Put your car keys away and forget about your travel pass --- it's time to do a bit of walking. National Walking Month is organized every May by Living Streets, an organization that campaigns for the rights and the needs of pedestrians, so the organization is previously known as the Pedestrians' Association. The association's aim is to make streets safe, attractive and enjoyable spaces for people to live, work, shop and play. By putting people (rather than vehicles) first, Living Streets wants to create streets and spaces where people feel happier, healthier and more sociable. The annual campaign gives participants a great opportunity to experience the many virtues of walking. These include the physical health benefits of becoming fitter; the environmental advantages of not using vehicles; the delight of local discoveries --- seeing more of your local areas on foot; the enjoyment of walking with other people, whether family, friends or work colleagues and finally the stress relief that comes from walking --- walking can clear your head. Walk to School Week, 18 to 22 May, is part of the month's activities and its aim is to encourage parents to send children to school on foot, rather than take them in the car or let them use public transport. The movement was started in 1995 with only five participating schools and now two decades later, more than one million children take part. Similarly, there is Walk to Work Week, 11 to 15 May, where grown-ups are encouraged to walk. In the morning, getting off the bus a stop early or parking a few streets away is a good way to add more steps to the daily total. And during the working day, after having lunch at the desks or in the canteen, take a walk and get some fresh air. Walk home with your workmates and chat away about everything under the sun but work! What can we learn from Walk to School Week? A) It is organized by the government. B) It is held before Walk to Work Week. C) It has developed rapidly over the last 20 years. D) It encourages students to walk to school alone.
C
Florida is celebrating a big anniversary this year. Five hundred years ago, on April 2, 1513, Spanish explorer Juan Ponce arrived on the east coast of what is now Florida. Native Americans had been living there for centuries, but Ponce was the first European to set foot in what would become the United States. According to legend, Ponce may have landed in Florida by mistake. He is said to have been looking for an island called Bimini and its Fountain of Youth. The magical fountain could supposedly make old people young again. Instead, Ponce landed on Florida and claimed it for Spain. He named it La Florida, or "flowery place". Ponce explored more of Florida's coasts over the next few months. He later returned to Spain but went back to Florida in 1521 to attempt to set up a colony. However, native Americans attacked him and his friends, and Ponce was killed. It wasn't until 1565 that Spain set up a successful colony at St. Augustine on Florida's east coast. It is the oldest European settlement in the U.S. Florida didn't belong to the U.S. until Spain lost control. It was admitted to the U.S. as the 27thstate in 1845. Today, Florida has one of the fastest-growing populations of any state. More than 19 million people call it home. It's also popular with tourists. Last year, 89 million people visited the Sunshine State. These days, most visitors come in search of fun in the sun on its sandy beaches and its theme parks, such as Disney World and Sea World. Ponce was killed _ . A) by his friends B) on his way to Florida C) during his second stay in Florida D) after he set up a colony
C
Q: Vincent Van Gogh was an important painter of the 19thcentury. He was born in Holland, but he lived much of his life inprefix = st1 /France. He was a very emotional man, and there was much suffering in his life. His style of painting was very different from classical art. He painted pictures of sunny, hot regions ofFrance. He looked for interesting shapes and exciting colours. He liked to work freely and quickly. There is a fast movement in many of his paintings. Sometimes the trees look like fire. The sun, the moon, and stars move rapidly in the sky. He also painted pictures of people. Like his life, his art was always unusual and very emotional. Paul Gauguin was another 19-century painter. He was French and a friend of Van Gogh. Before he became an artist, Gauguin had been a businessman for many years. He made a lot of money, and he likes to buy modern paintings. At the age of 354, Gauguin decided to become a painter himself. Gauguin wanted to discover more important things about man. He went to a different part of Franceto live with the farmers. He painted pictures of French country people there. Two years later he went to live in a small place in the Pacific Ocean, thousands of miles fromFrance. He wanted to learn about the simple life there. His most famous and interesting paintings were painted at that time. Van Gogh's style of painting was _ . A) similar to classical art B) different from classical art C) better than classical art D) worse than classical art
A: A
Many of us believe that a person's mind becomes less active as he grows older. But this is not true, according to Dr Jarvik, professor of _ at the University of California. She has studied the mental functioning of aging persons for several years. For example, one of her studies concerns 136 pairs of twins , who were first examined when they were already 60 years old. As Dr Jarvik continued the study of the twins into their 70s and 80s, their minds did not generally decline as was expected. However, there was some decline in their psycho-motor speed. This means that it took them longer to finish mental tasks than it used to. But when speed was not a factor, they lost very little intellectual ability over the years. In general, Dr Jarvik's studies have shown that there is no decline in knowledge or reasoning ability. This is true not only with those in their 30s and 40s, but with those in their 60s and 70s as well. It is true that older people themselves often complain that their memory is not as good as it once was. However, much of what we call "loss of memory" is not that at all. There usually was incomplete learning in the first place. For example, the older person perhaps had trouble hearing, or poor vision, or was trying to learn the new thing at too fast a speed. In the cases where the older person's mind really seems to get worse, it is not necessarily a sign of decline due to old age. Often it is simply a sign of a sad emotional state. This passage is mainly about _ . A) what caused mental decline B) a new discovery about mental decline C) the difference between middle-aged and older persons D) how Dr Jarvik studied mental functioning of the twins
B