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．It’s delicious from chips to candy. |
| B．Because it’s available here and there. |
| 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 snack 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. |
Grammarphobia is the fear of grammar. This fear attacks almost everybody at one time or another, and it's most likely to strike during English or language arts classes. Even people who love reading and writing have been known to get feverish and insecure when they are aware of the possibility of turning in homework with grammar or spelling mistakes. Though writing may be enjoyable, being corrected is definitely not!
Grammarphobes, it's time to put your fears behind you. Grammar isn't that dreadful (可怕的). Here's why.
Let's assume you like hearing and telling stories and that you enjoy joking with friends. You probably also like emailing and instantmessaging. Well, what do you think makes all these possible? Grammar!
Grammar is simply the art of putting words together to make sentences. Whenever you use words to express yourself, you're using grammar. You do this all the time without even thinking.
So why think about it? Because good grammar helps you convey the ideas you intend. If your words aren't right, or if they are not in the right order, the person you are talking to might get the wrong idea. This can have embarrassing results.
Grammar helps us understand each other. It's like a manual (手册) for assembling the words in your head. You have to put your words together the right way if you want them to make sense. They can't do what you want if they aren't put together correctly.
What if everybody you know had a different manual? How would you agree on what others' words mean? People with different grammar manuals might be speaking different languages.
Communicating is similar to playing cards. To make sense, we have to play the same game, by the same rules. What are the rules for playing the game of English? You already know most of them without having to open a book.Grammarphobes refer to people who ________.
| A．consider grammar to be boring |
| B．are afraid of making grammar mistakes |
| C．mind grammar too much in writing |
| D．are worried about grammar homework |
The underlined word “assembling” in Paragraph 6 may mean ________.
| A．directing | B．remembering |
| C．looking for | D．bringing together |
What does playing cards have in common with communicating?
| A．Both can be learned easily. |
| B．Both can be interesting games. |
| C．Both need standards. |
| D．Both can make sense for our life. |
What might be the main idea of the passage?
| A．Grammar is not horrible. |
| B．Forgetting grammar when writing. |
| C．Improving grammar through writing. |
| D．What is grammarphobia? |
I fell in love with the minister's son the winter I turned fourteen. He was not Chinese. For Christmas I prayed for the boy, Robert. When I found out that my parents had invited the minister's family over for Christmas Eve dinner, I cried in panic. What would Robert think of our shabby Chinese Christmas? What would he think of our noisy Chinese relatives who lacked proper American manners?
On Christmas Eve, my mother created abundant Chinese food. And then they arrived—the minister's family and all my relatives. Robert greeted hello, and I pretended he was not worthy of existence.
Dinner threw me deeper into disappointment. My relatives licked (舔) the ends of their chopsticks and reached across the table. Robert and his family waited patiently for a large plate to be passed to them. My relatives murmured with pleasure when my mother brought out the whole steamed fish. Robert made a face. Then my father reached his chopsticks just below the fish eye and picked out the soft meat. “Amy, your favorite，” he said, offering me the tender fish cheek. I wanted to disappear.
At the end of the meal, my father leaned back and burped (打嗝) loudly, thanking my mother for her fine cooking. “It's a polite Chinese custom to show you are satisfied，” explained my father to our astonished guests. Robert was looking down at his plate with a reddish face. The minister managed to bring up a quiet burp. I was shocked into silence for the rest of the night.
After everyone had gone, my mother said to me, “You want to be the same as American girls on the outside.” She handed me an early gift. It was a miniskirt. “But inside you must always be Chinese. You must be proud that you are different. Your only shame is to have shame.”
It was not until years later that I was able to fully appreciate her lesson and the purpose behind her particular menu. For Christmas Eve that year, she had chosen excellent Chinese food.When the writer found out the minister's family would come for Christmas Eve dinner, she cried mainly because ________.
| A．she worried about their shabby Chinese Christmas |
| B．she worried about their Chinese relatives lacking American manners |
| C．she worried about being laughed at |
| D．she worried about meeting the minister's family |
What does “he was not worthy of existence” probably mean? It means ________.
| A．he should not exist |
| B．he was worthless |
| C．the writer was not interested in his existence |
| D．the writer expected his coming |
The dinner threw the writer deeper into disappointment mainly because ________.
| A．she childishly expected all of them to act in the same way as Americans did at table |
| B．her father reached his chopsticks to pick fish for her |
| C．her father leaned back and burped loudly |
| D．her relatives licked the ends of their chopsticks |
We can infer from the passage that ________.
| A．the writer appreciated her mother's lesson years later |
| B．the mother prepared to show Chinese different food culture |
| C．the writer must be proud that she is different |
| D．the minister's family really enjoyed the food |
If your parents take out a loan, remind themselves to make the payments on time. Otherwise it will become a negative record in their personal credit reports, which are playing an increasingly big role in people's daily lives. A story carried by Chongqing Morning Post in June, underlines this trend.
According to the report, a Chongqing student borrowed money from the bank to finance his university studies. After he graduated in 2005, he went to work in Shenzhen. Later, he wanted to buy a house using loans. But several banks turned down his loan applications. The reason was that he had not paid back 1,500 yuan he borrowed from a bank when he was at university.
A personal credit rating is becoming an essential “pass” in everyday life, as China establishes a nationwide credit database. Personal credit systems go back 150 years. In developed countries, enterprises and banks use them to decide whether or not to loan money or do other business with a person.
A credit report estimates the credit worthiness of an individual, a company, or even a country. It is an evaluation made by credit bureaus of a borrower's overall credit history and his or her ability to repay debt. A poor credit rating means a high risk of defaulting on a loan, and thus leads to the refusal of a loan by the lender.
Today in China, credit history in banks is the major content of a credit report. But in the future, reports will include information about the payment of telephone bills, water use fees, electricity and natural gas bills, and taxes, according to officials of the People's Bank of China, the central bank.
Personal information such as appearance, genetic data, fingerprints, blood type, disease history, ethnic identity, family and religious beliefs are not to be included in credit reports, according to a draft regulation on credit rating issued last year by the Sate Council. The authors of the draft have just finished soliciting(征求) public opinions.
The Credit Reference Center run by the People's Bank of China is in charge of developing a nationwide credit database. Credit reports for all people with bank transactions (交易)began in 2006.
A personal credit rating is important to the social and economic activities of a person. According to the draft, if you have a personal negative credit record, it will be kept for five years.The author took the story as an example in order to ________.
| A．warn us of the importance of our personal credit report |
| B．tell us the story of a Chongqing student |
| C．encourage us to use credits widely |
| D．inform us to apply for a loan at university |
Credit reports will include the following except ________.
| A．taxes | B．telephone bills |
| C．water use fees | D．genetic data |
According to the passage, which of the following statements is TRUE?
| A．Personal credit systems go back 150 years in China. |
| B．You can turn to the People's Bank of China for the information about your credit report. |
| C．Credit history in banks is the only content of a credit report. |
| D．Credit reports began in 2006 in China. |
What's the best title for the passage?
| A．A Credit Report Rating |
| B．Credit in China |
| C．Credit Really Counts |
| D．Credit Report Contents |
Live the “American Dream”
What is it: Work & Travel USA
Who are qualified: Fulltime college students, above 18 years old
About the program: Application for the 2009 Work & Travel USA program has just started. It's an 8～16 weeks' summer program for college students to work and travel in the U．S.. Employers include Boeing, Hilton Hotel and 7Eleven. For next summer, about 3,500 positions are open to Chinese students. Applicants must pass a language test and sometimes an interview, and pay a registration fee to join the program.
(Source: www. Cultureexchange. org)
Hundreds needed by Volkswagen
What is it: Shanghai Volkswagen jobs
Who are qualified: College students graduating in 2009
About it: Shanghai VW offers over 300 positions from engineering to marketing to college students graduating in 2009. Applicants should have an excellent academic record, CET6 or the same level language certificate in German, and good computer skills. Campus talks will take place in Shanghai, Changchun, Harbin, Wuhan, Changsha, Nanjing, Beijing and Xi'an from October.
(source: campus chinahr. com/2009/pages/csvw)
Xiaonei looking for graduates
What is it: Oak Pacific Interactive (OPI) internships (实习)
Who are qualified: College juniors and firstyear postgraduate students
About it: OPI is now offering internship positions for test engineer, development engineer and assistant to the director of corporate culture. For engineering positions, candidates should major in computer science or a related field, have communication ability and be familiar with various development languages. For assistant to the director positions, candidates should be adept in document writing, activities organizing and office software.
(source: campus. xiaonei. com)These advertisements are most probably advertisements ________.
| A．on the Internet intended for college students to read |
| B．in a newspaper intended for large companies to read |
| C．on the Internet intended for the general public to read |
| D．in a newspaper intended for college students to read |
The opportunity of ________ is offered only to college students graduating in 2009.
| A．working in America |
| B．traveling in America |
| C．OPI internship |
| D．positions in VW |
If you want to apply for assistant to the director positions you must ________.
| A．study computer science |
| B．be good at document writing |
| C．have communication ability |
| D．be familiar with various languages |
Last fall，beekeepers from states with warm climates began to report a sudden loss of honey bees.Losses were reported in twentyfour states and spread to Canada.Today，some beekeepers say thirty percent to ninety percent of their honey bees are gone.Food price could go up as a result.And some beekeeping businesses have failed.
Many kinds of plants，trees and grasses need bees to pollinate them.Bees gather nectar from flowers during this process.The liquid gives them food and material to make honey.As the bees land on flowers，their bodies pick up and drop off particles of pollen(花粉)．Most flowering plants need pollination to reproduce.
Honey bees can die during the winter.But few dead bees have been found this time.Instead，the bees seem to have disappeared.Experts call the condition “colony collapse disorder”．
Agriculture Department official Caird Rexroad said the colony collapse disorder threatens about fifteen billion dollars worth of the country's farm economy.Mr.Rexroad commented at a hearing of a House of Representatives agriculture subcommittee.
Mr.Rexroad said the cause of the sudden loss of bees was not clear.The number of honey bees had already fallen before the colony collapse disorder began.
Experts say the varroa mite is at least partly responsible for the earlier decrease in honey bees.The mite is a tiny creature that feeds on honey bees.It may play a part in colony collapse disorder by carrying bee viruses.Or the problem may be caused by other disease and weather conditions.
Diana CoxFoster of Pennsylvania State University is part of the scientific group.Ms.CoxFoster says the nation needs honey bees that can defend themselves better against disease and insects.The recent mapping of most of the honey bees' genes offers the hope of a stronger honey bee some day.Some people have failed in beekeeping businesses because ________.
| A．they want to make more money by doing something else |
| B．the climates were too warm to raise bees last fall |
| C．too many bees have disappeared for no reason |
| D．more and more people are beginning to raise bees |
Which of the following statements is TRUE according to this passage?
| A．It is normal that some bees die in the cold season. |
| B．The plants can't live without bees at all. |
| C．Many bees have died because of the bad weather. |
| D．Researchers have found the reason of the death of bees. |
The passage is mainly to tell us that ________.
| A．the honey bees are important to plants，trees and grasses |
| B．many Americans are surprised at the loss of honey bees |
| C．strong honey bees are in great need in America |
| D．something has happened to American honey bees |