No one would much like the idea of eating 61 pounds of tomatoes a day. But if their goodness was put into an easy-to-swallow pill that you were told might prevent strokes(中风) and heart attacks you would probably be putting in an order tomorrow.
Researchers believe they may have come up with just that after trials. The daily pill contains a chemical called lycopene (番茄红素) which makes tomatoes red and is known to break down fat in the vessels(血管). A Cambridge University study found taking the pills improved blood flow and the lining of vessels in patients with pre-existing heart conditions. It also increased the flexibility(灵活性) of their vessels by 50 percent. The scientists believe it could limit the damage caused by heart disease-responsible for 180,000 deaths a year, and help cut the 49,000 deaths a year from strokes. They also hope it could benefit those with arthritis(关节炎), diabetes(糖尿病) and even slow the progress of cancer.
Each pill is equal to eating around 61 pounds of ripe tomatoes. Studies have shown eating a Mediterranean-style diet rich in tomatoes fish, vegetables, nuts and olive oil can significantly reduce cholesterol(胆固醇) and help prevent cardiovascular disease.
Preliminary (预先的) results from a two-month trial, in which the pill was given to 36 heart disease patients and 36 healthy volunteers with an average age of 67, were presented at a meeting of the American Heart Association. It was shown to improve the function of the layer of cells lining blood vessels. It also improved their sensitivity to nitric oxide(氧化氮), the gas which causes the enlargement of the vessels in response to exercise.
Ian Wilkinson, head of Cambridge University’s clinical trials unit, said “These results are potentially very significant and it meets the goal, but we need more trials to see if they translate into fewer heart attacks and strokes.”
Further studies are planned, with researchers hoping it could offer a choice for heart disease sufferers who can not take the cholesterol-lowing drugs.
Mike Knapton, head of the British Heart Foundation, said, “Although this showed lycopene improved blood flow in people with heart disease, that’s a long way from demonstrating that taking it could improve outcomes for people with heart disease. The best way to get the benefits of a good diet is to eat plenty of fresh fruit and vegetables.”
1.What can we infer from Paragraph 1?
A. We can eat too much tomato food.
B. Tomatoes are helpful to strokes and heart attacks.
C. Tomatoes will lose healthy elements when were put into pills.
D. We had better not eat tomatoes.
2.We can learn from the passage that the pills ____.
A. are at the experiment stage
B. can cure all the disease
C. are widely used among patients
D. cost patients so little money
3.Who were the volunteers by taking part in the trial?
A. Children. B. Youth.
C. Working people. D. old healthy people.
4.What Was Ian Wilkinson’s opinion on the trial?
A. Disappointing. B. Surprising.
C. Satisfactory. D. Terrible.
Cleverness is a gift while kindness is a choice. Gifts are easy---they’re given after all. Choice can be hard.
I got the idea to start Amazon 16 years ago. I came across the fact that the Internet usage was growing at 2300 percent per year. I’d never seen or heard of anything that grew that fast, and the idea of building an online bookstore with millions of titles was very exciting to me, I had just turned 30 years old , and I’d been married for a year, I told my wife MacKenzie that I wanted to quit my job and go to do this crazy thing that probably wouldn’t work since most start-ups don’t , and I wasn’t sure what to expect, MacKenzie told me I should go for it. As a young boy, I’d been a garage inventor, I’d always wanted to be an inventor, and she wanted me to follow my passion.
I was working at a financial firm in New York City with a bunch of very smart people, and I had a brilliant boss that I much admired. I went to my boss and told him I wanted to start a company selling books on the Internet. He took me on a long walk in Central Park, listened carefully to me, and finally said, “That sounds like a really good idea, but it would be an even better idea for someone who didn’t already have a good job.” That logic made some sense to me, and he convinced me to think about it for 48 hours before making a final decision. Seen in that light, it really was a difficult choice, but ultimately, I decided I had to give it a shot. I didn’t think I’d regret trying and failing. And I suspected I would always be haunted by a decision to not try at all.
After much consideration, I took the less safe path to follow my passion, and I’m proud of that choice, For all of us, in the end, we are our choice.
1.What inspired the author with the idea of building an online bookstore?
A. His dream if being an inventor.
B. The support of his wife.
C. The greatly increasing usage of the Internet
D. Millions of exciting titles.
2.Which of the following is closest in meaning to the underlined sentence?
A. The decision to not try the online bookstore would terrify him.
B. He would be very excited if he tried it out.
C. He would be always having a doubt if he didn’t try.
D. The idea of not trying would keep coming to his mind and disturb him.
3.We can know from the passage that ______.
A. the boss thought the idea was suitable for the author
B. the author wanted someone else to try the idea
C. the author might not regret if he failed the idea
D. the author might go back to his boss if he failed
4.Which of the following would be the best title for the passage?
A. Cleverness and Kindness
B. The Starting of Amazon
C. Following My Passion
D. We Are What We Choose
假定你是李华, 就读于光明学校高一, 请你用英文写一封信给你父母，介绍你在学校这半年来英语学习上的情况。要点如下:
从惊讶、担忧、进步及对未来的信心四个方面谈英语学习的情况。
注意: 1.词数100左右; 2.可以适当增加细节, 以使行文连贯；3.开头语已为你写好；4.不可透露自己学校的班级、你的真实姓名及你的老师的姓名;
Dear parents,
I have been studying in Grade One of Guang Ming Middle School for nearly half a year.
文中共有10处语言错误，每句中最多有两处。错误仅涉及一个单词的增加、删除或修改。
增加：在缺词处加一个漏字符号(
)，并在其下面写出该加的词。删除：把多余的词用(＼)划掉。
修改：在错的词下画一横线，并在该词下面写出修改后的词。
注意：1.每处错误及其修改均仅限一词；2.只允许修改10处，多者（从第11处起）不计分。
Dentists often ask questions when it is impossibly to answer. My dentist had pulled out one of my tooth and told me to rest for a while. I tried to say something, but my mouth was full of cotton. He knew I collected match box. He advised that I devote myself to collect what it was worth. He then asked me that I liked my new job in London. To these questions, I either nodded and made strange noises. Meanwhile, my tongue was busy search the hole where the tooth had been. I suddenly felt very worried about , but I could not say anything. When the dentist finally finished his job, I told him that it was the wrong tooth which he had pulled out .
Ouch, it was the first time that I suffered such pain in my life.
阅读下面材料，在空白处填入适当的内容（1个单词）或括号内单词的正确形式。
Daniel Devlin lives in the same house 1.his children and sees them every day –– yet he is 2.(able) to recognize them at all. Mr. Devlin, 46, from Nunhead, London, is suffering 3. an illness called prosopagnosia (人面失认症), also 4. (know) as face-blindness, meaning he struggles to recognize faces – even those of his own family.
Mr. Devlin, a painter, 5.(force) to memorize his family’s voices and body language in order to know who they are.6., reading voices and body language doesn’t always work, and he has even mistaken another boy for his son when 7. (pick) his children up from school.
Mr. Devlin said, “ Humans have a special ability to recognize people by seeing their face , but I really don’t have this ability.”
“Maybe a good way to imagine 8.it’s like to have prosopagnosia is to try and recognize people by what their hands look like.”
“If I saw my wife Katarina somewhere unexpectedly and she pretended not to know me, then I’m not sure I would know 9.was her. It often leaves me in some awkward(令人尴尬的) situations, 10. (especial) when I don’t recognize the people that I should know or I think I know the people that I don’t.”.
阅读下面短文，从短文后各题所给的四个选项（A、B、C和D）中，选出可以填人空白处的最佳选项，并在答题卡上将该项涂黑。
As Eric Hoffer once said, “The hardest arithmetic（算术）to master is that which enables us to count our blessings.”
According to a legend(传说), a young man while wandering around the desert came across a spring of delicious clear water. The water was so and he filled his leather canteen（水壶）so he could bring some back to a tribal（部落）elder who had been his teacher.
After a four-day journey he the water to the old man, who took a deep , smiled warmly and thanked his for the sweet water taken back from the . The young man to his village with a happy heart.
Later, the teacher let another student taste the water. He spat（吐）it out, saying it was . It had become smelly because of the old leather .
The student asked his teacher, “Master, the water is awful. Why did you to like it？”
The teacher , “You only tasted the water. I tasted the .The water was simply the container for an act of loving—kindness and nothing could be sweeter.”
I think we understand this best when we receive innocent（天真无邪的）gifts of love from young children. Whether it’s a handmade paper plane or a painting drawn by them, our and proper response is appreciation because we love the idea the gift.
Gratitude（感恩）doesn’t come naturally. , most children and many adults value only the thing given the feeling expressed in it. We should remind ourselves and teach our children about the beauty and purity of feelings and expressions of .
After all, gifts from the are really gifts of the heart.
1.A. sweet B. bitter C. beautiful D. icy
2.A. mailed B. presented C. deserved D. picked
3.A. breathe B. notice C. gesture D. drink
4.A. student B. son C. friend D. customer
5.A. mountain B. lake C. desert D. river
6.A. returned B. arrived C. came D. visited
7.A. nice B. terrible C. delicious D. raw
8.A. personally B. logically C. clearly D. simply
9.A. clothes B. container C. pocket D. boot
10.A. pretend B. decide C. mean D. want
11.A. questioned B. argued C. replied D. supported
12.A. nutrition B. gift C. mixture D. fault
13.A. way B. 1esson C. approach D. title
14.A. natural B. patient C. serious D. curious
15.A. within B. beyond C. above D. beside
16.A. always B. usually C. sometimes D. often
17.A. Luckily B. Unfortunately C. Curiously D. Simply
18.A.rather than B. other than C. or rather D. more than
19.A.regret B. greetings C. behavior D. appreciation
20.A.heart B. hand C. moustache D. fist
