If you’re thinking about reaching for another biscuit to get you through the working day, think again. Eating unhealthy snacks at your desk makes you pile on almost half a stone a year, a survey has revealed. The waistlines of women suffer the most, with the average female putting on 6lb 3oz – the equivalent of a whole dress size – while men see their weight increase by 5lb 2oz.
The report into our eating habits found that, on average, we eat at least two snacks a day, with 30 per cent of us tucking into three or more. Women admit eating more than men, with a further 13 per cent of ladies scoffing four or more snacks a day. The research, by The Village Bakery, found biscuits are the most common vice, with 42 per cent regularly opening a pack, closely followed by chocolate (38 per cent), crisps (32 per cent) and cakes (13 per cent).
And office workers are worse than most. Cakes and biscuits brought into work by colleagues are one of the main temptations office staff give in to. In addition, 33 per cent admit reaching for nibbles to cope with stress and 22 per cent say they need a sugar rush to perk them up in the afternoon.
Simon Staddon, of The Village Bakery, said: “We were aware time-poor office workers can find it difficult to easily access a nutritional lunch. But we were really shocked by the extent to which ‘quick fix' lunches are affecting weight gain and general wellbeing. Popular mid-afternoon pick-me-ups such biscuits, chocolate and cakes are high in calories, fat and full of sugar, all of which affect your blood sugar levels and ultimately lead to weight gain.”
The survey of 2,000 British men and women suggests we are often ashamed of our unhealthy eating. Twenty-four per cent of Britons admit lying about how many snacks they eat with 33 per cent of women lying, compared to 20 per cent of men. Unfortunately, it's not as if we are likely to do anything positive to counteract the sweet treats.According to the passage, women usually put weight on first ________.
| A．on the face | B．on the legs |
| C．on the feet | D．in the middle |
What’s the main reason of eating snacks in office?
| A．Colleagues eat them to save money. |
| B．Staff use them to cope with their lunch. |
| C．Colleagues often bring them to office. |
| D．Bosses invite staff to eat them. |
Why do office workers eat a “quick fix” lunch?
| A．Because it has much of nutrition. |
| B．Because it has little effect on weight gain. |
| C．Because it has little effect on general wellbeing. |
| D．Because they have short time to have their lunches. |
It can be inferred that British women are ________.
| A．less likely to lie on snacks than men |
| B．more likely to lie on snacks than men |
| C．more ashamed of eating snacks than men |
| D．less ashamed of eating snacks than men |
What does the underlined word possibly mean?
| A．act against | B．appeal to |
| C．cope with | D．get in |
After their 20-year-old son hanged himself during his winter break from the University of Arizona five years ago, Donna and Phil Satow wondered what signs they have overlooked, and started asking other students for answers.
What grew from this soul searching was Ulifeline (www. Ulifeline. org), a Web site where students can get answers to questions about depression by logging on through their universities. The site has been adopted as a resource by over 120 colleges, which can customize it with local information, and over 1.3 million students have logged on with their college ID’s.
“It is a very solid Web site that raises awareness of suicide, de-stigmatizes mental illness and encourages people to seek the help they need,”said Paul Grayson, the director of counseling services at New York University, which started using the service nearly a year ago.
The main component of the Web site is the Self-screening program developed by Duke University Medical Center that tests students to determine whether they are at risk for depression, suicide and disorders like anorexia and drug dependences. Besides helping students, the services compiles anonymous student date, offering administrators an important window onto the mental health of its campus.
The site provides university users with links to local mental health services, a catalog of information on prescription drugs and side effects, and access to Go Ask Alice, a vast archive developed by Columbia University with hundreds of responses to anonymously posted inquires from college students worldwide. For students concerned about their friends, there is a section that describes warning signs for suicidal behavior and depression.
Yet it is hard to determine how effective the service is. The anonymity of the online service can even play out as a negative. “There is no substitute for personal interaction(个人互动才能解决)，” said Dr. Lanny Berman, executive director of the American Association of Suicidology, based in Washington.
Ulifeline would be the first to say that its service is no replacement for an actual therapist. “The purpose is to find out if there are signs of depression and then direct people to the right places,” said Ron Gibori, executive director of Ulifeline.
Mrs. Satow, who is still involved with Ulifeline, called it “a knowledge base” that might have prevented the death of her son, Jed. “If Jed’s friends had known the signs of depression, they might have seen something,” she said. The first paragraph is written to_________.
| A．report a suicide of a young man |
| B．show the suffering of Mr. And Mrs. Satow |
| C．describe the Satows’ confusion over their son’s death |
| D．introduce the topic of a website called Ulifeline. |
One reason that many colleges adopt the website is to _________
| A．provide their students with campus information |
| B．offer medical treatment to students in mental disorder |
| C．encourage their students to seek advice about depression |
| D．give their students various help they may need |
Go Ask Alice as mentioned in the passage is________
| A．a side effect caused by some prescription drugs |
| B．intended to counsel college students in mental problems |
| C．a collection of medical responses from students the world over |
| D．meant to describe the various signs of mental disorders |
The underlined sentence of the seventh paragraph implies that ______
| A．only actual therapy can ensure adequate treatment |
| B．the help given by the web service is doubtful |
| C．doctors have expressed a negative view of the service |
| D．a therapist’s office is the first place for the depressed to go |
Mrs. Satow would probably agree that _________
| A．Jed’s friends can prevent her son’s death |
| B．her son’s suicide is unavoidable |
| C．Ulifeline is a worthwhile website |
| D．depression is the final cause of suicides |
Is there a magic cutoff period when children become responsible for their own actions? Is there a wonderful moment when parents can become spectators in the lives of their children and shrug, “It’s their life,” and feel nothing?
When I was in my twenties, I stood in a hospital passage waiting for doctors to put a few stitches(缝线) in my son’s head. I asked, “When do you stop worry?” The nurse said, “When they get out of the accident stage.” My mother just smiled faintly and said nothing
When I was in my thirties, I sat on a little chair in a classroom and heard how one of my children talked continually and disrupted the class. As if to read my mind, a teacher said. “Don’t worry, they all go through this stage and then you can sit back, relax and enjoy them” My mother just smiled faintly and said nothing.
When I was in my forties, I spent a lifetime waiting for the phone to ring, the cars to come home, the front door to open. A friend said, “ They’re trying to find themselves, Don’t worry, in a few years, you can stop worrying. They’ll be adults.” My mother just smiled faintly and said nothing.
By the time I was 50, I was sick and tired of being weak. I was still worrying over my children, but there was a new wrinkle, there was nothing I could do about it. My mother just smiled faintly and said nothing.
I continued to suffer from their failures, and be absorbed in their disappointments. My friends said that when my kids got married I could stop worrying and lead my own life. I wanted to believe that, but I was haunted(萦绕心头) by my mother’s warm smile and her occasional “You look pale. Are you all right?” Call me minute you get home. Are you depressed about something ?” Can it be that parents are sentenced to a lifetime of worry?
One of my children became quite anxious about me recently, saying, “ Where were you ? I’ve been calling for three days, and no one answered . I was worried.”
I smiled a warm smileThe author intends to tell us in the passage that_______.
A parents long for a period when they no longer worry about their children.
B there is no time when parents have no worry about their children.
C it’s parents’ duty to worry about their children
D there should be a period when parents don’t have to worry their childrenWe can infer from the underlined sentence “My mother just smiled faintly and said nothing” that ______.
A her mother shared the same idea as the nurse
B her mother didn’t agree with the nurse
C her mother thought the nurse was lying
D her mother wouldn’t express her opinion upon the matter The author mentioned her ages of twenties, thirties, forties and fifty in order to show_______.
A the hard times she experiences in her life
B the different stages of her children
C the support she received from her mother
D she had been worrying her children in her life What can we infer from the last sentence?
A The mother was happy that her child began to worry about her, too
B Finally the mother didn’t have to worry about her children.
C At last the mother could live her own life without worry.
D The mother succeeded in turning her children into adults.Which of the following should be the best title?
A Life B Parents C Worry D Children
Blogs are being used more and more by teachers. Many Internet services now offer free and easy ways to create personal Web pages.
Through comments on blogs, or Web logs, teachers can share their classroom experiences. They can exchange ideas and discuss successes and failures. They can debate educational policies. Or they can just sympathize with each other.
A teacher in the American state of North Carolina recently wrote on her blog: “Apparently the teachers at my school use too much paper. So my principal yelled at everyone at the last staff meeting for, like, ten minutes. Now, I’ve just been told, we are not getting anymore paper for the rest of the year.”
This unidentified blogger is now in her third year of teaching, but still calls her site firstyearteacher.blogspot.com.
A blogger who calls himself Minister Lawrence works as a substitute teacher. In April he wrote about a disputed plan to split the Omaha, Nebraska, public schools into separate systems for black, Latino and white students. Supporters say minority parents do not have enough power over their children’s education.
But Minister Lawrence wrote at teachersparadise.blogspot.com: “I’m afraid that what this says’ to a lot of people is that blacks, whites and Hispanics are not equal, and “reinforces” racist beliefs among people.”
Educators did not become involved with blogging right away. Many were concerned with privacy issues and security. But now, thousands of teacher blogs can be found on the Internet. Many teachers do not identify themselves, and they change the names of students and co-workers.What are teachers not doing through blogs?
| A．They discuss educational problem. | B．They send money to the poor students. |
| C．They share teaching ideas. | D．They comfort each other. |
What is the main idea for the passage?
| A．More and more teachers are using blogs. | B．It is exciting to use blogs. |
| C．Blogs are popular with students. | D．Educational problems are settled through blogs. |
Why some teachers do not identify themselves? Because ___
| A．they are forbidden to identify themselves. |
| B．they are forbidden to write something through blogs |
| C．they want to ensure their security |
| D．they want to amuse others. |
Which of the following is the result of the teachers’ using blogs?
| A．Paper consuming is declining. | B．Teaching is improving. |
| C．Classes are more active. | D．Government is against it. |
Minister Lawrence’s blogs are about___
| A．classroom experiences | B．teaching plans |
| C．educational policies | D．the black minority |
Just like the young character in Hannah Montana, who so often fights with her father over her desire to be more independent, British teenagers also have their troubles.
A recent survey among 2,000 British parents shows that girls and boys experience similar kinds of stress, with some slight differences .
Girls want to grow up fast, demanding greater freedom. They feel pressure from their peers to be thin and sometimes dangerously experiment with alcohol .
Girls over 14 are more concerned with getting a boyfriend, make-up and going out with friends than with their schoolwork. They are more likely to complain about pocket money .
Parents found they have their toughest time with boys over the age of 15. Their sons are battling bad skin, are reluctant(不情愿的) to speak, and just like girls over 14 are little interested in their studies. Seven out of ten parents said their s
ons become frustrated(挫败的) when they are not understood .
Unsurprisingly, it isn’t just British teenagers who have such problems.
In a survey published in the US last month, two out of three high school students said their life was tough. There was a universal worry over body image and ability to fit in socially.
Plenty of the teenagers feel great pressures to get good grades, with nearly half regarding this as their top worry. The next biggest issue is pressure they face to get into good college. According to the survey, 66 percent reported saving their money to pay for all or part of college.
“Today’s American teens have witnessed what their families have endured during recent economic challenges, and they are much more aware of the importance of planning ahead,” said Stuart Rubinstein, managing director with TD Ameritrade, which carried out the survey.What is the article mainly about?
| A．What makes the lives of teenagers so hard? |
| B．How to deal with teen problems? |
| C．Stress faced by UK and US teenagers. |
| D．Peer pressure faced by UK and US teenagers. |
According to the survey, boys over 15 often feel great pressure to ______.
| A．grow up fast | B．experiment with alcohol |
| C．get into a good college | D．be more open and communicative |
The underlined word “universal” in Paragraph 7 is closest in meaning to ______.
| A．global | B．common | C．average | D．reasonable |
How have recent economic challenges affected American teens?
| A．They have become more concerned about their future. |
| B．They are now more worried about the ability to fit in socially. |
| C．They are attempting to learn more about money management. |
| D．They are spending more time developing their practical skills. |
When the great library of Alexandria burned, the story goes, one book was saved. But it was not a valuable book; and so a poor man, who could read a little, bought it for a few coppers（铜钱）.The book wasn’t very interesting, but between its pages there was something very interesting indeed. It was a thin strip（条）of vellum（牛皮纸）on which was written the secret of the “Touchstone”!
The touchstone was a small pebble（小园石）that could turn any common metal into pure gold. The writing explained that it was lying among thousands and thousands of other pebbles that looked exactly like it. But the secret was thi
s: The real stone would feel warm, while ordinary pebbles are cold.
So the man sold his few belongings, bought some simple supplies, camped on the seashore, and began testing pebbles. He knew that if he picked up ordinary pebbles and threw them down again because they were cold, he might pick up the same pebble hundreds of times. So, when he felt one that was cold, he threw it into the sea. He spent a whole day doing this but none of them was the touchstone. Yet he went on and on this way. Pick up a pebble. Cold-throw it into the sea. Pick up another. Throw it into the sea. 
The days stretched into weeks and the weeks into months. One day, however, about mid-afternoon, he picked up a pebble and it was warm. He threw it into the sea before he realized what he had done. He had formed such a strong habit of throwing each pebble into the sea that when the one he wanted came along, he still threw it away.
So it is with opportunity. Unless we are vigilant（警惕的）, it’s easy to fail to recognize an opportunity when it is in hand and it’s just as easy to throw it away.The book was special to the man because ______.
| A．it was made of vellum |
| B．it was the only book that survived the great fire |
C．it was a story about how to tell th e touchstone from ordinary stones |
| D．it included the secret of the touchstone |
He threw pebbles into the sea ______.
| A．to test how far he could throw |
| B．to practice throwing pebbles |
| C．to avoid picking up the same pebble once again |
| D．to express his disappointment at failing to find the touchstone |
What message does the story want to convey?
| A．Careful habits can lead to success. |
| B．Habits can benefit you but also hold you back. |
| C．Never judge a person or a thing by appearances. |
D．Opportunity only visits the re ady and watchful mind |