Getting rid of dirt, in the opinion of most people, is a good thing. However, there is nothing fixed about attitudes to dirt. 

In the early 16th century, people thought that dirt on the skin was a means to block out disease, as medical opinion had it that washing off dirt with hot water could open up the skin and let ills in. A particular danger was thought to lie in public baths. By 1538, the French king had closed the bath houses in his kingdom. So did the king of England in 1546. Thus began a long time when the rich and the poor in Europe lived with dirt in a friendly way. Henry IV, King of France, was famously dirty. Upon learning that a nobleman had taken a bath, the king ordered that, to avoid the attack of disease, the nobleman should not go out. 

Though the belief in the merit (优点) of dirt was long-lived, dirt has no longer been regarded as a nice neighbor ever since the 18th century. Scientifically speaking, cleaning away dirt is good to health. Clean water supply and hand washing are practical means of preventing disease. Yet, it seems that standards of cleanliness have moved beyond science since World War II. Advertisements repeatedly sell the idea: clothes need to be whiter than white, cloths ever softer, surfaces to shine. Has the hate for dirt, however, gone too far?

Attitudes to dirt still differ hugely nowadays. Many first-time parents nervously try to warn their children off touching dirt, which might be responsible for the spread of disease. On the contrary, Mary Ruebush, an American immunologist (免疫学家), encourages children to play in the dirt to build up a strong immune system. And the latter position is gaining some ground.

1.The kings of France and England in the 16th century closed bath houses because ________.

A．they lived healthily in a dirty environment.

B．they thought bath houses were too dirty to stay in

C．they believed disease could be spread in public baths

D．they considered bathing as the cause of skin disease

2.Which of the following best describes Henry IV's attitude to bathing?

A．Afraid.            B．Curious.           C．Approving.        D．Uninterested.

3.How does the passage mainly develop?

A．By providing examples.

B．By making comparisons (比较).

C．By following the order of time.

D．By following the order of importance.

4.What is the author's purpose in writing the passage?

A．To stress the role of dirt.

B．To introduce the history of dirt.

C．To call attention to the danger of dirt.

D．To present the change of views on dirt.

 

A new study says one part of the human brain may become smaller as the result of a condition known as jet lag. Jet lag results from flying long distances in an airplane. People with jet lag may feel extremely tired for several days. They may also have problems thinking clearly and remembering.

Recently a researcher at the University of Bristol in Britain reported the findings of his jet lag study, which involved twenty young women who worked for international airlines. They had served passengers on airplanes for five years. These flight attendants flew across many countries and at least seven time zones. In the study, the flight attendants had different amounts of time to recover from jet lag. Half the women spent five days or fewer in their home areas between long flights The other half spent more than fourteen days in their home areas.

The researcher took some saliva from the women's mouths to measure levels of a hormone(荷尔蒙) that increases during stress (紧张). He tested them to see if they could remember where black spots appeared on a computer screen. And he took pictures of their brains to measure the size of the brain's temporal lobes (脑叶).

It was found that the women who had less time between flights had smaller right temporal lobes. This area of the brain deals with recognizing and remembering what is seen. The same group performed worse and had slower reaction times on the visual memory test. And their saliva samples showed higher levels of stress hormones.

The researcher believes the brain needs at least ten days to recover after a long trip. He says airline workers told him their ability to remember got worse after working on planes for about four years. Other studies have shown that increased feelings of stress can cause a loss of cells in the part of the brain that controls memory.

Scientists say more tests are needed to study the effects of jet lag on the brain. They want to find out if too much jet lag could permanently (永久性的) affect memory.

According to the text, jet lag _________.

A. can cause difficulties in speaking

B. can make people feel tired for a few weeks

C. can be only found in flight attendants

D. can be caused by flying over several time zones

It can be inferred from the text that _________.

A. the conclusion is refused by many scientists

B. scientists fear that this research is not done properly

C. every scientific conclusion needs the support from many tests

D. the women who were examined in the research were not healthy

From the result of the research we can see that _________.

A. the women who have longer rest at home show better memory

B. the women who fly in short time have smaller right temporal lobes

C. the women who have longer flights fail the memory test

D. the women who rest more than 14 days produce less hormones

What is the subject discussed in the text?

A. The cause of jet lag.      B. A story of a group of flight attendants.

C. The importance of having enough rest after flights.

D. A research about the effects of jet lag on the brain.

With the new school year quickly coming near (or perhaps, for your early-starters, already under way), it’s time to get ready for a successful term(学期). And while you may be cleaning your wardrobe(壁柜), it’s equally important to freshen up(更新) your study skills, too.

Have you ever noticed that your study habits are different from those of your friends? Or how you seem to learn faster in certain classes? Some people are quick to blame(责备) the teacher or subject(学科) for their difficulties, but that isn’t always the cause(原因). One thing that many people seem to ignore(忽视) is their learning type.

Now, you may be wondering what a learning type is and how to find yours. There are three different learning types: Visual, Auditory, and Kinesthetic. You can be a combination of learning types, but most people have one main type.

1. Visual learners learn best by seeing. If you seem to easily get information from pictures, graphs, and videos, you are likely a visual learner.

2. Auditory learners learn best by hearing. If you seem to remember things by hearing them, whether listening to a lecture or repeating information out loud, then you are likely an auditory learner.

3. Kinesthetic learners learn best by doing. If you seem to learn best by working with your hands or testing out what you are shown, you are likely a kinesthetic learner.

So now that you know your personal learning style, the trick (窍门) is to find out how to use your new-found knowledge to help you in your classes.

1.According to the speaker, why are some students slower than others in a certain subject?

A．Because they find the subject too difficult.

B．Because they have lost interest in the subject.

C．Because their teacher is not good enough.

D．Because they don’t know their learning type.

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

A．success

B．mixture

C．wonder

D．model

3.Stephen loves science and usually does experiments with his classmates in the lab to test what he has learned. So what type of learner is he?

A．Visual

B．Auditory

C．Kinesthetic

D．Both A and B

4.What do you think the speaker is going to do next?

A．To give further explanation to the three types of learners.

B．To give clear examples of the three types of learners.

C．To make a survey(调查) about the three types of learners.

D．To suggest different study skills to different types of learners.

 

Doctors say anger can be an extremely damaging emotion, unless you learn how to deal with it. They warn that anger can lead to heart disease, stomach problems, headaches, emotional problems and possibly cancer.

Anger is a normal emotion that we all feel from time to time. Some people express anger openly in a calm reasonable way. Others burst with anger, and scream and yell. But other people keep their anger inside. They can not or will not express it. This is called repressing anger.

For years many doctors thought that repressing anger was more dangerous to a person's health than expressing it. They said that when a person is angry, the brain releases the same hormones (荷尔蒙).They speed the heart rate, raise blood pressure, or sugar into the blood, etc．In general the person feels excited and ready to act.

Some doctors say that both repressing and expressing anger can be dangerous. They believe that those who express anger ferociously may be more likely to develop heart disease, and they believe that those who keep their anger inside may face a greater danger of high blood pressure.

Doctors say the solution is learning how to deal with anger. They say the first step is to admit that you are angry and to recognize the real cause of the anger, then decide if the cause is serious enough to get angry about. If it is, they say, “Do not express your anger while angry. Wait until your anger has cooled down and you are able to express yourself calmly and reasonably.”

Doctors say that a good way to deal with anger is to find humor in the situation that has made you angry. They said that laughter is much healthier than anger.

1.The underlined word “ferociously” in Paragraph 2 probably means ______.

A．mildly            B．fiercely           C．frequently         D．hardly

2. Which statement is right?

A．Were you angry, you would get cancer.

B．Once you are angry, you will get cancer.

C．Angry as you are often, you can't get cancer.

D．Anger may cause you a cancer.

3. Expressing anger ferociously  _________ repressing it according to some scientists.

A．is just the same as                       B．is more harmful than

C．is no better than                        D．is much better than

4.According to the author, you'd better _________.

A．never be angry

B．cool it down before you express your anger.

C．laugh and laugh when you get angry

D．admit you are wrong when you are angry

5. The main purpose of the text is to ______.

A．describe people’s behavior at anger.

B．present doctors’ different attitudes towards anger.

C．stress the harm of anger

D．instruct people how to deal with anger.

 

B

What happens inside the skull of a soccer player when repeatedly heads a soccer ball? That question motivated a challenging new study of the brains of experienced players that has caused discussion and debate among soccer players, and some anxiety among those of us with soccer-playing children.

For the study, researchers at the Albert Einstein College of Medicine in New York selected 34 adults, men and women. All of the volunteers had played soccer since childhood and now competed year-round in adult soccer leagues. Each filled out a detailed questionnaire developed especially for this study to determine how many times they had headed a soccer ball in the previous year, as well as whether they had experienced any known concussions (脑震荡) in the past.

Then the players completed computerized tests of their memory and other learning skills and had their brains scanned, using a complicated new M.R.I. technique which can find structural changes in the brain that can’t be seen during most scans.

According to the data they presented at Radiological Society of North America meeting last month, the researchers found that the players who had headed the ball more than about 1,100 times in the previous 12 months showed significant loss of white matter in parts of their brains involved with memory, attention and the processing of visual information, compared with players who had headed the ball fewer times.

This pattern of white matter loss is “similar to those seen in traumatic (外伤的) brain injury”, like that after a serious concussion, the researchers reported, even though only one of these players was reported to have ever experienced a concussion.

The players who had headed the ball about 1,100 times or more in the past year were also generally worse at recalling lists of words read to them, forgetting or fumbling the words far more often than players who had headed the ball less.

1.The passage is most probably a ________.

A．news report                           B．research report

C．story for soccer players                   D．text for doctors

2. In which way can researchers find the structural changes in the brain?

A．Computerized test                       B．Questionnaire

C．Scanning                              D．M.R.I. technique

3. From the passage we can conclude that frequent heading may have ________.

A．significant effect on brain                 B．little effect on one’s brain

C．nothing to do with the brain injury           D．one’s memory improved

4.What is likely to be the cause of memory loss?

A．Playing soccer frequently                 B．Tests of their memory

C．White matter loss                       D．Information processing

5.The underlined word “fumbling” is closest in meaning to ________?

A．remembering      B．misunderstanding   C．recalling          D．missing