Remember those big, colorful books with large pictures of balls or apples when you were a little kid? Those have proven to be helpful, according to a number of studies. Between 1 and 5 years old, introducing books to Children can help greatly because this is usually the age when intellectual (智力的) capabilities form.
At age 1 to 5, a child can decide whether he wants to learn or wants to be a good learner. The road to learning starts here. Their curiosity (好奇) and imagination are fed with the many pictures, sounds and colors in the books.
Children normally began school at 5 years old. But today, they go to school when they are as young as one and a half years old. This is because many parents have recognized that influencing the child's formative years (性格形成时期) is very important. The fight influence can make the child want to read in the future.
Parents should play a part in encouraging children to read. Even just reading them bedtime stories can help children feel the joy and amazement connected to reading. This can help them become better readers and better learners as they grow older.
If children are interested in reading books rather than watching television, they can improve many skills besides reading and learning. Books can act as stepping stones to intelligence. However, parents must be very careful not to overpower their children. If they force children to read books that are too hard to understand, they might think reading is boring and lose interest in it.
【小题1】. This passage mainly ­­­______.

What’s your dream vacation? Watching wildlife in Kenya? Boating down the Amazon? Sunbathing in Malaysia? New chances are opening up all the time to explore the world. So we visit travel agents, compare packages and prices, and pay our money.

    We know what our vacation costs us. But do we know what it might cost someone else? It’s true that many poorer countries now depend on tourism for foreign income. Unfortunately, though, tourism often harms the local people more than it helps them.

    It might cost their homes and lands. In Myanmar, 5,200 people were forced to leave their homes among the pagodas（佛塔）in Bagan so that tourists could visit the pagodas.

    Tourism might also cost the local people their livelihood and dignity. Local workers often find only menial（卑微的）jobs in the tourist industry. And most of the profits do not help the local economy. Instead, profits return to the tour operators in wealthier countries. When the Maasai people in Tanzania were driven from their lands, some moved to city slums. Others now make a little money selling souvenirs or posing for photos.

    Problems like these were observed more than 20 years ago. But now some non-government organizations, tour operators and local governments are working together to begin correcting them. Tourists, too, are putting on the pressure.

    The result is responsible tourism, or“ethical tourism.”Ethical tourism has people at its heart. New international agreements and codes of conduct can help protect the people’s lands, homes, economies and cultures. The beginnings are small, though, and the problems are complex.

    But take heart. The good news is that everyone, including us, can play a part to help the local people in the places we visit. Tour operators and companies can help by making sure that local people work in good conditions and earn reasonable wages.

    They can make it a point to use only locally owned hotels, restaurants and guide services. They can share profits fairly to help the local economy. And they can involve the local people in planning and managing tourism.

    What can tourists do? First, we can ask tour companies to provide information about the conditions of local citizens. We can then make our choices and tell them why. And while we’re abroad, we can:

    ★Buy local foods and products, not imported ones.

★Pay a fair price for goods and services and not bargain for the cheapest price.

★Avoid flaunting(炫耀) wealth.

★Ask before taking photographs of people. They are not just part of the landscape! Let’s enjoy our vacation and make sure others do, too.

1..

．What is probably the best title for the article?

A．Tourism Causes Bad Effects       B．Tourism Calls for Good Behavior

C．Vacations Bring a Lot of Fun     D．Vacations Cost More Than You Think

2..

The underlined phrase“take heart”means“      ”.

    A．pay attention  B．take care      C．cheer up       D．calm down

3..

According to the passage, the writer thinks      .

    A．tourism is not a promising industry.

    B．dream vacations should be spent abroad

    C．the problems caused by tourism are easy to settle.

    D．tourists should respect local customs and culture

C

Researchers have just offered evidence in a study that says obesity appears to spread through social ties, much like a virus. When one person gains weight, their close friends often follow. But the findings might also offer hope.

If friends help make obesity acceptable, then they might also be influential in losing the fat. The researchers note that support groups are already an effective tool in dealing with other socially influenced problems, like alcoholism.

The findings appeared in the New England Journal of Medicine. The researchers used information collected from? 12 000 people. It was collected between 1971 and 2003 as part of the Framingham Heart Study.

The information was highly detailed. There was even contact information for close friends of the people in the study.

The researchers examined more than 40 000 social ties. They found that a person’s chances of becoming severely overweight increased by 57% if a friend had become obese.

A sister or brother of a person who became obese had a 40% increased chance of becoming obese. The risk for a wife or husband was a little less than that.

Nicholas Christakis of Harvard Medical School was a lead investigator in the study. He says there is a direct causal relationship between a person getting fat and being followed in weight gain by a friend.

The study found that the sex of the friends was also an influence. In same—sex friendships, a person had a 71% increased risk of becoming obese. Men had a 44% increased risk of becoming obese after weight gain in a brother. In sisters, it was 67%.

The researchers also considered the effect of where people lived in  relation to each other. James Fowler of the University of California,San Diego, was the other lead investigator. He says a friend who lives a few hundred kilometers away has as much influence as one in the same neighborhood. He says the study demonstrates the need to consider that a major part of people’s health is tied to their social connections.

Both investigators say their research shows that obesity is not just a private medical issue, but a public health problem.

59.What does the underlined sentence in Para. 2 mean?

A.Obesity has a negative influence on a close friend.

B.Friends might also play a part in losing weight.

C.One might have a positive influence on one’s friend.

D.Friends usually don’t follow each other to lose weight.

60.Who is mostly likely to gain weight?

A.A man who has a fat brother.        B.A husband who has a fat wife.

C.A wife who has a fat husband.        D.A woman who a fat female friend.

61.Which of the following statements doesn’t the passage agree with?

A.You are sure to lose weight if you have a skinny friend.

B.If one gains weight, one’s friends are likely to get fat.

C.A person’s health is closely linked with his/her social relationship.

D.Even if the friend lives far away, the influence still remains.

62.The reason why the study involves both family members and friends is that_______

A.researchers fail to find a more different sample

B.researchers have different ideas for family members and friends

C.researchers can meet these people regularly

D.researchers can compare the results

III. 阅读理解

阅读下列短文，从每题所给的A、B、C、D选项中，选出最佳选项。

I’ve written 14 movies. My characters smoke in many of them, and they look cool and glamorous doing it. Smoking was an integral（必需的） part of many of my screenplays because I was a heavy smoker. It was part of a bad-boy image I’d cultivated for a long time— smoking, drinking, partying, rock ’n’ roll.

Smoking, I once believed, was every person’s right. The second-hand smoke was non-existent problem invented by professional do-gooders. I put all these views into my plays.

Remembering all this, I find it hard to forgive myself. I have been an accomplice (帮凶) to the murders of untold numbers of human beings. I am admitting this only because I have made a deal with God. Spare me, I said, and I will try to stop others from committing the same crimes I did.

Eighteen months ago I was diagnosed with throat cancer, the result of a lifetime of smoking. I am alive but disabled. Much of my larynx (喉) is gone. I have some difficulty speaking; others have some difficulty understanding me.

I haven’t smoked or drunk for 18 months now, though I still take it day by day and pray for help. I believe in prayer and exercise. I have walked five miles a day for a year, without missing even one day. Quitting smoking and drinking has taught me the hardest lesson I’ve ever learned about my own weakness; it has also given me the greatest affection and empathy(同感) for those still addicted.

I don’t think smoking is every person’s right anymore. I think smoking should be as illegal as heroin. I’m no longer such a bad boy. I go to church on Sunday. I’m desperate to see my four boys grow up. I want to do everything I can to undo the damage I have done with my own big-screen words and images.

Screen writers know, too, that some movie stars are more likely to play a part if they can smoke —because they are so addicted to smoking that they have difficulty stopping even during the shooting of a scene.

My hands are bloody; so are Hollywood’s. My cancer has caused me to attempt to cleanse me. I don’t wish my fate upon anyone in Hollywood, but I beg that Hollywood should stop putting it upon millions of others.

1. The main idea of this passage probably is _________.

A. the writer is ashamed of the bad effects his screenplays have had on human beings

B. the writer’s smoking experience nearly killed himself

C. the bad effects that Hollywood screenplay have brought to children

D. the determination of the writer to overcome his illness

2. How do you think the writer has realized his mistake?

A. So many people have found the habit of smoking due to his plays.

B. His plays have brought great harm to teenagers.

C. He himself suffered greatly from smoking.

D. His screenplays have been doing more and more harm to human beings.

3. What is the writer determined to do in future?

A. He has made up his mind to give up smoking forever.

B. He will try his best to prevent others from writing screen plays encouraging smoking.

C. He will try his best to bring up his four children.

D. He has decided to write his screenplays without smoking scenes.

4. It can be inferred from the passage that _______.

A. the writer will soon be recovered from his illness thanks to his exercise

B. the writer will soon die because of his deadly disease

C. smoking will be got rid of in all Hollywood films

D. smoking in Hollywood films is still doing great harm to human beings

Anyone for rocket salad?        The Chinese are now growing huge vegetables from seeds they sent into space.

If you’re the type who worries about the air miles traveled by fruits and vegetables,  these beauties aren’t for you. It’s because they have traveled a little further than most.

The seeds from which they grew were fired into space, where they orbited the earth for two weeks. Once they returned they were grown in hothouses, producing the monster kinds seen here.

China, which is behind these space fruits and vegetables, says they could be the answer to the world’s food crisis.

The 21-pound tomatoes, nine-inch chilies, 15-stone pumpkins and large watermelons growing at the Guangdong Academy of Agricultural Sciences’ hothouses can feed many more than their smaller cousins, and may have more nutrients, the scientists say.

Researcher Lo Zhigang said, “Traditional agricultural development has taken us as far as we can go and demand for food from a growing population is endless. Space seeds offer the opportunity to grow fruits and vegetables bigger and faster.”

He admitted he and his colleagues could not explain why time in orbit caused the seeds to change genetic structure. But they guessed exposure to the cosmic(宇宙的) radiation that attacked the spacecraft in orbit, as well as the near zero gravity conditions, microgravity, could play a part.

“We don’t think there’s any threat to human health because the genes themselves do not change; just their order changes,” he said. “With genetically-modified(GM) crops you have seen environmental problems because they have added genes that can damage other organisms. But with space seeds they don’t gain genes; they can only lose them.”

He also claimed the Vitamin C content in some space vegetables was nearly three times higher than in common vegetables, while levels of zinc are also increased.

Western scientists are doubtful. NASA researchers who have experimented with seeds in space say there is not enough benefit to show the cost is reasonable.

72. What do the underlined words “these beauties” in paragraph 2 probably refer to?

         A. Beautiful views along the air routes.           B. Traveling experiences in space.

         C. Seeds fired into space.                                     D. Giant vegetables.

73. We can infer from Lo’s words in paragraph 6 that       .

         A. our conventional agriculture has developed too slowly

         B. we are asking too much from nature

         C. space seeds may help meet our demand for food

         D. we’ll grow crops in space in the future

74. Why the seeds changed their genetic structure      .

         A. remains to be proved                                      

    B. is discovered by Lo Zhigang

         C. has something to do with die conditions in hothouses

         D. is due to the radiation that attacked them directly

75. Comparing Gm crops and space crops, we can see that      .

         A. space crops grow faster                                 

    B. space crops are more environmentally friendly

         C. GM crops are less a threat to human health  

    D. GM crops have fewer nutrients