Researchers found that people become happier and experience less worry after they reach the age of fifty. In fact, they say by the age of eighty-five, people are happier with their life than they were when they were eighteen years old.
Arthur Stone in the Department of Psychiatry and Behavioral Science at Stony Brook University in New York led the study. His team found that levels of stress were highest among adults between the ages of twenty-two and twenty-five. The findings showed that stress levels dropped sharply after people reached their fifties. Happiness was highest among the youngest adults and those in their early seventies. The people least likely to report feeling negative emotions were those in their seventies and eighties.
The findings appeared in the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences. Researchers say they do not know why happiness increases as people get older. One theory is that, as people grow older, they grow more thankful for what they have and have better control of their emotions. They also spend less time thinking about bad experiences.
The researchers considered possible influences like having young children, being unemployed or being single. But they found that influences like these did not affect the levels of happiness and well-being related to age.
The study also showed that men and women have similar emotional patterns as they grow older. However, women at all ages reported more sadness, stress and worry than men.What is the best title of the passage?
| A．The older a person is, the more stressed he feels. |
| B．The more lighthearted a person is, the happier he is. |
| C．The older a person is, the more clever he grows. |
| D．The older a person is, the happier he grows. |
We can learn from the research that _________.
| A．only when people get older, will they feel happier |
| B．older people usually have no worries in their life |
| C．stress levels among the youngest are the highest of all |
| D．older people are more likely to be thankful in life |
According to the researchers, what is probably the reason why people grow happier when they get older?
| A．When people get older, they can’t remember bad experiences. |
| B．When people get older, they have no young children to care about. |
| C．When people get older, they learn to adjust their feelings. |
| D．When people get older, they don’t care about their feelings. |
What do you think the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences is?
| A．A Gallup organization. |
| B．A popular science magazine. |
| C．A university in New York. |
| D．A research institution |
What would the writer probably deal with in next paragraph?
| A．Advice to the young people on how to keep happy. |
| B．Advice to the old people on how to live longer. |
| C．Why women at all ages are more sad, stressed and worried. |
| D．Why people will grow happier with their ages. |
The massive 8.8 quake, the seventh strongest in recorded history, hit Chile（智利） and should have shortened the length of an Earth day by 1.26 milliseconds. More impressive is how much the quake shifted the Earth’s axis（地轴）.
The computer model used to determine the effects of the Chile earthquake effect also found that it should have moved the Earth’s figure axis by about 8 cm. The Earth’s figure axis is not the same as its north-south axis, which Earth turns around once every day at a speed of about 1,604 kph. The figure axis is the axis around which the Earth’s mass is balanced. It is offset（偏离）from the Earth’s north-south axis by about 10 meters.
Strong earthquakes can change Earth’s days and its axis. The 9.1 Sumatran earthquake in 2004, which set off a deadly tsunami（海啸）, should have shortened Earth’s days by 0.0068 milliseconds and shifted its axis by about 7cm.
One Earth day is about 24 hours long. Over the course of a year, the length of a day normally changes gradually by one millisecond. It increases in the winter when Earth moves more slowly, and decreases in the summer.
The Chile earthquake was much smaller than the Sumatran quake, but its effects on the Earth are larger because of its location. The fault（断层） responsible for the 2010 Chile quake also cuts through Earth at a larger angle(角度) than the Sumatran quake’s fault. This makes the Chile fault more effective in moving the Earth’s mass vertically and hence more effective in shifting the Earth’s figure axis.
The findings are based on early data available on the Chile earthquake. The Chile earthquake has killed more than 700 people and caused widespread damage in the South American country.
1. What’s the biggest problem caused by the Chile quake?
A. It is the seventh strongest in recorded history.
B. It should have shortened the length of an Earth day.
C. It shifted the Earth’s axis.
D. It made the day longer on Earth.
2. Comparing the Sumatran earthquake with the Chile earthquake, we know that ______.
A. the Sumatran earthquake had more effect on Earth
B. the location of the Chile earthquake is responsible for its larger effects on Earth
C. the Sumatran earthquake was less destructive
D. the Chile earthquake fault changed the Earth’s mass
3. What does the word “It” in the 4th paragraph refer to?
A. The length of a day. B. The axis.
C. One millisecond. D. The change of the day.
4. This article is most probably taken from .
A. A travel book B. A fiction
C. A science research report D. A fashion journal
Volunteers, as an essential part of a successful world exposition, are a major channel for the public to participate in, serve and share the world exposition and a means to showcase the image of the host country and city. The following information is about the volunteer for the World Exposition 2010 Shanghai China.
I. Basic Requirements for Volunteers
● Be willing to participate in voluntary services of Expo 2010;
● Age limit: Expo Site volunteers must be born before April 30;
1992 and Expo City Voluntary Service Station volunteers before
April 30, 1994;
● Obey the laws and regulations of the PRC;
● Be able to participate in training and relevant activities before the opening of Expo 2010;
● Possess necessary knowledge and skills needed by the position;
● Be in good health to meet the requirements of corresponding voluntary positions.
II. Further Information for Volunteers
● Source
Residents of Chinese mainland, Hong Kong, Macau and Taiwan, as well as overseas Chinese, and foreigners can all apply to be the volunteers.
● Signup methods
Applicants may log in onto the official websites for online signup. They may also consult or connect with the Expo Volunteer Stations.
● Time
May 1–December 31, 2009
III. Volunteer Training
Volunteer training includes general training, special training and position training. General training is carried out through internet, while special training and position training are provided through classroom lectures and field practice.
IV. Volunteer Types
● Expo Site volunteers refer to those offering voluntary services to visitors and the Organizer in the Expo Site, mainly including information, visitor flow management, reception, translation and interpretation, assistance for the disabled, and assistance in media service, event and conference organization and volunteer management.
● Information booth volunteers are stationed in the Expo's information booths at key transportation centers, commercial outlets, tourist attractions, restaurants, hotels and cultural event places outside the Expo Site. They offer services including information, translation, interpretation and even first aid.
1. If you were born in April 1993, where can you be a volunteer?
A. In the Expo City. B. In the host country.
C. In the Expo Site. D. In Chinese mainland.
2. Which of the training will be done on the Internet?
A. Position training. B. General training.
C. Classroom training． D. Special training.
3. Which of the following service is offered by information booth volunteers?
A. Visitor flow management. B. Helping the disabled.
C. Assistance in media service. D. Emergency First aid.
4. Which of the following is not suitable for being a volunteer of Expo 2010?
A. Being own good health to meet the requirements of corresponding voluntary positions.
B. Following the laws and regulations of the PRC.
C. Being able to join in training and relevant activities after the opening of Expo 2010.
D. Owning necessary knowledge and skills needed by the position.
第三部分：阅读理解（共20小题；每小题2分，满分40分）
阅读下列短文，从每题所给的A、B、C或D四个选项中，选出最佳选项，并在答题卡上将该项涂黑。
Until quite recently, I knew only three things about my father: I knew his name, David S. Johnson, Jr. I knew he was an only child, and I’d been told he was killed on April 12, 1945, somewhere in Germany.
I used to come to visit my Granny. “Daddy David and his two friends were out in the fields, making sure the way was safe for the others to follow,” she told me. “All of a sudden there was an explosion. All three of them were killed.” Granny was looking down, stroking (抚摸)one thin hand with the other. Then there were no words but silence.
I began my search and collection for information about my father as my 50th birthday and the 50th anniversary of his death drew near. I was told that the explosion had blown him to bits and I had great difficulty collecting anything I could find about him bit by bit. Bits of information about his began falling into my hands, my mind and my heart. Longing to know my father kept me connected to him. It was time to transform my longing into knowledge.
Once upon a time he was alive, and my mother and father were deeply in love. They were married, and they had a child, my brother David. Then my father left for the war.
I was born in January 1945. On February 15 my father wrote me a letter of welcome. The letter is kept in my baby book, “Dear Susan, you have a very good family. Your dad is sort of a less able person. Your mother is the most wonderful person I’ve ever known. I’ve always marveled at my great good fortune to have her and been loved by her. If you follow her words and examples, you may expect to meet life in the best possible way, and your path will always be the right one. Your father, Dave.”
Black on white paper, the words are from my father. From them I grow into a person of loyalty and love. How I long for stories that will bring him to life!
1. The writer got to know her father’s story of death from ______.
A. her father’s friends B. someone in Germany
C. her grandmother D. a little child
2. The author met difficulty finding information about her father because ______.
A. it was too late for her to start the search
B. the explosion left little about her father
C. she only found pieces of hands and legs
D. she didn’t have enough knowledge to do it
3. Which of the following statements is true?
A. Her parents had only one child B. Her father died before her birth
C. Her father was a disabled man D. The writer never saw her father
4. We know from the last paragraph that the author ______.
A. still hates her father for having left B. is curious about her father’s death
C. shows much respect for her father D. is sure that her father may survive
The United States is on the verge of losing its leading place in the world’s technology. So says more than one study in recent years. One of the reasons for this decline is the parallel decline in the number of U.S. scientists and engineers.
Since 1976, employment of scientists and engineers is up 85 percent. This trend is expected to continue. However, the trend shows that the number of 22-year-old the near term source of future PhDs is declining. Further adding to the problem is the increased competition for these candidates from other fields law，medicine，business，etc. While the number of U.S. PhDs in science and engineering declines，the award of PhDs to foreign nationals is increasing rapidly.
Our inability to motivate students to pursue science and engineering careers at the graduate level is compounded because of the intense demand industry has for bright Bachelor‘s and Master‘s degree holders. Too often，promising PH.D.candidates, confronting(面临) the cost and financial sacrifice of pursuing their education, find the attraction of industry irresistible.
1. The U.S.will come to lose its leading place in technology probably because ________.
A. scientists and engineers are not employed
B. the number of PH.D. degree holders is declining
C. the number of scientists and engineers is decreasing
D. the number of 22-year-ilds is declining
2. The field of science and engineering is facing a competition from ________ .
A. postgraduates
B. technology
C. such fields as law，medicine and business
D. foreign nationals
3. Large-scale enterprises now need _______.
A. new inventions B. engineers
C. advanced technology D. bright graduates and postgraduates
4. PH.D. candidates "find the attraction of industry irresistible" means that _________.
A. they cannot work for industry any longer
B. they find industry is attracting more and more college students
C. they don’t think they can prevent themselves from working for industry
D. they cannot resist any attraction from all sides
More than 2 million US teenagers have suffered a serious bout（发作) of depression in the past year, according to a federal government survey released on Tuesday.
On average, 8.5 percent of adolescents aged 12 to 17 described having had a major depressive episode in the previous year, the Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration reported.
But there were "striking differences" by sex, with 12.7 percent of girls and 4.6 percent of boys affected.
Depression is the leading cause of suicide, which in turn is the third-leading cause of death for 15- to 24-year-olds in the United States.
"Combined 2004 to 2006 data show that rates of past year major depressive experience among youths aged 12 to 17 generally increased with increasing age," the researchers wrote.
Researchers at SAMHSA and RTI International in Research Triangle Park, North Carolina, prepared the report using data from the National Survey on Drug Use and Health.
More than 67,700 youths aged 12 to 17 answered questions about mood and depression. They were also asked to rate how depression affected them using the Sheehan Disability Scale, which measures impact on family, friends, chores at home, work and school.
Researchersdefined a major depressive episode as two weeks or longer of depressed mood or loss of interest or pleasure, and at least four other symptoms(症状) such as problems with sleep, energy, concentration or self-image.
Nearly half of the teenagers who had major depression said it severely damaged their ability to function in at least one of the areas on the disability scale.
"Fortunately, depression responds very well to early intervention and treatment," SAMHSA Administrator Terry Cline said in a statement.
1. The underlined word “ episode ”in paragraph 2 has the similar meaning as the given word____________
A. experiment B. feeling C. expression D. experience
2. The main reasons which lead to serious depressive symptoms include____________
A. no family or friends or jobs or interests at all
B. low spirits , unhappiness , lack of sleep and poor concentration
C. poor health , sex discrimination , less energy and loss of interest
D. suicide , sandness , lack of confidence and depression
3. What can be implied , but is not stated directly ?
A. depression is the third-leading cause of suicide
B. There were more girl students suffering depression than boys
C. There were over 2 million American teens suffering depression in the past two years
D. The students surveyed were aged between `12 and 17
4. What will the following paragraph probably talk about according to the passage ?
A. How to recover from stress B. How to prevent and treat depression
C. How to live a comfortable life D. How to have a happy feeling