B
This is a dangerous world we live in. The number of murders goes up every year, people are dying of cancer, more people contract HIV, more teens are using drugs, etc. You know this because you have heard all the statistics on the news and in the paper.  But do you really have an accurate idea what they mean? The numbers are growing up, but how do they compare to the growth in population? Are more cases of these diseases being reported because of better testing techniques, or are the diseases more common? The fact is that without knowing the background statistics mean very little.
This growing trend of reporting only part of the information is becoming dangerous. For example, several years ago a high school student reported the dangers of the chemical known as dihydrogen monoxide. This chemical, found in most cancerous tumors(肿瘤), is often found in the blood of people drunk on alcohol, and causes complete physical and mental dependence for those who take the chemical even once. After reading his report, more than 75% of his Advanced Placement Chemistry class voted to forbid this dangerous chemical! Every one of the above statements is true, yet this chemical is necessary to all life on earth. The students made the mistake because they voted knowing only a few statements and statistics, rather than the chemical’s full background.
The point of this article is that one should be aware of what is and is not being said. When one finds a new fact or number, one should try to consider other important information before forming an opinion with only half-truths. Always remember that the author is trying to convince you of his or her own view, and will leave out information that is different to his view. For example, look again at the statistics that suggest skiing is safe. Only 32 people may die each year when skiing, while 897 die from lightning strikes, but which is really the most dangerous? If you think about it, you realize far fewer people go skiing each year than the number of people who are in danger of a lightning strike. When you think about it, skiing is more dangerous than you might at first think when looking at statistics. If we teenagers are to be left in this world, we had better be able to think critically, and form our own views, rather than be easily persuaded by another’s. To be warned is to be prepared.
59. In the first paragraph, what problem does the writer want to warn us?
A. We are now living in a dangerous world.
B. We get a lot of false statistics from the media.
C. Statistics alone without full background doesn’t give us an accurate pictures of things.
D. There are around us more and more murders, diseases, etc.
60. Why does the writer use the example in the second paragraph?
A. To argue that high school students are easily persuaded.
B. To show the danger of reporting only part of the information.
C. To prove what is necessary to us might be dangerous.
D. To warn us of the harmful substance around us.
61. Relative information is often left out because__________.
A. Relative information is not that important.
B. too much information will make readers feel confused.
C. the author is trying to show what he or she says is true.
D. readers are not able to analyze so much information at once.
62. What can we learn from the passage?
A. We should learn to think critically and look at problems from all sides.
B. Some measures must be taken to protect our dangerous world.
C. The growing trend of reporting only half-truths is getting out of control.
D. Teenagers ought to improve their ability of telling right from wrong.

A woman from Japan was telling a friend about her trip to the United States.The woman had visited major businesses and investment companies in New York City and Chicago.

“I studied English before I left home，”she said.“But I still was not sure that people were speaking English.”

Her problem is easy to understand.Americans in business are like people who are in business anywhere.They have a language of their own.Some of the words and expressions deal with the special areas of their work.Other expressions are borrowed from different kinds of work such as the theater and movie industry.

One such saying is “get your act together”．

When things go wrong in a business，an employer may get angry.He may shout，“Stop making mistakes.Get your act together.”

Or，if the employer is calmer，he may say，“Let us get our act together.”

Either way，the meaning is the same.Getting your act together is getting organized.In business，it usually means to develop a calm and orderly plan of action.

It is difficult to tell exactly where the saying began.But，it is probable that it was in the theater or movie industry.Perhaps one of the actors was nervous and made a lot of mistakes.The director may have said，“Calm down，now.Get your act together.”

Word expert James Rogers says the expression was common by the late 1970s.Mister Rogers says the Manchester Guardian newspaper used it in 1978.The newspaper said a reform policy required that the British government get its act together.

Now，this expression is heard often when officials of a company meet.One company even called its yearly report，“Getting Our Act Together.”

The Japanese visitor was confused by another expression used by American business people.It is cut to the chase.

She heard that expression when she attended an important meeting of one company.One official was giving a very long report.It was not very interesting.In fact，some people at the meeting were falling asleep.

Finally，the president of the company said，“Cut to the chase.”

Cut to the chase means to stop spending so much time on details or unimportant material.Hurry and get to the good part.

Naturally，this saying was started by people who make movies.Hollywood movie producers believe that most Americans want to see action movies.Many of their movies show scenes in which the actors chase each other in cars，or in airplanes or on foot.

Cut is the director’s word for stop.The director means to stop filming，leave out some material，and get to the chase scene now.

So，if your employer tells you to cut to the chase，be sure to get to the main point of your story quickly.

1.After the woman visited the United States she might feel that ________.

A．her English was poor

B．it’s easy to master English

C．it’s difficult to make money

D．people there weren’t very friendly

2.In which situation could the words “get your act together” be used?

A．A task is completed successfully.

B．Players perform badly in a match.

C．Audience is satisfied with the actor’s performance in a movie.

D．Visitors make a tiresome and unpleasant trip to someplace.

3.According to the text，the expression “get one’s act together” ________.

A．was first used by a Japanese businesswoman

B．was forbidden to be used in the government policy

C．originally came from a yearly report of a company

D．was commonly read by readers in a newspaper in 1978

4.What do the sayings “get your act together” and “cut to the chase” have in common?

A．Their use.? B．Their meaning.

C．Their origin.? D．Their popularity.

C

RIDING in school buses in the early morning，then sitting in poorly lit classrooms，are the main reasons students have trouble getting to sleep at night，according to new research．

Teenagers，like everyone else，need bright light in the morning to allow their circadian rhythms(生理节奏)to get into step with nature's cycles of day and night．

If they don't get blue 1ight in the morning，they get to sleep an average of six minutes later at night，until their bodies are completely out of sync(同步) with the school day，researchers from Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute in New York said last month．

The finding was made by fitting goggles(护目镜)that block blue light from the sun to a group of students．The researchers discovered that their circadian rhythms were greatly affected．

Parents and teachers have been complaining in recent years that teens stay up too late at night，then fall asleep in class the next morning and do poorly in school．The new findings provide a possible explanation for the problem．

At the root of the research is the circadian rhythm, the body's natural sleep and waking cycle．Even though the Earth makes a full rotation(旋转)in 24 hours，the body's circadian cycle is about 24 hours and six minutes 1ong．The cycle is mediated(调节)by a chemical called melatonin(褪黑激素)．The body starts to produce it about two hours before it is time to sleep and, in the absence of blue 1ight，the body produces about six minutes later each day.

In the study, the researchers studied 11 students at Smith Middle School in New York, which was designed so that a lot of sunlight  reaches classrooms．

On a Friday night，the researchers measured what time the 11 students’ bodies began releasing melatonin．On Monday morning，the students were sent to school with orange goggles that blocked most blue light from their eyes to mimic(模拟) the conditions found in many---if not most--schools．

By the end of the week，the students were releasing melatonin 30 minutes 1ater in the evening---an average of six minutes a day--and going to sleep correspondingly(相应的) later．

“This is our first field study，”said lead author Mariana G．Figueiro．He said they would like to repeat it in larger studies and for longer periods of time。

If the findings are repeated，a variety of solutions are available．Ideally, new schools would be built to allow more natural sunlight into the classrooms．Students could also be exposed to more sunlight outside．

68. According to the findings related in this article, many teenagers stay up late because_______

A. they lack melatonin in their bodies

B. they have to get up so early to catch the school bus

C. their circadian rhythms are in disorder

D. they do not get enough blue light in the morning

69. According to the findings, a student who normally slept at 10:00 pm, but who spent 10 days in a poorly lit classroom, would probably be falling asleep at___________after the period.

A. 12:00pm   B. 11:30pm   C. 11:00pm   D. 10:00pm

70. What does the article tell us?

A. Unlike adults, teenagers tend to feel sleepy during daytime.

B. The sunlight is the only thing that can affect our circadian rhythms.

C. If the findings prove correct, solutions could be found to teen sleeping problems.

D. Most schools have small windows and the classrooms are poorly lit.

71. The main point of the article is to___________

A. warn teenagers not to stay up late or sleep in class

B. report on some new findings related to teenagers' sleeping problems

C. give suggestions on how to build schools

D. advertise goggles which can protect the eyes from the sun

B

    This is a dangerous world we live in．The number of murders goes up every year, people are dying of cancer, more people contract HIV, more teens are using drugs, etc．You know this because you have heard all the statistics on the news and in the paper． But do you really have an accurate idea what they mean? The numbers are growing up, but how do they compare to the growth in population? Are more cases of these diseases being reported because of better testing techniques, or are the diseases more common? The fact is that without knowing the background statistics mean very little．

   This growing trend of reporting only part of the information is becoming dangerous．For example, several years ago a high school student reported the dangers of the chemical known as dihydrogen monoxide．This chemical, found in most cancerous tumors（肿瘤）, is often found in the blood of people drunk on alcohol, and causes complete physical and mental dependence for those who take the chemical even once．After reading his report, more than 75% of his Advanced Placement Chemistry class voted to forbid this dangerous chemical! Every one of the above statements is true, yet this chemical is necessary to all life on earth．The students made the mistake because they voted knowing only a few statements and statistics, rather than the chemical’s full background．

   The point of this article is that one should be aware of what is and is not being said．When one finds a new fact or number, one should try to consider other important information before forming an opinion with only half-truths．Always remember that the author is trying to convince you of his or her own view, and will leave out information that is different to his view．For example, look again at the statistics that suggest skiing is safe．Only 32 people may die each year when skiing, while 897 die from lightning strikes, but which is really the most dangerous? If you think about it, you realize far fewer people go skiing each year than the number of people who are in danger of a lightning strike．When you think about it, skiing is more dangerous than you might at first think when looking at statistics．If we teenagers are to be left in this world, we had better be able to think critically, and form our own views, rather than be easily persuaded by another’s．To be warned is to be prepared．

59．In the first paragraph, what problem does the writer want to warn us?

       A．We are now living in a dangerous world．

       B．We get a lot of false statistics from the media．

       C．Statistics alone without full background doesn’t give us an accurate pictures of things．

       D．There are around us more and more murders, diseases, etc．

60．Why does the writer use the example in the second paragraph?

       A．To argue that high school students are easily persuaded．

       B．To show the danger of reporting only part of the information．

       C．To prove what is necessary to us might be dangerous．

       D．To warn us of the harmful substance around us．

61．Relative information is often left out because__________．

       A．Relative information is not that important．

       B．too much information will make readers feel confused．

       C．the author is trying to show what he or she says is true．

       D．readers are not able to analyze so much information at once．

62．What can we learn from the passage?

       A．We should learn to think critically and look at problems from all sides．

       B．Some measures must be taken to protect our dangerous world．

       C．The growing trend of reporting only half-truths is getting out of control．

       D．Teenagers ought to improve their ability of telling right from wrong．

  B

    This is a dangerous world we live in. The number of murders goes up every year, people are dying of cancer, more people contract HIV, more teens are using drugs, etc. You know this because you have heard all the statistics on the news and in the paper.  But do you really have an accurate idea what they mean? The numbers are growing up, but how do they compare to the growth in population? Are more cases of these diseases being reported because of better testing techniques, or are the diseases more common? The fact is that without knowing the background statistics mean very little.

   This growing trend of reporting only part of the information is becoming dangerous. For example, several years ago a high school student reported the dangers of the chemical known as dihydrogen monoxide. This chemical, found in most cancerous tumors(肿瘤), is often found in the blood of people drunk on alcohol, and causes complete physical and mental dependence for those who take the chemical even once. After reading his report, more than 75% of his Advanced Placement Chemistry class voted to forbid this dangerous chemical! Every one of the above statements is true, yet this chemical is necessary to all life on earth. The students made the mistake because they voted knowing only a few statements and statistics, rather than the chemical’s full background.

   The point of this article is that one should be aware of what is and is not being said. When one finds a new fact or number, one should try to consider other important information before forming an opinion with only half-truths. Always remember that the author is trying to convince you of his or her own view, and will leave out information that is different to his view. For example, look again at the statistics that suggest skiing is safe. Only 32 people may die each year when skiing, while 897 die from lightning strikes, but which is really the most dangerous? If you think about it, you realize far fewer people go skiing each year than the number of people who are in danger of a lightning strike. When you think about it, skiing is more dangerous than you might at first think when looking at statistics. If we teenagers are to be left in this world, we had better be able to think critically, and form our own views, rather than be easily persuaded by another’s. To be warned is to be prepared.

59. In the first paragraph, what problem does the writer want to warn us?

A. We are now living in a dangerous world.

B. We get a lot of false statistics from the media.

C. Statistics alone without full background doesn’t give us an accurate pictures of things.

D. There are around us more and more murders, diseases, etc.

60. Why does the writer use the example in the second paragraph?

A. To argue that high school students are easily persuaded.

B. To show the danger of reporting only part of the information.

C. To prove what is necessary to us might be dangerous.

D. To warn us of the harmful substance around us.

61. Relative information is often left out because__________.

A. Relative information is not that important.

B. too much information will make readers feel confused.

C. the author is trying to show what he or she says is true.

D. readers are not able to analyze so much information at once.

62. What can we learn from the passage?

A. We should learn to think critically and look at problems from all sides.

B. Some measures must be taken to protect our dangerous world.

C. The growing trend of reporting only half-truths is getting out of control.

D. Teenagers ought to improve their ability of telling right from wrong.