五.任务型阅读（10分）

Could your cellphone give you cancer? Whether it could or not, some people are worrying about the possibility that phones, powerlines and wi-fi (路由器) could be responsible for a range of illnesses, from rashes to brain tumours.

For example, Camilla Rees, 48, a former investment banker in the US, moved out of her apartment in San Francisco because of the radiation coming from next door. Rees told the Los Angeles Times that when her neighbors moved in and installed a wi-fi router she lost her ability to think clearly. “I would wake up dizzy in the morning. I’d fall to the floor. I had to leave to escape that nightmare,” she said. Since then, she’s been on a campaign against low-level electromagnetic fields, or EMFs（低频电磁场）.

And she’s not alone. Millions of people say they suffer from headaches, depression, nausea and rashes when they’re too close to cellphones or other sources of EMFs.

Although the World Health Organization has officially declared that EMFs seem to pose little threat, governments are still concerned. In fact, last April, the European Parliament called for countries to take steps to reduce exposure to EMFs. The city of San Francisco and the state of Maine are currently considering requiring cancer-warning labels on cellphones. 

If these fears are reasonable, then perhaps we should all be worried about the amount of time we spend talking on our phones or plugging into wi-fi hotpots.

Some say there is evidence to support the growing anxieties. David Carpenter, a professor of environmental health sciences at the University at Albany, in New York, thinks there’s a greater than 95% chance that power lines can cause childhood leukemia. Also there’s a greater than 90% chance that cellphones can cause brain tumours.

But others believe these concerns are unreasonable paranoia (猜疑). Dr Martha Linet, the head of radiation epidemiology at the US National Cancer Institute, has looked at the same research as Carpenter but has reached a different conclusion. “I don’t support warning labels for cellphones,” said Linet. “We don't have the evidence that there’s much danger.”

Studies so far suggest a weak connection between EMFs and illness — so weak that it might not exist at all. A multinational investigation of cellphones and brain cancer, in 13 countries outside the US, has been underway for several years. It’s funded in part by the European Union, in part by a cellphone industry group.

According to Robert Park, a professor of physics at the University of Maryland in the US, the magnetic waves aren’t nearly powerful enough to break apart DNA, which is how known threats, such as UV rays and X-rays, cause cancer.

Perhaps it’s just psychological. Some experts find that the electro-sensitivity syndrome seems to be similar to chemical sensitivity syndrome, which is a condition that’s considered to be psychological.

Whether EMFs are harmful or not, a break in the countryside, without the cellphone, would probably be good for all of us.

I know what you’re thinking : pizza? For breakfast? But the truth is that you can have last night’s leftovers in the a. m. if you want to.

 I know lots of women who skip breakfast , and they have a ton of different excuses for doing it . Some say they don’t have time. others think they’re “saving” calories, still others just don’t like breakfast food . 

But the bottom line is that eating in the morning is very important when you’re trying to lose weight. “Eating just about anything from 300 to 400 calories would be better than nothing at all,” says Katherine Brooking , R , D , who developed the super-easy eating plan for this year’s “SELF CHALLENGE”. And even pizza can be healthy if it’s loaded with vegetables, and you stick to one small piece. 

Breakfast is one meal I never miss, and the same goes for most weight loss success stories. Research shows that eating breakfast keeps you from overeating later in the day. Researchers at the University of Southem California found that breakfast skippers have a bigger chance of gaining weight than those who regularly have a morning meal. 

So eat something in the morning, anything. I know plenty of friends who end up having no breakfast altogether, and have just coffee or orange juice. I say, try heating up last night’s leftovers-it may sound crazy, but if it works for you, do it! I find if I tell myself, “You can always eat it tomorrow,” I put away the leftovers instead of eating more that night. Try it…you may save yourself some pre-bedtime calories. And watch your body gain the fat-burning effects. 

1.The word “leftovers” in Paragraph 1 probably means__________.

A.     things left undone                      B. food remaining after a meal

C. meals made of vegetables         D. pizza topped with fruit

2.What can we infer from the text?

A. Working women usually have breakfast in a hurry. 

B. There are some easy ways of cooking a meal. 

C. Many people have wrong ideas about breakfast.

D. Eating vegetables helps save energy. 

3.According to the last paragraph, it is important to____________. 

A. eat something for breakfast   B. put away the leftovers instead of eating more.

C. heat up leftovers for breakfast  D. eat calorie-controlled food

4.The text is written mainly for those_____________. 

A. who go to work early                             B. who stay up late

C. who want to lose weight                D. who eat before sleep

It’s going to be a busy day at Betsy Ross house in Philadelphia on Thursday. She won’t be there, since she died in 1836, but hundreds of tourists will be going through her house.

You see, Thursday is Flag Day in the United States. The unofficial holiday commemorates the adoption of the stars-and-stripes design of the American flag by the Continental Congress 235 years ago, on June 14, 1777. According to lore, the Ross House is the birthplace of the nation’s flag. That’s open to debate, but it’s a story that schoolbooks still tell. Betsy Ross was a seamstress, busy  sewing cushions for chairs in Philadelphia, which was the focus place of the American revolution against British rule. The Declaration of Independence by the colonists was signed there, and so was the new nation’s Constitution after independence was won.

Widowed when her husband, a member of the local militia, was killed in a gunpowder explosion, Betsy Ross often mended the clothes of the rebels’ leader and future U.S. president, George Washington.  According to what some say in history and others a stretch of what really happened, Washington asked Ross to design and sew the new nation’s flag. The story was promoted by Ross grandson, who wrote that Betsy Ross had “made with her hands the first flag.” She became a role model for girls - a shining example of women’s contributions to the nation’s history. Most research indicates that Ross did sew the first flag. She’s credited with substituting artful five-point white stars for six-pointed ones in the upper-left blue field. But many other accounts indicate George Washington brought the design to Ross and simply asked her to stitch it together.  

In a letter, Washington wrote: “We take the stars from Heaven, the red from our mother country, separating it by white stripes, thus showing that we have separated from her.  And the white stripes shall go down to posterity as representing liberty.”  

1.People would like to go to Ross’s house in Philadelphia to _____.

A. ask Betsy Ross who created the first American flag

B. meet her grandson who wrote a book about flags

C. debate over who designed the first American flag

D. remember her as the creator of the first American flag

2.Which statement is true according to the passage?

A. Betsy Ross was one of the people who signed The Declaration of Independence

B. All are in agreement that Ross designed the first American flag

C. It is almost certain that Ross did sew the first American flag

D. It is George Washington who designed the stars and stripes flag 

3.The underlined the word “seamstress” in Paragraph 2 probably means_____.

A. a person who designs flags        B. a person who makes a living by sewing

C. a person who takes part in revolution D. a person who creates chairs

4.What does the last paragraph imply according to the passage?

A. It implies that the U.S. is independent from Britain

B. It implies that Washington liked Ross’s design of the flag

C. It implies that Washington might be the designer of the flag

D. It implies that Ross did have helped with the design of the flag

There are many kinds of friends. Some are always    36  you, but don't understand you. Some say only a few words to you, but understand you. Many people will step in your life, but only   37 friends leave footprints.

　　I shall always recall (回忆) the autumn and the girl with the  38  . She will always bring back the friendship between us. I know she will always be my best friend.

　　It was the golden season. I could see the yellow leaves   39 on the cool  40 . In such a season, I liked walking alone in the leaves,  41  to the sound of them.

　　Autumn is a  42  season and life is uninteresting. The free days always get me   43  . But one day, the sound of a violin   44  into my ears like a stream (小溪) flowing in the mountains. I was so surprised that I jumped to see what it was. A young girl, standing in the wind, was  45  in playing her violin.

　　I had  46 seen her before. The music was so nice that I listened quietly. Lost in the music, I didn't know that I had been   47 there for so long but my existence (存在) did not seem to disturb her.

　　Leaves were still falling. Every day she played the violin in the corner of the building  48 I went downstairs to watch her performance. I was the only listener. The autumn seemed no longer lonely and life became   49 .  50 we didn't know each other, I thought we were already good friends. I believe she also loved me.

Autumn was nearly over. One day, when I was listening carefully, the sound suddenly

   51 . To my astonishment (惊讶), the girl came over to me.

　　“You must like violin.” she said.

　　“Yes. And you play very well. Why did you stop?” I asked.

　　Suddenly, a   52 expression appeared on her face and I could feel something unusual.

　　“I came here to see my grandmother, but now I must leave. I once played very badly. It was your listening every day that   53 me.” she said.

　　“In fact, it was your playing   54 gave me a meaningful autumn,” I answered, “Let's be friends.”

　　The girl smiled, and so did I.

I never heard her play again in my life. I no longer went downstairs to listen like before. Only thick leaves were left behind. But I will always remember the fine figure (身影) of the girl. She is like a   55 —so short, so bright, like a shooting star giving off so much light that it makes the autumn beautiful.

The wedding between Prince Wiliam and Kate Middleton on April 29 has focused the world’s camera lenses (镜头) on the UK.

In Britain, there is a constant debate about the relevance (相关性) of the royal family to modern British society. However, Windsor (the fam­ily name of the British Royal Family) and Middleton have been seen to represent a more modern, forward-looking nation.

Nigel Baker, the British ambassador to Bolivia, believes that the royal wedding is “about modern Britain”. “The estimated 2 billion spectators across the world will see that Britain is one of the most culturally and ethnically diverse nations in the world, home to 270 nationalities speaking 300 different languages, founded on tolerance and respect for difference,” wrote Baker on his blog.

According to Baker, the wedding could help viewers to see “why Britain is one of the most dynamic and creative countries in the world”: The television on which most people watched the event was invented by John Logie Baird, a Briton, and the World Wide Web that broadcast the event to millions more was invented by another Briton, Tim Berners-Lee.

 The guests who attended the wedding ceremony gave more than a few clues as to the nature of modern Britain. David and Victoria Beckham represent Britain’s obsession (着迷)with football and celebrity.

Leaders from different religious backgrounds supported Baker’s com­ments on the multicultural nature of modern British society.

Before the wedding, David Elliott, arts director of the British Council China, agreed that the wedding would be a showcase for modern Britain: “I think, and hope, that it (modern British influence) would be values like openness, multiculturalism, creativity, sense of humor and the traditional British sense of fair play,” he said.

Furthermore, events such as the Olympics in London in 2012 may also increase people’s sense of Britishness.

According to a poll published in Daily Telegraph, more than a third of people in the UK admitted they felt “very British” when watching the Olympics.

1..  What is the point of the article?

A. To introduce Prince William’s wedding arrangements in detail.

B. To comment on the significance of the royal wedding.

C. To question the relevance of the royal family in modern British society.

D. To explain why the royal wedding is linked with the 2012 Olympics.

2..  What can be concluded from the article?

A. Some say that the royal wedding is a reflection on modern Britain.

B Some think the royal wedding shows Britain’s multiculturalism and sense of fair play.

C.About 2 billion people across the world will see the wedding ceremony online.

D. Britons are obsessed with football due to the influence of David Beckham.

3..  Why is the inventor of the World Wide Web mentioned?

A. To inform readers about some well-known British inventors.

B. To point to the importance of the World Wide Web for the wedding.

C. In support of the idea that Britain is a nation of creative and original people.

D. To encourage people to watch the wedding on the Internet.

4..  According to the article, both the 2012 Olympics and the royal wedding         .

A. have increased the British sense of national identity

B. have promoted traditional British values

C. represent a more modern Britain

D. have encouraged the interest of Britons in Football