“In only six days I lost seven pounds of weight.”
“Two full inches in the first three days!”
These are the kinds of statements used in magazine, newspaper, radio and television ads, promising new shapes and new looks to those who buy the medicine or the device. The promoters of such products say they can shape the legs, slim the face, smooth wrinkles, or in some other way add to beauty or desirability.
Often such products are nothing more than money-making things for their promoters. The results they produce are questionable, and some are dangerous no health.
To understand how these products can be legally promoted to the public, it is necessary to understand something of the laws covering their regulation. If the product is a drug, FDA（Food and Drug Administration）can require proof under the Food, Drug, and Cosmetic Act that it is safe and effective before it is put on the market. But if the product is a device, FDA has no authority to require premarketing proof of safety or effectiveness. If a product already on the marker is danger to health, FDA can request the producer or distributor to remove it from the market voluntarily, or it can take legal action ,including seizure（查封）of the product. One notable case a few years ago involved an electrical device called the Relaxacisor, which had been sold for reducing the waistline. The Relaxacisor produced electrical shocks to the body through contact pads. FDA took legal action against the distributor to stop the sale of the device on the grounds that it was dangerous to health and life. Obviously, most of the devices on the market have never been the subject of court proceedings（诉讼）,and new devices appear continually. Before buying, it is up to the consumer to judge the safety or effectiveness of such items.It can be inferred that the ads mentioned at the beginning of the passage are ______.
| A．illegal | B．unreliable |
| C．objective | D．costly |
Which of the following will the author probably agree with?A. The court is in charge A.of removing dangerous products.
B. It is possible that new products are questionable.
C.The production of a device must be approved by FDA.
D. The promoters usually just care about profits.FDA can ask for the proof of safety and effectiveness of a product ________.
| A．if its consumers make complaints |
| B．if it is a device |
| C．if it is a drug |
| D．if its distributors challenge FDA’s authority |
The Relaxacisor is mentioned in the passage as_______.
| A．a product which was designed to produce electricity |
| B．a product whose distributor was involved in a legal case |
| C．a successful advertisement of a beauty product |
| D．an example of a quality beauty product |
By writing the passage, the author intends to _______.
| A．make consumers aware of the promoters’ false promises |
| B．show the weakness of the law on product safety |
| C．give advice on how to keep young and beautiful |
| D．introduce the organization of FDA |
A team of British surgeons has carried out Gaza’s（加沙）first organ transplants for a long-term plan to train local medical staff to perform the operations.
Two patients underwent kidney（肾脏）transplants at the Shifa, Gaza’s biggest public hospital. The operations were conducted a fortnight ago by a volunteer medical team from the Royal Liverpool hospital.
Ziad Matouk, 42, was born with one kidney and was diagnosed with renal failure（肾衰竭）several years ago. Matouk, whose wife donated one of her kidneys, hopes to return to his job within six months. The couple had sought a transplant in Cairo, but were rejected as unsuitable at a state hospital and could not afford the fee at a private hospital. “We were desperate,” said Matouk.
The UK-Gaza link-up began about a year ago after Abdelkader Hammad, a doctor at the Royal Liverpool hospital, was contacted by an anaesthetist（麻醉师）at the Shifa, who outlined the difficulties the Gaza hospital was facing with dialysis（透析）. The Shifa is forced to rely on generators because of power cuts; spare parts for its ageing dialysis machines have been difficult to import; and supplies of consumables are often scarce. After an exploratory trip last April, Hammad---whose family is Palestinian---and three colleagues from Liverpool arrived in Gaza via Egypt last month, bringing specialist equipment. Two patients were selected for surgery. The first, Mohammed Duhair, 42, received a kidney donated by his younger brother in a six-hour operation. Two days later, Matouk received a transplant after his wife, Nadia, 36, was found to be a good match. The surgeon was carried out by the British team, assisted by doctors and nurses from the Shifa. “We are very satisfied with the results,” said Sobbi Skaik, head of surgery at the Gaza hospital.
Skaik hopes that Gaza medical teams will eventually carry out kidney transplants independently, and that other organ transplants may follow. The Shifa is working with the Gaza ministry of health on a plan to train its doctors, surgeons, nursing staff and laboratory technicians in transplant surgery at the Royal Liverpool. “Funding is a problem,” said Hammad. “In the meantime we’ll go back as volunteers to Gaza for the next couple of years to do more transplants.” The Liverpool team’s next visit is scheduled for May. What effect does Gaza’s first organ transplants hopes to get?
| A．Helping poor Gaza people to regain health to make more money. |
| B．Releasing Gaza hospitals’ pressure of lack of professional doctors. |
| C．Assisting the Royal Liverpool hospital in perfecting their operations. |
| D．Calling for international attention at Gaza’s poor medical service. |
Why did the state hospital refuse to practice surgeon for Ziad Matouk?
| A．Because he couldn’t afford the fee at a public hospital. |
| B．Because the hospital didn’t accept dangerous patients. |
| C．Because they couldn’t find a matched organ. |
| D．Because his condition was untreatable. |
What is the beginning of the cooperation between the Royal Liverpool hospital and Gaza?
| A．A UK doctor contacted Gaza hospital. |
| B．The Shifa imported medical machines from UK. |
| C．Ziad Matouk’s condition seemed to get worse. |
| D．A Shifa doctor turned to Royal Liverpool hospital for help. |
What did Dr. Hammad and his team do recently?
| A．They had an exploratory trip in Egypt last April. |
| B．They carried out surgeries to test Gaza’s medical equipment. |
| C．They carried out two transplant surgeries in Gaza. |
| D．They sought assistance from the hospital of the Shifa. |
It was Thanksgiving morning. I was busy preparing the traditional Thanksgiving turkey when the doorbell rang. I opened the front door and saw two small children in rags huddling together on the top step.
“Any old papers, lady?” asked one of them.
I was busy. I wanted to say “no” until I looked down at their feet. They were wearing thin little sandals （凉鞋）, wet with heavy snow.
“Come in and I’ll make you a cup of hot cocoa.”
They walked over and sat down at the table. Their wet sandals left marks upon the floor. I saved them cocoa and bread to fight against the cold outside. Then I went back to the kitchen and started cooking.
The silence in the front room struck me. I looked in. The girl held the empty cup in her hands, looking at it. The boy asked in a flat voice, “Lady, are you rich?”
“Am I rich? Pity, no!”
I looked at my worn-out slipcovers （椅套）. The girl put her cup back in its saucer （茶碟）carefully and said, “Your cups match your saucers.” They left after that, holding their papers against the wind. They had reminded me that I had so much for which to be grateful.
Plain blue china cups and saucers were only worth five pence. But they matched.
I tasted the potatoes and stirred the meat soup. Potatoes and brown meat soup, a roof over our heads, my man with a regular job, these matched, too.
I moved the chairs back from the fire and cleaned the living room. The muddy marks of little sandals were still wet upon my floor. Let them be for a while, I thought, just in case I should begin to forget how rich I am. The writer let the two children come in and served them well because ______.
| A．she wanted to sell old papers to them |
| B．she wanted to give them some presents |
| C．she showed great pity and care on them |
| D．she wanted to show her thanks to them |
The writer left the muddy marks of little sandals on the floor for a while to _______.
| A．show that she was a kind-hearted lady |
| B．remind her she shouldn’t forget how rich she was |
| C．leave room for readers to think about what being rich is |
| D．call up her memories of the good old days |
It can be inferred from the text that whether you are rich depends on _______.
| A．how much money you have made |
| B．what attitude you have had toward life |
| C．the way you help others |
| D．your social relationship |
For the first time, researchers have discovered that some plants can kill insects in order to get additional nutrients. New research shows that they catch and kill small insects with their own sticky hairs near the roots and then absorb nutrients through their roots when the insects are killed and fall to the ground.
Professor Mark Chase, of Kew and Queen Mary, University of London, said: “The cultivated (改良的) tomatoes and potatoes still have the hairs. Tomatoes in particular are covered with these sticky hairs. They do trap small insects on a regular basis. They do kill insects.”
The number of these carnivorous plants is thought to have came up to 50 percent and many of them have until now been wrongly regarded as among the most harmless plants. Among them are species of petunia（矮牵牛）, some special tobacco plants and cabbages, some varieties of potatoes and tomatoes, etc. Researchers at Royal Botanical Gardens Kew, which carried out the study, now believe there are hundreds more killer plants than previously realized.
It is thought that the technique was developed in the wild to get necessary nutrients in poor quality soil – and even various plants grown in your vegetable garden still have the ability.
The researchers, publishing their finding in the Botanical Journal of the Linnean Society, said: “We may be surrounded by many more murderous plants than we think.” “We are accustomed to thinking of plants as being immobile and harmless, and there is something deeply frightening about the thought of meat-eating plants," they added.Tomatoes and potatoes kill insects to _____.
| A．get more sticky hairs |
| B．make themselves grow better |
| C．make their roots stronger |
| D．avoid falling down to the ground |
The word “carnivorous” in Paragraph 3 most probably means _____.
| A．fast-growing |
| B．harmless |
| C．insect-killing |
| D．nutritious |
The insect-killing technique of vegetables is developed most probably through _____.
| A．evolution of species |
| B．helps from other garden plants |
| C．artificial cultivation |
| D．nutrients preserved in rich soil |
The text is probably taken from _____.
| A．a student book |
| B．a science fiction |
| C．a scientific repot |
| D．a bulletin board |
This message is to inform all the children that Santa's post office in Himmelpfort, Germany, is open to receive your holiday wishes. That means you can mail your letters to Santa about 6 weeks sooner than that last year. Santa knows you've been good and wants to make sure he and his helpers receive your wish list earlier.
Eight post offices are organized across Germany to answer all letters children send. This year they plan to receive over 250,000 letters. Though the letters fly from over 80 different countries, Santa and his helpers can understand and make sure to answer all the letters.
In 1984, two children from Berlin sent their wish lists to Himmelpfort after spending vacation there. Their letters were answered by postal employees and later Himmelpfort increased its helpers to meet the needs of increased mail traffic. Year after year, Santa and his crew use an eco-friendly powered vehicle to collect the thousands of letters he receives from young boys and girls. The great news for this year is that if you come to the beautiful town of Himmelpfort, you can drop off your letter and visit Santa in person, from Tuesdays to Thursdays until Christmas Eve.
Santa does not currently have an e-mail, Twitter or a Facebook account. He believes in old-fashioned communication. So get out your paper and write your wish list. Just make sure your letter is clear so you can receive an official response, send your letters to:
Santa
Christmas Post Office
Himmelpfort, Germany 16798This year Santa and his helpers _____.
| A．are eager to receive more wishes |
| B．keep traveling around 80 countries |
| C．are able to receive kids’ letters earlier |
| D．answer most of the letters from kids |
From the 3rd paragraph, we know that _____.
| A．post offices send kids all the presents they ask for |
| B．children from Berlin like spending holidays in Himmelpfort |
| C．Santa uses a powered vehicle because of the heavy mail traffic |
| D．children can visit Santa in the flesh before Christmas Eve this year |
Santa doesn’t have social communications online probably because he _____.
| A．is not sure about the online security |
| B．trusts traditional ways of communication |
| C．prefers official and formal letters |
| D．thinks written letters are clearer than e-mails |
This text is intended for _____.
| A．tourists coming to Himmelpfort |
| B．teenagers preferring writing letters |
| C．parents preparing for Christmas |
| D．children planning to write to Santa |
More than half a century ago, there were 4, 000 drive-in movie theaters in the United States, and watching a movie from your car was a popular way to spend an evening. But with the number of drive-ins reduced to just a few hundred, outdoor movie has been popping up across the nation. Going to an open-air theater has become a modern summer pastime for an increasing number of movie fans.
In recent years, outdoor movie screenings have come up in parks, vacant lots and shopping malls around the nation. On average, about 1,000 people attend each movie night. It attracts a lot of young professionals, young workers and residents nearby. For some, the outdoor movies bring back the memories of the drive-in theaters of their youths. But for the majorities, they think it is comparable to the atmosphere of drive-ins, as they can bring friends, food, good wine, and watch the movie together.
The returning of Americans’ love affair with outdoor movies makes Stephen Bastas ever busier. His seven-member crew sets up screens in various locations mostly in the Washington area every day throughout the summer. They are doing pretty well and they hope to continue the trend. And it looks like they are going to. That’s because many fans say there is nothing like watching a movie on a breezy summer evening under the stars.In the first paragraph, the author tries to tell us _____.
| A．outdoor movies attracts more movie-lovers |
| B．summer brings back more drive-in movie fans |
| C．drive-in movie theaters have already disappeared |
| D．watching a movie from your car is becoming more popular |
Most people choose to go to an outdoor movie mainly because they can _____.
| A．have snacks before the movie |
| B．cheer up with young friends |
| C．bring back good old days |
| D．enjoy the casual atmosphere |
From the text, we can learn that Stephen Bastas is most probably _____.
| A．a movie maker |
| B．an outdoor movie fan |
| C．a movie director |
| D．an open-air theater operator |
How does Stephen Bastas feel about the future of outdoor movie?
| A．Optimistic. | B．Amazed |
| C．Worried. | D．Disappointed. |
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