Looking back on my childhood. I am convinced that naturalists are born and not made. Although we were brought up in the same way, my brothers and sisters soon abandoned their pressed flowers and insects. Unlike them, I had no ear for music and languages. I was not an early reader and I could not do mental maths.     

Before World War I we spent our summer holidays in Hungary. I have only the dim memory of the house we lived in, of my room and my toys. Nor do I recall clearly the large family of grandparents, aunts, uncles and cousins who gathered next door. But I do have a crystal clear memory of dogs, the farm animals, the local birds and above all, the insects.  

I am a naturalist, not a scientist. I have a strong love of the natural world, and my enthusiasm has led me into varied investigations. I love discussing my favorite topics and enjoy burning the midnight oil reading about other people’s observations and discoveries. Then something happens that brings these observations together in my conscious mind. Suddenly you fancy you see the answer to the riddle. Because it all seems to fit together .This has resulted in my publishing 300 papers and books. Which some may light honor, with the title of scientific research.  

But curiosity, a keen eye, a good memory and enjoyment of the animal and plant world do not make a scientist? One of the outstanding and essential qualities required is self-discipline, a quality I lack. A scientist can be made a naturalist. If you can combine the two, you get the best of both worlds. 

1.According to the author, a born naturalist should first of all be _____           

A. full of ambition               B. self-disciplined

C. full of enthusiasm           D. knowledgeable 

2.The first paragraph tells us that the author _____

A. lost his hearing when he was a child

B. didn’t like his brothers and sisters

C. was interested in flowers and insects in his childhood

D. was born to a naturalist’s family

3.The author says that he is a naturalist rather than a scientist probably because he thinks he __    

A. just reads about other people observations and discoveries.

B. Lacks some of the qualities required of scientist.

C. Has a great deal of trouble doing mental arithmetic.

D. Come up with solutions in most natural ways.

4.The author can’t remember him relatives clearly because__

A. He didn’t live very long with them

B. He was too young when he lived with them.

C. The family was extremely large.

D. He was fully occupied with observing nature.

5.Which of the following statements is true?

A. The author believes that a born naturalist cannot be scientist. 

B. The author read a lot of books about the natural world and oil industry

C. The author’s brothers and sisters were good at music and languages.

D. The author spent a lot of time working on riddles.

 

Many facts suggest that children are overweight and the situation is getting worse, according to the doctors. I feel there are a number of reasons for this.

Some people blame the fact that we are surrounded by shops selling unhealthy, fatty foods, such as fried chicken and ice cream, at low prices. This has turned out a whole generation of grown-ups who seldom cook a meal for themselves. If there were fewer of these restaurants, then probably children would buy less take-away food.

There is another argument that blames parents for allowing their children to become overweight. I agree with this, because good eating habits begin early in life, long before children start to visit fast food shops. If children are given fried chicken and chocolate rather than healthy food, or are always allowed to choose what they eat, they will go for sweet and salty foods every time, and this will carry on throughout their lives.

There is a third reason for this situation. Children these days take very little exercise. They do not walk to school. When they get home, they sit in front of the television or their computers and play computer games. Not only is this an unhealthy pastime, it also gives them time to eat more unhealthy food. What they need is to go outside and play active games or sports.

The above are the main reasons for this problem, and therefore we have to encourage young people to be more active, as well as steer them away from fast food shops and bad eating habits.

1.According to the text, what kind of children may eat more unhealthy food?

A.Those who often take exercise.

B.Those who often watch television.

C.Those who often have meals at home.

D.Those who often walk to school.

2.The author thinks that children are becoming overweight because

A.their parents often cook meals for them

B.they are too busy to go out and play

C.they can' t choose what to eat

D.there are too many fast food shops around

3.The word "steer" underlined in the last sentence most probably means _______.

A.force             B.guide             C.expect            D.observe

4.The main purpose of the text is to _________.

A.tell a story                             B.provide facts

C.give advice                            D.compare opinions

 

Two American scientists told the people in industrial nations that they would be much healthier if they ate more of the same kind of foods eaten by humans living more than 10,000 years ago. 

The scientists say that the human body has changed very little since human first appeared on earth, but the way we live has changed greatly. Our body has not been able to deal with these changes in life style and this has led to new kinds of sicknesses. These new sicknesses were not known in ancient times. So they are called “diseases of civilization”. Many cancers and diseases of the blood system, including heart attacks and strokes(中风) are examples of such diseases. 

Scientists noted that early stone-age people used very little alcohol or tobacco, probably none. Ancient people also got a great deal of physical exercise, but a change in food is one of the main differences between life in ancient times and life today. 

Stone-age people hunted wild animals for their meat, which had much less fat than farm animals. They also ate a lot of fresh wild vegetables, and fruits. They did not use milk and other dairy products, and they made very little use of grains. But today, we eat a large amount of dairy products and grain foods. We eat six times more salt than stone-age people. We eat more sugar. We eat twice as much fat but only one third as much protein and much less vitamin C. 

People today probably do not want to live as people thousands of years ago did, but scientists say that we would be much healthier if we ate as those ancient people did, cutting the amount of fatty, salty and sweet foods. 

1.The people in industrial nations would be much healthier if they ate ______. 

A.more foods as humans living 10,000 years ago did

B.as humans living 10,000 years ago ate

C.more kinds of food eaten by people living over 10,000 years ago

D.more of the same kinds of foods eaten by people over 10,000 years ago

2.New kinds of sicknesses have been found because ______

A.the human body has changed compared with human first appearing on earth

B.the way we live has changed a little

C.our body can’t deal with the changes in life style

D.the way we live today are improper for the human body

3.What is the main cause mentioned in the article why people suffer from a lot of new sicknesses?

A.Ancient people did a great deal of physical exercise.

B.People today have a lot of alcohol.

C.People today have more tobacco.

D.Food is quite different between life today and life in ancient times.

 

Many facts suggest that children are overweight and the situation is getting worse, according to the doctors. I feel there are a number of reasons for this.

    Some people blame the fact that we are surrounded by shops selling unhealthy, fatty foods, such as fried chicken and ice cream, at low prices. This has turned out a whole generation of grown-ups who seldom cook a meal for themselves. If there were fewer of these restaurants, then probably children would buy less take-away food.

There is another argument that blames parents for allowing their children to become overweight. I agree with this, because good eating habits begin early in life, long before children start to visit fast food shops. If children are given fried chicken and chocolate rather than healthy food, or are always allowed to choose what they eat, they will go for sweet and salty foods every time, and this will carry on throughout their lives.

There is a third reason for this situation. Children these days take very little exercise. They do not walk to school. When they get home, they sit in front of the television or their computers and play computer games. Not only is this an unhealthy pastime(???), it also gives them time to eat more unhealthy food. What they need is to go outside and play active games or sports.

The above are the main reasons for this problem, and therefore we have to encourage young people to be more active, as well as steering them away from fast food shops and bad eating habits.

1.According to the text, what kind of children may eat more unhealthy food?

A. Those who often do sports.

B. Those who often watch television.

C. Those who often have meals at home.

D. Those who often walk to school.

2.The author thinks that children are becoming overweight because ______.

A. they can't choose what to eat

B. they are too busy to go out and play

C. their parents often cook meals for them

D. there are too many fast food shops around

3.The word "steering" underlined in the last sentence most probably means ______.

A. forcing

B. guiding

C. driving

D. moving

4.The main purpose of the text is to ______.

A. tell a story

B. provide facts

C. give advice

D. compare opinions

 

If you look for a book as a present for a child, you will be spoiled for choice even in a year when there is no new Harry Potter. J.K. Rowling’s wizard is not alone: the past decade has been a harvest for good children’s books, which has set off a large quantity of films and in turn led to increased sales of classics such as The Lord of the Rings.

Yet despite that, reading is increasingly unpopular among children. According to statistics, in 1997 23% said they didn’t like reading at all. In 2003, 35% did. And around 6% of children leave primary school each year unable to read properly.

Maybe the decline is caused by the increasing availability(可利用性)of computer games. Maybe the books boom(繁荣)has affected only the top of the educational pile. Either way, Chancellor Gordon Brown plans to change things for the bottom of the class. In his pre-budget(预算) report, he announced the national project of Reading Recovery to help the children struggling most.

Reading Recovery is aimed at six-year-olds, who receive four months of individual daily half- hour classes with a specially trained teacher. An evaluation earlier this year reported that children on the scheme made 20 months’ progress in just one year, whereas similarly weak readers without special help made just five months’ progress, and so ended the year even further below the level expected for their age.

International research tends to find that when British children leave primary school they read well, but read less – often for fun than those elsewhere. Reading for fun matters because children who are keen on(热衷) reading can expect lifelong pleasure and loving books is an excellent indicator(指示物)of future educational success. According to the OECD, being a regular and enthusiastic reader is of great advantage.

1.Which of the following is true of Paragraph 1?

A. Many children’s books have been adapted from films.

B. Many high-quality children’s books have been published.

C. The sales of classics have led to the popularity of films.

D. The sales of presents for children have increased.

2.Statistics suggested that ___.

A. the number of top students increased with the use of computers.

B. a decreasing number of children showed interest in reading.

C. a minority of primary school children read properly.

D. a large percentage of children read regularly.

3.What do we know about Reading Recovery?

A. An education of it will be made sometime this year.

B. Weak readers on the project were the most hardworking.

C. It aims to train special teachers to help children with reading.

D. Children on the project showed noticeable progress in reading.

4.Reading for fun is important because book-loving children ____.

A. takes greater advantage of the project.

B. shows the potential to enjoy a long life.

C. is likely to succeed in their education.

D. would make excellent future researchers.

5.The aim of this text would probably be ____.

A.to overcome primary school pupils’ reading difficulty.

B.to encourage the publication of more children’s books.

C.to remind children of the importance of reading for fun.

D.to introduce a way to improve early childhood reading.

 

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