There have always been a lot of commonly believed but false ideas about being fat and doing exercise. Some people believe that they can’t help putting on weight as they get older, while others hold that if they stop exercising, their muscles will turn into fat. Here are some more myths:
I’ll never lose weight---I come from a fat family
Wrong! While we can’t change the body type we are born with, we can’t blame our genes for making us fat. There’s plenty of evidence that fatness runs in families, and the main reason is that they share the same habits of eating too much and exercising too little.
I am fat because I burn calories slowly
Wrong! Fatness is not caused by a slow metabolism(新陈代谢). In fact, although fat people consume 消耗more energy than slim people, they also fail to realize how much they eat! Keeping a diary can help you work out your daily food intake more accurately.
Exercise is boring
Wrong! Anything will become boring if you do it repetitively. The key is to develop a balanced and varied多样的 program that’s fun as well as progressive. If you enjoy a Sunday walk, take a difference route. If you do yoga, try a tai chi class. If you like swimming, set yourself a distance or time challenge.
No pain, no gain
Wrong! Exercise is not meant to hurt. Indeed, pain is your body telling you something’s wrong, and continuing to exercise could lead to serious injury. You may experience mild discomfort as you begin to exercise regularly, but this is adapting to the positive changes in your lifestyle and the aches should disappear relatively quickly. If you don’t, rest and seek medical advice.What does the author think about being fat?
| A．It is the family genes that make people fat. |
| B．People are fat because they consume too little energy. |
| C．A diary of exercise can prevent people from becoming fat. |
| D．It is the result of people’s unbalanced lifestyle. |
According to the author, how can we make exercise more interesting?
| A．By taking varied exercise. |
| B．By choosing simple exercise. |
| C．By doing regular exercise. |
| D．By sticking to（坚持）outdoor exercise. |
What is the purpose of the passage?
| A．To state the importance of keeping fit. |
| B．To clarify(澄清) some misunderstandings about fatness and exercise. |
| C．To test what has long been believed about keeping fit. |
| D．To explain some medical facts about being fat and doing exercise. |
Have you ever heard anyone say “It’s raining cats and dogs”? It means “It’s raining hard!”
But sometimes cats and dogs do drop from the sky! Here’s how it happens.
Not so long ago, a country far away had many large rats. The people there said, “ We need cats!” So cats were sent to them by airplane. But the country had many mountains. It was hard for an airplane to land. So the cats came down by parachute(降落伞). Did the cats like the ride? They didn’t say they didn’t! And today they are still catching rats!
In another country far away, there is snow the year around. People sometimes got lost in it.
“We need big dogs!” the people said, “The dogs could find people lost in the snow. The dogs could help bring them home. Where can we get big dogs?”
A man across the sea had big dogs to sell. “I will send dogs to you,” he said. “ I have some very big ones. They can find people lost in the snow.”He sent the dogs by airplane.
But the airplane did not land in the snow. The dogs came down by parachute ---- you guessed it !Did the dogs like the ride? They didn’t say they didn’t! And today they are well and happy.They find anyone who gets lost in the snow. Then they help him get home. Good dogs!Remember it, so you can say, “ Yes, it does rain cats and dogs sometimes. They came down by parachute!”The underlined word “ it” In Paragraph 2 refers to __________.
| A．the weather |
| B．the saying “It’s raining cats and dogs.” |
| C．the saying “It’s raining hard.” |
| D．the fact that real cats and dogs drop from the sky. |
Cats and dogs drop from the sky because ______.
| A．there are many mountains in the country. |
| B．it snows the year around in the country. |
| C．was hard for a plane to land in the two countries. |
| D．coming down by parachute could save money. |
The main purpose of the passage is to _________________.
| A．tell the readers cats and dogs do drop from the sky |
| B．tell the readers of a new meaning about an old saying. |
| C．show cats and dogs are our good friends. |
| D．show parachute is an important |
Welcome to one of the largest collections of footwear（鞋类）in the world that will make you green with envy. Here at the Footwear Museum you can see exhibits（展品）from all over the world. You can find out about shoes worn by everyone from the Ancient Egyptians to pop stars.
| Room 1 The celebrity（名人）footwear section is probably the most popular in the entire museum. Started in the 1950s there is a wide variety of shoes and boots belonging to everyone from queens and presidents to pop stars and actors! Most visitors find the celebrities’ choice of footwear extremely interesting. |
Room 2 Most of our visitors are amazed —and shocked— by the collection of “special purpose”shoes on exhibition here at the Museum of Footwear. For example, there are Chinese shoes made of silk, that were worn by women to tie their feet firmly to prevent them from growing too much! |
| Room 3 As well as shoes and boots the museum also exhibits shoe-shaped objects. The variety is unbelievable. For example, there is a metal lamp that resembles a pair of shoes, and Greek wine bottles that like legs! |
The footwear Library People come from all over the world to study in our excellent footwear library. Designers and researchers come here to look up information on anything and everything related to the subject of footwear. |
Where would you find a famous singer’s shoes?
| A．Room1. | B．Room 2. | C．Room 3 | D．The footwear Library |
All exhibits in each room ________________ .
| A．share the same theme | B．have the same shape |
| C．are made of the same material | D．belong to the same social class |
Which of the following is true according to the text?
| A．The oldest exhibits in Room 1 were made in the 1950s. |
| B．Room 2 is the most visited place in the museum. |
| C．Room 3 has a richer variety of exhibits than the other two. |
| D．Researchers come to the Footwear Library for data. |
The purpose of the text is to get more people to __________________.
| A．do research | B．design shoes |
| C．visit the museum | D．follow celebrities |
Having one of those days—or weeks—when everything seems to annoy you? Even if you do nothing about it, your bad mood(心情) will probably go away after some time. But with a little effort, you can forget it much faster—often within a day or two.
Walk it off
Exercise is the most popular bad mood buster. A person who's in a bad mood has low energy and high tension. Taking a fast ten-minute walk, or doing some quick exercises can do wonders towards changing the bad mood.
Tune it out
Listening to your favorite music for a while can also make tension go away quickly, because music starts connection with past positive experiences we've had.
Give yourself a pep talk
Stop and listen to what's on your mind. Bad moods are often started by too many negative thoughts. Write them all down on paper, the pessimistic(悲观的) messages you've been giving yourself, and then give optimistic answers. (“I still don't have a job.” vs “I have two interviews next week.”)
Reduce your stress
Relaxation techniques are wonderful moodlifters. These include deep breathing, stretching and visualizing(想像), all of which sound complicated(复杂的) but aren't. One easy way to visualize: close your eyes and picture a favorite place, such as the beach. Another simple way to distress is to make a todo list. One reason for being in a bad mood is feeling you have no options. By taking control over certain areas, you realize you're not helpless. You can make changes in your mood and life.
Avoid things that won't improve your mood
TV may not help much: you need to increase your energy level and stimulate(刺激) your mind—something that the TV show “Neighbors” won't do. And before you reach for that piece of cake and coffee, think about how mood and food are linked. Sugar and caffeine contribute to depressed moods. The better choice? Research shows that carbohydrates, such as potatoes and pasta(面食), produce calming effects in people who have a desire for them.Which of the following may help us stop a bad mood?
| A．Doing nothing about it | B．Exercising and enjoying music. |
| C．Writing down negative thoughts | D．Talking about it with neighbors. |
Why is it suggested that you close your eyes and picture the beach?
| A．It helps remove bad mood. | B．It brings us a new technique. |
| C．It is not complicated to do so. | D．It is an area to be easily controlled. |
TV may not improve your mood because it _____________.
| A．shows what happens around you | B．does not energize you |
| C．reminds you of eating and drinking | D．produces a calming effect |
Which would be the best title for this passage?
| A．Energy Level and Stress | B．How to Beat a Bad Mood |
| C．Bad Mood and Our Life | D．How to Control Your Feeling |
What makes a gift special? Is it the price you see on the gift receipt? Or is it the look on the recipient's face when they receive it that determines the true value? What gift is worth the most?
This Christmas I was debating what to give my father. My dad is a hard person to buy for because he never wants anything. I pulled out my phone to read a text message from my mom saying that we were leaving for Christmas shopping for him when I came across a message on my phone that I had locked. The message was from my father. My eyes fell on a photo of a flower taken in Wyoming. and underneath a poem by William Blake. The flower, a lonely dandelion（蒲公英） standing against the bright blue sky, inspired me. My dad had been reciting those words to me since I was a kid. That may even be the reason why I love writing. I decided that those words would be my gift to my father.
I called back. I told my mom to go without me and that I already created my gift. I sent the photo of the cream-colored flower to my computer and typed the poem on top of it. As I was arranging the details another poem came to mind. The poem was written by Edgar Allan Poe; my dad recited it as much as he did the other. I typed that out as well and searched online for a background to the words of it. The poem was focused around dreaming, and after searching I found the perfect picture. The image was painted with blues and greens and purples, twisting together to create the theme and wonder of a dream. As I watched both poems passing through the printer, the white paper coloring with words that shaped my childhood. I felt that this was a gift that my father would truly appreciate.
Christmas soon arrived. The minute I saw the look on my dad's face as he unwrapped those swirling black letters carefully placed in a cheap frame, I knew I had given the perfect gift.The idea for a special gift began to form when the author was____________.
| A．doing shopping | B．having a debate |
| C．reading a message | D．leaving for Wyoming |
The author's inspiration for the gift came from____________.
| A．a photo of a flower | B．a story about a kid |
| C．a call from the mother | D．a text about Christmas |
The author made the gift by_____.
| A．searching for the poems online | B．drawing the background by hand |
| C．painting the letters in three colors | D．matching the words with pictures |
What is the main purpose of the passage?
| A．To show how to design images for gifts. |
| B．To suggest making gifts from one's heart. |
| C．To explain how computers help create gifts. |
| D．To describe the gifts the author has received |
Once upon a time in a land far away, there was a wonderful old man who loved everything：animals, spiders, insects．
One day while walking through the woods, the nice old man found a cocoon（茧）of a butterfly．He took it home．A few days later, a small opening appeared; he sat and watched the butterfly for several hours as it struggled to force its body through that little hole．Then it seemed to stop making any progress．It appeared as if it had gotten as far as it could and it could go no farther．Then the man decided to help the butterfly, so he took a pair of scissors and cut off the remaining bit of the cocoon．
The butterfly then appeared easily．
But it had a swollen body and small, fragile wings．The man continued to watch the butterfly because he expected that, at any moment, the wings would enlarge and expand to be able to support the body, which would be smaller in time．Neither happened! In fact, the butterfly spent the rest of its life crawling （慢慢爬行）around with a swollen body and fragile wings．
It never was able to fly．
What the man in his kindness and hurry did not understand was that the limited cocoon and the struggle required for the butterfly to get through the tiny opening were Nature's way of forcing fluid from the body of the butterfly into its wings so that it would be ready for flight once it achieved its freedom from the cocoon．
Sometimes struggles are exactly what we need in our life．If we were allowed to go through our life without any obstacles and difficulties, it would disable us．We would not be as strong as what we could have been．And we could never fly．The butterfly could never fly because _______________．
| A．it was too fat and strong． |
| B．it loved crawling around． |
| C．it got out of the cocoon easily． |
| D．it didn’t get through the cocoon． |
The text is most likely to be found in a book about_______________．
| A．popular science | B．humorous stories． |
| C．successful people | D．philosophyevents |
What is the implied meaning of the passage?
| A．Life without any obstacles and difficulties is perfect． |
| B．Obstacles and difficulties contribute to success． |
| C．Never help a butterfly to get out of the cocoon． |
| D．A butterfly can never fly without going through the cocoon |