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.

More than half of the world’s population live in cities. Traffic and pollution are becoming big problems in big cities all over the world. In cities like Mexico City, Shanghai or Cairo the quality of air is getting worse every day. In the United States, people spend more time sitting in traffic jams.

Some of the world’s cities have already found the answer to the problem. In Bogota, the capital of Columbia, the government has taken measures to improve the quality of life for the city’s 8 million people. They created over a thousand new parks, a new public transport system, and built hundreds of cycling and walking paths. People who live in the city also joined in making their city one of the most livable (适合居住的) places in South America.

Today city planners around the world are looking for ways to provide more room for living and less room for cars. In America, public transport has increased over 2 % since the mid 1990s — not much but a start. More and more people leave their cars at home and get on buses, trains or even ride a bike to work. Some cities are far better at planning than others. In Amsterdam, for example, only 40 % of the population use their cars to get to work, 35 % ride bikes while 25% use public transport. In Paris, about half of the city’s workers drive their cars to work.

For cities in developing countries, the problems have just started. Traffic is getting worse as more and more people can afford to buy a car.

1.The writer listed Mexico City, Shanghai and Cairo as examples of cities of ______.

A. heavy traffic          B. air pollution

C. rapid development        D. large population

2.What did Bogota do to improve the quality of life for its people?

A. It shut down some factories in the city.

B. It introduced a foreign public transport system.

C. It encouraged people to plant trees in the city.

D. It built new parks and a new public transport system.

3.From the third paragraph, we can learn that ______.

A. 35% of the population in Paris ride bikes to work

B. half of the people in Amsterdam drive their cars to work

C. a quarter of the people in Amsterdam use public transport

D. American public transport has increased much since the 1990s

4.What would be the best title of the text?

A. Ways to solve traffic jams     

B. New changes in transport systems

C. People’s new choice in big cities

D. Parks instead of cars for cities

More than a third of the babies born this year could receive a 100th birthday message from whoever happens to be on the throne in the second decade of the 22nd century, according to figures published by the Office for National Statistics (ONS). It forecasts that 35% of the 826,000 people born in 2012 will live to become centenarians.

But a long life is not unalloyed good news. David Sinclair, head of policy and research at the International Longevity Centre UK, warned that for many the future may mean social isolation(隔离）as they live longer than friends and members of their families.

"It is of course good news that so many more people are living longer," he said, "but there is a big 'but¹. We will be older, but in worse health, and at high risk of living alone. The other problem is that we are very poor at forward planning. We deal with the problems that are under our noses, but even problems two or three years away seem quite distant enough to put off. When you're talking about forecasts for a time half a century away and more, I see no evidence that we are putting in place the measures to deal with it."

This year there will be 14,500 centenarians in the UK, a number which is expected to increase to 110,000 in 2035.

Women have higher life expectancies than men at every age: the likelihood of a girl born this year reaching her century is estimated to be 39%; for boys the figure is 32%.

The estimated number of female centenarians has risen from 500 in 1961 to more than 10,000 in 2010，a figure which is projected to reach 71,000 by 2035 and 276,000 by 2060.

Men are also living far longer, although their numbers are far fewer. There were an estimated 92 male centenarians in 1961 and just below 2,000 in 2010.

1.The underlined word centenarians probably means people who_____.

A. are born this year B. live longer than their friends

C. are in poor health D. are a hundred or more years old

2.From what David Sinclair said, we can learn_____.

A.he doesn't believe so many people are living longer

B. the older we are, the more likely we are to live alone and in poor health

C.the people who are good at forward planning are likely to live longer

D.too distant planning is not always necessary for most of us

3.Which of the following statement is true?

A.About 289，100 people born in 2012 will live to 100.

B.More men will reach their century than women in the future.

C.The number of the female centenarians was 1,000 in 1970s

D.More than 600 people reached their century in 1961.

4.What does this passage mainly talk about?

A.A long life is not always good news.

B.A long life also means social and physical isolation

C.In the future, more people will live to 100 in the UK.

D.It is good to live to 100.

More than half of high school students surveyed reported at least one symptom (症状) of hearing loss connected with the use of portable music players, like iPods and other MP3 players.

Does your child turn up the volume (音量) on the television or radio, even though everyone else can hear just fine? Does your child say “what？” or “huh？” repeatedly? It could be their ear－bud head－phones, which, like the ones typically used with iPods and other portable music players, project sound directly into the ear canal (耳孔)．

Sound levels are measured in decibels. Generally, decibel levels lower than 80 or so are not harmful to hearing. But a MP3 player can put out levels in excess of 100 decibels, and children sometimes stay plugged in for hours.

Like generations of mothers, Lynette Cook shouts across the house for her children to turn down the volume of their music, only they're not listening to stereos. They're rocking out to music on tiny iPods, listening through very small speakers tucked into their ears.

Hearing damage occurs when loud sounds destroy tiny hair cells in the inner ear. These cells turn sound waves into electrical impulses (脉冲) and send them to the brain. Destroy just 25 to 30 percent of these cells, and hearing loss occurs.

Carmen Lappen, the nurse at South Mountain High in Phoenix, is amazed when the children surveyed admitted they had hearing problems. Students at her school love their iPods and other

MP3 players. She laughed, “They're not going to tell me they hurt.” Lappen worries when she can hear students' tunes, even when they're wearing ear buds. “If I can hear it, it is too much for their ears. ” She won't buy an MP3 player for her 17－year－old son.

Lappen and Cook offer age－old advice：“Turn it down！” Or, better yet, “Turn it off ！”

1. According to the passage, the word “decibel” is a unit ________.

A. to show whether a sound is harmful or not

B. to suggest the price of a MP3 player

C. to show the listening level of students

D. to show the volume of sound

2. The reason why Lappen won't buy an MP3 player for her son is that ________.

A. she's afraid it may affect her child's hearing

B. she can't afford an MP3 player

C. the MP3 player will make her child's study worse

D. MP3 players are forbidden to use in school

3. According to the passage, it can be inferred that ________.

A. sounds over 25 decibels will cause hearing－loss

B. man can hear depending on the hair cells outside ears

C. children's hearing problems surprised Lappen

D. Cook doesn't like students to listen to music by headphone

4. What would be the best title for the passage?

A. Be Careful with Your iPods and MP3 Players

B. Headphones May Make You Lose Hearing

C. No Worry about Your MP3 Players

D. Mothers' Worry about Their Children's Hearing

More than half of the world’s population live in cities. Traffic and pollution are becoming big problems in big cities all over the world. In cities like Mexico City, Shanghai or Cairo the quality of air is getting worse every day. In the United States, people spend more time sitting in traffic jams.
Some of the world’s cities have already found the answer to the problem. In Bogota, the capital of Columbia, the government has taken measures to improve the quality of life for the city’s 8 million people. They created over a thousand new parks, a new public transport system, and built hundreds of cycling and walking paths. People who live in the city also joined in making their city one of the most livable (适合居住的) places in South America.
Today city planners around the world are looking for ways to provide more room for living and less room for cars. In America, public transport has increased over 2 % since the mid 1990s — not much but a start. More and more people leave their cars at home and get on buses, trains or even ride a bike to work. Some cities are far better at planning than others. In Amsterdam, for example, only 40 % of the population use their cars to get to work, 35 % ride bikes while 25% use public transport. In Paris, about half of the city’s workers drive their cars to work.
For cities in developing countries, the problems have just started. Traffic is getting worse as more and more people can afford to buy a car

1. 1.

   The writer listed Mexico City, Shanghai and Cairo as examples of cities of ______

   1. A.
      heavy traffic
   2. B.
      air pollution
   3. C.
      rapid development
   4. D.
      large population
2. 2.

   What did Bogota do to improve the quality of life for its people?

   1. A.
      It shut down some factories in the city
   2. B.
      It introduced a foreign public transport system
   3. C.
      It encouraged people to plant trees in the city
   4. D.
      It built new parks and a new public transport system
3. 3.

   From the third paragraph, we can learn that ______

   1. A.
      35% of the population in Paris ride bikes to work
   2. B.
      half of the people in Amsterdam drive their cars to work
   3. C.
      a quarter of the people in Amsterdam use public transport
   4. D.
      American public transport has increased much since the 1990s
4. 4.

   What would be the best title of the text?

   1. A.
      Ways to solve traffic jams
   2. B.
      New changes in transport systems
   3. C.
      People’s new choice in big cities
   4. D.
      Parks instead of cars for cities