A new study links heavy air pollution from coal burning to shorter lives in northern China. Researchers estimate that the half-billion people alive there in the 1990s will live an average of 5 years less than their southern counterparts because they breathed dirtier air.
China itself made the comparison possible: for decades, a now-discontinued government policy provided free coal for heating, but only in the colder north. Researchers found significant differences in both particulate pollution of the air and life expectancy in the two regions.
While previous studies have found that pollution affects human health, "the deeper and ultimately more important question is the impact on life expectancy," said one of the researchers, Michael Greenstone, a professor of environmental economics at Massachusetts Institute of 一Technology. "This study provides a unique setting to answer the life expectancy question because the(heating) policy dramatically changes pollution concentrations（含量），，，Greenstone said in an email. "Further, due to the low rates of migration in China in this period, we can know people's exposure over long time periods," he said.
The policy gave free coal for fuel boilers to heat homes and offices to cities north of the Huai Riv饑which divides China into north and south. It was in effect for much of the 1950-198,0 period of central planning, and, though discontinued after 1980, it has left a legacy（遺留） in the north of heavy coal burning, which releases particulate pollutants into the air that can harm human health. Researchers found no other government policies that treated China's north differently from the south.
The researchers collected data for 90 cities, from 1981 to 2000, on the annual daily average concentration of total suspended（懸浮的）particulates. In China, those are considered to be particulates that are 100 micrometers or less in diameter, sent out from sources including power stations, construction sites and vehicles. Among them, PM2.5 is of especially great health concern because it can go deep into the lungs.
The researchers estimated the impact on life expectancies using death data from 1991-2000． They found that in the north, the concentration of particulates was 184 micrograms per cubic meter一or 55 percent higher than in the south, and life expectancies were 5.5 years lower on average across all age ranges.
小題1:The main idea of this passage is that＿·

A．research in China finds air pollution shortened life expectancy

B．the government provided free coal for heating in North China

C．coal burning causes bad air quality across China

D．a(chǎn) new study finds different particulates in South China

小題2:According to Greenstone,＿greatly contributed to the high pollution concentrations in North China.

A．power stations	B．construction sites
C．the free heating policy	D．gases from vehicles

小題3:It is implied in the passage that＿·

A．coal is no longer used for heating in North China

B．a(chǎn)ir quality was comparatively better in South China

C．southerners burned coals for heating in the 1980s

D．people preferred to live in South China after 1980

小題4:The underlined word "particulates" most probably means＿．

A．dirty clouds	B．particular smoke
C．harmful dust	D．dangerous bacteria

Eco City Farms(生態(tài)城市農(nóng)場) are becoming more popular in cities and towns around the Unites States.
Eco City Farms in Edmonton, Maryland, is located near shopping centers, car repair shops and homes. The neighborhood is a working-class community(社區(qū)). People do not have very much money. And they have limited access to fresh food in markets.
Over the past two years, the farm has attracted volunteers from the community like Marcy Clark. She schools her four children at home. On a recent day she brought them to Eco City Farms for a lesson. Her son Alston Clark thinks his experience is very valuable.“I like coming out here,”he says,“You know, you connect with the earth, where your food comes from. You appreciate the food a little bit more.”
Margaret Morgan started Eco City Farms. She thinks of it as a place where people can learn to live healthier lives. “Growing food in a community brings people together,”she continues,“Every piece of what we do here is a demonstration(示范) to show people everything about how to have an eco-friendly community.”she says. From the Eco City Farms people come to know that they are not only growing food and raising chickens and bees, but improving the soil with compost(肥料)made from food waste.
Eco City Farms is an experimental operation. The farm gets its power not from the local electricity networks, but from the sun with solar panels. In winter, the green house use a geothermal(地?zé)?system.
Vegetables can be grown all year. So once a week, all winter long, neighbors like Chris Moss and her three children bike to the farm to pick up a share of the harvest.
“I like eating the vegetables ”say five-year-old Owen Moss.
小題1:What is mainly talked about in the passage?

A．Eco City Farms save a lot of energy.

B．Eco City Farms are gaining popularity.

C．Eco City Farms are influencing community life.

D．Eco City Farms helps the working-class live better.

小題2:According to the passage, Eco City Farms are close to the following places EXCEPT______.

A．shopping centers	B．car repair shops
C．fast-food restaurants	D．working-class community

小題3:What is the author’s attitude toward Eco City Farms?

A．Enthusiastic(熱心的).	B．Disappointed.
C．Surprised.	D．Doubtful.

小題4:In which column(專欄) of a newspaper can you most probably read this article?

A．People.

B．Travel.

C．Environment.

D．Education.

American children are not the only couch potatoes with nearly one third of children globally spending 3 hours a day or more watching TV or on computers, according to the study of over 70,000 teens in 34 nations.
From Argentina to Zambia, Regina Guthold of the World Health Organization in Geneva and her colleagues found most children were not getting enough exercise and that it made no difference whether they live in a rich or a poor country. “With regards to physical levels, we didn’t find much of a difference between rich and poor countries,” Guthold said, “Growing up in a poor country doesn’t necessarily mean kids get more physical activities.”
The researchers defined adequate physical activity as at least an hour of exercise outdoors for at least 5 days a week. Children spending 3 or more hours a day watching TV, playing computer games or chatting with friends were classified as sedentary.
The researchers found only a quarter of the boys and 15 percent of the girls were getting enough exercise by these definitions. A quarter of boys and nearly 30% of girls were sedentary and didn’t get enough exercise with girls less active than boys in every country aside from Zambia.
Girls from India were the most active with 37 percent meeting exercise recommendation, while girls from Egypt were the least active with 4 percent getting enough exercise. Children in Myanmar were the least sedentary while the most sedentary nations were St .Lucia and the Cayman Islands.
People show deep concern for kids’ lack of physical activity in various nations. Why do they have a low level of physical activity? Guthold speculated（認(rèn)為）that urbanization could be a factor as well as easy access to cars and TVs.
小題1:If you are sedentary, you ____________.   

A．a(chǎn)re a diligent student spending much time doing homework

B．have at least an hour of exercise outdoors 5 days a week.

C．like watching TV and playing computer games

D．spend longer hours sitting or lying without moving

小題2:Which of the following statements is true as to Guthold’s finding?

A．Most children around the world don’t meet the exercise recommendation.

B．Girls in every country are no more active than boys.

C．Children in rich countries relatively get less physical activity.

D．Only 4% of the girls from Egypt are not active in exercise.

小題3:All the following statements are wrong except _______.

A．Children in poor countries get more physical activities.

B．Girls in Egypt are more active than those in India.

C．Couch potatoes are those children addicted to snacks.

D．Children in Myanmar are less sedentary than those in St .Lucia.

小題4:What would the writer be most likely to discuss in detail in the paragraph that follows?

A．The suitable amount of physical activities for students.

B．Some of the factors for the popularity of cars and TVs among the kids.

C．The reasons behind the lack of physical activities.

D．The ways to make the most of cars and TVs.

Jogging became popular some twenty years ago and has remained a favorite way of keeping fit．It is        running at a steady speed over short or long distances．Teenagers can jog and        ，with caution , can people in their seventies .
One of the main        jogging has over many other sports is that it can be done anywhere . People jog around campuses , in parks and even in urban areas . Special fields and running tracks are not        .
Similarly , no special        is required—no costly hats , gloves , or balls . Good quality running shoes are        , but otherwise the jogger can simply wear loose , comfortable clothing .
Having bended and        as basic warm-up , you are ready to begin jogging now .

小題1:	A．originally B．basically C．necessarily D．especially

小題2:	A．so B．yet C．such D．thus

小題3:	A．drawbacks B．usages C．a(chǎn)dvantages D．points

小題4:	A．essential B．satisfactory C．sensible D．convenient

小題5:	A．decoration B．instrument C．clothing D．equipment

小題6:	A．primary B．a(chǎn)dvisable C．unnecessary D．a(chǎn)cceptable

小題7:	A．expanded B．marched C．wandered D．stretched

Recently a study, led by Pedro Hallal of the Federal University, suggests that nearly a third of adults, 31%, are not getting enough exercise. That rates of exercise have declined is hardly a new discovery. Since the beginning of the industrial revolution, technology and economic growth have helped to create a world in which taking exercise is more and more an option rather than a necessity. But only recently have enough good data been collected from enough places to carry out the sort of analysis Dr Hallal and his colleagues have engaged in.
There are common themes in different places. Unsurprisingly, people in rich countries are less active than those in poor ones, and old people are less active than young ones. Less obviously, women tend to exercise less than men—34% are inactive, compared with 28% of men. But there are exceptions. The women of Croatia, Finland, Iraq and Luxembourg, for example, move more than their male countrymen.
Malta wins the race for most slothful country, with 72% of adults getting too little exercise, and Swaziland and Saudi Arabia are in close behind, with 69%. In Bangladesh, just 5% of adults fail to exercise enough. Surprisingly, six Americans in ten are active enough according to Dr Hallal’s study, compared with fewer than four in ten British.
These high rates of inactivity are worrying. Human beings seem to have evolved(進(jìn)化) to benefit from exercise while deliberately avoiding it whenever they can. In a state of nature it would be impossible to live a life that did not provide enough of it. But that is no longer the case. Actually lack of enough activity these days has nearly the same effect on life span(壽命) as smoking.
小題1:We may learn from Paragraph 1 that_________.

A．the decline of exercise rates is newly discovered

B．the study suggests 31% of female adults get too little exercise

C．the good enough data has been collected from only one country

D．the industrial revolution has changed the way people live to some degree

小題2:According to the study, women of Luxembourg_________. 

A．have little time to exercise

B．hate to get regular exercise

C．take more exercise to lose weight

D．exercise more than men in their country

小題3:The underlined word “slothful” in Paragraph 3 most probably means_________.

A．powerful

B．rich

C．lazy

D．unpopular

小題4:What can be the best title for the text?

A．Worldwide Lack of Enough Exercise

B．New Health Discovery

C．Evolvement of Human Beings

D．Benefits of Taking Exercise

Air pollution is a leading cause of cancer and classified among Group 1,or top, human carcinogens (致癌物質(zhì)), said the International Agency for Research on Cancer (IARC), which is the World Health Organization's (WHO) cancer agency, on Oct 17,2013.
The most widely used system for classifying carcinogens comes from the IARC, which places them into five groups. Group 1 carcinogens definitely cause cancer in humans. Group 2A is probably carcinogenic to humans, Group 2B is possibly carcinogenic, the carcinogenicity of Group 3 in humans is unclassifiable, and Group 4 is probably not carcinogenic to humans. Only a little more than 100 are classified as Group 1 cancer-causing substances, including ultraviolet radiation and tobacco smoke.
“Our task was to evaluate the air everyone breathes rather than focus on specific air pollutants,” the lARC's Dana Loomis said in a statement. “The results from the reviewed studies point in the same direction: the risk of developing lung cancer is significantly increased in people exposed to air pollution.”
In 2010, lung cancer resulting from air pollution killed 223,000 people worldwide, and there was also convincing evidence that it increases the risk of bladder (膀腕) cancer, according to the IARC.
Air pollution is already known to raise risks for a wide range of illnesses, including respiratory and heart diseases.
Air pollution is global, although the levels of it vary over space and time.
Loomis said people in Asia, eastern North America, some places in Central America and Mexico, as well as North Africa have relatively high exposure. Developing countries with large populations and booming manufacturing sectors, such as China, are particularly at risk.
Many cities in China, such as Beijing, frequently see smog. This week, Harbin, the capital city of Heilongjiang province, became the first Chinese city to officially suspend classes due to serious smog
Many developed countries face similar problems, although to a lesser degree than most developing nations. In Europe, levels of many pollutants have fallen. But between 91 and 96 percent of Europeans living in cities are exposed to levels of PM2.5—tiny particles with a diameter of less than 2.5 micrometers—that are higher than the WHO safety limits, says a report published by the European Environment Agency on Oct 15.
Although both the composition and levels of air pollution can vary dramatically from one location to the other, the 1ARC said its conclusions apply to all regions of the world.
“Given the scale of the exposure affecting people worldwide, this report should send a strong signal to the international community to take action without further delay,” said Christopher Wild, director of the IARC.
小題1:What might be the best title of the passage?

A．Signals of air pollution

B．Safety limits of air pollution

C．Air pollution, cancer risk

D．Air pollution, smog risk

小題2:What’s the main task of IARC?

A．To focus on cancer-causing substances.

B．To evaluate the air quality.

C．To study the developing risk of cancer.

D．To send signals to the international community.

小題3:Why should the international community take action without further delay?

A．The composition and levels of air pollution vary from place to place.

B．More and more people in developing countries are exposed to air pollution.

C．Developed countries face air pollution, the level of which is higher than the safety limits.

D．A large number of people worldwide are exposed to air pollution.

People who are cheerful and relaxed are less likely to suffer from colds. It’s possible that being full of vim and vigor helps the body fight illnesses, say the researchers from Carnegie Mellon University (CMU) in Pittsburgh.
“We need to take more seriously the possibility that a positive emotional style is a major player in disease risk,” says psychologist Sheldon Cohen, the study’s lead researcher. 
In a previous study, Cohen and his colleagues found that people who tended to be cheerful and lively were least likely to develop sniffles, coughs, and other cold symptoms(癥狀).   
Those findings were interesting, but they didn’t prove that a person’s attitude affects whether he or she gets sick. Instead, it was still probable that a person’s underlying personality is what matters.
Evidence suggests, for instance, that certain people are naturally more likely to be outgoing and optimistic, with high self-respect and a sense of control over life. This would mean that who we are, not how we feel, finally decides our chances of catching colds.
To figure out which mattered more (personality or emotions), the CMU team interviewed 193 healthy adults. The researchers talked to each person over the phone every evening for 2 weeks. They told the researchers about the positive and negative feelings they had experienced that day.
The results showed that everyone in the study was equally likely to get infected. Their symptoms, however, differed depending on the types of emotions that they had reported over the previous 2 weeks.
Among those who reported good moods and had been infected with the flu virus, for example, 28 percent developed coughs and stuffy(堵塞)noses. On the other hand, those symptoms struck 41 percent of people who had been less positive. Scientists argue about whether negative emotions or positive emotions have a stronger effect on how healthy we are. For now, it can’t hurt to look on the bright side more often than not!
小題1:What is the text mainly about?

A．how to get rid of colds	B．Attitude determines life
C．Smiles turn away colds	D．Different opinions about colds

小題2:The word “full of vim and vigor” underlined in Paragraph 1 probably means_______.

A．ignorant

B．well-informed

C．energetic

D．in low spirits

小題3:According to the finding a leading factor of catching colds should be one’s _______.

A．health.

B．personality.

C．quality

D．mood

小題4:By saying the last paragraph, the writer intends to suggest_______.

A．positiveemotionsareasgoodasnegativeemotions

B．itisnotnecessarilygoodforyouifyoualwayslookatproblemspositively

C．itwillbegoodforyourhealthtoalwayskeepupanoptimisticstateofmind

D．thesaying---everycoinhastwosides.

Climate change could affect food supplies, water resources, human health and homes.
If greenhouse gas emissions keep increasing at the current rate, global temperature is expected to rise between 2°C and 6°C by 2100. This doesn’t sound much, but a 5°C change is the difference between the current warm period and an ice age. 
Global warming leads to other changes in the climate: melting ice, more evaporation(蒸發(fā)), changes in geographical patterns of rainfall, heavier downpours separated by longer dry spells, more frequent heat waves, more intense hurricanes, and sea level rise. 
These changes could affect crop growth as drought, increased evaporation and shrinking glaciers（冰川）disrupt water supply. Some crops could suffer heat stress. While there may be benefits in some regions, overall climate change is likely to have a negative impact on global food supplies. The impacts of climate change on agriculture will vary widely around the world. A global temperature rise of 1–2 °C is expected to increase food production in some regions, particularly mid-latitude areas. But in tropical regions even a small amount of warming could reduce crop yields. A temperature rise of 3 °C or more could threaten global food resources, as all regions are likely to experience negative impacts overall.
Freshwater resources could also diminish, especially in tropical regions, as rain patterns change and evaporation speeds up. Some communities could lose essential melt water as glaciers disappear, while more intense rainfall and hurricanes could cause more flooding, leading to water pollution and bacterial diseases such as cholera（霍亂）becoming more widespread. 
Climate change could lead to a variety of health impacts – both positive and negative. On the negative side, scientists anticipate more cases of malnutrition, heatstroke and waterborne diseases such as cholera. Although some populations will benefit from a reduced risk of cold-related illnesses such as hypothermia, overall a warming world is likely to have negative effects on human health.
Scientists also expect damage to homes and buildings from more intense hurricanes, heavier rainfall and rising sea levels. Climate change is likely to affect infrastructure by increasing the risk of both coastal and inland flooding around the world, owing to a combination of heavier rainfall, rising sea levels and increased storm damage. Homes and buildings could also be affected by the thawing of frozen ground and greater risk of forest fires.
The consequences of climate change will have an impact on people around the world.
小題1:With global temperature increased by 1–2 °C, _______.

A．crops yields could be increased in tropical regions

B．food production could rise throughout the world

C．chances are that food resources would be threatened overall

D．mid-latitude areas are likely to experience positive impacts

小題2:The underlined word “hypothermia” in Paragraph 6 possibly means a serious medical condition caused by_______.

A．lower temperature than normal

B．higher temperature than normal

C．more cases of malnutrition

D．cases of waterborne diseases

小題3:According to the passage, climate change has both positive and negative effects on ______.

A．food supplies and buildings

B．freshwater resources and homes

C．human health and food supplies

D．human health and homes

小題4:The passage is mainly meant to tell us _______.

A．how global warming leads to changes in the climate

B．how climate change affects people worldwide

C．why climate change affects our crop growth

D．why climate change contributes to all bad results

Now Hear This
What do former American president Bill Clinton and rock musician Pete Townshend have in common.'? Both men have hearing damage from exposure to loud music, and both now wear hearing aids as a consequence. As a teenager, Clinton played saxophone in a band. Townshend, who has the more severe hearing loss, was a guitarist for a band called the Who. He is one of the first rock musicians to call the public's attention to the problem of hearing loss from exposure to loud music.
Temporary hearing loss can happen after only 15 minutes of listening to loud music. One early warning sign is when your ears begin to feel warm while you listen to music at a rock concert or through headphones. One later is that an unusual sound or a ringing is sometimes produced in your head after the concert.
"What happens is that the hair cells in the inner ear are damaged, but they're not dead," says physician and ear specialist Dr. Sam Levine. According to Dr. Levine, if you avoid further exposure to loud noise, it's possible to recondition the cells somewhat. However, he adds, "Eventually, over a long period of time, hair cells are permanently damaged." And this is no small problem.
What sound level is dangerous? According to Dr. Levine, regular exposure to noise above 85 decibels (分貝) is considered dangerous. The chart below offers a comparison of decibel levels to certain sounds. Here's another measurement you can use. If you're at a rock concert and the music is so loud that you have to shout to make yourself heard, you' re at risk for hearing loss. That's when wearing protective devices such as earplugs becomes critical.
The facts are pretty frightening. But are rock bands turning down the volume.'? Most aren't. "Rock music is supposed to be loud," says drummer Andrew Sather.  "I wouldn't have it any other way. And neither would the real fans of rock. "
Continued exposure to loud music and the failure to wear earplugs can lead to deafness, according to Dr. Levine. He states, "There's no cure for hearing loss. Your ears are trying to tell you something. That ringing is the scream of your hair cells dying. Each time that happens, more and more damage is done. "

Levels of Common Noises Normal conversation                           50 — 65 dB Food blender                                  88 dB Jet plane flying above a person standing outside      103 dB Rock band during a concert                      110 — 140 dB

小題1:From Paragraph 1, we can learn that                   .

A．loud music is a major cause of hearing loss

B．famous people tend to have hearing problems

C．teenagers should stay away from school bands

D．the problem of hearing damage is widely known

小題2:In Paragraph 3, the underlined word "recondition" means                .

A．not to be seen	B．to fill with sound
C．to become larger in size	D．to make good again

小題3:The purpose of the chart at the end of the article is to show                   .

A．a(chǎn) list of harmful sounds

B．the effect of rock concerts

C．the noise levels of familiar sounds

D．relationship between daily activities and hearing loss

小題4:Which of the following statements will Dr. Sam Levine probably agree?

A．When your ears feel warm, your hair cells are dead.

B．Drummer Andrew Sather gives good advice.

C．Many are taking the risk of losing hearing.

D．Doctors know how to cure hearing loss.

The World Health Organization and several other United Nations agencies are calling for a major new effort to fight malaria, tuberculosis and AIDS. These three infectious diseases killed almost 6 million people last year. That is about 10 percent of the total number of deaths around the world last year.
The WHO and UN agencies released a new report at the World Economic Forum in New York City earlier this month. The document says that deaths around the world from malaria and tuberculosis could be cut in half by the year 2010. It also says the number of deaths from AIDS could be reduced 25 percent within that same time period.
The report is called “Calling Up the Response to Infectious Diseases.” It calls for huge new investments in methods to prevent and treat infectious diseases. Officials say money is needed for research and to purchase drugs. Money is also needed to devices to prevent diseases, such as bed nets. Bed nets prevent mosquitoes that carry malaria from biting people while they sleep.
David Heymann, director of the infectious disease program at the World Health Organization, says that providing effective drug treatments is important for improving peoples’ health and economic well – being. Reducing disease can also help improve economic growth in developing countries.
The WHO report also describes successful health programs in developing countries. In Peru, for example, the number of tuberculosis cases was cut in half by increasing the treatment to control the disease. In Vietnam, malaria was reduced 97 percent through the use of bed nets. And in Uganda, cases of the virus that causes AIDS were cut in half among pregnant women and children through the use of anti – AIDS drugs.
This new international health campaign is estimated to cost about 12,000 million dollars a year. So far, officials say the campaign has about 2,000 million dollars. The WHO says the campaign will need stronger relationships among government, private aid agencies, and drug companies to succeed.
小題1:According to the report         is the disease most difficult to fight.

A．malaria

B．tuberculosis

C．AIDS

D．influenza

小題2:To prevent these diseases, a large amount of money is needed to          .

A．to buy food and pay for the caretakers

B．do research work, buy drugs and devices

C．take care of the families of the deaths

D．set up more hospitals and health institutions

小題3:We can infer from the text that reducing infectious diseases is          .

A．to help the countries develop better

B．to promote cooperation between countries

C．to help people get more scientific knowledge

D．to help people get a cleaner environment

小題4:Most serious infectious diseases spread mainly in         .

A．Africa	B．South America
C．Asia	D．developing countries

小題5:To fight the diseases,         is necessary.

A．better environment

B．cooperation between different people

C．to wipe out the pests

D．more drugs and money