Some people don’t mind being fat. Other people can keep slim (苗條) without any effort. But a lot of people do put on too much weight and don’t like it. The question is, what can thy do about it?
Some believe exercise can be helpful. But the trouble is that it only makes you want to eat more. You might sweat out a couple of pounds playing tennis or climbing a mountain, but you put it all back on again with a big steak or bread and jam.
A helpful way is food choosing. But what sort of food should you choose? Some believe that the less they eat, the slimmer they will be. They don’t eat anything until they become weak with hunger. Some stick to milk and bananas. You’ll find you need a lot of bananas, and unless you live where they grow, they aren’t cheap. Another says that if you eat things like hard-boiled eggs, and apples with their skins on which are hard for your stomach to digest (消化), the more you eat, the thinner you get. This is because you use up the fat in your body to get the energy to digest the food.
For most of us these methods are too extreme (極端的). The simplest way is just to cut down on the carbohydrates (糖類) that means not eating bread, potatoes, cakes, sugar, rice, and so on and eating anything else you like. It’s straight forward and often quite effective.
Still others like to be more scientific. They are calorie countries. They get a table, which tells them that, for example, 100 grams of roast let of lamb gives you 330 calories and a 50 gram helping of Yokshire pudding gives you 130 calories.
【小題1】.
. According to the passage, the best way to keep slim is ______.

A．exercising

B．hunger

C．food-choosing

D．eating milk and bananas

【小題2】.
There seems nothing wrong with exercise except that ______.

A．it makes you sweat	B．it’s hard work
C．it tires you out	D．it makes you eat more

【小題3】.
. The practical method suggested here means ______.

A．sticking to bananas	B．not eating many carbohydrates
C．eating as little as possible	D．eating things that are hard to digest

【小題4】.
. Which of the following do you think is the best title for the passage?

A．Don’t Eat Too Much	B．Various Ways of Losing Weight
C．Ways to Keep Fit	D．Food and Health

Doctors have known for a long time that extremely loud noises can cause hearing damage or loss.The noise can be the sound of a jet airplane or machines in factories of loud music or other common sound at home and at work. A person only needs to hear the noise for little mire than one second to be affected.
An American scientist has found that using aspirin (阿斯匹林) increase the temporary (暫時的)hearing loss or damage from loud noise. He did an experiment using a number of students at a university who all had normal hearing. He gave them different amounts of aspirin for different periods of time, then he tested their hearing ability. He found that students who were given four grams of aspirin a day for two days suffered much greater temporary hearing loss than those who did not use aspirin. The hearing loss was about two times as great.
The scientist said millions of persons in the U.S. use much larger amounts of aspirin than were used in his experiment. He said these persons face a serious danger of suffering hearing loss from loud noise.
【小題1】.
.Doctors have long known that__________.

A．one may lose his hearing when he hears a terribly loud noise.

B．one may become deaf when he hears a loud noise.

C．loud noises can cause damage to the hearing of the young people only

D．common sounds at home are not harmful to the ear

【小題2】.
.One conclusion you can draw from the passage is that aspirin________.

A．makes hearing damage from loud noise worse

B．should never be taken more than four grams

C．can damage one’s hearing when it is given more than four grams daily

D．a(chǎn)lways increases hearing loss by two times

【小題3】.
. The American scientist did his experiment in order to find ________.

A．how much aspirin would affect a person’s hearing

B．how much aspirin should be given in the treatment of the patients with hearing damage from loud noise

C．whether aspirin would increase the temporary hearing damage from loud noises

D．whether the people who had hearing damage should use aspirin

Feel tired lately? Has a doctor said he can’t find anything wrong with you? Perhaps he has sent you to a hospital, but all the advanced equipment there shows that there is nothing wrong with you.
Then, consider this: you might be in a state of sub-health（亞健康）. Sub-health, also called the third state or gray state, is explained as a borderline（界限）state between health and disease.
According to the survey by the National Health Organization, over 45 percent of sub-healthy people are middle-aged or elderly. The percentage is even higher among people who work in management positions as well as students around exam-week.
Symptoms include a lack of energy, depression, slow reactions, insomnia, anger, and poor memory. Other symptoms include shortness of breath, sweating and aching in the waist and legs.
The key to preventing and recovering from sub-health, according to some medical experts, is to form good living habits, alternate work and rest, exercise regularly, and take part in open air activities.
As for meals, people are advised to eat less salt and sugar. They should also eat more fresh vegetables, fruits, fish because they are rich in nutritional elements -- vitamins and other elements that are important to the body.
Nutrition experts point out that it is not good to eat too much at one meal because it may cause unhealthy changes in the digestive tract（消化道）. They also say that a balanced diet is very helpful in avoiding sub-health.
【小題1】.
According to this passage, which of the following is true?

A．When you are in a state of sub-health, you should stay at home and keep silent.

B．When you are in a state of sub-health, you should go to see a doctor and buy some medicine.

C．When you are in a state of sub-health, you should have yourself examined in foreign countries.

D．When you are in a state of sub-health, you should find out the reasons and relax yourself.

【小題2】.
. It may be easy for middle-aged people to get sub-healthy because _________.

A．they have used up their energy	B．they have lost their living hopes
C．they have more pressure in life and work	D．they begin to get older

【小題3】.
. The key to preventing you from falling into a state of sub-health is that you should ________.

A．work hard	B．sleep more
C．form good living habits	D．take more medicine

【小題4】.
. The underlined word “alternate” in this passage is closest in meaning to _________.

A．a(chǎn)rrange by turns

B．cause to take place

C．keep oneself busy with

D．get tired of

Enough sleep is important to health. The amount o f sleep needed depends on the age of the person and the conditions in which sleep takes place. The young may need more sleep than the old, but usually eight hours are enough for the health of grown-ups.   Some can do with less than this amount, but others may need more. Every person knows his own need. It is then a matter of good judgement to satisfy his need. Sleep should always be enough to make one bring back his strength and get ready for a day’s
work.
Fresh air is necessary to sound sleep. It is not without reason for some people to think that it is practicable to sleep in the open air. When one can keep himself warm, out-of-door sleeping probably gives the body its most complete relaxation(松弛). Ability to sleep is largely a habit . The conditions referred to only lead to sleep. Out-of-door exercises, a good habit of regular hours and the avoidance(避免) of late eating and worry, which are largely within the control of any person, are all helpful to sound sleep.
A bath at bedtime, neither hot nor cool but of body temperature, may be helpful to sleep. Sleep-producing drug(藥）should never be taken except when suggested by a doctor.
【小題1】How many hours are usually enough for the health of a pupil?

A．Less than eight hours.	B．No more than eight hours.
C．Eight hours or so.	D．No less than eight hours.

【小題2】 Which of the following is helpful to good sleep?

A．Keeping good habits.

B．Staying up late at night.

C．Eating something at bedtime.

D．Forming the habit of taking sleep-producing drug.

【小題3】 The amount of sleep a person needs has something to do with________.

A．his age	B．his height
C．his weight	D．his character

【小題4】Before going to bed, you’d better not_______.

A．take a bath	B．do any housework
C．think a lot	D．go out for relaxation

It is difficult for doctors to help a person with a damaged brain. Without enough blood, the brain lives for only three to five minutes. More often the doctors can’t fix the damage. Sometimes they are afraid to try something to help because it is dangerous to work on the brain. The doctors might make the person worse if he operates on the brain.
Dr. Robert White, a famous professor and doctor, thinks he knows a way to help. He thinks doctors should make the brain very cold. If it is very cold, the brain can live without blood for 30 minutes. This gives the doctor a longer time to do something for the brain.
Dr. White tried his idea on 13 monkeys. First he taught them to do different jobs, then he operated on them. He made the monkeys’ blood back to the monkeys’ brains. When the brain’s temperature was 10℃, Dr. White stopped the blood to the brain. After 30 minutes he turned the blood back on. He warmed the blood again. After their operations the monkeys were like they had been before. They were healthy and busy. Each one could still do the jobs the doctor had taught them.
【小題1】.The biggest difficulty in operating on the damaged brain is that ____.

A．the time is too short for doctors

B．the patients are often too nervous

C．the damage is extremely hard to fix

D．the blood-cooling machine might break down

【小題2】.The brain operation was made possible mainly by ____.

A．taking the blood out of the brain

B．trying the operation on monkeys first

C．having the blood go through a machine

D．lowering the brain’s temperature

【小題3】.With Dr. White’s new idea, the operation on the damaged brain ____.

A．can last as long as 30 minutes

B．can keep the brain’s blood warm

C．can keep the patient’s brain healthy

D．can help monkeys do different jobs

【小題4】. What is the right order of the steps in the operations?
a. send the cooled back to the brain      b. stop the blood to the brain
c. have the blood cooled down          d. operate on the brain

A．a(chǎn), b, c, d

B．c, a, b, d

C．c, b, d, a

D．b, c, d, a

Seven Health Facts about Coffee
When you’re considering your morning coffee, here are some health facts to keep in mind:
1. Coffee Reduces Your Risk of Diabetes (糖尿病)
In a 2005 review of nine studies, researchers found that for those that drank four to six cups of coffee per day, versus only two or fewer, their risk for Type 2 diabetes decreased by almost 30 percent. The number decreased by 35 percent when people drank more than six cups per day. And if you’re picturing yourself running around the office with your eyes bugging out of your head, no worries because caffeinated and decaffeinated coffees provided much the same results.
2. Coffee Fights Free Radicals (自由基)
We often forget that coffee is actually a plant and like all plant foods, the coffee bean contains more than 1,000 naturally occurring substances called phytochemicals, which may help prevent disease. Many of these phytochemicals are antioxidants which protect the cells from damage from free radicals.
3. Coffee Improves Memory and Cognition
Researchers reported that volunteers who drank caffeinated coffee in the morning performed better than nondrinkers on tests that involved learning new information. Coffee can also improve cognitive function as we age. One study found that combining coffee with a sweet treat had an even bigger impact.
4. Coffee Can Increase Osteoporosis (骨質(zhì)疏松)
It’s true that coffee can cause the body to excrete calcium in urine. We don’t want the body to rid itself of calcium because this can lead to osteoporosis. According to The Diet Channel, about five milligrams of calcium is lost per every six ounces of coffee consumed. But these calcium losses can be counter balanced with two tablespoons of milk or yogurt per cup of coffee.
5. Coffee Causes Wrinkles
Even though coffee has antioxidants, if you drink too much of it, it can cause wrinkling of the skin. This is a result of dehydration (脫水) which is the worst thing for your skin. So when you’re drinking that morning cup or two, make sure that you’re pairing it with water. Even better, add one tablespoon of chia seeds to your water and let them sit for 30 minutes. The chia seeds keep you even more hydrated than regular water.
6. Coffee Can Actually Cause Weight Gain
The blood sugar changes that a caffeine high produces can contribute enormously to a strong desire for it, according to iVillage. Coffee is also socially connected to food. For example, we pair coffee with dessert or that morning powdered doughnut. Additionally, when we crash from our caffeine high that’s when we reach for all sorts of fatty snacks to keep us going.
7. Conventional Coffee Is Laden with Pesticides (殺蟲劑)
The coffee plant is one of the most heavily sprayed crops. It’s coated with chemicals, pesticides, and herbicides, nothing you’d want to be swallowing. If you do drink coffee, make sure that it’s the organic variety, free from assorted chemicals that leech into our ground water and can make us sick down the road.
If you switch to decaffeinated coffee, make sure the caffeine (咖啡因) is removed in a natural way without the use of chemicals to do it. Often times, conventional decaffeinated coffee has more chemicals than regular.
【小題1】   If you want to decrease the risk of diabetes by 35%, you need to take at least _____ cups of     coffee every day.

A．seven

B．six

C．five

D．four

【小題2】If you are a heavy drinker of coffee, a far better way to avoid wrinkling of your skin is to drink water _____.

A．less than usual

B．regularly

C．with sugar

D．with chia seeds

【小題3】   Which of the following statements is wrong?

A．Adding two spoons of milk to a cup of coffee can prevent calcium losses.

B．Decaffeinated coffee has different effects from caffeinated coffee as to diabetes.

C．Many phytochemicals protect the cells from damage from free radicals.

D．The organic variety of coffee plant is free from assorted chemicals.

【小題4】   The author has a/an _____ attitude towards drinking of coffee.

A．positive

B．negative

C．objective

D．imaginative

Motherhood may make women smarter and may help prevent dementia （癡呆） in old age by bathing the brain in protective hormones （荷爾蒙） , U.S. researchers reported on Thursday.
Tests on rats show that those who raise two or more litters of pups do considerably better in tests of memory and skills than rats who have no babies, and their brains show changes that suggest they may be protected against diseases such as Alzheimer’s （早老癡呆癥）. University of Richmond psychology professor Craig Kinsley believes his findings will translate into humans.
“Our research shows that the hormones of pregnancy are protecting the brain, including estrogen （雌激素）, which we know has many neuroprotective （保護神經(jīng)的） effects,” Kinsley said.
“It’s rat data but humans are mammals just like these animals are mammals,” he added in a telephone interview. “They go through pregnancy and hormonal changes.”
Kinsley said he hoped public health officials and researchers will look to see if having had children protects a woman from Alzheimer’s and other forms of age-related brain decline.
“When people think about pregnancy, they think about what happens to babies and the mother from the neck down,” said Kinsley, who presented his findings to the annual meeting of the Society of Neuroscience in Orlando, Florida.
“They do not realize that hormones are washing on the brain. If you look at female animals who have never gone through pregnancy, they act differently toward young. But if she goes through pregnancy, she will sacrifice her life for her infant—that is a great change in her behavior that showed in genetic alterations （改變） to the brain.”
【小題1】 How do scientists know “Motherhood may make women smarter”?

A．Some researchers have told them.

B．Many women say so.

C．They know it by experimenting on rats.

D．They know it through their own experience.

【小題2】 What does the phrase “l(fā)itters of pups” mean in the second paragraph?

A．Baby rats.

B．Animals.

C．Old rats.

D．Grown-up rats.

【小題3】 What can protect the brain of a woman according to the passage?

A．Estrogen.	B．The hormones of pregnancy.
C．More exercise.	D．Taking care of children.

【小題4】“It’s rat data but humans are mammals just like these animals are mammals.” What does the sentence suggest?

A．The experiments on the rats have nothing to do with humans.

B．The experiments on the rats are very important for animals.

C．The experiments on the rats are much the same on humans.

D．The experiments on the rats are much the same on other animals.

Good posture certainly shows good health. It also adds to a body’s energy and beauty. The body is not handsome when the back is bent and neck thrusts forward. Bad posture suggests the impression that a person is tired, lacking in energy, bored, or weak. Tiredness may sometimes be the cause of bad posture. Most often, however, it is due to careless and poor health habits. Whatever it causes, bad posture affects one physically. The muscles are stretched and pulled into unnatural positions, which can lead to poor base of the body’s various systems.
Nutrition is the study of how the body takes food and uses it. This science provides information about the kinds of food a person must eat to improve and maintain good health. Such knowledge helps him develop and form people habits to his problems of healthful living. People habits of nutrition can be developed by paying attention to: (1) the variety of food included in the diet; (2) the quality of each kind of food eaten. A diet, or the food regularly eaten, must contain all the necessary factors.
Many physicians believe that overweight is one of the greatest dangers to good health. This condition often leads to a shorter life. An overweight person is also easier to suffer disease, and various disorders of the digestive system. A person’s weight directly has something to do with the amounts of food he eats.
All foods can make a person fat if too much is eaten. In reducing, the safe weight loss is about two pounds a week. The sensible way to lose weight is to decrease the gaining starchy(含淀粉的) foods, fats and sweets in the diet.
【小題1】 According to this passage, which of the following is suggested about the good health habits?

A．Good way of holding your body.	B．Balanced food.
C．Right body weight.	D．All of the above

【小題2】 According to this passage, bad posture is most probably caused by_______.

A．tiredness, boredom and weakness	B．lack of energy
C．carelessness and poor health habits	D．overworking and illness

【小題3】Which of the following eating habits is NOT proper in terms of maintaining good health?

A．Vegetables, meat and water only

B．A suitable quantity of each kind of food

C．Fats being part of diet.

D．Various foods included in the diet

【小題4】 We can infer from the statement “all foods can make a person fat if too much is eaten” that___.

A．to lose weight you had better eat properly for daily meals

B．the most effective way to lose weight is to have no fat and sweet

C．even vegetables can make you put on weight, so there is no need to have fat and sweet.

D．a(chǎn) shorter life is a sure result of overweight

The vitamins necessary for a healthy body are normally supplied by a good mixed diet, including a variety of fruits and green vegetables. It is only when people try to live on a very restricted diet, say that when trying to lose weight, that it is necessary to make special provisions to supply the missing vitamins.
　　An example of the dangers of a restricted diet may be seen in the disease known as “beri-beri”, which used to make large numbers of Eastern people who lived mainly on rice suffer. In the early years of last century, a Dutch scientist named Eijkman was trying to discover the cause of beri-beri. At first he thought it was transmitted（傳播）by a germ（病菌）. He was working in a Japanese hospital, where the patients were fed on polished rice which had had the outer coverings removed from the grain. It was thought this would be easier for weak and sick people to digest.
　　Eijkman thought his germ theory was proved when he noticed the chickens in the hospital yard, which were fed on remains from the patients’ plates, were also showing signs of the disease. He then tried to separate the germ, which he thought was causing the disease, but his experiments were interrupted by a hospital official, who ordered that the rice without coverings, even though left over by the patients, was too good for chickens. It should be recooked for the patients, and the chickens should be fed on cheap, rough rice with the outer coverings still on the grain.
　　Eijkman noticed that the chickens began to recover on the new diet. He began to consider the possibility that eating unmilled rice（糙米）somehow prevented or cured beri-beri — even that a lack of some ingredient（成分）in the coverings may be the cause of the disease. Indeed this was the case. The element needed to prevent beri-beri was shortly afterwards separated from rice coverings and is now known as vitamin B. The milled rice, though more expensive, was in fact causing the disease the hospital was trying to cure. Nowadays, this terrible disease is much less common thanks to our knowledge of vitamins.
【小題1】According to the passage, a good mixed diet ________.

A．is suitable for losing weight	B．should be only fruits and vegetables
C．normally contains enough vitamins	D．is often difficult to arrange

【小題2】What do we know about the disease beri-beri?

A．It killed large numbers of people.	B．It resulted from lack of vitamins.
C．It was transmitted by milled rice.	D．It was caused by diseased chickens.

【小題3】What can be the best title of the passage?

A．A Good Mixed Diet	B．New Discovery
C．The Dangers of Beri-beri	D．The Importance of Vitamins

Smoking, which may be a pleasure for some people, is a series of discomfort for their fellows. Medical scientists have expressed their concern about effect of smoking on the health not only of those who smoke but also those who do not smoke. In fact, non-smokers who take in the air polluted by tobacco smoke suffer more than the smokers themselves. A great number of students are trying to persuade the university to forbid smoking in classrooms. Believe they are completely right in their aim. However, I think it more important to achieve this by calling on the smokers to use good judgment and to show concern for others. Smoking is not allowed in theaters, cinemas and in other public places. Therefore, smoking must be forbidden in our classroom. Although many people have passed away for having smoked a lot and we call on people to give up smoking, yet many more that are following will turn down what we say every day, above all, the young people smoke a lot more.
【小題1】 In the writer’s opinion, smoking does good to ________.

A．nobody

B．some people

C．smokers

D．young people

【小題2】 The phrase “pass away” probably means ________.

A．leave one’s home

B．lose one’s life

C．pass by

D．go away

【小題3】According to the selection, which of the following is true?

A．Smokers suffer from the polluted air more than the non-smokers.

B．Non-smokers suffer from the polluted air more than the smokers.

C．Non-smokers suffer as much from the polluted air as the smokers.

D．Non-smokers don’t suffer so much from the polluted air as the smokers.