Why do 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 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 ageing 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 |
C
Kerry and Alice were both artists in Britain. They taught drawing and painting at Cambridge University. Although they were friends, each thought oneself to be the better painter.
One day, Kerry promised marriage to Alice. Surprised and pleased by the offer, the girl was not sure whether she would spend her future as a wife or a painter. After a moment she replied as follows, "Each of us must paint a picture. If yours is superior to mine, you can make me your wife. If not, please drop the question." Then it was decided to give it the following day.
The next morning. Alice hung her picture on the gate. It showed a bunch of flowers and won high praise from everyone who passed by. In fact, a crowd collected in front of her masterpiece and fixed eyes on it.
Several hours passed. Then Kerry was seen coming along to the gate with what appeared to be a beautiful leather suitcase in his hand. When he finally stopped before Alice, the girl artist brushed like a rose and agreed to marry him without any hesitation. Why?
64.What did Alice think Kerry's offer?
A. She liked Kerry, but she didn't expect him to promise marriage to her.
B. She didn't want to marry anybody.
C. She didn't like it at all.
D. She thought the offer wasn't polite.
65.In the sentence "If yours is superior to mine, you can make me your wife"。 "superior to" here means ____.
A. not so better thanB. better than C. so good asD. as good as
66. Which of the following is true?
A. Kerry didn't accept Alice's suggestion.
B. Kerry wasn't sure of his painting so he dropped his offer.
C. Kerry did go the next day, but he failed to take a picture
D. Kerry agreed to Alice's suggestion.
67.Alice's picture won high praise because ____.
A. it was true to nature B. the flowers were red
C. it showed so large a bunch of flowers D. people felt it strange to hang it on the gate
68.The "leather suitcase" was in fact ____.
A. a real one B. a painting drawn by Kerry
C. a box with a picture in it D. made up of leather
B
David, a French priest(牧师)of thirty-six, was sent to China by the church in 1872.He did well in the natural and social science besides his religious activities(宗教活动)。He was also very interested in the rare wild animals and plants in China.
On May 4th, 1879, after searching half a month in the western part of Baoxing, Sichuan the hunters hired(雇用)by David succeeded in bringing him a "black-and-white bear". "The bear is extremely lovely", he wrote in his diary excitedly. Meanwhile, he felt it might be a new species (物种)never discovered by scientists.
He then decided to send it to Paris for a further study. Unfortunately the poor "black-and white" bear died of Jolts(颠簸)of the mountain roads and the climatic (气候)change. He had to send its pelt (皮毛)to the National Museum in Paris for display (展览)。In fact, the so-called "black-and white" bear was neither a bear nor a cat. After a complete study, Milla Edwards, head of the museum, judged that it was a new species. He gave the "giant panda".
The discovery made the world excited and Baoxing was also made famous for "home of the giant panda"
60.From the passage we can see that David mainly came to China to ____.
A. learn Chinese science and historyB. look for a panda for church
C. do something on religion(宗教) D. study the wild animals and plants in China
61.The word "rare" in this passage means ____.
A. very hard to find B. worth no money C. easy to find D. running very fast
62.The first giant panda was caught ____.
A. by David, a French priestB. quite by accident
C. with a lot of difficulty D. after the hunters followed it for half a month
63. Which of the following is not true according to the passage?
A. The giant panda died when it was on display.
B. David had never seen a giant panda before.
C. Milla was sure the animal was neither a bear nor a cat.
D. The discovery made the world excited with interest
三:阅读理解(共20小题;每小题2分,满分40分)
阅读下列短文,从每题所给的四个选项(A,B,C和D)中,选出最佳选项。
A
Most dog owners feel that their dogs are their best friends. Almost everyone likes dogs because they try hard to please their owners. One of my favorite stories is about a dog who wanted his owner to please him.
One of my friends has a large German shepherd ( 牧羊狗) named Jack. Every Sunday afternoon, my friend takes Jack for a walk in the park. Jack likes these long walks very much.
One Sunday afternoon, a young man came to visit my friend. He stayed a long time, and he talked and talked. Soon it was time for my friend to take Jack for his walk, but the visitor didn’t leave. Jack became very worried about his walk in the park. He walked around the room several times and then sat down directly in front of the visitor and looked at him. But the visitor paid no attention. He continued talking. Finally, Jack couldn’t stand it any longer. He went out of the room and came back a few minutes later. He sat down again in front of the visitor, but this time he held the man’s hat in his mouth.
German shepherds aren’t the only intelligent dogs. Another intelligent dog is a Seeing Eye dog. This is a special dog which helps blind people walk along the streets and do many other things. We call these dogs Seeing Eye dogs because they are the “eye” of the blind people and they help them to “see”. Seeing Eye dogs generally go to special schools for several years to learn to help blind people.
56. The writer tells the story about the dog Jack to show that _____________.
A. like many other dogs, it always tried to please its owner master
B. unlike many other dogs, it always wanted its master to please it
C. it was more intelligent than many other dogs
D. it was the most faithful dog of his friend’s
57. Jack came to sit in front of the visitor in order to __________.
A. please him B. be pleased
C. ask him to leave immediately D. invite him for a walk
58. The sentence “Finally, Jack couldn’t stand it any longer.” means_________.
A. Jack could no longer put up with the visitor
B. Jack could no longer stand but he might sit down
C. Jack was very tired and wanted a rest
D. Jack was very angry with the visitor
59. Which of the following titles would be the best for the passage?
A. Dogs--- A Great Help to People B. Dogs--- Our Faithful Companions
C. An Introduction to Dogs D. Famous Dogs in Germany
E
We might be surprised at the progress made in every field of study, but the methods of testing a person’s knowledge and ability remain as primitive as ever they were. It really is extraordinary that after all these years, educationists have still failed to design anything more efficient and reliable than examinations. For the claim that examinations test what you know, it is common knowledge that they more often do the exact opposite. They may be a good means of testing memory, or the knack(窍门) of working rapidly under extreme pressure, but they can tell you nothing about a person’s true ability and attitude.
As anxiety-makers, examinations are second to none. That is because so much depends on them. They are the marks of success or failure in our society. Your whole future may be decided in one fateful day. It doesn’t matter that you weren’t feeling very well, or that your mother died. Little things like that don’t count: the exam goes on. No one can give his best when he is in mortal terror, or after a sleepless night, yet this is precisely what the examination system expects him to do. The moment a child begins school, he enters a world of various competitions where success and failure are clearly defined and measured. Can we wonder at the increasing number of ‘drop-outs’: young people who are written off as failures before they have even started a career? Can we be surprised at the suicide rate among students?
A good education should, among other things, train you to think for yourself. The examination system does anything but that. What has to be learnt is rigidly laid down by a syllabus(教学大纲), so the student is encouraged to memorize. Examinations do not motivate a student to read widely, but to restrict his reading; they do not enable him to seek more and more knowledge, but induce cramming. They lower the standards of teaching, for they deprive(剥夺) the teacher of all freedoms. Teachers themselves are often judged by examination results and instead of teaching their subjects, they are reduced to training their students in exam techniques. The most successful candidates are not always the best educated; they are the best trained in the technique of working under pressure.
The results on which so much depends are often nothing more than a subjective assessment by some anonymous examiner. Examiners are only human. They get tired and hungry; they make mistakes. Yet they have to mark piles of hastily scrawled (潦草的)
scripts in a limited amount of time. They work under the same sort of pressure as the candidates. And their word carries weight. After a judge’s decision you have the right of appeal, but not after an examiner’s. There must surely be many simpler and more effective ways of assessing a person’s true abilities.
56.The main idea of this passage is _______.
A. examinations produce a harmful influence on education
B. examinations are ineffective
C. examinations are important to students’ development
D. examinations are a burden on students
57.The author’s attitude toward examinations is _______.
A. supportive B. neutral C. critical D. indifferent
58.The fate of students is decided by _______.
A. education B. examiners C. examinations D. students themselves
59.According to the author, the most important of a good education is _______.
A. to encourage students to read widely B. to train students to think on their own
C. to teach students how to deal with exams D. to master his fate
60.What does the author mean by saying “After a judge’s decision you have the right of appeal, but not after an examiner’s”(Para 4, Line 6) ?
A. Judges are not important.
B. The examiner has the final say concerning the result of the examination.
C. Prisoners are more powerful than students.
D. The court decisions are often inaccurate.
D
Gauri Nanda sees a wearable computer as a handbag—one that’s built out of four-inch squares and triangles of fiber, with tiny computer chips embedded(嵌入) in it. It looks, feels and weighs like your typical leather purse.
That’s where similarities end: This bag can wirelessly keep track of your belongings and
remind you, just as you’re about to leave the house, to take your wallet. It can review the weather report and suggest that you grab an umbrella. This purse can even upload your favorite songs onto your scarf.
Sure, a computing purse and scarf set may seem like the stuff of science fiction. But these devices, part of next generation of wearable computers, could become commonplace within a few years. DuPont created new super strong fibers that can conduct electricity and can be woven into ordinary-looking clothes. And the chipmaker developed chip packaging allowing wearable computers to be washed, even in the heavy-duty cycle.
As a result, these new wearable devices are different from the heavy and downright silly versions of the recent past, which often required users to be wrapped in wires and type on their stomachs. Unlike their predecessors, these new wearable computers also make economic sense. When her bag becomes commercially available in two to three years, Nanda expects it will cost around $150, which is the price of an average leather purse.
Here’s how the bag works: You place a special radio-signal-transmitting chip on to your wallet. A similar radio in your purse picks up the signal and notifies you that you’ve forgotten to take your wallet. In turn, sensors on your purse’s handles will notify the computer that you’ve picked up the purse and are ready to go.
Already, these new kinds of wearable devices are being adopted for use in markets like auto repair, emergency services, medical monitoring—and even, increasingly, for consumers at large. Indeed, more people will want to cross that bridge in the coming years--- making for a booming market for wearable computers that don’t like something out of science fiction.
52. Which of the following describes a wearable computer?
A. It can be washed in a washing machine.
B. It is much heavier than a leather purse.
C. It can download songs from the Internet.
D. It is made of clothes conducting electricity.
53. According to the passage, these new wearable computers ______.
A. require users to operate on the stomach
B. pick up the signals through wires and chip
C. are being applied in some different areas now
D. are smarter but more expensive than the old ones
54. What does the underlined sentence in the last paragraph mean?
A. These new wearable computers have become fashionable.
B. People would like to learn more about these new computers.
C. These new wearable computers promise to sell well in the future.
D. The idea of these purse-like computers comes from science fiction.
55. The purpose of the passage is ______.
A. to introduce a new kind of computer B. to explain the function of computers
C. to compare different types of computers D. to show how high technology affects our life