A newly-published study has shown that loneliness can spread from one person to another, like a disease.
Researchers used information from the Framingham Study, which began in 1948. The Framingham Study gathers information about physical and mental health, personal behavior and diet. At first, the study involved about 5,000 people in the American state of Massachusetts. Now, more than 12,000 individuals are taking part.
Information from the Framingham Study showed earlier that happiness can spread from person to person. So can behaviors like littering and the ability to stop smoking.
University of Chicago psychologist John Cacioppo led the recent study. He and other researchers attempted to show how often people felt lonely. They found that the feeling of loneliness spread through social groups.
Having a social connection with a lonely person increased the chances that another individual would feel lonely. In fact, a friend of a lonely person was 52% more likely to develop feelings of loneliness. A friend of that person was 25% more likely. The researchers say this shows that a person could indirectly be affected by someone’s loneliness.
The effect was strongest among friends. Neighbors were the second most affected group. The effect was weaker on husbands and wives, and brothers and sisters. The researchers also found that loneliness spread more easily among women than men.
The New York Times newspaper reports that, on average, people experience feelings of loneliness about 48 days a year. It also found that every additional friend can decrease loneliness by about five percent, or two and a half fewer lonely days.
Loneliness has been linked to health problems like depression and sleeping difficulties. The researchers believe that knowing the causes of loneliness could help in reducing it.
The study suggests that people can take steps to stop the spread of loneliness. They can do this by helping individuals they know who may be experiencing loneliness. The result can be helpful to the whole social group. What is true about the Framingham Study?
| A．It was only conducted in 1948. | B．It involves more than 12,000 participants. |
| C．It was led by John Cacioppo | D．It showed that any behavior could spread. |
From the passage, we can learn that .
| A．the habit of littering doesn’t spread |
| B．a lonely person won’t have friends |
| C．everyone may be affected by others’ loneliness |
| D．lonely people don’t know the cause of their loneliness |
Which statement about the spread of loneliness is true?
| A．The spreading effect was the second strongest among friends. |
| B．No spreading effect was found on husbands and wives. |
| C．Women are more likely to be affected than men. |
| D．Brothers are more easily affected than neighbors. |
If you make 10 more friends in a year, the days of your feeling loneliness will be reduced by .
| A．48 days | B．25 days | C．20 days | D．15 days |
What is the main idea of the passage?
A. Actions should be taken to help lonely people. B
. People feel lonely for many reasons.
C. Ways to fight against loneliness. D. Lonely people can affect others.
四、阅读理解（本题有16小题，每小题2分，共32分）
第一节：阅读下列短文，从每题所给的A、B、C、D四个选项中，选出一个最佳答案。
It’s important to learn about protecting our environment. Here is a 5R rule for us:
1. Reduce
If you want to reduce waste, you should use things wisely. A large number of trees are being cut down to make paper. If everyone uses paper carelessly and throw it out, soon we would not have any trees left. Other things are also being wasted, and people don’t know what to do with the waste in big cities. So it is necessary to reduce the waste.
2. Reuse
You should always think of reusing the usable things before throwing them out. Give your used clothes or the small ones to the poor. In a family, you may pass on such clothes to younger brothers or sisters.
3. Recycle
Bottles, cans and paper can easily be recycled. By doing so we save lots of time and money. For example, coke cans are sent to a factory, where they are smashed flat (压平) and melted (融化) and the metal things are made for new coke cans.
4. Recover
When you buy a box of apples, there may be few rotten apples, you have two choices: one is to throw the whole apples away, or you could cut off the rotten parts and use the good parts. In this way, you are recovering the eatable parts of food.
5. Repair
If one of the legs of your table is broken, you can repair it. If you want to change for better ones, it is better for you to sell the old things or give them to other people who can use them after doing some repair. It is true that North America is a “throw-away” society, but the time has come to change our way of life so that we can protect our environment. Every one of us should try our best.
51. The “Reduce” rule mainly requires us _______.
A. to use things wisely B. to cut down many trees
C. to use a lot of paper D. to throw away your old clothes
52. What’s the right order of recycling coke cans?
a. collect the used cans b. melt them
c. smash them flat d. send them to a factory
A. a b c d B. a d c b C. d b c a D. c a b d
53. The “Recover” rule mainly requires us _______.
A. to throw waste things away B. to cover waste things with earth
C. to get back the useful parts D. to throw the whole things away
54. Which is the best way to do with your broken tables?
A. Throwing them away. B. Repairing them.
C. Selling them. D. Putting them away.
The economy of the United States after 1952 was the economy of a well-fed, almost fully employed people. Despite occasional alarms, the country escaped any postwar depression and lived in a state of boom. An economic survey of the year 1955, a typical year of the 1950’s, may be typical as illustrating the rapid economic growth of the decade. The national output was value at 10 percent above that of 1954 (1955 output was estimated at 392 billion dollars). The production of manufacturers was about 40 percent more than it had averaged in the years immediately following World War 2. The country’s business spent about 30billion dollars for new factories and machinery. National income available for spending was almost a third greater than it had been it had been in 1950. Consumers spent about 256 billion dollars; that is about 700 million dollars a day or about twenty-five million dollars every hour, all round the clock. Sixty-five million people held jobs and only a little more than two million wanted jobs but could not find them.
Only agriculture complained that it was not sharing in the room. To some observers this was an ominous echo of the mid 1920’s. As farmer’s share of their products declined, marketing costs rose. But there were, among the observers of the national economy, a few who were not as confident as the majority. Those few seemed to fear that the boom could not last and would eventually lead to the opposite-depression.
72. What is the best title of the passage?
A) The Agricultural Trends of 1950’s
B) The Unemployment Rate of 1950’s
C) U.S. Economy in the 50’s
D) The Federal Budget of 1952
73. In Line 4, the word “boom” could best be replaced by______.
A) nearby explosion
B) thunderous noise
C) general public support
D) rapid economic growth
74. Which of the following were LEAST satisfied with the national economy in the 1950’s?
A) Economists
B) Framers
C) Politicians
D) Steelworkers
75. The passage states that income available for spending in the U.S. was greater in 1955 than in 1950. How much was it?
A) 60％
B) 50％
C) 33％
D) 90％
The food we eat seems to have profound effects on our health. Although science has made enormous steps in making food more fit to eat, it has, at the same time, made many foods unfit to eat.
Some research has shown that perhaps eighty percent of all human illnesses are related to diet and forty percent of cancer is related to the diet as well, especially cancer of the colon. Different cultures are more likely to cause certain different illnesses because of the food that is characteristic in these cultures.
That food is related to illness is not a new discovery. In 1945, about 35 years ago, government researchers realized that nitrates, commonly used to preserve color in meats, and other food additives, caused cancer. Yet, these carcinogenic additives remain in our food, and it becomes more difficult all the time to know which things on the packaging labels of processed food are helpful or harmful.
The additives which we eat are not all so direct. Farmers often give penicillin to beef and living animals, and because of this, penicillin has been found in the milk of treated cow. Sometimes similar drugs are given to animals not for medical purposes, but for financial reasons. The farmers are simply trying to fatten the animals in order to obtain a higher price on the market. Although the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) has tried repeatedly to control these procedures, the practices continue.
68. What is the best possible title of the passage?
A) Drug and Food
B) Cancer and Health
C) Food and Health
D) Health and Drug
69. Which of the following statements is NOT ture?
A) Drugs are always given to animals for medical reasons
B) Some of the additives in our food are added to the food itself and some are given to the living animals
C) Researchers have known about the potential dangers of food additives for over thirty-five years.
D) Food may cause forty percent of cancer in world.
D) The scientists have preserved the color of meats, but not of vegetables.
70. What are nitrates used for?
A) They preserve flavor in packaged foods.
B) They preserve the color of meats.
C) They are the objects of research.
D) They cause the animals to become fatter.
71. The underlined word “carcinogenic” most nearly means '_____'.
A) trouble-making
B) color-retaining
C) money-making
D) cancer-causing
Baekeland and Hartmann report that the “short sleepers” had been more or less average in their sleep needs until the men were in their teens. But at about age 15 or so, the men voluntarily began cutting down their nightly sleep time because of pressures from school, work, and other activities. These men tended to view their nightly periods of unconsciousness as bothersome interruptions in their daily routines.
In general, these “short sleeps” appeared ambitious, active, energetic, cheerful, conformist(不动摇) in their opinions, and very sure about their career choices. They often held several jobs at once, or workers full-or part-time while going to school. And many of them had a strong urge to appear “normal” or “acceptable” to their friends and associates.
When asked to recall their dreams, the “short sleepers” did poorly. More than this, they seemed to prefer not remembering. In similar fashion, their usual way of dealing with psychological problems was to deny that the problem existed, and then to keep busy in the hope that the trouble would go away.
The sleep patterns of the “short sleepers” were similar to, but less extreme than, sleep patterns shown by many mental patients categorized as manic(疯人).
The “long sleepers” were quite different indeed. Baekeland and Hartmann report that these young men had been lengthy sleeps since childhood. They seemed to enjoy their sleep, protected it, and were quite concerned when they were occasionally deprived of their desired 9 hours of nightly bed rest. They tended to recall their dreams much better than did the “short sleepers.”
Many of the “long sleepers” were shy, anxious, introverted (内向), inhibited (压抑), passive, mildly depressed, and unsure of themselves (particularly in social situations). Several openly state that sleep was an escape from their daily problems.
64. According to the report,______.
A) many short sleepers need less sleep by nature
B) many short sleepers are obliged to reduce their nightly sleep time because they are busy with their work
C) long sleepers sleep a longer period of time during the day
D) many long sleepers preserve their sleeping habit formed during their childhood
65. Many “short sleepers” are likely to hold the view that _____.
A) sleep is a withdrawal from the reality
B) sleep interferes with their sound judgement
C) sleep is the least expensive item on their routine program
D) sleep is the best way to deal with psychological troubles
66. When sometimes they cannot enjoy adequate sleep, the long sleepers might ____.
A) appear disturbed
B) become energetic
C) feel dissatisfied
D) be extremely depressed
67. Which of the following is Not included in the passage?
A) If one sleeps inadequately, his performance suffers and his memory is weakened
B) The sleep patterns of short sleepers are exactly the same as those shown by many mental patients
C) Long and short sleepers differ in their attitudes towards sleep
D) Short sleepers would be better off with more rest
Until the 1980s, the American homeless population comprised mainly older males. Today, homelessness strikes much younger part of society. In fact, a 25-city survey by the U. S. Conference of Mayors in 1987 found that families with children make up the fastest growing part of the homeless population. Many homeless children gather in inner cities; this transient(变化无常的) and frequently frightened student population creates additional problems — both legal and educational — for already overburdened urban school administrators and teachers.
Estimates of the number of homeless Americans range from 350,000 to three million. Likewise, estimates of the number of homeless school children vary radically. A U.S. Department of Education report, based on state estimates, states that there are 220,000 homeless school-age children, about a third of whom do not attend school on a regular basis, But the National Coalition for the Homeless estimates that there are at least two times as many homeless children, and that less than half of them attend school regularly.
One part of the homeless population that is particularly difficult to count consists of the “throwaway” youths who have been cast of their homes. The Elementary School Center in New York City estimates that there are 1.5 million of them, many of whom are not counted as children because they do not stay in family shelters and tend to live by themselves on the streets.
Federal law, the Stewart B. McKinney Homeless Assistance Act of 1987, includes a section that addresses the educational needs of homeless children. The educational provisions of the McKinney Act are based on the belief that all homeless children have the right to a free, appropriate education.
60. It is implied in the first paragraph that ____.
A) the writer himself is homeless, even in his eighties
B) many older homeless residents are going on strike in 25 cities
C) there is a serious shortage of academic facilities
D) homeless children are denied the opportunity of receiving free education
61. The National Coalition for the homeless believes that the number of homeless children is _____.
A) 350,000
B) 1,500,000
C) 440,000
D) 110,000
62. One part of the homeless population is difficult to estimate. The reason might well be ____.
A) the homeless children are too young to be counted as children
B) the homeless population is growing rapidly
C) the homeless children usually stay outside school
D) some homeless children are deserted by their families
63. The passage mainly deals with ____.
A) the legal problems of the homeless children
B) the educational problems of homeless children
C) the social status of older males
D) estimates on the homeless population