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To China Yao is a home-grown superstar who helped make the world’s first basketball league closer to Chinese players. To the NBA, the 2.23-metre centre offers an opening of a different sort into the world’s largest new market. Yao’s NBA first appearance against the Indiana Pacers in October reached 287 million households in China. By contrast (对照), there are only about 105 million households in the US. That game might have been a bit of a let down to Yao’s fans. He played just 11 of the 48 minutes, had two rebounds and got no points. Compare that with his performance on December 19, and also against Indiana, Yao won 29 points and 10 rebounds. “This was one of the most exciting games I’ve had,” Yao said after Houston’s 95-83 victory. “Yao Ming has brought the NBA closer to the Chinese,” said NBA spokeswoman Cheong Sau Ching, who is based in Hong Kong. “That makes the dream seem achievable for other people in China.” The 22-year-old Yao is not the country’s first player in the NBA; Wang Zhizhi broke down that wall as a player with the Dallas Mavericks(小牛队)in April 2001. But Yao’s combination of modesty and his skills make him a favourite back home. 60.What’s the direct reason for Xing Tao to join the school’s basketball team? A.He watched an NBA game B.He liked basketball C.He hoped to play for Houston Rockets D.He had a dream that he would become a basketball star. 61.What’s the main idea of this passage? A.Middle school students want to play basketball B.Yao Ming makes NBA closer to China C.There’ll be no Americans left in the NBA D.There are many new stars from China in the NBA 62.What does “letdown” in paragraph six mean? A.failure B.surprise C.disappointment D.sadness 63.Why does Yao Ming win more popularity than Wang Zhizhi at home? A.He has performed excellently B.He is modest C.His height D.A & B C There are some kinds of detectives who do not wear a uniform, like Hausman, solve endless mysteries every year. There is, for example, the dust detective. Tiny bits of dust stick to your clothes, your fingernails, your hair, or your shoes. They catch in your nose and in your ears. They tell where you have been and what you have done lately. The dust detective often helps catch a criminal by proving that he has been on the scene of the crime(罪案) Then there is the wood detective. By studying a piece of wood he can tell what kind of tree the piece of wood came from. He can tell where it was grown, and how old it is. He can even tell you what the weather was like at a certain place the year Columbus landed in America. The growth rings on a tree tell him. 64.According to the selection, by studying a piece of wood, a wood detective can tell you . A.what the weather was like the year Columbus landed in America. B.what the weather was like last year in the mountain C.what the weather was like last month in your hometown D.what kind of tree the piece of wood came from 65.What does the underlined word “they”(para. 1) mean? A.Your clothes B.Your finger-nail C.Tiny bits of dust D.Your shoes D There is an English saying that “Laughter is the best medicine.” Until recently, few people took the saying seriously. Now however, doctors have begun to look into laughter and the effects it has on the human body. They have found that laughter can really improve people’s health. Tests were carried out to study the effects of laughter on the body. People watched funny films while doctors checked their hearts, blood pressure, breathing and muscles. It was found that laughter has similar effects to physical exercise. It increases blood pressure, makes the heart beat quicker and makes people breathe deeper; it also works on several groups of muscles in the face, the stomach, and even the feet. If laughter exercises the body, it must be beneficial. Other tests have shown that laughter appears to be able to reduce the effects of pain on the body. In one experiment doctors produced pain in groups of students who listened to different radio programs. The group that tolerated(忍耐)the pain for the longest time was the group which listened to a funny program. The reason why laughter can reduce pain seems to be that it helps to produce a kind of chemical in the brain which diminishes both stress and pain. As a result of these discoveries, some doctors in the United States now hold laughter clinics, in which they help to improve their patients’ condition by encouraging them to laugh. They have found that even if their patients do not really feel like laughing, making them smile is enough to produce beneficial effects similar to those caused by laughter. (责任编辑：admin) |