They say that sticks and stones may break your bones, but words will never hurt you. Yet childhood bullying (欺凌) really can damage your long-term health. Gone are the days when bullying was considered an unavoidable and finally harmless part of growing up — just last month we learned that childhood bullying can lead to poorer mental health even into middle age.
Now William Copeland at Duke University in Durham, North Carolina, and his colleagues have shown that it can have lasting physiological effects too. They tracked 1,420 nine-year-olds right through their teens. Each child was seen up to nine times during the study and asked about bullying. The team then measured levels of C-reactive protein (CRP) in their blood. CRP is a marker of inflammation (炎症) linked to higher risk of cardiovascular disease (心血管疾病) and problems like diabetes. “Because we were collecting biological samples throughout, we were able to look at CRP levels in subjects prior to their bullying involvement.” says Copeland. “This really gives us an idea of the changes bullying brings about.”
Although CRP levels naturally rise in everyone during adolescence, levels were highest in children who reported suffering from bullies. Even at the ages of 19 and 21, children who had once been bullied had CRP levels about 1.4 times higher than peers who were neither wrongdoers nor victims. In a cruel twist, the bullies had the lowest levels of all, suggesting they didn’t suffer the same health risks. They may even see a benefit from their behavior, though Copeland stresses it doesn’t defend their actions. “The goal would instead be to find other ways to produce this protective effect without it being at someone else’s expense.” he says.
Andrea Danese at King’s College London has before shown that ill-treatment during childhood can lead to high levels of inflammation in adult life. “This new study is a helpful addition in showing that these effects extend to another important childhood stressor.” he says. He suggests that care workers monitor levels of CRP in children having psychotherapy to see if it is helping to reduce the stress of being bullied.What do you know about CRP?
| A．It relates directly to diabetes. |
| B．It is a sign of the inflammation. |
| C．It is a sign of cardiovascular disease. |
| D．It is a sign of physiological effects caused by bullying. |
What does the phrase “prior to” in Para.2 mean?
| A．through | B．during | C．after | D．before |
What can be learned from paragraph 3?
| A．CRP levels naturally rise along with the increase of age. |
| B．The bullies are not to blame for the health risks of the bullied. |
| C．The levels of CRP of the children once bullied are higher than their peers. |
| D．Copeland intends to defend the benefit of the bullies’ actions. |
What does Andrea Danese think about childhood ill-treatment?
| A．Copeland’s study shows nothing related to it. |
| B．It doesn’t have much to do with inflammation in adult life. |
| C．The stress of being bullied is reduced through psychotherapy. |
| D．Psychological treatment might help solve the problem caused by ill-treatment. |
What is the main idea of this passage?
| A．Bullying is beneficial to the bullies. |
| B．CRP levels reflect the risks of poorer health. |
| C．Bullying has lasting harmful effects on a person. |
| D．Bullying leads to high CRP levels. |
There are two basic ways to see growth: one as a product, the other as a process. People have generally viewed personal growth as an external (外在的) result or a product that can easily be identified and measured．The worker who gets a rise, the student whose grades improve, the foreigner who learns a new language—all these examples of people who have measurable results to show for their efforts．
By contrast (对照) , the process of personal growth is much more difficult to determine, since it is a journey and not the specific signposts or landmarks along the way．The process is not the road itself, but the attitudes, feelings people have , and their caution or courage, as they meet with new experiences and unexpected difficulties．In this process, the journey never really ends；there are always new ways to experience the world, new ideas to try, new challenges to accept．
In order to grow, to travel new roads, people need to have a willingness to take risks, to face the unknown, and to accept the possibility that they may “fail” at first．How we see ourselves as we try a new way of being is necessary for our ability to grow．Do we see ourselves as quick and curious? If so, we tend to take more chances and be more open to unfamiliar experiences．Do we think we’re shy and indecisive? Then our sense of fear can cause us to hesitate, to move slowly, and we think we are slow to adapt (适应) to change or that we’re not smart enough to deal with a new challenge．Then we are likely to take a more passive role or not try at all．
These feelings of insecurity (不安全) and self-doubt are both unavoidable and necessary if we are to change and grow．If we protect ourselves too much, then we stop growing．We become trapped inside a shell of our own making．
57．In the author’s eye, one who views personal growth as a process would ______．
A．succeed in climbing up the social ladder
B．grow up from his own achievements
C．face difficulties and take up challenges
D．aim high and reach his goal each time
58．Which of the following can be viewed as the process of personal growing?
A．Our manager was always willing to accept new challenges．
B．Jane won the first prize in the speech competition．
C．Jerry picked up French during his stay in Paris．
D．Father’s salary rose from 5, 000 to 7,000．
59．Which of the following is NOT true according to the passage?
A．It is not so easy to measure personal growth．
B．To try and fail on the new road facing the unknown is unavoidable．
C．There are only two ways to see a person’s growth．
D．If you are too shy to take any risks in life, you cannot grow up．
60．The best title for this passage should be ______．
A．Facing New Challenges B．Growth—Product or Process
C．Two Basic Ways of Growth D．Overcoming Internal Fears
You can be proud of yourselves, even if you can only make one or two of these green changes. The goal here is to limit carbon dioxide and other greenhouse gases, which are closely associated to the big problem of global-warming.
Strategy 1: Bring your own cup to Starbucks
You’ll get a 10 cent discount, and it’s one less paper cup to end up in a landfill. While you’re there, pick up some free bags of spent coffee grounds to use as ‘‘green’’ fertilizer in your garden.
The payoff: The store won’t create more waste when they throw away a cup.
Strategy2: Turn off your computer
When in standby mode, your PC is still using energy. In fact, 75percent of electricity used in your home comes from electronics that are turned off.
The payoff: Turning off a monitor for 40 hours a week may only save $5 a month, but it reduces CO2 by 750 pounds
Strategy 3: Reuse plastic bags
Instead of throwing away 100 billion plastic bags a year, try and get a second, third, or tenth use out of them. Better yet, next time you shop, try a reusable bag.
The payoff: You’re reducing pollution. The amount of oil it would take to make just 14 plastic bags would run your car for one mile.
Strategy4: Use recycled paper in the bathroom
Most of the toilet paper we use is made from trees found in forests previously untouched by humans.
The payoff: If every household replaced one roll of toilet paper with a recycled one, 424000 trees would still be standing. Look for eco-paper towels too.
Strategy5: Buy energy-efficient appliances（电器）
Replace the old fridge with an Energy Star appliance and you’ll use 15 percent less energy. It might be a little expensive to buy, but you’ll save money on your electricity bills and help the environment.
The payoff: If we all used one Energy Star appliance at home, it would be like planting 1. 7 million acres of new trees.
Strategy 6: Plant a tree
Adding green to your garden is beautiful and earth-pleasing.
The payoff: Just one tree will help make cleaner air and save the environment from 5000 pounds of hot carbon dioxide each year.
54. What is the best title for the passage?
A. Ways to save money at home
B. Ways to be earth-friendly
C. Ways to end global-warming
D. Ways to limit carbon dioxide
55. What benefits do these strategies have in common?
A. They all help reduce the use of energy like electricity.
B. They all cut down the amount of the paper.
C. They all result in producing less greenhouse gases.
D. They all help to preserve our trees and forest.
56．Which strategies suggest recycling or reuse of things?
A．Strategies 1&3 B．Strategies 2&5
C．Strategies 3&6 D．Strategies 4&5.
There are several reasons for hair loss in women. However, in most cases, treatment is quite effective. Female hair loss patterns in women are not as easily recognizable as they are in men. A woman may experience it temporarily due to pregnancy or illness, although they may experience it for other reasons.
Hair loss can be due to a variety of factors, including a genetic tendency (which is not genetically linked to just one parent—both parents contribute to the tendency to lose hair).
Women who are experiencing hair problems seem to have more limited choices than men. There are some female hair loss treatments that are available such as the Tricomin System which is a topical treatment that is nutrition based. Shen Min for Women is another natural treatment that contains herbs (药草) that are said to stimulate(刺激) hair growth and even restore hair that is graying to its natural color.
The majority of the popular, proven hair loss treatments are only intended for men and are not suitable for women. True, a woman’s hair issue is different from a man’s. The biological makeup is different and the needs are different. Women have different needs and their bodies react in different ways to environmental changes, physical illness and even the treatments that are available. There are many natural treatments such as vitamin and mineral supplements that are said to stimulate hair growth, but, for the most part, these claims are currently unproven.
One of the first and most important factors to effectively treating is to get a diagnosis from a doctor. Talk to your doctor about any symptoms that you may be experiencing in addition to the thinning hair. Stress, weight loss or gain, illness and depression, all of these can be contributing factors.
50. It can be learned from the 1st paragraph that ___________.
usually hair loss is hard to heal
B . female hair loss is more common than the men’s
women tend to suffer from hair loss during the pregnant period
only illness contributes to hair loss
51.Which of the following statements matches the text about the two treatments?
A. Both are to solve the problem of male hair loss.
Tricomin System is effective in speeding the growth of the new hair
Shen Min is an updated way of treating hair loss
D. The former is nutrition-based, while the latter is medicine-based.
52. The reasons for the differences between the female and male hair loss problems do not include _______.
A. The biological structure and composition of the hair
The wants and needs
The reactions and responses to the outside changes
The approach to taking exercise
53. The natural treatments __________.
include vitamin and mineral supplements
B. are applied to keep the hair healthy
C. have been proved useful
D. are the most commonly-used ways
“A good book for children should simply be a good book in its own right,” says Mollie Hunter. Born and brought up near Edinburgh, Mollie has devoted her talents to writing primarily for young people. She firmly believes that there is always and should always be a wider audience for any good book whatever its main market is. In Mollie's opinion it is necessary to make full use of language and she enjoys telling a story, which is what every writer should be doing. “If you aren't telling a story, you're a very dead writer indeed,” she says. With the chief function of a writer being to entertain, Mollie is indeed an entertainer. “I have this great love of not only the meaning of language but of the music of language,” she says. “This love goes back to early childhood. I've told stories all my life. I had a school teacher who used to ask us what we would like to be when we grew up and, because my family always had dogs, and I was very good at handling them, I said I wanted to work with dogs, and the teacher always said ‘Nonsense, Mollie, dear, you’ll be a writer.’ So finally I thought that this woman must have something, since she was a good teacher and I decided when I was nine that I would be a writer.”
This childhood intention is described in her novel, A Sound of Chariots, which although written in the third person is clearly autobiographical and gives a picture both of Mollie's ambition and her struggle towards its achievement. Thoughts of her childhood inevitably（不可避免地）brought thoughts of the time when her home was still a village with buttercup meadows and strawberry fields—sadly now covered with modern houses. “I was once taken back to see it and I felt that somebody had lain dirty hands all over my childhood. I'll never go back,” she said. “Never.” “When I set one of my books in Scotland,” she said, “I can recall my romantic（浪漫的）feelings as a child playing in those fields, or watching the village blacksmith at work. And that's important, because children now know so much so early that romance can't exist for them, as it did for us.”
46. What does Mollie Hunter feel about the nature of a good book?
A. It should not aim at a narrow audience.
B. It should not be attractive to young readers.
C. It should be based on original ideas.
D. It should not include too much conversation.
47. In Mollie Hunter's opinion, which of the following is one sign of a poor writer?
A. Being poor in life experience. B. Being short of writing skills.
C. The weakness of description. D. The absence of a story.
48. What do we learn about Mollie Hunter as a young child?
A. She didn't expect to become a writer.
B. She didn't enjoy writing stories.
C. She didn't have any particular ambitions.
D. She didn't respect her teacher's views.
49. What's the writer's purpose in this text?
A. To describe Mollie Hunter's most successful books.
B. To share her enjoyment of Mollie Hunter's books.
C. To introduce Mollie Hunter's work to a wider audience.
D. To provide information for Mollie Hunter's existing readers.
Geniuses amaze us, impress us and make us all a little jealous．How do they differ from the average person? Scientists are working hard to figure out that answer．Tune in to the National Geographic Channel to find out about the discoveries they’re making in the series My Brilliant Brain.
When Marc Yu was only two years old, he began to play the piano．After a year, he started learning pieces by Beethoven．Now he’s a world-famous concert pianist at age eight．He learns newer and more difficult pieces with ease and can identify any note he hears．He seems to be specially designed for music．In Born Genius, National Geographic looks at the science behind child prodigies (神童) to explain why some children seem to be born without limits.
Genius didn’t come naturally to Tommy McHugh．His came only after he nearly died from bleeding in his brain．After recovering, McHugh’s head was filled with new thoughts and pictures．So, he began to express them in the form of poetry and art．Now, he’s a seemingly unstoppable creative machine．Sufferers of autism and brain injury have shown that great mental ability can sometimes come from damage or disease．Accidental Genius explores this puzzling relationship.
Can normal people be trained to be geniuses? Susan Polger has shown no signs of extraordinary intelligence．Yet, during her childhood, she studied thousands of chess patterns and learned to recognize them immediately．As a result, she was able to beat skilled adult players by age 10 and can now play up to five games at the same time without even seeing the boards．Make Me a Genius examines what it takes to turn an ordinary brain into that of a genius.
If becoming a genius were easy, we’d all be one．Yet, there is much more to super intelligence than simply being born lucky．Learn more about amazing brains this month on National Geographic’s My Brilliant Brain.
57．My Brilliant Brains is most probably from _______.
A．a website B．the radio C．a magazine D．a newspaper
58．The author takes Marc Yu as an example to show that a child prodigy is.
A．a person who learns something easily B．a child who is eager to learn new things
C．a student who practices an instrument a lot D．a kid who works hard to do well in school
59．Which of the following is NOT true according to the passage?
A．New things about the brain are still being discovered.
B．People without natural abilities can learn to do things well.
C．Some people naturally have more active brains.
D．People are usually smarter when they recover from brain injury.
60．The author develops the passage mainly by .
A．providing typical examples B．following t
he natural time order
C．presenting a cause and analyzing its effects D．comparing opinions from different scientists