LEEDS, England—A Leeds University psychology professor is researching a course to help dozens of Britons forgive their enemies.
“The hate we hold within us is a cancer.” Professor Ken Hart said, adding that holding in anger can lead to problems such as high blood pressure and heart disease.
More than 70 people have become volunteers in Hart’s first 20-week workshop in London—a course he says is the first of its kind in the world.
These are people who are sick and tired of living with a memory. They realize their bitterness is a poison they think they can pour out, but they end up drinking it themselves, said Canadian-born Hart.
The students meet in each group of eight to ten for a two-hour workshop with a director every two weeks.
The course, ending in July, is expected to get rid of the cancer of hate in these people. “People have lots of negative attitudes towards forgiveness,” he said, “People confuse forgiveness with forgetting. Forgiveness means changing from a negative attitude to a positive one.”
Hart and his team have created instructions to provide the training needed.
“The main idea is to give you guidances on how to look at all kinds of angers and how they affect you, and how to change your attitudes towards the person you are angry with,” said Norman Claringbull, a senior expert on the forgiveness project.
Hart said, “I believe forgiveness is a skill that can be taught, as these people want to get free of the past.”From this passage we know that ________.
A.without hate, people will have less trouble connected with blood pressure and heart disease |
B.people who suffer from blood pressure and heart disease must have many enemies |
C.high blood pressure can only be cured by psychology professors |
D.high blood pressure and heart disease are caused by hate |
If you are angry with somebody, you should ________.
A.attend Hart’s course |
B.persuade him or her to have a positive talk with you |
C.never meet him or her any longer |
D.treat him or her positively instead of negatively |
In Hart’s first 20-week workshop, people there can ________.
A.meet their enemies |
B.change their attitudes |
C.enjoy the professor’s teaching |
D.learn how to quarrel with others |
If you are a volunteer in Hart’s workshop, you’ll ________.
A.meet in eight or ten groups |
B.get rid of the illness of cancer |
C.attend a gathering twice a month |
D.pour out everything stored in your mind |
The author wrote this passage in order to________.
A.persuade Britons to go to Hart’s workshop |
B.tell us the news about Hart’s research |
C.tell us how to run a workshop like Hart’s |
D.help us to look at all kinds of angers |
Books for Children
Fleabag and the Ring's End Beth Webb More stories of Fleabag, the talking cat—star of this wonderful set of 3 books. Ages 8—13, 208 pages, paper-back 07459 44116, £3.99 |
The little White House Elizabeth Goudge A fairy tale and winner of the Carnegie Medal. Ages 8—12, 240 pages, paper-back 07459 45783, £4.99 |
My Very First Christmas Book Lois Rock and Alec Ayliffe A big, bright book, which presents the story simply, and delightfully for very young children. Ages 0—3, 12 pages, 200mmx200mm, board 07459 40560, £4.99 |
First Festival: Christmas Lois Rock An all-in-one book to help grown-ups and children prepare their Christmas celebration together. Presents, activities and customs. Ages 5—8, 48 pages, 290mmx250mm, hardback 07459 39074, £8.99 |
Star of Wonder Pat Alexander A wonderful collection of Christmas stories and poems. Full of lively pages to read and enjoy. Ages 7—12, 224 pages, paperback 07459 39323, £4.99 |
The Not-So-Wise Man Alan MacDonald and Andrew Rowland We all know about the 3 Wise Men who traveled to Bethlehem(伯利恒)and discovered the baby Jesus Christ. This is the tale of another one, who always missed the point. Ages 5—9, 32 pages, 270mm×210mm, hardback. 07459 38922, £8.99 |
If you want to make a Christmas plan together with your children, which book do you prefer?
A.Star of Wonder | B.The Not-So-Wise Man |
C.First Festival: Christmas | D.My Very First Christmas Book |
Which number would you dial if you want to order a book for your 2-year-old child?
A.07459 40560. | B.07459 38922. |
C.07459 45783. | D.07459 44116. |
If your child wants to read stories of animals, whose book will be your choice?
A.Pat Alexander. | B.Beth Webb. |
C.Lois Rock. | D.Elizabeth Goudge. |
In Britain today, is it possible to tell a person’s class just by looking at him? Physical details alone tell us about health, diet and the type of work a person does. A hundred years ago the working class often looked unhealthy, small and they were either too thin or too fat. The upper classes were often tall, sporting types who were used to a good diet and looked healthy. Today living and working conditions have improved, and such descriptions are no longer true. People are taller now than a hundred years ago. Everyone in Britain today is able to have free medicine, a good diet, acceptable working conditions and enough rest and leisure. WWW.K**S*858$$U.COM
The clothes people choose to wear, however, do provide information about their backgrounds. Expensive clothes look expensive and show their wearer is rich. Clothes can provide other clues as well. The upper classes appear to be less interested in fashion and wear good quality clothes in non-bright colours, made of natural material like wool, leather and cotton. Lower working-class people often choose clothes in bright colours, made of man-made materials. A sociological explanation for this would be that colour and interest are missing from their lives, and therefore any opportunity to produce this is taken.
Clothes are available at a price within most people’s reach. New clothes make the wearer feel good and show some degree of wealth to the outside world. Today it is the younger people who spend most money on clothes. Fashion is no longer for the upper classes and the rich. Young people from all social classes spend a lot of money on clothes. Some new fashions are started by working-class people who want to look different and feel important. They want people WWW.K**S*858$$U.COMto look at them.In the past, a person’s appearance could not tell other people about his ________.
A.health | B.diet | C.occupation (职业) | D.habits |
The clothes people choose to wear tell us about their ________.
A.education | B.richness | C.backgrounds | D.hobby |
A working-class person may start a new fashion because ________.
A.she wants to draw the attention of other people |
B.she wants to look different and healthy |
C.she wants to show their wealth |
D.she wants to show their taste |
Which of the following statements is NOT true?
A.Expensive clothes look expensive and show the wearer is rich. |
B.Working-class people prefer clothes in bright colours because they lack colour in their lives. |
C.Today, it is still the upper class people who spend most money on clothes. |
D.Today, fashion is no longer for the upper classes and the rich. |
There is an endless supply of stories about sleepwalkers (梦游者). People have been said to climb on roofs, solve mathematical problems, write music, walk through windows, and do murder in their sleep.
In Revere, Massachusetts, a hundred policemen searched for a lost boy who left his home in his sleep and woke up five hours later on a strange sofa in a strange living room, with no idea how he had got there.
At the University of Lowa, WWW.K**S*858$$U.COMa student was reported to have the habit of getting up in the middle of the night and walking three-quarters of a mile to the Lowa River. He would take a swim and then go back to his room to bed.
An American expert on sleep claims (声称) that he has never seen a sleepwalker. He is said to know more about sleep than any other living man, and during the last thirty-five years he has lost a lot of sleep watching people sleep. He says, “Of course, I know that there are sleepwalkers because I have read about them in the newspapers. But none of my sleepers ever walked, and if I were to advertise for sleepwalkers for an experiment, I doubt whether I would get many takers (应征者).”
Sleepwalking, however, is a scientific reality. It is one of those strange things that sometimes look quite fantastic (怪诞的). Doctors say that sleepwalking is much more common than is generally supposed. Many sleepwalkers do not try to find help and their sleepwalking is never recorded. Generally speaking, sleepwalkers are people who ________.
A.climb on roofs | B.walk through windows |
C.do fantastic things during their sleep | D.walk in a half-awake state |
It was reported that a boy ________.
A.was found on a strange sofa, telling how he had got there |
B.slept in his own room but woke up in a strange room |
C.lost his way five hours after he left home |
D.was searched for by policemen when he lost his way |
There was a college student who got into the habit of ________.
A.getting up in the middle of the night and walking down to the river |
B.walking three-quarters of a mile every day |
C.swimming in the Lowa River before going to bed |
D.walking about before he went to bed |
Why do people think sleepwalking is nothing but a fantastic thing which doesn’t have any explanation?
A.It is so common that it needn’t be recorded. |
B.Scientists take no interest in it. |
C.Most sleepwalkers do not seek help for their problem. |
D.No records about it have been made. |
Japanese people,who never miss a chance to be photographed,were lining up to get their pictures on a postage stamp.Vanity(虚荣)stamps with personal photographs went on sale for the first time in Japan as part of an international postage stamp exhibition.The customer’s photo was taken with a digital camera and then printed on stamp sheets,a process that takes about five minutes.Sold in a sheet of 10 stamps for $8.80,little more than the cost of lunch in Tokyo,each stamp printed a different scene from a traditional painting along with the photo.
The stamps can be used normally to mail a letter,and postal officials hope they will help encourage interest in letter writing in the Internet age.“Certainly e-mail is a useful method of communication,but letters are fun in a different way,”said Hatsumi Shimizu an official in the Post Ministry.“We want to show young people that letters can be fun too.”[
While similar stamp sheets appeared in Australia in 1999 and are now sold in some nations and territories,Japan’s fondness for commemorative photos is likely to make them especially popular here.Indeed,officials had prepared 1 000 sheets but they were sold out in less than 30 minutes.Although the stamps are currently only available as a special service during the exhibition,postal officials said they may start selling them on a regular basis in the future.The best title of this passage might be______.
A.Never Miss a Chance to be Photographed |
B.Your Own Face on a Postage Stamp |
C.First Japanese Postage Stamps with a Photo |
D.Letters are as Fun as E-mails |
By saying“little more than the cost of lunch in Tokyo”,the author really means______.
A.this service is not very expensive |
B.the cost of this service is very high |
C.food in Tokyo is very dear |
D.$8.80 is a very small amount of money |
The purpose of this activity is______.
A.to make the international postage stamp exhibition more interesting |
B.to make more stamps for normal use |
C.to draw interest in writing letters |
D.to satisfy Japan’s fondness of commemorative photos |
Which of the following is true according to the passage?
A.Japanese people like to take photos. |
B.This kind of stamps must be used to mail letters. |
C.Japanese people can get this kind of stamps easily after the stamp exhibition. |
D.This service is more popular in Japan than in other places. |
If women are mercilessly exploited(剥削) year after year, they have only themselves to blame.Because they tremble at the thought of being seen in public in clothes that are out of fashion, they are always taken advantage of by the designers and the big stores.Clothes which have been worn only a few times have to be put aside because of the change of fashion.
Changing fashions are nothing more than the intentional creation of waste.Many women spend large sums of money each year to replace clothes that have hardly been worn.Women who cannot afford to throw away clothing in this way, waste hours of their time changing their old-fashioned dresses.Skirts are lengthened or shortened; neck-lines are lowered or raised, and so on.
No one can claim that the fashion industry contributes anything really important to society.Fashion designers are rarely concerned with necessary things like warmth, comfort and durability (耐用).They are only interested in outward appearance and they take advantage of the fact that women will put up with any amount of discomfort, as long as they look right.There can hardly be a man who hasn't at some time in his life smiled at the sight of a woman shaking in a thin dress on a winter day, or picking her way through deep snow in high heeled shoes.
When comparing men and women in the matter of fashion, the conclusions to be drawn are obvious.Do the constantly changing fashions of women's clothes, one wonders, reflect basic qualities of inconstancy and instability? Men are too clever to let themselves be cheated by fashion designers.Do their unchanging styles of dress reflect basic qualities of stability and reliability? That is for you to decide.Designers and big stores always make money_________.
A.by mercilessly exploiting women workers in the clothing industry |
B.because they are capable of predicting new fashions |
C.by constantly changing the fashions in women's clothing |
D.because they attach great importance to quality in women's clothing |
To the writer, the fact that women change their old-fashioned dresses is seen as ___________.
A.a waste of money |
B.a waste of time |
C.an expression of taste |
D.an expression of creativity |
New fashions in clothing are created for ___________.
A.the commercial exploitation of women |
B.the women's strength of character |
C.basic qualities of inconstancy and instability |
D.an important contribution to society |
By saying "the conclusions to be drawn are obvious" ( Line One to Line Two, Paragraph Four), the writer means that ___________.
A.women's inconstancy in their choice of clothing is often laughed at |
B.women are better able to put up with discomfort |
C.men are also exploited greatly by fashion designers |
D.men are more reasonable in the matter of fashion |