Keeping a busy social life among lots of friends may keep people thinner than spending hours doing some exercises, according to scientists. They say that socializing and meeting with friends help increase levels of brown fat in the body which burns calories to produce heat.
Living in an exciting social environment was found to reduce fat in mice's belly by half over four weeks, even if they ate more. US researchers say that social excitement aids weight loss by turning white fat into brown. White fat stores calories and makes us fatter, while brown burns energy to produce heat. Turning white fat into brown is extremely difficult, normally requiring long- term stay in cold conditions or exciting part of the body's nervous system.
However, scientists from Ohio State University now think that having a busy social life is an even more effective way of changing white fat into brown. The team came up with their theory by studying the effects of various living environments on mice. Those, who lived alongside a greater number of mice, had more space and toys to excite themselves and then lost far more weight over the course of the study than their “couch potato" fellows.
Study author, Dr Matthew During, whose team’s findings appear in the journal Cell Metabolism, said, “I'm still amazed at the degree of fat loss that occurs.” explaining how new technology had threatened face-to-face socializing, he added, “It's not just a sedentary(久坐的) lifestyle and high calorie foods, but an increasing lack of social activities.” Co-author Dr Lei Cao said，“Loneliness is a potential factor for cancer and death; it's equal to cigarette smoking to a certain extent. Social activities are very vital.”
1.What information can we get from the first two paragraphs?
A. Brown fat stores calories and makes us fatter.
B. It doesn’t take long to turn white fat into brown.
C. Brown fat can burn energy to produce heat.
D. Social excitement helps gain more weight.
2.Which of the following statement does the text support?
A. The mice lacking social life lose more weight.
B. Levels of brown fat can be increased by socializing.
C. The research findings haven’t been published so far.
D. Dr Matthew During wasn’t convinced of the result.
3.We can conclude from the text that _______.
A. the fat in mice’s belly was reduced because of the relaxing environment
B. a sedentary lifestyle and high calories foods influence people’s social life
C. surfing the Internet may influence people’s face-to-face communication
D. cancer and death are mainly caused for lack of social life
4. What’s the main idea of the text?
A. Socializing contributes to people's losing weight
B. Socializing is unnecessarily important in people’s daily life.
C. White fat can be changed into brown fat.
D. Brown fat is beneficial to people’s health.
Basketball Statistician Help Wanted
The Athletic Department is looking for students to help assist staff during the Fall 2016, Winter 2016-17 and Spring 2017 semesters. Students in this position will be keeping live statistics during basketball games. Students must meet all of the following requirements:
·Good computer skills
·Available evenings and weekends
·Knowing basketball rules and statistics
Students interested in working for the Athletic Department should contact the Athletic Coordinator at their respective(各自的) campuses.
·TP/SS Athletic Coordinator, Michael Simone,240-567-1308
·Rockville Athletic Coordinator, Jorge Zuniga,240-567-7589
·Springfield Athletic coordinator, Gary Miller,240-567-2273
·Germantown Athletic Coordinator, Gavri Chavan, 240-567-6915
1.When will the job start?
A .In May 2016 B. In September 2016
C. In May 2017 D. In September2017
2.Who is more likely to get job?
A. Sam, English major ,member of the college basketball team
B. Judy, IT staff with night classes, children’s basketball team coach
C. Ted, computer major, basketball fan, free on evenings and weekends
D. Molly, part-time programmer, high school basketball player ,new mother
3.Whom should you contact if you want to apply for the job in Rockville?
A. JorgeB. Michael C. GauriD. Gary
Feeling exhausted and hopeless, I began walking to my car. Every step seemed tiring, and every step was another to survive. As I looked up into the sky I thought about how my grandmother had left me, and my anger began to return. I was annoyed by the loss, and my belief in God was beginning to fade. I couldn’t understand why these things happened. So as I stood in a public parking lot a million questions formed in my mind. Why did this happen to me? Aren’t we supposed to get signs from the people that pass on? Why did I not feel her presence anymore? Is there a heaven?
Suddenly, a woman driving right by my side rolled down her window and distracted my unanswered thoughts. “Excuse me, excuse me, excuse me,” she said loudly. Thinking she was going to ask for my parking spot, I simply pointed to my car. The thought of having to say where my car was seemed like too much to bear. “No, excuse me,” she said again.
At this point, I felt I had no choice but to see what this annoying lady wanted. As I got closer, I was startled—was this my grandmother’s nurse, Adu, who lived with her during her final months? I soon realized that she wasn’t, although the resemblance was unusual. Then, I realized that this Adu was searching for something in her bag. Surprisingly, I was overcome by a sense of relief that led me to be patient the entire time the lady was searching. Others would be nervous by a stranger reaching in their bag, but I wasn’t. She finally reached to the very bottom of her bag and handed me a three-page booklet. “It looks like you need this,” she said calmly with a warm smile on her face.
I looked down at the mysterious and obviously used booklet and on the front cover in big bold letters read “What Hope for Dead Loved Ones?”
It took me only a few seconds to comprehend the exchange with this woman, but by the time I looked up, she was gone.
I walked slowly into my car holding the tiny little booklet that was given to me with fear that it would fly away in the wind. I didn’t know what it was exactly, but I knew that if my grandmother had anything to do with that I didn’t want to let it go.
I felt a sense of relaxation as I opened the first page. It explained how people pass on, but their spirit remains with us. This was the first time since my grandma had passed that I felt her with me, just like I had wanted. I didn’t know whether to laugh or cry, but I did know that I finally felt happiness from the surprising change in events.
I couldn’t, and still can’t, believe what had happened to me on that day. I don’t remember the specific details that you usually hear about like what the person was wearing, the time of day, or even the weather, but it doesn’t matter. It was a random day in November when my life turned back around and I began to feel hope again. It was real. It was a miracle. And, I’ll remember it for the rest of my life.
1.The author refused to say anything to the woman but just pointed to her own car at first mainly because ______.
A. the author did not know the woman
B. the woman interrupted the author’s thoughts
C. the author was too weak to say anything
D. the author thought she wanted to use the vacant parking space
2.What can we learn about the author’s grandmother?
A. She was kind to the author.
B. She left nothing to the author.
C. She often made the author angry.
D. She lost faith in God.
3.What can be inferred from the passage?
A. The author and the woman became good friends later.
B. The woman turned out to be the author’s grandmother’s nurse.
C. The author knows the specific details about this experience.
D. The author was very grateful to the unknown woman.
4.What would be the best title for the passage?
A. What Hope for Dead Loved Ones?
B. Miracle at the Parking Lot
C. True Love for My Grandmother
D. Adu, My Grandmother’s Nurse
近年，幸福观的讨论引起了社会广泛关注。那么，幸福究竟是什么？巧的是，你的英语课本中有一个单元涉及到这个话题，该单元的Project部分要求学生制作一个Happiness Handbook，请根据以下提示写一篇短文，以装订到你们小组的Happiness Handbook里。
提示：有人说，幸福是获取（锦衣美食，家人朋友的呵护，……）
有人说，幸福是给予（帮助别人，奉献社会，……）
我认为……
注意：
第一节 对所给要点逐一陈述，适当发挥，不要简单翻译；
第二节 词数120左右。开头已写好，不计入总词数；
第三节 文中不得提及个人身份信息（如真实姓名，学校名称等。
Recently, different surveys as to what happiness is have been conducted on different media, which has raised wide public concern. What is happiness? Different people have different ideas.
假定英语课上老师要求同桌之间交换修改作文，请你修改你同桌写的以下作文。文中共有10处语言错误，每句中最多有两处。每处错误仅涉及一个单词的增加、删除或修改。
增加：在缺词处加一个漏字符号（∧），并在其下面写出该加的词。
删除：把多余的词用斜线（﹨）划掉。
修改：在错的词下划一横线，并在该词下面写出修改后的词。
注意：1.每处错误及其修改均仅限一词；
2.只允许修改10处，多者（从第11处起）不计分。
Nowadays, mobile phones are become more and more popular in the middle school students. In my opinion, we can bring mobile phones to school. As we know, the 21st century is a modern age and full of informations. A mobile phone is one of the quicker tools for us to exchange messages. The mobile phone is a fashionable and useful invention, but we ought to make the best use of it. Suppose there’s sudden accident, it is more conveniently for us to dial for help immediately. There’re also some games in the mobile phone. We can relax us by playing them when we’re tired of our studies. In my opinion, It’s not wrong to follow after the fashion, but the most important thing is that to use the mobile phone in a right way.
阅读下面材料,在空白处填入适当的内容(1个单词)或括号内单词的正确形式。
Teachers at American colleges and universities have many different teaching methods. Some teachers give homework and check homework every day, 1. students in their classes have 2. (take) many exams. Some teachers give only writing 3. (task). Some teachers always follow a course outline and usually use the textbook. Others send students 4. the library for tasks.
The atmosphere in some classrooms is very formal, 5. students call their teachers Professor Smith, Mrs Jones and 6. on. Some teachers wear business clothes and give talks. Other classrooms have an informal atmosphere. Students and teachers discuss 7. ideas. Teachers dress 8. (formal), and students call them by their first names. American teachers are different in their teaching styles.
At most American colleges and universities, libraries and learning centers can 9. (use) by students at any time. They can often use tape recorders, video machines and computers. They can buy books, notebooks and 10.things at campus stores. There are also services for students. They can get advice on their problems from their teachers. Colleges and universities usually offer facilities to students. Some schools have swimming pools and tennis courts. Most have fast food restaurants.
