Directions: Translate the following sentences into English, using the words given in the brackets.
1.一闻到这种蛋糕的味道我就总会想起童年。(associate)
2.我们不能想当然地认为我们永远不会面对危险生命的紧急情况。(grant)
3.尽管这些产品价格昂贵，但它们经久耐用，永不过时。(as)
4.让许多孩子感到烦恼的是家长们似乎没有充分意识到保护隐私的重要性，总喜欢在社交媒体上发布孩子的照片。(bother)
Directions: Read the following passage. Summarize the main idea and the main point(s) of the passage in no more than 60 words. Use your own words as far as possible.
Herbal Medicine
Herbal medicine, which has been used for medicinal purposes, is the use of plants to treat diseases. Many herbalists use the entire plant, from the flowers, stems, leaves, and roots, in the form of everything from teas to pills. These plants contain natural, chemical things that can treat the body for a variety of diseases, such as allergies, asthma, rheumatoid arthritis, migraine, chronic fatigue, and cancer, among others.
Nowadays an increasing number of people prefer to adopt these plants to treat their diseases because, compared with chemical medicine, herbal medicine has its own advantages. Herbal medicine and remedies are more effective than chemical medicine for certain diseases. The chemical medicine given by a chemist could have certain negative side effects. However, many of the herbal medicine and remedies to not have negative side effects. If any, they are softer than chemical medicine. Obesity is the cause of many of the health problems. Herbal medicine can help weight loss more effectively and improve overall health.
However, the cure using herbal medicine and supplements would take some time, and therefore people are supposed to possess enough patience. Worse still, herbal medicine contains a variety of ingredients and people have to be sure that their body agrees with the ingredients and that it is not allergic.
A point worth mentioning here is that herbal remedies and medicine for certain illnesses may have negative side effects. These side effects may not be shown at once, but would take months or even years. In the early stages, if the herbal medicine is not agreeing with you, it is wise to stop using it.
When used correctly and directed by doctors, herbs can help treat a variety of disease. But keep in mind that the herbal medicine industry is not regulated, so herbal products are often misleading and may contain additives that are not listed on the label. Some herbs may cause allergic reactions or interact with other drugs, and some are poisonous if used improperly or at high doses. Taking herbs on your own increases your risk.
Directions: Read the following. Fill in each blank with a proper sentence given in the box. Each sentence can be used only once. Note that there are two more sentences than you need.
Are Bamboo-Eating Pandas Really Herbivores?
On the outside, giant pandas look like herbivores(食草动物). They spend nearly all of their waking hours eating bamboo. But on the inside, they're built like carnivores(食肉动物). About half of the calories they eat come from protein, according to a new study.
The ancestor of giant pandas were omnivorous(杂食的). They are both animals and plants, and had the digestive system and gut bacteria to metabolize(使发生新陈代谢)them. They had ''umami taste receptors'', to appreciate the flavors of meat.
However, about 2.4 million years ago, things began to change. 1. Their jaw and teeth evolved to help them crush bamboo, and their wrist bone became capable of grasping the stalks(杆)of their favorite plant. Scientists think pandas switched to eating bamboo partly because they didn't have to fight with other animals to get it. Bamboo is high in fiber but has a low concentration of nutrients, so pandas have to eat 20 to 40 pounds of the plant every day just to get by.
David Raubenheimer, a nutritional ecologist at the University of Sydney, and his colleagues put GPS trackers on two giant pandas and followed their movement throughout the year. They discovered that the pandas followed the protein. 2. At the start of the cycle, they ate Bashania fargesii leaves until they got the chance to feast on young shoots, which contained more protein.
The more the shoots grew, the more their protein was diluted(冲淡)by fiber. That caused the pandas to move to higher ground, where Fargesia qinlingensis grew. First, they ate the shoots, but these, too, went from being protein - rich to fiber-rich as they grew. The panda responded by switching to the leaves. 3. The researchers found that about half of the calories the pandas ate were in the form of protein.
4. ''They can know exactly where to go, and when to go, so they can get the most of the nutrients that their ecosystem can provide, '' said Silvia Pineda - Munoz, who was not involved in the study.
The work also shows that classifying an animals as herbivore or carnivore is more complex than one might sassume. ''It's not whether you’re eating plants but what of the plants you’re eating, '' said Pineda - Munoz.
A.Between August and April, they sought food in low elevations(海拔)on China's Qinling Mountains.
B.Scientists think the research show that pandas are very clever.
C.Pandas eat bamboo all day long except when they are sleeping or playing.
D.The gene for their ''umami taste receptors'' became inactive.
E.They fed on them until they went back down the mountain and started eating Bashania fargesii leaves again.
F.Scientists have conducted many studies on pandas' eating habits.
What makes us love some things and hate others? We know that sometimes even the tiniest change can result in a huge difference in how we perceive something, so is there any rhyme or reason to our tastes and preferences? Here are three factors which play a role.
1. Conforming to expectation
In London a few years ago, two talented rappers called Silibil N' Brains took to the stage to perform at a music industry show for unsigned bands. They were an instant hit. Their outrageous West Coast - American style, brilliant rap lyrics and couldn't - care - less attitude had the music industry's talent spotters falling over themselves to sign the pair. In a short space of time, Silibil N’ Brains had a deal with a top management company, a contract with a major record label and an advance of $70,000 -- and they hadn’t even made a record. Before long, they were on tour with Eminem and out partying with Madonna. They were living the dream.
But two years ago the same two rappers were laughed off stage by the same talent spotters for singing the same sons. So what was the difference? Amazingly, it was their accent. You see, Silibil N' Brains weren't, in fact, from West Coast U. S. A. at all. They were from Dundee in Scotland. During the first audition they had used their Scottish accents when rapping and it had not gone down well. ''They just laughed at us, '' recalled Brains. ''We were heartbroken. We went back to Scotland with our tail between our legs''. The lesson for them was that to succeed, you have to conform to expectations and at that time everyone expected rappers to be American.
2. The benefit of hindsight
Some people are simply ahead of their time. It's common knowledge that Vincent van Gogh sold only one painting in his lifetime -the other 900 or so were unknown and unloved until after his death. Monet’s paintings. at least in his early career, was considered incomplete and ugly by critics at the time, while Vermeer, the painter of Girl With a Pearl Earring, even had to use his mother-in-law as a guarantor when he borrowed money -- so unable was he to sell any of his work! Now that public taste has caught up with these artists, more or less anything they touched has an astronomical price tag attached to it. Perhaps the reason is that it just takes a while to get used to something - after all, not all beauty is obvious at first sight.
3. A reassuring price tag
In a world where the range of products on offer can be completely bewildering, we often look to price as an indication of quality. We may think we prefer the expensive wine to the cheap one, but we may simply be influenced by the price tag. Even professionals can make the mistake. A researcher from the University of Bordeaux in France took an average bottle of red wine and poured it into two empty bottles, on with an expensive label and the other with a cheap one. Then he invited 57 wine ''experts'' to taste the wine. Forty of them recommended the wine from the expensive bottle, describing it as ''agreeable'', ''complex'', ''balanced'' and ''rounded''. while the same wine from the expensive bottle, describing it as ''agreeable'', ''complex'', ''balanced'' and ''rounded'', while the same wine from the cheap bottle was described as ''weak'' and ''flat'', with only 12 of the experts recommending it. The study made the researcher unpopular with the French wine tasters, but he did prove that price has a significant impact on taste.
1.Which of the following statements about Silibil N’ Brains is true?
A.Talent spotters fell in love with them at first sight.
B.They are from the West Coast of America
C.Their success was attributed to behaving and sounding like American rappers.
D.They were friends with famous stars like Madonna even before they succeeded.
2.The underlined phrases ''with our tail between our legs'' indicates that _________.
A.their first audition proved a failure
B.they felt proud of their performance
C.they learned a valuable lesson
D.being humble might contribute to their future success
3.We can infer from the second factor that ________.
A.some artists are better known when they are alive than when they are dead
B.public taste usually falls behind famous artists
C.beauty at first sight lasts much longer
D.Monet's paintings are priceless because of their incompleteness
4.What can we learn from the last paragraph?
A.A price tag always fails to indicate the quality of a product.
B.A price tag is less likely to confuse customers than the packaging.
C.Low price will make the wine unpopular with tasters
D.A price tag will cloud a person’s judgement of something.
Letters
Comments on the March Issue
40 Smart Ways to Save at the Supermarket Your caution not to fall for fake sales reminded me of when I was a stock boy at my neighborhood grocery in the 1950s. One time, we got a delivery of off-band vegetables. I priced them at ten cents a can. I don’t think we sold more than six cans -- until I put up sign that said “Special: Nine for $1.” I set them out Thursday evening, and by noon on Saturday they were gone. Edward Deckerd, Perrywille, Missouri | Trapped Inside a Glacier Reading about John All’s experience on Mount Himlung was very inspiring to me. A man with 15 broken bones and bleeding internally being able to climb up a 70-foot wall of ice and survive for 18 hours at 20,000 feet is something that I would have though to be impossible. I am 16 years old and a lifelong reader. Out of all the great content in Reader’s Digest, stories like his are the ones I enjoy the most. Sam Kieffer, Richardson, Texas |
Bill’s Last, Best Gift Track Grant’s article resonated（与……产生共鸣）deeply with me. Twelve years ago, my husband, Don, was diagnosed with terminal brain cancer. As his caregiver, I, too, learned to appreciate the people and things around me and not to sweat the small stuff, and in the long run, I became a much better person. Don also gave me his last, best gift of love and peace. Antia Lawrence, San Diego, California | Dishes Professional Chefs Cook in the Microwave Microwaving live lobsters in inhumane and cruel. Because lobsters feel pain, Switzerland has recently outlawed the practice of boiling them live. A similar law was passed in Italy, where it is now illegal to put lobsters on ice before cooking them. I hope you provide an update to your story promoting humane practices instead of cruel and violent ones. Janet Toole, Phoenixville, Pennsylavnia |
1.How did Antia Lawrence react to her husband’s diagnosis?
A.She felt very painful. B.She gained some life lessons.
C.She paid more attention to her own health. D.She showed deep sympathy for her husband.
2.According to Sam Kieffer’s letter, what can be learn about John All?
A.He is an expert in mountaineering
B.He wrote the article entitled Trapped Inside a Glacier.
C.Not all people could survive in the same situation as he did.
D.His story is the best one that Sam Kieffer has ever read in Reader’s Digest.
3.Who is likely to disagree with what is said in the commented article?
A.Edward Deckerd. B.Antia Lawrence.
C.Sam Kieffer. D.Janet Toole
EU members' states have agreed to ban a toxic substance widely found in clothing because it poses an ''acceptable risk'' to the environment. Countries voted in favor of extending existing restrictions on nonylphenol ethoxylates (NPE) to imports to clothing and other textile products.
The measure is intended to protect species in water. Use of NPE in textile manufacture in Europe was banned over 10 years ago but the substance is still released into the water environment through imported textiles being washed.
NPE degrades in the environment into substances including nonylphenol (NP), which accumulates in the bodies of fish and disturbs their hormones, harming fertility, growth and sexual development.
NPE is used in textile manufacture as a cleaning and dyeing agent. The EU decision notes that several studies have found NPE to be present in textile items.
A 2011 study by Greenpeace found NPE in two-thirds of clothes tested, including items sold by big-name brads such as Adidas, H&M, Lacoste, and Ralph Lauren. The NGO (Non-Governmental Organizations) argued that although concentrations of NPE found in the clothes were low, the chemical’s existence in the environment posed a risk.
The new ban on textiles containing NPE in concentrations equal to or greater than 0.01% will enter into force five years after it is adopted by the European Commission, which is likely to happen in September.
In comments submitted to ECHA (European Chemicals Agency), clothing and textile firms have warned that obeying the restriction will be difficult because NPE ubiquitous in the supply chain and has numerous uses.
The new restriction will not apply to second-hand goods or recycled textiles because it is assumed that these will already have been washed several times so they contain negligible(微不足道的)amounts of NPE.
EU countries must eliminate pollution of water bodies by NP as it is a priority substance under the Water Framework Directive. A 2013 study by the UK environment agency warned that emissions from textiles could prevent progress towards this objective. It found 29% of imported cotton underwear contained NPE, which was released during the first two washes by the consumer.
1.The 2011 study by Greenpeace found _________.
A.29% of imported cotton underwear contained NPE
B.NPE had limited effects on aquatic species
C.NPE was widely present in textile products
D.clothes of good quality had no concentrations of NPE
2.What's the possible meaning of the underlined part ''ubiquitous'' in Paragraph 7?
A.is legally protected B.is not easy to be found
C.seems to be every where D.is uncommon
3.What can we learn from the text?
A.The original ban on use of NPE was very effective.
B.Recycled textile contain less NPE.
C.The new ban on imports of textile has come into force.
D.The UK environment agency is optimistic about the new ban.
4.Which section of the website does the text come from?
A.lifestyle B.technology.
C.Business. D.Environment.
