阅读选择
阅读下面短文，请从短文后所给各题的四个选项(A、B、C、D)中选出一个最佳选项。

     Eating an apple a day doesn't keep the doctor away, but it does reduce the amount of trips you make to the drug store per year. That's according to a new study that investigates whether there's any truth in the old saying.
     A team of researchers led by Dr Matthew Davis, of the University of Michigan School of Nursing, asked 8, 399 participants to answer survey questions about diet and health. A total of 753 were apple eaters, consuming at least 149g of raw apple per day. The remaining 7, 646 were classed as non-apple eaters. When both groups answered questions on trips to the doctor and trips to the drug store per year, the apple eaters were found to be 27% less likely to visit the druggist for drugs.
     Trips to the doctor were not significantly affected by apple consumption, though. "Evidence does not support that an apple a day keeps the doctor away. However, the small number of US adults who eat an apple a day does appear to use fewer prescription medications, " the study concludes.
     Apple eaters were also found to be less likely to smoke and be more likely to have a higher educational attainment than non-apple eaters. While apples do not compete with oranges, they do contain some immune（免疫的）system-increasing vitamin C, which may be why apple-eaters visit the druggist less. With over 8mg of vitamin C per medium-sized fruit, an apple can provide roughly 14% your daily recommended intake.
     Previous studies have also linked apple consumption to lower risk of Type 2 diabetes（二型糖尿病）, improved lung function and lower risk of colon（结肠）cancer.

阅读选择 
阅读下面短文,请从短文后所给各题的4个选项( A、B、C、D)中选出1个最佳选项。   

     Most people think of a camel as an obedient beast of burden, because it is best known for its ability to carry heavy loads across vast stretches of desert without requiring water. In reality, the camel is considerably more than just the Arabian equivalent of the mule. It also possesses a great amount of intelligence and sensitivity.
     The Arabs assert that camels are so acutely aware of injustice and ill treatment that a camel owner who punishes one of the beasts too harshly finds it difficult to escape the camel’s vengeance. Apparently, the animal will remember an injury and wait for an opportunity to get revenge.
     In order to protect themselves from the vengeful beasts, Arabian camel drivers have learned to trick their camels into believing they have achieved revenge. When an Arab realizes that he has exited a camel’s rage, he places his own garments on the ground in the animal’s path. He arranges the clothing so that it appears to cover a man’s body. When the camel recognizes its master’s clothing on the ground, it seizes the pile with its teeth, shakes the garments violently and tramples on them in a rage. Eventually, after its anger has died away, the camel departs, assuming its revenge is complete. Only then does the owner of the garments come out of hiding, safe for the time being, thanks to this clever ruse.

Reading Comprehension
从下列每篇短文的问题后所给的四个选择项中选出一个最佳答案。

     These days there are pills for just about everything. If you cannot sleep, take a pill. If you are unhappy, take a pill. What if you are overweight and you do not have time to exercise? A new fitness pill may soon be available. Scientists are developing a pill that provides the same benefits as exercise. According to a BBC report, the fitness pill will"build muscle and strength, and even burn fat."
     Researchers found that mice who took these pills could run long distances without previous training. The test mice also ran almost twice as fast. Would you take a pill if it meant you no longer needed to exercise? There is evidence that humans on these pills will also be able to build muscles without exercising. Furthermore, the research suggests that those who exercise and take the fitness pill will be even stronger.
     Some researchers think the fitness pill will be useful in certain situations. People who cannot get out of bed due to ill health may benefit from the drug. Those with too much blood sugar may also benefit. And, this pill may help patients recover from muscle wasting caused by many diseases. Other researchers feel that the average adult might benefit from such a drug. Most adults do not get the 40 minutes of daily exercise doctors recommend. The fitness pill eliminates the need for that time.
     The greatest concern about the fitness pill is in the sports world. Some fear that sportspersons may already be taking this drug to enhance performance. In order to prove to the public that his strength came from hard work and training, Michael Phelps, the world-renowned gold medalist swimmer, voluntarily went through extra drug testing before the 2008 Olympics. Now, all professional sportspersons are required to go through extensive testing for the fitness pill listed as a performance enhancing drug.

阅读选择
阅读下面短文,请从短文后所给各题的4个选项( A、B、C、D)中选出1个最佳选项。

阅读选择 
阅读下面短文，请从短文后所给各题的4个选项( A、B、C、D)中选出1个最佳选项。   

阅读选择 
阅读下面短文，请从短文后所给各题的4个选项( A、B、C、D)中选出1个最佳选项。   

        On November 19, 1863, Abraham Lincoln went to Gettysburg in Pennsylvania to speak at the National Soldiers Cemetery. The Civil War was still going on. There was much criticism of President Lincoln at the time. He was not at all popular. He had been invited to speak at Gettysburg only out of courtesy. The principal speaker was to be Edward Everett, a famous statesman and speaker of the day. Everett was a handsome man and very popular everywhere.
        It is said that Lincoln prepared his speech on the train while going to Gettysburg. Late that night, alone in his hotel room and tired out, he again worked briefly on the speech. The next day Everett spoke first. He spoke for an hour and 57 minutes. His speech was a perfect example of the rich oratory of the day. Then Lincoln rose. The crowd of 15,000 people at first paid little attention to him. He spoke for only nine minutes. At the end there was little applause. Lincoln turned to a friend and remarked, “I have failed again.” On the train back to Washington he commented sadly, “That speech was a flat failure, and the people are disappointed.”
        Some newspapers at first criticized the speech. But little by little, as people read the speech, they began to understand better. They began to appreciate its simplicity and its deep meaning. It was a speech which only Abraham Lincoln could have made.
        Today, every American school child learns Lincoln’s Gettysburg Address by heart. Now everyone thinks of it as one of the greatest orations ever given in American history.

阅读选择：阅读下面短文，请从短文后所给各题的四个选项(A、B、C、D)中选出一个最佳选项。

     Atmospheric scientists first used the term “greenhouse effect” in the early 1800s. At that time, it was used to describe the naturally occurring functions of trace gases in the atmosphere and did not have any negative meanings. It was not until the mid-1950s that the term greenhouse effect was coupled with concern over climate change. And in recent decades, we often hear about the greenhouse effect in somewhat negative terms.
     The negative concerns are related to the possible impacts of an enhanced greenhouse effect. It is important to remember that without the greenhouse effect, life on the earth would not be possible.
     While the earth's temperature is dependent upon the greenhouse-like action of the atmosphere, the amount of heating and cooling are strongly influenced by several factors just as greenhouses are affected by various factors.
     In the atmospheric greenhouse effect, the type of surface that sunlight first encounters is the most important factor. Forests, grasslands, ocean surfaces, ice caps, deserts, and cities all absorb, reflect, and radiate radiation differently. Sunlight falling on a white glacier (冰河) surface strongly reflects back into space, resulting in minimal heating of the surface and lower atmosphere. Sunlight falling on a dark desert soil is strongly absorbed, on the other hand and contributes to significant heating of the surface and lower atmosphere. Cloud cover also affects greenhouse warming by both reducing the amount of solar radiation reaching the earth's surface and by reducing the amount of radiation energy emitted into space.
     Scientists use the term albedo to define the percentage of solar energy reflected back by a surface. Understanding local, regional, and global albedo effects is critical to predicting global climate change.

Reading Comprehension 
从下列每篇短文的问题后所给的四个选择项中选出一个最佳答案。
     Scholastic Aptitude Test (SAT) is an examination that American high school students take before they go to college. The SAT is open to anyone who pays a $25 fee, and parents are having their kids take it at younger and younger ages—for practice, and for a chance to get into programs for gifted children at universities like Johns Hopkins. More than 172,000 students in the eighth grade or lower took SAT or ACT college entrance exams last year, up 19% since 1996.
     Donna Coughlin, who is in charge of the SAT in Winnetka, Illinois, says the wave in young test takers makes for a terrible day. Young kids ask endless questions, do more restlessness, need more bathroom breaks and are more apt to throw up(呕吐).
     Much of the SAT's material isn't taught until high school, so younger children often score poorly. Critics say giving the test so early weakens the confidence of insecure kids and creates competitive students who focus not on learning but on mastering standardized tests.
     Those who favor early testing say it allows bright students to see how far beyond grade level they are, so their learning can be adjusted. And some bright kids enjoy the challenge. "It gives them terrific experience at test taking“, says Susan Grant, whose son first tried the SAT in the sixth grade and now attends Harvard.
     There's even a practice run for young test takers. To join "gifted" programs, students in grades 3 through 6 can take an ACT designed for eighth-graders. It's not for my kids, though. They have cartoons to watch, CDs to play, childhoods to live.

Reading Comprehension 
从下列每篇短文的问题后所给的四个选择项中选出一个最佳答案。
     College-bound American high school students usually have some combination of parents, teachers, guidance counselors, or peers to support them in the tough process of applying to and beginning college. Unfortunately, adults who want to go to college—particularly adults who have been out of school for a long time—generally have no such support system. "Adults have a much harder time starting out in college because, unlike regular students, they have adult obligations—raising children and working full time—that often conflict with the demands of school," says Deepa Rao, a World Education expert. "Also, adults who have been out of school for a long time may not be academically prepared for college-level work. Some have little exposure to technologies like e-mail and Internet research, which are an increasing part of college communication and courses. They may be unaware of available resources, such as financial aid, tutoring centers or mentoring programs, and may be unfamiliar with terms such as 'bursar' and 'prerequisite.' And if you don't know where to begin or what to do once you do get there, it's easy to get overwhelmed and simply give up.''
     The challenges that working adults face when going to college inspired Deepa to develop a web page and website as part of World Education's National College Transition Network (NCTN), an online forum for technical assistance, news, and helpful resources for educators, policy makers, and others interested in adult learning. The new website is a counterpart(对应物) to the NCTN, set up to guide adults who are considering college through the process of applying to and succeeding in school.
     The website is arranged like a college campus, with 'buildings' representing the sort of departments and classrooms housed on a college campus. Each building contains 'classes' that describe the admissions process, where to look for grants and scholarships, and lists resources, where an out-of-practice student can review reading, writing, and math. There are also lists of advice and resources to help students with their college life. Another helpful aspect of this interactive, multimedia site is its audio capacity: all texts can be read to the visitor. This particular feature is especially helpful for people with visual problems or learning disabilities.
     The cycle of learning runs from cradle to grave, and World Education works to break down barriers to education for people of all ages, all over the world. 

阅读下面短文，请从短文后所给各题的4个选项(A、B、C、D)中选出一个最佳选项。

     All ESL(English as a Second Language) writing teachers can find a valuable resource in pictures: drawings, photographs, slides, cartoons, magazine advertisements, graphs, tables, charts and maps. First of all, pictures provide a shared experience for students in class, a common base that leads to a variety of language activities. When students write about a personal topic like "My most frightening experience," the material is not shared. Except for predicting the use of the past tense, there is little that the teacher can do to prepare a whole class to deal with the vocabulary and sentence patterns that the writers will need. With a picture, however, all students, after close observation of the material, will immediately need the appropriate vocabulary, idioms and sentence structures to discuss what they see. Pictures are also valuable in that they provide for the use of a common vocabulary and common language forms. In addition, a picture can be the basis for not just one task but many, ranging from fairly mechanical controlled compositions, sentence-combining exercises, or sequencing of sentences to the writing of original dialogues, letters, reports or essays. Thus, a whole series of connected activities can be generated from the source of one picture. Finally, because everybody likes to look at pictures, their use in the classroom provides a stimulating focus for students' attention. Pictures bring the outside world into the classroom in a vividly concrete way. In short, a picture is a valuable resource as it provides a shared experience, a need for common language forms to use, a variety of tasks and a focus of interest for students.

阅读选择 
阅读下面短文,请从短文后所给各题的4个选项( A、B、C、D)中选出1个最佳选项。   

     Robert Spring, a 19th century forger (伪造文件者), was so good at his profession that he was able to make his living for 15 years by selling false signatures of famous Americans. Spring was born in England in 1813 and arrived in Philadelphia in 1858 to open a bookstore. At first he became rich by selling his small but genuine collection of early U.S. autographs（签字）. Discovering his ability at copying handwriting, he began imitating signatures of George Washington and Ben Franklin and writing them on the title pages of old books. To lessen the chance of detection, he sent his forgeries to England and Canada for sale and circulation.
     Forgers have a hard time selling their products. A forger can’t approach a respectable buyer but must deal with people who don’t have much knowledge in the field. Forgers have many ways to make their work look real. For example, they buy old books to use the aged paper of the title page, and they can treat paper and ink with chemicals.
     In Spring’s time, right after the Civil War, Britain was still fond of the Southern states, so Spring invented a respectable maiden lady known as Miss Fanny Jackson, the only daughter of General “Stonewall” Jackson. For several years Miss Fanny’s financial problems forced her to sell a great number of letters and manuscripts（手稿）belonging to her famous father. Spring had to work very hard to satisfy the demand. All this activity did not prevent Spring from dying in poverty, leaving sharp-eyed experts the difficult task of separating his forgeries from the originals.

Reading Comprehension
从下列每篇短文的问题后所给的四个选择项中选出一个最佳答案。

     Today's video game worlds in the U.S.A. are so detailed that they give the player a realistic and rewarding experience. It is not just children that play these games; it is also common for men from 18 to 30 have at home some sort of game console（控制器）.
     People think this may affect real-life behavior and ask ‘are life-like computer games a good thing?’, especially the first-person games where the player takes on active roles like shooting at others in armed battles.
     As modern characters in computer games have become more people-like than cartoon-like, as the language becomes more informal or casual, and as the sound effects become more realistic, many kinds of concern have been raised about the link between computer games and the children's aggressive behavior. Worried parents have welcomed the computer game classification, which is similar to film ratings. This makes it easier for parents to monitor what their children are playing with.
     Are computer games making us more aggressive? There is no evidence that proves a link between an increase in computer game violence and aggressive or violent behavior in children, but the question still arises: is it acceptable for computer games to depict life-like scenes of violence?
     What lessons do players take from games like Grand Theft Auto where players speed through city streets trying to reach their destination in the quickest time regardless of people walking along the streets in their way or Hooligans: Storms over Europe where men run violently into football fields, fight competitors and attack police. Do you think these computer games make it difficult to tell right from wrong and fact from fiction?

阅读选择：阅读下面短文，请从短文后所给各题的四个选项(A、B、C、D)中选出一个最佳选项。

     Gene therapy and gene-based drugs are two ways we would benefit from our growing mastery of genetic science. But there will be others as well. Here is one of the remarkable therapies on the cutting edge of genetic research that could make their way into mainstream medicine in the coming years.
     While it’s true that just about every cell in the body has the instructions to make a complete human, most of those instructions are inactivated, and with good reason: the last thing you want for your brain cells is to start churning out stomach acid or your nose to turn into a kidney. The only time cells truly have the potential to turn into any and all body parts is very early in a pregnancy, when so-called stem cells haven’t begun to specialize.
     Yet this untapped potential could be a terrific boon to medicine. Most diseases involve the death of healthy cells—brain cells in Alzheimer’s, cardiac cells in heart disease, pancreatic cells in diabetes, to name a few; if doctors could isolate stem cells, then direct their growth, they might be able to furnish patients with healthy replacement tissue.
     It was incredibly difficult, but last fall scientists at the University of Wisconsin managed to isolate stem cells and get them to grow into neural, gut, muscle and bone cells. The process still can’t be controlled, and may have unforeseen limitations; but if efforts to understand and master stem-cell development prove successful, doctors will have a therapeutic tool of incredible power.
     The same applies to cloning, which is really just the other side of the coin; true cloning, as first shown, with the sheep Dolly two years ago, involves taking a developed cell and reactivating the genome within, resetting its developmental instructions to a pristine state. Once that happens, the rejuvenated cell can develop into a full-fledged animal, genetically identical to its parent.
     For agriculture, in which purely physical characteristics like milk production in a cow or low fat in a hog have real market value, biological carbon copies could become routine within a few years. This past year scientists have done for mice and cows what Ian Wilmut did for Dolly, and other creatures are bound to join the cloned menagerie in the coming year.
     Human cloning, on the other hand, may be technically feasible but legally and emotionally more difficult. Still, one day it will happen. The ability to reset body cells to a pristine, undeveloped state could give doctors exactly the same advantages they would get from stem cells: the potential to make healthy body tissues of all sorts, and thus to cure disease. That could prove to be a true “miracle cure”.

Reading Comprehension
从下列每篇短文的问题后所给的四个选择项中选出一个最佳答案。 

Endangered Species（濒危物种）

     Ever since life on earth began, animals and plants have died out and new ones have appeared. Long ago, most animals and plants died out because of natural events, like earthquakes or climatic changes. Today, plants and animals are in danger mostly because of human beings.

     Man has been killing animals and gathering plants for food, medicine, clothes and shelters. For centuries, tigers and other wild animals have been killed for their skins; whales have been hunted because of their oil and fat.

     More and more people live in our world. They need more space to live in. Rain forests, grasslands and other parts of nature are destroyed and people start to settle there. They take away the natural home of plants and animals. This causes the disappearance of many species. Now the most endangered areas are the tropical rain forests. More than 50％ of all animals and plants live there. Every day, large areas of rain forest are destroyed and many species die out.

     Moreover, man’s other activities can also kill off some species. Waste water from factories goes into rivers and lakes and can poison fish there. Species like wolves have been killed by humans because they are seen as a danger to farm animals. Sometimes native animals become endangered when a new species comes to live in a place. Foxes, the natural enemy of rabbits, were brought to Australia to kill off rabbits. But they killed kangaroos（袋鼠）there instead.

     People have hurt plants and animals but they also want to protect them. All over the world organizations like the World Wildlife Fund （WWF） are helping to protect endangered plants and animals. They collect money for their projects and make governments and the public listen to them. New laws have also been made to protect endangered plants and animals all over the world.

阅读选择 

阅读下面短文,请从短文后所给各题的4个选项( A、B、C、D)中选出1个最佳选项。          

        Disney is one of the most powerful companies in the world. In fact, it is so big and has so much influence that a new word has come into English: DISNEYFICATION. Here is a quick guide to the effects of Disneyfication.
        A few media and publishing giants control many of the things we watch, read and listen to. Therefore the West — mainly the USA — has a strong influence on the world’s popular culture. It is easy for people to identify with the products of the entertainment corporations. These products are glamorous, exciting and full of the latest technology; they easily become part of the culture that people share with their friends and their communities.
        As the culture of western entertainment spreads, the world will lose a lot of its cultural variety. Everyone is becoming more and more alike: all around the world teenagers wear the same “uniform” of baseball caps, blue jeans and running shoes.
       Countries like Canada, France and Malaysia have been fighting hard to protect their traditional culture by restricting the import of foreign books, films and so on. However, companies that want to increase their culture exports are in favor of a new treaty, the Multilateral Treaty of Investment. This treaty would limit the power of governments to control cultural imports.
       Major corporations like Disney make consumerism part of sports, arts and entertainment. After you have taken your children to see the latest Disney movie, they will want you to buy the video, the key chain, the toys, the T-shirt, the note-paper, the pencil set…Every film comes with a package of products, games, and children’s books — and, of course, a careful plan for marketing them all.
      Theme parks are becoming a model for towns and commercial development. Everywhere, you can find chain restaurants, giant shopping malls, and modernized city centers that all follow the same pattern. They are all designed to make us feel as if we are getting away from life’s problems — and to make us spend money. As this kind of development spreads, there is less and less space for other values and other ways of doing things.

阅读选择：阅读下面短文，请从短文后所给各题的四个选项(A、B、C、D)中选出一个最佳选项。

     Prince was an intelligent dog and a slave to Williams. From morning till night, when Williams was at home, Prince never left his sight. The dog had a number of clearly defined duties, for which Williams had patiently trained him and, like the good pupil he was, Prince lived for the chance to demonstrate his abilities. When Williams wanted to put on his boots he would murmur "boots" and within seconds the dog would drop them at his feet. At nine every morning Prince ran off to the general store in the village, returning shortly not only with Williams' daily paper but also with a half-ounce packet of Williams' favorite tobacco. A gun-dog by breed, Prince possessed a large soft mouth specially evolved for the safe carrying of hunted creatures, so the paper and the tobacco came to no harm, never even showing tooth mark.
     Williams was a railway man, and he wore a blue uniform that smelled of oil fuel. He had to work at odd times, "days,""late days"or "nights." Over the years Prince got to know these periods of work and rest, and knew when his master would leave the house and return. If Williams overslept, Prince barked at the bedroom door until he woke, much to the annoyance of the family.
     A curious thing happened to Williams during the snow and ice of last winter. One evening he slipped and fell on the icy pavement somewhere between the village and his home. He was so badly shaken that he stayed in bed for three days; and not until he got up and dressed again did he discover that he had lost his wallet. The house was turned upside down in the search, but the wallet was not found. Two days later, Prince dropped the wallet into Williams' hand. Very muddy, stained and wet through, the little case still contained fifty-three pounds, his driving license and a few other papers. No one could tell where the dog had found it. Perhaps he had found it by the faint oily smell on the worn leather.

阅读选择
阅读下面短文，请从短文后所给各题的四个选项(A、B、C、D)中选出一个最佳选项。

     The intelligence test used most often today are based on the work of a Frenchman, Alfred Binet. In 1905, Binet was asked by the French Ministry of Education to develop a way to identify those children in French schools who were too “mentally deficient（不足的）”to benefit from ordinary schooling and who needed special education. The tests had to distinguish those who were merely behind in school from those who were actually mentally deficient.
     The items that Binet and his colleague Theophile Simon included on the test were chosen on the basis of their ideas about intelligence. Binet and Simon believed intelligence includes such abilities as understanding the meaning of words; solving problems, and making commonsense judgements. Two other important assumptions also shaped Binet’s and Simon’s work: （1） that children with more intelligence will do better in school and （2） that older children have a greater ability than younger children.
     Binet’s first test consisted of thirty tasks. They were simple things most children learn as a result of their everyday experiences. The tasks were arranged in groups， according to age. Binet decided which tasks were appropriate for a given age group by giving them first to a large number of children of different ages. If more than half of the children of a given age passed a test， it was considered appropriate for that age group.

阅读选择
阅读下面短文,请从短文后所给各题的4个选项( A、B、C、D)中选出1个最佳选项。

Reading Comprehension
从下列每篇短文的问题后所给的四个选择项中选出一个最佳答案。

 Urban Gardening

​      Urban gardening refers to the practice of planting a garden in the city. Apartments, town homes, and other areas with little or no land are being used for gardening. This method of gardening is becoming more common as the amount of land for gardening in cities is becoming smaller and smaller. 

      Containers, hanging baskets and raised beds are examples of items people use to create a garden in a confined space. Some cities also offer a shared community garden for people who have no room to grow plants at home.
      Many types of plants can be grown in containers and baskets. Tomatoes and peppers, for instance, can grow in containers on windowsills (窗台). Plants grown on a windowsill should usually receive at least six to eight hours of sunlight daily. Herbs are often grown in containers or baskets in the kitchen. They do not require much space and can be handy for cooking.
      People who want to grow more plants may use raised beds which are usually made of wood pieces and filled with a mixture of soil and fertilizers. They can be built on top of any hard surface, including roof tops. People like them because the beds often cost much less than most other methods of gardening.
      Community gardening could be an option for anyone who does not have space for a garden at home. Most cities that offer this will rent a small plot of land to someone for a fee, or allow them to use it free of charge. Instead of dividing the land into separate plots, some cities allow everyone in the neighborhood to share and work on the same land. This method could be beneficial for people in the neighborhood who share the passion for growing things.

Reading Comprehension
从下列每篇短文的问题后所给的四个选择项中选出一个最佳答案。