The Beijing International Marathon has acquired a new name among some disappointed participants: Smogathon.
About 30,000 runners, many from other parts of China or abroad, awoke in the Chinese capital on Sunday to an orange sun glowing weakly through a dirty haze(雾霾). Some ran anyway. Some ran away. But no one cancelled on the advice of the organizers, the Chinese Athletic Association and the Beijing Municipal Bureau of Sports, because those organizations did not call it off. That has made participants call the International Association of Athletics Federations (IAAF), which has approved the 26-mile, or 42-kilometer race, to set air quality standards in the future to avoid damaging the runners’ health. The association could not be reached by telephone on Sunday.
“Does the IAAF have guidelines?” asked Chas Pope, a British engineer who took part in the marathon on Sunday. “If they don’t, they should consider it,” said Mr. Pope, who has lived in Beijing for 11 years and runs several long-distance races each year. “It’s meant to be fun and good for your health,” Mr. Pope said of the marathon. “But in such air, it’s just ridiculous to be running,” he said. He abandoned the course. “Most of my overseas friends pulled out,” he said. “And quite a few of my Chinese friends too, but a lot didn’t. I think they don’t know as much about the health impact.”
Images on Twitter and Chinese social media showed Chinese runners wearing a variety of face protections, from light cloth masks to World War I-style gas masks. Still many completed the race without masks. “Today’s race should definitely have been called off or rescheduled,” said Zhang Kai, Beijing-based campaigner with Greenpeace East Asia. “What happened today to this sports even is just another reminder to the government that much remains to be done to China’s energy and industrial structure to solve pollution,” said Mr. Zhang. “If the battle against pollution is a marathon, it is now time to catch up on speed.”
In the end, the race was won by two Ethiopians: Girmay Birhanu Gebru won the men’s race in 2 hours, 10 minutes and 42 seconds while Fatuma Sado Dergo won the women’s in 2 hours, 30 minutes and 3 seconds, breaking Chinese women’s advantage of the race for the last 22 years.
The favored Chinese woman runner, Gong Lihua, told China News Net that the smog didn’t affect her too much but it interfered with many people’s ability to sweat, affecting their performance.The underlined sentences “Some ran anyway. Some ran away.” mean _____________.
| A．Some runners who dropped out returned to run. |
| B．Some runners gave up after running a short distance. |
| C．Not all runners continued to run. |
| D．Most runners quit the race. |
Why did participants call the IAAF?
| A．To tell it the Beijing International Marathon was also named Smogathon. |
| B．To appeal to it to set air quality standards in the future. |
| C．To tell it the 42-kilometer race should be cancelled. |
| D．To appeal to it to make some laws to prevent pollution. |
Which of the following states does Chas Pope agree to?
| A．A dirty haze is harmful to health. |
| B．Running in any air is good. |
| C．The marathon in China should be cancelled. |
| D．Friends should learn from each other. |
Zhang Kai thinks the battle against pollution _______.
| A．will be the most urgent thing in China. |
| B．should be got rid of immediately. |
| C．is connected with China’s unreasonable energy and industrial structure. |
| D．will remind all the Chinese to reduce pollution. |
Mr. Black and Mr. White were two very famous artists in the city. Their drawings were also very popular in the city. But they tried to see who could draw the best picture.
One day they asked an old man to be the judge. Mr. Black drew an apple tree. He put his picture in the field. Soon the birds came and tried to eat the apples. The old man saw it and said, “You have certainly won. Mr. White cannot draw so good a picture as yours. But we will go to see his picture.”
They went to Mr. White’s house. There were nothing but red beautiful curtains on the wall. The old man asked, “Where is your picture, Mr. White?” He said, “Lift the curtains, and you will find my picture.” The old man tried to lift the curtains but found that they were drawn there. They were Mr. White’s picture. The old man said, “Birds thought the apples were real. Men thought the curtains were real. So Mr. White won. His picture is the best one.”Mr. Black drew .
| A．an apple tree | B．the best picture | C．curtains | D．birds |
The old man thought Mr. Black’s picture was good because .
| A．it was in the field | B．it was an apple tree |
| C．the birds liked it | D．the birds thought it was real |
Mr. White’s picture was .
| A．an apple tree | B．curtains | C．nothing | D．an old man |
Which of the following statements is TRUE?
| A．The birds came and ate the apples up. |
| B．The old man said Mr. White’s picture was the best one at last. |
| C．The two pictures were not so good. |
| D．The curtains on the wall were real. |
Would you eat a ready meal from the fridge rather than cook from scratch? Have you been doing internet shopping rather than going to the stores? What can't you be bothered to do?
A study into how lazy British people are has found more than half of adults are so lazy they'd catch the lift rather than climb two flights of stairs.
Just over 2000 people were quizzed by independent researchers at Nuffield Health, Britain's largest health charity. The results were
astonishing.
About one in six people surveyed said if their remote control was broken, they would continue watching the same channel rather than get up.
More than one third of those questioned said they would not run to catch a bus. Worryingly, of the 654 respondents with children, 64% said they were often too tired to play with them.
This led the report to conclude that it's no wonder that one in six children in the UK are classified as obese (very fat) before they start school.
Dr Sarah Dauncey, medical director of Nuffield Health, said: "People need to get fitter, not just for their own sake, but for the sake of their families, friends and evidently their pets too.
"If we don't start to take control of this problem, a whole generation will become too unfit to perform even the most rudimentary of tasks."
And Scotland's largest city, Glasgow, was shamed as the most inactive city in the UK, with 75% surveyed admitting they do not get enough exercise, followed closely by Birmingham and Southampton, both with 67%.
The results ca
use serious challenges for the National Health Service, where obesity-related illnesses such as heart disease and cancer have been on a steady increase for the past 40 years and are costing billions of pounds every year. What causes children in the UK to be obese?
| A．Eating ready meal | B．Watching TV |
| C．Doing Internet shopping | D．Being lazy |
What can be inferred from the pas
sage?
| A．British people are too lazy to do anything. |
| B．Internet shopping will do harm to your health. |
| C．Many people would not run to catch a bus in Britain. |
| D．People should be more active and take regular exercise to keep fit. |
Which of the following is Not true according to the passage?
| A．One sixth of British people use remote control when watching TV. |
B．People will benefit not only themselves but their families by getting fit. |
| C．Fatness can cause diseases such as heart disease and cancer. |
| D．More people get obesity-related illnesses now than 40 years ago. |
What does the underlined word rudimentary most probably mean?
| A．basic | B．serious | C．vital | D．hard |
All the following are among the most l
azy cities in the UK except .
| A．Glasgow | B．Birmingham | C．Nuffield | D．Southampton |
The world of the science-fiction 3-D film Avatar is so perfect that the line between fact and fiction has bec
ome somewhat blurred (模糊) .
Movie-goers have admitted being annoyed by depression at not being able to visit the planet Pandora. Set in the future when Earth's resources have been used up, director James Cameron's film tells the story of a company trying to exploit a rare mineral on a new planet. The humans clash with the natives — a peace-loving race of 7-foot-tall, blue-skinned creatures called the Na'vi, who exist in perfect harmony with nature.
Fans have flooded the Internet with their confused feelings. On the site Avatar Forums (论坛), the topic "Ways to deal with the depression of the dream of Pandora not being able to come true" has more than 1,000 posts. In a similar forum, Louis, one user, wrote: "When I woke up this morning after watching Avatar for the first time yesterday, the world seemed grey. It just seems so meaningless. I still don't really see any reason to keep doing things at all. I live in a dying world." On the Avatar site Naviblue, a fan calling himself Jorba has even asked others to join him in starting a real Na'vi tribe.
This fantasy world, with its wonderful plants and animal life, is brought to life by using impressive special effects. Many people believe that 2010 is the break
through year for the technology helped by 3-D movies such as Avatar. "It has taken the best of our technology to create this virtual world and real life will never be as perfect as it seems on screen. It makes real life seem more imperfect."What is the best title of the text?
| A．A blockbuster movie: Avatar |
| B．The Avatar effect: movie-goers feel depressed after watching Avatar |
| C．2010: a breakthrough year for. 3-D movies |
| D．Pandora: a perfect world |
We can infer that Louis after watching the film Avatar.
| A．will cherish his present life more |
| B．feels disappointed about the real world |
| C．will intend to create a real Na'vi tribe |
| D．is proud of living on the earth |
Thanks to the success of Av'atar, .
| A．3-D technology will probably develop quickly in 2010 |
| B．most people look forward to living on another planet |
| C．many more science-fiction films will be made in the coming years |
| D．people have become more realistic about life |
The underlined word "virtual" probably means .
| A．unreal | B．true | C．perfect | D．practical |
According to the passage the natives on the planet are .
| A．not harmony with the nature | B．blue-haired race |
| C．peace-loving creatures | D．fond of fighting with human race |
"A survey was conducted in Shanghai where interviewees were asked if they wanted to be a factory worker. One percent of all people interviewed said “YES," Wang Hongjun, a technician, said, raising his voice for dramatic effect. "But I can tell you, only a small part of that 1 percent are telling the truth."
I've met colorful people like Wang all over China. They are cynical (玩世不恭的) yet warmhearted, plain spoken but smart. And many of them are confined (局限于) to work in factories.
Wang is a top technician but also represents manual factory workers, who are China's most important natural resource. Their energy is powering China's economic boom, and their muscle is turning the wheel of the world's factory.
But does their unskilled labor give their life meaning? At school, did they tell their friends: "When I grow up I want to work in a factory making socks?" Did you?
Factory work has always been a stepping-stone from farm life to the city and
a modern life. It's been happening for centuries, but today, with our space-age technology, it's outdated. Earning 1,200 yuan ($169) per month working in a factory is better than that on a farm, but as Wang points out, it's not a dream career. There should be better ways to earn your rice.
Many modern factories no longer have production line workers. Robots do the assembly (装配). People just do the monitoring. In this age of technology, in which China is now working smarter and not just harder, why are people still standing in production lines?
But life is cheap in China. So why not continue to exploit the low-cost labor situation and keep the economy growing fast, some entrepreneurs may ask.
But have these businessmen ever labored in a factory?How many people surveyed really like to be factory workers?
| A．One percent | B．Only a small part |
| C．Only a small part of that one percent | D．The writer didn’t mention it. |
Which is NOT the writer's opinion of factory workers?
| A．cynical | B．unimportant |
| C．warmhearted | D．plain spoken |
Wang Hongjun is a person who is .
| A．difficult to get along with |
| B．humorous but serious |
| C．cynical but warmhearted, plain spoken but smart |
| D．full of energy but doesn't want to work hard |
Which of the following statements is NOT true according to the passage?
| A．Factory workers make contributions to China's economic boom. |
| B．Working in a factory is better than that on a farm. |
| C．Factory workers are satisfied with their living conditions. |
| D．Some entrepreneurs exploited the low-cost labor situation. |
The writer uses to begin the passage.
| A．a lot of figures | B．many examples |
| C．some dialogue | D．the result of a survey |
TIJUANA, Mexico – A powerful earthquake swayed (摇动) buildings from Los Angeles to Tijuana, killing two people in Mexico, blac
king out cities and forcing the evacuation (疏散) of hospitals and nursing homes. One California city closed off its downtown due to unstable buildings.
The 7.2-magnitude quake centered just south of the US border near Mexicali was one of the strongest earthquakes to hit region in decades.
"It sounds like it's felt by at least 20 million people," USGS seismologist Lucy Jones said. "Most of Southern California felt this earthquake."
Sunday afternoon's earthquake hit hardest in Mexicali, a commerce center along Mexico's border with California, where authorities said the quake was followed by at least 20 smaller aftershocks, including ones of magnitudes 5.1, 4.5 and 4.3.
"It has not stopped trembling in Mexicali," said Baja California state Civil Protection Director Alfredo Escobedo on Monday.
Escobedo said one man was killed when his home collapsed just outside of Mexicali and another died when he rushed into the street in panic and was struck by a car. At least 100 people were injured in the city, most of them struck by falling objects. Power was out in virtually the entire city.
Susan Warmbier was putting away groceries in the San Diego suburb of Chula Vista when her husband asked, "Is the house moving?"
Elsewhere in San Diego, there were reports of shattered windows, broken pipes and water main breaks in private buildings, but no reports of injuries, San Diego Fire-Rescue Department spokesman Maurice Luque said. Coronado Bridge over San Diego Bay was briefly closed as a precaution.
Across the border in Tijuana, Mexico, the quake caused buildings to sway and knocked out power in some areas. No tsunami warning was issued, but hundreds of people on Tijuana's crowded beach feared the worst and fled when they felt the ground shake. What's the best title of the passage?
| A．A strong quake in Mexico, but no tsunami |
| B．A strong quake kills 2 in Mexico, frightens US states |
| C．A strong quake, downtowns closed off |
| D．A strong quake, buildings collapses |
The 7.2-magnitude quake .
| A．centered just south of the Mexico |
| B．was felt by 20 million people in Mexico |
| C．was felt by most of Southern California |
| D．was the strongest earthquakes to hit region in centuries |
Which is NOT true according to the passage?
| A．Some cities had power failure after the quake. |
| B．One of the cities closed off its downtown because of the swaying buildings. |
| C．Many smaller quakes happened after the 7.2-magnitude one. |
| D．Hundreds of people on the beach died because of the tsunami. |
People got injured mostly .
| A．because they were in panic |
| B．because the power was out in the whole city |
| C．because of the falling objects |
| D．because they were buried under the falling objects |
Coronado Bridge over San Diego Bay was briefly closed .
| A．to avoid further dangers |
| B．by the San Diego Fire-Rescue Department |
| C．as a reminding of the quake |
| D．to prevent the bridge from destroying |
粤公网安备 44130202000953号