Readingandspeaking.doc

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The Intelligent Transport team at Newcastle University have turned an electric car into a mobile laboratory named “DriveLAB” in order to understand the challenges faced by older drivers and to discover where the key stress points are.
Research shows that giving up driving is one of the key reasons for a fall in health and well-being among older people, leading to them becoming more isolated(隔绝) and inactive.
Led by Professor Phil Blythe, the Newcastle team are developing in-vehicle technologies for older drivers which they hope could help them to continue driving into later life.
These include custom-made navigation(导航) tools, night vision systems and intelligent speed adaptations. Phil Blythe explains: “For many older people, particularly those living alone or in the country, driving is important for preserving their independence, giving them the freedom to get out and about without having to rely on others.”
“But we all have to accept that as we get older our reactions slow down and this often results in people avoiding any potentially challenging driving conditions and losing confidence in their driving skills. The result is that people stop driving before they really need to.”
Dr Amy Guo, the leading researcher on the older driver study, explains, “The DriveLAB is helping us to understand what the key points and difficulties are for older drivers and how we might use technology to address these problems.
“For example, most of us would expect older drivers always go slower than everyone else but surprisingly, we found that in 30mph zones they struggled to keep at a constant speed and so were more likely to break the speed limit and be at risk of getting fined. We’re looking at the benefits of systems which control their speed as a way of preventing that.
“We hope that our work will help with technological solutions(解决方案) to ensure that older drivers stay safer behind the wheel.”
32.What is the purpose of the Drivel AB?
A. To explore newmeans of transport. B. To design new types of cars.
C. To find out older driver`s problems. D. To teach people traffic rules.
33.Why is driving important for older people according to Phil Blythe?
A. It keeps them independent. B. It helps them save time.
C. It builds up their strength. D. It cures their mental illnesses.
34.What do researchers hope to do for older drivers?
A. Improve their driving skills. B. Develop driver-assist technologies.
C. Provide tips on repairing their cars. D. Organize regular physical checkups.
35.What is the best title for the text?
A. A new Model Electric Car B. A Solution to Traffic Problem
C. Driving Service for elders D. Keeping Older Drivers on the Road
Your house may have an effect on your figure. Experts say the way you design your home could play a role in whether you pack on the pounds or keep them off. You can make your environment work for you instead of against you. Here are some ways to turn your home into part of your diet plan.
Open the curtains and turn up the lights. dark environments are more likely to encourage overeating, for people are often less self-conscious(难为情) when they’re in poorly lit places – and so more likely to eat lots of food. If your home doesn’t have enough window light, get more lamps and flood the place with brightness.
Mind the colors. Research suggests warm colors fuel our appetites. In one study, people who ate meals in a blue room consumed 33 percent less than those in a yellow or red room. Warm colors like yellow make food appear more appetizing, while cold colors make us less hungry. So when it’s time to repaint, go blue.
Don’t forget the clock – or the radio. People who eat slowly tend to consume about 70 fewer calories(卡路里) per meal than those who rush through their meals. Begin keeping track of the time, and try to make dinner last at 30 minutes. And while you’re at it, actually sit down to eat. If you need some help slowing down, turning on relaxing music. It makes you less likely to rush through a meal.
Downsize the dishes. Big serving bowls and plants can easily makes us fat. We eat about 22 percent more when using a 12-inch plate instead of a 10-inch plate. When we choose a large spoon over a smaller one, total intake(摄入) jumps by 14 percent. And we’ll pour about 30 percent more liquid into a short, wide glass than a tall, skinny glass.
25. The text is especially helpful for those who care about ____.
A. their home comforts B. their body shape
C. house buying D. healthy diets
26. A home environment in blue can help people ____.
A. digest food better B. reduce food intake
C. burn more calories D. regain their appetites
27. What are people advised to do at mealtimes?
A. Eat quickly. B. Play fast music
C. Use smaller spoons D. Turn down the lights
28.What can be a suitable title for the text?
A. Is Your House Making You Fat? B. Ways of Serving Dinner
C. Effects of Self-Consciousness D. Is Your Home Environment Relaxing?
Plants are flowering faster than scientists predicted（预测）in reaction to climate change, which could have long damaging effects on food chains and ecosystems.
Global warming is having a great effect on hundreds of plant and animal species around the world, changing some living patterns, scientists say.
Increased carbon dioxide（CO2）in the air from burning coal and oil can have an effect on how plants produce oxygen, while higher temperatures and changeable rainfall patterns can change their patterns of growth.
“Predicting species’ reaction to climate change is a major challenge in ecology,” said the researches of several U.S. universities. They said plants had been the key object of study because their reaction to climate change could have an effect on food chains and ecosystem services.
The study, published on the Nature website, uses the findings from plant life cycle studies and experiments across four continents and 1,634 species. It found that some experiments had underestimated（低估）the speed of flowering by 8.5 times and leafing by 4 times.
“Across all species, the experiments under-predicted the speed of the advance — for both leafing and flowering — that results from temperature increases,” the study said.
The design of future experiments may need to be improved to better predict how plants will react to climate change, it said.
Plants are necessary for life on the Earth. They are the base of the food chain, using photosynthesis（光合作用）to produce sugar from carbon dioxide and water. They let out oxygen which is needed by nearly every organism on the planet.
Scientists believe the world’s average temperature has risen by about 0.8℃ since 1900, and nearly 0.2℃ every ten years since 1979.
So far, efforts to cut emissions（排放）of planet-warming greenhouse gases are not seen as enough to prevent the Earth heating up beyond 2℃ this century — a point scientists say will bring the danger of a changeable climate in which weather extremes are common, leading to drought, floods, crop failures and rising sea levels.
57. What is the key information the author wants to give in Paragraph 1?
A. Plants’ reaction to weather could have damaging effects on ecosystem.
B. The increasing speed of flowering is beyond scientists’ expectation.
C. Climate change leads to the change of food production patterns.
D. Food chains have been seriously damaged because of weather.
58. We can learn from the study published on the Nature website that ______.
A. plants’ flowering is 8.5 times faster than leafing
B. there are 1,634 plant species on the four continents
C. scientists should improve the design of the experiments
D. the experiments failed to predict how plants react to climate change
59. Scientists pay special attention to the study of plants because _______.
A. they can prove the climate change clearly
B. they are very important in the food chains
C. they play a leading role in reducing global warming
D. they are growing and flowering much faster than before
60. What can be inferred from the last two paragraphs about the world’s temperature?
A. It has risen nearly 0.2℃ since 1979.
B. Its change will lead to weather extremes.
C. It is 0.8℃ higher in 1979 than that of 1990.
D. It needs to be controlled within 2℃ in this century.
Fear may be felt in the heart as well as in the head, according to a study that has found a link between the cycles of a beating heart and the chance of someone feeling fear.
Tests on healthy volunteers found that they were more likely to feel a sense of fear at the moment when their hearts are contracting(收缩) and pumping blood around their bodies, compared with the point when the heartbeat is relaxed. Scientists say the results suggest that the heart is able to influence how the brain responds to the fearful event, depending on which point it is at in its regular cycle of contraction and relaxation.
Sarah Garfinkel at the Brington and Sussex Medical School said: “Our study shows for the first time that the way in which we deal with fear is different depending on when we see fearful pictures in relation to our heart.”
The study tested 20 healthy volunteers on their reactions to fear as they were shown pictures of fearful faces. Dr Garfinkel said, “The study showed fearful faces are better noticed when the heart is pumping than when it is relaxed. Thus our hearts can also affect what we see and what we don’t see—and guide whether we see fear.”
To further understand this relationship, the scientists also used a brain scanner(扫描仪) to show how the brain influences the way the heart changes a person’s feeling of fear.
“We have found an important mechanism by which the heart and the brain ‘speak’ to each other to change our feelings and reduce fear,” Dr Garfinkel said.
“We hope that by increasing our understanding about how fear is death with and ways that it could be reduced, we may be able to develop more successful treatments for anxiety disorders, and also for those who may be suffering from serious stress disorder.”
47. What is the finding of the study?
A. One’s heart affects how he feels fear.
B. Fear is a result of one’s relaxed heartbeat.
C. Fear has something to do with one’s health.
D. One’s fast heartbeats are likely to cause fear.
48. The study was carried out by analyzing _________.
A. volunteers’ heartbeats when they saw terrible pictures.
B. the time volunteers saw fearful pictures and their health conditions.
C. volunteers’ reactions to horrible pictures and data from their brain scans.
D. different pictures shown to volunteers and their heart-brain communication.
49. Which of the following is closet in meaning to “mechanism” in Paragraph 6?
A. Order. B. System. C. Machine. D. Treatment.
50. This study may contribute to ________.
A. treating anxiety and stress better.
B. explaining the cycle of fear and anxiety.
C. finding the key to the heart-brain communication.
D. understanding different fears in our hearts and heads.
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