For many years, I had a belief that my suffering was due to my size. I believed that when the weight disappeared, it would take old wounds, hurts, and rejections with it. Many weight-conscious people also mistakenly believe that changing our bodies will fix _ . Perhaps our worst mistake is believing that being thin equals being loved,being special, and being cherished. We fantasize about what it will be like when we reach the long-awaited goal. We work very hard to realize this dream. Then, at last, we find ourselves there. But we often gain back what we have lost. Even so, we continue to believe that next time it will be different. Next time, we will keep it off. Next time, being thin will finally fulfill its promise of everlasting happiness, self-worth, and, of course, love. It took me a long while to realize that there was something more for me to learn about beauty. Beauty standards vary with culture. In Samoa a woman is not considered attractive unless she weighs more than 200 pounds. More importantly, if it's happiness that we want, why not put our energy there rather than on the size of our body? Why not look inside? Many of us strive hard to change our body, but in vain. We have to find a way to live comfortably inside our body and make friends with and cherish ourselves. When we change our attitudes toward ourselves, the whole world changes. The passage tries to highlight the importance of _ . A) body size B) attitudes toward life C) culture difference D) different beauty standards
B
Spring is a wonderful season to celebrate rebirth and new life. The long, cold winter is over. The weather is warmer and sunnier. The trees again have leaves and the flowers are blooming. The season represents hope, joy and beauty. At this time, many people think of this classical music piece -- Spring, which shows happiness. Italian composer Antonio Vivaldi wrote it in the seventeen hundred. However, not all songs about spring are happy. This song written and sung by K.D. Lang is about dreaming of spring in cold dark places. She recorded I Dream of Spring in 2008. Richard Rodgers and Oscar Hammerstein wrote It Might as Well Be Spring for the movie State Fair in 1945. Frank Sinatra sings it. It is a feeling of restlessness or excitement brought on by the coming of spring. Richard Rodgers also wrote Spring Is Here, this time with Lorenz Hart. Ella Fitzgerald sings this song about feeling lonely during this season. Frank Loesser wrote the sad song, Spring Will be a Little Late This Year. Why has the season been delayed? Because the singer's lover has left her. Sarah Vaughn released her version of the song in 1953. By now you may be thinking, "Enough with the sad songs, already!" Ok, then how about a cowboy song? Gene Autry was one of America's most famous singing cowboys. He recorded When It's Springtime in the Rockies in 1937. And finally, we'll leave you with a sunny song called Up Jumped Spring. Freddie Hubbard wrote this jazz song in 1977 and Billy Taylor Trio performs it. If you are in a bad mood, you'd better listen to _ . A) Up Jumped Spring B) I Dream of Spring C) Spring Is Here D) Spring Will be a Little Late This Year
A
Q: Is it true that cats have nine lives? One 4-year-old American cat named Sugar definitely seems to have more than one. Sugar fell from the 19th floor of her owner's home in Boston last month and was only hurt a little on her chest. "This story isn't much of a surprise," said Jake Socha, a scientist at Virginia Tech University, US, in an interview with the BBC. "There have been lots of records of these cats surviving." Back in 1987, scientists studied 132 cats. All of them had been brought to a vet's clinic in New York after falling from tall buildings. Around 90 percent of these cats were alive after their fall and only 37 percent had been seriously injured. "Being able to survive falls is a _ thing for animals that live in trees, and cats are one of them," said Socha. Cats have developed special body structures to survive accidental falls. Their legs are muscular. This can protect their bones from breaking, Professor Andrew Biewener from Harvard University told the BBC. Cats can also spread out their legs like a parachute to reduce their falling speed, he said. The strange part, according to scientists, is that cats have a better chance of survival if they fall from higher than seven stories. This is because cats have a good sense of which way is down. They can twist their bodies as they fall to make sure they land on their feet. A higher fall means more time for the cat to change its body position. However, you should not throw your cat out of the window to see how this works. Most pet cats are overweight nowadays. They are not fit enough to change their position in midair, warned Steve Dale, an American cat behavior scientist. "This cat (Sugar) was lucky," Dale said. In fact, most cats would suffer serious lung damage, a broken leg or a broken jaw or teeth damage, he said. Which of the following statements is TRUE? A) A pet cat that falls out of a tall building is not really at risk. B) Sugar was lucky that she was only injured in the leg. C) Cats are confused as to which way is down when they are in midair. D) A cat that falls from the fourth story of a building is more likely to die than one that falls from the 10th story.
A: D
(Question)
Phoenix , Arizona, the USA was shaken by a big sandstorm recently. It was a huge dust storm that struck Phoenix a little after 7:00 pm local time. Arizona has sandstorms particularly during the monsoon( )season which usually starts from mid-June until the end of September. However, this was so far the biggest. The cloud of dust turned day into night. Some trees were downed, gardens were destroyed and it knocked out power for thousands of local people along the area, but luckily no death happened. A number of the people's pools became dirty with dust. People who lived in Phoenix for more than 40 years said that this was the first time they had experienced this huge dust storm. It could greatly influence people's health. The big dust cloud started in Tucson traveling north across the desert. The huge storm ran up to 60 miles per hour. It was more than 100 miles wide and a mile high. Besides Phoenix and near cities ,the storm also reached Yuma area in southwestern and far western Arizona. It reduced the visibility ( ) in these areas, putting off the flights at Phoenix Sky Harbor International Airport. The storm only takes place in Arizona, the Sahara Desert and areas of the Middle East, because of the dry environment and large amounts of sand. Because of the serious shortage of rain, a wall of there's a large possibility that the water is polluted because of the storm. It is fortunate that though the big sandstorm happened, _ . A) .people's health was not influenced B) .it didn't do harm to people's gardens C) the electricity power remained normal D) all the local people in the area survived
(Answer)
D