填空题阅读下面这篇短文，短文后有2项测试任务：(1) 第23-26题要求从所给的6个选项中为第2-5段每段选择1个最佳标题；(2) 第27-30题要求从所给的6个选项中选择4个正确的选项，分别完成每个句子。 Global Warming 1 Smoke is clouding our view of global warming, protecting the planet from perhaps three quarters of the greenhouse (温室) effect. That might sound like good news, but experts say that as the cover diminishes in coming decades, we are facing a dramatic increase of warming that could be two or even three times as great as official best guesses. 2 This was the dramatic conclusion reached last week at a workshop in Dahlem, Berlin, where top atmospheric scientists got together, including Nobel prize winner Paul Crutzen and Swedish scientist Bert Bolin, former chairman of the UN'S Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC). 3 IPCC scientists have suspected for a decade that aerosols (浮质) of smoke and other particles from burning rainforest, crop waste and fossil fuels are blocking sunlight and counteracting the warming effect of carbon dioxide (二氧化物) emissions. Until now, they reckoned that aerosols reduced greenhouse warming by perhaps a quarter, cutting increases by 0.2℃. So the 0.6℃ of warming over the past century would have been 0.8℃ without aerosols. 4 But the Berlin workshop concluded that the real figure is even higher—aerosols may have reduced global warming by as much as three-quarters, cutting increases by 1.8℃. If so, the good news is that aerosols have prevented the world getting almost two degrees warmer than it is now. But the bad news is that the climate system is much more sensitive to greenhouse gases than previously guessed. 5 As those gases are expected to continue accumulating in the atmosphere while aerosols stabilize or fall, that means "dramatic consequences for estimates of future climate change", the scientists agreed in a draft report from the workshop. A. Atmospheric Scientists B. The Calculations Made at the Berlin Workshop C. The Previous Calculations of the Effect of Aerosols D. The Scientists' Agreement E. The Authoritative Conclusion F. Greenhouse Gases

填空题A．Cloud-to-ground lightning occurring in the U. S.B．Types of lightningC．Cause of lightningD．Differences between thunder and thunderstorm E Frequencies of thunderstorms occurring in the world and the U. S. F Shock waves as thunder

填空题阅读下面这篇短文，短文后有2项测试任务：(1)23～26题要求从所给的6个选项中为第2～5段第段选择1个正确的小标题；(2)第27～30题要求所给的6个选项中选择4个正确的选项，分别完成每个句子。 {{B}} The Paper Chase{{/B}}1 "Running a house is a lot like running a business," says Stephanie Denton, a professional organizer based in Cincinnati, Ohio, who specializes in both residential and commercial paperwork and record keeping. To get a successful grip on organizing documents, bills, and other materials, Denton suggests the following tips:2 Create a space in which you can always do your paperwork. This is perhaps the most important element of a successful system. If you can't devote an entire desk to the task, at least invest in a rolling file cart to store active paperwork and a two-drawer file cabinet for family records. Store the rolling file cart wherever it is most convenient and comfortable to do your work, whether that is the kitchen, office, or family room.3 When in doubt, throw it out. The first step to implementing a workable filing system is to eliminate paper you don't use, don't need, or that you could easily access again elsewhere. Throw out duplicate statements, old catalogs, and all of the coupons, mailings, or offerings you'll never have an opportunity to use or even read.4 Set aside two days a month to pay bills. If a monthly due date doesn't fit into your cycle, call up the creditor and suggest a more convenient date. Keep two manila folders at the front of your system for current bills - one to correspond with each bill - paying day and file all incoming bills. Keep a list in the front of each folder of what needs to be paid in case the invoice never arrives or gets misplaced.5 Think of your filing system not as a rigid tool, but as a living, breathing system that can accommodate your changing needs. A good filing system is both mentally and physically flexible. Everyone's needs are different, says Denton, but when devising a filing system, ask yourself: "Where would I look for this?" Create main headings for your filing system, such as Investments, Taxes, Children, and so forth, and file individual folders under the main headings. Never overstuff your files.

填空题Theorists contribute to ______.

填空题A．to discover sentence patterns and grammatical rulesB．to expand vocabularyC．to use the target languageD．to encourage unsuccessful language learners to learn independently, actively and purposefullyE．from cluesF．to say strange things

填空题Every Dog Has Its Say Kimiko Fukuda, a Japanese girl, always wondered what her dog was trying to say. Whenever she put on makeup, it would pull at her sleeve. 1 When the dog barks, she glances at a small electronic gadget (装置). The following "human" translation appears on its screen: ""Please take me with you." I realized that"s bow he was feeling." said Fukuda. The gadget is called Bowlingual, and it translates dog barks into feelings. People laughed when the Japanese toymaker Takara Company made the world"s first dog-human translation machine in 2002. But 300,000 Japanese dog owners bought it. 2 "Nobody else had thought about it." said Masahiko Kajita, who works for Takara. "We spend so much time training dogs to understand our orders; what would it be like if we could understand dogs?" Bowlingual has two parts. 3 The translation is done in the gadget using a database (资料库) containing every kind of bark. Based on animal behavior research, these noises are divided into six categories: happiness, sadness, frustration, anger, declaration and desire. 4 In this way, the database scientifically matches a bark to an emotion, which is then translated into one of 200 phrases. When a visitor went to Fukuda"s house recently, the dog barked a loud "bow wow". This was translated as "Don"t come this way". 5 The product will be available in U.S. pet stores this summer for about U.S. $120. it can store up to 100 harks, even recording the dog"s emotions when the owner is away. A. A wireless microphone is attached to the dog"s collar, which sends information to the gadget held by the owner. B. Nobody really knows how a dog feels. C. It was followed by "I"m stronger than you" as the dog growled (嗥叫) and sniffed (嗅) at the visitor. D. More customers are expected when the English version is launched this summer. E. Now, the Japanese girl thinks she knows. F. Each one of these emotions is then linked to a phrase like "Let"s play Look at me" or "Spend more time with me".

填空题Ford 1. Ford"s great strength was the manufacturing process—not invention. Long before he started a car company, he was a worker, known for picking up pieces of metal and wire and turning them into machines. He started putting cars together in 1891. Although it was by no means the first popular automobile, the Model T showed the world just how creative Ford was at combining technology and market. 2. The company"s assembly line alone threw America"s Industrial Revolution into overdrive (高速运转). Instead of having workers put together the entire car, Ford"s friends, who were great toolmakers from Scotland, organized teams that added parts to each Model T as it moved down a line. By the time Ford"s Highland Park plant was humming (嗡嗡作响) along in 1914, the world"s first automatic conveyor belt could turn out a car every 93 minutes. 3. The same year Henry Ford shocked the world with the $5-a-day minimum wage scheme, the greatest contribution he had ever made. The average wage in the auto industry then was $2.34 for a 9-hour shift. Ford not only doubled that, he also took an hour off the workday. In those years it was unthinkable that a man could be paid that much for doing something that didn"t involve an awful lot of training or education. The Wall Street Journal called the plan "an economic crime", and critics everywhere laughed at Ford. 4. But as the wage increased later to daily $10, it proved a critical component of Ford"s dream to make the automobile accessible (可及的) to all. The critics were too stupid to understand that because Ford had lowered his costs per car, the higher wages didn"t matter—except for making it possible for more people to buy cars.

填空题You can improve your reading speed if you ______.

填空题阅读下面的短文，文章中有5处空白，文章后面有6组文字，请根据文章的内容选择5组文字，将其分别放回文章原有位置，以恢复文章原貌。 The Value of Motherhood In shopping malls, the assistants try to push you into buying "a gift to thank her for her unselfish love". When you log onto a website, a small popo-up invites you to book a bouquet for her. Commercial warmth and gratitude are the atmosphere being spread around for this special Sunday in May. {{U}} (46) {{/U}}. The popularity of Mother's Day around the world suggests that Jarvis got all she wanted. In fact, she got more—enough to make her horrified. {{U}} (47) {{/U}}. They buy, among other things, 132 million cards. Mother's Day is the No.1 holiday for flower purchases. Then there are the various commodities, ranging from jewelry and clothes to cosmetics and washing powder, that take advantage of the promotion opportunities, Because of this, Jarvis spent the last 40 years of her life trying to stop Mother's Day. One protest against the commercialization of Mother's Day even got her arrested - for disturbing the peace, interestingly. {{U}} (48) {{/U}}. As Ralph Fevre, a reporter at the UK newspaper The Guardian, observes, traditionally "motherhood is something that we do because we think it's right. " But in the logic of commercialism, people need something in exchange for their time and energy. A career serves this purpose better. {{U}} (49) {{/U}}. So they work hard and play hard. Becoming a mother, however, inevitably handicaps career anticipation. {{U}} (50) {{/U}}. According to The Guardian, there are twice as many child-free young women as there were a generation ago. Or, they put off the responsibility of parenting until later in their lives. So, Fevre writes that the meaning of celebrating Mother's Day needs to be updated: "It is to persuade people that parenting is a good idea and to honor people for their attempt to be good people. "A．The American version of Mother's Day was thought up as early as 1905, by Anna Jarvis, as a way of recognizing the real value of motherhood.B．But what's more, commercialism changes young people's attitude towards motherhood.C．Obviously, the best gift will be a phone call or a visit.D．According to a research by the US card company Hallmark, 96 percent of American consumers celebrate the holiday.E. As a result, motherhood has suffered a huge drop in status since the 1950s.F. In addition, women are being encouraged to pursue any career they desire.

填空题How technology pushes down price 1. Prices have fallen in the food business because of advances in food production and distribution technology. Consumers have benefited greatly from those advances. People who predicted that the world would run out of food were wrong. We are producing more and more food with less and less capital. Food is therefore more plentiful and cheaper than it has ever been. Spending on food compared with other goods has fallen for many years, and continues to drop. 2. Supermarkets have helped push down prices mainly because of their scale. Like any big business, they can invest in IT systems that make them efficient. And their size allows them to buy in bulk. As supermarkets get bigger, the prices get lower. 3. Huge retail companies such as Wal-Mart have tremendous power and they can put pressure on producers to cut their margins. As a result, some producers have had to make cuts. In recent years, Unilever has cut its workforce by 33,000 to 245,000 and dropped lots of its minor brands as part of its "path to growth" strategy. Cadbury has shut nearly 20 percent of its 133 factories and cut 10 percent of its 55,000 global workforce. These cuts help keep costs down, and the price of food stays low. 4. Does cheap food make people unhealthy? Cheap food may encourage people to eat more. Food companies certainly think that giving people more food for their money makes them buy more. Giving people bigger portions is an easy way of making them feel they have got a better deal. That is why portions have got larger and larger. In America, soft drinks came in 80z (225g) cans in the past, then 120z (350g), and now come in 200z (550g) cans. If a company can sell you an 80z portion for $7, they can sell you a 120z portion for $8. The only extra cost to the company is the food, which probably costs 25 cents. 5. Now companies are under pressure to stop selling bigger portions for less money. But it is hard to change the trend. A. Huge retailers force producers to cut costs B. Consumers like supermarkets C. Technology helps reduce food prices D. Food comes cheaper in larger portions E. Chain stores provide better service F. Bigger supermarkets offer lower prices

填空题Successful Language Learners 1 Some people seem to have a knack for learning languages. They can pick up new vocabulary, master rules or grammar, and learn to write in the new language more quickly than others. They do not seem to be any more intelligent than others, so what makes language learning so much easier for them ? Perhaps if we take a close look at these successful language learners, we may discover a few of the techniques which make language learning easier for them. 2 First of all, successful language learners are independent learners. They do not depend on the book or the teacher; they discover their own way to learn the language. Instead of waiting for the teacher to explain, they try to find the patterns and the rules for themselves. They are good guessers who look for clues and form their own conclusions. When they guess wrong, they guess again. They try to learn from mistakes. 3 Successful language learning is active learning. Therefore, successful learners do not wait for a chance to use the language; they look for such a chance. They find people who speak the language and they ask these people to correct them when they make a mistake. They will try anything to communicate. They are not afraid to repeat what they hear or to say strange things; they are willing to make mistakes and try again. When communication is difficult, they can accept information that is inexact or incomplete. It is more important for them to learn to think in the language than to know the meaning of every word. 4 Finally, successful language learners are learners with a purpose. They want to learn the language because they are interested in the language and the people who speak it. It is necessary for them to learn the language in order to communicate with these people and to learn from them. They find it easy to practice using the language regularly because they want to learn with it. 5 What kind of language learner are you? If you are a successful language learner, you have probably been learning independently, actively, and purposefully. On the other hand, if your language learning has been less than successful, you might as well try some of the techniques outlined above.A. Talents to Learn a Language SuccessfullyB. Learning a Language PurposefullyC. Learning a Language ActivelyD. Learning a Language IndependentlyE. Learning from MistakesF. Learning to Think in the Target Language

填空题 A. you can remind your friend of it via E-mail B. you can lend more money to him or her C. you must get to know why he or she needs that money D. if you should lend money to your friend E. you can call the police to settle the issue F. there is no need to maintain a friendly relation with him or her

填空题The Magic of Sound Music is one of the most beautiful forms of artistic expressions ever invented. In movies and plays, music has an added function: it not only moves people but also can shock people. Is it true that an ordinary musical instrument can be so powerful? Our eardrums can withstand sound within 20 to 80 decibels. Once sound exceeds this limit, even beautiful music will become ear-splitting noise and harm health. A strong blast of high sound can twist and break a solid iron sheet. 1 The noise from a plane"s engine is over 140 decibels. However, the sound of a flute is at most a few decibels. 2 It has been proven that people who have worked in an environment with a high sound intensity for a long time suffer varying degrees of heart disease or altered brain waves. In movies, sometimes the hero can produce a sound that ordinary people can"t hear and only those who have the same ability can feel. In nature, there is actually sound that is beyond our hearing. In physics, the sound that exceeds 20,000 Hz is called ultrasonic. 3 It does no harm to health. Sound less than 20 Hz is called infrasonic waves. When we move, the air will vibrate. 4 As the frequency of infrasonic waves is close to that of people"s internal organs, infrasonic wave may cause resonance in human bodies. As a result, people"s vision may weaken and internal organs may rupture. However, whether an infrasonic wave can be used as a weapon depends on its intensity. If its intensity is very low, it won"t damage internal organs or a person"s health. 5 When wind blows at a force of 3 or 4 over the sea, it will produce infrasonic waves of several decibels. Only typhoons can produce infrasonic waves of over 100 decibels. At present, scientists can only produce infrasonic weapons in the lab with the help of advanced scientific tools and powerful electric power. A. High sound of 150 decibels can kill a healthy rat. B. The vibration of air can produce infrasonic waves. C. We cannot play high-pitched music with ordinary musical instruments. D. If the intensity of infrasonic wave exceeds 160 decibels, it is extremely harmful. E. Dolphins, whales and bats can make such high-frequency sound. F. Therefore, the sound of ordinary musical instruments cannot harm your health.

填空题Operatunity 1. Operatunity is a TV talent show for amateur opera singers. The winners get the chance to sing with the English National Opera. When two housewives, Denise Leigh and Jane Gilchrist won in 2002, their lives changed forever. As they sang Verdi"s Rigoletto at the coliseum (音乐厅) in Rome, they were transformed from working mothers into opera celebrities (名人). 2. "I live in the village I was born in," says Denise, who is blind, "Lots of my neighbors are family, and my life is all about my three children." Jane, who worked as a cleaner and a shop assistant, was in a similar situation. She says, "All I had to look forward to was seeing my four children grow up, and I love that, but...you think "there must be more to life". Winning Operatunity has opened up avenues I never knew existed." 3. "This last year has been amazing," Denise continues, "Last month was Paris, before that we were recording at Abbey Road, in London, and recently we had our album launch at the Royal Opera House." "We"ve been treated like princesses," laughs Jane, "...champagne, chocolates, five-star hotels..." 4. But it wasn"t all so easy. For Denise, the worst part was waiting at the beginning. "After I"d sent in my application form I worried for a month. Then I had to wait ten days after my first audition (试唱). That was awful." Even when they won the competition they were allowed to tell their close family but they weren"t allowed to tell anyone else until later. Denise and Jane also found the travelling difficult. They couldn"t take their children with them while they were away singing, so they had to organize childcare. However, there"s been no problem with the physical side of singing. "We didn"t have to worry about that as we"ve had not lost of help and wonderful voice training." says Jane. They also had to learn to deal with the media. "The kids loved the fact that they could stay up and watch us on TV, but I just couldn"t understand why some newspapers were more interested in the fact I divorced, rather than the fact I had just sung at the Coliseum." says Denise.

填空题 Searching for Smiles 1. Ask most people anywhere in the world what they want out of life and the reply will probably be: "To be happy." Ed Deiner, an American psychology professor, has spent his whole professional life studying what makes people happy, comparing levels of happiness between cultures and trying to find out exactly why we enjoy ourselves. 2. Many people would say that this question does not need an answer. But Professor Deiner has one anyway. "If you're a cheerful, happy person, your marriage is more likely to last, and you're more likely to make money and be successful at your job. On average, happy people have stronger immune (免疫的) systems, and there is some evidence that they live longer." 3. So who are the world's happiest people? It depends on how the word is defined. There is individual happiness, the sense of joy we get when we do something we like. But there is also the feeling of satisfaction we get when we know that others respect us and approve of how we behave. According to Professor Deiner, the Western world pursues individual happiness while Asia prefers mutual satisfaction. 4. "In the West, the individualistic (个人主义的) culture means that your mood matters much more than it does in the East. People ask themselves, what can I do that's fun or interesting? They become unhappy when they can't do any of these things. If you ask people from Japan or China if they are happy, they tend to look at what has gone wrong in their lives. If not much has gone wrong, then they are satisfied." 5. People from Spain and other Spanish-speaking countries had the happiest culture, Professor Deiner found. "The biggest cultural difference is to do with pride and shame. Hispanic (西班牙语言的) cultures report much more pride and much less shame than others." 6. Income also made a big difference to people's happiness, but only at the lowest levels. Average income earners in the US were much happier than people in poverty. But millionaires were only a little bit happier than people on average incomes. It seems that money makes us happy when we have enough to feel secure. 7. But can we be too happy? "You get people who are actually happy, but they think happiness is so important that they try to be even happier. This desire to be always happy is a product of individualism, where the emphasis is on you individually, your emotions and feeling good. People can end up feeling unhappy because ordinary happiness is not good enough for them. " A. Happiest Culture B. An Unhappy Person C. Definition of Happiness D. Cultural Differences in Happiness E. Reasons to Be Happy F. Individual and Ordinary Happiness

填空题Education When a teacher finds a way to make a real difference in the students' lives that's what education is all about. Let me tell you a story. Back in 1944 we had a new student named Roger, he was the first black student in our school, and everyone (46) . The other kids weren't bad children; they were just copying their parents, and well, I'm afraid most of their parents (47) . But as you know, when you're twelve years old, you're just starting to have your own opinions about things, and I knew this could be a very important moment in their education. I knew I could make a real difference, (48) , but to all the other kids, too, if I just handled it the right way. I decided I had to try to make Roger into someone special. Not like a teacher's pet, i wanted the other children to (49) , not just a dark shape in the back of the room. So I went after him with questions in every class. He was a bright little boy, so it was easy enough for me to establish him as a smart person with real value. I was pretty pleased, because I could see Roger becoming more confident, and although the other kids were still not very friendly, at least they stopped being so nasty to him. But you know what really changed everything? One day i could see Roger's mind was wandering, and without thinking I threw an eraser in his direction, i only meant to get his attention, but the eraser hit his hand and sent his pencil flying. The whole class roared! And afterwards, of course, (50) . That's how he became an individual, someone special, to talk to and make friends with and that's how I became "Dead-Eye Bean".A. was giving him a hard timeB. had some pretty ignorant views on the subject of black peopleC. while they were enjoying the same classD. not only to little RogerE. start seeing him as a human beingF. all the kids went up to Roger to laugh with him about it

填空题阅读下面这篇短文，短文后有2项测试任务：(1)第23～26题要求从所给的6个选项中为第2～5段每段选择1个正确的小标题；(2)第27～30题要求从所给的6个选项中选择4个正确选项，分别完成每个句子。 {{B}} How to Get along Well with Your Boss{{/B}} 1．Before you argue with your boss, check with the boss's secretary to determine his mood. If he ate nails for breakfast, it is not a good idea to ask him for something. Even without the boss's secretary, there are keys to timing don't approach the boss when he's on deadllne, don't go in right before lunch, when he is apt to be distracted and rushed, don't go in just before or after he has token a vacation. 2．If you're mad, that will only make your boss mad. Calm clown first. And don't let a particular concern open the floodgates for all your accumulated frustration. The boss will feel that you think negatively about the company and it is hopeless trying to change your mind. Then maybe he will dismiss you. 3．Terrible disputes can result when neither the employer nor the employee knows what is the problem the other wants to discuss. Sometimes the fight will go away when the issues are made clear. The employee has to get his point across clearly in order to make the boss understand it.4．Your boss has enough on his mind without your adding more. If you can't put forward an immediate solution, at least suggest how to approach the problem, People who frequently present problems without solutions to their bosses may soon find they can't get past the secretary. 5．To deal effectively with a boss, it's important to consider his goals and pressures. If you can put yourself in the position of being a partner to the boss, then he will be naturally more inclined to work with you to achieve your goals.

填空题How to Learn Language Successfully 1 Some people seem to have a knack for learning languages. They can pick up new vocabulary, master rules or grammar, and learn to write in the new language more quickly than others. They do not seem to be any more intelligent than others, so what makes language learning so much easier for them? Perhaps if we take a close look at these successful language learners, we may discover a few of the techniques which make language learning easier for them. 2 First of all, successful language learners are independent learners. They do not depend on the book or the teacher; they discover their own way to learn the language. Instead of waiting for the teacher to explain, they try to find the patterns and the rules for themselves. They are good guesters who look for clues and form their own conclusions. When they guess wrong, they guess again. They try to learn from mistakes. 3 Successful language learning is active learning. Therefore, successful learners do not wait for a chance to use the language; they look for such a chance. They find people who speak the language and they ask these people to correct them when they make a mistake. They will try anything to communicate. They are not afraid to repeat what they hear or to say strange things; they are willing to make mistakes and try again. When communication is difficult, they can accept information that is inexact or incomplete. It is more important for them to learn to think in the language than to know the meaning of every world. 4 Finally, successful language learners are learners with a purpose. They want to learn the language because they are interested in the language and the people who speak it. It is necessary for them to learn the language in order to communicate with these people and to learn from them. They find it easy to practice using the language regularly because they want to learn with it. 5 What kind of language learner are you? If you are a successful language learner, you have probably been learning independently, actively, and purposefully. On the other hand, if your language learning has been less than successful, you might as well try some of the techniques outlined above. A Ways to Learn a Language Successfully B Learning a Language Purposefully C Learning a Language Actively D Learning a Language Independently E Learning from Mistakes F Learning to Think in the Target Language

填空题Learning Disabilities Learning disabilities are very common. They affect perhaps 10 percent of all children. Four times as many boys as girls have learning disabilities. Since about 1970, new research has helped brain scientists understand these problems better. Scientists now know there are many different kinds of learning disabilities and that they are caused by many different things. 1 You cannot look at a child and tell if he or she has a learning disability. There is no outward sign of the disorder. 2 In one study, researchers examined the brain of a learning-disabled person who had died in an accident. They found two unusual things. One involved cells in the left side of the brain, which control language. These cells normally are white. 3 The researchers also found that many of the nerve cells were not in a line the way they should have been. The nerve cells were mixed together. The study was carried out under the guidance of Norman Geschwind, an early expert on learning disabilities. Doctor Geschwind proposed that learning disabilities resulted mainly from problems in the left side of the brain. He believed this side of the brain failed to develop normally. "Probably", he said," nerve cells there did not connect as they should. " So the brain was like an electrical device in which the wires were crossed. Other researchers did not examine brain tissue. 4 Frank Duffy experimented with this technique at Children"s Hospital Medical Center in Boston. Doctor Duffy found large differences in the brain activity of normal children and those with reading problems. 5 Doctor Duffy said his research is evidence that reading disabilities involve damage to a wide area of the brain, not just the left side. A. In the learning-disabled person, however, these cells were gray. B. So some researchers began looking at the brain itself to learn what might be wrong. C. The differences appeared throughout the brain. D. Researchers tried to improve the intelligence of learning-disabled in different ways. E. There is no longer any question that all learning disabilities result from differences in the way the brain is organized. F. Instead, they measured the brain"s electrical activity and made a map of the electrical signals.

填空题下面短文有5处空白，短文后有6个句子，其中5个取自短文，请根据短文内容将其分别放回原位置，发恢复文章原貌。 Did you ever see the movie Honey, I shrunk the kids? It's about a wacky(乖僻的) dad (who's also a scientist) who accidentally(偶然的) shrinks his kids with his homemade miniaturizing (使小型化) invention . Oops! The kids spend the rest of the movie as tiny people who are barely visible while trying to get back to their normal size. {{U}} (46) {{/U}}It takes place over years and may add up to only one inch or so off of their adult height (maybe a little more, maybe less), and this kind of shrinking can't be magically reversed, although there are things that can be done to stop it or slow it down. But why does shrinking happen at all? {{U}} (47) {{/U}}As people get older, they generally lose some muscle and fat from their bodies as part of the natural aging process. Gravity (the force that keeps your feet on the ground) take hold, and the bones in the spine, called vertebrae(椎骨) , may break down or degenerate, and start to collapse into one another.{{U}} (48) {{/U}}But perhaps the most common reason why some older people shrink is because of osteoporosis. Osteoporosis(骨质叔松症) occurs when too much spongy(海绵) bone tissue (which is found inside of most bones) is broken down and not enough new bone material is made.{{U}} (49) {{/U}}Bones become smaller and weaker and can easily break if someone with osteoporosis is injured. Older people — especially women, who generally have smaller and lighter bones to begin with — are more likely to develop osteoporosis. As years go by, a person with osteoporosis shrinks a little bit. Did you know that every day you do a shrinking act? You aren't as tall at the end of the day as you are at the beginning.{{U}} (50) {{/U}}Don't worry, though. Once you get a good night's rest, your body recovers, and the next morning, you're standing tall again. A. They end up pressing closer together, which makes a person lose a little height and become shorter. B. That's because as the day goes on, water in the disks of the spine gets compressed (squeezed) due to gravity, making you just a tiny bit shorter. C. Over time, bone is said to be lost because it's not being replaced. D. Luckily, there are things that people can do to prevent shrinking. E. For older people, shrinking isn't that dramatic or sudden at all. F. There are a few reasons.