A recent survey in the United States showed that the average family spent more money on its pets than on its children. Although rather shocking, it should not surprise anyone who has seen the doggy parlors(客厅) where loved pets rest. Are Americans unique in treating their little friends in this way? No, the English, too, pay more attention to their pets.
This can clearly be seen when we look at pet foods, which often contain more vitamins than human food. They certainly cost much. Last year the British public spent two hundred million pounds on pet food alone, to say nothing of veterinary bills or animal furniture. It is difficult not to feel angry about this when considering what the same amount could do for victims of starvation and poverty, so it is not unusual for me to get hot under collar when I read an old man left all his money to his dog instead of his children.
There are a variety of reasons why I find pets-raising alarming. They cause physical problems. An example of this is New York where they have great difficulty getting rid of the mess that dogs leave on the streets. Many people find this funny, but in a number of large cities it is a major problem. Animals can cause disease, too. It is the threat of rabies — a disease with no known cure.
Another problem is the carelessness of pet owners. Most little children want a dog or a cat, and they continually push their mothers and fathers until they get one. It is only when the "sweet little thing" has been brought home that the parents realize how much time and money must be spent on "Rover" or "Bonzo". Then they just abandon it. As a result, they are allowed to run free. English farmers lose hundreds of sheep a year, killed by someone's pet and you must have read of children being hurt by some pets of their own.
Lastly, I would only suggest that we have got our priorities wrong and that something should be done about it. In my view, it's time we stopped being sentimental about pets. I can see no reason why we should get upset when animals are cut up for medical experiments. This will lead us to discovering cures for serious human diseases, then I say, “keep cutting!”The doggy parlors are mentioned in the 1st paragraph to show ________.
| A．where Americans keep their pets |
| B．what costly lives the pets are living |
| C．why children love their pets so much |
| D．how much pets depend on their masters |
In the second paragraph "to get hot under the collar" probably means ________.
| A．getting quite hot | B．feeling overwhelmingly angry |
| C．becoming excited | D．receiving a fashionable shirt |
According to the author, in which field can animals be most useful?
| A．Pet. | B．Food. | C．Medicine. | D．Sports. |
What is author’s attitude towards pets-raising?
| A．Pitiful. | B．Neutral. | C．Opposed. | D．Supportive. |
Doctors have known for a long time that extremely loud noises can cause hearing damage or loss. The noise can be the sound of a jet airplane or machines in factories of loud music or other common sound at home and at work. A person only needs to hear the noise for little more than one second to be affected.
An American scientist has found that using aspirin (阿斯匹林) increase the temporary（暂时的）hearing loss or damage from loud noise. He did an experiment using a number of students at a university who all had normal hearing. He gave them different amounts of aspirin for different periods of time, then he tested their hearing ability. He found that students who were given four grams of aspirin a day for two days suffered much greater temporary hearing loss than those who did not use aspirin. The hearing loss was about two times as great.
The scientist said millions of persons in the U.S. use much larger amounts of aspirin than were used in his experiment. He said these persons face a serious danger of suffering hearing loss from loud noise.
| A．one may lose his hearing when he hears a terribly loud noise. |
| B．one may become deaf when he hears a loud noise. |
| C．loud noises can cause damage to the hearing of the young people only |
| D．common sounds at home are not harmful to the ear |
| A．makes hearing damage from loud noise worse |
| B．should never be taken more than four grams |
| C．can damage one’s hearing when it is given more than four grams daily |
| D．always increases hearing loss by two times |
| A．take too much aspirin |
| B．often take air trips |
| C．like listening to loud music |
| D．have too much loud noises at home and at work |
| A．how much aspirin would affect a person’s hearing |
| B．how much aspirin should be given in the treatment of the patients with hearing damage from loud noise |
| C．whether aspirin would increase the temporary hearing damage from loud noises |
| D．whether the people who had hearing damage should use aspirin |
"Do you like my dress?" she asked a passing stranger. "My mommy made it just for me." She said with tears in her eyes.
"I think it’s very pretty, but why are you crying?"
With a quiver（颤抖）in her voice the girl answered "After Mommy made me this dress she had to go to the heaven（天堂）Finally the woman realized what the child meant. She gently held the child in her arms and together they cried for the mommy that was gone.
Then suddenly the little girl stopped crying, stepped back and began to sing. She sang so softly that it was almost a whisper. It was the sweetest sound the woman had ever heard almost like the song of a very small bird.
After the child stopped singing she explained to the lady: "My mommy used that song to me before she went away, and she made me promise to sing it whenever I started crying and it would make me stop."
"See," she said, "it did, and now my eyes are dry!"
As the woman turned to go, the little girl grabbed her sleeve（袖子）. "Madam, can you stay just a minute? I want to show you something."
"Of course", she answered.
Pointing to a spot on her dress, she said: "Right here is where my mommy kissed my dress and here," pointing to another spot, "and here is another kiss, and here, and here. Mommy said that she put all those kisses so that I would have her kisses for everything that made me cry."
Then the lady realized that she wasn't just looking at a dress, no, she was looking at a mother...who knew that she was going away and would not be there to kiss away the hurt that she knew her daughter would get. So she took all the love she had for her beautiful little girl and put them into this dress that her child now so proudly wore.
She no longer saw a little girl in a simple dress. She saw a child wrapped（包裹）… in her mother's love.
| A．Because she wanted the woman to stay longer. |
| B．Because she wanted to stop the woman crying. |
| C．Because her mother had told her to sing when she was sad. |
| D．Because her mother had asked her to be nice to strangers. |
| A．her daughter would wear the dress proudly all the time |
| B．her love could help her daughter get through the troubles |
| C．her love could get her daughter things |
| D．her daughter would think of her kisses while she was crying |
| A．how much the mother had cared about the girl |
| B．how much the girl had depended on her mother |
| C．that the woman was very helpful to the girl |
| D．that no one can take the place of a mother |
| A．In a pretty dress with mother's kisses |
| B．With a crying girl in a pretty dress |
| C．From her mother with deep love |
| D．For love from a mother in the heaven |
Many facts suggest that children are overweight and the situation is getting worse, according to the doctors. I feel there are a number of reasons for this.
Some people blame the fact that we are surrounded by shops selling unhealthy, fatty foods, such as fried chicken and ice cream, at low prices. This has turned out a whole generation of grown-ups who seldom cook a meal for themselves. If there were fewer of these restaurants, then probably children would buy less take-away food.
There is another argument that blames parents for allowing their children to become overweight. I agree with this, because good eating habits begin early in life, long before children start to visit fast food shops. If children are given fried chicken and chocolate rather than healthy food, or are always allowed to choose what they eat, they will go for sweet and salty foods every time, and this will carry on throughout their lives.
There is a third reason for this situation. Children these days take very little exercise. They do not walk to school. When they get home, they sit in front of the television or their computers and play computer games. Not only is this an unhealthy pastime, it also gives them time to eat more unhealthy food. What they need is to go outside and play active games or sports.
The above are the main reasons for this problem, and therefore we have to encourage young people to be more active, as well as steer them away from fast food shops and bad eating habits.
| A．Those who often take exercise. |
| B．Those who often watch television. |
| C．Those who often have meals at home. |
| D．Those who often walk to school. |
| A．their parents often cook meals for them |
| B．they are too busy to go out and play |
| C．they can' t choose what to eat |
| D．there are too many fast food shops around |
| A．force | B．guide |
| C．expect | D．observe |
| A．tell a story | B．provide facts |
| C．give advice | D．compare opinions |
It was a cold December and Mrs. Bell wanted to do a lot of shopping. She waited until it was Saturday, when her husband was free, and she took him to the shops with her to pay for everything and to carry for her what she had bought. They went to a lot of shops, and Mrs. Bell bought everything she could think of.
She often stopped and said, “Look, Peter! Isn’t that beautiful?”
“All right, my dear. How much is it?” answered Mr. Bell, and then he took money out to buy it for her.
It was almost dark when they came out of the last shop, and Mr. Bell was tired. He was thinking about a nice drink by the side of a warm fire home. Suddenly his wife looked up at the sky and said, “Look at that beautiful moon, Peter!”
Without stopping, Mr. Bell answered at once. “All right, dear. How much is it?” Then he took his wallet out of his pocket.
| A．he liked beautiful things |
| B．he liked to do shopping too. |
| C．she wanted him to pay money |
| D．he was always free |
| A．nothing |
| B．a drink |
| C．the most beautiful thing |
| D．a number of things |
| A．was addicted to |
| B．was thinking about |
| C．was tired of |
| D．was very interested in |
| A．wanted to buy the moon |
| B．did not really know what his wife was saying |
| C．was a millionair |
| D．did not like the idea of buying the moon |
As we have seen, the focus of medical care in our society has been shifting from curing disease to preventing disease—especially in terms of changing our many unhealthy behaviors, such as poor eating habits, smoking, and failure to exercise. The line of thought involved in this shift can be pursued further. Imagine a person who is about the right weight, but does not eat very nutritious foods, who feels OK but exercises only occasionally, who goes to work every day, but is not an outstanding worker, who drinks a few beers at home most nights but does not drive while drunk, and who has no chest pains or abnormal blood counts, but sleeps a lot and often feels tired. This person is not ill. He may not even be at risk for any particular disease. But we can imagine that this person could be a lot healthier.
The field of medicine has not traditionally distinguished between someone who is merely “not ill” and someone who is in excellent health and pays attention to the body’s special needs. Both types have simply been called “well.” In recent years, however, some health specialists have begun to apply the terms “well” and “wellness” only to those who are actively striving to maintain and improve their health. People who are well are concerned with nutrition and exercise, and they make a point of monitoring their body’s condition. Most important, perhaps, people who are well take active responsibility for all matters related to their health. Even people who have a physical disease or handicap (缺陷) may be “well,” in this new sense, if they make an effort to maintain the best possible health they can in the face of their physical limitations. “Wellness” may perhaps best be viewed not as a state that people can achieve, but as an ideal that people can strive for. People who are well are likely to be better able to resist disease and to fight disease when it strikes. And by focusing attention on healthy ways of living, the concept of wellness can have a beneficial impact on the ways in which people face the challenges of daily life.In the first paragraph, people are reminded that ________.
| A．good health is more than not being ill |
| B．drinking, even if not to excess, could be harmful |
| C．regular health checks are essential to keeping fit |
| D．prevention is more difficult than cure |
Traditionally, a person is considered “well” if he ________.
| A．does not have any unhealthy living habits |
| B．does not have any physical handicaps |
| C．is able to handle his daily routines |
| D．is free from any kind of disease |
According to the author, the true meaning of “wellness” is for people ________.
| A．to best satisfy their body’s special needs |
| B．to strive to maintain the best possible health |
| C．to meet the strictest standards of bodily health |
| D．to keep a proper balance between work and leisure |
According to what the author advocates, which of the following groups of people would be considered healthy?
| A．People who have strong muscles as well as slim figures. |
| B．People who are not presently experiencing any symptoms of disease. |
| C．People who try to be as healthy as possible, regardless of their limitations. |
| D．People who can recover from illness even without seeking medical care. |
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