You wouldn't think of driving your car to work in the morning with an empty tank of gas, yet thousands of parents send their children off to school without any breakfast.

"After an overnight fast of eight to twelve hours, the brain needs fuel, "said Joan Carter, manager for the Children's Nutrition Research Center in Houston.

The body breaks down food to produce this fuel in the form of glucose（葡萄糖）. Because glucose levels are associated with memory function, children can have difficulty focusing when they skip breakfast. Research shows that breakfast eaters tend to pay more attention to their teacher in class than those who rarely eat breakfast.

They tend to be more creative and better performers in school. They show more energy by late morning, have more strength and endurance, concentrate better, and are better at problem-solving. Children who are hungry can be slow or nervous during classroom activities or can appear disinterested when they have a difficult task to perform.

Researchers have also discovered that students who eat breakfast regularly tend to have better health overall.

They take in more vitamins and minerals, consume less fat and cholesterol（胆固醇）, and may even have less chance of becoming overweight than breakfast-skippers. Without breakfast, it's difficult for children to get the nutrients they need throughout the day. Research shows that nutrients missed at breakfast aren't made up for at other meals.

"Breakfast is the most important meal of the day and there's no excuse for not eating breakfast," Dr. Carter said. A piece of bread and a glass of milk take little time to prepare. If you are trying to lose weight, skipping breakfast is also a big mistake. You will be tired and hungry by mid-morning. Then you'll want to eat a snack that isn't healthy.

Breakfast should provide at least 1/4 to 1/3 of a child's daily needs for vitamins, minerals and calories. A nutritious breakfast also provides the sugar, protein and fat they need because they are continuously growing and changing. Parents should set a good example for children. "You can't run out the door without eating breakfast, yet insist that your kids sit down and eat something," Dr. Carter said.

【小题1】What can be inferred from the passage?

A．The brain cannot work properly at school without breakfast.

B．Breakfast-skippers are able to focus better because of hunger.

C．Hunger makes it difficult for the body to break down the food.

D．Breakfast eaters have a tendency to ignore their teachers in class.

【小题2】What is the fourth paragraph mainly about?

A．The importance of body shaping.

B．The relationship between breakfast and health.

C．The importance of getting enough nutrients for children.

D．The relationship between breakfast and school performance.

【小题3】Why is it wrong for the dieters to skip breakfast？

A．It leaves them short of energy to exercise all day.

B．It results in a lack of necessary nutrients they need.

C．It makes them have difficulty in performing well.

D．It contributes to more snack-consuming.

【小题4】How should parents teach children to have breakfast？

A．By eating breakfast regularly.

B．By preparing generous breakfast.

C．By running out without breakfast.

D．By giving them extra money for breakfast.

Bad teeth may be painful and it’s getting worse without treatment. They can even ruin your life. Illness of the teeth can find its way into the blood system. This can increase the chances of a heart disease or other illnesses.
Experts say good care for teeth should start at birth. Mothers’ milk is the best food for the healthy development of teeth.
But dentists say a baby’s mouth and early teeth should be cleaned after each feeding. Use a cloth with a little warm water. Do the same if a baby is fed with a bottle. Experts say if you decide to put your baby to sleep with a bottle, give him only water.
When baby’s teeth begin to appear, you can clean them with a wet toothbrush. Dentists say it is important to find soft toothbrushes made especially for babies and to use them very gently. Young children often eat toothpaste (牙膏) when they brush, so they should be carefully watched when they brush their teeth.
Parents often ask what effect thumb sucking (咬手指) might have on their baby’s teeth. Experts generally agree that this is fine early in life. Most children stop sucking their thumbs by the age of four. If it continues, parents should talk to their children’s dentist or doctor.
Dentists say children should have their first dental visit by the time they are one year old. They say babies should be examined when their first teeth appear usually at around six months..
【小题1】Why should people pay attention to teeth problems?

A．They can cause other illnesses.	B．They will bring bad luck.
C．They will bring the family much trouble.	D．They usually last a long time.

【小题2】According to the writer, baby’s teeth should be protected from the day ______.

A．he begins to speak	B．he has his first tooth
C．he was born	D．he is fed with bottle milk

【小题3】We can learn from the passage that_____.

A．children are not advised to brush their teeth

B．drinking water is better than milk before sleeping

C．children’s toothbrushes are always expensive

D．thumb sucking is common for kids under five years old

【小题4】The underlined word “it” in Paragraph 5 refers to “_____”.

A．toothache

B．parents’ trouble

C．thumb sucking

D．experts’ advice

   The little girl is now 14 months old and should weigh at least 20 pounds. Yet she is still the size of a newborn baby, only reaching just over 7 pounds and a mere 19 inches.

Suraya has been examined by a whole team of experts in different fields. But doctors still have no idea why she refuses to grow, describing her condition as a “real mystery”. Experts have carried out all kinds of tests on her to find out what could be wrong with her. However, so far these have brought no optimistic results.

Her mother described that her daughter was like a real-life baby doll. “She cannot sit, talk or crawl and she has to be fed through a tube to keep her alive. But she just hasn’t been putting on any weight,” she said. “It’s very difficult because we don’t know what the future holds for Suraya. We hope the doctors will soon be able to find out the reason and that she will be able to live a normal life.”

Suraya was born four weeks earlier weighing 2.6 pounds. Experts say nine out of ten babies born at this stage will immediately start growing and put on weight. In Suraya’s case, she stayed at her birth weight for the first eight months and has only put on a small amount over the past six months.

Suraya has now been taken to London’s famous Great Ormond Street Hospital for further tests. Dr. Jide Menakaya said, “She is a very interesting little baby. Her case is highly unusual. For 17 years, I have certainly never seen anything like this. The fact that she still did not grow after we put the feeding tube directly into her veins (静脉) was unexpected and surprised us greatly. This is incredibly rare (罕见的). Now we are working on a new theory, but more research needs to be carried out.”

【小题1】What’s the matter with Suraya?

A．She caught a kind of common illness.	B．She was born 14 weeks earlier.
C．She isn’t getting any bigger.	D．There’s something wrong with her brain.

【小题2】What’s the doctors’ attitude to Suraya’s case?

A．Excited and optimistic.	B．Surprised and puzzled.
C．Interested but helpless.	D．Puzzled and hopeless.

【小题3】What can we know about Suraya from the passage?

A．Suraya’s mother is worried about Suraya’s future.

B．Suraya is lovelier than other girls.

C．Suraya can’t recover from the illness.

D．Doctors have to try their best to help Suraya.

【小题4】It can be inferred from the passage that __________.

A．it’s certain that Suraya could never live long

B．doctors have made great progress in Suraya’s illness

C．Suraya will be able to live a normal life in the future

D．it’s hard to predict what will happen to Suraya

   At home, ordering food from a menu is a normal routine, I don’t even give it a second thought. In China, it’s a whole other story! Here, ordering is a fun game of test and error, and the adventure begins before the food is even served!

Many restaurants in central Beijing advertise “English language menus”, but the translations can just add to the confusion. Although accompanying pictures can be a helpful relief, the translations often make the whole experience even more amusing. During my first few weeks in China I tried some delicious dishes with strange names. As an experiment, my friends and I would order things like “students addicted to chicken gristle（软骨）” and “red burned lion head”. Eventually we learned that “lion head” was actually pork, and “students” were “addicted” to diced（切成丁的）chicken with green pepper. Recently, I came across a busy restaurant down a narrow side street in a Beijing hutong. It was lunchtime and the small room was packed with people sitting on small stools eating noodles. I was hungry and cold, and the steaming bowls looked irresistible! I sat myself down and called out for a “caidan!” In response, the waitress pointed to a wall at the back of the restaurant. The wall was full of Chinese characters describing numerous dishes. There was only one sentence in English: “crossing over the bridge noodles”.

I had never heard of the dish and had no idea what it would taste like. I took a gamble and ordered one bowl of “crossing over the bridge noodles”. A few minutes later the waitress carried a heavy bowl full of broth（肉汤）and I quickly dug in. It was the best bowl of noodles I had ever tasted! I have been back again and again and each time I point at the one English sentence—“crossing over the bridge noodles”. I always enter a restaurant in China feeling excited and a little nervous. Who knows what the next ordering adventure will show?

【小题1】How does the writer find the English language menus in many of Beijing’s restaurants?
A. Confusing but amusing.
B. Easy to understand.
C. Boring and annoying.
D. Accurate and helpful.
【小题2】The underlined word “gamble” in the last paragraph probably means “______”.
A. taste B. look
C. step D. risk
【小题3】What does the passage mainly talk about?
A. The writer’s favorite Chinese dishes.
B. The fun the author had ordering food in China’s restaurants.
C. A comparison between Western food and Chinese food.
D. The correct way to translate the names of Chinese dishes into English.
【小题4】The passage is developed mainly in the form of ______.
A. examples and statements
B. comparisons and conclusions
C. causes and effects
D. time and description

语法填空

The Spanish flu 【小题1】（start）on a small military（军事的）base in central Kansas in 1918，【小题2】 one soldier came down with a fever. Within a few hours，about 100 soldiers were reported 【小题3】（have）the same illness.

By 1919，the flu had spread around the world，【小题4】（kill）up to 50 million people. The flu caused over 600，000 【小题5】（die）in the US，which included 195，000 just in the single month of October 1918.

The flu was 【小题6】（particular）serious because most of the victims were young，healthy people. In fact，more adults 【小题7】 the ages of 20 and 50 got sick and died from the flu than any other group.

What made people especially 【小题8】（terrify）was that the flu made people sick quickly. It was reported that many people who woke up with no flu symptoms got sick in the morning and were dead by nighttime. According to one story，four women played bridge late into the night，three of whom 【小题9】（find）dead the next morning.

It was not until three "waves" of illness later 【小题10】 the flu eventually ended.