British researchers have found that children’s IQ predicts their probability of becoming vegetarians (素食者) as young adults.
Recent studies suggest that vegetarianism may be associated with lower cholesterol (胆固醇), reduced risk of overweight and heart disease.
“We know from other studies that brighter children tend to behave in a healthier fashion as adults—they’re less likely to smoke, less likely to be overweight，less likely to have high blood pressure and more likely to take exercise.” lead author Catharine Gale said, “This study provides further evidence that people with a high IQ tend to have a healthier lifestyle.”
In the study, Gale’s team collected data on nearly 8,200 men and women aged 30, whose IQ had been tested when they were 10 years of age.
“Children who scored higher on IQ tests at age 10 were more likely than those who got lower scores to report that they were vegetarian at the age of 30.”Gale said.
The researchers found that 4.5 percent of participants were vegetarians. Of these, 2.5 percent were vegan, and 33.6 percent said they were vegetarian but also ate fish or chicken.
There was no difference in IQ score between strict vegetarians and those who said they were vegetarian but also ate fish or chicken，the researchers added.
One expert said the findings weren’t the whole answer，however.
“We don’t know the beliefs or attitudes of the parents of the children，nor do we know if there was a particular event that led these children to becoming vegetarian in their teens or adulthood.” said Lona Sandon, and assistant professor at the University of Texas Southwestern Medical Center at Dallas.
1.From the article，we know that ________.
A．brighter children are likely to become vegetarians when they are ten.
B．people with a higher IQ will not be overweight
C．brighter children are likely to have a healthier lifestyle
D．overweight may cause high blood pressure
2.What does the underlined word “vegan” in the sixth paragraph mean?
A．Someone who only eats vegetables.
B．Someone who chooses not to eat meat or fish.
C．Someone who likes eating meat and fish.
D．Someone who likes eating vegetables.
3.This study left some unanswered questions EXCEPT “________”．
A．Did the vegetarian children grow up in a family with a vegetarian parent?
B．Did the children eat a primarily vegetarian diet at the age of 10?
C．Were meatless meals regularly served in the participants’ families?
D．Did the vegetarian children really have a high IQ?
4.The main idea of the passage is that ________.
A．the low IQ children will be unhealthier when they grow up
B．being vegetarians can reduce the risk of overweight and heart disease
C．IQ is important to vegetarians
D．high IQ children are more likely to become vegetarian when they grow up
高二英语阅读理解中等难度题
British researchers have found that children’s IQ predicts their probability of becoming vegetarians (素食者) as young adults.
Recent studies suggest that vegetarianism may be associated with lower cholesterol (胆固醇), reduced risk of overweight and heart disease.
“We know from other studies that brighter children tend to behave in a healthier fashion as adults—they’re less likely to smoke, less likely to be overweight，less likely to have high blood pressure and more likely to take exercise.” lead author Catharine Gale said, “This study provides further evidence that people with a high IQ tend to have a healthier lifestyle.”
In the study, Gale’s team collected data on nearly 8,200 men and women aged 30, whose IQ had been tested when they were 10 years of age.
“Children who scored higher on IQ tests at age 10 were more likely than those who got lower scores to report that they were vegetarian at the age of 30.”Gale said.
The researchers found that 4.5 percent of participants were vegetarians. Of these, 2.5 percent were vegan, and 33.6 percent said they were vegetarian but also ate fish or chicken.
There was no difference in IQ score between strict vegetarians and those who said they were vegetarian but also ate fish or chicken，the researchers added.
One expert said the findings weren’t the whole answer，however.
“We don’t know the beliefs or attitudes of the parents of the children，nor do we know if there was a particular event that led these children to becoming vegetarian in their teens or adulthood.” said Lona Sandon, and assistant professor at the University of Texas Southwestern Medical Center at Dallas.
1.From the article，we know that ________.
A．brighter children are likely to become vegetarians when they are ten.
B．people with a higher IQ will not be overweight
C．brighter children are likely to have a healthier lifestyle
D．overweight may cause high blood pressure
2.What does the underlined word “vegan” in the sixth paragraph mean?
A．Someone who only eats vegetables.
B．Someone who chooses not to eat meat or fish.
C．Someone who likes eating meat and fish.
D．Someone who likes eating vegetables.
3.This study left some unanswered questions EXCEPT “________”．
A．Did the vegetarian children grow up in a family with a vegetarian parent?
B．Did the children eat a primarily vegetarian diet at the age of 10?
C．Were meatless meals regularly served in the participants’ families?
D．Did the vegetarian children really have a high IQ?
4.The main idea of the passage is that ________.
A．the low IQ children will be unhealthier when they grow up
B．being vegetarians can reduce the risk of overweight and heart disease
C．IQ is important to vegetarians
D．high IQ children are more likely to become vegetarian when they grow up
高二英语阅读理解中等难度题查看答案及解析
Dogs are man’s best friends---they are very good for children’s health. Researchers found that family pets helped to protect babies against breathing problems and infections (感染).
A team from Kuopio University Hospital in Finland studied 397 babies born at their hospital between September 2012 and May 2015 for their first year. They found that babies who lived with a dog or a cat spent fewer weeks with ear infections, coughs or runny noses. They were also less likely to need antibiotics (抗生素) than babies in homes without a pet.
Study author, Dr. Eija Bergroth, said dogs brought dirt and bacteria (细菌) into the home, which helped children’s immune system (免疫系统) to be strong. This improved their defenses against bacteria.
As part of the study, parents filled out weekly diaries starting when the children were nine weeks old, recording information on babies’ health as well as their contact with cats and dogs. They recorded if they had fever, ear infections, coughs or running noses. They also put down whether they needed antibiotics.
Based on those diaries, the researchers found that about a third of the children spent most of their first year with a pet dog and 24 percent in a home with a cat. And children with no dog contact at home were healthy for 65 percent of the time, compared to between 72 and 76 percent for those who did have a pet.
The researchers also found that contact with dogs, more than cats, was tied to fewer weeks of sickness for babies.
However, the researchers said they couldn’t rule out the possibility that people who own dogs are less likely to get sick for another reason, not due to any protection offered by pets.
1.The researchers studied each child’s life ____.
A. for a year
B. for three years
C. for four years
D. all through childhood
2.How are dogs able to benefit children?
A. By fighting bacteria.
B. By stopping them from going out.
C. By strengthening their immune system.
D. By producing the antibiotics they need.
3.What do the underlined words, “rule out”, in the last paragraph probably mean?
A. Determine. B. Separate.
C. Control. D. Ignore.
4.We can learn from the text that ___.
A. dogs are very friendly towards people.
B. dogs are better for babies’ health than cats.
C. dogs have the most benefits for man.
D. dogs are free from antibiotics.
高二英语阅读理解中等难度题查看答案及解析
American and British researchers have proved that judgments based on how someone looks are important. They found that appearance tells a lot about your personality.
The researchers included Laura Naumann of Sonoma State University in California, and Simine Vazire of Washington University in Saint Louis, Missouri. They were joined by Sam Gosling of the University of Texas at Austin and Peter J. Rentfrow of Britain's Cambridge University. The results of their study were published in the Personality and Social Psychology Bulletin in December, 2009.
The subjects（接受实验者）were asked to judge the personality of people they had never met. The judges examined pictures of one hundred twenty-three people. The people in the photographs had been told how to stand. They looked into the cameras without showing their feelings. The same people also were photographed the way they themselves wanted to stand. Those who wanted to smile could smile.
Then the judges attempted to decide what the people were like. The researchers compared the judges’ opinions with the way the people who were photographed thought of themselves. Three people who knew those in the photographs well also provided information about their personality and behavior.
The judges looked for ten qualities in the people in the pictures. The qualities included extroversion (having a confident character and enjoying the company of other people) and self-esteem (being satisfied with oneself).
The judges also looked for signs of loneliness, conscientiousness（正义）, emotional control and religious and political beliefs.
The researchers said the judges could identify some personalities even when people were pictured in controlled positions. They could recognize personalities like extroversion and self-esteem. But it was hard for the judges to decide about most other personalities under the controlled conditions.
When the people smiled and stood naturally, however, judging their personalities was easy. Then the judges’ choices were correct for nine of the ten personalities.
Researcher Laura Nauman said that we live in the world where first impressions are important.
1. According to the passage, who were the judges?
A. The researchers of the study. B. The subjects in the study.
C. Parents and other adults. D. People in the photographs.
2. Which of the following qualities could the judges identify even when people were pictured in controlled positions?
A. Extroversion B. Religious beliefs C. Loneliness D. Emotional control
3. We can infer from the passage that ____________
A. the study was carried out by four researchers from America.
B. in the study126 people were photographed for judges to decide their personalities.
C. the Personality and Social Psychology Bulletin is an official publication（出版物）.
D. it was hard to recognize personalities when the people were pictured with natural looks.
4. What will the author most probably talk about next?
A. The quality of the judges. B. The personalities of Laura Nauman.
C. Signs of emotional control. D. The reason why one’s appearance is important.
高二英语阅读理解简单题查看答案及解析
How much weight a baby gains during its first month could determine its IQ, new research found. The study found that children who gain more weight, and whose heads grow quickly during the first month of life, tend to have a higher IQ when they start school.
Researchers at the University of Adelaide, in Australia studied 13, 800 children who were born at full-term. They found that those who put on 40% of their birth weight in the first four weeks had an IQ 1.5 points higher than those who only put on 15% of their birth weight. Those who experienced the biggest growth in head circumference(头围) also had the highest IQs by the age of six.
"Head circumference is an indicator of brain volume, so a greater increase in head circumference in a newly-born baby suggests more rapid brain growth, "says the author of the study, Dr. Lisa Smithers. She added, "Overall, newly-born children who grew faster in the first four weeks had higher IQ scores later in life. Those children who gained the most weight scored especially high on the verbal IQ at age 6. This may be because neural (神经的) structures for the verbal IQ develop earlier in life, which means the rapid weight gain during the first month could be having a direct cognitive benefit for the children."
Previous studies have shown the association between early postnatal (产后的) diet and the IQ, but this is the first study of its kind to focus on the IQ benefits of rapid weight gain in the first month of life. Dr. Lisa Smithers says the study further highlights the need for successful feeding of newly-born babies." We know that many mothers have difficulty establishing breastfeeding in the first week of their babies' life,” Dr. Lisa Smithers said.
"The findings of our study suggest that if babies are having feeding problems, there needs to be early intervention(干预) in the management of that feeding."
1.How did the researchers get their conclusion from the study?
A. By asking questions B. By making comparison
C. By having a discussion D. By referring to documents
2.According to Dr. Lisa Smithers, we can learn that___.
A. a kid's verbal IQ scores reach its highest at age six
B. this study helps parents find feeding problems
C. quick weight gain benefits newly-born babies on the verbal IQ
D. this study reminds parents of the need for breastfeeding
3.The study differs from previous ones that ___.
A. it associates early postnatal diet with the IQ
B. it pays attention to the IQ of newly-born babies
C. it emphasizes the significance of successful feeding
D. it first focuses on the relation between the IQ and weight gain in the first month of life
高二英语阅读理解中等难度题查看答案及解析
Researchers have found more evidence that suggests a relationship between races (种族) and rates (率) of lung cancer among smokers. A new study shows that black people and Native Hawaiians are more likely to develop lung cancer from smoking. It compared their risk to whites, Japanese-Americans and Latinos.
Researchers at the University of Southern California and the University of Hawaii did the new study. The New England Journal of Medicine published the findings. The eight-year research studied more than 180,000 people. They included present and former smokers and people who never smoked. Almost 2.000 people in the study developed lung cancer.
Researchers say genetics (遗传学) might help explain the racial and ethnic（种族的） differences. There could be differences in how people's bodies react to smoke. But environmental influences, including the way people smoke, could also make a difference.
African-Americans and Latinos in the study are reported smoking the fewest cigarettes per day. Whites are the heaviest smokers. But the scientists point out that blacks have been reported to breathe cigarette smoke more deeply than white smokers. This could fill their lungs with more of the chemicals in tobacco that cause cancer.
Scientists know that some diseases effect different groups differently. And some drug companies have begun to develop racially targeted (针对) medicines. Last June, the United States Food and Drug Administration approved a drug designed to treat heart failure in black patients. The name is BiDil. The agency called it "a step toward the promise of personalized medicine."
1.Researchers agree that it is________that may probably determine black people’s risk of lung cancer.
A．the larger amount of smoking than white people
B．the living style or habit of the blacks
C．the depth of cigarette smoke into their lungs
D．the physical strength to react to cigarette smoke
2.People in the new study are made up of________.
A．heavy smokers in America B．smokers and non-smokers
C．the Asians and Hawaiians D．the black and white people
3.The production of BiDil referred to in the last paragraph is to________.
A．explain different races react to some diseases differently
B．tell the readers that racial differences exist in smokers
C．show a big step people have taken in the medicine area
D．support the idea that it is easy for blacks to have cancers
4.Which of the following statements is TRUE according to the author?
A．The way of smoking may increase the risk of lung cancer.
B．Race has nothing to do with the risk of having a lung cancer.
C．The research was started by the New England Journal of Medicine.
D．he risk of lung cancer lies I how much a person smokes.
高二英语阅读理解中等难度题查看答案及解析
Researchers have found more evidence that suggests a relationship between races and rates of lung cancer among smokers. A new study shows that black people and Native Hawaiians are more likely to develop lung cancer from smoking. It compared their risk to whites, Japanese-Americans and Latinos.
Researchers at the University of Southern California and the University of Hawaii did the new study. The New England Journal of Medicine published the findings. The eight-year research studied more than 180,000 people. They included present and former smokers and people who never smoked. Almost 2,000 people in the study developed lung cancer.
Researchers say genetics might help explain the racial and ethnic differences. There could be differences in how people's bodies react to smoke. But environmental influences, including the way people smoke, could also make a difference.
African-Americans and Latinos in the study are reported smoking the fewest cigarettes per day. Whites are the heaviest smokers. But the scientists point out that blacks have been reported to breathe cigarette smoke more deeply than white smokers. This could fill their lungs with more of the chemicals in tobacco that cause cancer.
Scientists know that some diseases effect different groups differently. And some drug companies have begun to develop racially targeted medicines. Last June, the United States Food and Drug Administration approved a drug designed to treat heart failure in black patients. The name is BiDil. The agency called it "a step toward the promise of personalized medicine."
1.Which of the following orders is from higher to lower risk of having lung cancer?
A．Whites—Native Hawaiians
B．Africans—Americans—Latinos
C．Asians—Native Hawaiians
D．Africans—Americans—Native Hawaiians
2.Researchers agree that it is _____ that may probably determine black people’s risk of lung cancer.
A．the larger amount of smoking than white people
B．the living style or habit of the blacks
C．the depth of cigarette smoke into their lungs
D．the physical strength to react to cigarette smoke
3.People in the new study are made up of _____.
A．heavy smokers in America B．the black and white people
C．the Asians and Hawaiians D．smokers and non-smokers
4.The production of BiDil referred to in the last paragraph is to _____.
A．explain different races react to some diseases differently
B．tell the readers that racial differences exist in smokers
C．show a big step people have taken in the medicine area
D．support the idea that it is easy for blacks to have cancers
高二英语阅读理解困难题查看答案及解析
The British aren’t having as many children as they used to. One reason is that people are having children much older than before, meaning they have fewer years in which they can have them. After years at university, they need a few years of work experience before they can get the job they want. They might then get married, but it’s incredibly expensive to buy a house in the UK.
The above explains why young British people now don’t move out of their parents’ home until they are around 30 years old on average. It is not until they are 30 that they can afford their own home. Increasingly, it is not until that age that they can afford to get married and start a new life in a new home. It’s only after this age that many young people start thinking about having a child.
So a British person manages to get a job, get a home and get married. Why isn’t he or she then having at least two children on average? The main reason is that it is quite expensive to bring up a child in the UK. Why is it expensive? Well, these days, both parents need to work just to pay for their home and living expenses. Because both parents are at work, that means they then need to pay someone to look after their child during the day. Paying for this childcare is nearly always expensive.
The recent financial crisis is making things even harder for families, since unemployment is rising and even fewer people can afford to have children. With so much pressure on families, is it any surprise that the divorce rate is so high?
So what is Britain doing to try and save the British family? The government is trying to make it cheaper to have children. For example, there have been increases in money families can claim from the state each month. Also, there are increasing government subsidies for nursery schools, so that parents do not need to pay so much for child care.
The government is also trying to reduce the number of hours British parents have to work to earn enough money to pay their bills. If parents didn’t have to work so many hours, they’d have more time to spend with their children and wouldn’t need to spend so much on childcare. On average, a Briton works 49 hours a week, which is the most in Europe. The state is now considering introducing laws to encourage companies to improve their employees’ work-life balance. Let’s hope they’re not too late to save the British family. Otherwise, the British will always be too tired, and won’t have enough time and money, to have children.
1.Young British people live in their parents’ home until around 30 because ________.
A．They are allowed to get married at 30
B．they can’t find jobs to support themselves
C．they can’t afford a house of their own until then
D．they enjoy family life with their parents
2.The British are now having fewer children than before for all the following reasons EXCEPT that ________.
A．they have fewer years to have children
B．they live much shorter lives than before
C．it is more expensive to bring up a child
D．people are losing their jobs because of the recent financial crisis
3.To make it cheaper to have children, the British government is ________.
A．bringing down prices
B．raising the salaries of parents
C．reducing family income tax
D．increasing subsidies for families and nursery schools
4.It can be inferred from the text that ________.
A．with long work hours, it is hard for British parents to balance life and work
B．more and more families in Britain are breaking up because they are having fewer children
C．among Europeans, British people work hardest and earn the least
D．childcare takes up too much energy and time for the British
5.The underlined word “subsidies” in Paragraph 5 means _________.
A．food paid by the government
B．school buildings for poor students
C．free transportation
D．money from the government to benefit the public
高二英语阅读理解简单题查看答案及解析
New research has found that animals have memories, too — , they might be much cleverer than we thought.
A. in other words B. above all
C. in many ways D. all in all
高二英语单项填空中等难度题查看答案及解析
An international team of researchers from the University of Oxford have found that the way people use the Internet is closely tied to the seasonal movements in the natural world. Their online species searches follow the patterns of seasonal animal migrations (迁徙).
Migratory birds ( 候 鸟 ) flood back to where they reproduce every spring. That migratory behavior is accompanied by some human behavior. “In English-language Wikipedia ( 维基百科), the online searches for migratory species tend to increase in spring when those birds arrive in the United States,” said the lead author John Mittermeier.
And not just birds. Mittermeier and his team surveyed nearly 2.5 billion Wikipedia search records, for 32,000 species, across 245 languages. They also saw variable search rates for insects, horsetails and flowering plants. Seasonal trends seemed to be widespread in Wikipedia behavior for many species of plants and animals.
This finding suggests new ways to monitor changes in the world’s biological diversity. It also shows new ways to see how much people care about nature, and which species and areas might be the most effective targets for conservation.
Mittermeier is encouraged by the search results. He commented, “I think there’s a concern among conservationists (生态环境保护者) that people are losing touch with the natural world and that they’re not interacting with native species anymore. And so in that sense, it was really exciting and quite unexpected for me to see people’s Wikipedia interest closely related to changes in nature.” Richard Grenyer, Associate Professor from the University of Oxford, says search data is useful to conservation biologists, “By using these big data approaches, we can direct our attention towards the difficult questions in modern conservation: which species and areas are changing, and where are the people who care the most and can do the most to help.”
1.What have researchers found about species searches?
A.They strengthen ties among people. B.They affect the animal movements.
C.They reflect animal migration seasons. D.They differ in language backgrounds.
2.What is the purpose of writing Paragraph 3?
A.To further support the research findings.
B.To show the variety of species searches.
C.To summarize the research process.
D.To present researchers’ heavy work load.
3.How does Mittermeier feel about the search results?
A.Sad about people’s not getting close to nature.
B.Worried about Wikipedia behavior.
C.Amazed at people’s care about nature.
D.Satisfied with Wikipedia’s service.
4.From which is the text probably taken?
A.A scientific magazine. B.A biology textbook.
C.A biography. D.A travel brochure .
高二英语阅读理解困难题查看答案及解析
Sleep is essential for a person’s wellbeing. Researchers have found that sleep loss increases a person’s risk of developing serious medical conditions. Now, a new study has found that getting enough sleep is also the key to improving academic performance.
Jeffrey Grossman, who led the research, was not trying to find the correlation (相关性) between sleep and grades when he handed out Fitbits to the students in his class. Instead, the professor hoped the popular wrist-worn electronic device (装置), which tracks a person’s activity 24/7, would show a connection between physical exercise and academic achievement.
As part of the research, a quarter of the participants chose a fitness class specially created for the study. After the school term ended, the researchers carefully analysed the data. Much to Grossman’s surprise, they found no measurable difference in test performance between the group that had been physically active and the group that had not.
However, the study presented a surprising viewpoint in the journal Science of Learning. Going through the large amount of data, Grossman noticed an interesting trend (走向) from the participants sleep patterns. There was a straight-line relationship between the average amount of sleep and his/her grade on the exams.
Besides, it was not enough for students to just head to bed early the night before a test. Grossman says: “We’ve heard the phrase ‘Get a good night’s sleep, you’ve got a big day tomorrow.’ It turns out this does not relate at all to test performance. Instead, it’s the sleep you get during the days when learning is happening that matters most.”
The time students went to bed each night was similarly important. Those who went to bed in the early hours of the morning performed poorly, even if the total sleep time was the same as a higher-performing student.
The research does not prove that sleep is the only component that helps improve academic performance. However, Grossman says the results are a strong indication that sleep really matters. Who knew getting A’s just required some extra ZZZ’s?
1.What’s Grossman’s original purpose by using Fitbits in the research?
A.To improve students sleep patterns.
B.To regulate students’ daily behavior.
C.To monitor students’ physical condition.
D.To find effects of physical exercise on grades.
2.What did Grossman think of the research result?
A.It was unexpected. B.It was changeable
C.It was unreliable. D.It was fruitless.
3.What plays a more important part in test performance?
A.Sleep in the learning stage. B.Average amount of sleep during tests.
C.Sleep quality the night before the test. D.A regular bedtime.
4.What is the best title for the text?
A.Be Physically Active and Sleep More
B.Enough Sleep Benefits Our Wellbeing
C.Catch ZZZ’s for Good Test Performance
D.The More Exercise, the Better Schoolwork
高二英语阅读理解困难题查看答案及解析