Dear Cary,

I'm writing because I've understood you've struggled with alcoholism （酗酒）．I've been fighting mine ever since I went through 9-11．After that, I've been more or less useless professionally - I'm a lawyer - and have had to resien（ 辭職） from my job because I was discovered passed - out drunk in front of my computer．I've taken some medicine and it has helped somewhat．I can manage about a month without drinking, but after that I end up having a crazy stage where nothing matters except drinking．After a week or so of heavy drinking,! start having nightmares of people jumping．After that, it's a week of not being able to get out of bed．

I was supposed to travel to a conference but didn't make it because I got so drunk at the airport that I fell down on my face and spent the rest of the day in the emergency room．I have been hiding from my family since then．Fortunately they won't be expecting me to come back for a week or so．Otherwise, they would notice the bump on my forehead and two black eyes．

I don't really know what I'm asking you．Cary, I need a way out that doesn't involve causing pain to my family．I'm taking medicine, but' I still have these attacks every few months．If there's alcohol in the house, I can't stay away from it．It seems that this will never end．I'm afraid of what will happen if something bad happens, like a family member dying, or getting fired again．

Thanks for reading．

Yours T

1.The underlined sentence shows us all the following EXCEPT _____．

       A．the reason why the author had to resign

       B．that the author was once discovered drunk as a fish

       C．that the author is a lawyer by profession

       D．that the author is a lawyer and he never gets drunk

2.The author writes to Cary in order to _____．

       A．a(chǎn)sk for money   B．a(chǎn)sk for help      C．offer advice  D．tell a story

3.What is the author worried about?

       A．  Losing his job                       B．Giving up drinking

       C．  Bring pain to his family           D．Missing the conference

4.We know from the passage that Cary _____．

       A．is probably a recovered alcoholic

    B．never suffered from alcoholism

       C．likes to talk about the details of his life

    D．is a doctor on treating alcoholism

 

Travel is exciting and summer is a busy period for holiday travel. Many people will travel great distances in airplanes, cars or other vehicles. Experts say people should know about other health problems that can strike when traveling by air.

One of these is a condition called hypoxia (缺氧癥). It results from a lack of oxygen to the brain. Experts say the body begins losing oxygen minutes after an airplane leaves the ground. The air pressure in a plane during flight is lower than at sea level. This makes it more difficult for the body to effectively use the same amount of oxygen as it would on the ground. Fewer oxygen molecules （分子） cross the tissues (組織) in the lungs and reach the bloodstream.

The result is a five to twenty percent drop in the amount of oxygen in the blood. This reduces the amount of oxygen that reaches the organs of the body.

One effect of this lack of oxygen to the brain is a headache. When this happens, the heart attempts to fix the situation by beating harder and faster. This can make the traveler feel tired.

These signs of hypoxia are not dangerous in a healthy person. But a drop in oxygen level can cause a health emergency in people with heart or lung problems. They might lose consciousness or even suffer a heart attack.

Experts say that smoking cigarettes and drinking alcoholic liquids also reduce the body’s ability to use oxygen. So they suggest that people not drink alcohol or smoke cigarettes either before or during a flight. They also say persons with heart or lung problems should seek advice from their doctors before flying.

1.The author writes the passage mainly to ___.

A．warn people in airplanes of possible dangers

B．offer some advice on avoiding health problems

C．explain the causes and effects of hypoxia

D．a(chǎn)dvise people not to smoke or drink alcohol

2.According to the passage, what leads to hypoxia?

A．The brain lacks enough oxygen.

B．The air pressure in a plane is too high

C．Our body needs less oxygen during takeoff.

D．The bloodstream contains no oxygen molecules.

3.The underlined part “fix the situation” means “___”.

A．use more oxygen it needs

B．increase the air pressure

C．reduce the amount of blood

D．bump more blood to the brain

4.Why should passengers not smoke or drink before flying?

A．They weaken the body’s ability to use oxygen.

B．Smoking may pollute the air inside the airplane.

C．Drinking alcohol may raise one’s blood pressure.

D．Drinking is forbidden at the airport.

5.Do you think which the following title is the best title for this passage?

A．Tralling

B．how to travel

C．some suggestions about on the plane while travelling

D．the causes and effects of hypoxia

 

ASK LASKAS

YOU'VE GOT QUESTIONS. SHE'S GOT ANSWERS

Q: My problem is computer gaming. I do it day and night, averaging four hours of sleep. I can't control of this, and I don't know where to go for help. Do you?                                 —Player

A: Dear Player,

You have an addiction. For some people playing video games releases dopamine, a powerful brain chemical that makes you feel good. You'd toss your cigarettes if you were ready to quit, right? To kick the habit, get help from a health professional. And don't look for help on line; that would be like an alcoholic going to the bar for advice.

Q: My brother's wife just had triplets(三胞胎). This is such a joy! Yet every time I share the news with co-workers, they ask me if she was on fertility pills. I think this is rude—or has society just become so talk-show numbed (麻木的)that you can ask anyone anything?                    —No Show Host

A: Dear Host,

Yes. Our society has become increasingly disrespectful of privacy. But don't blame it all on the talk-shows. Continue to celebrate and greet impolite questions with stony silence. Their fertility history is nobody's business but their own.

Q: I work at an amusement park, and my manager steals supplies. She has a catering business on the side, and we've seen her load up her van at the back gates. The big bosses think she is the best thing since buttered bread, and we're all afraid that if we say anything, we'll lose our jobs. What can we do?        —Righteous

A: Dear Righteous,

Be sure you're right. You must have evidence about what and why things are going out the back gates. Once you know for certain, it's time to go to the bosses and report what you have seen.

Q: My stepson's wife sometimes leaves their eight-year-old home alone for "a short run to the store." That may be an hour or so. I believe by law we should report it. What do you think?

—The In-laws

A: Dear Laws,

I don't know what the child-protection laws in your state are, but I do know that children need care and attention. This child may be able and unafraid, but kids aren't always careful. It also sounds like there is stress in your family relationship. One thing you can do to help this situation is offer to baby-sit when Mom needs to step out.

1.Which of the following statements is true?

A. Dopamine is a powerful brain chemical good to our health.

B. Looking for help on line is like getting help from a health professional.

C. Player is a video game addict who smokes and sleeps few hours.

D. Player is advised to stay clear of the screen.

2.According to the Q&A,        .

A. Host's colleagues are insensitive

B. The talk-show is to blame

C. Somebody's business is everybody's

D. Host's sister-in-law was on fertility pills

3.What we can infer from the Q&A is       .

A. The Mom is not to blame because she needs a short run to the store

B. Children need care and attention, though not for all of them

C. Laws, the old lady, wants to report what she sees to the child's father

D. Laskas doesn't seem to approve of Laws' trying to report what she sees

4.Which Q&A mentioned transport?

A. The first             B. The second.         C. The third.       D. None.

 

Two graduates from Cambridge University in the United Kingdom found themselves about to graduate, yet with loans to pay off. The pair decided to begin a strange, year-long project to battle their debt.

The men, Ross Harper and Ed Moyse, set up the site BuyMyFace.co.uk. last October as a way to get rid of the $80,000 they shared as student loans. The idea behind the project was to earn money by selling their faces as advertising space every day for a year. Each day, they advertise a different business on their site by painting the brand's logo or name on their faces and including a link to the company’s site. After they paint their faces and publish them on the site, Harper and Moyse go out to highly populated areas such as music festivals and theme parks to maximize their faces’ exposure.

At this time, Harper and Moyse have advertised their faces for over four months without skipping a day and they're more than halfway to their goal. Though they first started charging a minimum of about USD $1.60 per company, the prices have risen as their popularity increased. For advertising space during the remainder of April, they range between USD $250 and $750. 

Terri L. Rittenburg, associate professor of marketing at the University of Wyoming, said she had heard of people tattooing (紋身) logos on themselves before, but this idea is much better. According to her, at first the idea would be new and novel and attract attention, but she is unsure how long it would last.

At least for now, companies that have bought Harper and Moyse’s faces have written positive comments on the pair’s website. “We had a three percent increase in website traffic on the very day and for two days more afterwards,” said an alcoholic beverage company.

1.Which of the following was most possibly taken from the website BuyMyFace.co.uk.?

A.               B.                 C.                  D.

2. Harper and Moyse go to highly populated areas to _____.

    A. have fun B. make friends C. show their faces  D. find new customers

3.We can infer from the article that the two men _____.

    A. must have earned more than $40,000  

B. aren’t getting on well with their project

    C. may close their site next month     

D. always work hard except on holidays

 

Between 10,000 and 15,000 years ago, some humans discontinued their wandering hunting and gathering and settled down to farm. Grain was the first domesticated crop that started that farming process.

The oldest proven records of brewing are about 6,000 years old and refer to the Sumerians. Sumeria lay between the Tigris and Euphrates rivers including Southern Mesopotamia. It is said that the Sumerians discovered the fermentation (發(fā)酵) process by chance. No one knows today exactly how this occurred, but it could be that a piece of bread or grain became wet and a short time later, it began to ferment.

The Sumerians were able to repeat this process and are assumed to be the first civilized culture to brew beer. They had discovered a “divine drink” which certainly was a gift from the gods. The word beer comes from the Latin word bibere, meaning “to drink”, and the Spanish word cerveza originates from the Greek goddess of agriculture, Ceres.

A vitamin-rich porridge, used daily, beer is reported to have increased health and longevity and reduced disease and malnutrition (營養(yǎng)不良). The self-medicating properties of alcohol-rich beer also eased the tensions and stresses of daily living in a hostile world. The use of yeast (酵母) was not yet known at that time. The success of the fermentation process was left to chance, as the brewers unknowingly relied on yeast particles in the air.

Considerable scientific research took place in breweries (釀酒廠) in the 19th century. A famous work from 1876 by Louis Pasteur was Studies Concerning Beer where he revealed his knowledge of micro-organisms. By establishing that yeast is a living microorganism, Pasteur opened the gates for accurately controlling the conversion (轉(zhuǎn)換) of sugar to alcohol.

Another discovery in beer brewing was the work of Christian Hansen, a Danish scientist, who successfully isolated a single yeast cell and induced it to reproduce on an artificial culture medium. With the resulting yeast multiplication (繁殖) methods, the purity of the fermenting process has been improved.

1.According to the passage, who was the first to brew beer?

A．The Greeks.	B．Christian Hansen.
C．Louis Pasteur.	D．The Sumerians.

2.The last two paragraphs mainly talk about 　　   　 .

A．the function of micro-organisms

B．the success of the fermentation process

C．two scientific discoveries about brewing

D．the results of yeast multiplication methods

3.According to the text, which of the following is NOT true?

A．Grain was the first crop used to brew beer.

B．There are some yeast particles in the air.

C．The word “beer” originates from Latin.

D．Modern beer contains more alcoholic.

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

A．The beer culture.	B．The history of beer.
C．The earliest brewery.	D．Methods of brewing beer.