Part III 阅读理解

Passage One

Does your mouth water when you think of biscuits, cakes and French fries? Many people prefer junk food like these to healthy food because they developataste for it. Processed, baked, and fried foods often containahigh amount of trans fats. Trans fats raise bad cholesterol (胆固醇) and lower the good cholesterol that your body needs.

Fatty foods do more than cause obesity. Trans fats build up in the body and block blood flow to the heart. People whose diet containsahigh percentage of trans fats are at risk of developing heart disease or havingastroke. Food companies and restaurants choose to use trans fat oils because they're cheap and make food last longer.

They also improve the taste and texture of food. Trans fats became very popular in the second half of the 20th century. This is around the time when butter gotabad name for its cholesterol levels. People were told to use margarine（人造黄油）containing trans fats instead because it was "healthier", but we now know that butter is actually the healthier option.

Today doctors know how dangerous processed foods like margarine can be. In countries such as the US and Canada there are new government restrictions on food production. Food and beverage makers must attach aNutrition Fact label to their products. These list daily recommendations and detail all the ingredients inaproduct, trans fats if they're used.

In 2007 New York City banned trans fats from all restaurants. Even fast food chains such as McDonald's are being forced to change their recipes as people become more health-conscious. In Europe, food manufacturers have started using labels that clearly show how healthy each product is according toasimple rating system.

We all need some fat in our diet. There are three different types of fats: saturated fats, trans fats, and unsaturated fats. Doctors recommend that we get most of our fatty calories from unsaturated fats. Neither butter nor margarine fit in this category, though there are some spreads that contain zero trans fats.

Labels areagood way to avoid eating fatty foods that are dangerous for your health. Another way is to avoid eating out. When shopping for groceries, buy the majority of your goods in the fresh food aisles.

21. Trans fats may do the following to the body EXCEPT .

    A putting on weightB raising good cholesterolC causing heart attackD blocking blood vessels

22. Butter was once not popular because people believed .

    A it wasn't worth the priceB it didn't make food last longC it had high cholesterol levelD it affected the taste of food

23. It is not likely to see food with trans fats at restaurants in .

    A AmericaB CanadaC EuropeD New York City

24. To cater to health-conscious customers, European food manufacturers .

    A recommend daily intake of nutrientsB have abandoned the use of trans fat oilsC rate the nutrition level of each productD have adjusted the ingredients in the food

25. To eat healthily, people are advised to .

    A pay attention to the ingredientsB avoid foods containing fatsC buy processed and packaged foodD choose margarine instead of butter

Passage Two

When you'reateenager with little life experience, it's easy to build your entire life around what other people think. It can feel normal to let your friends' idea of what's cool dictate the clothes you wear, how you behave yourself, and even the the music you like. While this pressure is sometimes internal, teenagers are known for making each other feel ashamed if they don't conform to social norms.

And as we all know, young adults can be absolutely brutal in how they treat each other not only those who are different, but even those who try really hard to fit in. Sadly, adulthood isn't alwaysawhole lot better in this respect. Not only will you experience pressure to look your best, but you'll be forced to either keep up with or ignore the Joneses all throughout adulthood.

That's right. Even adulthood has its groups of cool kids, rich kids, outsiders, and rebels. And sometimes, the way someone else spends their money can make you feel like you should be doing the same thing, too. After all, most people still want to fit in; it doesn't matter whether they're 15 or 50.

But, should you give in to peer pressure and waste your hard-earned dollars? The opportunities to spend money as an adult are nearly limitless, but they will drain your bank account if you give in every time. And at the end of the day, keeping up with your friends as an adult is just as pointless as it was in high school.

Adulthood isajourney, notarace. Those who collect the most material possessions don't earnaprize—no ribbon, nothing. So, why does it feel like we need to compete? Because every commercial on television, online, and the radio is aimed at getting us to spend our money. Every ad campaign on Earth was created to convince us that what we have is not enough, and that we need this item or that service and that we're depriving ourselves or our families if we don't buy it.

Don't believe the hype(大肆宣传). You have nothing to prove, and you'll bealot better off if you ignore the commercials, your friends, and do what is best for you.

26. What does the author say about teenagers?

    A They try to gain more life experience.B They are easily influenced by others.C They prefer to live their own way.D They show others that they're mature.

27. How may young adults treat each other, according to the passage?

    A They may support each other in the face of challenges.B They may ignore those who don't join their groups.C They may fight with each other for opportunities.D They may be cruel to those who are different.

28. It is stated in the passage that most adults .

    A leadabetter life than beforeB ignore the fashion trendsC still suffer from peer pressureD live in constant fear of competition

29. Why do adults compete for more material possessions?

    A Spending money brings them pleasure.B Material wealth reflects their social status.C Commercials encourage their consumption.D Competition brings out the best in them.

30. What is the author's attitude towards commercials?

    A Negative.B Positive.C Neutral.D Objective.

Passage Three

Psychology studies reveal that most people taking exercise will choose their preferred sport based on their personality. If someone is introverted (内向的), patient or calm, they will most likely choose tennis, golf, orasport where they can practice and play on their own. By contrast, those individuals who are outspoken, competitive or aggressive, will prefer contact sports or team sports.

Sinceavery early age, children are often seen experimenting with different types of sports—soccer, basketball, baseball, swimming, tennis, etc. —until they decide to keep practicing the sport at which they are more skillful and with which they feel more comfortable. They have the character and motivation to train, practice, and even compete in this sport.

Here there isadirect relationship between the individual personality and the nature of the sport of their choosing. Interestingly, participating inaspecific type of sport might also have some influence on an individual's personality. For example, we have recently seenadramatic increase in obesity among teenagers, and adults in the US.

This might be caused byavast array of personal, professional, cultural, or even health problems or conditions. However, it is up to the individual to chooseamuch healthier regime and therefore, embark on developingaseries of new personality traits, which will help him or her lose weight and becomeahealthier individual.

A few decades ago, a sixty-year-old individual might have been consideredavery old, fragile, and evenasick person with justafew more years to liveasomewhat good, conservative life. Nowadays, we have seenadramatic change in this perception. More than ever, we are looking at healthier stronger, and very motivated sixty, seventy, and even eighty-year-old individuals.

No doubt sports have helped shape this new personality and approach adopted by the senior population. Exercise and sports most certainly bringanew meaning to their lives, particularly because they live and experience the benefits of exercising onadaily basis. Therefore, their personalities and psychological state are most likely completely different from that sixty-year-old senior stereotypeafew decades ago.

31. What is the main topic of this passage?

    A How to choose the right sportB The nature of sports activitiesC Sport and the aging societyD Personality and sport

32. Individuals will most likely chooseatype of sport that .

    A makes them feel most comfortableB has fewer demands and requirementsC can make the most of their potentialsD enables them to compete with others

33. How do children practise sports at an early age according to the passage?

    A They keep practisingasport till they are skilled at it.B They engage inasport that their parents choose for them.C They take up any sport without obvious difficulties.D They try different sports till they find one suitable for them.

34. The author mentions the increase in obesity among Americans to .

    A illustrate the effect of sports on personalityB analyze the causes for this social problemC give some advice onahealthy lifestyleD highlight the importance of psychological traits

35. It is stated in the last paragraph that senior people .

    A are often associated with weakness and sicknessB are livingamore meaningful life than beforeC have some doubt about the value of sportsD have seen the changes in their own personality

Passage Four

It is hard to imagine humans spending their lives in virtual reality (VR) when the experience amounts to waving your arms about in the middle of the lounge withadevice strapped to your face. But this is where humanity is heading. Chalmers, an Australian professor of philosophy and neural science at New York University, makes the case to embrace VR in his new book, Reality+.

Renowned for explaining "the hard problem" of consciousness, Chalmers sees technology reaching the point where virtual and physical are sensorily the same and people live good lives in VR. In the decades ahead, Chalmers suspects we will replace the clunky headsets with brain-computer interfaces that allow us to experience virtual worlds with our full suite of senses.

With advances in computing—in the next century, perhaps—those worlds would seem as real as the physical world around us. "A common way of thinking about virtual realities is that they're somehow fake abilities. I think that's wrong," he explained. "The virtual worlds we're interacting with can be as real as our ordinary physical world." On the point of philosophy, Chalmers argues that even today's virtual worlds are real.

A conversation in VR isareal conversation. The objects in the virtual world too, just made of bits instead of electrons. "Most of the factors that make life meaningful are going to be there in virtual worlds," he says. But there are plenty of risks to be cautious of, he notes. As fulfilling as virtual worlds may become, people will need real food, drink and exercise, and perhaps even the glimpse of daylight, to keep their bodies from fading away.

The risks may be trivial for decades yet, but a gradual trend towards virtual living could eventually raise new health issues. These are not the only health hazards. Some people have raised serious concerns about the risk of psychological damage: if we are better looking and have better clothes andanicer home in the meta verse (元 宇宙), how we feel when we leave?

The lure of VR might also cause neglect onaglobal scale, Chalmers concedes. Would climate change and other crises facing the physical world lose their urgency? That would be a disaster, he says, "Physical reality is really important. We've got to keepagrounding in it and treat it well."

36. Why does the author mention "device strapped to your face" in Paragraph 1?

    A To introduce the latest advance in virtual technology.B To describeanovel approach to pursuing virtual reality.C To emphasizeaphysical barrier to enjoying virtual reality.D To demonstrate the necessity of wearingavirtual device.

37. According to Chalmers, virtual reality .

    A is fake realityB is genuine realityC derives from physical realityD has various definitions

38. Which of the following isasource of psychological damage?

    A Lack of physical exercise due to virtual living.B The gap between the physical and virtual worlds.C Inadequate contact with friends in the physical world.D Not enough exposure to sunlight in the physical world.

39. What impact might VR have on fighting global warming?

    A It might speed up global warming.B It might offer an alternative solution.C It might encourage people to solve it.D It might distract people from the issue.

40. What is the main idea of the passage?

    A VR creates another world, but with potential problems.B The future of VR is unfolding and quite promising.C VR will replace physical reality in the decades to come.D People's view of VR evolves with the passage of time.

Blog and Comments

The blog and comments are followed by questions or unfinished statements, each with four suggested answers A, B, C and D. Choose the best answer and mark your answer on the Answer Sheet. Likealot of people, for many years Isaid yes to things Ididn't want to do. This was a combination of conditioning — vague fear of missing out and basic conflict avoidance.

It seemed to me there was no easy way to turn things down without causing offence. All we had, growing up, as the saying "Just say no" — a slogan so useless that it becameauniversally recognized and decades-long joke. A lot has changed since then. In the past 10 years, a language has developed, mainly from social justice and feminist movements, to describe the states of discomfort and the right we have to resist them.

My favourite, and by far the most useful, of the new phrase is "I'm not comfortable with that." It can get you out of almost anything. My other favourite word is "boundaries". One can ditch disagreeable people these days via use of the word "boundaries" while escaping any feelings of guilt.

Another one, "emotional labour", was coined in the 1980s to describe service industry jobs that required the faking ofacheerful behavior to satisfy customers. This involves suppressing emotions, such as anger or sadness, which is bound to takeatoll on you and could even lead to burnout.

It doesn't mean that now. You can bolt that phrase on to almost any situation, conversation or obligation you'd rather not be involved in. Being able to politely back out of something without tying yourself in knots is useful, particularly for women socialized to comply（遵从）.

41. What does the author think of the advice "Just say no"?

    A Aggressive but effective.B Useful but impolite.C Confusing and improper.D Impractical and unhelpful.

42. Which of the following is true about "emotional labour"?

    A It isatrick for performingatask.B The person in power often bears its burden.C Constant emotional labour can be exhausting.D It applies most frequently to the service industry.

43. What does the phrase "tying yourself in knots" ( Para. 4) mean?

    A Becoming upset.B Offending others.C Losing control.D Acting strangely.

44. Which comment disagrees with the author's choice of new phrases?

    A Comment 2.B Comment 3.C Comment 4.D Comment 5.

45. Which comments agree with the author on the female tendency to comply?

    A Comment1and Comment 3.B Comment2and Comment 4.C Comment1and Comment 5.D Comment4and Comment 5.