Science can't explain the power of pets, but many studies have shown that the company of pets can help lower blood pressure (血压) and raise chances of recovering from a heart attack, reduce loneliness and spread all-round good cheer.
Any owner will tall you how much joy a pet brings. For some, an animal provides more comfort than a husband/wife. A 2002 study by Karen Allen of the State University of New York measured stress (紧张) levels and blood pressure in people - half of them pet owners –while they performed 5 minutes of mental arithmetic (算术) or held a hand in ice water. Subjects completed the tasks alone, with a husband/wife, a close friend or with a pet. People with pets did
It best .Those tested with their animal friends had smaller change in blood pressure and returned
Most quickly to baseline heart rates .With pets in the room ,people also made fewer math mistakes
Than when doing in front of other companions. It seems people feel more released (放松)around
Pets, says Allen, who thinks it may be because pets don’t judge.
A study reported last fall suggests that having a pet dog not only raises your spirits but may also have an effect on your eating habits. Researchers at Northwesterm Memorial Hospital spent a
Year studying 36 fat people and were put on a diet-and-exercise programs; a separate group of
56 fat people without pets were put on a diet program. On average，people lost about 11 pounds，
Or 5% of their body weight .Their dogs did even better，losing an average of 12 pounds，more then
15%of their body weight .Dog owners didn’t lose any more weight than those without dogs but ,say
Researchers，got more exercise overall –mostly with their dogs –and found it worth doing.What does the text mainly discuss?
| A．What pets bring to their owners |
| B．How pets help people calm down |
| C．people’s opinions of keeping pets |
| D．Pet’s value in medical research |
We learn from the text that a person with heart disease has a better chance of getting well if
____________
| A．he has a pet companion |
| B．he has less stress of work |
| C．he often dose mental arithmetic |
| D．he is taken care of by his family |
According to Allen, why did the people do better with pets around when facing stressful tasks?
| A．They have lower blood pressure. |
| B．They become more patient. |
| C．They are less nervous. |
| D．They are in higher spirits. |
The research mentioned in the last paragraph reports that
| A．people with dogs did more exercise |
| B．dogs lost the same weight as people did |
| C．dogs liked exercise much more than people did |
| D．people without dogs found the program unhelpful |
Some years ago, on a hot summer day in south Florida, a little boy decided to go for a swim in the old swimming hole behind his house. He flew into the water, not realizing that as he swam toward the middle of the lake, an alligator (美洲鳄) was swimming toward the shore.
His father working in the yard saw the two as they got closer and closer together. In utter fear, he ran toward the water, yelling to his son as loudly as he could.
Hearing his voice, the little boy became alarmed and made a U – turn to swim to his father. It was too late. Just as he reached his father, the alligator reached him. From the dock, the father grabbed his little boy by the arms just as the alligator snatched his legs. That began an incredible tug – of – war (拔河) between the two. The alligator was much stronger than the father, but the father was much too passionate to let go. A farmer happened to drive by, took aim and shot the alligator.
Remarkably, the little boy survived. His legs were extremely scarred by the vicious attack of the animal. And, on his arms, were deep scratches where his father’s fingernails dug into his fresh in his effort to hang on to the son he loved.
The newspaper reporter who interviewed the boy asked if he would show his scars. The boy lifted his pant legs. And then, he said to the reporter, “But look at my arms. I have great scars on my arms, too. I have them because my dad wouldn’t let go.”
You and I can identify with that boy. We have scars, too. No, not from an alligator, but the scars of a painful past. Some of those scars are unsightly and have caused us deep regret. But, some wounds, my friend, are because someone has refused to let go. In the midst of your struggle, someone has been there holding on to you.
If you have the scars of someone’s love on your arms, be very, very grateful. Someone in your life did not and will not ever let you go.
Never judge another person’s scars, because you don’t know how they got them.Which of the following is the most closely related to the underlined word “passionate”?
| A．determined | B．anxious | C．frightened | D．courageous |
When the boy told the newspaper reporter about the scars on his arms, he felt .
| A．painful and fearful | B．regretful and panic |
| C．proud and grateful | D．excited and thankful |
Maggie was very glad that James was not a frequent visitor to the house. So far as the children were concerned, they had a mystery about him that stirred their imagination. He stirred Maggie’s anger, however, so that she often said to her husband, “It’s mercy that brother of yours doesn’t come oftener.”
In fact James came once a year, unexpectedly, around eight o’clock in the evening, and he stayed for six hours of close discussion with his brother. His arrival was a signal to the children that their bedtime would be delayed. Not that he ever spoke to them or played with them. He took no notice of them, as if he was unable to see children, at least until the time came for him to go. Instead, after his first greeting and a careless kiss, James took no notice of Maggie either, except to add, “You’ll be getting on with the supper, Maggie.” Such was his regard for her.
Maggie paid him back in her own way. She kept the children up, the four of them, to keep her company, she said, but of course they sang and made a noise and broke the endless sound of James’s voice. Very late, they dropped off to sleep in their chairs. Then, when James was about to go, Maggie woke them up and so more or less forced him to part with four shillings before he left. That gave her some satisfaction, for James, though rich, was mean. He always went home by the last train, just after two o’clock.
Maggie’s children secretly stared at their uncle. They could not forget that he had, in their mother’s words, “lost two wives and taken a third, ” They wondered about those two unfortunate lost ladies. They asked each other what their fate had been, and if neither could ever be found again. James never brought his third wife with him nor ever mentioned her. The children decided that he must be so frightened of losing her that he never allowed her outside the door. The underlined word “mercy” in the text most probably means _______.
| A．loss | B．wonder | C．lucky thing | D．terrible thing |
Maggie never prepared anything special for James because _______.
| A．he was a man difficult to please |
| B．she never knew when he was coming |
| C．she was too busy looking after her children |
| D．he never stayed long enough for a meal |
What do we know about James’ behavior?
| A．He was a kind man, with love for the family. |
| B．He was generous, especially towards his brother. |
| C．He was anxious to please the family, especially the kids. |
| D．He was rude to his sister-in-law. |
Maggie felt pleased when _______.
| A．she paid James the money that she owed him |
| B．James gave some money to the children |
| C．she had to wake James up to catch his train |
| D．James thanked her for the nice supper |
Spending as little as $5 a day on someone else could significantly boost happiness, the team at the University of British Columbia and Harvard Business School found on Thursday.
Their experiments on more than 630 Americans showed they were measurably happier when they spent money on others—even if they thought spending the money on themselves would make them happier.
“We wanted to test our theory that how people spend their money is at least as important as how much money they earn,” said Elizabeth Dunn, a psychologist at the University of British Columbia. They asked their 600 volunteers first to rate their general happiness, report their annual (yearly) income and detail their monthly spending including bills, gifts for themselves, girls for others and donations to charity.
“Regardless of how much income each person made, those who spent money on others reported greater happiness, while those who spent more on themselves did not,” Dunn said in a statement.
Dunn’s team also surveyed 16 employees at a company in Boston before and after they received an annual profit-sharing bonus of between $3,000 and $8,000. “Employees who devoted more of their bonus to pro-social spending experienced greater happiness after receiving the bonus and the manner in which they spent that bonus was a more important predictor of their happiness than the size of the bonus itself” they wrote in their report, published in the journal Science.
They gave their volunteers $5 or $20 and half got clear instructions on how to spend it. Those who spent the money on someone or something else reported feeling happier about it.
“These findings suggest that very minor alterations (changes) in spending allocations (shares)—as little as $5—may be enough to produce real gains in happiness on a given day，”Dunn said. What is the general idea of the passage?
| A．The more you earn, the greater happiness you will get. |
| B．Spending more money on yourself will make you happier. |
| C．Money can buy happiness, but only if you spend it on someone else. |
| D．You can spend only 5$ a day to get happiness. |
The underlined word “boost” in the first paragraph probably means_______.
| A．help to find | B．help to bring | C．help to increase | D．help to get |
Which of the following statements is NOT true according to the passage?
| A．Those who spend more money on others can get much more bonus. |
| B．People usually think spending money on themselves will make them happier. |
| C．Very small changes in spending your money may be enough to gain happiness. |
| D．Researchers think that how people spend their money is at least as important as how much money they earn. |
It can be inferred from the 6th paragraph that ______.
| A．the volunteers not given 5$ or 20$ spent their own money on themselves. |
| B．those who spent the money on someone or something else felt happier about it. |
| C．the volunteers were given 5$ or 20$ as a reward for the experiment. |
| D．half of the volunteers could spend the money as they liked. |
As far back as he could remember，Larry had longed to go to Hollywood and become a film star．The young man’s hopes for success were broken again and again，however．Hollywood just did not seem interesting．When he first came to California，Larry had decided never to give up and return home without success．Therefore，he kept on trying．Someday，he told himself，his big opportunity would come．
Larry found a job parking cars for one of Hollywood’s big restaurants．His pay was elementary，but since the guests were kind enough to give him more money，he managed to make a living．One day he recognized an important film director driving into the parking lot （停车场） and getting out of his car．Larry had recently heard that the man was ready to make a new picture．
Larry got into the car and prepared to drive it on into the lot and park it．Then he stopped，jumped out，and ran over to the director．“Excuse me，sir，but I think it’s only fair to tell you that it’s now or never if you want me in your next picture．A lot of big companies are after me．”
Instead of pushing away the boy，the director laughed，then wrote something on a card and handed it to the young man．“Come and see me tomorrow．”
Larry got a small part in the director’s next film．He was on his way！Which of the following was Larry interested in?
| A．Working as a waiter． | B．Becoming a film star |
| C．Parking cars for film stars． | D．Owing a big company |
Why did Larry find a job parking cars?
| A．Because he liked the job． |
| B．Because the parking lot was near Hollywood． |
| C．To make a living and wait for the opportunity． |
| D．To see a lot of film stars and work for them． |
After reading the story what can we infer （推断） about the film director ?
| A．He wanted to laugh at Larry． |
| B．He recognized Larry at first sight． |
| C．He was kind and gave Larry a try． |
| D．He thought Larry would become a star． |
what does the word “elementary” mean in this passage?
| A．基本的 | B．充足的 | C．较高的 | D．不达标的 |
“He was on his way”refers to the fact that ________．
| A．he gave up and returned home |
| B．he began to work towards success |
| C．he took a journey to Hollywood |
| D．he had difficulty in playing the small part |
It may help you to know that there is no such thing as a perfect speech．At some point in every speech, every speaker says something that is not understood exactly as he has planned．Fortunately, the moments are usually not obvious to the listeners. Why ? Because the listeners do not know what the speaker plans to say. They hear only what the speaker does say. If you lose your place for a moment, wrongly change the order of a couple of sentences, or forget to pause at a certain point, no one will be any the wiser．When such moments occur, don’t worry about them. Just continue as if nothing happened．
Even if you do make an obvious mistake during a speech, that don’t really matter. If you have ever listened to Martin Luther King’s famous speech – “ I have a dream”, you may notice that he stumble（结巴）his words twice during the speech．Most likely, however, you don’t remember．Why? Because you were fixing your attention on its message rather than on his way of speech-making. People care a lot about making mistakes in a speech because they regard speech-making as a kind of performance rather than as an act of communication. They feel the listeners are like judges in an ice-skating competition．But, in fact, the listeners are not looking for a perfect performer. They are looking for a well-thought-out speech that expresses the speaker’s ideas clearly and directly．Sometimes a mistake or two can actually increase a speaker’s attractiveness by making him more human．
As you work on your speech, don’t worry about being imperfect．Once you free your mind of this, you will find it much easier to give your speech freely．The underlined part in the first paragraph means that no one will ___________．
| A．be smarter than you | B．notice your mistakes |
| C．do better than you | D．know what you are talking about |
You don’t remember obvious mistakes in a speech because ___________．
| A．your attention is on the content |
| B．you don’t fully understand the speech |
| C．you don’t know what the speaker plans to say |
| D．you find the way of speech-making more important |
It can be inferred from the passage that ___________
| A．giving a speech is like giving a performance |
| B．one to two mistakes in a speech may not be bad |
| C．the listeners should pay more attention to how a speech is made |
| D．the more mistakes a speaker makes, the more attractive he will be |
What would be the best title of the passage?
| A．How to Be a Perfect Speaker |
| B．How to Make a Perfect Speech |
| C．Don’t Expect a Perfect Speech |
| D．Don’t Expect Mistakes in a Speech |