Dragon Heads-raising Day, 1. falls each year on the second day of the second lunar month, is one of the Chinese traditional 2. (festival) as the proverb goes: “The dragon is awake, 3. (raise) his head.” On this day, dragons, a prominent totem (图腾) in Chinese culture, raise 4. (they) heads with the sound of thunder. Around this time, the earth is bursting with life—grass and trees are beginning to shoot up. In ancient China, people 5. (pray) the dragon god beside a river or a lake for the precious spring rain to breed their crops.
6. (tradition), food eaten on this day was renamed after parts of the dragon. For instance, wontons (馄饨) were called “dragons’ eyes”. The special foods usually eaten on this day include dragons’ scales, popcorn and pigs’ heads.
In Shanxi, people get their hair 7. (cut) in a symbolic move to remove the old and embrace the new. In 8. countryside in Hebei Province, people would fetch water from a well 9. dawn. It was believed 10. on this day the well was full of dragon eggs which would bring the collectors good harvest.
As a child, I was always told to “eat my greens”. These were the unappealing vegetables that sat on the edge of my plate. Peas, and green beans, all looked and tasted ______. Let’s face it, when there were so many other delicious treats to _______, why eat boring vegetables?
Since then my taste buds have ______ and I’m also fully aware of the health benefits of eating fresh vegetables. But we still need ______ of the amazing goodness these green super foods give us. In the UK, a campaign has been ______ for several years to encourage us to eat our “5 A Day”—five portions of fruit and vegetables. That’s ______ evidence has shown there are significant health ______ through getting at least five 80g portions of a variety of fruit and vegetables every day.
But I struggle trying to fit these five portions into my daily ______, partly because I have a sweet ______ and vegetables are, well, tasteless. Researchers have been ______ how to make eating vegetables more ______. They analyzed the psychology behind our food ______ and found that most of us are ______ by taste. Brad Turnwald from Stanford University says that “studies show that people ______ to think of healthier options as less tasty for some reason.”
In Europe, a project called VeggieEAT has also been trying to find ways to get people to ______ more vegetables. Project leader, Professor Heather Hartwell believes in ______ encouraging people into eating the right things. One idea is to put a ______ of a tasty looking fruit on a supermarket trolley as a ______ about buying something from the fruit store after looking at the picture. She says, “Choice is a really ______ thing. But making vegetables look attractive will increase their sales.”
Certainly, eating “twisted citrus-glazed carrots” does sound tempting, even if it just tastes like a carrot, but if it makes us eat more vegetables then that can only be a ______ thing for our health.
1.A. disgusting B. delicious C. ripen D. sweet
2.A. buy B. prepare C. offer D. enjoy
3.A. appeared B. developed C. existed D. shrank
4.A. reminding B. informing C. warning D. talking
5.A. planned B. aimed C. run D. intended
6.A. why B. how C. when D. because
7.A. needs B. benefits C. issues D. risks
8.A. diet B. education C. work D. exercise
9.A. tendency B. preference C. tooth D. appetite
10.A. showing B. discovering C. reporting D. studying
11.A. appropriate B. attractive C. beneficial D. independent
12.A. choices B. values C. wastes D. judgments
13.A. confused B. disturbed C. motivated D. challenged
14.A. manage B. decide C. agree D. tend
15.A. grow B. eat C. store D. harvest
16.A. gradually B. suddenly C. falsely D. seriously
17.A. variety B. lot C. picture D. number
18.A. worry B. concern C. clue D. hint
19.A. easy B. complex C. quick D. good
20.A. difficult B. strange C. beneficial D. awful
Some Advice for Freshmen
As you enter a university, you turn to a new page where life is quite different from before. 1. As far as I can see, there are several aspects you should pay special attention to.
Manage your free time well.
Since there’s plenty of spare time every day, a good time-management becomes vital. When free, you can devote yourself to studying or going out to visit some scenic spots nearby. If you have special skills or interests, there are various clubs for you to join. 2. At the same time you get the chance to make friends with other students.
Develop self-discipline (自律).
College life is nearly completely up to yourself instead of the teachers compared to the high school. So self-discipline makes much more significance. In university the teachers’ job is to give classes. 3. It is your choice to do them dependently or copy. You’re supposed to hand in the assignments punctually. You’re also expected to stick to your timetable, keep a balanced diet, etc.
4.
This is the person who will help you with course conflicts, adding or dropping courses, scheduling of classes for future terms and deciding on majors. 5. He/ She should be the person you turn to with any academic issues or conflicts. And don’t be afraid of requesting another adviser if you can’t contact the first one.
Bear these tips in mind and I’m sure it can be beneficial to you in the long run.
A. Find a perfect place to study in.
B. It’s where to show your talent.
C. Get to know your academic adviser.
D. This person is a key resource for you.
E. As for the assignments, it is your work.
F. Buy a calendar to know when assignments are due.
G. To well adapt yourself to the new environment is of great significance.
The end of the school year is in sight — Christmas cards, candy canes and of course, end of year reports.
While most parents welcome an assessment of their kids' performance, they do not expect their own input to be evaluated. But a school in the UK is changing that. As well as assessing their students, they are dishing out grades to mums and dads. Parents that are really involved in their kid's education are rewarded with an A, and parents that haven't done their bit get a disappointing D.
The school, Greasley Beauvale Primary in Nottinghamshire, uses criteria such as whether mums and dads have attended school events such as plays and parent-teacher conferences to decide on the grade. The school’s principal, Donna Chambers, said that the scheme (方案)had been well received.
“There were some critics, but my response was ‘well, it can’t do any harm’. Between 15 percent and 20 percent of parents started out in the lower categories but now that has been reduced to just two percent,” she explained.
Chambers hopes that the scheme will help motivate parental involvement. “The system is important because you have got to get the parents on board from day one. That one hour initial conversation saying they could improve will pay dividends for the rest of that child’s academic life”, she said.
But while the scheme may be well-intentioned, it is likely to be connected with parent shaming. There are lots of reasons why some mums and dads might not be involved in school activities such as work commitments, looking after younger children or caring for elderly relatives.
And of course, being involved in your kid’s education doesn't begin and end at school. There is a lot that goes on behind the scenes from helping with homework to keeping uniforms freshly laundered. And what about all the parents who stayed up sewing special costumes at the last minute? Surely that earns a gold star instead of a grade!
1.What do schools usually do at the end of the school year?
A. Evaluating kids’ performances. B. Making Christmas cards.
C. Dividing candies. D. Grading parents.
2.What does the school’s principal Chambers say about the scheme?
A. It uses criteria to assess kids.
B. It has gained much acceptance.
C. It gives parents further education.
D. It improves kids’ motivation for learning.
3.What does the underlined part “pay dividends”(Para. 5) probably mean?
A. Hold shares. B. Earn profits.
C. Sacrifice health. D. Produce advantages.
4.What does the author think of parents’ being involved in kids’ education?
A. It adds to parents’ burden.
B. It brings shame to parents.
C. It means far more than being graded.
D. It increases parents’ commitment to education.
Motherhood may make women smarter and may help prevent dementia (痴呆) in old age by bathing the brain in protective hormones (荷尔蒙) , U.S. researchers reported on Thursday.
Tests on rats show that those who raise two or more litters of pups do considerably better in tests of memory and skills than rats who have no offsprings, and their brains show changes that suggest they may be protected against diseases such as Alzheimer’s (早老痴呆症). University of Richmond psychology professor Craig Kinsley believes his findings will translate into humans.
“Our research shows that the hormones of pregnancy are protecting the brain, including estrogen(雌激素), which we know has many neuroprotective (保护神经的) effects,” Kinsley said.
“It’s rat data but humans are mammals just like these animals are mammals,” he added in a telephone interview. “They go through pregnancy and hormonal changes.”
Kinsley said he hoped public health officials and researchers will look to see if having had children protects a woman from Alzheimer’s and other forms of age-related brain decline.
“When people think about pregnancy, they think about what happens to babies and the mother from the neck down,” said Kinsley, who presented his findings to the annual meeting of the Society of Neuroscience in Orlando, Florida.
“They do not realize that hormones are washing on the brain. If you look at female animals who have never gone through pregnancy, they act differently toward young. But if she goes through pregnancy, she will sacrifice her life for her infant—that is a great change in her behavior that showed in genetic alterations to the brain.”
1.How do scientists know “Motherhood may make women smarter”?
A. Some researchers have told them.
B. Many women say so.
C. They know it by experimenting on rats.
D. They know it through their own experience.
2.What does the underlined phrase “litters of pups” mean in the second paragraph?
A. Baby rats. B. Animals. C. Old rats. D. Grown-up rats.
3.“It’s rat data but humans are mammals just like these animals are mammals.” What does the sentence suggest?
A. The experiments on the rats have nothing to do with humans.
B. The experiments on the rats are very important for animals.
C. The experiments on the rats are much the same on humans.
D. The experiments on the rats are much the same on other animals.
4.Which title is the best for this passage?
A. Do You Want to Be Smarter? B. Being Mother Makes You Brighter
C. Mysterious Hormones D. An Important Study
Held in Valencia, La Tomatina is a tomato-throwing activity that causes the number of people to increase to more than 40,000 in a town of just 9,000 persons.
The festival takes place on the town’s main square. At 11 o’clock, the third Wednesday in August every year, a large pole(杆) with a ham tied to the end of it is raised into the air, and there is a mad climb as people struggle against each other to pull it down. Once this is achieved, a rocket goes skywards and more than 100 tons of ripe tomatoes are tipped from trucks to the waiting crowd. For precisely one hour, until a second rocket is fired, everyone joins in a cheerful tomato battle.
La Tomatina began in 1945, but it is not known why. Locals have many theories, including the popular tale of angry townsfolk attacking city councilmen(议员) during a town celebration. However, it could also have started because of anything from an anti-France protest or simply a fun food fight between friends. Whichever way it started, the townsfolk of Valencia enjoyed it so much that it was repeated year after year, finally becoming an officially recognized celebration in 1952. Despite being cancelled briefly during the 1970s for having no religious significance, it has returned every year since then.
Most people come for the day, arriving on the morning train from Valencia and heading back in the afternoon. But if you want the full La Tomatina experience, stay for the week-long celebration which involves music, dancing, parades and fireworks. The night before the fight, a cooking competition is held where women traditionally dress in white, and men without shirts altogether.
Protection for the fight is recommended—wear old clothes and shoes and a pair of glasses to protect your eyes. What you don’t bring to La Tomatina is also important. The crazy tomato-throwers attack each other with all their strength: cameras are seen as positive invitations to throw at the owner.
1.Before La Tomatina starts, people .
A. have to eat hams to be powerful.
B. bring down a ham on a pole.
C. store their own tomatoes first.
D. sing and dance together.
2.The underlined sentence in the last paragraph may mean .
A. cameras may be thrown away in the fight sometimes.
B. you aren’t allowed to take pictures of the fight freely.
C. visitors with cameras can avoid being hit by tomatoes.
D. more tomatoes will throw at you if you bring a camera.
3.Why did the author write the passage?
A. To introduce La Tomatina.
B. To advise readers to join in La Tomatina.
C. To explain the origin of La Tomatina.
D. To give advice on how to enjoy yourself most in La Tomatina.
