A popular saying goes, “Sticks and stones may break my bones, but words will never hurt me.” However, that’s not really true. Words have the power to build us up or tear us down. It doesn’t matter if the words come from someone’s else or ourselves --- the positive and negative effects are just as lasting.
We all talk to ourselves sometimes. We’re usually too embarrassed to admit it, though. In fact, we really shouldn’t be because more and more experts believe talking to ourselves out loud is a healthy habit.
This “self-talk” helps us motivate ourselves, remember things, solve problems, and calm ourselves down. Be aware, though, that as much as 77% of self-talk tends to be negative. So in order to stay positive, we should only speak words of encouragement to ourselves. We should alsobe quick to give ourselves a pat on the back. The next time you finish a project, do well in a test, or finally clean your room, join me in saying “Good job!”
Often, words come out of our mouths without us thinking about the effect they will have. But we should be aware that our words cause certain responses in others. For example, when returning an item to a store, we might use warm, friendly language during the exchange. And the clear will probably respond in a similar manner. Or harsh（刻薄的）and critical language will most likely cause the clerk to be defensive.
Words possess power because of their lasting effect. Many of us regret something we once said. And we remember unkind words said to us! Before speaking, we should always ask ourselves: Is it loving? Is it needed? If what we want to say doesn’t pass this test, then it’s better left unsaid.
Words possess power: both positive and negative. Those around us receive encouragement when we speak positively. We can offer hope, build self-esteem（自尊）and motivate others to do their best. Negative words destroy all those things. Will we use our words to hurt or to heal? The choice is ours.The main idea of the first paragraph is that ________.
| A．not sticks and stones but words will hurt us |
| B．inspiring words give us confidence |
| C．negative words may let us down |
| D．words have a lasting effect on us |
There is no sense for us to feel embarrassed when we talk to ourselves because _______
| A．almost everybody has the habit of talking to themselves |
| B．we can benefit from talking to ourselves |
| C．talking to ourselves always gives us courage |
| D．it does no harm to have “self-talk” when we are alone |
The underlined part in the third paragraph means that we should also timely _______
| A．praise ourselves | B．remind ourselves |
| C．make ourselves relaxed | D．give ourselves amusement |
The author would probably hold the view that ___________
| A．encouraging words are sure to lead to kind offers |
| B．negative words may stimulate us to make more progress |
| C．people tend to remember friendly words |
| D．it is better to think twice before talking to others |
Students who date (约会）in middle school have significantly worse study skills, are four times more likely to drop out of school and report twice as much alcohol and tobacco use than their single classmates, according to new research from the University of Georgia.
"Romantic relationships are a trademark of adolescence, but very few studies have examined how adolescents differ in the development of these relationships," said Pamela Orpinas, study author and professor in the College of Public Health and head of the Department of Health Promotion and Behavior.
Orpinas followed a group of 624 students over a seven-year period from 6th to 12th grade.
Each year, the group of students completed a survey indicating whether they had dated and reported the frequency of different behaviors, including the use of drugs and alcohol. Their teachers completed questionnaires (调查表）about the students* academic efforts. He found some students never or hardly ever reported dating from middle to high school, and these students had consistently the best study skills according to their teachers. Other students dated infrequently in middle school but increased the frequency of dating in high school.
"At all points in time, teachers rated the students who reported the lowest frequency of dating as having the best study skills and the students with the highest dating as having the worst study skills,” according to the journal article. Study skills refer to behaviors that lead to academic success such as doing work for extra credit，being well organized, finishing homework, working hard and reading assigned chapters.
"Dating a classmate may have the same emotional complications of dating a co-worker," Orpinas said, "when the couple break up. they have to continue to see each other in class and perhaps witness the ex-partner dating someone else. It is reasonable to think this could be linked to depression and divert (转移）attention from studying.”
Dating should not be considered a ceremony of growth in middle school，”Orpinas concluded.When doing his study, Orpinas_____.
| A．followed a group of students of 6th and 12th grade |
| B．completed a survey and a report each year |
| C．completed questionnaires about the students’ academic efforts |
| D．found that the students’ study skills have connection with their frequency of dating |
Study skills may include the following behaviors and qualities Except_____
| A．being diligent | B．being well organized |
| C．being kind and helpful | D．finishing assigned schoolwork |
What can possibly happen to the school couples after they break up?
| A．They don’t want to see each other any longer. |
| B．Their attention to studying will be affected. |
| C．They will miss their ex-partners sometimes |
| D．They will think it’s reasonable to get depressed. |
Orpinas’attitude towards dating in middle school is_____
| A．supportive | B．positive | C．negative | D．indifferent |
Elizabeth Blackwell was born in England in 1821, and moved to New York City when she was ten years old. One day she decided that she wanted to become a doctor. That was nearly impossible for a woman in the middle of the nineteenth century. After writing many letters asking for admission(录取) to medical schools, she was finally accepted by a doctor in Philadelphia. She was so determined that she taught in school and gave music lessons to get money for the cost of schooling.
In 1849, after graduation from medical school. she decided to further her education in Paris. She wanted to be a surgeon(外科医师) , but a serious eye problem forced her to give up the idea.
Upon returning to the United States, she found it difficult to start her own practice because she was a woman. By 1857 Elizabeth and her sister, also a doctor, along with another woman doctor, managed to open a new hospital, the first for women and children. Besides being the first woman physician and founding her own hospital , she also set up the first medical school for women.Why couldn’t Elizabeth Blackwell realize her dream of becoming a surgeon?
| A．She couldn’t get admitted to medical school |
| B．She decided to further her education in Paris |
| C．A serious eye problem stopped her |
| D．It was difficult for her to start a practice in the United States |
What main obstacle(障碍) almost destroyed Elizabeth’s chances for becoming for a doctor?
| A．She was a woman. |
| B．She wrote too many letters. |
| C．She couldn’t graduate from medical school. |
| D．She couldn’t set up her hospital. |
According to the passage, all of the following are “firsts” in the life of Elizabeth Blacekwell,except that she ______.
| A．became the first woman physician |
| B．was the first woman doctor |
| C．and several other women founded the first hospital for women and children |
| D．set up the first medical school for women |
Eilzabeth Blackwell spent most of her lift in _______.
| A．England | B．Paris | C．the United States | D．New York City |
Check out all the new releases (发布) in the next four weeks.
Wednesday 16 march
Chalet Girl (12A )Watch the Trailer (预告片)
A British comedy about a girl who decides to give up her job at a fried chicken fast food place to try out being a chalet (木屋) girl in the Alps. Starring Bill Nighy and Ed Westwick.
Friday 18 March
Submarine (15)
A comedy following a teenager who wants to lose his virginity and stop his father from leaving his mother. Directed by Richard Ayoade.
Friday 25 March
Country Strong (12A) Watch the Trailer
Rising country music songwriter (Garrett Hedlund) falls in love with a fallen star (Gwyneth Paltrow), and together they plan his rising and her comeback.
A Turtle’s Tale: Sammy’s Adventures (3D) (U)
A sea turtle who was hatched in 1959 spends the next 50 years travelling the world as it changes through global warming.
Friday 1 April
Killing Bono (15) Watch the Trailer
Two brothers attempt to become global rock stars but can only look on as old school friends U2 become the biggest hand in the world.
Passenger Side (D)
Two brothers spend the day driving around Los Angeles county looking for the meaning of their lives, or cheap street drugs, depending on whom you believe.
Friday 8 April
The Silent House
A horror movie based on a true story about a small house in a village in Uruguay which holds some dark secrets
Rio (3D) Watch the trailer
An animated film about a domesticated (家养的) macaw (金刚鹦鹉) from Minnesota who sets off on an adventure.If you like seeing the 3D films, you can choose to see ______.
| A．The Silent House and Rio | B．Submarine and Passenger Side |
| C．A Turtle’s Tale: Sammy’s Adventures and Rio | D．Killing Bono and Country Strong |
If you want to see a horrible film, you can see _______.
| A．The Silent House | B．Country Strong | C．Killing Bono | D．Rio |
Which of the following films is a love film?
| A．A Turtle’s Tale: Sammy’s Adventures | B．Passenger Side |
| C．Killing Bono | D．Country strong |
The common point of all the films is that ______.
| A．they are all set in Britain | B．they will all be released in March |
| C．they are all new films | D．they are all produced in Hollywood |
“Your honor(法官大人)！Let me say a few words for myself. What they have told you is just not true. I was not trying to kill anyone, and it was hardly possible to try to kill three strong young men at the same time. I didn't have anything to tell people that night and was quite alone. I didn't know them and needn't hate them. I was attacked by them, and I knocked one of them down. It's true, but I was made to do it, or I might be killed by them. I did this not because I hated the white men as they said. I just had to do so. While I was beaten in the dark street by the three men, a policeman came, caught me and took me here. I know why I was beaten. I have just moved into a house next to these three white men. I have felt that I am not welcome and I have tried to be quiet. I think, as an American, I have the right to choose where to live. I am guilty. What makes me guilty is my color opposite to theirs and I can't enjoy justice(公正). Yes, I'm not guilty. This is all I want to say. Thank you, your honor.”Why did he speak for himself?
| A．He wanted to live in the house next to the whites. |
| B．He wanted to have the right to choose where to live. |
| C．He wanted to show he was not guilty. |
| D．He wanted to show he didn't hate the whites. |
The speaker was caught because________.
| A．the policeman wanted to save him |
| B．he was black and was fighting with the whites |
| C．he killed the three men in a dark street |
| D．he lived in a house next to the whites |
What's the right order of the story?
a. The speaker said something for himself.
b. The three men said something.
c. The speaker knocked down one of the three men.
d. The speaker was beaten by the three men.
e. He was caught by the policeman.
f. The speaker moved into a house near the whites.
| A．abfdce | B．bafcde | C．fdceba | D．fcdeab |
Trying to make a big decision while you’re also preparing for a scary presentation? You might want to hold off on that. Feeling stressed changes how people weigh risk and reward. However, an article published in Current Directions in Psychological Science, a journal of the Association for Psychological Science, suggests stressed people pay more attention to the positive sides of a possible outcome.
It’s a bit surprising that stress makes people focus on the way things could go right, says Mara Mather of the University of Southern California. She co-wrote the review paper with Nichole R.Lighthall. “This is sort of not what people would think, ” Mather says. “Stress is usually associated with negative experiences, so you’d think, maybe I’m going to be more focused on the negative outcomes.”
But researchers have found that when people are under stress, they start paying more attention to positive information and discounting negative information. “Stress seems to help people learn from positive feedback and impairs（削弱）their learning from negative feedback, ” Mather says.
When people under stress are making a difficult decision, they may pay more attention to the good sides of the alternatives they’re considering and less to the problems. So someone who’s deciding whether to take a new job and is feeling stressed by the decision might focus on the increase in salary more than the longer commute（上下班往返）.
The increased focus on the positives also helps explain why stress plays a role in addictions. People under stress have a harder time controlling their urges. “The compulsion to get that reward comes stronger and they’re less able to resist it,” Mather says. A person who’s under stress might think only about the good feelings they’ll get from a drug, while the downsides shrink into the distance.
Stress also increases the differences in how men and women think about risk. When men are under stress, they become even more willing to take risks; when women are stressed, they get more conservative(保守的). Previous research backs this up — men usually react to difficulties while trying to fight them or escape them; women try to find friends and improve their relationships.By saying “You might want to hold off on that” in the first paragraph, the writer suggests that .
| A．you might want to delay making your big decision |
| B．you should save the presentation for later |
| C．you should avoid taking risks |
| D．you might benefit from the stress |
From the article, we can conclude that stress .
| A．often leads people to take more risks |
| B．often leads people to make balanced decisions |
| C．makes people think more of negative results |
| D．makes people ignore the negative side of problems |
Which of the following is TRUE according to the article?
| A．Stress is helpful in getting rid of addictions. |
| B．People who are addicted to drugs are easily stressed. |
| C．When women are stressed, they do not tend to take risks. |
| D．When men are stressed, they are more likely to develop an addiction. |
What is the central theme of the article?
| A．Stress can affect decision-making. |
| B．Stress increases our desire to get rewards. |
| C．We should think more about the upside of problems. |
| D．There is a link between stress and negative experiences. |