The first time I saw Carlos I would never have believed he was going to change my life. I had my arms full of books and I was tearing into the classroom when 1 ran into something solid. It was Carlos.
“My God, you’re tall,” he said.
Of course, the class began to laugh. Angry, I walked to my seat without a word.
I glanced back to see if Reed Harrington was laughing with the rest. That would be the last straw. But Reed was studying chemistry and did not seem to be aware of anything else. I didn’t know why I considered Reed my friend. Maybe just because he was a good two inches taller than I. Anyway, every time I blew out my birthday candles and made a wish, it was for a date with Reed Harrington.
“Take that seat,” Mr. McCarthy told the cocky newcomer Carlos,pointing to the only empty one,in the back of the room.
Carlos laughed widely. “But I need a couple of dictionaries.” Again the class laughed, but now they were laughing with Carlos,not at him. He had been here only 10 minutes and already he had them on his side.
The bell rang for classes. As I stood up to go, I saw Carlos coming toward me. “ I’ sorry I embarrassed you,” he said. I looked straight head over the top of his black hair. “That’s all right.”
“ I ought to know better.” He was still blocking my way.” What’s your name?” “Karen Forbes.” “ You probably heard me say I’m Carlos Herrera.” He held out his hand. Unwillingly, I shook hands with him. He looked up at me seriously with his brown eyes.” “ I don’t see why you’re so touchy.”
I brushed by him and said sharply, “You wouldn’t understand.”
He followed me a few steps. “I’m just the one who should, Karen,” he said. “ You and I have a lot in common.”
It was the school elections that made me think of Carlos again. Reed Harrington was voted president and Carlos vice-president. “How come?” I kept asking myself,” How come this shrimp who’s only been in town for a little over a month gets to be so popular?”
So that morning,I stopped Carlos and said,“It doesn’t seem to bother you — being short.” He looked up at me, “Of course I mind being short. But there isn’t anything I can do about it. When I realized I was going to have to spend my life in this undersized skin,I just decided to make the best of it and concentrate on being myself.” “You seem to get along great,” I admitted, “But what about me? Nobody wants to date a girl taller than he is.” “The trouble with you is that you’re afraid to be yourself. You’re smart. And you could be pretty. In fact, you might be more than pretty.” I felt myself turning red…
1.The author was angry because ________.
A.the class made fun of her B.Carlos was too rude to her
C.she had to carry many books D.Reed Harrington didn’t date her
2.Which of the following about Carlos is NOT TRUE?
A.He was popular. B.He was new in the school.
C.He was shorter than the author. D.He was chosen president in the school elections.
3.The underlined word “ touchy” in paragraph 8 probably means________
A. moved B. cheerful C. curious D. annoyed
4.We can infer from Paragraph 4 that the author ________.
A. cared much about Reed’s attitude B. hoped Reed was laughing with others
C. thought Reed was the same as others D. couldn’t stand Carlos playing tricks on her
5.According to the text, which is the most likely ending?
A.Carlos and Reed became very good friends
B.Carlos and the author argued with each other.
C.The author changed her attitude towards Carlos.
D.Carlos was elected president of the student committee.
LONDON----Here’s a new warning from health experts: Sitting is deadly.
Scientists are increasingly warning that sitting for prolonged periods — even if you also exercise regularly — could be bad for your health. And it doesn’t matter where the sitting takes place — at the office, at school, in the car or before a computer or TV — just the overall number of hours it occurs. Several studies suggest people who spend most of their days sitting are more likely to be fat, have a heart attack or even die.
In an editorial published this week in the British Journal of Sports Medicine, Elin EkblomBak of the Swedish School of Sport and Health Sciences suggested that authorities rethink how they define physical activity to highlight the dangers of sitting.
While health officials have issued guidelines recommending minimum amounts of physical activity, they haven’t suggested people try to limit how much time they spend in a seated position.
"After four hours of sitting, the body starts to send harmful signals," Ekblom-Bak said. She explained that genes regulating(调节) the amount of glucose(葡萄糖) and fat in the body start to shut down.
Even for people who exercise, spending long periods of time sitting at a desk is still harmful. Tim Armstrong, a physical activity expert at the World Health Organization, said people who exercise every day — but still spend a lot of time sitting — might get more benefit if that exercise were spread across the day, rather than in a single bout.(一回)
Still, in a study published last year that tracked more than 17,000 Canadians for about a dozen years, researchers found people who sat more had a higher death risk, independently of whether or not they exercised.
"We don’t have enough evidence yet to say how much sitting is bad," said Peter Katzmarzyk of the Pennington Biomedical Research Center in Baton Rouge, who led the Canadian study. "But it seems the more you can get up and interrupt this sedentary behavior, the better."
Figures from a U.S. survey in 2003-2004 found Americans spend more than half their time sitting, from working at their desks to sitting in cars.
Experts said more research is needed to figure out just how much sitting is dangerous, and what might be possible to offset those effects.
"People should keep exercising because that has a lot of benefits," Ekblom-Bak said. "But when they’re in the office, they should try to interrupt sitting as often as possible," she said.
1.What is the best title for the text?
A. Not Sitting Too Much While Working B. How To Avoid Sitting Too Much
C. Sitting Too Much Could Be Deadly D. More And More People Sit Too Much
2.According to the research,______________.
A. the more time you spend in exercising in a single bout, the healthier you will be.
B. those who often sit too much are sure to grow fat or suffer from a heart attack.
C. regular exercise is effective to get rid of the side effect of sitting too much.
D. you had better not sit for more than four hours in a single bout.
3.How does the danger of sitting too much affect the human body?
A. It results in a higher death risk.
B. It increases glucose and fat in the body.
C. It makes a person unable to exercise long enough in a day.
D. It causes the gene to fail to balance the glucose and fat in the body.
4.In the opinion of Ekblom-Bak, you’d better have a rest in the office by________.
A. sending your friends e-mails
B. having a walk around your office
C. chatting online or playing computer games
D. listening to music with your head on the desk.
A few months ago, I was picking up the children at school. Emily, another mother that I knew well, rushed up to me. She was full of __41__.
“Do you know __42__ you and I are?” she asked. __43__ I could answer, she gave out the reason for her question. She had just returned from renewing her driver’s license at a government office. The woman __44__ desk asked her what her “occupation” was. Emily hesitated, __45__ how to answer it. “What I mean is,” explained the woman, “do you have a job, or are you just a ...?” “Of course I have a job,” answered Emily. “I’m a (an) __46__.” “We don’t __47__ ‘mother’ as an occupation ... ‘housewife’ covers it,” she said.
I forgot all about her story __48__ one day I found myself in the same situation. This time it was at our own Town Hall. The clerk was a woman.
“And what is your occupation?” she asked. What __49__ me say it, I do not know. The words simply jumped out. “I’m ... a (an) ___50___ in the field of Child Development and Human Relations.”
The clerk stopped, her ball-point pen ___51__ in mid-air. She looked up __52__ she had not heard right. I repeated the title slowly.
“Might I ask,” said the clerk with new interest, “just what you do in your ___53__?” Coolly, I heard myself ___54__, “I have a continuing program of research in the
laboratory and in the field. I’m working for my masters (the whole family) and already have __55__ credits (令人增光的人或事物) (all daughters). I often work 14 hours a day (24 is more like it). The job is more challenging than most jobs and the __56__ are in satisfaction rather than just money.”
There was an increasing note of __57__ in the clerk’s voice as she __58__ in the form. As I drove into our driveway(私家车道), I was __59__ by my lab assistants — ages 13, 7, and 3. Inside the house I could hear our new experimental model (six months) in the child-development program.
I felt successful. Motherhood...what a great __60__.
1. A. surprise B. anxiety C. anger D. excitement
2. A. who B. what C. how D. why
3. A. When B. As C. Before D. Since
4. A. at B. after C. by D. around
5.A. nervous B. sure C. anxious D. uncertain
6.A. mother B. worker C. teacher D. doctor
7. A. think B. list C. expect D. give
8. A. since B. unless C. until D. when
9. A. got B. caused C. permit D. made
10. A. researcher B. manager C. expert D. scholar
11. A. dropped B. floated C. frozen D. broke
12. A. so that B. even though C. as though D. because of
13.A. family B. subject C. study D. field
14. A. words B. reply C. shout D. whisper
15. A. two B. three C. four D. five
16. A. rewards B. awards C. profits D. benefits
17. A. interest B. respect C. doubt D fear
18.A. explained B. passed C. completed D. filled
19.A. accepted B. greeted C. recognized D. refused
20. A. person B. award C. career D. business
We should consider the students’ request _____the school library provide more books on popular science.
A. that B. when C. which D. where
For breakfast he only drinks juice from fresh fruit ___ on his own farm.
A. being grown B. grown C. to be grown D. to grow
Everybody was touched _________ words after they heard her moving story.
A. beyond B. without C. of D. in