Living in a green area can make you live longer,according to research published today.The research also
shows  that the  difference in  life expectancy (預期壽命) between rich and poor becomes smalleramong
those who live in an environment with parks and trees.
    Richard Mitchell,from Glasgow University,and his colleagues, found that the gap between the number of
deaths of  people on high incomes and the number of deaths of those on low incomes in green areas was
half that compared with figures relating to builtup areas.
    Green spaces, classified by the researchers as  " open, undeveloped  land with natural  vegetation ",
encouraged people to walk and be more active.Exercise in these settings could have greater benefits than
exercise elsewhere,the researchers said.
    The benefits potentially go beyond exercise.Studies have shown that being around green spaces can
reduce blood pressure and stress levels,and possibly help patients recover faster.
    A number of researchers have looked at the effects of greenery on our wellbeing.But few studies had
looked at whether living in green areas reduced health inequalities,the Glasgow team said.
    Using information from a landuse database of 2001,the researchers divided the preretirement population
of England into four groups according to income level,and five groups according to access to green space.
They then looked at death rate for 2001～2005.
    They found that the inequality in death rate from all causes relating to lack of money was less in those
populations in the greenest areas compared with the figures for people living in more builtup places.They
found an even stronger relationship when it came to deaths from certain diseases such as heart conditions
and stroke (中風)．There was no difference,however,in deaths from lung cancer.
    The researchers said that changing the physical environment was an easier way to fight against poor
health than using media campaigns or giving out information on health."The result of the study is clear:
Environments that promote good health might be very important in the fight to reduce health inequalities."

1．The underlined word "that" in Paragraph 2 refers to________.

A．the gap  
B．the number of deaths
C．the income  
D．the living area

2．What was the special point of the Glasgow team's research?

A．They offered a scientific definition of "green spaces"．
B．They encouraged people to exercise in green areas.
C．They studied the  effects of greenery  on people's health.
D．They focused on the influence of greenery on health inequalities.

3．What advice would the researchers probably give according to the last paragraph?

A．More health information should be given to the public.
B．People should take more exercise every day.
C．More trees and grass should be planted in cities.
D．People should help to fight against health problems.

4．What is the main idea of the passage?

A．People should live in green areas.
B．Green spaces promote good health.
C．Income influences health less than environment.
D．Exercise in green areas benefits people a lot.

     Half an hour of exercise a day can add an extra five years on your life, a ground breaking research
has revealed.Health experts said that walking or cycling gently has massive longterm benefits.According
to the World Health Organization, research carried out in Britain and Denmark shows that gentle
workouts (鍛煉) and even housework every day can boost life spans by as much as five years.
     The news will provide encouragement for those couch_potatoes to start taking exercise.Britain is in
the grip of an obesity epidemic (肥胖癥), with just 35% of men and 24% of women taking regular
exercise.
     "Encouraging people to be physically active every day has so many health benefits, " said Dr.Marc
Danzon, WHO regional director for Europe."These include reducing the risk of developing certain
diseases and of becoming obese, as well as contributing to physical coordination, balance, strength and
mental wellbeing.It is a very costeffective public health tool."
     The organization is so concerned that the public is not getting the message on exercise that it will 
 launch a "Move for Health" campaign to boost public awareness.
     "The WHO encourages adults to take at least 30 minutes of moderate physical exercise a day,
defined as any body movement that results in energy expenditure (消耗), " said Dr  Danzon."This
includes walking, cycling, playing, housework, climbing stairs as well as sports." He added that children
should take at least 60 minutes of exercise every day.

1. The underlined phrase "couch potatoes" probably means______.

A. lazy bones who spend a lot of time sitting
B. people who like eating potatoes
C. persons who usually rest on a couch
D. players who take exercise with potatoes

2. Taking physical exercise every day benefits one's health in the following aspects except________.

A. strengthening body coordination
B. developing certain diseases and becoming obese
C. keeping body balance
D. keeping fit mentally

3. Which statement is NOT true according to the passage?

A. Children should take more physical exercise than adults every day.
B. The WHO has tried to improve people's knowledge about exercise by launching a campaign.
C. People with an obesity epidemic in Britain seldom take regular exercise.
D. Physical exercise brings the best possible profit to public health at the lowest cost.

4. Which of the following is probably the author's attitude towards "trybeforeyoubuy" salesmanship?

A. Honorable.  
B. Favorable.  
C. Negative.  
D. Suspicious.

      Weighing too much can damage your health, and obesity is a growing problem for both kids and
adults around the world.
     Sleep might be one answer to the problem.A new study has found that elementary school students
who slept too little were more likely to gain pounds.In the United States today, some 9 million children
over the age of 6 are obese (too fat).
     Past studies have shown a link between sleeping less and weighing more, but scientists have had a
tough time determining"which_came_first, the_chicken_or_the_egg", says Julie C. Lumeng of the
University of Michigan in Ann Arbor.In other words, it hasn't been clear whether kids who weigh too
much have trouble sleeping, or whether sleeping less leads to weight gain.Both scenarios (情況) seemed
equally possible.
      To get a better idea of which causes which, Lumeng and his colleagues interviewed the parents of
785 third graders from around the United States.The parents answered questions about how well their
kids slept that year.Three years later, the parents answered the same questions.By sixth grade,18
percent of kids involved in the study were obese.The scientists found no relationship between weight
and the students'race or gender.It also didn't matter how strict their parents were.Obesity struck all of
these groups equally.
     Instead, sleep seemed to be the key factor.Over the 3 years of the study, the children averaged a
healthy 9.5 hours of sleep a night.Some kids, however, slept a lot more-or less-than others.For the sixth
graders, every hour of sleep above the 9.5hour average was linked to a 20 percent lower risk of being
obese.Sleep appeared doubly important for the third graders.Every extra hour of sleep they got was
linked to a 40 percent drop in obesity by third grade.
     "I expected we'd find that this (sleep link with obesity) was just a_bunch_of_bunk, " says Lumeng,
a pediatrician.But their findings were convincing.No matter how her team looked at the link, "we
couldn't make it go away."

1. According to the research, ________.

A. 9 million people in America have a weight problem
B. not enough sleep contributes to a gain in weight
C. sixth graders need more sleep than third graders
D. lack of sleep has become the most deadly killer

2. The statement "which came first, the chicken or the egg" suggests that________.

A. scientists are sure about the causes of children's obesity
B. it's easy to decide the cause and effect of this problem
C. scientists are still confused about the cause and effect of the problem
D. you'll develop obesity if you eat chicken and eggs

3. Recent studies show that a child's weight is influenced by the________.

A. amount of sleep  
B. parents'attitude to him
C. race or gender  
D. performance in school

4. The underlined part in the last paragraph most probably means something________.

A. acceptable  
B. understandable
C. reliable  
D. unreasonable

      Living in a green area can make you live longer, according to research published today.The research
also shows  that the  difference in  life expectancy (預期壽命) between rich and poor becomes
smalleramong those who live in an environment with parks and trees.
     Richard Mitchell, from Glasgow University, and his colleagues, found that the gap between the
number of deaths of people on high incomes and the number of deaths of those on low incomes in green
areas was half that compared with figures relating to builtup areas.
     Green spaces, classified by the researchers as "open, undeveloped land with natural vegetation",
encouraged people to walk and be more active.Exercise in these settings could have greater benefits than
exercise elsewhere, the researchers said.
     The benefits potentially go beyond exercise.Studies have shown that being around green spaces can
reduce blood pressure and stress levels, and possibly help patients recover faster.
     A number of researchers have looked at the effects of greenery on our wellbeing.But few studies had
looked at whether living in green areas reduced health inequalities, the Glasgow team said.
     Using information from a landuse database of 2001, the researchers divided the preretirement
population of England into four groups according to income level, and five groups according to access to
green space.They then looked at death rate for 2001～2005.
     They found that the inequality in death rate from all causes relating to lack of money was less in those
populations in the greenest areas compared with the figures for people living in more builtup places.They
found an even stronger relationship when it came to deaths from certain diseases such as heart conditions
and stroke (中風). There was no difference, however, in deaths from lung cancer.
      The researchers said that changing the physical environment was an easier way to fight against poor
health than using media campaigns or giving out information on health."The result of the study is clear:
Environments that promote good health might be very important in the fight to reduce health inequalities."

1. The underlined word "that" in Paragraph 2 refers to________.

A. the gap  
B. the number of deaths
C. the income  
D. the living area

2. What was the special point of the Glasgow team's research?

A. They offered a scientific definition of "green spaces".
B. They encouraged people to exercise in green areas.
C. They studied the  effects of greenery  on people's health.
D. They focused on the influence of greenery on health inequalities.

3. What advice would the researchers probably give according to the last paragraph?

A. More health information should be given to the public.
B. People should take more exercise every day.
C. More trees and grass should be planted in cities.
D. People should help to fight against health problems.

4. What is the main idea of the passage?

A. People should live in green areas.
B. Green spaces promote good health.
C. Income influences health less than environment.
D. Exercise in green areas benefits people a lot.

     Far more people in India have access to a mobile phone than to a toilet,according to a UN study.
     India's mobile users totaled 563.73 million at the last count,enough to serve nearly half of the country's population.
     But just 366 million people-around a third of the population-had access to proper sanitation (衛(wèi)生設施) in 2008,said the study published by the UN University,a UN thinktank.
     "It is a tragic irony (諷刺) to think in India,a country now wealthy enough that roughly half of the
people own phones,so many people cannot afford the basic necessity and quality of a toilet," said UN
University director Zafar Adeel.
     Adeel heads the UN University's Institute for Water,Environment and Health,based in the Canadian
city of Hamilton,which prepared the report.
     Worldwide,an estimated 358 billion dollars is needed between now and 2015 to achieve the UN
Millennium Development Goal (MDG) of halving the proportion of people with inadequate (不充分的)
sanitation from 2000 levels.
     "Proper sanitation could do more to save lives,especially those of young people,improve health and
help pull India and other countries in similar circumstances out of poverty than any alternative investment," Adeel said.
     Poor sanitation is a major contributor to waterborne diseases (水傳播疾病),which in the past three
years alone killed an estimated 4.5 million children under the age of five worldwide,according to the study.
     The report gave a rough cost of 300 dollars to build a toilet,including labour,and materials.The world
could expect a return of up to 34 dollars for every dollar spent on sanitation through improved productivity and reduced poverty and health costs,said Adeel.He said improving sanitation was an economic and
humanitarian opportunity of historic proportions.

1. The population of India is about________.

A. less than 1 billion  
B. about 1.2 billion
C. 900 million  
D. 800 million

2. From Paragraph 4,we can draw a conclusion that________.

A. India is so poor that they can't afford the basic necessity and quality of a toilet
B. a mobile phone is more important than a toilet
C. it's normal in Indian that they can't attach importance to toilets
D. Zafar Adeel wasn't satisfied with the sanitary situation in India

3. Improving sanitation can play an important part in the following EXCEPT________.

A. preventing waterborne diseases
B. saving lives of young people
C. pulling developing countries out of poverty
D. improving the quality of mobile phone and getting more information

4. According to the last paragraph,if the government put into $10,000 on sanitation,they can get
    a return of________.

A. $3,000,000  
B. $10,000
C. $340,000  
D. $10,200