1 . Smart phones are greatly changing the way we walk down the street. Office workers and young people are walking like the old as they check emails and messages.
Scientists have found mobile phones make us walk more slowly, with modest steps, to avoid falling over. The leader of the study said the walk is just like someone in their eighties. Researchers found people writing a text message walk more than twice as slowly as those without a phone, finding it harder to stay in a straight line.
The scientists examined 252 people walking while reading a text message, writing one, speaking on their phones or without their phones at all. Writing a text is the hardest activity, causing people to look down at their phone 46 percent more, and 45 percent longer, than when reading a message. This led people to walk 118 per cent more slowly than when they were without their phones. People walked almost a third more slowly while reading a text and 19 per cent while talking on the phone.
Smart phones were found to stop people from walking in a straight line, putting them at greater risk of running into other people, cars or street lamps. This increased the need to slow down and take more careful steps.
John Timmis said the idea for this study came from following someone walking down the street in the afternoon, who was walking as if he had had several drinks. I thought it was a bit early for that, then walked up alongside him and saw that he was on his phone. Simply being on the phone changes the way people walk.
1. What does the underlined word “modest” mean in the second paragraph?| A．Young. | B．Straight. |
| C．Low. | D．Small. |
| A．Those not carrying phones. |
| B．Those writing a text message. |
| C．Those reading a text message. |
| D．Those speaking on their phones. |
| A．The need to walk straight. |
| B．The desire to use their phones. |
| C．The chance of possible accidents. |
| D．The traffic jams during rush hours. |
| A．Seeing office workers walking like the elderly. |
| B．Seeing people walking in the street hurriedly. |
| C．Watching young people who were walking normally. |
| D．watching a person who was walking in the street in a strange way . |
2 . Do you remember what happened on Sponge Bob Square Pants yesterday? The day before? If so, you may be in need of a TV timeout!
Kids today are watching more TV than they watched before, researchers say. Kids ages 6 to 11 in the United States watch more than three hours of TV each day. Ten years ago, children watched only about two hours and 40 minutes of TV each day.
Why the increase? Experts say more TV shows today are focused, or aimed, at kids.
Some people want to limit kids' TV time. Researchers say that children who watch TV shows for more than three hours a day do not do as well in school. However, some programs can help kids learn. One example is BrainSurge. Some people say the show teaches kids facts.
How do you know whether a TV show can make you smart? Think about what you learn from watching, says Aletha Huston. She is a TV expert. But, she warns, don't spend too much time watching. “Limit the amount you watch. Get off the couch and do something else.”
TV Guide
This pie chart shows how long kids ages 6－11 use different types of TV technology each week.
1. What is the main idea of the text?
| A．Kids today watch more TV than they did before. |
| B．BrainSurge helps kids learn facts. |
| C．Kids do not watch proper TV shows. |
| D．More TV shows today are created for kids ages 6－11. |
| A．unusual | B．aimed | C．suitable | D．pleasant |
| A．Three. | B．Five. | C．Four. | D．Six. |
| A．Video games | B．DVD | C．VCR | D．TV |
3 . With people wearing face masks to protect themselves from being infected with the novel coronavirus, a concern now is how they are dealing with their used masks. As used face masks may carry the coronavirus, they shouldn't be carelessly thrown away as waste. Since the virus can survive for one or two days in wet conditions, the used masks may become a new source of infection.
Given that the garbage sorting has recently been carried out in only a few cities, mixed waste commonly exists. The mixture of polluted masks and recyclable waste may cause a possible danger to rubbish collectors when they put hands in the garbage cans to collect recyclable items. What's worse, if someone just throws a used mask on the street, someone might pick it up, or try to collect it to sell second-hand.
With the spread of the novel coronavirus, there has obviously been a high demand for protective equipment such as face masks among ordinary people, with the resulting generation of a huge quantity of what may be considered medical waste. Thus, the problem is how to deal with this mass of medical waste, particularly the used face masks outside of hospitals. Communities should have special trash cans around to collect used masks. If these are not provided, people should put the waste into plastic bags before casting them aside, so they are not exposed to the air.
As the main risk of medical waste is infectivity, disinfection, whether by steam, chemicals or microwave, is very important. According to regulations, only licensed companies should collect, transport and do the final management of medical waste. For example, medical waste must be collected in special containers,and be transported in special vehicles by qualified people.
1. What problem is described in paragraph 1?| A．Used masks may cause infection. | B．Used masks are difficult to recycle. |
| C．The virus spreads quickly in wet conditions. | D．The novel coronavirus infection is worsening. |
| A．The causes of sorting garbage. | B．The ways of recycling used masks. |
| C．The harm of using second-hand masks. | D．The risk of handling used masks improperly. |
| A．Destroying rubbish. | B．Throwing waste. | C．Marking rubbish. | D．Reusing waste. |
| A．It costs a lot to collect and transport medical waste. |
| B．The hospital infection is mainly from medical waste. |
| C．The rules of dealing with medical waste are very strict. |
| D．License companies should be responsible for infection. |
