Babies who are slow to gain weight in the first months of their lives generally catch up to their peers by age 13,a large UK study shows, Researchers said the results would make parents whose babies fail to put on weight quickly less worried.
The researchers looked at data from ,11,499 children who took part in a large study, It showed that 507 who were slow to gain weight in the first eight weeks of life recovered fairly quickly and had almost caught up by age 2. Another group of 480 who were slow to gain between eight weeks and nine months continued to put on weight slowly until they were seven years ,but then had a sudden increase and caught up by age 13, The different pattems of recovery between the two groups were likely due to different reasons for slow weight gain ,the researchers said, All the children were still lighter and shorter than their peers by the time they were teenagers ,but within the normal range.
The findings highlight the importance of monitoring a baby’s weight and height gain during the first few weeks and months ,but not creating anxiety with parents of slow-growing babies, said the study leader Prof Alan Emond from the University of Bristol.
“In the past, a lot of parents have been caused unnecessary anxiety by heaith professionals and this is a positive and reassuring message.”He said in many cases of slow growth where children do not follow the standard’curve’(曲线)it is just because they are following their genetic potential.
Dr Simon Newell, vice-president of the Royal College of Paediatrics and Child Health, said he broadly agreed with the concluslons of the researchers but stressed that poor weight gain was something that needed to be monitored closely, “I would encourage parents to use growth charts but if measurements show your baby is smaller than averager it may be completely normal, ”he said.What can we know from the findings of the research?
| A．All the cases of slow weight gain in the first months of the babies’ lives are caused by the same reason |
| B．Slow-growing babies will have the same height and weight with their peers by age13 |
| C．Many cases of children whose growth don’t meet the growing standard curve cannot be treated as abnormal |
| D．The findings won’t cause parents’ anxiety so monitoring a baby’s growth from his/her birth is unnecessary |
Which of the following statements is true according to the passage?
| A．It’s important to monitor a baby’s weight and height gain for new parents |
| B．New parents should feel anxious about their baby’s weight and height gain |
| C．Researches still couldn’t find the reasons for slow weight gain |
| D．All the children’s weight and height became normal by age 13 |
What does the underlined word in the fourth paragraph mean?
| A．Making sure something is certain to be true |
| B．Making someone calmer and less anxious |
| C．Confirming something is to happen again |
| D．Being sure that someone can be attracted |
Which of the statements would Dr Simon Newell agree to?
| A．To some degree, growth charts can help parents monitor their babies’ weight gain |
| B．It’s abnormal for babies are smaller than average |
| C．He agreed with the researchers completely |
| D．Babies’ weight gain can only be monitored and measured by using growth charts. |
The writer wrote this passage in order to
| A．tell us how to help babies grow faster |
| B．explain why babies are gain weight slowly |
| C．report on the findings of a research |
| D．reduce the anxiety of some parents |
Settled by the Celts, invaded by the Romans and the Normans, and ruled by the English, Wales’ population has regularly changed over the ages. Wales, particularly South Wales, became a melting pot of European nationalities and cultures. At first workers from England, Ireland and the rural areas of Wales rushed into the coalfields of South Wales. By 1911, workers from Ireland, Italy and Spain had joined the industrial workforce there. Many of these newcomers were prepared to work for less pay.
But during this period, workers, dissatisfied with regular pay cuts, poor safety, the growing trend of employers to pay workers with tokens (代币), which could only be spent in the company store, returned to the land. In 1891, the rural population of Wales was about 616,000 and by 1911 just over 649,000 people lived and worked in these areas.
The rural population continues to grow slowly even today. People from richer parts of the UK, particularly southern England, are buying holiday or retirement homes in Wales. In some areas this has led to a shortage of affordable housing for local people. This, combined with the lack of employment prospects in rural Welsh communities, has started a new movement of people in search of jobs and homes into the towns and cities of Wales and to other parts of the UK and Europe.
As so many Welsh people have migrated to other countries over the last 200 years, it’s really no surprise that many visitors come to see friends and relatives — there were 229,000 visitors in 1998. These visitors strengthen their links to their land of origin and continue to support the Welsh economy. During the hot summer days, about 28% of the visitors visit the countryside and nearly 70% visit the seaside.Why was South Wales so attractive to people in the early 20th century?
| A．Because its coal industry needed a large number of workers |
| B．Because people could get the highest pay there. |
| C．Because it was rich in many different kinds of culture |
| D．Because people could buy holiday or retirement homes there. |
From the last paragraph, we learn that most visitors come to Wales for the purpose of _____.
| A．visiting their friends and relatives |
| B．supporting the Welsh economy |
| C．enjoying a cool and pleasant summer |
| D．all of the above |
What would be the best title for the passage?
| A．Wales, a land with a population on the move |
| B．Wales, a land with a promising past and future. |
| C．Wales, the biggest melting pot of Europe. |
| D．Tourism, the main economic source of Wales |
What does the writer want to tell us in the second paragraph?
| A．Welsh workers couldn’t get any pay for their work. |
| B．The working conditions were terrible at this time. |
| C．Many people got tired of city life at this time. |
| D．The rural population of Wales didn’t decline at this time |
| HIGHFIELD COMPREHENSIVE SCHOOL SCHOOL REPORT Form Teacher:G. Baker Pupil’s Name: Simon Watkins Term:Summer 2014 Form:Ⅳ B
FORM TEACHER’S REMARKS HEADMASTER |
Based on the school report, which of the following statements is TRUE?
| A．Simon didn’t bother his teacher to revise French. |
| B．Simon is able to pay attention to history for long |
| C．Simon is a determined learner in English. |
| D．Basically, Simon did a good job in science |
According to the comments of the Physical Education teacher, Simon_______.
| A．likes to work with his classmates |
| B．is too talkative in the class |
| C．doesn’t exercise his body at the right time |
| D．becomes weak because he doesn’t exercise at all |
Which of the following statements best describes Simon?
| A．He needs to improve his attitude to certain subjects |
| B．His potential has been fully reflected in science classes. |
| C．His grade in maths makes him a born scientist. |
| D．He has made great progress in language classes |
The first day our professor challenged us to get to know someone we didn’t know. I looked around when a gentle hand touched my shoulder. I turned around to find a wrinkled, little old lady smiling at me.
She said, “Hi, handsome. My name is Rose. I’m 87. Can I give you a hug?” I laughed, “Of course you may!” and she gave me a giant squeeze. “Why are you in college at such a young, innocent age?” I asked. She jokingly replied, “I’m here to meet a rich husband, get married, and have a couple of children.” “No seriously,” I said. “I want to realize my dream!” she told me. Over the course of the year, Rose became a campus icon and everyone liked to listen to this “time machine”.
At the end of the semester we invited Rose to speak at our football banquet and I’ll never forget what she taught us. “There is a huge difference between growing older and growing up. If you are 19 and lie in bed for one full year and don’t do one productive thing, you will turn 20. If I am 87 and stay in bed for a year and never do anything I will turn 88. We have less time to live on. Anybody can grow older. That doesn’t take any talent or ability. The idea is to grow up by always finding opportunity in change. The elderly usually don’t have regrets for what we did, but rather for things we did not do.”
At the year’s end, Rose finished the college degree she had dreamed about all those years. One week after graduation Rose died peacefully in her sleep. Over 2,000 students attended her funeral honoring the wonderful woman who taught us such an important message.Rose was considered a “time machine” because she _____.
| A．always followed a strict time schedule |
| B．was never late for any of her classes |
| C．always appeared in time whenever she was needed |
| D．had lived a long and rich life |
According to Rose, growing up is different from growing older because _______.
| A．growing up means young people have enough time to waste |
| B．growing up means one has more chances or time to choose what one likes |
| C．there is no need for one to worry about death |
| D．growing up doesn’t need as much effort or talent as growing older |
From the underlined sentence in Paragraph 2, we can learn that ______.
| A．it is not polite to talk about a person’s real age in public |
| B．going to college at a very old age is looked down upon |
| C．Rose looked younger than her real age in the writer’s eyes |
| D．the writer didn’t believe Rose was as old as she said |
Rose came to study in college at such an old age for the purpose of __________.
| A．challenging her old age |
| B．meeting someone rich and attractive |
| C．realizing her long dream about college education |
| D．not having any regrets in her life |
Last year I ruined my summer vacation－a two-week vacation at my wife’s family cabin on a lake in northern Ontario, located at the boundary of the US and Canada－by bringing along a modern convenience that was too convenient for my own good: the iPad.
Instead of admiring the beauty of nature, I checked e-mail. Instead of paddling an old canoe, I followed my Twitter feed. Instead of devouring great (or merely amusing) novels, I stuck to my workday diet of four newspapers each morning.
And that was the problem: I was behaving as if I were still in the office, sticking to the unending news cycle. My body was on vacation but my head wasn’t.
So this year I made up my mind to try something different, a social media experiment in reverse: withdrawal from the Internet. Could I manage to unplug?
I knew it wouldn’t be easy, since I’m not good at self-denial. But I was determined. I started with a physical restraint: handing the iPad to my wife, who helpfully announced that she was going to use it to read a 630-page novel for her book club and would not be inclined to relinquish the tablet for even a moment.
Then, a stroke of luck: The cell phone signal at the Canadian cabin was spottier than in the past, making my attempts at cheating an experience in frustration.
I was trapped, forced to comply with my own good intentions. Largely cut off from e-mail, Twitter and my favorite newspaper websites, I had little way to connect to the world except for radio－and how much radio can one listen to, really?
I had no choice but to do what I had planned to do all along: read books. I experienced criminal plots on the streets of Los Angeles, cutthroat battles between cancer labs and the psyche of a London social butterfly in 1922. And there were old magazines to read.
I’m not claiming that I cut myself off from the Internet completely. Every few days, we biked into the nearest town and, as a reward, sat on a park bench in front of the public library to use its Wi-Fi. And back at the cabin, we suffered through a slow dial-up connection once a day to check e-mail.
This tale of self-denial has a happy ending－for now, at least. With determination and deep breathing, plus the strong support of my wife, I succeeded in my vacation struggle against the Internet, realizing finally that it was me, of course, not the iPad, that was the problem.
I knew I had won when we passed a Starbucks and my wife asked if I wanted to stop to use the Wi-Fi. “Don’t need it,” I said, trying not to sound too pleased.
However, as we return to post-vacation situation, a test begins: Can I stay on the wagon now that I’m back at work? There are times when the compulsion to know what’s being said right now is overwhelming (and for me, sometimes it’s crucial to my livelihood). And I have no intention of giving up my membership in the cult of immediacy. But I hope to resist the temptation to reflexively check my e-mail every five minutes, which often leads, as long as I’m looking, to checking my Twitter feed and a website or two.
A vacation is supposed to help you reset your brain to become more productive. Here’s hoping this one worked.What ruined the writer’s trip last year?
| A．That he was worn out because of the schedule. |
| B．That he forgot to bring amusing novels with him. |
| C．That he read too much newspaper last year. |
| D．That he was distracted by too many things unrelated to the trip. |
What does the underlined word ‘restraint’ mean?
| A．A calm and controlled behavior. |
| B．A relaxing move. |
| C．A strong determination. |
| D．An unshakable faith. |
What did the writer do to get in touch with the outside world during the trip?
| A．Reading online newspapers. |
| B．Following his friends’ Twitter. |
| C．Checking email every now and then. |
| D．Listening to the radio. |
Why did the writer claim that his self-denial process have a happy ending?
| A．He has completely turned down the Internet. |
| B．He gave up his habit of checking the latest news online. |
| C．He realized that his body was on vacation but his head wasn’t. |
| D．It dawned on him that it was people that are in control of their behavior. |
What is the main idea of the passage?
| A．Say no to electronic devices. |
| B．Relationships harmed by distractions. |
| C．Abandoned distractions ease break. |
| D．Things that can take your mind off. |
In a certain store where they sell puddings, a number of these delicious things are laid out in a row during the Christmas season. Here you may select the one which is most to your taste, and you are even allowed to sample them before coming to a decision.
I have often wondered whether some people, who had no intention of making a purchase, would take advantage of this privilege. One day I asked this question of the shop girl, and I learned it was indeed the case. “Now there’s one old gentleman, for instance,” she told me, “he comes here almost every week and samples each one of the puddings, though he never buys anything, and I suspect he never will. I remember him from last year and the year before that, too. Well, let him come if he wants it, and welcome to it. And what’s more, I hope there are a lot more stores where he can go and get his share. He looks as if he needed it all right, and I suppose they can afford it.”
She was still speaking when an elderly gentleman limped up to the counter and began looking closely at the row of puddings with great interest. “Why, that’s the very gentleman I’ve been telling you about,” whispered the shop girl. “Just watch him now.” And then turning to him: “Would you like to sample them, sir? Here’s a spoon for you to use. “The elderly gentleman, who was poorly but neatly dressed, accepted the spoon and began eagerly to sample one after another of the puddings, only breaking off occasionally to wipe his red eyes with a large torn handkerchief. “This is quite good”. “This is not bad either, but a little too heavy”. All the time it was quite evident that he sincerely believed that he might eventually buy one of these puddings, and I am positive that he did not for a moment feel that he was in any way cheating the store. Poor old chap! Probably he had come down in the world and this sampling was all that was left him from the time when he could afford to come and select his favorite pudding.
Amidst the crowd of happy, prosperous looking Christmas shoppers, the little black figure of the old man seemed pitiful and out of place, and in a burst of benevolence, I went up to him and said:
“Pardon me, sir, will you do me a favor? Let me purchase you one of these puddings. It would give me such pleasure.”
He jumped back as if he had been stung, and the blood rushed into his wrinkled face.
“Excuse me,” he said, with more dignity than I would have thought possible considering his appearance, “I do not believe I have the pleasure of knowing you. Undoubtedly you have mistaken me for someone else.” And with a quick decision he turned to the shop girl and said in a loud voice, “Kindly pack me up this one here. I will take it with me.” He pointed at one of the largest and most expensive of the puddings.
The girl took down the pudding from its stand and started to make a parcel of it, While he pulled out a worn little black pocketbook and began counting out shillings and pennies on to the counter. To save his “honor”, he had been forced into a purchase which he could not possibly afford. How I longed for the power to unsay my tactless words! It was too late though, and I felt that the kindest thing I could do now would be walk away.
“You pay at the desk,” the shop girl was telling him, but he did not seem to understand and kept trying to put the coins into her hand. And that was the last I saw or heard of the old man. Now he can never go there to sample puddings and more.By saying it was indeed the case. , the author meant that ______.
| A．many shoppers would sample pudding before buying them |
| B．some people just sampled pudding but didn’t buy them |
| C．the Christmas season was the time to promote pudding sales. |
| D．there were various kinds of puddings on sale during the Christmas sale. |
From the girl’s words, we know that she ______
| A．felt pity for the old man |
| B．looked down upon the old man |
| C．thought poorly of sampling pudding |
| D．worked in the shop for a few months |
The old man finally bought a pudding because ______
| A．he had intended to buy the pudding |
| B．the author gave him some money |
| C．he was annoyed by the author’s offer |
| D．the shop girl asked him to purchase one |
Why did the author feel that he should walk away according to the passage ?
| A．He had something urgent to do |
| B．He was quite angry with the old man |
| C．He decided to pay the money for the pudding |
| D．He found himself in a rather awkward way |
What does the passage imply?
| A．Helping others involves respect.. |
| B．Never judge a book by its cover. |
| C．A man can do no more than he can. |
| D．A word spoken cannot be recalled. |