Who takes care of the elderly in the United States today?The fact is that family members provide over 80% of the care that elderly people need. In most cases the elderly live in their own homes. A very small percentage of America's elderly live in nursing homes.

Samuel Preston, a sociologist at the University of Pennsylvania, studied how the American family is changing. He reported that by the time the average American couple reaches about 40 years of age, their parents are usually still alive. The statistics show the change in lifestyles and responsibilities of aging(老龄化) Americans. The average middle-aged couple can look forward to caring for elderly parents some time after their own children have grown up.Moreover, because people today live longer after an illness than people did years ago, family members must provide long-term care. These facts also mean that after caregivers provide for their elderly parents, who will eventually die, they will be old and may require care too. When they do, their spouses(配偶) will probably take care of them because they have had fewer children than their parents did.

Because Americans are living longer than ever, more social workers have begun to study ways of caregiving to improve the care of the elderly. They have found that all caregivers share a common characteristic: they believe that they are the best people for the job. The social workers have also discovered three basic reasons why the caregivers take on the responsibility of caring for an elderly, dependent relative. Many caregivers believe they had an obligation(职责) to help their relatives. Some think that helping others makes them feel more useful. Others hope that by helping someone now, they will deserve care when they become old and dependent.

A.lifestyles and responsibilities of the elderly are not changing

B.most American couples over 40 have no living parents

C.middle-aged Americans have to take care of their children and parents at the same time

D.elderly people may need care for a long time because they live longer after an illness

A.They themselves

B.Their close friends

C.Their children

D.Their husbands or wives

A.care for their elderly parents better than any other people

B.keep closer to their old parents by this means

C.do much better if they have a job as social workers

D.improve the care of the elderly with the help of the social workers

A.They feel they are of use to other people

B.They want to set an example to their children

C.They think it is their duty to help their relatives

D.They hope they deserve care when they need it

A.Most old people live longer today after an illness than people did years ago

B.Many old people are put into nursing homes by their families, who do not visit them regularly

C.Most elderly people are taken care of by their families, who assume the responsibility for different reasons

D.Most elderly people are satisfied with the better ways of caregiving that social workers have come up with

I'd always wondered what the point of traveling was. If we're only going to end up back in our daily routine(日常事务) anyway, aren't we just cheating ourselves?

Sept. 27 is World Tourism Day. It also happens to be exactly three months from the day my three friends and I left for a one-week trip to the Philippines, to learn scuba diving(水肺潜水).

It wasn't the typical relaxing vacation that most people would have taken. We spent our first morning sitting in a room watching tutorial(教学的) videos, while the rest of the day we would practise what we had learned from the video with our instructor, first in the pool and then in the sea. Every day, we had to dress ourselves up in a tight diving suit and a jacket with a heavy steel tank on the back.

But somehow, the experience changed us.

For starters, it allowed us to get to know ourselves better. When we had to fully concentrate on our breathing underwater—even a little bit of difference in the amount of air we breathed—we started to realize that we had never truly “felt” ourselves breathe.

And its influence continues.

During the three months after the trip, we have visited two diving exhibitions—something we wouldn't have been interested in before—where we learned about free diving, which is diving holding your breath, without an extra supply of air. We were fascinated and signed up for free diving courses without hesitation. Just like that, we got ourselves another new hobby.

The trip also gave me the idea of documenting our underwater adventure in the form of a film. I knew nothing about filmmaking, so I decided to teach myself how to use movie-editing software. Two months later, I ended up with a pretty satisfactory 20-minute-long film, and I now can add “movie maker” to my list of achievements, next to “scuba diver”.

Six months ago, did I expect all these new experiences would be in my future? Of course not.

So while it may be true that there's no escape from our daily routine， at least by traveling we can always escape our “old self”, and maybe even pick up some new skills.

A.share her diving experience

B.describe her passion for scuba diving

C.encourage readers to learn to dive

D.explore the purpose of traveling

A.About one week

B.About two months

C.About three months

D.About six months

A.enjoyed a typical relaxing vacation

B.found it easy to breathe under the sea

C.spent most of their time learning and practising diving

D.went diving in the sea right after watching tutorial videos

A.She learned a lot about free diving there

B.She developed a new hobby as well as new skills

C.She no longer took buoyancy for granted

D.She improved her concentration and courage

A.Traveling lets us discover a new side of ourselves

B.Traveling is a time for adventure

C.Traveling is a good way to relax

D.Traveling is simply an escape from our daily routines

Animals seem to have the sense to eat when they are hungry and they do not eat more than their bodies need. It has been demonstrated that rats will, when given a choice over a period of time, prefer water with vitamins to water without vitamins even though there is no difference in taste or smell between the two water bottles. When a fragrant flavor was added to the vitamin enriched fluid, the rats did seem to develop a taste for it and kept drinking it, even after the vitamins were switched to the clear water. In time, however, they brokethehabitand went back to where the necessary vitamins were.

In a classic experiment, babies of 6 to 12 months old were placed in a cafeteria feeding arrangement, with a wide selection of baby food before them. They were given whatever food they pointed to or appeared interested in. At first they showed some unusual eating patterns, but over a period of time they managed to select well-balanced diet.

So, in selecting food, rats and babies do seem to know and act on what's best for them. Apparently, there is a kind of “body wisdom”, which humans soon lose. Most of us do not eat as wisely as we could. Many of our food preferences are culturally determined and influenced by long-established habits. Some people eat foxes, dogs and blackbirds, while we eat cows and pigs. So what people eat and how much they eat seem to be greatly influenced by what is going on around them.

A.encourage rats to drink vitamin enriched water

B.find out rats' preference in flavor

C.test whether rats know which drink is good for them

D.demonstrate that vitamins are tasteless

A.has no smell

B.is tasteless

C.has vitamins

D.is flavored

A.adults know better than babies what kind of food is good for their health

B.adults usually cannot resist the temptation of various delicious foods

C.adults' eating habits are closely related to the social and cultural customs

D.adults have more choices of food than babies in eating patterns

A.eat a balanced diet

B.choose the food that is of nutrition

C.have the habits influenced by the surroundings

D.like to eat the food with a fragrant flavor

A.both have the wisdom to choose a balanced diet

B.both prefer flavored food and drink

C.both have the same eating patterns

D.both develop a taste for the same kinds of flavors

A U. N. report says water is in demand around the world as temperatures on Earth's surface rise and demand grows along with populations. The report was released this week at the World Water Forum in Brasilia. The conference has been described as the world's largest water-related event.Federal District Governor Rodrigo Rollemberg spoke at a panel discussion on Tuesday at the forum. He described water shortages as a worldwide problem. The public water supply has less water because of low rainfall as well as fast and disorderly growth in Brasilia, which is part of the Federal District, Rollemberg said. In January 2016, after three years of little rain, district officials began limiting how much water people could use. The governments of the Federal District and the nearby state of Goias also gave $166 million to develop water infrastructure (基础设施).Demand around the world is expected to increase by nearly one-third by 2050. By then, 5 billion people could be left with poor access to water, the U. N. warned in its 2018 World Water Development Report. To avoid such a crisis, U. N. officials called for “nature-based solutions” that use or copy natural processes that should be used to increase water availability. They said solutions could include changing farming methods so fields keep more moisture and nutrients, collecting rainwater, and protecting wetlands. The officials also proposed reestablishing floodplains and said that plants could be grown on housetops. Such proposals will become more important as water industries grow.

A.A journalist

B.A U. N. official

C.A Federal District official

D.An official from the state of Goias

A.Waste of rainwater

B.Insufficient rainfall

C.Growing plants on the roofs

D.Development in infrastructure

A.They controlled population

B.They limited water consumption

C.They invested in artificial rainmaking

D.They suggested “nature-based solutions”

A.Gathering rainwater

B.Preserving wetlands

C.Sustaining water in soil

D.Building houses on floodplains

A.Brasilia is facing the problem of water shortages

B.The world has found a solution to water shortages

C.The world is facing the problem of water shortages

D.A report was released at the World Water Forum in Brasilia

Benjamin West, the father of American painting, showed his talent for art when he was only six years of age. But he hadn't known about brushes before a visitor told him he needed one. In those days, a brush was made of camels'hair. There were no camels nearby. Benjamin decided that cat hair would work instead. He cut some fur from the family cat to make a brush.

The brush did not last long. Soon Benjamin needed more fur. Before long, the cat began to look ragged(参差不齐的). His father said that the cat must be sick. Benjamin was forced to admit what he had been doing.

The cat's life was about to improve.That year, one of Benjamin's cousins came to visit. He was impressed with Benjamin's drawings. When he went home, he sent Benjamin a box of paints and some brushes. He also sent six engravings(版画) by an artist. These were the first pictures and first real paints and brushes Benjamin had ever seen.

When Benjamin was nine years old, his cousin returned for another visit. He was amazed at what Benjamin had done with his gift. He asked Benjamin's parents if he could take the boy back to Philadelphia for a visit.

In the city, this cousin gave Benjamin materials for creating oil paintings. The boy began a landscape painting. William Williams, a well-known painter, came to see him work. Williams was impressed with Benjamin and gave him two classic books on painting to take home. The books were long and dull. Benjamin could read only a little, having been a poor student. But he later said, “Those two books were my companions by day, and under my pillow at night.” While it is likely that he understood very little of the books, they were his introduction to classical paintings. The nine-year-old boy decided then that he would be an artist.

A.Benjamin's visit to Philadelphia

B.Williams'influence on Benjamin

C.The beginning of Benjamin's life as an artist

D.The friendship between Benjamin and his cousin

A.Because it was sick

B.Because its hair was cut

C.Because it helped Benjamin make a brush

D.Because its fur was made from camels'fur

A.The cat would be closely watched.

B.The cat would get some medical care.

C.Benjamin would leave his home shortly.

D.Benjamin would have real brushes soon.

A.He took him to see painting exhibitions

B.He provided him with painting materials

C.He sent him to a school in Philadelphia

D.He taught him how to make engravings

A.master the use of paints

B.appreciate landscape paintings

C.get to know other painters

D.make up his mind to be a painter