When we say older people shrink, we don’t mean they become tiny enough to fit in your pocket! We just mean that it’s common for older people to become a little shorter over time. This kind of shrinking can’t be reversed, although people can slow or stop this process. But why does shrinking happen at all?
Because of gravity (that force that keeps your feet on the ground) , cushions between the bones in the spine (脊骨), get compressed (压缩), which makes a person lose a little height and become shorter.
Another reason why some older people shrink is because of osteoporosis (骨质疏松). Osteoporosis occurs when bone is broken down and not enough new bone material is made. Over time, bone is said to be lost because it’s not being replaced. Bones become smaller and weaker and can easily break if someone with osteoporosis is injured.
Older people — especially women, who generally have smaller and lighter bones to begin with — are more likely to develop osteoporosis. As years go by, a person with osteoporosis can get small breaks in bones that are called compression fractures. These breaks cause collapse of the spine and over time the person with osteoporosis can become hunched over (驼背).
Did you know that every day you shrink a little, too? You aren’t as tall at the end of the day as you are at the beginning. That’s because as the day goes on, water in the disks of the spine gets compressed due to gravity, making you just a tiny bit shorter. Don’t worry, though. Once you get a good night’s rest, your body recovers, and the next morning, you’re standing tall again!
Smoking and drinking alcohol can make this problem worse. Want to do something right now to build strong bones? I believe what I say will help you.
【小题1】Which of the following statements is true?

Bestsellers for last week
A Special Relationship
This novel is about a woman whose entire life is turned upside down in a very foreign place despite the fact that people there speak her language. Sally Good child is a 37-year-old American who, after nearly two decades as a highly independent journalist, finds herself pregnant and in London. She married an English foreign correspondent, Tony Thompson, whom she met while they were both on assignment in Cairo. From the beginning, Sally’s relationship with both Tony and London is an uneasy one: She finds her husband and his city to be far more foreign than imagined. But her adjustment problems soon turn into a nightmare(噩梦). She discovers that everything can be taken down and used against you, especially by a spouse (配偶) who now considers you an unfit mother and wants to prevent you from ever seeing your child again.
Born in 1955, Douglas Kennedy is the bestselling author of romances such as “The Big Picture”. He is also the author of several praised travel books.
White Hot
Sayre Lynch decided never to return to her hometown Destiny, after she changed her last name and finally escaped from the influence of her controlling father, Huff Hoyle, who owns the iron foundry that the town is built around.
But when Danny, her younger brother, is found dead with a shotgun in his mouth, Sayre unwillingly goes back for his funeral and is annoyed when her father’s handsome lawyer, Beck Merchant, tries to please her.
When the young officer investigating(调查) the case notes that some of the evidence points to murder rather than suicide(自杀), Sayre finds herself unable to leave Destiny. She’s annoyed by Beck’s constant presence, and she is not sure if he’s trying to help or throw her off the trail. Nor does she trust her father or her older brother, Chris, who is as prime suspect in Danny’s murder.
As she tries to figure out how the handsome, charming Beck fits into the picture, she finds herself deeply attracted to him.]
Sandra Brown is the author of 51 New York Times top-five bestsellers. She began her writing career in 1981 and has since published 65 novels.
【小题1】From the brief introduction of “A Special Relationship” we can imagine _____.

Culture means any human behavior that is learned in human society. All of the meaningful parts of a culture are passed on to different generations through tradition or social learning. From this view point, all human groups have a culture. Culture exists in agricultural as well as industrialized societies.
Culture is necessary for the survival and existence of human beings as human beings. Practically everything humans know, think, value, feel, and do is learned through taking part in a socio-cultural system. This statement is well supported by some well-written cases. Here is one of the cases of children growing up apart from human society. In the province of Kidnaper in India, the director of a children’s home was told by local villagers that there were “ghost（鬼）” in the forest. Upon looking into the case, the director found that two children, one about eight years old and the other about six years old, appeared to have been living with a pack of wolves in the forest. These children were the ghosts described by the local people. In his diary, the director describes his first view of Kamala(as the older child was named) and Amala(the name given to the younger child).
Kamala was a terrible-looking being—the head, a big ball of something covering the shoulders. Close at its heels there came another terrible creature exactly like the first, but smaller in size. Their eyes were very bright and sharp, unlike human eyes. They were very fond of raw meat and raw milk. Gradually, as they got stronger, they began going on all fours, and afterwards began to run on all fours like squirrels. Children learn human language in the same way they learn other kinds of human behavior by taking part in a cultural community. They learn a certain human language as well as certain kinds of human behavior through their membership in a certain cultural community.
1. From the passage we can learn that               .
A. human beings can develop human abilities only if they are raised by their biological parents
B. Amala and Kamala were raised in forest by ghosts
C. human beings will not grow up human unless they are raised by human beings in human culture
D. culture refers only to the high art and classical music of a particular society
2. Who were the “ghosts” of the Kidnapper forest seen by the local villagers?
A. They were two children Amala and Kamala, who ran on fours.
B. They were two squirrels, Amala and Kamala, who ran on fours.
C. They were two young wolves, Amala and Kamala, whose eyes were bright and sharp.
D. They were two children, Amala and Kamala, who were growing up in a children’s home.
3. How would you understand the description by the director “they began going on all fours,” in his
diary?
A. They began to continue with all their four eyes.
B. They started walking with their four feet.
C. They began going with their four hands.
D. They started walking with both their hands and feet.
4. Which of the following do you think is the best title to this passage?
A. Wolf-children                                   B. Culture and Human Behavior
C. Culture and Language Learning              D. A director’s Diary

TOKYO, Japan (AP) – Japan is very serious about robotics (机器人技术). If the droids are going to fit in, they probably need to learn the Japanese custom of serving tea. Fortunately, researchers at the University of Tokyo are exploring just that. In a show this week, a humanoid（有人特点的）with camera eyes made by Kawada Industries Inc. poured tea from a bottle into a cup. Then another robot on wheels delivered the cup of tea in an experimental room that has sensors embedded in the floor and sofa as well as cameras on the ceiling, to simulate（模仿）life with robot technology.
“A human being may be faster, but you’d have to say ‘Thank you,’” said University of Tokyo professor Tomomasa Sato. “That’s the best part about a robot. You don’t have to feel bad about asking it to do things.”
Sato believes Japan, a rapidly aging society where more than a fifth of the population is 65 or older, will lead the world in designing robots to care for the elderly, sick and bedridden（卧床不起的）.
Already, monitoring technologies, such as sensors that automatically turn on lights when people enter a room, are becoming widespread in Japan.
The walking, child–size Asimo from Honda Motor Co. greets people at showrooms. NEC Corp. has developed a smaller companion robot–on –wheels called Papero. A seal robot available since 2004 can entertain the elderly and others in need of fuzzy companionship.
Sato says his experimental room is raising awareness about privacy questions that may arise when electronic devices（设备）monitor a person’s movements down to the smallest detail.
On the bright side, the tea – pouring humanoid has been programmed to do the dishes.
【小题1】The underlined word “embedded” in the first paragraph probably means       .

A man who knows how to write a personal letter has a very powerful tool.A letter can be enjoyed,read and 21 .  It can set up a warm conversation between two people far apart(远离的)；it can keep a 22  with very little effort.
I will give 23 .  A few years ago my older brother and I were not getting 24  We had been close as 25  but had grown apart. Our meetings were not 26 ; our conversation was filled with arguments and quarrels; and every effort to clear the air seemed to only 27  our misunderstanding. Then he 28  a small island in the Caribbean and we 29  touch .One day he wrote me a letter. He describeb his island and its people, told me what he was doing,said how he felt,and encouraged me to 30  . Rereading the letter, I was 31  by its humor(幽默)and clever expressions,These were all qualities for which I had 32  respected my order brother but 33  he no longer had them.I had never known he could write so 34  .And with that one letter we became friends 35.
It might never have occurred to 36  to write me if he had not been in a place where there were no 37  ,For him, writing was a necessity, It also turned out to be the best way for us to get back in touch.Because we live in an age of 38 communication(通讯),people often 39  that they don’t always have to phone or email. They have a 40  . And that is to write.
21. A.received    B.rewritten  C.returned      D.reread
22.A.record      B.promise   C.friendship     D.secret
23.A.an example  B.a lesson   C.an experience  D.a talk
24.A. through     B.together  C.along         D.away
25.A.brothers     B.children   C.fellows       D.classmates
26.A.normal     B.necessary   C.pleasant     D.possible
27.A.deepen     B.start        C.express     D.settle
28.A.toured      B.stopped over  C.reached    D.moved to
29.A.lost        B.kept in       C.needed     D.got in
30.A.think       B.write        C.enjoy       D.read
31.A.driven      B.beaten      C.surprised     D.honored
32.A.never      B.seldom      C.sometimes    D.once
33.A.realized    B.judged      C.thought      D.expected
34.A.well       B.often        C.much        D.soon
35.A.later      B.anyhow      C.too          D.again 
36.A.us        B.anyone else   C.someone     D.my  brother
37.A.mail services  B.transport   C.phones     D.relatives
38.A.poor      B.easy         C.popular      D.busy
39A.believe    B.decide        C.argue       D. forget
40.A.habit     B.choice       C.method      D. plan