Why do men die earlier than women? The latest research makes it known that the reason could be that men’s hearts go into rapid decline when they reach middle age.
The largest study of the effects of aging on the heart has found that women’s longevity may be linked to the fact that their hearts do not lose their pumping power with age.
“We have found that the power of the male heart falls by 20--25 percent between 18 and 70 years of age,” said the head of the study, David Goldspink of Liverpool John Moores University in the UK.
“Within the heart there are millions of cells that enable it to beat. Between the age of 20 and 70, one-third of those cells die and are not replaced in men,” said Goldspink. “This is part of the aging process.”
What surprises scientists is that the female heart sees very little loss of these cells. A healthy 70-year-old woman’s heart could perform almost as well as a 20-year-old one’s.
“This gender difference might just explain why women live longer than men,” said Goldspink.
They studied more than 250 healthy men and women between the ages of 18 and 80, focusing on healthy persons to remove the confusing influence of disease.
The team has yet to find why ageing takes a greater loss on the male heart, said Goldspink.
The good news is that men can improve the health of their heart with regular exercise. Goldspink stressed that women also need regular exercise to prevent their leg muscles becoming smaller and weaker as they age.
1.The underlined word “longevity” in the second paragraph probably refers to ______.
A. health B. long life C. aging D. effect
2.The text mainly talks about ______.
A. men’s heart cells B. women’s aging process
C. the gender difference D. hearts and long life
3.According to the text, the UK scientists have known that ______________.
A. women have more cells than men when they are born
B. women can replace the cells that enable the heart to beat
C. the female heart loses few of the cells with age
D. women never lose their pumping power with age
4.If you want to live longer, you should ___________.
A. enable your heart to beat much faster
B. find out the reason for aging
C. exercise regularly to keep your heart healthy
D. prevent your cells from being lost
5.We can know from the passage that __________.
A. the reason why aging takes a greater loss on the male heart has been found out
B. scientists are on the way to finding out why the male heart loses more of the cells
C. the team has done something to prevent the male from suffering the greater loss
D. women over 70 could lose more heart cells than those at the age of 20
A Chinese couple tried to name their baby “@”, saying the character best represents their love for the child, according to an official trying to standardize the national language. The unusual name stands out especially in Mandarin, which has no alphabet (字母表) and instead uses tens of thousands of multistroke (多笔画的) characters to represent words. “The whole world uses it to write emails, and translated into Chinese it means ‘love him’,” the father explained, according to the deputy chief of the State Language Commission Li Yuming.
While the @ symbol is familiar to Chinese email users, they often use the English word “at” to sound it out. With a drawnout “t”, this sounds something like “ai ta”, or “love him”, to Mandarin speakers. Li says the name is an extreme example of people’s increasingly adventurous approach to Mandarin, as commercialization and the Internet break down conventions (习俗).
Another couple tried to give their child a name that in English sounds like “King Osrina”.
Li did not say if officials accepted the “@” name. But earlier this year the government announced a ban on names using Arabic numerals (阿拉伯数字) and foreign languages. Sixty million Chinese face the problem that their names use ancient characters so uncommon that computers cannot recognize them and even fluent speakers are left scratching their heads, said Li, according to a report on the government website. One of them is the former Premier Zhu Rongji, whose name has a rare “rong” character that gives newspaper editors headaches.
1.Why did the Chinese couple try to name their baby “@”？
A. Because they wanted their baby to have a special name.
B. Because they wanted their baby to have an international name.
C. Because the @ symbol is familiar to email users all over the world.
D. Because the @ symbol sounds something like “ai ta”, which means “love him” in Chinese.
2.It can be inferred that ___________.
A. Li Yuming is in favor of the baby’s name
B. many Chinese people use Arabic numerals in their names
C. a majority of the Chinese people are having longer names
D. there is little possibility for the “@” name to be officially accepted
3.The underlined part in the passage probably means___________.
A. even native speakers find it hard to accept these strange names
B. even native speakers can’t find these characters in their computers
C. even those who are expert at Chinese can’t recognize these characters
D. even those who are expert at Chinese find it hard to accept these names
4.The former Premier Zhu Rongji is mentioned in the passage because ________.
A. people often mispronounce his name
B. there is an uncommon character in his name
C. he often made newspaper editors annoyed during his term in office
D. he once stressed the importance of standardizing Chinese characters
5.The passage is mainly about ___________.
A. how Chinese parents name their babies
B. the importance of standardizing Chinese characters
C. a ban on names using Arabic numerals and foreign languages
D. the problems caused by uncommon characters used in Chinese names
We all need a vacation, whether with the entire family or your significant other. Unfortunately, many of us will not be able to follow through with vacation plans. But now, there is an alternative that is catching on (流行起来) rather quickly and it is called a “Staycation”. A staycation is just what it sounds like, a vacation but you stay at home. It might not sound interesting, but you can turn it into a fun and relaxing getaway.
Tell family and friends your plans. In their eyes you are truly on vacation and they only need to contact you in case of an emergency.
Go outside; don’t let the kids sleep all day. Go out and birdwatch, go fishing, explore the parks and nature, take in all you can of the outside world. You can even have a relaxing day at the beach, soak in some sun, and let the kids go swimming.
Go on a picnic; have the kids fly kites. Bring some bubbles, and have a nice day with the wind blowing in your hair. Watch as the kids run and play and enjoy the beautiful outdoors.
Camping is another fun way to have a staycation. If you have a camping ground in your area, you can go camping for a day or two and show the kids how it is to live right in the heart of Mother Nature.
Just remember, it really doesn’t matter where you decide to go, whether home or away. As long as you create quality time with your family you can strengthen the bonds that may have been pushed aside during all the long stressful work hours. Time is the most important thing you can give to your husband, wife and kids, enjoying every moment together, and you will have lasting memories in your hearts.
1.What is mainly talked about in the passage?
A. The popularity of a staycation.
B. The importance of a vacation.
C. Where to spend your vacation this year.
D. How to plan a staycation.
2.You should tell family and friends your plans so that .
A. they will fully support you
B. they will take care of your house
C. they will contact you only when necessary
D. they can help you make preparations
3.Which of the following is NOT a good way to have a good staycation?
A. To sleep at home all day.
B. To go out to watch birds.
C. To go to the parks.
D. To relax on the beach.
4.What is the most important thing of taking a staycation?
A. Spending quality time with your family.
B. Letting your kids learn about nature.
C. Giving your family relaxing time.
D. Getting away from stressful work hours.
5.The underlined word “bonds” in the last paragraph can be best replaced by “ ”.
A. friendship B. health C. links D. circles
书面表达
假设你是李华，你在某英文旅游网站看到一则招聘以中文为母语的人做本地导游的假期工作，你对此很感兴趣。请根据以下要点写一封申请信。
写作要点：1、消息来源；求职心愿 2、自我介绍；自己的优势 3、 获职打算；请求答复。
注意：词数100左右
Dear Sir or Madam,
________________________________________________________________________________
________________________________________________________________________________
________________________________________________________________________________
Yours sincerely,
Li Hua
短文改错
假如英语课上老师要求同学们交换修改作文，请你修改你同桌写的作文。文中共有十处语言错误，每句中最多有两处，错误涉及一个单词的增加、删除或修改。
增加：在缺词处加上一个漏字符号（∧），并在其下面写上该加的词。
删除：把多余的词用斜线（\）划掉。
修改：在错的词下划一横线，并在该词下面写上修改后的词。
注意：1.每处错误及修改均仅限一词；
2.只允许修改十处，多者（从第11处起）不计分。
Many people which smoke say that smoking helps them to think better. But I strongly against smoking. First, smoking is harmfully to one’s health. People who smoke may die of different illnesses and disease. Second, smoking polluted the air. People find them impossible to work well in a room full of smoke. Third, smoking wastes of much money. It’s said that millions of dollars are spent treating diseases causing by smoking. To sum up, smoking does more harm than good. However, students should not pick up a habit of smoking.
单词拼写
1.I keep my dictionary and reference books near my desk for _____(方便).
2.They __________ (推断)that the goods were of good quality。
3.Wang Ping f________ my safety belt and showed me how to use it.
4.The teacher’s explanation _____________(阐明) the puzzling problem.
5.Sometimes they would ________ (争吵) over a political issue.
6.The film __________ (使胆战心惊) all the audience.
7.She ________ (折叠)the chair and put it against the wall.
8.we should _________ (再利用) the used things.
9.The school cannot ___________ (容忍)cheating exam.
10.____________ (技术上)the building is a masterpiece, but few people like it.
