As the economic crisis goes worse, some reader are turning to bookstores for advice on how to manage their own finances. Below are the top-ten selling books in both categories for the week ended Oct.18 at Barnes & Noble Inc., the country’s largest book retailer (零售商). Here readers are buying books whose titles feature such words as “failed”, “crisis” and “danger”.
1. The total Money Makeover by Dave Ramsey. A primer on how to cut debt, save money and create a financial strategy.
2. Debt Cures ‘They’ Don’t Want You to Know About by Kevin Trudeau. A look into the dangers of credit card spending and how to reduce your expenses.
3. Women & Money: Owning the Power to Control Your Destiny by Suze Orman, Ms. Orman writes about how women can gain better control of their finances by better understanding their relationship with money.
4. The Money Book for the Young, Fabulous & Broke by Suze Orman. A book on what the young need to know now about money management.
5. The Smart Cookies’ Gude to Making More Dough by the Smart Cookies with Jennifer Barrett. The book’s advice: Take charge and get out of debt.
6. The Forgotten Man: A New History of the Great Depression by Amity Shlaes. A look at what happened during that other crisis.
7. The Partnership: The Making of Goldman Sachs by Charles D. Ellis. An inside look at the famed investment-banking firm.
8. “Bad Money: Reckless Finance, Failed Politics, and the Global Crisis of American Capitalism by Kevin Phillips. Mr. Phillips documents the unreaveling of the U.S. economy.
9. The New Paradigm for Financial Markets: The Credit Crisis of 2008 and What It Means by George Soros. An analysis of the issue behind the crisis and their implications.
10. The World is Cured: Hidden Dangers to the Global Economy by David M. Smick. An inside look at what went wrong with the banking system here and abroad.
1.What is the best title for the passage?
A.A Personal Financial List
B.The Country’s Largest Book Seller
C.Serious Economic Crisis
D.Ten Books to Read in the Financial Crisis
2.The reason why readers are buying books including “failed, crisis, danger” is that______.
A.they are discouraged with the serious financial crisis
B.they are to find advice to get through the financial crisis
C.they are concerned about failures in the world
D.they have no choice but to read such books
3.If you desire to get out of debt, you’d better read the book written by .
A.David M. Smick B.Suze Orman C.Kevin Phillips D.the Smart Cookies
4.From the text we know that ______.
A.Charles D. Ellis is famous as an investment-banking manager
B.George Soros has given the detailed root of present economic crisis
C.Amity Shlaes is only interested in the past economic crisis
D.Dave Ramsey is the current Minister of the USA.
Children brought up on healthy diets are more intelligent compared with their junk food eating partners, a new research suggests．
Kids fed a diet packed high in fats, sugars, and processed（加工） foods had lower IQs than those fed pasta（意大利面食）, salads and fruit, it was found．
The effect is so great that researchers from the University of Bristol said those children with a "healthier" diet may get an IQ improvement．
Scientists stressed good diet was essential in a child's early life as the brain grows at its fastest rate during the first three years of life．
This indicated head growth at this time is linked to intellectual ability and “it is possible that good nutrition（营养） during this period may encourage excellent brain growth” ．
Scientists tracked the long term health and happiness of around 14,000 children born in 1991 and 1992 as part of the West Country's Avon Longitudinal（纵向的）Study of Parents and Children（ ALSPAC） ．
Parents were questioned about the types and frequency of the food and drink their children consumed when they were three, four, seven and eight and a half years old． According to their different changing form, these children were marked and given grades which ranged from minus two for the most healthy to10 for the most unhealthy．
In the research, IQ was measured of 4,000 children when they were eight and half years old, using a validated（经过认证的）test－the Wechsler Intelligence Scale（韦氏儿童智力量表） for Children．
The results found after taking account of some influential factors, a leading processed food diet at the age of three was associated with a lower IQ at the age of eight and a half , whether the diet was improved after that age．
Every l point increase in dietary pattern score was associated with a l.67 fall in IQ．Scientists stressed good diet was essential in a child’s early life because.
| A．the brain grows at its fastest rate during the first three years of life． |
| B．those children with a "healthier" diet must get an IQ improvement． |
| C．children brought up on healthy diets are less intelligent． |
| D．these children were given good grades． |
Which of the following is NOT true?
| A．Those children with a "healthier" diet may get an IQ improvement． |
| B．Good nutrition at any stage may encourage excellent brain growth． |
| C．Scientists tracked the long term health and happiness of about 14,000 children． |
| D．Every l point increase in dietary pattern score was associated with a l．67 fall in IQ． |
The results found if a child ate a leading processed food diet when he was 3, he would．
| A．have a higher IQ |
| B．have a higher IQ as long as he improved his diet |
| C．have one IQ when he was 8 |
| D．have a lower IQ whether he improved his diet |
What is the best title of the passage?
| A．Food for thought |
| B．What is healthy food? |
| C．Healthy diet improves children's intelligence |
| D．How to become clever? |
Decision-making under Stress
A new review based on a research shows that acute stress affects the way the brain considers the advantages and disadvantages, causing it to focus on pleasure and ignore the possible negative (负面的) consequences of a decision.
The research suggests that stress may change the way people make choices in predictable ways.
“Stress affects how people learn,” says Professor Mara Mather. “People learn better about positive than negative outcomes under stress.”
For example, two recent studies looked at how people learned to connect images(影像) with either rewards or punishments. In one experiment, some of the participants were first stressed by having to give a speech and do difficult math problems in front of an audience; in the other, some were stressed by having to keep their hands in ice water. In both cases, the stressed participants remembered the rewarded material more accurately and the punished material less accurately than those who hadn’t gone through the stress.
This phenomenon is likely not surprising to anyone who has tried to resist eating cookies or smoking a cigarette while under stress –at those moments, only the pleasure associated with such activities comes to mind. But the findings further suggest that stress may bring about a double effect. Not only are rewarding experiences remembered better, but negative consequences are also easily recalled.
The research also found that stress appears to affect decision-making differently in men and women. While both men and women tend to focus on rewards and less on consequences under stress, their responses to risk turn out to be different.
Men who had been stressed by the cold-water task tended to take more risks in the experiment while women responded in the opposite way. In stressful situations in which risk-taking can pay off big, men may tend to do better, when caution weighs more, however, women will win.
This tendency to slow down and become more cautious when decisions are risky might also help explain why women are less likely to become addicted than men: they may more often avoid making the risky choices that eventually harden into addiction.We can learn from the passage that people under pressure tend to ______.
| A．keep rewards better in their memory |
| B．recall consequences more effortlessly |
| C．make risky decisions more frequently |
| D．learn a subject more effectively |
According to the research, stress affects people most probably in their ______.
| A．ways of making choices | B．preference for pleasure |
| C．tolerance of punishments | D．responses to suggestions |
The research has proved that in a stressful situation, ______.
| A．women find it easier to fall into certain habits |
| B．men have a greater tendency to slow down |
| C．women focus more on outcomes |
| D．men are more likely to take risks |
An Italian couple are to become the world's oldest divorcees, after the 99 - year – old husband found that his 96 - year - old wife had an affair（婚外情）in the 1940s．
The Italian man, called by lawyers in the case as Antonio C, was looking through an old drawer when he made the discovery a few days before Christmas．
In spite of the time that had passed since the affair, he was so upset that he immediately asked his wife of 77years, named as Rosa C, whether it was true, and demanded a divorce．
Stricken by the guilt, she reportedly admitted everything but was unable to persuade her husband to reconsider his decision, though her children also did much more work．
She wrote the letters to her lover during a secret affair in the 1940s, according to court papers released in Rome this week, which made people know the truth．
The couple are now preparing to split; though the marriage they built has lasted over nearly eight decades－ they have five children, a dozen grandchildren and one great – grand child．
The discovery of the letters was the final problem for their marriage which had already run into difficulty－10 years ago the husband briefly left their house in Rome and moved in with one of his sons, only to return a few weeks later．
The Italian thought the fierce split resulted from the couple's southern blood 一 he is originally from Olbia in Sardinia: while his wife was born in Naples． The couple met during the 1930s when Antonio served as a young officer．
The case appears to set a new record, at least for the age of the oldest figures – the previous oldest couple to divorce were Bertie and Jessie Wood, both aged 98, from the UK．
That pair ended their 36 - year marriage in 2009 when they were both two years away from their l00th birthdays．They got married in Elstree, Hertfordshire, in 1972, having both ended previous marriages, before moving to Falmouth, Cornwall four years later．Which is true according to the text?
| A．To find his wife' affair, Antonio C looked through an old drawer． |
| B．Rosa C' lover may be Bertie． |
| C．Rosa C admitted what she did because she was sorry for her guilt． |
| D．The Italian thought the fierce split resulted from the discovery of the letters． |
Which word can replace the underlined one in passage5?
| A．advertised | B．announced | C．concluded | D．expressed |
Which of the following best describe Antonio C?．
| A．a childish man | B．a rude man |
| C．a romantic man | D．a stubborn man |
The marriage of Antonio C and Rosa C．
| A．may come to an end because the husband sticks to his decision |
| B．appears to set a new record |
| C．may have lasted over 36 years |
| D．began in the 1930s before both ending previous marriages |
This passage may come from．
| A．a text book | B．a newspaper |
| C．a history book | D．an advertisement |
Death Valley is a land of beautiful yet dangerous extremes. Death Valley can be dangerously cold during the winter months. Storms in the mountains can produce sudden flooding on the floor of the Valley.
The air temperature during the summer has been as high as fifty- seven degrees Celsius. The sun can heat the ground so that the temperature of the rocks and soil can be as high as seventy -four degrees Celsius.
Death Valley contains evidence of several ancient volcanoes that caused huge explosions. Evidence of one of these explosions is called Ubehebe Crater. The explosion left a huge hole in the ground almost a kilometer and a half wide. In many areas of Death Valley it is easy to see where the ground has been pushed up violently by movement deep in the Earth. This movement has created unusual and beautiful rock formations. Some are red. Others are dark brown, gray, yellow or black.
The area was named by a woman in 1849. Thousands of people from other parts of the ountry traveled Lo the gold mining areas in California. They were in a hurry to get there before other people did. One group trying to reach California decided to take a path called the Old Spanish Trail. By December they had reached Death Valley. They did not have to survive the terrible heat of summer, hut there was still an extreme lack of water. There were few plants for their work animals to eat.
The people could not find a pass through the call mountains to the west of the Valley. Slowly, they began co suffer from a lack of food. To survive, they killed their work animals for food and began to walk out of the Valley. As they left, one woman looked back and said, “Good -bye, death valley.” The name has never been changed.
Almost everyone who visits Death Valley visits a huge house called Scotty' s Castle. The building design is Spanish, with high thick walls to provide protection from the fierce heat.
The castle is named for Walter Scott , called Scotty by his friends. He was a gold miner. He told everyone that he built the house with money he made from his gold mine. Many people believed him. But it was not really the truth.The first two paragraphs discuss Death Valley' s．
| A．geography | B．climate | C．location | D．size |
The volcanoes mentioned in the third paragraph proved ．
| A．a valley that is formed by explosions |
| B．a place where volcanoes are still active |
| C．a good example of the violence of nature |
| D．a symbol of rock formations in history |
The woman who named Death Valley intended to ．
| A．explore the mystery of the valley | B．find an area with plants for animals |
| C．experience the terrible heat of summer | D．look for gold in California |
If the passage continues, it will be about .
| A．the truth about Scotty's Castle | B．why Spanish built the castle |
| C．when the castle was built | D．where the castle lies in |
The main idea of the passage is about．
| A．the interesting place in Death Valley | B．the facts about Death Valley |
| C．the origin of Death Valley | D．the route to visit Death Valley |
When you get in your car, you reach for it. When you're at work, you take a break to have a moment alone with it. When you get into a lift, you play with it.
Cigarette? Cup of coffee? No, it's the third most addictive thing in modem life, the cell phone. And experts say it is becoming more difficult for many people to curb their longing to hug it more tightly than most of their personal relationships.
The costs are becoming more and more evident, and I don't mean just the monthly bill. Dr.Chris Knippers, a counselor at the Betty ford Center in Southern California, reports that the overuse of cell phones has become a social problem not much different from other harmful addictions: a barrier to one-on -one personal contact, and an escape from reality. Sounds extreme, but we' ve all witnessed the evidence: The person at a restaurant who talks on the phone through an entire meal, ignoring his kids around the table; the woman who talks on the phone in the car, ignoring her husband; the teen who texts messages all the way home from school, avoiding contact with kids all around him. Jim Williams, an industrial sociologist based in Massachusetts, notes that cell - phone addiction is part of a set of symptoms in a widening gulf of personal separation. He points to a study by Duke University researchers that found one-quarter of Americans say they have no one to discuss their most important personal business with. Despite the growing use of phones, e - mail and instant messaging, in other words, Williams says studies show that we don't have as many friends as our parents. “Just as more information has led to less wisdom, more acquaintances via the Internet and cell phones have produced fewer friends,” he says.
If the cell phone has truly had these effects, it's because it has become very widespread. Consider that in 1987, there were only l million cell phones in use. Today, something like 300 million Americans carry them. They far outnumber wired phones in the United States.From the first two paragraphs, we can know ．
| A．cell phones have become as addictive as cigarettes |
| B．cell phone addiction is good for building personal relationships |
| C．people are longing to have their own cell phones |
| D．cell phones are the same as cigarettes |
Cell phone addiction has caused the following effects EXCEPT.
| A．a barrier to personal contact | B．fewer friends |
| C．an escape from reality | D．a serious illness |
The underlined word "curb" in Paragraph 2 means “．”
| A．ignore | B．control | C．develop | D．rescue |
The example of a woman talking on the phone in the car supports the idea that.
| A．women Use cell phones more often than men |
| B．talking on the phone while driving is dangerous |
| C．cell phones do not necessarily bring people together |
| D．cell phones make one - on - one personal contact easy |
Which of the following is the best title for the passage?
| A．Cell phones Are the New Cigarettes |
| B．Cell phones Are Harmful to the Society |
| C．The New Report about the Cell phone |
| D．The Disadvantages of the Cell phone |