People tend to become more personal and hide less of themselves when using email . Researchers from Open University in Britain have found in a recent study that there are good reasons for this .
The team of researchers asked 83 pairs of students , all strangers to each other , to solve a problem . They had to discuss this question : If only five people in the world could be saved from a world disaster , who should they be ? The pairs of students had to talk over the problem either face to face or by computers . Dr. Johnson said , “They told their partners four times as much about themselves when they talked over the Internet as when they talked face to face . When the computers were fitted with cameras so that students could see each other , this limited the personal side of the conversation.”
Generally the information was not extremely personal . It was mainly about things such as where they went to school, or where they used to live . But some students discussed their love stories , and personal childhood experiences .
Dr. Johnson believes that emailing encourages people to focus on themselves . And when they do this , they become more open , especially if there are no cameras. “If you cannot see the other person, it becomes easier to talk about yourself . This is because you are not thinking what the other person is thinking of you. So emailing has become the modern way of talking,” said Dr. Johnson. However , this style of talking is not entirely new . “In the 19th century people started to use the ‘telegraph’ to communicate . Now the same kind of thing has happened and people ended up speaking more freely .”
Dr. Johnson thinks that emailers need to know about these effects of emailing , especially when they start work in a company . “If you don’t know about it , you could find yourself saying more about yourself than you wanted to .”The subject discussed in this passage is .
| A．how people open up when emailing | B．how people do research studies |
| C．how to communicate at work | D．how to discuss and solve a problem |
The reason that some couples talked freely about themselves is that .
| A．they didn’t talk about very personal things | B．they couldn’t see each other |
| C．the cameras on the computers were turned on | D．they had to discuss a question |
What do the underlined words (in para. 4) refer to ?
| A．The telegraph | B．The computer | C．Emailing . | D．Face-to-face talk . |
．In the writer’s opinion , one should .
| A．focus on oneself when emailing | B．talk more freely in email than usual |
| C．discuss any subject that one wants to | D．consider how one uses email at work |
Zoe Chambers was a successful PR(Public Relations) consultant and life was going well—she had a great job, a beautiful flat and a busy social life in London. Then one evening in June last year, she received a text message telling her she was out of work. “The first two weeks were the most difficult to live through,” she said. “After everything I’d done for the company, they dismissed me by text! I was so angry and I just didn’t feel like looking for another job. I hated everything about the city and my life.”
Then, Zoe received an invitation from an old school friend, Kathy, to come and stay. Kathy and her husband, Huw, had just bought a farm in north-west Wales. Zoe jumped at the chance to spend a weekend away from London, and now, ten months later, she is still on the farm.
“The moment I arrived at Kathy’s farm, I loved it and I knew I wanted to stay,” said Zoe. “Everything about my past life suddenly seemed meaningless.”
Zoe has been working on the farm since October of last year and says she has no regrets. “It’s a hard life, physically very tiring,” she says. “In London I was stressed and often mentally exhausted. But this is a good, healthy tiredness. Here, all I need to put me in a good mood is a hot bath and one of Kathy’s wonderful dinners.”
Zoe says she has never felt bored on the farm. Every day brings a new experience. Kathy has been teaching her how to ride a horse and she has learnt to drive a tractor. Since Christmas, she has been helping with the lambing—watching a lamb being born is unbelievable, she says, “It’s one of the most moving experiences I’ve ever had. I could never go back to city life now.”
1. When working as a PR consultant in London, Zoe thought she lived a ______ life.
A. satisfying B. tough C. meaningless D. boring
2 The most important reason why Zoe went to visit Kathy’s farm is that _________.
A. Zoe lost her job as a PR consultant B. Kathy persuaded her to do so
C. Zoe got tired of the city life D. Zoe loved Wales more than London
3. How does Zoe feel about the country life according to the passage? ______.
A. Tiresome and troublesome B. Romantic and peaceful
C. Mentally exhausting but healthy D. Physically tiring but rewarding
I love charity(慈善) shops and so do lots of other people in Britain because you find quite a few of them on every high street. The charity shop is a British institution, selling everything from clothes to electric goods, all at very good prices. You can get things you won’t find in the shops anymore. The thing I like best about them is that your money is going to a good cause and not into the pockets of profit-driven companies, and you are not damaging the planet, but finding a new home for unwanted goods.
The first charity shop was opened in 1947 by Oxfam. The famous charity’s appeal to aid postwar Greece had been so successful it had been flooded with donations(捐赠物). They decided to set up a shop to sell some of these donations to raise money for that appeal. Now there are over 7,000 charity shops in the UK. My favourite charity shop in my hometown is the Red Cross shop, where I always find children’s books, all 10 or 20 pence each.
Most of the people working in the charity shops are volunteers, although there is often a manager who gets paid. Over 90% of the goods in the charity shops are donated by the public. Every morning you see bags of unwanted items outside the front of shops, although they don’t encourage this, rather ask people to bring things in when the shop is open.
The shops have very low running costs: all profits go to charity work. Charity shops raise more than ￡110 million a year, funding(资助) medical research, overseas aid, supporting sick and poor children, homeless and disabled people, and much more. What better place to spend your money? You get something special for a very good price and a good moral sense. You provide funds to a good cause and tread lightly on the environment.
1. The author loves the charity shop mainly because of _________.
A. its convenient location B. its great variety of goods
C. its spirit of goodwill D. its nice shopping environment
2. The first charity shop in the UK was set up to ________.
A. sell cheap products B. deal with unwanted things
C. raise money for patients D. help a foreign country
3. Which of the following is TRUE about charity shops? _________.
A. The operating costs are very low B. The staff are usually well paid
C. 90% of the donations are second-hand D. They are open twenty-four hours a day
4. Which of the following may be the best title for the passage? _________.
A. What to Buy a Charity Shops
B. Charity Shop: Its Origin & Development
C. Charity Shop: Where You Buy to Donate
D. The Public’s Concern about Charity Shops
In Britain today, is it possible to tell a person’s class just by looking at him? Physical details alone tell us about health, diet and the type of work a person does. A hundred years ago the working class often looked unhealthy, small and they were either too thin or too fat. The upper classes were often tall, sporting types who were used to a good diet and looked healthy. Today living and working conditions have improved, and such descriptions are no longer true. People are taller now than a hundred years ago. Everyone in Britain today is able to have free medicine, a good diet, acceptable working conditions and enough rest and leisure.
The clothes people choose to wear, however, do provide information about their backgrounds. Expensive clothes look expensive and show their wearer is rich. Clothes can provide other clues as well. The upper classes appear to be less interested in fashion and wear good quality clothes in non-bright colours, made of natural material like wool, leather and cotton. Lower working-class people often choose clothes in bright colours, made of man-made materials. A sociological explanation for this would be that colour and interest are missing from their lives, and therefore any opportunity to produce this is taken.
Clothes are available at a price within most people’s reach. New clothes make the wearer feel good and show some degree of wealth to the outside world. Today it is the younger people who spend most money on clothes. Fashion is no longer for the upper classes and the rich. Young people from all social classes spend a lot of money on clothes. Some new fashions are started by working—class people who want to look different and feel important. They want people to look at them.
1. In the past, a person’s appearance could not tell other people about his ________.
A. healthB. diet C. occupation D. habits
2. The clothes people choose to wear tell us about their ________.
A. education B. richness C. backgrounds D. hobby
3. A working—class person may start a new fashion because ________.
A. she wants to draw the attention of other people
B. she wants to look different and healthy
C. she wants to show their wealth
D. she wants to show their taste
4. Which of the following statements is NOT true?
A. Expensive clothes look expensive and show the wearer is rich.
B. Working—class people prefer clothes in bright colours because they lack colour in their lives.
C. Today, it is still the upper class people who spend most money on clothes.
D. Today, fashion is no longer for the upper classes and the rich.
四、.阅读理解
There is an endless supply of stories about sleepwalkers(梦游者). People have been said to climb on roofs, solve mathematical problems, write music, walk through windows, and do murder in their sleep.
In Revere, Masachusctts, a hundred policemen scarched for a lost boy who left his home in his sleep and woke up five hours later on a strange sofa in a strange living room, with no idea how he had got there.
At the University of Lowa, a student was reported to have the habit of getting up in the middle of the night and walking three—quarters of a mile to the lowa River. He would take a swim and then go back to his room to bed.
An American expert on sleep claims(声称) that he has never seen a sleepwalker. He is said to know more about sleep than any other living man, and during the last thirty—five years he has lost a lot of sleep watching people sleep. He says, “Of course, I know that there are sleepwalkers because I have read about them in the newspapers. But none of my sleepers ever walked, and if I were to advertise for sleepwalkers for an experiment, I doubt whether I would get many takers(应征者).”
Sleepwalking, however, is a scientific reality. It is one of those strange things that sometimes looks quite fantastic(奇特的). Doctors say that sleepwalking is much more common than is generally supposed. Many sleepwalkers do not try to find help and their sleepwalking is never recorded.
1. Generally speaking, sleepwalkers are people who __________.
A. climb on roofs B. walk through windows
C. do fantastic things during their sleepD. walk in a half—awake state
2. It was reported that a boy ________.
A. was found on a strange sofa, telling how he had got there
B. slept in his own room but woke up in a strange room
C. lost his way five hours after he left home
D. was searched for by policemen when he lost his way
3. There was a college student who got into the habit of ___________.
A. getting up in the middle of the night and walking down to the river
B. walking three—quarters of a mile every day
C. swimming in the lowa River before going to bed
D. walking about before he went to bed
4. Why do people think sleepwalking is nothing but a fantastic thing which doesn’t have any explanation?
A. It is so common that it needn’t be recorded.
B. Scientists take no interest in it.
C. Most sleepwalkers do not seek help for their problem.
D. No records about it have been made.
第二卷（共35分）
第四部分：写作（共两节，满分35分）
任务型读写（共10小题；每空1分，满分10分）
阅读下列短文，根据所读内容在文章后的表格中填入恰当的单词。注意：表格中的每个空格只填1个单词
Can the thought of loved ones help reduce pain? This may indicate the importance of social relationships and staying socially connected. A study was recently conducted by researchers at the University of California in Los Angeles.
In the study, the researchers asked 25 women to participate who had boyfriends with whom they had been in a good relationship for more than six months. The women received painful heat stimuli(刺激)to their forearms while they went through a number of different conditions.
In one set of conditions, they viewed photographs of their boyfriend, a stranger and a chair. “When the women were just looking at pictures of their partner, they actually reported less pain to the heat stimuli than when they were looking at pictures of an object or pictures of a stranger, ” said study co-author Naomi Eisenberger, director of UCLA’s Social and Affective Neuroscience Laboratory, “Thus, the mere reminder of one’s partner through a simple photograph was capable of reducing pain.”
In another set of conditions, each woman held the hand of her boyfriend, the hand of a male stranger and a squeeze ball. The study found that when women were holding their boyfriends’ hands, they reported less physical pain than when they were holding a stranger’s hand or a ball while receiving the same amount of heat stimulation.
“This changes our idea of how social support influences people,” Eisenberger said.
“This study proves how much of an impact our social ties can have on our experience and fits with other work emphasizing the importance of social support for physical and mental health,” Eisenberger added.
The researchers advised that the next time people are going through a stressful or painful experience, if they cannot bring a loved one with them, a photo may do.
| Title |
76 of loved ones helps reduce pain |
| 77 of the study |
To prove the importance of social relationships and staying socially connected. |
| Research objects |
Conducted on 25 women 78 the same amount of heat stimulation to their forearms. |
Research process |
·In one set of conditions, the participants gazed photographs of their boyfriend, a 79 and a chair. ·In 80 set of conditions, the women held the boyfriend’s hand, a male stranger’s hand and a ball. |
Research results |
·Less pain were 81 by the women looking at pictures of their partners than when they were looking at pictures of an object or pictures of a stranger. ·Holding their boyfriends’ hands, they reported 82 physical pain than when 83 a stranger’s hand or a ball. |
84 |
Social ties have great 85 on our experience and are important for physical and mental health as well. |