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Health researchers have noticed that some groups of people are more consistently healthy than others, and wondered… Is it race? Income? Where you live? In the United States, these disagreements in health outcomes have been the focus of intense research for the past several decades.
Harvard University health policy researcher Ellen Meara says scholars have found some clues as to why some groups of people have more or less disease than others. She says one important factor in people’s health is the amount of education they have.
In her most recent paper, Meara looked at data from the United states census. These counts of people occur every 10 years. Meara and her colleagues examined data from several decades.
“We looked at life expectancy(预测寿命) at age 25,” Meara says.
“How many additional years can you expect to live if you arrive at age 25 and your education has stopped at high school, or sooner? Versus how many years, can you expect to live if you’ve reached aged 25 and you’ve gone on to at least some college…”
Meara says they found that in 1990, a 25-year-old who only had some secondary school could expect to live for a total of 75 years. In 2000, a 25-year-old with some secondary education could also expect to live to the age of 75.
In contrast, for a better educated 25-year-old, they could expect to live to the age of 80 in 1990. Someone with a similar education level in the year 2000, could expect to live to be more than 81 years, 81.6 years to be exact.
Meara says, not only do better-educated people live longer to begin with, but in the past ten years, more educated people have made gains in the length of their lives. Meanwhile, the life expectancy hasn’t changed for less educated people.
Some of these gains can be explained. Meara says researchers know that people who are more educated are more likely to quit smoking cigarettes, or not start at all, compared to people with less education.
“I think it’s a reminder not to be satisfactory,” Meara says. “Just because a population overall appears to be getting healthier, it doesn’t always mean that those advantages and successes that many people have enjoyed really extend into all parts of the population. And I think that’s something to really pay attention to regardless of whether you live in the US or elsewhere.”
Meara points out that education can often determine income---people with more education frequently make more money. This makes them aware of health care, and purchase other resources and services that can keep them healthier. But the data on income do NOT show that people who make more money are automatically healthier.
Meara says education is key. People need to be educated in order to take advantage of opportunities for better health.
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Title |
The Amount of 1.Contributes to People’s Health |
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The less educated people |
The 2.______ educated people |
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Comparisons |
In 1990 |
They could live for 75 years |
They could live to the age of 80 |
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In 2000 |
Their life expectancy was the same as in 1990. |
They could live to the age of 81.6 3.____ |
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4.___ of the research |
In the past ten years |
Their life expectancy remained 5._____. |
They’ve made gains in the length of their lives, partly due to their 6.__ smoking. |
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People are getting healthier, but it doesn’t mean that the advantages and successes extend into all parts of the 7.____. |
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Education8.____income. |
People with more education make more money |
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Getting more money helps to increase their9.___ of health care, which can keep them healthier. |
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10.____
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Education is the key to better health. |
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BUKHANNON, West Virginia—Two rescue teams slowly moved along a two-mile path on Monday night to the site of a coal mine explosion that trapped 13 miners, who had not been heard from since the early morning accident．
Meanwhile, at a nearby church, more than 250 family members and friends gathered, waiting for updates（最新报道）on the rescuers’ progress．
The miners were trapped at about 6:30 and many families weren’t informed of the accident until about 10 a．m-more than three hours after it happened．“It’s very upsetting, but you’ve got to be patient, I guess,” said John Helms, whose brother, Terry, was trapped in the mine．
The trapped miners were about 260 feet underground and about 10,000 feet from the Sago Mine’s entrance, said Roger Nicholson, general counsel from International Coal Group．
At a late night news conference, Nicholson said one team had advanced about 4, 800 feet in the four hours since entering the mine just before 6 p．m．Another team entered the mine about 30 minutes later．
He said the crew was very experienced, with some members having worked underground for 30 to 35 years．The miners were equipped with about one hour of breathable oxygen each．The company has not released the names of the miners．
The teams test the air about every 500 feet, and have to disconnect （remove） the power to the phones they use to communicate with the surface before doing that．“ We don’t want to be energizing anything if it’s in an atmosphere with burnable gases,” Kips said．
The cause of the explosion was not immediately known．High levels of carbon monoxide were discovered shortly after the explosion, which delayed rescue efforts, but those levels have since subsided（减退）, authorities said．
1.According to the passage, we can infer that ________．
A．all the miners who were trapped underground were still alive
B．communication with the trapped miners was cut off
C．the two rescue teams entered the mine at the same time
D．the rescue started as soon as the accident happened
2.If the first team advanced at an average speed, they could dig about _______ per hour．
A．1,000 feet B．2,400 feet C．1,200feet D．4,800feet
3.Where can the passage be seen?
A．In a magazine． B．In a newspaper．
C．In a science book．． D．On an advertisement．
4.Which of the following shows the position where the miners were trapped?
For a 400-year-old art form, opera had a bad fame: overweight actresses singing the words which were hard to understand in one of those romance languages you were supposed to learn in high school. And with tickets costing as much as $145 a performance, opera goers also had a certain appearance in people's mind: rich, well-dressed and old.
But now opera companies around the country are loosening their ties and kicking off their shoes in an attempt to keep opera alive and take it to a younger and not so wealthy audience.
Opera producers have found that to attract this crowd, they need to make the opera closer to common people. Because young people don't or won't come to the opera, companies are bringing the opera to them, giving performances in such unusual places as parks, libraries and public schools.
The Houston Grand Opera's choice is the public library, where it performs “mobile operas” shortened versions(剧本) of child-friendly operas. This summer's production is Hansel ＆ Gretel. By performing smaller versions of large productions, producers are able to make people interested while keeping costs at a reasonable level. The San Francisco Opera, which will be celebrating its 75th anniversary this year, is staging Cinderella free of charge, keeping costs down by employing students from its Young Artists' Training Program.
1.Which is the main idea of this passage？
A. Opera is famous for its long history.
B. Opera is only performed for rich people.
C. Opera companies are trying to keep opera alive.
D. Young people are not interested in opera.
2.The underlined phrase in the second paragraph means ______.
A. breaking up the old rules B. changing the dresses
C. making the audience at ease D. advertising themselves
3.Opera companies prefer to perform short versions because ______ .
A. they can be performed in public libraries
B. short versions are easy to perform
C. it is hard to find long versions
D. they can make more people come to opera
4.The San Francisco Opera employs students in order to ______.
A. celebrate its 75th anniversary B. reduce the cost
C. attract young people D. make Cinderella popular
Where have all the boys gone？You may be able to find them in the gym, at work or hanging out, but there’s one important place where boys are underrepresented, and the problem seems to be getting worse. These days, at high school graduation ceremonies, there are a lot more girls than boys.
In fact, every year, 10 percent more girls graduate from high school than boys. “I think that there’s a tendency to focus on boys as problems at this point, rather than recognize that boys have problems,” says Joanne Max, PhD. Experts say the problems start in grade school, where there’s often an emphasis on sports instead of reading, for example. “I think that with boys there’s some idea that it’s not masculine(男子汉的)to read,” says Rob Jenkins, an English professor.
There’s also a shortage of male teachers as role models. “I think boys need role models, so if you’re a boy and you don’t have a dad in your home and then you have one male teacher and it’s your athletic coach then I don’t think you have a message that education is very important,” says Carol Carter, another expert. In addition, classrooms often have too little activity and too much passive listening, which is not conducive(有益的)to boys’ learning.
Experts say parents can fight back in many ways. Read to your sons early and often; show by your actions that you value their education. Ask them about their schoolwork, offer help, drop by their classroom and finally, appeal to their competitive spirit: challenge them to do better and help them understand that their future depends on it.
1.The underlined part “one important place” in Paragraph 1 refers to “______”.
A. classrooms B. factories
C. high school graduation ceremonies D. gyms
2.According to the passage，boys have the problem that they think ______.
A. reading is more important than sports
B. it is shameful for boys to read
C. boys should not work as a teacher
D. boys lack the gift for reading
3.Carol Carter’s words implied that ______.
A. parents play an important role in education
B. athletic coaches contribute a lot to education
C. lack of male teachers affects boys’ attitudes to school work
D. classrooms lack enough activities that are suitable for boys
4. According to experts，parents should do the following except ______.
A．often read to their sons when they are young
B．keep an eye on their sons’ studies at school
C．encourage their sons to compete with others
D. prevent their sons from taking part in sports
So long as teachers fail to distinguish（区别, 辨认） between teaching and learning, they will continue to undertake to do for children that which only children can do for themselves. Teaching children to read is not passing reading on to them. It is certainly not endless hours spent in activities about reading．Douglas insists that “reading cannot be taught directly and schools should stop trying to do the impossible”.
Teaching and learning are two entirely different processes. They differ in kind and function. The function of teaching is to create the conditions and the climate that will make it possible for children to devise the most efficient system for teaching themselves to read. Teaching is also public activity. It can be seen and observed.
Learning to read involves all that each individual does to make sense of the world of printed language. Almost all of it is private, for learning is an occupation of the mind, and that process is not open to public observation.
If teacher and learner roles are not interchangeable, what then can be done through teaching that will aid the child in the quest（探索）for knowledge? Smith has one principal rule for all teaching instructions. “Make learning to read easy, which means making reading a meaningful, enjoyable and frequent experience for children.”
When the roles of teacher and learner are seen for what they are, and when both teacher and learner fulfill them properly, then much of the pressure and feeling of failure for both is eliminated(除去, 剔除). Learning to read is made easier when teachers create an environment where children are given the opportunity to solve the problem of leaning to read by reading.
1.The problem with the reading course as mentioned in the first paragraph is that ______.
A．it is one of the most difficult school courses
B．students spend endless hours in reading
C．reading tasks are assigned with little guidance
D．too much time is spent in teaching about reading
2.The teaching of reading will be successful if ______.
A．teachers can improve conditions at school for the students
B．teachers can enable students to develop their own way of reading
C．teachers can devise the most efficient system for reading
D．teachers can make their teaching activities observable
3.According to the passage, learning to read will no longer be a difficult task when ______.
A．children become highly motivated
B．teacher and learner roles are interchangeable
C．teaching helps children in the search for knowledge
D．reading enriches children’s experience
4.The main idea of the passage is that ______.
A．teachers should do as little as possible in helping students learn to read
B．teachers should encourage students to read as widely as possible
C．reading ability is something acquired rather than taught
D．reading is more complicated than generally believed
Prison Break is a huge hit thanks to its handsome star, Wentworth Miller. His character, Michael Scofield, is the engine that drives the show.
Having committed a crime to get into prison and break out with his innocent brother, Michael Scofield is one of the most interesting personalities on TV today. But what about the man behind the character?
Miller, 35, is a hard guy to figure out. He does not come from a normal background and has never lived his life in a typical way.
Miller didn’t take direct path to fame and fortune. He graduated from Princeton University in 1995, not with a degree in theatre of film, but in English. He didn’t even act when he was in college. His only performance experience was in his university’s singing group. Yet, at graduation Miller still decided to make the move to Hollywood.
Miller has always been different. Although he is American, he was in Britain when his father was studying there. His family background is also a special mix of cultures. “My father is black and my mother is white. That means I have always been caught in the middle. I could be either one, which can make you feel out of place,” Miller says.
Following his unusual path, Miller did not start trying out for films and TV shows when he first went to Hollywood. Instead, he worked as a lowly production assistant. Not what you would expect from a Princeton graduate. However, it all paid off for Miller in the end.
In 2002, Miller played a role in the drama Dinotopia（《恐龙帝国》）. He started as a thoughtful and shy man. Producers remembered his performance when they were casting Prison Break two years later. With a golden globe nomination（提名）and another season of Prison Break on his resume, Miller seems ready to take over all of Hollywood.
1.What does the passage mainly talk about?
A．Michael Scofield in Prison Break.
B．Hollywood’s recent big hit—Prison Break.
C．Miller’s unusual path to fame and fortune.
D．The man who will take over all of the world.
2.The writer thinks “Miller is a hard guy to figure out” because ______ .
A．it’s difficult to tell him from others
B．he is a shy man and hard to cooperate with
C．he always has ideas hard for people to understand
D．his family background and life experience are very special
3.Which is the closest in meaning to the underlined sentence “it all paid off for Miller in the end”?
A．Miller put a lot of extra work for his final success.
B．Miller gained fame and fortune at last with his first film.
C．Miller finally succeeded even if he has been in low position.
D．Miller managed to pay off his debts with his small income in the end.
4.Which of the following statements is TRUE about Miller?
A．He is chosen to play the Michael Scofield due to his interesting personality.
B．His performance in Dinotopia makes some contributions to his success.
C．He has the same experience with the character Michael Scofield.
D．He is angry about his being born into a mixed-cultural family.
