| D．people got the message from magazine covers and postage stamps |
Which of the following would be the best title for the passage?
| A．Running—A Popular Form of Sport |
| B．Scientific Evidence of Health Benefits |
| C．Different Forms of Exercise |
| D．Exercise—The Road to Health |
Which of the following is closest in meaning to the phrase “leveled off” in the paragraph 2?
| A．“reached its lowest level in popularity” |
| B．“stopped being popular” |
| C．“stopped increasing in popularity” |
| D．“become very popular” |
Every one of the gymnasts who went to National Qualifiers (国家冠军赛资格赛) showed up with that goal in mind. Everyone gave it their all.
And I hate admitting it, but I was an exception. I did not do my best. Not for the ribbon exercise, nor for the club exercise. Knowing that I could have reached a little further to catch my ribbon, focused a little more so the stick wouldn’t slip through my fingers, tried a little harder to clean up those errors, but I didn’t, still bothers me.
After my disappointing competition, I tried my best to keep my eyes dry. But soon tears burned the edges of my eyes, and as I blinked, the first tear rolled down my cheek. Even though I angrily wiped my tears away before she looked at me, the evidence of my self-pity session presented itself clearly in the form of dirty makeup and reddened eyes.
My mom hated to see me cry, especially because I had no right or reason to. I had messed up — that wasn’t anyone’s fault but mine — and crying wouldn’t help at all. “Why are you crying, Amanda?” she asked, perhaps more pointedly (尖刻地) than intended, but I heard the concern in her voice. Unable to form all the emotions into words, I just looked away and avoided her questions.
“Tell me now why you’re crying.” Her voice this time wasn’t as gentle as it was before; it was filled with frustration and impatience. “Why are you crying?” she whispered again, but this time her voice was shaky and flooded with pain. This was the first time I’d ever seen my mom cry; my mom, who was always so strong and was there to encourage me through the roughest times, was now crying, and I was the reason for it. Finding my voice, I tentatively asked, “Why are you crying?”
She looked at me and answered exactly what I was afraid to hear, “I hate to see you hurting yourself.” So it was my fault. I had put those tears in her eyes. I had filled her with pain, with helplessness and with sadness.
I’ll never forget her pained expression. It forced me to realize how shortsighted and close-minded I’d been. I decided that no matter what happens in the future, I will never lose myself to regret.Which words reflect the change of the mother’s emotions?
| A．Painful — impatient — concerned |
| B．Concerned — frustrated — painful |
| C．Satisfied — painful — frustrated |
| D．Frustrated — angry — painful |
What did Amanda determine to do?
| A．Never cry in face of her mom. |
| B．Never compete as a gymnast. |
| C．Never involve herself in self-pity. |
| D．Never make up before games. |
The Great Fire of London started in the very early hours of 2 September 1666. In four days it destroyed more than three-quarters of the old city, where most of the houses were wooden and close together. One hundred thousand people became homeless, but only a few lost their lives.
The fire started on Sunday morning in the house of the King's baker in Pudding Lane. The baker, with his wife and family, was able to get out through a window in the roof. A strong wind blew the fire from the bakery into a small hotel next door. Then it spread quickly into Thames Street. That was the beginning.
By eight o'clock three hundred houses were on fire. On Monday nearly a kilometer of the city was burning along the River Thames. Tuesday was the worst day. The fire destroyed many well-known buildings, old St Paul's and the Guildhall among them.
Samuel Pepys, the famous writer, wrote about the fire. People threw their things into the river. Many poor people stayed in their houses until the last moment. Birds fell out of the air because of the heat.
The fire stopped only when the King finally ordered people to destroy hundreds of buildings in the path of the fire. With nothing left to burn, the fire became weak and finally died out.
After the fire, Christopher Wren, the architect, wanted a city with wider streets and fine new houses of stone. In fact, the streets are still narrow; but he did build more than fifty churches, among them was new St Paul's.
The fire caused great pain and loss, but after it London was a better place: a city for the future and not just of the past.It seems that the writer of the text was most sorry for the fact that ______.
| A．many famous buildings were destroyed |
| B．the birds in the sky were killed by the fire |
| C．some people lost their lives |
| D．the King's bakery was burned down |
Why did the writer cite (引用)Samuel Pepys’ words?
| A．Because Pepys was among those putting out the fire. |
| B．Because Pepys also wrote about the fire. |
| C．To give the reader a clearer picture of the fire. |
| D．To show that poor people suffered most. |
Which of the following were reasons for the rapid spread (扩散)of the big fire?
(a) There was a strong wind.
(b) The streets were very narrow.
(c) Many houses were made of wood.
(d) There was not enough water in the city.
(e) People did not discover the fire earlier.
| A．(a) and (b) |
| B．(a), (b), (c), (d) and (e) |
| C．(a), (b), (c) and (d) |
| D．(a), (b) and (c) |
Babies born in summer are more likely to become short-sighted in late life, a study has shown.
As many as a quarter of all cases of short-sightedness are caused by too great an exposure to sunlight in the first weeks of life, say eye experts.
They are advising all parents to put sunglasses on their babies during the first weeks.
Scientists had already established that over-exposure to sunlight caused shortsightedness in animals.
Researchers who compared the months in which babies were born with whether they needed glasses later on say the principle also applies to humans.
A study of almost 300,000 young adults-the largest of its kind-showed that those born in June and July had a 25 per cent greater chance of becoming severely short-sighted than those born in December or January.
Research leader Professor Michael Belkin, of Tel Aviv University, said it was because prolonged illumination(光照) causes the eyeball to lengthen-causing short-sightedness.
Hence the more light a newborn is exposed to, the more the eyeball lengthens and the worse the short-sightedness will be.
The mechanism which lengthens the eyeball is associated with levels of melatonin(褪黑激素), a pigment (色素) which protects the skin against harmful rays of the sun.
In young babies not enough melatonin is released as protection, meaning they are more vulnerable to sunburn and changes to eyeball shape.
Sight expert Professor Daniel O’Leary, of Anglia Ruskin University in Cambridge, said “At the moment we don’t know the precise cause of why light exposure affects sight, but the evidence seems to prove that it is one of the reasons for people becoming shortsighted.”Melatonin is a kind of material to ___________.
| A．prevent the eyes from becoming near-sighted |
| B．protect the skin from harmful sun rays |
| C．make our body strong |
| D．protect babies’ eyes from summer sun |
From what Professor Daniel O’Leary says we can conclude that ___________.
| A．there is no evidence that shortsightedness is related to exposure to sunlight |
| B．whether light exposure affects sight still needs to be further proved |
| C．he believes that light exposure can cause shortsightedness |
| D．he tries to give the cause of why light exposure affects sight |
One day a few years ago, a very funny thing happened to a neighbor of mine. He is a teacher at one of London’s medical schools. He had finished his teaching for the summer term and was at the airport on his way to Russia to give a lecture. He had put a few clothes and his lecture notes in his shoulder bag, but he had put Rupert, the skeleton(人体骨骼) to be used in his lecture, in a large brown suitcase(箱子). At the airport desk, he suddenly thought that he had forgotten to buy a newspaper. He left his suitcase near the desk and went over to the shop.
When he got back he discovered that someone had taken his suitcase by mistake. He often wonders what they said when they got home and found Rupert.Who wrote the story?
| A．The teacher’s neighbor |
| B．The neighbor’s teacher |
| C．A medical school teacher |
| D．Rupert’s teacher |
Which of the following might have happened afterwards?
| A．the teacher got back Rupert but not the suitcase |
| B．the teacher got back neither the suitcase nor Rupert |
| C．the teacher got back the suitcase but not Rupert |
| D．the teacher got back both the suitcase and Rupert |
Sixteen years ago I learned this lesson. And I learned it in the back of a New York City taxi cab. Here’s what happened.
I got in a taxi, and we took off for Grand Central Station. We were driving in the right lane (车道) when all of a sudden, a black car jumped out of a parking space right in front of us. My taxi driver used his brakes (车闸), the tires made a loud noise, and at the very last moment our car stopped just one inch (英寸) from the back of the other car.
I couldn’t believe it. But then I couldn’t believe what happened next. The driver of the other car, the guy who almost caused a big accident, turned his head around and he started yelling bad words at us. I couldn’t believe it!
And this is when my taxi driver told me what I now call: “The Law of the Garbage Truck (垃圾车).” He said: But then here’s what really blew me away. My taxi driver just smiled and waved at the guy. So, I said: “Why did you just do that? This guy could have killed us!
“Many people are like garbage trucks. They run around full of garbage, full of frustration, full of anger, and
full of disappointment. As their garbage piles up, they look for a place to dump (倾倒) it. And if you let them, they’ll dump it on you.“So one day when someone wants to dump on you, don’t take it personally. Just smile, wave, wish them well, and move on. Believe me. You’ll be happier.”
So I started thinking, how often do I let Garbage Trucks run right over me? And how often do I take their garbage and spread it to other people at work, at home, or on the street? It was then that I said: “I don’t want their garbage and I’m not going to spread it anymore.”
I began to see Garbage Trucks. I see the load people are carrying. I see them coming to dump it. And like my taxi driver, I don’t take it personally. I just smile, wave, wish them well, and I move on.When the author saw his taxi driver smile and wave at the driver of the black car, he _____.
| A．was deeply impressed |
| B．got very angry |
| C．felt quite disappointed |
| D．complimented him on his good manners |
How did the author learn to deal with Garbage Trucks?
| A．Fight back immediately. |
| B．Smile and move on. |
| C．Call the police for help. |
| D．Dump it on someone else |