D
Holding a cell phone against your ear or storing it in your pocket may be dangerous to your health. This explains a warning that cell phone manufacturers include in the small print that is often ignored when a new phone is purchased. Apple, for example, doesn’t want iPhones to come closer to you than 1.5 centimeters; Research In Motion, BlackBerry’s manufacturer, recommends 2.5 centimeters.
If health issues arise from cell phone use, the possible effects are huge. Voice calls - Americans chat on cell phones 2.26 trillion(万亿)minutes annually - earn $109 billion for the wireless carriers.
Devra Davis, an expert who has worked for the University of Pittsburgh, has published a book about cell phone radiation, “Disconnect.” The book surveys scientific research and concludes the question is not settled.
Brain cancer is a concern that Ms. Davis examines. Over all, there has not been an increase in its incidence since cell phones arrived. But the average masks an increase in brain cancer in the 20-to-29 age group and a drop for the older population.
“Most cancers have multiple causes,” she says, but she points to laboratory research that suggests low-energy radiation could damage cells that could possibly lead to cancer.
Children are more vulnerable to radiation than adults, Ms. Davis and other scientists point out. Radiation that penetrates only five centimeters into the brain of an adult will reach much deeper into the brains of children because their skulls are thinner and their brains contain more absorptive fluid(易吸收的液体). No studies have yet been completed on cell phone radiation and children, she says.
Henry Lai, a research professor in the bioengineering department at the University of Washington, began laboratory radiation studies in 1980 and found that rats exposed to radiation had damaged DNA in their brains.
Ms. Davis recommends using wired headsets or the phone’s speaker. Children should text rather than call, she said, and pregnant women should keep phones away from the abdomen(腹部).Why is the warning in the small print?
A.They think people will not care about it. |
B.There is not enough space for the warning. |
C.They don’t want the users to pay attention to it. |
D.The warning is not important at all. |
What does the underlined word in sixth paragraph probably mean?
A.acceptable | B.valuable | C.accessible | D.easily affected |
What can we conclude from the last paragraph?
A.Pregnant women should keep cell phones away. |
B.People should use cell phones in the correct way. |
C.If you are a child, you’d better text than make phone calls. |
D.When you use a cell phone, use a wired headset or the phone’s speaker. |
What does the passage mainly talk about?
A.Be careful when using cell phones. |
B.Don’t hold your cell phone against your ear. |
C.Rats exposed to radiation have damaged DNA in their brains. |
D.Low-energy radiation could damage cells that could lead to cancer. |
Sometime early in the next century, human beings will move to Mars.They will live there for about a year, and then will be replaced with another group of pioneers.Building the base on Mars will advance our knowledge of the solar system and aid in our understanding of the earth.
We already know that Mars resembles the earth in many aspects: general size, presence of water, length of day, range of temperatures.These resemblances have caused many people to consider a centuries-long project: to terraform Ma
rs.Terraforming means altering a planet’s surface so that Earth’s life forms can survive there.This concept, previously found only in science fiction is now being seriously considered b
y scientists.
Terraforming Mars is theoretically simple: add nitrogen and oxygen to the atmosphere; pump water to the surface; and add the earth’s plants and animals in the order in which they developed on Earth.But it will take at least 300 years.
Some people think that such a project is too huge for humans to undertake, but there are very good reasons to make the attempt.The earth now contains some 6 billion people, and no one has any idea of how many humans the earth can support.Our very existence and numbers are threatening many other species.We also have had some experience with terraforming our own planet: altering the landscape, the atmosphere and the climate.Currently terraforming Earth has become a wiser activity as we try to control global warming, air and water pollution, and preserve some natural living places.
Small as the possibility of such a project is, it is not impossible.Even if earth-bound societies come and go in the next 300 years, the project can continue through the work of the Mars settlers without the need for constant backing from the earth.
The future existence of all the people in our world may very well depend upon our ability to terraform Mars.What would be the best title for this passage?
A.Terraforming Mars. | B.Saving the Earth. |
C.Travelling to Mars. | D.A Newly-found Place. |
What does the underlined word “altering” mean in the second paragraph?
A.Warming. | B.Changing. | C.Planting. | D.Building. |
According to the passage the main purpose of terraforming Mars is to _____.
A.do some scientific research work |
B.find out its similarity to Earth |
C.avoid the dying away of many other species |
D.find on Mars living place for the increasing human beings |
The main reason for causing many people to consider terraforming Mars is that _____.
A.there are some resemblances between Earth and Mars |
B.terraforming Mars is theoretically simple |
C.we have had some experience with terraforming our own planet: Earth |
D.the development of science and technology is very rapid |
Climate change, pollution, overuse of water and development are killing some of the world’s most famous rivers including China’s Yangtze, India’s Ganges and Africa’s Nile, WWF said on Tuesday.At the global launch of its report “World’s Top 10 Rivers at Risk”, the group said many rivers could dry out, affecting hundreds of millions of people and killing unique aquatic life.
“If these rivers die, millions will lose their livelihoods, biodiversity will be destroyed on a massive scale, there will be less fresh water and agriculture, resulting in less food security,” said Rayi Singh, secretary-general of WWF-India.The report launched ahead of “World Water Day” today, also cited the Rio Grande in the United States, the Mekong and Indus in Asia, Europe’s Danube, La Plata in South America and Australia’s Murray-Darling as in need of greater protection.
Rivers are the world’s main source of fresh water and WWF says about half of the available supply is already being used up.Dams have destroyed habitats and cut rivers off from their flood plains while climate change could affect the seasonal water flows that feed them, the report said.Fish populations, the top source of protein and overall life support for hundreds of thousands of communities worldwide, are also being threatened, it found… The Yangtze basin is one of the most polluted rivers in the world because of decades of heavy industrialization, damming and huge influxes of sediment from land conversion.
Climate change, including higher temperatures, also means serious consequences for fishery productivity, water supply and political security in Africa’s arid Nile basin.Tributaries flowing into the Ganges are drying up because of irrigation, WWF said.What does the text mainly talk about?
A.Sav![]() |
B.How to protect our rivers. |
C.An important discovery. | D.World’s top 10 rivers are at risk. |
We can infer from the text that _____.
A.rivers’ dying out could affect food security |
B.there are four Asian rivers mentioned in the passage |
C.the Yangtze is polluted thanks to the lack of enough tributaries |
D.higher temperatures couldn’t affect fishery productivity |
The top 10 rivers are fast dying as a result of the following EXCEPT _____.
A.climate change | B.wasting water |
C.pollution | D.dams |
WWF is probably a name of _____.
A.an organization | B.a newspaper | C.a magazine | D.a report |
A Day of Design
Saturday, April 11, 2009
9 a.m.—4 p.m.
Thomas College Student Center
Join us for a free day of fun, flowers and food! A Day of Design will encourage those interested in flowers and design to get in touch with their creative side and get some tips from the experts—Jeff Karter and Scott O’Brien of Augusta Florist and Waterville Florist.Please see the schedule below for details about this wonderful opportunity!
Schedule of Events
9:00 a.m.—10:30 a.m. Registration/Campus Tour
Registration for the day begins at 9 a.m.in the Student Center.Guests will meet there to register and take a tour of the Thomas College campus before the day’s events.
10:30 a.m.—12:00 p.m. Design and Auction (拍卖)
Jeff and Scott will design more than a dozen arrangements in a variety of sizes and colors.Following the demonstration, an auction will be held and guests will have the opportunity to bid on the flower arrangements.
12:00 p.m.—1:00 p.m. Lunch and Demonstration
A delightful boxed lunch will be served.During the lunch hour, Jeff and Scott will create centerpieces for the holiday table and give tips for creating beautiful centerpieces using items found in the home.
1:00 p.m.—3:00 p.m. Design Class
Guests will learn how to create a centerpiece in a beautiful basket using fresh flowers.Flowers, baskets, supplies and tools will be provided.Jeff and Scott will guide guests through the design process.By the end of the day, guests will have a wonderful centerpiece to take home and use on their table.
3:00 p.m.—4:00 p.m. Wine and Cheese Social
A fitting way to end the day—guests are invited to enjoy a wine and cheese social.Jeff and Scott will be available to answer questions or just talk flowers!
There is no charge for this event.
REGISTER NOW!
Space is limited to 45 guests.What are guests supposed to do from 1:00 p.m.to 3:00 p.m.?
A.To design flower arrangements. |
B.To enjoy a wine and cheese social. |
C.To learn how to create a centerpiece. |
D.To take a tour of the Thomas College campus. |
According to the text, when will an auction be held?
A.3:00 p.m.—4:00 p.m. | B.12:00 p.m.—1:00 p.m. |
C.9:00 a.m.—10:30 a.m. | D.10:30 a.m.—12:00 p.m. |
We can learn from the passage that A Day of Design _____.
A.is free of charge | B.lasts for eight hours |
C.is held ![]() |
D.is aimed at fashion designers |
According to the text, a centerpiece is probably _____.
A.a work of art that is the best | B.a picture that has been auctioned |
C.a flower that is carved out of stone | D.a decoration for the center of a table |
Would you eat a ready meal from the fridge rather than cook? Have you been doing internet shopping rather than going to the stores? What can’t you be bothered to do?
A study into how lazy British people are has found more than half of adults are so idle(闲散的)they’d catch the lift rather than climb two flights of stairs.
Just over 2,000 people were quizzed by independent researchers at Nuffield Health, Britain’s largest health charity. The results were shocking. About one in six people surveyed said if their remote control (遥控器)was broken, they would continue watching the same channel rather than get up. More than one third of those questioned said they would not run to catch a bus. Worryingly, of the 654 questioned people with children, 64% said they were often too tired to play with them. This led the report to conclude that it’s no wonder that one in six children in the UK are classifted as obese(肥胖)before they start school.
Dr Sarah Dauncey, medical director of Nuffield Health, said: “People need to get fitter, not just for their own sake, but for the sake of their families, too.
If we don’t start to take control of this problem, a whole generation will become too unfit to perform even the simplest tasks.”
And Scotland’s largest city, Glasgow, was shamed as the laziest city in the UK, with 75% surveyed admitting they do not get enough exercise, followed closely by Birmingham and Southampton, both with 67%.
The results pose serious challenges for the National Health Service, where obesity-related illnesses such as heart disease and cancer have been on a steady increase for the past 40 years and are costing billions of pounds every year.
According to the researchers at Nuffield Health, about ________ people who were surveyed would not run to catch a bus.
A.10 | B.150 | C.330 | D.660 |
One in six children in the UK are classified as obese before they start school because ________.
A.they stay too long a time with their pets | B.they spend too much time watching TV |
C.their parents don’t play with them much | D.they suffer from obesity-related illnesses |
________ is the second laziest city in the UK.
A.Scotland | B.Glasgow | C.Birmingham | D.Nuffield |
What’s the writer trying to tell us?
A.Parents have much to do with their children’s obesity-related illnesses. |
B.British people are getting lazier, which can cause serious social problems. |
C.The National Health Service has to face a lot of serious challenges every year. |
D.A study into how lazy British people are has been carried out at Nuffield Health. |
Modern inventions have speeded up people’s loves amazingly. Motor-cars cover a hundred miles in little more than an hour, aircraft cross the world inside a day, while computers operate at lightning speed. Indeed, this love of speed seems never-ending. Every year motor-cars are produced which go even faster and each new computer boats (吹嘘) of saving precious seconds in handling tasks.
All this saves time, but at a price. When we lose or gain half a day in speeding across the world in an airplane, our bodies tell us so. We get the uncomfortable feeling known as jet-lag; our bodies feel that they have been left behind on another time zone. Again, spending too long at computers results in painful wrists and fingers. Mobile phones also have their dangers, according to some scientist; too much use may transmit harmful radiation into our brains, a consequence we do not like to think about.
However, what do we do with the time we have saved? Certainly not relax, or so it seems. We are so accustomed to constant activity that we find it difficult to sit and do nothing or even just one thing at a time. Perhaps the days are long gone when we might listen quietly to a story on the radio, letting imagination take us into another world.
There was a time when some people’s lives were devoted simply to the cultivation of the land or the care of cattle. No multi-tasking there; their lives went on at a much gentler pace, and in a familiar pattern. There is much that we might envy about a way of life like this. Yet before we do so, we must think of the hard tasks our ancestor faced: they farmed with bare hands, often lived close to hunger, and had to fashion tools from wood and stone. Modern machinery has freed people from that primitive existence. The new products become more and more time-saving because.
A.our love of speed seems never-ending | B.time is limited. |
C.the prices are increasingly high. | D.the manufactures boast a lot. |
What does “the days” in Paragraph 3 refer to ?
A.Imaginary life | B.Simple life in the past. |
C.Times of inventions | D.Time for constant activity. |
What is the author’s attitude towards the modern technology?
A.Critical | B.Objective. | C.Optimistic. | D.Negative. |
What does the passage mainly discuss?
A.The present and past times. | B.Machinery and human beings. |
C.Imaginations and inventions. | D.Modern technology and its influence. |