Here’s an idyllic(田园风光的) scene: a small village where the sun always shines, crops always grow and your friends drop by to sweep your yard to the sound of guitar music. Animals do what they are told, there is no disease, and lending folks a helping hand makes you richer and wiser. Welcome to FarmVille — current population 69m and rising fast.

“It reminds me of my childhood,” says one player, Lia Curran, 37, a chemist from London. “Right now I’m growing wheat and poinsettia, I’ve got a small orchard, and I’m keeping some chickens and some cows. I like having the animals. It’s comfortable.”

Curran’s young animals, however, are nothing more than a collection of computer-controlled cartoons. FarmVille is an online computer game built into the social networking site Facebook and is described by its players as “addictive”. Launched last June by Zynga Game Network, FarmVille now has more players than Twiter’s entire user base — or more than the population of the UK. The players are largely women over the age of 35.

Jenny Glyn, 33, a London housewife, started playing in September. “I had a look at a friend’s farm and was hooked,” she says. “My first motivation was to overtake her, but I did that pretty quickly. Now there’s something satisfying about growing crops.”

FarmVille intellectually unites the worlds of social networking and gaming. Players are given a patch of ground with six fields, “cash”, a few seeds and a plough and have to build up wealth, skills and neighbors to create bigger, better, richer farms.

Inviting your online friends to play means you earn more and get free gifts; you rise rapidly through the first levels but, once hooked, have to work harder and harder with no final level or goal in sight.

“It’s very moreish,” says Curran. She hasn’t yet paid real-world money to advance in the game, but her friends do. One buys extra virtual currency at the exchange rate of $240 (??145) in FarmVille for $40 (??24) in the real world.

“I’d expanded on FarmVille as much as I could, but I just wanted a pond and some bushes and trees around it,” says the woman, who is too embarrassed to be named. “I didn’t tell my husband I’d paid real money because he’d think I’m mad. But then he did keep me waiting in the car outside our house while he harvested his raspberries.”

Brian Dudley, chief executive at Broadway Lodge, an addiction treatment centre, warns that this sort of obsessive(令人着魔的) play can lead to an addiction as severe as gambling.

59. What does Curran do in the passage?

   A. She is a player.                                                      B. She is a farmer who grows wheat and poinsettia.

   C. She is a chemist.                                                  D. She is a housewife who raises chickens and cows.

60. By FarmVille, the writer means ______.

   A. an addictive farm on which live 69 million farmers

   B. a London housewife’s farm

   C. an online computer game built into the social networking site

   D. a farm on which people grow real crops and play as well

61. In the last but one paragraph, the husband kept the woman waiting outside ______.

   A. because he was angry at his wife’s being mad about the farm

   B. because he himself was busy with his farm

   C. in order to punish his wife for her having paid real money

   D. so that his wife would wake up from her addiction to the farm

62. According to the passage, which of the following is NOT true?

   A. The population of the UK is less than 69 million.

   B. This sort of obsessive play can cause very severe addiction.

   C. Once hooked, one has to make greater efforts to reach a higher level.

   D. Up till now, nobody has yet paid real-world money to advance in the play.

To get an extra 14 years of life, don't smoke, eat lots of fruits and vegetables, exercise regularly and drink alcohol in a proper amount．That is according to a study published this Monday in the Public Library of Science Medicine Journal．

After tracking more than 20,000 people aged 45 to 79 years in the United Kingdom from about 1993 to 2007, Kay-Tee Khaw of the University of Cambridge and his colleagues found that people who adopted these four healthy habits lived all average of 14 years longer than those who didn't．

“We've known for a long time that these behaviors are good things to do, but we've not seen this benefit before, ”said Susan Jebb, head of Nutrition and Health at Britain's Medical Research Council．“The benefit was also seen regardless of whether or not people were fat and what social class they came from．”

Study participants scored a point each for not smoking, regular physical activity, eating five servings of fruits and vegetables a day and moderate alcohol intake．

Public health experts said they hoped the study would inspire governments to introduce policies helping people to adopt these changes．But because the study only observed people rather than testing specific changes, it would be impossible to conclude that people who suddenly adopted these healthy behaviors would surely gain 14 years．

“We can't say that any person could gain 14 years by doing these things, ”said Dr．Tim Armstrong, a physical activity expert at the World Health Organization．“The 14 years is an average across the population of what's theoretically（理论上地）possible．”

“Most people know that things like a good diet matter and that smoking isn't good for them, ”Susan Jebb said．“We need to work on providing people with much more practical support to help them change．”

1.Which of the following DOESN'T belong to the four healthy habits?

A．Eat five servings of fruits and vegetables a day．

B．Do proper exercise in the morning every day．

C．Drinking alcohol in the proper amount every day．

D．Having a cigarette before going to bed every day．

2.We can learn from the passage that       ．

A．Susan Jebb did not take part in the study．

B．the study observed people as well as tested specific changes．

C．there's no need for people under 45 to adopt these good habits．

D．only those from first class can benefit from these healthy behaviors．

3.What can be inferred from the passage?

A．All the people are well aware of the harm of their bad habits．

B．People aged 45 to 70 have bad habits in the United Kingdom．

C．Governments should take measures to help people change their bad habits．

D．People have adopted the four healthy habits after knowing they're good．

4.

 

Ten years ago the population of our village was ________ that of theirs.

A．as twice large as	B．twice as large as
C．twice as much as	D．as twice much as

 

To get an extra 14 years of life, don't smoke, eat lots of fruits and vegetables, exercise regularly and drink alcohol in a proper amount．That is according to a study published this Monday in the Public Library of Science Medicine Journal．

After tracking more than 20,000 people aged 45 to 79 years in the United Kingdom from about 1993 to 2007, Kay-Tee Khaw of the University of Cambridge and his colleagues found that people who adopted these four healthy habits lived all average of 14 years longer than those who didn't．

“We've known for a long time that these behaviors are good things to do, but we've not seen this benefit before, ”said Susan Jebb, head of Nutrition and Health at Britain's Medical Research Council．“The benefit was also seen regardless of whether or not people were fat and what social class they came from．”

Study participants（参与者）scored a point each for not smoking, regular physical activity, eating five servings of fruits and vegetables a day and moderate alcohol intake．

Public health experts said they hoped the study would inspire governments to introduce policies helping people to adopt these changes．But because the study only observed people rather than testing specific changes, it would be impossible to conclude that people who suddenly adopted these healthy behaviors would surely gain 14 years．

“We can't say that any person could gain 14 years by doing these things, ”said Dr．Tim Armstrong, a physical activity expert at the World Health Organization．“The 14 years is an average across the population of what's theoretically（理论上地）possible．”

“Most people know that things like a good diet matter and that smoking isn't good for them, ”Susan Jebb said．“We need to work on providing people with much more practical support to help them change．”

1.Which of the following DOESN'T belong to the four healthy habits?

A．Eat five servings of fruits and vegetables a day．

B．Do proper exercise in the morning every day．

C．Drinking alcohol in the proper amount every day．

D．Having a cigarette before going to bed every day．

2.We can learn from the passage that            ．

A．Susan Jebb did not take part in the study．

B．the study observed people as well as tested specific changes．

C．there's no need for people under 45 to adopt these good habits．

D．only those from first class can benefit from these healthy behaviors．

3.What can be inferred from the passage?

A．All the people are well aware of the harm of their bad habits．

B．People aged 45 to 70 have bad habits in the United Kingdom．

C．Governments should take measures to help people change their bad habits．

D．People have adopted the four healthy habits after knowing they're good．

4.What would be the best title for this passage?

A．Smoking and Drinking Cuts You 14 Years

B．How to Live a Much Healthier Life

C．Healthy Habits May Give Extra 14 Years

D．How to Make Your Life Longer Than Others

 

According to the lastest study ,the population of Xuzhou has grown to more than 30 times____it was in 1949. The figure ____to 9.5 million by the end of 2010.

A．that , will rise

B．that ,will have risen

C．what , will rise

D．what ,will have risen