Retail therapy（购物疗法）has long been considered as a good way to let off stress. Now, US scientists have discovered not only does retail therapy exist，but that it could be caused by an individual's fear of sudden death.
Researchers found materialistic people thought terrorism and war more stressful than others.
Psychologists believe the rise of materialism around the world and its treatment effect on extreme stress might be a response to fear of death caused by acts of terrorism, disease and natural disasters.
The scientists from Michigan State University said people with possession obsessions（妄想）often have lower self-esteem than others so are more likely to shop as the result of severe psychological suffering.
Ayalla Ruvio，a business professor studying people's shopping habits while rockets fell in Israel, said, "When the going gets tough, the materialistic people go shopping. This stress spending is likely to produce even greater stress and lower well-being. Essentially, materialism appears to make bad events even worse.
Dr Ruvio led a two-part study of Israeli citizens living in a town that came under extreme rocket attacks for about six months in 2007. She compared 139 residents of the southern town with 170 from another town that was not under attack to see how their symptoms of post-traumatic stress and shopping habits varied. Dr Ruvio found that, when faced with a deadly threat, those who are highly materialistic suffered much higher levels of stress，while their tendency to shop was increased.
Dr Ruvio said, "The relationship between materialism and stress may be more harmful than commonly thought.”
The second stage of their research surveyed 855 Americans about their materialistic nature and fear of death. They found shopping was used to relieve feelings of stress and anxiety about death but this was in response to fear of a variety of life-threatening events like car accidents, criminal attacks and natural disasters.Which of the following opinion is NOT right according to the text?
| A．Terrorism is believed to easily cause the rise of materialism. |
| B．The materialistic find terrorism and war more stressful than others. |
| C．The scientists think possession obsessions help people get self-respect. |
| D．The scientists think people with possession obsessions suffer a lot mentally. |
Why did Dr Ruvio choose to study the two groups of Israeli citizens mentioned in the passage?
| A．They enjoy the special shopping culture. |
| B．The stresses they face are usually deadly. |
| C．They are in different situation in terms of war. |
| D．They are usually active participants for researchers. |
What's the result about Dr Ruvio's research?
| A．Impulsive spending does good to people's health. |
| B．Shopping can't lower one's stress as it is expected. |
| C．Faced with great stress, people feel hopeless for life. |
| D．Faced with threat，people's wish to shop will decrease. |
Which of the following events threaten people's life?
①Greater stress; ②Car accidents; ③Criminal attacks；. ④Natural disasters;
| A．①②③ | B．②③④ | C．①②④ | D．①③④ |
What's the main idea of the passage?
| A．Greater stress can lead to shopping. |
| B．Greater stress can cause a lot of diseases |
| C．Shopping is very important in people's life. |
| D．Can shopping reduce the stress and relieve the fear of death? |
The words of Gandhi, Einstein and other great thinkers are to be quoted in service announcements on London’s Underground．
Transport for London has asked Turner Prize-winning artist Jeremy Deller to edit a list of mottos to be used by tube drivers．Gandhi’s “there is more to life than increasing its speed” and the artist Cezanne’s “we live in a rain-bow of chaos” are among the quotes．Deller hopes they will make passengers’ journeys a bit more thought-provoking(发人深省的)．
Deller’s original plan was to abolish all public announcements for a day．“It makes me feel annoyed,” he said．“It’s like some psychological warfare(战争 ) on the passengers．”
But his idea was refused by the manager of Transport for London, who instead agreed to the plan of replacing some announcements with something more human and attractive．
Sally Shaw, who is running the scheme for Transport for London, says it is part of an attempt to improve day-to-day interaction and rely less on automated announcements．
“I think everyone has their own little philosophy on their journeys．And if we can get more of that out in the air, that would be great,” she said．
Susy Wells, one of the drivers to test the idea out on the London Underground, is also enthusiastic about it．
She said, “I like to make my own announcements and it’s nice to get passengers to think as well．”
What’s more, some quotes are helpful to the drivers．They help the passengers become more understanding about the drivers’ work．
The quotes such as Thomas Fuller’s “a stumble(绊脚) may prevent a fall” are popular for helping explain why a little inconvenience was sometimes necessary to keep the system safe．
1．The underlined phrase “tube drivers” probably means______．
A．taxi drivers B．subway drivers
C．truck drivers D．bus drivers
2．Why did Deller want to abolish all public announcements on the underground?
A．Because they cause a war among passengers．
B．Because the public announcements make Deller tired．
C．Because the public announcements are dull．
D．All public announcements are not suitable for the passengers．
3．The reason why the sayings are to be quoted on London’s Underground is ______．
A．that everyone has their own life motto
B．that sayings are believed to be more human and attractive
C．that sayings can help develop spiritual civilization in London
D．that saying can make drivers think more
4．The best title of this passage would be _____．
A．Changes on London’s Underground
B．Culture on London’s Underground
C．Some Quotes Seen on London’s Underground
D．Introduction to London’s Underground
Sports can help you keep fit and get in touch with nature．However, whether you are on the mountains, in the waves, or on the grassland, you should be aware that your sport of choice might have great influence on the environment．
Some sports are resource-hungry．Golf, as you may know, eats up not only large areas of countryside, but also tons of water．Besides, all sorts of chemicals and huge amounts of energy are used to keep its courses (球场) in good condition．This causes major environmental effects．For example, in the dry regions of Portugal and Spain, golf is often held responsible for serious water shortage in some local areas．
There are many environment-friendly sports．Power walking is one of them that you could take up today．You don’t need any special equipment except a good pair of shoes; and you don’t have to worry about resources and your purse．Simple and free, power walking can also keep you fit．If you walk regularly, it will be good for your heart and bones．Experts say that 20 minutes of power walking daily can make you feel less anxious, sleep well and have better weight control．
Whatever sport you take up, you can make it greener by using environment-friendly equipment and buying products made from recycled materials．But the final goal should be “green gyms”．They are better replacements for traditional health clubs and modern sports centers．Members of green gyms play sports outdoors, in the countryside or other open spaces．There is no special requirement for you to start your membership．And best of all, it’s free．
1．The author thinks the golf is resource-hungry because of the following EXCEPT that_____．
A．Golf wastes large areas of countryside
B．Golf runs out of much water
C．Keeping golf court in good condition needs too much energy
D．Golf is bad for people’s health
2．According to the passage, which of the following is an environment-friendly sport?
A．swimming in the pool B．hiking in the hills
C．playing basketball in the gym D．motor racing in the desert
3．The reason why the author uses power walking as an example mainly is because _________．
A．it improves our health B．it uses fewer resources
C．it is an outdoor sport D．it is recommended by experts
4．The purpose of the author’s writing this passage is to ______．
A．show us the function of major sports
B．encourage us to go in for green sports
C．discuss the major influence of popular sports
D．introduce different types of environment-friendly sports
The devastation of Typhoon Morakot over Taiwan and eastern China is a reminder that the northwest Pacific is the most dangerous region in the world for tropical storms．The worst of these are typhoons, which are the same as hurricanes in the Atlantic and eastern Pacific, or cyclones in the Indian Ocean and Australia．They all have winds of more than 118km/h (73mph) spinning around a central core．
These storms start off as a mass of thunderstorms in the tropics outside the Equator．Given the right conditions, they form a bigger and more organised storm and feed off warm seas at more than 26．5C (80F) to get the fuel that they need to become a fully-fledged(羽毛丰满的) typhoon, hurricane or cyclone．Each storm is like a heat engine, extracting heat from the warm, humid air over the sea and turning it into phenomenal amounts of energy — equivalent to about 200 times the entire world’s electrical generating capacity．But warm, moist air is not enough — these storms also need slack winds aloft, because strong high-altitude winds can rip off the top of the storm clouds and send the entire storm tumbling（翻跟头）．
The damage from tropical storms often comes from their winds, or the storm surges from the sea as the winds pile up water into a huge battering ram(冲击夯) that floods coastlines．But the devastation from Typhoon Morakot came from its unbelievable rainfall — about a year’s average rain in some places — that set off landslides and mudslides．
1．According to the first paragraph, the common point among typhoons,hurricanes and cyclones is _______．
A．that they all come from the oceans
B．that they all have winds of over 118km/h spinning around a central core
C．that they all cause great damage
D．that they all can generate electricity
2．Which of the following is the best title of this passage?
A．Typhoon Morakat devestates Taiwan and eastern China
B．How is the typhoon formed?
C．Typhoon Morakot was how to devestate the areas it travelled
D．How terrible is Typhoon Morakat!
3．The devastation from Typhoon Morakot is mainly from ______．
A．its wind B．its rainfall
C．landslides and mudslides D．the storm
4．It can be inferred from the passage that ______．
A．Taiwan is off the northwest Pacific
B．the damage from tropical storms often comes from their winds
C．tropical storms often happen
D．tropical storms only need warm, moist air
第二部分阅读理解（共25小题；第一节每小题2分，第二节每小题1分，满分45分）
第一节阅读下列短文，从每题所给的四个选项（A、B、C、D）中，选出最佳选项。
Do you know of Guo Degang? In recent months he has become well known in China as a crosstalker．He has never performed on TV before, but attending his crosstalk performance is becoming increasingly fashionable in Beijing, especially for youth and school children．
Guo arrived in Beijing from Tianjin in 1995 and came across a teahouse where he found several young people performing crosstalk．Being a crosstalker himself, he couldn’t help taking to the stage．Gradually, more and more people came to the teahouse to see him perform．He soon found himself playing to audiences numbering more than 100 in a teahouse that could only contain 80．
As his popularity grew, Guo thought over the future of his art．“Traditional crosstalk is at least half an hour long, but performances are no longer than five minutes on TV, which kills much of the story．TV is part of the fast-food culture and crosstalk is a face-to-face art form — it needs interaction (交流), and is not suited to TV,” Guo said．He decided to bring it back to its roots： the teahouse and theater．
In 1996, Guo and some young crosstalk actors founded Deyun Crosstalk Association．Over the next ten years, the association organized countless performances in teahouses across Beijing．Despite their growing popularity, Guo ensured (确保) that ticket prices were kept low to make the art form accessible to everyone．Tickets to his performances are still 20 yuan today．And in keeping with technology and modern times, the association set up a BBS site on the Internet where fans could download recordings and discuss performances with actors．
He hopes that through their efforts, more young people will learn to appreciate crosstalk and perhaps train to be crosstalkers themselves．
1．Which of the following is the best title of the passage?
A．Guo Degang and his traditional crosstalk
B．A traditional art form—crosstalk
C．The development history of crosstalk
D．Deyun Crosstalk Association
2．From the passage, we can know the crosstalk originates(源于) from ________．
A．the TV show B．the teahouse and theater
C．the cinema D．the common people
3．According to the passage, Deyun Crosstalk Association set up a BBS site on the internet to ________．
A．let fans download recordings
B．have fans discuss performances with actors
C．keep up with modern technology
D．ask more people appreciate their favorite crosstalk
4．From the passage, we can know the following EXCEPT________．
A．the crosstalk is a face-to- face art which needs interaction
B．Guo was a crosstalker when he was in Tianjing
C．the performances of Guo are very popular
D．the tickets to Guo’s performances may rise in future
The stereotype(固有观念)of computer scientists as nerds who stay up all night coding and have no social life may be driving women away from the field, according to a new study published this month. This stereotype can be brought to mind based only on the appearance of the environment in a classroom or an office.
“When people think of computer science the image that immediately pops into many of their minds is about the computer geek(怪人)surrounded by such things as computer games, science fiction and junk food,”said Sapna Cheryan, a University of Washington assistant professor of psychology and the study’s lead author. “That stereotype doesn’t appeal to many women who don’t like the portrait of masculinity(男性化).”
Cheryan set up four experiments involving more than 250 female and male students who were not studying computer science to look at possible reasons why the proportion of women in the field is dropping while the proportion of women in such disciplines as biology, mathematics and chemistry is increasing.
In the first experiment,students entered a small classroom that either contained objects stereotypically associated with computer science such as Star Trek posters, video game boxes and Coke cans, or non-stereotypical items such as nature posters, art, a dictionary and coffee cups. The students were told to ignore these objects because the room was being shared with another class. After spending several moments in the classroom, the students filled out questionnaires(调查问卷)that asked about their attitude toward computer science.
Women exposed to the stereotypical setup expressed less interest in computer science than those who saw the non-stereotypical objects. Men placed in the same situations did not show a similar drop in interest in computer science. Cheryan said this study suggests that a student’s choice of classes or a major can be influenced by the appearance of classrooms, halls and offices.
1. The underlined word “nerds” in Paragraph 1 probably refers to “______”
A. dull personsB. active personsC. intelligent personsD. funny persons
2. Women are less likely to choose computer science because__________.
A. it is too difficult for them
B. they have wrong understanding of it
C. the lifestyle of computer scientists turns them away
D. they don’t like the social life of computer scientists
3. A woman would probably lose interest in computer science when she sees a ______.
A. Star Trek poster B. nature posterC. dictionaryD. coffee cup
4. What can influence a woman’s choice of classes, according to the passage?
A. The contents of computer science.
B. The space in the classroom.
C. The number of students in the classroom.
D. The classroom environment.