1 . It was an autumn day, and 1 was standing in the kitchen, hanging my head over the counter and trying to figure out how many calories were in a bowl of homemade yogurt and fruit. And I felt annoyed.

I was 16, and my best friend and I had gone to our first Weight Watchers meeting. It was the trend in the mid-1980s，and even though I was an athlete, like many teen girls, I didn't necessarily like what I saw in the mirror. But after a week or so of recording every meal and snack and calculating the calories, I had had enough. I went back to my routine of chowing whatever I wanted, running and skiing, and let that be that. And it's still pretty much what I do; as long as the workouts are regular and the food is whole and balanced, my body's set point hasn't varied for years.

The weight loss trend of three decades ago−full of scales and counting calories−has fallen away. Now fasting is popular. The ways to keep fit vary: on the 5:2 diet a person eats for five days and fasts for two days each week, while the 18:6 refers 10 fasting for 18 hours and then eating within a six-hour window each day.

In this issue, Associate Editor Mark Barna tries to understand the science behind the fasting plans. Researchers have found that animals like monkeys age more slowly after years of eating less, and in the lab in humans, they saw improvements in a number of signs that indicate risk of some hard to cure diseases. The hope for healthy weight loss isn’t over yet, but at least now the calculators don’t have to be out at every meal.

1. What made the author annoyed?

A．Her body was not as strong as an athlete’s.

B．There were too many calories in the yogurt and fruit.

C．The Weight Watches meeting was not necessary for her.

D．She had to work out the calories in every meal and snack.

2. Which of the following can replace the underlined word “chowing”?

A．Eating.

B．Doing

C．Cooking.

D．Choosing.

3. How do people keep fit now?

A．They limit the calories they take in.

B．They lose weight only.

C．They fast daily or weekly.

D．They eat enough every day.

4. What do we know about the researchers’ finding in this passage?

A．People grow more slowly if they eat less.

B．People are healthier if they eat less.

C．People have stopped losing weight now.

D．People calculate their food for every meal.

2 . High school biology teacher Kelly Chavis knew smartphones were a problem in her class. But not even the students realized how much of a problem the devices were until Chavis did an in-class experiment.

For one class period, students used a whiteboard to count every Snapchat, Instagram, text, call that appeared on their phones. Chavis is among a growing number of teachers, parents and health experts who believe that smartphones are now partly to blame for increasing the levels of student anxiety. “One girl, just during the one hour, got close to 150 Snapchat notifications. 150!” she said.

Jean Twenge, a psychology professor at San Diego State University in California, said it is not a coincidence that youth mental health issues have risen with the number of phones. “This use of phones has led to a loss of sleep and face-to-face interactions necessary for their growth,” she said.

Researchers are still not sure whether phones cause student depression or depression causes phone use. But nearly 60 percent of parents said they worry about the influence of social media on their child’s physical and mental health.

Both schools and parents are starting to take steps to deal with the problem. Many public schools pay outside companies to watch students’ social media activity for signs of anxiety. Other schools invite in yoga teachers and comfort dogs to help calm students.

1. What’s the purpose of Chavis’s experiment?

A．To see how many students have smartphones.

B．To find out how popular her students are.

C．To show smartphones influence teenagers greatly.

D．To tell her students how to use smartphones wisely.

2. How did Kelly Chavis feel about the result?

A．Shocked.

B．Excited.

C．Satisfied.

D．Frightened.

3. Which of the following is true according to Jean Twenge?

A．Students are now under great stress.

B．Students spend too much money on smartphones.

C．Over-using phones cause drops in students’ grades.

D．Over-using phones may harm students’ body and mind.

4. What might be talked about if the passage is continued?

A．How other schools deal with students’ phones.

B．Whether the ways to handle phones are effective.

C．How some parents deal with their children’s phones.

D．Whether students are willing to give up using phones.

3 . Rock music consists of many different styles. Even though there is a common spirit among all music groups, they make very different music.     1     At that time the Beatles entered the world of music from Liverpool.

After they were given an invitation to appear live on BBC, the Beatles quickly became famous in Britain with nationwide tours. By mid-1963, the Beatles had been extremely popular in England.     2     They held large concerts and performed at clubs. They became the hottest thing on the pop music scene in England. They began as a modestly successful musician group and ended the year as show business legends(传说). John Lennon and Paul McCartney were named composers of the year.

    3     They were not sure how the Americans would react to the new type of music. Beatlemania hit New York on February 7, 1964. Hundreds of fans jammed the airport to greet them.     4     The concert was broadcast live and attracted the largest one night audience in the history of television up to that time. The Beatles were described as a British invasion(入侵) by local and nationwide newspapers at that time. Their victory in America was still remembered as a major turning point in the history of rock and roll. Thanks to the Beatles, a lot of opportunities were opened up to new faces on the market.     5    

A．They decided on a tour to the United States in 1964.

B．Even their hairstyles became major trends at that time.

C．Rock music developed in the 1950s and the early 1960s.

D．However, their songs changed the lives of generations to come.

E．Many rock bands were able to follow in the footsteps of the Beatles.

F．They appeared in the films A Hard Day's Night(1964)and Help！(1965).

G．They performed their first concert in America at CBS television’s 53rd street studio.

4 . Across the world, studies have consistently found that girls perform significantly better than boys in reading. These studies show that girls typically read more frequently than boys, and have a more positive attitude toward reading.

There are several reasons that help explain these gender-based differences. Parents read more with their daughters. This sends a strong and early message that books are for girls, as well as equipping girls with a significant advantage. Recent research has found even though boys read less frequently than girls, girls still receive more encouragement to read from their parents.

So how can parents and educators help bridge this socially-engineered gap for boys’ reading?

To improve boys’ reading performance, parents and educators may look for ways to connect boys with reading. This has led to discussion about the importance of promoting so-called “boy-friendly” books that boys supposedly “prefer” These are typically assumed to be non-fiction works, as many people believed that boys prefer to read non-fiction.

But this belief is not supported by recent research, which in fact suggests boys are more likely to choose to read fiction than non-fiction. Encouraging all boys to read non-fiction under the mistaken belief that it is their preference may actually be harmful. Fiction readers read more frequently and demonstrate faster language learning and higher language ability.

Besides encouraging more fiction reading, there are a number of ways that we can help connect boys with books. Firstly, don’t assume that boys of the same age have the same interests or that their interests stay the same over time. To match boys with suitable reading material, have regular discussions about reading for pleasure in order to keep up with their interests.

Schools should also provide access to libraries during lessons throughout the years of schooling. Girls visit the library in their free time more than boys, and as students move to higher grades they often have less access to libraries during class. Access to books for boys is essential to promote reading.

In addition, we should keep paper books available because research shows that boys are less likely to choose to read on screens than girls. Finally we should promote reading as an enjoyable pastime by being a role model. Let your children or students see you read for pleasure.

1. According to the author, what is the main cause of the difference in boys’ and girls’ reading ability?

A．Social factors.

B．Teaching methods.

C．Personal preferences.

D．Psychological differences.

2. Why does the author recommend that adults regularly talk to boys about reading?

A．To persuade boys to read more often.

B．To learn what boys are most interested in.

C．To help boys improve their language ability.

D．To show that adults are good reading role models.

3. When should schools give students additional library access according to the author?

A．Before and after class.

B．At any time of the school day.

C．At regular times during class.

D．When they are in the lower grades.

4. What is the main purpose of the text?

A．To show students ways to improve their reading.

B．To explain why boys are not as good at reading as girls.

C．To urge governments to provide more reading resources.

D．To provide strategies that can help improve boys’ reading ability.

5 . A study showed that fat was socially catching among friends. People were actually making one another gain and, sometimes, lose weight. The finding has been proved in other populations. So how does friends’ body weight affect each other? One way is imitation (模仿). Brain scans show that when you watch someone else eat or run, your brain activity is the same as if you were eating or running yourself, causing you to do the same things.

People in experiments seated next to heavy eaters would eat more than those seated next to light eaters. Social examples also play a role: If your friend gains weight, you might become less willing to go to the gym because your friend’s example showed you that weight gain isn’t the end of the world. She’s heavier but still the same person you know and love. And now that 66 percent of the American population is overweight, that’s a pretty well-fixed social example.

Happily, this effect could be turned up side down if people worked to create an opposite social example—weight loss can affect each other just as easily as weight gain if you form the fat-fighting habits, starting a running club including friends of friends so that you’re making close friends with more exercisers. You can also make healthier food choices and eat with greater self-control. If you give up the fries and eat more vegetables, your friends are more likely to make the same choices.

If you’re thinking those sound like a lot of work, maybe it would just be easier to ditch friends who gain weight to stop them from affecting you. People who kept away from a fat friend didn’t lose weight, possibly because the cost of losing a friend stopped weight-loss efforts.

1. What will people in the experiments do if they eat with heavy eaters?

A．Hate them.	B．Leave them.
C．Follow them.	D．Lose weight.

2. How might people respond to their fat friends according to the text?

A．Go to the gym with them often.

B．Think nothing of becoming fat.

C．Warn them the danger.

D．Like them better.

3. What can you do to make good use of the discovery?

A．Set a good example for your friends.

B．Make up your mind to make more friends.

C．Set up health club as a business.

D．Drink more water.

4. What does the underlined word “ditch” in the last paragraph mean?

A．Depend on.	B．Relieve in.
C．Watch over.	D．Give up.

6 . Ambition (志向，抱负) is a necessary quality in life. It is the force which drives us on to use whatever talent we have got.     1    , these talents will not be used for our own and others’ benefit. Without ambition we are just jellyfish that flop though life. We only react to events: we don't try to control them.

    2    . First of all, it can be unrealistic. We may not be able to see the limits of our own abilities, so we do ambitious things that are completely beyond us. Some people can see our good qualities and our limitations objectively. They may tell us that we haven’t the ability We refuse to take their evaluation. We keep on trying. Many years and many disappointments later we are forced to accept their judgment. But what a waste of time our ill-founded ambition has caused us!

Besides, our ambition can be too concentrated. We devote our attention to one narrow aim, such as getting distinctions in our science subjects. Everything that may draw us away from this aim is cutout of our lives. In the end we get our distinctions. But we are isolated beings who only care about particular examination. And we probably won’t make good scientists.     3    .

And our ambition can be limited to lifeless objectives.    4    . Persons who feel inferior try to make up by seeking the respect of others through owning these artificial signs of worth.

    5    . But, like all blind forces, it must be directed if not to cause disaster.

A．Still, ambition can have several disadvantages

B．Because our ambition may make us among selfish people

C．Unless we have got some degree of ambition

D．Since we don’t have the breadth of view necessary for greater success

E．Ambition is necessary in the lives of individuals

F．As long as tightly controlled by the head and the heart

G．We want to gain money, or power, or membership of some circles

7 . Why do some people feel obliged to do the craziest things, while most of us are happy to sit on the sofa and watch their exploits on TV? Robin Styles ponders(考虑)this question.

Generally, we love to watch someone's bravery and drama--a single person against the wilds of nature, testing their endurance beyond belief. And our pleasure is greater because we live a comfortable and increasingly risk-free life, where the greatest test of endurance is getting to work through the rush hour.     1    However, there are countless ways to test the limits of your endurance, if you should wish to do so, by attempting something unpleasant, uncomfortable or just plain dangerous.

American Lynne Cox swims in sub-zero temperatures through the planet's most dangerous oceans wearing only a swimsuit--for fun! According to Lynne, there is always something driving her on. At age 9, when she was swimming in an outdoor pool one day, a violent storm blew up, but she refused to get out of the pool. Something make her carry on. Then she realized that, as the water got colder and rougher, she was actually getting faster and warmer, and she was really enjoying it. At age 14, she broke her first endurance record. Years later, experts discovered that Lynne has a totally even layer of body fat, like a seal.     2    .

The famous British explorer, Sir Ranulph Fiennes, has led many major expeditions (远征) in the extreme cold, including walking right round the Arctic Circle. He has also led expeditions in the extreme heat, and discovered the Lost City of Ubar in the Omani desert.     3    Sir Fiennes has said, "If I am getting sick, I find a very powerful way of conquering it is to know that my father would have definitely done it."

    4    There is probably no such thing as a "normal" adventurer. Unsurprisingly, risk-takers tend to be single-minded and unusually determined people who hate the stability and routine that most people prefer. They tend to take risks for the "fun" of it. The excitement becomes addictive, and they want more and more of it. Ordinary life seems boring in comparison.

A．She is perfectly made for doing what she does, it seems.

B．Adventurers are clearly different from the rest of us.

C．What she did was really beyond our imagination.

D．It seems that many adventurers spend their lives trying to live up to the image of a parent.

E．And most of us would prefer it to remain that way.

F．Many adventurers have amazed the world with their extraordinary skills.

8 . 语法填空

Many teens in high school want to try out for sports because they think playing sports will make them more popular. But there are lots of other     1    （benefit）of sports that teens may overlook（忽视）.

With TV, movies, computers, and video games     2    （become）more and more popular, it has become much     3    （easy）for teens to be home by themselves rather than going out with friends. Teens used to hang out at the mall or drive around the town; now they just sit at home. Getting teens into a sport     4    （give）them an opportunity to go out and socialize.     5     they may not find a new best friend, they will learn how to interact and work as     6    team, something that they'll find     7    （use）later in life.

More and more teens are becoming overweight. If teens see that their physical condition is causing them to perform     8    （bad）, they may be motivated to do other activities     9    （get）healthy. When your children reach their youth, part of good parenting will provide them     10     the direction and encouragement and continue to help them develop a healthy style of living.

9 . With the development of science and technology, mobile phones have been an important communication tool in our modern life.     1    

First,     2     If we have a mobile phone, it is possible for us to access anyone at anytime and anywhere. We could call our clients and customers for business. And we can send messages, including text and picture messages to our friends for personal affairs.

Besides, mobile phones have been multi-functional nowadays since its advance development. It could take photos instead of digital cameras. It could be used as a radio or recorder or for playing music.     3    .

    4     Sometimes we would not like to be available to anybody; sometimes we receive so many rubbish messages.

In conclusion,     5     It is really a great invention, which makes our life more convenient and more colorful.

A．But sometimes mobile phones can also make you in a dilemma.

B．Mobile phones bring us more benefits than disadvantages.

C．Mobile phones really bring convenience to our lives.

D．Mobile phones play an important part in our work.

E．However, some small troubles would visit you after using it for some time.

F．And it also could be a game player.

G．Thanks to it, our life becomes easy and colorful.

10 . Oil is essential for modern life. About 64 percent of the world’s oil is located in the Middle East, but the heaviest consumers of oil are Europe, America, and Japan. The problem lies in getting the oil from the countries that produce it to the countries that consume it. This is mainly done using oil tankers. Usually the oil is shipped safely and with no problems, but occasionally there is a disaster.

Every year millions of tons of oil are spilled into the ocean. Although this is only a small percentage of the total amount shipped around the world each year, this spilled oil can have terrible effects on ocean life, including the coastlines where the oil washes up onto shore.

One of the worst oil spills in history occurred along the Alaskan coastline in 1989, when the Exxon Valdez tanker got stuck off the coast of Alaska, spilling 42 million liters of oil. Although it wasn’t the largest oil spill, the disaster was terrible because it occurred in such a sensitive natural area. In this spill, the tanker’s captain, who was tired from overwork and drinking alcohol, had gone to take a rest. He gave control of the ship to another sailor, who was unfamiliar with the route. The ship ran onto Bligh Reef. Damaged by the reef, the ship leaked oil out into the ocean. More than 1,600 kilometers of coastline were affected by the oil spill. Many birds and otters died as a result of the oil covering their skin, and many other sea creatures and the animals that fed on them were also severely affected.

1. Which country is NOT among the largest consumers of oil?

A．Japan	B．Iraq
C．America	D．Germany

2. What does the underlined “them” refer to?

A．The birds.	B．The otters.
C．The sea creatures.	D．The birds and the otters.

3. Which of the following statement is true?

A．The oil leak of Alaska is because the captain was unfamiliar with the route.

B．Many birds and otters died from eating the spilled oil.

C．Alaska spill was the most serious spill of all time.

D．Although some oil leak is not serious, it will affect ocean life.