A recent study offers a picture of how dangerous it is to get a lift from a teenage driver. Indeed, a 16-year-old driver with three or more passengers is three times as likely to have a fatal accident as a teenager driving alone. However, the possibility of death for drivers between 30 and 59 decreases with each additional passenger.

It was also found that the death rates for teenage drivers increased greatly after10 p.m , and especially after midnight. With passengers in the car, the driver was even more likely to die in a late night accident.

Robert Foss, a scientist at the University of North Carolina Highway Safety Research Center, says the higher death rates for teenage drivers have less to do with "really stupid behavior" than with just a lack of driving experience. Both he and the author of the study believe that the way to help solve the problem is to have states setting up so-called graduated licensing systems (等级执照制). A graduated license requires that a teenager first prove himself able to drive in the presence of an adult, fol­lowed by a period of driving with a limited number of passengers, before graduating to full driving on his own. About half of the states now have some sort of graduated licensing system in place. The systems have reduced teenage driver crashes, according to recent studies.

1．Which of the following situations is most dangerous according to the passage?

    A．Adults giving a lift to teenagers on the highway after 10 p.m.

    B．A teenager driving after midnight with passengers in the car.

    C．Adults driving with three or more teenage passengers late at night.

    D．A teenager getting a lift from a stranger on the highway at midnight.

2．According to Robert Foss, the high death rate of teenage drivers is mainly due to _______.

    A．their frequent driving at night             B．their improper way of driving

    C．their lack of driving experience           D．their driving with passengers

3．A suggested measure to be taken to reduce teenagers' driving accidents is that ________.

    A．driving in the presence of an adult should be made a rule .

    B．they should be stopped from taking on passengers

    C．they should not be allowed to drive after 10 p. m.

    D．the licensing system should be improved

4．The present situation in about half of the states is that the graduated licensing sys­tem

_________.

    A．is under discussion                 B．is about to be set up

       C．has been put into effect             D．has been perfected

Is there anything more important than health? I don’t think so. “Health is the greatest wealth(财富),” wise people say. You can’t be good at your studies or work well when you are ill.

If you have a headache, toothache, backache, earache or bad pain in the stomach, if you complain of a bad cough, if you run a high temperature and have a bad cold, or if you suffer from high or low blood pressure, I think you should go to the doctor.

The doctor will examine your throat, feel your pulse, test your blood pressure, take your temperature, sound your heart and lungs, test your eyes, check your teeth or have your chest X-rayed. After that he will advise some treatment, or some medicine. The only thing you have to do is to follow his advice.

Speaking about doctor’s advice, I can’t help telling you a funny story.

An old gentleman came to see the doctor. The man was very ill. He told the doctor about his weakness, memory loss and serious problems with his heart and lungs. The doctor examined him and said there was no medicine for his disease.

He told his patient to go to a quiet place for a month and have a good rest. He also advised him to eat a lot of meat, drink two glasses of red wine every day and take long walks. In other words, the doctor advised him to follow the rule: “Eat at pleasure, drink with measure and enjoy life as it is.” The doctor also said that if the man wanted to be well again, he shouldn’t smoke more than one cigarette a day.

A month later the gentleman came into the doctor’s office. He looked cheerful and happy. He thanked the doctor and said that he had never felt a healthier man.

“But you know, doctor,” he said, “it’s not easy to begin smoking at my age.”

The writer thinks that________.

A. health is more important than wealth    

B. work is as important as studies

C. medicine is more important than pleasure 

D. nothing is more important than money

The doctor usually tells his patient what to do ______ .

A. without examining the patient

B. after he has examined the patient

C. if the patient doesn’t take medicine           

D. unless the patient feels pain

The underlined part means “_____ ”.

he was feeling better than ever    B.  he wasn’t a healthy man

C. he was feeling worse than before   D. he will be well again

From the last sentence of the passage, we learn the man_____before the doctor told him not to smoke more than one cigarette a day.

       A. was a heavy smoker         B.  didn’t smoke so much

       C. didn’t smoke               D. began to learn to smoke

Which of the following is NOT true?

       A. The doctor usually tests his/her blood pressure when a person is ill.

       B.  The man told the doctor he couldn’t remember things.

       C. The man thanked the doctor.

       D. The man didn’t follow the doctor’s advice.

CARDIFF, Wales Poets, singers and musicians from across the globe gathered in Wales to celebrate the tradition(传统) of storytelling.

“It might seem strange that people still want to listen in age of watching television, but this is an unusual art form whose time has come again,” said David Ambrose, director of Beyond the Border, an international storytelling festival(节) in Wales.

“Some of the tales, like those the Inuit from Canada, are thousands years old. So our storytellers have come from distant lands to connect us with the distance of time,” he said early this month.

Two Inuit women, both in their mid 60s, are among the few remaining who can do Kntadjait, or throat singing, which has few words and much sound. Their art is governed by the cold of their surroundings, forcing them to say little but listen attentively.

Ambrose started the festival in 1993, after several years of working with those reviving (coming back into use or existence) storytelling in Wales.

“It came out of a group of people who wanted to reconnect with traditions. and as all the Welsh are storytellers, it was in good hands here.” Ambrose said.

Ambrose believes that the art of storytelling _______.

A. will be more popular than TV

B. will be popular again

C. started in Wales

D. are in the hands of some old people

From the tales told by the Inuit, people can learn _______.

A. about their life as early as thousands of years ago

B. why they tell the stories in a throat-singing way

C. how cold it has been where the Inuit live

D. how difficult it is to understand the Inuit

According to the writer, which of the following is NOT true?

A. Storytelling once stopped in Wales.

B. Storytelling has a long history in Wales.

C. Storytelling is always well received in Wales.

D. Storytelling did not come back until 1993 in Wales.

The underlined phrase in good hands means _______.

A. controlled by rich people         B. grasped by good storytellers

C. taken good care of                   D. protected by kind people

Sorry to say,our brains naturally start slowing down at the Cruelty young age of 30.It used to be thought that this couldn’t be helped,but new studies show that people of any age can train their brains to work faster.“Your brain is a learning machine,”saying University of California scientist Dr. Michael Merzenich.Given the right tools,we can train our brains to act like they did when we were younger.All that’s required is the practice designed just for the purpose:a few exercises for the mind.

Merzenich has developed a computer-based training method to speed up the process(过程) in which the brain deals with information (positscience.com).Since much of the data we receive comes through speech,the Brain Fitness Program works with language and hearing to better speed and accuracy(准确性).

Over the course of training,the program starts asking you to distinguish(辨别) sounds (between“dog”and“bog”,for example) at an increasingly faster speed.It’s a bit like tennis instructor,says Merzenich,hitting balls at you—faster and faster to keep you challenged(受到挑战).You may start out slow,but before long you’re pretty quick.

The biggest finding in brain research in the last ten years is that the brain at any age is highly plastic.If you ask your brain to learn,it will learn.And it may even speed up while in the process.

To keep your brain young and plastic you can do one of a million new activities that challenge and excite you:playing table tennis or bridge,doing crossword puzzles,learning a language...“When it comes to preventing ageing,you really do ‘use it or lose it’,”says Barbara Sahakian,professor at Cambridge University.

Dr.Merzenich’s training method mainly depends on ______.

A.speech training

B.computer languages

C.the activities one joins in

D.the information being dealt with

By saying “the brain at any age is highly plastic”,the writer probably means the brain can be ______.

A.used                                                            B.mastered

C.developed                                                     D.researched

What can we learn from the text?

A.Practice makes a quick mind.

B.Brain research started ten years ago.

C.Dr. Merzenich is a scientist in computer.

D.People believed nothing could stop the brain slowing down.

Which of the following agrees with the writer’s idea?

A.The training methods work better for the old.

B.People should use the brain to stop it from ageing.

C.The training of the brain should start at an early age.

D.It’s necessary to take part in as many activities as possible.

While traveling abroad, Mr. Jackson Frank ran short of money. So he wrote to his brother, asking for $500. “Send the money by telegram,” he wrote, “to the Fisher Bank in P...”?After a week he began calling at the Fisher Bank. He showed his passport. “ Nothing has come for you,” he was told. This went on for two weeks and Mr. Frank got very worried. He sent a telegram to his brother， but there was no reply. In the fourth week Mr. Frank was arrested for failing to pay his hotel bill. His passport was taken from him. He tried to explain the problem, but no one believed him. He was sent to prison for six days.?

When he came out, he went immediately to the Fisher bank. The clerk he spoke to was a new man. “Have you received $500 for me?” he ask, “My name is Jackson Frank.” The clerk checked his books. “Yes, Jackson, it's here. It came by telegram.—let me see—oh, more than two months ago. We wondered where you were.” He showed Mr. Frank the order. The order read:” Pay Mr. Frank Jackson the sum of $500...” “ But my name is Jackson Frank, not Frank Jackson.” “ Oh, that's all right, sir. It was in our books under the letter ‘J', but it's your money.” The clerk laughed,” A human mistake, sir! We're all human beings, so we all make mistakes. A family name like Frank sounds strange to me.” Mr. Frank was silent. He really wanted to hit somebody. At last he said,” A human mistake—I think some humans need kicking.” 

Jackson didn’t just go to his brother and get some money because ____.

    A. he was afraid to see his brother?

    B. he was in prison and was not allowed to go anywhere?

    C. he was traveling in a foreign country and was far from his brother?

    D. he knew that his brother had no money

Jackson was arrested and sent to prison because ____.?

    A. his brother hadn’t sent him any money and he couldn’t pay his hotel bill?

    B. he had spent almost all his money and couldn’t pay his hotel bill?

    C. he had lost all his money and couldn’t pay his hotel bill?

    D. his brother hadn’t sent him as much money as he asked for and he couldn’t pay 

his hotel bill

Which of the following statements is true??

   A. The money did not reach the Fisher Bank.?        

B. The money reached the wrong bank.?

    C. The money reached the bank after he was arrested.?

 D. The money reached the bank before he was arrested.

The clerks put his name under the wrong letter ____.?

   A. through carelessness.                 B. because they were human beings?

   C. because he had a strange name      D. by pronouncing his name incorrectly