For many people today, reading is no longer relaxation. To keep up with their work they must read letters, reports, trade publications, interoffice communications: a never-ending flood of words. In getting a job or advancing in one, the ability to read and comprehend quickly can mean the difference between success and failure. Yet the unfortunate fact is that most of us are poor readers.
Most reading faults can be traced to early school training. According to Dr. Betts, two persons out of five in school were forced to read material too difficult for them to understand at the time, a frustration experience which left them with bad reading habits.
Fortunately, almost anyone can learn to read faster and with more comprehension. Age makes little difference. According to a recent study of 138 students at The Reading Laboratory, Inc. , all age groups showed a marked increase in reading rate after training from 93 percent for the 50-90 age group to 142 percent for the 20-29.Dr. Mila Banton Smith, director of New York University’s Reading Institute, says that the average adult student, in 28 training hours, nearly triples (三倍的) his reading speed and boosts(增长) his comprehension by about 30 percent.
The best way to improve your reading, of course, is to enroll(登记) in a reading clinic. If there’s no clinic handy, you can improve your reading ability yourself--- provided you have no eyes troubles. (if reading tires you easily or makes your eyes or head ache, you should consult a doctor.)
【小题1】To many people today, _______.

请认真阅读下列短文,并根据所读内容在文章后表格中的空格里填入一个最恰当的单
词。注意：每个空格只填1个单词。请将答案写在答题卡上相应题号的横线上。
Have you heard or read stories about people who are sick and have been healed by listening to music? Is it a miracle or a successful form of medicine? Can listening to music relieve pain?
Around the world，music therapy(疗法) is being used to treat different medical conditions and illnesses. Some of the ways people use music therapy are to reduce pain，such as in childbirth or during cancer treatments，or to stimulate brain activity after an injury or money loss. Music therapy has also been successful in aiding children to overcome disabilities. Children can move their bodies with the music and stamp along to the beat.
Why is music a useful therapy? Music is soothing and relaxing．but it also stimulates our brains. Emotionally and physically, we respond to the sounds of music. But the complexity of music(the different tempos，rhythms，melodies and harmonies) provokes(激发)the biggest response. Thus，classical music is most typically used for therapies due to complex sounds and patterns. Although rap or hip hop might be fun to listen to，it’s unlikely that such styles of music would produce the same kind of therapeutic effect Playing a musical instrument rather than simply listening to music can also be therapeutic for some people，helping relieve stress and anxiety
Have scientists been able to prove that music can heal disease? Music has been shown to reduce pain in cancer patients by increasing the release endorphins(内啡肽). Endorphins are the body’s natural painkillers，and when we listen to music，our brains respond by releasing these natural painkillers. It has also been known to contribute to the brain development of the babies who have just been born and even babies still in the mother’s womb. Certain types of music have also been found to lower blood pressure and slow a person’s heart rate. Many people are hopeful that music could replace the need for some medications(药物)that are normally used to treat certain illnesses. At present，music therapy is used in a variety of settings such as hospitals，rehabilitation centers，nursing homes，day cares，and schools.
Although music therapy is not yet considered a mainstream treatment，it is recognized more and more as a useful addition to traditional treatment. So next time you are feeling low or stressed out，put on some relaxing music and let the music heal you.

Elizabeth Blackwell was born on February 3, 1821 in Bristol, England. Her father was a rich sugar businessman at the time. Because her parents thought boys and girls should be equal, Elizabeth received the same education as her brothers.

In 1832, her father’s business was destroyed by fire, so her family moved to New York City. But her father’s business there failed. Then in 1837, the family moved to Cincinnati, Ohio. Not long after, her father died. After her father’s death, Elizabeth, at the age of 16, had to go to work.

When she was 24, she visited her dying friend Mary. Her friend said, “You’re young and strong, you should become a doctor.” That was nearly impossible for a woman in the middle of the nineteenth century. But she knew this was what she was going to do.

After several rejections from medical schools, she finally was accepted by Geneva Medical College. By studying hard, she graduated successfully in 1849.

After graduating from medical school, she went to Paris to learn more about medicine. She wanted to be a surgeon, but a serious eye problem forced her to give up the idea.

When she returned to America in 1851, she found it difficult to start her own practice because she was a woman. In 1857, Elizabeth and her sister, also a doctor, along with another woman doctor, managed to open a new hospital, the first for women and children. Besides, she also set up the first medical school for women in 1868, where she taught the women students about disease prevention. It was the first time that the idea of preventing disease was taught in a medical school.

Elizabeth Blackwell started the British National Health Society in 1871, which helped people learn how to stay healthy. In 1889, Elizabeth Blackwell became the first woman doctor in the United States. Most importantly, she fought for the admission of women to medical colleges.

Elizabeth Blackwell died on May 3, 1910, when she was 89.She opened a world of chances for women. She always fought for what was right in all her life. In 1949 the Blackwell medal was established. It’s given to women who have excellent achievements in the field of medicine. She’ll always be remembered as a great woman.

1.According to the passage, Elizabeth Blackwell ________.

A．received bad education in her childhood

B．spent a happy and lucky childhood

C．moved to America with her family at eleven

D．decided to be a doctor due to her father’s death

2.Elizabeth Blackwell could not become a surgeon because ________.

A．she was a woman

B．she had a serious eye problem

C．she went to Paris for further education

D．she didn’t go to medical school

3.Elizabeth Blackwell spent most of her life in ________.

A．the U.S.           B．Paris             C．England           D．Geneva

4.Which of the following is NOT TRUE about Elizabeth Blackwell?

A．She built the first hospital for women and children with others.

B．She became the first woman doctor in the U.S.

C．She set up the first medical school for women in the world.

D．She built a medal for women with excellent achievements in medicine.

All it took was a slice of Xinjiang cake to spark heated debates online over China's policy on ethnic（民族的）minorities .
Since Monday, qiegao (cut cake) has been a trending topic on Sina Weibo, China’s main Twitter-like microblogging service.
The cake was a reference to Xinjiang’s famed nut cake, sometimes known by its old Turkic name baklava, a popular pastry across Central Asia and the Middle East. In Xinjiang, they are sold by Uygur vendors（小贩）on tricycles who are known to charge dubious prices depending on the time and season.
The ethnic flare-up started after the Yueyang police from Hunan province posted a message on their official Weibo account. It reported a dispute in Pingjiang county over an overpriced piece of nut cake between a Xinjiang Uygur vendor and a villager named "Ling".
Villager Ling got into a fight with a Uygur due to a misunderstanding. The verbal dispute eventually escalated into a fight and then a mass fight. As a result, two people were injured and Xinjiang nut cakes worth about 160,000 yuan (US$25,000) were destroyed. The total damage was worth 200,000 yuan which included a broken motorcycle and injuries to people. Local police have detained（扣留） Ling. The 16 Uygur sellers were dully compensated and sent back to Xinjiang.
"Yueyang police incident" quickly became one of the most popular topics on Weibo. Yueyang police removed the post shortly after. As of Tuesday night, the topic was still amassing more than 66,000 hits.
The incident is just one of many similar cases of ethnic tensions across China, notably in Xinjiang province, where deeply entrenched social and racial frictions between the dominant ethnic Han Chinese and minority Uygur Muslims occasionally spark violence. Many Uygurs living in major Chinese cities are viewed by locals as thieves, crooks and even terrorists.
【小题1】Which of the following is true?

Soccer is the most truly international team sport, but there’s still some question _______ whether it should be called a game or open warfare.