Most parents and teachers would get angry when they hear that teenagers listen to their iPods while preparing for exams. But pupils who listen to music when doing their homework may be, in fact, working hard.
Thirty three schools have downloaded specially written pop and rock songs for their 10,000 pupils who are studying for GCSE (初级毕业证书). The professionally recorded music, based on texts in English literature, teaches teenagers about themes in the GCSE curriculum (课程). Two young men set up “Revise”, the company that produced the songs, and worked with teachers to make sure the lyrics (歌词) reflected the curriculum. Some of the songs were written by Geraint Brown, a director, and they are performed by professional singers and musicians.
Songs for the GCSE science and maths lessons are also being developed in 36 schools. They have also started using the program, called, “LearnThruMusic”.
Dave Matthews, the head of Hawthorn High School in the South Wales valleys, said the program aimed at helping teenagers who are unwilling to study. He said, “There are lots of pupils who don’t have a high level of home support. It’s almost cool to say you have no need to find a support and we have got to change that. With this, they don’t have to be sitting at their desk at home. They can be outside, walking around or even listening to it on the bus, which is very convenient for them.” Everyone has a phone, MP3 or CD player, and they’re more likely to listen to these than pick up a book. “I think everyone would agree that music had an important influence on us when growing up. Both boys and girls are very good at remembering the words and dancing to the music in the charts. There’s no one thing that will successfully engage (使…产生兴趣) every child, and some of them will make little or no use of this. But the fact that they don’t have to do any extra work makes this a very good deal for a kid,” Dave Matthews added.The pop and rock songs used in 36 schools ________.
| A．were written for the students to relax themselves |
| B．made most parents and teachers angry |
| C．were specially written for hardworking students |
| D．were closely related to the curriculum |
Which benefit of the program is NOT mentioned in the passage?
| A．It saves students much extra work. |
| B．It offers different ways of learning. |
| C．It makes remembering easier. |
| D．It improves family support to kids. |
Which of the following can be inferred in the passage?
| A．The program is not expected to have equal effect on every student. |
| B．Some students used the song as an excuse for not reading textbooks. |
| C．It’s more difficult to create songs for science and maths lessons. |
| D．Students involved in the program needn’t go to school every day. |
Which of the following might be the best title for the passage?
| A．Special-written Songs — A Reason Why Students Should Listen to IPods. |
| B．Special-written Songs — A New Way to Learn the Curriculum. |
| C．Special-written Songs — A Substitution for Textbooks. |
| D．Special-written Songs — Mothers’ New Concern. |
Anyone for rocket salad? The Chinese are now growing huge vegetables from seeds they sent into space.
If you’re the type who worries about the air miles traveled by fruits and vegetables, these beauties aren’t for you. It’s because they have traveled a little further than most.
The seeds from which they grew were fired into space, where they orbited the earth for two weeks. Once they returned they were grown in hothouses, producing the monster kinds seen here.
China, which is behind these space fruits and vegetables, says they could be the answer to the world’s food crisis.
The 21-pound tomatoes, nine-inch chilies, 15-stone pumpkins and large watermelons growing at the Guangdong Academy of Agricultural Sciences’ hothouses can feed many more than their smaller cousins, and may have more nutrients, the scientists say.
Researcher Lo Zhigang said, “Traditional agricultural development has taken us as far as we can go and demand for food from a growing population is endless. Space seeds offer the opportunity to grow fruits and vegetables bigger and faster.”
He admitted he and his colleagues could not explain why time in orbit caused the seeds to change genetic structure. But they guessed exposure to the cosmic(宇宙的) radiation that attacked the spacecraft in orbit, as well as the near zero gravity conditions, microgravity, could play a part.
“We don’t think there’s any threat to human health because the genes themselves do not change; just their order changes,” he said. “With genetically-modified(GM) crops you have seen environmental problems because they have added genes that can damage other organisms. But with space seeds they don’t gain genes; they can only lose them.”
He also claimed the Vitamin C content in some space vegetables was nearly three times higher than in common vegetables, while levels of zinc are also increased.
Western scientists are doubtful. NASA researchers who have experimented with seeds in space say there is not enough benefit to show the cost is reasonable.
72. What do the underlined words “these beauties” in paragraph 2 probably refer to?
A. Beautiful views along the air routes. B. Traveling experiences in space.
C. Seeds fired into space. D. Giant vegetables.
73. We can infer from Lo’s words in paragraph 6 that .
A. our conventional agriculture has developed too slowly
B. we are asking too much from nature
C. space seeds may help meet our demand for food
D. we’ll grow crops in space in the future
74. Why the seeds changed their genetic structure .
A. remains to be proved
B. is discovered by Lo Zhigang
C. has something to do with die conditions in hothouses
D. is due to the radiation that attacked them directly
75. Comparing Gm crops and space crops, we can see that .
A. space crops grow faster
B. space crops are more environmentally friendly
C. GM crops are less a threat to human health
D. GM crops have fewer nutrients
Your cellphone holds secrets about you. Besides the names and numbers that you’ve programmed into it, traces of your DNA remain on it, according to a new study.
DNA is genetic material that appears in every cell. Like your fingerprint, your DNA is unique to you-unless you have an identical twin. Scientists today usually analyze DNA in blood, saliva(唾液), or hair left behind at the scene of a crime. The results often help detectives identify criminals and victims.
Meghan J. McFadden, a biologist at McMaster University in Hamilton, Ontario, heard about a crime in which the suspect bled onto a cellphone and later dropped it. This made her wonder whether traces of DNA remained on cellphones-even when no blood was involved. To find out, she and a colleague collected flip-style(翻盖式) phones from 10 volunteers. They collected invisible traces of the users from two parts of the phone: the outside, where the user holds it, and the speaker, which is placed at the user’s ear.
The scientists cleaned the phones using a liquid mixture made mostly of alcohol. The aim of washing was to remove all delectable traces of DNA. The owners got their phones back for another week. Then they returned the phones and the researchers collected traces on each phone once more. They discovered DNA that belonged to the phone’s owner on each of the phones.
Surprisingly, DNA was even picked up immediately after the phones were cleaned. That suggests that washing won’t remove all traces of evidence from a criminal’s cellphone. So cellphones can be added to the list of clue the can settle a crime-scene investigation.
68. What’s the main idea of the passage?
A. The cellphone means most secrets of its owner.
B. McFadden is famous for her secrets of its owner.
C. The investigation of a crime is a hard job.
D. DNA can be available on the user’s cellphone.
69. In a crime-scene investigation, now experts are likely to turn to .
A. the criminal’s fingerprint B. the DNA analysis of physical items
C. the detectives D. the criminal’s cellphone
70. According to the passage, McFadden was inspired by .
A. the secrets stored in people’s cellphones B. the special characters of DNA
C. a cellphone-involved case D. the challenging job of detectives
71. According to the passage, the potential application of the new study would be .
A. identifying criminals B. designing new cellphones
C. protecting individual privacy D. preventing cellphone-involved crime
There are tow types of people in the world. Although they 
have equal degree of health and wealth and other comforts of life, one becomes happy, the other becomes unhappy. This arises from the different ways in which they consider things, persons, events and the resulting effects upon their minds.
People who are to be happy fix their attention on the convenience of things: the pleasant parts of conversation, the well prepared dishes, the goodness of the wine, the fine weather. They enjoy all the cheerful things. Those who are to be unhappy think and speak only of the opposite things. Therefore, they are continually dissatisfied. By their remarks, they sour the pleasure of society, offend(hurt) many people, and make themselves disagreeable everywhere. If this turn of mind was founded in nature, such unhappy persons would be the more to be pitied. The intention of criticizing and being disliked is perhaps taken up by imitation It grows into a habit, unknown to its possessors. The habit may be strong, but it may be cured when those who have it realize its bad effects on their interests and tastes. I hope this little warning may be of service to them, and help them change this habit.
Although it fact it is chiefly an act of the imagination, it has serious results in life since it brings on deep sorrow and bad luck. Those people offend many others; nobody loves them, and no one treats them with more than the most common politeness and respect. This frequently puts them in bad temper and draws them into arguments. If they aim at getting some advantages in social position or fortune, nobody wishes them success. Nor will anyone start a step or speak a word to favor their hopes. If they bring on themselves public objections, no one will defend or excuse them, and many will join to criticize their wrong doings. These should change this bad habit and be pleased with what is pleasing, without worrying needlessly about themselves and others. If they do not, it will be good for others to avoid any contact with them. Otherwise, it can be disagreeable and so
metimes very inconvenient, especially when one becomes mixed up in their quarrels.
63. People who are unhappy .
A. always consider things differently form others
B. usually are affected by the results of certain things
C. usually misunderstand what others think or say
D. always discover the unpleasant side of certain things
64. The underlined phrase “sour the pleasure of society” most nearly means “ ”.
A. have a good taste with social life B. make others unhappy
C. tend to scold others openly D. enjoy the pleasure of life
65. We can conclude from the passage that .
A. we should pity all such unhappy people
B. such unhappy people are dangerous to social life
C. people can get rid of the habit of unhappiness
D. unhappy people can not understand happy persons
66. If such unhappy persons insist on keeping the habit, the author suggests that people should .
A. prevent and communication with them
B. show no respect and politeness to them
C. persuade them to recognize the bad effects
D. quarrel with them until they realize the mistakes
67. In this passage, the writer mainly 
.
A. describes two types of people B. laughs at the unhappy people
C. suggests ways to help the unhappy D. tells people how to be happy in life
Koalas are pictured everywhere in Australia-on cleaning products, on “boxes of chocolate, on sports team shirts. Yet the animals live only in pockets along the east coast.
They once inhabited the entire coastline. The koala population dropped after farmers cut down many of the forests where koalas lived, and
hunters killed the animals for their fur.By the early 1900s, “koalas were basically shot out of south Australia,” says ecologist Bill Ellis, who studies the relationships among living things and their environments.
I recently joined Ellis and his team in a forest on St Bees Is land, 19 miles off the northeastern coast of Australia, with eight other volunteers. The island is a natural laboratory, yielding findings that may help protect koalas elsewhere on the continent.
The volunteers searched the island for koalas in the blue gum trees. When we found a koala, we gathered information about the trees in the area.
Blue gum is a species of the eucalyptus tree in which the funny leaf eaters spend most of their time. Eucalyptus trees are native to Australia, and their leaves are the main food source for koalas. Although koalas can walk on the ground, they are better suited for life in the canopy, the high cover of branches and leaves in a forest.
What has Ellis’s research told him so far? The population of St Bees seems to be healthy. Yet Ellis wonders whether the koalas might be heading for hard times. The island is overrun with wild goats, and Ellis thinks the goats are eating the small blue gum trees.
Without those trees, the koalas will run out of food in the future. Ellis hopes more research will help him understand how to protect the blue gum trees-and the koalas that depend on them. “I think that’s what everyone is trying to do-to make a difference.” Ellis says.
59. It can be inferred from the first paragraph that .
A. koalas’ pictures can be found everywhere in the world
B. koalas in Australia like to eat chocolate
C. only in the east coast of Australia can you find koalas
D. you can buy the pictures of koalas only in the east coast of Australia
60. Which of the following is TRUE about koalas?
A. They usually hide in a cave. B. They feed on the leaves of blue gum trees.
C. They prefer to walk on the ground. D. They don’t adapt to the high cover of branches.
61. What will Ellis most probably start to do next?
A. To keep the population of St Bees healthy.
B. To kill all the goats on the island.
C. To find some new foods for goats.
D. To protect blue gum trees for koalas.
62. The purpose of writing this passage is to .
A. expect people to concern about the life of koalas
B. record trip to Australia for watching koalas
C. present some basic knowledge of koalas’ life
D. introduce the ecosystem of wildlife in Australia
第三部分：阅读理解（共20小题；每小题2分，满分40分）
阅读下列短文，从每题题所给的四个选项（A、B、C、D和E）中选出最佳选项。
Sitting too much is now listed with smoking and junk food as a bad habit that increases your risk of heart disease.
New Australian research shows that half-an-hour in the gym will not make up for the waist-expanding damage caused by spending the rest of the day sitting.
But the good news is that doing chores in the house or gently walking around the office while on the phone might be enough to keep you fit.
The study joins the growing body of evidence suggesting too much sitting might undo the benefits of exercise.
The study measured the intensity of physical activities in 168 subjects over seven days. It found that, regardless of how much exercise they did or their total sitting time, those who took more breaks from sitting had lower risk of thick waists and lower levels of blood lipids(脂肪).
“Higher levels of blood lipids have been linked to a heightened risk of heart disease,” principal researcher Genevieve Healy of the University of Queensland said. “What the study shows is that there are benefits in just getting up regularly and interrupting your sitting time.”
Researchers behind the Stand Up Australia project have written to the Rudd Government requesting $3.5 million for a two-year study into the impact of long sitting time on health and productivity of workers. The study would also develop and test strategies for reducing sitting time on the job.
The latest s
tudy builds on work that is shifting the health promotion focus from purposeful exercise, such as running, to lower intensity activities throughout the day.
The Australian research has been hacked up by US studies.
“To hold a body that weighs 77 kilograms upright takes a fair amount of energy from muscles,” said Professor Marc Hamilton from the University of Missouri. “There is a large amount of energy associated with standing every day that cannot easily be replaced by 30 to 60 minutes in the gym.”
56. What’s the aim of the Stand Up Australia project?
A. To study the factors influencing productivity of workers.
B. To study the reasons for the longer sitting time at work.
C. To develop and test strategies for reducing sitting time in the office.
D. To develop and test strategies for reducing working time.
57. The purpose of the last paragraph is to .
A. provide a scientific basis for the benefits of standing up
B. Compare the effect of standing with exercising in the gym
C. report the new research findings of professor Marc Hamilton
D. figure out the amount of energy associated with daily standing
58. What’s the best title for the text?
A. Exercise in the Gym Is Out.
B. Your Office Chair Is Killing You.
C. A Cause of Heart Disease.
D. Good News for Workers.