Our bodies are wonderfully skillful at keeping balance．When the temperature jumps, we sweat to cool down．When our blood pressure falls, our hearts can do something．As it turns out, though, our natural state is always changing．Researchers are finding that everything from blood pressure to brain function changes regularly with the cycles of sun, moon and seasons．And their insights （洞察力） are getting new ways for keeping away such common killers as heart disease and cancer．Only one doctor in 20 has a good knowledge of the scientific use of time in medicine．But according to a new American Medical Association, three out of four are eager to change that．“The field is exploding,” says Michael Smolensky．“Doctors used to look at us like, What spaceship did you get off ? Now they're thirsty to know more．”
In medical school, most doctors learn that people with chronic conditions should take their medicine regularly．“It’s a terrible way to treat disease,” says Dr Richard Martin．For example, asthmatics （气喘患者） are most likely to suffer during the night．Yet most patients try to keep a constant level of medicine in their blood day and night, whether by breathing in on an inhaler （吸入器） four times a day or taking a pill each morning and evening．In recent studies, researchers have found that a large mid afternoon dose of a bronchodilator （支气管扩张剂） can be as safe as several small doses, and better for preventing nighttime attacks．
If the night belongs to asthma, the dawn belongs to high blood pressure and heart disease．Heart attacks are twice as common at 9 a．m．as at 11 p．m．Part of the reason is that our blood pressure falls at night, then rises as we start to work for the day．“Doctors know that,” says Dr．Henry Black of Chicago's Medical Center, “but until now, we haven't been able to do anything about it．” Most blood - pressure drugs provide 18 to 20 hours of relief （减缓）．But because they’re taken in the morning, they're least effective when most needed．“You take your pill at 7 and it's working by 9,” says Dr．William White of the University of Connecticut Health Center “But by that time you've gone through the worst four hours of the day with no protection．” Bedtime medicine would prevent high blood pressure, but it would also push blood pressure to dangerously low levels during the night．Researchers are finding that _________ ．
| A．heart disease and cancer are the most common killers of human beings |
| B．only blood pressure and brain function are decided by cycles of sun, moon and seasons |
| C．the functions of human bodies have much to do with nature |
| D．any change in human bodies goes with changes in the surroundings |
According to the author, it is best for asthmatics to
take their medicine _________ ．
| A．at certain time |
| B．each morning and evening |
| C．when the disease occurs |
| D．at midafternoon |
Which of the following statements is NOT true?
A．Doctors know more about illnesses than before．
B．Doctors in the U．S．used to be thirsty to know more about the new medical field．
C．The researchers' insights are providing new methods to prevent common killers．
D．The correct use of time in medicine attracts more attention in medical circle in the U．S．A．The suggested title for this passage might be _________．
| A．Medicine Is Everything | B．Treatment Is Everything |
| C．Timing Is Everything | D．Prevention Is Everything |
When Christopher Columbus landed on the then unnamed Costa Rica in 1502, he saw many Indians wearing gold earrings. So he thought the land must be rich in gold. He named the place Costa Rica, which means “rich coast” in Spanish.
Though little gold was found, Costa Rica today is indeed rich with coffee and bananas. Coffee is the most important product in Costa Rica and most of it is exported (出口) to other countries like America and West Germany. Bananas are the country’s second most important export.
Costa Ricans also grow many other crops such as fruits, corn and beans for their own use. Costa Ricans love colors and their houses are painted in bright colors.
Education is very important to the Costa Ricans. Almost every village has a school and education is a must for children between seven and fourteen years of age. Boys and girls go to separate (单独的) schools. Classes begin in March and end in November. The other three months of the year are harvest time and the children have to help their parents to pick coffee beans. What’s the main idea of the first paragraph?
| A．How Columbus found Costa Rica. |
| B．How Costa Rica got its name. |
| C．What the Costa Ricans wore. |
| D．What language the Costa Ricans spoke. |
The Costa Ricans may NOT paint their houses ______.
| A．pink and red | B．grey and black |
| C．blue and green | D．yellow and orange |
In Costa Rica, boys and girls between seven and fourteen ______.
| A．must go to school |
| B．study in the same school |
| C．do not have to go to school at all |
| D．can choose to stop schooling at any time |
From December to February, school children in Costa Rica ______.
| A．have lessons every day |
| B．have their examinations |
| C．help their parents pick coffee beans |
| D．help their parents decorate their houses |
Email has brought the art of letter writing back to life, but some experts think the resulting spread of bad English does more harm than good.
Email is a form of communication that is changing, for the worse, the way we write and use language, say some communication researchers. It is also changing the way we interact(交流) and build relationship. These are a few of the recently recognized features of email, say experts, which should cause individuals and organizations to rethink the way they use email.
“Email has increased the spread of careless writing habits,” says Naomi Baron, a professor of linguistics(语言学) at an American university. She says the poor spelling, grammar, punctuation and sentence structure of emails reflect(反映) a growing unconcern about the way we write.
Baron argues that we shouldn’t forgive and forget the poor writing often shown in email. “The more we use email and its tasteless writing, the more it becomes the normal way of writing,” the professor says.
Others say that despite its poor writing, email has finished what several generations of English teachers couldn’t: it has made writing fashionable again.
“Email is a critical new communication technology.” says Ian Lancashire, a professor of English at Toronto University. “It fills the gap between spoken language and the formal methods of writing that existed before email. It is the purest form of written speech.”
Lancashire says email has the mysterious ability to get people who are usually scared by writing to get their thoughts flowing easily onto a blank screen. He says this is because of email’s close similarity to speech. “It’s like a circle of four or five people around a campfire,” he says.
Still, he accepts that this new-found freedom to express themselves often gets people into trouble. Emails sent in a day almost exceed(超过) the number of letters mailed in a year. But more people are recognizing the content of a typical email message is not often exact.From what Baron says in the third paragraph we can see that ________.
| A．careless people use email more than careful people |
| B．email requires people to change their native language |
| C．professors in universities don’t need to use email |
| D．people communicate by email full of mistakes |
What does the underlined word “it”(in Paragraph 4) refer to?
| A．The poor writing. | B．Email. |
| C．The good writing. | D．A new communication technology. |
In Lancashire’s opinion, email is a wonderful technology because _______.
| A．it can be useful all over the world |
| B．it is the fastest way to communicate |
| C．we can express ourselves in a free way |
| D．we can save a lot of paper |
This passage mainly shows us that ______.
| A．people should stop using email to communicate |
| B．experts hold different opinions about email writing |
| C．Americans only use email to communicate |
| D．email makes people lose interest in English |
A great-grandfather has put up his Christmas tree for the 85th time after his father first bought it from a toy shop.
Douglas Hewitt, 85, has celebrated every Christmas with the artificial tree since he was born. His father bought the tree from a toy shop in Sheffield just months after Douglas was born. The four-foot tree remains the centre point of the Hewitt family household during every festive season.
Mr. Hewitt, of South Anston, South Yorkshire, said, “It reminds us of my childhood, our children’s childhood and our grandchildren and great-grandchildren’s after that. They all come and look at it and smile; it’s become part of the furniture. If we didn’t put that Christmas tree up, it wouldn’t feel like Christmas.”
The tree was passed down to Mr. Hewitt when he married Mavis. Mrs. Hewitt said, “Year after year we have just carried on using that one. You have to be a bit more careful with it now, as it’s fragile.”
Their daughter, June Murphy, also has fond memories of the Christmas tree. She said, “It was in my grandparents’ home and then it was given to us. It looks a little thin now, as each time you get it out something else falls off. It’s become a bit of a family joke. Each year someone has to comment ‘not again!’ But it’s a Christmas tradition of getting the tree out that we all love. We’d all be sad to see it go, as I think it would be hard to find such a loved replacement.”
Mr. Hewitt said, “There were a lot more branches on it, and it’s lost its feathers that were all along the edge. There were little candle holders（蜡烛架）on the ends and little legs on it, but unfortunately they’ve been lost over the years.”Where did Douglas Hewitt get the Christmas tree?
| A．He got it from his father. |
| B．He bought it from a toy shop. |
| C．He made it by himself. |
| D．He cut it down in a forest. |
What does Mr. Hewitt want to tell readers in the third paragraph?
| A．It may be the last year that the tree appears in this house. |
| B．His family decorate their house with this Christmas tree. |
| C．This Christmas tree reminds him that Christmas is on the way. |
| D．His family has a special feeling towards this Christmas tree. |
The underlined word “fragile” in the fourth paragraph probably means_______.
| A．a little strange | B．easily broken |
| C．quite small | D．not beautiful |
Why does her family put up the Christmas tree every year according to June Murphy?
| A．To honor her grandparents. |
| B．To save the family money. |
| C．To keep up the family tradition. |
| D．To create a friendly atmosphere. |
Babies who watch TV are more likely to show late learning development and language at 14 months, especially if they are watching programs aimed at adults and older children, according to a new study, which would probably surprise those parents who leave their babies in front of a TV set.
Babies who watched 60 minutes of TV daily had developmental scores a third lower at 14 months than babies who were watching less TV. Although their developmental scores were still in the normal range, the difference may have been due to the fact that when children and parents are watching TV, they are missing the talking, playing and other communications that are important to learning and development.
This new study, which appeared in the Aechives of Pediatric and Adolescent Medicine, followed 259 lower-income families in New York, most of whom spoke Spanish as their primary language at home. Other studies of higher-income families have also come to the same conclusion: TV watching is not only non-educational, but it seems to slow down babies’ development.
But what about “good” TV, like Sesame Street? The researchers didn’t find any difference when compared to non-educational programs designed for small children, like Spongebob SquarePants. Earlier research by some of the same scientists, most of whom are at New York University School of Medicine’s Bellevue Hospital Centre, has found that parents whose children watch non-educational TV programs like Spongebob SquarePants spend less time reading to their children or teaching them.
At this point, parents reading this will probably be astonished. TV is so often a parent’s good friend, keeping children happily occupied（占时间）so that the adults can cook dinner, answer the phone, or take a shower. But, clearly, this electronic babysitter（保姆）is not an educational aid. It is best to make sure the babies are fast asleep if you have to watch TV.According to the first paragraph, 14-month-old babies who watch TV probably_______.
| A．learn things quickly |
| B．prefer programs for older children |
| C．surprise their parents with their development |
| D．speak later than babies who don’t |
Babies who watched 60 minutes of TV daily had lower developmental scores perhaps because _______.
| A．they watch non-educational programs |
| B．they have little communication with their parents |
| C．they lost interest in real things |
| D．their parents don’t speak English at home |
We can infer from the passage that______.
| A．Educational and non-educational TV have different effects on babies |
| B．Many parents leave babies to the TV to do their own things |
| C．Educational TV is very popular among higher-income families |
| D．Lower-income families tend to teach their babies at home |
Which would be the best title for the passage?
| A．Developing Better Learning Ability |
| B．A New Study on Babies’ Bad Habits |
| C．TV Watching Is Bad for Babies’ Brains |
| D．Make Sure Your Babies Watch “Good” TV Programs |
Who doesn’t have a clingy friend? You know, that person who often calls, texts, and e-mails. He often needs your attention, your feedback, or your help. Worse yet, he often gets antsy when you don’t reply immediately.
Is there ever a moment when you just want to turn off your phone and be alone? But you won’t do that to a friend. Actually there are better ways to deal with a clingy friend.
Give Yourself Some Time
If you really need some time for yourself, or you’re just tired of being the listener, just explain to your friend honestly that you want or need some time of your own. Even the most determined friends will understand and give you some space. Of course, those extremely clingy friends will still call, text, and e-mail. If that happens, just reply gently that you need some time for yourself.
Suggest an Activity for Your Friend
If you are tired of different get-togethers and outings, then you should advise your friend to do something alone. If you both like sports, you could tell your friend to have a try at the new gym. If your friend likes your suggestion, but insists that you go along, just explain that you’ve already visited the gym. Mention that you enjoy the gym. If you’re lucky , he’ll try it, and like it.
Introduce Your Clingy Friend to Others.
Your clingy friend may just be lonely or have trouble meeting new people. If that’s the case , introduce him to others with similar interests. He may just make some new friends.
_________________________________________
There’s no reason for you to rudely tell your clingy friend that he’s a pain in the neck. Just follow the above advice to take your time back. After a while, your clingy friend should learn to value your time and your friendship.What does the underlined word “antsy” in Paragraph 1 probably mean?
| A．busy | B．silent | C．nervous | D．bored |
What does the author suggest you do in the first advice?
| A．Understand your friends. |
| B．Be honest with your friends. |
| C．Spend more time with your friends. |
| D．Keep your distance from your friends. |
Which of the following can best fill in the blank of the last paragraph?
| A．Give Your Friend Some Time | B．Take Your Time Back |
| C．Don’t Be Rude | D．Value Your Friendship |
We can learn from the passage that clingy people __________.
| A．are very confident | B．have little free time |
| C．don’t respect others | D．don’t want to be alone |
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