It’s official, not making your bed keeps you healthy. Dust mites (尘螨) present in everyone’s home can cause asthma, but they can not live in the dry conditions of an unmade bed.
The average bed is home to one and a half million mites, and they cause a number of common allergies (过敏症), as they chomp away on human skin in the night; and then produce the allergens which we inhale (吸入).
Dust mites grow in the warm humid conditions prevalent in the occupied bed, but they cannot multiply without moisture. So leaving the bed unmade during the day means that the water is not retained by the sheets, which means that the mites dehydrate (脱水) and die.
Researcher Dr. Stephen Pretlove who has developed a computer model to track how changes in the home can reduce a numbers of dust mites said, “We know that mites can only survive by taking in water from the atmosphere using small glands on the outside of their body.”
In the next stage of their research, the scientists are putting mite pockets into beds in 36 houses around the United Kingdom. This will test the validity of the computer model and will investigate how people’s daily routines affect mite populations.
Building features such as heating ventilation (空气流通) and insulation (隔热) will also be adjustable to monitor how the mites cope and react to different atmospheres.
Dr. Pretlove said the research had potential to reduce the ￡700 million spent treating mite-induced illnesses each year in the UK.
“Our findings could help building designers create healthy homes and health care workers point out environments most at risk from mites.”
Dr. Matt Hallsworth, of the charity Asthma UK, said, “House-dust mite allergen can be an important trigger for many people with asthma, but at present many people find they are inevitable.”What is the best title of the passage？
| A．The Causes of Asthma |
| B．Research on Allergies |
| C．Don’t make your bed and stay healthy |
| D．The Bad Effects of Mites |
The underlined word “validity” means ______.
| A．confirmation | B．imagination | C．supposition | D．criticism |
Which statement is not true according to the passage?
| A．Building features can affect the growth of mites. |
| B．The research carried out will save a lot of money spent on treating mite-related illnesses. |
| C．At present it is impossible for people to get rid of house-dust mites related asthma. |
| D．Dust mites can survive in all kinds of conditions. |
What can not be inferred from the passage?
| A．Traditionally, people think that making bed can make one healthy. |
| B．Mites can not survive in humid atmosphere. |
| C．people in many fields will benefit from the research. |
| D．The research will change much in people’s concept on mites. |
Which one will not benefit from the research according to the passage?
| A．The patient with asthma. | B．The health-care worker. |
| C．The income of the hospital. | D．The building designer. |
The most frightening words in the English language are, “Our computer is down.” You hear it more and more when you are on business. The other day I was at the airport waiting for a ticket to Washington and the girl in the ticket office said, “I’m sorry, I can’t sell you a ticket. Our computer is down.”
“If your computer is down, just write me out a ticket.”
“I can’t write you out a ticket. The computer is the only one allowed to do so.”
I looked down on the computer and every passenger was just standing there drinking coffee and staring at the black screen. Then I asked her, “What do all you people do?”
“We give the computer the information about your trip, and then it tells us whether you can fly with us or not.”
“So when it goes down, you go down with it.”
“That’s good, sir.”
“How long will the computer be down?” I wanted to know.
“I have no idea. Sometimes it’s down for 10 minutes, sometimes for two hours. There’s no way we can find out without asking the computer, and since it’s down it won’t answer us.”
After the girl told me they had no backup(备用) computer, I said. “Let’s forget the computer. What about your planes? They’re still flying, aren’t they?”
“I couldn’t tell without asking the computer.”
“Maybe I could just go to the gate and ask the pilot if he’s flying to Washington, ” I suggested.
“I wouldn’t know what gate to send you to. Even if the pilot was going to Washington, he couldn’t take you if you didn’t have a ticket.”
“Is there any other airline flying to Washington within the next few hours?”
“I wouldn’t know, ” she said, pointing at the dark screen. “Only ‘IT’ knows. ‘It’ can’t tell me.”
By this time there were quite a few people standing in lines. The word soon spread to other travelers that the computer was down. Some people went white, some people started to cry and still others kicked their luggage.The best title for the article is _______.
| A．When the Computer Is Down |
| B．The Most Frightening Words |
| C．The Computer of the Airport |
| D．Asking the Computer |
What could the girl in the ticket office do for the passengers without asking the computer?
| A．She could sell a ticket. |
| B．She could write out a ticket. |
| C．She could answer the passengers’ questions. |
| D．She could do nothing. |
Why do you think they had not a backup computer?
| A．Because it was easy down |
| B．Because it was very expensive. |
| C．Because it was not advanced enough. |
| D．Because it was not as big as the main computer. |
The last paragraph suggests that _______.
| A．a modern computer won’t be down. |
| B．computers can take the place of humans |
| C．sometimes a computer may bring suffering to people |
| D．there will be great changes in computers |
Depression(抑郁症)is a serious problem today．Depression causes workers to be unproductive，causing companies and countries to lose billions of dollars．One expert says that depression is like cancer because it is “widespread，costly and deadly”．Depression hits one person in five around the world．
Although people have believed depression to be a problem among the rich and educated，studies show that depression is a problem among everyone。Over any six-month period，between five to seven percent of the world's population will be suffering from a serious depression．
suicide(自杀)rates among people suffering from the disease in its extreme，or clinical form were 80 percent higher than in the population at large，and sufferers were four times more likely to have heart attacks. People who suffer from depression often have problems sleeping，getting up on time，and doing work productively．
Depression，which researchers agree has its origin in the genes(基因)，brings loss of confidence and ability to concentrate-making it impossible for employees and managers to work efficiently．
Depression is made more serious in China by Chinese's inability to face it．Many people believe that depressed people are either weak or lazy． Besides，there is no good treatment，with few specialists available．
“Most patients in China just don't get help，”a Chinese doctor says．“In my hospital．I have to see 30 or 40 patients in a morning，just have time to say “Hello how do you feel？”
In Western countries，people are not afraid to admit that they have depression，but most do not tell it to their boss，because they fear that their boss would fire them．
“In my experience，aging bosses are the most willing to admit they have it. Because they feel the most secure about themselves，”an American doctor says．
Hopefully，in the near future，people around the world will be able to admit that they have depression so that they can get the right treatment．Which of the following is true according to the passage？
| A．It is widely believed that everyone may suffer from depression． |
| B．Depression brings great problems to its sufferers in their life and work |
| C．Depression is a commonly-existing problem only in rich countries． |
| D．The poorer and the less educated a person is，the less he will suffer from depression． |
Compared to normal people，the depressed people are likely to be▁▁▁．
| A．very unconfident and often absent-minded |
| B．easy to avoid being hit by heart attacks |
| C．working efficiently and productively |
| D．either weak or lazy |
Depression becomes more serious in China because of．
| A．the understanding of the problem |
| B．the lack of treatment and doctors |
| C．their unwillingness to tell it to their boss |
| D．the doctors' careless work |
What can we infer from the passage?
| A．People are suffering from depression because of the shortage of specialists． |
| B．The aging bosses around the world dare to say they are depressed． |
| C．More and more patients will turn to specialists for help． |
| D．Western people are braver than Chinese people． |
Computer people talk a lot about the need for other people to become “computer-literate.” But not all experts (专家) agree that this is a good idea.
One pioneer, in particular, who disagrees is David Tebbutt, the founder of Computertown UK. Although many people see this as a successful attempt to bring people closer to the computer. David does not see it that way. He says that Computertown UK was formed for just the opposite reason, to bring computers to people and make them “people-literate.” David Tebbutt thinks Computertowns are most successful when tied to a computer club but he insists there is an important difference between the two. The clubs are for people who have some computer knowledge already. This frightens away non-experts, who are happier going to Computertowns where there are computers for them to experiment on, with experts to encourage them and answer any questions they have. They are not told what to do, they find out.The computer experts have to learn not to tell people about computers, but have to be able to answer all questions people ask. People don’t have to learn computer terms(术语), but the experts have to explain in plain language. The computers are becoming “people-literate.”Which of the following is David Tebbutt’s ides on the relationship between people and computers?
| A．Computer learning should be made easier. |
| B．There should be more computer clubs for experts. |
| C．People should work harder to master computer use. |
| D．Computers should be made cheaper so that people can afford them. |
We can infer from the text that “computer-lilerate” means_______.
| A．being able to afford a computer |
| B．being able to write computer programs |
| C．working with the computer and finding out its value |
| D．understanding the computer and knowing how to use it |
The underlined word “it” in the second paragraph refers to the idea that Computertowns ___.
| A．help to set up more computer clubs |
| B．bring people to learn to use computers |
| C．bring more experts to work together |
| D．help to sell computers to the public |
David Tebbutt started Computertown UK with the purpose of______.
| A．making better use of computer expert |
| B．improving computer programs |
| C．increasing omputersales |
| D．popularising computers |
Parents and kids today dress alike, listen to the same music, and are friends. Is this a good thing? Sometimes, when Mr. Ballmer and his 16-year-old daughter, Elizabeth, listen to rock music together and talk about interests both enjoy, such as pop culture, he remembers his more distant relationship with his parents when he was a teenager.
“I would never have said to my mom,’ Hey, the new Weezer album is really great. How do you like it?’” says Ballmer. “There was just a complete gap in taste.”
Music was not the only gulf(分歧). From clothing and hairstyles to activities and expectations, earlier generations of parents and children often appeared to move in separate orbits.
Today, the generation gap has not disappeared, but it is getting narrow in many families. Conversations on subjects such as sex and drugs would not have taken place a generation ago. Now they are comfortable and common. And parent-child activities, from shopping to sports, involve a feeling of trust and friendship that can continue into adulthood.
No wonder greeting cards today carry the message, “To my mother, my best friends.”
But family experts warn that the new equality can also result in less respect for parents.
“There’s still a lot of strictness and authority on the part of parents out there, but there is a change happening,” says Kerrie, a psychology professor at Lebanon Valley College. “In the middle of that change, there is a lot of confusion among parents.”
Family researchers offer a variety of reasons for these evolving(演化的) roles and attitudes. They see the 1960s as a turning point. Great cultural changes led to more open communication and a more democratic process that encourages everyone to have a say.
“My parents were on the ‘before’ side of that change, but today’s parents, the 40-year-olds,were on the ‘after’ side,” explains Mr. Ballmer. “It’s not something easily accomplished by parents these days, because life is more difficult to understand or deal with, but sharing interests does make it more fun to be a parent now.”
Several years ago, I had a huge falling out with one of my best friends. So huge, in fact, that now I can’t even remember what happened.
In the past nine years, I’ve seen her twice, and each time we’ve been polite but distant. And that troubles me because we were once inseparable. I’d like nothing more than to go back nine years, and continue our friendship. But how? How do you reconnect with friends you’ve lost throughout the years?
Linking to your past
The desire to reconnect with lost friends isn’t unusual. Why? Because friends link us to the past. “Friends from years ago are custodians (监护人) of our past,” says Sandy Sheehy.
Although you can share information about your past with friends you’ve met recently, you don’t have a shared history with them. So you wind up only telling them about your past, rather than sharing it with them.
But many people never try to reconnect. Women especially have trouble taking the first step. Shyness or fear that the other person doesn’t want to reconnect often stops many women. And that shouldn’t be. Your friends probably want to be in touch with you as much as you want to be in touch with them.
Searching for friends
Fortunately, finding lost friends isn’t as difficult as it once was, thanks to tools like the Internet. Our experts offer these suggestions for locating contact information:
Search Internet sites designed to locate people like classmates.com and switchboard.com.
Contact your high school or college alumni (校友) office to request current address information.
Surf online yellow pages. Check current phone records from your friend’s hometown.
Network with other friends who might have known your friend.
Get in touch with any of her relatives, if you know where they live. If you know where she works, find the company’s website and search the directory of personnel.What is the subject discussed in the passage?
| A．How to make new friends. |
| B．How to rebuild friendship. |
| C．How to develop healthy friendship. |
| D．How to keep in touch with friends. |
The underlined sentence “friends from years ago are custodians of our past” in Paragraph 3 means _____.
| A．years ago old friends kept something for us |
| B．in the past old friends took care of us |
| C．old friends are part of our life history |
| D．old friends know what wrongs we did |
What makes us unwilling to reconnect old friends?
| A．Lack of money. | B．Busy time. | C．Regret and shame. | D．Fear and shyness. |
How can we make contact with the lost friends?
| A．By asking other friends of the information on your lost friends. |
| B．By searching your friends’ telephone number on the Net. |
| C．By asking the local post office about your friends’ new address. |
| D．By putting an advertisement in your friends’ local town. |