B

Roller coasters are fast and exciting. But passing a painful kidney (肾) stones is not. The process is painful and can take a long time. But American researchers have found that a roller coaster ride just might help those suffering from a kidney stone. They say such rides help patients pass the stones with a 70 percent success rate.

David Wartinger led the study. He found that where the person sits on the roller coaster can make a big difference. He said, “In the pilot study, sitting in the last car of the roller coaster showed about a 64 percent passage rate. Sitting in the first few cars only had a 16 percent success rate.”

It also mattered where the stones were located in the kidney. The researchers found that stones located in the upper part of the kidney model were passed 100 percent.

When it comes to passing kidney stones, not all roller coasters are equal. The researchers used 174 kidney stones of differing shapes, sizes and weights to see if each model worked on the same ride and on two other roller coasters. They found that Big Thunder Mountain was the only one that worked. The other two roller coasters both failed the test. Wartinger said the other rides were too fast and too violent. The movement forced the stones against the side of the kidney. He said that the ideal roller coaster is rough and quick with some twists and turns.

Wartinger thinks roller coaster rides could also be used as a preventative measure. He said that a yearly ride on a roller coaster could even prevent stones from developing. “You need to heed the warnings before going on a roller coaster,” he said. “If you have a kidney stone, but are otherwise healthy and meet the requirements of the ride, patients should try it.”

He adds that it’s definitely a lower cost alternative to other treatments. And riding a roller coaster is definitely more fun!

1.According to the text, passing kidney stone is ______.

A. fast B. exciting C. interesting D. painful

2.Which of the following benefits people with a kidney stone most?

A. Sitting in the first car of a roller coaster.

B. Sitting in the middle car of a roller coaster.

C. Sitting in big roller coasters with doctors’ care.

D. Sitting in rough and fast roller coasters with twists and turns.

3. What’s Wartinger’s attitude to riding roller coasters for people having a kidney stone?

A. Worried. B. Negative. C. Supportive. D. Skeptical.

4. What would be the best title for the text?

A. Some treatments of kidney stones

B. Advantages of riding roller coasters

C. Roller coasters can help pass kidney stones

D. Kidney stones can be cured by riding roller coasters

Getting rid of dirt, in the opinion of most people, is a good thing. However, there is nothing fixed about attitudes to dirt.

In the early 16th century, people thought that dirt on the skin was a means to block out disease, as medical opinion had it that washing off dirt with hot water could open up the skin and let ills in. A particular danger was thought to lie in public baths. By 1538, the French king had closed the bath houses in his kingdom. So did the king of England in 1546. Thus began a long time when the rich and the poor in Europe lived with dirt in a friendly way. Henry IV, King of France, was famously dirty. Upon learning that a nobleman had taken a bath, the king ordered that, to avoid the attack of disease, the nobleman should not go out.

Though the belief in the merit of dirt was long-lived, dirt has no longer been regarded as a nice neighbor ever since the 18th century. Scientifically speaking, cleaning away dirt is good to health. Clean water supply and hand washing are practical means of preventing disease. Yet, it seems that standards of cleanliness have moved beyond science since World War II. Advertisements repeatedly sell the idea; clothes need to be whiter than white, cloths ever softer, surfaces to shine. Has the hate for dirt, however, gone too far?

Attitudes to dirt still differ hugely nowadays. Many first-time parents nervously try to warn their children off touching dirt, which might be responsible for the spread of disease. On the contrary, Mary Ruebush, an American immunologist (免疫学家), encourages children to play in the dirt to build up a strong immune system. And the latter position is gaining some ground.

1.The kings of France and England in the 16th century closed bath houses because .

A. they lived healthily in a dirty environment

B. they believed disease could be spread in public baths

C. they thought bath houses were to dirty to stay in

D. they considered bathing as the cause of skin disease

2.Which of the following best describes Henry IV’s attitude to bathing?

A. Approving B. Afraid

C. Curious D. Uninterested

3.How does the passage mainly develop?

A. By providing examples

B. By making comparisons

C. By following the order of importance

D. By following the order of time

4.What is the author’s purpose in writing the passage?

A. To stress the role of dirt

B. To present the change of views on dirt

C. To introduce the history of dirt

D. To call attention to the danger of dirt

Dear Amy,

My in-laws are all the products of failed marriages, so there are blood relatives and step relatives to deal with on both sides of the aisle.

For years, my in-laws have told my children that my wife’s stepmother’s grandchildren are their cousins.

This alone is not true, since these kids are only involved in our lives due to marriage. I just keep talking to my kids and explaining to them the way the family tree works and that these kids are not their cousins.

At one point, my oldest son got mad and told one of these kids that he was not his real cousin, and then my in-laws confronted my son about what he said. They were apparently upset about it.

Amy, I am not going to create a world that does not exist. They are stuck on taking in these kids that have zero actual blood relation to them at all.

I stand my ground on this, and my wife just thinks that I am being an ass. Your thoughts?

Disturbed Dad

Disturbed Dad,

Before you spend the rest of your life carefully studying a family tree at every potluck dinner, remember that “family” isn’t some exclusive club that you get to join by having two or more of the same biological relatives.

People in highly functioning and inclusive families will tell you that all you have to do to be a part of any family is to be considered part of the family. This means being included, regardless of your biological status, and reveling in relationships that are auntlike, grandparent-like or cousinlike. It is wise to explain truthfully all of these many and varied relationships to your children, but to use loaded terms like “real family” only underlines your emotional ignorance about relationships.

Your in-laws are doing a wonderful thing accepting these children, so put down the genealogy chart and apologize. After all, if we follow your logic, then your in-laws shouldn’t be accepting you as family either; you aren’t related to them by blood, so you aren’t their “real family.”

The good news is, if you continue to treat your wife’s family this way, you won’t have to worry about keeping the blood relatives and the step-relatives in this family straight — given your lack of good manners, these family members might disregard you in favor of someone who is more open, accepting and inclusive.

Amy

1.The Disturbed Dad’s in-laws were upset because _______.

A. they all had failed marriages B. they knew of the Dad’s thoughts

C. one of the grandsons got mad D. some kids had no blood relation

2.What’s Amy’s attitude towards the Disturbed Dad’s opinion?

A. Objective. B. Negative.

C. Doubtful. D. Cautious.

3.Amy may agree that _______.

A. the Dad shouldn’t be narrow-minded about the family tree

B. it’s necessary to consider biological relationships in a family

C. the Dad shouldn’t be accepted as family by their in-laws

D. it’s good news for the family members to disregard the Dad

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