InternationalStudies(BA)Keyfea-优题课

As the pace of life continues to increase, we are fast losing the art of relaxation. Once you are in the habit of rushing through life, being on the go from morning till night, it is hard to slow down. But relaxation is essential for a healthy mind and body.
Stress is a natural part of everyday life and there is no way to avoid it. In fact, it is not the bad thing it is often supposed to be. A certain amount of stress is vital to provide motivation and give purpose to life. It is only when the stress gets out of control that it can lead to poor performance and ill health．
The amount of stress a person can withstand depends very much on the individual. Some people are not afraid of stress, and such characters are obviously prime material for managerial responsibilities, others lose heart at the first sign of unusual difficulties. When exposed to stress, in whatever form, we react both chemically and physically. In fact we make choice between “flight or fight” and in more primitive days the choices made the difference between life or death. The crises we meet today are unlikely to be so extreme, but however little the stress, it involves the same response. It is when such a reaction lasts long, through continued exposure to stress, that health becomes endangered. Since we can't remove stress from our lives (it would be unwise to do so even if we could), we need to find ways to deal with it．
People are finding less and less time for relaxing themselves because ________.

A．they regard working as their greatest enjoyment

B．they believe that work is superior to relaxation

C．they are traveling fast all the time

D．they are becoming busier with their work than ever before

According to the author, the most important character for a good manager is his________.

A．strong will to hold out stress

B．knowing the art of relaxation

C．high sense of responsibility

D．having control over performance

Which of the following statements is TRUE, according to the passage?

A．We can find quite a few ways to avoid stress．

B．Stress is always harmful to people's health

C．It’s easy to change the habit of keeping oneself busy with work．

D．Different people can bear different amount of stress．

In the last sentence of the passage, “do so” refers to ________.

A．“expose ourselves to stress”

B．“find ways to deal with stress”

C．“remove stress from our lives”

D．“establish links between diseases and stress”

The story goes that some time ago, a man punished his 3-year-old daughter for wasting a roll of gold wrapping paper．Money was tight and he became infuriated（愤怒的） when the child tried to decorate a box to put under the Christmas tree．Nevertheless, the little girl brought the gift to her father the next morning and said, “This is for you, Daddy.”
The man was embarrassed by his earlier overreaction, but his anger flared again when he found out the box was empty．He yelled at her, stating, “Don't you know, when you give someone a present, there is supposed to be something inside?” The little girl looked up at him with tears in her eyes and cried, “Oh, Daddy, it’s not empty at all．I blew kisses into the box. They’re all for you, Daddy.”
The father was crushed．He put his arms around his little girl, and he begged for her forgiveness．
Only a short time later, an accident took the life of the child．It is also told that her father kept that gold box by his bed for many years and, whenever he was discouraged, he would take out an imaginary kiss and remember the love of the child who had put it there．
In a very real sense, each one of us, as humans beings, have been given a gold container filled with unconditional love and kisses from our children, family members, friends, and God．There is simply no other possession, anyone could hold, more precious than this．
The 3-year-old girl was punished by her father for ________．

A．decorating a box

B．wasting wrapping paper

C．putting the box under the Christmas tree

D．bringing the gift to her father

The father remembered the love of his daughter by ________．

A．kissing the gold box

B．putting gold into the box．

C．taking out an imaginary kiss from the box．

D．keeping the little girl’s ash box by his bed．

What’s the best title for the passage?

A．The kisses in the box

B．A girl and his father

C．A love story

D．The box under the Christmas tree

Michael Fish may soon be replaced as a weather forecaster by the shark (鲨鱼).
Research by a British biology student suggests that sharks could be used to predict storms. Lauren Smith, 24, is close to completing her study on shark’s ability to sense pressure. If her studies prove the theory, scientists may be able to monitor the behavior of sharks to predict bad weather.
Miss Smith had previously studied the behavior of lemon sharks in the Bahamas.
She then used their close relatives, lesser spotted dogfish, for further research at Aberdeen University.
Her work---thought to be the first of its kind to test the pressure theory ---- resulted from the observation that juvenile blacktip sharks off Florida moved into deeper water ahead of a violent storm in 2001.
Miss Smith said: “I’ve always been crazy about traveling and diving and this led me to an interest in sharks.”
“I was delighted to have been able to research in the area for my degree. I know there’s so much more we need to understand ---- but it certainly opens the way to more research.”
It has been discovered that a shark senses pressure using hair cells in its balance system.
At the Bimini Shark Lab in the Bahamas, Miss Smith fixed hi-tech sensors to sharks to record pressure and temperature, while also tracking them using GPS (Global Positioning System) technology.
In Aberdeen, she was able to study the effects of tidal (潮汐的) and temperature changes on dogfish----none of which were harmed. She also used a special lab which can mimic (模拟) oceanic pressure changes caused by weather fronts.
She is due to complete her study and graduate later this year. She says she will be looking for a job which will give her the chance to enrich her experience of shark research.
The passage is most probably taken from _______.

A．a short-story collection

B．a popular science magazine

C．a research paper

D．a personal diary

What do we learn from the first four paragraphs of the passage?

A．Sharks may be used to predict bad weather.

B．Sharks’ behavior can be controlled.

C．Michael Fish is not fit for his job.

D．Lauren Smith will become a weather forecaster.

Lauren Smith conducted her research by _______.

A．removing hair cells from a shark’s balance system

B．measuring the air pressure of weather fronts

C．recording sharks’ body temperature

D．monitoring sharks’ reaction to weather changes

What is the passage mainly about?

A．A popular way of forecasting weather.

B．A new research effort in predicting storms.

C．Biologists’ interest in the secrets of sharks.

D．Lauren Smith’s devotion to scientific research.

Once there was an 11-year-old boy who went fishing with his father in the middle of a New Hampshire lake. On the day before bass (巴斯鱼) season opened, they were fishing early in the evening, catching other fish with worms. Then the boy tied on a small silver lure (鱼饵) and put it into the lake. Suddenly he felt that something very big pulling on the lure. His father watched with admiration as the boy skillfully brought the fish beside the bank. Finally he lifted the tired fish from the water. It was the largest one he had ever seen, but it was a bass.
The boy and his father looked at the big fish. The father lit a match and looked at his watch. It was 10 p.m.—two hours before the season opened. He looked at the fish, then at the boy. “You’ll have to put it back, son,” he said.
“Dad!” cried the boy. “There will be other fish,” said his father. “Not as big as this one,” cried the boy. He looked around the lake. No other fishermen or boats were in sight in the moonlight. He looked again at his father.
Even though no one had seen them, nor could anyone ever know what time he had caught the fish, the boy could tell from his father’s voice that the decision couldn’t be changed. He threw the huge bass into the black water. The big fish disappeared. The boy thought that he would never again see such a big fish.
That was 34 years ago. Today the boy is a successful architect in New York City. He often takes his own son and daughters to fish at the same place.
And he was right. He has never again caught such a large fish as the one he got that night long ago. But he does see that same fish ... again and again ... every time he has an ethical (道德的) decision to make. For, as his father had taught him, ethics are simple matters of right and wrong. It is only the practice of ethics that is difficult.
What happened when the big fish turned out to be a bass?

A．The boy and his father discussed what to do with the big fish.

B．The boy threw the bass back into the water willingly.

C．The father lit a match in order to check the time.

D．They worried other fishermen may discover what they had done.

From the text we know that the father _________.

A．didn’t love his son

B．always disagreed with his son

C．disliked the huge fish

D．was firm and stubborn

How did the boy feel when the huge bass was thrown into the water?

A．Excited.

B．Embarrassed.

C．Disappointed.

D．Annoyed.

The successful architect went fishing with his children at the same place because _________.

A．they might catch a big fish there

B．he was taught an important lesson there

C．it was a most popular fishing spot

D．their children enjoyed fishing there

Around the world there are some festivals that for some of us may sound bizarre.
In England they celebrate the rolling cheese race, which occurs every year during the last Monday in May. This festival’s characteristic is a contest where an official rolls cheese down a steep hill and festival- goers go chasing after it. The winner is the first one to reach and catch the cheese.
Another festival celebrated in England is the world championship of grimaces (鬼脸). It is a celebration that dates back to 1297 and is celebrated during the month of September. The task is to perform the best grimace using anything you can to win.
The worldwide championship of wife lifting is celebrated in Finland. The game is based on Viking traditions where a man should carry away his neighbor’s wife. According to the rules, any woman above 17 is considered as a wife, so if you are within this age, take care while visiting this country during the month of July.
Many of you have watched Pirates of the Caribbean and have known something about pirates. The 19^th of September has been declared worldwide as the day to talk like a pirate. Plenty of people have celebrated it thanks to the publicity (宣传) on the Internet.
First staged in 1998, the Boryeong Mud Festival is an attraction that pulls more than a million visitors to the South Korean City. As you all know, the town is said to be rich in minerals, so there is no shortage of mud. Mud is trucked onto Daecheon Beach for tourists and locals to enjoy the festival to their best.
The Monkey Buffet Festival is held in Thailand to develop tourism. It’s an unusual feast held for about 600 monkeys. The Monkey Buffet Festival is held in honor of the Hindu gods Ram and Hanuman and involves 3,000 kilograms of vegetables and fruits being laid out for monkeys to stuff themselves.
What does the underlined word “bizarre” in Paragraph1 probably mean?

A．Dangerous

B．Strange

C．terrible

D．Familiar

If a participant wants to win in the rolling cheese race, he / she should __________.

A．roll as much cheese down the hill as possible

B．find the largest piece of cheese rolling downhill

C．perform the best grimace when chasing the cheese

D．be the first one to catch the cheese rolling downhill

According to the writer, a girl above 17 should be careful when enjoying __________.

A．the worldwide championship of wife lifting

B．the world championship of grimaces

C．the Boryeong Mud Festival

D．the Monkey Buffet Festival