TheHarvardStudentledWalkingTou-优题课

Jim suffered heart problems.In conversation he expressed little joy and it seemed that his life was drawing to a close.
When his heart problems led to operation,Jim went through it successfully,and a full recovery was expected.Within days,however,his heart was not beating properly.Jim was rushed back to operation,but nothing was found to explain the cause of his illness.He died on the operating table on the day before his 48th birthday.
Dr.Bruce Smoller,a psychologist(心理学家),had had many conversations with him,and the more he learned,the stranger he realized Jim’s case was.When Jim was a child,his father,a teacher,suffered a heart attack and stayed home to recover.One morning Jim asked his father to look over his homework,promising to come home from school at noon to pick it up.His father agreed,but when Jim returned his father had died.Jim’s father was 48.
“I think all his life Jim believed he killed his father,”Dr. Smoller says.“He felt that if he had not asked him to look at his homework,his father would have lived.Jim had been troubled by the idea.The operation was the trial(判决) he had expected for forty years.”Smoller believes that Jim willed himself not to live to the age of 48.
Jim’s case shows the powerful role that attitude(态度) plays in physical health,and that childhood experiences produce far-reaching effect on the health of grown-ups.Although most cases are less direct than Jim’s,studies show that childhood events,besides genes,may well cause such midlife diseases as cancer,heart disease and mental illness.
Jim was sent back to operation because______.

A．his heart didn’t work well

B．he expected a full recovery

C．his life was drawing to a close

D．the first one wasn’t well performed

What made Dr. Smoller feel strange about Jim’s case?

A．Jim died at a young age.

B．Jim died on the operating table.

C．Both Jim and his father died of the same disease.

D．Jim’s death is closely connected with his father’s.

From Smoller’s words,we can infer that______.

A．Jim’s father cared little about his study

B．Smoller agreed that Jim did kill his father

C．Jim thought he would be punished some day

D．Smoller believed Jim wouldn’t live to the age of 48

Which of the following could have strong effect on one’s physical health according to the text?

a.One’s genes.
b.One’s life in childhood.
c.One’s physical education.
d.The date of one’s birthday.
e.The opinions one has about something.

A．a,b,d	B．a,b,e
C．a,c,e	D．b,c,d

Last year more than one million Filipinos worked abroad as servants,nurses,sailors and in other difficult but low-paid jobs.Southeast Asians leave their poorer countries for their richer neighbours.
Many of these wage-earners return in the end.In the meantime,they send home huge amounts of money—in the Philippines’ case,over 10% of its GDP.Between January and November,the amount was up 18% on the same period of 2005.Poverty and unemployment are still high in the Philippines and other labour-exporting(劳务输出) countries.They would be far worse but for this outflow of bodies and inflow of dollars.As for those Asian countries that import(输入) labour,as in Europe,falling birth rates mean they are going to need more foreign workers.
On January 13th leaders of the Association of Southeast Asian Nations(ASEAN) signed an agreement to help migrant(流动的) workers—with the realization that the flow of labour between their countries is a growing problem that they cannot blame on outsiders.A 2005 study showed that 8.4 million Southeast Asians worked outside their home countries,but this did not include the huge numbers of Indonesians doing so without papers.So the true total is probably rather higher.
Of the ten ASEAN countries,the Philippines,Indonesia,Myanmar,Cambodia,Vietnam and Laos export labour,Singapore and Brunei import it,and Thailand and Malaysia do both.Sziraczki of the UN’s International Labour Organization points out that,in the next ten years,the total labour force of the worker-exporting countries should grow by about a third.It makes sense to work on the problem before it gets out of control.
People in the receiving countries seem to be worried about competition for their jobs.Most Thais said their government should admit(准入) no more foreign workers,and a few thought otherwise.Even in Singapore,just over half of people are against admitting more foreign workers.Malaysians think that the increase in foreign workers has worsened crime rates(犯罪率).
It can be inferred from the case of the Philippines that______.

A．the country is Asia’s main source of migrant workers

B．labour exports lead to a 10% growth of its GDP

C．the outflow of labour helps solve its social problems

D．the country both exports and imports labour force

The flow of labour is a growing problem because______.

A．there is a greater flow of labour than reported

B．more Indonesians work abroad without papers

C．some countries suffer from low birth rates

D．the ASEAN is against admitting foreign workers

For the labour-importing countries,the flow of labour may lead to______.

A．higher birth rates

B．lower crime rates

C．greater money inflows

D．stronger job competition

The writer of the text seems to______.

A．support the flow of labour between countries

B．report fairly on the question of labour flow

C．express his worries over the ASEAN’s decision

D．regard the outflow of labour as a serious problem

Teens don’t understand the big fuss(小题大做).As the first generation to grow up in a wired world,they hardly know a time when computers weren’t around,and they eagerly catch the chance to spend hours online,chatting with friends.So what?
But researchers nationwide are increasingly worried that teens are becoming isolated(孤寂),less skillful at person-to-person relationships,and perhaps numb(麻木) to the cheatings that are so much a part of the e-mail world.“And a teen’s sense of self and values may be changed in a world where personal connections can be limitless,”said Sherry Turkle.
Another researcher,Robert Kraut,said he’s worried about the “opportunity costs”(机会成本) of so much online time for youths.He found that teens who used computers,even just a few hours a week,showed increased signs of loneliness and social isolation.“Chatting online may be better than watching television,but it’s worse than hanging out(闲逛) with real friends,”he said.
Today’s teens,however,don’t see anything strange in the fact that the computer takes up a central place in their social lives.“School is busy and full of pressure.There’s almost no time to just hang out,”said Parker Rice,17.“Talking online is just catch-up time.”
Teens say they feel good about what they say online or taking the time to think about a reply.Some teens admit that asking someone for a date,or breaking up,can be easier in message form,though they don’t want to do so.But they insist there’s no harm.
The researchers argue that______.

A．teens may develop a different sense of values

B．nothing is wrong with teens’ chatting online

C．teens can manage their social connections

D．spending hours online does much good to teens

Teens think that talking online can help them______.

A．use computers properly

B．improve their school work

C．develop an interest in social skills

D．reduce their mental pressures

The text mainly deals with______.

A．teens’ pleasant online experience

B．teens’ computer skills and school work

C．the effects of the computer world on teens

D．different opinions on teens’ chatting online

The purpose of the text is to______.

A．describe computer research results

B．draw attention to teens’ computer habits

C．suggest ways to deal with problem teens

D．discuss problems teens have at school

When former American President Bill Clinton travelled to South Korea to visit President Kim Young Sam,he repeatedly referred to the Korean president’s wife as Mrs.Kim.By mistake, President Clinton’s advisers thought that Koreans have the same naming customs as the Japanese. Clinton had not been told that,in Korea,wives keep their family names.President Kim Young Sam’s wife was named Sohn Myong Suk.Therefore,she should be addressed(称谓) as Mrs.Sohn.
President Clinton arrived in Korea directly after leaving Japan and had not changed his culture gears.His failure to follow Korean customs gave the impression that Korea was not as important to him as Japan.
In addition to Koreans,some Asian husbands and wives do not share the same family names.This practice often puzzles(使困惑) English-speaking teachers when talking with a pupil’s parents.They become puzzled about the student’s correct last name.Placing the family name first is common among a number of Asian cultures.
Mexican naming customs are different as well.When a woman marries,she keeps her family name and adds her husband’s name after the word de(of).This affects(影响) how they fill in forms in the United States.When requested to fill in a middle name,they generally write the father’s family name.But Mexicans are addressed by the family name of the mother.This often causes puzzlement.
Here are a few ways to deal with such difficult situations:don’t always think that a married woman uses her husband’s last name.Remember that in many Asian cultures,the order of first and last names is reversed(颠倒).Ask which name a person would prefer to use.If the name is difficult to pronounce,admit it,and ask the person to help you say it correctly.
The story of Bill Clinton is used to______.

A．improve US-Korean relations

B．introduce the topic of the text

C．describe his visit to Korea

D．tell us how to address a person

The word “gears” in Paragraph 2 is closest in meaning to______.

A．action plans	B．naming customs
C．travel maps	D．thinking patterns

When a woman marries in Korea,she______.

A．continues to use her family name

B．uses her husband’s given name

C．shares her husband’s family name

D．adds her husband’s given name to hers

To address a married woman properly,you’d better______.

A．use her middle name

B．use her husband’s first name

C．ask her which name she likes

D．change the order of her names

When people want to know about the weather,they usually go to their radios,TVs, newspapers,or to the Internet.However,you can also find many weather signs among wildlife, because of their highly developed senses.Drops in air pressure(压力) produce an effect on small animals in many ways.Mice and deer are good weather indicators.People who spend a lot of time outdoors have observed that,before a storm,field mice come out of their holes and run around.Deer leave high ground and come down from the mountains.
Birds are especially good weather indicators because they also show the effect of a pressure drop in many ways.For example,some birds become irritable(急躁的) and quarrelsome and will fight over a piece of bread.Other birds chirp(叽叽喳喳) and sing just before a storm.It seems they know they won’t get another chance for an hour or two.Birds also seek safe places before a storm.You will sometimes see birds settling in trees or gathering together on a wire close to a building.Pre-storm low pressure makes the air so thin that birds have difficulty flying.
It is unusual to see many birds flying overhead in the summertime,rather than during the periods in the spring or autumn.Watch for other weather signs if you see this.If they fly in the wrong direction,they may be flying ahead of a storm.
By paying closer attention to some important signs in nature,we can become better prepared for any kind of weather.
The word “indicators” in Paragraph 1 probably means______.

A．maps	B．services
C．signs	D．stations

There will be a storm if birds______.

A．make more noise than usual

B．fly in different directions

C．come down from tall trees

D．share a piece of bread

How can birds sense the coming of a storm?

A．By feeling a drop in air temperature.

B．By noticing the change of wind directions.

C．By feeling a drop in air pressure.

D．By noticing the movements of other animals.

The best title for the text would be______.

A．Signs of a Storm

B．Drops in Air Pressure

C．Animals’ Sharp Senses

D．Nature’s Weather Signs