A Bite of China, a food documentary series that hastriggered online shopping crazes for the various dishes shown in the program, has also bitten into the lives of the people it covered. One of those, Huang Guosheng, 59,is a farmer who makes and sells yellow steamed buns with his wife in Suide County, Shaanxi Province.
Following the airing of the documentary, he was approached by JiaGuolong, the owner of Xi Bei Northwest Dishes in Beijing.
Jia was hoping to convince the farmer to join his team and make his special buns for customers in his popular restaurant chain, which is characterized by cuisine from the northwestern Chinese countryside.
"I told Huang my idea. The farmer, simple andhonest as he seemed in the documentary, said he didn't really understand what I was doing, "Jia said.
"So I invited him to Beijing to visit the restaurant's outlets."
But an Internet buzz was raised soon. While some netizens said Jia made a smart move to promote his brand and help Huang lead a better life, others argued it was a clear publicity stunt and a commercial "abduction".
"I won't deny the publicity issue. Thedocumentary has been enormously popular and Huang has become more celebrated, "Jia said.
"But as a businessman, there is nothing wrong with grabbing a chance to boost my business," he said. Despite the publicity, Jia said that what really mattered was that his intentions were lOO-percent good.
"From the documentary, you can tell Huang's life is far from rich. He works hard and walks miles to the town to sell his steamed yellow buns, but his earnings are very limited," Jia said.
"I want him to have a better life. If there is a chance that could enable him to enhance his life by doing the same thing he used to do, why not take it,"Jia said.
Jia disagreed with the term" abduction" and said Huang would make a decision for himself.
"To those who mentioned the word ‘abduction’, how do you know Huang doesn't want to change his life," Jia said. The underlined word in the first paragraph probably means _________.
| A．force | B．arouse |
| C．rise | D．forbid |
JiaGuolong invited Huang Guosheng to Beijing mainly to __________.
| A．let Huang understand what Jia is doing with his restaurant |
| B．show Huang around the places of interest in Beijing |
| C．convince Huang to join him in dealing with his restaurant |
| D．help him lead a happier and richer life than ever |
From the passage, we can infer that_________.
| A．not all the netizens think highly of Jia's move |
| B．Jia denied his publicity issue of his move |
| C．Huang makes a lot of money from selling his buns |
| D．Jia agreed with the term "abduction" |
Jia's words ill the last paragraph probably mean that____，
| A．Huang will not agree to join him in his team |
| B．Huang has shown his willingness to join him |
| C．Jia believes it is likely that Huang will want to join him |
| D．Huang's life has already changed in a positive way |
Getting rid of dirt, in the opinion of most people, is a good thing. However, there is nothing fixed about attitudes to dirt.
In the early 16th century, people thought that dirt on the skin was a means to block out disease, as medical opinion had it that washing off dirt with hot water could open up the skin and let ills in. A particular danger was thought to lie in public baths. By 1538, the French king had closed the bath houses in his kingdom. So did the king of England in 1546. Thus began a long time when the rich and the poor in Europe lived with dirt in a friendly way. Henry IV, king of France, was famously dirty. Upon learning that a nobleman had taken a bath, the king ordered that, to avoid the attack of disease, the nobleman should not go out.
Though the belief in the merit of dirt was long-lived, dirt has no longer been regarded as a nice neighbor ever since the 18th century. Scientifically speaking, cleaning away dirt is good to health. Clean water supply and hand washing are practical means of preventing disease. Yet, it seems that standards of cleanliness have moved beyond science since World War II. Advertisements repeatedly sell the idea: clothes need to be whiter than white, cloths ever softer, surfaces to shine. Has the hate for dirt, however, gone too far?
Attitudes to dirt still differ hugely nowadays. Many first-time parents nervously try to warn their children off touching dirt, which might be responsible for the spread of disease. On the contrary, Mary Ruebush, an American immunologist (免疫学家)， encourages children to play in the dirt to build up a strong immune system. And the latter position is gaining some ground.The kings of France and England in the 16th century closed bath houses because________.
| A．they lived healthily in a dirty environment |
| B．they thought bath houses were too dirty to stay in |
| C．they believed disease could be spread in public baths |
| D．they considered bathing as the cause of skin disease |
Which of the following best describes Henry IV’ s attitude to bathing?
| A．Afraid | B．Curious | C．Approving | D．Uninterested |
How does the passage mainly develop?
| A．By providing examples. |
| B．By making comparisons. |
| C．By following the order of time. |
| D．By following the order of importance. |
What is the author’s purpose in writing the passage?
| A．To stress the role of dirt. |
| B．To introduce the history of dirt. |
| C．To call attention to the danger of dirt. |
| D．To present the change of views on dirt. |
The garden city was largely the invention of Ebenezer Howard (1850-1928). After immigrating from England to the USA, and an unsuccessful attempt to make a living as a farmer, he moved to Chicago, where he saw the reconstruction of the city after the disastrous fire of 1871. In those days, it was nicknamed “the Garden City”, almost certainly the source of Howard’s name for his later building plan of towns. Returning to London, Howard developed his design in the 1880s and 1890s, drawing on ideas that were popular at the time, but creating a unique combination of designs.
The nineteenth-century poor city was in many ways a terrible place, dirty and crowded; but it offered economic and social opportunities. At the same time, the British countryside was in fact equally unattractive: though it promised fresh air and nature, it suffered from agricultural depression (萧条) and it offered neither enough work and wages, nor much social life. Howard’s idea was to combine the best of town and country in a new kind of settlement, the garden city. Howard’s idea was that a group of people should set up a company, borrowing money to establish a garden city in the depressed countryside, far enough from existing cities to make sure that the land was bought at the bottom price.
Garden cities would provide a central public open space, radial avenues and connecting industries. They would be surrounded by a much larger area of green belt, also owned by the company, containing not merely farms but also some industrial institutions. As more and more people moved in, the garden city would reach its planned limit--- Howard suggested 32,000 people; then, another would be started a short distance away. Thus, over time, there would develop a vast planned house collection, extending almost without limit; within it, each garden city would offer a wide range of jobs and services, but each would also be connected to the others by a rapid transportation system, thus giving all the economic and social opportunities of a big city.How did Howard get the name for his building plan of garden cities?
| A．Through his observation of the country life. |
| B．Through the combination of different ideas. |
| C．By taking other people’s advice. |
| D．By using the nickname of the reconstructed Chicago. |
According to Howard, garden cities should be built _____.
| A．as far as possible from existing cities. |
| B．in the countryside where the land was cheap. |
| C．in the countryside where agriculture was developed. |
| D．near cities where employment opportunities already existed. |
What can we learn about garden cities from the last paragraph?
| A．Their number would continue to rise. |
| B．Each one would continue to become larger |
| C．People would live and work in the same place. |
| D．Each one would contain a certain type of business. |
What could be the best title for the passage?
| A．City and Countryside |
| B．The Invention of the Garden City |
| C．A New City in Chicago |
| D．A Famous Garden City in England |
Human cloning technology could be used to reserve heart attacks. Scientists believe that they may be able to treat heart attack by cloning their healthy heart cells and injecting them into the areas of the heart that have been damaged, and other problems may be solved if human cloning and its technology are not forbidden.
With cloning, infertile couples could have children. Current treatments for infertility, in terms of percentages, are not very successful. Couples go through physical and emotionally painful procedures for a small chance of having children. Many couples run out of time and money without successfully having children. Human cloning could make it possible for many more infertile couples to have children than ever before.
We should be able to clone the bone marrow（骨髓） for children and adults suffering from leukemia（白血病）. This is expected to be one of the first benefits to come from cloning technology. We may learn how to switch cells on and off through cloning and thus be able to cure cancer.
Cloning technology can be used to test for and perhaps cure gene-related diseases. The above is just a few examples of what human cloning technology can do for mankind. This new technology promises unprecedented （前所未有的）advancement in medicine if people will release their fears and let the benefit begin.What does the underlined word “infertile” (paragraph 2) most probably mean?
| A．with physical and emotional problems |
| B．short of time and money |
| C．unable to give birth to children |
| D．separated from each other for a long time |
According to the text, one of the first expected benefits from cloning technology is in ______.
| A．the treatment of mental diseases |
| B．the reserve of heart diseases |
| C．the cure of gene-related diseases |
| D．the bearing of babies |
According to the writer, the main problem with the development of human cloning technology is that__________.
| A．it has brought about benefits so far |
| B．it may be out of human control |
| C．people still know little about it |
| D．people are afraid of such technology |
What exactly is intelligence? There aren’t any easy answers．Despite the progress that has been made in genetics and psychology, human intelligence has remained one of the most controversial areas of modern science，until now, that is, for the discovery of a gene linked to intelligence has made the experts think again．
Robert Plomin of the Institute of Psychiatry in London and his colleagues in the US have been looking into genetic make-up．From their research, they have discovered that a slightly different gene is more common in those with a high IQ．Plomin analyzed DNA from two groups of 51 children aged between 6 and 15．What he found was that the first group had an IQ of 136, putting them in the top 5% of the population, while the other group had an average IQ of 103．An analysis of their genes showed that 32% of children in the higher group had the gene in question, while only 16% in the second group did．However, there is a lot more research to be done, and Plomin himself is cautious at this early stage．He suggests that there are probably many genes that contribute to intelligence, rather than just one. Several studies have shown a strong link between IQ and career success, although some psychologists remain unconvinced about this．Professor Michael Rowe, who has written a book called Genius Explained, is one of these．“The people with the highest IQs are not usually the ones who do best in their careers．”
Many psychologists now believe that when it comes to intelligence, IQ isn’t everything．Many alternative views have been put forward recently．One example is the idea of multiple intelligences, which was developed in the 1980s by Harvard psychologist Howard Gardner．This offers a much broader view than the IQ theory, including creativity and communication skills as relevant factors in intelligence．
Tony Buzan, brain expert and author of Master your Memory, is enthusiastic about this belief, arguing that true geniuses do indeed appear to combine high levels of each type of intelligence．He lists Alexander the Great, Pablo Picasso and Albert Einstein as examples．At the same time, Buzan believes that everyone can develop their intelligence, only if they take the trouble to exercise their brain．Perhaps there’s hope for us all!What does the underlined word “This” in Paragraph 3 refer to?
| A．The development of intelligence |
| B．The idea of multiple intelligences |
| C．IQ isn’t everything for intelligence |
| D．Alternative views have been put forward |
Why does the author use data in Paragraph 2?
| A．To make a suggestion． | B．To draw a conclusion |
| C．To prove an idea． | D．To give an example |
What can we learn from the passage?
| A．Robert Plomin confirms genes have something in common |
| B．Howard Gardner thinks intelligence includes various factors |
| C．Michael Rowe approves of a strong link between IQ and career |
| D．Tony Buzan agrees geniuses exercise brain to improve intelligence |
What might be the best title of the passage?
| A．The relationship between genes and intelligence |
| B．IQ benefits a lot from high intelligence |
| C．How to develop intelligence． |
| D．What makes intelligence. |
Decision-making under Stress
A new review based on a research shows that acute stress affects the way the brain considers the advantages and disadvantages, causing it to focus on pleasure and ignore the possible negative (负面的) consequences of a decision.
The research suggests that stress may change the way people make choices in predictable ways. “Stress affects how people learn,” says Professor Mara Mather. “People learn better about positive than negative outcomes under stress.”
For example, two recent studies looked at how people learned to connect images(影像) with either rewards or punishments. In one experiment, some of the participants were first stressed by having to give a speech and do difficult math problems in front of an audience; in the other, some were stressed by having to keep their hands in ice water. In both cases, the stressed participants remembered the rewarded material more accurately and the punished material less accurately than those who hadn’t gone through the stress. This phenomenon is likely not surprising to anyone who has tried to resist eating cookies or smoking a cigarette while under stress –at those moments, only the pleasure associated with such activities comes to mind. But the findings further suggest that stress may bring about a double effect. Not only are rewarding experiences remembered better, but negative consequences are also easily recalled.
The research also found that stress appears to affect decision-making differently in men and women. While both men and women tend to focus on rewards and less on consequences under stress, their responses to risk turn out to be different. Men who had been stressed by the cold-water task tended to take more risks in the experiment while women responded in the opposite way. In stressful situations in which risk-taking can pay off big, men may tend to do better, when caution weighs more, however, women will win.
This tendency to slow down and become more cautious when decisions are risky might also help explain why women are less likely to become addicted than men: they may more often avoid making the risky choices that eventually harden into addiction.We can learn from the passage that people under pressure tend to ______.
| A．keep rewards better in their memory |
| B．recall consequences more effortlessly |
| C．make risky decisions more frequently |
| D．learn a subject more effectively |
According to the research, stress affects people most probably in their ______.
| A．ways of making choices | B．preference for pleasure |
| C．tolerance of punishments | D．responses to suggestions |
The research has proved that in a stressful situation, ______.
| A．women find it easier to fall into certain habits |
| B．men have a greater tendency to slow down |
| C．women focus more on outcomes |
| D．men are more likely to take risks |
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