Which part of the world has the most nearsighted students? Just look around you– it’s East Asia. Nine in ten school leavers in major East Asian cities are nearsighted, according to the BBC. Experts say books and video games are not to blame (责备). East Asian students, they say, aren’t getting enough sunlight.
People become nearsighted because their eyeballs grow out of shape and light entering their eyes cannot focus correctly. The body can produce a chemical called dopamine (多巴胺) to stop eyeballs from changing shape. And guess what scientists have just discovered? Sunlight can help our bodies produce more dopamine, reported AFP.
According to the study, primary school students in Singapore spend only 30 minutes outdoors every day; in Australia, by contrast (相反), kids spend about three hours a day outside. As a result, fewer children in Australia are nearsighted – only 10 percent, compared with 90 percent in Singapore.
“Children in East Asia just go to school, go home and stay inside. They study and they watch television,” Ian Morgan of the Australian National University told AFP.
But being a bookworm or a couch potato does not directly harm the eyes, added Morgan. “As long as they get outside, it doesn’t seem to matter how much study they do,” he explained. “There are some kids who study hard and get outside and play hard and they are generally fine. The ones who are at major risk are the ones who study hard and don’t get outside. As a result of massive (巨大的) educational pressures and the construction (构成) of a child’s day, the amount of time they spend outside in bright light is minimized.”
Experts suggest children should stay outside for two to three hours every day. This can include time spent in the playground and walking to and from school.What is the main reason for the large number of nearsighted students in East Asia?
| A．Too much reading or gaming. | B．Being short of sunlight. |
| C．Genetic (基因) reasons. | D．Being short of exercise. |
How long do experts suggest children stay outside every week?
| A．Two to three hours. | B．Fourteen to twenty-one hours. |
| C．Two to three days. | D．Over twenty-one hours. |
In the writer’s opinion, why can’t East Asian students get enough bright light?
| A．Because they don’t like sports. |
| B．Because their parents don’t allow them to. |
| C．Because they have great pressures from study. |
| D．Because they spend more time playing video games. |
According to the passage, which of the following statements is TRUE?
| A．Dopamine is a chemical that causes eyeballs to grow out of shape. |
| B．Dopamine can stop light entering the eyes from focusing correctly. |
| C．Spending time in the sun can make the loss of dopamine in the body. |
| D．The more dopamine a person has in their body, the better eyesight he or she has. |
Chinese space trainer Wang Yuan has been chosen as one of the volunteers for the Mars-500 test project. He was very happy to be chosen and will accept the meaningful challenge(挑战) Another five volunteers are all space lovers., including three Russians, an Italy-Colombian and a Frenchman. They are about to feel what it’s like to travel to Mars, only without leaving the earth. They are locked up together for a year and a half under a similar condition to the red planet during the whole process. So the experiment is called Mars-500.
When reporters asked what they would miss most during the 520-day special life, French trainer Charles said:”For me, it will be mainly my family, the sun and fresh air.”
The Mars-500 test will be in a special building in Moscow, Russia. Although the people won’t leave the building, they will fell as if they are on a real trip to the Mars. The most difficult thing will be to be separated(分离) from the people that they used to live with. The trainer won’t see sunsets, sunrises, won’t feel rain for 18 months. That will be hard.
The main task is to study the “Man and environment”. It’ll care about the astronauts’ getting experience and physical effects. The 520-day-test is divided into three parts,the first 250days to Mars, the middle 30days of landing on Mars, the last 240 days to return to the earth. Everyone will stay there alone for a long time and will work lonely. They will have to make decisions themselves and only then report to the earth, and the earth will tell them whether they do the right thing or not.
Each astronaut is preparing for the great challenge. It is learned that they will be launched（发射）early in June. And the experiment will end in November 2011. _______ members were chosen as volunteers.
| A．Five | B．Six | C．Three | D．Four |
The most difficult thing for the trainers is ______.
| A．no vegetables to eat |
| B．they can’t watch TV |
| C．they can’t see many people |
| D．they must lie all day |
Mars-500 test will be done in ______
| A．Moscow | B．a red planet |
| C．November | D．Xichang |
It will take trainers _______ days to land on Mars.
| A．250 | B．30 | C．240 | D．520 |
Which sentence is NOT true about the 520-day-test?
| A．The trainers won’t see rain or snow |
| B．The experiment will begin in June. |
| C．Trainers are all astronauts. |
| D．Trainers will report to the earth. |
long ago people made fires from lightning(闪电)。 But they had to keep the fire burning, for they couldn’t start it again if there was no lightning. Later, they found out hitting two piece of stone together could make a spark (火花). The spark could fire dry leaves. In this way they could make the fire again if it went out. Then people also learned to make a fire by rubbing. They made a hole on a big piece of wood and put a smaller stick into the hole. They turned the stick again and again. After a few minutes they got a fire.
As years went by, people learned other ways to make a fire. Sometimes they used the heat from sun. they held a piece of glass in the right way and made a piece of paper on fire.
About two centuries ago, people began to make matches (火柴). Matches brought people a quick and easy way to make fire. Today matches are still being used, but people have more new ways to make fires. One of them is to use an electric fire starter. Of course an electric fire starter is much more expensive than a box of matches. But it is more useful. A spark can _________.
| A．fire any leaves | B．burn anything |
| C．burn dry leaves | D．keep fires burning |
We can also get a fire by _________.
| A．making a hole on a big piece of wood |
| B．putting a smaller stick into the hole |
| C．turning the stick hard for a while |
| D．doing all the above together |
Matches have been used _________.
| A．for about two thousand years |
| B．for about two hundred years |
| C．since people began to use fire for cooking |
| D．since people used the heat from the sun. |
From this passage we know _______.
| A．using matches is the easiest and most useful way to make fires |
| B．people don’t use matches any more since they had electric fire starters |
| C．today there are only two ways to make fires |
| D．some forest fires happen from lightning |
Choose the right order of the ways to make fires people got to know _________.
a. with a match
b. from the sun
c. from lightning
d. by rubbing
e. with an electric fire starter.
| A．d ,b, c, a, e | B．d, c, b, a, e |
| C．c, d, b, a, e | D．c, b, d, a, e |
| ENVIRONMENT |
80~101 |
| RIVERS |
114~115 |
| PASSPORTS |
142~144 |
| EDUCATION |
284~321 |
| ANIMALS |
493~496 |
| HOLIDAYS |
841~873 |
| SPORTS |
884~978 |
From the envelope（信封）, we know that _________.
| A．the letter is from Australia to China |
| B．the letter is written by Wang Lei. |
| C．Kate is a middle school student |
| D．Wang Lei and Kate are good friends. |
This is part of a Quick Reference Index(索引). If you want to learn how to surf, you shouldbegin your search about ________.
| A．RIVERS on page 114. | B．EDUCATION on page 284 |
| C．HOLIDAY on page 841 | D．SPORTS on page 884 |
Which of the following is right according to (根据) the words on a bottle of medicine?
| A．The medicine is used for headache |
| B．The medicine is a kind of pills. |
| C．people at the age of 13 should take 3 teaspoonfuls of the medicine a day if they need. |
| D．You can keep this medicine in the fridge and you should give other people the medicine left after the tenth month of 2004. |
You can see the notice _________.
| A．on a fish farm | B．in a fish market |
| C．in a fish restaurant | D．on the office walls |
You can buy records _______.
| A．with $5.2 less than usual for Each one |
| B．of different kinds but no tapes are sold there. |
| C．at five o’clock in the afternoon. |
| D．over the phone |
We were going to play against a team from a country school.They didn’t come until the last minute. They looked worse than we had thought. They were wearing dirty blue trousers and looked like farm boys.We sat down for a rest. We felt that we didn’t need any practice against a team like that.
The game began. One of us got the ball and he shot a long pass to our forward （前锋）. From out of nowhere a boy in an old T-shirt stopped the ball and with beautiful style, he shot and got two points. Then another two points in a minute. Soon the game was all over. We were beaten by the country team.
After that, we thought a lot. We certainly learned that even though your team is very good, you can’t look down upon the others and still need to do you best. And the most important lesson we learned was: One can’t judge (判断) a person or a team only by their clothes. The team from the country were in old clothes so the writer’s team _______.
| A．looked down upon them |
| B．couldn’t win |
| C．didn’t like the city boy |
| D．were afraid of them |
The country team arrived so late that _________.
| A．nobody saw them |
| B．the writer’s team were angry |
| C．they had no time to warm up（热身） |
| D．they looked worse |
The team from the country won because _________.
| A．they were in old clothes |
| B．they didn’t practice before the game |
| C．they practiced before the game |
| D．the team was better than the writer’s |
From the text, we can guess the writer’s team is _________.
| A．a basketball from a country school |
| B．a football team from a school in the city |
| C．a basketball team from a school in the city |
| D．a football team from the country |
The writer’s team learned a lot from the game. They got to know how to ______.
| A．do better from then on |
| B．fight against the country boys |
| C．play against a weak team |
| D．judge a man or a team by clothes |
We are learning English, but how can we learn English well? A student can know a lot about English, but maybe he can’t speak English.
If you want to know how to swim, you must get into the river. And if you want to be a football player, you must play football. So, you see, you can learn by using it. You must listen to your teacher in class. You must speak English to your classmates every day and also you must write something in English. Then one day you may find your English very good. You know a lot about English, but maybe _______ it.
| A．you can speak |
| B．you can study |
| C．you can’t speak |
| D．you can’t study |
You must get into the water_______.
| A．to learn how to swim |
| B．to skate |
| C．to jump |
| D．to play |
Do you want to be a football player? Please_________.
| A．buy a football |
| B．play football |
| C．have some lessons |
| D．read some books |
If you want to study English well, you must often________.
| A．speak English to your classmates |
| B．write something in English |
| C．listen to your teacher in class |
| D．A, B and C |
Which is the best title(标题)for this passage?
| A．How to study swimming |
| B．To be a good player |
| C．How to study English well |
| D．To learn English well is important |