1 . Dogs are man’s best friends, and they may be the heart’s best friends as well.
A group of heart disease experts from the American Heart Association (AHA) reviewed research connecting heart health with owning a dog and found that owning a dog has a likely nexus with a lower risk of heart disease for those without a history of heart problems, and with greater survival rates among heart disease patients.
The group, chaired by Dr. Glenn Levine, a professor of medicine at Baylor College of Medicine, released a scientific statement in favor of having a dog to lower the risk of heart disease by helping people to be more physically active as well as reduce blood pressure and minimize the effects of stress. Previous studies showed that the companionship and close relationship that owners build with their dogs can boost levels of anti-stress hormones (抗应激激素) that can increase resilience (适应力) and help people to cope with stressful situations. One of the studies found, for example, that those who adopted dogs enjoyed a drop in blood pressure, while another revealed that among 5,200 adults, those who owned dogs were 54% more likely to get recommended levels of exercise and be active than non-dog owners. That trend is supported by other studies that found people who owned dogs were less likely to be overweight.
According to a report of the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention(CDC), dogs aren’t a panacea (灵丹妙药) against heart disease, and it’s likely that taking care of them requires their owners to get more exercise, which can reduce stress, weight and blood pressure and thus benefit the heart. “If someone adopts a pet, but still sits on the couch and smokes and eats whatever he wants and doesn’t control his blood pressure,” Levine told the Nero York Times, “that’s not a wise strategy to decrease the risk”.
1. What does the underlined word “nexus” in paragraph 2 probably mean?A.Comparison. | B.Similarity. | C.Combination. | D.Link. |
A.Stress is the cause of heart attack. |
B.People raising pets can be slimmer. |
C.Dogs’ companion holds back hormone functions. |
D.Anti-stress hormone levels are low in dog owners. |
A.Dog owners work out more by walking the dog. |
B.Dogs can be trained to detect high blood pressure. |
C.Dogs can prevent owners from smoking on the couch. |
D.Dog owners attach importance to monitoring heart health. |
A.How dogs promote owners’ mental health. |
B.Raising dogs can help reduce heart attack. |
C.What are the advantages of raising dogs. |
D.Having a dog may lower heart disease risk. |
2 . Whether it be a person, an animal, or even an insect, a mother’s instincts (本能) are never wrong. This idea rings true for a mother cat who acted fast and sought out help when her kittens were in trouble. This mother cat’s quick thinking may have just saved her babies.
In the urban district of Izmir in western Turkey, a cat walked into a regular hospital holding a kitten in her mouth. As the mother cat moved through the hospital, people were surprised to see such a sight, but let her pass. The mother cat asked for help, crying for a long time. She was familiar to the hospital staff, who had been leaving her food and water outside, but they were unaware that she had given birth to kittens.
The mother cat was concerned for her young because they weren’t able to open their eyes. After the doctors looked at the kittens, they noticed that they were suffering from eye infections, one of the doctors recalled, “We consulted with vets (兽医) and gave medicine as described. When the kittens opened their eyes a short time later, we were excited.” Later, they were sent to an animal hospital for further care. The cats are now up for adoption and will hopefully find loving forever homes.
When it comes to mother cats and kittens, kittens completely depend on mothers for the first few months of their lives. Because they are blind and almost deaf until about two or three weeks old, the mother cat must protect them from any threat or danger. Without the mother cat’s help, the kittens may not make it to adulthood.
As shown by the mother cat in Turkey, a mother’s love and protection knows no bounds. Whether the mum is a human or a cat, mothers will always look out for their babies and make sure they are safe and healthy.
1. Why did the mother cat show up in the hospital?A.To beg for food. | B.To get her babies treated. |
C.To ask the patients for help. | D.To give birth to her babies. |
A.They built them a home. | B.They adopted all of them. |
C.They operated on them immediately. | D.They gave them the right medicine. |
A.Their physical state. | B.Their eating habit. |
C.Their appearance. | D.Their behavior. |
A.Cat has nine lives. | B.One good turn deserves another. |
C.Love makes a difference. | D.Mothers know their kindness only when they raise their children |
1.当前现状;
2.提出倡议;
3.其他。
注意:
1.词数80左右;
2.可以适当增加细节,以使行文连贯。
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4 . Almost all new parents struggle to get enough sleep while caring for their newborns. For some penguin (企鹅) parents, though, periods of sleep are especially short.
Researchers recently found that Chinstrap penguins only sleep for about four seconds at a time in order to protect their eggs and newborn chicks. They do this thousands of times throughout the day. The short “microsleeps” total around 11 hours each day. The microsleeps appear to be enough to keep the parents going for many weeks.
Niels Rattenborg, a sleep researcher at the Max Planck Institute for Biological Intelligence in Germany, said, “What’s surprising is that the penguins are able to function okay and successfully raise their young.”
Chinstrap penguins usually lay their eggs in November in nests made up of small rocks. Mated (交配的) pairs share parenting responsibilities. One parent usually watches the eggs and chicks alone while the other goes off fishing for family meals. Adult penguins don’t face many natural enemies in the mating season. But large birds called brown skuas eat the penguin eggs and small chicks. Other adult penguins may also try to steal the small rocks from the nests, so penguin parents must always be on guard.
For the first time, scientists followed the sleeping behavior of Chinstrap penguins. They did this by attaching devices that measure brain waves. They collected data on 14 adults over 11 days on King George Island off the coast of Antarctica.
Won Young Lee, a biologist at the Korean Polar Research Institute, thought of the idea for the study when he saw mating penguins often blinking (眨) their eyes and possibly sleeping. But the team needed to record brain waves to confirm the animals were sleeping. “For these penguins, microsleeps have some restorative functions,” he said. He added that they would not survive without it.
The researchers didn’t collect sleep data outside the mating season. But they suspect that the penguins may sleep for longer periods at other times of the year.
1. What have researchers found about Chinstrap penguins?A.They take turns to take care of the young. |
B.They sleep for several seconds at a time. |
C.They rest for 11 hours in a row every day. |
D.They behave poorly due to lack of sleep. |
A.The habitats of the penguins. | B.The living habits of the penguins. |
C.The mating seasons of the penguins. | D.The natural enemies of the penguins. |
A.Microsleeps of the penguins matter in their survival. |
B.It’s difficult to record brain waves of the penguins. |
C.The penguins may sleep longer than people believe. |
D.More funds are needed to further study the penguins. |
A.A book review. | B.A travel brochure. |
C.A science journal. | D.A chemistry textbook. |
1. What is the speaker?
A.An astronaut. | B.A TV reporter. | C.A radio hostess. |
A.Sunny. | B.Windy. | C.Rainy. |
A.Next Tuesday. | B.Next Monday. | C.This Sunday. |
A.Stay indoors. |
B.Put away warm coats. |
C.Take umbrellas along anytime. |
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Since ancient times, great importance
China drives world renewables capacity addition in 2023
China was the major driving force behind the world’s rapid
China’s installed capacity of renewable energy exceeded 1.45 billion kilowatts in 2023,
China has several advantages that others do not possess, including the ability
With the tourism
9 . There’s nothing quite like a winter wonderland. When the snow falls and the lakes and ponds freeze over, there’s a certain magical chocolate-box feeling to the world that ironically makes us feel cozy inside. However, it might be different for some of our pets.
• Keep the walks brief
•
If your dog is shivering a lot, it isn’t a bad idea to give them a blanket or a warmer bed. Avoid electrically heated blankets and pads as some pups might not realize when it gets too hot.
• Wrap them up in the right clothes
Make sure the clothes you choose fit them properly and don’t have any dangling bits they could swallow.
• Watch out for dangerous snow
Salt and antifreeze on sidewalks are potentially deadly to pets.
A.It takes a dog about ten days to adjust to any temperature change |
B.Give them a heat source |
C.Don’t force it to get dressed |
D.Take your dog out even in cold weather |
E.Compare and purchase the soft clothes for it |
F.Make sure you wipe your pup’s feet after every walk |
G.The prospect of facing the winter cold may not be so inviting |
10 . In the rich countries of the West, the electric vehicle revolution is well underway. Climate-conscious consumers drive Teslas or Polestars for reasons of morality and fashion. Poorer countries are also experiencing a wave of electrified trend. In Bangladesh, electric three-wheeler taxis, known as tuk-tuks, are rapidly replacing gas-powered ones on the streets. Such electric vehicles are climate friendly, cost effective, and help reduce air pollution.
Yet a glance under the hood (引擎盖) of these vehicles reveals a poisonous secret: each tuk-tuk runs on five massive lead-acid batteries, containing almost 300 pounds of lead in total. Every year and a half or so, when those batteries need to be replaced and recycled, about 60 pounds of lead leak into the environment. Battery recycling, often at small-scale unregulated factories, is a highly profitable but deadly business.
Lead is dangerous, and any exposure to it is harmful to human health. Lead that has entered the environment hurts people on an extraordinary scale. The numerous ways lead enters air, water, soil, and homes across the developing world — and the enormous damage it does to human health, wealth, and welfare — causes one of the biggest environmental crises in the world yet receives little attention.
The World Bank estimates that lead kills 5. 5 million people per year, which would make it a bigger global killer than AIDS, malaria, diabetes, and road traffic deaths combined. On top of the shocking deaths, the social burden of lead poisoning is extraordinary, as is its contribution to global inequality — our research on the cognitive effects of lead poisoning suggests that it may explain about one-fifth of the educational achievement gap between rich and poor countries.
But unlike many challenges faced by developing countries, lead poisoning is a problem that is fixable with some attention and a relatively modest financial investment. Better monitoring, research, and rules can help protect children all over the world from the dreadful effects of lead poisoning and reduce the massive global costs it brings.
1. How does the author describe the lead problem in paragraph 2?A.By making a comparison. | B.By analyzing hidden causes. |
C.By listing convincing numbers. | D.By explaining its working principle. |
A.Lead enters rich countries in various ways. |
B.Lead poisoning may make poor societies poorer. |
C.Exposure to lead doesn’t necessarily harm someone. |
D.Lead leaking has caused great panic in both countries. |
A.Fixing these used batteries. | B.Putting certain effort and money. |
C.Prohibiting the illegal use of lead. | D.Reducing the cost of recycling lead. |
A.The Impacts of Lead Poisoning on Human Health |
B.The Outcomes of Using Electric Vehicles |
C.The Ways to Solve Lead Problem |
D.The Global Lead Poisoning Crisis |