One of our biggest fears nowadays is that our kids might some day get lost in a “sea of technology” rather than experiencing the natural world. TV and computer games are leading to a serious disconnect between kids and the great outdoors, which will change the wild places of the world, its creatures and human health for the worse, unless adults get working on child’s play.
Each of us has a place in nature we go sometimes, even if it was torn down. We cannot be the last generation to have that place. At this rate, kids who miss the sense of wondering outdoors will not grow up to be protectors of natural landscapes. “If the decline in parks use continues across North America, who will defend parks against encroachment (蚕食)?” asks Richard Louv, author of Last Child in the Woods.
Without having a nature experience, kids can turn out just fine, but they are missing out a huge enrichment of their lives. That applies to everything from their physical health and mental health, to stress levels, creativity and cognitive (认知的) skills. Experts predict modern kids will have poorer health than their parents---and they say a lack of outside play is surely part of it. Research suggests that kids do better academically in schools with a nature component and that play in nature develop leadership by the smartest, not by the toughest. Even a tiny outdoor experience can create wonder in a child. The three-year-old turning over his first rock realizes he is not alone in the world. A clump of trees on the roadside can be the whole universe in his eyes. We really need to value that more.
Kids are not to blame. They are overprotected and frightened. It is dangerous out there from time to time, but repetitive stress from computers is replacing breaking an arm as a childhood rite of passage.
Everyone, from developers to schools and outdoorsy citizens, should help regain for our kids some of the freedom and joy of exploring, taking friendship in fields and woods that strengthen love, respect and need for landscape. As parents, we should devote some of our energies to taking our kids into nature. This could yet be our greatest cause.The main idea of Paragraph 2 is that____.
| A．Kids are missing the sense of wondering outdoors |
| B．Parks are in danger of being gradually encroached |
| C．Richard Louv is the author of Last Child in the Woods |
| D．Children are expected to develop into protectors of nature |
According to the passage, children without experiencing nature will ____.
| A．keep a high sense of wonder |
| B．be over-protected by their parents |
| C．be less healthy both physically and mentally |
| D．change wild places and creatures for the better |
According to the author, children’s breaking an arm is ____.
| A．the fault on the part of their parents |
| B．the natural experience in their growing up |
| C．the result of their own carelessness in play |
| D．the effect of their repetitive stress from computers |
What does “sea of technology” mean in the first paragraph?
| A．The technology of TV and computer games. |
| B．The technology of food. |
| C．The technology of sea food. |
| D．The technology of catching animals in the sea. |
In writing this passage, the author mainly intends to ____.
| A．blame children for getting lost in computer games |
| B．encourage children to protect parks from encroachment |
| C．show his concern about children’s lack of experience in nature |
| D．inspire children to keep the sense of wonder about things around |
B
All of us eat every day, but most of us don’t understand nutrition. We often make mistakes in talking about good diet.
For example, many people think that foods such as rice, bread and potatoes will make one grow fat. In fact, these foods are very good to one’s health. They are good sources of many vitamins. And in comparison with steak and beef, they contain less amount of calories.
Some people don’t like canned(罐装的) or frozen vegetables, because they think fresh vegetables cooked at home are always better. This is again wrong. In fact, whether the vegetables are good or not depends more on how they are prepared. Overcooking, for example, destroys good qualities of vegetables. Vegetables cooked in too much water can use a large amount of vitamins.
It is widely believed extra vitamins provide more energy. But taking more than the body needs doesn’t make it function better.
It is also wrong to say that vegetables grown in poor, worn-out soil are lower in vitamins than vegetables grown in rich soil. The vitamins in our foods are in the plants themselves. They don’t come from the soil. However, the minerals(矿物质) in a plant depend on the minerals in the soil.
In short, there are many false ideas about nutrition. We need to correct them.
1. This passage is mainly about_______.
A. nutrition B. vitamins C. vegetables D. health
2. Rice, bread and potatoes do good to people’s health mainly because_______.
A. they make people fat B. there are lot of vitamins in them
C. they contain less amount of calories compared with steak and beef.
D. both B and C.
3. Why don’t some people like canned or frozen vegetables? Because______.
A. they think fresh vegetables contain less vitamins
B. they think fresh vegetables contain more vitamins than the canned or frozen ones
C. they don’t think the canned or frozen vegetables are fresh
D. they don’t think the canned or frozen vegetables taste as good as the fresh ones
4. Which of the following is true according to the passage?
A. Many people know almost everything about nutrition.
B. Food such as rice, bread and potatoes make people fat.
C. vegetables grown in poor worn-out soil may have the same amount of vitamins as vegetables grown in rich soil.
D. extra vitamins provide less energy.
5. The point of the passage is that______.
A. the minerals in a plant depend on the minerals in the soil
B. people make mistakes when talking about good diet
C. taking more vitamins than the body needs doesn’t make it function better
D. vegetables cooked in too much water can lose a large amount of vitamins
阅读理解
A
At three a.m., Jack Mills was sitting at the controls of the mail train. The train was made up of 13 cars. At the end of the train, 71 mailmen sat sorting the mail. Inside the second car, there were only five mailmen and 128 bags full of five-pound notes. This train had run more than 100 years without being robbed(抢劫). At three minutes past three, Mills and his helper, David Whitby, saw a yellow warning light. They slowed the train, and then stopped. Whitby went to the telephone beside the track. It was out of order. Then he saw a man moving between the second and the third cars. Before Whitby cjould give a warning, he was knocked down by two men. Mills’ cars with all the mailmen had been disconnected by the robbers. At the bridge, the bags of money were unloaded from the train and thrown into waiting trucks. One of the robbers who obviously knew the schedules(时刻表) of all the trains kept looking at his watch. At 3:45 he said, “That will have to be enough.” The robbers drove away with more than 2,500,000 pounds.
1. The robbery took place______.
A. before 3:03 B. in the early morning
C. after three o’clock in the afternoon D. after 3:45
2. The robbers_____ before the train stopped.
A. were all in the train B. forced Mills to stop the train
C. were waiting for the train to stop D. ordered Mills to go on driving
3. Why didn’t the other mailmen help the mailmen in the second car when the robbery happened?
A. Because they were busy sorting the mail.
B. Because they didn’t want to help the mailmen in the second car.
C. Because the last eleven cars were separated from the front cars.
D. Because they knew nothing about the robbery.
4. One of the robbers kept looking at his watch because________.
A. he wanted to know the exact time B. he enjoyed looking at his watch
C. he didn’t know when another train would come
D. they had to leave before another train came
5. Which of the following is NOT true?
A. The train was out of order.
B. The telephone was put out of order by the robbers
C. Whitby had an assistant driver.
D. The robbers carried the money away by truck.
(1) Mr. Brown (the motorist)
At about 9:20 p.m. on October 14th, I was driving along Market Road in the direction of Midwick. I wanted to go to Sturham to collect my wife, who had been visiting some friends. I prepared to turn into Sturham Road, which was on my right. In the distance, I saw the lights of a car moving towards me but it was a long way from me. I put out my hand to show that I was going to turn right. Then I started to turn slowly towards Sturham Road. Suddenly there was a loud noise on the passenger's (near) side of the car. I stopped the car and got out. A motorcycle had hit my car. The motorcyclist had been thrown over the car. He was injured, so I ran to a shop to phone for help.
(2) Mr. Smith (the injured motorcyclist)
On the evening of October 14th, I was going home along Market Road towards Newtown. I was riding my motorcycle. I was going slowly because some of the streetlights were out and the road was wet and slippery. Just before Sturham Road, a car suddenly drove right across my path. The driver did not flash his lights to give a warning. I could not turn in time, so I hit the side of the car. When I woke up, I was lying in a hospital in Market Road.
(3) Mr. Lee (another motorcyclist)
At about 9:10 p.m. on October 14th, I left my home in Midwick. Ten minutes later I was riding my motorcycle along Market Road. I was going to Newtown. There was a motorcycle about 40 metres in front of me. It was not going very quickly. The man on it was riding near the curb (路边) but I was near the center of the road. The motorcyclist in front of me tried to turn to his right but there was no time. He hit the car and was injured. There was no car going along in front of us or put by the road.
48．Which of these statements about the accident is probably correct?
A．Mr. Brown wrongly supposed that the lights of the two motorcycles were those of a car.
B．The lights of the car moving towards Mr. Brown made him unable to see.
C．Mr. Brown knocked down a motorcyclist on purpose.
D．The accident was caused by the carelessness of the first motorcyclist.
49．It seems probable from the statements that Mr. Brown__________.
A．gave no signal to show that he was turning right
B．did not give any signal until he was actually turning
C．failed to give a proper signal at that time
D．flashed his light to show that he was going to turn
50．We would expect to find that Mr. Brown's car was damaged on its________ side.
A．front B．leftC．rightD．driver's
Have you ever suddenly felt that someone you knew was in trouble—and was he? Have you ever dreamed something that came true later? Maybe you have ESP (超感觉知觉).
ESP stands for Extrasensory Perception. It may be called a sixth sense. It seems to let people know about events before they happen, or events that are happening some distance away.
Here's an example. A woman was ironing clothes. Suddenly she screamed, "My father is dead! I saw him sitting in the chair!" Just then, a telegram came. The woman's father died of a heart attack. He died sitting in a chair.
There are thousands of stories like this one on record. Scientists are studying them to find out what's behind these strange mental messages. Here's another example—one of hundreds of dreams that have come true.
A man dreamed he was walking along a road when a horse and carriage came by. The driver said, "There's room for one more." The man felt the driver seemed dead, so he ran away. The next day, when the man was getting on a crowded bus, the bus driver said, "There's room for one more."
Then the man saw that the driver's face was the same face he had seen in the dream. He wouldn't get on the bus. As the bus drove off, it crashed and burst into flames. Everyone was killed!
Some people say stories like these are coincidences. Others, including some scientists, say that ESP is real. From studies of ESP, we may someday learn more about the human mind.
44．According to the passage, the author believes that the sixth sense is_________.
A．in existence B．imaginative C．not real D．impossible
45．ESP lets people know___________.
A．about events before they happen
B．about events after they happen
C．about events that are happening some distance away
D．A and C
46．In the last paragraph the underlined word "coincidences" probably means ____.
A．things that may not happen
B．things that happen in a dream
C．things that must happen
D．things that happen by accident
47．This article is mainly about_________.
A．the human dreamB．the sixth sense
C．the human mind D．a crowded bus
It seems that the Englishmen just cannot live without sports of some kind. A famous French humourist once said that this is because the English insist on behaving like children all their lives. Wherever you go in this country, you will see both children and grown-ups knocking a ball about with a stick or something, as if in Britain men shall always remain boys and women girls! Still, it can never be bad to get exercise, can it?
Taking all amateur (业余) and professional sports in Britain into consideration, there can be no doubt that football is at the top of the list. It is called soccer in the United States. The game originated (起源于) in Britain and was played in the Middle Ages or even earlier, though as an organized game, or "association football", it dates only from the beginning of the 19th century.
The next is rugby, which is called "football" in the United States. It is a kind of football played by two teams of fifteen players than eleven. In rugby, an oval-shaped ball is used which can be handled as well as kicked. It is a pretty rough game.
In summer, cricket is the most popular sport. In fact, it has sometimes been called the English national game. Most foreigners find the game rather slow or even boring, but it enjoys great popularity among the British.
Tennis rates high on the list, too. It was introduced into England from France in the 15th century, but it was from England that it spread to practically every country in the world Table tennis, or "ping-pong", surely is not played on a great scale as it is in China or Japan. Basketball and volleyball were introduced into Britain during the late 19th century from America and are gaining popularity. Horse-back riding, swimming, rowing and golf all attract a lot of people.
41．The main purpose of Paragraph 1 is to tell us that the English ___________.
A．are all sports lovers B．behave like children
C．like to kick a ball around D．can remain young all their lives
42．According to the passage, which of the following is NOT true about football and rugby?
A．They differ in the shape of the ball.
B．They are played by different numbers of players.
C．They both can be handled.
D．They both can be kicked.
43．The game that was never played in Britain until the late 19th century is _________.
A．basketball B．tennis C．rugbyD．football