Do you know that men die earlier than women? The latest research makes it known that the reason could be that men’s hearts go into rapid decline when they reach middle age.
The largest study of the effects of ageing(变老) on the heart has found that women’s longevity may be linked to the fact that their hearts do not lose their pumping power with age.
“We have found that the power of the male heart falls by 20-25 percent between 18 and 70 years of age,” said the head of the study, David Goldspink of Liverpool John Moores University in the UK.
“Within the heart there are millions of cells that enable it to beat. Between the age of 20 and 70, one-third of those cells die and are not replaced in men,” said Goldspink. “This is part of the aging process.”
What surprises scientists is that the female heart sees very little loss of these cells. A healthy 70-year-old woman’s heart could perform almost as well as a 20-year-old one’s.
“This gender difference might just explain why women live longer than men,” said Goldspink. They studied more than 250 healthy men and women between the ages of 18 and 80, focusing on healthy persons to remove the confusing influence of disease. “The team has yet to find why ageing takes a greater loss on the male heart,” said Goldspink.
The good news is that men can improve the health of their heart with regular exercise. Goldspink stressed that women also need regular exercise to prevent their leg muscles becoming smaller and weaker as they age. The underlined word “longevity” in the second paragraph probably refers to “________”.
| A．health | B．long life | C．ageing | D．effect |
The text mainly talks about ________.
| A．men’s heart cells | B．women’s ageing process、 |
| C．the gender difference | D．hearts and long life |
According to the text, the UK scientists have known that ________.
| A．women have more cells than men when they are born |
| B．women can replace the cells that enable the heart to beat |
| C．the female heart loses few of the cells with age |
| D．women never lose their pumping power with age |
If you want to live longer, you should ________.
| A．enable your heart to beat much faster |
| B．find out the reason for ageing |
| C．exercise regularly to keep your heart healthy |
| D．prevent your cells from being lost |
We can know from the passage that ________.
| A．the reason why ageing takes a greater loss on the male heart has been found out |
| B．scientists are on the way to finding out why the male heart loses more of the cells |
| C．the team has done something to prevent the male from suffering the greater loss |
| D．women over 70 could lose more heart cells than those at the age of 20 |
Do you know of anyone who uses the truth to deceive(欺骗)? When someone tells you something that is true，but leaves out important information that should be included, he can give you a false picture．
For example，someone might say, “I just won a hundred dollars on the lottery(彩票). It was great. I took that dollar ticket back to the store and turned it in for one hundred dollars!”
This guy’s a winner，right? Maybe，maybe not．We then discover that he bought $ 200 worth of tickets，and only one was a winner．He’s really a big loser!
He didn’t say anything that was false，but he left out important information on purpose．That’s called a half-truth．Half truths are not technically lies，but they are just as dishonest．
Some politicians often use this trick．Let’s say that during Governor Smith’s last term，her state lost one million jobs and gained three million jobs．Then she seeks an other term．One of her opponents(对手)says，“During Governor Smith’s term，the state lost one million jobs!” That’s true．However，an honest statement would have been，“During Governor Smith’s term，the state had a net gain of two million jobs．’’
Advertisers will sometimes use half—truths．It’s against the law to make false statements so they try to mislead you with the truth．An advertisement might say，“Nine out of ten doctors advised their patients to take Yucky Pills to cure toothache．”It fails to mention that they only asked ten doctors and nine of them work for the Yucky Company．
This kind of deception happens too often．It’s a sad fact of life：Lies are lies，and sometimes the truth can 1ie as well．How much did the lottery winner lose?
| A．one hundred dollars． | B．Two hundred dollars． |
| C．Three hundred dollars． | D．Four hundred dollars． |
We may infer that the author believes people should ________.
| A．buy lottery tickets if possible | B．make use of half—truths |
| C．be careful about what they are told | D．not trust the Yucky Company |
How many examples does the writer give to show how the truth is used to deceive?
| A．One． | B．Two． | C．Three． | D．Four． |
Which of the following is true according to the passage?
| A．Using half truths is against the law． |
| B．Technically，half truths are in fact lies． |
| C．Yucky Pills is a very good medicine for toothache． |
| D．Governor Smith did a good job during her last term． |
Which of the following best expresses the main idea of the passage?
| A．He’s really a big loser! |
| B．Sometimes the truth can lie as well． |
| C．Advertisers will sometimes use half truths． |
| D．It’s against the law to make false statements． |
You can not see any object unless light from that object gets into your eyes. Some of the things you see give off light of their own. The sun, the stars, a lighted lamp are examples that can be seen by their own light. Such things are luminous. Most of the things you see are not giving off light of their own. They are simply reflecting light that falls on them from the sun or some other luminous bodies. The moon, for example, does not give off any light of its own. It is non-luminous. You see it because sunlight falls on it and some of it reflects in our direction. So moon light is only second hand sunlight.
When you look at a book, it sends to your eyes some of the light which falls on it, and you see the book. If light could be kept out from where you are so that there would be no light for the book to reflect, then you could not see the book even with your eyes wide open.
Light travels so fast that the time in which it travels from the book you are reading to your eyes is so short as if there were no time at all. Light reaches us from the moon, which is about 380 000 kilometers away, in only a little more than a second.You can see the book because_______.
| A．your eyes are close to it | B．it reflects some of the sunlight |
| C．it has light of its own | D．your eyesight can get to it |
The underlined word “luminous” means_______.
| A．visible | B．all colors | C．giving off light | D．sunlight |
________ have light of their own.
| A．The sun and the moon | B．The stars and the earth |
| C．The sun and the stars | D．The moon and the earth |
Which of the following is true?
| A．All the things you can see give off light. |
| B．Light from the book is much shorter than that from the moon. |
| C．The moment you open your eyes the light from the book travels to your eyes. |
| D．Light travels so fast that there is no time for you to read. |
New Year’s Eve is a time to celebrate and enter the new year with a smile on your face. This year, there’re plenty of local activities for all ages and interests, so the smiles will come easily.
BLUE CONCERT
Blues band the Coyotes is playing at the Dance Barn，at 8 Barn View in Sudden Valley, The show will start at 9 p. m. and benefit the charity Bikers Fighting Cancer. Tickets cost $10 in advance and $15 at the door. Call 224-2308 for more information.
NEW YEAR’S LAUGHS
Ring in the New Year and laugh out the old one at the Upfront Theatre Comic improvisers will hit on all the highlights of the year with The Last Laugh of 2008. The 9 p. m. show will cost $15 and is open to all ages. The 11 P. m. show is open to 21 and older and costs $18, which includes a champagne (香槟酒) toast. Call 733-8855 for more information.
MAZE
For a fun activity earlier in the evening，walk the labyrinth (迷宫) at the Leopold Crystal Bellroom. Wander through the maze, based on the French Chartres Cathedral, for free from 4 to 9 p. m. Call 752-0048 for more information.
COUNTRY DANCING
At the Bellingham Eagles Hall, live local music will help get the dance started at 8 p. m. Tickets are $15 for adults, $10 for students and free for kids 12 and younger. For more information, call 676-1554. In what way do these activities have in common?
| A．They’re all held in the same day. |
| B．They’re all held by the same organization. |
| C．They’re all organized for children. |
| D．They’re all about the dancing and music. |
Which of the following activities may be free for Tom aged 16?
| A．COUNTRY DANCING. | B．NEW YEAR’S LAUGHS. |
| C．MAZE. | D．BLUE CONCERT. |
If you want to know something about the Coyotes at 8 Barn view, you’d better call .
| A．676-1554 | B．733-8855 | C．752-0048 | D．224-2308 |
It can be inferred from the text that.
| A．$10 is enough to book a ticket to Blue Concert |
| B．you can read the text on a telephone book |
| C．all these activities are international ones |
| D．New Year’s Laughs will hold shows three times |
136 Crestview Circle
Dover, Connecticut
January 16, 1995
Gander’s Furniture Store
Stamford, Connecticut, 09876
Dear Sir,
I am writing about your January bill, which I am returning with this letter. I am not going to pay this bill. Last month I bought a table and four chairs for $65.50. They were sent to me on December 18. That night one leg of the table broke while my wife was putting our dinner on it. It fell on one of the chair, and that broke, too. Our $ 2.50 steak(牛排) landed on the floor, and the dog ate it.
I spoke to the salesmen who had sold me the table and the chairs. He told me to write you a letter. I wrote you on December 20, saying that I was not going to pay for the furniture. On December 21 some men came and took it back to the store.
Please do something about your records. I do not want to receive another bill for the furniture which I returned.
Yours truly
Alberts RobbinsFrom the letter we can know that Mr. Robbins had actually paid _____ for the table and the four chairs.
| A．$ 65.50 | B．$ 68.00 | C．$ 2.50 | D．no money |
Why do you think Mr. Robbins write the letter to the furniture store?
| A．He had paid for the furniture but was asked to pay again. |
| B．He didn’t want to receive a second bill for the furniture he had returned. |
| C．The furniture he bought was badly made and he wanted to return it. |
| D．He wanted the manager to scold the salesmen for the bad furniture. |
Try to guess how Mr. Robins felt when he was writing the letter.
| A．He was angry. | B．He was sad. | C．He was anxious. | D．He was friendly. |
Mr. Grey was the manager of a small office in London. He lived in the country, and came up to work by train. He liked walking from the station to his office unless it was raining, because it gave him some exercise.
One morning he was walking along the street when a stranger stopped him and said to him, “You may not remember me, sir, but seven years ago I came to London without a penny in my pockets, I stopped you in this street and asked you to lend me some money, and you lent me £ 5, because you said you were willing to take a chance so as to give a man a start on the way to success.”
Mr. Grey thought for a few minutes and then said, “Yes, I remember you. Go on with your story!” “Well,” answered the stranger, “are you still willing to take a chance?”How did Mr. Grey get to his office?
| A．He went up to work by train. |
| B．He walked to his office. |
| C．He went to his office on foot unless it rained. |
| D．He usually took a train to the station and then walked to his office if the weather was fine. |
Mr. Grey liked walking from the station to his office because ________.
| A．he couldn’t afford the buses | B．he wanted to save money |
| C．he wanted to keep in good health | D．he could do some exercises on the way |
Mr. Grey had been willing to lend money to a stranger in order to______.
| A．give him a start in life | B．help him on the way to success |
| C．make him rich | D．gain more money |
One morning the stranger recognized Mr. Grey, and_______.
| A．wanted to return Mr. Grey the money |
| B．again asked Mr. Grey for money |
| C．would like to make friends with him |
| D．told Mr. Grey that he had been successful since then |