Steve Sparks was a young successful lawyer when a bruise （挫伤） on one of the legs of his 3-year-old daughter changed his life. The bruise led to a doctor’s visit. The doctor said his daughter was suffering from leukemia (白血病).
Steve said that in a moment his life changed from what restaurant he was going to take his clients (客户) to lunch to whether his daughter Katie was ever going to see her fourth birthday.
For three years Katie received a lot of treatment at the Nemours Hospital for Children in Wilmington, Delaware and with the help of wonderful doctors, kind nurses, whom Steve and his wife Michelle called heroes, Katie’s leukemia was cured (治愈).
Forever changed by the experience and encouraged by the heroes at Nemours who saved his daughter’s life, Steve felt he couldn’t go back to business as usual. He felt there was something else he was meant to do and that something else led him to join the Nemours Foundation（基金会）at the age of 28. The job change came with a 65% pay cut from what he was making as a lawyer, but Steve thought he was right and it was more important to help those who need help. Steve is glad to have made such a choice.
Katie is now a healthy 20-year-old college student and Steve is one of the leaders of the Nemours Foundation. In three weeks Steve will have a party for Katie’s 21st birthday, and give big thanks to the Nemours by riding his bicycle from Nemours in Jack-sonville, Florida to Wilmington, Delaware. He’ll ride 900 miles in 9 days and raise $100,000 for the Nemours Foundation with the hope of saving more children’s lives.From the text we can learn that _____.
| A．Steve hated being a lawyer |
| B．Katie’s bruise caused leukemia |
| C．Katie suffered from leukemia at four |
| D．Steve had ever doubted whether Katie could survive |
What did Steve and his wife think of the doctors and nurses?
| A．They were unfriendly. |
| B．They were great. |
| C．They were inexperienced. |
| D．They were clever. |
Which of the following is TRUE about Steve’s becoming a member of the Nemours Foundation?
| A．He felt sorry about his decision. |
| B．He didn’t get even half the pay he used to. |
| C．His daughter gave him much encouragement. |
| D．He was advised to do so by the doctors. |
Steve will ride 900 miles in 9 days to _____.
| A．show he is strong enough |
| B．celebrate his daughter’s birthday |
| C．raise money to save more children’s lives |
| D．advise people to do more exercise |
If English means endless new words, difficult grammar and sometimes strange pronunciation, you are wrong. Haven’t you noticed that you have become smarter since you started to learn a language?
According to a new study by a British university, learning a second language can lead to an increase in your brain power. Researchers found that learning other languages changes grey matter. This is the area of the brain which processes information. It is similar to the way that exercise builds muscles. The study also found the effect is greater the younger people learn a second language.
A team led by Dr Andrea Mechelli, from University College London, took a group of Britons who only spoke English. They were compared with a group of “early bilinguals” who had learnt a second language before the age of five, as well as a number of later learners.
Scans showed that grey matter density（密度）in the brain was greater in bilinguals than in people without a second language. But the longer a person waited before mastering a new language, the smaller the difference.
“Our findings suggest that the structure of the brain is changed by the experience of learning a second language,”said the scientists.
It means that the change itself increases the ability to learn.
Professor Dylan Vaughan Jones of the University of Wales, has researched the link between bilingualism and math skills. “Having two languages gives you two windows on the world and makes the brain more flexible（灵活的），” he said. “You are actually going beyond language and have a better understanding of different ideas.”
The findings were matched in a study of native Italian speakers who had learned English as a second language between the ages of two and 34. Reading, writing, and comprehension were all tested. The results showed that the younger they started to learn, the better. “Studying a language means you get an entrance to another world,” explained the scientists. Which part will change more when a person studies a second language?
| A． grey matter density | B． the brain |
| C． mental system | D． musles |
Who can study a second language easier?.
| A． The adults | B．The teenagers |
| C． The children | D．The old |
The underlined word “bilingual” probably means .
| A． a researcher on language learning |
| B． a second language learner |
| C． a person who can speak two languages |
| D． an active language learner |
How do you understand the underlined sentence ( in paragraph 4 ) in the passage?
| A． It means that we can practise our brain by studying a second language |
| B． It means that the change itself increases the ability to learn |
| C． It means that learning a second language makes you more flexable |
| D． It means that learners will better understand the difficult ideas. |
Can you imagine being savagely attacked by a dog? What if the attack was so severe that your nose, lips and chin were completely destroyed? How would you feel about yourself? Would you be able to look at yourself in the mirror? And how do you think other people would treat you?
Isabelle Dinoire is someone who can answer all of these questions honestly and openly.
Last November Isabelle was attacked and mauled by her own dog. The attack was so severe that her lower face was damaged; it seemed, almost beyond repair. She was rushed to hospital and became the first person ever to have a face transplant.
With such severe injuries doctors offered Isabelle little hope that they would be able to repair the damage to her face using conventional surgery.
Shortly after being admitted, she came to the attention of Dr Bernard Devauchelle who, unlike other surgeons, believed there was an alternative: "We found ourselves saying, yes, it's clear this woman needs a transplant," he said.
Two days after the operation she saw her face in the mirror for the first time. She said "I was scared to look at myself, but when I did it was already marvelous and I couldn't believe it. I thought it would be blue and swollen but it was already beautiful."
Now, less than a year after her 15 hour operation, she’s trying to rebuild her life and there is no doubt how she feels about her new face: "I have been saved. Lots of people write saying that I need to go on, that it's wonderful. It's a miracle somehow."
Although there were ethical questions raised about their decision to carry out the procedure, the doctors who operated on Isabelle are quick to defend their decision.
One of them said "Was it possible for her to live without a face? It's easy to say we shouldn't have done the operation, but her life has changed, she goes shopping, goes on holiday, she lives again." What would be the best title of the passage?
| A．The first face transplant | B．A successful face operation |
| C．The most severe damaged face | D．The breakthrough of surgery |
The writer uses the five questions at the beginning of the passage to ___________________.
| A．tell the story about Isabelle Dinoire | B．show a severe face damage event |
| C．draw the readers’ attention to the topic | D．invite the readers to answer them |
It can be concluded from Isabelle Dinoire’s remarks that___________________.
| A．she was too shocked to see herself in the mirror |
| B．she was satisfied with the result of the operation |
| C．she thought her damaged face couldn’t be repaired |
| D．she looked more beautiful than before |
According to the passage, which of the following is NOT true?
| A．It seemed that it was impossible to recover Isabelle’s face using face transplant |
| B．After operation Isabelle thought she looked beautiful and rebuilt her life again |
| C．Some doctors had no better idea to repair the damage to Isabelle’s face |
| D．It was Dr Bernard Devauchelle who came up with the idea of face transplant |
Like a scene out of a reality show or a Disney movie, Southgate, Mich., teenager Ashley Qualls' moment has arrived.
She may not have an MBA, a high-school diploma, or even a driver’s license yet, but Asheley Qualls already has an influential website (www. Whateverlife.Com). The 17-year-old girl hass been building her online business for two years.
In December 2004, Qualls borrowed $8 from her mother to buy the Whateverlife.com. domain name (域名). She intended to use the website as a way to share her design for My Space pages woth her friends.
But in the incontrollable, fast-moving world of cyberspace, others began noticing Qualls’ site even though she never has spent a penny on advertising.
When it comes to web traffic, Whateverlife.com .currently ranks No. 825 out of 20.3 million websites, drawing 2.4 million visitors worldwide during the last 30 days. Qualls said that on average, 72% of her site's audience made a return visit.
Whateverlife.com earned a million dollars in revenue last year and is on track to do the same this year.
"I'm stubborn and I'm independent," she said from her office in the basement of her house. "I like the feeling that it's my company, and I want to have the say-so （主张）in everything."
But don’t mistake Qualls for another smart but spoiled teenager. She is growing up fast but owns talent for life and business that elude many girls of her age.
The task of running a million-dollar company isn’t without its sacrifices( 牺牲) and challenges for a teenager. Qualls dropped out of Lincoln Park High School after her sophomore year to work fulltime on Whateverlife.com, a decision that she said shocked her family, friends and teachers . She now is studying to get her degree in graphic design.Many people noticed Qualls’ site because_____________________.
| A．it was set up by a 17-year-old girl |
| B．Qualls shares her design with her friends |
| C．Qualls has been building her online business |
| D．the world cyberspace develops fast and uncontrollable |
Which of the following statements is NOT true according to the text?
| A．Qualls’ Website Whateverlife .com. No. 825 in 20.3 million websites. |
| B．About 2.4 million visitors worldwide visit her website every month. |
| C．Most of her audience have visited her website at least twice. |
| D．Qualls has the right to decide everything in her company. |
The underlined word “elude” in the 8th paragraph means_______________.
| A．avoid | B．embarrass | C．exceed | D．encourage |
BEIJING, Jan. 11(Xinhuanet)-- Sleeping a little bit longer a day might help fight against obesity（肥胖）, a recent study shows. The research-- published in the Archives of Internal Medicine along with an editorial by Turek and Northwestern colleague Joseph Bass commenting on it and related research-- after comparing people of normal weight- a body mass index of less than 25- with those who were overweight or obese , found that sleeping for an extra 20 minutes each night could offer a pain-free way to lose weight.
Insufficient sleep is linked with changes in hormone levels that may stimulate（刺激）appetite. A series of studies in recent months have shown that the less people sleep, the heavier they tend to be.
American researcher Robert Vorona from Eastern Virginia Medical School in Norfolk and colleagues have now examined the relationship between people's self-reported sleep time per 24 hours and their body mass index(BMI). They found that total sleep time and BMI were inversely correlated was total sleep time decreased, BMI increased, except in the severely obese group." Americans experience insufficient sleep and corpulent bodies. Clinicians are aware of the burden of obesity on patients," the study said. "Our findings suggest that major extensions of sleep time may not be necessary, as an extra 20 minutes of sleep per night seems to be associated with a lower body mass index," it added. "We warn that this study does not establish a cause-and-effect relationship between restricted sleep and obesity (but) investigations demonstrating success in weight loss via extensions of sleep would help greatly to establish such a relationship."
In November 2004, researchers from Columbia University in New York City, New York demonstrated a clear link between the risk of being obese and hours of nightly sleep, finding that people aged 32 to 59 who slept four hours or less per night were 73% more likely to be obese than people who slept between seven and nine hours per night.The research, which was published in the Archives of Internal Medicine, found that____________.
sleeping for a shorter time a day might help fight agianst obesity
an extra 20 minutes’ sleep each night could offer a way to lose weight wothout pain
total sleep time and body mass index were inversely related
people aged 32 to 59 who slept four hours or less per night were 73% more likely to be obese than people who slept between seven and nine hours per nightHow many research results are presented in the text?
| A．Two | B．Three | C．Four | D．Five |
What does the underlined word “obses” probably mean?
| A．thin | B．fat | C．energetic | D．painful |
According to the text , the author intends to tell us that _____________________.
| A．Sleeping a little bit longer a day might help fight against obesity |
| B．insufficient sleep is linked with changes in hormone lives |
| C．there exists a clear link between the risk of being obeses and hours of nightly sleep |
| D．the less people sleep , the heavier they tend to be |
A recent study, published in last week’s Journal of the American Medical Association, offers a picture of how risky it is to get a lift from a teenage driver. Indeed, a 16-year-old driver with three or more passengers is three times as likely to have a fatal accident as a teenager driving alone. By contrast, the risk of death for drivers between 30 and 59 decreases with each additional passenger.
The author also found that the death rates for teenage drivers increased dramatically after 10 p.m., and especially after midnight, with passengers in the car, the driver was even more likely to die in a late-night accident.
Robert Foss, a scientist at the University of North Carolina Highway Safety Research Center, says the higher death rates for teenage drivers have less to do with “really stupid behavior” than with just a lack of driving experience. “The basic issue.” he says, “is that adults who are responsible for issuing licenses fail to recognize how complex and skilled a task driving is.”
Both he and the author of the study believe that the way to mitigate (使……缓解)the problem is to have states institute so-called graduated licensing systems, in which getting a license is a multistage process. A graduated license requires that a teenager first prove himself capable of driving in the presence of an adult, followed by a period of driving with night of passenger restrictions, before graduating to full driving privileges.
Graduated licensing systems have reduced teenage driver crashes, according to recent studies, About half of the states now have some sort of graduated licensing system in place, but only 10 of those states have restrictions on passengers, California is the strictest, with a novice(新手)driver prohibited from carrying any passenger under 20(without the presence of an adult over 25)for the first six months. Which of the following situations is most dangerous according to the passage?
| A．Adults giving a lift to teenagers on the highway after 10 p.m. |
| B．A teenager driving after midnight with passengers in the car. |
| C．Adults driving with three or more teenage passengers late at night. |
| D．A teenager getting a lift from a stranger on the highway at midnight. |
According to Robert Foss, the high death rate of teenage drivers is mainly due to ________
| A．their frequent driving at night |
| B．their improper way of driving |
| C．their lack of driving experience |
| D．their driving with passengers |
According to Paragraph 3. which of the following statements is TRUE?
| A．Teenagers should spend more time learning to drive. |
| B．Driving is a skill too complicated for teenagers to learn. |
| C．Restrictions should be imposed on teenagers applying to take driving lessons. |
| D．The licensing authorities are partly responsible for teenagers' driving accidents. |
A suggested measure to be taken to reduce teenagers' driving accidents is that ________ .
| A．driving in the presence of an adult should be made a rule |
| B．they should be prohibited from taking on passengers |
| C．they should not be allowed to drive after 10 p.m. |
| D．the licensing system should be improved |
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