C
The World Health Organization says there has been a sharp increase in the number of over-weight children in developing countries. In African countries, the WHO says the number of over-weight or obese children is twice as high as it was 20 years ago. Around the world, about 43 million children under the age of five were overweight in 2013.
Overweight and obese children are more likely to become overweight and obese adults. The condition can generate serious health problems like heart diseases.
Francesco Branca is the director of the WHO Department of Nutrition for Health and Development. He says urban lifestyle makes people eat processed food more often, which has a high sugar, fat and salt content. He also says people are gaining weight because of their lack of activities. They travel in cars or other vehicles more than on foot.
The WHO experts say to lower obesity rates is especially complex in countries that also deal with high rates of infectious(感染性的) diseases.
The WHO has some basic solutions for individuals and countries. The organization says you should lower your intake of fat, sugar, salt and processed food and eat more fruits, vegetables and increase physical activity. The WHO says these actions are especially important for children.
And WHO expert Branca says mothers should breastfeed their babies for at least the first six months of life, if possible. More importantly, governments should consider providing vitamins for children and educational campaigns about problems linked to obesity would also help. In his view, government policies should deal with how food is marketed to children and food producers must balance quality and taste with the dangers of sugar, fat and salt. "Reducing the number of overweight children will not be easy. The goal is difficult to meet even in wealthy countries. " he adds.
40. What is the main idea of Paragraph l?
A. Children in developing countries generally weigh too much.
B. Overweight children in developing countries have increased greatly.
C. The number of overweight children in the world has doubled.
D. The World Health Organization has increased greatly.
41. According to Branca, people are becoming overweight because of their changes in _______
A. lifestyles B. transportation
C. physical condition D. school education
42. The underlined word “generate” in Paragraph 2 probably means ______.
A. cure B. prevent C. worsen D. cause
43. We can learn from the last paragraph that ______.
A. babies breastfed aren’t likely to become overweight
B. governments should play a necessary role in fighting obesity
C. food producers should be stopped from marketing, food to children
D. the number of overweight children decreases easily in wealthy countries
D
Students from Florida International University in Miami walked on water Thursday for a class assignment. To do it, they wore aquatic (水上的)shoes they designed and created.
Alex Quinones was the first to make it to the other side of a 175-foot lake on campus in record time—just over a minute. Quinones, who wore oversized boat-like shoes, also won last year and will receive $500. Students had to wear the aquatic shoes and make it across the lake in order to earn an “6A” on the assignment for Architecture Professor Jaime Canaves, Materials and Methods Construction Class. “It’s traditional in a school of architecture to do boats out of cardboard for a boat race. I thought our students were a little bit more special than that,” Canaves said. “We decided to do the walk on water event to take it to the next level.”
A total of 79 students competed in the race this year in 41 teams. Only 10 teams failed to cross the lake. Others who fell got back up and made it to the end. The race is open to all students and anyone in the community. The youngest person to ever participate was a 9-year-old girl, who competed in place of her mother, while the oldest was a 67-year-old female.
A large crowd on campus joined Canaves as he cheered on the racers. He shouted encouraging words, but also laughed as some unsteadily made their way to the end.
“A part of this is for them to have more understanding of designing and make it work better,” he said. It is also a lesson in life for the students.
Anything, including walking on water, is possible, if you do the research, test it and go through the design process seriously.
44. The students took part in the race to ______.
A. go across the lake to school
B. test their balance on the water
C. pass Professor Canaves’ class
D. win the prize money of $ 500
45. According to Canaves, this race can help the students ______.
A. understand designing better B. achieve almost everything
C. work together and unite as one D. walk on the surface of water
46. What is the purpose of this passage?
A. To advertise a students’ program.
B. To report an interesting assignment.
C. To introduce a creative professor.
D. To encourage special events on campus.
E
People in several American states may be surprised to see cars on city streets without a driver. Experimental driverless vehicles now are legal in Florida, Nevada and California. They are pointing the way to a future that is not far down the road. The high-tech company Google has a number of self-driving cars, which had covered 480,000 kilometers by August. Volvo is among the companies doing road tests and says it plans to sell driverless cars by 2020.
In September, California Governor Jerry Brown signed an act to allow autonomous vehicles on the roads of his state. “Today we’re looking at science fiction becoming tomorrow’s reality—the driverless car.” The technology for these cars includes cameras, radar and motion sensors. The systems have been improved through competitions sponsored by the US government agency DARPA. Engineer Richard Mason of the Rand Corporation helped design driverless vehicles for DARPA challenge races.
“Cars have become much more fuel-efficient, and new electronic features are making Hondas safer,” said Angie Nucci of Honda America. “A camera on the passenger-side mirror actually engaged on your guiding screen so you can safely change lanes.” Other safety features include warning systems on the front and the sides of the cars. These systems help drivers, but don’t replace them. Curator Leslie Kendall of the Petersen Automotive Museum said autonomous cars will make the high ways safer.
“By taking out drivers, you also remove most risks of an accident,” Kendall said. He said consumers, however, may be unwilling to lose control. “It may take them time to come to realize that the technology is indeed reliable, but it will have to prove itself first.”
Mason said the technology already works and the biggest challenge now is getting down the cost for driverless vehicles from hundreds of thousands of dollars to something more affordable. He said this will happen as the technology is improved.
47. What can we learn from Paragraph l?
A. Volvo will be the first to sell driverless cars.
B. Driverless cars are pointing us a faraway future.
C. Driverless vehicles are now legal in the whole USA.
D. Google’s self-driving cars have covered a long distance.
48. We learn that Governor of California Jerry Brown_________.
A. helped design self-driving cars
B. supports self-driving cars on roads
C. considers self-driving cars science fiction
D. improved the self-driving car systems
49. According to Richard Mason, what is the biggest challenge for driverless cars?
A. They are not allowed to run on the road.
B. Their technical problems remain to be solved.
C. They are now too expensive for consumers.
D. They are more dangerous for people on the street.
50. Which is the best title for the passage?
A. The Benefits of the Self-driving Cars
B. The Biggest Challenge of the Self-driving Cars
C. Safer or More Dangerous Self-driving Cars
D. Self-driving Cars—Science Fiction Future Is Near