When I was small and my grandmother died, I couldn’t understand why I had no tears. But that night when my dad tried to cheer me up, my laugh turned into crying.
So it came as no surprise to learn that researchers believe crying and laughing come from the same part of the brain. Just as laughing has many health advantages, scientists are discovering that so, too, does crying.
Whatever it takes for us to reduce pressure is important to our emotional health, and crying seems to work well. A study has found that 85 percent of women and 73 percent of men report feeling better after crying.
Besides, tears attract help from other people. Researchers agree that when we cry, people around us become kinder and friendlier and they are more ready to provide support and comfort. Tears also enable us to understand our emotions better; sometimes we don’t even know we’re very sad until we cry. We learn about our emotions through crying, and then we can deal with them.
Just as crying can be healthy, not crying-holding back tears of anger, pain or suffering-can be bad for physical health, studies have shown that too much control of emotions can lead to high blood pressure, heart problems and some other illnesses. If you have a health problem, doctors will certainly not ask you to cry. But when you feel like crying, don’t fight it. It’s a natural-and healthy-emotional response.It can be inferred from the text that ___.
| A．there are two ways to keep healthy |
| B．crying does more good to health than laughing |
| C．laughing plays a more important role than crying |
| D．emotional health has a close relationship to physical health |
According to the author, which of the following statements is true?
| A．Crying is the best way to help from others. |
| B．Fighting back tears may cause some health problems. |
| C．We will never know our deep feeing unless we cry. |
| D．We must cry if we want to reduce pressure. |
What might be the most suitable title for the text?
| A．Power of Tears |
| B．How to Keep Healthy |
| C．Why We Cry |
| D．A New Scientific Discovery |
With the possible exception of equal rights, perhaps the most heated argument across the United States today is the death penalty (死刑). Many argue that it is an effective deterrent (威慑) to murder（谋杀）, while others think there is no enough proof that the death penalty reduces the number of murders. The argument advanced by those who are against the death penalty is that it is cruel and inhuman punishment, that it is a mark of a bad society and finally that it is of questionable effectiveness as a deterrent (威慑物) to crime (罪行) anyway.
In our opinion, the death penalty is a necessary action. Throughout recorded history there have always been those peculiar persons in every society who made terrible crimes such as murder. But some are more dangerous than others. For example, it is one thing to take the life of another in time of blind anger, but quite another to coldly plan and carry out the murder of one or more people in the style of a butcher. Thus, murder, like all other crimes, is a matter of different degree. While it could be argued with some reason that the criminal in the first instance should be merely kept from society, such should not be the fate of the latter type murderer.
The value of the death penalty as a deterrent to crime may be open to discussion. But the majority of people believe that the death penalty protects them. Their belief is proved by the fact that the death penalty prevents murder. For example, from 1954 to 1963, when the death penalty was carried out from time to time in California, the murder rate remained between three and four murders for each 100, 000 population. Since 1964 the death penalty has been done only once, and the murder rate has risen to10.4 murders for each 100, 000 population. The sharp climb in the state's murder rate, which began when killings stopped, does not happen by chance. It certainly shows that the death penalty does stop many murderers. If the law about death penalty is vetoed (否决), some people will be murdered----some whose lives may have been saved if the death penalty were in effect. This is really a life or death matter. The lives of thousands of people must be protected.The main purpose of this passage is to _________.
| A．speak for the majority |
| B．argue against the value of the death penalty |
| C．speak ill of the government |
| D．argue for the value of the death penalty |
Which of the following is among the heated arguments across the USA besides death penalty?
| A．Air pollution. | B．The war against Iraq. |
| C．Equal rights. | D．Election of president. |
The numbers in the last paragraph show that ______.
| A．if they stick to death penalty, the number of murders will be reduced |
| B．death penalty almost stopped from 1954 to 1963 |
| C．the population of California has risen |
| D．death penalty is of little value |
It can be inferred that the writer thinks that ______.
| A．the death penalty is the most important problem in the United States today |
| B．the second type of murderers (in Paragraph 2) should be sentenced to death |
| C．the veto of the law about death penalty is of little importance |
| D．the value of the death penalty as a deterrent to crime is not to be discussed |
There is an English saying: “Laughter is the best medicine.” Until recently, few people took the saying seriously. Now, however, doctors have begun to look into (调查) laughter and the effects it has on the human body. They have found that laughter really can improve people’s health. Tests were carried out to study the effects of laughter on the body. People watched funny films while doctors checked their heart, blood pressure, breathing and muscles. It was found that laughter has similar effects to physical exercise. It increases blood pressure, the heart beating and breathing; it also works several groups of muscles in the face, the stomach, and even the feet. If laughter exercises the body, it must be beneficial (有益的).
Other tests have shown that laughter appears to be able to reduce the effect of pain on the body. In one experiment doctors produced pain in groups of students who listened to different radio programs. The group that tolerated (忍受) the pain for the longest time was the groups which listened to a funny program. The reason why laughter can reduce pain seems to be that it helps to produce a kind of chemicals in the brain which reduce both stress (紧张；压力) and pain.
As a result of these discoveries, some doctors in the United States now hold laughter clinics (诊所), in which they help to improve their patients’ condition by encouraging them to laugh. They have found that even if their patients do not really feel like laughing, making them smile is enough to produce beneficial effects similar to those caused by laughter.The underlined phrase “took the saying seriously” in the first paragraph probably means “________”.
| A．treat the saying as important | B．treat the saying as interesting |
| C．treat the saying as dangerous | D．treat the saying as funny |
The main idea of the passage is _______.
| A．laughter and physical exercises have similar effects on the human body |
| B．smile can produce the same effects as laughter |
| C．pain can be reduced by laughter |
| D．laughter is the best medicine |
Doctors hold laughter clinics _______.
| A．to give better condition to their patients |
| B．in order to improve patients’ health |
| C．to make patients smile |
| D．to prove smile and laughter have the same effect |
Zoo elephants don’t live as long as those in the wild, according to a study sure to cause debate about keeping the giant animals on display. Researchers compared the life spans of elephants in European zoos with those living in Amboseli National Park in Kenya and others working on a timber enterprise in Buma. Animals in the wild or in natural working conditions had life expectancies twice than or more of their relatives in zoos.
Animal care activists have urged in recent years to discourage keeping elephants in zoos, largely because of the lack of space and small numbers of animals that can be kept in a group.
The researchers found that the median life span for African elephants in European zoos was 16.9 years, compared with 56 years for elephants who died of natural causes in Kenya’s Amboseli Park. Adding in those elephants killed by people in Africa lowered the median life expectancy there to 35.9 years. For the more endangered Asian elephants, the median life span in European zoos was 18.9 years, compared with 41.7 years for those working in the Burma Timber Enterprise. Median means half died younger than that age and half lived longer.
There is some good news, though. The life expectancies of zoo elephants have improved in recent years, suggesting an improvement in their care and raising, but “Protecting elephants in Africa and Asia is far more successful than protecting them in Western zoos.”
There are about 1,200 elephants in zoos, half in Europe, researchers concentrated on female elephants, which make up 80 percent of the zoo population. One amazing thing was that Asian elephants born in zoos had shorter life spans that those brought to the zoos from the wild.
Zoos usually lack large areas that elephants are used to in the wild, and that zoo animals often are alone or with one or two other unrelated animals, while in the wild they tend to live in related groups of 8 to 12 animals. In Asian elephants, baby death rates are two to three times higher in zoos than in the Burmese logging camps, and then, in adulthood, zoo-born animals die young. People are not sure why.What is argued about in this passage?
| A．Zoo elephants don’t live as long as those in the wild. |
| B．Elephants should not be on display. |
| C．Asian elephants are in danger. |
| D．Asia is far more successful in protecting elephants in zoos. |
What does the underlined word “median” mean according to the passage?
| A．Average | B．Longest. | C．Shortest. | D．Ordinary. |
Which of the following is Not the disadvantage of keeping elephants in zoos?
| A．Limited number of relatives. | B．Lack of space. |
| C．Shorter life expectancy. | D．Less attention. |
Who are expected to pay more attention to the issue addressed?
| A．Zoologists. | B．Animal care activists. |
| C．Zoo visitors. | D．The public. |
There were times it was only schoolchildren who felt sick before they got their grades. But now teachers in Germany are scared, too, as they are being graded by their students.
Many teachers are opposed to it. They don’t mind being evaluated(评价). But they are upset because the results are then being posted on the Internet and accessible to millions of Internet users. On the website www.spickmich.deduring the past four months students have posted evaluation of 100,000 teachers.
The teachers are graded on categories such as “motivated”, “good instruction”, “easy examinations”, or even “sexy”. Many teachers think that their privacy has been violated.
The creators of the website say that the students are only being offered the chance to provide teachers with some feedback about their classroom instruction. Bernd Dicks, who founded the website with three friends, says that the students are largely quite satisfied with their teachers. On a grading scale of one to six, the teachers’ average grade is 2.7 and it has been improving lately. He often says the impression is that students are bullying（威吓） their teachers. But there is also bullying of the students by teachers.
“Teachers must also learn to live with criticism,” he added. But still, the website is not totally immune from manipulation(操纵), as one teacher near the northern city of Hanover recently proved. He registered himself on the website as a student and then rated his own teaching colleagues highly. Within a few days, seven of his colleagues were listed in the top 10 ranking of Germany’s best teachers.Many teachers are opposed to the website because_____.
| A．their privacy has been violated | B．they are afraid of being assessed |
| C．their evaluations are unfair | D．the results are not satisfying |
We can infer that the founder of the website intended to _____.
| A．get the students to know their teachers better |
| B．conduct a survey on teachers’ performance |
| C．help the teachers to improve their teaching |
| D．change the teachers’ ways of giving instructions |
From what the teacher in Hanover did, we can infer _____.
| A．he intended to help his colleague |
| B．there was some disadvantage of the website |
| C．his colleagues were more popular than him |
| D．he wanted to know how he was evaluated |
Café Hub
Next to the Castle lies The Hub, home of the Edinburgh International Festival and one of the most talked about spots in town. Our café is open every day for mouth-watering lunches, snacks and fine dining. Come in and enjoy the atmosphere of The Hub or watch the world go by from our beautiful terrace.
The Hub, Castlehill, Royal Mile, Edinburgh. Open every day from 9:30 a. m. till late.
Tel: 0131 473 2067 www. thehub-edinburgh. Com
Farm World
Enjoy being “A Farmer for a Day”. Join in delivering and feeding our spring babies—bottle feeding sessions twice daily. Fun for all family. Horse Rides, BMX Bikes Cross Country Course, Tractor Ride through 600 acres, New Adventure Playground, Nature Trails. Full details on website.
Open: May---Oct Wednesdays to Saturdays and daily during school holidays 11 a. m. ----5 p. m.
Tel: 01797 0260256/260321 www. Farmworld-rye. co. uk
Enter the Europe-wide student competition!
Are you curious, creative and energetic? Are you interested in the new media? Are you between 12 and 19 years of age? Then Join Multimedia 2010 is for you!
Your challenge will be to build a team and develop a multimedia presentation in English----based on one of three different topics. You can register (报名) between May 1 and Nov. 15, 2010 and will have to turn in your entry before Dec. 15, 2010.
The rewards are wonderful:￡150 000in prize for schools and teams and the chance to attend a European student camp ---- plus new experiences, an opportunity to make friends throughout Europe! You’ll have to register first if you want _______.
| A．to enjoy delicious food |
| B．to try Tractor Ride through 600 acres |
| C．to enter the Europe-wide student competition |
| D．to watch the world go by from the beautiful terrace |
According to the passage, there will be _______ rewards for the Europe-wide student competition.
| A．only one | B．two | C．three | D．four |
You can visit Farm World ________.
| A．on Monday in May | B．any day in October |
| C．at 2 p. m. at Christmas | D．at 10 : 30 a. m. during school holidays |
From the advertisements above, we can learn that __________.
| A．Café Hub is a popular place in the local area |
| B．families can enjoy Horse Rides on New Adventure Playground |
| C．Farm World provides lunches, snacks and fine dining. |
| D．the Europe-wide student competition will be held on Dec. 15, 2010 |
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