How men first learned to invent words is unknown, in other words, the origin of language is a mystery. All we really know is that men, unlike animals, somehow invented certain sounds to express thoughts and feelings, actions and things, so that they could communicate with each other; and that later they agreed upon certain signs, called letters, which could be combined to represent those sounds and which could be written down. Those sounds, whether spoken, or written in letters, we call words.

The power of words, then, lies in their association—the thing they bring up before our minds. Words become filled with meaning for us by experience; and the longer we live, the more certain words recall to us the glad and the sad events of our past; and the more we read and learn, the more the number of words that mean something to us increase.

Great writers are those who not only have great thoughts but also express these thoughts in words which appeal powerfully to our minds and emotions. This charming and telling use of words is what we call literary style. Above all, the real poet is a master of words. He can convey his meaning in words which sing like music, and which by their position and association can move men to tears. We should, therefore, learn to choose our words carefully and use them accurately, or they make our speech silly and vulgar.

What is the origin of language?

A. It is unknown.

B. It is a matter that is unclear.

C. It is a question difficult to answer.

D. It is a problem not yet solved.

Which of the following about a real poet is NOT true?

A. He is less than a master of words.

B. His style is always charming.

C. His poem can move men to tears.

D. He can express his ideas in words that sing like music.

Where does the real power of the words come from?

A. From the words themselves.    

B. From their characteristics.

C. From their peculiarity.     

D. From their association.

What is the main idea of the passage?

A. The importance of choosing words.

B. Where the real power of words come from.

C. What great writers are like.

D. We should learn to choose words carefully.

Babies born in summer are more likely to become short-sighted in late life, a study has shown.



As many as a quarter of all cases of short-sightedness are caused by too great an exposure to sunlight in the first weeks of life, say eye experts.
They are advising all parents to put sunglasses on their babies during the first weeks.
Scientists had already established that over-exposure to sunlight caused short-sightedness in animals.
Researchers who compared the months in which babies were born with whether they needed glasses later on say the principle also applies to humans.
A study of almost 300,000 young adults─the largest of its kind─showed that those born in June and July had a 25 per cent greater chance of becoming severely short-sighted than those born in December or January. Research leader Professor Michael Belkin, of Tel Aviv University, said it was because prolonged illumination(光照) causes the eyeball to lengthen, causing short-sightedness.
Hence the more light a newborn is exposed to, the more the eyeball lengthens and the worse the short-sightedness will be.
The mechanism which lengthens the eyeball is associated with levels of melatonin(褪黑激素), a pigment (色素) which protects the skin against harmful rays of the sun.
In young babies not enough melatonin is released as protection, meaning they are more vulnerable to sunburn and changes to eyeball shape.
Sight expert Professor Daniel O’Leary, of Anglia Ruskin University in Cambridge, said “At the moment we don’t know the precise cause of why light exposure affects sight, but the evidence seems to prove that it is one of the reasons for people becoming short-sighted.”
55. Babies born in summer are more likely to be short-sighted ____________.
A. because the summer sun is too strong for babies
B. because babies born in summer have lengthened eyeballs
C. if they are exposed to much sunlight in the first weeks after they are born
D. if parents don’t know a proper way to protect their babies’ eyes
56. Melatonin is a kind of material to ___________.
A. prevent the eyes from becoming near-sighted
B. protect the skin from harmful sun rays
C. make our body strong
D. protect babies’ eyes from summer sun
57.   From what Professor Daniel O’Leary says we can conclude that ___________.
A. there is no evidence that short-sightedness is related to exposure to sunlight
B. whether light exposure affects sight still needs to be further proved
C. he believes that light exposure can cause short-sightedness
D. he tries to give the cause of why light exposure affects sight
58.   The underlined word “vulnerable” in the passage probably means __________.
A. easy to be harmed                          B. resistant
C. protective                                     D. changeable

D
The oldest forms of medicine are enjoying a comeback. Modern holistic medicine is an approach that treats the whole patient, not just the disease. It is a way to maintain good health rather than cure illness. The most important influences on today’s holistic medicine are ancient Chinese medicine and Indian Ayurvedic medicine, both of which promoted whole body health.
Holistic medicine usually combines diet, physical exercise and meditation, together with other alternative techniques such as massage(按摩) and acupuncture(针炙). Herbal treatment, a practice of treating illness by using plants, is influenced by the writings of Culpeper as well as Chinese and Ayurvedic medicine. Homeopathy(顺势疗法) is one of the forms of holistic medicine which is widely practiced in Europe and the USA. Homeopathy began in Germany in the early 1800s, when Samuel Hahnemann described how very tiny doses(剂量) of a drug had an effect on his patients. According to Hahnemann, the more the drug was diluted(稀释), the stronger its effects. The substance selected would produce similar effects to the disease itself if given in large doses. In the UK homeopathy is regarded as a non-traditional but just about acceptable treatment.
Meditation and contemplation have an important role in holistic medicine. They were brought to Europe by Indian teachers who combined Indian Ayurvedic medicine with Western beliefs. Transcendental meditation(超脱静坐) is one of the best known of these techniques. People repeat words inside their head to reach a state of deep relaxation.
The holistic movement has made many doctors look at the whole patient, not just the disease. Life-style, emotional problems and diet are just some of the factors that can affect a person’s health. Holistic medicine emphasizes good diet, exercise and fresh air, all of which contribute to health. Some clinics now offer holistic medicine along with traditional treatments, so that their patients can choose a combination of treatments that suits them. One problem with holistic medicine is that it is difficult for people to be sure a doctor is reliable. To solve this, many countries want alternative doctors to form professional bodies.
51．Modern holistic medicine centres upon        .
A．curing a disease                                          B．herbal treatment
C．continuous development                          D．keeping patients healthy
52．Which of the following does NOT belong to holistic medicine?
A．massage                                                     B．meditation
C．a balanced diet                                       D．a knee operation
53．The principle of homeopathy is that        .
A．the large doses of medicine that will not be harmful will take better effect
B．the disease will be cured sooner by taking larger doses of medicine
C．a small thinner dose of medicine will be more effective
D．the doses of medicine depend on how serious the illness is
54．Which of the following titles best sums up the passage?
A．Holistic Medicine                                       B．Traditional Medicine Returns
C．History of Medicine                                D．Combination of Treatments Works
55．What can we infer from the passage?
A．Relaxation is the key of holistic treatment.
B．Holistic medicine needs to become more trustworthy.
C．Holistic treatment is more beneficial than traditional treatments.
D．Holistic medicine will become the most welcome treatment soon.

A black hole is created when a large star burns out. Like our sun, stars are unbelievably hot furnaces(熔炉) that burn their own matter as fuel. When most of the fuel is used up, the star begins to die.

The death of a star is not a quiet event. First there is a huge explosion. As its outer layer is blasted off into space, the dying star shines as brightly as a billion suns.

After the explosion gravity pulls in what’s left of the star. As the outside of the star sinks toward the center, the star gets smaller and smaller. The material the star is made of becomes tightly packed together. A star is so dense that a teaspoon of matter from it weighs billion of pounds.

The more the star shrinks, the stronger the gravity inside it becomes. Soon the star is very tiny, and the gravity pulling it in is unbelievably strong. In fact, the gravity is so strong that it even pulls light into the star! Since all the light is pulled in, none can go out. The star becomes black when there is no light. Then a black hole is born!

That’s what we know about black holes. What we don’t know is this: What happens inside a black hole after the star has been squeezed into a tiny ball? Does it keep getting smaller and smaller forever? Such a possibility is hard to imagine.

But if the black hole doesn’t keep shrinking, what happens to it? Some scientists think black holes are like doorways to another world．They say that as the star disappears from our universe, it goes into another universe. In other words a black hole in our universe could turn into a “white hole” in a different universe. As the black hole swallows light, the white hole shines brightly — somewhere else. But where? A different place, perhaps, or a different time — many years in the past or future.

Could you travel through a black hole? Right now, no. Nothing we know of could go into a black hole without being crushed．So far the time being, black hole must remain a mystery.

Black holes are a mystery—but that hasn’t stopped scientists from dreaming about them. One scientist suggested that in the future we might make use of the power of black holes. They would supply all of Earth’s energy needs, with plenty to spare. Another scientist wondered if a black hole could some day be used to swallow earthly waste—a sort of huge waste disposal (处理) in the sky!

When the star begins to die ______.

       A．there is no fuel left in it        B．its outer layer goes into space first

       C．a huge explosion will happen        D．it doesn’t give off light any longer

Which of the following doesn’t help produce a black hole?

       A．The gravity inside the star is very strong.

       B．The light can’t go out of the star.

       C．The star becomes smaller and smaller

       D．The dying star shines very brightly.

The black hole ______.

       A．continues becoming smaller and smaller all the time

       B．goes into another universe and becomes a white hole

       C．can pull in everything we know of in the world

       D．will appear at another place at a different time

The author mainly intended to tell us _____.

       A．A New Scientific Discovery: Black Holes

       B．How Black Holes Came Into Being

       C．What Black Holes Are

       D．Travel Through A Black Hole

In the United States, 30%of the grown-up population has a “weight problem”. To many people, the cause is clear: we eat too much. But scientific experiments do little to support this idea. Going back to the America of 1910, we find that people were thinner than today, yet they ate more food. In those days people worked harder physically, walked more, used machines much less, and didn’t watch TV.

Several modern studies, besides, have shown that fatter people do not eat more on average than thinner people. In fact, some research work, such as the 1979 study of 3,545 London office workers, reports that fat people eat less than thinner people on average. Studies show that thin people are more active than fat people. A study by the research group at Standford University School of Medicine found the following fact: the more the man ran, the greater body fat he lost. The more he ran, the greater was his need for food. Thus, those who ran the most ate the most, yet lost the greatest amount of body fat.

1. What kind of physical problem do many grown-up Americans have?

A. They are too thin.               B. They work too hard.

C. They are too fat.                D. They lose too much body fat.

2. Based on the information given this article, suppose there are 500 grown-up Americans, about how many of them have a weight problem?

A. 30     B. 50        C. 100       D. 150

3. Are there scientific facts to support that eating too much is the cause of the “weight problem”?

A. Yes, there are plenty of them.

B. Of course, there are facts to show this is true.

C. There are hardly any scientific facts to support this.

D. We don’t know because the information is not given.

4. Compared with the grown-up Americans today, the Americans of 1910______.

A. ate more food and had more physical activities

B. ate less food but had more activities

C. ate less food and had less physical activities

D. had more weight problems