Four out of ten women who diet end up heavier than when they started watching their waistline, a study revealed today. The research also showed that a large percentage of women start noticing the pounds creeping back on just 21 days after reaching their ideal weight.
Yesterday, Dr Ian Campbell of the Jenny Craig weight management program said, ‘In the UK 61.4 percent of adults are overweight or obese. Successful weight management requires a long-term commitment in order to lose weight successfully and for good. Dieting can be a real challenge so setting realistic goals and remaining focused on them is important. Otherwise as this research shows, women could end up heavier than when they started.’
The “Food, Body, Mind” report was publicized by Jenny Craig who quizzed 2000 women aged between 18 and 65 who diet regularly on their attitudes, beliefs and behaviors around weight loss. Six in ten said they were currently on a diet and one in five women said they were on a continuous diet.
It found the most common triggers to start dieting was seeing their reflection in the mirror, preparing for a summer holiday or unflattering photos posted on social networking sites. Other popular reasons include comments by friends or relatives or their other half.
However, the study showed that one in ten give up within one day, while almost a fifth manage to make it to a week or more. The average is ten days. Many blamed pressure they put on themselves to lose weight too quickly for the weight gain, which leaves them with a bigger appetite than normal. Others blamed colleagues, who tuck into fatty lunches and snacks unaware of the effect it has on the dieter, while mothers’ polishing off（吃光）their children's leftovers was another common cause of weight gain. Which of the following might be the best title for this article?
| A．Diet: a tricky path to weight loss |
| B．Important things for successful diet |
| C．Four in ten women gain weight on diets |
| D．Obesity: problem for 61.4% adults in UK |
In the UK, women who go on a diet ________.
| A．are all overweight or obese |
| B．all fail because they are not persistent enough |
| C．are likely to gain weight again after reaching their ideal weight |
| D．end up heavier than when they start to diet |
The underlined word “triggers” in Paragraph 4 probably means ________.
| A．effects | B．causes | C．examples | D．imagination |
Which of the following is NOT the reason why many people stop dieting very soon?
| A．The pressure they put on themselves to lose weight quickly. |
| B．Colleagues who give them fatty lunches and snacks. |
| C．Leftovers of children’s taken by their mothers. |
| D．Reflections they see in the mirror. |
Washington, November 1, 2012 (CNN) -- After years of planning and months of campaigning（竞选）, the most expensive presidential race in history comes down to a final five-day whirlwind of speeches and television ads in the eight states still up for grabs.
President Barack Obama and Republican challenger Mitt Romney plan to hold virtually nonstop events between now and the Tuesday election considered too close to call.
The focus is on battleground states worth 95 of the 270 electoral votes needed to win. Both sides are trying to close the deal with a decreasing number of uncommitted(未表态的) voters, while making sure supporters actually cast ballots.
That means a game of campaign chess that started Thursday, with appearances by the candidates (候选人)and their assistants as well as advertising dollars allocated to the places considered most vital to success.
Concluding a race expected to cost more than $6 billion overall, Obama and Romney and their running mates will hit all the battleground states -- Colorado, Florida, Iowa, Ohio, New Hampshire, Nevada, Virginia and Wisconsin. The campaigns also are unloading a blast of television ads and mailings that threaten to overwhelm voters already saturated with politicking. Perhaps no one said it better than 4-year-old Abigael Evans of Fort Collins, Colorado, who -- according to NPR -- cried after listening to more election coverage on the radio and told her mother, ‘I'm tired of Barack Obama and Mitt Romney.’The underlined phrase “too close to call” probably means .
| A．a game that one side is clearly winning. |
| B．a tie in which neither side seems likely to win |
| C．so close that you need not use a telephone |
| D．a visit close to one’s home state |
What is the focus of the last-5 -day campaigns for both presidential candidates?
| A．To make sure that their supporters understand their policies. |
| B．To collect enough money for campaign ads. |
| C．To paint their rival as black as possible. |
| D．To win over the voters who have not decide which candidate to vote for. |
The public generally feel ________ about these last-days election efforts.
| A．excited | B．disappointed | C．annoyed | D．relieved |
Counterfeit ( 假的) medicines are a widespread problem in developing countries. Like other counterfeits, they look like real products. But counterfeit drugs may contain too little or none of the active ingredients of the real thing.
People do not get the medicine they need. And in some cases counterfeits cause death. Twenty children in Bangladesh died last year after being given acetaminophen(醋氨酚). The medications contained ingredients that looked, smelled and tasted like the real thing. The medicine was produced by a local drug company that used a dangerous substitute to save money.
The problem of counterfeit medicines is especially serious in Africa, Asia and Latin America. The W.H.O. estimates that up to thirty percent of medicines on sale in many of those countries are counterfeit. The problem is less widespread among industrialized countries. The W.H.O. says counterfeits make up less than one percent of the illegal drug market in countries like the United States, Canada, Japan, and New Zealand.
But the agency also says as much as fifty percent of the medicine sold on the Internet is counterfeit.
Much is being done to fight counterfeit drugs. Several companies are developing ways to make counterfeits easier to identify. And there are existing methods, like a machine that can quickly identify chemicals in pills to confirm if the pills are real. Other ideas include things like special tracking codes for drug packages. People could send a text message with the code and get a message back, which proves that what they bought is listed in a database. Some drug makers and other companies put three-dimensional images called holograms (全息图)on their products as a security device.Last year twenty children in Bangladesh died because of _____.
| A．online medicines | B．unreal drugs |
| C．acetaminophen | D．unclean water |
We can draw a conclusion from the passage that______.
| A．it is very cheap and convenient to buy medicines online. |
| B．medicine companies don’t pay much attention to counterfeit drugs. |
| C．more and more people will buy products online. |
| D．we had better not buy medicines online. |
What is the main idea of the last paragraph?
| A．It reveals the reasons why counterfeit drugs are widespread. |
| B．Some measures are being taken to fight counterfeit drugs. |
| C．Special tracking codes for drug packages are used to identify counterfeits. |
| D．It shows the danger of counterfeit drugs. |
Which of the following country may have serious problems of counterfeit medicines?
| A．Canada. | B．Japan. | C．New Zealand. | D．India. |
For many businessmen online education has been a dream. Now it has come true. The investment (投资) in higher education, whether financial or in terms of time, has long been impossible for many of them. But well-known educational institutions have chosen to deliver an internet-based program, and these barriers have been lifted.
That is good news for people eager to improve themselves and is more attractive to employers. It is also a benefit to industry with better qualified candidates applying for jobs at every level.
Having the benefits of a higher qualification without going to the university campus is attractive to many students. Campus study means greater cost, while online programs are flexible and save time, whether at home or at work. Students can achieve their degrees without causing too much disruption to their career or home life.
In addition to affordable, flexible classes and greater convenience, students also have access to the online learning resources of many of the world’s top educational institutions. They can also communicate with their tutors no matter what time it is or whether either party is away for any reason.
This has opened up the possibility of getting a qualification from a university or college that many students could only have dreamed of in the past. It also allows specialists to get the precise qualifications and focus on their studies. As well as seeing the increase of applicants from lower-incomes and housewives, studying online in the US is even becoming popular with younger people of college age.
Employers have become increasingly welcome and positive to online qualifications as more candidates earn them, especially if they’re properly approved by the US Department of Education.
US institutions have led the way in online education provision. Many top US colleges and universities offer a range of online programs that are highly respected and in every way perfectly fit for adults who need to combine their studies with a working life. According to Paragraph 1, many US colleges and universities .
| A．have begun to lift the barriers to financial investment |
| B．have had a dream of offering online education |
| C．have begun to run an internet-based program |
| D．have gained financial investment |
Why do people choose online education?
| A．They can find jobs more easily than on-campus graduates. |
| B．They can get qualifications from US Department of Education. |
| C．They can invest money in different courses provided online. |
| D．They can save money and arrange their time and courses freely. |
The underlined word “disruption’’ in the third paragraph probably mean .
| A．interruption | B．attention | C．attraction | D．dissatisfaction |
Which would be a good title for the passage?
| A．Adult Education Online |
| B．Top US Universities Offering Online Education |
| C．The Best of USA’s Online Education |
| D．Online Education Taking the Place of Campus Education |
The Donkey Mobile Library
It is a bright morning in the Ethiopian countryside. Yohannes walks beside a pair of donkeys that are pulling a two-wheeled cart. They arrive at the agricultural town of Awassa where Yohannes opens the sides of the cart to display, not the usual vegetables or tools, but children’s books. This is the Donkey Mobile Library, the first of its kind in Ethiopia and one of only a few in the world.
Yohannes was born in Ethiopia, North Africa, but trained to be a librarian in the USA and returned to Ethiopia years ago. The cart is full of picture books donated by American libraries, teachers and school children.
Yohannes arranges small painted benches in the shade of the trees, and suddenly Ethiopian children come shouting and racing down every road and path. It’s mobile library day! They circle the bookshelves with great excitement. Until the Donkey Mobile Library began its regular two-monthly visits, many of these children had never seen a book.
“Without books, education is very dull, like food without salt. You can survive but you can’t really come alive,” says Yohannes. “The ability to read is the basis for greater productivity, better health and longer life. Even though the children lack material goods, with books they can imagine a world of possibilities.”
Yohannes first worked in the children’s section of the main library in America. Surrounded by books he had never seen before, he realized how joyful and imaginative children’s literature is. He says, “I always thought of Ethiopia. But how could I bring children’s books to my home country when it had almost no libraries to keep the books in?”
He contacted Jane Kurtz, a writer born in America but brought up in Ethiopia, and together they created the Donkey Mobile Library. The children say that the Library has given them ideas about what they might do in the future. A child called Dareje wants to be a scientist and find a cure for life-threatening diseases. An eleven year-old girl, Fikerte, wants to do research about the moon and discover new facts about outer space. Tamrat, aged 10, comes every time.
“What brings you back here time and time again?” the librarian asks him.
“The stories,” Tamrat replies instantly. How do the children feel when they see the Donkey Mobile Library?
| A．Excited. | B．Surprised. | C．Interested. | D．Curious |
We can conclude from the passage that .
| A．Ethiopian children have no idea about their future |
| B．Yohannes and Kurtz share similar life experiences |
| C．most books in the Donkey Mobile Library were bought in America |
| D．donkey carts in Awassa usually carry vegetables and tools |
According to the passage, the Donkey Mobile Library .
| A．visits the countryside every day | B．was created by Yohannes himself |
| C．benefits Ethiopian children a lot | D．was the first of its kind in the world |
Where is the passage most likely to have been taken from?
| A．A book review.. | B．A news report | C．A historical story. | D．An advertisement. |
The World Trade Organization (WTO) founded on January 1, 1994, aims to encourage international trade to flow as freely as possible, making sure that trade agreements are respected and that any disputes (争端) can be settled.
In the five years since its founding, the WTO has become well-known as one of the world’s most powerful economic organizations, taking its place alongside the World Bank and International Monetary Fund.
The system of global rules for international trade, however, dates back half a century to 1948 when the General Agreement on Tariffs (关税) and Trade (GATT) was formed after World War II.
As time went by it became clear that the GATT had two major drawbacks—the limited areas of trade it covered, and the lack of an effective system to settle disputes.
After seven years of trade talks ending in 1994. the so-called Uruguay Round finally gave birth to the WTO, complete with an effective system to settle disputes and new rules covering trade in services and intellectual property (知识产权).
Even after seven years of talks and 22500 pages of agreements there were still problems, especially the difficult-to-deal-with areas of agriculture and services.
The WTO. with its head office in Geneva, has 135 members with 30 more waiting to join.Compared with the GATT, the WTO _____.
| A．can do better to settle disputes in more areas of international trade |
| B．got its members to sign the agreements more easily |
| C．has got too many areas of international trade to deal with to work effectively |
| D．didn’t pay enough attention to services and intellectual property |
In the new century the WTO will _____.
| A．take the place of the World Bank and International Monetary Fund |
| B．have new rules covering trade in services and intellectual property |
| C．make complete new rules in every area of international trade |
| D．have more members and do much more to settle more problems |
The underlined word “drawbacks” probably means _____.
| A．weak points | B．changes | C．strong points | D．improvements |
The best title for the passage is _____.
| A．WTO—Another Name for GATT |
| B．WTO—an International Service Organization |
| C．WTO—One of the World’s Strongest Economic Organizations |
| D．WTO—the World’s Most Powerful Economic Organization |
Toyoda said those changes were being made nearly around the clock，but during three hours of often tense questions and answers he repeated that there was no link to the vehicle’s electronic systems．
Many drivers making complaints against Toyota and the government say their acceleration problems had nothing to do with floor mat interference(油门踏板故障)or sticky gas pedals(刹车)．Outside experts have suggested electronic problems.
House lawmakers expressed serious criticism on Toyoda，the grandson of the company’s founder．
The National Highway Traffic Safety Administration(NHTSA)is seeking records on Toyota’s recalls and is conducting its own review on whether electronics were behind the car faults．NHTSA also continues to look into steering complaints from drivers of the popular Corolla model．
Toyota has recalled 8.5 million cars，more than 6 million of them in the United States．
It may be a while before car buyers believe that Toyota really makes safe cars．
Toyota’s January sales already fell 16 percent even as most other automakers jumped back from last year’s bad results．Analyst Koji Endo of Advanced Research Japan in Tokyo said he expects February sales，due out next week，to be down 30 percent to 40. Toyota’s sales problem could continue beyond that．
It will take some time to feel the full effect of this，he said．The best title for this passage is ．
| A．Toyota is in trouble | B．Toyota is under hearing |
| C．Toyota is finished | D．Toyota is still running |
What is the purpose of the hearing?
| A．America hopes that Toyota apologizes to the US customers． |
| B．America wants to get Toyota out of the US market． |
| C．America wants to help Toyota out of difficulty． |
| D．America hopes that Toyota admits their cars have electronic system problem． |
What can we infer from the passage?
| A．Toyota provides very good post sale service． |
| B．Toyota’s biggest market is in the United States． |
| C．Toyota will be closed soon． |
| D．Toyota’s dealership in the US will all be closed． |
The last sentence of this passage indicates .
| A．Analyst Koji Endo is fully confident about Toyota |
| B．Toyota could meet a worse situation |
| C．Toyota would get out of trouble sooner or later |
| D．Toyota would build up a better reputation among its customers |
LONDON (Reuters)—New faces given to a Chinese man after a bear tore off part of his face and a FrenchCaribbean man disfigured by a rare tumor show that such transplants can work and are not medical oddities (怪异)，researchers said．
The findings give hope to some people with severe facial disfigurement and suggest the transplants could prove longlasting without major problems．Despite the tissue rejection in the first year after their transplants，neither men had psychological problems accepting their new faces and have been able to rejoin society，they reported．
Only three people have received face transplants．The world’s first was carried out on French woman Isabelle Dinoire in November 2005 after she was disfigured in an attack by her dog．In 2007，her doctors reported that she had recovered slowly and steadily，overcoming two periods of rejection．
In 2006，Chinese doctors performed a face transplant on a 30yearold hit by a bear．While there were some complications with tissue rejection following the operation，two years later the man was doing well，his doctors said．“This case suggests that facial transplantation might be an option for restoring a severely disfigured face，and could enable patients to bring themselves back into society，” Shuzhong Guo and colleagues at Xijing Hospital in China wrote．
A French team described their work on a 29yearold man who suffered from Von Recklinghausen disease，an illness that changes the shape of his face．“The man，who was not named，was given a new nose，mouth and chin in a 2007 operation．He began to work 13 months after the transplant has more function in his face and has not rejected the new tissue，” his doctors said．
“Our case confirms that face transplantation is practical and effective for the correction of specific disfigurement，” Dr．Laurent Lantieri and colleagues at the HenriMondor hospital outside Paris wrote．What’s the main idea of this passage?
| A．Face transplants help regain confidence． | B．Face transplants can work． |
| C．Three people have received face transplants． | D．Disfigured people need face transplants． |
The underlined word “restoring” in Paragraph 4 means “________”．
| A．removing | B．recovering | C．repairing | D．rejecting |
What problem resulted from the facial operations?
| A．The patients usually suffered from tissue rejection． |
| B．It was hard for the patients to get along with others． |
| C．It took some time for the patients to recover from the operation． |
| D．The patients wouldn’t accept the facial change． |
President Obama: I want to welcome Vice President Xi to the Oval Office and welcome him to the United States. This is obviously a great opportunity for us to build on the U. S.-China relationship, but also an opportunity to return the extraordinary hospitality that Vice President Xi showed Vice President Biden during his recent visit to China.
As I indicated during my recent visit to APEC and the East Asia Summit, the United States is a Pacific nation. And we are very interested and very focused on continuing to strengthen our relationships, to enhance our trade and our commerce, and make sure that we are a strong and effective partner with the Asia Pacific region. And obviously, in order to do that, it is absolutely vital that we have a strong relationship with China.
So, Mr. Vice President, I hope you have a wonderful visit while you're here. I'm sure the American people welcome you. I'm glad that you're going to get an opportunity to get out of Washington. I know you'll be visiting Lowa, which you visited many years ago when you were governor. And I understand you're also going to Los Angeles and maybe even taking in (观看) a Lakers basketball game. So I hope you enjoy that very much.
I want to extend my deepest welcome to you, and look forward to a future of improved dialogue and increased cooperation in the years to come.Where can you most probably read the passage?
| A．In a science report. | B．In a news report. |
| C．In a guidebook. | D．In an advertisement. |
Which is true according to the passage?
| A．Biden once paid a visit to China before this talk. |
| B．Obama didn't attend APEC or the East Asia Summit recently. |
| C．Biden and Xi Jinping are holding the talk in the Oval Office of the White House. |
| D．The talk is being held between China and the USA in the Oval Office of New York. |
From Para. 3, we can learn that Vice President Xi ____.
| A．will visit New York, Washington DC and Los Angeles |
| B．will go to Los Angeles to watch a soccer game |
| C．visited Lowa many years ago, when he was governor |
| D．visited Lowa many years ago, when he was a vice president |
Five-time world overall short-track speed skating champion Yang Yang(A)won China’s first-ever Winter Olympic gold medal with a runaway victory in the 500m final on Saturday.
Yang Yang, putting behind her a dismal fourth place finish in the 1,500 meters three days ago, got off to a sparking lead and never looked back to cross the line in 44.187 seconds.
World-record holder and four-time European champion Evgenia Radanova followed home 0.065 seconds behind.
Another Chinese, Wang Chunju, the world champion in the shortest distance came in third, two-hundredths of a second further behind.
Yang, 25, whose name is tagged with the letter A to distinguish her from her younger teammate and namesake, Yang Yang(S), is the overall World Cup winner this season, with the top points in the 1,000m and 1,500m.
In the 1,500m, the younger Yang, 24, who won two silver medals in Nagano four years ago, crashed out while chasing herd after two South Korean teenagers, KoGi-Hyun and Choi Eun-Kyungm who eventually finished first and second. Yang Yang(A) ended up fourth.
Yang Yang(S) did not compete in the 500 meters.How long did Evgenia Radanova take to finish the 500m final?
| A．44.252 seconds. | B．44.187 seconds. |
| C．44.122 seconds. | D．None of the above. |
Why did not Yang Yang(S) compete in the 500 meters?
| A．She did want to. | B．She was wounded. |
| C．She was not qualified. | D．It was not mentioned. |
Britain has laws to make sure that women have the same chances as men in education, jobs and training. But it’s still unusual to find women doing dirty or heavy jobs.
Nikki Henriques is a car maintenance engineer in London. She used to be a secretary. Barty Philips, a journalist with “The Observer”, a Sunday newspaper, asked her why she wanted to work with cars.
“My first reason was independence(独立),” she said. “I also wanted to use my hands, and I like learning about how things work. Many people prefer to have a woman repair their cars, too.”
Nikki didn’t find it easy to become a car maintenance engineer. She went to a Government Skill Centre—a special sort of college where people can learn a new job for twenty weeks. “For ten weeks I was the only woman among four hundred men, and some of them were rude to me. It was also very tiring—from 8 in the morning to 5 in the afternoon, with only 30 minutes for lunch.”
Now Nikki works free-lance, that is, she’s self-employed, working for herself and not for a garage or a company.
Barty Phillips also spoke to Rose, who works as a general builder in Sheffield, an industrial town in the north of England. Like Nikki, Rose used to be a secretary. “I didn’t enjoy it at all.” she said. “I wanted to do more practical work, and I wanted to be self-employed.”
Rose joined a women’s building co-operative, and she learnt her job from other people and from experience. However, many of the women in her group have been specially trained. Most of the jobs they do are improvements to buildings and general repairs.
“People often say, ‘Oh, women aren’t strong enough,’ but I don’t think strength is important.” said Rose, “The important thing is to get used to doing a different sort of work.”
Rose would like more women to come into the building industry. “Everything built at the moment is a product of man’s world. If women become builders, they will be able to understand the production of their house and their towns.” There are laws in Britain to help women _____.
| A．get higher pay than men |
| B．enjoy more freedom than men |
| C．do whatever they like to do |
| D．have equal chances with men in education and work |
The job of a car maintenance engineer is to _____.
| A．make cars | B．sell cars |
| C．repair cars | D．keep cars for others |
According to Rose, a woman wishing to be a general builder _____.
| A．must be specially trained |
| B．should be strong enough |
| C．can learn her job either from others or by experience |
| D．must get used to doing a different sort of work |
The best title for this passage might be _____.
| A．Nikki Henriques, a car maintenance engineer |
| B．Rose, a General Builder in Shefield |
| C．Women at Work |
| D．British Women |
Baby girls make their way directly for dolls as soon as they can crawl（爬）, while boys will head for the toy cars, a study has shown． The findings, the first to show differences in very young babies, suggest there is a biological basis to their preferences．
Psychologists Dr． Brenda Todd from City University London carried out an experiment involving 90 infants aged nine months to 36 months． The babies were allowed to choose from seven toys． Some were typically boys' toys: a car, a digger, a ball and a blue teddy． The rest were girls’ toys: a pink teddy, a doll and a cooking set． They were placed a meter away from the toys, and could pick whichever toy they liked． Their choice and the amount of time they spent playing with each toy were recorded．
Of the youngest children （nine to 14 months）, girls spent significantly longer playing with the doll than boys, and boys spent much more time with the car and ball than the girls did． Among the two-and three-year-olds, girls spent 50 percent of the time playing with the doll while only two boys briefly touched it． The boys spent almost 90 percent of their time playing with cars, which the girls barely touched． There was no link between the parents’ view on which toys were more suitable for boys or girls, and the children’s choice．
Dr． Brenda Todd said: “Children of this age are already exposed to much socialization． Boys may be given ‘toys that go’ while girls get toys they can care for, which may help shape their preference． But these findings agree with the former idea that children show natural interests in particular kinds of toys． There could be a biological basis for their choices． Males through evolution have been adapted to prefer moving objects, probably through hunting instincts（本能）, while girls prefer warmer colors such as pink, the color of a newborn baby．”Baby boys and girls have different toy preferences probably because ．
| A．baby boys are much more active |
| B．baby girls like bright colors more |
| C．there is a natural difference between them |
| D．their parents treat them differently |
What can we infer from Paragraph 3 ?
| A．Nine-month-old baby boys don’t play with dolls at all． |
| B．Two-year-old baby girls sometimes play with cars and balls． |
| C．Parents should teach their babies to share each other’s toys． |
| D．The older the babies are, the more obvious their preference is． |
Both baby boys and baby girls like to play with _________ according to the study．
| A．a teddy | B．a car | C．a doll | D．a ball |
We may read this article in a section of a newspaper．
| A．health | B．science | C．culture | D．entertainment |
"It's this time of year when the weather starts warming up and frogs start breeding - but they haven't been breeding," says John Wilkinson, research and monitoring officer at the Amphibian and Reptile Conservation Trust (ARC).
Amphibians (两栖动物) are just one of the groups of animals that nature observers fear may have problems reproducing this year, as groundwater levels are even lower now than in the infamously dry summer of 1976, according to the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs (Defra). According to the UK's Centre for Hydrology and Ecology the average rainfall so far this winter has been the lowest since 1972.
"If ponds dry up totally," says Mr. Wilkinson, "you could have lots of dead tadpoles." Drier and windier conditions could also make it more difficult for juvenile amphibians to survive their journeys between wet habitats.
But Peter Brotherton, the biodiversity manager for Natural England, says that "drought is part of nature's cycle", and, at present, a lot of animals, plants and insects are still in hibernation. This means that the population picture is unclear. "However, when we get extreme events, we get animals dying," he says. "And what is worrying is that normally at this time of year we expect soil to be near saturation（湿润）after winter."
Charlie Kitchin, the RSPB's site manager of the Nene Washes in Cambridgeshire, says the 2,000-acre wetland and grassland area is now struggling following two winters with relatively little winter rain and no flooding. One species that could suffer, he says, is the black-tailed godwit（黑尾豫）. "There are only 50 breeding pairs in the country, and we have 40 of them, and everything is bone-dry," Mr Kitchin says.
But one bad nesting season, he says, is "not the end of the world". "One of the features of flood plains is that they're volatile anyway," he adds. "But if they fail to breed another year, the population is likely to dip again."According to the passage animals may have problems reproducing this year mainly due to _____.
| A．drought | B．hibernation | C．windier conditions | D．extreme events |
What really worries Peter Brotherton is that ________.
| A．drought is part of nature’s cycle | B．animals are still in hibernation |
| C．soil at this time is far from saturation | D．the population of animals is still unclear |
Which of the following is NOT true of Charlie Kitchin’s words?
| A．Drought has so far continued for two winters. |
| B．Animals could survive one bad nesting season. |
| C．The black-tailed godwit is in danger of extinction. |
| D．40 black-tailed godwits live in the Nene Washes. |
The underlined word volatile in the last paragraph can be replaced by ________.
| A．losing water | B．undergoing changes |
| C．breeding animals | D．suffering flood |
It can be learnt from the text that ______________.
| A．groundwater levels this summer are lower than those of 1976 |
| B．the average rainfall this year has been the lowest since 1972 |
| C．windier conditions could also cause some amphibians’ death |
| D．flooding plays no useful role in wetlands and grasslands |
Brenda Bongos was a happy, artistic girl. She had one big ambition—to play the drums in a band. But one big obstacle lay in her way. To be good enough to play in a band, Brenda had to practice a lot, but she lived next-door to a lot of old people. Many of them are sick. She knew that the sound of beating drums would really get on their nerves. So, she had tried playing in the strangest places: a basement, a kitchen, and even in a shower. But there was always someone it would annoy.
One day, while watching a science documentary on TV, she heard that sound cannot travel in space, because there's no air. At that moment, Brenda Bongos decided to become a sort of musical astronaut.
With the help of a lot of time, books and work, Brenda built a space bubble. This was a big glass ball connected to a machine which sucked out all the air inside. All that would be left inside was a drum kit（成套设备） and a chair. Brenda got into the space suit she had made, entered the bubble, turned on the machine, and played those drums like a wild child.
It wasn't long before Brenda Bongos came very famous. Many people came to see her play in her space bubble. Shortly afterwards she came out of the bubble and started giving concerts. Her fame spread so much that the government suggested that she be part of a unique space journey. Finally, Brenda was a real musical astronaut, and had gone far beyond her first ambition of playing drums in a band.
Years later, when asked how she had achieved all this, she thought for a moment, and said: ''If those old people next – door hadn't mattered so much to me, I wouldn't have found a solution, and none of this would have ever happened.''Why did Brenda try to play in the strangest places?
| A．Because she didn't want others to hear her play. |
| B．Because she didn't mean to disturb others. |
| C．Because she didn't have her own room. |
| D．Because she didn’t like her neighbors. |
Brenda started to give concerts _______.
| A．after she practiced in her space bubble |
| B．when she became part of the unique space journey |
| C．after she became a real musicalastronaut |
| D．when people came to see her in the space bubble |
Brenda became famous because _______.
| A．she was good at music and science | B．she became a real musical astronaut |
| C．she invented a special way of practice | D．she played well and had a talent |
Which of the following can be used to describe Brenda?
| A．Kind, hardworking and clever. | B．Brave, kind and hardworking. |
| C．Lovely, brave and kind. | D．Nervous, kind and clever. |
It can be inferred from the text that: " _______".
| A．He laughs best who laughs last | B．It's never too old to learn |
| C．Two heads are better than one | D．One good turn deserves another |
The website FarmersOnly.com calls itself an online dating and friendship finder. The idea started in the mind of a man, Jerry Miller in Ohio. He wondered how farmers could meet new people who understand the life of a farmer. Jerry Miller is not a farmer but he represents a lot of farmers.
As he tells it, the idea for the site was planted when a farmer told him one day that she was recently divorced and would like to date. But someone would invite her to meet for coffee at nine o’clock at night, when she had to start her day at five the next morning.
So, in 2005, Jerry Miller launched his website. “You don’t have to be a farmer to be on FarmersOnly.com, but you do have to have the good old-fashioned traditional values of America’s Heartland.”
You also have to live in the United States or Canada to be a member of the site. Some services are free, but a full membership costs fifty dollars for a year. As of last week the site listed more than 58,000 members. Many of them are farmers in the United States. Others are students or workers involved in some way with agriculture. Jerry Miller tells us about thirty marriages in the last year have resulted from his website.
Some farmers have also found love through a group, Singles in Agriculture, which was formed as a nonprofit organization in 1986. It organizes gatherings that usually end with a dance, but is not a dating service. The purpose is to support educational and social activities that offer people a chance for friendship. Its website, singlesinag.org, says there are more than 1,000 members across the nation and as far away as France. Jerry Miller started singlesinag.org in order to .
| A．help farmers | B．support traditions |
| C．understand farmers | D．represent farmers |
What does the underlined sentence in Paragraph 2 indicate?
| A．She dislikes city lifestyle. |
| B．She prefers late night coffee. |
| C．Country life isn’t well understood. |
| D．It’s tiring to get up early. |
Which of the following is true of singlesinag.org?
| A．Its services are free. |
| B．It provides dating services. |
| C．Only farmers can become its members. |
| D．Farmers in France can’t benefit from it. |
The author of the text intends to .
| A．advertise for the two websites |
| B．introduce two websites |
| C．encourage social activities |
| D．urge readers to help farmers |
It can be inferred from the text that .
| A．all farmers desire marriage |
| B．farmers are easy to meet new people |
| C．more farmers get divorced in the USA |
| D．the Internet helps improve farmers’ social life |
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