1 . Is It a Healthy Interest?
The Guinness Book of World Records describes Ranulph Fiennes as the world’s greatest living explorer. His journeys include the first polar circumnavigation (极地环行) and the first unsupported crossing of the Antarctic continent on foot. So when he suffered a heart attack, it came as something of a surprise.
Exercise is highly beneficial as it reduces both the pulse (脉搏) rate and the blood pressure so reducing stress on the heart as it brings blood round the body. It also helps to keep the artery (动脉) walls more elastic (有弹性的).
But can you push yourself too much? On the subject of exercise, it is good to take several parts of “moderate” exercise a week，which is a little more than quick walking. “We need to be careful when we’re doing extreme sports,” says expert Len Almond. “Extreme stress can make almost impossible demands on the body’s ability to recover. The stress of extreme sports forces biochemical changes in the body, and the physical response to that kind of activity will be too extreme.”
We all know how the Olympics began. The man who ran 26 miles from the town of Marathon to Athens with news of a victory died as soon as he arrived，and the cause of his sudden death might be the heart attack. Further research was done by scientists. They studied cyclists (自行车运动员) on a race that covers 230km with a height change of 5,500m. They were interested in one particular enzyme (酶), high concentrations of which are found in those who have suffered a heart attack. The scientists found that levels of this chemical increased in most of the cyclists who completed the race. The largest increases were seen in the fastest cyclists who had trained the hardest.
Most of us will never put our bodies to such extreme sports. But if, when you hear about someone like Fiennes，you ask whether exercise is worth it. I advise you to consider your own condition. Personally, I agree with the saying: “Run not to add years to your life but to add life to your years.”
1. According to the passage, taking exercise can_______ .| A．speed up the heart rate | B．increase stress on the heart |
| C．reduce the blood pressure | D．keep the artery walls straight |
| A．Our bodies can easily deal with physical stress. |
| B．Playing extreme sports is harmful to the human body. |
| C．We need a long period of recovery after extreme sports. |
| D．There is more to learn about the effect of physical stress. |
| A．To suggest a different area of research. |
| B．To support the activity of taking part in sports. |
| C．To explain the effect of a height change on cyclists. |
| D．To prove that extreme sports may cause heart attacks. |
| A．helps you have a regular life | B．adds years to your life |
| C．should be done in moderation | D．will be worth the effort |
2 . Most scientists are now certain that global warming is taking place. Gases such as carbon dioxide are creating a warm blanket around the earth. This blanket is trapping heat in the atmosphere, and so raising the temperature of the earth.
In Europe, eight of the last ten years have seen record high temperatures. On the other hand, the countries around the Mediterranean Sea are receiving even less rain than before. In Sub- Saharan Africa the crops are drying out in the fields and people are dying of starvation. In 1999, the southern United States was struck by a serious of destructive(毁灭性的) hurricanes. Scientists expect such trends to continue, and to worsen, if global warming cannot be stopped.
In addition to worrying about rising global temperatures and extreme weather conditions, scientists are closely monitoring sea levels around the world. They are slowly rising, as the northern and southern polar ice caps start to melt. This will have serious consequences for low-lying countries near the sea. Already parts of these places are disappearing under the rising sea water.
According to a new research, one contradictory feature(特征) of global warming is that it will probably lead to a period of much colder weather. Scientists base their theory on what happened the last time the world warmed up, 8,300 years ago. They have discovered that when the ice melted from the northern polar ice cap it became trapped in a lake in northern Canada. As more ice melted, this lake suddenly burst open, pouring millions of tons of freezing fresh water into the North Atlantic. This flood of water prevented the normal flow of water in the Atlantic, which takes warm water from the tropics(热带地区) north to Europe. When this flow of warm water was cut off, temperatures in Europe dropped by between three and eight degrees over the next 200 years. ''That's the concern here,'' says Richard Alley, an American climate expert. ''The climate hasn't varied much in 8, 000 years. But big changes could come back!''
1. What is the overall effect of global warming on Europe?| A．A warmer climate. | B．A decline in rainfall. |
| C．An increase of hurricanes. | D．A decrease of crop production. |
| A．The rising sea level. | B．The melting of icebergs. |
| C．The increase in disasters. | D．The cause of global warming. |
| A．By offering statistics. | B．By giving an example. |
| C．By making comparisons. | D．By analyzing the process. |
| A．Global climate change will bring more disasters. |
| B．Global warming will likely produce a colder climate. |
| C．Global warming will continue for the next two centuries. |
| D．Global climate will remain unchangeable in the next 8,000 years. |
3 . Many children may be fond of animals, but few ever think of making the study of animals as their career. Even fewer will be
But one woman has
When a close friend invited Goodall to Kenya in 1957, she readily
In the beginning, studying the chimps was not
In October 1960, she observed a chimp making and using
Since the mid-1980s, Goodall has been lecturing around the world to raise people' s sense about environmental
| A．recognized | B．known | C．accepted | D．admitted |
| A．receiving | B．giving | C．enjoying | D．having |
| A．done | B．proved | C．achieved | D．realized |
| A．discoveries | B．decisions | C．choices | D．findings ; |
| A．study | B．interest | C．sense | D．dream |
| A．was fond of | B．was tired of | C．insisted on | D．dreamed of |
| A．boys | B．girls | C．men | D．women |
| A．encouraged | B．prevented | C．advised | D．forced |
| A．knowledge | B．youth | C．hope | D．chances |
| A．accepted | B．refused | C．received | D．considered |
| A．only | B．last | C．special | D．first |
| A．project | B．study | C．centre | D．career |
| A．hard | B．interesting | C．easy | D．convenient |
| A．in surprise | B．in a hurry | C．as expected | D．in fear |
| A．will | B．body | C．desire | D．mind |
| A．far | B．near | C．soon | D．much |
| A．nets | B．tools | C．holes | D．spoons |
| A．doubt | B．light | C．questions | D．beliefs |
| A．close | B．similar | C．friendly | D．helpful |
| A．improvement | B．protection | C．pollution | D．destruction |
4 . Do you think alien beings exist somewhere in the universe? It seems like Mars, our closest neighbor, has inspired the most science fiction as the place where aliens are most likely to come from. Recent Mars probes (探测) have shown us that there is no life on that planet—at least not now. But that does not mean that life does not exist elsewhere—after all, the universe is really big. A lot of scientific research is going on in the search for “extraterrestrial life”.
Think about it—why should the seven billion people on this little planet be the only living beings in the universe? It would, in fact, seem logical that this is not the case. So scientific research in this matter is based around the idea of finding other planets that have environments that can support life —environments similar to the Earth. The search is on for the evidence of the existence, or earlier existence of life: from very wise beings to simple organisms (有机物).
So far, there have been a number of theories as to which planetary bodies may have an atmosphere that can support such life and therefore deserve closer attention. As for places within our own Milky Way Galaxy, it has been assumed over the decades that Mars and Venus, as well as some of the moons of Jupiter and Saturn, may have been hosts for life. Now, as technologies have improved and we can obtain measurements of the composition of the atmosphere on extra-solar planets, the chances of finding “alien” life forms are increasing.
There has been a theory that some of the planets in the habitable zone of the red dwarf star Gliese 581 may be able to support life. In 2007, scientists discovered exoplanet Gliese 581c—and felt that its atmosphere was most suitable for supporting life. But further research revealed that it would not. Now, attention has been turned to Gliese 581d, at the outer edge of the star’s habitable zone. The main standards for deciding whether a planetary body can be life-supporting are atmospheric conditions which allow the existence of water. Gliese 581 is about 20. 4 light years away from the Earth, so even if life does exist there, the distance would mean that communication would be unlikely.
Having said this—who says alien life forms (if they exist) need water?
1. What does the underlined part in Paragraph 1 mean?| A．Life existing outside of the Earth. |
| B．The evidence of the existence of life. |
| C．Other faraway planets in the universe. |
| D．Creatures known from science fictions. |
| A．Modern scientific theories. | B．Atmospheric conditions. |
| C．Environments similar to the Earth. | D．Advanced technologies. |
| A．the atmosphere of Gliese 581c was most suitable for life |
| B．it is not certain whether alien life forms need water or not |
| C．the 7 billion people on the Earth are the only beings in the universe |
| D．the distance of 20. 4 light years makes it impossible to find life on Gliese 581d |
| A．Do Aliens Exist? | B．Is Mars Suitable for Life? |
| C．Are Alien Life Forms Various? | D．Can We Communicate with Aliens? |
5 . Preschool girl lifts old man’s spirits
When Tara Wood brought her daughter to a grocery store to buy the four-year-old some birthday cupcakes, she had no idea that would be a life-changing
As Tara pushed her daughter Norah around the store last month, she
Tara
Mr. Dan told Tara that before meeting Norah, he hadn’t had one night of uninterrupted
| A．question | B．idea | C．experience | D．promise |
| A．passed | B．stopped | C．welcomed | D．shocked |
| A．calm | B．unpleasant | C．rude | D．friendly |
| A．look | B．picture | C．seat | D．message |
| A．end | B．clue | C．scene | D．truth |
| A．poor | B．special | C．ordinary | D．strange |
| A．took | B．drew | C．sold | D．posted |
| A．followed | B．confused | C．recognized | D．cured |
| A．escaping | B．benefiting | C．suffering | D．learning |
| A．talk | B．smile | C．walk | D．eat |
| A．plan | B．skill | C．knowledge | D．friendship |
| A．sleep | B．chat | C．meal | D．view |
| A．found | B．made | C．watched | D．regarded |
| A．notice | B．award | C．rescue | D．attract |
| A．legally | B．suitably | C．responsibly | D．positively |
6 . Pizza: the World’s Favorite Food
Food, and the way we eat it, is always changing. As society develops, we learn of growing, processing, and cooking food. What we ate 200 years ago was very different from what we eat today. Also, when people travel to live in other countries, they take their knowledge of cooking with them. And food must fit modern lifestyles and local tastes, too. One food that has done this successfully is the pizza.
The pizza we recognize today first appeared in Italy in 1889. A famous baker from Naples made a special pizza for the Italian royal （王室的） family. He was very worried they wouldn’t like it but they did. Queen Margherita loved the dish so much, and the baker named it after her. Since then, this simple meal of bread, cheese, and tomato has traveled the world, and it has adapted to local cultures. The pizza began its journey in the 1890s, when many Italians moved to New York in search of a better life. There they continued to make pizzas, and the first pizzeria opened in 1905.
At first it was only popular with Italians, but by the late 1940s, Americans discovered a taste for it. Today, they spend ＄37 billion a year on pizzas. That’s more than ＄100 per American!
The pizza continued its travels around the world, adapting all the time. In Sweden, for example, it is usual to have bananas on pizzas. In Belgium, people eat chocolate pizzas with marshmallows on top. Japan is a nation of seafood lovers, so not surprisingly, they love octopus and squid, as well as roasted seaweed, toppings. Australians sometimes choose kangaroo or crocodile on their pizza.
The popularity of the pizza is also related to our changing lifestyles. In today’s super-fast society, people often don’t have the time or energy to cook. So, they order takeout—and very often, it’s a pizza. Sometimes you don’t even have to pick it up; it’s delivered to your home. If you don’t even have time to sit down, buy a single slice and eat it standing up!
The pizza has come a long way. From its beginnings m an Italian city, it has grown to become one of the world’s favorite foods.
1. The pizza first appeared as ________.| A．a homemade white bread | B．a fast food for travelers |
| C．a dish for the royal family | D．a popular local food |
| A．In 1889. | B．In the 1890s. |
| C．In 1905. | D．In the 1940s. |
| A．Japan. | B．Belgium. |
| C．Sweden. | D．Australia. |
| A．how the pizza gets popular | B．who made the first pizza |
| C．how the pizza is made | D．where the pizza came from |
7 . Sometimes it’s hard to let go. For many British people, that can apply to institutions and objects that represent their country’s past-age-old castles, splendid homes… and red phone boxes.
Beaten first by the march of technology and lately by the terrible weather in junkyards (废品场), the phone boxes representative of an age are now making something of a comeback. Adapted in imaginative ways, many have reappeared on city streets and village greens housing tiny cafes, cellphone repair shops or even defibrillator machines (除颤器).
The original iron boxes with the round roofs first appeared in 1926. They were designed by Giles Gilbert Scott, the architect of the Battersea Power Station in London. After becoming an important part of many British streets, the phone boxes began disappearing in the 1980s, with the rise of the mobile phone sending most of them away to the junkyards.
About that time, Tony Inglis’ engineering and transport company got the job to remove phone boxes from the streets and sell them out. But Inglis ended up buying hundreds of them himself, with the idea of repairing and selling them. He said that he had heard the calls to preserve the boxes and had seen how some of them were listed as historic buildings.
As Inglis and, later other businessmen, got to work, repurposed phone boxes began reappearing in cities and villages as people found new uses for them. Today, they are once again a familiar sight, playing roles that are often just as important for the community as their original purpose.
In rural areas, where ambulances can take a relatively long time to arrive, the phone boxes have taken on a lifesaving role. Local organizations can adopt them for l pound, and install defibrillators to help in emergencies.
Others also looked at the phone boxes and saw business opportunities. LoveFone, a company that advocates repairing cellphones rather than abandoning them, opened a mini workshop in a London phone box in 2016.
The tiny shops made economic sense, according to Robert Kerr, a founder of LoveFone. He said that one of the boxes generated around $13,500 in revenue a month and cost only about $400 to rent.
Inglis said phone boxes called to mind an age when things were built to last. “I like what they are to people, and I enjoy bringing things back,” he said.
1. The phone boxes are making a comeback ______.| A．to form a beautiful sight of the city |
| B．to improve telecommunications services |
| C．to remind people of a historical period |
| D．to meet the requirement of green economy |
| A．They were not well-designed. | B．They provided bad services. |
| C．They had too short a history. | D．They lost to new technologies. |
| A．their new appearance and lower prices | B．the push of the local organizations |
| C．their changed roles and functions | D．the big funding of the businessmen |
8 . According to a recent study in the Journal of Consumer Research, both the size and consumption habits of our eating companions can influence our food intake. And contrary to existing research that says you should avoid eating with heavier people who order large portions(份), it's the beanpoles with big appetites you really need to avoid.
To test the effect of social influence on eating habits, the researchers conducted two experiments. In the first, 95 undergraduate women were individually invited into a lab to ostensibly(表面上)participate in a study about movie viewership. Before the film began, each woman was asked to help herself to a snack. An actor hired by the researchers grabbed her food first. In her natural state, the actor weighed 105 pounds. But in half the cases she wore a specially designed fat suit which increased her weight to 180 pounds.
Both the fat and thin versions of the actor took a large amount of food. The participants followed suit, taking more food than they normally would have. However, they took significantly more when the actor was thin.
For the second test, in one case the thin actor took two pieces of candy from the snack bowls. In the other case, she took 30 pieces. The results were similar to the first test: the participants followed suit but took significantly more candy when the thin actor took 30 pieces.
The tests show that the social environment is extremely influential when we're making decisions. If this fellow participant is going to eat more, so will I. Call it the “I’ll have what she's having” effect. However, we'll adjust the influence. If an overweight person is having a large portion, I'll hold back a bit because I see the results of his eating habits. But if a thin person eats a lot, I'll follow suit. If he can eat much and keep slim, why can't I?
1. What is the recent study mainly about?| A．Food safety. | B．Movie viewership. |
| C．Consumer demand. | D．Eating behavior. |
| A．Big eaters. | B．Overweight persons. |
| C．Picky eaters. | D．Tall thin persons. |
| A．To see how she would affect the participants. |
| B．To test if the participants could recognize her. |
| C．To find out what she would do in the two tests. |
| D．To study why she could keep her weight down. |
| A．How hungry we are. | B．How slim we want to be. |
| C．How we perceive others. | D．How we feel about the food. |
9 . POETRY CHALLENGE
Write a poem about how courage, determination, and strength have helped you face challenges in your life.
Prizes
3 Grand Prizes:Trip to Washington, D.C. for each of three winners, a parent and one other person of the winner’s choice. Trip includes round-trip air tickets, hotel stay for two nights, and tours of the National Air and Space Museum and the office of National Geographic World.
6 First Prizes:The book Sky Pioneer:A Photobiography of Amelia Earhart signed by author Corinne Szabo and pilot Linda Finch.
50 Honorable Mentions:Judges will choose up to 50 honorable mention winners, who will each receive a T-shirt in memory of Earhart’s final flight.
Rules
Follow all rules carefully to prevent disqualification.
■Write a poem using 100 words or fewer. Your poem can be any format, any number of lines.
■Write by hand or type on a single sheet of paper. You may use both the front and back of the paper.
■On the same sheet of paper, write or type your name, address, telephone number, and birth date.
■Mail your entry to us by October 31 this year.
1. How many people can each grand prize winner take on the free trip?| A．Two. | B．Three. | C．Four. | D．Six. |
| A．A plane ticket. | B．A book by Corinne Szabo. |
| C．A special T-shirt. | D．A photo of Amelia Earhart. |
| A．Typing your poem out. | B．Writing a poem of 120 words. |
| C．Using both sides of the paper. | D．Mailing your entry on October 30. |
10 . Guan Moye, better known as Mo Yan, is a Chinese novelist and short story writer. He has been referred to by Donald Morrison of U.S. news magazine, TIME, as “one of the most famous and widely pirated（盗版）of all Chinese writers”. He is best known to Western readers for Red Sorghum Clan（红高粱家族）, which was later adapted for the film, Red Sorghum. In 2012, Mo was awarded the Nobel Prize in Literature.
Mo Yan was born in Gaomi County, Shandong Province. He was 11 years old when the Cultural Revolution started, at which time he left school to work as a farmer. At the age of 18, he began to work at a factory. During this period, his access to literature was largely limited to novels.
At the close of the Cultural Revolution in 1976, Mo joined the People’s Liberation Army (PLA) and began writing. During this period, the works of Chinese literature, as well as translations of foreign authors such as William Faulkner, made an impact on his works. In 1984, he received a literary award from the PLA Magazine, and at the same year he began attending the Military Art Academy, where he first used the pen name of Mo Yan. “Mo Yan” means “don’t speak” in Chinese. He explained that the name came from a warning from his father and mother about not saying what he thought when he was outside. It also related to the subject matter of his writings.
Mo’s first novel was Falling Rain on a Spring Night, published in 1981. Several of his novels were translated into English by Howard Goldblatt, professor of East Asian languages and literature, at the University of Notre Dame. He published his first novella（中篇小说）, A Transparent Radish, in 1984, and released Red Sorghum Clan in 1986, making him a nationally recognized novelist. Five years later, he obtained a Master’s degree in literature from Beijing Normal University.
1. The first paragraph tells us __________.| A．his achievements | B．his education | C．his works | D．his experiences |
| A．His parents. | B．William Faulkner. |
| C．Howard Goldblatt. | D．Donald Morrison. |
| A．1981 | B．1984 | C．1986 | D．1991 |
| A．brochure | B．biography | C．survey | D．letter |
