Rene Descartes’ explanation of pain has long been acknowledged in medicine. He proposed that pain is a purely physical phenomenon – that tissue injury makes specific nerves send a signal to the brain, causing the mind to notice pain. The phenomenon, he said, is like pulling on a rope to ring a bell in the brain. It is hard to overstate how deeply fixed this account has become. In medicine, doctors see pain in Descartes’ terms— as a physical process, a sign of tissue injury.
The limitations of this explanation, however, have been apparent for some time, since people with obvious injuries sometimes report feeling no pain at all. Later, researchers proposed that Descartes’ model be replaced with what they called the gate control theory of pain. They argued that before pain signals reach the brain, they must first go through a gating mechanism in the spinal cord(脊髓). In some cases, this imaginary gate could simply stop pain signals from getting to the brain.
Their most amazing suggestion was that what controlled the gate was not just signals from sensory nerves but also emotions and other “output” from the brain. They were saying that pulling on the rope need not make the bell ring. The bell itself—the mind— could stop it. This theory led to a great deal of research into how such factors as mood, gender, and beliefs influence the experience of pain. In a British study, for example, researchers measured pain threshold and tolerance levels in 53 ballet dancers and 53 university students by using a common measurement: after immersing your hand in body-temperature water for two minutes to establish a baseline condition, you put your hand in a bowl of ice water and start a clock running. You mark the time when it begins to hurt: that is your pain threshold. Then you mark the time when it hurts too much to keep your hand in the water: that is your pain tolerance. The test is always stopped at 120 seconds, to prevent injury.
The results were striking. On average female students reported pain at 16 seconds and pulled their hands out of the ice water at 37 seconds. Female dancers were almost three times as long on both counts. Men in both groups had a higher threshold and tolerance for pain, but the difference between male dancers and male nondancers was nearly as large. What explains that difference? Probably it has something to do with the psychology of ballet dancers—a group known for self-discipline, physical fitness, and competitiveness, as well as by a high rate of chronic(慢性) injury. Their driven personalities and competitive culture evidently accustom them to pain. Other studies along these lines have shown that outgoing people have greater pain tolerance and that, with training, one can reduce one’s sensitivity to pain.
There is also striking evidence that very simple kinds of mental suggestion can have powerful effects on pain. In one study of 500 patients undergoing dental procedures, those who were given a placebo(安慰剂) injection and promised that it would relieve their pain had the least discomfort— not only less than the patients who got a placebo and were told nothing but also less than the patients who got actual drug without any promise that it would work.
Today it is abundantly evident that the brain is actively involved in the experience of pain and is no more bell on a string. Today every medical textbook teaches the gate control theory as fact. There’s a problem with it, though. It explains people who have injuries but feel no pain, but it doesn’t explain the reverse, which is far more common— the millions of people who experience chronic pain, such as back pain, with no signs of injury whatsoever. So where does the pain come from? The rope and clapper are gone, but the bell is still ringing.The primary purpose of the passage is to .
| A．describe how modern research has updated an old explanation |
| B．support a traditional view with new data |
| C．promote a particular attitude towards physical experience |
| D．suggest a creative treatment for a medical condition |
Which statement best describes Descartes theory of pain presented in paragraph 1?
| A．The brain can shut pain off at will. |
| B．The brain plays no part in the body’s experience of pain. |
| C．Pain can be caused in many different ways. |
| D．Pain is an automatic response to bodily injury. |
The author implies that the reason why the gate control was “amazing” was that it .
| A．offered an extremely new and original explanation |
| B．was just opposite to people’s everyday experiences |
| C．was grounded in an ridiculous logic |
| D．was so sensible it should have been proposed centuries before |
The author refers to “chronic back pain” as an example of something that is .
| A．costly, because it troubles millions of people |
| B．puzzling, because it sometimes has no obvious cause |
| C．disappointing, because it does not improve with treatment |
| D．worrying, because it lies beyond the reach of medicine |
The last sentence of the passage serves mainly to express that .
| A．scientific judgments are difficult to understand |
| B．theoretical investigations are generally useless |
| C．researchers still have a long way to go before the puzzle is made clear |
| D．there is always something puzzling at the heart of science |
Last July, my 12-year-old car died on California’s Santa Ana Freeway. It was an hour before sunset, and I was 25 miles from home. I couldn’t reach anyone to pick me up, so I decided to take a bus. Not knowing the routes, I figured I’d just head east.
A bus pulled up, and I asked the driver how far she was going. “Four more lights,” she said. There was another bus I could take from there. This clearly was going to be a long night.
She dropped me off at the end of her route and told me which bus to look for. After waiting 30 minutes, I began to think about a very expensive taxi ride home. Then a bus pulled up. There was no lighted number above its windshield(挡风玻璃). It was out of service. But the door opened, and I was surprised to find that it was the same driver.
“I just can’t leave you here,” she said. “This isn’t the nicest place. I’ll give you a ride home.”
“You’ll drive me home in the bus?” I asked, perplexed(困惑).
“No, I’ll take you in my car,” she said.
“It’s a long way,” I protested.
“Come on, ” she said. “I have nothing else to do.”
As we drove from the station in her car, she began telling me a story. A few days earlier, her brother had run out of gas. A good Samaritan picked him up, took him to a service station and then back to his car. “I’m just passing the favor along, ” she said.
When I offered her money as a thank-you, she wouldn’t hear of it. “That wouldn’t make it a favor, ” she said. “Just do something nice for somebody. Pass it along.”
1. Why did the writer say that he would have a long night?
A. He wondered how long he had to wait for the next bus.
B. No driver would give him a ride.
C. He didn’t know the routes.
D. He perhaps would have to take a taxi.
2. Judging from its context, the place where the writer waited for the second bus was _______.
A. very quiet and peaceful B. dark without street lights
C. neither clean nor beautiful D. a little unsafe
3. Why did the writer change his mind after waiting for 30 minutes at the end of the route?
A. No bus would come at the time.
B. A taxi ride would be more comfortable.
C. He became impatient and a bit worried.
D. He knew the driver would never return.
4. The bus driver drove the writer home later because ________.
A. she happened to go in the same direction
B. she wanted to do something good for other people
C. her brother told her to do so
D. she wanted to earn more money
5. The bus driver hoped that the writer ________.
A. would do as she did B. would keep her in memory
C. would give the money to others D. would do her a favor
Thousands of years ago people guessed the time of day by watching the sun.
Later，they found it was easier to tell the exact time by looking at the shadows.Thus， the sundial(日晷) was invented.
The sundial proved a useful timepiece in sunny weather. However，another typc of timepiece was necessary for cloudy weather and nigh time.A sand glass was another common measurer of time.Two glass bottles were connected by a very small opening. The top bottle was filled with sand，which dropped slowly into the botton one in a certain period of time.Hour glasses were widely used then.Three—minute sand glasses are still used in many homes to time the boiling of eggs.
The real ancestor of modern clocks was the water clock.In China ,an early water clock was made up of several bowls. Water trickled(滴) from one bowl to another to keep the clock going. Visitors to the Beijing Palace Museum can still see the old water clocks showing the time there.
In the Middle Ages a wateless clock was invented which worked by means of weights. To keep the weight falling at the same speed，a system of wheels was invented. The pendulum(钟摆) was soon developed to control the speed of the wheels. Thus the modern form of clock came into being.
9.Which of the following is the correct picturr of a sand glass?
A. B. C. D.
10.Three minute sand glasses are still used in many homes .
A.to boil eggs B.to measure the time of boiling eggs
C.to hold the boiled eggs D.to have eggs boiled
11.If you visit Beijing Palace Museum, you .
A.will see the old water clocks broken
B.will find the time shown by the old water clocks is wrong
C.can find the old water clocks still telling the time there
D.will find the old water clocks have gone
12.In the Middle Ages the weight falling speed of a clock was kept by .
A.several bowlsB.a system of wheels
C.a system of pendulum D.several springs
Net Libray is a library that lends out digitalbooks. It treats a digital like a paperback copy. It charges libraries per book per copy and gives publishers a cut of the total income.
From the consumer’s point of view，this means that if more than，Say, five people want the latest Danielle Steel romance novel，other people who request that book will get a message saying the title can’t be found.
It’s a model many publishers seem to have embraced. More than 350 gave the company rights to hand out their digital works，and McGraw-Hill Corporation and Houghton Mifflin Corporation have put money in the company. The California public libraries and about 1，800 others across the US are trying out the Net Library service.
Some librarians criticize the New Library model. Stanford University librarian Michael Keller argues that the company is creating an unnatural fear of digital woks, which is contrary to the ideas of the Internet.
Kelle and some other librarians argue for the e-book vision set forth by E-Brary. E-Brary is starting a service that lets us users read books for free.
But it will charge about 25 cents a page when a person tries to print out material or copy and paste it into a different file or tries to download copy onto a computer.
Christopher Warnock，chief executive of E-Brarw, believes most consumers won’t want to buy entire books，only the parts that interest them.
“There’s not really a lot of good in owning an electronic file and having to store it and manage it.It doesn't make sense.”he said.
5.How do publishers get money from the Net Library?
A.They get money from selling their books to the Net Libary.
B.They share the money with the Net Library.
C.They get money by cutting the cost of the books.
D.They get the money from the readers.
6.The underlined word“embraced”in the 3rd paragraph means .
A.taken something willingly B.held something tightly
C.disliked something badlyD.tried out something hard
7.From the 2nd paragraph we can see consumers .
A.don’t care if they are charged money
B.enjoy the service of the Net Library
C.don’t like other people borrowing books
D.complain about the limited number of the new books
8.What does the last paragraph mean?
A.Net Library is not a good way for the consumers.
B.There is no need for consumers to have a whole book.
C.EBrary is not a good library for the consumers.
D.It’s reasonable to charge the consumers money for copying some pages.
Despite bankruptcies，lay off and tighter comsumers spending，a few femaleled businesses in Japan are developing well.
Shizue Hamada，52，set up a business in 1991 with eight other housewives-to care for the elderly and the physically disabled.
It wasn’t long before the Tasukeai Yui(mutual -aid group) earned a reputation for its excellent service. It now employs 200 staff and has 300 million yuan(US $2.4million)in annual sales.
The woman said their business has been successful because they provide what customrs really want.
These entrepreneurs are making use of a revalized and healthy demand for everyday basic items.
Bread，for instance，is in high demand．Business woman Meiko Tanaka，26，started selling high-quality bread over the Internet in 2000．“Bread is cheap，”she said.“We migh as well eat the bread baked using the the highest-quality ingredients.”
Five women—former office workers in their late 20s—have started the“OL Food Bureau of Investigation”to review restaurants on the Internet.OL means young office lady. It’s a common nickname in Japan．
Business is increasing rapidly．Membership for their online magazine has reached 26，000． Their non-professional comments seem to carry a lot of weight with consumers．This month the five women will be appearing on Japanese TV．
What all these female entrepreneurs have in common is a strong belief in their likes and dislikes，and confidence is their own sensibilities．
They find gaps in the market and fill them with products and services that they like or want.
Japanese women headed nearly 6 percent of all businesses in Japan at the end of June—up from 4.5 per cent in 1999．
These female—led micro—businesses are playing an increasingly large role in the economy by plugging the gap between supply and demand.
1.When talking about the businesswomen in Japan，the writer
A.thinks little of them
B.thinks that they will take the place of men in future
C.sings the praises of their abilities
D.is not sure of their future development
2.The passage mainly discusses .
A.Japanese women B.female-led businesses in Japan
C.how to earn a reputation D.Japanese economic development
3.The five women will be appearing on Japanese TV because .
A.thier comments have great influences on consumers
B.they have set up the first online magazine
C.they have arranged handreds of jobs for laidoff workers
D.they used to work in offices and are fairly beautiful
4.If an old man in Japan can't live by himsilf，he should turn to for hehp.
A.Tasukeai Yui B.Meiko Tanaka C.OL Food Bureau of lnvestigation D.entrepreneurs
The volcano is one of the most surprising frightening things of nature. Maybe you have seen pictures of these " fireworks " of nature. Sometimes when a volcano erupts, a very large wall of melted rock moves down the side of a mountain. It looks like a " river of fire". Sometimes volcanoes explode, throwing the melted rock and ashes high into the air. But where does this melted rock come from?
The earth is made up of many layers (层). The top layer that we see is called the crust. Under the crust are many layers of hard rock. But far, far beneath the crust the rock is so hot that it is soft. In some places it even melts. The melted rock is called magma. Sometimes the magma breaks out to the surface through cracks (裂缝) in the crust. These cracks are volcanoes.
Most people think of mountains when they think of volcanoes. But not every mountain is a volcano. A volcano is simply the opening in the earth from which the magma escapes. The hot magma, or lava as it is called, cools and builds up on the surface of the earth. Over thousands of years, this pile of cooled lava can grow to be very, very big. For example, the highest mountain in Africa, Kilimanjaro, is a volcano. It rises more than 16,000 feet above the ground around it.
8. The underlined word "erupts" means ______.
A. moves down B. breaks away C. builds up D. suddenly throws out lava
9. Which words in the passage have the same meaning as "melted rock"?
A. volcano and crustB. crust and hard rock
C. magma and lavaD. volcano and magma
10. Which is the correct order of the layers of the earth (beginning with the top layer)?
A. crust — hard rock — magma — soft rock
B. crust — hard rock — soft rock — magma
C. agma — soft rock — hard rock — crust
D. volcano — cracks — magma — crust
11. The best title of the passage should be______.
A. The Volcano B. Kilimanjaro Volcano C. The Mountains D. The Melted Rock