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Losing Weight

Girls as young as 10 years old are dieting and in danger of developing unhealthy attitudes about weight, body image and food, a group of Toronto researchers reported Tuesday.

Their study of 2,279 girls aged 10 to 14 showed that while the vast majority had healthy weights, nearly a third felt they were overweight and were trying to lose pounds. Even at the tender age of 10,nearly 32 per cent of girls felt “too fat” and 31per cent said they were trying to diet.

McVey, a researcher at the Hospital for Sick Children in Toronto, and her colleagues analyzed data collected in a number of surveys of southern Ontario schoolgirls between 1993 and 2003, reporting their findings in Tuesday’s issue of the Canadian Medical Association Journal.

Nearly 80 per cent of the girls had healthy body weight and only 7.2 per cent were considered overweight using standard weight-to-height ratios. Most researchers suggest the rate of overweight children in this country is several times higher than that figure.

Nearly 30 per cent of the girls reported they were currently trying to lose weight, though few admitted to dangerous behavior such as self-induced vomiting.

Still, a test that measured attitudes towards eating showed 10.5 per cent of survey participants were already at risk of developing an eating disorder.

“We’re not talking about kids who’ve been prescribed a diet because they’re above average weight or overweight, We’re talking about children who are within a healthy weight range. And they have taken it upon themselves to diet to lose weight,” McVey said, acknowledging she found the rates disturbing. She said striking a balance between healthy weights and healthy attitudes towards food and body image is a complex task, with no easy solutions.

1.The study showed that most of the girls

A. were overweight.

B. were on a diet.

C. had unhealthy attitudes about weight.

D. had a healthy body weight.

2.What percentage of the girls considered themselves overweight?

A. Nearly 80 percent.                         B. 7.2 percent.

C. Nearly 30 percent.                          D. 10.5 percent.

3.The survey participants were girls

A. who were 10.                                B. who were 14.

C. who were 10 to 14.                        D. who were 10 to 18.

4.What kind of institution does the lead researcher work with?

A. A school.                                       B. A hospital.

C. An association.                               D. A charity.

5.Unhealthy attitudes about weight, body image and food may

A. lead to an eating disorder.

B. result from self-induced vomiting.

C. make it easier to gain weight.

D. bring about greater competition.

TV Shows and Long Bus Trips

Long bus rides are like television shows. They have a beginning, a middle and an end—with commercials thrown in every three or four minutes. The commercials are unavoidable. They happen whether you want them or not. Every couple of minutes a billboard glides by outside the bus window. “But Super Clean Toothpaste.”  “Drink Golden Wet Root Beer.”  “Fill up with Pacific Gas.” Only if you sleep, which is equal to turning the television set off, are you spared the unending cry of “You Need It! But It Now! ”

The beginning of the ride is comfortable and somewhat exciting, even if you’ve traveled that way before. Usually some things have changed—new houses, new buildings, sometimes even a new road. The bus driver has a style of driving and it’s fun to try to figure it out the first hour or so. If the driver is particularly reckless or daring, the ride can be as thrilling as a suspense story. Will the driver pass the truck in time? Will the driver move into the right or the left-handed lane? After a while, of course, the excitement dies down. Sleeping for a while helps pass the middle hours of the ride. Food always makes bus rides more interesting. But you’ve got to be careful of what kind of food you eat. Too much salty food can make you very thirsty between stops.

The end of the ride is somewhat like the beginning. You know it will soon be over and there’s a kind of expectation and excitement in that. The seat, of course, has become harder as the hours have passed. By now you’ve sat with your legs crossed, with your hands in your lap, with your hands on the arm rests—even with your hands crossed behind your head. The end comes just at the right time. There are just no more ways to sit.

1. According to the passage, what do the passengers usually see when they are on a long bus trip?

  A. Buses on the road.

  B. Films on television.

  C. Advertisements on the board.

  D. Gas stations.

2. What is the purpose of this passage?

  A. To talk about the similarities between long bus trips and TV shows.  

  B. To persuade you to take a long bus trip.

  C. To display the difference between long bus trips and TV shows.

  D. To describe the billboards along the road.

3. The writer of this passage would probably favor

  A. bus drivers who weren't reckless.

  B. driving alone.

  C. a television set on the bus.

  D. no billboards along the road.

4. The writer feels long bus rides are like TV shows because

  A. the commercials both on TV shows and on billboards along the road are fun.

  B. they both have a beginning, a middle, and an end, with commercials in between.

  C. the drivers are always reckless on TV shows just as they are on buses.

  D. both traveling and watching TV are not exciting.

5. The writer thinks that the end of the ride is somewhat like the beginning because both are

  A. exciting.                                          B. comfortable.

  C. tiring.                                              D. boring.

Modern Sun Worshippers

People travel for a lot of reasons. Some tourists go to see battlefields or religious shrines. Others are looking for culture, or simply want to have their picture taken in front of famous places. But most European tourists are looking for a sunny beach to lie on.

Northern Europeans are willing to pay a lot of money and put up with a lot of inconveniences for the sun because they have so little of it. Residents of cities like London, Copenhagen, and Amsterdam spend a lot of their winter in the dark because the days are so short, and much of the rest of the year in the rain. This is the reason the Mediterranean has always attracted them. Every summer, more than 25 million people travel to Mediterranean resorts and beaches for their vacation. They all come for the same reason:  sun!

The huge crowds mean lots of money for the economies of Mediterranean countries. Italy’s 30, 000 hotels are booked solid every summer. And 13 million people camp out on French beaches, parks, and roadsides. Spain’s long sandy coastline attracts more people than anywhere else. 37 million tourists visit yearly, or one tourist for every person living in Spain.

But there are signs that the area is getting more tourism that it can handle. The Mediterranean is already one of the most polluted seas on earth. And with increased tourism, it's getting worse. The French can’t figure out what to do with all the garbage left by campers around St. Tropez. And in many places, swimming is dangerous because of pollution.

None of this, however, is spoiling anyone's fun. The Mediterranean gets more popular every year with tourists. Obviously, they don't go there for clean water and solitude. They tolerate traffic jams and seem to like crowded beaches. They don't even mind the pollution. No matter how dirty the water is, the coastline still looks beautiful. And as long as the sun shines, it's still better than sitting in the cold rain in Berlin, London, or Oslo.

1. The writer seems to imply that Europeans travel mostly for the reason that

  A. they want to see historic remains or religious spots.

  B. they are interested in different cultural traditions and social customs.

  C. they would like to take pictures in front of famous sites.

  D. they wish to escape from the cold, dark and rainy days back at home.

2. In paragraph 2, cities like London, Copenhagen, and Amsterdam are mentioned

  A. to show that they are not good cities in terms of geography and climate.

  B. to tell us how wealthy their residents are.

  C. to suggest that these cities lack places of historic interest and scenic beauty.

  D. to prove that they have got more tourism than they can handle.

3. According to the passage, which of the following countries attracts more tourists than the others?

  A. Italy.                                               B. Spain.

  C. France.                                           D. Greece.

4. The latter half of the last sentence in paragraph 3, i.e., “or one tourist for every person living in Spain” means

  A. all the 37 million people living in Spain are tourists.

  B. every year almost as many tourists visit Spain as there are people living in that country.

  C. every person living in Spain has to take care of a tourist.

  D. every Spanish is visited by a tourist every year.

5. According to the passage, which of the following factors might spoil the tourists' fun at Mediterranean resorts and beaches?

  A. Polluted water.                                 B. Crowded buses.

  C. Traffic jams.                                           D. Rainy weather.

One-room Schools

One-room schools are part of the heritage of the United States, and the mention of them makes people feel a vague longing for “the way things were”. One-room schools are an endangered species, however. For more than a hundred years, one-room schools have been systematically shut down and their students sent away to centralized schools. As recently as 1930 there were 149, 000 one-room schools in the United States. By 1970 there were 1, 800. Today, of the nearly 800 remaining one-room schools, more than 350 are in Nebraska. The rest are scattered through a few other states that have on their road maps wide-open spaces between towns.

Now that there are hardly any left, educators are beginning to think that maybe there is something yet to be learned from one-room schools, something that served the pioneers that might serve as well today. Progressive educators have come up with progressive-sounding names like “peer-group teaching” and “multi-age grouping” for educational procedures that occur naturally in the one-room schools. In a one-room school the children teach each other because the teacher is busy part of the time teaching someone else. A fourth grader can work at a fifth-grade level in math and a third-grade level in English without the stigma associated with being left back or the pressures of being skipped ahead. A youngster with a learning disability can find his or her own level without being separated from the other pupils. In larger urban and suburban schools today, this is called “mainstreaming.” A few hours in a small school that has only one classroom and it becomes clear why so many parents feel that one of the advantages of living in Nebraska is that their children have to go to a one-room school.

1. It is implied in the passage that many educators and parents today feel that one-room schools

  A. need to be shut down.

  B. are the best in Nebraska.

  C. are a good example of the good old days.

  D. provide good education.

2. Why are one-room schools in danger of disappearing?

  A. Because they exist only in one state.

  B. Because children have to teach themselves.

  C. Because there is a trend toward centralization

  D. Because there is no fourth-grade level in any of them.

3. What is mentioned as a major characteristic of the one-room school system in the second paragraph?

  A. Some children have to be left back.

  B. Teachers are always busy.

  C. Pupils have more freedom.

  D. Learning is not limited to one grade level at a time.

4. Which of the following can best describe the author's attitude toward one-room schools?

  A. Praising.                                          B. Angry

  C. Critical.                                                  D. Humorous

5. It can be inferred from the last sentence that parents living in Nebraska

  A. don't like centralized schools.

  B. received education in one-room schools.

  C. prefer rural life to urban one.

  D. come from other states.

New York—The Melting Pot

Recently the Department of Planning of New York issued a report which laid bare a full scale of change of the city. In 1970, 18 percent of the city's population was foreign-born. By 1995, the figure had risen to 33 percent, and another 20 percent were the US-born offsprings of immigrants. So immigrants and their children now form a majority of the city's population.

Who are these New Yorkers? Why do they come here? Where are they from? (OK, time to drop the “they”. I’m one of them. ) The last question at least is easy to answer: we come from everywhere. In the list of the top 20 source nations of those sending immigrants to New York between 1990 and 1994 are six countries in Asia, five in the Caribbean, four in Latin America, three in Europe , plus Israel and the former Soviet Union. And when we immigrants get here we roll up our sleeves. “If you're not ready to work when you get to New York,” says a friend of mine, “You'd better hit the road.”

The mayor of New York once said, “Immigration continues to shape the unique character and drive the economic engine of New York City.” He believes that immigrants are at the heart of what makes New York great. In Europe, by contrast, it is much more common to hear politicians worry about the loss of “unity” that immigration brings to their societies. In the quarter century since 1970, the Untied States admitted about 125 million legal immigrants, and has absorbed them into its social structures with an ease beyond the imagination of other nations. Since these immigrants are purposeful and hard-working, they will help America to make a fresh start in the next century.

1. The report issued by the Department of Planning of New York

  A. put forward ways to control New York’s population.

  B. concerned itself with the growth of New York’s population.

  C. studied the structure of New York’s population.

  D. suggested ways to increase New York’s population.

2. According to the second paragraph, which of the following is true of the immigrants in New York?

  A. One can not find his place in New York unless he is ready to work.

  B. They found life in New York harder than in their own countries.

  C. Most of them have difficulty finding jobs.

  D. One can live on welfare if he does not want to work.

3. The mayor of New York considers immigration to be

  A. a big problem in the management of the city.

  B. a push needed to develop the city.

  C. a cause of disintegration of the city’s social structure.

  D. an obstacle to the development of the city.

4. Where are the new New Yorkers from?

  A. Asia.                                               B. Europe.

  C. All over the world.                            D. Latin America.

5. What is the author's attitude towards immigration to New York?

  A. Negative.                                         B. Worried.

  C. Indifferent.                                      D. Positive.

Smuggling

It is not unusual for a pet to be sent by air cargo from Colombia to New York, but last December’s shipment of a 4-year-old sheep dog caught a New York Kennedy Airport Customs inspector's eye. The dog looked to be on its last legs, and there was an unusual lump on the side of its body. An X-ray and emergency surgery revealed the presence of 10 condoms tightly packed with five pounds of cocaine that had been surgically implanted in the dog's abdomen—yet another first for Customs in the war on drugs.

When it comes to transporting drugs, the methods used are only as limited as a smuggler’s imagination. Kilo bricks of cocaine are routinely concealed beneath false bottoms of containers that hold poisonous snakes. “You’ve got snakes that are 12 feet long,” says a United States Fish and Wildlife Service agent—and sometimes the drug is in the snake. “Who's going to pull it out and feel it? “

In 1994, United States Customs seized 204, 391 pounds of cocaine, 559, 286 pounds of marijuana and 2, 577 pounds of heroin. Just how much actually flows into the country is anyone's guess. Some Customs officials estimate that only 10 percent of the drugs coming into the country are ever seized. In Miami, the District Attorney won't even prosecute small fry. “It’s got to be over five kilos of cocaine, above a kilo of heroin and more than 5, 000 pounds of marijuana or it's not something that we’re going to stop the presses on,” says Tom Cash, a retired agent.

Given this deluge, one can only wonder if agents are ever confounded by some of the smuggling methods. “There are things we haven’t seen before,” says John McGhee, a Miami Customs special agent, “but nothing really surprises us.”

1. The dog was different from others in that

  A. it could stand only on its hind legs.

  B. it had only two legs.

  C. it was very attractive.

  D. it had a very big abdomen.

2. How many methods are used to transport drugs?

  A. As many as a smuggler can think of.

  B. Beyond the smuggler's imagination.

  C. Only a limited number.

  D. Only a few.

3. How many pounds of heroin were estimated to be smuggled into the United States in 1994?

  A. 204,391.                                         B. 2,577.

  C. 25,770.                                            D. 559,286.

4. Which of the following could best replace the expression “small fry” in the third paragraph?

  A. Small dogs.                                      B. Small sheep dogs.

  C. Small smugglers.                              D. Small ringleaders.

5. What is this article about?

  A. Drug transportation from Columbia to New York.

  B. A new method for drug smuggling.

  C. Varied drug transportation methods.

  D. Types of drug.

The Barbie Dolls

In the mid 1940’s, the young ambitions duo Ruth and Ellison Handler, owned a company that made wooden pictures frames. It was in 1945 that Ruth and Elliot Handler joined with their close friend Harold Mattson to form a company that would be known for the most famous and successful doll ever created. This company would be named Mattel, MATT for Mattson and EL for Elliot!

In the mid 1950's, while visiting Switzerland, Ruth Handler purchased a German Lilly doll. Lilly was a shapely, pretty fashion doll first made in 1955. She was originally fashioned after a famous cartoon character in the West German Newsletter, Build.

Lilly is the doll that would inspire Ruth Handler to design the Barbie doll. With the help of her technicians and engineers at Mattel, Barbie was born. Ruth then hired Charlotte Johnson, a fashion designer, to create Barbie's wardrobe. It was in 1958 that the patent for Barbie was obtained. This would be a fashion doll unlike any of her time. She would be long limbed, shapely, beautiful, and only 11.5 inches tall. Ruth and Elliot would name their new fashion doll after their own daughter, Barbie.

In 1959, the Barbie doll would make her way to the New York Toy Show and receive a cool reception from the toy buyers.

Barbie has undergone a lot of changes over the years and has managed to keep up with current trends in hairstyles, makeup and clothing. She is a reflection of the history of fashion since her introduction to the toy market.

Barbie has a universal appeal and collectors both young and old enjoy time spent and memories made with their dolls.

1. When Ruth and Elliot Handler was young, they had a strong desire

  A. to go to school.                                B. to take photos.

  C. to make frames.                                D. to be highly successful.

2. Who owned Mattel?

  A. Mattson.

  B. Elliot.

  C. Harold Mattson and Elliot Handler.

  D. Harold Mattson, Ruth and Elliot Handler.

3. It can be inferred from the second paragraph that Lilly was fashioned after

  A. Build.                                              B. a German doll.

  C. a pretty girl.                                     D. a shapely woman.

4. Where did Ruth Handler's inspiration for the design of the Barbie doll come from?

  A. Barbie.                                           B. Lilly.

  C. Charlotte Johnson.                            D. A fashion designer.

5. Which of the following statements is NOT true of the Barbie doll?

  A. She does not attract young men.

  B. She has undergone many changes over the years.

  C. She is 11. 5 inches tall.

  D. She has managed to keep up with fashion.

The Cherokee Nation

Long before the white man came to the America, the land belonged to the American Indian nations. The nation of the Cherokees lived in what is now the southeastern part of the United States.

After the white man came, the Cherokees copied many of their ways. One Cherokee named Sequoyah saw how important reading and writing was to the white man. He decided to invent a way to write down the spoken Cherokee language. He began by making word pictures. For each word he drew a picture. But that proved impossible—there were just too many words. Then he took the 85 sounds that made up the language. Using his own imagination and an English spelling book, Sequoyah invented a sign for each sound. His alphabet proved amazingly easy to learn. Before long, many Cherokees knew how to read and write in their own language. By 1828, they were even printing their own newspaper.

In 1830, the U. S. Congress passed a law. It allowed the government to remove Indians from their lands. The Cherokees refused to go. They had lived on their lands for centuries. It belonged to them. Why should they go to a strange land far beyond the Mississippi River?

The army was sent to drive the Cherokees out. Soldiers surrounded their villages and marched them at gunpoint into the western territory. The sick, the old and the small children went in carts, along with their belongings. The rest of the people marched on foot or rode on horseback. It was November, yet many of them still wore their summer clothes. Cold and hungry, the Cherokees were quickly exhausted by the hardships of the journey. Many dropped dead and were buried by the roadside. When the last group arrived in their new home in March 1839, more than 4,000 had died. It was indeed a march of death.

1. The Cherokee Nation used to live

  A. on the American continent.

  B. in the southeastern part of the US.

  C. beyond the Mississippi River.

  D. in the western territory.

2. One of the ways that Sequoyah copied from the white man is the way of

  A. writing down the spoken language.

  B. making word pictures.

  C. teaching his people reading.

  D. printing their own newspaper.

3. A law was passed in 1830 to

  A. allow the Cherokees to stay where they were.

  B. send the army to help the Cherokees.

  C. force the Cherokees to move westward.

  D. forbid the Cherokees to read their newspaper.

4. When the Cherokees began to leave their lands.

  A. they went in carts.

  B. they went on horseback.

  C. they marched on foot.

  D. all of the above.

5. Many Cherokees died on their way to their new home mainly because

  A. they were not willing to go there.

  B. the government did not provide transportation.

  C. they did not have enough food and clothes.

  D. the journey was long and boring.

A Ride in a Cable-car

A ride in a cable-car is one of the most exciting and enjoyable experiences a child can have.  In Switzerland, which is the home of the cable-car, it is used mostly to take tourists up the slope of a mountain, to a restaurant from which one can have a bird's-eye view of the surrounding  country, or to the top of a ski-run, from which, in winter, skiers glide down the snow-covered slope on skis. In Singapore, however, the cable-car takes one from the summit of a hill on the main island to a low hill on Sentosa, a resort island just off the southern coast.

The cable-car is really a carriage which hangs from a strong steel cable suspended in the air. It moves along the cable with other cars on pulleys, the wheels of which are turned by electric motors. The cars are painted in eye-catching colours and spaced at regular intervals. Each car can seat up to six persons. After the passengers have entered a car, they are locked in from outside by an attendant. They have no control over the movement of the car.

Before long, the passengers get a breath-taking view through the glass windows of the modern city, the bustling harbour, and the several islands off the coast. The car is suspended so high in the air that ships on the sea look like small boats, and boats like toys. On a clear day, both the sky above and the sea below look beautifully blue.

In contrast to the fast-moving traffic on the ground, the cars in the air move in a leisurely manner, allowing passengers more than enough time to take in the scenery during the brief trip to the island of Sentosa. After a few hours on Sentosa, it will be time again to take a cable-car back to Mount Faber. The return journey is no less exciting than the outward trip.

1. The cable-car in Singapore

  A. takes visitors up to a mountain restaurant.

  B. takes skiers to the top of a ski-run.

  C. takes visitors to Sentosa.

  D. takes visitors to a high mountain.

2. Which of the following about the cable-cars is true?

  A. The cars move along the steel cable.

  B. The cars are operated by a driver.

  C. The cars are controlled by the passengers.

  D. The cars move on wheels.

3. Passengers can get a breath-taking view when riding in a cable-car because

  A. The car is painted in eye-catching colours.

  B. The car is suspended so high in the sky.

  C. Each car can seat up to six persons.

  D. Both the sky and the sea look beautifully blue.

4. The short trip does not bother passengers who want a good view because

  A. the cars move slowly.

  B. the cars move quickly.

  C. the cars are suspended very high.

  D. the cars have glass windows.

5. The last sentence of the passage. “The return journey is no less exciting than the outward trip.”  means

  A. “The return trip is less boring than the outward one.”

  B. “The return trip is more enjoyable than the outward one.”

  C. “The return trip is as thrilling as the outward one.”

  D. “Both the outward and the return trips are uninteresting.”