Obama, Lady Gaga and Steve Jobs—what do they have in common? They are, of course, all Americans. And according to a survey by social networking site baidu. com, they all best illustrate(举例说明) the word “cool”.
But just what does it mean to say someone is “cool”? Most would answer that it is something to do with being independent-minded and not following the crowd.
Yale University art professor Robert Farris Thompson says that the term “cool” goes back to 15th century West African philosophy. “Cool” relates to ideas of grace under pressure.
“In Africa, ” he writes, “coolness is a positive quality which combines calmness, silence, and life.”
The modern idea of “cool” developed largely in the US in the period after World War II. “Post-war ‘cool’ was in part an expression of war-weariness (厌战情绪), . . . it went against the strict social rules of the time,” write sociologists Dick Pountain and David Robins in Cool Rules:Anatomy of an Attitude.
But it was the American actor James Dean who became the symbol for “cool” in the hugely successful 1955 movie Rebel without a Cause. Dean plays a tough guy who disobeys his parents and the authorities. He always gets the girl, smokes cigarettes, wears a leather jacket and beats up bullies. In the movie, Dean showed what “cool” would mean to American young people for the next 60 years.
Today the focus of “cool” has changed to athletics (体育运动) stars. Often in movies about schools, students gain popularity on the athletics field more than in the classroom. This can be seen quite clearly in movies like Varsity Blues and John Tucker Must Die.
But many teenagers also think being smart is cool. Chess and other thinking games have been becoming more popular in schools.
“Call it the Harry Potterization of America—a time when being smart is the new cool,” writes journalist Joe Sunnen.
If you were considered“cool”in Africa in the 15th century, you_____.
| A．thought and acted differently from the majority |
| B．had a calm and quiet attitude towards life |
| C．didn’t observe rules and authorities |
| D．had all kinds of “bad” manners |
The heroes in Varsity Blues and John Tucker Must Die are likely to be those who ________.
| A．do very well in their studies |
| B．are very skilled at sports |
| C．are good at chess and other thinking games. |
| D．have supernatural powers like Harry Potter |
Which of the following is NOT true according to the article?
| A．It is generally considered “cool” to be independent-minded and not to follow the crowd. |
| B．“Cool” was used as early as the 15th century. |
| C．Disobeying one’s parents and the authorities is considered “cool” among American young people nowadays. |
| D．Getting the first place in an exam can also be considered “cool”. |
What does the article mainly talk about?
| A．The origin of the word “cool”. |
| B．The kinds of people who are “cool”. |
| C．The changing meaning of the word “cool”. |
| D．How to be a “ cool” person. |
I just finished the household chores for the night and was preparing to go to bed, when I heard a noise in the front of the house. I opened the door to the front room and to my surprise, Santa himself stepped out from behind the Christmas tree.
He placed his finger over his mouth so I would not cry out. “What are you doing?” I started to ask. The words choked up in my throat, and I saw he had tears in his eyes. His usual jolly manner was gone. Gone was the eager, boisterous soul we all know.
He then answered me with a simple statement“TEACH THE CHILDREN！”
I was puzzled; what did he mean?
Santa then reached in his bag and pulled out a FIR(杉木) TREE .“Teach the children that the pure green color of the stately fir tree remains green all year round，describing the everlasting hope of mankind，all the needles point heavenward, making it a symbol of man's thoughts turning toward heaven.”
He again reached into his bag and pulled out a brilliant STAR. “Teach the children that the star was the heavenly sign of promises long ago. God promised a savior(救世主) for the world, and the star was the sign of fulfillment of his promise.”
He then reached into his bag and pulled out a CANDLE. “Teach the children that the candle symbolizes that Christ is the light of the world, and when we see this great light we are reminded of he who displaces(取代) the darkness.”
Suddenly I heard a soft twinkling sound, and from his bag he pulled out a BELL. “Teach the children that as the lost sheep are found by the sound of the bell, it should ring mankind to the fold. The bell symbolizes guidance and return.”
Santa looked back and was pleased. I saw that the twinkle was back in his eyes. He said, “Remember, teach the children the true meaning of Christmas and do not put me in the center, for I am but an humble servant of the one that is, and I bow down to worship HIM, our LORD, our GOD.”Author opened the door when he was going to sleep because________.
| A．he heard something unusual |
| B．he was not sleeping at the moment |
| C．he saw the Santa at the moment |
| D．he wanted to step out of the room |
According to Santa, the star was ________.
| A．a symbol of man's thoughts turning towards heaven |
| B．the sigh of fulfillment of the Santa's promise |
| C．the symbol of the light of the world |
| D．the sound of the bell which ring mankind to the fold |
What does the underlined word “twinkle” refer to?
| A．Tears. | B．Smiles. | C．Glasses. | D．Eyes. |
More than 30 million kids buy school lunch each day. This year, many schools raised lunch prices to fight raising costs. Students pay about $2 a meal now. That is 27 cents more than last year. But they still get a good deal. The average cost for schools to produce one meal has gone up 30 cents, and is now $3.
So, how do schools neither make money nor lose money? To start, the government pays for a small part of the difference. Schools have to make up the rest. Peggy Eller, a leader of school nutrition (营养) service in Hudson, Wisconsin, said her district is cutting costs by using fewer paper products and serving smaller portion(份额). Well, portion control is one key to healthful eating!
The push for more healthful food has grown in recent years. One in five kids aged 6 to 19 is overweight. Being overweight can cause health problems. Many states passed laws that require schools to serve nutritious meals.
Since 2004, more than 90% of all U.S. Schools have removed the fat from lunches. Foods high in fat, salt and sugar have been replaced by low-fat milk, fresh fruits and vegetables. These new items on lunch menus have encouraged kids to change their eating habits. “It makes easier to try new things at home, “said Savanna Mackey, a Florida fifth-grader.
Students need healthful meals to grow strong and do well in school. “Rising prices won’t stand in the way,”says school nutritionist Jane Thornton. “We’ll just be more clever in how we do things.”In the first paragraph, the author aims to tell us .
| A．the large number of kids buying school lunch |
| B．the average price of school lunch |
| C．the school's ways to deal with school lunch |
| D．the fact of school lunch's getting more expensive |
Many school districts raised lunch prices because .
| A．there is less healthful food on the menus |
| B．the cost of food has gone up |
| C．kids often forget to bring lunch money |
| D．some school dining-halls are serving smaller portions |
According to Paragraph 4, Savanna Mackey .
| A．doesn't like the new items on the lunch menus |
| B．always enjoys foods like fresh and vegetables |
| C．becomes interested in eating healthy food at home |
| D．prefers eating at school to eating at home |
What can be inferred from the passage?
| A．American schools solve the problem of high food prices by themselves. |
| B．American schools are very concerned about their students’ health. |
| C．Almost all schools are forced by the government to serve healthy foods. |
| D．American childhood overweight is mainly caused by the present lunch foods. |
Early one morning, more than a hundred years ago, an American inventor called Elias Howe finally fell asleep. He had been working all night on the design of a sewing machine but he had run into a very difficult problem: It seemed impossible to get the thread to run smoothly around the needle.
Though he was tired, Howe slept badly. He turned and turned. Then he had a dream. He dreamt that he had been caught by terrible savages whose king wanted to kill him and eat him unless he could build a perfect sewing machine. When he tried to do so, Howe ran into the same problem as before. The thread kept getting caught around the needle. The king flew into the cage and ordered his soldiers to kill Howe. They came up towards him with their spears raised. But suddenly the inventor noticed something. There was a hole in the tip of each spear. The inventor awoke from the dream, realizing that he had just found the answer to the problem. Instead of trying to get the thread to run around the needle, he should make it run through a small hole in the center of the needle. This was the simple idea that finally made Howe design and build the first really practiced sewing machine.
Elias Howe was not the only one in finding the answer to his problem in this way.
Thomas Edison, the inventor of the electric light, said his best ideas came into him in dreams. So did the great physicist Albert Einstein. Charlotte Bronte also drew in her dreams in writing Jane Eyre.
To know the value of dreams, you have to understand what happens when you are asleep. Even then, a part of your mind is still working. This unconscious(无意识的), but still active part understands your experiences and goes to work on the problems you have had during the day. It stores all sorts of information that you may have forgotten or never have really noticed. It is only when you fall asleep that this part of the brain can send messages to the part you use when you are awake. However, the unconscious part acts in a special way. It uses strange images which the conscious part may not understand at first. This is why dreams are sometimes called “secret messages to ourselves”.According to the passage, Elias Howe was________.
| A．the first person we know of who solved problems in his sleep |
| B．much more hard-working than other inventors |
| C．the first person to design a sewing machine that really worked |
| D．the only person at the time who knew the value of dreams |
The problem Howe was trying to solve was________.
| A．what kind of thread to use |
| B．how to design a needle which would not break |
| C．where to put the needle |
| D．how to prevent the thread from getting caught around the needle |
Thomas Edison is spoken of because________.
| A．he also tried to invent a sewing machine |
| B．he got some of his ideas from dreams |
| C．he was one of Howe’s best friends |
| D．he also had difficulty in falling asleep |
Dreams are sometimes called “secret messages to ourselves” because ________.
| A．strange images are used to communicate ideas |
| B．images which have no meaning are used |
| C．we can never understand the real meaning |
| D．only specially trained people can understand them |
Shopping for clothes is not the same experience for a man as it is for a woman. A man goes shopping because he needs something. His purpose is settled and decided in advance. He knows what he wants, and his objective is to find it and buy it; the price is a secondary consideration. All men simply walk into a shop and ask the assistant for what they want. If the shop has it in stock, the salesman promptly produces it, and the business of trying it on follows at once. All being well, the deal can be and often is completed in less than five minutes, with hardly any chat and to everyone's satisfaction.
For a man, slight problems may begin when the shop does not have what he wants, or does not have exactly what he wants. In that case the salesman, as the name implies, tries to sell the customer something else, he offers the nearest he can to the article required. No good salesman brings out such a substitute impolitely; he does so with skill: “I know this jacket is not the style you want, sir, but would you like to try it for size? It happens to be the color you mentioned.” Few men have patience with this treatment, and the usual response is: “This is the right color and may be the right size, but I should be wasting my time and yours by trying it on.”
Now how does a woman go about buying clothes? In almost every respect she does so in the opposite way. Her shopping is not often based on need. She has never fully made up her mind what she wants, and she is only “having a look round”. She is always open to persuasion; indeed she sets great store by what the saleswoman tells her, even by what companions tell her. She will try on any number of things. Uppermost in her mind is the thought of finding something that everyone thinks suits her. Contrary to a lot of jokes, most women have an excellent sense of value when they buy clothes. They are always on the lockout for the unexpected bargain. Faced with a roomful of dresses, a woman may easily spend an hour going from one rail to another, to and fro, often retracing her steps, before selecting the dresses she wants to try on. It is a laborious process, but apparently an enjoyable one. Most dress shops provide chairs for the waiting husbands.The passage mainly talks about ________.
| A．differences between men and women shoppers |
| B．A man goes shopping because he needs something |
| C．How women go about buying clothes. |
| D．Women are better at shopping than men |
The underlined sentence “the price is a secondary consideration” in the first paragraph means when a man is shopping ________.
| A．he buys good quality things, so long as they are not too dear |
| B．he buys whatever he likes without considering its value |
| C．he does not mind how much he has to pay for the right things |
| D．he often buy things without giving the matter proper thought. |
What does a man do when he can not get exactly what he wants?
| A．He buys a similar thing because of the color he wants. |
| B．He usually does not buy anything. |
| C．At least two of his requirements must be met before he buys. |
| D．So long as the style is right, he buys the thing. |
What is the most obvious difference between men and women shoppers?
| A．Men do not try clothes on in a shop while women do. |
| B．Women bargain for their clothes, but men do not. |
| C．The time they take over buying clothes. |
| D．Men go shopping based on need, but women never. |
About a third of all common cancers in the United States, China and Britain could be prevented each year if people ate healthier food, drank less alcohol and exercised more, health experts said on Friday.
Reports from the World Cancer Research Fund (WCRF) suggest that making simple lifestyle changes could prevent some 40 percent of breast cancers alone in Britain and the United States, as well as tens of thousands of stomach cancers.
“Even in 2011, people are dying unnecessarily from cancers that could be prevented through keeping a healthy weight, diet, physical activity and other lifestyle factors,” said a WCRF medical and scientific adviser.
WCRF findings are supported by World Health Organization (WHO) reports, which say regular exercise can prevent many diseases such as cancers and heart diseases.
Cancer is a leading cause of death around the world and its incidence(发病率) is rising. Each year around 12.7 million people discover they have cancer and 7.6 million people die from some form of the disease. There are about 200 known types of cancer.
Rachel Thompson, the WCRF’s head of science, said that while the message was simple — that not smoking, eating good food and being a healthy weight can help ward off many cancers — it was still a difficult one to get across.
The WHO says adults should do at least 150 minutes of exercise a week. This could be done by walking for 30 minutes five times per week or by cycling to work every day.
Peter Baldini, head of the World Lung Foundation, also called on all governments to introduce smoke-free laws and raise the price of cigarettes. Tobacco kills millions of smokers every year, and tobacco-related lung cancers also kill hundreds of thousands of people who don’t smoke but have been exposed to it second-hand.
“There isn’t a magic bullet to cure all forms of cancer, but we have the opportunity and the duty to protect people from developing cancer wherever possible,” Baldini said.Which of the following words can best take the place of the phrase “ward off” in the sixth paragraph?
| A．protect | B．prevent | C．develop | D．cure。 |
Which of the following statements is Not true according to the text?
| A．Exercising and eating healthily can help to reduce cancer risk. |
| B．Each year about 12.7 million people are diagnosed with cancer around the world. |
| C．Every year millions of people die from smoking and lung cancers. |
| D．Adults should walk for fifty minutes three times per week. |
Which of the following can be the best title of this text?
| A．Simple life changes could stop millions of cancers |
| B．Cancer is a leading cause of death |
| C．Our bad lifestyle caused many diseases |
| D．The incidence of common cancers is rising |
By writing the passage, the author mainly intends to ____.
| A．advise people to develop healthier lifestyle. |
| B．warn people of the danger of cancers |
| C．explain why many people die from cancers every year. |
| D．introduce the ways to protect people from developing cancers |
We can infer from Peter Baldini’s opinion in the last two paragraphs that ____.
| A．all the lung cancers are linked to smoking |
| B．there is no medicine to cure the cancers but it’s our duty to find one |
| C．all governments should take measures to control smokers and protect people’s health |
| D．it’s our opportunity and duty to persuade people to give up smoking |
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