In the 19th century, there used to be a model of how to be a good person. There are all these torrents of passion flowing through you. Your job, as captain of your soul, is to erect dams to keep these passions in check. Your job is to just say no to laziness, lust, greed, drug use and the other sins.
These days that model is out of fashion. You usually can’t change your behavior by simply resolving to do something. Knowing what to do is not the same as being able to do it. Your willpower is not like a dam that can block the torrent of self-indulgence. It's more like a muscle, which tires easily. Moreover, you're a social being. If everybody around you is overeating, you’ll probably do so, too.
The 19th-century character model was based on an understanding of free will. Today, we know that free will is bounded. People can change their lives, but ordering change is not simple because many things, even within ourselves, are beyond our direct control.
Much of our behavior, for example, is guided by unconscious habits. Researchers at Duke University calculated that more than 40 percent of the actions we take are governed by habit, not actual decisions. Researchers have also come to understand the structure of habits—cue, routine, reward.
You can change your own personal habits. If you leave running shorts on the floor at night, that'll be a cue to go running in the morning. Don’t try to ignore your afternoon snack craving. Every time you feel the cue for a snack, insert another routine. Take a walk.
Their research thus implies a different character model, which is supposed to manipulate the neuralnetworks inside.
To be an effective person, under this model, you are supposed to coolly examine your own unconscious habits, and the habits of those under your care. You are supposed to devise strategies to alter the cues and routines. Every relationship becomes slightly manipulative, including your relationship with yourself. You're trying to arouse certain responses by implanting certain cues.
This is a bit disturbing, because the important habitual neural networks are not formed by mere routine, nor can they be reversed by clever cues. They are burned in by emotion and strengthened by strong yearnings, like the yearnings for admiration and righteousness.
If you think you can change your life in a clever way, the way an advertiser can get you to buy an air freshener, you’re probably wrong. As the Victorians understood, if you want to change your life, don’t just look for a clever cue. Commit to some larger global belief.Which of the following is the first-to-none element in the 19th-century character model?
| A．Action. | B．Capacity. | C．Resolution. | D．Enthusiasm. |
The 19th-century model supposedly does not work on the grounds that ________
| A．one’s wished should be pondered before acting. |
| B．the comparison of free will to a dam is groundless. |
| C．it has been proved impractical and cannot hold true. |
| D．there were many other factors beyond one's control. |
The research at Duke University indicated that ________
| A．One’s behavior is tough to change. |
| B．Habit has an unidentified structure. |
| C．Habit plays a vital role in one's behavior. |
| D．Both habit and will power are of significance. |
According to the new character model, personal behavior could be altered through
| A．techniques to break old routines. |
| B．techniques to provide different physical cues. |
| C．cues to change all the former unconscious habits. |
| D．cues to manipulate the habitual neural responses. |
We can learn from the passage that the new character model ________
| A．can generate changes in one's life like what advertisers do. |
| B．highlights the neural and psychological aspects of habit change. |
| C．has been identified a new method of changing behavior perfectly. |
| D．has an advantage over others in dealing with emotional aspects of behavior. |
All things change except barbers, the ways of barbers, and the surroundings of barbers. These never change. What one experiences in a barber’s shop the first time he enters one is what he always experiences in barbers’ shops afterward till the end of his days.
I got shaved this morning as usual. A man approached the door from Jones Street as I approached it from Main--a thing that always happens. I hurried up, but it was of no use; he entered the door one little step ahead of me, and I followed in and saw him take the only empty chair, the one headed by the best barber. It always happens so. I sat down, hoping that I might sit in the chair belonging to the better of the remaining two barbers, for he was a bit ahead. I watched the probabilities with strong interest. When I saw that No. 2 was gaining on No. 1, my interest grew to solicitude (孤单). When No. 1 was gradually losing the race, my solicitude rose to anxiety. When No. 1 caught up again, and both were about to finish and say “Next!” first, my very breath stood still with the suspense. But when I saw that he had lost the race by a single instant, I rose angrily and quitted the shop, to keep from falling into the hands of No. 2; for I have none of that firmness that enables a man to look calmly into the eyes of a waiting barber and tell him he will wait for his fellow-barber’s chair.
I stayed out fifteen minutes, and then went back, hoping for better luck. Unfortunately, all the chairs were occupied now, and four men sat waiting, silent, and looking bored, as men always do who are waiting their turn in a barber’s shop. I sat down and waited.
At last my turn came. A voice said “Next!” and I give in to No. 2, of course. It always happens so. I smiled and said that I was in a hurry, and it affected him as strongly as if he had never heard it.
He explored my hair with his claws and suggested that it needed trimming(修剪). I said I did not want it trimmed. He explored again and said it was pretty long for the present style. I said I had had it cut only a week before. He stopped for a moment, and then asked “who cut it?” I stared at him from the mirror and replied “You did!” Then a dog-fight attracted his attention, and he ran to the window and stayed and watched it…
1. The author left the barber’s shop mainly because_________.
A. he would like to wait for “No. 1” outside
B. he would rather be served by the best barber
C. he lacked the courage to tell “No. 2” his intention
D. he was angry at the slow speed of “No. 1”
2. What is the change of the author’s attitude from the moment he went into the barber’s to the moment he left it?
A. Disappointed---Anxious---Hopeful---Angry.
B. Disappointed --Hopeful---Anxious---Angry.
C. Hopeful--- Sad --- Anxious ---Angry.
D. Hopeful--- Anxious --- Angry --- Sad.
3. The author chose “No. 2” in the end, because________.
A. he had no choice B. he was in a hurry
C. “No. 1” avoided him on purpose D. he is always one step behind others
4. The underlined word “suspense” in the 2nd paragraph probably means ________.
A. loneliness B. possibility
C. anxiety D. hope
5. What is likely to happen next?
A. The author lost his temper. B. “No. 2” ran out of his patience.
C. The author was well-served by “No. 2”. D. The author was treated the same way as usual.
It’s three devices in one.
iPhone is more than just a phone.
It combines three devices in one:
arevolutionary mobile phone, awidescreen iPod,
and abreakthrough Internet device.
All that and more makes it the best phone you’ll ever use.
Revolutionary Phone
With the Multi-Touch interface on iPhone, you can make a call simply by tapping a name or number in yourcontacts or favorites list, your call log, or just about anywhere. Visual(视觉的) Voicemail lets you select and listen to messages in whatever order you want — just like email.
Widescreen iPod
iPhone shows off your content — music, movies, TV shows, and more — on a beautiful 3.5-inch display. Add to your collection by downloading music and video wirelessly from the iTunes Store. Moves through songs and playlists with the touch of a finger. Even browse(浏览)your album artwork using Cover Flow.
Breakthrough Internet Device
iPhone uses fast 3G and Wi-Fi wireless connections to deliver rich HTML email, Maps with GPS, and Safari — the most advanced web browser on a mobile device. It has Google and Yahoo! search built in. And since iPhone multitasks, you can make a phone call while emailing a photo or surfing the web over a Wi-Fi or 3G connection.
It opens a whole newworld of applications.
iPhone comes with some amazing applications. And you can choose from thousands more on the Application Store and download them with a tap. Your iPhone gets even better with every new application. Play games. Be more productive. Keep yourself entertained. No matter what you want to do on iPhone, there’s an application for that.
It works like no other phone.
With iPhone, Apple combined innovative(创新的)hardware features with the world’s most advanced mobile operating system to redefine what a mobile phone can do. Applications work together perfectly and they are at the same pace with your computer—whether you’re on a Mac or a PC. From its revolutionary Multi-Touch display to its intelligent keyboard to its smart sensors, iPhone is years ahead of any other mobilephone.
1. How can you add your music, movies, TV shows to your collection on the phone?
A. By using Voicemail to select what you want to add.
B. By downloading them from the iTunes Store.
C. By adding a new application from thousands more on the Application Store.
D. By using Google and Yahoo! search to search and then add them.
2. Which of the following is true?
A. You can’t deliver HTML email, Maps with GPS, and call at the same time.
B. Multi-Touch interface makes it easy to make a phone call.
C. You can only listen to the messages in the fixed order.
D. Wi-Fi is the most advanced web browser on a mobile device.
3. What makes iphone different from other mobile phones is that______.
A. it has aworld of new applications
B. it is a Widescreen iPod
C. it contains Breakthrough Internet Device
D. it redefines what a mobile phone can do
Findings from a new study were presented at a recent meeting of the American Psychosomatic Society. Researchers in the United States studied one hundred thousand women during an eight-year period, beginning in nineteen ninety-four. All of the women were fifty years of age or older. The study was part of the Women’s Health Initiative organized by the National Institutes of Health.
The women were asked questions that measured their beliefs or ideas about the future. The researchers identified each woman’s personality eight years after gathering the information.
The study found that hopeful individuals were fourteen percent less likely than other women to have died from any cause. The hopeful women were also thirty percent less likely to have died from heart disease after the eight years.
Hilary Tindle from the University of Pittsburgh School of Medicine in Pennsylvania was the lead author of the report. She said the study confirmed earlier research that linked optimistic feelings to longer life.
The researchers also gathered information about people’s education, financial earnings, physical activity and use of alcohol or cigarettes. Independent of those things, the findings still showed that optimists had less of a chance of dying during the eight-year period.
Some women who answered the questions were found to be cynically hostile, or highly untrusting of others. These women were sixteen percent more likely to die than the others. They also were twenty-three percent more likely to die of cancer.
The study also found that women who were not optimistic were more likely to smoke and have high blood pressure or diabetes. They were also more likely not to exercise.
Professor Tindle says the study did not confirm whether optimism leads to healthier choices, or if it actually affects a person’s physical health. She also says the study does not prove that negative emotions or distrust lead to bad health effects and shorter life. Yet there does appear to be a link that calls for more research.
1. What’s the purpose of carrying out the study?
A. To gather information for the National Institutes of Health.
B. To find out the relationship between women’s personality and their health.
C. To decide who is more likely to enjoy happier life.
D. To identify each woman’s personality 8 years after gathering the information.
2. What can be inferred from the passage?
A. It’s uncertain whether optimism affects a person’s physical health.
B. Negative emotions do cause shorter life.
C. The connection between personality and health has been established.
D. The more optimistic you are, the longer life you may enjoy.
3. According to the passage, who is more likely to die of cancer?
A. A woman who has high blood pressure or diabetes.
B. A woman who doesn’t exercise.
C. A woman who has poor physical health.
D. A woman who always doubts what others say.
4. Which of the following is true?
A. American Psychosomatic Society organized the new study.
B. Women who were optimistic were less likely to smoke.
C. More questions were given than those measuring women’s beliefs or ideas.
D. Hopeful women were 16% less likely to die from heart disease.
第二部分阅读理解（共两节，满分50分）
第一节阅读下列短文，从每题所给的四个选项（A、Ｂ、Ｃ和Ｄ）中，选出最佳选项，并在答题卡上将该项涂黑。（共20小题；每小题2分，满分40分）
Most American colleges and universities take a spring break. Students might go home to their families -- or spend a week partying on a warm beach with no parents around. That is the popular image, at least.
In the United States, the lawful age to drink alcohol is twenty-one -- one of the highest in the world. Americans debate whether it should be lowered, or whether young drinkers would only drink more. In parts of Europe, the lawful drinking age for beer, and sometimes hard liquor, is sixteen. Yet France may raise the age limit for beer and wine sales to eighteen, the same as for hard liquor there.
Rules on alcohol differ from college to college in the United States. Many schools require all first-year students to take an alcohol prevention and education program, often given online. Some have a “zero tolerance” policy where alcohol is banned from all buildings. Parents are informed of violations and students may be suspended(停学).
At the University of Virginia in Charlottesville, permission is needed to serve alcohol at any event on campus. But alcohol is banned in first-year dorms---where most students are under twenty-one anyway.
Susan Davis, a university lawyer, says campus police and local police report underage drinking violations(违反)to the committee that decides punishments on a case by case basis. For example, the committee might suspend or expel(开除)a student. It might require an alcohol education program. Or it might just give a warning.
Jon Zug is a lawyer in Albemarle County, where the university is located. He says international students would face the same punishment as American citizens for underage drinking in Virginia. That includes a punishment of five hundred dollars or fifty hours of community service. But first law-breakers might be given a chance to complete an alcohol education program instead.
Schools have to report unlawful violations by international students to the Department of Homeland Security. International adviser Richard Tanson at the University of Virginia says even minor violations stay on a student’s permanent immigration record. He says international students should know that this can affect them in the future if they try to re-enter the United States.
1. What does the underlined phrase “by case basis” mean?
A. Depending on the seriousness of the case itself.
B. According to the report of the campus and local police.
C. Depending on the judgment of the committee.
D. According to the former cases in store.
2. To international students, which of the following may be intolerable once they have drinking violations?
A. A punishment of $500 or 50 hours of community service.
B. Being given a warning of being suspended or expelled.
C. Having the violations kept on their permanent immigration record.
D. Receiving an alcohol education program.
3. The passage probably appears in_________.
A. an advertisement B. a local newspaper
C. a university guide book D. a popular magazine
4. The passage mainly talks about_________.
A. alcohol problems on the U.S. campus
B. alcohol policy on U.S. campus
C. U.S. universities---zero tolerance to alcohol
D. the punishment to the university alcohol drinkers
Los Angeles June 14, 2006 – Hollywood actress Daryl Hannah was arrested yesterday after spending two weeks sitting in a walnut tree on an urban farm a few kilometers from downtown Los Angeles. She was one of 40 people, including celebrities from the music and movie world, who were protesting at the proposed destruction of the 14 – acre farm. Police officers cut away branches from the tree and used a fire engine to reach Ms Hannah and her co – protester, environmentalist John Quigley. The two of them raised their fists in defiance（反抗）as they were removed.
Protesters, some of whom had chained themselves to concrete –filled barrels（桶），said that it was essential to keep the farm operating, as it provided food for hundreds of poor families in the area. About 350 people grow produce and flowers on the farm, which has been there for more than a decade and is situated in an inner –city area surrounded by warehouses and railroad tracks. However, the local authority recently approved plans for the area to be cleared and redeveloped for the construction of a huge new warehouse.
Ms Hannah, 45, star of films such as Splash and Kill Bill was not thrilled about being arrested. “But I felt it was important to show my support for the people,” she said. “This farm should be a model for sustainable (可持续的) urban agriculture. It needs to be replicated, not eradicated.”
The record length for a tree protest is held by a woman called Julia Hill, who remained on top of a 30-metre-high redwood tree in Northern California for 738 days from December 1997 to December 1999. She was successful in saving the tree and those around it from destruction. Ms Hill was also at the Los Angeles urban farm project this week, but her presence failed to stop the inevitable (不可避免的). No sooner had the protesters been removed than earth-moving machines moved in and began to clear the land.
|
1．Daryl Hannah was involved in a protest to .
A．save an agricultural city farm from destruction