New research shows that overweight or even mildly obese people have a lower risk of early death than people considered to be normal weight.
Researchers examined the results of 97 studies. Most of the studies were less than 10 years old. They included almost three million adults from around the world, including the United States, Canada, China, Taiwan, Brazil, India and Mexico.
The researchers at the National Center for Health Statistics found that people who are considered overweight or slightly obese were five to six percent less likely to die from all causes than people of normal weight. People with higher obesity ratings, however, had almost a 30 percent greater risk of death compared to normal-weight individuals.
Katherine Flegal was the lead author of the study. She says she was not surprised that overweight people would not have a higher risk of death.
“Because we’d actually already read a lot of this literature and realized it was likely that mortality rates (死亡率) for overweight would be at least not higher than normal weight. I guess I was a little bit surprised that it was definitely lower. And I was also surprised that the lower rates of obesity also didn’t seem to differ from normal weight.”
But she says the difference in death rates appears to be small between normal-weight people and those who are overweight or mildly obese.
The study has raised new questions about “body mass index,”（體重指數(shù)） or BMI. This is a measurement of body fat as a ratio（比率） of height to weight. In recent years, many public health experts have promoted body mass index as a way to predict the risk of health problems. Bu t a person's BMI can be misleading in some cases.
Steven Heymsfield ,the executive director of the Pennington Biomedical Research Center, says people can be physically fit and in good health, but might weigh more because they are more muscular.
Still, Dr. Heymsfield says people should not think gaining extra weight is OK just because of the new findings. He says being at a healthy weight lowers the risk for heart disease and diabetes（糖尿�。�.
小題1:According to the new findings, the researchers found that __________ .

A．People with high obesity have a lower risk of early death than people with low obesity

B．People with overweight have a greater risk of early death than people of normal weight.

C．People with mild obesity are less likely to die than people of normal weight.

D．People with obesity live much longer than people of normal weight.

小題2:What does the underlined word “l(fā)iterature” in paragraph 6 mean ?

A．works like novels and poems

B．books and articles on a particular subject

C．printed material

D．magazines and newspapers

小題3:Which of the following statements is not true according to the passage?

A．BMI is commonly used to measure body fat as a ratio of height to weight.

B．Not all people with a little higher BMI are fat .

C．Many public health experts encourage more people to use BMI as a way to predict the risk of health problem

D．Because of the ne w findings, people should think about gaining extra weight.

Plastic is everywhere because plastic is an extremely useful material. It is cheap, strong and lightweight. What’s more, it can take on nearly any form or shape, from soft and stretchy (有彈性的) to hard and glasslike.
Plastic, however, is far from perfect. It may even be bad for us. Studies now suggest that poisonous chemicals can get out of some types of plastic, get into our bodies, and cause a variety of health problems, including cancer, birth defects and attention deficit hyperactivity disorder (注意缺陷障礙).
Two types of chemicals in particular have raised special concern lately. They are called phthalates (鄰苯二甲酸鹽) and Bisphenol-A (二酚基丙烷), BPA for short. Not all plastic products contain them. But the ones that do are surrounded by controversy (爭議). That’s because experts disagree on how dangerous these chemicals are.
Plastic is a single word, but plastic isn’t just one thing. What all plastics share in common are plasticizers -- special chemicals that allow the material to be changed into nearly any shape or texture. Plasticizers (塑化劑) are added to plastic during the manufacturing process.
Phthalates and BPA are two types of plasticizers that work in different ways. Phthalates add softness to things like shampoo bottles, raincoats and rubber. They are also used in perfumes and makeup. BPA, on the other hand, gives a hard, clear, almost glasslike feel to products such as infant bottles. BPA also appears in food and soda cans, DVDs and other unexpected places.
How do these chemicals get into us? When plastic is heated in the microwave or dishwasher, chewed on or scratched, the chemicals can seep (滲透) out of the plastic. Even though we can’t see them, we eat them, drink them and breathe them in.
Scientists and parents are especially worried about young children, who tend to chew on everything, including plastic. Dozens of countries, including the European Union, Japan, Canada and Mexico have already banned phthalates from products made for children younger than three. California and Washington have done the same. And a number of other states are considering similar rules. As for BPA, Canada became the first country to ban the chemical from baby bottles. A dozen states are considering it.
小題1:What can we know about the plastic from the first paragraph?

A．Its characters and effects.	B．Its wide use and bad points.
C．Its importance and chemicals.	D．Its popularity and advantages.

小題2:Which of the following products contains BPA?

A．A soft plastic cup.	B．A pencil eraser.
C．A baby milk bottle.	D．A new perfume.

小題3:Phthalates and BPA can get into us __________.

A．through mouth or nose	B．through blood transfusion
C．by feeling plastic products	D．by heating in the microwave

小題4: What is the passage mainly about?

A．A new ban on plastic products.	B．Problems caused by the plastic.
C．Good points of the plastic.	D．The use of plasticizers.

What do college teachers think of high school English teachers’English teaching? And how should we see it? Let’s read the following.
A teacher from a community college addressed a sympathetic audience. Heads nodded in agreement when he said, “High school English teachers are not doing their jobs.” He described how weak his students were—all high school graduates who can use language only at a Grade 9 level.
My topic is not standards nor its decline（降低）. What the speaker was really saying is that he is no longer young; he has been teaching for sixteen years, and is able to think and speak like a mature adult.
My point is that the frequent complaint of one generation about the one immediately following is natural. It is also human nature to look for the reasons for our dissatisfaction. Before English became a school subject in the late nineteenth century, it was difficult to find the target of the blame for language deficiencies（缺陷）. But since then, English teachers have been under constant attack.
The complainers think they have hit upon an original idea. As their own command of the language improves, they notice that young people do not have this same ability. Unaware that their own ability has developed through the years, they assume the new generation of young people must be hopeless in this respect. To the eyes and ears of sensitive adults, the language of the young always seems inadequate.
Since this concern about the decline and fall of the English language is not seen as a generational phenomenon but rather as something new and peculiar(特有的) to today’s young people, it naturally follows that today’s English teachers cannot be doing their jobs.
小題1:The speaker believed that ________.

A．he was an excellent language teacher because he had been teaching English for sixteen years

B．the younger generation was as likely as not worse at language than the older generation

C．high school English teachers should be responsible for their students’ poor command of English

D．The fact that the students didn’t work hard enough contributed to their poor command of English

小題2: In the author’s opinion, the speaker ________.

A．had exaggerated (夸大) the language problems of the students

B．was right in saying English teachers were not doing their jobs

C．gave a correct judgment of the English level of the students

D．thought and spoke in a wise and responsible way

小題3:What can we conclude from the passage?

A．Language learning and improving needs time and effort.

B．The author disagrees with the speaker over the standard of English at Grade 9 level.

C．It is reasonable to include English as one of the high school subjects.

D．The English language teaching is by no means an easy job for college teachers.

小題4:The author’s attitude towards the speaker’s remarks is ________.

A．neutral（中立的）	B．critical
C．positive	D．compromising(妥協(xié)的)

How long you live has a lot to do with your environment and lifestyle, but exceptional(特別的)long life may have even more to do with your genes. For the first time, researchers have discovered a genetic recipe(基因譜)that accurately predicts who may live to 100 and beyond.
Analysis shows that 90% of the participants who lived to 100 had at least one of the signature genetic clusters(標(biāo)志基因組). Dr. Thomas Perls at the Boston University School of Medicine said, “We realize this is a complex genetic puzzle. There is a long way for us to go to understand how the integration(融合)of these genes—not just with themselves but with environmental factors—is playing a role in this long life puzzle.”
Perls has studied many factors that contribute to long life, and he is the first to acknowledge that living longer isn’t likely to be simply a matter of genes. His previous work has shown, for example, that among most elderly people who live into their 70s and 80s, about 70% can owe their long life to environmental factors such as not smoking; eating a healthy, low-fat, low-calorie diet; and remaining socially engaged and mentally active throughout life.
It seems clear that those who live extremely long are benefiting from a special DNA. In fact, Perls believes that the older a person gets, the more likely it is that his or her genes are contributing to those extended years.
小題1:Which of the following is TRUE according to Paragraph 2?

A．Most long-living people have special long-life-related genes.

B．Ninety percent of the participants lived to 100 years of age.

C．All the long-living people have only one signature genetic cluster.

D．Scientists know how the integration of the genes helps people live long.

小題2: Perls may most likely agree that         .

A．most people living extremely long benefit from not smoking

B．living longer just depends on certain genetic recipes

C．environmental factors play an important role in long-living

D．being mentally active has nothing to do with living an old age

小題3: Which of the following is FALSE according to the text?

A．Remaining socially engaged helps a person to live long.

B．A genetic recipe can accurately predict who may live to 100 and beyond.

C．Perls is the first to think living longer is just a matter of genes.

D．The older he gets, the more likely the genes contribute to his extended years.

小題4:Which of the following would be the best title for the text?

A．Genes May Predict Who Lives to 100	B．Environment And Genes
C．Genes, the Secret of Long Living	D．Lifestyle And Genes

C
When an ant dies, other ants take it out of the nest, often within an hour after its death. This behavior interests scientists and they wonder how ants know for sure--and so soon--that another ant is dead.
One scientist recently came up with a way to explain this ant behavior. Dong-Hwan Choe is a biologist, a scientist who studies animals and plants. He found that ants have a chemical on the outside of their bodies that signals to other ants, “I’m dead--take me away” when it is dead.
One scientist recently came up with a way to explain this ant behavior. Dong-Hwan Choe is a biologist, a scientist who studies animals and plants. He found that ants have a chemical on the outside of their bodies that signals to other ants, “I’m dead---take me away” when it is dead.
But there's a question to answer: As we know, if an ant is dead, it stops moving. But when an ant is sleeping or knocked unconscious, it is also not moving. However, other ants don't move the living ant out of the nest. How do they know this ant is not dead? Choe found that ants have another chemical on their bodies, which tells nearby ants something like, “Wait—I'm not dead yet” when it is not dead. Choe suspects that when an ant dies, the chemical that says, “Wait— I'm not dead yet” quickly goes away. When other ants detect the “dead” chemical without the “not dead yet” chemical, they move away the body.
To test his theory, Choe and his team put different chemicals on ants. When the scientists used the “I'm dead” chemical, other ants quickly moved the treated ant away. When the scientists used the “Wait—I'm not dead yet” chemical, other ants left the treated ant alone. Choe believes this behavior shows that the “not dead yet” chemical overrides the “dead” chemical when picked up by other ants. And that when an ant dies, the “not dead yet” chemical fades away. Other nearby ants then detect the remaining “dead” chemical and remove the body from the nest.
Understanding this behavior can help scientists figure out how to stop ants from invading new places and causing problems.
小題1:What is the function of the first paragraph?

A．Leading the following paragraphs.

B．Showing the main idea of the passage.

C．Introducing the background of the passage.

D．Giving a summary of the passage.

小題2:Which of the following has the closest meaning to the underlined word “overrides” in the fourth paragraph?

A．is weaker than

B．is stronger than

C．is better than

D．is worse than

小題3:What can we learn from the passage?

A．Living ants can also be taken away when they are not moving.

B．When an ant dies, it can tell others using a certain chemical.

C．A living ant can pretend to be dead using a special chemical.

D．Ants often use chemicals to communicate with each other.

小題4:Which of the following descriptions about Dong-Hwan Choe is right?

A．Choe did this study in order to stop ants from invading new places.

B．Choe is a biologist who is only interested in animals, especially in ants.

C．Choe first came up with an idea to explain this ant behavior，and then did some tests to prove his theory.

D．Choe did the research on this ant behavior on his own.

Electrical devices(儀器)could soon use power made by human energy. Scientists say
they have developed an experimental device that produces electricity from the physical movement of a person walking. British scientist Max Donelan and other scientists in Canada and the United States developed the device.
The device connects to a person’s knee. As the person walks, the device captures energy each time the person slows down. To do this, the device helps with the slowing down movement of the leg. The movements of the walking person push parts of a small machine
that produces electricity. Using the device, an adult walking quickly could produce thirteen watts of electricity in just a minute. Donelan says walking at that speed could produce enough power to operate a laptop computer for six minutes.
There are several possible uses for the device. Developers say it could help people who work in areas without electricity to operate small computers. The device could also be used in hospitals to operate heart pacemakers(起搏器). It could even be used to assist in the movement of robotic arms and legs.
The experimental version of the device weighs about one and a half kilograms, but it is too costly for most people to buy. But the researchers hope to make a lighter, less costly version. An improved version shou1d be ready in one year.
The developers hope the device will one day help developing countries. Near1y twenty five percent of people around the world live without electric power.
A similar product was invented in 2005 by Larry Rome of the University of Pennsylvania. He created a bag carried on a person’s back that also produces power from wa1king.
The knee device does not produce as much electricity as the bag. But the bag requires the walker to carry a load of twenty to thirty kilograms.
小題1:The second paragraph mainly talks about     .

A．who developed the device

B．how the device works

C．several possible uses for the devices

D．how much electricity the device can produce

小題2:What is the disadvantage of the experimental version of the device?

A．It is too heavy for the walker to bear.

B．It is too complex for people to use.

C．It is too expensive for most people to afford.

D．It will slow down one’s walking speed.

小題3:Compared with the device designed by Larry Rome, this new device     .

A．produces power without adding more loads to the walker

B．can produce more power in a much shorter time

C．needs to be equipped with a battery

D．can help the walker wa1k faster

小題4:From the passage, we can learn that the electrical device can     .

A．help housewives operate the washing machine

B．make it much easier for us to go online

C．produce more electricity than that invented by Larry Rome

D．be applied in medicine to operate heart pacemakers

小題5:What would be the best title for the passage?

A．First device powered by walking wi1l soon be on the market

B．Advanced technology brings in a new way to operate heart pacemakers

C．Device gives new meaning to the idea of power walking

D．Human energy will become a main source of electricity

We are fortunate to be living in a time when all people have the ability to access any knowledge they desire. This digital society that we live in affords us opportunities that our ancestor only dreamed of having. We should not take this privilege for granted.
In the not so distant past of the 1950s, people who wanted to research an idea, a product, or anything else, had to go to a library where they could look up information in books. Not all people had the same access to the books, and the information they contained. In America, if your skin was black, you could not use the same library that a person with white skin used. If a black skinned person was allowed access to a library, it most likely was stocked with outdated books that white skinned people had discarded.
In the digital society we live in today, the color of your skin does not determine the access you have to information. Technology has brought to us the powerful tools like the Internet where we can find information on almost every subject.
Access to the Internet has allowed us to research the things we are planning to purchase. We are capable of comparing prices on things like insurance, appliances, entertainment, clothing, and all other things. We also now have the ability to purchase items online without ever leaving our homes. We have been freed from the restrictions of store hours, and regional sales. A person in America can purchase a product from a person in Germany, without leaving home.
Because of the digital society we live in our children can learn about anything they are interested in. When they ask you what the dinosaurs ate, you can look it up, and tell them the answer. Because of this people will be smarter in the future, and technology will only improve.
小題1:By “We should not take this privilege for granted”, the writer means that ______.

A．we have special right to do anything

B．it is wrong to make use of the privilege

C．knowledge is important in the digital society

D．we should seize the chances the modern society offers

小題2:The main idea of the fourth paragraph is that ______.

A．the Internet brings us a lot of convenience

B．people in modern society are mostly wealthy

C．we would like to stay at home every day

D．we can find anything we like in the world

小題3:The dinosaurs are mentioned in the last paragraph in order to tell us that _____.

A．people will be much clever than ever

B．what the dinosaurs ate seems strange to us

C．finding out what the dinosaurs looked like is easy

D．we can learn knowledge with the help of technology

小題4:The writer’s attitude toward the digital society is ______.

A．critical

B．positive

C．neutral

D．negative

Culture can affect not just language and customs, but also how people experience the world on surprisingly basic levels.
Researchers, with the help of brain scans, have ______ shocking differences in perception between Westerners and Asians, what they see when they look at a city street, for example, or even how they are _____ of a simple line in a square, according to findings published in a(n) _____ science journal.
In Western countries, culture makes people think of themselves as highly ______ entities. When looking at scenes, Westerners tend to focus more on central objects than on their surroundings. East Asian cultures, however, ________ inter-dependence, When Easterners look at a scene, they tend to focus on the surroundings as well as the object.
Using an experiment ________ two tasks, Dr. Hedden asked subjects to look at a line simply to estimate its length, a task that played to American’s _______. In another, they estimated the line’s length relative to the size of a square, an easier task for the Asian.
The level of brain activity, by ______ blood flow, was then measured by Brain Scanners. The experiment found that although there was no difference in performance, and the tasks were very easy, the levels of activity in the subjects’ brain were ______. For the Americans, areas ______ to attention were more favorable to them, when they worked on the task they tended to find more difficult --- estimating the line’s size relative to the square. The findings are a ______ of more than ten years of previous experimental research into East-West differences.
In one study, for instance researchers ______ people a choice among five pens; four red and one green. Easterners were more likely to choose a red pen, and Westerners were more likely to choose the green one.
Culture does not only make a(n) ______ on how you see the world, but how you choose to understand and internalize it. But such habits can be changed. Some psychological studies suggest that when an Easterner goes to the West or vice versa, habits of thought and perception also begin to change. Such research gives us ______ to how our brain works and holds new promises for us to develop programs to improve our memory techniques and __________ our learning skills.

小題1:	A．recovered B．revealed C．rejected D．replaced

小題2:	A．a(chǎn)ware B．sensitive C．capable D．ignorant

小題3:	A．essential B．complex C．leading D．inviting

小題4:	A．independent B．creative C．cooperative D．responsible

小題5:	A．neglect B．rely C．compliment D．emphasize

小題6:	A．involving B．referring C．joining D．participating

小題7:	A．respect B．favor C．surprise D．resistance

小題8:	A．reducing B．a(chǎn)dding C．tracking D．speeding

小題9:	A．the same B．different C．unique D．unusual

小題10:

A．objective B．a(chǎn)ssociated C．opposite D．linked

小題11:

A．comment B．reflection C．reaction D．respond

小題12:

A．provided B．offered C．supplied D．handed

小題13:

A．a(chǎn)greement B．effort C．impact D．a(chǎn)ffect

小題14:

A．clues B．ideas C．concepts D．suggestions

小題15:

A．rise B．enable C．decrease D．enhance

Let us begin by saying what does not cause our dreams. Our dreams do not come from “another world ”. They are not messages from outside source. They are not a look into the future , either ．
All our dreams have something to do with our feelings, fears, longings, wishes, needs and memories. If a person is hungry , or tired or cold , his dreams may include a feeling of this kind ．If the covers on your body , such as a quilt or a blanket have slipped off your bed , you may dream that you are sleeping on the ice and snow. The material for the dream you will have tonight is likely to come from the experience you have today.
So the subject of your dream usually comes from something that has effect on you while you are sleeping （feeling of cold, a noise, a discomfort, etc．） and it may also use your past experiences and the wishes and the interests you have now．This is why children are likely to dream of fairies, older children of school examinations, hungry people of food, home-sick soldiers of their families and prisoners of freedom．
To show you how this is happening while you are asleep and how your needs and wishes can all be joined together in a dream , here is the story of the experiment．A man was asleep and the back of his hand was rubbed with a piece of absorbed cotton．He would dream he was in hospital and his charming girlfriend was visiting him , sitting on the bed and feeling gently his hands!
There are some scientists who have made a special study of why we dream, what we dream and what those dreams mean．Their explanations of dreams , though a bit reasonable, is not accepted by everyone but it offers an interesting approach to the problem．They believe that dreams are mostly expressions of wishes that do not come true．In other words, dreams are a way of having your wishes carried out．
小題1:From the passage we know that our dreams ___________.

A．a(chǎn)re imagination of our daily life

B．a(chǎn)re man’s curious look into the future

C．have nothing to do with our feelings

D．a(chǎn)re to some degree connected with our feelings

小題2:Older children often dream of examinations probably because ___________.

A．they are interested in exams

B．they are often worried about their studies

C．they hope for a better life

D．they show much interest in their studies

小題3:According to the writer , the explanation of dreams that some scientists made ___________.

A．is considered interesting , but unreasonable

B．gives a good answer to the question why we dream

C．has some value , though not fully convincing

D．has been proved by the findings of their studies

小題4:What is the best title for this passage ?

A．Why People Dream ?	B．New Findings about Dreams
C．Dream Makes Hopes	D．What Dreams Mean ?

In the late 1970’s,many people in North America turned their attention to environmental problems ，and new steel — and — glass skyscrapers were widely criticized. Some ecologists (生態(tài)學(xué)家）pointed out that a number of tall buildings in a city often overburden public transportation.
Skyscrapers are also lavish consumers of electric power and water. In just one recent year, the addition of 17 million square feet of skyscraper office space in New York City itself has already raised the top daily demand for electricity by 120, 000 kw — enough to supply the entire city of Albany in New York area for a single day.
Glass—walled skyscrapers can also be especially wasteful. The heat loss ，or gain， through a wall of half 一 inch plate glass is more than ten times that through a typical ordinary wall filled with bricks or board. In order to decrease the pressure on heating and air — conditioning equipment, builders of skyscrapers have begun to use double—layered glass ，and reflective glasses coated with silver or gold mirror films that could reduce glare (強光）as well as heat gain. However, mirror — walled skyscrapers may raise the temperature of the surrounding air and affect neighboring buildings as well.
Skyscrapers put a severe pressure on a city's sanitation (衛(wèi)生）facilities, too. If fully occupied, the towers just within the central area of New York would alone produce 2. 25 million gallons of waste water each year^—as much as the city size of Stanford， Connecticut, which has a population of more than 109，000.
小題1:The underlined phrase“ lavish consumers ”in the 2nd paragraph probably means ____

A．trash producers

B．great spenders

C．pressure makers

D．poor customers

小題2:Glass walls of skyscrapers are specially mentioned in order to _____.

A．show how skyscrapers manage to lessen their pressure

B．explain why skyscrapers can control its air conditions

C．describe further how wasteful skyscrapers could be

D．present the stability of skyscrapers in modern buildings

小題3:From the last paragraph we can learn that _____.

A．central New York skyscrapers are a large waste water producer

B．the central area of New York is as large as the city of Stanford

C．more than 109，000 people live in the skyscrapers in New York

D．New York produces 2. 25 million gallons of waste water each year

小題4:When the writer talks about skyscrapers ，his tone sounds _____

A．positive

B．doubtful

C．grateful

D．negative