There are various reasons why cancers appear to be on the increase. For one thing, though their sufferers are to be found in all age groups, cancers are particularly likely to attack persons in their middle and advanced years. Naturally, since people live longer these years, there are more cancer sufferers than before. Again, with better methods of diagnosis (诊断), doctors can more easily recog??nize cancerous growths that would formerly have passed unnoticed or that would have been wrongly di??agnosed. It is also believed that certain habits and conditions of modem living, including heavy smok??ing and the pollution of the air, may leave people living in more cancer-causing conditions than before.

We all look forward to the day when a simple medical test can find cancer while it is still small. Researchers around the world are working on such a test. Most of their work deals with the examina??tion of the blood.

Researchers in Boston have found something in the blood of cancer patients that does not appear in healthy persons. The test showed which persons had cancer and which did not. It was correct more than 90 percent of the time.

The researchers believe the test may be able to show cancer very clearly in its development. Cancers discovered early usually can be treated successfully.

The test examines very small bits of fat in the blood called lipids (脂质). Cancers seem to change lipids although doctors do not know why. The test showed differences between the lipids of the persons with cancer and the lipids of those without cancer.

The researchers say the new test could be a step to develop a simple way to check patients for cancer before the disease shows on an X-ray.

1. Who will fail cancer from the study of the researchers?

A. The young.                           B. The middle age and the older.

C. The man.                                    D. The woman.

2. The underlined words "such a test" refer to________.

A. the test that shows which persons have cancer and which don’t     .

B. the test that may be able to show cancer very early in its development,.

C. a simple medical test that cannot find cancer when it is -small

D. a new test that could be a step to develop a difficult way

3. Which of the following statements is true according to the passage?

A. Cancers have much to do with something in patients’ blood.

B. People living in better conditions are most likely to be attacked by cancer.

C.X-raying is the best way to determined whether a person has cancer or not.

D. Cancers have nothing to do with a person’s habits and living conditions.

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

A. A simple way to cancer                 B. Cancers can be cured

C. How to find cancer                            D. Early discovery of cancer

 There are various reasons why cancers appear to be on the increase. For one thing, though their sufferers are to be found in all age groups, cancers are particularly likely to attack persons in their middle and advanced years. Naturally, since people live longer these years, there are more cancer sufferers than before. Again, with better methods of diagnosis (诊断), doctors can more easily recog??nize cancerous growths that would formerly have passed unnoticed or that would have been wrongly di??agnosed. It is also believed that certain habits and conditions of modem living, including heavy smok??ing and the pollution of the air, may leave people living in more cancer-causing conditions than before.

We all look forward to the day when a simple medical test can find cancer while it is still small. Researchers around the world are working on such a test. Most of their work deals with the examina??tion of the blood.

Researchers in Boston have found something in the blood of cancer patients that does not appear in healthy persons. The test showed which persons had cancer and which did not. It was correct more than 90 percent of the time.

The researchers believe the test may be able to show cancer very clearly in its development. Cancers discovered early usually can be treated successfully.

The test examines very small bits of fat in the blood called lipids (脂质). Cancers seem to change lipids although doctors do not know why. The test showed differences between the lipids of the persons with cancer and the lipids of those without cancer.

The researchers say the new test could be a step to develop a simple way to check patients for cancer before the disease shows on an X-ray.

. Who will fail cancer from the study of the researchers?

A. The young.                           B. The middle age and the older.

C. The man.                               D. The woman.

The underlined words "such a test" refer to________.

A. the test that shows which persons have cancer and which don’t     .

B. the test that may be able to show cancer very early in its development,.

C. a simple medical test that cannot find cancer when it is -small

D. a new test that could be a step to develop a difficult way

. Which of the following statements is true according to the passage?

A. Cancers have much to do with something in patients’ blood.

B. People living in better conditions are most likely to be attacked by cancer.

C.X-raying is the best way to determined whether a person has cancer or not.

D. Cancers have nothing to do with a person’s habits and living conditions.

. What would be the best title for the passage?

A. A simple way to cancer                 B. Cancers can be cured

C. How to find cancer                    D. Early discovery of cancer

I HEAR America beeping(嘟嘟响)．

 Beep，says my cellophane when it gets a text message．

  Beep，says my microwave oven when my sandwich  is warmed up． 

 Sometimes  I long for a natural sound：a bird singing，dog barking，children laughing， anything to drown out  the maddening beeps that have become the soundtrack(配乐)to modern life．

  My cellophane? It isn’t enough that its ring tone offerings seem to stretch from  “annoymg” toextremely “annoying”． It also has to beep whenever someone texts messages me． 

The microwave? A bell rings when it's finished heating my food．But is that enough? No．If I don’t rush to it right away, it starts beeping，like an impatient child tugging(用力拉) at my sleeve(袖子)．

 The smoke detector(探测器) is the worst offender．When its batteries are in need of replacement，it 1ets out a series of chirps．The things that don’t beep buzz(嗡嗡响)．And for some reason，beeping and buzzing is beneath them，they clear their throats and perform a symphony． Like my TV, each time I turn it on, it performs an aria(咏叹调)：La di da di dum．Salutions! Here I am! Same thing when I turn it off: La di da di dum．Good bye, kind sir! Until the next time

But at 1east I know where each of these sounds is coming from．That isn’t always the case．For weeks, my wife and I were awoken in the night by a beeping．There，in the stillness， we went through the possible suspects．Could we have a text message? Could it be any of the devices(装置)able to make a sound? Curling iron, rice cooker, smoke detector, TV set，clock radio．．．

The only way to tell was to chase the sound down ，but no sooner  would we pull on our bathrobes than the beeping would stop. We didn’t hear it every night but often enough that we would climb into bed wondering whether our sleep  would be interrupted by that maddening sound，that beep．

  Finally,early one morning，my wife found it：in the study,under a desk，a big plastic cube that was plugged into the wall．It was an uninterruptible power supply that we’d inherited(继承)from my wife’s mother．We’d never known it was capable of speech． 

I think it just wanted someone to talk to.

14．What does the writer truly mean by saying“I hear America beeping”?

A．American people like devices that beep．

B．Americans are crazy about sending text messages．

C．In modern society people are dependant on technology．

D．The soundtrack to modern life is no longer natural．

15．Why couldn’t the author and his wife find the source of the noise in their house in the beginning?

A．There were too many devices for them to check．

B．They were unwilling to get up at midnight．

C．They had never known that thing could beep too．

D．The noise didn’t come every day．

16．After reading this passage，we can probably tell the author    ．

   A．enjoys being surrounded by beeps  B．has a touch of humor in his writing

C．tries to avoid using anything that beeps

D．understands the beeping is designed to be user-friendly

Want to be a happy married couple? Consider having kids．

A new study found that having children boosts happiness．And the more, literally, the merrier．

But unmarried couples shouldn’t expect to find greater happiness through child-raising．The study, published in the Oct．14 online edition of the Journal of Happiness Studies, suggests that having children has little or no effect on boosting happiness among couples who aren’t hitched(和谐)．

The findings contradict previous research that suggested that having more offspring doesn't lead to greater happiness and might even make people less satisfied with their lives．One theory behind the conclusion is that parents don’t receive many rewards in return for the hard work of raising children．

The new study, however, notes that parents say children are one of the most important things in their lives, if not the most important．

The study found that life satisfaction for married people -- women especially -- goes up the more kids they have．Single, separated and co-habiting people, by contrast, report negative experiences．

“One is tempted to advance that children make people rich under the ‘right conditions’ -- a time in life when people feel that they are ready, or at least willing, to enter parenthood,” Dr．Luis Angeles, of the University of Glasgow in Scotland, said in a news release from the journal’s publisher．“This time can come at very different moments for different individuals, but a likely signal of its approach may well be the act of marriage．”

he underlined word “offspring” in the fourth paragraph can be replaced by _____．

     A．generation      B．children         C．mothers         D．marriage

The best title of this passage should be _______．

     A．Children Are the Source of Happiness

     B．Are You Happy Married Couple?

     C．Married with Children Paves Way to Happiness

     D．The Right Conditions of Having Children

Which of the following can be inferred from the passage?

     A．The more children women have, the happier they are．

     B．The more children the married women have, the more unsatisfied they become．

     C．Raising kids can give any person happiness．

     D．Without marriage, one woman had better not raise kids．

In the passage, the underlined part ‘right conditions’ refers to _______．

   A．a time when the couple are ready and willing to become parents

   B．the situation where the family is rich enough to raise a child

   C．the situation where the couple are very happy

   D．a time when the couple thinks raising children can boost happiness