Why do men die earlier than women? The latest research makes it known that the reason could be that men’s hearts go into rapid decline when they reach middle age.

The largest study of the effects of ageing on the heart has found that women’s longevity may be linked to the fact that their hearts do not lose their pumping power with age.

“We have found that the power of the male heart falls by 20-25 percent between 18 and 70 years of age,” said the head of the study, David Goldspink of Liverpool John Moores University in the UK. w.w.w.k.s.5.u.c.o.m

“Within the heart there are millions of cells that enable it to beat. Between the age of 20 and 70, one-third of those cells die and are not replaced in men,” said Goldspink. “This is part of the ageing process.”

What surprises scientists is that the female heart sees very little loss of these cells. A healthy 70-year-old woman’s heart could perform almost as well as a 20-year-old one’s.

“This gender difference might just explain why women live longer than men,” said Goldspink. They studied more than 250 healthy men and women between the ages of 18 and 80, focusing on healthy persons to remove the confusing influence of disease. “The team has yet to find why ageing takes a greater loss on the male heart,” said Goldspink.

The good news is that men can improve the health of their heart with regular exercise. Goldspink stressed that women also need regular exercise to prevent their leg muscles becoming smaller and weaker as they age.

1. The underlined word “longevity” in the second paragraph probably refers to “________”.

A. health B. long life  C. ageing   D. effect

2. The text mainly talks about ________.

A. men’s heart cells                

B. women’s ageing process、

C. the gender difference             

D. hearts and long life

3. According to the text, the UK scientists have known that ________.

A. women have more cells than men when they are born

B. women can replace the cells that enable the heart to beat

C. the female heart loses few of the cells with age

D. women never lose their pumping power with age

4. If you want to live longer, you should ________.

A. enable your heart to beat much faster       B. find out the reason for ageing

C. exercise regularly to keep your heart healthy 

D. prevent your cells from being lost

5. We can know from the passage that ________.

A. the reason why ageing takes a greater loss on the male heart has been found out

B. scientists are on the way to finding out why the male heart loses more of the cells

C. the team has done something to prevent the male from suffering the greater loss

D. women over 70 could lose more heart cells than those at the age of 20

Very old people do raise moral problems for almost everyone who comes in contact with them. Their values—this can’t be repeated too often—are not necessarily our values. Physical comfort, cleanness and order are not necessarily the most important things. The social services from time to time find themselves faced with a flat with decaying food covered by small worms, and an old person lying alone in bed, taking no notice of the worms. But is it interfering(干涉) with personal freedom to insist that they go to live with some of their relatives so that they might be taken better care of? Some social workers, the ones who clear up the worms, think we are in danger of carrying this concept of personal freedom to the point where serious risks are being taken with the health and safety of the old.

Indeed, the old can be easily hurt or harmed. The body is like a car, it needs more mechanical maintenance(机械维修，保养) as it gets older. You can carry this comparison right through to the provision of spare parts. But never forget that such operations are painful experiences, however good the results will be. And at what point should you stop to treat the old body? Is it morally right to try to push off death by seeking the development of drugs to excite the forgetful old mind and to activate the old body, knowing that it is designed to die? You can’t ask doctors or scientists to decide, because so long as they can see the technical opportunities, they will feel bound to give them a try, on the principle that while there’s life, there’s hope. w.w.w.k.s.5.u.c.o.m

When you talk to the old people, however, you are forced to the conclusion that whether age is happy or unpleasant depends less on money or on health than it does on your ability to have fun.

1. What does the passage mainly tell us?

A. The values are different between the old and the young.  B. The moral problems raised by old people.

C. The personal freedom for the old.                    D. Old people’s viewpoint on life.

2. We can know from the first paragraph that________.

A. Very old people would like to live alone to have more personal freedom.

B. Very old people are able to keep their room clean.

C. Very old people like to live with their children.

D. Social services have nothing to do with very old people.

3. According to the author, which of the following is right?

A. The older a person, the more care he needs.  B. Too much emphasis has been put on old people’s values.

C. The human body can’t be compared to a car.  D. It is easy to provide spare parts for old people.

4.The underlined word “it” in the last paragraph refers to “________”.

A. their money or their health          B. the conclusion you come to

C. your talk to the old people          D. whether age is happy or unpleasant

An English lady was finally decided that she really should         【小题1】_______
learn to drive, And after many attempts, she past her              【小题2】_______
driving test and told her husband that，to release， he            【小题3】_______
was going to drive him over to France for a holiday， But          【小题4】_______
then a week after the trip, she suddenly announced that            【小题5】_______
they wouldn’t take the holiday. “How did you change your         【小题6】_______
mind?” he asked her by surprise. “Well，it is all because        【小题7】_______ _{w_w*w.k_s*5_u.c_o m}
of the business of driving on right.” She said, “I have          【小题8】______
been practicing for three weeks now， but I still couldn’t        【小题9】______
get used to it-in fact, I’ve nearly killed three peoples。”      【小题10】______

Lulu is a brave pet in our shelter．

    As you know, there are a lot of forest fires during the summer season．Many forests are badly 1 by fire each year．Not far from our shelter, a forest caught fire during this hot summer．We were in a heat wave which had been  2  for three days．

   Lulu rushed towards the forest where flames sent out a terrible 3 ．I no longer had any hope that Lulu would come  4  to the shelter．In fact, I was waiting for the firemen to announce his 5  in the forest, when suddenly, a fireman burst into my shelter and  6  me that my dog Lulu had  7  to save four kittens who were trapped by the flames．According to the fireman, Lulu seized the kittens, one by one moving them to a  8  place．I immediately accompanied the fireman to the forest to  9  the rescued kittens．When we arrived at the  10  of the incident, we found Lulu was not  11  ．Then we heard the  12  of a dog came from the forest barking furiously．I  13  it was my dog Lulu．The fireman followed the tracks of the dog until we found him barking  14  by the side of an injured fireman who was lying on the ground and desperately 15  rescue．Thanks to Lulu, four kittens and a fireman were saved．w.w.k.s.5.u.c.o.m

That day, I was very 16 of Lulu for his two heroic  17  toward the kittens and the fireman．Lulu showed much compassion (同情) for both animals  18  him and for a human being who was trying to  19  the fire with his colleagues．

This true story of genuine love and compassion shows us that pets are loving,  20  and compassionate．We should love and protect them．One day they could do us a good turn．

1．A．damaged               B．destroyed               C．wounded         D．hurt

2．A．taking on            B．coming on          C．going on               D．keeping on

3．A．heat                       B．energy               C．fever                 D．burn

4．A．by                        B．round                C．up                       D．back

5．A．return                 B．honor                  C．death                 D．action

6．A．announced          B．informed              C．communicated        D．claimed

7．A．tried                       B．wanted                C．managed               D．failed

8．A．safe                     B．safer                      C．lonely                    D．beautiful

9．A．pick out                B．pick up               C．bring on              D．bring up

10．A．scene                  B．position          C．situation          D．view

11．A．here                B．out                     C．in                          D．there

12．A．voice                     B．noise                     C．accent                D．sound

13．A．acknowledged        B ．recognized        C．heard                     D．listened

14．A．heavily               B．strongly              C．loudly                   D．happily

15．A．waiting for          B．waiting on              C．asking for              D．looking for

16．A．surprised         B．satisfied              C．shamed               D．proud

17．A．things                    B．actions                C．dos                     D．reactions

18．A．as                      B．like                    C．for                        D．to

19．A．put off                B．put away       C．put up                    D．put out

20．A．careful                B．careless         C．caring                D．carefree

Nobody Benefits

NEW YORK—America has been experiencing the longest economic increase in its history．Incomes have risen, unemployment has fallen, and cities such as New York are bursting with new office buildings．

But just a short walk from Manhattan's skyscrapers, George Brown sits on the side-walk, cooking a lunch of rice and bits of fish over a can of cooking fuel．

Brown is homeless — one of the 2.3 million people in the US who end up on the street．

During the day, Brown collects aluminium cans and sells them for five cents a piece．At night, he sleeps on the street．w.w.w.k.s.5.u.c.o.m

"I have been on the street about eight or nine years, something like that," said the 62-year-old former construction worker．

Brown admits he's had problems with alcohol and has smoked cocaine．But he said he still wants a more stable housing arrangement．He could afford it just with the money he earns by collecting cans and small pieces of metal, if only truly low-income housing were available．

However, he sees no hope of finding affordable housing in New York．

With the strong economy and unemployment down, beautiful housing is being built to meet demand．

A US report shows rents in New York city rose more than 27 percent between 1984 and 1999, from US $549 to US $700 a month．

One of the side effects of the strong economy is that rents have been going up．

The majority of people who experience homelessness really just need some affordable housing help．

But few housing companies have been built for the poor．Many small apartments in the city now rent for US $1,500 a month or more．

Brown, the homeless New Yorker, said he has a daughter who lives in the city but he rarely sees her．She is angry about his drinking and won't allow it in her house．

Smiling, he said he also has seven grandchildren whom he'd like to see more often．

"All I've got to do is clean up my act," he said．

What kind of life does George Brown lead?

       A．Homeless and dangerous．              

       B．Homeless and childish．

       C．Homeless and miserable （痛苦的）．            

       D．Homeless and sleepless．

From George Brown's life we can find that ______.

       A．old Americans lead a hard life

       B．old Americans want to live alone

       C．American cities are crowded with poor people w.w.w.k.s.5.u.c.o.m

       D．bad habits play a role in some poor people's Life

It can be inferred from this passage that ______.

       A．America is short of housing companies

       B．the poor can't benefit from the increasing economy

       C．poor people in America will become rich

       D．housing companies will build more houses for the poor

If this passage comes from a paper, on which page would it be?

       A．Society．      B．Science．        C．Economy．                D．Business．