1 . In 1975, George Carlin appeared on a popular TV show, Saturday Night Live, with his famous words about blue food. ＂Why is there no blue food? I can’t find blue food — I can’t find the flavor of blue! I mean yellow is lemon; orange is orange and red is cherry. Where is the blue food?＂
Well, Carlin pretty much has it right — there is not no blue food, but there’s certainly not a lot of it. Fresh-picked blueberries are blue, though they become purple when they are turned into jam. The blue in blueberries — like the purple in grapes and red in tomatoes — is found in nature. But it isn’t a hot color for food. People don’t seem to prefer blue food. Some diet programs even suggest that those determined to lose weight should make their food blue.
Eating, in part, begins with our eyes. Chares Spence — an experimental psychologist from Oxford University — points out that color can change our taste experience. Commonly, we consider red-colored foods up to 20% sweeter than they actually are; and green foods as being more sour. Spence suggests: human expectations may be influenced by our long history of watching — green fruits can become sweet as they grow up and turn red..
But what about blue? Except blueberries, much of the blue food we see these days is dyed blue artificially. Food producers argue that artificial color doesn’t do much damage to health. A lot of research shows that some physical problems of kids are related to food dyes — while other studies show no effects at all. Blue birthday cake or even blue-dyed chicken can be served on the dinner table. So what?
1. George Carlin’s words are placed at the beginning of the passage to ______________.| A．show the author’s opinion | B．tell a famous person |
| C．lead in the topic | D．introduce a TV show |
| A．The blue in blueberries is found unnatural. |
| B．Blueberries are always blue, whether fresh or not. |
| C．Blue is not a very popular color for foods. |
| D．People often feel cold when they eat blueberries. |
| A．our taste experience can be influenced by color |
| B．red-colored foods are 20% sweeter than green foods |
| C．people prefer red-colored foods to green foods |
| D．before eating, people watch food for a long time |
| A．is eaten up | B．has grown up | C．is harmful to | D．is changed in color |
2 . Finding fish is going to get harder as climate change continues to heat the world’s oceans. A new study finds that warming seas over the past 80 years have reduced the sustainable catch of 124 species of fish and shellfish. Sustainable catch refers to the amount that can be harvested without doing long-term damage to the health of populations of some species.
Overfishing has made that decline worse, researchers say. Overfishing refers to catching so many fish that the size of the population falls. In some parts of the world, such as the heavily fished Sea of Japan, the decrease is as high as 35 percent. That’s a loss of more than one in every three fish.
Researchers examined changes in 235 populations of fish and shellfish between 1930 and 2010. Those fish populations spread far apart across 38 ocean regions. Temperature changes vary from one ocean site to another. But on average over that time, Earth’s sea-surface temperatures have risen by about half a degree Celsius.
On average, that warming has caused the sustainable catch to drop by 4.1 percent, the study found. About 8 percent of the fish and shellfish populations the team studied saw losses as a result of the ocean warming. However, about 4 percent of some populations increased. That’s because certain species have thrived in warmer waters. One example is a kind of black sea fish. It lives along the northeastern U.S. coast. As warming continues, these fish will reproduce faster until they reach their limit.
About 3.2 billion people worldwide rely on seafood as a source of food. That means it’s urgent for commercial fishing fleets and regulators to consider how climate change is affecting the health of all of those fish in the sea.
1. What does the new study discover?| A．Overfishing is to blame for fish health. |
| B．Warming seas cause fewer fish and shellfish. |
| C．Seafood matters to people’s health worldwide. |
| D．The living regions of fish and shellfish are different. |
| A．Survived narrowly. | B．Disappeared soon. |
| C．Decreased sharply. | D．Developed quickly. |
| A．About 8 percent of them suffered from a great loss. |
| B．About 35 percent of them survived in the Sea of Japan. |
| C．About 3.2 billion species have been saved up to now. |
| D．About 80 species have died out because of warming seas. |
| A．A cooking guide. | B．A science magazine. |
| C．A news review. | D．A health brochure. |
3 . A study of 27,000 men showed those skipping (不吃) breakfast were at a greater risk of heart problems. The British Heart Foundation said breakfast helped people resist (抵制) sugary snacks before lunch.
The men, aged 45-82, were studied for 16 years. During that time there were more than 1,500 heart attacks or cases of deadly heart failure. However, people who skipped breakfast were 27% more likely to have heart problems than those who started the day with a meal. The researchers took into consideration other lifestyle risk factors (因素) such as smoking and exercise.
Researcher Dr Leah Cahill told the BBC: “The take-home message is to eat in the morning when you wake up, preferably within an hour. The results show that something is better than nothing, but it’s always better to have something healthy and balanced.”
She said the timing of the meal seemed to be key and waiting until lunch rather than “having breakfast” may be straining (损伤) the body over time. This could be increasing the risk of high blood pressure and fatness which could in turn damage the heart. “Don’t skip breakfast,” Dr Cahill suggested.
Victoria Taylor, an expert with the British Heart Foundation, said: “These researchers only looked at men aged over 45, so we would need to see further research to prove that breakfast has the same effect on the heart health of other groups of people. What we do know is that a healthy breakfast can make that mid-morning biscuit less tempting, as well as giving you another opportunity to widen the variety of foods in your diet. Cereals (谷类食品) with low fat milk are a good way to start the day. Try a banana or dried fruit on top and you’ll be on your way to a fine day before you’ve even left the house.”
1. What does the text mainly deal with?| A．The effects of snacks on the health of the heart. |
| B．An interview by the BBC on people’s lifestyles. |
| C．What a healthy and balanced diet should contain. |
| D．The relationship between breakfast and a healthy heart. |
| A．fix the time for each meal we eat in a day |
| B．make sure our breakfast is always balanced |
| C．eat our breakfast immediately after getting up |
| D．have breakfast within an hour after waking up |
| A．attractive | B．valuable |
| C．obvious | D．familiar |
| A．men over 45 are more likely to get heart diseases |
| B．fresh fruits like bananas are necessary for a healthy breakfast |
| C．it’s healthy to eat some biscuit between breakfast and lunch |
| D．the researchers should have covered other age groups in their study |
4 . After eight puppies（幼犬）were abandoned on the side of the road in Texas，an animal shelter came to the rescue and brought them all the way from Brownwood，Texas to Wintersville，Ohio. Their journey was，by no means，a simple one.
The puppies were first found fighting for their lives in a muddy channel. They were extremely weak and dehydrated（脱水）after being forced to protect themselves in the burning Texas sun. Once the puppies were discovered，their journey was far from over. They were immediately brought to what is known as a "high kill" shelter，and after only a few hours，were scheduled for euthanasia. Things weren't looking good for the pups. Luckily，they were rescued once more.
“There's a group that specifically goes around to these high kill shelters and rescues the animals that are scheduled for euthanasia，"said Brandi Damewood，the JCHS Community Outreach Manager. "These guys were rescued by the Corrine T. Smith Animal Center. "
The puppies would eventually end up under the care of the Jefferson County Humane Society. This is because no-kill shelters and rescue organizations often work together to aid in urgent cases. An incredible network of shelters helping other shelters enables these miracle workers to save so many pets in danger of being put down prematurely.
"We have had a lot of other rescue groups come in and they help us get some of our animals adopted out like when we' re too full or things of that nature, so we kind of help each other out, and so this was a favor to help this particular shelter, "said Damewood.
The JCHS has appropriately titled the puppies' journey "the freedom ride". The 20-leg trip required 16 different volunteers to drive a total of 1,300 miles. But it was all worth it to save these adorable pups!
"We have a board member, Michelle Zdybicki, who is very active and involved in these transport groups, "said Damewood. "They would meet at specified stops, then the puppies would be transferred to the next driver for the next leg of the journey. "
Since arriving in Ohio, the puppies have been vaccinated and are hoping to find forever homes in the near future.
1. From the passage we know a shelter ______.| A．is a place to kill abandoned animals |
| B．can never kill any abandoned animal |
| C．is a place for abandoned animals |
| D．can provide anything for abandoned animals |
| A．practice of killing without pain |
| B．medical examination for an animal |
| C．physical care of a baby animal |
| D．supplies of food and housing for animals |
| A．They will stay in a shelter forever. | B．They may be adopted soon. |
| C．They cannot escape being killed. | D．They may continue their journey. |
| A．volunteers worked together to find homes for abandoned puppies |
| B．abandoned puppies caused animal shelters too much trouble |
| C．eight rescued puppies journeyed 1,300 miles in "freedom ride" |
| D．shelters tried their best to cure eight abandoned animals in Texas |
5 . Growing up in the mountainous Sierra de Penamayor, in Asturias, northen Spain, Aladino Montes had been shooting deer ever since he was a child, but his life as a hunter came to an abrupt end 10 years ago, when he met Bambi, an adorable deer that has remained by his side ever since. Aladino has never shot an animal since.
53-year-old Aladino recalls driving through the mountains in his little jeep, ten years ago, when he saw a couple of cows being followed by a skinny little deer. Deer don’t usually hang out with cows, so he approached the animals for a closer look. That’s when he noticed that the deer had several wounds and would have probably died without proper medical care. He put the injured animal in his car and drove back to his house when he nursed it back to health. But instead of running back towards the forests, the deer stayed by Aladino’s side. They’ve been best friends ever since.
He always loved animals, but his father had taught him to hunt deer as a child. He did it for food, not sports, but ever since he adopted Bambi, he hasn’t shot a single animal.
Aladino’s cabin sits at 1,140 meters above sea level, offering tourists a beautiful view of the surrounding mountainside. On clear days, one can see all of central Asturias all the way to Gijon, but most people don’t travel to Les Praeres for the view, they come to see Bambi, the friendly deer.
Sometimes, Bambi will walk straight into the bar in search of Aladino and leave everyone with their mouth open, or even let people pet her. But she’s always most comfortable at the side of her rescuer. She’s so relaxed around him that she makes other deer feel safe as well.
1. What does the underlined word “abrupt” in Paragraph 1 mean?| A．Quick. | B．Happy. |
| C．Sudden. | D．Slow. |
| A．The kind cows. | B．His kind-hearted nature. |
| C．The deer’s bad conditions. | D．His rescue of the wounded deer. |
| A．It is a tourist attraction. | B．It is doing nothing. |
| C．It is a symbol of friendship. | D．It is living under the natural state. |
| A．Go to the bar. | B．Stay around Aladino. |
| C．Let people pet her. | D．Attract other deer to some near. |
6 . Did you see snow in your hometown last winter? Did you feel it was warmer than before?
“There have been 21 warm winters in China since 1986,” said scientists. They also said that in the past 100 years, as the global (全球的) temperatures went up by 0.74 °C , the temperature in North China has climbed 1.4°C in only 50 years.
China needs to take quick action to cut carbon dioxide (二氧化碳) emission (排放), because it’s the main reason for global warming. The good news is that China has seen the importance of going green. China set the goal of cutting energy use by 20 and pollution emission by 10 in the 11th Five-Year Plan.
Can you slow global warming? Sure! You and your family can take steps to cut the amount of carbon dioxide that is sent out into the air.
Here are some pieces of advice to help you save the earth.
Wear used clothes. Wearing your brother's, sister's or dad’s old T-shirt means you save the energy.
Change your light bulbs (灯泡). Use energy-saving light bulbs. And don’t forget to turn off the lights when you leave a room and turn off your television and computer when they are not in use!
Ride the bus. Taking a bus saves a lot of oil every year.
Say no to plastic bags. The next time your parents go to the market, ask them to use baskets.
Open a window. Don’t use the air conditioner (空调), and let some fresh air in. When you have to use the conditioner, set the temperature higher in the summer and lower in the winter to save energy.
Make small changes in your daily life. Don’t use paper cups, bags and boxes.
It's time for all of us to do something to save the earth.
1. The main reason for global warming is ____.| A．the oil | B．carbon dioxide | C．paper cups, bags and boxes | D．televisions and computers |
| A．活力 | B．干劲 | C．精力 | D．能源 |
| A．It’s a pity to wear your dad's old T-shirts. |
| B．Using air conditioners may be a waste of energy. |
| C．Taking a bus wastes a lot of oil every year. |
| D．Using paper bags saves energy a lot. |
7 . Whenever something looks interesting or beautiful, there is a natural desire of us to capture (捕捉) and preserve it — which means, in this day and age, that we are likely to reach for our phones to take a picture.
Though this would seem to be an ideal solution, there are two big problems associated with taking pictures. Firstly, we are likely to be so busy taking pictures that we forget to look at the world whose beauty and interest encourage us to take a photograph in the first place. And secondly, because we feel the pictures are safely stored on our phones, we never get around to looking at them, so sure are we that we’ll get around to them one day.
The first person to notice the problems was the English art critic (评论家), John Ruskin. He was a keen traveler who realized that most tourists make a poor job of noticing or remembering the beautiful things they see. He argued that humans have a natural tendency to respond to beauty and desire to have it, but there are better and worse expressions of this desire. At worse, we get into buying souvenirs or taking photographs. But, in Ruskin’s eyes, there’s just one thing we should do — attempting to draw the interesting things we see, regardless of whether we happen to have any talent for doing so.
Ruskin said, “Drawing can teach us to see: to notice properly rather than gaze absent-mindedly. In the process of recreating with our own hand what lies before our eyes, we naturally move from a position of observing beauty in a loose way to one where we acquire a deep understanding of its parts.”
Ruskin deplored the blindness and hurry of modern tourists, especially those who prided themselves on travelling around the whole Europe in a week by train, “No changing of places at a hundred miles an hour will make us stronger, happier, or wiser. There was always more in the world than men could see, if they ever walked slowly; they will see it no better for going fast. The really precious things are thoughts and sights, not pace.”
1. According to Paragraph 2, when taking pictures, people tend to ___________.| A．forget to appreciate something attractive on the spot |
| B．find it hard to learn skills of taking good pictures |
| C．find a good way to keep things in their minds |
| D．have a chance to meet the challenge of new technology |
| A．To speak it out openly. | B．To photograph it instantly. |
| C．To purchase it directly. | D．To paint it immediately. |
| A．considerate and determined | B．active and adventurous |
| C．creative and thoughtful | D．sensitive and ambitious |
| A．appreciated | B．criticized |
| C．favored | D．ignored |
8 . Having friends may well keep you healthier and help you deal with stress better. Some studies show that people with close friends have a greater ability to fight disease than people who are alone.
Make friendship a priority(优先). Find the time to be with friends even if it means letting the lawn go unmowed(未割草) or the dishes unwashed for a while. When you can’ t get together, use the phone to keep in touch.
Open up to close friends. Maintaining a deep friendship requires a level of heartfelt intimacy(亲密). Don’t be afraid to express your inner fears and disappointments. Listen to your friends when they have problem, but offer advice only when it’s wanted. Help raise friends’ self-esteem when they are shaken by a job loss, or other such events.
Have different friends for different activities, such as going to the movies, singing in a choir(合唱), and joining in a bowling league.
Don’t wait for a friend to ask a favor. When a friend has the flu, offer to go to the store or drive his or her children to their after-school activities.
Never take a friendship for granted. Like a good marriage, friendship needs care and patience. Become a joiner. Find a group that matches your interests.
Talk to strangers. Conversations started in museums, laundry rooms, or bookstores can lead to firm friendship.
Enroll in an adult-education course. A classroom is an ideal place to meet others with similar interests.
1. People with close friends have a ____ ability to fight disease than people who are alone.| A．less | B．greater | C．poorer | D．little |
| A．Make friendship a priority. | B．Open up to close friends. |
| C．Never take a friendship for granted | D．All the above. |
| A．You should have different friends for the same activities. |
| B．You should wait for a friend to ask a favor. |
| C．You should avoid talking with stranger in museums, laundry rooms of bookstores. |
| D．You should never take a friendship for granted. |
| A．give | B．join | C．get | D．catch |
9 . More than 10 years ago，it was difficult to buy a tasty pineapple (菠萝)．The fruits that made it to the UK were green on the outside and，more often than not，hard with an unpleasant taste within.Then in 1996，the Del Monte Gold pineapple produced in Hawaii first hit our shelves.
The new type of pineapple looked more yellowygold than green. It was slightly softer on the outside and had a lot of juice inside.But the most important thing about this new type of pineapple was that it was twice as sweet as the hitandmiss pineapples we had known.In no time，the Del Monte Gold took the market by storm，rapidly becoming the world’s bestselling pineapple variety，and delivering natural levels of sweetness in the mouth，up until then only found in tinned pineapple.
In nutrition (营养) it was all good news too.This nicetasting pineapple contained four times more vitamin C (维生素C) than the old green variety.Nutritionists said that it was not only full of vitamins，but also good against some diseases.People were understandably eager to be able to buy this wonderful fruit.The new type of pineapple was selling fast, and the Del Monte Gold pineapple rapidly became a_fixture in the shopping basket of the healthy eaters.
Seeing the growing market for its winning pineapple，Del Monte tried to keep the market to itself.But other fruit companies developed similar pineapples.Del Monte turned to law for help，but failed.Those companies argued successfully that Del Monte’s attempts to keep the golden pineapple for itself were just a way to knock them out of the market.
1. We learn from the text that the new type of pineapple is________.| A．green outside and sweet inside |
| B．goodlooking outside and soft inside |
| C．yellowygold outside and hard inside |
| D．a little soft outside and sweet inside |
| A．It was rich in nutrition and tasted nice. |
| B．It was less sweet and good for health. |
| C．It was developed by Del Monte. |
| D．It was used as medicine. |
| A．that people enjoy eating |
| B．that is always present |
| C．that is difficult to get |
| D．that people use as a gift |
| A．allowed other companies to develop pineapples |
| B．succeeded in keeping the pineapple for itself |
| C．tried hard to control the pineapple market |
| D．planned to help the other companies |
10 . Traditionally, across the world, boys and girls attend a mixed school, where they study together. But boys’ schools are the perfect place to teach young men to express their emotions and involve them in activities such as art, dance and music.
Boys at single—sex schools were said to be more likely to get involved in cultural and artistic activities that helped develop their emotional expressiveness, rather than feeling they had to correspond to（和……相符）the “boy code” of hiding their emotions to be a “real man”.
The findings of the study go against received wisdom that boys do better when taught alongside girls.
Tony Little, headmaster of Eton, warmed that boys were being failed by the British education system because it had become too focused on girls. He criticized teachers for failing to recognize that boys are actually more emotional than girls.
The research argued that boys often perform badly in mixed schools because they become discouraged when girls do better earlier in speaking and reading skills.
But in single-sex schools teachers can tailor lessons to boys’ learning style, letting them move around the classroom and getting them to compete in teams to prevent boredom, wrote the study’s author, Abigail James, of the University of Virginia.
Teachers could encourage boys to enjoy reading and writing with “boy-focused” approaches such as themes and characters that appeal to them. Because boys generally have more acute vision, learn best through touch, and are physically more active, they need to be given “hands-on” lessons where they are allowed to walk around. “Boys in mixed schools view classical music as feminine（女性的）and prefer the modern genre（类型）in which violence and sexism are major themes,” James wrote.
Single—sex education also made it less likely that boys would feel that they had to be “masterful and in charge” in relationships. “In mixed schools, boys feel forced to act like men before they understand themselves well enough to know what that means,” the study reported.
1. The author believes that a single-sex school would ________.| A．force boys to hide their emotions to be “real men” |
| B．help boys to be more competitive in schools |
| C．encourage boys to express their emotions more freely |
| D．naturally strengthen boys traditional image of a man |
| A．behave more responsibly |
| B．grow up more healthily |
| C．perform relatively better |
| D．receive a better education |
| A．teaching can be tailored to suit the characteristics of boys |
| B．boys can focus on their lessons without being distracted |
| C．boys can choose to learn whatever they are interested in |
| D．teaching can be designed to promote boys' team spirit |
| A．lovely.. | B．sharp. |
| C．serious. | D．dull |
