Below is a selection from a popular science book.

If blood is red, why are veins（静脉） blue?

Actually, veins are not blue at all. They are more of a clear, yellowish color. Although blood looks red when it’s outside the body, when it’s sitting in the vein near the surface of the skin, it’s more of a dark reddish purple color. At the right depth, these blood-filled veins reflect less red light than the surrounding skin, making them look blue by comparison.

Which works harder, you heart or your brain?

That kind of depends on whether you’re busy thinking or busy exercising. Your heart works up to three times harder during exercise, and shifts enough blood over a lifetime to fill a supertanker. But in the long run, your brain probably tips it, because even when you’re sitting still your brain is using twice as much energy as your heart, and it takes four to five times as much blood to feed it.

Why do teeth fall out, and why don’t they grow back in grown-ups?

Baby (or “milk”) teeth do not last long; they fall out to make bigger room for bigger, stronger adult teeth later on. Adult teeth fall our when they become damaged, decayed and infected by bacteria. Once this second set of teeth has grown in, you’re done. When they’re gone, they are gone. This is because nature figures you’re set for life, and what controls regrowth of your teeth switches off.

Do old people shrink as they age?

Yes and no. Many people do get shorter as they age. But, when they do, it isn’t because they’re shrinking all over. They lose height as their spine（脊柱） becomes shorter and more curved due to disuse and the effect of gravity(重力). Many (but not all) men and women do lose height as they get older. Men lose and average of 3-4 cm in height as they age, while women may lose 5 cm or more. If you live to be 200 years old, would you keep shrinking till you were, like 60 cm tall, like a little boy again? No, because old people don’t really shrink! It is not that they are growing backwards ----- their legs, arms and backbones getting shorter. When they do get shorter, it’s because the spine has shortened a little. Or, more often, become more bent and curved.

Why does spinning make you dizzy（眩晕的）?

Because your brain gets confused between what you’re seeing and what you’re feeling. The brain senses that you’re spinning using special gravity-and-motion-sensing organs in your inner ear, which work together with your eyes to keep your vision balance stable. But when you suddenly stop spinning the system goes out of control, and your brain thinks you’removing while you’re not.

Where do feelings and emotions come from?

Mostly from an ancient part of the brain called the limbic system. All mammals have this brain area ----- from mice to dogs, cats, and humans. So all mammals feel basic emotions like fear, pain and pleasure. But since human feelings also involve other, newer bits of the brain, we feel more complex emotions than any other animal on this planet.

If exercise wears you out, how can it be good for you?

Because our bodies adapt to everything we do to them. And as far as your body is concerned, it’s “use it, or lose it”! It’s not that exercise makes you healthy, it’s more that a lack of exercise leaves your body weak and easily affected by disease

1.What is the color of blood in a vein near the surface of the skin?

A．Blue                                 B．Light yellow

C．Red                                  D．Dark reddish purple

2.Why do some old people look a little shrunken as they age?

A．Because their spine is in active use.

B．Because they are more easily affected by gravity.

C．Because they keep growing backwards.

D．Because their spine becomes more bent.

3.Which of the following statements about our brain is true?

A．In the long run, our brain probably works harder than our heart.

B．When our brain senses the spinning, we will feel dizzy.

C．The brains of the other mammals are as complex as those of humans.

D．Our feelings and emotions come from the most developed area in our brain.

4.What is the main purpose of the selection?

A．To give advice on how to stay healthy.

B．To provide information about our body.

C．To challenge new findings in medical research.

D．To report the latest discoveries in medical science.

At railway stations all across Britain next week, groups of students will gather with their backpacks to wait for the trains that will carry them home for Christmas. This is as large a movement of human beings as before, but with more contradictory traffic flows, so that trains filled with the young pass each other travelling in every direction.
At first, I went home every weekend with my washing, but then those visits became less regular. How did I let my parents know I was coming? They had no phone. Perhaps I wrote to them ("Expect me with dirty shirts this Friday afternoon"), but more likely I didn't let them know, and just turned up or didn't turn up, not understanding that my parents' dashed hopes of seeing me were a greater casualty of my carelessness than a spoiled tea.
And in all this I suspect I was typical, at least of young men. As for our fathers and mothers, none of them talked of "empty-nest syndrome", even though its implication that the principal human duty is to protect and feed the young would have suited their generation better than ours. Then, the feelings of loss went without a name. Today, it's a condition with remedies, which will make parents feel more enjoyable in their life. The Mayo Clinic, for example, suggests you try to maintain regular contact with your children through "visits, phone calls, emails, texts or video chats". If you feel depressed, lean on loved ones or your mental health provider. Above all, stay positive: "Thinking about the extra time and energy you might have to devote to your marriage or personal interests after your last child leaves home might help you adapt to this major life change."
What can’t be denied, however, is that children often leave home. In modern societies, this is what they do. Christmas is the very time they can be depended on to return. For the non-religious, that may be this season’s true comfort and significance.
【小题1】The main reason for the busy traffic across Britain next week is that         .

Ma Wendi graduated from a veterinary(兽医的) school several years ago. And now she is used to  1  (glance) at curiously when she walks six dogs at the same time. They are not all  2 . The 25-year-old veterinary graduate is a full-time dog walker.

“I have to take care of twelve dogs at most,” said Ma. She charges 500 yuan a month per dog, and most customers leave their dogs at her house for a week. The  3  (busy) time is around the Spring Festival, because many people go back to their hometowns for family reunions  4  go traveling.

“Compared with people who have to be in their offices during the day, I don’t have to get up early to squeeze into the subway carriages in rush hour, and I still make  5  decent(体面的) salary. It seems to give me great 6  (encourage) to go on with my job. ” she said.

“But it’s still a tiring job. Whenever there are dogs at home, I can’t leave them alone. I have to work and caring them is bound to be busy,  7  means that I have no time to enjoy myself. Sometimes I want to go out for a meal or shopping, but I can’t do so because I worry about them, and it really makes me  8 (annoy) ” she said.

Most of the dogs seem to adapt  9  the life there. Ma knows all the dogs’ names, and when she calls one’s name, the dog instantly knows she  10  (refer) to it.

阅读下面短文，根据所读内容在表格中的空白处填入恰当的单词。

注意：每个空格只填一个单词。

There are two basic ways to see growth: one as a product；the other as a process. People have generally viewed personal growth as an external（外在的）result or a product that can easily be identified and measured. The worker who gets a promotion，the student whose grades improve，the foreigner who learns a new language—these are examples of people who have measurable results to show for their efforts.

By contrast（对照），the process of personal growth is much more difficult to determine，since by definition it is a journey and not the specific signposts or landmarks along the way.The process is not the road itself，but the attitudes，feelings people have，and their caution or courage，as they meet with new experiences and unexpected difficulties.In this process，the journey never really ends;there are always new ways to experience the world，new ideas to try，new challenges to accept.

In order to grow，to travel new roads，people need to have a willingness to take risks，to face the unknown，and to accept the possibility that they may “fail” at first. How we see ourselves as we try a new way of being is necessary for our ability to grow. Do we see ourselves as quick and curious？If so，then we tend to take more chances and to be more open to unfamiliar experiences. Do we think we're shy and indecisive？Then our sense of fear can cause us to hesitate，to move slowly，and not to take a step until we know the ground is safe. Do we think we are slow to adapt to change or that we're not smart enough to deal with a new challenge？Then we are likely to take a more passive role or not try at all.

These feelings of insecurity and self-­doubt are both unavoidable and necessary if we are to change and grow. If we protect ourselves too much，then we stop growing. We become trapped inside a shell of our own making.

从A、B、C、D中找出其划线部分与所给单词的划线部分读音相同的选项。
1．action       A．adapt           B．actress         C．agent       D．amount
2．apologise    A．case            B．course          C．raise           D．service
3．speech      A．church          B．stomach            C．technology   D．machine
4．graph       A．daughter         B．telephone       C．fright          D．though
5．scream      A．breast           B．break           C．spread          D．defeat