WhydoAmericansstrugglewithwatc-优题课

“If you talk to the plants, they will grow faster and the effect is even better if you’re a woman.” Researchers at Royal Horticultural Society carried out an experiment to find that the voice of a woman gardener makes plants grow faster.
The experiment lasted a month and by the end of the study scientists managed to discover that tomato plants grew up two inches taller when women gardeners talked to them instead of male.
Sarah Darwin was the one making the plants registered the best growth. Her voice was the most “inspiring” for plants than those of nine other gardeners when reading a passage from The Origin of Species. The great-great-granddaughter of the famous botanist(植物学家) Charles Darwin found that her plant grew about two inches taller than the plant of the best male gardener.
Colin Crosbie, Garden Superintendent at RHS, said that the finding cannot yet be explained. He assumes that women have a greater range of pitch（音高） and tone（音调） which might have a certain effect on the sound waves that reach the plant. “Sound waves are an environmental effect just like rain or light ,”said Mr Grosbie.
The study began in April at RHS Garden Wisley in Survey. Scientists started with open auditions(听力) for the people who were asked to record passages from John Wyndham's The Day of the Triffids, Shakespeare’s A Midsummer's Night Dream and Darwin's The Origin of Species.
Afterwards researchers selected a number of different voices and played them to 10 tomato plants during a period of a month. Each plant had headphones（耳机） connected to it. Through the headphones the sound waves could hit the plants. It was discovered that plants that “listened” to female voices on average grew taller by an inch in comparison to plants that heard male voices.
Miss Darwin said, “I think it is an honor to have a voice that can make tomatoes grow, and especially fitting because for a number of years I have been studying wild tomatoes from the Galapagos Island at the Natural History Museum in London.”
What does the passage talk about?

A．Plants enjoy men’s voices than women’s.

B．A botanical experiment in a museum.

C．Voice’s influence on plant growing.

D．Strange phenomenon（现象） at Royal Horticultural Society.

What does the underlined sentence in paragraph 4 mean?

A．Plants need sound as well as rain and light.

B．Sound is basic for the plant to grow.

C．Sound has a good effect as rain or light does.

D．Plants can’t live without sound, rain or light.

Sarah Darwin is most likely a (an)_____.

A．botanist	B．gardener
C．astronomer	D．environmentalist

What can we learn from the passage?

A．The experiment ended in May.

B．Scientist can explain the findings clearly.

C．Plants enjoy listening to the passages from masterpieces.

D．The findings are of great importance to human beings.

Everyone knows that eating too much junk food is not good to our health. Yet, what is it about junk food that is so completely irresistible(无可抗拒的)? For one thing, it’s everywhere. From chips in fast food restaurants to candy in supermarkets, junk food always seems available. Thankfully, science is now providing new clues to help us reduce snacking.
Make friends with dainty(讲究的) eaters.
Studies have found that people tend to increase or reduce the amount of food they eat depending on what their companions are taking in.
See happy movies… and always get the smaller bag of popcorn(爆米花).
According to some experts, people eat up to 29% more popcorn if they are watching a sad or serious movie, compared to when they are watching a comedy. Viewers consumed almost 200 calories more when snacking from a large bucket, as opposed to when given a medium-sized container.
Eat breakfast.
Nutritionists have gone back and forth（来来回回）about the question of how much to eat in the morning, but new studies suggest that consuming a good breakfast is a must. Surveys on long-term weight-loss show that two key factors in keeping weight down are eating breakfast and exercising.
Divide your food and conquer overeating.
Any kind of dividing your food into portions slows down your eating. Any kind of marker makes you aware of what you’re eating and of portion size. Researchers advise reallocating（再分配）snack foods into small plastic bags. It sounds simplistic, but it works.
Why do people eat too much junk food though it is bad for our health?

A．Because it’s available here and there.

B．It’s delicious from chips to candy.

C．It’s easily taken everywhere.

D．It’s easily bought in fast food restaurants.

Which of the following is TRUE according to the passage?

A．If people are watching a tragedy, they eat up to 29% more popcorn.

B．People are likely to eat more food when staying with friends.

C．Nutritionists have the same opinion about how much to eat in the morning.

D．People prefer to snake from a large bucket.

What will he or she do if he or she wants to lose weight?

A．To eat nothing in the morning.

B．To get up early and to go to bed late.

C．To eat breakfast and exercise.

D．To snack from a medium-size bucket.

What is the text mainly about the rule(s)?

A．how to make friends with dainty eaters.

B．how much to eat in the morning.

C．how to control overeating.

D．how to eat properly and healthily.

One of the major problems in our economy（经济）is inflation（通货膨胀）, a situation in which prices are going up faster than salary（工资）. Thus, a person has to work more hours to pay for the same thing.
For example, let’s say that this year a loaf of bread costs $1.00 and average salary in the United Sates is $10.00 per hour. That means a person could earn enough money to buy a loaf of bread in one-tenth of an hour, or six minutes. Then, halfway through the year, the price of the bread goes up to $1.25, while salary stay the same. That means that a person now has to work one-eighth of an hour—seven and a half minutes to buy the same loaf of bread.
Now let’s say that at the end of the year, salary go up to $11.00 per hour, but the price of bread goes up to $1.50. Now a person has to work more than one-seventh of an hour—over eight minutes—to buy loaves of bread, employees will have less money left over to buy other things, Inflation means that the same money buys fewer things and everybody’s standard of living goes down, even if salaries are going up.
Some kinds of inflation are worse than others. Moderate inflation does not distort (祖曲)relative prices or incomes seriously. Galloping inflation happens rapidly, say at a rate of 100percent or more within a year. And then there’s hyperinflation—inflation so serious that people try to get rid of their currency（货币）before prices rise further and make the money worthless. Times of hyperinflation are usually characterized by social and political disorder.
The passage mainly wants to.

A．list major economic

B．discuss something about inflation

C．explain why bread prices increase

D．state the types of inflation

Why is “ a loaf of bread” repeatedly mentioned?

A．To express dissatisfaction with the price of bread

B．To show the effect of price changes

C．To compare bread with other foods

D．To explain social and political disorder

What happens when prices go up but salaries remain the same?

A．The government will do more about the economy

B．Workers might lose their jobs if they show dissatisfaction

C．People will save money rather than spend it.

D．People must work longer to buy the same things

Which of the following belongs to the type of moderate inflation?

A．People try to get rid of their currency

B．Inflation occurs at a rate of 100percent in a year

C．Incomes and relative prices rise slightly

D．There is social and political disorder

Tom appeared on the sidewalk with a bucket of whitewash and a longhandled brush. He stopped by the fence in front of the house where he lived with his aunt Polly. He looked at it, and all joy left him. The fence was long and high. He put the brush into the whitewash and moved it along the top of the fence. He repeated the operation. He felt he could not continue and sat down.
He knew that his friends would arrive soon with all kinds of interesting plans for the day. They would walk past him and laugh. They would make jokes about his having to work on a beautiful summer Saturday. The thought burned him like fire.
He put his hand into his pockets and took out all that he owned. Perhaps he could find some way to pay someone to do the whitewashing for him. But there was nothing of value in his pockets—nothing that could buy even half an hour of freedom. So he put the bits of toys back into his pockets and gave up the idea.
At this dark and hopeless moment, a wonderful idea came to him. It filled his mind with a great, bright light. Calmly he picked up the brush and started again to whitewash.
While Tom was working, Ben Rogers appeared. Ben was eating an apple as he walked along the street. As he walked along it, he was making noises like the sound of a riverboat. First he shouted loudly, like a boat captain. Then he said “Ding---Dong---Dong”， “Ding---Dong---Dong” again and again, like the bell of a riverboat. And he made other strange noises. When he came close to Tom, he stopped.
Tom went on whitewashing. He did not look at Ben. Ben stared a moment and then said: “Hello! I'm going swimming, but you can't go, can you？”
No answer. Tom moved his brush carefully along the fence and looked at the result with the eye of an artist. Ben came nearer. Tom's mouth watered for the apple, but he kept on working.
Ben said, “Hello, old fellow, you've got to work, hey？”
Tom turned suddenly and said, “Why, it's you, Ben! I wasn't noticing.”
“Say --- I'm going swimming. Don't you wish you could? But of course you'd rather work --- wouldn't you? Of course you would.”
Tom looked at the boy a bit, and said “What do you call work？”
“Why, isn't that work？”
Tom went back to his whitewashing, and answered carelessly.
“Well, maybe it is, and maybe it isn't. All I know is, it suits Tom Sawyer.”
“Oh come, now, you don't mean to say that you like it？”
The brush continued to move.
“Like it? Well, I don't see why I shouldn't like it. Does a boy get a chance to whitewash a fence every day？”
Ben stopped eating his apple. Tom moved his brush back and forth, stepped back to look at the result, added a touch here and there, and stepped back again. Ben watched every move and got more and more interested. Soon he said，“Say, Tom, let me whitewash a little.”
Tom thought for a moment, and was about to agree, but he changed his mind.
“No---no---it won't do, Ben. You see, Aunt Polly wants this fence to be perfect. It has got to be done very carefully. I don't think there is one boy in a thousand, maybe two thousand, that can do it well enough.”
“No---is that so? Oh come, now —let me just try. Only just a little.”
“Ben, I'd like to, but if it isn't done right, I'm afraid Aunt Polly … ”
“Oh, I'll be careful. Now let me try. Say —I'll give you the core of my apple.”
“Well, here --- No, Ben, now don't. I'm afraid …”
“I'll give you all of it.”
Tom gave up the brush with unwillingness on his face, but joy in his heart. And while Ben worked at the fence in the hot sun, Tom sat under a tree, eating the apple, and planning how to get more help. There were enough boys. Each one came to laugh, but remained to whitewash. By the time Ben was tired, Tom sold the next chance to Billy for a kite; and when Billy was tired, Johnny bought it for a dead rat —and so on, hour after hour. And when the middle of the afternoon came, Tom had won many treasures.
And he had not worked. He had had a nice idle time all the time, with plenty of company, and the fence had been whitewashed three times. If he hadn't run out of whitewash, Tom would have owned everything belonging to his friends.
He had discovered a great law of human action, namely, that in order to make a man or a boy want a thing, it is only necessary to make the thing difficult to get.
How many characters are mentioned in this story?

A．4.	B．5.
C．6.	D．7

Why did Tom take all his bits of toys out of his pockets?

A．Because he was tired and wanted to play with his toys.

B．Because he wanted to throw his toys away.

C．Because he wanted to give his toys to his friends.

D．Because he wanted to know if he could buy help with his toys.

Tom was about to agree to let Ben whitewash when he changed his mind because ________.

A．Tom wanted to do the whitewashing by himself

B．Tom planned to make Ben give up his apple first

C．Tom was unwilling to let Ben do the whitewashing

D．Tom was afraid Ben would do the whitewashing better

We can learn from the passage that ________.

A．Tom was interested in whitewashing the fence

B．Tom had a lot of friends who are ready to help others

C．Tom was unwilling to whitewash the fence, but he managed to let other boys do it for him

D．Tom was good at whitewashing the fence, so he looked at the result of his work with the eye of an artist

What made Ben Rogers eagerly give up his apple and offer to brush the fence for Tom?

A．His warm heart and kindness to friends.

B．Tom's threat.

C．His curiosity about Tom's brushing job.

D．Aunt Polly's idea.

Which of the following is the most suitable title for this passage?

A．The Happy Whitewasher

B．Tom And His Fellows

C．Whitewashing A Fence

D．Make The Things Difficult To Get

Being young is great. Most of the parts of your body still work great, you have a full head of hair, you’re energetic, and you have a world of opportunity in front of you. However, there’s going to come a time when you start to get older. And as you get older, you’ll have new responsibilities, complete independence, and perhaps most importantly, less time to recover from mistakes.
You see, we all make mistakes in life. Maybe you spent more money than you should have on a car, you passed up on a great job opportunity, or you didn’t try as hard as you could have in school. It’s a part of life and we learn from it. But there are certain mistakes that are much better made while you’re still young and have plenty of time to recover.
I’m definitely not telling you that you should purposely go out and make these mistakes (because they’re a pain to recover from). But these are all mistakes that are much better made when you’re younger so that you can learn from them and not have them ruin your entire life.
Starting the wrong career
Wouldn’t you hate to be 45 years old and discover that you absolutely hate what you do for a living? It’s a reality that a lot of people face and it can be difficult to fix. You see, when you’re 23 and find out you don’t like the career path you’ve chosen, you can easily explore new career options.
We no longer live in an age when people are expected to stay with one company until they retire. You can bounce around a little bit and find out what you want to do. When you get older, just switching careers whenever you want isn’t as simple.
You have to consider your family, retirement, the difficulties you might run into with starting from the bottom in a new industry, and plenty of other issues that someone in their early 20’s just doesn’t have to deal with.
Dating the wrong person
The divorce rate in the U.S is extremely high. Other parts of the world aren’t doing too much better either. While everyone gets divorced for their own reasons, I think we can all agree that it’s better to find out that the person you’re with is wrong for you sooner rather than later.
Hopefully you find out whether or not the person you’re with is right for you before you tie the knot, because around 50% of first marriages end in divorce.
Messing up your credit
Ruining your credit is never a good idea. Even if you ruin it while you’re young, it could affect you in the future. The upside of having bad credit while you’re young instead of older is that you have time to build it back up.
It can take 7-10 years to rebuild your credit if you have a history of late payments, loan defaults, foreclosures, or bankruptcy. During those 7-10 years, you’ll have a hard time financing anything unless you have a cosigner or put down a substantial down payment.
Most people tend to make most of the bigger purchases in life when they get older such as a house or their dream car. If you have bad credit, you can kiss all of that goodbye.
Making bad investments
If you’re investing money for your retirement, making bad decisions can mean you’ll be working your entire life. Whether you choose to pay someone to do the investing for you or handle it all yourself, it’s a lot better to take risks when you’re younger.
If you invest in stock or even real estate while you’re young and the market takes a hit, you’re not ruined. Investing is a long-term venture, so the younger you start, the more fluctuation you can withstand and still come out with a positive return.
Blowing your money
What would you do if you went broke at 60 years old? You would be working your behind off when you really should be relaxing and getting ready to retire soon.
But if you’re 25 and broke, you still have plenty of time to earn more money. Also, nobody will judge you because it’s not unusual for people in their 20’s to not have money these days. You might have blown your money on a nice car or have an obsession with all the newest gadgets.
When you get older, you’ll be able to look back and realize how dumb you were for spending $20,000 on a brand new car when you were only 20 years old. But when you’re older and waste your money, you’ll REALLY have nothing to show for it.
The following are all the advantages of being young EXCEPT ___________.

A．you have more time to recover from mistakes

B．most of the parts of your body still work great

C．you have many responsibilities and complete independence

D．you have a world of opportunity in front of you

You can bounce around a little bit and find out what you want to do. “Bounce” in this sentence is most similar in meaning to __________.

A．My father would burst into the kitchen bouncing a football.

B．The wind was bouncing the branches of the big oak trees.

C．I was an army brat, I always bounced a lot when I was young

D．The ex-boxer's job is to bounce people who want to enter this private club.

What does the author really mean by saying “it’s a lot better to take risks when you’re younger”?

A．You should purposely go out and make these mistakes so that you can learn from them and not have them ruin your entire life.

B．There are certain mistakes that are much better made while you’re still young and have plenty of time to recover.

C．When you get older, you’ll have rich experiences to share with your friends and families however dumb you were

D．The younger you start, the fewer risks you can withstand and still come out with a positive return.

We can infer from the passage that ___________.

A．about 50% of first marriages end in divorce in the U.S, much higher than other parts of the world

B．never tie the knot before you make sure he or she will not divorce you

C．it usually takes 7-10 years to rebuild one’s credit if it is broken for any reason

D．it’s unusual for people in their 20’s to have money these days

The author wrote this article mainly to tell the young ____________.

A．if you are to take risks, the earlier, the better

B．it’s better for the young to take any risk than the older

C．that they should make big purchases such as a house when they get older

D．if you don’t take risks when young, your youth will be dumb

A．by contrast	B．by space
C．by process	D．by classification

A．A TV interview.	B．A health report
C．A food advertisement.	D．A book review.