Miscioscio, 60, a marketing consultant in Pearl River, N.Y., says she's addicted to her Sony e-reader. She buys or borrows a print book only when it's not available digitally. Miscioscio says most of her friends and relatives have also switched to e-books for the convenience and lower prices. Last winter, she notes, she vacationed in Costa Rica and says “at least 75% of those reading were reading electronically. I was shocked to see people taking their e-readers onto the loungers (躺椅) in the pool.”
Meier, 43, a marketing director in Beaver Falls, prefers her books on paper, not screens. After working on a computer all day, she says, “I want a book in my hand. Turning over its pages is my way of knowing it's time to relax and slow down.” Meier, who's sticking with physical books, doesn't consider herself any kind of digital “resister.” “I'm comfortable with all forms of technology,” she says. “However, when it comes to books, I suppose I'm a traditionalist. My preference will always be the real thing.”
To her, part of the joy of reading is the book itself: “pulling it from the shelf, inspecting the cover, letting it fall open to a random page.”
Both have lots of company. Statistics show that e-book sales grew 43% last year, but that's a slowdown compared with the triple-digit increases in recent years. E-books remain the fastest-growing part of the book market but account for only about 20% of all sales, reported by publishers.
Miscioscio and Meier are at opposite ends of a book business in transition. Even though e-book sales have grown more than 4,000% since 2008, it's unlikely that physical books will disappear the way records did in the music industry.Miscioscio will ______ when a book is not available digitally.
| A．give up reading such kind of books |
| B．switch to the book of lower price |
| C．buy the book on paper |
| D．take an e-reader onto the loungers |
According to Meier, her “preference” refers to ______.
| A．paper book | B．part of joy |
| C．a random page | D．an e-book |
What can we learn from the last paragraph?
| A．Records are unlikely to disappear in the music industry. |
| B．Miscioscio and Meier are two opponents in book business. |
| C．The market share of e-books is bigger than that of paper books. |
| D．Physical books will remain to be accepted to some people. |
What is the passage mainly concerned with?
| A．E-books will dominate the book industry eventually. |
| B．Readers go their own way in choosing books. |
| C．New technology brings more benefits for readers. |
| D．Physical books will disappear gradually in the future. |
It is obvious that doctors recognize obesity as a health problem. So why is it so hard for them to talk to their patients about it?
The results of two surveys, one of primary care physicians and the other of patients, found that while most doctors want to help patients lose weight and think it is their responsibility to do so, they often don’t know what to say.
“So while doctors may tell patients they are overweight, the conversation often ends there,” said Christine C. Ferguson, director of the Stop Obesity Alliance. “Patients are not told about the possibility of diabetes (糖尿病),” she said. “And doctors don’t feel they have good information to give. They felt that they didn’t have adequate tools to address this problem.
The lack of dialogue hurts patients, too. The patient survey, of over 1,000 adults, found that most overweight patients don’t even know that they’re too heavy. Only 39 percent of overweight people surveyed had ever been told by a health care provider that they were overweight.
Of those who were told they were obese, 90 percent were also told by their doctors to lose weight, the survey found. In fact most have tried to lose weight and may have been successful in the past—and many are still trying, the survey found. And many understand that losing even a small amount of weight can have a positive impact on their health and reduce their risk of obesityrelated diseases like hypertension and diabetes.
Dr. William Bestermann Jr., medical director of Holston Medical Group, in Kingsport, Tenn. , which ranks the 10th in obesity among metropolitan areas in the United States, said the dialogue had to be an ongoing one and could not be dropped after just one mention of the problem. “If you’re to be successful with helping your patients lose weight, you have to talk to them at actually every visit about their progress, and find something to encourage them and coach them,” he said.
He acknowledged that many doctors tend to be not optimistic.
“Part of this is that there’s this common belief, and doctors are burdened by it, too, that overweight people are weak-willed and just don’t have any willpower and are selfindulgent and all that business,” he said. “If you think that way, you’re not going to spend time having a productive conversation.”What is the Stop Obesity Alliance most probably in Paragraph 3?
| A．An organization of doctors suffering from obesity. |
| B．An organization of patients suffering from obesity. |
| C．A research group that conducts special surveys about overweight people. |
| D．A research group dealing with doctor-patient relationship. |
How many of the patients surveyed have been advised by their doctors to lose weight?
| A．About 350. | B．About 390. |
| C．About 900. | D．About 1,000. |
What can be inferred about obesity patients in Paragraph 5?
| A．They are not as hopeless as doctors think they are. |
| B．Most of them have tried hard to lose weight, but in vain. |
| C．Without their doctors’ constant coaching, there is little chance of their succeeding in losing weight. |
| D．Most of them have just given up their hope of becoming less heavy. |
According to the passage, which factor contributes to the lack of dialogue between doctors and patients?
| A．Most doctors never think of warning their patients about their weight problem. |
| B．Many doctors find it difficult to persuade overweight people to lose weight. |
| C．Most patients are too weak-willed to do anything about their weight. |
| D．Many patients tend not to trust their doctors about their weight problem. |
Which of the following is the best title of the passage?
| A．Obesity in the U. S. |
| B．Trouble of overweight Americans. |
| C．Talk more, help better. |
| D．Doctors or patients---who to bear more blame? |
Miss Gogers taught physics in a New York school. Last month she explained to one of her classes about sound, and she decided to test them to see how successful she had been in her explanation. She said to them, “Now I have a brother in Los Angeles. If I was calling him on the phone and at the same time you were 75 feet away, listening to me from across the street, which of you would hear what I said earlier, my brother or you and for what reason?”
Tom at once answered, “Your brother. Because electricity travels faster than sound waves.” “That’s every good,” Miss Gogers answered; but then one of the girls raised her hand, and Miss Gogers said. “Yes, Kate.”
“I disagree,” Kate said. “Your brother would hear you earlier because when it’s 11 o’clock here it’s only 8 o’clock in Los Angeles.” Miss Gogers was teaching her class_________.
| A．how to telephone | B．about electricity |
| C．about time zone(时区) | D．about sound |
Miss Gogers raised this question because she wanted to know whether______.
| A．it was easy to phone to Los Angeles | B．her student could hear her from 75 feet away |
| C．her students had grasped（理解）her lesson . | D．sound waves were slower than electricity |
Tom thought that electricity was _________.
| A．slower than sound waves | B．faster than sound waves |
| C．not so fast as sound waves | D．as fast as sound waves |
Kate thought Tom was wrong because _______.
| A．clocks in Los Angeles showed a different time from those in New York |
| B．electricity was slower than sound waves |
| C．Tom was not good at physics at all |
| D．Tom’s answer had nothing to do with sound waves |
Whose answer do you think is correct according to the law of physics?
| A．Tom’s | B．Kate’s | C．Bath A and B | D．Neither A nor B |
I want to let you know about an event that changed my life many years ago. We were living in College Station, Texas and my wife and I were on our way home from Houston, Texas one Sunday morning. We decided to stop at a local gas station to get something to eat since we had enough time.
When we finished, we got back into our car and before I started it, we noticed a homeless man standing in front of the building. His clothes were worn and it looked as if he didn’t have any money. It was cold and I was sure he wanted something to drink. However, it was not this that moved(感动) me.
A dog was also walking up to the front of the building. Being a dog lover, I noticed that the dog was a mother and that she had just had some puppies(小狗). She was hungry and weak and I felt so bad for her. I knew if she didn’t eat soon, she and her puppies would not live on.
People walking by didn’t even notice her. She might not have been as pretty and clean as most, but she still deserved(值得) better. But we still did not do anything, someone else did. The homeless man, who I thought could not afford anything to eat, went back into a store and bought dog food with all the money he had. From the passage we can know that______.
| A．the author didn’t like dogs |
| B．the dog was not pretty enough to be loved |
| C．the author wanted to help the dog but he was unable to |
| D．the dog and her puppies were in danger of dying of hunger |
Which of the following moved the author?
| A．Most people walking by the dog didn’t notice her |
| B．The homeless man wore worn clothes on the cold day |
| C．The homeless man bought food for the dog with all of his money |
| D．The homeless man had not any money to buy any food for himself |
The author did the following except that he_______.
| A．had pity on the dog that was in danger |
| B．bought dog food with all the money he had |
| C．was a person who treasured dogs very much |
| D．went home from Houston one Sunday morning |
According to the passage, we know that the homeless man was _______.
| A．kind and helpful | B．brave and kind |
| C．clever and helpful | D．clever and brave |
. The best title for this passage would be_______.
| A．My Memory | B．My wife and I |
| C．Animals Are Parents Too | D．A Mother Dog and Her Puppies |
In order to know a foreign language thoroughly(完全地), four things are necessary. First, we must understand the language when we hear it spoken. Secondly, we must be able to speak it ourselves, correctly with confidence(自信) and without hesitation(犹豫). Thirdly, we must be able to write it. We must be able to make sentences that are correct in grammar.
There is no short way to succeed in language learning. A good memory(记忆) is a great help, but it is not enough only to memorize the rules from a grammar book. It is no much use learning by heart long lists(一览表) of words and their meanings, studying the dictionary and so on. We must learn by using the language. If we are pleased with a few rules we have memorized, we are not really learning the language. We must “Learn through use”. Practice is important. We must practise speaking and writing the language whenever(无论何时) we can. The most important things to learn a foreign language are_______.
| A．understanding and speaking |
| B．hearing, speaking, reading and writing |
| C．writing and understanding |
| D．memorizing and listening |
Someone hears and writes English very well, but he speaks it very badly. This is because____.
| A．he doesn’t understand the language when he hears it spoken |
| B．he doesn’t have a good memory |
| C．he always remember lists of words and their meanings |
| D．he often hesitates to practise speaking it |
One can never learn a foreign language well only by_______.
| A．much practice | B．studying the dictionary |
C．learning through use | D．using the language |
Which of the following is the most important in learning a foreign language?
| A．A good memory. | B．Speaking and writing. |
| C．Practice. | D．Writing. |
“Learn through use” means_______.
| A．we use a language in order to learn it |
| B．we learn a foreign language in order to use it |
| C．we can learn a language well while we are using it |
| D．both B and C |
A man named Smith was sitting on his roof during a flood, and the water was up to his feet. Before long a fellow in a canoe passed and shouted, "Can I give you a lift to higher ground?"
"No, thanks," said Smith. "I have faith （信任）in God and he will save me."
Soon the water rose to Smith’s waist.（腰，腰部） At this point a motor boat pulled up and someone called out, "Can I give you a lift to higher ground?"
"No, thanks, I have faith in God and he will save me."
Later a helicopter flew by, and Smith was now standing on the roof with water up to his neck. "Grab the rope, "shouted the pilot. "I’ll pull you up."
"No, thanks," said Smith. "I have faith in God and he will save me. "But after hours of struggling with water, poor exhausted Smith drowned and went to his reward. As he arrived at the Pearly Gates, Smith met God and complained about this. "Tell me, God, "he said, "I had such faith in you to save me and you let me drown. What happened?"
To which God replied, "What do you want from me? I sent you two boats and a helicopter.".When the pilot asked Smith to grab the rope, ______.
| A．Smith pulled the pilot up | B．Smith did so |
| C．Smith didn’t do so | D．Smith didn’t hear him |
At last, poor exhausted Smith drowned and ______.
| A．went to his reward | B．passed away |
| C．went to heaven | D．all of the above |
.What do we know about Smith? __ ____.
| A．He was a lazy man | B．He was a lucky man who believed in God |
| C．He was a poor man | D．He was a silly man who believed in God |
What do you think of this passage? This passage is very ______.
| A．moving | B．humorous | C．depressing | D．surprising |
The best title of this passage is" ______" .
| A．What Do You Want from Me? | B．How Do You Believe in God? |
| C．How God Loved Smith! | D．Smith Obeyed God’s Order |