As the richest country in the world, you'd expect that Qatar would also be the happiest. And you'd also expect Japanese people to be extremely positive, seeing as though they have the highest life expectancy. But clearly wealth and good health do not guarantee happiness after both countries failed to make the top ten most positive countries.
The poll (民意测验 ) of nearly 150,000 people around the world found that seven of the world's 10 countries with the most upbeat attitudes are in Latin America. Gallup asked about 1,000 people in each of 148 countries if they were wellrested, had been treated with respect, smiled or laughed a lot, learned or did something interesting and felt feelings of enjoyment the previous day.
In Panama and Paraguay, 85 percent of those polled said yes to all five, putting those countries at the top of the list. They were followed closely by El Salvador, Venezuela, Trinidad and Tobago, Thailand, Guatemala, the Philippines, Ecuador and Costa Rica.
The people least likely to report positive emotions lived in Singapore, the wealthy and orderly citystate that ranks among the most developed in the world. Other wealthy countries also sat surprisingly low on the list. Germany and France tied with the poor African state of Somaliland for 47th place.
Many of the seven countries which were most positive do poorly in traditional measures of wellbeing, like Guatemala, a country torn by decades of civil war followed by waves of gangdriven criminality that give it one of the highest killing rates in the world. Guatemala sits just above Iraq on the United Nations' Human Development Index, a composite of life expectancy, education and per capital income. But it ranks seventh in positive emotions.
In Guatemala, it's a culture of friendly people who are always smiling, said Luz Castillo, a 30yearold surfing instructor. Despite all the problems that we're facing, we're surrounded by natural beauty that lets us get away from it all.
The poll shows that prosperous nations can also be deeply unhappy ones. And povertystricken ones are often positive, or at least a close approximation (类似事物) of it.________ may feel the most unhappy according to the poll.
| A．People from Qatar | B．People from Thailand |
| C．People from Japan | D．People from Singapore |
The underlined word “Gallup” in Paragraph 2 refers to ________.
| A．a country | B．a polling organization |
| C．a person | D．a magazine |
Which of the following is NOT included in the United Nations' Human Development Index?
| A．Life expectancy. | B．Education. |
| C．Natural beauty. | D．Per capital income. |
What's the best title of the text?
| A．Happiness does not depend on wealth |
| B．How to live happily? |
| C．Health leads to happiness |
| D．What are the standards to be happy men? |
Most rain forests lie close to the equator(赤道),where the climate is often mild and there are long hours of sunshine.The warmth of the land heats the air above,causing it to rise and tiny drops of water to fall as rain.The rainfall can reach at least 98 inches a year.This wet,warm world with plenty of sunlight is perfect for plants to grow,so the trees grow fast with green leaves all the year round.The trees themselves also have an effect on the climate.They gather water from the soil and pass it out into the air through their leaves.The wet air then forms clouds,which hang over the treetops like smoke.These clouds protect the forest from the daytime heat and night-time cold of nearby deserts,keeping temperatures fit for plant growth.
Rain forests slightly farther away from the equator remain just as warm,but they have a dry season of three months or more when little rain falls.Tree leaves fall during this dry season and new leaves grow when the wet season or monsoon(雨季) begins.Thus these areas are known as the “monsoon forest”.
Another type of rain forest grows on tropical mountains.It is often called the “cloud forest” because clouds often hang over the trees like fog.
The rain forest is the ideal place for the growth of many different trees.Most of them depend on animals to eat their fruits and spread their seeds.When the fruits are eaten,the seeds inside them go undamaged through animals’ stomachs and are passed out in their droppings.The seeds lying on the forest floor then grow into new trees.The climate of the rain forests near the equator is _______.
| A．mild,wet and windy | B．hot,rainy and foggy |
| C．hot,wet and cloudy | D．warm,wet and sunny |
We can learn from the passage that _______.
| A．tree leaves are green all the time in the monsoon forest |
| B．there is a dry season in the cloud forest on tropical mountains |
| C．clouds help the plants in the rain forest near the deserts to grow |
| D．the formation of climate in the rain forest has little to do with the trees |
According to the passage,_______ play the most important role in the spreading of seeds.
| A．animals | B．droppings | C．fruits | D．winds |
This passage is most likely to be found in _______.
| A．a travel guide | B．a story book |
| C．a technical report | D．a geography book |
Danielle Steel,America’s sweetheart,is one of the hardest working women in the book business.Unlike other productive authors who write one book at a time,she can work on up to five.Her research alone before writing takes at least three years.Once she has fully studied her subjects,ready to dive into a book,she can spend twenty hours nonstop at her desk.
Danielle Steel comes from New York and was sent to France for her education.After graduation,she worked in the public relations and advertising industries.Later she started a job as a writer which she was best fit for.Her achievements are unbelievable:390 million copies of books in print,nearly fifty New York Times best-selling novels,and a series of “Max and Martha” picture books for children to help them deal with the real-life problems of death,new babies and new schools.Her 1998 book about the death of her son shot to the top of the New York Times best-selling list as soon as it came out.Twenty-eight of her books have been made into films.She is listed in the Guinness Book of World Records for one of her books being the Times best-seller for 381 weeks straight.
Not content with a big house,a loving family,and a view of the Golden Gate Bridge,Danielle Steel considers her readers to be the most important resource(资源) and has kept in touch with them by e-mail.While she is often compared to the heroines(女主人公) of her own invention,her life is undoubtedly much quieter.But,if she does have anything in common with them,it is her strength of will and her inimitable(独特的) style.There is only one Danielle Steel.Danielle Steel is different from other writers in that _______.
| A．she can write several books at the same time |
| B．she often does some reasearch before writing a book |
| C．she is one of the most popular American women writers |
| D．she can keep writing for quite a long time without a break |
Children who have read “Max and Martha” picture books may know _______.
| A．how to deal with affairs at school |
| B．what to do if Max and Martha die |
| C．what to do when new babies are born into their families |
| D．how to solve the difficult problems in their writing classes |
One of Danielle Steel’s achievements is that _______.
| A．some TV plays were based on her books |
| B．her picture books attracted a lot of young men |
| C．one of her books became a best-seller in 1998 |
| D．she wrote the Guinness Book of World Records |
We can learn from the passage that Danielle Steel _______.
| A．lives an exciting life | B．values her readers a lot |
| C．writes about quiet women | D．is pleased with her achievements |
What will people die of 100 years from now?If you think that is a simple question,you have not been paying attention to the revolution that is taking place in bio-technology(生物技术).With the help of new medicine,the human body will last a very long time.Death will come mainly from accidents,murder and war.Today’s leading killers,such as heart disease,cancer,and aging itself,will become distant memories.
In discussion of technological changes,the Internet gets most of the attention these days.But the change in medicine can be the real technological event of our times.How long can humans live?Human brains were known to decide the final death.Cells(细胞) are the basic units of all living things,and until recently,scientists were sure that the life of cells could not go much beyond 120 years because the basic materials of cells,such as those of brain cells,would not last forever.But the upper limits will be broken by new medicine.Sometime between 2050 and 2100,medicine will have advanced to the point at which every 10 years or so,people will be able to take medicine to repair their organs(器官).The medicine,made up of the basic building materials of life,will build new brain cells,heart cells,and so on—in much the same way our bodies make new skin cells to take the place of old ones.
It is exciting to imagine that the advance in technology may be changing the most basic condition of human existence,but many technical problems still must be cleared up on the way to this wonderful future.According to the passage,human death is now mainly caused by _______.
| A．diseases and aging | B．accidents and war |
| C．accidents and aging | D．heart disease and war |
In the author’s opinion,today’s most important advance in technology lies in _______.
| A．medicine | B．the Internet |
| C．brain cells | D．human organs |
Humans may live longer in the future because _______.
| A．heart disease will be far away from us |
| B．human brains can decide the final death |
| C．the basic materials of cells will last forever |
| D．human organs can be repaired by new medicine |
We can learn from the passage that _______.
| A．human life will not last more than 120 years in the future |
| B．humans have to take medicine to build new skin cells now |
| C．much needs to be done before humans can have a longer life |
| D．we have already solved the technical problems in building new cells |
阅读下面短文，根据第1～3题的具体要求，简要回答问题。
The north magnetic pole(磁极)is no longer a resident of Canada.It has drifted across the Canadian Arctic and is now angling toward Siberia.
Not to be confused with the geographic North Pole-the northern extremity of the Earth's axis(地轴),the north magnetic pole(where the Earth's magnetic field is directed downward)is moving due to natural changes in the Earth's magnetic field,a process that originates about 3000 kilometers below our feet,in the outer core(核心)of the planet.But scientists are now noticing that the magnetic pole has picked up its pace.
Over the past century,the pole has been migrating at an average speed of about 10 kilometers per year,says Larry Newitt,head of Geomagnetic Laboratory at Natural Resources Canada in Ottawa.Since the 1970s,this speed has increased to about 50 kilometers per year.
Scientists are wondering why the speed is increasing,says Newitt.One hypothesis(假说)relates it to "magnetic jerks",sudden shifts(变化)in the rate of change of the magnetic field.There have been three jerks in the past four decades,each one correlating to an increases in speed.
If the north magnetic pole continues at its current rate,it could reach Siberia by 2056.
"For most of recorded history,the pole has been a part of Canada,and now it's not,"says Newitt."It may be a blow to our collective psyche,but other than that,it doesn't have a major effect on most people's existence."
| 1． |
Find in the passage a word closest in meaning to the underlined word "angling" |
| 2． |
What could happen to the north magnetic pole by the middle of the 21st century?(回答词数不超过8个) |
| 3． |
What is the main idea of the passage?(回答词数不超过8个) |
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.Fear-producing 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 wonder 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 fosters(培养)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 over-protected 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(仪式)of passage.
Everyone from developers,to schools and outdoors’ citizens,should help regain for our kids some of the freedom and joy of exploring,taking friendship in fields and woods that cement(增强)love,respect and need for the 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 wonder 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 |
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 |