Sailing Through History

A group of 1,309 passengers boarded the MS Balmoral on Sunday, in Southampton, England, on a voyage to retrace the path of the Titanic. The Titanic was the biggest ship in the world when it sailed on its ill-fated maiden voyage in 1912. Of the 2,227 passengers and crew aboard, more than 1,500 died. The ship, which was headed to New York City, carried the rich and famous on its first voyage. It also carried immigrants, who were seeking a better life in America.

Relatives of people who sailed on the Titanic, historians, authors and people fascinated by the story of the unsinkable ship, are on the Balmoral. They want to remember the doomed ship and those who died on her first and last voyage. The historic liner had set sail on April 10, 1912, from Southampton. Late at night on April 14, she hit an iceberg. In the early morning hours of April 15, the Titanic sank.

The Balmoral is following Titanic’s original route from Southampton. First, the modern-day cruise liner docked in the port of Cherbourg, France, where the Titanic had picked up more passengers. On Monday afternoon, the Balmoral stops in Cobh, Ireland, the Titanic’s last port of call before sailing to New York.

Balmoral will then cruise the North Atlantic Ocean to the location where Titanic hit an iceberg that ripped the ship’s hull(外壳). On Sunday, April 15, at 2:20 a.m.—the time the Titanic went down—passengers and crew will hold a memorial service. The next two days will be spent in Halifax, Canada, where many victims of the sinking are buried. Then, the Balmoral will reach its final destination in New York City, where Titanic was supposed to dock—but never did.

Until today, several teams of divers have explored the site. They have recovered some items such as dishes and silverware and put them on public display. And more trips are planned to the wreckage in the future. The Titanic and its passengers and crew have been remembered in books, movies and TV programs. But there’s a much more important contribution that Titanic gave us. After she sank, lawmakers and shipbuilders made ships safer. It took a terrible tragedy to make ship travel safer for all.

1.How many passengers in Titanic survived at last?

2.How many countries does the Balmoral reach before sailing to New York?

3.The Balmoral will stay in Canada just __________.

4.What might be the most important contribution of sunken Titanic?

SHANGHAI - Health experts in Shanghai are calling for more protection for young children as the latest research shows about half of the youngsters are suffering from secondhand smoke.

About 45 percent of children suffer passive smoking in families, 50 percent in public places, and almost 6 percent on public transportation, shows a research released by the Shanghai Children's Medical Center on Tuesday.

"Not only adults but also children and newborn babies are at risk for the adverse effects of passive smoking," said Tang Jingyan, a doctor at the Shanghai Children's Medical Center.

"Actually, those young children whose bodies are still growing and developing are more sensitive to the effects of secondhand smoke."

Research has shown that children who are exposed to secondhand smoke will suffer from more colds, coughs and sore throats, and they are more likely to suffer from bronchitis, pneumonia and will have a higher risk of developing cancer.

Doctors even suggested that children suffering passive smoking are more likely to have behavioral problems and may not develop mentally as quickly as their peers.

Other research by the Shanghai Children's Medical Center has found that more than 80 percent of child patients in the center live in a smoke-filled household, where one or both parents smoke.

"Though doctors have stressed the harm of passive smoking over and over, it is still hard to reach a totally 'smoke free' home," said a pediatrician named Zhang Yiwen, noting that parents are often tempted to smoke even though they have learned the harmful effects of secondhand smoke.

China has 540 million people suffering from passive smoke, 180 million of them younger than 15. The age of smokers is also getting lower, earlier reports said.

"There are more young smokers than before. You can see young people wearing a school uniform and carrying a schoolbag light a cigarette on the street. Some of them are even female students," said Jing Xingming, a professor of children's developmental behavior at the center.

"Children like to imitate adults, especially their parents. If parents often smoke at home, it is very likely children will develop a smoking habit, which can cause a vicious circle," Jin said.

Reports from the Ministry of Health said China has about 350 million smokers, of whom 15 million are underage smokers. Also, around 40 million of the country's 130 million children aged between 13 and 18 had tried smoking, and 15 million had become addicted to tobacco.

What is the main idea of the passage?

A. About half of the youngsters are suffering from secondhand smoke.

B. Experts are calling for more protection for youngsters from smoking.

C. More and more youngsters are picking up the habit of smoking.

D. Smoking does great harm to the health of the youngsters.

What kind of the youngsters most possibly develop a habit of smoking?

A. Children of non-smoking mothers.                     B. Children of non-smoking fathers.

C. Children of heavy smokers.                                  D. Children from some smoking centers.

Which of the following disease may not be connected with secondhand smoking?

  A. Cancer.              B. Behavioral problems.        C. Sore throats.      D. Coughs.  

The underlined word “vicious” in the last paragraph but one most probably means ___________.

A. complete                  B. simple                        C. great               D. bad

What can be inferred from the passage?

A. About 80% of the children in the Shanghai Children's Medical Center smoke heavily.

B. About 45 percent of children suffer passive smoking in the Shanghai Children's Medical Center.

C. About 540 million people are heavy smokers in China.

D. Children aged between 13 to 18 are more likely addicted to smoking.

What I noticed first about my new parrot, Chico, was that he couldn’t fly. His wings had been cut short and he was stuck on the   1  just like us humans. When the weather turned nice, I took Chico outside. I sat him on a branch of a tree, hoping to make him   2 . At first he seemed   3 . He walked back and forth on the branch looking anxious or nervous. He didn’t even flap his wings in an attempt to fly. Somehow he knew he was   4 .
One day Chico got especially excited . He paced back and forth and made an incredible amount of   5 . Then all of a sudden he stopped and let out an even louder scream. He started   6  flapping his wings for the first time ever － then he lifted off the   7  like a space shuttle! I was amazed and   8  . Little did I know his feathers had been growing back, and Chico had been   9  until the moment was ripe for escape!
Two days later Chico   10  . First I tried to trick him back with food, but he would not come near me. Then I took his   11  and put it away—still he would not come. Finally, I made him a firm promise that I would let him   12  every day the weather was nice if he did come back.   13  , he flew onto my shoulder.
From that day on, whenever the weather was good I would let him out early and he would fly around and be back before dark. The   14  lasted for two months before suddenly Chico became   15 . The vet said that he had been infected with a disease from the pigeons in the neighborhood. Within a few days he died.
I was very sad. The   16  crossed my mind that if I had not set him free to fly, he would be still alive. But what   17  is there in being a bird if you can’t fly?
Chico made his first break for   18  on a late Monday afternoon in April. When will you make yours? You too can take a   19  when the conditions are right, knowing you too, in your own way, were built to fly. If you don’t    20 , what will be the purpose of your life?

   If you had to choose the single most important 1___________(discover) of the 20th century, you would have a real 2_________ on your hands. In just 100 years, the world changed completely. Amazing discoveries were made in medicine, communications and transport, not to 3____________ our knowledge of the world and space. Medical advances 4 ________  from discovering the causes of diseases under microscopes to surgical procedures 5____________(replace) 6__________(disease) organs with 7________ (donate) ones. Communications changed 8______ the introduction of mobile phones and the way we _9_________(通信) went 10________ writing letters to emailing. We started flying around the world and 11____________（同时）, scientists figured 12________ how to 13______(劈开) the atom,  14________（过去） thought to be the smallest particle of matter 15______  the universe.

Last winter, when I was heavily pregnant(怀孕), I was visiting my sister and brother-in-law’s house. I had to park my car in a nearby parking lot because they didn’t have a place for parking. The snow was extremely heavy and there was lots of    1   on the ground, so not many people dared to go out that evening! When I left their house and    2   to my car around 11pm, I noticed that my car was the only one    3  .
Surrounded by silence, I rushed into the car nervously. When I finally tried to   4   away, my wheels began to spin(打滑). I realized I was stuck! I wondered what I should do.   5  , in my rear-view mirror(后视镜), I saw four teenage boys    6   my car. They were walking side by side in a line and behaved a bit like    7   ------ at least I thought that was what they looked like. My car was in a very    8   area and I was so frightened when I saw them. I was certain they were coming to my car to    9   me.
Terrified, I just froze. One of the young men tapped on my window    10   and said, “Excuse me, Madam, would you like some    11  ? You seem to have a problem with the car.” Still a little afraid, I said, “I am stuck.” And the young man said, “It’s okay. Stay in your car and we’ll    12   you out of the snow.” And they did! When they finally got my car out of the snow, they   13  and waved good-bye to me. I rolled down my window and thanked them,    14   to have judged them so poorly.
People like to judge the person they come across, and they are in turn judged by others. It’s natural that we judge others, but when we do this, we shouldn’t    15   the old saying, “Don’t judge a book by its cover.”