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Walk down the drinks section at the supermarket.Look in the drink cooler in your local convenience store.A new drink is taking up more and more space on the shelves,and that drink is water.Bottled water sales in the US rose to 1.7 billion gallons in 2010 for plastic bottles alone,compared to total sales of only 700 million gallons in 1990. Whereas bottled water was once associated only with the rich and the privileged (特权阶层),it is now regularly drunk by people at all income levels despite the fact that the price of bottled water can be between 240 and 10,000 times higher per gallon than tap water.What accounts for this surprising increase in demand?

Traditionally,people have drunk bottled water for health reasons.The practice of “taking the waters” originated with the Romans,who believed that a person developed a healthy mind by building a healthy body.Across Europe,drinking or bathing in mineral water has been associated with the power to cure various diseases.Health spas at Evian in France and Pellegrino in Italy began bottling water so that their consumers could continue their treatments at home.The consumers in the 21st century are also concerned about health.However,in America,where the habit of drinking bottled water is relatively new,the concern is often more related to the purity or sterilization (消毒) of the water than to its mineral contents.Americans are often worried about the effects of the chemical pollution and other contaminants on the water supply.Many Americans view bottled water as a safe alternative to tap water.

Further reasons for drinking bottled water are its usefulness as an aid to digestion,as a complement to a good meal in a restaurant,and for taste.City tap water is often treated with chlorine (氯) to guard against harmful micro?organisms.Chlorine,as well as metals from pipes and tanks used to distribute and store tap water,can leave behind an unpleasant taste.

1.Which of the following statements is true?

A.Bottled water was once drunk both by the rich and the poor.

B.Bottled water sales have risen,for it’s cheaper than tap water.

C.Europeans believed in the power of treatment of mineral water.

D.Americans have had the habit of drinking bottled water for long.

2.People prefer bottled water because________.

A.it does good to their health

B.it has chlorine to make it taste good

C.it contains no mineral pollution at all

D.it’s a practice originated with the Romans

3.The underlined word “contaminants” most probably means________.

A.pollutants B.micro?organisms

C.chemicals D.minerals

4.Which of the following could be the best title for the passage?

A.How Bottled Water Originated

B.“Taking the Waters” Has Been Practiced for Long

C.What’s the Safe Alternative to Tap Water

D.Why Bottled Water Sales Increase

The common cold is the world’s most widespread illness,which is probably why there are more myths about it than any of the other illnesses.

The most widespread mistake of all is that colds are caused by cold. They are not. They are caused by viruses passing on from person to person. You catch a cold by coming into contact, directly or indirectly, with someone who already has one. If cold causes colds, it would be reasonable to expect the Eskimos to suffer from them forever. But they do not. And in distant and isolated Arctic regions explorers have reposed being free from colds until coming into contact again with infected(感染的) people from the outside world by way of packages and mail dropped from airplanes.

At the Common Cold Research Unit in England, volunteers took part in experiments in which they gave themselves to the discomforts of being cold and wet for long periods of time.After taking hot baths,they put on bathing suits, allowed themselves to be doused(浸入) with cold water, and then stood about dripping wet in drafty(通风的) room. Some wore wet socks all day while others exercised in the rain until close to complete tiredness. Not one of the volunteers came down with a cold unless a cold virus was actually dropped in his nose.

If,then,cold and wet have nothing to do with catching colds, why are they more frequent in the winter? Despite the most pains—taking research, no one has yet found the answer. One explanation offered by scientists is that people are more likely to stay together indoors in cold weather than at other times, and this makes it easier for cold viruses to be passed on.

No one has yet found a cure for the cold. There are drugs and pain suppressors(止痛片) such as aspirin,but all they do is to relieve the symptoms.

1.The fact that the Eskimos don’t suffer colds shows that ________.

A. colds are really full of myths

B. viruses are the factors causing colds

C. colds are more serious than other illnesses

D. the idea that cold leads to colds doesn’t stand up

2.The experiments mentioned in Paragraph 3 made it clear that ________.

A. it was viruses not wet and cold that made people have colds

B. taking hot baths made the volunteers easy to be tired

C. being doused with cold water did harm to one’s body

D. people who would like to exercise in the rain got colds more easily

3.According to the passage, colds are commonly seen in winter because ________.

A. staying together indoors makes it easier for viruses to pass on

B. viruses can go into people’s warm bodies more easily in winter

C. there is great difference between indoor and outdoor temperature

D. People are usually weak because of the extreme cold in winter

4.The passage mainly discusses ________.

A. the experiments on colds

B. the myths about colds

C. the reason and the way people catch colds

D. the continued spread of common colds

“Ceci, wake up. It’s an earthquake!” That’s what Cecilia Wallace heard her mother shouting on the early morning of February 27th.

Cecilia is a 7th-grader. She, her parents and her brother, Sam, were in Chile’s capital city, Santiago, the day a big earthquake hit Chile. And like just about everyone else, they were shaken out of their sleep.

“It was so frightening,” Sam wrote. “The shaking was so huge that I will never go on a ride again.” Cecilia and Sam wrote about their earthquake experiences. Their reports were later posted on the website.

Cecilia, Sam and their parents were staying in an apartment on the 15th floor of a building. They were lucky. Their building stayed standing, because it was built to withstand earthquakes.

Not everyone was as lucky as the Wallace family. More than 800 people died. Many older buildings fell down during the earthquake.

The damage in Santiago wasn’t as bad as in other parts of Chile. So the supermarkets were open for business on the morning of the quake. But it wasn’t business as usual. “The supermarkets have been crazy with people rushing to buy their food for the next while,” Sam wrote.

Not everyone was able to get money to buy food that morning. So Cecilia and Sam made food bags to distribute to people who were begging outside the supermarket. “We gave some to a kid of my age. I made sure he got cookies and bread.” Sam and Cecilia’s mother wrote that the kids also collected money for the Red Cross.

It’s certainly an experience Cecilia, Sam and their parents will never forget. Thankfully, they lived to tell their stories.

1.What was Cecilia doing when the earthquake happened?

A.Walking in the street.

B.Having class at school.

C.Sleeping in bed.

D.Playing with Sam in a park.

2.The underlined word “distribute” probably means “_____”.

A.give outB.throw awayC.give upD.sell out

3.Why were Cecilia and her family able to survive the earthquake?

A.Because they escaped before their building fell down.

B.Because they managed to escape from the fallen building.

C.Because they were helped out of the fallen building by others.

D.Because the building they were living in was strong enough.

4.From the text we can see Cecilia is a _____ girl.

A.humorousB.kind-heartedC.braveD.selfish

5.How can we know more about Cecilia’s experiences in the earthquake?

A.By watching TV.

B.By getting online.

C.By listening to the radio.

D.By reading newspapers.

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