Between 10,000 and 15,000 years ago, some humans discontinued their wandering hunting and gathering and settled down to farm. Grain was the first domesticated crop that started that farming process.
The oldest proven records of brewing are about 6,000 years old and refer to the Sumerians. Sumeria lay between the Tigris and Euphrates rivers including Southern Mesopotamia. It is said that the Sumerians discovered the fermentation (发酵) process by chance. No one knows today exactly how this occurred, but it could be that a piece of bread or grain became wet and a short time later, it began to ferment.
The Sumerians were able to repeat this process and are assumed to be the first civilized culture to brew beer. They had discovered a “divine drink” which certainly was a gift from the gods. The word beer comes from the Latin word bibere, meaning “to drink”, and the Spanish word cerveza originates from the Greek goddess of agriculture, Ceres.
A vitamin-rich porridge, used daily, beer is reported to have increased health and longevity and reduced disease and malnutrition (营养不良). The self-medicating properties of alcohol-rich beer also eased the tensions and stresses of daily living in a hostile world. The use of yeast (酵母) was not yet known at that time. The success of the fermentation process was left to chance, as the brewers unknowingly relied on yeast particles in the air.
Considerable scientific research took place in breweries (酿酒厂) in the 19th century. A famous work from 1876 by Louis Pasteur was Studies Concerning Beer where he revealed his knowledge of micro-organisms. By establishing that yeast is a living microorganism, Pasteur opened the gates for accurately controlling the conversion (转换) of sugar to alcohol.
Another discovery in beer brewing was the work of Christian Hansen, a Danish scientist, who successfully isolated a single yeast cell and induced it to reproduce on an artificial culture medium. With the resulting yeast multiplication (繁殖) methods, the purity of the fermenting process has been improved.
1.According to the passage, who was the first to brew beer?
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A．The Greeks. |
B．Christian Hansen. |
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C．Louis Pasteur. |
D．The Sumerians. |
2.The last two paragraphs mainly talk about .
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A．the function of micro-organisms |
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B．the success of the fermentation process |
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C．two scientific discoveries about brewing |
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D．the results of yeast multiplication methods |
3.According to the text, which of the following is NOT true?
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A．Grain was the first crop used to brew beer. |
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B．There are some yeast particles in the air. |
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C．The word “beer” originates from Latin. |
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D．Modern beer contains more alcoholic. |
4.Which would be the best title for the text?
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A．The beer culture. |
B．The history of beer. |
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C．The earliest brewery. |
D．Methods of brewing beer. |
Researchers at Massachusetts General Hospital for Children (MGHfC) have invented a new term that describes dangers associated with cigarette smoke: third-hand smoke. Study results published in January, 2009 discuss how third-hand smoke is especially dangerous for children.
Have you ever walked into a room that had the smell of cigarette smoke, regardless of the fact that a fan was moving the air and no one was smoking at the time? This is what researchers are calling third-hand smoke — and it represents the poisonous deposits (存积物) that are left behind long after a cigarette is put out.
Cigarette smoke contains gases and small particles that are deposited on every surface it comes in contact with, for example, the smoker’s hair and clothing, or the environment the cigarette was smoked in. It’s dangerous for young children who may crawl on polluted surfaces. Third-hand smoke is a serious health risk for our kids, especially those who live in the homes of smokers.
Jonathan Winickoff, lead author of the study, explains, “When you come into contact with your baby, even if you’re not smoking at the time, he or she comes in contact with those poisons. And if you breast-feed, the poisons will transfer to your baby in your breast milk.” Winickoff adds however, that nursing a baby if you’re a smoker is still a better choice than bottle-feeding.
Researchers involved in the study also surveyed more than 1,500 families in an effort to learn about adult attitudes regarding the danger third-hand smoke represents to their children and how that might affect smoking in the home.
Approximately 95 percent of nonsmokers and 84 percent of smokers believe that secondhand smoke is dangerous for children.
On the issue of whether third-hand smoke threatens the health of children, 65 percent of nonsmokers and 43 percent of smokers felt that third-hand smoke harms kids. When asked about rules regarding smoking in the home, approximately 88 percent of nonsmokers said they don’t allow smoking, while only 27 percent of smokers forbid smoking in the home.
However, both non-smokers and smokers who felt that third-hand smoking was harmful to children’s health were more inclined to (倾向于) restrict smoking in their homes.
1.The study led by Jonathan Winickoff focused on _______.
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A．bad influences long after a cigarette is smoked |
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B．third-hand smoke and secondhand smoke |
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C．the bad effects of smoking on common people |
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D．the terrible smell of cigarette smoke |
2.How does the text explain what third-hand smoke is?
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A．By telling results of a survey. |
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B．By giving statistics. |
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C．By making comparisons. |
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D．By giving an example. |
3.The following measures to prevent the effect of third-hand smoke are effective except _______.
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A．keeping kids out of room when you smoke |
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B．cleaning the house to get rid of poisons |
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C．making yourself clean before contacting kids |
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D．trying to forbid smoking in home |
Everyone experiences stress at work, but how we cope with it varies. Feeling that you’ve been unfairly treated can be particularly stressful. Researchers believe that failure to express feelings about unfair treatment at work could have serious consequences on your health, especially men, who bottle up their anger at being unfairly treated at work, are up to 5 times more likely to suffer a heart attack, or even die from one, than those who let their frustration （沮丧） show, a Swedish study has found.
The study by the Stress Research Institute of Stockholm University followed 2,755 employed men who had not suffered any heart attacks. At the end of the study, 47 participants had either suffered an attack, or died from heart disease, and many of those had been found to be covertly coping with unfair treatment at work.
“After adjustment for age, socioeconomic factors, risk behaviors, job strain and biological risk factors at baseline, there was a close-response relationship between covert coping and the risk of incident death,” the study’s authors wrote.
Covert coping was listed as “letting thing pass without saying anything” and “going away” despite feelings of being hard done by colleagues or bosses. Men who often used these coping techniques had a two to five times higher risk of developing heart disease than those who were more confrontational (对抗性的) at work, the study showed.
The researchers said they could not answer the question of what might be a particularly healthy coping strategy at work, but listed open coping behavior when experiencing unfair treatment or facing a conflict as “protesting directly,” “talking to the person right away,” “yelling at the person right away” or “speaking to the person later when things have calmed down.” The study was published in the Journal of Epidemiology and Community Health.
1.The study mainly shows that .
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A．women are less likely to suffer a heart attack than men |
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B．most people die of heart disease caused by stress |
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C．covert coping may result in certain heart trouble |
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D．employers should treat their workers equally |
2.Which of the following contributes to the accuracy of the study?
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A．The participants were all employed men. |
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B．The participants tend to bottle up their temper. |
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C．The participants should not have risk behaviors. |
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D．The participants had not a history of heart attacks. |
3. According to the text, if treated unfairly a confrontational person will .
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A．just let it be |
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B．fight back immediately |
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C．go away silently |
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D．work even harder |
4.The last paragraph is intended to tell readers .
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A．that the study is official |
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B．what the healthiest coping strategy is |
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C．what the helpful ways of handling unfair treatment are |
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D．that confrontation is always beneficial to people’s heart health |
Children, especially at young ages, are very creative. And creativity can be a glorious thing. Look at all the amazing artists and architects that have created glorious pieces of history. Look at all the authors with the award winning books. Now I am not saying everyone is going to end up this way but creativity is an important part of growing up and becoming who you are. This should be encouraged in young children as well as the older children.
Young children grow up playing with make-believe. And so many people try to make their young child see that their invisible friend isn’t real or that talking when someone is not in the room is weird. To adults it is, but for small children it is them being creative. May it be them playing house, or chef, or playing with stuffed animals, it is their creative part coming out. Some kids can have fun playing with rocks and sticks and it’s because of their creativeness that they can do this. The invisible friend part is another part of being imaginative, and is not a bad thing since they will grow out of that phase. So encourage this and play along with them, play house or stuffed animals or whatever they want to play. Help keep their imagination running. You can even make up games, like treasure hunts, dinosaurs, or super heroes; there is just so much you can choose from.
For older children, talk to them. Help them see things through others’ eyes, or help them see things from a different point of view. Helping children see things from other views helps them keep their minds open for new ideas and new things.
All this can help your children’s minds stay creative. The arts and music, even thoughts are an important part of life and important in our society. If we didn’t have and encourage creative thinking, we wouldn't have had inventors, or philosophers, or as I said before, artists.
1.The underlined word “weird” is the closest in meaning to “_______”.
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A．similar |
B．strange |
C．common |
D．natural |
2.If a child plays with his invisible friend, it shows that _______.
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A．the child is longing for friendship |
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B．the child has no one to play with in life |
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C．the child has great imagination |
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D．there is something wrong with the child’s mind |
3.According to the author, if a child talks alone in a room, we should _______.
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A．let him be |
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B．stop him from doing so |
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C．give him some advice |
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D．know that he is suffering from loneliness |
4.What is mainly talked about in the passage?
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A．How creative artists and architects can be. |
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B．How to help children grow up in a healthy way. |
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C．What kind of activities children like. |
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D．How to protect and encourage children’s creativity. |
In the dining room of my grandfather’s house stood a massive grandfather clock. Meals in that dining room were a time for three 36 to become one. The table was always spread with 37 containing love as the main ingredient (成分). And that grandfather clock stood like an old family friend, watching over the 38 that was a part of our lives.
As a child, the old clock fascinated me. I 39 and listened to it during meals. Even more wonderful to me was my grandfather’s ritual (老习惯). He wound (上发条) that clock with a(n) 40 key carefully each day. I remember watching 41 my grandfather took the key from his pocket and opened the hidden door in the clock. He inserted the key and wound — not too much, nor too 42 . He never let that clock wind down and 43 . He showed us grandchildren how to open the door and let us each take 44 winding the key.
After my grandfather died, it was days after the funeral 45 I remembered the clock! The tears 46 freely when I entered the dining room. The clock stood there quiet.
Some time later, my grandmother gave me the key. The old house was 47 . No laughter over the dinner table, no ticking or chiming of the 48 — all was still. I took the key in my shaking hand and 49 the clock door. All of a sudden, I was a 50 again, watching my grandfather with his silver-white hair and blue eyes. He was there, 51 at me, at the secret of the clock's magic, at the key that held so much power.
I stood there, 52 in thought for a long time. Then slowly and 53 I inserted the key and wound the clock. It sprang to life. Tick-tock, tick-tock, life and chimes were breathed into the dining room, into the house and into my 54 . With the movement of the hands of the clock, my grandfather 55 again.
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The factory produces two million pairs of shoes every year, half _______ are sold abroad.
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A．of which |
B．which of |
C．of them |
D．of that |
