When doctors urge overweight kids to pick up more activities,reading probably isn"t what they
have in mind.Yet a new study by fatness researchers at Duke University finds that the simple act
of reading-depending on the choice of material-can cause weight loss in teenage girls.
The study"s experimental group included 31 fat girls aged 9 to 13,who took part in the Healthy
Lifestyles Program at Duke Children"s Hospital.The girls read a novel called Lake Rescue,whose
protagonist (主人公) is an overweight teenager who struggles with low selfesteem,feelings of loneliness
and teasing because of her size.A group of 33 girls read a different book called Charlotte in Paris,
which did not have an overweight character,and another group of 17 girls read neither book.
At the end of the sixmonth experiment,all the girls who read books had lost weight,but the girls who
read Lake Rescue lost more.They lowered their body mass index (BMI) by 0.71,compared with
0.33 in the Charlotte group,an average 0.05 increase among the nonreaders.
The idea behind the study,says Dr Sarah Armstrong,director of Healthy Lifestyles,was to find a
way to encourage the girls without adopting the restrictive and often authoritative voice of so many
other nutrition and diet programs.Lake Rescue was the perfect instrument,says Armstrong;it
presentsa likable character to whom the girls could relate and whom they could learn from.As the
book progresses,its protagonist learns to make healthier lifestyle choices and finds an advisor to help
keep her on track.Armstrong says,"She learns that she can become healthier,and the "I can do it"
feeling resonates (产生共鸣) with the teenage girls."
B.Lifestyle is important for kids.
C.Lake Rescue is the perfect weightlosing instrument.
D.Reading can help kids lose weight.
B.33.
C.64.
D.81.
B.The protagonist in Lake Rescue.
C.A character in Charlotte in Paris.
D.A girl in the first group.
B.reading is the best way to lose weight
C.different reading materials play different roles in losing weight
D.people will become fat if they don"t read
B.Entertainment.
C.Health.
D.Advertisement.
This means that the plant has changed something in its "body" or "habits" to make it easier to survive
in difficult conditions.There are several conditions they have had to adapt to.First,the soil of the
forest floor is shallow.Also,the soil of the rainforest is not very rich,or easy to grow in.Next is the
problem of very heavy rain which continues over a large part of the year.Finally,many plants of the
rainforest are food for animals that live there.
The biggest problem that rainforest plants have to adapt to is the lack of sunlight in the rainforest"s
lower levels.Plants have adapted to this problem in several ways.Many plants have very large
leaves.The large leaf is helpful because it has a bigger surface area.The bigger surface area a leaf
has,the more sunlight it can absorb.The canopy trees adapt by growing to be 100 feet tall so that
their leaves can grab all available sunlight.Other plants called lianas (climbing woody vines) have
adapted by rooting themselves in the soil of the forest floor and growing up the trees until they reach
the canopy layer.Still other plants,such as epiphytes,have adapted by growing directly on the trees"
trunks and branches in the canopy and understory layers of the rainforest.
An adaptation to the large amounts of rainfall that many rainforest plants have is called "drip tips".
Their leaves are tapered (逐渐变细) to a sharp point at the end.This allows water to run off the
leaf quickly.There are many other adaptations that rainforest plants have made to their environment.
These will be discussed in detail,as we investigate the plants of the rainforest!
B.Soil that is not very deep.
C.Epiphytes that grow on trees" trunks.
D.The worsening of the natural environment.
B.They rely on other plants to reach the canopy layer.
C.They change their leaf structure constantly.
D.They grow on other plants" branches.
B.the large amounts of rainfall
C.the leaves" having a sharp point at the end
D.water"s running off the leaves quickly
B.Too little sunlight and too much water are the biggest problems they face.
C.Different kinds of plants have different ways to absorb sunlight.
D.All of their adaptations have been investigated in detail.
B.Why Do Plants Change Themselves?
C.What Kind of Plants Is the Most Adaptable?
D.What Is the Best Place for Plants to Live in?
Should ecigarettes (electronic cigarettes) be a new choice for the smokers trying to get rid
of the habit? Reactions from Americans are mixed.More than half of the people questioned in
a survey think ecigarettes should be controlled by the US Food and Drug Administration,but 47
percent believe the ecigarettes should be available to the smokers who want to quit.
"In the hunt for a safer cigarette,ecigarettes are becoming a popular choice among those either
trying to quit or looking to replace standard tobacco smoke with an alternative that manufacturers
claim to be safer," Zogby International,which conducted the survey,said in a statement.
About half of the 4,611 adults who took part in the survey had heard about ecigarettes,which
are batterypowered,or rechargeable cigarettes that vaporize a liquid nicotine solution.They do not
produce smoke but a water vapor without smell.Sold mostly on the Internet,ecigarettes were first
made in China.
Last year the World Health Organization (WHO) warned against using ecigarettes,saying there
was no evidence to prove they were safe or helped smokers break the habit.The WHO said people
who smoke ecigarettes breathe in a fine fog of nicotine into the lungs.
Nearly a third of people questioned in the survey think that ecigarettes should be allowed in places
where smoking is forbidden,because they don"t produce smoke,but 46 percent disagree.Men who
were aware of the availability of ecigarettes were more likely than women to say they should be a choice
available to smokers who want to quit.Young people,aged 18-29,and singles were the groups most
open to trying ecigarettes.Smoking is the single largest cause of preventable death worldwide,according
to the WHO.
B.Americans have different opinions about ecigarettes.
C.Every kind of cigarettes should be forbidden in America.
D.Most of the Americans don"t like ecigarettes.
B.are popular among people who want to quit smoking
C.will take the place of traditional cigarettes
D.are produced in a safer way by manufacturers
B.They are a good choice as there is no nicotine.
C.They produce a water vapor that can"t be seen.
D.Most people buy them on the Internet.
B.Supportive.
C.Doubtful.
D.Indifferent.
demand is growing for accessible refueling points to recharge them.Carbon Day Automotive,
a Chicagobased company,has now demonstrated a solarpowered recharging point,known as
the Solar PlugIn Station,which lets motorists easily charge their cars using electricity that has
been produced without any environmental damage.
The Solar PlugIn Station has gone on show in Chicago as part of the city"s bid to host the
2016 Olympic Games.According to Carbon Day Automotive,the Solar PlugIn Station on
show in Chicago is part of the vital infrastructure(基础设施) required for electric vehicles in
Chicago and was the focus of a recent visit by the International Olympic Committee.
These solarpowered electricity points will be used daily to fuel the city"s electric vehicles
with power from the sun.By producing the electricity from pollutionfree solar cell,the CO2
emissions are reduced to zero.
"Solar energy and electric vehicles are a partnership that is one more step to reducing our
dependence on foreign oil," says Richard Lowenthal,CEO of Coulomb Technologies.Coulomb
Technologies recently developed the components (部件) required for individual recharging stations,
marketed as ChargePoint Networked Charging Stations.Carbon Day Automotive is the Midwest
distributor for the ChargePoint stations.
The Solar PlugIn Station consists of giant solar panels (电池板) that shade the tiny ChargePoint
Networked Charging Station.The solar panel is connected to an underground battery pack,ready
for everyday refueling.
"Without these stations it would be like driving around in a traditional car without the availability
of gas stations," says Scott Emalfarb,CEO at Carbon Day."The day of true plugin electric vehicles
will be here sooner than most people realize and the world needs to be ready to accommodate them."
B.it makes up for the lack of electricity
C.it"s a new idea and attracts people"s attention
D.it brings convenience to electric vehicle users
B.the Solar PlugIn Station will come into use in 2016
C.the Solar PlugIn Station has gone on show internationally
D.Chicago is promoting the use of electric vehicles
B.more space for electric vehicles will be needed
C.the citizens of Chicago will be able to go to work faster
D.the cost of electric vehicles will be lower than traditional cars
B.Chicago Calls on People to Buy Electric Vehicles
C.Chicago Fights for Its Bid to Host the 2016 Olympics
D.Chicago Shows Its Solarpowered Recharging Stations
people seem to think handwriting lessons are on the way out. 90% of teachers say they are
required to teach handwriting. But studies have yet to answer the question of how well they
are teaching it. One study published this year found that about three out of every four teachers
say they are not prepared to teach handwriting. Some teachers are teaching handwriting by
providing instruction for ten to fifteen minutes a day, and then other teachers who basically
teach it for sixty to seventy minutes a day - which really is pretty much for handwriting.
Many adults remember learning that way - by copying letters over and over again. Today"s
thinking is that short periods of practice are better. Many experts also think handwriting should
not be taught by itself. Instead, they say it should be used as a way to get students to express
ideas. After all, that is why we write.
Handwriting involves two skills. One is legibility, which means forming the letters so they can
be read. The other is fluency - writing without having to think about it. Fluency continues to
develop up until high school.
But not everyone masters these skills. Teachers commonly report that about one fourth of
their kids have poor handwriting. Some people might think handwriting is not important any
more because of computers and voice recognition programs.
But Steve Graham at Vanderbilt says word processing is rarely done in elementary school,
especially in the early years. American children traditionally first learn to print, and then to write
in cursive, which connects the letters. But guess what we learned from a spokeswoman for the
College Board, which administers the SAT college admission test. More than 75% of students
choose to print their essay on the test rather than write in cursive.
B. most teachers attach importance to teaching handwriting.
C. handwriting teaching is not commonly required.
D. most teachers are at a loss how to teach handwriting
B. Printing is taught in preference to writing in cursive.
C. Handwriting is taught for its own sake.
D. Two skills get involved in handwriting.
B. about 1/4 of the students choose to print their essay on the test
C. it is unnecessary to use handwriting in the age of keyboard
D. computers and voice recognition programs are widely used
B. Right or wrong: the death of handwriting
C. Two skills involved in handwriting
D. Handwriting lessons on the way out
known by the general public. For example, at many public exhibitions about energy, SPS is not
even mentioned. This is mainly because very little money has been spent on SPS research
There are people who claim that SPS is unrealistic - because launch costs are much too high
today; or because it is too far away. So why do we believe that it is important to continue to do
researches on SPS? The reason is very simple.
Humans are going to need huge amounts of electric power in coming decades. Within 50 years
the world population is expected to double, while economic growth will continue around the world,
especially in the poorer countries. But existing energy sources already face serious problems. They
are limited; they are polluted; they are dangerous. So 50 or 100 years from now, where is our power
going to come from? Nobody knows. And so we believe that new large-scale possibilities should be
studied further.
We must remember that humans have some choices concerning our future. To some extent we
can choose the direction in which our civilization develops. And choices that are made in the coming
decades-such as the energy sources that we will or will not use, will have major, long-term meaning
for human life on earth. We believe that if research continues to show that SPS is environmentally and
economically attractive, SPS will open the door to a much more attractive future for human civilization
than any ground-based energy source, and one that the public will support and that young people will
find challenging and exciting. Furthermore energy from SPS can be readily used in developing countries,
as the SPS 2000 project will show, thus aiding economic development worldwide. In addition, by
creating large commercial fund for space engineering, SPS will open the frontier of space to economic
development, thus creating a limitless new field for the growth of the world economy.
B. The Concept of SPS
C. Humans and SPS
D. Advantages of SPS
B. The research is showing SPS can benefit environment and economy at present.
C. The energy from SPS is now being used in some developing countries.
D. The public don"t know about SPS because little time is devoted to the research.
B. where to get energy sources in the future
C. the importance of controlling world population
D. the need to explore new energy sources
B. Put the cart before the horse
C. One man"s meat is another man"s poison
D. Easier said than done
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