Babies are born yogis. Once we were all able to pull our toes up by our ears and laugh about it. Then we aged, got injured, and began carrying stress in our shoulders and back. In short, we lost our balance.
Yoga（瑜伽） is an ancient practice that helps create a sense of union in body, mind, and spirit. It brings us balance. I was seriously out of balance when I started practicing yoga in 1999. I had plantar facilities in both feet, and my doctor had warned me against all the things I loved to do: walking, hiking, and playing tennis. I was desperate for exercise. Yoga became my salvation and even enhanced my other fitness activities. I practice yoga at least twice a week, but I consider yoga to be part of my daily life because after a while you no longer just practice yoga—you love it.
Yoga becomes part of your physical life. Your body grows stronger, more toned, and more flexible as you move from one pose to the other. I spent a week in Mexico at a yoga retreat, and it was the first vacation on which I lost weight. “Rather than building muscle, yoga builds muscle tone,” says Shakta Kaur Khalsa, author of the K.I.S.S. Guide to Yoga. “Because yoga helps maintain a balanced metabolism (新陈代谢), it also helps to regulate weight. Additionally, yoga stretches muscles lengthwise, causing fat to be removed around the cells.” I do yoga poses throughout the day. After hours at my computer, I stretch my stiff shoulders and arms. When I need a boost of energy, I do energizing poses. When I am feeling exhausted at the end of the day, I do restorative poses.
Yoga becomes part of your mental life. Yoga teaches you to focus on breathing while you hold the poses. This attention to breath is calming; it dissolves stress and anxiety. I use yogic breathing on the tennis courts, in the dentist’s chair, and in traffic jams. You should always leave a yoga practice feeling energized, not tired. If you feel tired after yoga, it means you spent the time “fighting” yourself, trying to force yourself into poses. In yoga, you “surrender” to the pose by letting go of the tension.
Yoga becomes part of your spiritual life. Yoga is practiced by people from all religions; it is not restricted to any religious group. Yoga teaches “right” living in how we deal with ourselves and others. As I work on a difficult pose, I learn patience, forgiveness, and the value of gentleness. Yoga advocates proper eating, but you don’t have to be a vegetarian to practice yoga.What would be the best title for this passage?
| A．What’s Yoga? | B．How I Do Yoga Poses |
| C．The Benefits of Yoga | D．The Varieties of Yoga |
According to the third paragraph, yoga can help people __________.
| A．grow taller | B．lose weight |
| C．become flexible in thinking | D．make more friends |
People feel tired after yoga because __________.
| A．they consume energy in practicing yoga |
| B．they respond well to yoga poses |
| C．they spend too much time on yoga |
| D．they force themselves into yoga poses |
If this passage continues, what will the writer most probably write about in the next paragraph?
| A．Yoga as a means to keep fit. | B．Who may like yoga |
| C．Popularity of yoga all over the world. | D．Encouraging people to do yoga. |
Finland (芬兰) is perhaps the most beautiful and mysterious country of Northern Europe. Two-thirds of its surface is covered with thick forests. Relative to its size, Finland has more lakes than any other country. The northern part of this country is inside the Arctic Circle, where almost no trees can grow because of its cold weather and the people use their deer of transport, clothing and food.
The Finnish history began in the Middle Ages. In about 1155, Finland was conquered (侵略) by its western neighbor Sweden (瑞典). After a period of rule by Denmark (丹麦) in the 14th century, the Swedes won back independence and power in 1523 under their brave king. During the Napoleonic (拿破仑的) Wars (1804-1818) Finland was passed finally from Sweden to Russia. The opportunity came in 1917, when the Russian Revolution brought foreign rule of Finland to an end. Shortly after Soviet Russia made peace with Germany, 1919 saw the founding of the Finnish Republic.
The years between the First and Second World Wars were years of progress and growing development. Finland is the fifth largest country in Europe, and despite a relatively small population of 5.2 million, the market potential is much greater. Finland has no coal or oil, and the nation’s wealth lies in the timber from its forests, which supplies material for paper and furniture making, and in the electric power from its water. Finland is an excellent gateway to trading with Russia and the Baltic States because of a long history of trading with these marks. Finland has also enjoyed a strong and long-Finland’s accession to the European Union in January 1995.From the passage, we learn that Finland _______.
| A．lies inside the Arctic Circle |
| B．lies east of Sweden |
| C．is next to the countries of northern Europe |
| D．is entirely covered with forests and lakes |
Finland must have been under the control of _______ for as long as one hundred years or so.
| A．Russia | B．Denmark | C．Sweden | D．foreign countries |
Among natural resources, the Finnish people benefit mainly from _______.
| A．coal and oil | B．forests and water | C．paper and furniture | D．timber and power industry |
What does the underlined word “timber” probably mean?
| A．Fruits. | B．Wood. | C．Animals. | D．Money. |
I know what you’re thinking: pizza? For breakfast? But the truth is that you can have last night’s leftovers in the a.m. if you want to.
I know lots of women who skip breakfast, and they have a ton of different excuses for doing it. Some say they don’t have time, others think they’re “saving” calories, still others just don’t like breakfast food.
But the bottom line is that eating in the morning is very important when you’re trying to lose weight. “Eating just about anything from 300 to 400 calories would be better than nothing at all,” says Katherine Brooking, R. D., who developed the super-easy eating plan for this year’s “SELF CHALLENGE”. And even pizza can be healthy if it’s loaded with vegetables, and you stick to one small piece.
Breakfast is one meal I never miss, and the same goes for most weight loss success stories. Research shows that eating breakfast keeps you from overeating later in the day. Researchers at the University of Southern California found that breakfast skippers have a bigger chance of gaining weight than those who regularly have a morning meal.
So eat something in the morning, anything. I know plenty of friends who end up having no breakfast altogether, and have just coffee or orange juice. I say, try heating up last night’s leftovers—it may sound crazy, but if it works for you, do it! I find if I tell myself, “You can always eat it tomorrow,” I put away the leftovers instead of eating more that night. Try it…you may save yourself some pre-bedtime calories. And watch your body gain the fat-burning effects.The word “leftovers” in Paragraph 1 probably means _________.
| A．food remaining after a meal |
| B．things left undone |
| C．meals made of vegetables |
| D．pizza topped with fruit |
What can we infer from the text?
| A．Working women usually have breakfast in a hurry. |
| B．Many people have wrong ideas about breakfast. |
| C．There are some easy ways of cooking a meal. |
| D．Eating vegetables helps save energy. |
The text is written mainly for those ________.
| A．who go to work early |
| B．who want to lose weight |
| C．who stay up late |
| D．who eat before sleep |
No doubt that you know about Charities. Here it is another chance for you to know more. Difficult times often bring out the best in people. And this was the case for basketball star Yao Ming, who hosted a television show in Shanghai that raised US$300,000 to help researchers find a cure for SARS. Fundraising, or charity, is an act of goodwill towards others. Charities in the West have more flexible ways. Look at a typical day for Ruth, a wealthy woman in the UK, for example. Ruth wakes up in the morning and collects her post. There’s a letter addressed to her with a picture of a half-dead, beaten horse. It’s from a charity asking Ruth to donate money to save the animals. The door bell rings and there, on Ruth’s doorstep, is an old woman asking for money to help the aged. She turns on the television, hears sad music and sees a picture of a wide-eyed child dying of hunger in Africa with an appeal for money to help the child. Ruth then goes shopping for a dress to wear to that evening’s large party for the rich and famous. The ticket cost her a small fortune, but she doesn’t mind because most of the money is going to a charity that fights AIDS. She feels good about going because she’s helping the sick. Within five minutes of walking down the street, Ruth has passed a charity shop. She doesn’t stop because she doesn’t think she’d find a suitable dress there—it’s full of old, secondhand clothes. But, many other people enter and but all sorts of bargains. Edna, a little old lady, looks after the shop. Any profit it has made goes to a cancer charity. Now that she has retired, she has plenty of spare time to offer her services for free.
For people like Yao Ming, Ruth and Edna, charity is a virtue that holds the same importance in life as faith and hope. “As you look back on your life, the moments that stand out are the moments when you have done things for others,” said Scottish author Henry Drummond.Which of the following is NOT mentioned in the story as a way of fundraising ?
| A．Charity party | B．Charity post |
| C．Charity TV program | D．Charity for beggars. |
What does the word “raise” in the first paragraph mean ?
| A．Collect together | B．Donate |
| C．Increase | D．Bring to someone’s attention. |
We can infer from the passage that .
| A．Yao Ming donated US$300,000 to help researchers find a cure for SARS |
| B．Edna may not be a rich lady but she is willing to do something for others |
| C．Ruth leads a busy life and she feels very tired |
| D．Ruth is angry because so many people ask her for money every day |
What’s the writer’s attitude towards charity ?
| A．The writer thinks it’s something only people like Ruth can afford to do |
| B．The writer just wants to inform us of the different ways to practice charity |
| C．The writer thinks it’s a virtue and admires the people who practice it |
| D．The writer doesn’t make it clear in the story |
The underlined part in the last paragraph probably means that .
| A．when you look back sometimes, you need stand out |
| B．when you want to do something for others, you need stand out |
| C．the moment you stand out, you can do something for others |
| D．what impresses people deeply is what they have done for others |
Can you imagine learning by playing games. To be sure, only children experienced some things differently from those with sisters and brothers. Many feel more pressure to succeed. They also tend to look only to their parents as role models in the absence of brothers and sisters.
In India, 10-year-old Saviraj Sankpal founded a support group for the tiny minority of only children. Among other things, the group does volunteer work to counter (or be against) the myth that they are not responsible. "People think we're treated too kindly and ruined," says Sankpal, a computer engineering student. "But I'd like to remind them how lonely it can get."
Most only children, however, say they wish for sisters or brothers only when it comes to caring for aging, unhealthy parents. Britain's David Emerson, coauthor of the book The Only Child, says that such a person bears terrible burden in having to make all the decisions alone. Emerson knows from experience: After his father died, he chose to move his elderly mother from their family home, where she was vulnerable to (or easy to be attacked by) house breakers, to a new one with more security." The move was quite hard on her, and she might feel that I pushed her into it," he says,". After all, I am left with that responsibility."
In the future, more and more only children will likely face similar choices. With working mothers increasing, many families are finding they simply don't have the time, money or energy to have more than one child. As only children become common, perhaps the world will realize that the Charge made against them is unjust.It can be inferred from the passage that the author's attitude towards only children is _______.
| A．ironic | B．objective | C．unfriendly | D．unjust |
It can be inferred from the passage that only children's parents should ___________.
| A．found a support group for their only children |
| B．do volunteer work to help their only children |
| C．let their only children make all the decisions alone |
| D．set good examples for their only children |
Emerson decided to move his elderly mother to a new house because he ___________.
| A．is the only one who cares about her |
| B．doesn't want to leave her alone |
| C．wants to share the responsibility with her |
| D．is worried about her safety |
It is quite usual now for a working mother to ____________.
| A．spend all her time and money on her only child |
| B．be responsible for bringing up her only child |
| C．have and bring up only one child |
| D．devote all her energy to her job |
The main idea of the passage is that ________.
| A．only children are ruined and irresponsible |
| B．only children have to face many challenges |
| C．most only children want to have brothers and sisters |
| D．most only children share their responsibility with their parents |
Do you read newspapers in modern times while we have TV and other media? The first newspaper was written by hand and put up on walls in public places. The earliest daily newspaper was started in Rome in 59 BC. In the 700s the world’s first printed newspaper was published. Europe didn’t have a regularly published newspaper until 1609, when one was started in Germany.
The first regularly published newspaper in English was printed in Amsterdam in 1620. In 1621, an English newspaper was started in London and was published once a week. The first daily English newspaper was Daily Current, which came out in March 1702.
In 1690, Benjamin Harris printed the first American newspaper in Boston. But not long after it was first published, the government stopped the paper. In 1704, John Campbell started Boston Newspaper, the first newspaper published daily in the American Colonies. By 1760, the colonies had had more than thirty daily newspapers. There are now about 1,800 daily papers in the United States.
Today, as a group, English language newspapers have the largest circulation in the world. But the largest circulation for a newspaper is that of the Japanese newspaper Asahi Shimbun. It sells more than eleven million copies every year. The first regularly printed European newspaper was started ______.
| A．in Rome in 59 BC | B．in Germany in 1609 |
| C．in Amsterdam in 1620 | D．in England in 1621 |
The first daily English newspaper was started in _______.
| A．1702 | B．1760 | C．1620 | D．1621 |
What can we learn from the passage_______?
A. The earliest daily printed newspaper was started in Rome in 59 BC.
B. The first regularly published English newspaper was printed in Boston.
C. The first daily English newspaper was printed in the American Colonies.
D. The first American newspaper was stopped before 1704.Which of the following is TRUE according to the passage_______?
A. Newspapers have the longest history in the United States.
B. One English language newspaper has the largest circulation in the world.
C. The first English newspaper was printed in Rome in 59 BC.
D. There are all kinds of newspapers all over the world today.What is the best title of the passage_______?
| A．History of newspapers. |
| B．History of daily newspapers. |
| C．The beginning of daily newspapers. |
| D．The beginning of newspapers. |
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