One of the most widely accepted, commonly repeated assumptions (假设) in our culture is that if you exercise, you will lose weight. I exercise all the time, but I still have got fat that hangs over my belt when I sit. Why isn’t all the exercise getting rid of it?

It’s a question many of us could ask. More than 45 million Americans now belong to a health club, up from 23 million in 1993. We spend some $19 billion a year on gym memberships. Of course, some people join and never go. Still, as one major study — the Minnesota Heart Survey — found, more of us at least say we exercise regularly.

And yet obesity (肥胖) figures have risen sharply in the same period: a third of Americans are obese, and another third count as overweight by the Federal Government’s definition. Yes, it’s entirely possible that those of us who regularly go to the gym would weigh even more if we exercised less. But like many other people, I get hungry after I exercise, so I often eat more on the days I work out than on the days I don’t. Could exercise actually be keeping me from losing weight?

The popular belief that exercise is essential for weight control is actually fairly new. As recently as the 1960s, doctors routinely advised against too much exercise, particularly for older adults who could injure themselves. Today doctors encourage even their oldest patients to exercise, which is sound advice for many reasons: People who regularly exercise are at significantly lower risk for all manner of diseases — those of the heart in particular. They less often develop cancer and many other illnesses. But the past few years of obesity research show that the role of exercise in weight loss has been wildly over-evaluated.

“In general, for weight loss, exercise is pretty useless,” says Eric Ravussin, exercise researcher at Louisiana State University. Many recent studies have found that exercise isn’t as important in helping people lose weight as you hear so regularly in gym advertisements or on shows like The Biggest Loser — or from magazines like this one.

1. From the passage we learn that ____.

A. some Americans join a health club but never go there  

B. the number of overweight people has doubled since 1993

C. more than 45 million Americans now go to the gym regularly

D. Americans waste too much money each year on sports

2. According to the passage, exercise ____.

A. has long been believed to be good for older adults

B. is not properly advertised as an effective way to lose weight

C. was first recognized as an effective way to lose weight in the 1960s

D. is less effective in preventing heart disease than what doctors believe

3. According to the writer, people might gain weight because ____.

A. they have the habit of going to the gym regularly

B. they eat the same food when they do not exercise

C. they exercise less than required by doctors

D. they eat more after they exercise

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

A. Overweight Is Not Good for Your Health  

B. Exercise Won’t Make You Thin 

C. Gym Is Part of American Lifestyle        

D. Obesity Is a Social Problem in America

When I first began to work with international students, I asked someone at a lunch, “What brings you here today?” Looking at me like I was a bit crazy, he answered, “ The bus.” That was my first realization that no matter how good a speaker is, there are phrases that will always tend to cause confusion to non-native speakers. These idiomatic phrases(惯用语) add color and interest to any language and are worth learning if you want to talk fluently with native speakers.

“By no stretch”----The speaker is referring to something that’s very hard to achieve or realize, even with great effort, as in “It was not a good meal, by any stretch of the imagination.” Which means that ______________.

“Half dead”----An expression of extreme tiredness, having nothing to do with actual health. Commonly used at the end of a long and tiring day.

“By the book”----This means that an action should follow the rules exactly. It also describes the nature of someone who won’t deviate(背离) from a set of rules no matter what the situation is.

“More power to you”----This isn’t a wish for you to have better electricity from the power company----it’s a statement, usually slightly ironic(讽刺的), that the speaker thinks that you are unlikely to do a task, but you should try if you think you can complete it. It generally means the speaker has no intention of helping you achieve your goal neither will they discourage you from attempting to reach it. For example, “I don’t think you can meet that deadline, but more power to you.”

“As easy as pie”----A reference that something is as simple or easy as eating a delicious dessert, or that it requires little effort to successfully achieve. In chatting, this phrase does not refer to the process of cooking or eating.

1.The example given by the author in the first paragraph is used to show__________.

2.According to the passage, which of the following would be proper to fill in the blank in Paragraph 2?

3.If someone says he is half dead, he means____________.

4.If a person daren’t do things in a creative way, you may describe him by using “__________”.

This is the VOA Special English Education Report. A few weeks ago, we talked about the Test of English as a Foreign Language, or TOEFL. A listener in Cambodia named Thida asks if American colleges and universities also accept the IELTS exam. IELTS is the International English Language Testing System. It was developed by the University of Cambridge ESOL examiners.

Cambridge ESOL says the test measures true-to-life ability to communicate in English for education, immigration or employment. The IELTS tests listening, reading, writing and speaking skills. It uses a mixture of accents and spellings, including British English and American English.

The test is used by government agencies, schools and professional organizations in one hundred and twenty countries. And, yes, that includes the United States. The many American schools that accepted the IELTS can be found on the Web at felts.org.

Some schools accept both the TOEFL and the IELTS, but the graduate school at Duke University in Durham, North Carolina, for example, says it prefers the IEITS.

The listening and speaking parts are the same for everyone who takes the IELTS, but people have a choice of reading and writing tests -- either academic or general training.

The listening test takes thirty minutes. There are forty questions based on a recording. The reading test takes sixty minutes. Students answer forty questions based on three written passages.

The writing test also takes sixty minutes. Students have to write two essays. One essay has to be at least one hundred and fifty words long and the other at least two hundred and fifty words. The shorter one is description of something; the longer one has to support and argument.

The speaking test takes less than fifteen minutes. The score is based on a recorded talk between the student and a test examiner.

And that's the VOA Special English Education Report, written by Nancy Steinbach. If you have a general question for our series, write to special@voanews.com. I'm Barbara Klein.

1.What does TOEFL stand for?

A. The Voice of America            B. The International English Language Testing System

C. The Test of English as a Foreign Language

D. The Test of English as a Native Language

2.The International English Language Testing System commonly takes _______ in all.

A. less than 160 minutes                       B. more than 165 minutes

C. no more than 160 minutes                     D. less than 166 minutes

3. According to the passage, we can infer _______.

A. IELTS is efficient and necessary if you want to go to English-speaking countries

B. IELTS is completely different from TOEFL

C. every American needs to accept TOEFL      D. IEITS isn't used more widely than TOEFL

4.What is the main idea of the passage?

A. How can the readers write papers to the VOA programme?

B. It talks about some ways to pass TOEFL.

C. It introduces IELTS.                                          

D. How can the readers pass two kinds of tests?

完形填空（共20小题；每小题1.5分，满分30分）
阅读下面短文，从短文后各题所给的四个选项（A、B、C和D）中选出可以填入空白的最佳选项，并在答题卡上将该项涂黑。
I was on my school’s playground the other day. Suddenly, an ice cream truck  36  right in front of one of the main common areas of the school. I never  37  an ice cream man would come  38  us — overgrown kids. So I was quite  39  when the sweet man in the truck  40 , “ Free ice cream!” I  41  him to confirm(证实) what he said. I asked, “ I’m sorry, but what did you say?”
“Free ice cream. You have your  42  of these four frozen treats: the rocket pop, the chocolate e clair, the strawberry shortcake, or the drumstick.”
After I make sure that this guy was really  43  free ice cream, I talked with him for a while. He told me that his  44  had always been to travel around giving people free ice cream, and that was  45  what he now does. He maxed out all his credit cards, slept in his  46 , and lived with his parents  47  he could continue to follow his dream during hard times. Now, he has  48  from large companies such as Levi’s to support him to do what he  49  .
The ice cream man told me that he was  50  inspiring people to do exactly what their  51  tell them to do in life: I  52  asking him with respect, “So your dream was just to  53  around and give people free ice cream” It seemed like such a  54  goal.
“Yes, just meeting people and making them  55 ,” he replied.
36. A. followed             B. passed               C. broke                D. stopped
37. A. explained            B. doubted             C. thought             D. proved
38. A. with                  B. before               C. for                    D. after
39. A. surprised            B. angry                C. worried             D. sad
40. A. broke in             B. stopped by         C. showed off        D. called out
41. A. went up to          B. knocked into      C. laughed at         D. looked into
42. A. attention             B. choice               C. way                  D. answer
43. A. picking out               B. giving away       C. going through    D. talking about
44. A. dream                B. job                   C. fear                  D. experiment
45. A. commonly          B. possibly            C. unluckily           D. exactly
46. A. building             B. bag                   C. truck                 D. hotel
47. A. in case                B. now that            C. as if                  D. so that
48. A. desire                 B. invitation          C. help                  D. experience
49. A. promises             B. suggests            C. loves                 D. remembers
50. A. sorry for             B. worried about    C. careful with              D. interested in
51. A. companies          B. teachers             C. parents             D. hearts
52. A. forgot                B. regretted           C. kept                  D. stopped
53. A. fly                            B. cycle                 C. drive                 D. look
54. A. normal              B. dangerous          C. difficult            D. special
55. A. request               B. smile                C. prepare             D. understand

In a recent class I was asked “What is a short story?” My first answer was that it was something that could be read in one sitting and brought an illumination（启示）to the reader, sudden and golden like sunlight cracking(破裂, 砸开) through a heavy cloud. I went on to say that in my opinion a “real” short story was closer to poetry than to a novel.

Here are some definitions of the short story. My favorite is Benet's: “something that can be read in an hour and remembered for a lifetime”. One writer said, “The theme of a novel won't fit into the framework of a short story; It's like trying to squeeze a large painting done on a wall into the frame of a miniature （微型画）。 And as in a miniature painting, the details need to be sharp. ”

The short story is an example of one aspect of human nature. Often a character undergoes some event, something that offers him or her change. This is why it’s said that short stories usually “say something ”， often a small something, but sometimes delivered with such accuracy that the effect is strongly felt, even a life-moment for some readers, something similar to a religious experience or to witnessing a never-to-be-repeated scene in nature.

Ok, let’s form a definition here: A short story is an account, rarely over 10, 000 words or below 500 words-more commonly 1, 500 to 5, 000 words-a single-sitting read, but with enough time and weight to move the reader. It is narrow and focused to produce an effect through the story, most commonly through events affecting some change in an individual.

Writer Isabelle Allende once wrote: “Novels are, for me, adding up details, just work, work, work, then you're done. Short stories are more difficult-they have to be perfect, complete in themselves. ”

1.The writer of the passage is probably a ______.

A. poet            B. painter           C. teacher            D. student

2.What should the ideal short story be in length?

A. at most 10, 000 words        B. below 500 words    C. over 5, 000words         D. around 2, 000 words

3.The underlined word “undergoes ” in the third paragraph probably means “________ ”。

A. experiences    B. discovers       C. discusses          D. appreciates

4.What’s the difference between novels and short stories?

A. Novels are too long for us to read.

B. Short stories are too short for us to read.

C. Short stories have more details than novels.

D. Short stories are more perfect and difficult than novels.

5.What would be the best title for the passage?

A. How Do You Write a Short Story?        B. What Exactly Is a Short Story?

C. Is a Short Story Similar to Poetry?      D. Are Short Stories Perfect and Complete?