If your fingers get chilly all year round—even in the peak of summer—you’re not alone. Many people get cold hands during all of the seasons, due to a number of causes, from genetic to chronic illnesses.
Common reasons include being elderly and thin. If your hands are regularly cold or numb, however, it’s a good idea to see a doctor to rule out more serious causes. Cold hands are one of the symptoms of both anemia (贫血症) and hypothyroidism (甲状腺机能减退). Diabetes, which reduces blood circulation, can also trigger it. And if your heart is weak from heart disease, your body may prioritize sending blood to your core over your limbs.
For many others, cold hands are a sign they have a largely harmless condition called Raynaud’s disease. When any of us goes out in the cold, our bodies activate the muscles in our smallest blood vessels to make them even smaller—a survival mechanism to keep blood, and thus warmer temperatures, in our core. For people with Raynaud’s, this reaction is too strong, and instead of just a bit less blood going to their fingers, far too little gets there.
Raynaud’s is more common in women, and it most often develops before the age of 30. In fact, if you develop Raynaud’s when you’re older—usually after 40—it can be a sign of another underlying issue. That could be a smaller problem—a previous incident of frostbite (冻伤) or a sign of a more serious autoimmune condition, like lupus (狼疮).
For the majority of people living with Raynaud’s, medication won’t be necessary. However, a rare, more severe form of Raynaud’s affects less than one in 1,000 people. In these cases, blood can become completely blocked, causing sores on the hands. If they go untreated, it can lead to gangrene (坏疽) and, very rarely, amputation (截肢).
1. What’s the purpose of paragraph 1?| A．introduce a topic | B．present an argument |
| C．describe the characters | D．clarify his writing purpose |
| A．diabetes | B．heart disease | C．aging | D．obesity |
| A．It appears when blood vessels in your body overreact to high temperatures. |
| B．Males never suffer from it before the age of 30. |
| C．In some cases, it can be a sign of some health issues. |
| D．For most people, it is a serious health problem. |
| A．The reasons why people have cold hands |
| B．Ways to treat Raynaud’s disease and prevent cold hands |
| C．Medical research on Raynaud’s Disease |
| D．Disadvantages of cold hands |
相似题推荐
【推荐1】A disease called “Panama” is threatening supplies of the world’s most popular fruit—banana.
The disease started in Asia in the 1990s, and later spread to Africa and the Middle East. A new outbreak was discovered last year in Australia. World health officials worry that the disease could travel to Latin America, one of the top banana producers in the world.
This is a big concern because bananas are an important source (来源) of income and nutrients for millions of people. They are grown in 135 tropical (热带的) nations. The United Nations lists bananas as one of the most important foods, along with rice, wheat and corn.
Randy Ploetz, America’s top banana expert, explained Panama disease affects the Cavendish banana. The Cavendish is the most popular one of more than 500 kinds of bananas. “The industry is waking up to the problem,” Ploetz said. “If the disease spreads to Latin America, it could hurt the world’s economy along with food supplies for millions of people.”
Robert Bertram, chief scientist for the U.S. Agency for International Development (USAID), told VOA, “In Africa, Asia and tropical America, bananas are an important food source for more than 100 million people. As a cash crop, bananas are sold in local and international markets. Banana exports provide jobs and foreign money that producing countries need.”
Bertram said USAID is organizing a worldwide effort to stop the growth of Panama disease. At Wageningen University in the Netherlands, researchers are looking for Cavendish replacements. Their work is difficult. Researchers said a replacement will have to resist Panama disease, and survive the shipping time needed to get bananas to stores thousands of miles away from banana fields. And, yes, they will have to taste good.
1. Where was Panama disease recently found?| A．In Asia. | B．In the Middle East. |
| C．In Australia. | D．In Latin America. |
| A．Short supply of rice, wheat and corn. | B．Panama disease’s effects on bananas. |
| C．The popularity of 500 kinds of bananas. | D．Latin American nations’ poor economy. |
| A．Selling bananas in more international markets. |
| B．Providing more money for producing countries. |
| C．Finding replacements for Cavendish bananas. |
| D．Getting bananas stored miles away from fields. |
| A．Food and agriculture. | B．History and geography. |
| C．Modern technology. | D．Environmental pollution. |
【推荐2】When someone you care about has suffered a serious health event or is dealing with a life-threatening illness, it can be difficult to know what to say or do.
Offer your support. Your friend or loved one may be unwilling to ask for help, but it’s support from people like you that can make all the difference in their recovery. Offer to help with a specific task even if it’s simply to sit with them during or after treatment.
Listen. When you talk to someone with a serious illness, it’s natural to feel awkward or not know what to say.
Stay connected.
| A．Encourage your loved one to keep calm. |
| B．Some illnesses can involve long-term treatment. |
| C．But often what really counts is to listen to the person. |
| D．All you need to do is to present your determined attitude. |
| E．Your loved one is likely to experience some painful feelings. |
| F．Sometimes, the most important thing you can do is to be there. |
| G．Educate yourself about the illness but don’t give advice until asked. |
【推荐3】Poor Sleep and Loneliness: A Vicious Cycle?
The feeling of being lonely is the sense that you have less social contact with others than you want. It is not quite the same as the amount of social contact you have. Some people don’t engage that often with others, but they are perfectly fine with that, and so they don’t feel alone.
One area of research has focused specifically on the relationship between loneliness and sleep. There are several inter-related questions: Is feeling lonely related to the quality of people’s sleep? What aspects of sleep are related to loneliness? And does loneliness cause sleep problems, or do difficulties with sleeping lead to feelings of loneliness?
The relationship between loneliness and sleep was explored in a paper by Melanie Hom and Caol Chu in the September 2020 issue of Clinical Psychological Science. They analyzed the data of previous studies relating sleep quality to feelings of loneliness.
Although poor sleep and loneliness are closely related, it is hard to determine whether loneliness causes sleep difficulties or the reverse (相反).
If you are someone who has trouble sleeping, be aware that poor sleep lowers your resilience (复原力) overall. Among other things, it may make it harder for you to appreciate the social contacts you have.
| A．Long-term studies that follow the same people over time help. |
| B．If you have difficulty in social engagement, you may feel lonely. |
| C．Other people may spend a lot of time with others, but still long for more. |
| D．These issues are important because poor sleep can affect psychological health. |
| E．To solve the problem, you should monitor your sleeping quality and physical health. |
| F．If you have trouble sleeping, try spending more time reaching out to friends and loved ones. |
| G．The results indicate that the more sleep difficulties people express they have, the lonelier they feel. |
【推荐1】Since the days of Charles Darwin, the long necks of giraffes have been a textbook example of evolution. The theory goes that as giraffe ancestors competed for food, those with longer necks were able to reach higher leaves, getting a leg-up or neck-up over shorter animals.
But a very unusual prehistoric giraffe relative reveals that, in addition to finding food, fighting may have driven early neck evolution. In a study published Thursday in Science, a team of paleontologists described the Discokeryx(獬豸盘角鹿), a giraffe ancestor, as having a helmet-like head and large neck vertebrae(脊椎).The Discokeryx evolved like this to absorb and deliver skull-cracking collisions to seek mates and defeat competitors.
“It shows that giraffe evolution is not just lengthening the neck,” said Jin Meng,a paleontologist at the American Museum of Natural History and co-author of the new study.
Head-butting is an ancient and widespread form of conflict solution. Dinosaurs like Pachycephalosaurs have firm skulls(头骨), and knocking heads remain common in bighorn sheep, chameleons and even whales.
But the researchers suggested that the Discokeryx was uniquely expert at head-to-head fight. The team estimated that collisions between Discokeryxes were likely twice as forceful as head-butting muskoxen, which strike each other at nearly 25 mph.
The series of interlocking neck joints haven’t been discovered in any other vertebrate(脊椎动物),living or dead,giving the Discokeryx the greatest head-bashing equipment yet discovered, according to the researchers. “This animal is an extreme example of using head-butting as a fighting tool,” Meng said.
1. What do we know about the Discokeryx?| A．Its evolution helps make and bear crashes. |
| B．It has tiny neck vertebrae. |
| C．Its thin neck can stretch to find mates. |
| D．It has a horn-like head. |
| A．Whales move at the speed of 25 mph. |
| B．Muskoxen are good at giving a side attack. |
| C．Many vertebrates have amazing neck joints. |
| D．Discokeryxes hit opponents with big power. |
| A．How Jin Meng completed a research paper. |
| B．Why giraffes’ necks evolve so long. |
| C．How the impact force between Discokeryxes is measured. |
| D．Why giraffes’ development goes against Charles Darwin’s theory. |
| A．In a:history book. |
| B．In a story collection. |
| C．In a science magazine. |
| D．In a celebrity biography. |
The following experiment is an easy one that you can do at home. But make sure that you are supervised, because you will need to use matches. Now for the experiment！
What you need
•A hard-boiled egg without the shell
•A bottle with a neck slightly smaller than the egg
•A piece of paper
•A match
Method
1） Check that the egg will sit firmly on the neck of the bottle.
2） Tear the paper into strips and put the strips into the bottle.
3） Light the paper by dropping a burning match into the bottle.
4） Quickly sit the egg on the neck of the bottle.
Result
Astonishingly, the egg will be sucked into the bottle. Your friends will be amazed when you show them the experiment. But be careful when you handle matches.
Why it happened
As the paper burns, it needs oxygen and uses up the oxygen (air) in the bottle. The egg acts as a seal in the neck of the bottle, so no more air can get inside. This reduces the air pressure inside the bottle. The air pressure must equalize, so more air from outside must enter the bottle. The outside air pressure against the egg and then the egg is pushed into the bottle! This proves that air is all around and that it is pressing down on it.
1. Why is there the need to take care when you are doing the experiment?
| A．The bottle could break. |
| B．You need to light the paper with a match. |
| C．The egg needs to be shelled. |
| D．The egg has to be perfectly placed on the neck of the bottle. |
| A．equalize the air pressure inside and outside |
| B．make a seal in the neck of the bottle |
| C．finish up the oxygen inside the bottle |
| D．produce more oxygen inside the bottle |
| A．The oxygen inside the bottle sucked the egg in. |
| B．It became saft without the shell. |
| C．The neck of the bottle was wide enough. |
| D．The outside air pressure forced it into the bottle. |
| A．water pushes on your body when you swim underwater. |
| B．the earth is surrounded by a layer of air called the atmosphere. |
| C．the pressure of air around us has a powerful force. |
| D．the air pressure is not equalized around us. |
【推荐3】We have the most friends at the age of 26 after having spent the first quarter of our lives building up our friendship circle, a new research has claimed.
The research into friendship shows that our social circle peaks at 26 years and 7 months, at which we typically have five close friends. Women are the most popular at 25 years and 10 months, with men hitting the highest friendship point a little later at 27 years and 3 months.
The research, by Forever Friends, shows that about a third of adults meet their closest friends while at school, with about a fifth saying they meet them at work.
Social networks such as Facebook and Twitter now also play a major role in building new friendship. The research points out that 25 to 34-year-olds make 22 friends via Facebook, compared to 18 to 24-year-olds who make 12, and 35 to 44-year-olds who make just four.
Forever Friends’ relationship coach Sam Owen says, “It is no coincidence that over a third of us meet our best friends at school. It is a key time in our lives when friendship is growing through sharing notes, giving gifts, seeing each other regularly and laughing a lot. As adults we can often forget how powerful these small things are and how the little things can make a difference. ”
Later in life we find ourselves losing friends. Over half of us lose friendship through moving, while 36% say that over time they grow apart from close pals. Having children also causes 19% to drift away from childhood friends.
With growing pressures being put on friendship these days, it’s important to make time for our friendship.
1. How many friends can a 20-year-old college student make via Facebook?| A．4. | B．18. |
| C．12. | D．22. |
| A．how important making friends is |
| B．that friendship is not easy to keep |
| C．how much has been done to keep friendship |
| D．that friendship at school is important |
| A．make sense of | B．lose contact with |
| C．feel sorry for | D．make up with |
| A．a brochure | B．an advertisement |
| C．a textbook | D．a newspaper |
【推荐1】Escaping a fire is a serious matter. Knowing what to do during a fire can save a life. It is important to know the ways you can use and show them to every one in the family, such as stairways and fire escapes, but not elevators. From the lower floors of the building, escape through windows is possible. Learn the best way of leaving by the window with the least chance of serious injury. The second floor window is usually not very high from the ground. An average person hanging by the fingertips will have a drop of about six feet to the ground. It is about the height of an average man. Of course, it is safer to jump a short way than to stay in a burning building. Windows are also useful when you are waiting for help. Be sure to keep the door closed before opening the window. Otherwise, smoke and fire may be drawn into the room. Keep your head low at the window to be sure you get fresh air rather than smoke that may have leaked into the room. On a second or a third floor, the best windows for escape are those which open on a roof. From the roof a person can drop to the ground more safely. Dropping onto cement might end in injury. Bushes and grass can help to break a fall.
1. Which of the following should not be used when trying to escape a fire?| A．Elevators. | B．Windows. | C．Fire escapes. | D．Stairways. |
| A．About 12 feet. |
| B．About 6 feet to the ground. |
| C．Nearly the height of an average man. |
| D．Nearly 10 feet. |
| A．the only way of escaping a fire |
| B．the best place if you want to get out |
| C．safer than any other ways of escaping a fire |
| D．one of the possible ways to escape a fire |
| A．breathing smoke is not good for one’s health |
| B．smoke will enter the room by an open window when the door is closed |
| C．it is difficult for fresh air to reach the second floor |
| D．it is better to keep your head low when there is smoke in the room |
| A．Jumping out of the window onto the ground as fast as you can. |
| B．Before dropping onto some bushes,jump onto a roof. |
| C．Jumping first onto a roof and then on the cement. |
| D．Dropping onto the cement instead of bushes and grass. |
【推荐2】Life under lockdown (禁闭期) is strange and lonely but people are finding ways to come together and support those in need by volunteering. Here are just a few more ways you can take part in.
NHS Responders
After asking retired medical professionals to return to work, the government has also put out a call for 250,000 volunteers to support the NHS (National Health System). You can apply to be community response volunteer, collecting and delivering supplies for those in isolation (隔离); a patient transport volunteer, sending patients home, who recover and want to leave hospital；and an NHS transport volunteer, to assist with delivery of medical supplies.
GAILY Bakery
As well as baking breads and pastries for the general public, GAILY is supplying front-line NHS teams with fresh food, and they need more help to get it where it needs to be. If you want to lend a hand, drop them an email.
Re-engage
To provide care for the old, there is Re-engage, a voluntary group that helps reduce loneliness among old people and given that so many people are isolated because of the virus outbreak, they need more volunteers to become call companions. If you want to join them in the telephone befriending service, contact them at 1811 2256.
A Plate For London
This online platform helps match volunteers with Londoners in need. Now they are focusing on doorstep deliveries of food parcels and hot meals to children who rely on free school meals and those who have lost their jobs as a result of the widespread disease.
1. In NHS Responders,what is the duty of patient transport volunteer?| A．Picking up patients. | B．Sending patients home. |
| C．Moving patients to clinics. | D．Delivering supplies for patients. |
| A．NHS Responders. | B．GAILY Bakery. | C．Re-engage. | D．A Plate For London. |
| A．The old. | B．The volunteers. | C．The patients. | D．The jobless. |
【推荐3】How does an ecosystem (生态系统) work? What makes the populations of different species the way they are? Why are there so many flies and so few wolves? To find an answer, scientists have built mathematical models of food webs, noting who eats whom and how much each one eats.
With such models, scientists have found out some key principles operating in food webs. Most food webs, for instance, consist of many weak links rather than a few strong ones. When a predator (掠食动物) always eats huge numbers of a single prey (猎物) , the two species are strongly linked; when a predator lives on various species, they are weakly linked. Food webs may be dominated by many weak links because that arrangement is more stable over the long term. If a predator can eat several species, it can survive the extinction (灭绝) of one of them. And if a predator can move on to another species that is easier to find when a prey species becomes rare, the switch allows the original prey to recover. The weak links may thus keep species from driving one another to extinction.
Mathematical models have also revealed that food webs may be unstable, where small changes of top predators can lead to big effects throughout entire ecosystems. In the 1960s, scientists proposed that predators at the top of a food web had a surprising amount of control over the size of populations of other species—including species they did not directly attack.
And unplanned human activities have proved the idea of top-down control by top predators to be true. In the ocean, we fished for top predators such as cod on an industrial scale, while on land, we killed off large predators such as wolves. These actions have greatly affected the ecological balance.
Scientists have built an early-warning system based on mathematical models. Ideally, the system would tell us when to adapt human activities that are pushing an ecosystem toward a breakdown or would even allow us to pull an ecosystem back from the borderline. Prevention is key, scientists say, because once ecosystems pass their tipping point (临界点) , it is remarkably difficult for them to return.
1. A strong link is found between two species when a predator ______.| A．has a wide food choice | B．can easily find new prey |
| C．sticks to one prey species | D．can quickly move to another place |
| A．The prey species they directly attack will die out. |
| B．The species they indirectly attack will turn into top predators. |
| C．The living environment of other species will remain unchanged. |
| D．The populations of other species will experience unexpected changes. |
| A．Uncontrolled human activities greatly upset ecosystems. |
| B．Rapid economic development threatens animal habitats. |
| C．Species of commercial value dominate other species. |
| D．Industrial activities help keep food webs stable. |
| A．By getting illegal practices under control. |
| B．By stopping us from killing large predators. |
| C．By bringing the broken-down ecosystems back to normal. |
| D．By signaling the urgent need for taking preventive action. |
【推荐1】An eight-year-old child heard her parents talking about her little brother. All she knew was that he was very sick and they had no money. Only a very expensive operation could save him now and there was no one to lend them the money. When she heard her daddy say to her tearful mother, "Only a miracle（奇迹）can save him now, " the little girl went to her bedroom and pulled her money from its hiding place and counted it carefully.
She hurried to a drugstore with the money in her hand.
"And what do you want? " asked the salesman. "It's for my little brother, " the girl answered. "He's really, really sick and I want to buy a miracle. " "Pardon? " said the salesman.
"My brother Andrew has something bad growing inside his head and my daddy says only a miracle can save him. So how much does a miracle cost?” "We don't sell a miracle here, child. I'm sorry, " the salesman said with a smile.
"Listen, if it isn't enough, I can try and get some more. Just tell me how much it costs."
A well-dressed man heard it and asked, "What kind of a miracle does your brother need?"
"I don't know, “she answered with her eyes full of tears. "He's really sick and mum says he needs an operation. But my daddy can't pay for it, so I have brought all my money."
“How much do you have?" asked the man. "$ 1.11, but I can try and get some more," she answered.
"Well, what luck? smiled the man. " $ 1.11, the price of a miracle for your little brother. "
He took up the girl's hand and said, "Take me to where you live. I want to see your brother and meet your parents. Let's see if I have the kind of miracle you need."
That well-dressed man was Dr. Carlton Armstrong, a famous doctor. The operation was successful and it wasn't long before Andrew was home again.
How much did the miracle cost?
1. In the eye of the little girl, a miracle might be.| A．something interesting | B．something beautiful |
| C．some good food | D．some wonderful medicine |
| A．she had still kept some money |
| B．she hoped not to be refused |
| C．there was no need to worry about money |
| D．she thought money was easy to get |
| A．The girl's love for her brother. | B．The girl's money. |
| C．The medicine from the drugstore. | D．Nobody can tell. |
| A．Andrew was in fact not so sick as they had thought |
| B．the little girl is lovely but not so clever |
| C．the doctor didn't ask for any pay |
| D．a miracle is sure to happen if you keep on |
【推荐2】I never saw my father home from work late or ill, nor did I ever see my father take a “night out with the boys”. He had no hobbies but just took care of his family.
For 22 years, since I left home for college, my father called me every Sunday at 9:00 am. He was always interested in my life----how my family was doing. The calls even came when he and my mother were in Australia, England or Florida.
Nine years ago when I bought me first house, my father, 67 years old, spent eight hours a day for three days, painting my house. He would not allow me to pay someone to have it done. All he asked was a glass of iced tea, and that I hold a paintbrush for him and talk to him. But I was too busy, for I had a law practice to run, and I could not take the time to hold the paintbrush, or talk to my father.
Five years ago, my 71-year-old father spent five hours putting together a swing set (秋千) for my daughter. Again, all he asked was that I get him a glass of iced tea, and talk to him. But again, I had laundry to do, and the house to clean.
The morning on Sunday, January 16, 1995, my father telephoned me as usual, this time he had seemed to have forgotten some things we had discussed the week before. I had to get to church, and I cut the conversation short.
The call came at 4:40 am. That day my father was sent to hospital in Florida. I got on a plane immediately, and I vowed (发誓) that when I arrived, I would make up for the lost time, and have a nice long talk with him and really get to know him.
I arrived in Florida at 1:00 am, but my father had passed away at 9:12 pm. This time it was he who did not have time to talk, or time to wait for me.
In the years since his death I have learnt much about my father, and even more about every single day.
1. We know from the reading that the father_____.| A．liked to paint houses |
| B．had no friends around him |
| C．was not healthy in his youth |
| D．thought of his family as his all |
| A．could only afford a glass of iced tea |
| B．was too busy to talk to her father |
| C．could do nothing but hold a paintbrush |
| D．spent eight hours a day working with her father |
| A．seemed to be a little different |
| B．had no time to phone her as usual |
| C．became interested in church |
| D．had forgotten to discuss some things with her |
| A．Painting Houses |
| B．Daughter’s Family |
| C．Father and I |
| D．Father’s phone calls |
【推荐3】Amazon Best Sellers: Best Books
A Higher Loyalty: Truth, Lies, and Leadership-April 17, 2018 by James Comey
In his book, James Comey, the former FBI director, shares his experiences from his career of American government, exploring what good, ethical（道德的）leadership looks like. His journey provides a remarkable lesson in what makes an effective leader.
Hardcover $17.99
12 Rules for Life: An Antidote to Chaos- January 23, 2018 by Jordan B. Peterson
What does everyone in the modern world need to know? Famous psychologist Jordan B. Peterson's answer combines the truths of ancient tradition with the findings of scientific research.
Hardcover $15.57
How to Read a Book: The Classic Guide to Intelligent Reading Revised Edition by Mortimer J. Adler, Charles Van Doren
With half a million copies in print, How to Read a Book is the best guide to reading comprehension for the general reader, completely rewritten and updated with new material.Originally published in 1940, this book is a rare phenomenon, a living classic that introduces and clarifies the various levels of reading and how to achieve them—from elementary reading, through systematic skimming, to speed reading.
Paperback $10.31
Everybody, Always: Becoming Love in a World Full of Setbacks and Difficult People- April 17, 2018 by Bob Goff
What happens when we stop avoiding difficult people and simply love everyone? In his inspiring follow-up to the New York Times bestselling phenomenon Love Does, Bob Goff takes readers on a journey into the secret of living without fear, care, restriction, or worry.
Paperback $10.19
1. If you want to become an effective leader, which book can you try?
| A．How to Read a Book | B．A Higher Loyalty |
| C．12 Rules for Life | D．Everybody, Always |
| A．It has been published since 1940. |
| B．It is completely the same as the original one. |
| C．It is written by Mortimer J. Adler alone. |
| D．It is about living without fear. |
| A．All the four books are paperbacks. |
| B．Jordan B. Peterson is the former FBI director. |
| C．Paperbacks are cheaper than hardcovers. |
| D．Bob Goff is a famous psychologist. |
