First lady’s campaign brings change

WASHINGTON (AP) — Wal-Mart（沃尔玛） is putting special labels（标签）on some  products to help shoppers quickly notice healthier ones. Millions of schoolchildren are helping themselves to vegetables from salad bars in their lunchrooms, and kids’ meals at Olive Garden and Red Lobster restaurants come with a side of fruit or vegetables and a glass of low-fat milk.

These changes are taking place due to(由于） the campaign against childhood fatness, for which the first lady Michelle Obama began fighting three years ago.

Fatness has become a serious problem in the country. About one-third of U.S. children are overweight, which puts them at increased risk for any number of deadly illnesses, including high blood pressure and heart disease.

   Still, Mrs. Obama faces challenge. Not everyone welcomes her effort. Some blame her for going too far and say she has no right to tell what people should and shouldn’t eat. But nutrition（营养） supporters and others praise her for using her influence to help bring interests to the table. They said the first lady has raised public awareness about fatness, which will help decrease childhood fatness rates.

There is evidence of small decrease in childhood fatness rates in some parts of the country. New York reported a 5.5 percent drop in fatness rates in kindergarteners （幼儿园）through eighth-graders between the 2006-07 and 2010-11 school years. In Philadelphia, the drop was 4.7 percent among students in grades K-12.

Fighting against children fatness is hard work, but it’s well worth the effort. The first lady is planning a promotional tour. She has been talking up the campaign against childhood fatness on daytime and late-night TV shows and on the radio. She also plans discussions next week on Google and Twitter.

“We’ve been spending a lot of time educating and re-educating families and kids on how to eat, what to eat,” the first lady said. “We’re starting to see some changes and we’re starting to show some improvement.” 

21. What is the purpose of the campaign started by the first lady?

A. To call on healthy eating.           B. To reduce childhood fatness rate.

C. To show the harm caused by fatness.  D. To educate people how to avoid illness.

22. What is the first paragraph mainly about?

A. The popularity of healthy food.     B. The importance of balanced diet.

C. Children’s preference for vegetables. 

D. The changes brought out by the campaign.

23. What can we learn from the passage about Mrs. Obama??

A. She is an expert in healthy eating.  . She has won support of the whole nation. 

C. She shows great concern about childhood fatness.

D. She makes good use of media to increase her influence.

China is a land of bicycles. At least it was back in 1992 when I traveled the country. Back then everyone seemed to be riding a bicycle. Millions of them, all black. Cars were rare. Yet since my arrival in Beijing last year, I’ve found the opposite is true . There are millions of cars. However, people still use their bicycles to get around . For many, it’s the easiest and cheapest way to travel today. Bicycles also come in different colors—silver, green, red, blue, yellow, whatever you want.

It’s fun watching people biking. They rush quickly through crossroads, move skillfully through traffic, and ride even on sidewalks(人行道). Bicycles allow people the freedom to move about that cars just can’t provide.

Eager to be part of this aspect of Chinese culture , I decided to buy a bicycle. Great weather accompanied my great buy. I immediately jumped up on my bicycle seat and  started home.

My first ride home was orderly(守秩序的) . To be safe , I stayed with a ”pack” of

bikers while cars on the streets came running swiftly out of nowhere at times. I didn’t want to get hit . So I took the ride carefully.

Crossing the streets was the biggest problem. It was a lot like crossing a major highway back in the United States. The streets here were wide, so crossing took time, skill and a little bit of luck.

I finally made it home . The feeling on the bicycle was amazing . The air hitting my face and going through my hair was wonderful. I was sitting on top of the world as I passed by places and people. Biking made me feel alive.

24．According to the author, why are bicycles still popular in China today?

A．Because they are traditional and safe．  

B．Because they are convenient and inexpensive．

C．Because they are colorful and available．

D．Because they are fast and environment friendly．

25．The author decided to buy a bicycle because he intended ______________．

A．to ride it for fun          B．to use it for transport

C．to experience local skills   D．to improve his riding skills

26．How did the author feel about his street crossing?

A．It was boring．        B. It  was  difficult．

C．It was lively．        D. It  was wonderful．

27．Which of the following best describes the author’s biking experience?

A．The author enjoyed showing off his biking skills．

B．The author was annoyed by the air while riding．

C．The author was praised by the other bikers\

D．The author took great pleasure in biking．

Before my first summer vacation at college, my roommate Ted asked to me to work with him on his father’s farm in Argentina. The idea of spending two months in Argentine was exciting. Then I began having second thoughts. I had never been far from New England, and I had been homesick my first few weeks at college. What would it be like in a strange country? What about the language? The more I thought about it, the more the idea worried me.

In the end I turned down the invitation. As soon as Ted asked somebody else to go, I began kicking myself. I had turned down something I wanted to do because I was scared, and had ended up feeling depressed. That unhappy summer taught me a valuable lesson out of which I developed a rule for myself: do what makes you anxious; don’t do what makes you depressed.

At the end of my senior year, I began to think about becoming a writer. But my professor was urging me to aim at teaching. I hesitated. The idea of trying to live by writing was a lot scarier than spending a summer in Argentina. Back and forth（来来回回） I went, making my decision, unmaking it. Suddenly I realized that every time I gave up the idea of writing, that downhearted（无精打采的） feeling went through me.

Giving up on what I really wanted to do depressed me. Right then I learned another

lesson. To avoid that kind of depression meant having to bear a certain amount of worry and concern.

When I first began writing articles, I was frequently required to interview big names. Before each interview I would get butterflies in the stomach and my hands would shake. One person I particularly admired was the great composer Duke Ellington. On the stage and on television, he seemed the very model of confidence. Then I learned Ellington still got stage fright（害怕）.If the highly honored Ellington, who had appeared on the bandstand（演奏台） some 10,000 times over 30years, had anxiety attacks, who was I to think I could avoid them? I went on doing those frightening interviews. Then I realized to my astonishment that I was even looking forward to the interviews. What had happened to those butterflies?

Well, in truth, they were still there, but there were fewer of them. I had benefited, I discovered, from a process psychologists call “extinction”. If you put an individual in an anxious situation often enough, he will eventually learn that there isn’t anything to be worried about, which brings me to a conclusion: you’ll never get rid of anxiety by avoiding the things that caused it.

   The point is that the new, the different, is definitely scary（害怕）. But each time you try something, you learn, and as the learning piles up, the world opens to you.

28. We can infer from the passage that the author________.

A. finds it difficult to make decision   B. has found out what causes anxiety

C. was inspired by Duke Ellington’s stage fright

D. no longer feels anxious about new experiences 

29. The underlined word “extinction” in Paragraph 6 means ________.

A. a person’s gradual loss of confidence 

B. the natural development of a child’s abilities      

C. the inborn tendency to avoid anxious situations

D. the process of losing fear by keeping facing anxiety

30. Which of the following opinions does the author probably accept?

A. Hesitation leads to depression.            B. Anxiety can be a positive drive

C. Avoiding anxiety reduces depression.   D. Depression is a signal that one is growing up.

31. What’s the best title of the passage?

A. Confidence: Key to Success        B. Anxiety: Challenge by Another Name

C. Depression: A Psychological Phenomenon 

D. Success: A Trip Through Anxiety and Depression

Coming of Age Day is a Japanese holiday held on the second Monday of January. It is held in order to help all those who are 20 or over realize that they have become independent members of society.

 Coming of age ceremonies have been held since the ancient times in Japan. In the past, boys marked their change to adulthood when they were around 15, and girls celebrated their coming of age when they turned 13 or so. It wasn’t until 1876 that 20 became the legal age of adulthood.

These days, many women choose to wear traditional clothing---a kind of kimono(和

服) with special designs. For unmarried women, this type of kimono is the most formal thing they can wear. However, such a full set of formal clothing is expensive, so it is usually either passed down or rented rather than being bought specially for the occasion. Men may also wear traditional clothing.

Local city governments host special coming of age ceremonies for 20-year-olds. They gain the right to vote on their twentieth birthday and have new responsibilities as well. So the age of 20 is a big turning point for the Japanese. All young adults who turned or will turn 20 between April 1 of the previous year and March 31 of the current （当前的）one and who maintain（维持） residency(住所) in the area are invited to attend. Government officials give speeches, and small presents are handed out to the new adults during the ceremonies.

After the ceremonies, the young adults often gather in groups and go to parties.

32. The ceremonies of Coming of Age Day for 20 dated back to_________.

 A. the 16^th century  B. the 17^th century    C. the 18^th century  D. the 19^th century

33. According to the passage, who is likely to make speech during the coming of age ceremony?

  A. The headmaster of a school.        B. The mayor of the local government.

  C. The prime minister of the nation.    D. The leader of the Youth Organization.

34. Which of the following statements is NOT true about the traditional clothing?

  A. It is of great value.              B. It has special designs.

  C. It is usually passed on from the elder or rented.    

D. It is a kind of less formal uniform.

35. When a Japanese reaches 20, it means that he/she has the right to________.

  A. drink             B. drive          C. vote         D. marry

 Both men and women are living longer these days in industrialized countries. 36  In general, they can expect to live six or seven years more than men. One reason for this is biological.（生物的）

One important biological factor（因素） that helps women live longer is the difference in hormones between men and women.   37  Between the ages of about 12 and 50, women produce hormones that are involved in fertility(生育能力). These hormones also have a positive effect on the heart and blood flow. In fact, women are less likely to have high blood pressure or to die from heart attacks.

38   They help the body defend itself against some kinds of infections. This means that women generally get sick less often and less seriously than men. The common cold is a good example: women, on average, get fewer colds than men.39    Scientists are still not exactly sure how influence aging, but they believe that they do. Some think that a woman’s body cells（细胞） have a tendency  to age more slowly than a man’s. Others think that a man’s body cells have a tendency（趋势） to age more quickly. 40  
A．However, women, on average, live longer.
B .The biological factor plays an important part.
C. Women are also helped by their female genes.
D. The female hormones also protect the body in another way.
E. Recent research seems to support both of these possibilities.
F. Therefore, women are more healthy than men and can live a better life.
G. Hormones are chemicals which are produced by the body to control carious body functions.