Firstpublishedin2001,thebookLi-优题课

Compared to people with bad attitudes，people who are cheerful and relaxed are less likely to suffer from colds，according to a new study.“It’s possible that being upbeat helps the body fight illnesses，” says Sheldon Cohen，the study’s lead researcher from Carnegie Mellon University (CMU) in Pittsburgh.
In a previous（先前的） study，Cohen and his colleagues put coldcausing viruses into the noses of 334 healthy adults. People who tended to be cheerful and lively were least likely to develop sniffles，coughs，and other cold symptoms. People who showed positive feelings were also less likely to mention symptoms to their doctors，even when medical tests detected those symptoms.
Those findings were interesting，but they didn’t prove that a person’s attitude affects whether he or she gets sick. Instead，it was still possible that a person’s underlying personality is what matters. Evidence suggests，for instance，that certain people are naturally more likely to be outgoing and optimistic，with high selfesteem and a sense of control over life. This would mean that who we are，not how we feel，ultimately decides our chances of catching colds.
To figure out which mattered more (personality or emotions)，the CMU team interviewed 193 healthy adults. The researchers talked to each person over the phone every evening for 2 weeks. At the end of the interviewing period，people got nose drops that contained either cold or flu viruses. Then，each person stayed in an isolated room for 5 or 6 days. The results showed that everyone in the study was equally likely to get infected. Their symptoms，however，differed depending on the types of emotions that they had reported over the previous 2 weeks. Among those who reported good moods and had been infected with the flu virus，for example,28 percent developed coughs and stuffy noses. On the other hand，those symptoms struck 41 percent of people who had been less upbeat.

What would be the best title for the passage?

A．Smiles Turn away Colds

B．An Interesting Way to Beat Colds

C．Be Outgoing and Optimistic to Fight Colds

D．What Matters More，Personality or Emotions?

In the previous study，people who showed positive feelings______.

A．didn’t catch colds as often

B．developed cold symptoms more slowly

C．were less likely to have cold symptoms detected

D．were less likely to feel cold symptoms

What mainly decides our chances of catching colds according to the new study?

A．Personality.

B．Selfesteem（自尊）.

C．Emotions.

D．Attitudes.

The underlined word “symptoms” probably means________.

A．something that causes cold

B．something that results in cold

C．signs that something exists，especially something bad

D．changes in your body or mind that show that you are not healthy

Agnes Miller was one of the earliest leaders of the Women’s Liberation Movement in the United States. She was born on a farm in Missouri in 1892. Strangely enough she had a very happy life as a child. She was the only daughter and the youngest child of five. Her parents and her brothers always treated her as their favorite.
In 1896 the family moved to Chicago. Three years later they moved back to St. Louis where Agnes spent the rest of her childhood. She enjoyed her years in school and was an excellent student of mathematics. She also was quite skillful as a painter.
It was when Agnes went off to college that she first learned that women were not treated as equals. She didn’t like being treated unequally but she tried not to notice it. After graduating from college she tried to get a job in her major field—physics. She soon found it was almost impossible for a woman.
Agnes spent a full year looking for a job. Finally she gave up in anger. She began writing letters of anger to various newspapers. An editor in New York liked her ideas very much. He specially liked her style. He asked her to do a series of stories on the difficulties that women had in finding a job. And there she began her great fight for equal rights for women.

Where did Agnes spend her childhood?

A．Missouri.

B．Chicago.

C．New York.

D．St. Louis and Chicago.

At school, Agnes was good at .

A．physics and painting	B．maths and painting
C．writing and maths	D．physics and writing

What happened in Agnes’s life when she was in college?

A．She learned to accept the fact that men and women were unequal.

B．She learned that it was impossible for a woman to be a scientist.

C．She came to know of the inequality between men and women.

D．She developed her personal way of writing.

“Few things help an individual more than to place responsibility upon him，and let him know that you trust him.” These words are from the black American educator，Booker Washington. He was saying that，“If you want people to grow up，you have to stop treating them like children.”
In America，families are close but children are encouraged to be independent，to make their own decisions，even at a very early age. It’s not unusual for a child of seven to be given an allowance (津贴) every week. The child is encouraged to save some of the money but he or she can spend it on whatever they choose，for example，buying clothes，school supplies or CDs. Some teenagers even have their own credit cards！That’s a big responsibility since even adults are tempted to overspend when they have credit cards（信用卡）.
From an early age，American children are asked for their opinions and they are included in family decisionmaking. At the dinner table，teenagers will be listened to on any topic，from politics to buying a new family car or where the family will go on vacation. In this way，teenagers are getting practice in becoming individuals：they are learning how to stand on their own two feet.
Many Chinese young people are becoming almost as interested as American teens in searching for independence. They want to express those qualities that make them unique human beings. You can see this in the way they dress，the music they listen to and the friends they choose.“Super Girl” Li Yuchun caught the imagination of Chinese teenagers on the “Super Girl” television contest. She was not the traditional “nice，young Chinese girl”．With her short，spiky hair and boylike clothes，she was telling everyone that she was different. She had the courage to be her own person and to stand on her own two feet...and she won!
There is an old saying，“Everyone should carefully observe which way his heart draws him and then choose that way with all his strength.” If you do this，step by step，over a period of time，you may find that you have become the person you always wanted to be.

The passage is intended to encourage the youth to________.

A．save money for useful things	B．become independent
C．express their great ambitions	D．make important decisions

A child of seven is given an allowance so that he can______.

A．be accepted as a popular guy	B．learn to decide how to use money
C．overspend money without care	D．have school supplies of his own

The author implies that many Chinese children________.

A．are more independent than Americans

B．should become interested in America

C．are happy with their present situation

D．are not satisfied to be nice，quiet ones

The main idea of the last paragraph is________.

A．that we should do things step by step

B．why we should understand our desires

C．what we should plan for our own life

D．how we can manage to realize our dreams

To get an extra 14 years of life, don't smoke, eat lots of fruits and vegetables, exercise regularly and drink alcohol in a proper amount．That is according to a study published this Monday in the Public Library of Science Medicine Journal．
After tracking more than 20,000 people aged 45 to 79 years in the United Kingdom from about 1993 to 2007, Kay-Tee Khaw of the University of Cambridge and his colleagues found that people who adopted these four healthy habits lived all average of 14 years longer than those who didn't．
“We've known for a long time that these behaviors are good things to do, but we've not seen this benefit before, ”said Susan Jebb, head of Nutrition and Health at Britain's Medical Research Council．“The benefit was also seen regardless of whether or not people were fat and what social class they came from．”
Study participants（参与者）scored a point each for not smoking, regular physical activity, eating five servings of fruits and vegetables a day and moderate alcohol intake．
Public health experts said they hoped the study would inspire governments to introduce policies helping people to adopt these changes．But because the study only observed people rather than testing specific changes, it would be impossible to conclude that people who suddenly adopted these healthy behaviors would surely gain 14 years．
“We can't say that any person could gain 14 years by doing these things, ”said Dr．Tim Armstrong, a physical activity expert at the World Health Organization．“The 14 years is an average across the population of what's theoretically（理论上地）possible．”
“Most people know that things like a good diet matter and that smoking isn't good for them, ”Susan Jebb said．“We need to work on providing people with much more practical support to help them change．”
Which of the following DOESN'T belong to the four healthy habits?

A．Eat five servings of fruits and vegetables a day．

B．Do proper exercise in the morning every day．

C．Drinking alcohol in the proper amount every day．

D．Having a cigarette before going to bed every day．

We can learn from the passage that．

A．Susan Jebb did not take part in the study．

B．the study observed people as well as tested specific changes．

C．there's no need for people under 45 to adopt these good habits．

D．only those from first class can benefit from these healthy behaviors．

What can be inferred from the passage?

A．All the people are well aware of the harm of their bad habits．

B．People aged 45 to 70 have bad habits in the United Kingdom．

C．Governments should take measures to help people change their bad habits．

D．People have adopted the four healthy habits after knowing they're good．

What would be the best title for this passage?

A．Smoking and Drinking Cuts You 14 Years

B．How to Live a Much Healthier Life

C．Healthy Habits May Give Extra 14 Years

D．How to Make Your Life Longer Than Others

It was a beautiful Sunday morning, and Maggie and I were returning from our walk through the woods．We were only a couple of blocks from home when I spotted a cell phone and a credit card sitting on the road．We took them home．We always find amazing things on the street and she looks upon them as a movable feast-a chicken wing here or a barbecue rib （肋骨）there．
I found another cell phone a few years back, too, and called a number in its phone book．I explained the situation to the guy who answered．He said it was his sister's and that he'd come to pick it up, which he did．
And that was that．No verbal thank-you, no written thank-you, no “here's a box of chocolates” thank-you．
I didn't have time to call anyone on my latest found cell phone．I was pouring myself coffee when it started to shake and dance across the kitchen counter．
“Who's this?” someone asked when I picked up．
“Who's this?” I countered（反问）．“Sarah?”
She was surprised at my knowing her name until she realized her name was on the credit card．“Could you send them to me?” she asked．
She lives in Arlington, which is 2 miles from my house．
“Hmm, no, ”I replied, adding that I thought she could come to get them, and that if I wasn't at home, they would be in my mailbox．
A day later, when I was out for a run, someone got them back．There wasn't even a piece of paper put in the mailbox with “Thanks” on it．In this age of e-mail and cell phone, there's really no excuse．Years ago, I found something more precious than a $100 bill on the street：a driver's license．I saw that its owner lived a couple of blocks from me, so I called him up．He asked whether I could slip the license through his front door．
“I guess I could, ”I replied．
And that was that．
What is the relationship between Maggie and the writer?

A．Wife and husband	B．Daughter and father
C．Teacher and student	D．Master and pet dog

How many experiences are mentioned by the writer to return things to the losers?

A．3

B．4

C．5

D．6

How did the writer know Sarah's name?

A．From her telephone's phone book	B．From her credit card
C．From her e-mail	D．From her driver's license

The writer wants to tell us through the unusual stories,

A．we should return the things we picked to the losers

B．people don't know how to appreciate others in the age of e-mail and cell phone

C．people should learn to appreciate persons who provide help for you

D．the advance of society makes people lose some virtues