閱讀理解

　　Almost every day, we discuss the topic of health, especially for kids．But what is health?“Health” means eating well, getting enough exercise, and having a healthy weight．Let’s read the following rules．They can help you stay healthy．

　　1．Eat a variety of foods, especially fruit and vegetables．We all know that eating fruit and vegetables can help us stay healthy, but many of us only eat our favorite foods．Remember that we can only get the nutrition(營養(yǎng))we need by eating different kinds of food, especially fruit and vegetables．

　　2．Drink water and milk most often．Everyone knows that water is important．Besides that, kids need plenty of calcium(鈣)to grow strong bones, and milk has a lot of it．Every day, you should drink at least three cups of milk(1300 milligrams of calcium), when you are 9 years old or older．You should also try to have less sugary drinks, like soda and cola．They include a lot of sugar．Sugar just includes calories, not important nutrition．

　　3．Listen to your body．When you are eating, notice how your body feels．When your stomach feels comfortably full, stop eating．Eating too much makes you feel uncomfortable．If you do it too often, it can make you unhealthy and fat．

　　4．Limit(限制)screen time．What’s screen time?It’s the amount of time you spend watching TV, movies, and playing computer games．The more time you spend on these sitting-down activities, the less time you spend playing sports, like basketball, and doing other activities like bike riding and swimming．Try to spend no more than 2 hours a day on screen time．

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　　1 The family planning policy(“計(jì)劃生育”政策)was introduced in 1979 to solve the population problems．Most couples could have only one child except some special families and those in some special areas．

　　2 Usually, all around good student, which was called“thrice good”, was given to the students who were virtuous(品德高尚的), talented and good at PE．It was firstly used in to 1950s by Mao to encourage young people to keep fit, study well and work hard．

　　3 During the early 1990s, state owned company reforms(國有企業(yè)改革)were getting tough．The workers were more than the jobs in most of the cities．Many workers were losing their jobs．“Jobless”was a hot topic at that time, so the leaders hoped the laid off workers could find new jobs or start up their own business．

　　4 One of Deng's clever ideas,“one country, two systems”, was first performed in 1997．It described Hong Kong and Macao's situation after they returned to China．This policy would also be suitable for Taiwan．There would be one China, but Hong Kong, Macao and Taiwan could have their own economies and political systems．

　　5 Lei Feng was a soldier who was happy to help others．He died in an accident in 1962．On March 5th,1963, Mao wrote a piece,“Learn from comrade Lei Feng”, to say the Chinese should help others when necessary．After that, March 5th became a Volunteer Day．

　　6 The phrase“harmonious society”appeared in 2004, referring to a peaceful society where all people would work together to make the life better．This idea has become the main goal of the Chinese Communist Party now．

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　　For hundreds Of years, scientists have been trying to answer what things have an effect on people's emotions(情感)．How you feel is controlled by many things．Your emotions can be affected by your personality, by the actions of others and by events around you．Perhaps you don't know your emotions can be influenced by the weather as well．

　　People often say they feel good when the sun is shining and sad when it is cloudy．In fact, sunlight makes us feel good．When sunlight hits our skins, our bodies produce a vitamin．Vitamins are natural chemicals(化學(xué)物質(zhì))which we all need to stay healthy．Sunlight helps our bodies produce vitamin D．Vitamin D helps our bodies make a special chemical．This special chemical affects our brains(大腦)and makes us feel happy．For example, there are long, dark winters of little sunlight in Sweden and Norway, so many people in these countries often feel sad．Without much sunlight, their bodies produce less vitamin D．Without enough vitamin D, their bodies make less of this special chemical which makes them feel good．To help the people in these countries feel better, special“sunrooms”with artificial(人造的)lights have been built．People can go there and get“sunlight”for an hour or two!

　　The weather can also affect people's emotions in other ways．Hot weather can make people angry because people feel uncomfortable when they are hot．In the same way, rain can make people angry because being wet can be unpleasant．As you can see, the weather can have an effect on the chemicals which control our brains．Through these ways, the weather can influence our emotions．Sadly, while the weather can change us, we can hardly change the weather．

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　　I know that sometimes, you get the sense that you can be rich and successful without any hard work－that your ticket to success is through rapping(饒舌音樂)or basketball or being a TV star, when chances are, you're not going to be any of those things．

　　But the truth is, being successful is hard．You won't love every subject you study．Not all the homework will seem completely important to your life right this minute．And you may not succeed at everything the first time you try．

　　That's OK．Some of the most successful people in the world are the ones who've had the most failures．JK Rowling's first Harry Potter book was turned down 12 times before it finally came out．Michael Jordan was cut from his high school basketball team, and he lost hundreds of games and missed thousands of shots(投籃)during his career．But he once said,“I have failed over and over and over again in my life．And that is why I succeed．”

　　These people succeeded because they understand that you can't let your failures beat you－you have to let them teach you．You have to let them show you what to do differently next time．

　　No one's born being good at things．You become good at things through hard work．

　　Don't be afraid to ask questions．Don't be afraid to ask for help when you need it．I do that every day．Asking for help isn't a sign of weakness; it's a sign of strength．It shows you have the courage to admit(承認(rèn))when you don't know something, and to learn something new．

　　And even when you're struggling, even when you're discouraged(泄氣), and you feel like other people have given up on you－don't ever give up on yourself．Because when you give up on yourself, you give up on your country．

閱讀理解

　　Cats are the most popular pets among Americans．So it is not surprising that there are a lot of expressions about cats．Some cats like to catch small birds, like canaries(金絲雀)．If someone looks very proud and satisfied with himself, we say“he looks like the cat that ate the canary．”

　　Sometimes, a cat likes to play with a small animal it catches．So if you“play cat and mouse”with someone, it means that you change between different kinds of behavior when dealing with another person．For example, a girl might offer something sweet to her little brother and then take it away when he reaches for it．

　　Americans might say that something is“the cat's miaow”or“the cat's pajamas(睡衣)”to describe something that is the best or finest．“A copycat”is someone who acts just like someone else or copies another person's work．“A fat cat”is a person with a lot of money．

　　If you tell about something that is supposed to be a secret, we say you“l(fā)et the cat out of the bag”．If you are not able to speak or answer a question, someone might ask you if“the cat has got your tongue(舌頭)”

　　Have you ever watched children in a classroom when their teacher leaves for a few minutes?“When the cat's away, the mice will play”means people sometimes act badly when there is no supervision(監(jiān)管)．

　　You may have heard the expression“curiosity killed the cat”．This means caring too much about things that are not your business might cause problems．

　　If you have ever had cats as pets, you know it is difficult to train them or to get them to do something．Cats are not like Sheep or cows that can be moved in a group．So we say a difficult or impossible job is like“herding(放牧)cats”

閱讀理解：

　　Every morning, the newspaper chief editor(主編)holds a meeting with the reporters．They discuss the main events(事件)of the day．Reporters are then sent to cover the events．

　　As soon as the reporters know what to write about, they get down to work．They telephone people and fix a time for a face-to-face interview with them．Sometimes they do telephone interviews．Checking information is very important．They go to the newspaper’s own library to look up any information that they need．This is called“doing one’s homework”．

　　At the same time, the picture editor decides which photographs will be used for the next day’s paper．All the people who work on a newspaper must be able to work fast．Reporters have to stop working on one story and start working at once on the important new one．They must find out the new information as quickly as possible．Later in the day, everything is put together at the news desk．Reporters return, type their stories into the computer and hand them to the editor．

　　The chief editor decides which will be the most important story on the front page．Sometimes this will have to be changed if something more important happens late in the day．Other editors read the stories which the reporters have written and make any necessary changes．

　　Finally, there is no more time left for adding new stories, and the time for printing(印刷)the newspaper has come．This is done on fast-moving printing machines．The newspapers are then delivered(發(fā)送)by truck, plane or rail．Speed is important．People want to buy the latest newspaper; nobody wants to buy yesterday’s．

閱讀理解：

　　“When can I get a cell phone?”The answer is when your parents think you need one, though many kids seem to be getting them around age 12 or 13．Some younger kids may have them because their parents see it as a matter of safety and convenience．For example, a kid can call mom and dad when sports practice is over．And a cell phone can give kids almost instant access(快捷通道)to their parents if something goes wrong or they need help．It can give parents quick access to their kids so they can check on them and make sure they’re OK．

　　If you do get a cell phone, make some rules with your parents, such as how many minutes you’re allowed to spend on the phone, when you can use your phone, when the phone must be turned off, and what you will do if someone calls you too often, and so on．

　　You’ll also have to learn to take care of the phone in your life．Keep it charged(充電)and store it in the safe place so it doesn’t get lost．And whatever you do, don’t use it in the bathroom．I know someone who dropped her phone in the toilet!

　　Do you know why you sleep?You may think it's because you're tired．Or perhaps you've been told sleep is good for you．Yet no one knows exactly why or how people sleep．

　　Until the early 1950s, most scientists thought the body and the brain rested during sleep．Then a scientist watched people sleep．He noticed that during periods of between 5 and 30 minutes, sleepers' eyes made rapid movements, as if they were watching something．He called these periods REM(Rapid Eye Movement)sleep．He called periods when sleepers' eyes did not move non-REM sleep．

　　Whenever the scientist woke people during REM sleep, they were having vivid dreams．Measurements(測(cè)量)showed that sleepers' pulses(脈搏)went up quickly during REM sleep．Their breathing, heartbeat, and the blood going to the brain also increased．Far from being a time of rest, REM sleep is a time when the body is hard at work．Scientists still don't know the reason for this．Some believe REM sleep helps the brain grow．Others think REM sleep is a time for the brain to empty the day's garbage．

　　One thing all the scientists agree on is that sleep is necessary．Without enough sleep, people make mistakes．Most car accidents happen during the early morning hours when people are sleepiest．

閱讀理解：

　　In the West, some people believe that personality can be predicted according to the time of the year the person was bor．From China comes the belief that the year of birth influences one's personality．In the past century, a new belief ahs arisen：the idea that personality is related to one's ABO blood type．People with blood type A, for example, are considered more likely to be serious, hard-working, and quiet, while people with blood type O are likely to be popular and outgoing, yet often unable to finish what they start．Though this belief continues to be strong, some people question whether it is true．

　　The blood-type personality theory(理論)started in Japan in 1927 when Furukawa Takehi noticed personality similarities and differences among his workers．This idea soon went out of fashion, but was brought back by a Japanese television host named Toshitaka Nomi in the 1970s．The belief is still strong in Japan and is increasingly popular in neighboring countries．Some young Koreans have taken to the theory．A recent study showed 76 percent of Koreans aged between13 and 64 believing in the blood-type personality connection．Though most Asians might believe in the blood-type theory, for many it seems harmless and not something to be taken too seriously．

　　Is the belief true?The scientists in Asia largely dismiss the belief as a modern-day superstition(迷信)．Most studies have failed to find any strong connection between blood and personality．Generally, scientists warn against making predictions or important decisions based on this questionable theory．