题目内容

Long-time exposure to air pollution can lead to physical changes in the brain and cause trouble in learning and memory, and even anxiety. This is suggested by the results of new research on mice.

While other studies have shown the harmful effects of polluted air in the lungs and heart, this is the first to show the negative effect on the brain.

The team of Laura Fonken, Randy Nelson, from the Ohio State University, USA, has spread to the brain a previous line of research which found that fine particulate (微粒) matter floating in the air mainly because of air pollution caused by humans, causes swelling in much of the body, and may be related to high blood pressure problems, and some other diseases.

In the research Fonken and his colleagues exposed mice to polluted air for six hours each day, five days a week, over a period of 10 months, almost half the average life length of mice.

Polluted air contains fine particles created by cars, factories and natural dust. Fine particles of this kind are tiny, about 2.5 micrometers in diameter, or about one-thirtieth the width of a human hair. These particles can go deep into lungs and other organs.

The concentration of this particulate material to which they exposed mice is equal to the concentration at which people can be exposed in some polluted urban areas.

After a period of 10 months, the researchers got the animals to have a series of behavioral tests. Both the behavior of mice and the results of neurological(神经的) tests done to them show that those within the polluted air had more problems in learning and memory, and higher levels of anxiety.

The results suggest that long-time exposure to polluted air can have measurable negative effects on the human brain and can cause a variety of mental health problems. This could have important consequences for those living and working in polluted urban areas.

1.The results of new research on mice first suggest that polluted air mainly does harm to ________.

A. normal organsB. lungs and heart

C. mental healthD. blood pressure

2.The bad effects of tiny particles in polluted air are those except ________.

A. high blood pressure problems

B. making human hair thinner

C. different kinds of diseases

D. swelling in much of the body

3.From the last sentence we can infer that people living in polluted urban areas ________.

A. are likely to suffer from mental problems

B. can measure the negative effect on them

C. show little concern for air pollution

D. can be exposed to polluted air longer

4.Which of the following is the best title for the passage?

A. Long-time Exposure to Air Pollution

B. Evidence and Concern of Air Pollution

C. Measurable Effect on Human Brain

D. Mental Problems Caused by Air Pollution

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Renaissance is a French word. It means “rebirth”. It’s a strange name for a period of history. What was exactly “ reborn” during the Renaissance?

To answer this question, we need to look back at the time of the Roman Empire. At this time Roman artists, scientists and writers influenced by Greek ideas were the world’s most advanced. They had become skilled observers of the natural world around them, and had become experts in studying animals, plants, the human body or the stars and planets. They wrote down their ideas about what they saw, and based their theories about the world on their observations.

During the fourth and fifth centuries the Roman Empire slowly broke down. Many of the Romans’ art and sculptures were destroyed and some manuscripts(原稿)were lost as well. But most importantly, some of the ancient attitudes were lost. A questioning approach to the world was replaced by an unquestioning one.

Why did this happen? One reason was to do with the influence of the Christian Church. Through the thousand years following the fall of the Roman Empire, the Church controlled many aspects of life including education and learning. The Church ran all the universities and thought that the aim of a university should be to teach old ideas more clearly, not to introduce new ones. The scholars in the universities were expected to study God and heaven from the Bible and ancient books, rather than the world around them.

Take medicine for example. The main textbook for doctors had been written by a Greek doctor called Galen more than a thousand years earlier. But when Roger Bacon, a thirteenth-century priest(牧师), said that a new approach to medicine was needed --- doctors should do their own original research instead of reading writers from the past such as Galen-the Church put him in prison.

By the time of the fourteenth century, however, some parts of the Christian Church were becoming less strict about their ideas and there was a new state of mind among artists, doctors and scientist. People wanted to find out more about the world by studying it. This attitude of investigation had been common in classical scholars, and it was ‘reborn’ during the Renaissance.

1.We know from the text that scientists at the time of the Roman Empire believed in_______.

A. their companions’ observations

B. what they saw with their own eyes

C. what they learned from the Greeks

D. the most advanced theories at that time

2.We can infer that students in the Church controlled universities might_________.

A. have good memories

B. change their beliefs

C. be lacking in creativity

D. be interested in astronomy

3.Roger Bacon was put in prison because he_________.

A. gave up being a priest

B. showed no respect for Galen

C. did some research secretly

D. challenged the Church

4.The text probably comes from a book about_________.

A. medicine B. education C. religion D. history

Women who own cats are more likely to have mental health problems and kill themselves because they can be infected by a common parasite(寄生虫) that can be caught from cat litter(猫砂), a study has found.

Researchers found women infected with the Toxoplasma gondii (T. gondii) parasite(刚地弓形虫), which is spread through contact with cat waste or eating undercooked meat or unwashed vegetables, are at increased risk of attempting suicide.

The study involved more than 45,000 women in Denmark. About a third of the world's population is infected with the parasite, which hides in cells in the brain and muscles, often without producing symptoms.

The infection, which is called toxoplasmosis(弓形虫病), has been linked to mental illness, such as schizophrenia(精神分裂症), and changes in behavior.

The study's senior author Doctor Teodor Postolache, an associate professor of psychiatry(精神病学) at the University of Maryland School of Medicine in the United States, said, "We can't say with certainty that T. gondii caused the women to try to kill themselves, but we did find a predictive association between the infection and suicide attempts later in life that deserves additional studies."

Doctor Albert Reece, vice president of medical affairs at the University of Maryland, said, "T. gondii infection is a major public health problem around the world, and many people don't realize they're infected. "

Dr Postolache is a leading expert on suicide neuroimmunology(神经免疫学). Suicide is a critically important mental health issue. About one million people commit suicide and another 10 million attempt suicide worldwide each year. We hope that this type of research will one day help us find ways to save many lives that now end too early in suicide."

Dr. Postolache's research team at the University of Maryland was the first to report a connection between T. gondii and suicidal behavior in 2009. He is cooperating with researchers in Denmark, Germany and Sweden to confirm and investigate the way leading to this association.

The T. gondii parasite thrives in the intestines(肠) of cats, and it is spread through their waste. All warm-blooded animals can become infected through contact with it. Humans can become infected by changing their infected cats' litter boxes, eating unwashed vegetables, drinking water from a polluted source, or by eating undercooked or raw meat.

Not washing kitchen knives after preparing raw meat before handling another food item also can lead to infection. Pregnant women can pass the parasite directly to their unborn babies and are advised not to change cat litter boxes to avoid possible infection.

Babies don't produce antibodies to T. gondii for three months after they are born, so the antibodies present in their blood represented infection in the mothers. The scientists studied Danish health patients to determine if any of these women later attempted suicide, including cases of violent suicide attempts which may have involved guns, sharp instruments and jumping from high places.

The study found that women infected with T. gondii were one and a half times more likely to attempt suicide compared to those who were not infected, and the risk seemed to rise with increasing levels of the T. gondii antibodies.

Dr Postolache noted limitations to the study, such as the inability to determine the cause of the suicidal behavior.

The findings were published online in the Archives of General Psychiatry.

1.The common way which is less likely to be infected with the disease is ________.

A. to eat unwashed meat or undercooked vegetables

B. to clean a place where a cat once lived for a time

C. to pass the infection to her unborn baby during a woman's pregnancy

D. to reuse kitchen tools which have been used to cut raw meat

2.What is the consequence if a woman is infected with the parasite in the passage?

A. Having a high fever.

B. Doing deliberate self-harm.

C. Keeping a depressed mood.

D. Becoming bad tempered.

3.What can be inferred from the passage?

A. Women have a higher risk to be infected by the parasite than men.

B. The result of the research may help the scientists to find ways to stop suicide in advance.

C. The scientists will continue their research into the possible connection.

D. The risk of being infected seems to rise with the decreasing levels of the antibodies.

4.Which of the following statements would probably be the best title of the passage?

A. Why are women more likely to commit suicide?

B. Women should keep away from cats

C. Ways found to deal with women's mental problems

D. Are women who own cats at a suicide risk?

People of Burlington are being disturbed by the sound of bells. Four students from Burlington College of Higher Education are in the bell tower of the ________ and have made up their minds to ________ the bells nonstop for two weeks as a protest(抗议) against heavy trucks which run ________ through the narrow High Street.

"They not only make it ________ to sleep at night, but they are ________ damage to our houses and shops of historical interest." said John Norris, one of the protesters.

"If we must have these noisy trucks on the roads," said Jean Lacey, a biology student, "Why don't they build a new road that goes ________ the town? Burlington isn't much more than a ________ village. Its streets were never ________ for heavy traffic." Harry Fields also studying ________ said they wanted to make as much ________ as possible to force the ________ to realize what everybody was having to ________. "Most of them don't ________ here anyway," he said, "they come in for meetings, and the Town Hall is sound proof(隔音) so they probably don't ________ the noise all that much. It's high time they realized the ________."

The fourth student, Liza Vernum, said she thought the public were ________ on their side, and even if they weren't they soon would be.

I asked if they were ________ that the police might come to ________ them. "Not really," she said, "actually we are ________ bell-ringers. I mean we are assistant bell-ringers for the church. There is no ________ against practising."

I left the church with the sound of the bells ringing in my ears.

1.A. collegeB. villageC. townD. church

2.A. changeB. repairC. ringD. shake

3.A. now and thenB. day and nightC. up and downD. over and over

4.A. terribleB. difficult

C. uncomfortableD. unpleasant

5.A. doingB. raisingC. puttingD. producing

6.A. toB. throughC. overD. round

7.A. prettyB. quietC. largeD. modern

8.A. testedB. meantC. keptD. used

9.A. wellB. hardC. biologyD. education

10.A. effortB. timeC. troubleD. noise

11.A. townspeopleB. other students

C. government officialsD. truck drivers

12.A. standB. acceptC. knowD. share

13.A. shopB. liveC. comeD. study

14.A. noticeB. mentionC. fearD. control

15.A. eventB. lossC. actionD. problem

16.A. hardlyB. unwillinglyC. mostlyD. usually

17.A. surprisedB. afraidC. pleasedD. determined

18.A. seizeB. fightC. searchD. stop

19.A. properB. experiencedC. hopefulD. serious

20.A. pointB. causeC. needD. law

For teenagers, it's great fun to explore new places and it feels like an adventure, even when you know you're not the first to have been there. But to make sure not to get lost or waste time going round in circles, the following tips may be helpful.

◆Do the map reading if you're being driven somewhere. It'll be easier if you keep the map following the direction you are traveling in. Keep looking ahead so that you can give the driver lots of warning before having to make a turn, or you'll have to move to the back seat.

◆Get a group of friends together and go exploring. You'll need a good map, a compass, a raincoat, a cell phone to call for help in case you get lost, and a bit of spare cash for emergencies. Tell someone where you're going before you set out and let them know what time you expect to be back. The purpose of the activity is in not getting lost, not in seeing how fast you can go, so always stick together, waiting for slower friends to catch up.

◆See if your school or a club organizes orienteering(越野识途比赛) activities, in which you need a map and a compass to find your way. This can be done as a sport, with teams trying to find the way from A to B(and B to C, etc. ) in the fastest time, or simply as a spare-time activity. It enables you to be familiar with the use of maps and compass and gain some special skills. In some way, it’s not only good fun, but also a great way to keep fit.

1.When you sit beside the driver, you’d better ________.

A.look ahead to see where there is a gas station

B.move to the back seat if feeling uncomfortable

C.keep looking at the map to find another place to go to

D.direct the driver when necessary

2.In the exploration, why do you need to wait for the slower friends?

A.To share the fun with him/her in exploration.

B.To tell him/her what’s going on with group members.

C.To avoid yourself or your friends getting lost.

D.To show them how fast you can go.

3.What does the whole passage talk about?

A.The fun of exploration.

B.What to bring for exploration.

C.How to prevent people getting lost in exploration.

D.The way to use a map in exploration.

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