In the Caucasus region of the Soviet Union, nearly 50 out of every 100,000 people live to celebrate their 100th birthday, and many don’t stop at 100! By comparison, in America only 3 people in 100,000 reach 100. But these Soviet old people aren’t alone. The Pakistani Hunzas, who live high in the Himalaya Mountains, and the Vilacbambans of the Andes Mountains in Ecuador seem to share the secret of long too.
These peoples remain healthy in body and spirit despite the passage of time. While many older persons in industrial societies become weak and ill in their 60s and 70s, some Soviet Georgians, aged 110 to 140, work in the fields beside their great- great- grandchildren. Even the idea of aging is foreign to them. When asked, “At what age does youth end?”, most of these old people has no answer. Several replied, “Well, perhaps at age 80.” The very youngest estimate was age 60.
What accounts for this ability to survive to such old age, and to survive so well? First of all, hard physical work is a way of life for all of these long-lived peoples. They begin their long days of physical labor as children and never seem to stop. For example, Mr. Rustam Mamedov is 142 years of age. He remember his life experiences: the Grimean War of 1854; the Turkish War of 1878; the Bolshevik Revolution in 1917. His wife is 116 years old. They have been married for 90 years. Mr. Mamedov has no intentions of retiring from his life as a farmer. “Why? What else would I do?” he asks. Oh, he has slowed down a bit. Now he might quit for the day after 6 hours in the field instead of 10.
All these people get healthful rewards from the environment in which they work. They all come from mountainous regions. They live and work at elevations of 5,000 to 12,000 feet (1,660 to 4,000 meters) above sea level. The air has less oxygen and is pollutionfree. This reduced-oxygen environment makes the heart and blood vessel system stronger.
Another factor that may contribute to the good health of these people is their isolation. To a great extent, they are separated from the pressures and worried of industrial society.
Inherited factors also play some role. Most of the longest-lived people had parents and grandparents who also reached very old ages. Good family genes may, therefore, be one factor in living longer.
Finally, although these three groups don’t eat exactly the same foods, their diets are similar. The Hunzas, Vilacbambans, and Soviets eat little animal meat. Their diets are full of fresh fruits, vegetables, nuts, grains, cheese, and milk. They never eat more food than their bodies need.
It is clear that isolation from urban pressures and pollution, clean mountain air, daily hard work, moderate diets, good genes, and a youthful approach to life all contribute to the health and remarkable long life of all these people.
1. What kinds of things contribute to the remarkable long life of these peoples?
A. Moderate diets B. Clean mountain air.
C. Daily hard work. D. All the above factors（因素）.
2. How do you think the author feels about these long-lived people?
A. He is impressed with them B. He doesn’t care.
C. He doesn’t like them. D. He admires them.
3.According to the passage, the phrase “the passage of time” means .
A. have time to do what they want B. being on time
C. time going by D. limited time
4.In the passage, why does the author describe Mr. Mamedov?
A. An example of a typical long life among these people.
B. An example of an unusual long life among these people.
C. An explanation of why he is still healthy.
D. An example of why his wife died early than him.
5.What is the main subject of this article?
A. Mr. Mamedov’s life.
B. A description of several societies where people live a long time.
C. Suggestions for how you can live long life.
D. People are healthy in mountainous regions.
Foresters are people who work with trees and know a lot about them. Occasionally, foresters have problems, and the foresters in southern Indiana have had many problems.
The foresters were doing an experiment. They wanted to grow walnut (胡桃) trees by planting walnuts in the ground. If they succeeded, the foresters would be able to control the location of the trees. Also, this method would be much cheaper than transplanting or moving nut trees that were grown in plant nurseries (苗圃) . So the foresters planted their walnuts, and that’s when the squirrels (松鼠) started causing trouble. Shortly after the nuts were planted, the squirrels dug them up for tasty snacks (快餐) .
The foresters tried to keep the squirrels away from the walnuts. Mothballs (卫生球) were used as a warning, but they didn’t work. Then, the foresters tried dipping the walnuts in kerosene (煤油) , but that didn’t stop the squirrels either. The foresters continue to search for a method that will really work. But until they find one, the squirrels can continue to have their walnut snacks and the foresters will have to transplant trees!
1.Foresters are people who .
A. look after the forest and work with trees
B. feed squirrels in the forest
C. catch squirrels that steal walnuts
D. transplant trees
2.What were the foresters trying to do with the walnuts?
A. Plant food for squirrels. B. Control the location of the trees.
C. Move the trees closer to the squirrels. D. Get squirrels to eat them.
3.The underlined word “transplanting” probably means “ ”.
A. planting B. moving C. growing D. buying
4.What did the squirrels do to the walnuts that were dipped in kerosene?
A. Left them alone. B. Continued to eat them.
C. Hid them in trees D. Put them into the earth.
5.According to the story, which of the following is not true?
A. Mothballs didn’t prove to be a good method of stopping the squirrels from eating the walnuts.
B. The squirrels found the walnuts tasty.
C. The squirrels started eating mothballs instead of walnuts.
D. The forester haven’t found a good way to prevent the squirrels from eating the walnuts.
Mr. Jackson lived in the center of London but he had a hotel near the airport. There a lot of foreigners stayed for night. He didn’t know any other language but English and he found it difficult for him to understand the foreign visitors. Sometimes he had to use the gesture to talk with them, and tried his best to make himself understood. But he was often misunderstood (误解) and it brought him a lot of trouble. A friend of his who taught a few foreign languages in a university would teach him. He was happy and studied hard. At first he learned some, but soon he found it wasn’t very easy to remember the words and expressions. His friend advised him to write down the useful expressions in his notebook so that he could use them when necessary. He did as he was told. He found it helpful for him to do so.
One evening there were plenty of people in the dining-room. They were all busy eating something except a Japanese. He was wandering (徘徊) there and waiting for his wife who was dressing herself up upstairs. Mr. Jackson thought to himself, “ The man wants to eat something but he doesn’t know any English. Let me help him.”
As he knew only a little Japanese, he had to bring out his notebook and showed it to the man, pointing to the sentence “I’m hungry.”
The Japanese had a look at it and gave him two pounds and left.
1.Mr. Jackson knew only English because .
A. he was an English student
B. he had never been abroad
C. he couldn’t learn by himself
D. he hadn’t studied any foreign languages
2. Mr. Jackson had to use the gesture because .
A. he wanted the foreign visitors to understand him
B. he wanted to learn the foreign languages from the visitors
C. he hoped to know the foreign visitors’ custom
D. he hoped more foreign visitors would stay for night in his hotel
3.As not all foreign visitors understand his gesture, sometimes Mr. Jackson to communicate with them.
A. succeeded B. lost heart C. failed D. gave up
4. , so he decided to help the man.
A. Mr. Jackson thought the Japanese wanted to stay for night
B. Mr. Jackson thought the Japanese was not hungry
C. Mr. Jackson knew the Japanese was waiting for his wife.
D. Mr. Jackson was sure the Japanese couldn’t speak English
5. The Japanese thought , so he gave him two pounds.
A. Mr. Jackson was a beggar. B. Mr. Jackson was a translator.
C. Mr. Jackson could help him. D. Mr. Jackson could ring his wife up.
Changsha,
Hunan Province
May 6, 2010
Dear editor,
Under China’s current educational system, there are those who do nothing but study. They of course are thought to be model students.
But I feel that there is another type of student who, perhaps not as diligent (勤奋的) as the first type, uses his time more efficiently and achieves a lot academically.
Last year, a classmate of mine was accepted by a top university. It surprised all of us. It was because, unlike most of us, he didn’t spend too much of his time studying.
When I asked him the secret of his success, he said that the key was properly and scientifically arranging his time.
“ I spent a lot of time keeping fit and as a result, I was able to better concentrate (集中) on my class work.”
The moral of the story is: it isn’t necessary to sit at your desk all day long to get high academic (学术) grades.
Yours,
Zhang Zishu
1.What does the letter-writer (a reader) think leads to the fact that many students do nothing but study?
A. The present educational system. B. People’s old ideas.
C. The teaching methods. D. The parents of these students.
2.It seems that this reader thinks .
A. the first type of student is our model
B. the second type of students is our model
C. both types of students are worth learning from
D. neither of the two types of students are good
3. The secret of his classmate’s success was .
A. properly and scientifically arranging his time
B. spending a lot of time studying
C. doing nothing but studying
D. playing all the time
4. The reader wrote the letter in order to .
A. call on us to work even harder
B. cause people to think about how to study more efficiently
C. advise people to do research into his classmate’s success
D. criticize (批评) China’s educational system
5.What would be the best to stand for the letter-writer’s opinion?
A. Secret of success.
B. China’s educational system needs changing.
C. Work while you work and play while you play.
D. Keep fit first.
As Christmas is coming, there are presents to be bought, cards to be sent, and rooms to be cleaned. Parents are faced with difficult jobs of hiding presents from curious young children. If the gifts are large, this is sometimes a real 11 . On the Christmas Eve, young children find the excitement almost unbearable. They are torn between the wish to go to bed early so that Father Christmas will bring them presents quickly and the wish to 12 up late so that they will not 13 the fun. The wish for gifts usually proves stronger. But though children go to bed early, they often lie 14 for a long time, hoping to get a short look at Father Christmas.
Last Christmas, my wife and I 15 hid a few large presents in the storeroom. I 16 the moment when my son, Jimmy, would ask me where that new bike had come from, but fortunately he did not see it.
On Christmas Eve, 17 took the children hours to go to sleep. It must have been nearly 18 when my wife and I went quietly into their room and began 19 stockings. Then I pushed in the 20 I bought for Jimmy and left it beside the Christmas tree. We knew we would not get much sleep that night, for the children were 21 to get up early. At about five o’clock the next morning, we were 22 by loud sounds coming from the children’s room—they were shouting excitedly! 23 I had time to get out of bed, young Jimmy came riding into the room on his new bike, and his sister, Mary, followed close behind pushing her new baby carriage. 24 the baby arrived. He moved on the hands and knees into the room dragging a large balloon. We were woken up 25 by them at this time.
1.A. question B. matter C. problem D. business
2.A. get B. stay C. stand D. wake
3.A. lose B. break C. miss D. leave
4.A. awake B. wake C. asleep D. sleep
5.A. hopeful B. busily C. gladly D. successfully
6.A. liked B. feared C. surprised D. hated
7.A. we B. they C. I D. it
8.A. morning B. midnight C. evening D. daybreak
9.A. filling B. sewing C. mending D. preparing
10.A. present B. stocking C. bike D. tree
11.A. going B. sure C. glad D. excited
12.A. troubled B. frightened C. woken D. shocked
13. A. Before B. After C. Until D. Since
14. A. Even B. And C. Soon D. Then
15. A. all B. nearly C. happily D. completely
I don’t agree with at all________ you said.
A. what B. that C. which D.where
