Let's face it.No one drinks diet soda for the taste.People drink diet soda in the hope that it will help
them lose weight or at least keep them from gaining it.Yet it seems to have exactly the opposite effect,
according to a new study.
     Researchers from the University of Texas said those who drank two or more diet sodas a day had
waist size increases that were six times greater than those who didn't drink diet soda."What we saw was
that the more diet sodas a person drank, the more weight they were likely to gain," said Sharon Fowler.
     The study was based on data from 474 participants in a large, ongoing research project, where the
participants were followed for nearly l0 years.
     While the findings are surprising, they also offer some explanations.
     Nutrition expert, Melanie Rogers, who works with overweight patients in New York, has found that
when patients are switched from regular to diet soda, they don't lose weight at all."We weren't seeing
weight loss necessarily, and that was confusing to us," said Rogers.
     So why would diet soda cause weight gain? No one knows for sure yet, but it could be that people
think they can eat more if they drink diet soda, and so over-compensate for the missing calories.
     A related study found some sweeteners (甜味剂) raised blood sugar levels in some mice."Data from
this and other potential studies suggest that the promotion of diet sodas and artificial sweeteners may be
risky," said Helen P.Hazuda, professor at the University of Texas's school of medicine."They may be free
of calories, but not of consequences."

1. People drink diet soda to _____.

A. enjoy its taste                    
B. achieve weight loss
C. stay in fashion                
D. gain more energy

2. The new study suggests that drinking diet soda _____.

A. causes people to become heavier      
B. helps people to be healthier
C. makes people much thinner          
D. offers people more calories

3. We can learn from the passage that _____.

A. regular soda makes people lose more weight
B. diet soda does help reduce calories
C. diet soda drinkers tend to eat more food
D. most blood diseases come from diet soda

4. The underlined word "They" in the last paragraph probably refers to _____.

A. sweeteners      
B. diet soda drinkers and sweetener takers
C. sodas                          
D. diet sodas and artificial sweeteners

     Why did the chicken cross the road? To get to the other side.
     Most people know this joke. But recently, some people have been much more worried about how
the grizzly bear and mountain lion can cross the road.
     "Millions of animals die each year on U.S. roads," the Federal Highway Administration reports.  In
fact, only about 80 ocelots, an endangered wild cat, exist in the U.S. today. The main reason? Roadkill.
     "Eco-passages" may help animals cross the road without being hit by cars. They are paths both over
and under roads. "These eco-passages can be extremely useful, so that wildlife can avoid road accidents," said Jodi Hilty of the Wildlife Protection Society.
     But do animals actually use the eco-passages? The answer is yes. Paul Beier of Northern Arizona
University found foot marks left by mountain lions on an eco-passage that went under a highway.  This
showed that the lions used the passage.
     Builders of eco-passages try to make them look like a natural part of an area by planting trees on and
around them. Animals seem to be catching on. Animals like salamanders (火蜥蜴) and grizzly bears are
using the bridges and underpasses.
     The next time you visit a park or drive through an area with a lot of wildlife, look around. You might
see an animal overpass!

1. The writer uses the example of "ocelots" to show that _______. 

A. wild animals have become more dangerous
B. the driving condition has improved greatly
C. the measure for protecting wildlife fails to work
D. an increasing number of animals are killed in road accidents

2. From the story, we know an eco-passage is ________.

A. an underground path for cars
B. a fence built for the safety of the area
C. a bridge for animals to get over a river
D. a path for animals to cross the road

3. When the writer says that "animals seem to be catching on"(Para. 6), he means __. 

A. animals begin to realize the dangers on the road 
B. animals begin to learn to use eco-passages
C. animals are crossing the road in groups       
D. animals are increasing in number

4. The writer asks visitors and drivers to look around when traveling because _____.

A. wild animals may attack cars
B. wild animals may jam the road
C. they may see wild animals in the park
D. they may see wild animals on eco-passages

5. The best title for the passage is ________. 

A. Special bridges help animals cross the road
B. Endangered animals increase because of roadkill
C. Animals fail to cross the road
D. Take steps to protect animals in danger

     Ask someone what they have done to help the environment recently and they will almost certainly
mention recycling. Recycling in the home is very important of course. However, being forced to recycle
often means we already have more material than we need. We are dealing with the results of that
over-consumption in the greenest way possible, but it would be far better if we did not need to bring so
much material home in the first place.
     The total amount of packaging increased by 12% between 1999 and 2005. It now makes up a third
of a typical household's waste in the UK. In many supermarkets nowadays food items are packaged
twice with plastic and cardboard.
     Too much packaging is doing serious damage to the environment. The UK, for example, is running
out of it for carrying this unnecessary waste. If such packaging is burnt, it gives off greenhouse gases
which go on to cause the greenhouse effect. Recycling helps, but the process itself uses energy. The
solution is not to produce such items in the first place. Food waste is a serious problem, too. Too many
supermarkets encourage customers to buy more than they need. However, a few of them are coming
round to the idea that this cannot continue, encouraging customers to reuse their plastic bags, for
example.
     But this is not just about supermarkets. It is about all of us. We have learned to associate packaging
with quality. We have learned to think that something unpackaged is of poor quality. This is especially
true of food. But is also applies to a wide range of consumer products, which often have far more
packaging than necessary.
     There are signs of hope. As more of us recycle, we are beginning to realise just how much
unnecessary material are collecting. We need to face the wastefulness of our consumer culture, but we
have a mountain to climb.

1. What does the underlined phrase "over-consumption" refer to?

A. Using too much packaging.                    
B. Recycling too many wastes.
C. Making more products than necessary.            
D. Having more material than is needed.

2. The author uses figures in Paragraph 2 to show _______.

A. the tendency of cutting household waste    
B. the increase of packaging recycling
C. the rapid growth of super markets          
D. the fact of packaging overuse

3. According to the text, recycling ______.

A. helps control the greenhouse effect        
B. means burning packaging for energy
C. is the solution to gas shortage            
D. leads to a waste of land

4. What can be inferred from Paragraph 4?

A. Unpackaged products are of bad quality.      
B. Supermarkets care more about packaging.
C. It is improper to judge quality by packaging.  
D. Other products are better packaged than food.

5. What can we learn from the last paragraph?

A. Fighting wastefulness is difficult.      
B. Needless material is mostly recycled.
C. People like collecting recyclable waste.  
D. The author is proud of their consumer culture.

     Doctors say anger can be an extremely damaging emotion, unless you leam 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 violently 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. "Damaging emotion" means that _____.

A. the emotion is harmless
B. the emotion is hannful
C. the feeling is veiy strong
D. the feeling is hard

2. What statement is right?

A. Were you angry,you would be cancered (得癌症).
B. Once you are angry,you must be cancered.
C. Angry as you are often,you can't be cancered.
D. Anger may cause you a cancer.

3. Expressing anger violently _____ 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 it
C. laugh and laugh when you get angry
D. admit you are wrong when you are angry

     1. _____: less red meat and more fibre, less saturated fat (饱和脂肪) and more fruit and veg, right?
Wrong, according to a controversial new book by nutritionist Zoe Harcombe. In the book, Harcombe
charts her careful journey of research into studies that underpin (巩固) dietary advice-and her myth (误
区)-breaking conclusions are surprising.
     Myth: 2._____.
     "Real fat is not bad for us," says Harcombe. It' s man-made fats we should be demonising. Why do
we have this idea that meat is full of saturated fat? In a 100g pork chop, there is 2.3g of unsaturated fat
and l.5 g of saturated fat.
     Myth: We should eat more fibre.
     For three decades, we have eaten fibre into our bodies to help us feel full and keep our digestive systems
moving. 3._____, says Harcombe.
     The advice to eat more fibre is put forward along with the theory that we need to clean our digestive
systems. But essential minerals are absorbed from food while it is in the intestines (肠道), so why do we
want to wash everything out? Concentrate on not putting bad food in.
     Myth: You need to eat five portions of fruit and veg a day.
     "Five-a-day is the most well-known piece of nutritional advice," says Harcombe. "You' d think it was
based on firm evidence of health benefit. 4._____."
     Five-a-day started as a marketing campaign by 25 fruit and veg companies and the American National
Cancer Institute in 1991. There was no evidence for any cancer benefit.
     Myth: Fruit and veg are the most nutritious things to eat.
     Apparently not. Harcombe allows that vegetables are a great addition to the diet-if served in butter to
deliver the fat-soluble (dissolved) vitamins they contain-but natural sugar, the fruit sugar in fruit, goes
straight to the liver and is stored as fat. 
     5._____, says Harcombe, who adds:"Vitamins and minerals in animal foods-meat, fish, eggs and dairy
products-beat those in fruit."

A. Want to lose weight? Don't trust these
B. We think we know what to eat
C. This is not a good idea
D. Fat is bad for us
E. Think again
F. We need take more exercise
G. Fruit is best avoided by those trying to lose weight

   The Diet Zone: A Dangerous Place
   Diet Coke, diet Pepsi, diet pills, no-fat diet, vegetable diet… We are surrounded by the word "diet"
everywhere we look and listen. We have so easily been attracted by the promise and potential of diet
products that we have stopped thinking about what diet products are doing to us. We are paying for
products that harm us psychologically and physically.
   Diet products significantly weaken us psychologically. On one level, we are not allowing our brain to
admit that our weight problems lie not in actually losing the weight, but in controlling the consumption
(消耗)of fatty, high-calorie, unhealthy foods. Diet products allow us to jump over the thinking stage and
go straight for the scale(秤)instead. All we have to do is to swallow or recognize the word "diet" in food
labels(标签).
   On another level, diet products have greater psychological effects. Every time we have a zero-calorie
drink, we are telling ourselves without our awareness that we don't have to work to get results. Diet
products make people believe that gain comes without pain, and that life can be without resistance (抵
抗)and struggle.
   The danger of diet products lies not only in the psychological effects they have on us, but also in the
physical harm that they cause. Diet foods can indirectly harm our bodies because consuming them instead of healthy foods means we are preventing our bodies from having basic nutrients (营养成分). Diet foods
and diet pills contain zero calorie only because the diet industry has created chemicals to produce these
wonder products. Diet products may not be nutritional, and the chemical that go into diet products are
potentially dangerous.
   Now that we are aware of the effects that diet products have on us, it is time to seriously think about
buying them. Losing weight lies in the power of minds, not in the power of chemicals. Once we realize
this, we will be much better able to resist diet products, and therefore prevent the psychological harm
that comes from using them.

1. From Paragraph 1, we learn that _____.

A. diet products fail to bring out people's potential
B. people have difficulty in choosing diet products
C. diet products are misleading people
D. people are fed up with diet products

2. One psychological effect of diet products is that people tend to _____.

A. try out a variety of diet foods
B. hesitate before they enjoy diet foods
C. pay attention to their own eating habits
D. watch their weight rather than their diet

3. In Paragraph 3, "gain comes without pain" probably means _____.

A. losing weight is effortless
B. it costs a lot to lose weight
C. diet products bring no pain
D. diet products are free from calories

4. Diet products indirectly harm people physically because such products _____.

A. are over-consumed
B. lack basic nutrients
C. are short of chemicals
D. provide too much energy

     First aid is a temporary form of   1   given to someone who suddenly   2   ill or gets   3  before a
doctor can be found. Often the illness or injury is not serious, but there are other times   4    giving first
aid quickly can save lives.
     If your skin gets burned, first aid is a very important first step. First, r  5  clothing using scissors.
Next,   6  burns immediately with cool but not icy water. Then,   7  the burned area gently. Finally,   8  
the burned area with a dry, clean bandage that will not stick   9  the skin. If the injuries are second or
third degree burns, it is v  10  to get the victim to the doctor or hospital at once.

     The black robin is one of the world's rarest birds. It is a small, wild bird, and it lives only on the island
of Little Mangere, off the coast of New Zealand. In 1967 there were about fifty black robins; in 1977
there were fewer than ten. These are the only black robins left in the world. The island has many other
birds, of different kinds, large and small; these seem to multiply very happily.
     Energetic steps are being taken to preserve the black robin. Detailed studies are going on, and a public appeal for money has been made. The idea is to buy another island nearby as a special home, a "reserve",
for threatened wild life, including black robins. The organizers say that Little Mangere should then be
supplied with the robin's food-it eats only one kind of seed. Thousands of the required plants are at
present being cultivated in New Zealand. The public appeal is aimed at the conscience of mankind, so
that the wild black robin will not die out and disappear form the earth in our time at least.
     Is all this concern a waste of human effort? Is it any business of ours whether the black robin survives
or dies out? Are we losing our sense of what is reasonable and what is unreasonable?
     In the earth's long, long past, hundreds of kinds of creatures have evolved, risen to a degree of
success-and died out. In the long, long future, there will be many new and different forms of life. Those
creatures that adapt themselves successfully to what the earth offers will survive for a long time. Those
that fail to meet the challenges will disappear early. This is nature's proven method of operation.
     The rule of selection-"the survival of the fittest"-is the one by which human beings have themselves
arrived on the scene. We, being one of the most adaptable creatures the earth has yet produced, may last
longer than most. You may take it as another rule that when, at last, human beings show signs of dying
out, no other creature will extend a paw to put off our departure. On the contrary, we will be hurried
out. For nature, tough fair, is a hard-hearted mistress. She has no favorites.
     Life seems to have grown too tough for black robins. I leave you to judge whether we should try to
do something about it.

1．The black robin is dying out mainly because        .

A. people have been very careless about its survival
B. the appeal for money has come at the wrong time
C. the other birds on the island have destroyed it
D. its only food supply is far from enough on Little Mangere

2．In Paragraph 3, the writer puts forward three questions to        .

A. make a comparison
B. make an argument
C. present his own idea
D. introduce a topic

3. The writer's attitude towards the protection of the black robins is         .

A. passive  
B. active      
C. unconcerned    
D. optimistic

     Now, we know that if we do not get enough vitamins, we are at risk of developing a number of
diseases. As a result, vitamin supplements (补品), though expensive, are popular with people who
worry that they are not getting enough vitamins from the foods they eat. But contrary to what many
people think, medical experts have found little evidence that most supplements do anything to improve
health or protect against disease.
     In fact, medical experts warn that taking too many of some vitamins can be harmful. For example,
too much vitamin E can cause bleeding. People should discuss what vitamins they take with their
doctors, as some vitamins can produce harmful side effects when mixed with medicines.
     Experts, however, do say that sometimes vitamins can help prevent disease. People who know they
lack a particular vitamin should take vitamin supplements. Some older adults, for example, may not have
enough vitamin B-twelve. This is because, as people get older, their body loses its ability to take it from
foods. Also, people who spend much time inside may need some extra vitamin D as the skin makes this
vitamin from sunlight.
     Different vitamins are found in different foods. Vitamin A is found in fish liver oil. It also is in the
yellow part of eggs. Sweet potatoes, carrots and other darkly colored fruits and vegetables contain
substances that the body can change into vitamin A. Vitamin B-twelve is found in green leafy vegetables
and other foods, like fruits. Vitamin K can be found in pork products.
     In fact, for most people, a balanced diet can ensure enough of the vitamins our bodies need. So, it is
important for us to eat a mixture of foods every day to ensure that we get enough vitamins our bodies
need.

1. What is probably talked about before this passage?

A. How many vitamins a person's body needs.  
B. How many vitamins some foods contain.
C. The benefits that vitamins bring to our health.
D. What people should do to stay healthy.

2. Vitamin supplements are popular with people because ________.  

A. people mistakenly think that they are good for their health
B. they contain more vitamins than the foods people eat
C. food does not provide enough vitamins people need
D. people fear that a lack of vitamins will lead to disease

3. From the passage, we can learn that medical experts advise people _________.

A. never to take any vitamin supplements  
B. to depend only on food for their vitamins
C. not to take any vitamins together with medicines
D. to consult doctors before taking vitamin supplements

4. For people who lack Vitamin B-twelve, they can eat more from _______.

A. sweet potatoes  
B. green leafy vegetables  
C. pork products