Smoking is harmful. But as soon as you quit the habit, everything will be OK, right? Wrong.
New research has found that even if you give up smoking, the damage it has done to your genes will stay there for a much longer time. In the research, a team of US scientists studied the blood of 16,000 people. Among them, some were smokers, some used to smoke, and the rest were non-smokers. Scientists compared their genes and found that more than 7,000 genes of smokers had changed--a number that is one-third of known human genes.
According to NBC News, both heart disease and cancer are caused by genetic changes. Some people may have had the changes when they were born, but most people get them in their day-to-day lives while doing things like smoking.
When you stop smoking, a lot of these genes will return to normal within five years.
This means your body is trying to heal (治愈) itself of the harmful effects of smoking. But the changes in some of the genes stay for longer. They can stay for as long as 30 years, It’s almost like leaving a footprint on wet cement (水泥)----it will always be there, even when you’ve walked away and when the cement becomes dry.
Although the study results may make people unhappy, there is a bright side: the findings could help scientists invent medicine to treat genetic damage caused by smoking or find ways to tell which people have heart disease or cancer risks.
1.The function of Paragraph 1 is to_________ .
A. introduce the topic of the passage B. give an example
C. make an argument D. show the main idea of the passage
2.Most genetic changes happen because of___________ .
A. people’s condition at birth B. environmental pollution
C. people’s bad living habit D. heart disease and cancer
3.The underlined word “it” in Paragraph 5 refers to__________ .
A. the footprint B. the cement
C. the harmful effect D. the genetic change
4.Which of the following statements is true?
A. The findings are the fruit of more than three years’ research.
B. The findings have prevented more people from starting smoking
C. The findings offer evidence that a damaged gene can heal itself.
D. The findings help to find cures for genetic damage caused by smoking.
Crossing your legs is an extremely common habit; most people don't even notice that they're doing it when they sit down. While you may find it comfortable to sit with one knee crossed over the other, it might be causing health problems that you are not aware of.
A study published in Blood Pressure Monitoring stated that sitting with your legs crossed can increase your blood pressure. The reason for this is that the blood in your legs has to work against gravity to be pumped back to your heart and that crossing one leg over the other increases resistance(阻力), making it even harder for the blood to circulate. This causes your body to increase your blood pressure to push the blood back to the heart. You won't feel any immediate effects, but repeated, drawn-out increases in blood pressure can cause long-term health problems. So, planning to sit for a long period of time? Don't keep your legs crossed.
Crossing your legs at the knee can also cause pressure on the major nerve in your leg that passes just below your knee and along the outside of your leg, explains Richard Graves, a medical expert. This pressure can cause numbness and temporary paralysis (麻痹) of some of the muscles in your foot and leg, preventing you from being able to raise your ankle—what we know as that “pins and needles” sensation. While the feeling of discomfort may only last a minute or two, repeatedly crossing your legs until they feel numb can cause permanent nerve damage.
So next time you sit down, try to get yourself in the habit of sitting with both of your feet on the floor. Not only will it help your posture and stability, but it will also save your health in the long run.
1.What can we learn about crossing one's legs?
A. It is a very bad social habit.
B. It is usually practiced on purpose.
C. It can do harm to people's health.
D. It can make others feel uncomfortable.
2.According to the study, sitting with your legs crossed can______.
A. affect your blood pressure
B. resist gravity effectively
C. lead to heart attacks easily
D. improve the function of legs
3.In the third paragraph "pins and needles" probably means______.
A. slight sharp pains
B. being a little nervous
C. serious muscle injuries
D. being highly flexible
4.What is the main purpose of the text?
A. To compare common habits.
B. To give readers some advice.
C. To evaluate effects of an experiment.
D. To introduce research methods.
The family of a 6-year-old adopted Chinese girl who badly needs a bone marrow transplant (骨髓移植) believes they have found a match in China.
Kailee Wells suffers from a serious aplastic anemia (再生障碍性贫血), which prevents bone marrow from producing new blood cells. She has taken courses of treatment but has shown little sign of recovery.
The best help for such patients is a transplant of healthy marrow or blood cells from a suitable donor. Certain tissue of the patient and the donor must match.
Kailee’s mother, Linda Wells, made her second trip to China earlier this month to find a donor. Her husband, Owen Wells, said that his wife believed doctors there had found a match.
“For these last 22 months, we’ve been living in fear that Kailee would take a turn for the worse and there would be nothing we could do about it,” he said. “Now we have something we can use and save our little girl. We are just about ready to start jumping up and down and rejoicing.”
Wells said a Chinese girl who is about a year old has a blood sample that matches Kailee’s perfectly. The next step, he said, would be to make sure the sample is safely harvested and protected for transplant, the details of which have yet to be worked out.
Linda Wells first traveled to China in February to try to locate the girl’s birth mother, who is likely to be a match. But she found no relatives and decided to try again this month.
“This gives us so much encouragement because now we found what we thought we would never be able to find for Kailee,” Owen Wells said. “We’re going to continue our blood donor drive to try to continue to help as many people as we possibly can. We’re just so happy.”
1.What do we know about Kailee Wells?
A. She was adopted by a Chinese family.
B. She has a one-year-old sister in China.
C. She was recovering from aplastic anemia.
D. She is unable to produce new blood cells.
2.The underlined word “rejoicing” in Paragraph 5 can be best replaced by “_____”.
A. waving B. moving
C. cheering D. crying
3.What can we infer from the text?
A. Linda Wells has found the girl’s birth mother.
B. Owen and Linda tried every means to cure Kailee.
C. Doctors have worked out plans to protect the sample.
D. Owen and Linda visited China twice to find a perfect match.
4.What would be the best title for the text?
A. Long and deep friendship between two families. B. Faith leads to hope.
C. Match found for a bone marrow transplant. D. The journey to China.
Are you interested in higher education in the United States? The following advice might help you.
● College, University or Institute
College and universities offer undergraduate degrees in arts and sciences. And both can help prepare young people to earn a living. But many colleges don't offer graduate studies. Universities are generally bigger, offer more programs and do more research. An institute of technology can offer a wide choice of programs and activities. Seventy-five percent of freshmen go there with a strong interest and involvement in the arts.
● The Application Process
International admissions officers advise students to apply to at least three schools. You may be able to apply online and pay the application charge with a credit card, or by mail. You should study the websites of schools to find information about how and when to apply, how much it will cost and whether any financial aid is available.
● Get a Student Card
If you request a visa for the first time, you will have to go to an American embassy or consulate(领事馆). You will need to bring a government form sent to you by your American school that shows you have been accepted. A consular official will also take your picture and your fingerprints. You will also need banking and tax records that show you have enough money to pay for your education.
● Financial Aid
American schools provide aid, like scholarships, fellowships, to almost half of foreign graduate students, but only ten percent of undergraduates. But grants, which, unlike a loan, does not have to be paid.
1.It can be inferred from the passage that American colleges and universities .
A. have their own origins in institutes of technology
B. have both similarities and differences
C. can offer a wide choice of programs and activities
D. provide about seventy-five percent students with art courses
2.To apply for a vise for the first time, you'll have to do the following things EXCEPT .
A. paying an American embassy or consulate some money
B. taking your picture and your fingerprints
C. showing a government form given by the American school admitting you
D. providing evidence that you have enough money to pay for your education
3.The purpose of the passage is .
A. to make some money B. to provide foreign students with a guide
C. to improve education quality D. to attract foreign visitors to America
假如你是李华，你的英国朋友Edward正在学习汉语，希望你推荐一个适合他学习汉语的网站。请你根据以下内容，给他回复邮件。
推荐网站：www.edchinese.com
网站内容：
1. 主要是对话、文章和习俗等；
2. 有电影、歌曲等相关资源；
3. 有在线老师答疑，全部免费。
注意： 1. 词数120左右; 2. 可以适当增加细节，以使行文连贯。
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假定英语课上老师要求同桌之间交换修改作文，请你修改你同桌写的以下作文。文中共有10处语言错误，每句中最多有两处，每处错误仅涉及一个单词的增加、删除或修改。
增加：在缺词处加一个漏字符号（∧），并在其下面写出该加的词。
删除：把多余的词用斜线（\）划掉。
修改：在错的词下划一横线，并在该词下面写出修改后的词。
注意：1.每处错误及其修改均仅限一词；
2.只允许修改10处，多者（从第11处起）不计分。
Yesterday morning，I was surprising to hear that my friend Tom has been hit by a car and was in hospital. The other day he was going to cross the street on his way to school. He was very careful and didn't go until he saw traffic lights turn to green. But hardly had he got to the middle of the street while he saw a car suddenly appear on his righthand side and come direct towards him. It was too later for Tom to dodge (躲开)．Hitting by the car，he was thrown a few meters away. He was sent to hospital immediately and had a operation. When I went to see him last night，he was out of dangers but still looked pale. He had to stay in hospital for several days to recover the serious injury.
