The Pacific island nation of Nauru used to be a beautiful place．Now it is an ecological disaster area．Nauru's heartbreaking story could have one good consequence-other countries might learn from its mistakes．
For thousands of years，Polynesian people lived in the remote island of Nauru，far from western civilization．The first European to arrive was John Fearn in 1798．He was the British captain of the Hunter, a whaling ship．He called the island Pleasant Island．
However, because it was very remote, Nauru had little communication with Europeans at first．The whaling ships and other traders began to visit，bringing guns and alcohol．These elements destroyed the social balance of the twelve family groups on the island．A ten-year civil war started，which reduced the population from 1,400 to 900.
Nauru's real troubles began in 1899 when a British mining company discovered phosphate(磷酸盐)on the island．In fact，it found that the island of Nauru was nearly all phosphate，which was a very important fertilizer for farming．The company began mining the phosphate．
A phosphate mine is not a hole in the ground；it is a strip mine．When a company strip-mines，it removes the to player of soil．Then it takes away the material it wants．Strip mining totally destroys the land．Gradually, the lovely island or Nauru started to look like the moon．
In 1968，Nauru became one of the richest countries in the world．Every year the government received millions and millions of dollars for its phosphate．
Unfortunately, the leaders invested the money unwisely and lost millions of dollars．In addition，they used millions more dollars for personal expenses．Soon people realized that they had a terrible problem—their phosphate was running out．Ninety percent of their island was destroyed and they had nothing．By 2000，Nauru was financially ruined．Experts say that it would take approximately$433，600，000 and more than 20 years to repair the island．This will probably never happen．What might be the author's purpose in writing the text?
| A．To seek help for Nauru's problems． |
| B．To tell a heartbreaking story of a war． |
| C．To show the importance of money |
| D．To give a warning to other countries |
What was Nauru like before the Europeans came?
APeaceful and attractive B．Modern and open
C．Rich and powerful D．Greedy and aggressiveThe ecological disaster in Nauru resulted from
| A．soil pollution | B．phosphate overmining |
| C．farming activity | D．whale hunting |
Which of the following was a cause of Nauru's financial problem?
| A．Its phosphate mining cost much money |
| B．It spent too much repairing the island |
| C．Its leaders misused the money |
| D．It lost millions of dollars in the civil war. |
What can we learn about Nauru from me last paragraph?
| A．The leaders will take the experts' words seriously |
| B．The ecological damage is difficult to repair. |
| C．The island was abandoned by the Nauruans |
| D．The phosphate mines were destroyed |
While I was in my 4th month of pregnancy（妊娠期）with my second child，we were preparing for a trip to Louisiana，where Marshall’s family live，to celebrate Jane’s 2nd birthday．Two days before we were to leave，we got the shocking news that I was going to lose the baby．Not knowing when this would happen，we decided to continue with our trip．
Since Marshall’s family lives on a 600-acre cattle farm，you often find that you have a lot of time to yourself to think when you are there．That is precisely what I did not want to do at this time．I told Marshall that I needed to get a good book to get lost in while I was there．I told him I heard the Harry Potter books were good，so he went out and got the first one for me．
During that trip，I totally got lost in the book，which was of great help during a time when I needed a distraction to forget about the sadness．In the book，I noticed the name “Seamus”．I vaguely remembered it was pronounced “Shamus” and I liked the sound of that．I mentioned it to Marshall and he liked it too．Toward the end of the trip，I had just 5 chapters left and I knew I was about to finish the first book，which I was pretty excited about．
Soon after we put Jane down to bed，I had started labor（分娩），so I was unable to read．The labor lasted 5 and 1/2 hours，but Marshall stayed there with me，sitting beside me and reading aloud the last 5 chapters of Harry Potter．I can never fully explain how much that helped me through the experience．And ever since then，Marshall and I both have been fans of the Harry Potter books．We remember how they helped us get through that time of our lives．
We were sad to have lost the baby，but the name Seamus started our journey toward adoption．And we gave this name to our adopted son．Though our Seamus doesn’t have a drop of Irish blood in him，the name fits him perfectly．【改编】we decided to continue with our trip.the trip is___.
| A．going to Louisiana |
| B．going to China |
| C．going to foreign countries |
| D．going to town |
【改编】Why does the writer cant read these days
| A．because she had started labor |
| B．because she didn't like the book |
| C．because her husband didn't allow reading |
| D．we dont know |
【改编】Which is the best title for the passage?
| A．Funny Stories of My Family | B．Seamus And Harry Potter |
| C．How We Got To Louisiana | D．How My Son Got His Name |
Those who have suffered from insomnia know the sinking feeling of watching the clock tick．Now a new study in the Archives of Internal Medicine suggests that lying in bed awake may actually contribute to the problem of sleeplessness．
The study of 79 adults（average age 72）with insomnia aimed to determine whether brief behavioral interventions for insomnia would help．Traditional behavioral therapy（疗法）requires at least half a dozen hour-long sessions with a therapist — a costly commitment many patients either can't make or don't have access to．Other options include sleep-aiding medications or supplements．In the current study，the 39 participants in the behavioral therapy group received a 45- to 60-minute instructing session，plus a 30-minute follow-up session and two 20-minute phone calls．
Doctors offered the following behavioral interventions for improving sleep: reduce time in bed; get up at the same time every day，regardless of sleep duration; don't go to bed unless sleepy; and don't stay in bed unless asleep．
The other 40 participants in the study were given printed educational materials about insomnia，which included the same instructions given to the intervention group，but without the individualized sessions with a therapist．Two weeks later，the latter group also got a 10-minute follow-up phone call．
At the end of four weeks，the behavioral treatment group was significantly more likely to show improvements in sleep than the printed-materials group．By that time，55% of those who received behavioral treatment no longer met the criteria for insomnia，compared with 13% of the group that got educational brochures．
The good news comes at the same time as a report on the health effects of insomnia from the U．K．'s Mental Health Foundation．The report，Sleep Matters，suggests a link between insomnia and poor relationships，low energy levels and an inability to concentrate．Poor sleep has already been linked to depression，immune deficiency and heart disease．【改编】What is the disadvantage of traditional behavioral therapy?
| A．It can’t help． |
| B．It costs a lot of money． |
| C．It requires sessions with a therapist． |
| D．It includes sleep-aiding medications． |
【改编】we can know that___.
| A．people don't like sleeping |
| B．we can sleep by medicine |
| C．parents can sleep fast |
| D．Poor sleep has already been linked to depression，immune deficiency and heart disease． |
【改编】We can learn from the text that insomnia may cause the following results except________．
| A．depression | B．concentration |
| C．immune deficiency | D．heart disease |
When Josephine Cooper was growing up，she learned the importance of charity from her parents．Although they made a modest living for their family of 10，they insisted on sharing with those less fortunate．
Half a century later，Mrs Cooper became a beloved volunteer at the San Diego Food Bank，where she devoted herself to helping others．She organized and ran a distribution center from a church，helping it become the organization’s largest emergency food distribution center in San Diego．She was one of 25 outstanding senior volunteers in the nation selected and invited to Washington D．C．to receive the award．
“She was the main person who helped us make that program grow,” said Mike Doody，former director of the Food Bank．“She had a way of getting people to work together and to work hard．She was determined and stubborn，but in a good way．She had a good heart．” People knew her as “Grandma” because of her selflessness and her devotion to helping hungry children and families．“She reminded people of their Grandma．” Doody said．
As a widow with a young child in 1979，Mrs．Cooper was helped through a difficult financial time when the Food Bank provided her with groceries．“She dedicated her life to giving back,” said her daughter，Monica Cooper．It wasn’t unusual for a local church to call Mrs Cooper to ask her to aid a needy family．“She would give people food out of her cupboard．Sometimes we would cook a meal for a family living out of their car,” Cooper said．
Although Mrs Cooper was honored to receive the national award for her volunteer work，she said being able to help others was her reward．She died of liver disease and kidney failure，aged 93．【改编】from the passage,we can know Mrs Cooper is a person who___.
| A．helps people in danger |
| B．likes poor children |
| C．make a live by help people |
| D．dedicated her life to giving back |
【改编】Which of the following is true of Mrs Cooper?
| A．she has three sons |
| B．She was kind and devoted |
| C．she is outgoing |
| D．she died at an early age |
【改编】We can't learn___from Mrs Cooper.
| A．devotion |
| B．kindness |
| C．love |
| D．cruel |
If your preschoolers turn up their noses at carrots or celery, a small reward like a sticker (贴画) for taking even a taste may help get them to eat previously disliked foods, a UK study said.
Though it might seem obvious that a reward could encourage young children to eat their vegetables, the idea is actually controversial, researchers wrote in the American Journal of Clinical Nutrition. That’s because some studies have shown that rewards can backfire and cause children to lose interest in foods they already liked, said Jane Wardle, a researcher at University College London who worked on the study. Verbal praise, such as “Brilliant! You’re a great vegetable taster”, did not work as well.
The study found that when parents gave their small children a sticker each time they took a “tiny taste” of a disliked vegetable, it gradually changed their attitudes. The children were also willing to eat more of the vegetables — either carrots, celery, cucumber, red pepper, cabbage or sugar snap peas — in laboratory taste tests, the study said.
Researchers randomly assigned (分派) 173 families to one of these groups. In one, parents used stickers to reward their children each time they took a tiny sample of a disliked vegetable. A second group of parents used verbal praise. The third group, where Parents used no special vegetable-promoting methods, served as a “control”.
Parents in the reward groups offered their children a taste of the “target” vegetable every day for 12 days. Soon after, children in the sticker group were giving higher ratings to the vegetables—and were willing to eat more in the research lab, going from an average of 5 grams at the start to about 10 grams after the 12-day experience. The turnaround(转机) also seemed to last, with preschoolers in the sticker group still willing to eat more of the once-disliked vegetable three months later.
Why didn’t the verbal praise work? Wardle said the parents’ words may have seemed “insincere” to their children.The purpose of writing the passage is .
| A．to show the procedure of an experiment on children’s diet |
| B．to introduce a practical method of making children eat vegetables |
| C．to explain why children hate to eat vegetables |
| D．to present a proper way of verbal praise to parents |
The underlined word “backfire” in Paragraph 2 probably means “_______”.
| A．shoot from behind the back |
| B．make a fire in the backyard |
| C．produce an unexpected result |
| D．achieve what was planned |
【改编】Which of the following statements is not true according to the passage?
| A．It remains a question whether rewarding is a good way to get children to eat vegetables. |
| B．Children in the sticker group will be interested in eating vegetables. |
| C．Oral praise doesn’t work quite well in encouraging children to eat vegetables. |
| D．Most children are born to dislike carrots or celery. |
What can we learn from the last paragraph?
| A．Children like rewards, not verbal praise. |
| B．Parents should give up verbal praise. |
| C．Children are difficult to inspire. |
| D．Parents should praise their children in a sincere tone. |
Italy is one country where beauty is prized more than any other virtue. That is, except in the small town of Piobbico, the self-declared World Capital of Ugly People. The road sign at the edge of the town even warns visitors that they are entering the ugly zone. People who consider themselves ugly have been gathering in Piobbico since the 1960s. That’s when Ugly Club president Telesforo Lacobelli established a dating agency for women who believed they were too ugly to attract husbands. Lacobelli believes that he is ugly himself because he has a short nose in a country where long or large noses have always been considered beautiful.
People from around the world travel to Piobbico to tell their sad stories of ugliness. During the annual Festival of the Ugly, which occurs on the first Sunday of every September, hundreds of people gather in Piobbico’s town square to elect the president of the Ugly Club. Lacobelli wins the election every year. The Ugly Club has over 20, 000 members. They carry ID cards that grade their ugliness from bearable to extreme. A prize is awarded to Ugly Club members who qualify as extremely ugly.
The Ugly Club president insists that ugliness is a virtue. Since beautiful people get a lot of attention for their beauty alone, they have to work hard to prove their other virtues. Ugly people, on the other hand, are genuine and do not have to prove anything to anybody, according to Lacobelli.
Lacobelli is a spokesperson for ugly people everywhere. He believes that the uglier one is, the better life can be. Though the club enjoys making fun of beauty, especially beauty contests, Lacobelli has a serious side as well. He believes that too many people suffer from financial and emotional pressures because they don’t meet society’s standards of beauty. The fact that beautiful people are more successful in the workforce is a problem that Lacobelli has attempted to bring forward to the Italian public and government.Piobbico is rather special in that .
| A．it is a very small town |
| B．it is home to ugly people |
| C．it receives no visitors |
| D．it is the capital of Italy |
Why is Lacobelli elected the president of the Ugly Club every year?
| A．Because he is the ugliest person in the whole world. |
| B．Because his ugliness is always graded as bearable. |
| C．Because he is a spokesperson for ugly people everywhere. |
| D．Because he has won the members’ trust and admiration. |
Which of the following is true according to the passage?
| A．Ugly people are most respected in Italy. |
| B．The Festival of the Ugly is held every two years. |
| C．Ugly people are unfairly treated in society. |
| D．The uglier one is, the better life he or she lives. |
Which of the following would be the best title for the passage?
| A．The Ugly Capital of the World |
| B．The Ugliest Person of the World |
| C．Festival of the Ugly |
| D．Beauty Contests Should be Banned |