Why do men die earlier than women? The latest research makes it known that the reason could be that
men's hearts go into rapid decline when they reach middle age.
      The largest study of the effects of ageing on the heart has found that women's longevity may be linked
to the fact that their hearts do not lose their pumping power with age.
      "We have found that the power of the male heart falls by 20-25 percent between 18 and 70 years of age,"
said the head of the study, David Goldspink of Liverpool John Moores University in the UK.
      "Within the heart there are millions of cells that enable it to beat. Between the age of 20 and 70, one-third
of those cells die and are not replaced in men," said Goldspink. "This is part of the ageing process." 
       What surprises scientists is that the female heart sees very little loss of these cells. A healthy 70-year-old
woman's heart could perform almost as well as a 20-year-old one's.
       "This gender difference might just explain why women live longer than men," said Goldspink. They
studied more than 250 healthy men and women between the ages of 18 and 80, focusing on healthy persons
to remove the confusing influence of disease."The team has yet to find why ageing takes a greater loss on the
male heart," said Goldspink.
      The good news is that men can improve the health of their heart with regular exercise. Goldspink stressed
that women also need regular exercise to prevent their leg muscles becoming smaller and weaker as they age.

1. The underlined word "longevity" in the second paragraph probably refers to "_____".

A. health
B. long life
C. ageing
D. effect

2. The text mainly talks about _____.

A. men's heart cells
B. women's ageing process
C. the gender difference
D. hearts and long life

3. According to the text, the UK scientists have known that _____.

A. women have more cells than men when they are born
B. women can replace the cells that enable the heart to beat
C. the female heart loses few of the cells with age
D. women never lose their pumping power with age

4. If you want to live longer, you should _____.

A. enable your heart to beat much faster
B. find out the reason for ageing
C. exercise regularly to keep your heart healthy
D. prevent your cells from being lost

A: Hello, Judy. How are you getting along with your word processing (文字处理) class?
B: Well, so far progress has been rather slow. I haven't learned the keyboard yet, and I have problems
    remembering all the orders of editing. I get really impatient because I want to master the means to operate
    the computer as soon as possible.
A: Just remember that Rome wasn't built in a day. Word processing (文字处理) can't be such an easy matter.
B: You're right. Our teacher keeps telling us that it takes time to learn all the techniques (技巧) of word
     processing and that we can't master everything in one day.
A: That' s entirely true. But you'll catch on. Just be patient and practise whenever you can.

1. This dialogue suggests that Judy and the partner _____.

[     ]

A. may be friends
B. are studying in the same class
C. are both learning word processing
D. are both tired of study

2. What's the main idea of the dialogue?

[     ]

A. Word processing isn't an easy thing at all.
B. Only step by step can we master something.
C. True friendship will benefit our progress.
D. Truth comes from practice.

3. "Rome wasn't built in a day" means that we should be _____.

[     ]

A. patient
B. hardworking
C. friendly
D. impatient

4. Judy has difficulty in doing the following things except (除了) ______.

[     ]

A. word processing
B. making progress
C. learning the keyboard
D. remembering all the orders of editing

      Reading can provide lots of fun for children and teens during summer vacation. Children who read during
the summer are better prepared for school when they return to classes in the fall. Public libraries throughout
Wisconsin will host summer events to encourage children and young adults to include reading in their summer
fun.
●All Star Readers 
     The Milwaukee Public Library will host its 2007 Summer Reading Club for kids from 3 to 18. Signing up
starts on June 1 at all Milwaukee public libraries and bookmobile sites.
     Children aged 6 to 12 are invited to become "All Star Readers" at the Milwaukee library when they sign up
for the Summer Reading Club. Children can score a point by reading 10 books or 1,000 pages. When they
reach the reading goal, they will win a bag full of prizes.
●Sparkey Spots the Ball
     Children up to 5 years old can join the read-to-me club, "Sparkey Spots the Ball". They will receive their
own reading folders (文件夹) to record the books read to them by parents, brothers and sisters or relatives.
Once they have listened to 20 books, they will win a baseball and a coupon (优惠券) for McDonald's ice
cream.
●X-treme Read 
     Teens between the age of 13 and 18 can join in their own reading program called "X-treme Read". Teens
can read to win movie passes, CDs and more.
     The library also plans extreme bike races by C4BMX at four libraries in June and July. Check with your
local library or Milwaukee Journal Sentinel for the exact dates, times, and places of the demonstrations (集会).

1. Students who take part in the reading club can _____.

A. take part in extreme bike races
B. get a good mark in the final exam
C. get better prepared for the new term
D. finish their homework ahead of time

2. In order to become "All Star Readers" and win a lot of prizes, you _____.

A. should be 18 years old
B. should be at least five years old
C. must read at least 1,000 pages or 10 books
D. just need to sign up at the Milwaukee library

3. Which of the following is TRUE according to this passage?

A. Children up to 5 might win a baseball or an ice cream.
B. Teens who have listened to books might win movie tickets.
C. The public libraries only allow children to read in the reading club.
D. Students who want to read can sign up at any public library at Milwaukee.

4. If you are a 17-year-old student who wants to win some prizes, you can take part in _____.

A. 2007 Summer Reading Club
B. X-treme Read
C. Sparkey Spots the Ball
D. All Star Readers

      Earthquakes are something that people fear. There are some places that have few or no earthquakes.
Most places in the world, however, have them regularly (有规律的). Countries that have a lot of earthquakes
are usually quite mountainous (多山的). 
     The most talked about earthquake in the United States was in San Francisco in 1906. Over 700 people
died in it. The strongest one in North America was in 1964. It happened in Alaska.
     Strong earthquakes are not always the ones that kill the most people. In 1755, one of the strongest
earthquakes ever recorded was felt in Portugal. Around 2,000 people died. 
      In 1923, a very strong earthquake hit the Tokyo, Yokohama area of Japan. A hundred and forty thousand
people died. Most of them died in fires which followed the earthquake. 
      One of the worst earthquakes ever was in China in 1976. It killed a large number of people. The worst
earthquake ever reported was also in China, in which 400,000 people were killed or injured. This earthquake
happened in 1556.
      Earthquakes worry people a lot. The reason is that we often do not know when they are coming. People
can not prepare for it.

1. Earthquakes happen _____.

A. in all the places in the world
B. only in the countries that have a lot of mountains
C. regularly in most places in the world
D. only in a few places along the coast

2. How many people died in the earthquake which happened in Portugal in 1755?

A. 500.
B. 140,000.
C. 400,000.
D. 2,000.

3. When and where was the worst earthquake ever reported?

A.1964; Alaska.
B. 1556; China.
C. 1923; Japan.
D. 1976; China.

4. According to the passage, which of the following is NOT true?

A. The stronger the earthquake is,the more people are killed.
B. Earthquakes often come unexpectedly (出乎意料地).
C. Earthquakes can cause fires.
D. People still don't know how to tell when an earthquake will come.

5. What may be talked about in the seventh paragraph?

A. How do earthquakes worry people?
B. What will people do to prepare for earthquakes?
C. How can we save people when earthquakes happen?
D. How do earthquakes happen?

      To what degree can a computer achieve intelligence (智力)? The answer to this question may lie in a
newly-developed US computer program called Smarter Child and the Internet. 
       If you ran into Smarter Child online, you would be surprised at this kid's huge memory. It can recite
many facts. For example, Smarter Child knows every baseball player in every team this season. 
       He knows every word in the dictionary and the weather in every major city areas across the US.
However, if you ask Smarter Child other questions, you get stranger answers. A question about Smarter
Child's age returns. "One year, 11 days, 16 hours, 7 minutes, and 47 seconds!" Asking where he lives gets,
"In a clean room in a high-tech building in California．"
       Smarter Child uses the vast information on the World Wide Web as his memory bank. To answer
questions about spelling, for instance, Smarter Child goes to American Heritage Dictionary online. For the
weather, he visits www.intellicast.com. 
       Some scientists believe that by joining the many systems of the Internet, an artificial being with the
combined knowledge of, say, Albert Einstein, Richard Nixon and Britney Spears could be born. However
if Smarter Child wants to think and learn on his own like the boy-computer David in the movie A.I.,
Artificial Intelligence, he must overcome two problems. 
       The first is that computers find it difficult to read web pages because the files are labeled in different
ways. That's why programmers need to tell Smarter Child where to look for the weather. It would be a
much more difficult task to let him find it himself.
       Another problem is that while Smarter Child can process (处理) information more exactly and faster
than any human, he lacks common sense-a basic grounding of knowledge that is obvious to any young
child.

1. From the text we can infer that www.inte3llicast.com is a website _____.

A. which is specially designed to help Smarter Child
B. where we people can find Smarter Child
C. where weather forecasts are made
D. which is about artificial intelligence

2. It is probably most difficult for Smarter Child to _____.

A. tell us how to spell a difficult word
B. tell us how the American government is run
C. provide us with a famous poem by Shakespeare
D. learn how to tell right behaviors from wrong ones.

3. Which of the following is TRUE according to the text?

A. Smart Child has his own memory bank big enough for all kinds of information.
B. A.I. Artificial Intelligence is probably the name of a film about a boy-computer.
C. Smart Child can recognize different files and find information needed on his own.
D. We have similar product now which has the knowledge of Einstein, Nixon and Spears.

4. Which of the following is the bet title for the passage?

A. A New Web Child
B. Smarter Child
C. The Future of Internet
D. Intelligence Development

      This year, about 2,300 teenagers from all over the world will spend about 10 months in US homes. At the
same time about 1,300 American teenagers will go to other countries to learn new languages and learn the rest
of the world. 
      Here is a 2-way student exchange in action. Fred, 19, spent last year in Germany with George's family.
In turn, George's son Mike spent a year in Fred's home in America.
      Fred, a lively young man, knew little German when he arrived. But after 2 months of studying, the
language became easy for him. School was completely different from what he had expected and it was much
harder. Students rose respectfully when the teacher entered the room. They took 14 subjects instead of 6 that
were usually taken in the US.
      Family life, too, was different. The father's word was the law. All the activities were done with the family
rather than individually. Fred found the food to be too simple at first. He also missed having a car. 
     "Back home, you pick up some friends in a car and go out to have a good time. In Germany, you walk but
you soon learn to like it."
      At the same time, in America, Mike, a friendly German boy, was also forming his own ideas. "I suppose
I should criticize American schools." he says, "It is far too easy for our level but I have to say that I like it a
lot in Germany, we do nothing buy study. Here we take part in many other activities. I think that maybe
American schools are better in training their citizens. There ought to be some middle ground between the two."

      1______ between American school life and German school life Items (项目) American students German
students Class rules They don't have to stand up. They have to rise to show respect to their 2______. 3______
life They do their own things individually. They have to listen to their 4______. School 5______ They are very
6______ to learn. They are much more difficult. Going out They can 7______ cars. They have to 8______ all
the way. School activities They have 9______ other activities. They have to 10______ hard all the time.

      Tens of thousands of Chinese have joined a debate on whether students should be separated into science
and liberal arts (文科) classes in high school, a practice that allows them to stay competitive (有竞争力的) in
college entrance exam by choosing preferred subjects. The debate came after the Ministry of Education began
to ask for opinions from the public on Friday on whether it was necessary and possible to stop the dividing
system, which has been accepted for decades.
      In a survey started by www. qq. com, more than 260 000 people cast their votes, with 54 percent of
those voted for the abolishment (废除) and 40 percent against.
       A netizen from Chengdu said:"Sciences can activate the mind, while arts could strengthen their learning
ability."
       But some people disagreed with him. A netizen nicknamed "gentle scholar" said the students would have
more burden if they have more subjects to study. "You don't even know how difficult the courses are. I
suggest a survey among students."
       "Abolish the current system of division? We have to study nine subjects? Finally we will study everything
and have learnt little," wrote another netizen.
       Li Yanling, an education expert in Beijing, called on education authorities to consider students' school
burden. Chinese students are required to choose either arts or sciences subjects after ten years' education,
which include six years in primary school, three years in junior high school and one year in senior high
school.
       Besides the Chinese language, mathematics and English, which are must for everyone, science students
are required to take physics, biology and chemistry, while arts students study politics, history and geography.

1. Choosing preferred subjects can help students _____.

A. have more chance to look for jobs in future
B. find a good job after graduation
C. have more advantages to enter a university
D. show interest in daily life

2. Netizen nicknamed "gentle scholar" _____.

A. is for the abolishment
B. is against the abolishment
C. doesn't care the abolishment
D. prefers students to learn more

3. Which of the following statements is NOT true?

A. The debate is on whether the students should choose science or liberal arts classes in high school
B. More people on the Internet are for the abolishment
C. The students who are against the abolishment think abolishing the current system of division will heavy
     their burden.
D. Science students are required to take physics, biology and chemistry besides Chinese, math and English.