Life is filled with challenges. As we get older, we come to realize that those challenges are the very things that shape us and make us who we are. It is the same with the challenges that come with friendship. When we are faced with a challenge, we usually have two choices. We can try to beat it off, or we can decide that the thing presenting the challenge isn't worth the trouble and call it quits. Although there are certainly times when calling it quits is the right thing to do, in most cases all that is needed is commitment and communication.
When we are committed to something, it means that no matter how painful or how uncomfortable something is, we will always choose to face it through instead of running away from it. Communication is making a space for discussion and talking about how you feel as opposed to just saying what the other person did wrong. If you can say to a friend, "I got my feelings hurt", rather than "You hurt my feelings", you are going to be able to solve the problem much faster.
In dealing with many challenges that friendship will bring to you, try to see them for what they are: small hurdles you need to jump or get through on your way through life. Nothing is so big that it is impossible to get over, and hurt only serves to make us stronger. It is all part of growing up, it happens to everyone, and some day you will look back on all of this and say, "Hard as it was, it made me who I am today. And that is a good thing." The writer believes that challenges ________.
| A．are always born with friendship |
| B．help build friendship |
| C．are never worth attention |
| D．help us grow |
If your friend hurts your feelings, you are advised to ____.
| A．point out your friend's mistake |
| B．calm yourself down |
| C．start a proper conversation |
| D．run away from it |
The whole passage is centered on the relationship（关系） between ___.
| A．friendship and challenges |
| B．commitment and friendship |
| C．friendship and growth |
| D．challenges and chances |
King Midas used to love gold. One day he met a fairy who allowed him to make a wish for something. The king replied at once , ‘‘I love gold . I want everything I touch to change into gold”. ‘‘Very well , tomorrow morning, everything you touch will turn into gold .”Saying this, the fairy disappeared.
The king waited excitedly till the next morning. To his joy ,everything he touched changed immediately into gold. ‘‘I’m the richest man in the world now.” He shouted.
Soon Midas became hungry. He sat down at his table. All the foods and drinks turned into gold in his hand . ‘‘I’m dying of hunger.” He cried.
Just then his daughter came running in . ‘‘Why are you so sad , dad ?” she asked, putting her arms around him. There and then she became a golden statue. The king loved his daughter very much .Seeing this ,he began to cry. He looked up and suddenly saw the fairy before him. ‘‘Don’t you like the golden touch?” asked the fairy. ‘‘ Please take it away,” begged the king, ‘‘ give me back my daughter.” ‘‘Well, you have learned your lesson. Go and wash in the river. Then the golden touch will be gone.” The king ran quickly to the nearby river.The fairy allowed the king to make a wish because_____
| A．she hoped to make the king the richest in the world. |
| B．She loved gold too. |
| C．She wanted to teach the king a lesson. |
| D．She wanted to turn the king’s daughter into gold. |
When the foods and drinks turned into gold the king was _____
A. excited B. hungry C. worried D happyThe king’s daughter became a golden statue when _____
| A．she saw her father |
| B．the king went to meet her |
| C．she put her arms around her father |
| D．the king loved her very much |
Which of the following might have happened afterwards?
| A．The king died in the river. |
| B．The king’s daughter changed back from gold to a lovely girl. |
| C．All the things the king had touched changed back into real ones. |
| D．Both B and C |
What do you think the story tries to tell us?
| A．Gold makes people unhappy. |
| B．More gold , more happiness. |
| C．Gold is not the thing that makes life happy. |
| D．People feel happy if they have not gold. |
While she may be best known for her role as Hermione Granger in the Harry Potter films，Emma Watson would rather be known for something else—her mind.
The 18yearold British actress intends to put her acting career on hold to pursue higher studies at a university after she finished filming the final installment，Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows.
Watson，whose parents are both Oxford graduates，recently scored straight A's in her Alevels. She is now on a gap year before starting university.
Earlier this month，Watson applied to two of the top universities in the United States—Harvard and Yale. She admitted that Harry Potter series has brought her fame and financial security(经济保障)．She has made more than ￡ 10 million so far，but now she “has a need to study”．
“I think the entertainment business is such a temperamental one. One minute you're up there and the next—nothing，”she said.
Watson is growing up in front of millions of viewers(观众)．She was only nine years old when she started playing the role of Hermione. And the way she figured out how to deal with media attention is “try not to read too much of what is said and try to distance myself a bit from it”．
Watson has other interests. These include，interestingly，fishing and she has helped raise money for the Wild Trout(鳟鱼)Trust.Which of the following topics is not mentioned in the passage?
| A．Watson's interests. | B．Watson's intention. |
| C．Watson's success. | D．Watson's worries. |
The underlined word “temperamental” in the fifth paragraph means ________.
| A．difficult | B．different | C．changeable | D．practical |
The underlined word “it” in the sixth paragraph refers to ________.
| A．reading | B．media attention | C．playing the role of Hermione | D．the viewer |
From the passage we may infer that ________.
| A．Watson doesn't want to continue her acting |
| B．Watson felt very proud of being known as Hermione Granger |
| C．Watson hasn't read too much so far |
| D．Watson was born in a welleducated family |
CONGRATULATIONS
We’ve organized the following information to help you prepare for your arrival at Boston College．Please feel free to contact our Admissions Office at any time over the coming months with any questions．
Your First Steps…
Please return the Acknowledgment Form sent with your acceptance letter to Dean Robert Howe, Graduate School of Arts & Sciences, McGuinn Hall 221,140 Commonwealth Avenue, Chestnut Hill, MA 02467．
■For Ph．D．Acceptances and Master’s Acceptances with funding, we ask you to reply by April 25, 2008．
■For Master’s Acceptances without funding and Non-degree Acceptances, we ask you to reply by May 31, 2008．
■You should also contact your department to receive any department information．
Over the Coming Months…
Get informed about services around campus．We have provided links for you to the following offices．
■Student Services
After you return your Acknowledgment Form, you should receive a letter containing your BC Username and Eagle ID number．With this information you can reach email and Agora．In Agora, BC’s online community, you can update your student information, check your student account, and register （登记） for classes．
The Office of Student Services issues （发行） your BC Eagle One Card．This ID card acts as your campus library card and meal card．
Student Services’ website offers a complete listing of courses for the school year, as well as student forms and other important student information．The Office of Student Services also handles billing．
■Housing …
CLICK HERE for more information．
If we can be of any more help to you, just contact us．Congratulations again! We look forward to you joining our University!The above page can most probably be read _________．
| A．on the Boston College website | B．in the Boston College newspaper |
| C．on BC Eagle One Card | D．at Student Services |
The information above is particularly useful for those ________．
| A．who want to apply for Boston College |
| B．who want to know about Boston College |
| C．who’ve been admitted to Boston College |
| D．who’ve decided to pay a visit to Boston College |
If you want to study for your master’s degree with funding, you will have to _______．
| A．return your Acknowledgment Form by May 31, 2008 |
| B．send back your Acknowledgment Form by April 25, 2008 |
| C．email your Acknowledgment Form to Admissions Office by May 31, 2008 |
| D．return your Acknowledgment Form to Student Services by April 25, 2008 |
If you want to decide what courses for the school year you’d better _________．
| A．call up the Office of Student Services |
| B．get in touch with the Admissions Office |
| C．read your acceptance letter |
| D．visit Student Services’ website |
Children brought up on healthy diets are more intelligent compared with their junk food eating partners, a new research suggests．
Kids fed a diet packed high in fats, sugars, and processed（加工） foods had lower IQs than those fed pasta（意大利面食）, salads and fruit, it was found．
The effect is so great that researchers from the University of Bristol said those children with a "healthier" diet may get an IQ improvement．
Scientists stressed good diet was essential in a child's early life as the brain grows at its fastest rate during the first three years of life．
This indicated head growth at this time is linked to intellectual ability and “it is possible that good nutrition（营养） during this period may encourage excellent brain growth” ．
Scientists tracked the long term health and happiness of around 14,000 children born in 1991 and 1992 as part of the West Country's Avon Longitudinal（纵向的）Study of Parents and Children（ ALSPAC） ．
Parents were questioned about the types and frequency of the food and drink their children consumed when they were three, four, seven and eight and a half years old． According to their different changing form, these children were marked and given grades which ranged from minus two for the most healthy to10 for the most unhealthy．
In the research, IQ was measured of 4,000 children when they were eight and half years old, using a validated（经过认证的）test－the Wechsler Intelligence Scale（韦氏儿童智力量表） for Children．
The results found after taking account of some influential factors, a leading processed food diet at the age of three was associated with a lower IQ at the age of eight and a half , whether the diet was improved after that age．
Every l point increase in dietary pattern score was associated with a l.67 fall in IQ．Scientists stressed good diet was essential in a child’s early life because.
| A．the brain grows at its fastest rate during the first three years of life． |
| B．those children with a "healthier" diet must get an IQ improvement． |
| C．children brought up on healthy diets are less intelligent． |
| D．these children were given good grades． |
Which of the following is NOT true?
| A．Those children with a "healthier" diet may get an IQ improvement． |
| B．Good nutrition at any stage may encourage excellent brain growth． |
| C．Scientists tracked the long term health and happiness of about 14,000 children． |
| D．Every l point increase in dietary pattern score was associated with a l．67 fall in IQ． |
The results found if a child ate a leading processed food diet when he was 3, he would．
| A．have a higher IQ |
| B．have a higher IQ as long as he improved his diet |
| C．have one IQ when he was 8 |
| D．have a lower IQ whether he improved his diet |
What is the best title of the passage?
| A．Food for thought |
| B．What is healthy food? |
| C．Healthy diet improves children's intelligence |
| D．How to become clever? |
Decision-making under Stress
A new review based on a research shows that acute stress affects the way the brain considers the advantages and disadvantages, causing it to focus on pleasure and ignore the possible negative (负面的) consequences of a decision.
The research suggests that stress may change the way people make choices in predictable ways.
“Stress affects how people learn,” says Professor Mara Mather. “People learn better about positive than negative outcomes under stress.”
For example, two recent studies looked at how people learned to connect images(影像) with either rewards or punishments. In one experiment, some of the participants were first stressed by having to give a speech and do difficult math problems in front of an audience; in the other, some were stressed by having to keep their hands in ice water. In both cases, the stressed participants remembered the rewarded material more accurately and the punished material less accurately than those who hadn’t gone through the stress.
This phenomenon is likely not surprising to anyone who has tried to resist eating cookies or smoking a cigarette while under stress –at those moments, only the pleasure associated with such activities comes to mind. But the findings further suggest that stress may bring about a double effect. Not only are rewarding experiences remembered better, but negative consequences are also easily recalled.
The research also found that stress appears to affect decision-making differently in men and women. While both men and women tend to focus on rewards and less on consequences under stress, their responses to risk turn out to be different.
Men who had been stressed by the cold-water task tended to take more risks in the experiment while women responded in the opposite way. In stressful situations in which risk-taking can pay off big, men may tend to do better, when caution weighs more, however, women will win.
This tendency to slow down and become more cautious when decisions are risky might also help explain why women are less likely to become addicted than men: they may more often avoid making the risky choices that eventually harden into addiction.We can learn from the passage that people under pressure tend to ______.
| A．keep rewards better in their memory |
| B．recall consequences more effortlessly |
| C．make risky decisions more frequently |
| D．learn a subject more effectively |
According to the research, stress affects people most probably in their ______.
| A．ways of making choices | B．preference for pleasure |
| C．tolerance of punishments | D．responses to suggestions |
The research has proved that in a stressful situation, ______.
| A．women find it easier to fall into certain habits |
| B．men have a greater tendency to slow down |
| C．women focus more on outcomes |
| D．men are more likely to take risks |