【推荐1】Songs that make our hearts happy can make them stronger too, US researchers reported on Tuesday.
They found that when people listened to their favorite music, their blood vessels (血管) dilated in much the same way as when they are laughing, or taking blood medications.
"We have a pretty impressive effect," said Dr Michael Miller, director of preventive cardiology (心脏病学) at the University of Maryland Medical Center in Baltimore.
"Blood vessel diameter improved," he said. "The vessel opened up pretty significantly. You can see the vessels opening up with other activities such as exercise." A similar effect is seen with drugs such as statins.
When blood vessels open up more, blood flows more smoothly and is less likely to form the clots (凝块) that cause heart attacks and strokes. "We are not saying to stop your statins or not to exercise but rather to add this to an overall program of heart             health," said Miller, who presented his findings to a meeting of the American Heart Association in New Orleans.
Miller's team tested 10 healthy, non-smoking men and women, who were told to bring their favorite music. They spent half an hour listening to the recordings and half an hour listening to music they said made them feel anxious while the researchers             did ultrasound tests designed to show blood vessel function.
Compared to their normal baseline measurements, blood vessel diameter increased 26 percent on average when the volunteers heard their joyful music. Listening to music they disliked — in most cases in this group heavy metal — blood vessels narrowed             by six percent, Miller said.
Miller said he came up with the idea after discovering that laughter caused blood to literally flow more smoothly. "I asked myself what other things make us feel really good, besides calories from dark chocolate of course. Music came to mind. ...             It makes me feel really good," he said.
Most of the volunteers chose country music but Miller said the style is not so important rather than what pleases each individual.
1. The underlined word dilate (in paragraph 2) is closest in meaning to “_____”.

A．widen

B．move

C．change

D．increase

2. According to the passage, which of the following will NOT cause blood vessels to open up?

A．Taking exercise.	B．Listening to unpleasant music.
C．Bursting into laughter.	D．Taking drugs like statins.

3. It can be inferred from the passage that _____.

A．blood clots are caused by heart attacks and strokes

B．music is better than chocolate for your health

C．the style of music has different effects on different people

D．a person’s overall health is more influenced by how much exercise he gets

4. What is the passage possibly taken out from?

A．A scientific journal.	B．A school textbook.
C．A medical brochure.	D．A local newspaper.

5. What’the best title of the passage?

A．Pleasant Music Cures	B．Research into Blood Vessel
C．Music and Heart Attack	D．Music and Happiness

【推荐1】After a busy day of work and play, the body needs to rest. Sleep is necessary for good health. During this time, the body recovers from the activities of the previous day. The rest that you get while sleeping makes it possible for your body to prepare itself for the next day.

There are four levels of sleep, each being a little deeper than the one before. As you sleep, your body relaxes little by little. Your heart beats more slowly, and your brain slows down. After you reach the fourth level, your body shifts back and forth from one level of sleep to the other.

Although your mind slows down, you will dream from time to time. Scientists who study sleep point out that when you are dreaming, your eyeballs begin to move more quickly (although your eyelids are closed). This stage of sleep is called REM, which stands for rapid eye movement.

If you have trouble falling asleep, some people suggest breathing very slowly and very deeply. Other people believe that drinking warm milk will make you drowsy. There is also an old suggestion that counting sheep will put you to sleep.

1. The text makes us know that not getting enough sleep might make you ________.

A．suffer form poor health	B．enjoy more
C．dream more often	D．breathe quickly

2. During REM, ________.

A．you move restlessly	B．you start dreaming
C．your mind stops working	D．your eyeballs move quickly

3. The underlined word “drowsy” in the last paragraph probably means ________.

A．lazy	B．sleepy
C．relaxed	D．pleased

4. One of the ways to fall asleep easily is to ________.

A．breathe slowly and deeply	B．drink cold drinks
C．get up and run	D．look for some sheep

【推荐2】Many people believe that teaching children music makes them smarter, better able to learn new things. But the organizers of a new study say there’s no scientific evidence that early musical training affects the intelligence of young people.

An estimated 80 percent of American adults think music lessons improve children’s ability to learn on their performance in school. They say that the satisfaction for learning to play a new song helps a child express creativity.

Researchers at Harvard University, however, have found that there’s one thing musical training does not do. They say it does not make children more intelligent.

Samuel Mehr, a graduate student at Harvard’s School of Education, said it is wrong to think that learning to play a musical instrument improves a child’s intellectual development. He says the evidence comes from studies that measured the mental ability of two groups of 4-year-olds and their parents. One group attended music class, the other went to a class that places importance on the visual arts — arts that can be seen.

“The evidence there is ‘no’. We found no evidence for any advantage on any of these tests for the kids participating in these music class,” said Mehr. There was no evidence that the musical training group did much better on the mental tasks than the other group. The researchers confirmed the results with a larger group of children and their parents.

Mr. Mehr says music lessons may not offer children a fast easy way to gain entry to the best schools later of their life. But he says the training is still important for cultural reasons. In his words,“We teach music because music is important for us.”

1. According to the second paragraph, most of the American adults think that            

A．children’s ability to learn can be improved by music lessons.

B．teachers are satisfied with students who can play a new song.

C．students with good performance in school should learn music.

D．music lessons are more important than other lessons in school.

2. Which of the following belongs to“visual arts” ?

A．music

B．photography

C．literature

D．talk show

3. Which of the following statements is not supported by Samuel Mehr?

A．Learning to play a musical instrument can’t improve a child’s intellectual development.

B．Kids gain no advantage in their mental ability from participating in music classes.

C．Music lessons may not add to students’ chance receiving the best education.

D．Music training is unimportant.

4. What can be the best title for this passage?

A．The Best Way to Improve Students’ Intelligence

B．No Evidence Found on the Effect of Musical Training on Intelligence

C．Benefits of Musical Training

D．How to Improve students’ Performance in School

【推荐3】Researchers at a university in Hungary say there is truth to what many dog owners always believed. Dogs do understand what humans say.

The researchers made images of the brains of 13 dogs using a machine that records brain activity. The dogs were trained to lie down in the machine for seven minutes. During that time, they listened through headphones to their trainers’ voices.

Dog owners may think the news is not surprising. But scientists are impressed. Brian Hare is a professor at Duke University. He called one of the findings a “shocker.”

The brain imaging showed dogs processed words using the left side of their brains, just as humans do. They use the right side of their brains to understand tone and pitch (音调). The study showed dogs understand words and how they are said. Meaningful words said in a neutral (中性的) way did not have the same effect as the same words said in an encouraging way.

Attila Andics was the lead researcher on the project. “Dog brains care about both what we say and how we say it,” he said. Researchers say they think dogs are tuned in to what people say because dogs have lived with people for a long time. Andics said he thinks other animals probably can understand human language like dogs do. But those animals are not very interested in what humans have to say.

People reacted to the story on Facebook and Twitter. They said they always knew their pets could understand them. And they were happy to see scientific support for what they experienced every day. One reader from Virginia said she thought her dog could probably read her mind, too. Someone in California joked that he always knew his dog ignored him. And Greg Matos in Boston called the study “fascinating!”

1. Which of the following statements is TRUE according to the text?

A．Humans use the left side of the brains to process words.

B．Dogs have no difficulty understanding words said in a neutral way.

C．Other animals can also understand human language just as dogs do.

D．Dog owners can hardly believe the story that Dogs do understand what humans say.

2. What does the word “they” in the 4th paragraph refer to?

A．researchers

B．dogs

C．dog owners

D．people in general

3. The method the author uses to develop the last paragraph is ________.

A．offering analyses	B．providing explanations
C．giving examples	D．making comparisons

4. The main purpose of the passage is to ________.

A．compare and evaluate	B．debate and explain
C．argue and discuss	D．inform and explain

【推荐2】Cows produce much methane (甲烷) the world’s second worst greenhouse gas, as they break down the grass. They are a large source of the greenhouse gases that are driving climate change. Now scientists have shown the pollution from cows can be reduced by adding a little seaweed (海藻) to their food.

Recently, the researchers from the University of California studied 21 cows on a farm for about five months. They taught the cows to get their food from inside a special hood, which allowed the scientists to know the amount of the methane the cows were giving off. They added a small amount of seaweed to the cows’ food.

The consequences were surprisingly good. In some cases, the cows produced 82% less methane. The improvement depended on the kind of food the cows were given. Even the worst-polluting cows produced 33% less methane. Over the five months, the scientists didn’t see any signs that the cows’ stomachs were getting used to the seaweed and starting to produce more methane again. What’s more, the cows that were fed seaweed gained just as much weight as the other cows.

But there are still some big problems with the idea of feeding cows seaweed. For one thing, there’s not enough seaweed to feed all of the cows in the world. So farmers would have to figure out a way to grow lots of seaweed. A bigger problem is that for most of their lives, cows live in the fields, where they eat grass. That means there’s no chance to feed them seaweed every day.

Still, as the study shows, something as simple as feeding cows seaweed can help reduce some of the pollution causing the climate crisis.

1. Why did the researchers carry out the study?

A．To test the effects of the seaweed.

B．To discover healthier grass for cows.

C．To improve the cows’ living conditions.

D．To measure the amount of methane in the world.

2. What’s the third paragraph mainly about?

A．The background of the subject.	B．The results of the study.
C．The content of the experiment.	D．The process of the research.

3. What is the biggest challenge in the researchers’ opinion?

A．Seaweed is not as tasty as grass.

B．Seaweed is dying out in the world.

C．Cows fed with seaweed gained weight easily.

D．Cows can hardly have daily access to seaweed.

4. What is the author’s attitude towards the findings?

A．Positive.

B．Doubtful.

C．Unclear.

D．Negative.

【推荐3】In England, recently three foreign gentlemen came to a bus stop and waited. About five minutes later, the bus they wanted came along. They were just going to get on when suddenly there was a loud noise behind them. People rushed onto the bus and tried to push them out of the way. Someone shouted at them. The bus conductor came rushing down the stairs to see what all the trouble was about. The three foreigners seemed all at sea and looked embarrassed. No one had told them about the British custom of lining up for a bus that the first person who arrives at the bus stop is the first person to get on the bus.

Learning the language of a country isn’t enough. If you want to have a pleasant visit, find out as much as possible about the manners and customs of your host country. You will probably be surprised by just how different they can be from your own. A visitor to India would do well to remember that people there consider it impolite to use the left hand for passing food at table. The left hand is supposed to be used for washing yourself. Also in India, you might see a man shaking his head at another to show that he doesn’t agree. But in many parts of India a shake of the head means agreement. Nodding your head when you are given a drink in Bulgaria will most probably leave you thirsty.

1. The British people tried to push the three gentlemen out of the way, because the gentlemen 　　　.

A．were foreigners	B．didn’t have tickets
C．made a loud noise	D．didn’t line up for the bus

2. According to the article, if you want to have a pleasant journey in a foreign country, you should 　　　.

A．learn the language of the country

B．understand the manners and customs of the country

C．have enough time and money

D．make friends with the people there

3. What does the underlined phrase “at sea” probably mean?

A．Tired.	B．Disappointed.
C．Confused.	D．Pleased.

4. In India, it is considered impolite to 　　　.

A．pass food with the left hand

B．use the right hand for passing food at table

C．shake your head

D．nod your head