A research by the National Center for Health Statistics is seen as an important confirmation of the“Hispanic mortality paradox（西班牙裔死亡率悖论）.”

On average，Hispanics outlive whites by 2.5 years and blacks by 7.7 years. Their life expectancy at birth in 2006 was 80.6 years，compared with 78.1 for whites，72.9 for blacks and 77.7 years for the total population.

The report shows that the Hispanic population has higher life expectancy at birth and at almost every age despite a socioeconomic status lower than that of whites.“Mortality is very correlated with income，education and health care access，”says Elizabeth Arias，author of the report.“You would expect the Hispanic population would have higher mortality，”in line with the black population.

The Hispanic paradox has been documented for more than two decades，but this is the first time the government has had enough data to issue national numbers. Researchers are struggling to explain why Hispanics live longer.

“We don’t know，”says David Hayes-Bautista，director of the Center for the Study of Latino Health and Culture at UCLA’s David Geffen School of Medicine.“We thought it was a problem in the data，but we can pretty much say this is real.”

Potential factors:

·Culture and lifestyle.  Support from extended family and lower rates of smoking and drinking.Latino groups in particular have very strong family and social ties.

·Migration.  The“healthy migrant effect”argues that healthy people are more likely to emigrate. And when immigrants become ill，they might return home and die there.

    Solving the puzzle may help the nation deal with health care issues because Hispanics use health services less—they make fewer doctors visits and spend less time in hospitals，Hayes-Bautista says.“It’s clearly something in the Latino culture，”he says.

In 2006，Hispanics’life expectancy is           years longer than the average of the total population.

    A. 2.5                 B. 7.7               C. 2.9              D. 80.6

What does the underlined word“outlive”in the second paragraph probably mean？

A. To live longer than…                      B. To live shorter than…

C. To die out.                              D. To expect to live.

What is the main idea of paragraph three？

A. Hispanics were born better than whites.

B. Morality is closely related with health care access.

C. Whites should have longer life expectancy.

D. Even experts can’t explain the phenomenon.

What is Mr.Hayes-Bautista’s opinion about the paradox？

A. He supports there is a problem with the data.

B. He intends to trust the cultural factor.

C. He believes in the“healthy migrant effect”.

D. He thinks health care the most important factor.

Which of the following inferences is true according to the passage？

A. Black people suffer the lowest social status in America.

B. Hispanics might have healthier ways of life.

C. Only healthy people can immigrate into America.

D. White people don’t have strong family ties.

A new study by Penn State College of Medicine research team found that honey is a better and safer treatment for children than cough medicines.

   Ian Paul, the study’s lead researcher, was motivated to test honey because treating coughs in children has recently become a sticky subject. Coughing is the body’s way of cleaning irritated (受刺激的) airways to help you breathe. But too much coughing can irritate your lungs and throat even more. It can also make it tough to get the sleep your body needs to heal. Hoping to ease the suffering of their children, parents often give them cough medicines.

But there have never been any good studies showing that they work. Cough and cold medicines may also cause serious side effects. Hundreds of kids die in the hospital each year after receiving too much cough medicine by mistake. Last October, the US Food and Drug Administration suggested that parents should not give cough medicines to children under 6.

In order to search for a different solution, Paul designed a study that involved 105 kids who were sick with coughs and other cold conditions. At bedtime, the kids took buckwheat(荞麦) honey, honey-flavored (蜜蜂味的) DM (one of the most common ingredients成分in cough medicine), or no treatment. Parents and kids in the no-treatment group knew they weren’t getting anything, but the other two groups weren’t told which treatment they were getting.

The surveys showed that kids who swallowed about 2 teaspoons of buckwheat

honey before bedtime coughed less and slept better than kids in other groups.

“When parents want something for their kids to take,” Paul says, “honey seems

 like the best option.”

But what gives honey its healing power? Substances called antioxidants(抗氧化剂) may be part of the answer. All honey contains antioxidants that protect our cells from damage. Studies show that antioxidant levels in the body rise after someone swallows honey.

Which of the following can be the best title for this passage?

A. Sweet solution to kids’ coughing

B. No cough medicines to children

   C. Best treatment for your cold

   D. Cough medicines don’t work

We can learn from Paragraph 2 that coughing ______.

   A. can cure lung and throat diseases

   B. is more harmful to children

C. sometimes does good to people 

   D. helps improve children’s die

During Paul’s experiment, the kids who received treatment __________.

   A. seemed much worse than before

B. had no idea what they swallowed

C. knew they weren’t getting anything

   D. coughed less and slept better

According to the passage, Paul’s experiment proved that ____.

A. honey may have real healing power

B. cough medicines may cause side effect

    C. cough medicines don’t really work

D. buckwheat honey contain more antioxidants

       A new study by a Penn State College of Medicine research team found that honey is a better and safer treatment for children than cough medicines.   

       Ian Paul, the study’s lead researcher, was motivated to test honey because treating coughs in children has recently become a sticky subject. Coughing is the body’s way of clearing irritated (受刺激的) airways to help you breathe. But too much coughing can irritate your lungs and throat even more. It can also make it tough to get the sleep your body needs to heal. Hoping to ease the suffering of their children, parents often give them cough medicines.  

       But there have never been any good studies showing that they work. Cough and cold medicines may also cause serious side effects. Hundreds of kids die in the hospital each year after receiving too much cough medicine by mistake. Last October, the US Food and Drug Administration suggested that parents should not give cough medicines to children under 6.

       In order to search for a different solution, Paul designed a study that involved 105 kids who were sick with coughs and other cold conditions. At bedtime, the kids took buckwheat (荞麦) honey, honey-flavored (蜂蜜味的) DM (one of the most common ingredients in cough medicines), or no treatment. Parents and kids in the no-

-treatment group knew they weren’t getting anything, but the other two groups weren’t told which treatment they were getting.

       The surveys showed that kids who swallowed about 2 teaspoons of buckwheat honey before bedtime coughed less and slept better than kids in the other groups. “When parents want something for their kids to take,” Paul says, “honey seems like the best option”.

       But what gives honey its healing power? Substances called antioxidants (抗氧化剂) may be part of the answer. All honey contains antioxidants that protect our cells from damage. Studies show that antioxidant levels in the body rise after someone swallows honey.

Which of the following can be the best title for this passage?

A. No cough medicines to children    

B. Sweet solution to kids’ coughing

C. Best treatment for your cold   

D. Cough medicines don’t work  

We can learn from Paragraph 2 that coughing ______.

A. sometimes does good to people 

B. can cure lung and throat diseases

C. is more harmful to children  

D. helps improve children’s diet   

During Paul’s experiment, the kids who received treatment ______.

A. seemed much worse than before 

B. knew they weren’t getting anything 

C. coughed less and slept better

D. had no idea what they swallowed

A man was exploring caves by the seashore when he found a bag with a bunch of hardened clay balls．It was like someone had   36   the balls and left them out in the sun to bake．

       They didn’t look like much, but they   37   the man, so he took the bag out of the cave with him．As he walked along the beach, he   38   the clay balls one at a time out into the ocean as far as he could．He thought little about it   39   he dropped one of the clay balls and it cracked open（裂开）on a rock．Inside was a beautiful, precious stone!   40  , the man started breaking open the   41   balls．Each contained a similar treasure．He found thousands of dollars’   42   of jewels in the 20 or so leftover ones．

       Then it   43   him．He’d been on the beach a long time, throwing maybe 50 or 60 of the balls, with their hidden treasure, into the   44  ．Instead of thousands of dollars in treasure, he  45   have taken home tens of thousands but he had just thrown it away!

       It’s like that   46   people．We look at someone, maybe even ourselves, but we   47   see the clay shell．It doesn’t look like much from the   48  ．It isn’t always beautiful or shining, so we   49   it．We see that person as less important than someone more   50   or stylish or well known or wealthy．But we haven’t taken the time to find the treasure   51   inside that person．

       There is a treasure in each and every one of us．If we take the time to get to know that person and ask God to show us that person the   52   he sees them, then the clay begins to   53   and the brilliant jewel begins to shine forth．May we not come to the   54   of our lives and find out that we’ve thrown away a   55   in friendships because the gems （宝石） were hidden in balls of clay! May we see the people in our world as God sees them．

A．invented     B．rolled          C．handled    D．bounced

A．confused       B．encouraged      C．interested  D．relaxed

A．dipped         B．pushed          C．kicked      D．threw

A．until          B．when           C．since     D．though

A．Frightened    B．Determined      C．Excited     D．Disappointed

A．shining        B．floating        C．surviving  D．remaining

A．worth         B．value         C．cost       D．wealth

A．shocked        B．rejected        C．struck       D．delighted

A．caves         B．waves           C．seashore    D．storms

A．might         B．must          C．could       D．should

A．with          B．towards        C．about     D．between

A．hardly         B．actually        C．simply      D．luckily

A．distance       B．outside         C．weight      D．pattern

A．removed           B．suspected      C．ignored     D．reserved

A．beautiful       B．cautious         C．positive    D．grateful

A．lost           B．hidden          C．divided     D．mixed

A．moment       B．point         C．degree      D．way

A．come off       B．break away      C．take over  D．fall down

A．sight          B．best           C．middle      D．end

A．relation        B．position         C．fortune     D．memory

More than half of Americans do not take all their vacation days，even though they think they need one more holiday.And nearly a third of workers who take a break check their e-mails from the boss every other day and some even keep in touch hourly.

“We’re workaholics(工作狂)’，”said Samuel Nahmias.“From a general perspective，this has a lot to do with the economic situation in the US.More and more people are unemployed.”

With jobless numbers reaching 9.6 percent，people who have jobs seem to be unwilling to take time off.“It_is_not_a_great_picture and that affects vacations.People are not going on vacation as much and those who are going on vacation are being more selective about where they are going.”Nahmias explained.

Unlike European countries where four or more weeks of holiday each year is normal,27 percent of people questioned in the poll said they had 6 to 10 days of annual leave and 20 percent had less than 3 days.With more people on unemployment lists in America，those still with jobs are facing more responsibility at work，which is reflected in their lack of time off.

The majority of workers who did not take time off mentioned too many responsibilities or stress at work，while some people said they simply did not have time to plan a holiday.“People are more conscious of what they are doing and when they are going on vacation because they don’t want to look bad in this situation，”Nahmias explained.

Technology is also playing a part with smartphones enabling workers to keep in contact in ways that were not possible before.It has to do with technology and the level of concern about what is going on in the office.

1．Americans don’t take all their vacation days because ________.

A．they devote themselves to the whole work

B．they are afraid that they may lose their jobs

C．they are asked to keep in touch with their bosses

D．they aren’t in need of holidays at all

2．What does Nahmias mean by saying the underlined words in Paragraph 3?

A．Travelling makes people unwelcome.

B．People are unwilling to go on short vacations.

C．The economic situation remains at a low point.

D．People are more selective about places of interest.

3.We can infer from Paragraph 4 that ________.

A．Unemployment rate is higer in America than that in Europe

B．European economic situation is better than that in America

C．Americans are more hard-working than Europeans

D．More people are losing their jobs in Europe

4．What’s the main idea of the text?

A．Americans are all workaholic.

B．Many Americans don’t choose to take vacations.

C．Unemployment is going from bad to worse.

D．US economic situation becomes worse and worse.