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 little under one-third of U.S. families have no Internet access and do not plan to get it, with most of the holdouts seeing little use for it in their lives, according to a survey released on Friday.

Park Associates, a Dallas-based technology market research firm, said 29 percent of U.S. families, or 31 million homes, do not have Internet access and do not intend to subscribe（预订） to an Internet service over the next 12 months. The second annual National Technology Scan conducted by Park found that the main reason why potential customers say they do not subscribe to the Internet is because of the low value to their daily lives rather than concerns over cost.

Forty-four percent of these families say they are not interested in anything on the Internet, versus just 22 percent who say they cannot afford a computer or the cost of Internet service, the survey showed. The answer "I'm not sure how to use the Internet" came from 17 percent of participants who do not subscribe. The response "I do all my e-commerce shopping and YouTube-watching at work" was cited by 14 percent of Internet-access refuseniks. Three percent said the Internet doesn't reach their homes.

The study found U.S. broadband adoption grew to 52 percent over 2006, up from 42 percent in 2005. Roughly half of new subscribers converted（转变） from slower-speed, dial-up Internet access while the other half of families had no prior access.

"The industry continues to chip （击破）away at the core of non-subscribers, but has a long way to go," said John Barrett, director of research at Parks Associates. "Entertainment applications will be the key. If anything will pull in the holdouts, it's going to be applications that make the Internet more similar to pay-TV," he predicted.

What does the underlined word “holdouts” in the first paragraph most probably mean?

A. some American families      

B. those who hold out one’s opinions

C. those who have been surveyed    

D. those who still haven’t access to the Internet currently

Many potential customers refuse to subscribe to the Internet mainly because __________.

A. they show too much concern about the cost

B. they can find little value of it

C. they do most YouTube-watching at work

D. the Internet doesn’t reach their homes

From the passage we can infer that _____________.

A. It is not an easy job to transform those holdouts into the Internet users

B. people will adopt dial-up Internet access no more

C. many Americans enjoy doing e-commerce shopping at home

D. more than half of the population are using the Internet in 2005

According to John Barrett, what is the key to attracting more U.S. families to broadband service?

A. making the Internet look more similar to TV set

B. applying the Internet more to entertainment

C. providing more pay-TV programs

D. chipping away at the core of non-subscribers

Which is the best title for the passage?

A. Web develops with technology

B. The present situation of web

C. Many Americans see little point to web

D. It is urgent to promote web service

B

From E-mail to online shopping, you may think you’ve heard everything there to know about the electronic frontier （新领域）．But with hundreds of thousands of Web pages being added weekly, there are plenty of surprises out there．Here are some of the most intriguing （有迷惑力的）．

……

Put your kid on a greeting card．Here is how: simply take some pictures with a regular camera, and then ask the photo service to develop them digitally （数字化）．For a small fee, you’ll receive your photos on a desk．Put that into your computer and, with a few clicks of the mouse, you can view your photos on the screen．With a few more keystrokes, you can attach the photos to email and send them to friends and relatives worldwide．

　　Sign on to one or several greeting card’s Websites （http://www．cardcentral．net/ is an index of more than 1200 electronic card sites） and create an electronic birthday or holiday card．Using your digital photos, you can paste your grandchildren onto the cover．

　　If you don’t want to use your own photos, go to cards．amzon．com to browse （浏览） hundreds of images in over 30 categories…all of which you can attach to an electronic greeting card for free．For a nominal fee（很低的费用）you can choose from a library of 75,000 images at http://www．phontodisc．com/．

　　Call Australia for free．To have a telephone conversation over the Internet, the person you want to talk to no longer needs a computer．Now all you need to talk to someone in Sydney is one computer with speakers, a microphone, a sound card and some software （available at http://www．vocaltec．com/ or Mricrosoft．com）．Typically, you’ll pay a monthly fee （usually under $20） to a service provider, but after that, the calls themselves are local．Sound quality is the same as that of a cell phone．

　　Even if you don’t have a computer, you can still use the Web to reduce your long distance phone costs．Some companies offer a service that lets you use an ordinary phone to call another ordinary phone, but charge only a few cents per minute for US calls, because they send them through the Internet．

　　Today 48 percent of American homes have computers…a figure that is expected to climb to 60 percent by 2003．And by the end of the next decade, Americans will likely be spending more time shopping, banking, investing and learning on the Internet than in the real world．If you can’t do or find something on the Net today, you probably can tomorrow．

60．Over the Internet, you ________．

       A．can hear everything there

       B．will meet with plenty of surprises which come out every week．

       C．will hear the things about the electronic frontier

       D．can find some things are very interesting

61．From the passage we can infer that _________．

       A．fewer people will use the Internet in the following ten years

       B．more people will study in the regular school by the end of the next decade

       C．fewer people will go to the regular school in the following ten years

       D．more money will be needed for a long-distance call by the end of the next decade

62．If you want to attach to photo to your e-mail, you have to ________ it．

       A．digitalize　　  B．take　　　　   C．picture　　　　      D．send

63．Which of the following is NOT true?

       A．A telephone conversation over the Internet can be carried out without computers．

       B．Over the Internet, the receiver of the phone conversation doesn’t need a computer．

       C．The phone conversations over the Internet are much cheaper．

       D．The long-distance calls are local themselves．

       A recent study, while showing a generally positive attitude toward science, also suggests a widespread worry that it may be “running out of control”．This idea is dangerous．

       Science can be a force for evil as well as for good．Its applications can be channeled either way, depending on our decisions．The decisions we make, personally or collectively, will determine the outcomes of science．But here is a real danger．Science is advancing so fast is so strongly influenced by businesses that we are likely to believe whatever decisions we come to will make little difference．And, rather than fighting for the best possible policies, we may step back and do nothing．

       Some people go even further．They say that despite the moral and legal objections （反对）, whatever is scientifically possible will be done ——somewhere, sometime．They believe that science will get out of control in the end．This belief is dangerous too, because it a fuels sense of hopelessness and discourages them from making efforts to build a safer world．

       In our interconnected world, the lack of agreement in and of the world of science can lead to the failure to control the use of science．Without a common understanding, the challenges of “controlling” science in this century will be really tough．Take human cloning for example．Despite the general agreement among scientists on its possible huge impact （影响） on traditional moral values, some countries still go ahead with the research and development of its related techniques．The outcomes are hard to predict．

       Therefore, discussions on how science is applied should be extended far beyond scientific societies．Only through the united efforts of people with hope, can we be fully safe against the misuse of science and can science best serve mankind in the future．

What can we conclude from the recent study?

       A．People think highly of science．

       B．People hold mixed opinions about science．

       C．Science is getting dangerously out of control．

       D．Science is used for both good and bad purposes．

According to the passage, what will happen if we hold that science is getting beyond control?

       A．The development of science will hopelessly slow down．

       B．Businesses will have even greater influence on science．

       C．The public will lose faith in bringing about a bright future．

       D．People will work more actively to put science under control．

The discussion should reach beyond scientific societies because __________．

       A．scientists have failed to predict the outcomes

       B．the ties between different areas need strengthening

       C．united efforts are necessary for the development of science

       D．people need to work together to prevent the bad use of science

What is the main idea of the passage?

       A．Science and its applications bring us many dangers．

       B．The development of science mostly lies in people’s attitudes．

       C．Mankind can largely take control of science with their efforts．

       D．The future of science will be influenced by the dangerous ideas．

C

　 Being able to multitask—doing several things at the same time—is considered a welcome skill by most people. But if we consider the situation of the young people aged from eight to eighteen, we should think again.

What we often see nowadays is that young people juggle an ever larger number of electronic devices(电子产品)as they study. While working, they also surf on the Internet, send out emails, answer the telephone and listen to music on their iPods. In a sense, they are spending a significant amount of time in fruitless efforts as they multitask.

Multitasking is even changing the relationship between family members. As young people around them. They can no longer greet family members when they enter the house, nor can they cat at the family table.

Multitasking also affects young people’s performance at university and in the workplace. When asked about their opinion of the effect of modern gadgets(器具)on their performance of tasks, many young people gave a positive response(反应). However, the response from the worlds of education and business was not quite as positive. Educators feel that multitasking by children has a serious effect on later development of study skills. They believe that many college students now need help to improve their study skills. Similarly, employers feel that young people entering the job market need to be taught all over again, as modern gadgets have made it unnecessary for them to learn special skills to do their work.

1.What does the underlined word “juggle” in Paragraph 2 most probably mean?

A. Want to buy　　　　　　　 B. Take the place of.

C. Use at the same time 　　　 D. Seek for information from.

2.In Paragraph 3, the author points out that 　　 .

A. family members do not cat at the family table

B. family member do not greet each other

C. young people live happily in their families

D. young people seldom talk with their family members

3.What is the main idea of the last paragraph?

A. Multitasking is harmful to young people’s development.

B. Young people benefit a lot from modern gadgets

C. Multitasking is an important skill to young people.

D. Young people must learn skills for future jobs.

4.The author develops the passage mainly by 　 .

A. providing typical examples　　 　　　　　

B. following the natural time order

C. comparing opinions from different fields

D. presenting a cause and analyzing its effects