The World Health Organization says the widespread use of sugar in food products and drinks is a major concern in many areas. So WHO officials are calling on governments to require taxes on sugary drinks in an effort to limit their usage and popularity. The officials believe the taxes also would reduce the risk of health problems resulting from obesity.

Obesity is a condition in which the body stores large, unhealthy amounts of fat. Obese individuals are considered overweight. A new report says that in 2014 more than one-third of the adults in the world were overweight, and 500 million were considered obese. The United Nations agency estimates that in 2015, 42 million children under age 5 were either overweight or obese. It says that number represents an increase of about 11 million during the past 15 years. Almost half of these boys and girls live in Asia and one-fourth in Africa.

The U.N. agency blames unhealthy diets for a rise in diabetes cases. There are 422 million cases of the disease worldwide. WHO says 1.5 million people die from it every year. It says the use of sugar in food products, like sugary drinks, is a major reason for the increase in rates of obesity and diabetes.

Temo Waqanivalu is with the agency’s Department for the Prevention on Non-Communicable Diseases. He told VOA hat taxing sugary drinks would reduce consumption and save lives. Waganivalu noted that Mexico enacted a 10 percent tax on sugary drinks in 2014. He said by the end of the year, there was a 6 percent drop in the consumption of such drinks. Among poor people, the number of people who consumed sugary drinks dropped by 17 percent.

The WHO says people should limit the amount of sugar they consume. It says they should keep their sugar intake to below 10 percent of their total energy needs, and reduce it to less than 5 percent for improved health.

1.Why are taxes on sugary drinks required?

A. To limit their use and popularity.

B. To readjust the economic structure.

C. To warn people to change their life style.

D. To ensure the market’s diverse development.

2.What do the figures in the second paragraph suggest?

A. Adult obesity is ignored at present.

B. Obesity is a severe worldwide problem.

C. Obesity can block economic development.

D. Obesity is most serious in developed countries.

3.What does the underlined word “enacted” mean in the passage?

A. Abolish B. Pass

C. Promise D. Reduce

4.What does the example of Mexico prove?

A. Tax policies are unfair to the poor.

B. Sugary drinks are a threat to health.

C. The poor consume more sugary drinks.

D. Taxing sugary drinks makes a difference.

A newly?trained teacher named Mary went to teach at a Navajo Indian Reservation.Every day,she would ask five of the young Navajo students to______the chalkboard and complete a simple math problem from______homework.

They would stand there,silently,______to complete the task.Mary couldn’t______.Nothing she had studied in her educational curriculum helped,and she______hadn’t seen anything like it in her student?teaching days back in Phoenix.

What am I doing wrong?Could I have chosen five students______can’t do the problem?Mary would wonder.No,______couldn’t be that.Finally she_____the students what was wrong.And in their answers,she learned a_24__lesson from her young______pupils about self?image and a(n)______of self?worth.

______seemed that the students respected each other’s individuality and knew that______of them were capable of doing the problems.______at their early age,they understood the senselessness of the win?lose approach in the classroom.They believed no one would______if any students were shown up or embarrassed at the______.So they______to compete with each other in public.

Once she understood,Mary changed the system______she could check each child’s math problem individually,but not at any child’s expense______his classmates.They all wanted to learn,______not at someone else’s expense.

1.A. go to B. come to C. get close to D. bring

2.A. his B. their C. his own D. her

3.A. happy B. willingly C. readily D. unwilling

4.A. work it out B. figure it out C. figure out it D. figure it

5.A. almost B. certainly C. hardly D. never

6.A. which B. what C. who D. whom

7.A. they B. it C. everything D. each

8.A. asked B. questioned C. told D. understood

9.A. outstanding B. surprising C. annoying D. frightening

10.A. sunburned B. tender C. Indian D. naughty

11.A. sense B. image C. way D. aspect

12.A. When B. What C. It D. There

13.A. none B. no one C. each D. not all

14.A. Especially B. Even though C. Even so D. Even

15.A. lose B. win C. achieve D. answer

16.A. time B. situation C. desk D. condition

17.A. refused B. rejected C. tried D. promised

18.A. if B. so that C. unless D. in case

19.A. in favour of B. instead of C. by means of D. in front of

20.A. and B. but C. so D. or

Americans drove more miles in 2015 than any year since the U.S. government started keeping records 45 years ago. The U.S. Department of Transportation (USDT) recently reported that Americans drove a record of 3.148 trillion miles last year. In case you are wondering, that is enough to take 337 round trips from Earth to Pluto.

There are a number of reasons why Americans are driving more miles. The social experts agree that the first is the price of gas, which has dropped to the level of the year 2004 in the past year. The American Automobile Association (AAA) said that the average price of gas was just $1.71 a gallon. That could be the lowest price since 2004.

P.J. Sriraj, a director of the Urban Transportation Center at the University of Chicago, notes that the lower cost to fill up a car is just one reason. Another reason is that more Americans are back to work after the 2008 economic recession, and they drive to their jobs.

Besides, more Americans have to travel a long distance every day between home and the office. There are a lot of Americans who must travel more than 45 miles per day for their jobs. And as for many, there is not enough public transportation.

Because of the heavy traffic, roads are becoming more and more crowded. While modern cars are more fuel-efficient, the improvement is not enough to offset more cars on the road. “There is no doubt that driving more will make the air dirtier,” said P.J. Sriraj. And many Americans showed a great concern in a recent survey.

1.The USDT report shows that in 2015 ________.

A. Americans drove record-breaking miles

B. Americans drove 3.148 trillion miles a day

C. Travel to Pluto was popular with Americans

D. The government began to record driving miles

2.P.J. Sriraj thinks the reason why Americans drove more miles is ________.

A. the low prices of gas and cars B. the 2008 economic depression

C. the Urban Transportation Center D. more people’s coming back to work

3.What makes many Americans worried?

A. Having to drive far to work. B. Having no public transportation.

C. Too many cars’ pollution of the air. D. Small improvement of modern cars.

4.How is the whole passage developed?

A. By explaining causes. B. By giving examples.

C. By following time order. D. By making comparison.

Many thousands of Chinese are studying at schools in the United States. And writer Liel Leibovitz says the students are following an example that began in the eighteen seventies.

Mr. Leibovitz and writer Matthew Miller joined forces to tell the story of the students in their book, “Fortunate Sons.” The book says China sent one hundred and twenty boys from 1872 to 1875 to America to learn about developments that could help modernize their country.

Mr. Leibovitz got the idea for the book about the boys a few years ago when he was traveling with his wife in China.

Mr. Leibovitz learned that Qing government sent a whole delegation (代表团) of boys to learn the ways of the West. The goal was for them to return to China and help their country.

The book says the boys received their American training in Massachusetts, New York, New Jersey and Connecticut. It must have been a very good education. Mr. Leibovitz says the first prime minister of the Chinese Republic completed this program. And so did the first engineer to build a large-scale railroad without foreign help. The same was true of the fathers of Chinese education, diplomacy and the Navy.

The book-writers had only to open some boxes containing the writings of these men to learn about them. Their notebooks, Journals, letters and postcards were in English. Mr. Leibovitz said he was lucky to have so much information from events that took place long ago.

The students returned to China after about nine years. They no longer spoke Mandarin (国语) well enough to answer questions. Police welcomed them home by putting them in jail. The young men were released after about a week. But they were given low-level jobs.

Mr Leibovitz says it took about ten years for them to rise to higher positions. He said their story continues today with large numbers of Chinese studying in the United States.

1.How many exchange children did Qing government send to America?

A. 1872. B. 1875.

C. 120. D. 210.

2.Qing government sent the boys to America because it .

A. wanted them to help their country

B. lost the war

C. expected them to destroy the culture of the West

D. wanted the Western to help the boys

3.Which of the following is NOT true according to the passage?

A. Many thousands of Chinese are studying at schools in America.

B. Some of the boys received their American training in California.

C. Police welcomed the boys home by putting them in jail.

D. One of the boys became the father of Chinese education.

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