Even for a civilization as advanced as the Harappan, a second drought was perhaps one too many. The climate disaster may be what drove the ancient society to disappear step by.
The Harappan started in the Indus valley around 5200 years ago, strongest around 2600 BC. Much about them is unknown. Yet archaeological remains tell the story of the people, skilled in trade and city planning, and particularly good at controlling water. Their huge cities, complete with excellent systems for underground water and public baths, existed long before the Roman Empire.
But by 1900 BC, their society seemed to be on the fall, and by 1300 BC, the Harappan civilizations had broken down. Several ideas have been put forward to explain the downfall, including invasion and climate change. One recent study refers to a major drought in the northern half around 4200 years ago. This event was recently considered as the start of the Meghalayan period. It is thought to have broken up climate systems around the world, including the summer monsoon rainfall the Harappan depended on.
Nick Scroxton at University College Dublin, Ireland, and his team are now challenging this idea after studying 10 ancient records. They found some facts of a sudden drought starting around 4260 years ago. The study suggests the Harappan faced a sharp decrease in winter rain. “The civilization suffered, that's for sure,” says Scroxton. But that wasn't the end of the Harappan. “Their politics might change, the crops might change, the location of their cities changes, but they adapt,” says Scroxton.
Some 300 years later, however, just as the winter rains were starting to recover, a hottest drought kicked off. This was a slowing reduction in the sum monsoon rains over several centuries. Scroxton and his team say this second drought changed the Harappan into a poor society that disappeared at last.
1. What is the second paragraph mainly about?| A．The trade with the Roman Empire. | B．The site of the Harappan civilization. |
| C．The rise of the Harappan civilization. | D．The similarities between Roman and Harappan. |
| A．By tracking the rainfall. | B．By moving into the city. |
| C．By building climate systems. | D．By researching ancient records. |
| A．The monsoon rainfall. | B．Double climate disaster. |
| C．The invasion of Roman. | D．The change of the cities. |
相似题推荐
【推荐1】Recorded lectures have become a part of course instruction during the COVID-19 pandemic, and college students often try to watch these recordings at double their normal speed or even faster. But does comprehension (理解) suffer as a result?
Surprisingly, no-up to a point. A new UCLA study has found learning and knowledge memory is not negatively affected when students watch recorded lectures at faster playback speeds. However, comprehension was found to suffer when playback reached 2.5 times normal speed.
The study divided 231 students into four different playback speed groups (normal speed, 1.5X, 2X and 2.5X). Each group watched a pair of short lecture videos and then immediately completed a 40-question comprehension test.
Little difference was found between the normal playback speed group and the 1.5 times or double speed groups. They all performed similarly on the tests, but the group watching videos at 2.5 times normal speed didn’t do as well. A second test a week later saw similar results, suggesting neither short- or long-term comprehension was negatively affected by watching videos at faster playback speeds.
“Surprisingly, video speed had little effect on both immediate and delayed comprehension until learners go beyond twice the normal speed,” explains lead author Dillon Murphy.
Murphy says students should be careful about how they use faster playback in terms of finding optimal study strategies. If students choose to speed up lecture playback, Murphy says, they should use the time saved for additional learning.
“While our study didn’t show obvious negative results to watching lecture videos at up to double the normal speed, we are against using this strategy to simply save time,” Murphy says. “Students can deepen learning if they spend the time saved on things like reviewing flashcards or taking practice tests.”
1. Why does the author mention the question in paragraph 1?| A．To express his doubts. | B．To introduce the topic for discussion. |
| C．To describe recorded lectures. | D．To compare different ideas. |
| A．By using earlier studies. | B．By building models. |
| C．By comparing experiment data. | D．By interviewing teachers. |
| A．best | B．simplified | C．complex | D．acceptable |
| A．To check the speed of understanding. |
| B．To prove how important taking notes is. |
| C．To find the most appropriate learning approach. |
| D．To see how viewing speeds affect learning effects. |
【推荐2】According to German researchers, forcing people to be happy and polite all the time is likely to make them sick. They believe most at risk are air hostesses, call center operators, waiters and other workers in close contact with the public.
Professor Dicter Zapf, a researcher into human emotions at Frankfurt University, said false friendliness led to depression, stress and a lowering of the immune(免疫) system. This can lead to more serious illness such as high blood pressure and so on.“Every time a person is forced to repress his true feelings, there are negative consequences for his health,”said Professor Dieter Zapf.
In order to reach these conclusions, for over two years, 4,000 volunteers including shop workers and air hostess, were put in an imaginary call center and abused by customers. Some of the participants were allowed to answer back, while others had to be polite and friendly all the time.
Those who stood up to clients(顾客) had a rapid heartbeat for a brief period, but for those who had to remain friendly, their heart was still racing long after the client had hung up.
The conclusion reached by the researchers was that“being friendly against one's will causes nothing but stress”.
Professor Zapf said, “We are all able to control our emotions, but it becomes difficult to do this over a long period as air hostesses are forced to on long flights.”
“These people need space away from the passengers where they can be on their own and let their feelings run free. We have to get away from the ‘customer is king’ attitude and show more respect to those working in the service industries.”
1. Who are most at risk when forced to be polite all the time?| A．Those connected with the public. | B．Those in service industries. |
| C．Those with high blood pressure. | D．Those working at the airport. |
| A．cause conflicts among people | B．improve people’s relationship |
| C．control high blood pressure | D．lead to more serious illnesses |
| A．About 4000 voluntary students took part in the research. |
| B．Those allowed to answer back had a slow heartbeat. |
| C．Those forced to remain polite are likely to have heart problems. |
| D．Air hostess should be allowed to lose their temper on long flights. |
| A．To appeal to people to respect those in service industries. |
| B．To persuade people out of working in service industries. |
| C．To tell people to take the “customer is king” attitude. |
| D．To remind people in service industries to control their emotions. |
【推荐3】The most common way of studying diversity is by setting camera traps. But a new study finds that a better answer might be in the water. Research finds sampling large amounts of stream water, looking for environmental DNA (eDNA) can measure the diversity of mammals just as effectively as camera trap monitoring.
“Camera trapping can trace a range of species effectively, but requires trained and skilled observers,” Arnaud Lyet, a conservation scientist says. “Besides, camera trap surveys are still too expensive to be used in large amounts.”
As animals move through the environment, they drop cells with DNA through their skin, hair, and feces. By sampling water, researchers can access that eDNA. The DNA in a sample is analyzed through a process which recognizes short sequences of DNA. These sequences are compared to those of known species in order to identify them.
For their work, in 2018 the researchers set up 57 camera traps and took water samples from 42 locations to match the camera traps in the South Chilcotin mountains in British Columbia. The next year, they kept the same camera, and collected 36 samples from only two large streams. They found the eDNA sampling detected the presence of 35 mammal species and cost $46,415. The camera trap survey detected 29 mammal species and cost $64,195.
“Our results suggest that the application of eDNA sampling strategies could change how biodiversity is monitored in large landscapes, providing decision-makers with more complete biodiversity data, improving our ability to safeguard biodiversity,” Lyet says. “A single sample containing eDNA can be used to potentially detect the presence of any organism from a bacteria to a large elephant. eDNA can be used to monitor endangered species, study the impact of climate change, warn us of invisible threats, and access the overall health of ecosystem.”
1. What is the distinct advantage of sampling water strategy?| A．It can be used in large areas. | B．It requires skilled researchers. |
| C．It can trace many species. | D．It is relatively cost-effective. |
| A．Collecting animal's feces. | B．Analyzing DNA sequence. |
| C．Accessing animal's DNA. | D．Collecting stream water. |
| A．By making a comparison. | B．By working out the data. |
| C．By analyzing former studies. | D．By sampling stream water. |
| A．Offering the government advice. | B．Protecting people from dangers. |
| C．Monitoring the ecosystem. | D．Influencing the environment |
【推荐1】About a decade ago, wearing hanfu, a traditional style of clothing worn by China’s Han ethnic group, was considered more of a hobby, with a relatively small number of Chinese individuals participating in the trend. Currently, there is a notable shift as young consumers in China are urging brands to acknowledge their heritage and adapt to it to influence the market. The hanfu movement rather suits this rhetoric, advocating cultural autonomy infused with a touch of patriotism.
Many Chinese Gen Zs have come to realize that fashion is not exclusive to Western styles; they have also recognized the allure and appeal of their own traditional garments. Cultural confidence has played a significant role in popularizing these traditional clothing choices.
Jun Baoyuan, a 24-year-old graduate from the Beijing Institute of Technology, said that people who develop an interest in hanfu will in turn learn more about the traditional skills rooted in Chinese culture, including cloth weaving and traditional jewelry handicrafts. She also noted that many of her close friends today had entered her life as a result of their shared passion for hanfu. Jun often shares her hanfu-clad adventures on Douyin, where she has gathered a 60,000-strong following.
As her reputation as a high-flying hanfu model grew, she started collaborating with museums in China and participating in a range of events. But Jun also warned that with the popularity of hanfu events and the rising number of enthusiasts who want to join the movement, some merchants have fueled unfair competition by selling poor-quality hanfu garments at high prices. These days, making sure you get your money’s worth requires a good deal of knowledge.
The hanfu movement is among the most significant currents in the contemporary young Chinese cultural narrative. They have brought a sense of pride and Chinese aesthetics to social media, where overseas Chinese, too, can express their heritage. Psychologically and culturally, the hanfu movement is playing a major role in shaping the new generation of young Chinese, blending modernity with tradition. It is nothing short of remarkable to see China’s Gen Zs coming together to embrace and celebrate their customs. Although the future path of the hanfu movement has yet to unveil itself, it’s surely a phenomenon worth monitoring. The revival of Chinese culture has gained force and shows no signs of slowing down anytime soon.
1. What contributes to the revival of hanfu?| A．The brands’ desire for more profit. |
| B．The experts’ advocacy of patriotism. |
| C．The youth’s recognition of traditional culture. |
| D．The economic development of Han ethnic group. |
| A．She is expert in hand-made products. |
| B．She gained popularity for her adventures. |
| C．She cooperated with museums for her reputation. |
| D．She expanded her social circle thanks to her passion. |
| A．Disapproval. | B．Objective. | C．Suspicious. | D．Defensive. |
| A．The future prospect of the hanfu movement. |
| B．The great significance of the hanfu movement. |
| C．The potential risks coming with the hanfu movement. |
| D．The Gen Zs’ quality reflected by the hanfu movement. |
【推荐2】Four days before Christmas in 2017, a clay thumb disappeared from the Franklin Institute in Philadelphia. It originally belonged to a sculpture of a Terracotta Warrior from Xi’an, China.
Now, with help from the police, the thumb and hand have been reunited. The theft took place during ＂Ugly Sweater Party＂ on December 21, which was designed to attract new visitors to the museum over the holidays. During the party, the door to the Terracotta Warriors exhibition was closed to the public, the lights were turned off, and a rope was placed outside the entrance. But these measures didn’t work to keep out even the most stupid invaders. At 9:11 pm, a twenty something in a green sweater and Phillies hat sneaked into the closed exhibition with two friends. He looked at the statues, using his cell phone as a flashlight. Then he took a selfie, with his arm around that sculpture. The theft occurred two minutes later, at 9:19 pm. He ＂put his hand on the left hand of the Cavalryman＂ and ＂appeared to break something off from the Cavalryman’s left hand and put it in his left front pocket.＂ The thumb thief, 24-year-old Michael Rohana, made his fatal mistake when he talked excitedly to his friends. After that, the police tracked Rohana. In front of his father, Rohana admitted that he had hidden the thumb in his desk drawer. The thumb was estimated to be worth about $5,000. Rohana was arrested.
Keep that in mind the next time you decide to take a selfie with a priceless statue: In 2015, two tourists in the Italian town of Cremona destroyed part of an 18th-century sculpture while climbing on it to take a selfie; in 2016 a tourist in Lisbon damaged a 16th-century sculpture of a Portuguese king while angling for a selfie; in February 2017, a visitor to the Hirshhorn Museum unintentionally broke up one of Yayoi Kusama’s spotted pumpkins.
1. What happened to the Terracotta Warrior?| A．It was stolen. | B．It was damaged. |
| C．It was redesigned. | D．It joined in a party. |
| A．Museum staff. | B．Terracotta Warriors. |
| C．Rohana and his friends. | D．All the participants to the party. |
| A．He threw it away. | B．He kept it secretly. |
| C．He sold it at a high price. | D．He returned it to the museum. |
| A．To advise visitors not to take selfies at tourist attractions. |
| B．To warn visitors to be more careful while taking selfies. |
| C．To list some priceless statues destroyed by visitors. |
| D．To describe the disadvantages of taking selfies. |
【推荐3】A vague image shows a nearly naked man in a vast field of rainforest, spear held up to the sky and pointed at the helicopter circling above him—a man defending his homeland and people from outside influence.
This very scene made front-page news some years ago in the UK. It instantly highlighted the loss of ancestral homelands some tribal communities face as a result of ever-expanding plantations. However, bad news has a way of hitting the headlines, so we’re of the opinion that all aboriginal communities are in decline-and that’s not true.
During my travels through India, Afghanistan and Pakistan in the early nineties, I spent some time living with the Kalash, a tribe that inhabits three valleys in the Hindu Kush mountain range. I became firm friends with Saifullah, the chief spokesperson, and we’re still in touch to this day.
Back then I remember talking to a very serious aid worker in the American Club in Peshawar who told me straightly that the Kalash, surrounded by conservative Islam, had no chance of survival and would be gone in 10 years. That was 25 years ago. When I caught up with Saifullah recently, asked what his response was to those who believe Kalash culture is dying.
“It’s not true,” he declared. “The Kalash culture and community is as strong today as it was when you first came. We still have our festivals. We still have a shaman and bow shakers. an Oazis who are holding the culture. the religion. Our younger people are becoming prouder of the culture they know they are different and they like it. Many are learning the old ways from the fathers,” he added.
Will Millard, a TV presenter who spent a year living with the Korawai of West Papua, agree “Perhaps tribal communities aren’t in decline, but just in transition (转型),” he told me.. “As human society, we are in a constant state of change. We accuse them of losing their culture because they’re wearing clothes, or using a gun instead of arrows, but a T-shirt doesn’t make them any of a Korawai man. Culture lives below the surface,” added Millard.
1. What is the purpose of paragraph 1?| A．To introduce the topic of the text. | B．To call on people to protect forests. |
| C．To show conflicts between humans. | D．To describe tribal communities’ condition. |
| A．Skeptical. | B．Disapproving. | C．Uncaring. | D．Ambiguous. |
| A．The Kalash culture has been declining. |
| B．The younger generation have lost their traditions. |
| C．Original culture has made the Kalash richer |
| D．The younger generation have become more aware of their culture’s uniqueness. |
| A．Tribal culture is worth preserving. |
| B．Tribal communities have been damaged. |
| C．Tribal communities are not in decline but in transition. |
| D．Traditional communities’ lives are changing. |
【推荐1】Record fires sweeping across the Amazon this month have been grabbing global headlines as scientists and environmental groups are worried that they will worsen climate change crisis and threaten biodiversity.
As the largest rainforest in the world, the Amazon is often called “the lungs of the world”. It is also home to about 3 million species of plants and animals, and 1 million native people. The vast areas of rainforest play an important role in the world’s ecosystem because they absorb heat instead of it being reflected back into the atmosphere. They also store carbon dioxide and produce oxygen, ensuring that less carbon is released, mitigating the effects of climate change.
“Any forest destroyed is a threat to biodiversity and the people who use that biodiversity,” Thomas Lovejoy, an ecologist at George Mason University told National Geographic. “The overwhelming threat is that a lot of carbon goes into the atmosphere,” he stressed. “In the midst of the global climate crisis, we cannot afford more damage to a major source of oxygen and biodiversity. The Amazon must be protected,” U.N. Secretary General Antonio Guterres said.
Data from the National Institute for Space Research (INPE) show that the number of forest fires in Brazil quickly increased by 82 percent from January to August this year from a year ago. A total of 71,497 forest fires were registered in the country in the first eight months of 2019, up from 39,194 in the same period in 2018, INPE said. “We estimate that the forest areas in the Brazilian Amazon have decreased something between 20 and 30 percent compared to the last 12 months,” Carlos Nobre, a researcher at the University of Sao Paulo, told German broadcaster Deutsche Welle.
Brazil owns about 60 percent of the Amazon rainforest, whose degradation could have severe consequences for global climate and rainfall. The extent of the area ruined by fires has yet to be determined, but the emergency has transcended (超出) Brazil’s borders, reaching Peruvian, Paraguayan and Bolivian regions.
1. What is the second paragraph mainly talking about?| A．The effects of climate change. | B．The role of the Amazon rainforest. |
| C．The results of the Amazon rainforest fires. | D．The causes of the decreasing biodiversity. |
| A．The biodiversity makes the rainforests unique. |
| B．The rainforest fires result in serious consequences. |
| C．The global climate crisis brings more rainforest fires. |
| D．The dry weather leads to the rainforest fires. |
| A．To prove the importance of rainforest. | B．To show the influence of forest fires. |
| C．To explain the process of the research. | D．To present the reduction of rainforest areas. |
| A．The climate change crisis is worsening. | B．The forest areas are on the decline. |
| C．“The lungs of the earth” is burning. | D．The world’s ecosystem is under attack. |
It is the elephant’s great desire for food that makes it a disturber of the environment and an important builder of its habitat. In its continuous search for the 300 pounds of plants it must have every day, it kills small trees and under-bushes, and pulls branches off big trees. This results in numerous open spaces in both deep tropical forests and in the woodlands that cover part of the African savannas. In these open spaces are numerous plants in various stages of growth that attract a variety of other plant-eaters.
Take the rain forests for example. In their natural state, the spreading branches overhead shut out sunlight and prevent the growth of plants on the forest floor. By pulling down trees and eating plants, elephants make open spaces, allowing new plants to grow on the forest floor. In such situations, the forests become suitable for large hoofed plant-eaters to move around and for small plant-eaters to get their food as well.
What worries scientists now is that the African elephant has become an endangered species. If the elephant disappears, scientists say, many other animals will also disappear from vast areas of forest and savanna, greatly changing and worsening the whole ecosystem.
1. What does the underlined phrase “setting the terms” most probably mean?
| A．Improving the quality. |
| B．Worsening the state. |
| C．Fixing the time. |
| D．Deciding the conditions. |
| A．showing the effect and then explaining the causes |
| B．giving examples |
| C．pointing out similarities and differences |
| D．describing the changes in space order |
| A．Forests and savannas as habitats for African elephants. |
| B．The eating habit of African elephants. |
| C．Disappearance of African elephants. |
| D．The effect of African elephants’ search for food. |
| A．They are home to many endangered animals. |
| B．They result from the destruction of rain forests. |
| C．They are attractive to plant-eating animals of different kinds. |
| D．They provide food mainly for African elephants. |
【推荐3】Research suggests that sleeping in a moderately lit room could affect metabolic (新陈代谢的) and cardiovascular health compared with napping in a room with dimmer light.
In a study published in PNAS, researchers at Northwesterm University had two groups of 10 young adults sleep in differently lit rooms. One group slept in rooms with dim light for two nights; the other slept one night in a room with dim light and the next in a room with moderate overhead light—about the equivalent of an cloudy day. Participants wore heart monitors at night. In the morning, they did a variety of glucose (葡萄糖) tests.
Both groups got the same amount of sleep but their bodies experienced very different nights. Both groups responded well to insulin (胰岛素) the first night, when they both slept in dim lighting. On the second night, however, the group sleeping in brighter lighting didn’t respond as well to insulin. The dim light sleepers’ insulin resistance scores fell about 4 percent on the second night, while the bright sleepers’ rose about 15 percent. Their heart rates were faster on the bright night, too.
The heightened heart rate and other measures led the researchers to conclude that light activates the sympathetic nervous system, which usually dominates bodily functions during the day. “Just a single night of exposure to moderate room lighting during sleep can damage glucose and cardiovascular (心血管的) regulation, which are risk factors for heart disease, diabetes and metabolic syndrome,” said Phyllis Zee, chief of sleep medicine at Northwestern University Feinberg School of Medicine and a Northwestern Medicine physician who led the study, in a news release. “It’s important for people to avoid or minimize the amount of light exposure during sleep.”
The study was small and onlyced subjects for a limited time. More investigation is needed, the researchers write, but light exposure during sleep “could have implications for those living in modern societies where indoor and outdoor nighttime light exposure is increasingly widespread.”
1. At which stage of the research is Paragraph 3 mainly about ?| A．Making a question. | B．Thinking of a method. |
| C．Drawing a conclusion. | D．Collecting the results. |
| A．Outdoor nighttime light exposure will not damage one’s health. |
| B．Those exposed to light often may suffer from heart disease and diabetes |
| C．Daily bodily functions have nothing to do with the sympathetic nervous system |
| D．Phyllis Zee suggests people maximize the amount of light exposure during sleep. |
| A．A guidebook. | B．A news report. |
| C．A health magazine. | D．A medical advertisement. |
【推荐1】In the long dispute over whether dogs are smarter than cats, a recent study published in the journal Learning & Behavior suggests that dogs are no more exceptional than other animals when it comes to smartness and intelligence.
The news is sure to cause the debate among dog owners and scientists who study dog behaviors. The authors reviewed existing studies and data on animal cognition (认知) and found that while dogs are smart and trainable, they are not “super smart”, despite what most dog owners will tell you. Dog research was quite popular in the 1990s and continues to be so. When it came to other animals, though, scientific studies on intelligence were barely involved in, despite evidence to suggest that horses, chimpanzees ( 黑猩猩 ) and cats had tricks of their own. Almost everything a dog claimed to do, other animals could do too.
Researchers set out to test the supposition (假设，猜想). They compared dog cognition with members of three similar groups: meat-eating animals, social hunters and farm animals. Among the animals they studied were wolves, cats, chimpanzees, dolphins, horses and pigeons. What they found was that “dog cognition does not look exceptional”. Dogs can not use tools, unlike dolphins, New Caledonian crows and chimpanzees, which have been observed using plant stems to hunt for termites (白蚁). Homing pigeons are trained to fly home, sometimes crossing hundreds of miles of unfamiliar area. At the same time, farm animals share similar characters with their dog partners. Horses, like dogs, perform complex tasks. And cats? They have more in common with dogs than one might think. Still it is much easier to show intelligence in dogs because they like to be trained. Dogs are not smarter than they are supposed to be, given what they are.
1. What opinion does the recent study hold about dogs?| A．They can be trained to do many things. |
| B．They don’t have any intelligent advantage. |
| C．They’re lazy compared with chimpanzees. |
| D．They show exceptional smartness when trained. |
| A．By referring to existing studies and data. |
| B．By comparing animals’ cognition ability. |
| C．By questionnaire surveys on dog owners. |
| D．By observing different animals’ behaviors. |
| A．Cats can use tools to fish. |
| B．Cats can go home from far away. |
| C．Cats can learn to do complex tasks. |
| D．Cats are more unwilling to be trained. |
| A．Cats are smarter than they were. |
| B．Dogs aren’t so clever as we think. |
| C．Any animal is smart and trainable. |
| D．All animals should be treated equally. |
【推荐2】You may not like it, but learning English is absolutely necessary if you want to succeed abroad. Not just that, you have to show your knowledge of the English language on one of the two major English proficiency(精通) tests: the IELTS or the TOEFL.
Which test you should take depends on your goal. The TOEFL remains the top exam in the U.S. But the IELTS is gaining ground in the U.S. and it has already been the preferred test in the U.K. and Australia. There are also differences in the test themselves. They both measure the four main language requirements: speaking, reading, writing and listening. However, the tests are very different in their forms and methodology. “Compared with the TOEFL, the IELTS test requires you to actually have a grasp of the language and ability to use it, rather than simply being well prepared for the test,” explained IELTS examiner Julian Fisher.
The key reasons for this are that the IELTS test requires fill-in answers besides multiple choice(选择题), and its speaking section is done with a real examiner instead of a computer. “The face-to-face interview with a trained speaker of English allows for real-life communication, which shows real academic(学业的) and workplace situations, ” said senior exam marketing officer Pang Shuai.
What scores do I need? For the IELTS, a band score of 5 to 7 is fine for the majority of undergraduate and post-graduate programs. For top schools, you will probably need at least a 7. When it comes to the TOEFL , there is a range. It all depends on the colleges. Ordinary schools will let you get by with a score as low as 60. For a top-tier university, on the other hand, you will need to score upward of 100 points on your TOEFL.
1. What does Paragraph 2 suggest?| A．The TOEFL score is preferred in Australian universities. |
| B．Universities in the U.K. mainly see students’ IELTS scores. |
| C．The IELTS is more widely accepted than the TOEFL by US. School. |
| D．In the U.S., the TOEFL score is not as important as it once was. |
| A．There are no fill-in answers in the TOEFL tests. |
| B．The IELTS tests focus more on test-taking skills. |
| C．The IELTS interviews test-takers on the computer. |
| D．The TOEFL checks four English skills, while the IELTS doesn’t. |
| A．More exams should take this exam form. |
| B．It is helpful in one’s studies and at work. |
| C．This exam form can make test-takers more relaxed. |
| D．A test-taker can score high simply by preparing well. |
| A．A 7 on the IELTS is probably a must. |
| B．A score of 60 on the TOEFL is enough. |
| C．You should take both the TOEFL and the IELTS. |
| D．You need a 7.5 on the IELTS for post-graduate programs. |
【推荐3】The spine (脊柱) stands at the center of your health, providing your body with structure and support. It also contains a major collection of nerves that deliver electric signals from the rest of the body to your brain. So it’s important to take care of it.
Staying in a good position is one of the most important things to keep your spine healthy. A proper position means standing or sitting while keeping your spins straight, except for its natural bending. Positions play a vital part even when you’re asleep. Stomach sleeping is far from a good idea. Many people prefer sleeping on their side, which is in the interests of their spine. Sleeping on your back has lots of benefits yet can cause lower back pain and put some pressure on your spine.
Staying still for too long — even if your position is good — can be hard on your back. Especially if you work at a task most of the day, it’s important to get up and stretch (伸展) periodically. Strength exercises with light weights like push-ups can also help by strengthening the muscles. However, don’t overdo the exercise, as repeated movements can hurt the muscles around the spine, as trying to lift heavy weights with poor technique.
Vitamins also affect the health of your spine. In particular, vitamin B and omega-3 fatty acids help keep nerves healthy. Another important part is vitamin D, which is required for strong bones. Vitamin D can come from some foods, but it’s also absorbed from sunlight, so it may help to do some exercises outside. At last, many of the actions necessary to keep a spine healthy are similar to those used to protect your health in other ways. So protect your back, and the rest of the body will benefit.
1. Which sleeping position is best for our spine according to the passage?A．  | B．  | C．  | D．  |
| A．Strengthening muscles around the spine. |
| B．Repeating a certain movement more. |
| C．Doing a proper amount of exercise. |
| D．Staying still in a good position. |
| A．Vitamin B reacts with omega-3 fatty acids. |
| B．Abundant vitamin D guarantees strong bones. |
| C．Vitamin D can’t be absorbed without sunlight. |
| D．Doing push-ups outside increases vitamin D intake. |
| A．Stay still, stay healthy |
| B．Good position, good spine |
| C．Healthy means, healthy spine |
| D．Proper exercise, proper weight |
