“Old wives tales” are beliefs passed down from one generation to another, For example, most of us remember our parents’ telling us to eat more of certain foods or not to do certain things. Is there any truth in these teachings? Some of them agree with present medical thinking, but others have not passed the test of time.
Did your mother ever tell you to eat your carrots because they are good for your eyes? Scientists now report that eating carrots can help prevent a serious eye disease called macular degeneration. Eating just one carrot a day can reduce the possibility of getting this disease by 40%. Garlic is good for you, too. It can kill the type of virus that causes colds.
Unfortunately, not all of Mom’ s advice passed the test of medical studies, For example, generations of children have been told not to go swimming within an hour after eating. But research suggests that there is no danger in doing so. Do sweets cause tooth problems? Well, yes and no. Sticky sweets made with grains tend to cause more problems than sweets made with simple sugars.
Even though science can tell us that some of our traditional beliefs don’t hold water, there is still a lot of truth in the old wives’ tales. After all, much of this knowledge has been accumulated from thousands of years of experience in family health care. We should respect this body of knowledge even as we search for clear scientific support to prove it true or false.
1. Which of the following is TRUE according to the test?
A. Eating garlic is good for our eyes. B. Sticky sweets are damaging to our teeth.
C. Swimming after a meal is dangerous. D. Carrots prevent people from catching colds.
2. The author develops the third paragraph mainly .
A. by cause and effect B. by order in space
C. by order in time D. by examples
3. The phrase “hold water” in the last paragraph most probably means”_____”.
A. to be believable B. to be valuable C. to be admirable D. to be suitable
4.What is the author’s attitude toward “old wives tales” in the text?
A. Subjective B. Objective C. Dissatisfied D. Curious
The oldest stone buildings in the world are the pyramids(金字塔). They have stood for nearly 5, 000 years, and it seems likely that they will continue to stand for thousands of years yet. There are over eighty of them scattered(散布)along the banks of the Nile, some of which are different in shape from the true pyramids. The most famous of these are the “Step” pyramid and the “Bent” pyramid. 
Some of the pyramids still look as much alike as they must have been when they were built thousands of years ago. Most of the damage suffered by the others has been at the hands of men who were looking for treasure or, more often, for stones to use in modern buildings. The dry climate of Egypt has helped to keep the pyramids in good condition, and their very shape has made them less likely to fall into ruin. These are good reasons why they can still be seen today, but perhaps the most important is that they were planned to last forever.
The “Step” pyramid had to be on the west side of the Nile, the side on which the sun sets. This was for spiritual reasons. It also had to stand well above the level of the river to protect it against the regular floods. It could not be too far from the Nile, however, as the stones to build it needed to be carried in boats down the river to the nearest point. Water transport was, of course, much easier than land transport. The builders also had to find a rock base, which was not likely to crack(破裂)under the great weight of the pyramid. Finally, it had to be near the capital, or better still near the king’s palace so that he could visit it easily to personally check the progress being made on the final resting place for his body. According to the passage, the “Step” pyramid .
| A．is unlikely to fall into ruin in the near future |
| B．was built on the sand along the Nile |
| C．is one that was built later than the true pyramids |
| D．is the most famous of the true pyramids |
The most important reason why some pyramids remain in good condition is that .
| A．people have taken good care of them |
| B．it doesn’t rain often in Egypt |
| C．they were well designed |
| D．the government has protected them from damage |
Most of the damage to the pyramids has been caused by .
| A．the regular floods |
| B．the dry climate of Egypt |
| C．people searching for gold |
| D．people in search of building materials |
The Egyptians built the pyramids along the banks of the Nile because .
| A．they believed in their god |
| B．it was difficult to find a large rock base far from the Nile |
| C．the river helped a lot in the transport of building materials |
| D．it was not easy to choose a suitable place for the pyramids |
“Avoid the rush hour” must be the slogan of large cities all over the world. Wherever you look, there are people, people, people. The trains which leave or arrive every few minutes are packed. The streets are so crowded; there is hardly room to move on the pavements. It takes ages for a bus to get to you because the traffic on the roads has almost come to a standstill. Even when a bus does at last arrive, it’s so full, and it can’t take any more passengers. The smallest unexpected event can bring about conditions of complete chaos. The strange thing is not that people stand these conditions, but that they actually choose them in preference to anything else. 
Large modern cites are too big to control. People living there are forced by their environment to take a wholly unnatural way of life. They lost touch with the land and rhythm of nature. It is possible to live in such an air-conditioned existence in a large city that you can hardly tell the season. A few flowers in a public park may remind you that it is spring or summer. All the simple, good things of life like sunshine and fresh air are hard to find. Even the distinction between days and nights is lost.
The funny thing about it all is that you pay dearly to live in a city. The demand for accommodation is so great that it is often impossible for ordinary people to buy a house of their own. The cost of living is also very high. Just about everything you buy is likely to be more expensive than it would be in the country. Besides, the crime rate in most cities is very high. If you think about it, they’re not really fit to live in at all. Can anyone really doubt that the country is what man was born for and where he truly belongs? According to the writer, .
| A．there is a slogan in every large city all over the world |
| B．the rush hour traffic is terrible in large cities of the world |
| C．one should try to avoid the traffic wherever he is |
| D．rush hour exists in large cities but not in small ones |
It is unusual that .
| A．people can stand the conditions in the city |
| B．people are used to living in a city |
| C．people know little about the problems of a city |
| D．people still choose to live in a city |
City people can hardly tell the seasons because .
| A．there in no such thing as changes of seasons |
| B．seasons change only in public parks now |
| C．they live unnaturally without contact with nature |
| D．the temperature changes little between seasons |
The reason for things to be more expensive in a city than elsewhere is that .
| A．city people have to pay higher to live in a city |
| B．there is a greater demand for things in a city |
| C．things are better in a city than elsewhere |
| D．people in a city are much more wealthy |
What is the passage mainly about?
| A．It’s crazy to choose to live in a large city. |
| B．City life can be very disagreeable. |
| C．Country life is better than city life. |
| D．Conditions of cities should be changed. |
These days, many young people in Ho Chi Minh City(胡志明市), Vietnam, are taking gymnastics, dancing or yoga classes after work. Actually, there are many why young people are taking exercise classes and going to the gym, instead of shopping and entertaining friends work.
Nguyen Thu Nguyet, a white-collar worker, says, “Five o’clock is the time when everyone is in the street. If I to go home at that time, I’ll get in traffic. So rather than being in a traffic jam, in smoke and dust, I go to a gym near my office for about an hour. ”Tran Minh Tue, a staff member of a company, also says, “I’ve found dancing is a good way to the non-stop drinking. More , I’m in better health and my stomach has gotten smaller. ”
At present, traffic jams in Ho Chi Minh City are very . The government is installing(安装)water pipes, and many blockhouses(木屋)are built for their workers to work in. That the traffic problem. Authorities say that this year, another
57 km road will be up and more blockhouses will be built, the total dug-out road length to 200 km. At the same time, traffic jams can serious air pollution, people’s health and the city’s investment environment, not to mention(提到) the city’s future development.
If more people rush hour by exercising or taking classes the rush hour, traffic jams may be . This is a clever that can also help people improve their health and meet others with similar .
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“Just ate chicken feet for lunch. ”These were the words I wrote on my blog yesterday. By the next day there were hundreds of comments from my friends. They included “OH MY GOD! That is so disgusting(令人厌恶的)! ”, “What were they like? ” and “Why can’t you eat sandwiches like everyone else? ”
To Chinese people, chicken feet are a normal snack. To my friends in Britain, the thought of eating a chicken’s feet is weird(不可思议的). As weird, in fact, as eating a bullfrog(牛蛙), scorpion(蝎子), snake, or turtle.
But if there are two things I love more than anything else in life, they are trying new things and food.
I arrived in Beijing five months ago. Since then, I’ve searched for the “weirdest” foods so I can try them, then treat my friends to some “virtual eating”on my blog.
One weekend, I went to Wangfujing, Beijing’s “snack street”. The trip gave me tons of blog materials.
“I chose a stick with three live, wriggling scorpions on it, ”I wrote. “And it was pretty good. The scorpion was warm and crispy. The legs did have a tendency to get stuck between one’s teeth, however. What’s more, I am sure scorpion stung(蜇伤)me twice with its tail in revenge. ”
Next came snake: “A bit like a cross between fish and chicken, with a slightly rubbery texture(弹性口感)and meaty taste. ”
Some people were actually angry when I ate turtle soup—especially when I posted pictures showing the poor little guy’s head staring sadly up at us from the bowl. “I am never speaking to you again, ”wrote one former friend.
Still, I will continue my culinary quest(美食征程).
Next on my list is starfish, though I feel I should have some vegetables too—algae, maybe.
So what am I eating, tonight, you may ask. Pizza. Well, a girl’s gotta have a break sometimes. According to the passage, which of the following “weirdest” foods is the one the author hasn’t tried?
| A．Chicken feet. | B．Bullfrog. |
| C．Scorpion. | D．Chicken head. |
What does the author like most in life?
| A．Trying new things and food. |
| B．Traveling. |
| C．Walking. |
| D．Shopping. |
Where did the author get her blog material?
| A．From her friends. |
| B．From Wangfujing, Beijing’s “snack street”. |
| C．From shopping. |
| D．From the Internet. |
What is the author’s friends’ attitude towards her trying “weird” foods?
| A．They are satisfied. |
| B．They are happy. |
| C．They are surprised and even angry. |
| D．They are sorry. |
What can we learn from the passage about the author?
| A．The author likes eating. |
| B．The author enjoys traveling. |
| C．The author is fond of shopping. |
| D．The author is interested in Chinese food. |
My dad was never the kind to offer many words of love or encouragement. But we knew he loved us. He just had his own way of showing it. 
When I was a teen, we were seasonal campers(野营者)at a family campground almost an hour outside the city where we lived. Each family had their own campsite with water and electric, and you basically parked your camper there from May to October. Most “seasonals” visited them every weekend during those months, with the occasional week-long stay. There were plenty of other kids who camped seasonally each weekend, and they came to be some of my closest friends. Of course, many of them were boys.
We kids paired up(结对)with our little boyfriends or girlfriends, and we’d hold hands as we walked around the campground. We’d play ping-pong, have some snacks, and sing songs. Most weekends were pretty similar, but the couples would change. You’d see so-and-so with a different so-and-so than they were with the weekend before. You know how it is when you’re a teen—a three-week relationship is a really long time.
So, needless to say, my teen years were spent with quite a few different boys. But every single one of them had something in common. They’d all received the Evil Eye.
The Evil Eye was a magical sort of thing. One simple look from my dad, and the boy immediately knew not to mess with me. It was as if he could send his warnings through invisible laser(激光)beams that shot directly from his eyes to the boys’ brains.
“You will not put your hands on my daughter. You will not kiss my daughter. You will not even whisper sweet things into my daughter’s ear. ”
I remember one night in particular walking with a boy around the campground after dark. We came from one direction, and my dad from the other. The boy and my dad locked eyes for a brief second, then the boy dropped my hand like a hot potato and turned away, giving me a quick “See you later. ”
Yes, that’s the Evil Eye: best way ever to keep wandering teen boys’ hands away from your daughter. The Evil Eye in the passage implies that .
| A．Dad gets angry easily |
| B．Dad’s eyes are evil |
| C．Dad’s eyes are ugly-looking |
| D．Dad’s eyes are protective to his daughter |
The underlined words “mess with” in Paragraph 5 most probably mean“ ”.
| A．cause trouble for | B．make untidy |
| C．get married to | D．talk to |
Which of the following is TRUE according to the passage?
| A．As teenagers, we went camping every weekend. |
| B．We made lots of friends during the seasonal camping. |
| C．We had regular boyfriends or girlfriends and enjoyed ourselves. |
| D．The boy dropped my hand and turned away because he loved the Evil Eye. |
It can be inferred from the passage that the author .
| A．is a teenage girl who loves her father |
| B．is a teenage boy who hates his father |
| C．is now an adult who has come to understand her father’s love |
| D．used to be a naughty boy who changed girlfriends now and then |
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