9. A. cheap　　　　　　 B. expensive　 　　　 C. easy　 　　 D. safe

8. A. taken　　　　　　 B. given　　　　 　 C. written　 　 D. copied　

7. A. dearer　　　　　　 B. harder　　　 　 C. shorter　 　 D. easier　

6. A. talk　 　　　　　　 B. say　　　　　 C. speak　 　　 D. tell　

5. A. high　　　 　　 B. short　　　　 　 C. thin　 　　　 D. fat　

4. A. why　　　 　　 B. what　　　　 C. how　　　 D. when　　　

3. A. good　　　　　　 B. useful　 　　　　　 C. hard　　　 D. easy　

2. A. For　　　　　　　 B. So　　　　　　　　　　 C. Or　　 　　　 D. And　

1. A. less　　　　　　　 B. more　 　　　　　　 C. nice 　　　　 D. fast　

15. B。这些科学家都做了很多实验。

42

About 70,000,000 Americans are trying to lose weight(减肥). That is almost 1 out of every 3 people in the United States. Some people eat 　1　 　food and they hardly have any fats or sweets. Others do running, exercise with machines, take medicines, or even have operations. 　2　 　you can see losing weight is 　3　 　work, and it will also cost a lot of money. But 　__4　 　do so many people in the United States want to lose weight?

　 Many people in the United States worry about their look of the body. For many people, looking nice also means to be 　5　 . Other people worry about their health as many doctors 　6　 　overweight is not good.

　 Most people want to find an 　7　 　way to take off fat, and books of this kind are very popular. These books tell people how to lose weight. Each year a lot of new books like these are 　8　 . Each one says it can easily help people take fat away.

　 Losing weight can be 　9　 . Some overweight people go to health centres, like La Costa in California. Men and women 　10　 　several hundred dollars a day at these health centres. People live there for one week or two, 　11　 　exercise, eating different foods. Meals there may be just a little. All these work for losing weight. __12__ 4 days on the programme, one woman called Mrs. Warren lost 5 pounds (2.27kg). At $ 400 a day, she spent $ 320 to lose each pound. But she said she was still __13__ to do so.

　 Health centres, books, medicines, operations, running and exercise machines all __14__ a lot of money. So in the United States, losing weight may mean losing __15__ too.