Keeping a busy social life among lots of friends may keep people thinner than sp
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Keeping a busy social life among lots of friends may keep people thinner than spending hours doing some exercises, according to scientists. They say that socialising and meeting with friends help increase levels of brown fat in the body which burns calories(卡路里)to produce heat.
Living in an exciting social environment was found to reduce fat in mice"s belly by half over four weeks, even if they ate more. US researchers say that social excitement aids weight loss by turning white fat into brown. White fat stores calories and makes us fatter, while brown burns energy to produce heat. Turning white fat into brown is extremely difficult，normally
requiring long- term stay in cold conditions or exciting part of the body"s nervous system.
However, scientists from Ohio State University now think that having a busy social life is an even more effective way of changing white fat into brown. The team came up with their theory by studying the effects of various living environments on mice. Those, who lived alongside a greater number of mice, had more space and toys to excite themselves and then lost far more weight over the course of the study than their “couch potato" fellows.
Study author, Dr Matthew During, whose team"s findings appear in the journal Cell Metabolism, said, "I"m still amazed at the degree of fat loss that occurs." Explaining how new technology had threatened face-to-face socialising, he added, "It"s not just a sedentary(久坐 的)lifestyle and high calorie foods, but an increasing lack of social activities." Co-author Dr Lei Cao said，"Loneliness is a potential factor for cancer and death; it"s equal to cigarette smoking to a certain extent. Social activities are very vital.，，
小题1:What information can we get from the first two paragraphs?| A．Brown fat stores calories and makes us fatter. | | B．It doesn"t take long to turn white fat into brown. | | C．Social excitement helps gain more weight. | | D．Brown fat can burn energy to produce heat. |
小题2:Which of the following statement does the text support?| A．Levels of brown fat can be increased by socialising. | | B．The mice lacking social life lose more weight. | | C．The research findings haven"t been published so far. | | D．Dr Matthew During wasn"t convinced of the result. |
小题3:We can conclude from the text that _______.| A．the fat in mice"s belly was reduced because of the relaxing environment | | B．a sedentary lifestyle and high calories foods influence people"s social life | | C．surfing the Internet may influence people"s face-to-face communication | | D．cancer and death are mainly caused for lack of social life |
小题4:What’s the main idea of the text?| A．Brown fat is beneficial to people"s health. | | B．Socialising is unnecessarily important in people"s daily life. | | C．White fat can be changed into brown fat. | | D．Socialising contributes to people"s losing weight. |
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答案
小题1:D
小题2:A
小题3:C
小题4:D |
解析
小题1:细节题。结合第二段brown burns energy to produce heat.（棕色脂肪可以燃烧卡路里，产生热量）可选出答案。
小题2:细节题。结合第一段socialising and meeting with friends help increase levels of brown fat（社交活动和与朋友聚会帮助提高棕色脂肪）可选出答案。
小题3:推断题。结合Explaining how new technology had threatened face-to-face socialising, he added, "It"s not just a sedentary(久坐 的)lifestyle and high calorie foods, but an increasing lack of social activities（解释新科技如何威胁到面对面的社交活动时，迪兰博士补充说：“这不仅会导致人们更喜欢坐着不动，吃更多高卡路里食品，而且还会使人们越来越疏于社交。”）可选出答案。
小题4:概括大意题。文章主要讲述了“社交的兴奋感有助于减肥。”。 |
举一反三
Many cities in the world are benefiting from the night activities of a group of people who call themselves guerrilla (游击队) gardeners. Armed with trowels, spades and a van full of flowers and plants, guerrilla gardeners turn abandoned urban land into a blaze of color. In city centre locations where there was mud, weeds and empty plastic bottles, residents often wake up to find that the wasted area has been transformed overnight with brightly-colored bedding plants.
In most British cities, local governments and police turn a blind eye to the effort of the gardeners, whose activities are always carried out under cover of nightfall. And so far, there has been nothing but praise from the astonished and delighted local residents when they find their neighborhood transformed in such a striking fashion.
Not only do the guerrilla gardeners beautify neglected places, they also return regularly to water the plants and weed the flower beds. They also make sure that at least some of the plants they bring are evergreens, which means that the area doesn’t look depressing in the winter months.
The first guerrilla gardener in London was Richard Reynolds, whose day job is at an advertising agency. Mr. Reynolds, a graduate of Oxford University, began his efforts two years ago when he moved to a flat in a tower block in South London. From his balcony, he could see several empty concrete pots, placed by the local governments to contain plants but never used. He went out after midnight and filled the pots with plants, and then planted more flowers in the path leading to the entrance to the block.
He then set up a website to explain his plan and called upon more gardeners to join him. Cash donations flooded in and, more importantly, volunteers rushed to be part of the campaign. Within six months, there were five hundred people in London prepared to come out at very short notice to restore neglected parts of the urban landscape. There are now unofficial but carefully-organized groups in many cities in Britain and North America and there is also a website where would-be urban gardeners can find out the location of the next expedition.
小题1:These guerrilla gardeners do their work ______.| A．at the request of the government | | B．nearby their house | | C．often in return for others’ help | | D．out of their own free will |
小题2:Richard Reynolds decided to fill the pots with plants in order to ______.| A．plant more flowers in the path | | B．beautify the neighborhood | | C．attract attention for his ad agency | | D．make the plants a feast for his eyes |
小题3:The guerrilla gardeners often return to their night working places with the purpose of ______.| A．looking after these plants | | B．enjoying these beautiful flowers | | C．helping plants live through winter months | | D．changing the varieties of the plants |
小题4:It can be inferred from the text that these guerrilla gardeners ______.| A．are mainly from the United Kingdom | | B．will later get well paid | | C．are still not accepted by the local government | | D．become more and more organized |
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The concept of solar power satellites, or SPS, first put forward in the 1960s, is still not widely 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.
小题1:Which of the following may be the best title for the passage?| A．The Future Energy－ SPS | B．The Concept of SPS | | C．Humans and SPS | D．Advantages of SPS |
小题2:Which of the following statements about SPS is TRUE?| A．The research on SPS started in the 1960s is still not appreciated by the public. | | 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. |
小题3:Paragraph 3 mainly talks about ______.| A．the present serious energy problems | | B．where to get energy sources in the future | | C．the importance of controlling world population | | D．the need to explore new energy sources |
小题4:The writer’s attitude towards the research can best be summarized by the saying “______”.| A．In time of peace prepare for war | | 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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In 1901，H. G. Wells, an English writer, wrote a book describing a trip to the moon. When the explorers landed on the moon, they discovered that the moon was full of underground cities. They expressed their surprise to the “moon people” they met. In turn, the “moon people” expressed their surprise. “Why,” they asked, “are you traveling to outer space when you don’t even use your inner space?”
H.G. Wells could only imagine travel to the moon. In 1969, human beings really did land on the moon. People today know that there are no underground cities on the moon. However, the question that the “moon people” asked is still an interesting one. A growing number of scientists are seriously thinking about it.
Underground systems are already in place. Many cities have underground car parks. In some cities, such as Tokyo, Seoul and Montreal, there are large underground shopping areas. The “Channel”，a tunnel connecting England and France, is now complete.
But what about underground cities? Japan’s Taisei Corporation is designing a network of underground systems, called “Alice Cities”. The designers imagine using surface space for public parks and using underground space for flats, offices, shopping, and so on. A solar dome would cover the whole city.
Supporters of underground development say that building down rather than building up is a good way to use the earth’s space. The space, they say, can be used for farms, parks, gardens, and wilderness. H.G. Wells “moon people” would agree. Would you?
小题1:The explorers in H.G. Well’s story were surprised to find that the “moon people” .| A．knew so much about the earth | | B．understood their language | | C．lived in so many underground cities | | D．were ahead of them in space technology |
小题2:What sorts of underground system are already here with us?| A．Offices, shopping areas, power stations | | B．Tunnels, car parks, shopping areas | | C．Gardens, car parks, power stations | | D．Tunnels, gardens, offices |
小题3:What would be the best title for the text?| A．Alice Cities—cities of the future | | B．Space travel with H.G. Wells | | C．Enjoy living underground | | D．Building down, not up |
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Animals can move from place to place, but plants cannot. When an animal is under attack, it can run away or fight back. Plants certainly cannot run away, and they lack teeth and claws. But plants can defend (保护) themselves by using both physical and chemical means.
Some plants have their own ways to keep animals away. For example, the leaves of the holly plant have sharp spines (刺) that discourage grass-eating animals. Holly leaves on lower branches have more spines than leaves on upper branches. This is because the lower leaves are easier for most animals to reach.
Some plants, such as the oak tree, have thick and hard leaves that are difficult for animals to eat. Some grasses may contain a sandy material; eating such grasses wears down the animal"s teeth.
Many plants also have chemical defenses. Some plants produce chemicals that taste bitter or cause an unpleasant reaction. Some plants may fight against an attack by increasing the production of these chemicals. When a caterpillar (毛虫) bites a tobacco leaf, the leaf produces a chemical messenger. This messenger sends to the roots the information to produce more nicotine. The higher levels of nicotine discourage the caterpillar.
Many plants depend on both physical and chemical defenses. A certain plant in China, for instance, has prickly (多刺的) leaves, and each prickle contains poisonous venom (毒液) A single experience with this kind of plant will teach an animal to stay away from it in the future.
小题1:To defend themselves, oak trees use________.| A．chemical means | B．physical means | | C．bitter chemicals | D．sandy materials |
小题2:How does tobacco protect itself against an attack from a caterpillar?| A．Its leaves fight against the attack by physical means. | | B．Its roots send a messenger to discourage the caterpillar. | | C．Its roots increase the production of nicotine when it is attacked. | | D．Its leaves produce poisonous sand to drive the caterpillar away. |
小题3:What would be the best title for this passage?| A．Plants and Animals | | B．How Plants Defend Themselves | | C．Attacks and Defenses | | D．How Animals Eat Plant Leaves |
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Why should mankind explore space? Why should money, time and effort be spent exploring and researching something with so few obvious benefits? Why should resources be spent on space rather than on conditions and people on Earth? These are questions that, understandably, are very often asked.
Perhaps the best answer lies in our genetic makeup (基因构成) as human beings. What drove our ancestors to move from the trees into the plains, and on into all possible areas and environments? The wider the spread of a species, the better its chance of survival. Perhaps the best reason for exploring space is this genetic tendency to expand wherever possible.
Nearly every successful civilization(文明) has explored, because by doing so, any dangers in surrounding areas can be identified and prepared for. Without knowledge, we may be completely destroyed by the danger. With knowledge, we can lessen its effects.
Exploration also allows minerals and other potential (潜在的) resources to be found. Even if we have no immediate need of them, they will perhaps be useful later. Resources may be more than physical possessions(物质财产). Knowledge or techniques have been gained through exploration. The techniques may have medical applications which can improve the length or quality of our lives. We have already benefited from other spin-offs including improvements in earthquake prediction, in satellites for weather forecasting and in communications systems. Even non-stick pans and mirrored sunglasses are by-products (副产品) of technological developments in the space industry!
While many resources are spent on what seems a small return, the exploration of space allows creative, brave and intelligent members of our species to focus on what may serve to save us. While space may hold many wonders and explanations of how the universe was formed or how it works, it also holds dangers. The danger exists, but knowledge can help human being to survive. Without the ability to reach out across space, the chance to save ourselves might not exist.
While Earth is the only planet known to support life, surely the adaptive(适应的) ability of humans would allow us to live on other planets. It is true that the lifestyle would be different, but human life and cultures have adapted in the past and surely could in the future.
小题1:Why does the author mention the questions in Paragraph1?| A．To express his doubts. | | B．To compare different ideas. | | C．To introduce points for discussion. | | D．To describe the conditions on Earth. |
小题2:What is the reason for exploring space based on Paragraph2?| A．Humans are nature-born to do so. | | B．Humans have the tendency to fight. | | C．Humans may find new sources of food. | | D．Humans don"t like to stay in the same place. |
小题3:The underlined word "spin-offs" in Paragraph 4 probably refers to______.| A．survival chances | B．potential resources | | C．unexpected benefits | D．physical possessions |
小题4:What makes it possible for humans to live on other planets?| A．Our genetic makeup. | B．Resources on the earth. | | C．The adaptive ability of humans. | D．By-products in space exploration. |
小题5:What does the writer want to tell us in the passage?| A．Space exploration has created many wonders. | | B．Space exploration provided the best value for money. | | C．Space exploration can benefit science and technology. | | D．The Exploration may help us avoid potential problems on Earth. |
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