In-line Skating and Injuries
    Increasing number of children are taking up in-line skating, and it is those new skaters who are most at risk for injuries, according to a statement from an American research institute.
    Some 17. 7 million people younger than age 18 participated in the sport in the US in 1996, a 24% increase over the previous year.
    Also in 1996 in-line skating injuries sent 76, 000 skaters under the age of 21 to the emergency room. Inexperienced skaters accounted for 14% of all injuries requiring treatment.
The most common reasons for injuries were losing one’s balance due to road debris, being unable to stop, out-of-control speeding, or falls while doing a trick.
    One third of skating injuries are to the wrist, and two thirds of wrist injuries are fractures. Wearing wrist guards could reduce the number of these injuries by an estimated 87%，according to the AAP.
    Likewise, elbow pads could reduce elbow injuries by 82%, and knee pads could reduce the number of knee injuries by 32%, advise the experts.
    Helmet used by young skaters is required by law in New York and Oregon, and the research institute also recommends that young skaters wear a bicycle helmet or a similar approved sports helmet.
    The age at which children are ready to use in-line skates depends upon a number of conditions, including the child’s foot size and body strength, general athletic ability and muscle coordination, and the ability to judge traffic and pay attention to the condition of the skating surface ahead, the experts advise.
    The most dangerous skating practice, called “truck-surfing”，involves skating while holding onto a moving vehicle. Few skaters have fatal injuries, but 31 of 36 deaths reported since 1992 involved being knocked down by motor vehicle, according to data from the US Consumer Product Safety Commission.

1. How many people took part in in-line skating in the US in 1995?
  A. About 17. 7 million.
  B. More than 17. 7 million.
  C. Fewer than 17. 7 million.
  D. Exactly 17. 7 million.

2. Which of the following is NOT mentioned as the most common reason for injuries?
  A. Skating with wrist and elbow wounds.
  B. Losing one’s balance due to road debris.
  C. Being unable to stop due to high speed.
  D. Falling down when doing a trick.

3. What are the things experts might NOT advise youngsters to wear?
  A. Wrist guards.
  B. Elbow and knee pads.
  C. Helmets of some kind.
  D. Boots and thick clothes.

4. “Truck-surfing” means
  A. skating inside a truck while it is moving.
  B. skating while holding onto a moving truck.
  C. skating at a speed faster than a truck.
  D. skating at the end of a moving truck.

5. According to the last paragraph, bumping with a motor vehicle took up of the deaths reported since 1992.
  A. over 80%      B. below 80%      C. about 31%      D. about 36%
Common-cold Sense
    You can’t beat it, but you don’t have to join it.  Maybe it got the name “common cold”  because it’s more common in winter. The fact is, though, being cold doesn’t have anything to do with getting one. Colds are caused by the spread of rhinoviruses, and, at least so far, medical science is better at telling you how to avoid getting one than how to get rid of one.
    Children are the most common way cold viruses are spread to adults, because they have more colds than adults—an average of about eight per year. Why do kids seem so much more easily to get colds than their parents? Simple. They haven’t had the opportunity to become immune to many cold viruses.
There are more than 150 different cold viruses, and you never have the same one twice. Being infected by one makes you immune to it—but only it.
    Colds are usually spread by direct contact, not sneezing or coughing. From another person’s hand to your hand and then to your nose or eyes is the most common route. The highest concentration of cold viruses anywhere is found under the thumbnails of a boy, although the viruses can survive for hours on skin or other smooth surfaces.
Hygiene is your best defense. Wash your hands frequently, preferably with a disinfectant soap, especially when children in your household have colds.
    But even careful hygiene won’t ward off every cold. So, what works when a coughing, sneezing, runny nose strikes?
The old prescription of two aspirins, lots of water, and bed rest is a good place to start. But you’ll also find some of the folk remedies worth trying. Hot mixtures of sugar(or honey), lemon, and water have real benefits.

1. According to the essay, you may have a cold because
  A. it is caused by the cold winter weather.
  B. the spread of rhinoviruses gets people infected.
  C. because another person’s coughing passes the cold to you.
  D. because you wash your hands too often.

2. The best way to keep yourself from getting colds is
  A. to keep yourself clean.                           
  B. to use a disinfectant soap.
  C. to take two aspirin pills every day.       
  D. to drink lots of water.

3. Children have more colds because
  A. they are usually infected about eight times each year.
  B. they are not immune to many cold viruses.
  C. they never wash their hands so that their thumbnails are dirty.
  D. they don’t like eating lemon.

4. When you are having a cold,
  A. it is always the same kind of cold that you had last time.
  B. it may be the same kind of cold that you had last time.
  C. it is certainly not the same kind of cold that you had last time.
  D. it is probably not the same kind of cold that you had last time.

5. When one is having a cold, he often has some symptoms EXCEPT
  A. coughing.                                         
  B. having a sore throat.
  C. having a runny nose.                       
  D. having a stomachache.