Next time you hear a funny joke you’d better not laugh too hard. According to a paper published by the British Medical Journal, laughter isn’t always the best medicine. Sometimes it can even be harmful. Professor Robin Ferner from the University of Birmingham, one of the authors of the study, found that bad things could happen to people who laughed too much. He says: “We found people with heartbeat problems which had stopped their heart, we found people who had fainted(昏倒), and we found people who’d dislocated their jaws or burst their lungs.”
It seems that laughing can be no laughing matter. But it’s not all doom and gloom. Professor Ferner says there are benefits to laughing when you want to lose weight, for example. Yes, that’s right: laugh and be slimmer! Professor Ferner explains that: “You use energy when you laugh, you move your diaphragm(横膈膜), you expand your lungs, and both those things can be helpful.”
According to the research, laughing for a quarter of an hour can burn up to 40 calories, and if you laughed all day you’d use up about 2,000 calories, which is what most people consume in a day. But don’t do that or you might end up with a painful jaw. Ouch! Or you might find people looking at you in a funny way.
But I don’t want to finish this article leaving you feeling desperate. Laughter comes naturally for most of us. Babies begin to laugh at around 3-6 months. So give in to your sense of humour and keep smiling. Life is short anyway.
Laughing too much may cause the following harmful results EXCEPT_________.
| A．heart stop | B．diaphragm movement |
| C．lung burst | D．jaw dislocation |
The underlined phrase “doom and gloom” in Paragraph 2 probably means_______.
| A．hopeless | B．funny | C．painful | D．nervous |
How many calories can you use if you laugh for half a day?
| A．About 40. | B．About 1,000. |
| C．About 2,000. | D．About 2,040. |
What is the author’s attitude towards laughing in the last paragraph?
| A．Uninterested. | B．Disapproving. |
| C．Worried. | D．Favorable. |
It’s not easy being a teenager（13至19岁青少年）—nor is it easy being the parent of a teenager. You can make your child feel angry, hurt, or misunderstood by what you say without realizing it yourself. It is important to give your child the space he needs to grow while gently letting him know that you you’ll still be there for him when he needs you.
Expect a lot from your child, just not everything. Except for health and safety problems, such as drug use or careless driving; consider everything else open to discussion. If your child is unwilling to discuss something, don’t insist he tell you what’s on his mind. The more you insist, the more likely that he’ll clam up. Instead , let him attempt to solve（解决）things by himself. At the same time, remind him that you’re always there for him if d he seeks advice or help. Show respect for your teenager’s privacy （隐私）. Never read his mail or listen in on personal conversions.
Teach your teenager that the family phone is for the whole family. If your child talks on the family’s telephone for too long, tell him he can talk for15 minutes, but then he must stay off the phone for at least an equal period of time. This not only frees up the line so that other family members can make and receive calls, but teaches your teenager moderation（节制）. Or if you are open to the idea, allow your teenager his own phone that he pays for with his own pocket money or a part –time jobWhat does the phrase “clam up” in Paragraph 2 probably mean?
| A．become excited | B．show respect |
| C．refuse to talk | D．seek help |
The last paragraph is about how to teach a teenager
| A．to use the phone in a sensible way |
| B．to pay for his own telephone |
| C．to share the phone quickly |
| D．to answer the phone quickly |
What should parents do in raising a teenager according to the text?
| A．Nor allow him to learn driving or take drugs |
| B．Give him advice only when necessary |
| C．Let him have his own telephone |
| D．Not talk about personal things with him |
When I met him, I had a lot of anger inside of me. I have lived my whole life in Spanish Harlem, but in my neighborhood, there are shoot-ups all the time. I know kids who have been shot or beaten up. I have friends who ended up in prison. I could have ended up that way, too, but Mr. Clark would not let that happen.
Mr. Clark worked long hours, making sure I did my work. My grades rose. In fact the scores of our whole class rose. One day, he took our class to see The Phantom of the Opera, and it was the first time some kids had ever been out of Harlem. Before the show, he treated us to dinner at a restaurant and taught us not to talk with our mouths full. We did not let him down.
Mr. Clark was selected as Disney’s 2000 Teacher of the Year. He said he would draw three names out of a hat; those students would go with him to Los Angeles to get the award. But when the time came to draw names, Mr. Clark said,”You are all going.”;
On graduation day, there were a lot of tears. We did not want his class to end. In 2001, he moved to Atlanta, but he always kept in touch. He started giving lectures about education, and wrote a bestselling book based on his classroom rules, The Essential 55. in 2003, Mr Clark took some of us on a trip to South Africa to deliver school supplies and visit orphanages. It was the most amazing experience of my life. It is my dream to one day start a group of women’s clubs, helping people from all backgrounds.Without Mr. Clark, the writer______.
| A．might have been put into prison. |
| B．might not have won the prize. |
| C．might have joined a women’s club. |
| D．might not have moved to Atlanta. |
The Essential 55 is______.
| A．a show. | B．a speech | C．a classroom rule | D．a book. |
How many students’ names were finally drawn out of a hat by Mr. Clark?
| A．None. | B．Three. | C．Fifty-five. | D．all |
In the passage, the writer intends to tell us that______.
| A．Mr. Clark went to South Africa because he liked travelling. |
| B．Mr. Clark helped to set up a group of women’s clubs. |
| C．a good teacher can help raise his or her students’ scores. |
| D．a good teacher has a good influence on his or her students. |
Among rich countries, people in the United States work the longest hours. They work much longer than in Europe. This difference is quite surprising because productivity per hour worked is the same in the United States as it is in France, Spain and Germany, and it is growing at a similar speed.
In most countries and at most times in history, as people have become richer they have chosen to work less. In other words they have decided to “spend” a part of their extra income on a fuller personal life. Over the last fifty years Europeans have continued this pattern, and hours of work have fallen sharply. But not in the United States. We do not fully know why this is. One reason may be more satisfying work, or less satisfying personal lives.
Longer hours do of course increase the GDP (国内生产总值). So the United States has produced more per worker than, say, France. The United States also has more of its people at work, while in France many more mothers and older workers have decided to stay at home. The overall result is that American GDP per head is 40% higher than in France, even though productivity per hour worked is the same.
It is not clear which of the two situations is better. As we have seen, work has to be compared with other values like family life, which often get lost in interest. It is too early to explain the different trends（趋势）in happiness over time in different countries. But it is a disappointing idea that in the United States happiness has made no progress since 1975, while it has risen in Europe. Could this have anything to do with trends in the work-life balance (平衡)?From the text we know that the author_______.
| A．believes that longer working hours is better |
| B．prefers shorter working hours to longer ones |
| C．says nothing certain about which pattern is better |
| D．thinks neither of the patterns is good |
Which of the following countries has more of its people at work?
| A．Spain. | B．France. | C．Germany. | D．America. |
What message can we get from the text?
| A．The GDP of Europe is higher than that of America. |
| B．Two possible reasons are given for working longer hours in the US. |
| C．People all over the world choose to work less when they are richer. |
| D．Americans are happier than Europeans. |
We already have iris(虹膜) and fingerprint scanning but noses could be an even better method of identification, says a study from the University of Bath, UK.
The researchers scanned noses in 3D and characterized them. They found 6 main nose types: Roman, Greek, Nubian, hawk, snub and turn-up. Since they are hard to hide, the study says, noses would work well for identification.
The researchers say noses have been overlooked in the growing field of biometrics, studies into ways of identifying distinguishing characters of people. "Noses are out standing facial features and yet their use as a biometric has been largely unexplored," said the University of Bath's Dr Adrian Evans. "Ears have been looked at in detail, eyes have been looked at in terms of iris recognition but the nose has been ignored."
The researchers used a system called PhotoFace, developed by researchers at the University of the West of England in Bristol, for the 3D scans.
Several measurements by which noses can be recognised were identified and the team developed recognition software based on these parameters(范围)
" This initial work is nowhere as good as iris identification but the nose has pros and cons," said Dr Evans.
There's no magic biometric that solves all your problems. Irises are a powerful biometric but can be difficult to get accurately and can be easily covered by eyelids or glasses. People can easily cover up their ears, with their hair for example.
"Of course you can have a broken nose or wear a false nose or have plastic surgery but to have nose surgery to change your identity is fairly obvious. Irises are very good for recognition but you can put in dilation drops which change the iris completely. Not all techniques are reliable," he said.
The research is based on a study of 40 noses and the data base has now been expanded to 160 for further tests to see if the software can pick out people from a larger group and distinguish between relatives.
Dr Evans hopes the method can be proven to be effective on this larger sample. "The technique certainly shows potential, perhaps to be used in combination with other identification methods," he said.
57. Where can you probably read this article?
A. In a newspaper about education.
B. In a newspaper about science
C. In a newspaper about software
D. In a newspaper about dress-up
58. Which is true according to the passage?
A. Dr Adrian Evans works at the University of the West of England in Bristol,
B. The researchers used a system called Photoshop for the 3D scans.
C. The research is based on a study of 160 noses.
D. The research team developed their own recognition software.
59. The word overlooked in the third paragraph possibly means:
A. well-studied B. carefully-scanned
C. wholly-recognized D. carelessly-studied
60. We can infer from the last three paragraphs that_________.
A. The consequence of the method remains to be seen
B. Dr Evans is sure that the method can be used to pick out uncles and nephews.
C. More new soft wares will be developed to do the research.
D. This method can still be used if your nose is broken,
MOSCOW — The Olympic flame in Vancouver had only been put out before President Dmitri A. Medvedev of Russia, angered over his country’s disappointing performance at the Winter Games, began calling for athletic officials’ heads.
“Those who are responsible for training for the Olympics must take responsibility,” Mr. Medvedev, who canceled his scheduled trip to the closing ceremony, said in Moscow on Monday. “They must have the courage to hand in their resignation(辞职报告). And if they do not have this determination, we will help them.”
Such language from the typically measured Mr. Medvedev strengthens the disappointment here with the nation’s athletics just four years before Russia hosts the next Winter Olympics in Sochi.
Russia is pumping billions of dollars into preparations for the 2014 Winter Games, which officials have considered as a symbol of Russia’s return to the top of the world stage.
Prime Minister Vladimir V. Putin said last week that Russia’s performance at the Olympics should be given “serious critical analysis.” “This critical analysis should be directed at improving the situation and creating the necessary conditions for the preparation and successful performance of our team in the Sochi Olympics in 2014,” he said. Russian athletes took home just three gold medals from Vancouver, compared with eight in the last Winter Games, in Turin, Italy.
Russia came in sixth place in the overall medal count with 15, just ahead of South Korea and trailing far behind its former cold war athletic rival, the United States, which led with 37.
For Russians used to seeing their athletes top international competitions, the last two weeks have been awful. Russian figure skaters fell, bobsledders turned over and, in a final embarrassment, the country’s much proud hockey team was smacked by Canada 7-3 and did not even make the medal round.
53. The underlined word smack in the last paragraph means:
A. guided B. trained C. beaten D. controlled
54. Which sentence is true according to the passage?
A. Russian athletes got 8 medals in the last Winter Games.
B. South Korea ranked 5 in the overall medal count in this Winter Games.
C. The next Winter Games will be held in Russia four years later.
D. The Russian hockey team got the third place in this Winter Games.
55. What do we know about President Dmitri A. Medvedev ?
A. He attended the closing ceremony of the Winter Games in Vancouver.
B. He ordered a serious analysis about the Russia’s performance at the Olympics.
C. He will resign due to Russia’s performance at the Winter Olympics in Vancouver.
D. He had planned to go to Vancouver but didn’t make it.
56. What is the main idea of this passage ?
A. Russian figure skaters fell in this Winter Olympics
B. Russian will host the next Winter Olympics
C. Russians are angry about their athletes’ performance.
D. Russians are making preparations for the next Winter Olympics.
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