Two new studies suggest that modern running shoes could increase the risk of injuries to runners.
One study involved sixty-eight healthy young women and men who ran at least twenty-four kilometers a week. The runners were observed on a treadmill machine. Sometimes they wore running shoes. Other times they ran barefoot.
Researchers from the JKM Technologies Company in Virginia, the University of Virginia and the University of Colorado did the study.
They found that running shoes create more stress that could damage knees, hips and ankle joints than running barefoot. They observed that the effect was even greater than the effect reported earlier for walking in high heels.
The study appeared in the official scientific journal of the American Academy of Physical Medicine.
The other study appeared in the journal Nature. It compared runners in the United States and Kenya. The researchers were from Harvard University in Massachusetts, Moi University in Kenya and the University of Glasgow in Scotland.
They divided the runners into three groups. One group had always run shoeless. Another group had always run with shoes. And the third group had changed to shoeless running.
Runners who wear shoes usually come down heel first. That puts great force on the back of the foot. But the study found that barefoot runners generally land on the front or middle of their foot. That way they ease into their landing and avoid striking their heel.
Harvard’s Daniel Lieberman led the study. He says the way most running shoes are designed may explain why those who wear them land on their heels. The heel of the shoe is bigger and heavier than other parts of the shoe, so it would seem more likely to come down first. Also, the heel generally has thick material under it to soften landings.
1.How many organizations are involved in the two studies?
A. Three. B. Four. C. Five. D. Six.
2.What can we learn from the text?
A. Most running shoes are designed improperly.
B. The design of high heels is better than that of running shoes.
C. No one will run with running shoes in the future.
D. Both of the studies are done in America.
3.Why do running shoes increase the risk of injuries to runners?
A. They could create stress.
B. They’re too big and heavy.
C. They can affect the way the runners land.
D. Their heels can soften landings.
4.How did the researchers do the two studies?
A. By practising. B. By comparing. C. By questioning. D. By reasoning.
The wedding took place in a Birmingham hotel. The bride and her father arrived in a new black American sport car. Her father looked nervous and uncomfortable in front of the cameras. The bride wore a silk wedding dress. She smiled nervously at the waiting photographers and went to a room on the first floor where she met her future husband for the very first time.
Carla Germaine and Greg Cordell were the winners of a radio station’s competition. The aim of the competition was to find two strangers prepared to marry without having met each other. Miss Germaine, 23, is a model. Mr. Cordell, 27, is a TV salesman. They were among the two hundred people who entered a peculiar “experiment” organized by BMRB radio in Birmingham, England, Greg, and Carla were among eight finalists who were interviewed live on a radio. They took a lie detector（测谎仪） test and the station also spoke to their friends and family about their personalities. The competition judges include an astrologer（占星家） who declared that they were suited.
The couple celebrated their wedding with a wedding breakfast and a party for 100 guests in the evening, but not everyone shared their joy. Miss Germaine’s mother looked anxious throughout the wedding and Mr. Cordell’s parents are reported to be less than delighted.
Organizations, including the marriage guidance Service Relate, have criticized the marriage. As one person put it, “We have enough problems getting young people to take marriage seriously without this. Marriage should always be about love.”
The couple are now on a Caribbean honeymoon followed by journalists. Their other prizes include a year’s free use of a wonderful apartment in the center of Birmingham, and a car. But will it last?
1.How did the couple’s parents react to the wedding?
A. The bride’s mother shared their joy.
B. The bride’s father felt uncomfortable about the wedding.
C. The bridegroom’s parents were quite delighted.
D. The bridegroom’s parents were not that joyful.
2.Some experts believe that _____.
A. marriage without the couple’s meeting each other first ends up in divorce
B. young people nowadays are too careless about marriage
C. taking a lie detector test can not solve all the marriage problems
D. most young people take marriage seriously except this couple
3.One of the prize for the couple is _____.
A. to spend their honeymoon wherever they like
B. to use an apartment free for some time
C. to have a wedding dress free
D. to own an American sports car
4.Which of the following is the best title of the passage?
A. Two strangers and a wedding B. A wedding based on love
C. A short-lived marriage D. A well-matched couple
阅读下面短文，从短文后各题所给的四个选项(A、B、C和D)中选出可以填入空白处的最佳选项。
Dear son,
The day that you see me old and I am already not in good health, have patience and try to understand me.
If I get dirty when eating, if I can not dress, have patience and remember the hours I 1teaching it to you. If, when I speak to you, I 2the same things thousand and one times, do not 3me, listen to me. When you were small, I had to read to you thousand and one times the same story 4you got to sleep. When I do not want to have a 5, neither shame me nor scold me. Remember when I had to chase you with thousand excuses I 6, in order that you wanted to bathe. When you see my 7little about new technologies, give me the necessary time and do not look at me with your mocking(嘲弄) smile. I taught you 8to do so many things: to eat good, to dress well, to confront life…. When at some moment I lose the memory or the 9of our conversation, let me have the necessary time to remember, and if I cannot do it, do not become nervous, as the most important thing is not our conversation but surely to be with you and to have you 10to me.
If ever I do not want to eat, do not force me. I know well 11I need to and when not. When my 12legs do not allow me to walk, give me your 13, the same way I did when you gave your first 14. And when someday I say to you that I do not want to 15any more ---- that I want to rest forever, do not get angry. Someday you will understand.
Try to understand that my age is not lived but survived. Some day you will discover that, 16my mistakes, I always wanted the 17thing for you and that I tried to prepare the way for you. You must not feel sad, angry or impotent(无可奈何) for seeing me 18you. You must be next to me, try to understand me and to help me as I did it when you 19living. Help me to walk, help me to end my way with love and 20. I will pay you by a smile and by the immense love I have had always for you.
I love you, Son.
Your father
1.A. paid B. spent C. cost D. took
2.A. praise B. think C. repeat D. criticize
3.A. interrupt B. disturb C. look D. avoid
4.A. when B. after C. since D. until
5.A. rest B. word C. shower D. sleep
6. A. discovered B. invented C. noticed D. assumed
7.A. knowing B. fearing C. enjoying D. consulting
8.A. what B. when C. how D. why
9.A. news B. attitude C. material D. thread
10.A. talking B. listening C. responding D. appealing
11.A. where B. how C. that D. when
12.A. tired B. short C. long D. strong
13.A. leg B. ear C. hand D. mind
14.A. step B. pace C. laugh D. cry
15.A. talk B. live C. write D. sleep
16.A. though B. since C. while D. despite
17.A. last B. first C. best D. most
18.A. near B. behind C. below D. against
19.A. made B. started C. earned D. found
20.A. mercy B. care C. excuse D. patience
---- Mary, you water the plants in the garden and I will cook the dinner.
----_____
A．Why me? B．Forget it.
C．That’s all right. D．OK, that’s settled.
_____ private cars are bringing us convenience, they may also cause more traffic accidents and pollution.
A．While B．As C．If D．Since
_____ all over the hills and around the lake are wild flowers of different colors.
A. Grow B. To grow C. Growing D. Grown
