【推荐1】No matter how old your kids are, you can take steps to improve a healthy diet and to encourage good eating habits.

Family Meals

    1    Children like to guess what they are going to have and parents get the chance to introduce new foods to children. Parents can also use the mealtime as a chance to talk with their kids about their life.

Healthy Snacks

Kids, especially younger ones, will eat mostly what can get at home.     2     Parents can prepare some healthy snacks at home, such as fruits, vegetables, nuts, yogurt and whole-grain biscuits.

    3    

The best way for you to encourage healthy eating is to eat well yourself. Kids will follow the lead of the adults they see every day. By eating fruits and vegetables and avoiding fast food and sweet drinks, you are sending the right message.

No Shouts about Food

Parents might find themselves shouting at children to get them to have healthy foods in front of them.     4    You need to work a bit on different cooking methods.

Get Kids Included

    5    Talk to them about making choices and planning a healthy meal. It can help them to make good decisions on their own about the foods they want to eat.

A．That’s why it’s important to have enough healthy snacks.

B．Family meals are nice for both parents and kids.

C．This in fact can make children dislike what they are asked to eat.

D．Buy more healthy food

E．Being a Good Example

F．Parents must teach kids how to cook healthy food.

G．Most kids will enjoy making the decision about food.

【推荐2】New rules will let millions of Americans know where more of their food comes from. The law is known as COOL—Country of Origin Labeling.
American Congress first passed the law in 2002. Stores have had to label seafood by country of origin since 2005. But industry pressure delayed other requirements until last week.
Products that must now be labeled include fresh fruits and vegetables, muscle meats and some kinds of nuts. But the rules are complex, and many foods are excluded. For example, organ meats are free to be labeled. So are processed foods, including cooked or smoked food.
The United States has imported more and more food in recent years to save money and expand choices. Country-of-origin labeling has become more common lately but has still been limited in many stores.
Food safety is one reason why some shoppers pay close attention to where foods come from. For example, when a large number of people recently got sick from salmonella, officials blamed peppers from Mexico. Yet the last big food scare involved spinach (菠菜) grown in California. But labeling is also a way for people to know they are getting what they want. Some want to buy local foods or foods from a particular country.
The country-of-origin labeling law gives stores 30 days to correct any violations (违反) that are found. Stores and suppliers that are found to be deliberately violating the law could be fined 1000 dollars per violation. Federal inspectors are not to take action to enforce the law for six months to give time for an education campaign.
Some food safety activists say they are generally pleased with the law. They call it a good step that will give people more useful information.
1. What’s the regulation in the new rules?

A．Stores have to label seafood by country of origin.

B．The country-of-origin labeling has to be marked on more food.

C．Labeling of food should include more useful information.

D．Stores have to label food by its producing date from now on.

2. Consumers are more concerned about where foods come from because _________.

A．they are particular about the tastes of the food

B．they are curious about the country of the food origin

C．most of the shoppers are food safety activists themselves

D．they’re concerned about food safety and want to get what they want

3. Which of the following can be inferred from the passage?

A．Store owners are most likely to be the supporters of the law.

B．Most Americans prefer imported vegetables to vegetables grown in local places.

C．The government of America will forbid importing peppers from Mexico.

D．The law was not fully carried out until last week because of food industry’s resistance.

【推荐3】Parents can cut the chances of their children getting fat simply by keeping them longer at table. Just three minutes extra at a family mealtime could help prevent child obesity. Research found that among poor families, the extra minutes at mealtimes made great improvement of a normal weight for the youth. The factors are likely to be communication and the importance of a scheduled mealtime.

Dr Barbara Fiese said, “Children, whose families have a 20-minute meal over four times a week, weigh less than kids who leave the table after 15 to 17 minutes. Over time, those extra minutes per meal add up and become really powerful.”

The researchers studied 200 family mealtimes, testing the effects of factors and mealtime behavior of families with children in primary school. They found that families, who said that shared mealtimes were an important part of family life and had special meaning for them, were less likely to have an obese child. Similarly, families, who talked more together and interacted more positively during the meal, were more likely to have healthy-weight children.

Teaching low-income families how to make the most of family mealtimes was a wise idea. Dr Fiese said, “This is something we can target and teach.” She added, “It’s also important to recognize the increasing differences of families and their sometimes complex living arrangements that may challenge their abilities to plan ahead and arrange a single time to communicate with each other.”

Families in poorer US neighborhoods faced a lot of problems, including poor access to healthy food. But even so, regular high quality family mealtimes made a difference to the children’s weight. Dr Fiese said, “Three to four extra minutes per meal will make a healthy weight more possible.”

1. According to the passage, to have a healthy-weight child, parents should ________.

A．limit the food for each meal	B．increase their eating time
C．shorten the mealtime	D．make them eat healthy food

2. How much time is reasonable for one meal according to the passage?

A．About 15 minutes.	B．About 17 minutes.
C．About 20 minutes.	D．About 30 minutes.

3. Why does a longer mealtime make a difference to a normal weight?

A．Because people can have a good rest as they eat meals.

B．Because people can have time to choose what they like.

C．Because people can use mealtimes to do other things.

D．Because people can communicate more in the scheduled time.

4. What does Dr Fiese suggest to us?

A．Parents should not communicate during mealtime.

B．It’s better to add three to four extra minutes to one meal.

C．Four meals a day will make a difference to the children’s weight.

D．Twenty extra minutes per meal make a healthy weight.

【推荐1】Green is not always referring to the color. In some cases, it is the term used for being environmentally friendly. If you’ve been looking to replace your furniture, consider going green because environmentally friendly furniture offers many benefits. Here are a few tips to get you started on your hunt for the perfect eco-friendly furniture.

First, environmentally friendly furniture isn’t harmful to your health. Also its manufacturing process doesn’t cause damage to the environment in any way. Besides, by purchasing eco-friendly products, you prevent deforestation and global warming to some extent in your own way. You do your part in protecting the environment. Environmentally friendly furniture is cost-effective as well.

The materials that are used in furniture are what make them green. Materials can be good for the environment either because they are materials that are considered renewable resources or they are all natural. A lack of chemicals and toxins (毒素) in green furniture also means it is a better choice for the environment. It may be hard to imagine that a sofa or a table could actually be a green product but they really can be depending on what they’re made of.

There are a lot of renewable sources that manufacturers could use when building the furniture, so you should be keeping an eye out for them. Bamboo can be an excellent replacement for wood and can also replace plastics and metals in some furnishing. Cotton is a sofa fabric that is safe for the environment and it can be replenished (补充) often. Hemp is also a renewable source that can be used for fabric and twine.

Recycled materials also can be made into green furniture. Metals can be recovered and remade into new things such as frames and foundations for sofas. Recycled plastic can also be made into furniture such as tables and chairs. Touching up old furniture instead of buying new items is very cheap way to be green. Yard sales and second-hand stores sell furniture too and buying the used means new things won’t be made, so no more damage has to happen to the earth.

Therefore, when you want to hunt for the perfect environmentally friendly furniture, you should try to know the type of materials which are used in building the furniture.

Environmentally friendly furniture
1	●It is     2     to your health ●Its manufacturing process    3    damaging the environment in any way. ●It prevents deforestation and global warming to some extent ●It helps you     4    some money as well.
Requirements of the materials	●The materials should be renewable and natural ●The materials     5    fewer chemicals and toxins.
Materials often used in green furniture	Renewable materials	●Bamboo can be used to     6    wood, plastics and metals. ●Cotton is a soft fabric which can be often replenished. ●Hemp is also a good material.
	Recycled materials	●Metals can be recovered and     7    to make new things     8    frames and foundations for sofas. ●Recycled plastics can be made into tables and chairs. ●Purchasing     9    furniture is also a good idea
conclusion	It is     10    to know the type of materials used in the furniture while you’re hunting for the perfect eco-friendly furniture.

【推荐2】Have you imagined that planting trees can make a big difference? People say that one man can’t make a difference, but Abdul Samad Sheikh, a 60-year-old rickshaw (人力车) driver from Bangladesh, has proved that doing a small thing over a long period of time can mean very much. He has planted at least one tree every day since he was 12 years old, which means that he has so far planted a small forest of over 17,500 trees. Imagine if everyone followed his example.

Abdul has worked as a rickshaw driver for most of his life. He makes a little money from his job, which is only enough to put food on the table for his family, but he somehow tries to also buy at least one tree every day. He considers it his duty to the world. Mostly he plants them on government land so nobody can cut them down later. He also waters them, and if he sees anyone cutting a tree, he blames them.

Abdul, his wife Jorna, and four of their children live in two old houses, on a piece of land that is owned by the Faridpur deputy commissioner’s office. They have no land of their own.

Sometimes, she commands him not to plant trees but he doesn’t listen. Abdul’s 30-year-old son, Kutub Uddin, has never told his father not to plant trees, because he thinks his father does a good thing for society.

Abdul’s neighbors all know about his daily habit, and praise his work. Whoever can ask of him anything, he will do his best to help. Therefore, Abdul is loved by neighbors.

For his efforts, Abdul Samad Sheikh was recently honored by The Daily Star, and given $1,253 to help him build a better home for his family. The Daily Star wished everyone to follow his example, and protect the environment.

“I can’t do it alone. I need the help of you all,” Abdul said in his speech.

1. What do we know about Abdul?

A．He doesn’t support his family.	B．He plants trees with his own money.
C．He makes a living by doing different jobs.	D．He plants trees to win his neighbors’ praise.

2. Why does Abdul plant trees on government land?

A．To get money from government.

B．To set a good example to people.

C．To protect them from being cut down.

D．To get a place from government to build his own house.

3. Which of the following can best describe Abdul?

A．Poor but helpful.	B．Rich and reliable.
C．Uncaring and stupid.	D．Active but dishonest.

4. What does the underlined word “it” in the last paragraph refer to?

A．Driving a rickshaw.	B．Planting trees.
C．Making big money.	D．Building a better home.

【推荐1】You may not have heard of Ashoka,   but for the past 27 years,this association, founded by Bill Drayton, has fought   poverty (贫穷)and sickness, promoted education and   encouraged small businesses. To support these worthy causes, Ashoka provides money for the world's most   promising "changemakers" seeking to solve (解决) urgent problems and would like to create a   world in which every citizen is a changemaker.

Drayton believes that anyone can become an agent for change. The important thing is to simply give yourself permission. If you see a problem that you care about, you can help solve it. The young in particular are willing to accept this concept because at heart every child wants to grow into a happy, healthy,   contributing adult. In fact ,It is many young people's ambition to set up programmes or businesses that improve social conditions. An excellent example is an Ashoka project started in 1995 in Dhaka, which handled the rubbish problem facing the city ,helped local farmers and provided an income for poor people there .

When Masqsood and Iftekhar began to study the problem of all the uncollected rubbish that lay in Dhaka’s streets. Attracting tats and disease , they discovered that 80% of it was natural waste . So they educated the poor people in the city to compost (把……制成堆粪)this waste . They knew that they would have a market for the end product because local farmers were struggling with chemical ferntilisers (化肥) which were expensive and had reduced the natural minerals in the soil over the years . At first , they were refused ,but once they were able to persuade that there was money to be made , the project took off. In 2009 sales were $14,000.

Drayton is optimistic that in ten years Ashoka will be making really serious, practical progress in bringing about social change by changing the way we look at economic development.

1. Which of the following could be the best title for the passage?

A．changemakers	B．Businessmen
C．Social Conditions	D．Rubbish Problem

2. The underlined word "they" in Paragraph 3 probably refers to"       "

A．the local farmers	B．Masqsood and Iftekhar
C．Drayton and his team	D．the poor people in Dhaka

3. It can be concluded from the passage that anyone can become a changemaker if he      .

A．considers Drayton's concept

B．gets permission from Ashoka

C．tries to improve social conditions

D．is a young, happy and healthy adult

4. The authors attitude towards Ashoka's program can be described as        

A．changing

B．forgiving

C．cautious

D．Positive

【推荐2】While retiring ahead of time may be easier on the body, a new set of research has found that it may not be so beneficial to the mind. The study, carried out at Binghamton University, finds that an early retirement can speed up the usual rate of cognitive (认知的)decrease among the elderly.

The research team studied China's new rural pension (退休金)system, as well as China's most recent Retirement Longitudinal Survey ( CHARLS), in order to look into the effects of early retirement and pension benefits on individual cognition among adults over the age of 60. After going over all of the data, the research team noted a clear direction: people receiving pension benefits were experiencing much more rapid mental decline (智力下降)than those still on the workforce. Surprisingly, women seemed to experience even sharper mental decline after retiring early. Overall, the results support the view that decreased mental activity speeds up cognitive decline.

Nikolov, the lead researcher, had actually carried out former studies that found retirement led to a number of physical health benefits for retirees, such as improved sleep patterns, less stress, and reduced alcohol consumption. However, retirement also usually goes with a decline in social activities and less communication with people, which has also been linked to cognitive decline.

“For cognition among the elderly, it looks like the bad effect on social connection is more than the good effect of the program on fitness and sleep,” Nikolov says. “ Or social connection may simply be the single most powerful factor for cognitive performance in old age.”

The research team are hopeful that their findings will be considered by older adults when thinking about retirement, but perhaps more importantly, they hope that policy makers in developing countries take note while drawing up new pension plans. They suggest building social get-togethers and work shops for recent retirees to help cut down the decline in social communication and creative thinking that often comes along with retirement.

1. Which of the following best describes retiring ahead of time for the mind?

A．Useless.

B．Beneficial.

C．Damaging.

D．Improving.

2. Who mentally suffered most according to the research?

A．Men retiring on former plan.	B．Women over the age of 60.
C．Men retiring ahead of time.	D．Women retiring early.

3. What will retirement bring to the elderly?

A．Shorter sleep time.	B．Fewer social activities.
C．More financial stress.	D．Less time with family members.

4. What can we learn about the research team's suggestion?

A．The government should make new policy.

B．People should build more shops for the elderly.

C．The retirement in developing countries should be common.

D．The newly retired people should communicate more.