Most of us probably live without vegetables, but a world without chocolate? Now that would be hard! According to chocolate makers it could happen if we don’t act soon.
There are two main causes of the chocolate shortage --- chocolate’s growing popularity and less production of cocoa, the plant from which chocolate is made. With more and more people in India and China loving chocolate, not much can be done about the first cause.
Therefore, the only thing we can do is to increase cocoa production. However, new plant diseases and little rain in Ivory Coast and Ghana, the world’s largest producers, have reduced cocoa production by 40 percent in the past 10 years. What’s worse, many cocoa farmers in Africa and other cocoa-producing countries like Indonesia and Venezuela are changing to easier-to-grow crops such as corn or rubber. This way, the farmers can make more money.
To prevent more farmers from changing, researchers at the newly opened International Cocoa Control Centre, in the UK, are trying to create new cocoa plants that are stronger and faster growing. But first they must make sure the new plants are safe to grow. This takes a long time.
First, each new plant is stored at the Control Centre for six months to make sure it is healthy. It is then planted in the Centre’s fields, studied and tested for another two years. Only after scientists are certain that they’re disease-free, will the plants be sent to farmers in West Africa or wherever else they are needed.
To create new stronger types of cocoa, scientists at the Centre are combining the best parts from different cocoa plants. Though the world is facing a serious chocolate shortage, there is now hope!The first paragraph tells us that______.
| A．chocolate is healthier than vegetables |
| B．the world could soon be without chocolate |
| C．people love vegetables more than chocolate |
| D．it’s not necessary to eat so much chocolate |
In which countries has chocolate become more popular in recent years?
| A．Venezuela and Indonesia. |
| B．Ivory Coast and Ghana. |
| C．Indonesia and China. |
| D．China and India. |
Cocoa farmers are choosing to grow rubber and corn because these crops______.
| A．can make them more money |
| B．need less rain to grow |
| C．can be planted more times each year |
| D．are not damaged by plant diseases |
How long does it take scientists at the Centre to make sure a cocoa plant is safe to grow?
| A．6 months. | B．12 months. | C．24 months. | D．30 months. |
What is one of the purposes of the Cocoa Control Centre?
| A．To introduce cocoa production to more countries. |
| B．To provide more chocolate for British people. |
| C．To produce stronger types of cocoa plants. |
| D．To make sure that cocoa is healthy to eat. |
Songkran（泰国泼水节）is the traditional Thai New Year that starts on April 13 annually. It’s also callled the “Water Festival” because people believe that water will wash away bad luck and make people fresh.
On the day, we spinkle洒small drops of water to bless monks and elders. Their hands are spinkled with perfumed(有香味的) water. In addition, this festival is for rain because it is the hottest season.
Nowadays, during the Songkran Festival, people always wet down everybody who walks past their houses or walks down the streets with cups or buckets水桶 of water. Everyone gets wet, but it is all in a spirit of friendliness, blessing and fun. People who get wet actually do not get angry because they know that it is traditional.
People will go to the temples to bathe沐浴Buddha images佛像and give special food to the monks. People do good things such as fish or birds and other animals released释放from their cages. On this day, everywhere in Thailand, people celebrate and enjoy the festival, especiallly in the northern part of Thailand.
We can see many foreigners join in the events and enjoyed this festival with Thais. Everybody also enjoys public events such as beauty contests, parades游行, andmarching bands. 游行乐队
The Water Festival gives us freshness, happiness and fun because the weather is very hot. I hope everyone will travel to Thailand and enjoy this festival.The traditional Thai New Year ________.
| A．is celebrated at the beginning of each year. |
| B．comes three months before that of each countries. |
| C．is celebrated in a special way with its own activities. |
| D．is the same as in other parts of the world. |
People sprinkle water during the Songkran Festival, because they______.
| A．have nothing else to do |
| B．believe it will bring good luck |
| C．have too much water in their country |
| D．want to use water to fight with each other. |
When Thai New Year comes, people think it ________ to make others wet through.
| A．traditional | B．unfriendly | C．curious | D．strange |
Besides sprinkling water, people also_______ in this festival.
| A．invite honorable foreign guests to join in them |
| B．give freedom to some animals |
| C．attend rich feasts宴会 and have fun with others |
| D．bathe together to wash away bad luck |
In Canada you can find dogs, cats, horses, etc. in almost every family. These are th eir pets. People love these pets and have them as their good friends. Before they keep them in their houses, they take them to animal hospitals to give them injections(注射) so that they won’t carry diseases. They have special animal food stores, though they can get animal food in almost every kind of stores. Some people spend around two hundred Canadian dollars a month on animal food. When you visit people’s houses, they would be very glad to show you their pets and they are very proud of them. You will also find that almost every family has a bird feeder in their garden. All kinds of birds are welcomed to come and have a good meal. They are free to come and go and nobody is allowed to kill any animal in Canada. They have a law against killing wild animals. If you killed an animal , you would be punished. If an animal happened to get run over by a car, people would be very sad about it.
People in Canada have many reasons to like animals. One of them might be: Their family ties are not as close as ours. When children grow up, they leave their parents and start their own life. Then the old will feel lonely. But pets can solve this problem. They can be good friends and never leave them alone.The passage mainly talks about ______.
| A．how to keep diseases from pets |
| B．Canadians have pets as friends |
| C．how to take good care of pets |
| D．life of the old in Canada |
Pets are given injections in animal hospitals ______.
| A．in order to keep them safe | B．after being taken home |
| C．because they carry diseases | D．because they are sick |
The word “bird feeder” in the second paragraph probably means ______.
| A．a person who gives food to birds |
| B．a container that has food for birds |
| C．something that catches birds |
| D．an animal that eats birds |
Since the end of World War I(WWI) in 1918, Canadians, and millions of others around the world have paused at the 11th hour of the 11th day of the 11th month to honour the sacrifice our soldiers have made in different ways, fighting for the freedoms that we all enjoy today.
Known as Remembrance Day, the day originated as a tribute to the soldiers of WWI, a dark period for our young country, which claimed the lives of over 60,000 military personnel and civilians and over 16 million dead worldwide. As there are no more surviving soldiers of WWI, today we rely on the wisdom and words of those soldiers who fought in the wars that followed and this day now also recognizes their heroic contribution. They tell us to always remember what those brave souls fought for, and all they ask in return is that we never forget.
That’s why we wear the red poppy(罂粟花)；that’s why when we see a soldier in uniform we should stop him or her and say “Thank you”; that’s why we take a pause from our busy lives for two short minutes today to honor that request. Yet this message is fading away, year after year. Take for example the terrible decision to allow parents to excuse students from Remembrance Day ceremonies at school. Not only is this disrespectful, it distances the student from his or her classmates.
It is difficult to understand why any Canadian parent would want to remove their child from the time-honored tradition of reading the poem in Flanders Fields, while a wreath of poppies is laid. It is more important than ever to teach school-aged children about our history, no matter how violent it was. Sheltering them from the realities of war is a great disservice. Understanding why conflicts happened, or happen today can help shape choices and decisions they make as adults.
Of course, because we live in a free society, we cannot force an individual to do something. It is unfortunate, but some parents now have their child “opt-out” of the services. These people should be reminded they are free to make such choices only because of the men and women the rest of us are remembering.Which of the following is NOT mentioned as a Remembrance Day activity today?
| A．Stopping at 11a.m. to remember the war dead. |
| B．Listening to stories told by WWI soldiers. |
| C．Wearing a red poppy to show respect. |
| D．Showing gratitude to soldiers in uniform. |
What can we learn from the passage?
| A．War history is too violent for school children |
| B．The writer was once a soldier in the Canadian army |
| C．Few students are willing to take part in Remembrance Day ceremonies. |
| D．More parents are keeping their children away from frightening war stories. |
The underlined word “It” in the last paragraph probably refers to_______.
| A．the death of so many soldiers in wars |
| B．the fact that there were so many wars after WWI. |
| C．people’s ungratefulness for the freedom they have. |
| D．removing children from Remembrance Day events. |
The writer believes that ______.
| A．the sacrifice of the soldiers should always be remembered. |
| B．Remembrance Day is becoming less important for soldiers. |
| C．school no longer think Remembrance Day is necessary. |
| D．people should be forced to learn about the realities of war. |
A newly-published study has shown that loneliness can spread from one person to another, like a disease. Researchers used information from the Framingham Study, which began in 1948. The Framingham Study gathers information about physical and mental health, personal behavior and diet. At first, the study involved about 5,000 people in the American state of Massachusetts. Now, more than 12,000 individuals are taking part.
Information from the Framingham Study showed earlier that happiness can spread from person to person. So can behaviors like littering and the ability to stop smoking.
University of Chicago psychologist John Cacioppo led the recent study. He and other researchers attempted to show how often people felt lonely. They found that the feeling of loneliness spread through social groups.
Having a social connection with a lonely person increased the chances that another individual would feel lonely. In fact, a friend of a lonely person was 52% more likely to develop feelings of loneliness. A friend of that person was 25% more likely. The researchers say this shows that a person could indirectly be affected by someone’s loneliness.
The effect was strongest among friends. Neighbors were the second most affected group. The effect was weaker on husbands and wives, and brothers and sisters. The researchers also found that loneliness spread more easily among women than men.
The New York Times newspaper reports that, on average, people experience feelings of loneliness about 48 days a year. It also found that every additional friend can decrease loneliness by about five percent, or two and a half fewer lonely days.
Loneliness has been linked to health problems like depression and sleeping difficulties. The researchers believe that knowing the causes of loneliness could help in reducing it.
The study suggests that people can take steps to stop the spread of loneliness. They can do this by helping individuals they know who may be experiencing loneliness. The result can be helpful to the whole social group.What is TRUE about the Framingham Study?
| A．It was only conducted in 1948. |
| B．It involves more than 12,000 participants. |
| C．It was led by John Cacioppo. |
| D．It showed that any behavior could spread. |
Which statement about the spread of loneliness is true?
| A．The spreading effect was the second strongest among friends. |
| B．No spreading effect was found on husbands and wives. |
| C．Women are more likely to be affected than men. |
| D．Brothers are more easily affected than neighbors. |
What is the main idea of the passage?
| A．Actions should be taken to help lonely people. |
| B．People feel lonely for many reasons. |
| C．Ways to fight against loneliness. |
| D．Lonely people can affect others. |
Ridgewood is a small, quiet town 20 miles from Manhattan. It is a typical suburban town, perfect for raising children away from the fast pace of the city. However, some Ridgewood kids feel as upset as if they were on the city’s busy streets. In addition to hours of homework, Ridgewood’s children are occupied with afterschool activities — from swimming to piano to religious classes.
Out of desperation one day, the town decided to schedule another activity. This one was called “Ridgewood Family Night — Ready, Set, Relax!” Instead of schedules filled with sports, music, or overtime at the office, some of the town’s 25,000 residents decided to take the night off and stay home. For a few months before Family Night, a committee of volunteers worked hard to spread the word. Younger students took “Save the Date for Me” leaflets home to their parents. The mayor issued a statement, and schools and clubs agreed to cancel homework and meetings so families could relax and be together.
The tension between a hope for a more relaxed lifestyle and the knowledge that the benchmark for success has been raised in recent years weighs heavily on the minds of the townspeople. Some parents like to recall a different kind of childhood, one without so many scheduled afterschool activities. However, these same parents feel obliged to make sure their children are prepared to survive in today’s high-pressure work environment. They are afraid that any gap in their children’s physical or intellectual development might mean they won’t be admitted to the “right” universities and won’t succeed in a more and more competitive world.
Nevertheless, it seems that Family Night worked, at least to a point. Cars moved easily around Ridgewood’s normally busy downtown streets, and stores and restaurants saw a drop in business. Some families ate supper together for the first time in months.
Initially, there was great hope of taking back their lives. But sadly, few families believe that one night will change their lives. Many are sure that they will fall back into the habit of over-scheduling their children to be overachieving adults.The writer describes Ridgewood as a town where ________.
| A．residents take little notice of education |
| B．children are stressful and over expected |
| C．parents are concerned about children’s safety |
| D．children lead a life of relaxed, ordinary rhythms |
According to the passage, which of the following isNOTtrue about the Family Night?
| A．Schools assigned no homework. |
| B．Fewer people ate in the restaurants. |
| C．The streets were less crowded. |
| D．People enjoyed meeting each other. |
According to the passage, the parents in Ridgewood ________.
| A．have conflicting desires about what experiences to offer their children |
| B．are happy with the lifestyle they have chosen for themselves and the children |
| C．believe that it is their duty to make a change for the stressful life style |
| D．are worried about their children’s lacking of big ambition |
We may get the conclusion from the passage that ________.
| A．the concept of Family Night will become a regular part of life in Ridgewood |
| B．Ridgewood people believe the Family Night will change their way of living |
| C．Family Night is not as popular as people have originally thought |
| D．schools are worried about students being given too much free time |