In earliest times, men considered lightning to be one of the great mysteries of nature. Some ancient people believed that lightning and thunder were the weapons of the gods. In reality, lightning is a flow of electricity formed high above the earth .A single flash of lightning 1.6 kilometers long has enough electricity to light one million light bulbs. The American scientist and statesman, Benjamin Franklin, was the first to show the connection between electricity and lightning in 1752.In the same year he also built the first lightning rod . This device protects buildings from being damaged by lightning. Modern science has discovered that one stroke of lightning has a voltage of more than 15 million volts .A flash of lightning between a cloud and the earth may be as long as 13 kilometers, and travel at a speed of 30 million meters per second . Scientists judge that there are about 2, 000 million flashes of lightning per year. Lightning hits the Empire State Building in New York City 30 to 48 times a year. In the United States alone it kills an average of one person every day. The safest place to be in case of an electrical storm is in a closed car.Outside, one should go to low ground and not get under trees.Also, one should stay out of water and away from metal fences.Inside a house, people should avoid open doorways and windows and not touch wires or metal things. With lightning, it is better to be safe than sorry! Which of the following is NOT true? A) In the US about one person per day dies from lightning. B) The Empire State Building frequently gets hit by lightning. C) Swimming during a thunderstorm is a good idea. D) A closed car is the best place to be during an electrical storm.
C
Eco City Farms are becoming more popular in cities and towns around the Unites States. Eco City Farms in Edmonton, Maryland, is located near shopping centers, car repair shops and homes. The neighborhood is a working-class community . People do not have very much money. And they have limited access to fresh food in markets. Over the past two years, the farm has attracted volunteers from the community like Marcy Clark. She schools her four children at home. On a recent day she brought them to Eco City Farms for a lesson. Her son Alston Clark thinks his experience is very valuable."I like coming out here,"he says,"You know, you connect with the earth, where your food comes from. You appreciate the food a little bit more." Margaret Morgan started Eco City Farms. She thinks of it as a place where people can learn to live healthier lives. "Growing food in a community brings people together,"she continues,"Every piece of what we do here is a demonstration to show people everything about how to have an eco-friendly community."she says. From the Eco City Farms people come to know that they are not only growing food and raising chickens and bees, but improving the soil with compost made from food waste. Eco City Farms is an experimental operation. The farm gets its power not from the local electricity networks, but from the sun with solar panels. In winter, the green house use a geothermal system. Vegetables can be grown all year. So once a week, all winter long, neighbors like Chris Moss and her three children bike to the farm to pick up a share of the harvest. "I like eating the vegetables "say five-year-old Owen Moss. What is the author's attitude toward Eco City Farms? A) Enthusiastic . B) Disappointed. C) Surprised. D) Doubtful.
A
Q: 'As I stood in front of the grave of President Richard Nixon, I was thinking about the time 25 years ago when this president helped bring the United States and China closer together. Young people of our two countries should help this relationship grow.' This remark was made by a Shanghai student when speaking to his fellow students at the Nixon Library in California, U.S.A. He was one of 80 middle school students from China attending a month-long 'Youth Summit'. The Summit was to mark the 25th anniversary of President Nixon's journey to China, which was the turning point in China-U.S. relations. The Youth Summit was aimed at increasing understanding and friendship between young students of the two countries through visits and discussions. Seventy-five American students were selected to visit China. They also visited the Nixon Library on July 21 before leaving for Beijing the next day. The head of the Library said he was pleased to see the American and Chinese students talking and laughing together. One Chinese student said, 'I didn't find it particularly difficult to talk with Americans. We have our differences, but we have a lot in common. Dialogue is good for us.' The words 'Youth Summit' in the text refer to _ . A) visits to the Nixon Library B) the Chinese students' visit to the U.S. C) a meeting discussing relations between China and the U.S. D) activities to make the ties between the Chinese and American students stronger
A: D
If music makes you smarter, and exercise helps brain function, can exercising to music really boost brainpower? Some researchers said it could. Volunteers who listened to Vivaldi~ "Four Seasons" while working out on a treadmill did much better on a test of verbal ability than when they exercised without music, a team at prefix = st1 /OhioStateUniversityfound. "Evidence suggests that exercise improves the cognitive performance of people with coronary artery disease ," said psychologist Charles Emery, who led the study. "And listening to music is thought to enhance brainpower. We wanted to put the _ together," Emery added in a statement. Writing in the latest issue of the journal Heart & Lung, Emery and colleagues said they studied 33 men and women taking part in a cardiac rehabilitation program after having bypass surgery, angioplasty or other procedures to treat clogged arteries. The volunteers said they felt better emotionally and mentally after working out with or without the music. But their improvement on the verbal fluency test doubled after listening to music on the treadmills ."Exercise seems to cause positive changes in the nervous system, and these changes may have a direct effect on cognitive ability," Emery said. "Listening to music may influence cognitive function through different pathways in the brain. The combination of music and exercise may stimulate and increase cognitive arousal while helping to organize cognitive output." Emery said he now wanted to test people using music of their own choice. "We used The Four Seasons' because of its moderate tempo and positive effects on medical patients in previous research," Emery said. "But given the range of music preferences among patients, it's especially important to evaluate the influence of other types of music on cognitive outcomes." If we can combine music and exercise, we can _ A) stimulate and increase cognitive arousal while have difficulty in organizing cognitive output B) neither stimulate and increase cognitive arousal nor help to organize cognitive output C) help to organize cognitive output at the expense of cognitive arousal D) stimulate and increase cognitive arousal as well as help to organize cognitive output
D