Goodafternoon,andwelcometoEngl-优题课

Here is an astonishing and significant fact: Mental work alone can't make us tired. It sounds absurd. But a few years ago, scientists tried to find out how long the human brain could labor without reaching a stage of fatigue(疲劳). To the amazement of these scientists, they discovered that blood passing through the brain, when it is active, shows no fatigue at all! If we took a drop of blood from a day laborer, we could find it full of fatigue toxins(霉素) and fatigue products. But if we took blood from the brain of an Albert Einstein, it would show no fatigue toxins at the end of the day.
So far as the brain is concerned, it can work as well and swiftly at the end of eight or even twelve hours of efforts as at the beginning. The brain is totally tireless. So what makes us tired?
Some scientists declare that most of our fatigue comes from our mental and emotional(情感的) attitudes. One of England's most outstanding scientists, J. A. Hadfield, says，“The greater part of the fatigue from which we suffer is of mental origin. In fact, fatigue of purely physical origin is rare.” Dr. Brill, a famous American scientist, goes even further. He declares，“One hundred percent of the fatigue of a sitting worker in good health is due to emotional problems.”
What kinds of emotions make sitting workers tired? Joy? Satisfaction? No! A feeling of being bored, anger, anxiety, tenseness, worry, a feeling of not being appreciated—those are the emotions that tire sitting workers. Hard work by itself seldom causes fatigue. We get tired because our emotions produce nervousness in the body.
What surprised the scientists a few years ago?

A．Fatigue toxins could hardly be found in a laborer's blood.

B．Albert Einstein didn't feel worn out after a day's work.

C．The brain could work for many hours without fatigue.

D．A mental worker's blood was filled with fatigue toxins.

According to the author, which of the following can make sitting workers tired?

A．Challenging mental work.	B．Unpleasant emotions.
C．Endless tasks.	D．Physical labor.

What's the author's attitude towards the scientists' ideas?

A．He agrees with them.

B．He doubts them.

C．He argues against them.

D．He hesitates to accept them.

We can infer from the passage that in order to stay energetic, sitting workers need to ________.

A．have some good food

B．enjoy their work

C．exercise regularly

D．discover fatigue toxins

(2013·安徽，C)
When 19yearold Sophia Giorgi said she was thinking of volunteering to help the MakeAWish Foundation (基金会)，nobody understood what she was talking about. But Sophia knew just how important MakeAWish could be because this special organization had helped to make a dream come true for one of her best friends. We were interested in finding out more, so we went along to meet Sophia and listen to what she had to say.
Sophia told us that MakeAWish is a worldwide organization that started in the United States in 1980. “It's a charity (慈善机构)that helps children who have got very serious illnesses. MakeAWish helps children feel happy even though they are sick, by making their wishes and dreams come true，” Sophia explained.
We asked Sophia how MakeAWish had first started. She said it had all begun with a very sick young boy called Chris, who had been dreaming for a long time of becoming a policeman. Sophia said lots of people had wanted to find a way to make Chris's dream come true，so with everybody's help, Chris, only seven years old at the time, had been a “policeman” for a day. “When people saw how delighted Chris was when his dream came true, they decided to try and help other sick children too, and that was the beginning of MakeAWish，”explained Sophia.
Sophia also told us the Foundation tries to give children and their families a special, happy time. A MakeAWish volunteer visits the families and asks the children whatever they would wish for if they could have anything in the world. Sophia said the volunteers were important because they were the ones who helped to make the wishes come true. They do this either by providing things that were necessary, or by raising money or helping out in what way they can.
Sophia found out about MakeAWish because her best friend had ________.

A．benefited from it	B．volunteered to help it
C．dreamed about it	D．told the author about it

According to Sophia, MakeAWish ________.

A．is an international charity

B．was understood by nobody at first

C．raises money for very poor families

D．started by drawing the interest of the public

What is said about Chris in Paragraph 3?

A．He has been a policeman since he was seven.

B．He gave people the idea of starting MakeAWish.

C．He wanted people to help make his dream come true.

D．He was the first child MakeAWish helped after it had been set up.

Which of the following is true about MakeAWish volunteers?

A．They are important for making wishes come true.

B．They try to help children get over their illnesses.

C．They visit sick children to make them feel special.

D．They provide what is necessary to make MakeAWish popular.

(2013·江苏，B)
We've considered several ways of paying to cut in line: hiring line standers, buying tickets from scalpers (票贩子), or purchasing linecutting privileges directly from, say, an airline or an amusement park. Each of these deals replaces the morals of the queue (waiting your turn) with the morals of the market (paying a price for faster service)．
Markets and queues—paying and waiting—are two different ways of allocating things，and each is appropriate to different activities. The morals of the queue, “First come，first served，” have an egalitarian (平等主义的) appeal. They tell us to ignore privilege, power, and deep pockets.
The principle seems right on playgrounds and at bus stops. But the morals of the queue do not govern all occasions. If I put my house up for sale, I have no duty to accept the first offer that comes along, simply because it's the first. Selling my house and waiting for a bus are different activities, properly governed by different standards.
Sometimes standards change, and it is unclear which principle should apply. Think of the recorded message you hear, played over and over, as you wait on hold when calling your bank：“Your call will be answered in the order in which it was received.” This is essential for the morals of the queue. It's as if the company is trying to ease our impatience with fairness.
But don't take the recorded message too seriously. Today, some people's calls and answered faster than others. Call center technology enables companies to “score” incoming calls and to give faster service to those that come from rich places. You might call this telephonic queue jumping.
Of course, markets and queues are not the only ways of allocating things. Some goods we distribute by merit, others by need, still others by chance. However, the tendency of markets to replace queues, and other nonmarket ways of allocating goods is so common in modern life that we scarcely notice it anymore. It is striking that most of the paid queuejumping schemes we've considered—at airports and amusement parks, in call centers, doctors' offices, and national parks—are recent developments, scarcely imaginable three decades ago. The disappearance of the queues in these places may seem an unusual concern, but these are not the only places that markets have entered.
According to the author, which of the following seems governed by the principle “First come, first served”？

A．Taking buses.

B．Buying houses.

C．Flying with an airline.

D．Visiting amusement parks.

The example of the recorded message in Paragraph 4 and 5 illustrates ________.

A．the necessity of patience in queuing

B．the advantage of modern technology

C．the uncertainty of allocation principle

D．the fairness of telephonic services

The passage is meant to ________.

A．justify paying for faster services

B．discuss the morals of allocating things

C．analyze the reason for standing in line

D．criticize the behavior of queue jumping

(2013·全国Ⅰ，A)
Some people will do just about anything to save money. And I am one of them. Take my family's last vacation. It was my sixyearold son's winter break from school, and we were heading home from Fort Lauderdale after a weeklong trip. The flight was overbooked, and Delta, the airline, offered us $400 per person in credits to give up our seats and leave the next day. I had meetings in New York, so I had to get back. But that didn't mean my husband and my son couldn't stay. I took my ninemonthold and took off for home.
The next day, my husband and son were offered more credits to take an even later flight. Yes, I encouraged—okay, ordered—them to wait it out at the airport to “earn” more Delta Dollars. Our total take: $1,600. Not bad, huh?
Now some people may think I'm a bad mother and not such a great wife either. But as a bigtime bargain hunter, I know the value of a dollar. And these days, a good deal is something few of us can afford to pass up.
I've made a living looking for the best deals and exposing (揭露) the worst tricks. I have been the consumer reporter of NBC's Today show for over a decade. I have written a couple of books including one titled Tricks of the Trade: A Consumer Survival Guide. And I really do what I believe in.
I tell you this because there is no shame in getting your money's worth. I'm also tightfisted when it comes to shoes, clothes for my children, and expensive restaurants. But I wouldn't hesitate to spend on a good haircut. It keeps its shape longer, and it's the first thing people notice. And I will also spend on a classic piece of furniture. Quality lasts.
Why did Delta give the author's family credits?

A．They took a later flight.

B．They had early bookings.

C．Their flight had been delayed.

D．Their flight had been cancelled.

What can we learn about the author?

A．She rarely misses a good deal.

B．She seldom makes a compromise.

C．She is very strict with her children.

D．She is interested in cheap products.

What does the author do?

A．She's a teacher.

B．She's a housewife.

C．She's a media person.

D．She's a businesswoman.

What does the author want to tell us?

A．How to expose bad tricks.

B．How to reserve airline seats.

C．How to spend money wisely.

D．How to make a business deal.

The law of overlearning explains why cramming (突击学习) for an examination, though it may result in a passing grade, is not a satisfactory way to learn a college course. By cramming, a student may learn the subject well enough to get by on the examination, but he is likely soon to forget almost everything he learned. A little overlearning, on the other hand, is really necessary for one's future development.
What is the author's opinion on cramming?

A．It leads to failure in college exams.

B．It's helpful only in a limited way.

C．It's possible to result in poor memory.

D．It increases students' learning interest.