Our sense of hearing is one of the most important means of knowing what is going on around us. We are warned of danger by sounds. The sounds of music please us. Sound has a waste product, too, in the form of noise. Noise has been called unwanted sound. Noise is growing and it may get much worse before it gets any better.
Scientists, for several years, have been studying how noise affects people and animals and are alarmed by what they have learned.
Peace and quiet are becoming harder to find. Noise pollution is no joke. It is a threat that should be looked at carefully.
Sound is measured in units called decibels （分贝）. At a level of 140 decibels people feel pain in their ears.
Trucks, buses, motorcycles, airplanes, boats, and factories all make noise. This noise bothers not only our ears, but our minds and bodies as well.
There is a saying about "it is so noisy that you can't hear yourself think". Doctors who study noise believe that we must be able to hear ourselves think most of the time. If we don't, we may have headaches, other aches and pains, or even mental problems. Noise adds even more tension to a society which already faces too much stress.
49．The sense of hearing _______.
A．makes people feel angry
B．makes people want to dance
C．helps people to know what is happening around them
D．is something harmful to people
50．When sound is turned into noise, _______.
A．people become ill B．it makes people forget the past
C．people don't know how to deal with it D．it becomes a kind of pollution
51．Why does the passage say " Peace and quiet are becoming harder to find " ?
A．Sounds of over 140 decibels are common these days.
B．There are always wars going on in the world.
C．The world is making more and more noise.
D．All kinds of machines make noises.
52．Which of the following statements is TRUE?
A．Scientists are warning people noise can be harmful.
B．It's possible for man to get rid of all noises.
C．Sounds under 140 decibels are not considered to be noise.
D．Society has become more lively because there is noise now.
Green is an important color in nature. It is the color of grass and the leaves on trees. It is also the color of most growing plants.
Sometimes, the word “green” means young, fresh and growing. For example, a greenborn is someone who has no experience. In the 15 th century, a greenborn was a young cow or an ox whose borns(角)had not yet developed. A century later, a greenborn was a soldier who had no experience in war. By the 18 th century, a greenborn had the meaning it has today—a person who is new in a job.
Someone who is good at growing plants is said to have a green thumb(大拇指). The expression comes from the early 20 th century. A person with a green thumb can make plants grow quickly and well. The Green Revolution(绿色革命)is the name given some years ago to the development of new kinds of rice and other grains. It was the result of hard work by agricultural scientists who had green thumbs.
Green is also the color used to describe the powerful feeling. Jealousy(嫉妒). The green eyed monster is not a dangerous animal from outer space. It is an expression used about 400 years ago by the British writer William Shakespeare in his play “Othello”. It describes the unpleasant feeling when someone has something he wants.
In most places in the world, a green light is a signal(信号)to move ahead. In everyday speech, a green light means approval(赞成)to continue with a project.A new solider was called a greenborn in the ____ century.
| A．15 th | B．16 th | C．18 th | D．20 th |
A person with a green thumb____.
| A．is good at growing plants |
| B．really has a green thumb |
| C．has no experience in war |
| D．is new in a job |
A man may meet the green eyed monster if ____.
| A．he sees a dangerous animal |
| B．he can’t get something |
| C．he reads a sad play |
| D．his friend gets a prize that he wants |
This passage doesn’t mention the history of the expression “____”.
| A．a green thumb | B．a greenborn |
| C．the green eyed monster | D．a green light |
Which would be the best title of the passage?
| A．Green, the color of grass and trees |
| B．The stories about the color “green” |
| C．Green, a sign of approval |
| D．Different meanings of “green” |
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. |
A group of reporters asked a group of 4-to-8-year-old children this question, “What does love mean?” The answers were surprising. The children would answer like they did below.
Rebecca --- age 8
“When my grandmother hurt her knees , she couldn’t bend (弯腰) over and paint her toenails (脚趾甲) any more. So my grandfather would do it for her all the time, even when his hands hurt, too. That’s love.”
Samantha --- age 6
“Love is when someone hurts you, and you get so mad but you don’t shout at her because you know it would hurt her feelings.”
Terry --- age 4
“Love is what makes you smile when you’re tired.”
Bethany --- age 4
“I let my big sister pick on (捉弄) me because my Mum says she only picks on me because she loves me. So I pick on my baby sister because I love her.”
Lauren --- age 4
“I know my elder sister loves me because she gives me all her old clothes and has to go out and buy new clothes.”
Elaine --- age 5
“Love is when Mummy gives Daddy the best piece of chicken.”
Clear --- age 5
“My Mummy loves me more than anybody. You don’t see anyone else kissing me to sleep at night.”
Jessica --- age 8
“You really shouldn’t say ‘I love you’ unless you mean it. But if you mean it, you should say it a lot. People forget.”The passage mainly tells us about ______.
| A．what “ life ” means to children |
| B．what “family ” means to children |
| C．what “ friendship ” means to children |
| D．what “ love ” means to children |
Who told us the love between Mum and Dad?
| A．Clear. | B．Elaine. |
| C．Rebecca. | D．Lauren. |
Which of the following is NOT true according to the passage?
| A．Rebecca’s grandmother ever couldn’t bend over. |
| B．Bethany wants to be picked on by any other person. |
| C．If Samantha becomes angry, she will not shout at others. |
| D．Lauren prefers to wear her sister’s old clothes. |
What does Jessica mean about love?
| A．Too much love is no love. |
| B．You should say love more often. |
| C．You mean what you think. |
| D．Say love more often if you have it. |
What is love according to Terry?
| A．Love is the care between husband and wife. |
| B．Love is a rest when you are tired. |
| C．Love is what cheers you up when you are tired. |
| D．Love is a kiss from parents. |
Here’s one number to keep in mind during your next cell phone conversation: 50. A new experiment shows that spending 50 minutes with an active phone pressed up to the ear increases activity in the brain. This brain activity probably doesn't make you smarter. When cell phones are on, they emit (发出) energy in the form of radiation that could be harmful, especially after years of cell phone usage. Scientists don't know yet whether cell phones are bad for the brain. Studies like this one are attempting to find it out.
The 47 participants in the experiment may have looked a little strange. Each one had two Samsung cell phones attached to his or her head — one on each ear. The phone on the left ear was off. The phone on the right ear played a message for 50 minutes, but the participants couldn't hear it because the sound was off.
With this set-up, the scientists could be sure they were studying brain activity from the phone itself, and not brain activity due to listening and talking during a conversation. After 50 minutes with two phones strapped to their heads, the participants were given PET scans.
The PET scan showed that the left side (the side with the phone turned off) of each participant's brain hadn't changed during the experiment. The right side of the brain, however, had used more glucose, which is a type of sugar that provides fuel to brain cells. These right-side brain cells were using almost as much glucose as the brain uses when a person is talking. This suggests that the brain cells there were active ― even without the person hearing anything. That activity, the scientists say, was probably caused by radiation from the phone.
Henry Lai, who works at the University of Washington in Seattle, is uncomfortable with the data related to cell phones. Holding a cell phone to your ear during a conversation is “not really safe,” Lai told Science News. Lai is a bioengineer at the University of Washington in Seattle. He wrote an article about the new study for a journal, but he did not work on the study. Bioengineers bring together ideas from engineering and biology.
For those who don't want to wait to find out for sure whether cell phones are bad for the brain, there are ways to talk more safely. You can have short and sweet conversations, use a speakerphone or keep the phone away from your head. Which of the following statement is true?
| A．Scientists are sure that cell phones are bad for the brain. |
| B．In the experiment, the left side of the brain used more glucose. |
| C．Radiation from the phone probably causes the change in the brain. |
| D．Henry Lai wrote a lot of articles about this new study. |
Why weren’t the participants allowed to have a conversation on the phone during the experiment?
| A．Because the scientists want to be sure of the accuracy of the experiment. |
| B．Because they really looked strange and no one wanted to talk to others. |
| C．Because they were given PET scans and they lost the ability to talk. |
| D．Because that would be too noisy and bad for the experiment. |
What is glucose?
| A．A type of sugar that provides vitamin to brain cells. |
| B．Something that the right side of the brain used. |
| C．A type of sugar that gives energy to brain cells. |
| D．Something that makes a human excited. |
According to the last two paragraphs, which is the safest way to use a cell phone?
| A．Holding the cell phone close to your head. |
| B．Using a cell phone more than three hours a day. |
| C．Taking the most powerful cell phone. |
| D．Keeping the cell phone at a distance. |
Where is this article probably taken from?
| A．Literature magazine. | B．Science News. |
| C．Story books. | D．Art Journal. |
Are morning people born or made? In my case it was definitely made. In my early 20s, I hardly went to bed before midnight, and I would always get up late the next morning.
But after a while I couldn’t ignore the high relationship between success and rising early. On those rare occasions where I did get up early, I noticed that my productivity (效率) was always higher. So I set out to become a habitual early riser. But whenever my alarm went off, my first thought was always to stop that noise and go back to sleep. Eventually some sleep research showed that my strategy was wrong.
The most common wrong strategy is this: supposing you’re going to get up earlier, you’d better go to bed earlier. It sounds very reasonable, but will usually fail.
There are two main schools (流派) of thought on sleep patterns. One is that you should go to bed and get up at the same time every day. The second school says you should go to bed when you’re tired and get up when you naturally wake up. However, I have found both are wrong if you care about productivity. If you sleep at fixed hours, you’ll sometimes go to bed when you aren’t sleepy enough. You’re wasting time lying in bed awake.
My solution is to combine both methods. I go to bed when I’m sleepy and get up with an alarm clock at a fixed time. So I always get up at the same time (in my case 5 a.m.), but I go to bed at different times every night.
However, going to bed only when I’m sleepy, and getting up at a fixed time every morning are my ways. If you want to become an early riser, you can try your own. According to the passage, the underlined phrase refers to ________.
| A．people who stay up until the next morning |
| B．people who get up early in the morning |
| C．people who feel sleepy in the morning |
| D．people whose productivity is the lowest in the morning |
Why did the author want to become a habitual early riser?
| A．Because he / she found that the productivity was higher. |
| B．Because he / she wanted to do morning exercise. |
| C．Because he / she wanted to test which school is better. |
| D．Because he / she wanted to have more sleep time. |
The author experienced all the following EXCEPT ________.
| A．going to bed after midnight |
| B．asking scholars for advice on sleeping habits |
| C．getting up early occasionally |
| D．pressing off the alarm to go on sleeping |
What’s the author’s sleep pattern?
| A．Going to bed early and getting up early. |
| B．Going to bed late and getting up late. |
| C．Going to bed when sleepy and getting up at a fixed early time. |
| D．Going to bed early and getting up late. |
The passage is mainly about ________.
| A．main schools of thought on sleep patterns |
| B．how to have a good sleep |
| C．wrong strategies for getting up early |
| D．how to become an early riser |
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