Scientists have long known a reliable way to lose weight in lab animals; Cut the amount of calories(卡路里) by 10 percent to 40 percent. A new study suggests that in young and middle-aged adults, taking in 300 caloric less every day can also have a big influence on their body weight and health.
In the new study published this month in the Lancet, researchers looked at a group of 143 healthy men and women aging from 21 to 50. They could eat the foods they wanted as long as they cut about 12 percent of their total calories, or roughly 300 calories a day.
The group saw their health improve. For example, their blood pressure fell, and they had better blood sugar control.
“The benefits came from the fact that they lost about 16 pounds over the two years of the study,” said William Kraus, the lead author of the study and a professor of medicine at Duke University.
“We were surprised by these changes,” he added. “In a disease population, there aren't five drugs in combination(组合) that would get such a big improvement.”
Calories cut may be useful for better health and weight loss, said Frank Hu, the chairman of the nutrition department at the Harvard School of Public Health. But he questioned whether caloric cut would be possible for most people since we are living in an environment with so many energy-rich, nutrient-poor foods that are cheap, and heavily advertised.
He suggested, however, that some people might find calorie cut possible if they combined it with other popular diets like the Mediterranean diet.
Dr. Kraus said, “It’s not that hard to cut as little as 300 calories a day from their diets. It just takes an after-dinner snack.”
1.How much calories does a middle-aged adult usually take in each day?
A.About 300. B.About 750. C.About 2,500. D.About3,000.
2.What led to the health benefits in the new study according to William Kraus?
A.The combination of five drugs. B.The weight loss.
C.The energy-rich snacks. D.The delicious foods.
3.What is Frank Hu’s attitude toward the advice in the new study?
A.Doubtful. B.Favorable. C.Uncaring. D.Curious.
4.What can be the suitable title for the text?
A.Hot Debate on Different Weight-losing Diets
B.New Health Guidelines Published for the Adults
C.The Easiest Way to Stay Fit and Healthy Ever Found
D.Cutting 300 Calories a Day to Stay Healthy Every Day
Ed Dohring had dreamed of reaching the top of Mount Everest. But when he reached the mountain top a few days ago, he was shocked by what he saw.
Climbers were fighting to take selfies along the way. The flat part of the mountain top, which was about the size of two Ping-Pong tables, was packed with 15 or 20 people. To get up there, he had to wait hours in a line, with temperature dropping to -30 Celsius.
“At least 10 people died. And some seemed to have been avoidable,” he said. “It was frightening when I had to step around the body of a woman who had just died.”
The problem hasn't been snowstorms or strong winds. Tourist guides and industry leaders blame having too many people on the mountain and too many untrained climbers.
The Nepalese government, hungry for every climbing dollar it can get, has no strict rules about who can climb Everest, and has allowed more climbers than Everest can safely deal with. It is just an invitation for disaster—at 29,000 feet. At that altitude, a delay of even an hour or two can mean life or death.
“To be sure, one of the biggest problems this year seems to be the number of people trying to reach the top of the mountain at the same time. And since there is no government traffic police high on the mountain, the task of deciding when and how many groups can start climbing is left up to tourism companies.” said Lukas Furtenbach, a guide who recently led his climbers to the Chinese side of Everest because of the overcrowding in Nepal and the rapid increase of untrained climbers. “But the government should not just take whatever they can get while ignoring the necessary traffic rules.”
1.Why did Ed Dohring feel frightened along the way to the Everest's top?
A.The mountain top was too small. B.A fight took place among the climbers.
C.The temperature suddenly fell to 30°C. D.He had to walk over a dead climber's body.
2.Who should be mainly responsible for the problem according to Lukas Furtenbach?
A.The traffic police. B.The tourists themselves.
C.The Nepalese government. D.The tourism companies.
3.Why did Lukas Furtenbach take the tourists to the part of Everest in China?
A.There were fewer climbers. B.It was a less dangerous road.
C.The weather was better there. D.It was a newly found attraction.
4.What is the text mainly about?
A.An accident at the top of Mount Everest.
B.The poor management of the Nepalese government.
C.The causes of the accidents at the top of the Mount Everest.
D.The messy state of the tourist roads in the Mount Everest area.
When Peter Zhuo was a kid, he could barely hold pencil properly. He'd either wrap all his fingers around it or hold it uncomfortably between his middle and fourth finger. Through practice he managed to get it right when he was about eight. Now at 23, not only can he use a pencil competently, he's using it to change the world, one stroke at a time.
Peter—who goes by the name Peter Draw felt the desire to draw with a purpose after meeting Daniel, a teenager with cerebral palsy(脑瘫), in November 2006. When Daniel first joined Peter's drawing class at the Spastic Children's Association of Singapore, Peter doubted if Daniel could even complete a drawing. But stroke by stroke the then 17-ycar-old did.
"His passion for drawing really touched me. I felt I should do more with my drawing and help children at the same time," says Peter, who has since taken on some mega projects to raise awareness for his cause.
Last October, he earned a place in the Guinness Book of Records for drawing the world's largest caricature(人物漫画). His 360-square-metre drawing of Hong Kong action star Jackie Chan is twice the size of the previous record. Peter completed it in just three-and-a-half hours while the previous record-holder took three days.
And in December, he took on the challenge of drawing caricatures for 24 hours non-stop in order to raise money for Habitat for Humanity, a nonprofit organization that builds homes for the less fortunate. Peter completed 952 sketches(素描) during the time. The event raised $ 6, 000 through donations and his accomplishment earned him a mention in the Singapore Book of Records.
1.When Peter was a kid, .
A.he had difficulty using his pencil B.he was unable to write a word
C.his fingers were flexible D.he couldn't practice writing
2.After Peter met Daniel, he intended to .
A.learn drawing like Daniel B.help children through his drawing
C.become an action actor like Jackie Chan D.win a place in the Guinness Book of Records
3.The underlined word “mega” in Paragraph 3 may mean .
A.profitable B.impressive C.interesting D.scary
4.What do we know about Peter?
A.He donated$6,000 to build houses for the poor.
B.He drew the world’s largest caricature in three days.
C.He raised a lot of money for Daniel to treat his disease.
D.He drew 952 sketches in 24 hours to raise a lot of money.
A day away from the stress of city life!
A perfect experience for nature lovers!
Our One — Day tour will take you to see the most beautiful sunset and sunrise at the top of Mt. Huangshan （Yellow Mountain）.
Schedule
Early in the morning: take the cable car to the top of the mountain to see the breathtaking sunrise at Cloud Dispelling Pavilion.
Late in the morning: Visit such famous places as the Sixinfeng Peak, the Black Tiger pine tree, the Writing Brush Peak or the Xihai Scenic Area.
At noon: have a traditional Chinese lunch at a hotel on the top of the mountain.
In the afternoon: go to the city centre of Huangshan and take a walk along Tunxi Old Street, where traditional old buildings line the quiet street.
In the evening :Return to the Cloud Dispelling Pavillion to enjoy the sunset.
Price:$327
What's included
Professional and friendly English-speaking tour guide; Breakfast, lunch, dinner; All entrance fees; Cable car fees to and from the Cloud Dispelling Pavillion; Two nights at Beihai hotel or similar standard hotels; Hotel pickup and drop-off.
What's not included
Expenses to and from Mt. Huangshan;
Local Chinese-speaking tour guide;
Other attractions not included in the schedule.
1.Where should the tourists go to see the sunset and sunrise?
A.Sixinfeng Peak. B.Xihai Scenic Area.
C.Cloud Dispelling Pavilion. D.Writing Brush Peak.
2.When will the tourists go to Tunxi Old Street?
A.In the morning. B.At noon. C.In the afternoon. D.In the evening.
3.This one-day tour is most probably suitable for .
A.the British B.the Chinese C.the Dutch D.the Germans
阅读下面材料，根据其内容和所给段落开头语续写两段，使之构成一篇完整的短文。续写的词数应为150左右。
Once there were three trees in the woods on a hill. They were discussing their hopes and dreams when the first tree said, “Someday hope to be a treasure chest (珍宝箱). I could be filled with gold, silver and valuable items. I could be decorated with beautiful designs and everyone would see the beauty.”
Then the second tree said. “Someday I will be a big and strong ship. I will take kings and queens across the waters and sail to the corners of the world. Everyone will feel safe in me because of the strength of my body.”
Finally, the third tree said, “I want to grow to be the tallest and straightest tree in the forest. People will come to see me on the top of the hill and look up to my branches and think of the sky and how close to it I am reaching. I will be the greatest tree of all time and people will always remember me.”
After few years of praying (祈祷) that their dreams would come true, the trees were visited by a group of woodsmen. When one came to the first tree, he said, “This tree looks like a strong one. I think I should be able to sell the wood to a carpenter. And he began cutting it down. The tree was very happy, because he knew that the carpenter would make him into a treasure chest.
At the second tree, a woodsman said, “This looks like a strong tree and I should be able to sell it to the ship factory.” The second tree was also very happy because he knew he was on his way to becoming huge and strong ship.
When woodsmen came upon the third tree, the tree was frightened because he knew that if they cut him down, his dream would not come true. One of the woodsmen said, “I don’t need anything special from my tree. I’ll take this one.” And he cut it down.
注意：续写部分分为两段，每段的开头语已为你写好。
Paragraph 1:
However, the three trees were made into different things against their wishes.
___________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________
Paragraph 2:
Years later, something unexpected happened which helped them realize their value.
___________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________
假定你是李华。你们班打算本周末组织一次去农场摘桃的活动，你想邀请就读于你校的英国留学生Eric一起参加，请你给他写一封电子邮件，要点如下：
1.活动安排；2.活动意义；3.希望参加。
注意：1.词数80左右；2.可以适当增加细节，以使行文连贯。
