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School Rules
Erika, Japan
As students, we should wear our school uniforms every day. We are not allowed to change the color of our hair. Our school tells us that we may not date, go to movies, leave home after the sunset or play video games without permission (允许) from school. In class we must listen to the teacher carefully. In our free time, we are not allowed to take part-time jobs.
Jacky, Australia
Every student has the right to be safe and happy at school. Wear the correct uniform and show respect to yourself and the school. Don't fight with others at school. Smoking is not allowed for your own sake (利益) and that of others. Don't use mobile phones or other electronic devices in class. Don't trouble with the learning of the other students.
Bill, USA
We have to wear school uniforms. Food, drinks or snacks shouldn't be taken into the classroom. We are supposed to keep quiet on the school bus. In America, we can have part-time jobs in our free time. Gum chewing (口香糖) at school is not allowed, as it is difficult to clean up. And if we chew gum in class, we may not pay more attention to our study.
Mary, China
Here are some of our school rules. We shouldn't be late for school. We have to wear school uniforms every day, and I think it is good for us because uniforms can make us look smart. We can't talk loudly in class or run in the hallways during break. We are not allowed to use mobile phones at school. We mustn't smoke because it's bad for our health.
1.According to the rules, video games can't be played freely in ________.
A.China B.Japan C.Australia D.the USA
2.Which of the following is allowed in American school rules?
A.Taking part-time jobs. B.Taking snacks into classroom.
C.Chewing gum in class. D.Talking loudly on the school bus.
3.Mary thinks school uniforms can make students look ________.
A.cool B.simple C.smart D.friendly
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Travel in the Future
These days, if you want to travel from New York to Beijing, the flight takes about 16 hours. You also have to wait at the airport, and sometimes you have to transfer (换乘) onto a different airplane. If you add all of that extra time, the trip takes at least 20 hours. But in the future, the trip from New York to Beijing might only take two hours.
Right now, a company is developing something called ET3, which stands for "evacuated tube (真空管) transport technology". Here's how it works. A tube goes all the way from New York to Beijing. The tube is only a few meters wide. Capsules (舱) move through the tube. Six people can sit in one capsule. The capsules use electricity instead of oil. For international travel, the capsules can travel at about 6,500 kilometers per hour. That's much faster than airplanes—most modern airplanes usually only fly at about 800 kilometers per hour.
So how is this possible? How can these capsules travel so fast? The answer is that there is no air inside the tube. When airplanes fly, they have to move through air. The air slows the airplanes down. Because there isn't any air in the ET3 tubes, the capsules are able to move at a very high speed. Also, the capsules are quite light. Each only weighs 183 kilograms.
There are other advantages to ET3. Because it uses electricity, it's quite clean. Also, it's a lot quieter than airplanes and cars. Finally, ET3 tubes and capsules don't require very much building materials.
Of course, ET3 doesn't come into use yet. The technology is still being developed. Developers still have to solve a lot of problems. The biggest problem is that right now ET3 would be far too expensive. In order to make ET3 cheaper, we will need much better technology.
It's exciting to think of how ET3 will change the travel in the future. Who knows? Maybe someday you'll be able to have lunch in New York and dinner in Beijing.
1.According to the passage, an ET3 looks more like a ________.
A.spaceship B.bus C.plane D.subway train
2.ET3 travels at the very high speed because _________.
A.it is powered by electricity and oil B.it is much lighter than an airplane
C.it moves through a tube without air D.it is made up of fewer capsules
3.From the passage, the writer expects that ________.
A.modern technology will be used in airplanes B.ET3 will take the place of airplanes some day
C.less money will be spent for passengers on ET3 D.ET3 will change the travel in the future greatly
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At present, we can use computers or smart phones to text messages to the friends around the world. We can buy fruit from Brazil or see movies made in India on the websites. But how can we get to know and understand people who are living in different countries better?
As we all know, it is beneficial for teenagers to have more knowledge and understand the world better. We must remember that they are the decision-makers of the future. To shape the world in the interests of all, we should help them to act as responsible global citizens (公民). So it is important for them to learn more about how other people live in different parts of the world. By doing this, they can find out what problems they have in their communities and decide how they can help each other better.
A charity (慈善) group in the UK started a project for Africa in February, 2004. The aim of the project was to take a fresh look at Africa's past and present and the international community's role in its development. Lots of British students took part in the project. Students from 25 UK schools connected with students from 25 African schools to discuss the African Continent (非洲) and its culture on the Internet. Some students from the poor areas in Africa were taken to the places that had computers, so they could take part in the project. Students used their computers to work on the Internet and send emails. They could even design their own web pages with pictures, sounds and videos. Together the teenagers built a website which went live in June, 2005. Through the project teenagers were encouraged to study the different cultures of Africa as well as some of the problems facing young people in Africa.
Now, more and more projects have been started since then all around the world. Teenagers from schools in different countries are still trying to make connections and find out more about each other. Let's hope these projects help teenagers understand more about the lives of others on the other side of the world.
1.According to the passage, teenagers are encouraged to ________.
A.use computers as often as possible in their free time
B.have more knowledge and understand the world better
C.go abroad and learn different cultures of other countries
D.offer their second-hand computers to African students
2.What does the writer mainly tell us according to the passage?
A.How the projects have developed around the world.
B.What all the students have achieved from the projects.
C.Why British schools took part in the project so early.
D.Who helped the charity group to set up the project.
3.Which of the following would be the best title for the passage?
A.Teenagers' Projects in African Schools B.Websites Designed by African Teenagers
C.Language Systems All over the World D.Teenagers' International Community
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Sleep and Weight
A couple of groups of researchers have found the reason why people are getting fatter. Researchers from the University of Chicago recruited (征募) 12 young men who came to their sleep lab on four different nights. Two nights, the men slept only four hours. The other two nights, they slept ten hours. Researchers Van Carter headed the study.
"After two nights of either short sleep or long sleep, we checked in their blood every 20 minutes or 30 minutes the levels of the hormone stimulating appetite (刺激食欲)."
They also checked the hormone that signals the brain when you're full. They found that when the men slept 10 hours, they woke up with normal levels of hormone and normal appetite. But when they slept only four hours, they had higher levels of hormone that stimulates appetite and lower levels of the hormone that signals fullness.
"Yeah, our study suggests that short sleep does modify the hormone that controls appetite in such a way that one is hungrier."
And not only were the men hungry, but also what they wanted to eat wasn't nutritious (有营养的).
"The foods that they preferred were candy, cookies, cake, ice cream, potato chips, pretzels, bread, pasta, rice, all high carbohydrate (碳水化合物) food."
Another study came to similar results. Researchers at Stanford University analyzed (分析) data from over 1, 000 volunteers who answered questions about sleep habits and also had their hormone levels measured. Psychiatrist (精神病专家) Emmmanuel Meno saw the same increase in the hormone stimulating appetite, and the same decrease (降低) in hormone that signals fullness.
"What's interesting about it is that it's counter-intuitive (反直觉的), because most people would say, 'Oh, yes. If you sleep a lot, you are lazy and you're going to be overweight.' and actually that's not what we observe (观察)."
Over the past forty years, American adults have cut down their average sleep time. They slept about eight and a half hours. Today, it's down to seven or less. Meno says Americans might want to reconsider (重新考虑) the amount of time they sleep.
"Now I think what we are finding is that it's important to sleep the right amount, and healthy sleep is as important as exercise and nutrition. I think, indeed, people who are overweight should sleep a little more. But if they treat better their sleep, it may help them to lose weight."
1.According to the passage, the researchers find that ________.
A.it's easier to get overweight if we don't have enough sleep
B.our emotions make great influence on the quality of sleep
C.we will lose weight more easily if we often stay up late
D.taking enough exercise will make us keep good shapes
2.According to the researches, short sleepers usually seem to ________.
A.have a pale face and feel very tired the next morning
B.feel a little hungry and have something to eat eagerly
C.have no sense of sleep and keep awake all the night
D.have high blood pressure and result as a bad headache
3.What does the underlined word "modify" mean in the passage?
A.provide B.prevent C.change D.improve
4.What can we infer from the passage?
A.Most of the Americans will insist on increasing their sleeping time.
B.Overweight people will control their food instead of taking exercise.
C.It's necessary to check the levels of hormone in our blood every day.
D.Americans are facing the problem of getting overweight at present.
