Something in chocolate could be used to stop coughs and lead to more effective medicines, say UK researchers.

Their study found that theobromine, found in cocoa, was nearly a third more effective in stopping coughs than codeine, which was considered the best cough medicine at present.

The Imperial College London researchers who published their results online said the discovery could lead to more effective cough treatment. “While coughing is not necessarily harmful(有害的) it can have a major effect on the quality of life, and this discovery could be a huge step forward in treating this problem,” said Professor Peter Barnes.

Ten healthy volunteers(志愿者) were given theobromine, codeine or placebo, a pill that contains no medicine, during the experiment. Neither the volunteers nor the researchers knew who received which pill. The researchers then measured levels of capsaicin, which is used in research to cause coughing and as a sign of how well the medicine are stopping coughs.

The team found that, when the volunteers were given theobromine, the capsaicin need to produce a cough was around a third higher than in the placebo group. When they were given codeine they need only slightly higher levers of capsaicin to cause a cough compared with the placebo.

The researchers said that theobromine worked by keeping down a verve activity(神經(jīng)活動), which cause coughing. They also found that unlike some standard cough treatments, theobromine caused no side effects such as sleepiness.

1.According to Professor Barnes, theobromine ______.

A. cannot be as effective as codeine

B. can be harmful to people’s health

C. cannot be separated from chocolate

D. can be a more effective cure for coughs

2.What was used in the experiment to cause coughing?

A. Theobromine. B. Codeine. C. Capsaicin. D. Placebo.

3.We learn from the text that volunteers in the experiment _____.

A. were patients with bad coughs

B. were divided into the three groups

C. received standard treatments

D. suffered little side effects

4.Which of the following would be the best title for the text?

A. Codeine: A New Medicine B. Chocolate May Cure Coughs

C. Cough Treatment: A Hard Case D. Theobromine Can Cause Coughs

根據(jù)下面圖畫中的信息，寫一篇你對使用一次性木筷的看法的英語短文。

詞數(shù)：100左右。

參考詞匯：一次性木筷 disposable chopsiticks

—Are you going to Tom’s birthday party?

—________.I might have to work.

A．It depends B．Thank you

C．Sounds great D．Don’t mention it

________ I remind you of is to return the book to our English teacher.

---I will give it to him _________ I see him.

A. That; immediately B. What; the moment

C. What; while D. Whether; once

—It is reported that he was sentenced to life in prison for economy crime.

—Really？________People would cheer for it.

A．It all depends. B．So what? C．What’s wrong？ D．He deserves it.

Up to now, thousands of red phone boxes, the old image of Britain, ________ due to mobile phones.

A．removed B．have removed

C．were removed D．have been removed

The sun was shining brightly,_______everything there_______more beautiful.

A. making; look B. to make; looked

C. and made; looking D. and making; be looked

The Pacific island nation of Nauru used to be a beautiful place. Now it is an ecological disaster area. Nauru's heartbreaking story could have one good consequence—other countries might learn from its mistakes.

For thousands of years, Polynesian people lived on the remote island of Nauru, far from western civilization. The first European to arrive was John Fearn in 1798. He was the British captain of the Hunter, a whaling ship. He called the island Pleasant Island.

However, because it was very remote, Nauru had little communication with Europeans at first. Then whaling ships and other traders began to visit, bringing guns and alcohol. These elements destroyed the social balance of the twelve family groups on the island. A ten?year civil war started, which reduced the population from 1,400 to 900.

Nauru's real troubles began in 1899 when a British mining company discovered phosphate(磷酸鹽) on the island. In fact, it found that the island of Nauru was nearly all phosphate, which is a very important fertilizer for farming. The company began mining the phosphate.

A phosphate mine is not a hole in the ground; it is a strip?mine. When a company strip?mines, it removes the top layer of soil. Then it takes away the material it wants. Strip?mining totally destroys the land. Gradually, the lovely island of Nauru started to look like the moon.

In 1968, Nauru became one of the richest countries in the world. Every year the government received millions and millions of dollars for its phosphate.

Unfortunately, the leaders invested the money unwisely and lost millions of dollars. In addition, they used millions more dollars for personal expenses. Soon people realized that they had a terrible problem—their phosphate was running out. Ninety percent of their island was destroyed and they had nothing. By 2000, Nauru was almost financially ruined. Experts say that it would take approximately $433,600,000 and more than 20 years to repair the island. This will probably never happen.

1.What might be the author's purpose in writing the text?

A. To seek help for Nauru's problems.

B. To give a warning to other countries.

C. To show the importance of money.

D. To tell a heartbreaking story of a war.

2.What was Nauru like before the Europeans came?

A. Rich and powerful.

B. Modern and open.

C. Peaceful and attractive.

D. Greedy and aggressive.

3.The ecological disaster in Nauru resulted from ________.

A. soil pollution

B. phosphate overmining

C. farming activity

D. whale hunting

4.Which of the following was a cause of Nauru's financial problem?

A. Its leaders misused the money.

B. It spent too much repairing the island.

C. Its phosphate mining cost much money.

D. It lost millions of dollars in the civil war.

5.What can we learn about Nauru from the last paragraph?

A. The ecological damage is difficult to repair.

B. The leaders will take the experts' words seriously.

C. The island was abandoned by the Nauruans.

D. The phosphate mines were destroyed.

A German study suggests that people who were too optimistic about their future actually faced greater risk of disability or death within 10 years than those pessimists who expected their future to be worse.

The paper, published this March in Psychology and Aging, examined health and welfare surveys from roughly 40,000 Germans between ages 18 and 96. The surveys were conducted every year from 1993 to 2003.

Survey respondents (受訪者) were asked to estimate their present and future life satisfaction on a scale of 0 to 10, among other questions.

The researchers found that young adults (age 18 to 39) routinely overestimated their future life satisfaction, while middle-aged adults (age 40 to 64) more accurately predicted how they would feel in the future. Adults of 65 and older, however, were far more likely to underestimate their future life satisfaction. Not only did they feel more satisfied than they thought they would, the older pessimists seemed to suffer a lower ratio (比率) of disability and death for the study period.

“We observed that being too optimistic in predicting a better future than actually observed was associated with a greater risk of disability and a greater risk of death within the following decade,” wrote Frieder R. Lang, a professor at the University of Erlangen-Nuremberg.

Lang and his colleagues believed that people who were pessimistic about their future may be more careful about their actions than people who expected a rosy future.

“Seeing a dark future may encourage positive evaluations of the actual self and may contribute to taking improved precautions (預(yù)防措施),” the authors wrote.

Surprisingly, compared with those in poor health or who had low incomes, respondents who enjoyed good health or income were associated with expecting a greater decline. Also, the researchers said that higher income was related to a greater risk of disability.

The authors of the study noted that there were limitations to their conclusions. Illness, medical treatment and personal loss could also have driven health outcomes.

However, the researchers said a pattern was clear. “We found that from early to late adulthood, individuals adapt their expectations of future life satisfaction from optimistic, to accurate, to pessimistic,” the authors concluded.

1.According to the study, who made the most accurate prediction of their future life satisfaction?

A. Optimistic adults. B. Middle-aged adults.

C. Adults in poor health. D. Adults of lower income.

2.Pessimism may be positive in some way because it causes people ______.

A. to fully enjoy their present life

B. to estimate their contribution accurately

C. to take measures against potential risks

D. to value health more highly than wealth

3. How do people of higher income see their future?

A. They will earn less money.

B. They will become pessimistic.

C. They will suffer mental illness.

D. They will have less time to enjoy life.

4. What is the clear conclusion of the study?

A. Pessimism guarantees chances of survival.

B. Good financial condition leads to good health.

C. Medical treatment determines health outcomes.

D. Expectations of future life satisfaction decline with age.

—Could you write me your new e?mail address?

—________.

A．With pleasure B．It’s my pleasure

C．Couldn’t be better D．Go ahead