Some colors people see late at night could cause signs of the condition mental health experts call clinical depression(临床抑郁症). That was the finding of a study that builds on earlier study findings. They show that individuals who live or work in low levels of light overnight can develop clinical depression.
Doctors use the word clinical depression to describe severe form of depression. Signs may include loss of interest or pleasure in most activities, low energy levels and thoughts of death or suicide.
In the new study, American investigators designed an experiment that exposed hamsters（仓鼠）to different colors. The researchers chose hamsters because they are nocturnal, which means they sleep during the day and are active at night. The animals were separated into four groups. One group of hamsters was kept in the dark during their night-time period. Another group was placed in front of a blue light, a third group slept in front of a white light, while a fourth was put in front of a red light. After four weeks, the researchers noted how much sugary water the hamsters drank. They found that the most depressed animals drank the least amount of water.
Randy Nelson, at Ohio State University, says animals that slept in blue and white light appeared to be the most depressed. “What we saw is that these animals didn’t show any sleep interruptions at all but they did mess up biological clock (生物钟) genes and they did show depressive sign but if they were in the dim red light, they did not.” He says there’s a lot of blue in white light. This explains why the blue light and white light hamsters appear to be more depressed than the hamsters seeing red light or darkness.From the text we know that ________ made the hamster feel depressed.
| A．the amount of the water | B．the colour of the light |
| C．the loss of pleasure | D．the level of energy |
What was the purpose of the experiment on hamsters?
| A．To show how well they slept. |
| B．To see how much sugary water they drank. |
| C．To explain why they liked dark colours. |
| D．To find out what caused the depression on them. |
The author explains the clinical depression by _________.
| A．reporting an experiment process |
| B．presenting research data |
| C．setting down general rules |
| D．giving his own experience |
Where can we probably find the text?
| A．In a science magazine. |
| B．In a physics textbook |
| C．In a tourist guidebook. |
| D．In an official announcement. |
Sparrow is a fast-food chain with 200 restaurants. Some years ago, the group to which Sparrow belonged was taken over by another company. Although Sparrow showed no sign of declining, the chain was generally in an unhealthy state. With more and more fast-food concepts reaching the market, the Sparrow menu had to struggle for attention. And to make matters worse, its new owner had no plans to give it the funds it required.
Sparrow failed to grow for another two years. Until a new CEO, Carl Pearson, decided to build up its market share. He did a survey, which showed that consumers who already used Sparrow restaurants were extremely positive about the chain, while customers of other fast-food chains were unwilling to turn away from them. Sparrow had to develop a new promotional campaign.
Pearson faced a battle over the future of the Sparrow brand. The chain’s owner now favored rebranding Sparrow as Marcy’s restaurants. Pearson resisted, arguing for an advertising campaign designed to convince customers that visits to Sparrow restaurants were fun. Such an attempt to establish a positive relationship between a company and the general public was unusual for that time. Pearson strongly believed that numbers were the key to success, rather than customers’ speeding power. Finally, the owner accepted his idea.
The campaign itself changed the traditional advertising style of the fast-food industry. The TV ads of Sparrow focused on entertainment and featured original sons performed by a variety of stars. Instead of showing the superiority of a specific product, the intension was to put Sparrow in the hearts of potential customers.
Pearson also made other decisions which he believed would contribute to the new Sparrow image. For example, he offered to lower the rent of any restaurants which achieved a certain increase in their turnover. (营业额)
These efforts paid off, and Sparrow soon became one of the most successful fast-food chains in the regions where it operated. Which was one of the problems Sparrow faced before Pearson became CEO?
| A．The number of its customers was declining |
| B．It was in need of financial support |
| C．Its customers found the food unhealthy |
| D．Most of its restaurants were closed |
What does the underlined word “them” in Paragraph 2 refer to?
| A．Customers of Sparrow restaurants |
| B．Sparrow restaurants |
| C．other fast-food chains |
| D．Customers of other fast-food chains |
For what purpose did Pearson start the advertising campaign?
| A．To stress the unusual tradition of Sparrow |
| B．To lean about customers; spending power. |
| C．To meet the challenge from Marcy’s restaurants. |
| D．To build a good relationship with the public |
What was Pearson’s achievement as a CEO?
| A．He made Sparrow much more competitive |
| B．He managed to pay off Sparrow’s debts. |
| C．He helped Sparrow take over a company |
| D．He improved the welfare of Sparrow employees |
In early autumn I applied for admission to college. I wanted to go nowhere but to Cornell University, but my mother fought strongly against it. When she saw me studying a photograph of my father on the sports ground of Cornell, she tore it up.
“You can’t say it’s not a great university, just because Papa went there.”
“That’s not it at all. And it is a top university.” She was still holding the pieces in her hand. “But we can’t afford to send you to college.”
“I wouldn’t dream of asking you for money. Do you want me to get a job to help support you and Papa? Things aren’t that bad, are they?”
“No,” she said. “I don’t expect you to help support us.”
Father borrowed money from his rich cousins to start a small jewellery shop, His chief customers were his old college friends. To get new customers, my mother had to help. She picked up a long-forgotten membership in the local league of women, so that she could get to know more people. Whether those people would turn into customers was another question. I knew that my parents had to wait for quite a long time before their small investment could show returns. What’s more , they had not wanted enough to be rich and successful；otherwise they could not possibly have managed their lives so badly.
I was torn between the desire to help them and change their lives, and the determination not to repeat their mistakes. I had a strong belief in my power to go what I wanted. After months of hard study, I won a full college scholarship .My father could hardly contain his pride in me, and my mother eventually gave in before my success.The author was not allowed to go to Cornell University mainly because___________
| A．his father graduated from the university |
| B．his mother did not think it a great university |
| C．his parents needed him to help support the family |
| D．his parents did not have enough money for him |
The father started his small shop with the money from___________
| A．local league | B．his university |
| C．his relatives | D．his college friends |
Why did the mother renew her membership in the league?
| A．To help with her husband’s business |
| B．To raise money for her son |
| C．To meet her long-forgotten friends |
| D．To better manage her life |
According to the text, what was the author determined to do in that autumn?
| A．To get a well-paid job for himself |
| B．To improve relations with his mother |
| C．To go to his dream university |
| D．To carry on with his father’s business |
“A very disruptive(调皮捣蛋的) six-year-old child kicked my legs and clawed at my hand,” said one teacher. “ I broke up a fight and was kicked between my legs,” said another. Many people have heard stories like this. But the situation is more worrying still and it involves parents.
Every child, regardless of the circumstances into which they are born, has the right to achieve their potential, regardless of their parents’ wealth and class. And we recognize that, as a nation, it is a long way to achieve this goal. But with rights come responsibilities and what worries people is that we are in danger of ignoring the latter.
Far too many children are behaving badly at school, even to the point of being violent to staff. This is terrible enough, but it is hard to be surprised since many children are just mirroring the behaviour of their parents.
My members tell me that parents also come into school often and threaten staff and some staff have been attacked by a pupil’s parents. One father encouraged his child to start a fight on the playground before school started. A primary teacher reported that a parent shouted at him. We need to have a serious and sensible debate about the roles and responsibilities of parents and the support that they can reasonably expect of schools and teachers.
Children will not learn how to behave as social beings if they are stuck in front of the TV for hours every day. They need their parents to show an interest in them and to spend time with them, helping them to play with their peers(同龄人) and to learn the rules of social behavior.
Children are now arriving at school socially undeveloped, increasingly unable to dress themselves, unable to use the toilet properly, unable to hold a knife and fork and unused to eating at a table, Mary Bousted, general secretary of the Association of Teachers and Lecturers, writes in today’s Observer. Instead of taking responsibility themselves, too many parents expect teachers to control their children’s behaviour and wellbeing, she adds. Bousted says one mother blamed staff when she discovered that her 16-year-old son was smoking.
We are in danger of becoming a nation of families living separate lives under one roof. The bedroom, once a place to sleep, has become the living space for the young. Spending hours in front of computer screens, on social networking sites or being immersed(沉迷于) in computer games, children and young people spend little time with their parents. Parents are unable to monitor just what their children are watching.
Schools cannot right the wrongs of society and teachers cannot become substitute parents. Both parties need to work together. Parents must be helped and given confidence to take back control. They are responsible for setting boundaries for their children's behaviour and sticking to those boundaries. They are responsible for setting a good example to their children and for devoting that most precious of resources — time — so that children come to school ready and willing to learn.In the opinion of the writer, what problem do people ignore?
| A．The violence in the school |
| B．The study pressure of students. |
| C．The responsibilities of the students |
| D．The right to achieve students’ potential. |
The underlined part in Paragraph 7 means _____.
| A．parents care little about children’s life at home |
| B．parents and children live in their separate rooms |
| C．children don’t live with their parents in the same house |
| D．children live a different life from that of parents at home |
The author’s attitude to the behaviour of parents may be ______.
| A．dissatisfied | B．indifferent |
| C．understanding | D．tolerant |
From the last paragraph, we can infer that ______.
| A．teachers have no responsibility for playing the role of parents |
| B．schools can’t correct the wrongs that society does to teachers |
| C．students are responsible for making themselves known in society |
| D．parents should spend time with children to make them ready to learn |
This year’s World Food Prize will honor two leaders of hunger-fighting groups based in the United States. The winners are David Beckmann of Bread for the World and Jo Luck of Heifer International. They will share the prize of 250,000 dollars. The World Food Prize usually goes to researchers or top policy officials. This is the first time it will recognize the work of nongovernmental groups.
Heifer International provides donated animals and training to farmers in 50 countries. Jo Luck remains president until next year. Under her leadership, the group’s budget grew from less than 10,000,000 dollars to more than 130,000,000 dollars. Jo Luck, “People pass on their gifts of not just animals but also gifts of training and leadership. We have seen cases where we have been gone 5 and 10 years and we go back and they have developed roads and built schools, and they have other communities receiving the animals and the training. You just give them those resources and that training and opportunity, and you cannot hold them back.” She told the story of a woman from a poor village in Zimbabwe. A family member helped send her to school in the United States with earnings from a donated milk goat. She received a doctoral degree. Jo Luck, “That is what a goat did. That is one example. The animal is only the catalyst（催化剂）. That is the beginning of many other things that follow.”
David Beckmann became president of Bread for the World in 1991. He is an economist and a Christian clergyman（牧师）. Bread for the World organizes people from religious and non-religious groups to write, call and visit members of Congress（国会）. The purpose is to support measures to improve the lives of the poor. David Beckmann points to big increase in American development assistance. He said, “I think that would not have happened without the support of hundreds of thousands of people and churches that are part of Bread for the World and that keep the pressure on their members of Congress.” The prize committee also credited his efforts with helping to increase aid to needy families in the United States.The World Food Prize honors ________.
| A．people who fight against hunger |
| B．researchers or top policy officials |
| C．people from nongovernmental groups |
| D．people who have advanced human development |
Why does Jo Luck receive the prize?
| A．Under her leadership, people develop roads and build schools. |
| B．She has served Heifer International for almost 20 years. |
| C．Under her leadership, Heifer International helps farmers in 50 countries. |
| D．She makes the group’s budget grow to more than 130 million. |
What has David Beckmann done to deserve the prize?
| A．He has trained farmers in 50 countries. |
| B．He has made a great contribution to science. |
| C．He has led Bread for the World for more than 20 years. |
| D．He has aimed to support measures to improve the lives of the poor. |
“Now I just don’t believe that.” Surely all of us, at some point, have watched a movie and thought: It’s simply badly researched, or, the makers must think we’re fools.
If movies were completely scientifically accurate, they’d probably be as interesting as a Physics 101 lecture. In real life, there are no explosions in space, gas usually doesn’t explode from a lit cigarette, and Bruce Willis / Jackie Chan / Will Smith would most likely be in a coma(昏迷) after getting kicked in the head.
Recently, the British newspaper The Daily Telegraph ran a humorous piece on unconvincing tech moments from some top movies. Let’s see what they are all about.
Telegraph writer Tom Chivers’ first example is from the end-of-the-world movie Independence Day, in which a character comes up with a virus capable of destroying Windows, the computer system the alien(外星人的) spacecraft uses. “It’s a good thing they didn’t have Norton antivirus,” jokes Chivers.
It’s just one case of a movie that takes a lot of license with its science. Another one Chivers mentions is from Star Wars, where glowing beams of light traveling through space look very impressive. The problem is that in space there are no air particles(颗粒) for the light to reflect off. In reality, they’d not be seen, which wouldn’t look so cool on the big screen.
Chivers’ second piece of Star Wars nonsense is the sound the fighters make in the movies: “ the bellow(咆哮) of an elephant mixed with a car driving on a wet road”. But sound needs a medium to travel through, like air. In space, there wouldn’t actually be any sound at all.
Few people would deny that the mind-bending Matrix films make for great viewing, but for Chivers, the science in the movies is a little silly.
And finally: as Chivers points out, DAN is not replaceable. But this bit of elementary genetics passed the makers of the 2002 Bond film Die another Day by. In the film the villain(坏人) has “gene therapy” to change his appearance and his DNA, which is completely impossible.What does the text mainly deal with?
| A．Plots of some famous movies. | B．Characters in space movies. |
| C．Popularity of space movies. | D．Mistakes made in some movies. |
From the first two paragraphs we can know that some movie makers ____.
| A．went against general knowledge of science |
| B．didn’t pay attention to the viewers’ real demand |
| C．overestimated viewers’ appreciation of movies. |
| D．didn’t try their best to improve the quality of the movies. |
What does the underlined word “they” in Paragraph 3 refer to?
| A．The newspapers. | B．Unconvincing tech moments |
| C．Some top movies. | D．Heroes in the movies. |
We can learn from Paragraph 7 that ____.
| A．most people like Matrix films |
| B．the truth of Matrix films remains in doubt |
| C．few people think Matrix films silly |
| D．Chivers thinks science is unacceptable |
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