Now, we know that if we do not get enough vitamins, we are at risk of developing a number of
diseases. As a result, vitamin supplements(補(bǔ)品),though expensive, are popular with people who
worry that they are not getting enough vitamins from the foods they eat. But contrary to what many
people think, medical experts have found little evidence that most supplements do anything to improve
health or protect against disease.
     In fact, medical experts warn that taking too many of some vitamins can be harmful. For example,
too much vitamin E can cause bleeding. People should discuss what vitamins they take with their doctors,
as some vitamins can produce harmful side effects when mixed with medicines.
     Experts, however, do say that sometimes vitamins can help prevent disease. People who know they
lack a particular vitamin should take vitamin supplements. Some older adults, for example, may not have
enough vitamin B-twelve. This is because, as people get older, their body loses its ability to take it from
foods. Also, people who spend much time inside may need some extra vitamin D as the skin makes this
vitamin from sunlight.
     Different vitamins are found in different foods. Vitamin A is found in fish liver oil. It also is in the
yellow part of eggs. Sweet potatoes, carrots and other darkly colored fruits and vegetables contain
substances that the body can change into vitamin A. Vitamin B-twelve is found in green leafy vegetables
and other foods, like fruits. Vitamin K can be found in pork products.
     In fact, for most people, a balanced diet can ensure enough of the vitamins our bodies need. So, it is
important for us to eat a mixture of foods every day to ensure that we get enough vitamins our bodies
need.

1. What is probably talked about before this passage?
A. How many vitamins a person's body needs.  
B. How many vitamins some foods contain.
C. The benefits that vitamins bring to our health.
D. What people should do to stay healthy.

2. Vitamin supplements are popular with people because ________.  
A. people mistakenly think that they are good for their health
B. they contain more vitamins than the foods people eat
C. food does not provide enough vitamins people need
D. people fear that a lack of vitamins will lead to disease

3. From the passage, we can learn that medical experts advise people _________.
A. never to take any vitamin supplements  
B. to depend only on food for their vitamins
C. not to take any vitamins together with medicines
D. to consult doctors before taking vitamin supplements

4. For people who lack Vitamin B-twelve, they can eat more from _______.
A. sweet potatoes  
B. green leafy vegetables  
C. pork products  
D. eggs

     It may sound strange, but cutting down a real tree for Christmas is actually greener than going with
the artificial kind, one scientist says.
     "It is a little confusing to people," said Clint Springer, a biologist at Saint Joseph's University in
Philadelphia. Because of concerns over deforestation (砍伐森林) around the world, many people
naturally worry that buying a real tree might contribute to that problem. But most Christmas trees for
sale these days are grown not in the forest but on tree farms for the purpose of being cut.
     Moreover, from the viewpoint of greenhouse gases, real trees are "the obvious choice". Live trees
actively release oxygen as they grow, and meanwhile remove carbon dioxide from the atmosphere.
After they have been cut and Christmas is over, they're usually cut into smaller pieces for mulch (覆
蓋物). As mulch, the bits of trees very slowly release carbon dioxide back into the atmosphere. So in
the end, a real Christmas tree is carbon neutral, putting the same amount of carbon dioxide back into
the air as it took out (although much more slowly).
     The tree farms that grow the trees also replant after the trees are cut. Artificial trees, on the other
hand, don't come out even in the carbon balance. Petroleum (石油) is used to make the plastics in
artificial trees and lots of carbon dioxide-creating energy is required to make and transport them.
Because these trees just end up in the places where waste is buried under the ground after use, "those
greenhouse gases are lost forever," Springer said.

1. The author presents the text mainly by       .
A. giving descriptions
B. making comparisons
C. listing figures  
D. analyzing different opinions

2. Real trees for Christmas are better than artificial trees probably because       .
A. real trees cost buyers less money  
B. real trees are more beautiful
C. real trees don't cause any pollution
D. real trees can be used for a longer time

3. The underlined part "carbon neutral" in the third paragraph can be best replaced by "      ".
A. not releasing more carbon
B. absorbing carbon dioxide
C. causing much waste
D. releasing carbon dioxide

4. The purpose of the text is to tell us       .
A. the reasons for using real trees for Christmas
B. the environmental protection tips for Christmas
C. how to choose artificial Christmas trees
D. how to spend a much greener Christmas

1. What conclusion can we draw from the first paragraph?

A. Miracle drugs are born with science.
B. Chemical cures have got some side-effects if taken too much.
C. Chemical cures are better than Asian systems of healing because of its immediate response.
D. Drug companies are willing to meet the public demands.

2. What is the true reason for Western doctors to turn to the ancient wisdom of the East ?

A. Herbal medicine are less expensive.
B. Western medicines can't work very well in some areas.
C. China has already set a good example of combining Eastern and Western medicines.
D. All of the above.

3. What do you think a Chinese doctor should learn?

A. Chinese medicine only.            
B. Western medicine only.
C. Both with different emphasis.      
D. Both equally.

     People who want to maintain a healthy weight over time shouldn't worry about their fat intake (攝入), new research shows. The percentage of calories (卡路里) that a person got from fat had nothing to do
with how much weight he/she gained, the research team found.
     The kinds of fat they ate didn't matter either, Dr. Nita Forouhi of the Institute of Metabolic Science,
Addenbrooke's Hospital, Cambridge, UK and her colleagues found. The findings show that it is more
important to aim for a healthy lifestyle including a balanced healthy diet and regular physical activity than
to focus on fat intake alone as a factor (因素) in weight gain.
    Forouhi and her team note the role of dietary fat content in obesity (肥胖) and weight gain is still
controversial
     To investigate, they looked at data on nearly 90,000 men and women from six different countries.
They were followed for up to 10 years.
     Average fat intake ranged from 31.5 percent to 36.5 percent of total calories. On average, people
gained about a quarter of a pound every year. But analyses found no relationship between how much
weight people gained and how much fat they ate.
     The findings shouldn't be seen as showing that people can eat as much fat as they want. Forouhi
said, "That would be absurd, considering so much evidence that already exists on the potential harms of
diets high in fat for heart health for instance."
     In the US, she added, dietary recommendations state that people should maintain a fat intake that is
20 percent to 35 percent of total calories, and eat "healthy" fats from fish, nuts, and vegetable oils instead
of "unhealthy" fats.

1. We can learn from the text that       .
A. fat people usually cannot resist food high in fat
B. people won't gain weight despite eating many calories
C. the kinds of fat have no relationship with calories
D. fat in diets has nothing to do with one's weight gain

2. We can learn from the text that it's most important for an overweight person to       .
A. keep a healthy lifestyle
B. be on a strict diet 
C. eat the right kinds of fat
D. limit the total calories he eats

3. Which of the following does Forouhi most probably agree with?
A. Most fats are healthy.
B. Fewer and fewer people like to take exercise.
C. People should realize the harm of fat.
D. It's hard for fat people to lose weight.

4. We can learn from the last two paragraphs that Dr. Nita Forouhi intends to       .
A. provide more evidence for her research
B. give people some advice
C. compare what she has found with dietary recommendations
D. tell us the kinds of fat

     New rules will let millions of Americans know where more of their food comes from. The law is
known as COOL-Country of Origin Labeling.
     American Congress first passed the law in 2002. Stores have had to label seafood by country of
origin since 2005. But industry pressure delayed other requirements until last week.
     Products that must now be labeled include fresh fruits and vegetables, muscle meats and some kinds
of nuts. But the rules are complex, and many foods are excluded. For example, organ meats are free to
be labeled. So are processed foods, including cooked or smoked food.
     The United States has imported more and more food in recent years to save money and expand
choices. Country-of-origin labeling has become more common lately but has still been limited in many
stores.
      Food safety is one reason why some shoppers pay close attention to where foods came from. For
example, when a large number of people recently got sick from salmonella(沙門菌病), officials blamed
peppers from Mexico. Yet the last big food scare involved spinach (菠菜) grown in California. But
labeling is also a way for people to know they are getting what they want. Some want to buy local foods
or foods from a particular country.
     The country-of-origin labeling law gives stores 30 days to correct any violations that are found.
Stores and suppliers that are found to be deliberately violating the law could be fined 1000 dollars per
violation. Federal inspectors are not to take action to enforce the law for six months to give time for an
education campaign.
     Some food safety activists say they are generally pleased with the law. They call it a good step that
will give people more useful information.

1.Why has more and more food been imported to the United States in recent years?

A. Because it is economical and provides people with more choices.
B. Because the United States is short of food supply.
C. Because Americans need more and more food recently.
D. Because foreign food is of higher quality than native food.

2. What's the regulation in the new rules?

A. Stores have to label food by its producing date from now on.
B. The country-of-origin labeling has to be marked on more food.
C. Stores have to label seafood by country of origin.
D. Labeling of food should include more useful information.

3. The new rules of the country-of-origin labeling law will come into effect______.

A. right now            
B. in a month        
C. in three months        
D. in half a year

4. Consumers are more concerned about where foods came from because ______.

A. they are curious about the country of the food origin
B. they are particular about the tastes of the food
C. they are concerned about food safety and want to get what they want
D. most of the shoppers are food safety activists themselves

     With more and more wineries (釀酒廠) offering organic varieties to lower their eco-footprint
(生態(tài)足跡), it's no surprise that they're looking at the environmental impacts of their packaging as
well. The making of conventional glass bottles and the corks (軟木塞) uses large quantities of natural
resources and causes a lot of pollution.
     Beyond manufacturing, the transport of wine in glass bottles across the country and around the
world also has its environmental effect. Trucking all the heavy glass bottles causes a much larger carbon
footprint than the transportation of much lighter boxed wine. Almost half the weight of an ordinary case
of wine comes from the bottles; about 95 percent of the weight of a case of boxed wine is the wine itself.
     "A standard wine bottle holds 750 milliliters of wine and causes about 5.2 pounds of carbon dioxide
when it travels from a farm in California to a store in New York," reports Colman, a researcher. "A
3-liter box causes about half the carbon dioxide per 750 milliliters."
     According to the Wine Group, the third largest wine company in the world and a big advocate for
switching away from glass bottles, there are other advantages to boxed wine (which typically includes
a plastic bag within a cardboard box). The vacuum (真空的) packaging of boxed wine allows it to stay
fresh for up to six weeks in the fridge once the seal is broken and the first glass has been poured.
     Still, despite the benefits, boxed wine may still be a tough pill to swallow for many wine experts.
"Even those traditionalists who are coming around to the idea that maybe screw caps (螺旋蓋) are fine
for some wines, would not like the idea of a cellar (酒窖) full of cardboard boxes," says wine writer Lee
Asbell. "It is difficult to imagine how wine service at fine-dining establishments would handle such a
change." For now, boxed wine is still the field of cheaper brands. But that could all change as more and
more wine makers and drinkers take responsibility for saving the Earth.

1. Compared with glass bottled wine, boxed wine _______.

A. wastes more natural resources
B. is difficult to transport
C. causes less eco-footprint
D. takes up more space

2. What do we know about boxed wine from the passage?

A. Corks are still needed to close it
B. It's not suitable for long-distance transport
C. It must be kept in the fridge during the transport
D. The special packaging makes it stay fresh longer once it's opened

3. From the last paragraph, we can infer that _______.

A. wine drinkers think boxed wine has a different taste
B. a cellar isn't a good place to store cardboard boxed wine
C. boxed wine is more expensive than glass bottled wine
D. many wine experts still find it hard to accept boxed wine

4. The author writes this passage to _______.

A. call on people to drink less wine
B. advise packaging wine with different materials
C. advocate using boxes to store wine k@s5u
D. introduce how to keep wine fresh after the bottle is opened

     There are several advantages in planting trees: they firm the soil, soak up(吸收) extra water and
take carbon dioxide out of the atmosphere.  However, it now turns out that planting trees could add to
global warming. We all know that tree roots do a great job of keeping soil firmly on the ground and out
of the wind's power. The problem is that some of the dust clouds play an important part in soaking up
carbon dioxide.  
     Huge dust storms blow out over the oceans from dry parts of North Africa and Central Asia. Tons
of dust are lifted and left as a thin film over the ocean surface.  
     Dust from China is carried east and left in the Pacific Ocean. If a treeplanting programme is
successful and the dust supply reduced, the next result may be that less carbon dioxide gets locked
away in the ocean.  
     Andy, an environmental scientist, has spent the past few years studying dust and says his work
shows clearly the complexity of the system. For this reason the need is to focus on cutting carbon
dioxide giving off rather than doing anything else.  
     Robert, an American scientist, has shown that when native grassland areas are invaded by trees,
carbon is lost from the soil. "We are studying why the soil carbon disappears, but one theory is that
trees do a lot more of their growing above ground compared to grass, so less carbon goes directly
into the soil from trees." said Robert.  
     In wet areas of the world, the gain from trees absorbing carbon dioxide above ground seems to
be outweighed by the loss of carbon from the soil below ground.  
     Countries that plan to fight against global warming by planting trees may have to think again. 
Solutions to environmental problems are often more complex than they first appear, and understanding
the Earth's climate is a very great challenge.  

1. People usually hold the opinion that________.  

A. huge dust storms can destroy carbon dioxide
B. planting trees could reduce global warming
C. huge dust storms can destroy the oceans on the Earth
D. planting trees is the only way to control huge dust storms

2. Andy, an environmental scientist, believes that________.  

A. environmental problems are more complex than expected
B. trees shouldn't have been planted in dry places
C. dust plays a more important part than trees
D. carbon dioxide is harmful to everything

3. Robert's experiment proves that________.  

A. trees absorb more carbon than grass
B. carbon can turn grass into dust
C. less carbon can make trees grow faster
D. grassland areas should be covered by forests

4. The best title for this passage is "________".  

A. The importance of planting trees
B. The dust clouds soak up carbon dioxide
C. Is it really useful to plant trees to reduce global warming?
D. Why the soil carbon disappears?

     China_is_going_green. In order to reduce air pollution and oilshortages, automobile manufacturers
have announced their plans to develop hybrid vehicles (混合燃料汽車) for the Chinese market.
Toyota's hybrid car Prius will be ready to drive in China this week. Let's have a look at the new car.
     Any vehicle is a hybrid when it combines two or more sources of power. Hybrid cars run off a
rechargeable battery and gasoline. Hybrid cars have special engines, which are smaller than traditional
gasoline engines. They run at 99 percent of their power when the car is cruising (勻速行駛). A specially
designed battery motor provides extra power for running up hills or when extra acceleration is needed.
     Step into a Prius, and turn on the engine. The first thing you notice is how much quieter it is than a
traditional car. At this point, the car's gasoline engine is dormant (休眠). The electric motor will provide
power until the car reaches about 24 km/h. If you stay at a low speed, you are effectively driving an
electric car, with no gasoline being used, and no waste gas gives off.
     The onboard(車載的) computer makes the decision about when to use a gas engine, when to go
electric, and when to use a combination of the two. If you go over 24 km/h, when you step on the gas
pedal (油門), you are actually telling the computer how fast you want to go.
     The electronic motor recharges automatically using a set of batteries. When driving at high speed, the
gasoline engine not only powers the car, but also charges the batteries. Any time you use the brake, the
electric motor in the wheels will work like a generator and produce electricity to recharge the batteries.
As a consequence, the car's batteries will last for around 200,000 miles.

1. The author writes this passage mainly to________.
A. teach people how to drive a hybrid car
B. introduce a new kind of "green" car
C. show how to save their gasoline when driving a car
D. announce plans to develop hybrid vehicles for China

2. The first sentence probably refers to ________.
A. there will be more and more green land in China
B. China is still young and lacking experience
C.China's new cars are combinations of different green models
D. China has started producing environmentally friendly cars

3. Which of the followings is NOT true?
A. The hybrid cars reduce air pollution and oilshortages.
B. The car's gasoline engine doesn't work until it reaches about 24 km/h.
C. This kind of car is completely controlled by an onboard computer.
D. A specially designed battery motor provides extra power when needed.

4. What is the most important feature of hybrid cars?
A. They are powered by both a rechargeable battery and gasoline.
B. They are much quieter than traditional cars.
C. They only use 99 percent of their power to run up hills.
D. They have smaller engines than traditional gasoline ones.

5. What can we conclude from the story?
A. The batteries can be recharged at any time you want.
B. Using the brake suggests that the gasoline engine should work.
C. The batteries will last for 200, 000 miles without being recharged.
D. The gasoline engine charges the batteries as well as powers the car.