A study led by Professor Mark Weiser of Tel Aviv University and the Sheba Medical Center at Tel Hashomer Hospital has determined that young men who smoke are likely to have lower IQs than their non-smoking peers (同龄人). Tracking 18-to 21-year-old men enlisted in the Israeli army in the largest ever study of its kind, he has been able to demonstrate an important connection between the number of cigarettes young males smoke and their IQ.
The average IQ for a non-smoker was about 101, while the smokers’ average was more than seven IQ points lower, at about 94, the study determined. The IQs of young men who smoked more than a pack a day were lower still, at about 90. An IQ score in a healthy population of such young men, with no mental disorders(心理疾病), falls within the range of 84 to 116.
An addiction that doesn’t discriminate(歧视)
“In the health profession, we’ve generally thought that smokers are most likely the kind of people who have grown up in difficult neighborhoods, or who’ve been given less education at good schools,” says Weiser, whose study was reported in a recent version of the journal, Addiction, “But because our study included subjects with various socio-economic backgrounds, we’ve been able to rule out socio-economics as a major factor. The government might want to rethink how it arranges its educational resources on smoking.
Making the results more significant, the study also measured effects in twin brothers. In the case where one twin smoked, the non-smoking twin registered a higher IQ on average.
Although a lower IQ may suggest a greater risk for smoking addiction, the representing data on IQ and smoking found that most of the smokers investigated in the study had IQs within the average range, nevertheless.
In the study, researchers took data from more than 20,000 men before, during and after their time in the military. All men in the study were considered in good health, since pre-screening(筛选的)measures for suitability in the army had already been taken. The researchers found that around 28 percent of their samples smoked one or more cigarettes a day, 3 percent considered themselves ex-smokers, and 68 percent said they never smoked.
“People on the lower end of the average IQ tend to display poorer overall decision-making skills when it comes to their health,” says Weiser. He adds that his finding can help address serious concern among heath counsellors at grade and high schools.
1.The study led by Professor Mark Weiser shows that .
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A．the IQ of smoking males is lower than that of non-smokers |
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B．the IQ of smoking males is higher than that of non-smokers |
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C．the IQ of smoking males is the same as that of non-smokers |
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D．the IQ of smoking males is higher than that of female smokers |
2.According to the passage, a smoking man’s IQ is most likely to be .
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A．101 |
B．94 |
C．80 |
D．120 |
3.What can be learned from the passage?
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A．People in the military are more likely to become smokers than other people. |
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B．Most heavy smokers are found to have mental problems. |
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C．Socio-economic backgrounds have nothing to do with smoking behaviour. |
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D．People with lower IQs tend to be less good at controlling their addiction to smoking. |
4.What is the meaning of the underlined part “An addiction that doesn’t discriminate”?
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A．Smokers do not believe their IQ is affected by being addicted to smoking. |
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B．All people, no matter what their background, can become addicted to smoking. |
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C．Smoking is an addiction, and we must not discriminate against smokers. |
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D．The addiction to smoking is difficult to get rid of. |
The deadly earthquake and tsunami (海啸) that struck Japan on March 11 damaged two nuclear power stations. Officials are now working to prevent dangerous radiation from poisoning the air in the area surrounding the Fukushima Daiichi plant. The Japanese government has ordered people living within 12 and a half miles of the plant to evacuate, and asked those living 12 and a half to 20 miles away to stay indoors.
Nuclear power plants create energy using a chemical reaction that produces large amounts of heat. Reactors(反应堆)in Japan have many long, thin rods, called fuel rods(棒), which must be kept cool.
If the reactor’s fuel rods aren’t cooled, the reaction can burn out of control. That’s what happened at the two Japanese plants after the quake caused a power failure and the cooling systems malfunctioned(发生故障). This overheating could cause radiation to escape and sicken many people.
Japan’s 54 nuclear reactors are built to withstand the many small or moderate earthquakes the country faces each year. But Friday’s earthquake was one of the most severe earthquakes ever recorded.
People exposed to unsafe levels of radiation have a higher than normal risk of getting cancer. The Japanese government has been distributing potassium iodide(碘化钾)pills to people in the surrounding areas to protect those who may have come in contact with radiation from the power plant. The pills flood the body with healthy potassium iodide. The potassium iodide works to crowd out “bad” iodine in the body that may have been poisoned by radiation.
On Tuesday morning, 750 workers left the Fukushima Daiichi plant. However, 50 workers stayed behind to use sweater to cool the fuel rods. These dedicated employees are risking their own lives to save many others.
On Thursday, officials used helicopters, fire trucks, and water cannons to spray water on the reactors to cool the fuel rods. But it’s not clear whether these efforts were successful. Officials are now working on a power line to restore electricity to the plant. They hope this will help restart the plant’s cooling system and stop the fuel rods from leaking radiation.
1.The underlined word “evacuate” in Paragraph 1 probably means .
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A．help |
B．rest |
C．stop |
D．leave |
2.What can we learn from the text?
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A．The local people are scared and ready to run away. |
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B．The earthquake led to many deaths and caused damage to roads. |
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C．The Japanese government has found a kind of pill that can treat cancer. |
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D．The two stations were damaged because their cooling systems didn’t work. |
3.In the last paragraph, the author mainly states .
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A．lack of help |
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B．international aids |
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C．the government’s efforts |
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D．the result of the disaster |
4.This text is most probably taken from .
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A．a research paper |
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B．a newspaper report |
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C．a class presentation |
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D．a chemistry textbook |
To see the world is one thing; to have someone to share it with is another. Indeed, travel becomes more interesting when you have a travel partner. A travel partner can be a close friend, a family member, a pal you’ve met online, or a business friend.
You can have someone to talk to
Traveling alone is fun, but wouldn’t you feel lonely? Having a travel partner can remove the feeling of loneliness. This is especially true if you can get a travel companion who is very familiar with the place you’re traveling to. You don’t have to ask any information from the locals, and you can increase the time you spend in the country.
One of the major headaches in traveling is the costs involved. You can’t simply ignore the rising price of hotels or plane tickets. You should also think about your daily needs, such as your food. Of course, you can’t simply go back without bringing any souvenirs (纪念品) to your friends and family. All these can ruin your budget. However, when you have a travel friend, you can have someone to share the expenses with.
You can meet a good friend
Having a travel mate is a good way of meeting a new friend or even a lifelong partner. You can never count the number of couples who actually found their way into each other’s heart while traveling together in another country.
You can have someone to watch out for you
When you’re in a foreign land, you’ll never be really safe. You don’t know the rules as well as the culture of the people. A travel will be perfect to remind you of your duties in the country and to watch your back just in case you get lost. So why don’t you find a travel companion now!
Let’s find out how…
1.What’s the author’s purpose in writing this passage?
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A．To introduce a travel company. |
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B．To encourage us to have a travel partner. |
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C．To explain how to be a perfect travel partner. |
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D．To tell an interesting experience with a travel partner. |
2.What’s the best title for the 3rd paragraph?
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A．You can have someone to share the expenses with |
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B．You can know the local culture well |
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C．You can enjoy food with your partner |
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D．You can save money by bargaining together |
3.Which of the following statements agrees with the author’s opinion?
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A．Traveling alone is not fun. |
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B．Buying souvenirs isn’t necessary. |
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C．Many people fall in love when traveling. |
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D．It’s better to choose a stranger as a travel partner. |
4.Which of the following things is NOT mentioned?
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A．A travel partner can help you take care of your child. |
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B．A travel partner can help get rid of loneliness. |
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C．A travel partner can help you save money. |
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D．A travel partner can make you safer. |
If you want to become a fluent English speaker you should take some advice: There are four skills in learning English. They are reading, listening, speaking, and writing. The most important thing you must remember is that if you want to improve your speaking and writing skills you should first master the skills of reading and listening.
Read as much as you can. But your reading must be active. It means that you must think about the meaning of the sentence, the meanings of the unfamiliar words, etc. There is no need for you to pay much attention to grammars or try to understand all the unfamiliar words you come across, but the fact that you see them for the first time and recognize them whenever you see them, for example in other passages or books, is enough. It would be better to prepare yourself a notebook so you can write down the important words or sentences in it.
As for listening, there are two choices: besides reading, you can listen every day for about 30 minutes. You can only pay attention to your reading and become skillful at your reading, then you can catch up on your listening. Since you have lots of inputs in your mind, you can easily guess what the speaker is going to say. This never means that you should not practice listening.
For listening you can listen to cartoons or some movies that are specially made for children. Their languages are easy. Or if you are good at listening you can listen to VOA or BBC programs every day. Again the thing to remember is being active in listening and preferably taking some notes.
If you follow these pieces of advice, your speaking and writing will improve automatically, and you can be sure that with a little effort they will become perfect.
1.According to the author, which should you improve first among the four skills?
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A．Reading and listening. |
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B．Reading and writing. |
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C．Writing and speaking. |
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D．Speaking and listening. |
2.The underlined phrase “come across” in Paragraph 2 can probably be replaced by“ ”.
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A．meet by accident |
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B．discover |
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C．find on purpose |
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D．look for |
3.The author seems to agree with the view that .
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A．everyone should listen to VOA or BBC programs every day |
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B．you needn’t practice listening if you keep on reading every day |
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C．being good at reading is helpful in improving your listening |
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D．you should take notes of whatever you are hearing |
4.The passage is mainly about how to .
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A．choose suitable listening materials |
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B．deal with new words in reading |
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C．improve your English as quickly as possible |
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D．become fluent in speaking and writing English |
-For five days, Edmonton's Downtown Park is transformed into one huge stage where artists are able to share their talents, and where people are able to celebrate(庆祝) and enjoy themselves. Since its beginning in 1980, the Edmonton Folk Music Festival has been commemorating (纪念) the true feeling of what folk music is all about and that's the traditional togetherness that is felt when people gather to share stories and feelings through song.
This year will be the sixth year when volunteer Riedel will be offering up her time to the festival. "People coming off a busy spring and summer have a moment of relaxation," Riedel said. "It's really easy to relax, and it's great seeing family and friends have fun together." These families and friends come from all different kinds of musical tastes. People who take pleasure in Blues are there, so are people who love Bluegrass. This festival does its best to develop everyone's musical interests.
With so many years of experience, the festival has become a well-oiled machine, and does whatever it can to make attendees feel as comfortable as possible. There are free water stations throughout the venue (举办地) for people to fill up their travel cups. When people buy food, reusable dishes are given a $2 plate fee, but that is returned when the plate is brought back.
The festival has completely sold out of tickets, and in record time. But with big names such as Van Morrison and Jakob Dylan, it's easy to see how that was going to happen. There is no parking area during the festival, so using the Park & Ride system or Edmonton Transit is highly recommended. A bike lock-up area is provided and will be available Thursday until Sunday one hour before the gates open until 45 minutes after the gates close.
The Edmonton Folk Music Festival begins on Wednesday, Aug. 4 with Van Morrison playing the special donation fund (基金) concert, and will finish up on Sunday, Aug. 8.
1.The Edmonton Folk Music Festival is held mainly to ________.
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A．gather people with different musical tastes |
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B．remind people of the real sense of folk music |
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C．exhibitive good voices of great talents in folk music |
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D．collect old stories of folk music |
2.Which of the following is TRUE according to the passage?
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A．Riedel has volunteered for the festival for at least 5 years. |
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B．It's hard for people to appreciate Blues. |
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C．It costs people a little to fill up their cups from water stations. |
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D．People have to pay $2 for a plate of food. |
3.We can learn from the passage that ________.
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A．people can get tickets easily for the festival |
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B．the Edmonton Folk Music Festival is well organized. |
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C．driving one's own car to the festival is highly recommended |
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D．bikes are available at the festival from Wednesday to Sunday |
4.What would be the best title for the passage?
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A．Folk Music of Blues |
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B．One Festival for All |
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C．Festival for family Gathering |
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D．Edmonton's Downtown Park |
-There is a very special wolf that lives in Africa. They are actually called, the African wild dog, or painted dogs.
These animals live in open woodlands. or in the plains of Africa. Today, however, most of the animals can be found in eastern or southern Africa. These animals are beautiful. They have rounded ears instead of pointed like most dogs, and they have four toes (脚趾) on each of their feet, also a unique characteristic because other dogs have five. Their fur is always different from each other. The fur is usually a combination of black, brown, red, and white, and sometimes even yellow. No wonder they’re called the painted wolf.
The African wild dog is a very social animal. They live in groups and have numbers from five to about twenty. The members of a group are always very close to one another. They communicate in their own language or body language. When someone is very old or sick, the others will help, and they are willing to share the food with elders and with those who are weak, which is what we should learn from.
The family does everything together, from raising young, to sleeping together, to hunting. When they hunt, they work together using team work to kill animals that are larger than them.
They sometimes hunt farm animals. This is unfortunate, because both poachers (偷猎者), and people who own farms shoot the painted dogs who are just trying to survive.
Before, there used to be many large groups throughout the land, but now the African wild dog is very rare. They are also losing their population because of their own loss of habitat thanks to human’s farming and forest cutting.
1.Why do African wild dogs get the name “painted dogs” ?
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A．They all have colorful fur. |
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B．The dogs in the same group are of different colors. |
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C．Artists love to paint them in different colors. |
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D．None of them has the same color. |
2.According to the author, what should we learn from African wild dogs?
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A．They always do everything together. |
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B．They are always very close to one another. |
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C．They help the sick, the elderly and the weak. |
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D．They communicate in their own language. |
3.Which of the following is NOT the reason why African wild dogs are becoming very rare?
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A．Poachers kill some of them. |
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B．They are short of food sometimes. |
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C．They are losing their habitat. |
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D．Farmers shoot some of them. |
4.Where could this passage probably be found?
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A．The Travelers |
B．Fashion Weekly |
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C．Animal World |
D．Star Magazine |
