Jogging outside has long been believed as helpful to both body and mind-and if nothing else, a form of stress release after a hard day at the office.

But new research suggests exercising outside could do more harm than good when it comes to your brain.

For jogging in busy, traffic-filled areas could actually cause mental decline(情绪下降).

Belgian researchers have found that people who live in a city and exercise outdoors have higher levels of inflammation(炎症) and lower scores on cognitive(认知的) tests than those who exercise outside in the suburbs.

In a study, they divided exercisers into two groups who exercised three times a week for 12 weeks, between midday and 1pm. One group alternated and walking in a busy , urban area-the other in a rural location.

The researchers, from Vrije Universiteit Brussel, then gave the subjects a test to measure their response time and attention span.

They found that high levels of air pollution prevented participants from getting some of the brain-boosting benefits of exercise, such as the ability to absorb new information and a reduced chance of mental health problems.

The city joggers also had significantly higher blood levels of some inflammation markers, Men's Health magazine reported.

This is important because inflammation in the brain is associated with mental illness.

US research found in November that higher level of air pollution in towns and cities is aging the brains of over-50s by up to three years,

Scientists have found that exposure(暴露) to higher levels of air pollution can lead to decreased(减少) brain power in over-50s.

In a study of almost 15,000 0lder adults, researchers at the US-based National Institute on Aging found fine air particulate matter(颗粒物质) may be an important environmental risk factor for reduced thought power, (The Daily Mail)

58. According to the passage, "in a rural location" means_______.

    A. in a city                              B. in the countryside

    C. in the urban area                              D. in a town

59. According to the passage, which of the following facts about jogging is NOT TRUE_______.

    A. jogging in busy, traffic-filled areas could actually cause mental decline

    B. jogging in a highly polluted area can lead to decreased brain power in over-50s.

    C. jogging outside in the suburbs has lower scores on getting new information teststhan in a city

    D. jogging in a area with fine air may be risky for reduced thought power.

60. The writer is trying to get readers to know that _______.

    A. jogging outside might make you clever  B. jogging outside might make you healthy

    C. jogging outside might make you able    D. jogging outside might make you stupid

 

Margaret, married with two small children, has been working for the last seven years as a night cleaner, cleaning offices in a big building.

She trained as a nurse, but had to give it up when her elder child became seriously ill. "I would have liked to go back to it, but the shifts(工作班次) are all wrong for me, as I have to be home to get the children up and off to school."

So she works as a cleaner instead, from 9 p.m. till 6.a.m. five nights a week for just£90, before tax and insurance. "It's better than it was last year, but I still think that people who work 'unsocial hours' should get a bit extra."

The hours she's chosen to work meant that she sees plenty of the children, but very little of her husband. However, she doesn't think that puts any pressure on their relationship.

Her work isn't physically very hard, but it's not exactly pleasant, either. "I do get angry with people who leave their offices like a place for raising pigs. If they realized people like me have to do it, perhaps they'd be a bit more careful."

The fact that she's working all night doesn't worry Margaret at all. Unlike some dark buildings at night, the building where she works is fully lit, and the women work in groups of three. "Since I've got to be here, I try to enjoy myself-and I usually do, because of the other girls. We all have a good laugh, so the time never drags."

Another challenge Margaret has to face is the reaction of other. people when she tells them what she does for a living. "They think you're a cleaner because you don't know how to read and write," said Margaret. "I used to think what my parents would say if they knew what I'd been doing, but I don't think that way any more. I don't dislike the work though I can't say I'm mad about it."

54. Margaret left her job as a nurse because_______.

   A. she needed the right time to look after her children

   B. she had suffered a lot of mental pressure

   C. she wanted to earn more money to support her family

   D. she felt tired of taking care of patients

55. Margaret gets angry with people who work in the office because_______.

   A. they never clean their offices        B. they look down upon cleaners

   C. they never do their work carefully   D. they always make a mess in their offices

56. When at work, Margaret feels_______.

A. tired because of the heavy workload    

B. happy because the building is fully lit

   C. light-hearted because of her fellow workers  

D. bored because time passed slowly

57. The underlined part in the last paragraph implies that Margaret's parents would_______.

   A. help care for her children     B. feel disappointed in her

C. show sympathy (同情) for her D. regret what they had said

                    

Going to sleep may seem quite boring compared with all the fun things you do while you are awake, but there's a lot going on in your mind and body while you are sleeping.

Sleep, in fact, is as important to your survival(生存) as eating and drinking. Sleep improves your mood, makes you a better athlete and helps you remember and understand what you learned during the day. While you sleep, your body temperature drops. Your heart beats more slowly, A chemical that controls growth, which is called a hormone(荷尔蒙),moves into your bloodstream. Scientists think that sleep brings back energy and improves your immune (免疫)system.

Sleep is like a school day: it's divided into different stages. When you are awake, your brain waves move quickly. As you begin to relax and fall into the first stage of sleep, your brain produces slower-moving waves and you lose awareness (意识) of your surroundings(环境).As you fall into deeper sleep, your body repairs itself from the normal wear and tear of daily life. Then, as you begin to drift back into a lighter sleep, your mind becomes more alert(警觉的), and your dreams begin. You are in REM sleep.

REM is the name for the rapid eye movement that happens while you are dreaming. During REM sleep, your eyes move back and forth behind, as though you were watching a movie.

During other stages of sleep, you might move in bed, but during REM sleep you're not making any movement, That's probably because if you could move, your body would act out your dreams. As you get closer to waking up in the morning, you spend more time in REM sleep than in deep sleep, so you dream more. Researchers know that during REM sleep the part of the brain that deals with learning and thinking is very active.

Getting too little sleep can affect your personality. Experts recommend that children get at least nine hours of sleep a night.

50. Which is the right order during your sleep?

  ① your body repairs itself from the normal wear and tear of daily life

  ② your brain produces slower-moving waves

  ③ your dreams begin

  ④ you lose awareness of your surroundings

  A.①③②④     B.②④①③    C.④①③②     D.②④③①

51. In which of the stage/stages of sleep do you have the most dreams?

   A. Light sleep. B. Deep sleep.

C. REM sleep.               D. The first two stages of sleep.

52. Which of the following is NOT true?

   A. You don't move while you are dreaming in REM sleep.

   B. During REM sleep, the whole brain is active.

   C. The closer to waking in the morning, the more dreams you have.

   D. Hormones have something to do with your growth.

53. According to the scientists and experts, _______.

A. adults get at least nine hours of sleep a night

   B. there's nothing going on in your mind while you're sleeping

   C. sleep have little impact(影响) on our personality

   D. sleep can make us energetic and healthy

    If you want to become a fluent(流利的)English speaker you should take some advice: There are four skills in learning English. They are reading, listening, speaking, and writing. The most important thing you must remember is that if you want to improve your speaking and writing skills you should first master the skills of reading and listening.

    Read as much as you can. But your reading must be active. It means that you must think about the meaning of the sentence, the meanings of the unfamiliar words, etc. There is no need for you to pay much attention to grammars or try to understand all the unfamiliar words you come across, but the fact that you see them for the first time and recognize them whenever you see them, for example in other passages or books, is enough. It would be better to prepare yourself a notebook so you can write down the important words or sentences in it_

    As for listening, there are two choices: besides reading, you can listen every day for about 30 minutes. You can only pay attention to your reading and become skillful at your reading, then you can catch up on your listening. Since you have lots of inputs in your mind, you can easily guess what the speaker is going to say. This never means that you should not practice listening.

    For listening you can listen to cartoons or some movies that are specially made for children.  Their languages are easy. Or if you are good at listening you can listen to VOA or BBC programs every day. Again the thing to remember is being active in listening and preferably taking some notes.

    If you follow these pieces of advice, your speaking and writing will improve automatically, and you can be sure that with a little effort they will become perfect.

46. According to the author, which should you improve first among the four skills?

    A. Reading and writing.                    B. Reading and listening.

    C. Writing and speaking.                         D. Speaking and listening.

47. The underlined phrase "come across" in Paragraph 2 can probably be replaced by "_______".

    A. meet by accident                                B. discover

    C. find on purpose                           D. look for

48. The author seems to agree with the view that_______.

    A. everyone should listen to VOA or BBC programs every day

    B. you needn't practice listening if you keep on reading every day

    C. being good at reading is helpful in improving your listening

    D. you should take notes of whatever you are hearing

49. The passage is mainly about how to_______.

    A. choose suitable listening materials

    B. deal with new words in reading

    C. read as many English books as possible

    D. become fluent in speaking and writing English

 

  People often fall ill because of me. However, they can hardly blame me; it is largely their own   36  . A tired person may get caught, especially when he goes to  37  places with polluted air.  A sudden change in  38  is another factor(因素).In hot summer, people turn on the air-conditioner(空调)as soon as they return home. They will catch a cold easily.

    My latest victim is an   39   Student. After school, he played football hard for two hours. Though he was   40   , he still went to the cinema. Then he got back home and took a cold shower immediately.

    I took this golden chance to attack him. He tried to get rid of me, but l was already reproducing deep in his throat(咽喉).He kept sneezing and his nose was running.   41   he put on some warm clothes, it didn't work because there were too many of us. Besides, his sore throat kept upsetting(使难过)him, and he developed a cough to force me and my family out, but  42   .

    The next day he couldn't go to school. He had lost his appetite(胃口)and was not as active as before. His mother made him orange juice every few hours for more vitamin C, which would help his recovery(恢复).

    For two days he was  43  by his mother. As he rested more, his defense(防御)strengthened and I began to feel the pressure. I knew I had to leave him before long. But I am not the one who gives up easily, and I   44   every effort to fight back. Unfortunately, it was my turn to feel disappointed now, for his defense system was starting an all-out   45   against me. I became weaker and finally my time was over.

    Do you know what I am?

36. A. business           B. responsibility          C. excuse                  D. fault

37. A. cleaned            B. crowded                C. controlled       D. covered

38. A. temperature      B. season                   C. place              D. condition

39. A. humorous        B. easy-going             C. energetic        D. selfish

40. A. excited             B. tired                      C. interested       D. worried

41. A. Since               B. Once                     C. Whether         D. Although

42. A. managed          B. failed                     C. refused          D. succeeded

43. A. looked             B. trained                   C. nursed                  D. avoided

44. A. tried                B. brought                 C. did                 D. paid

45. A. action              B. attraction               C. attention         D. attack

 

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