There are a number of special days of the year that are celebrated in dif?ferent countries. The origins of most of the days are unknown. They were certainly not created by individual people. Other days,however,especially those celebrated in western countries, often owe their origins to a particular person. One of the most popular of these,even though it is fairly recent,is Mother's Day. Mothers have always been highly regarded in all cultures. The ancient Romans had a festival known as Hilaria,during which children took presents to the temple of the " Mother of the Gods". The Christian Church adopted this idea and called it Mothering Sunday. However,over the years this custom was gradually forgotten and almost disappeared by the end of the 19th century.

  Born in 1864 in Virginia, USA.Anna Jarvis was a school teacher and believed children should show gratitude to their mothers for all their love and care. Encouraged by a friend, she wrote to thousands of important people—poli?ticians,churchmen, doctors, city officials — and asked them to support her idea: a special day of the year for thanking mothers.

  In 1910 the Governor of West Virginia introduced Mother's Day into the state. The date chosen was May 10th―the second Sunday in May,which is still observed in America today. This date was chosen because May 10th was the date on which in 1908 Anna Jarvis's mother had died. In 1914 President Woodrow Wilson made May 10th the official date for Mother's Day throughout the United States.

  Soon there was a Mother's Day International Association and the custom began to be adopted in many countries of the world.

  Anna Jarvis,a sad and disillusioned woman,died in 1948. The custom she had worked so hard to establish and which had become almost universal had lost its original purpose. It had been taken over by business. As with Christmas, the giving of presents and the sending of cards had become a multi?million-dollar industry.

1.The story is about_________.

   A.Mothering Sunday for Christmas

   B.the origin of a special day for mothers

   C.President Wilson and Anna Jarvis

   D.how people celebrate Mother's Day

2.Hilaria was a festival in_________.

   A.ancient Rome

   B.America

   C.China

   D.the Christian Church

3.Anna Jarvis wanted to        ,

   A.thank her mother for her care

   B.introduce a celebration for mothers

   C.meet thousands of important people

   D.make her pupils visit her on Mother's Day

4.May 10th became the date for Mother's Day because_________.

   A.May is in the American spring

   B.it was the second Sunday in May in 1910

   C.President Wilson liked the date

   D.this was the date which Anna Jarvis's mother died on

5.Unfortunately,Anna Jarvis was not happy with Mother's Day when she died because        .

   A.her mother was not there to see it

   B.she had never been a mother herself

   C.people were too interested in making it a business

   D.no one gave any presents or cards to their mothers

  Would you eat a ready meal from the fridge rather than cook from scratch? Have you been doing Internet shopping rather than going to the stores? What can't you be bothered to do?

  A study into how lazy British people are has found more than half of adults are so lazy that they'd catch the lift rather than climb two flights of stairs.

  Just over 2 ,000 people were quizzed by independent researchers at Nuff?ield Health,Britain's largest health charity. The results were astonishing.

  About one in six people surveyed said if their remote control was broken,they would continue watching the same channel rather than get up.

  More than one third of those questioned said they would not run to catch a bus. Worryingly,of the 654 respondents with children,64% said they were of?ten too tired to play with them.

  This led the report to conclude that it's no wonder that one in six children in the UK is classified as obese (very fat) before they start school.

  Dr Sarah Dauncey, medical director of Nuffield Health, said,"People need to get fitter,not just for their own sake,but for the sake of their families,friends and evidently their pets too."

  "If we don't start to take control of this problem,a whole generation will become too unfit to perform even the most rudimentary of tasks.”

  And Scotland's largest city, Glasgow?was shamed as the most inactive city in the UK,with 75% surveyed admitting they do not get enough exercise* fol?lowed closely by Birmingham and Southampton,both with 67%.

  The results cause serious challenges for the National Health Service,where obesity-related illnesses such as heart disease and cancer have been on a steady increase for the past 40 years and are costing billions of pounds every year.

1.What causes children in the UK to be obese?

    A. Eating a ready meal.   B. Watching TV.

   C. Doing Internet shopping.   D. Being lazy.

2.What can be inferred from the passage?

   A.British people are too lazy to do anything.

   B.Internet shopping will do harm to your health.

   C.Many people would not run to catch a bus in Britain.

   D.People should be more active and take regular exercise to keep fit.

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

   A.One sixth of British people use remote control when watching TV.

   B.People will benefit not only themselves but their families by getting fit.

   C.Fatness can cause diseases such as heart disease and cancer.

   D.More people get obesity-related illnesses now than 40 years ago.

4.What does the underlined word "rudimentary" (in the eighth paragraph) most probably mean?

    A. Basic.   B. Serious.

   C. Vital.   D. Hard.

5.All the following are among the most lazy cities in the UK EXCEPT

    A. Glasgow   B. Birmingham

   C. Nuffield   D. Southampton

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