Here is some news of the future.
March 20. 2035
There was a lot of news around the life extension drugs that hit the market a decade ago. They didn't promise that you would live forever. but they gave you a chance to extend your life an extra five to ten years. Even though the life expectancy rate at birth has increased greatly. the life expectancy for seniors hasn't improved that much. Basically. you have a greater chance to become a senior, but you will not have a much longer lifespan, and this is where the anti-aging drugs intend to kick in. So ,do the anti-aging drugs work? Well. it is too early to tell. But the sales so far are very good.
April 19, 2035
Of the total US population of 378 million, people over 65 years of age now make up 20% for the first time. The senior ratio was only 4.1% by year 1900. and l2.4% 30 years ago.
The number of people above 65 compared to those of what is considered working ages. between 15 and 64. is currently 33.7%. This is up from l85% since year 2005. which means that for every retired person there are now two workers. compared to four workers 30 years ago. The number of people above the age of 80 has grown t0 23.8 million; making them 6.3% of the total population compared t0 3.6% in 2005.
April 12. 2040
Although introduced in the market only five years ago, 10% of all hydrogen fuel now sold in the US is of the environmentally friendly Re-Hydro label, produced through. eletrolysis (电解) based on a source of 1OO% renewable energy. Several producers have turned to producing Re-Hydro. mainly because of lower tax. which also keeps the price of. Re-Hydro on the same level as regular hydrogen. Most analysts believe that Re-Hydro will be the .dominating fuel in the futureThe sales of the life extension drugs so far clearly show that .
A. people have no faith in them
B people want to give them a try
C. they work very well for seniors
D. they have no effect on people's healthWhat can we learn from News 2?
| A．Many Americans will find it hard to find a job . |
| B．It's very hard for seniors to pass the age of 80. |
| C．The US population has been increasing rapidly since 2005. |
| D．The US population has been aging rapidly since 2005. |
We can know from the passage that the fuel of the Re-Hydro label is______.
A. expensive B cheap C.green D. dangerousWhat can we infer from News 3?
| A．Re-Hydro will be widely used in the future. |
| B．The government discourages the production of Re-Hydro. |
| C．Producers are not interested in producing Re-Hydro. |
| D．Re-Hydro is more expensive than regular hydrogen. |
Dolphins call out the specific names of loved ones when they become separated, a study finds．Other than humans, they are the only animals known to do this, according to the study．The big difference with dolphins is that these communications consist of whistles（鸣叫）, not words．
Earlier research found that dolphins have a “signature whistle” that would be somewhat like human shouting, “Hey everybody! I’m an adult healthy male named George, and I mean you no harm．”
The new finding is that dolphins also say the names of certain other dolphins．“Animals produced copies of the same sound when they were separated from a close partner．This supports our belief that dolphins copy another animal’s signature whistle when they want to reunite with that animal,” Stephanie King, who led the study, says．
King and her colleagues collected acoustic（声音的）data from wild dolphins around Sarasota Bay, Florida, from 1984 to 2009．The researchers also studied four adult male dolphins housed at the Seas Aquarium, also in Florida．
Those males are adults that keepers named Calvin, Khyber, Malabar and Ranier, all of whom, as well as all of the wild ones, developed their own signature whistles that served as names in communication with other dolphins．
“A dolphin uses its signature whistle to broadcast its identity and announce its presence．The signature whistles allow animals to identify one another over long distances and allow animals to recognize one another and to join up with each other,” King explains．“Dolphin whistles can be heard up to 20km away, depending on water depth and whistle frequency（频率）．”
The researchers said dolphins copy the signature whistles of loved ones, such as a mother, when the two are separated．These “names” are always used in positive situations, and are only directed toward loved ones．
While researchers are often unwilling to apply the word language to non-human communications, dolphins clearly have a very complex communication system．The underlined word “housed” in Paragraph 4 probably means “_________”．
| A．raised | B．saved | C．discovered | D．hunted |
Which one plays a part in whether dolphin whistles can be heard over a distance?
| A．The dolphin’s identity． |
| B．The water temperature |
| C．The whistle frequency． |
| D．The dolphin’s age． |
When do dolphins copy the signature whistles of loved ones?
| A．When there is a fight． |
| B．When their keeper comes． |
| C．When they are apart． |
| D．When they are hungry． |
The passage probably is taken from______
| A．A magazine about scientific advances． |
| B．A website about various animals． |
| C．A report on animal acoustics． |
| D．An essay about the relationship between humans and animals． |
Many songs, poems, and books have been written on love’s strong effect on people. The state of being in love has even been compared to being sick or mad. A study by Professor Semir Zeki of University College London has found that love does affect people’s brains by making them feel great.
Zeki studied young men and women who had recently fallen in love. He found that, when they were looking at photos of their loved ones, there was heightened activity in four areas of their brains. These areas deal with emotions, and one of them, in particular, is known to respond to drugs that cause feelings of great joy and excitement.
Interestingly, the study also found a lack of activity in two other areas of the brain when the volunteers looked at their lovers’ photographs. One of these areas is linked to feelings of sadness, while the other is often active in people suffering from depression. It seems love really can be uplifting.
The state of being in love, according to some scientists, may actually be good for your health. Although scientists know that being in love can make a person feel great, the exact influence of love on a person’s health is harder to determine. However, scientists say that people do need love in order to live healthy lives.
According to Dr. Thomas Lewis, people need to be in relationships because that is how we are designed. He says the brain can only maintain(保持) the overall stability of a person’s immune(免疫) system, bodily rhythms, and heart if it receives input(输入) from outside the body in the form of emotional connections with others.
Professor Antonio Damasio has a similar view. He says that love enriches a person’s imagination and creativity, and makes a person’s body work better. He also believes that love can even improve the body’s ability to fight against disease. Damasio’s wise words of advice are “ Choose love and you will live longer.”What is the main idea of this passage ? __________.
| A．love can really cause people active |
| B．love has an effect on songs and books |
| C．love is linked with emotion |
| D．love is what we need |
What does the underlined word “uplifting” mean? It means __________.
| A．inspiring | B．available | C．cold | D．mad |
From the passage we can conclude that__________.
| A．People write songs, poems and books to say love is the sweetest thing |
| B．nobody but Professor Semir Zeki has understood love does affect people’s brains |
| C．being in love sometimes may make someone act as if he/ she were mad |
| D．love causes heightened activity in all areas of a person’s brains |
Which of the following statements is not true?
| A．Some scientists have the idea that love does good to people. |
| B．It is possible for scientists to decide how much influence love can give people. |
| C．People are born to be in need of getting on touch with each other. |
| D．A person’s health depends on partly on emotional connections with others. |
My 18-month-old son, Adam, called from the front door．“Look, Mama! Doggie!” I dropped what I was doing and stuck my head out the door．Brandy, our next-door neighbor’s 11-year-old dog, was over again．“Go away!” I shouted．
Brandy’s owner had died about a month earlier．The woman’s family had emptied the house and stuck a “For Sale” sign in the front yard, but the family had left old Brandy behind．For weeks, she’d been wandering around the neighborhood．
It wasn’t that I disliked dogs or anything like that．I just didn’t think about them very much．I never had a dog growing up and had never thought to get one．
Brandy went away and I stayed outside with Adam．Then the phone rang．I went inside to take the call．When I came back, Adam was gone．I searched the yard, front and back, then the basketball court and public pool．No trace of him．I was so nervous that I ran home and called the police, then my husband．
Police searched the neighborhood．Suddenly I heard another sound: a dog barking．“It’s coming from the woods,” one of my neighbors said．We followed the barking to a wooded cliff（悬崖）．There we found my son, and he was just inches away from the edges of the cliff, fast asleep．Brandy was beside him, leaning（倚靠）against him to keep him away from the edge．When I picked Adam up, Brandy sank down on her side, breathing quickly．She must have been holding Adam there for hours!
I thanked the police and brought Adam and Brandy back to our house．She hesitated a moment on our doorstep, no doubt remembering the time I’d driven her away．
“Come on, girl,” I said．“This is your home now．” Brandy stepped in, and once she saw she was really welcome, she relaxed and lay down on the floor just inside the door．She’d done a great thing, and I wondered if she knew it ．She’d certainly touched me in a way that no animal ever had．What a pity a dog like Brandy had been left behind!What is the correct order for the events in the story about Brandy?
a．She was left behind by her owner’s family．
b．She stepped into the woman’s house．
c．She appeared at the woman’s front door．
d．She stayed beside the woman’s son for hours．
| A．d, a, b, c | B．a, c, b, d |
| C．c, d, b, a | D．a, c, d, b |
What did the woman do when she first saw Brandy?
| A．She gave her some food． |
| B．She drove her away． |
| C．She took her home． |
| D．She said thank you to her． |
How were they able to be aware that the woman’s son was near the cliff?
| A．By searching the neighborhood． |
| B．By hearing a dog barking． |
| C．By following a dog’s footsteps． |
| D．By hearing her son’s crying． |
If you need glasses to read this, you are among the majority of Chinese students. That’s because most students in China are short-sighted which means they can only see things close up and distant things will be blurry. Four-fifths of high school students wear glasses and now more and more children in primary school need glasses, too.
This epidemic of poor eyesight has two very simple causes: too much time spent indoors studying and too little time spent outdoors playing. Reading and writing for hours and hours, sometimes in poorly lighted rooms, causes eyesight to weaken. But students have to do this because there is so much pressure on them to succeed in school. And because they spend so much time indoors at school and at home, they have less time to spend outdoors enjoying the sun.
The sun, as a consequence, is important in developing good eyesight. Exposure to daylight releases a chemical in the eyes that prevents, or at least delays, short-sightedness. According to a study by Ian Morgan of Australian National University, Australian children and Chinese children have the same level of eyesight before they start school, but once they enter primary school, Chinese children only spend about an hour a day outside, while Australian children spend three to four hours each day in the sunshine. The result is that while about 40 percent of Chinese primary school students need glasses, only three percent of Australian children do.
Wearing glasses may not seem like a big deal. For some, wearing glasses can even be an opportunity to make a fashion statement. But poor eyesight at a young age can have serious long term consequences. As you get older, your eyesight can worsen and lead to things like macular degeneration(黄斑变性), a condition of the eyes for which there is no cure and which can eventually lead to blindness.
With all that in mind, don’t you think it’s time to give your eyes a break? Try spending a little less time inside and go for a walk in the park, instead. It’s the healthy thing to do and your eyes will thank you for it.What does the underlined word “blurry” mean?
| A．unpopular. | B．unpleasant. |
| C．unclear. | D．unconscious. |
How should the students protect their eyesight according to the passage?
| A．They should study less and less. |
| B．They should stay longer outdoors. |
| C．They should wear sun-glasses. |
| D．They should have a longer rest in bed. |
It can be inferred from the passage that _____ is to blame for the poor eyesight of Chinese children.
| A．the ever-worsening bad weather |
| B．the ever-increasing burden of study |
| C．the ever-decreasing sunny days |
| D．the ever-decreasing period of study time |
What is the purpose of this article?
| A．To explain why Chinese students are poor-sighted. |
| B．To admire Australian children’s good eyesight. |
| C．To criticize the present education system. |
| D．To call on people to protect Chinese children’s eyesight |
If you have a chance to go to Finland, you will probably be surprised to find how “foolish” the Finnish people are.
Take the taxi drivers for example. Taxis in Finland are mostly high-class Benz with a fare of two US dollars a kilometer. You can go anywhere in one, tell the driver to drop you at any place, say that you have some business to attend to, and then walk off without paying your fare. The driver would not show the least sign of anxiety.
The dining rooms in all big hotels not only serve their guests, but also serve outside diners. Hotel guests have their meals free, so they naturally go to the free dining rooms to have their meals. The most they would do to show their good faith is to wave their registration card to the waiter. With such a loose check, you can easily use any old registration card to take a couple of friends to dine free of charge.
The Finnish workers are paid by the hour. They are very much on their own as soon as they have agreed with the boss on the rate(价钱). From then on, they just say how many hours they have worked and they will be paid accordingly(相应地).
With so many loopholes(漏洞) in everyday life, surely Finland must be a heaven to those who love to take “petty advantages”. But the strange thing is, all the taxi passengers would always come back to pay their fare after they have attended to their business; not a single outsider has ever been found in the free hotel dining rooms. And workers always give an honest account of the exact hours they put in. As the Finns always act on good faith in everything they do, living in such a society has turned everyone into a real “gentleman”.
In a society of such high moral practice, what need is there for people to be on guard against others?While taking a taxi in Finland, ________.
| A．a passenger can go anywhere without having to pay the driver |
| B．a passenger pays two US dollars for a taxi ride |
| C．a passenger can never be turned down by the taxi driver wherever he wants to go |
| D．a passenger needs to provide good faith demonstration(证明) before leaving without paying |
We know from the passage that big hotels in Finland ________.
| A．are mostly poorly managed |
| B．provide meals for any diners |
| C．provide free wine and charge for food |
| D．provide meal for only those who live in the hotels |
Which of the following is NOT true according to the passage?
| A．The workers in Finland are paid by the hour. |
| B．The workers are always honest with their working hours. |
| C．The workers and their bosses will make an agreement in advance about the pay. |
| D．The bosses in Finland are too busy to check the working hours of their employees. |
The word “those” in the last but one paragraph probably refers to _______.
| A．people who are dishonest |
| B．people who often have meals in big hotels |
| C．people who often take taxis |
| D．people who are worthy of trust |
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