The World Health Organization says the widespread use of sugar in food products and drinks is a major concern in many areas. So WHO officials are calling on governments to require taxes on sugary drinks in an effort to limit their usage and popularity. The officials believe the taxes also would reduce the risk of health problems resulting from obesity.
Obesity is a condition in which the body stores large, unhealthy amounts of fat. Obese individuals are considered overweight. A new report says that in 2014 more than one-third of the adults in the world were overweight, and 500 million were considered obese. The United Nations agency estimates that in 2015, 42 million children under age 5 were either overweight or obese. It says that number represents an increase of about 11 million during the past 15 years. Almost half of these boys and girls live in Asia and one-fourth in Africa.
The U.N. agency blames unhealthy diets for a rise in diabetes cases. There are 422 million cases of the disease worldwide. WHO says 1.5 million people die from it every year. It says the use of sugar in food products, like sugary drinks, is a major reason for the increase in rates of obesity and diabetes.
Temo Waqanivalu is with the agency’s Department for the Prevention on Non-Communicable Diseases. He told VOA hat taxing sugary drinks would reduce consumption and save lives. Waganivalu noted that Mexico enacted a 10 percent tax on sugary drinks in 2014. He said by the end of the year, there was a 6 percent drop in the consumption of such drinks. Among poor people, the number of people who consumed sugary drinks dropped by 17 percent.
The WHO says people should limit the amount of sugar they consume. It says they should keep their sugar intake to below 10 percent of their total energy needs, and reduce it to less than 5 percent for improved health.
1.Why are taxes on sugary drinks required?
A. To limit their use and popularity.
B. To readjust the economic structure.
C. To warn people to change their life style.
D. To ensure the market’s diverse development.
2.What do the figures in the second paragraph suggest?
A. Adult obesity is ignored at present.
B. Obesity is a severe worldwide problem.
C. Obesity can block economic development.
D. Obesity is most serious in developed countries.
3.What does the underlined word “enacted” mean in the passage?
A. Abolish B. Pass
C. Promise D. Reduce
4.What does the example of Mexico prove?
A. Tax policies are unfair to the poor.
B. Sugary drinks are a threat to health.
C. The poor consume more sugary drinks.
D. Taxing sugary drinks makes a difference.
难度: 中等查看答案及解析
WELCOME TO THE RONALD REAGAN PRESIDENTIAL LIBRARY AND MUSEUM
Visit the limited-time “Interactive! The Exhibition” at the Ronald Reagan Presidential Library and Museum and save more than 30% on museum admission tickets with an audio tour.
WHEN
Through June. 28, 2017
WHAT’S INCLUDED
$19 (reg. $28)… Admission for one person to the Ronald Reagan Presidential Library and Museum, including “Interactive! The Exhibition” with an audio tour. Please note: the virtual reality(虚拟现实)experience will be an additional cost and participants must be 10 years old or above.
WHY WE LOVE IT
●The exhibition is a hands-on experience focusing on movies, TV, music and the arts.
●Experience virtual reality, 1980s video games, robots, 3D printing.
●Climb aboard Air Force One, view the expensive comfortable presidential car and a Marine One helicopter.
●Explore Reagan’s legacy(遗产): Step into an Oval Office copy and see a piece of the Berlin wall.
●The audio tour has more than 50 stops and original material not copied in the exhibits
WHAT YOU NEED TO KNOW
This is a season-specific event. All sales are final. No refunds(退款)or exchanges. Not valid after the expiration date. Valid any regular museum operating day through June. 28, 2017. Museum hours are 10 a.m.—5 p.m., seven days a week. Valid for one person. Cannot combine with other offers. Must use in one visit. Tickets include admission to “Interactive! The Exhibition” and the entire museum’s galleries and grounds.
1.What can visitors do while visiting the library and museum?
A. Fly on Air Force One.
B. Experience virtual reality for free.
C. Approach technology of different times.
D. Learn about the president’s daily routine.
2.What does the author say about the admission ticket?
A. It can be enjoyed with other offers.
B. It allows limitless visits to the museum.
C. It isn’t accessible to children.
D. It cannot be changed once sold.
3.What type of writing is this passage?
A. A notice.
B. An official report.
C. An advertisement.
D. A tour review.
难度: 中等查看答案及解析
I have received many Christmas gifts over the years. The best gift I ever received was presented to me by a stranger. I never even knew his name and I only had contact with him for less than 60 seconds. His Christmas present to me changed the way I think about people and about Christmas.
I hate Black Friday sales. It’s often a gathering of people who are there for many different reasons. Some are looking for a deal on that one item for their loved one, or perhaps themselves. Their purposes completely have nothing to do with the festive time of year, and can just be summed up with one word, “Cheap!”
It was several years ago when my wife asked me to meet her at the local department store on Black Friday morning. They had advertised a child’s bike that she wanted to purchase for our son. We stood with a very large crowd, waiting for the manager to blow the whistle(口哨). I told my wife that if we got a bike, fine, but if we did not, I was OK with that too.
As the number of bikes began to gradually decrease, I saw my “polite” opportunity to reach my hands around the corner of one of the boxes. I lifted it and suddenly felt some mild resistance(阻力). I looked up to see one of the largest gentlemen I had ever seen in my life. Frightening was not the word to describe his appearance. He was wearing lots of straps of metal spiked leather(带有柳钉的皮带) around both arms and even his neck. Still, tattoos(纹身) were an obvious love of his.
I started to return the box but he gently pushed it back in my direction and back into my hands. He then directed it into my shopping cart. He looked at me, smiled, and said, “Merry Christmas.” All the way home I was thinking that this moment was by far the best Christmas gift I had ever received. The kindness of a stranger that broke all prejudice(偏见) I may have had of certain types of people. The softness of a human heart can be seen in a simple act. I will never forget it.
1.What may be the best title of the passage?
A. The Best Christmas Gift.
B. A Child’s Bike.
C. Black Friday Sales.
D. A Handsome Stranger.
2.Why do many people go to Black Friday sales?
A. Because they can make money.
B. Because they hope to find a bargain.
C. Because it’s a way to celebrate Christmas.
D. Because it’s a place to get things free of charge.
3.What does the underlined word “purchase” mean in Paragraph 3?
A. devote
B. solve
C. buy
D. save
4.What can we learn from the passage?
A. All roads lead to Rome.
B. It’s never too old to study.
C. You cannot clap with one hand.
D. Men cannot be judged by their appearances
难度: 中等查看答案及解析
This is a time of year when high school students and their families are thinking hard about college. As seniors，juniors，and parents identify their top choices，discussions typically focus on the college itself. Is the institution small or large? How strong are the academics？What is the social life like? Do I like the campus? Such considerations are important, but they can cover the all-important question：Where will these college years lead?
Applicants should think seriously about which college on their list can best prepare them for the real world. They should look for campuses that offer well-structured programs to help them form a direction for their lives and develop the capacity to take steps along that path.
One of the most striking recent phenomena about college graduates in America has been the “boomerang” student: the young person who goes away to college, has a great experience, graduates, and then moves back home for a year or two to figure out what to do with his or her life. This pattern has left many graduates – and their families – wondering whether it makes sense to spend four or more years at college, often at great expense, and finish with no clear sense of who they are or what they want to do next.
The trend points to one of the great shortcomings of many of our nation’s leading colleges and universities. Structured opportunities to think about life after graduation are rare. The formal curriculum focuses almost universally on the academic disciplines of the arts and sciences. Advising on how various majors connect to pathways into the workplace is typically haphazard (没有条理的). Career planning offices are often shorthanded and marginal (不重要的) to college life.
It doesn’t need to be this way, and in recent years some of the country’s top colleges have enriched their academic offerings with opportunities for students to gain real-world experiences.
1.According to the author, what do typical discussions on college choices ignore?
A. The function of college education in employment.
B. The difficulty in finding jobs after graduation.
C. High school students’ interests.
D. The academics of college.
2.Which accounts for the “trend” mentioned in the text?
A. Students failing to behave themselves.
B. Parents overprotecting their children.
C. Students choosing majors blindly.
D. Schools lacking proper guidance.
3.What will be probably discussed in the following paragraph?
A. Recipes for academic achievements.
B. Good academic programs in college.
C. Academic tips for college students.
D. Disadvantages of present college course.
4.What is the best title for the text?
A. A good way to choose a college.
B. A new trend in top colleges.
C. Connect subjects with life beyond college.
D. Make college one of life’s richest experiences.
难度: 中等查看答案及解析
If you’re in your 20s or even 30s, you might feel a lot of uncertainty all the time. You may be not sure what your life purpose is.1.This is normal.
We all want to have a certain life purpose. We all want to feel we’re on the right path. We all want to perfect our habits, our routines, or our productivity. We all want to feel more certain, and perfect in what we’re doing.
There is a struggle between the comfort of certainty and perfection and the fear of uncertainty and being suboptimal(不最理想的).
Let me let you in on a secret: no one is free from this struggle. Look at the most successful people you can think of —Bill Gates, Obama, Taylor Swift. 2.Do you think they have certainty and a feeling of reaching perfection? Not a chance. There is not one of us alive, not me or anyone else, who ever feels certainty about their purpose or path. If they do, they’re fooling themselves. 3.
No one ever feels they’ve found the perfect productivity routine, the perfect version of themselves. 4.
We all feel uncertainty, all day, and we all struggle with it. Some people have grown more comfortable with it than others, but in general no one likes uncertainty.
5.That’s perfectly OK, perfectly normal. Don’t run from it. Instead, stay with this uncomfortable, unappealing uncertainty. It’s here in you, a part of this moment, a part of you but not the whole of you.
A.Because it doesn’t exist.
B.Do you think they have it all figured out?
C.This uncertainty you’re feeling is unpleasant.
D.But if they’re honest, they don’t feel that certainty.
E.See if you can tell what you’re being uncertain about.
F.So focus on what you actually have right in front of you.
G.You may be uncertain about what path you should take in life.
难度: 中等查看答案及解析
Our family’s first hosting experience began in January of 2015 with our Italian daughter Victoria. We had so much fun with her that we could not___________to experience a new, different country, so we__________to host another World Heritage Exchange Student.
As soon as we saw Merna’s information, we knew she was_________,a YES Scholarship student, and Egyptian. We began to fall in love with our Egyptain__________right away. We Skyped, and emailed for five months________she arrived in the US. When she__________got off the plane, it was as if we were finally a(n)________family again.
My husband and I grew up believing that other cultures_______us, and hosting a foreign Exchange Student just seems so_________for us. We felt it would be a__________experience for our children to grow up seeing other cultures and learning to love others as a(n)_________. Our small children are enjoying the experience vastly, learning a new language________, and realizing that the other side of the world is not all that________our country.
Merna is small, loving, helpful, charming, caring and a real__________to our lives. She has ________us all so much. We cannot__________our lives without our Italian and Egyptain daughters. We do plan to travel to________countries because of them, and we will be sending our children as exchange students to live with our new_________families.
I want to thank World Heritage for_________a chance for our family to grow from four children to six children all in one year. We are all excited at this experience of a lifetime and will forever________it.
1.A. help B. choose C. wait D. intend
2.A. applied B. afforded C. managed D. remembered
3.A. brilliant B. ambitious C. cute D. loyal
4.A. friend B. student C. daughter D. relative
5.A. once B. after C. since D. before
6.A. even B. already C. just D. ever
7.A. big B. foreign C. free D. whole
8.A. appeal to B. stick to C. belong to D. take to
9.A. common B. natural C. apparent D. simple
10.A. normal B. personal C. promising D. rewarding
11.A. companion B. reminder C. equal D. individual
12.A. little by little B. few by few C. one by one D. side by side
13.A. amongst B. unlike C. opposite D. about
14.A. guest B. heroine C. believer D. blessing
15.A. offered B. warned C. taught D. left
16.A. live B. enjoy C. imagine D. continue
17.A. other B. another C. all D. both
18.A. extended B. increased C. formed D. loved
19.A. having B. providing C. getting D. allowing
20.A. conduct B. appreciate C. desire D. adore
难度: 中等查看答案及解析
My online friend Steve 1.(frequent) comments on how fathers are often not included in the conversation when 2.Comes to parenting. When someone posts an article about how moms spend a large amount of time 3.(help) with homework each night, he will comment that it isn’t just moms 4. are right there with their sleeves 5.(roll) up; fathers are doing all the same things that moms do. However, they 6.(award) none of the credit for their performance.
Of course he is right. Steve and millions 7. Other dads are there with their kids every day. They are there making a special hairstyle for Crazy Hair Day. They read bedtime stories to their kids. They volunteer at the preschool. They make sandwiches cut into funny 8.(shape).
So for Steve and those dads who do the dirty work of parenting and love it as well as those who can’t to see little faces each morning, we wish you 9.Happy Father’s Day. You are awesome. Your little kid and your wife are 10.(fortune) to have you. Enjoy your time on this special day!
难度: 中等查看答案及解析
假定英语课上老师要求同桌之间交换修改作文，请你修改你同桌写的以下作文。文中共有10处语言错误，每句中最多有两处。每处错误仅涉及一个单词的增加、删除或修改。
增加：在缺词处加一个漏字符号（∧），并在其下面写出该加的词。
删除：把多余的词用斜线（＼）划掉。
修改：在错的词下划一横线，并在该词下面写出修改后的词。
注意：1.每处错误及其修改均限一词;
2.只允许修改10处，多者（从第11处起）不计分。
During the holiday I take part in a special summer camp. There I met a girl from Canvey, a town on the Thames, where is to the east of London. As a host, I showed him around such place as the Great Wall and the Summer Palace. She was deeply impressing by the great sights. I also told her about the great changes that had been taken place in the past few decades. She said Beijing was quite different from that she had expected and that it was very beautifully. Meanwhile, I improved my spoken English in her help. I think summer camp is very valuable.
难度: 中等查看答案及解析
假设你是某国际学校的学生李华，你校学生会拟在报告厅一楼组织一次中文书法展（a calligraphy exhibition），请你按照以下提示写一则书面通知鼓励学生踊跃交作品。
举办的目的及地点；
参赛作品要求；
参赛奖励。
注意：
1. 词数100左右；
2. 可以适当增加细节，以使行文连贯；
格式已给出：
Notice
_________________________________________________________________________________
The Student Union
May 28, 2017
难度: 中等查看答案及解析