In the rush to get to school, you drop a piece of toast on the floor. Do you throw it away or dec ide it’ s still OK to eat? If you’re like most people, you eat it. Maybe you follow the “5-second rule”, which claims foods are safe to eat if you pick them up within 5 seconds after dropping them. But you might want to think again. Scientists now say that 5 seconds is all it takes for foods to become polluted with enough bacteria（细菌） to make you sick.

     Bacteria can cause many kinds of illnesses. Some kinds of bacteria can grow on food. If you eat foods on which these bacteria are growing, you can become sick.

 One of these food-borne bacteria is Salmonella. It makes 1.4 million people sick every year. Salmonella is often found in raw eggs and chicken. Cooking kills these bacteria, which is why it is so important to cook eggs, chicken, and other foods thoroughly.

 But how long does it take these bacteria to pollute food? A team of scientists in South Carolina did an experiment. First, they placed an amount of Salmonella on three surfaces; wood, tile (瓦片), and carpet. They placed a piece of bread and a piece of bologna（大腊肠） on each surface for 5,30, or 60 seconds. After just 5 seconds, both the bread and the bologna picked up enough bacteria to make you sick.

 So forget the 5-second rule. If your toast drops on the floor, throw it away and get another piece of clean toast. This time, be careful not to drop it!

1. In which part of a newspaper can you most probably find this passage?

A. Culture B. Health C. Advertisement D. Technology

2.After dropping a piece of toast , a person who follows the “5-second rule”will

A. throw away dirty toast immediately and go away

B. pick up the toast as quickly as possible and eat it

C. eat the toast within 5 seconds and feel pleased

D. get another piece of clean toast quickly and eat it

3. The scientists in South Carolina did the experiment to

A.see how quickly bacteria can pollute food

B. show that the 5-second rule a correct

C. see how harmful bacteria are to people’ health

D. show that bacteria grow at different speeds on different foods

4. What’s the writer’s attitude to the “5-second rule”?

A. Positive B. Negative C. Neutral (中立) D. Cautious (谨慎)

It has been argued by some that gifted children should be grouped in special classes. The __1____is based on the belief that in regular classes these children are held back in their intellectual (智力的) growth by___2___situations that has designed for the ____3___children.
There can be little doubt that___4____classes can help the gifted children to graduate earlier and take their place in life sooner. However, to take these____5____ out of the regular classes was created serious problems.
I observed a number of___6___students who were taken out of a special class and placed in___7____class. In the special class, they showed little ability to use their own judgment, relying__8___on their teachers’ directions. In the regular class, having no worry about keeping up, they began to reflect___9___on many problems. Some of which were not on the school program.
Many are concerned that gifted children become___10____ and lose interest in learning. However, this___11____is more often from parents and teachers than from students, and some of these___12___simply conclude that special classes should be set up for those who are  ___13___. Some top students do feel bored in class, but why they___14_____so goes far beyond the work they have in school. Studies have shown that to be bored is to be anxious. The gifted child who is bored is an___15____ child.

Poverty today is a major global issue. Although there are all kinds of definitions used to explain it, in simple words, it means the inability of a person to even get his basic needs of food, shelter, clothing, safe drinking water, health and education. Poverty can be found in each and every corner of the world, although the causes may differ from country to country. Given below are the main causes of poverty in the world today.
Overpopulation is one of the main causes behind the threatening of poverty on an individual level as well as a social level. This is simple math. If there are more mouths to feed and less income, definitely much will remain poor.
Another theory which is used as an explanation for poverty is lack of education. If you look at any of the underdeveloped countries, you will find that the level of education there is very low. Lack of education means lack of employment opportunities, thus leading to unemployment coupled with poverty in the future.
Moving away from one’s own homeland to another city or country in search of employment leads to poverty too. It may take these people a lot of time to find jobs. Meanwhile they live in bad conditions. The cost of living in the city or country is most of the time too high for them.
There may be other causes of poverty like the change in business. For example, in America, a couple of decades ago, heavy industry flourished, which employed a lot of African-American people. But now, the focus is more on information technology and health care, both of which employ only skilled and trained people. This has led to unemployment among African-Americans.
Poverty has many ill effects on society. That’s why steps should be taken to get rid of it!
【小题1】What’s the meaning of the underlined word “flourished” in Paragraph 5?
(No more than 5 words)
【小题2】Why is overpopulation a cause of poverty today?  (No more than12 words)
【小题3】What’s the situation of education in underdeveloped countries?  (No more than 8 words)
【小题4】What does the passage mainly talk about?   (No more than 10 words)
【小题5】In your opinion, what’s the most significant cause of poverty today? Please give your reason.  (No more than 25 words)

Work and study today are very different from what they were like 20 years ago. In the past, people often worked in the same job from graduation till retirement. Today, however, everyone needs to learn new things constantly on the job and it is common practice for people to go back to school from time to time in order to keep up with the fast changing world. Changing jobs has also become common practice for many people as they aim to enrich their work experience, develop new skills and meet new challenges. In today’s world of constant innovation (创新，革新), you can’t afford to think that you have finished with your studies. If you don’t want to be all behind in today’s competitive job market, you have to commit yourself to lifelong learning.

    Effective lifelong learning is not only a matter of collecting formal qualifications. It’s also about forming habits that help you study, and developing attitudes that make you receptive (善于接受的，能容纳的) to learning.

    Habits that help you study include time management, note taking, analysis and writing. These habits are useful but you won’t learn effectively unless you have the right attitude. Being open-minded is important because learning something new often means challenging the ideas you have already hold. Expecting to learn something that is both new and valuable will in fact help you to do so. For successful lifelong learning, you must take these study habits and attitudes with you when you leave school to start on your adult lives.

    School is the ideal place to gain lifelong learning skills because you have support and resources, and you are young and naturally more open to learning. If you invest time in developing your study skills now, you’ll be enjoying the rewards for the rest of your life. In school you also have the time to develop learning skills. Many adults are sadly too busy to develop learning skills once they start work.

    Today you cannot assume that completing a course will give you qualifications that will see you through your career. Change is unpredictable and you must be ready for it. In fact, there is no profession that doesn’t require continuous learning. But this is not something to be scared of. All you need to do is to develop learning skills and learn how to learn so that you are ready to keep yourself up-to-date with changes that come your way. Be open-minded, have the right attitude, and be ready for the next challenge.

Even if you are an experienced backpacker or climber，you need to know what to do if something goes wrong．It is not that Alaska is that much more dangerous than other places．It is no more hazardous than elsewhere，as long as the proper precautions(预防措施)are taken．So, being prepared is crucial to ensure a safe trip．

First of all，make sure you pack everything you will need for your trip．Even if you are traveling by car，pack clothes and gear for backpacking．Because of the bad weather, cars break down frequently. Pack a survival(生存)kit full with：a down coat, boots ,mittens, a hat, snow-pants，sleeping bags，candles，a flashlight，and high-energy food. If you are traveling by car , also pack extra belts, a shovel, and a chain.

If you are camping or hiking，make sure you know how to avoid bears．If you are lost in the wilderness, there is no doubt you will encounter them.

However，there is no need to be nervous．Just take these precautions：make noise as you walk，bears will avoid you；cook your food away from where you sleep，and store your food away from where you sleep，so the bears are not attracted．Both of these should keep the bear away．However，if you do encounter a bear，there are two different schools of thought．One is to make noise and scare the bear away．The other is to stand still and speak softly to get the bear to leave．If you are dealing with a brown bear，you can climb a tree，since it cannot follow．But，black bears can climb．If for some reason the bear attacks，play dead．Try to protect your head and neck，and hopefully the bear will leave its“dead” prey.

1.The underlined word “hazardous” in Paragraph l most probably means________．

2.The author seems to tell us in Paragraph 2 that________．

3.Yon should prepare your food away from where you sleep so that________．

4.All the following can most probably protect you EXCEPT that________．

5.Which of the following is the main idea of this passage?