Read the passage carefully．Then answer the questions or complete the statements in the fewest possible words.

Most people look forward to retirement as a time when they can finally take up activities that they never had the time or energy to pursue before．But some recent studies on people in their golden years are disturbing: they suggest that retirees are more likely to suffer from depression and possibly higher rates of other diseases such as heart disease and high blood pressure．That’s why a new study of French workers is welcome news.

Led by Hugo Westland, a professor of psychology at Stockholm University, the study of more than 14,000 workers found lower rates of depression and fatigue (疲劳) in people after they got tired while they were still employed.

The scientists followed the employees of the French national gas and electric company for 14 years．They found in the year immediately after retirement, the volunteers reported 40% fewer depressive symptoms than they had in the year before their retirement．The researchers also found an 81% drop in reports of both mental and physical fatigue over the same time period.

Clearly, said Westerlund, much of these decrease in physical and mental fatigue can be traced back to relief from the stresses of work．The decline in depressive symptoms suggests that retirement may be having a positive mental effect, too, which may have a lot to do with the generous pensions (养老金) that French workers enjoy．Most retirees in that country still benefit from about 80% of their yearly salaries.

“The economic or financial situation in retirement is very important,” Westerlund says．“We don’t know if the decrease in fatigue and depressive symptoms is because of the removal of something bad while in work or the addition of something good while in retirement．But no matter the reason, if life in retirement is not comfortable, then we won’t see the improvements we did.”

However, in European nations like France, governments are considering changes to pension plans, which may affect retirees’ health after they leave their jobs－with less of a financial safety net, workers may no longer seem so mentally and physically happy to be out of work．   

(Note: Answer the questions or complete the statements in NO MORE THAN EIGHT WORDS.)

According to some recent studies, retired people may have depression and higher rates of other diseases like __________.

Westerlund’s group found that in the year just after the retirement most retired French workers felt much less tired both __________.

What does the word “improvements” in paragraph 5 refer to?

Retirement may make people happier with __________.

American researchers found females are the more talkative sex because of a special “language protein(蛋白质)” in the brain.

??? The study, conducted by neuroscientists (神经学家)and psychologist from the University of Maryland, concluded that women talked more because they had more of the Foxp2 protein. The research, published in the Journal of Neuroscience, found that higher levels were found among humans that were women but in rats that were males. Their findings came after it was previously claimed that ladies speak about 20,000 words a day – over 13,000 more than men. “This study is one of the first to report a sex difference in the expression of a language-associated protein in humans or animals,” said Prof Margaret McCarthy, who led the study. In their study, the researchers attempted to determine what might make male rats more vocal than their female friends.

They separated four-day-old rats from their mothers and then counted the number of times they cried out in the “ultrasonic range”, the frequencies higher than humans can hear, over five minutes. While both sexes called out hundreds of cries, the males called out twice as often, they found. But when the pups were returned to their mother’s cage, she fussed over her sons first. Tests conducted on the parts of the brain known to be associated with vocalcalls showed the male pups have up to twice as much Foxp2 protein as the females. The researchers then increased the production in the brains of female pups and reduced it in males. This led to the female rats crying out more often and their mothers showing more interest to them. In contrast, males became less “talkative”.

??? The researchers then tested samples from ten children, aged between three and five, which showed that females had up to 30 per cent more of the Foxp2 protein than males, in a brain area key to language in humans.

??? “Based on our observations, we assume higher levels of Foxp2 in girls and higher levels of Foxp2 in male rats is an indication that Foxp2 protein levels are associated with the more communicative sex,” said Prof McCarthy. “Our results imply Foxp2 as a component of the neurobiological basis of sex differences in vocal communication in mammals. “

1.From the second paragraph, we can learn that ________.

A. women always speak more words than men

B. men and male rats have low levels of language protein

C. women and male rats have similar levels of Foxp2

D. McCarthy isn’t the first to find females more talkative

2.The underlined phrase “fussed over” in the third paragraph probably means______.

A. paid attention to????????????? ????????????? B. related to????????????? ????????????? C. put pressure on????????????? ????????????? D. counted on

3.The researchers carried out the experiments on rats in order to _______.

A. test which part of the brain is key to language in rats and humans

B. prove the levels of Foxp2 protein in humans and rats are different

C. determine the reason why female rats are more talkative than male rats

D. discover the association between Foxp2 protein and vocal communication

4.Which of the following can be the best title for the passage ?

A. Tests on humans and rats ????????????? ??? ????????????? ?????????????

B. Why women are the talkative sex

C. Sex differences in Foxp2 protein????????????? ????????????? ?????????????

D. Foxp2 protein determines oral ability

Recently, tests have proved that Beethoven died from lead（铅）poisoning. Bill Walsh directed the Beethoven Research Project. Mr Walsh and his team examined pieces of bone belonging to Beethoven. They found a large amount of lead in the bone pieces. They said the lead levels were equal to those found in pieces of his hair in earlier studies of other scientists.

Genetic tests proved the bone pieces and hair came from Beethoven. The researchers also examined bone fragments（碎片 from someone else who lived during the same period. Both were from the top of the skull. The fragments from Beethoven had more lead than those from the other person. Their study didn’t find measurable levels of cadmium (镉) or mercury (汞), which scientists used to consider were the causes of his health problems.

  Beethoven was sick for much of his life. He experienced strong stomach pains, a sign of lead poisoning, and a change of personality when he was around 20. He also got angry easily, and suffered from depression and hearing loss. His health problems became worse as Beethoven grew older.

  Walsh said the lead levels found in Beethoven’s skull（颅骨） suggested the metal might have been present in his body for many years. He said although there had been recognized cases of deafness caused by lead poisoning, there was no strong evidence to suggest that lead poisoning was the cause of Beethoven’s deafness.

  Ludwig van Beethoven visited many doctors to find a cure for his health problems. In a letter he wrote to a friend, he asked researchers to examine his body after he died so that other people would not have to suffer as he did.

During the research, Walsh and his team didn’t ______.

A. examine the bone pieces of Beethoven

B. examine the bone pieces of another person

C. examine the lead levels of Beethoven’s hair

D. measure the cadmium or mercury in Beethoven’s bones

From the passage, we can learn that ___________.

A. this is the first research into the cause of Beethoven’s death

B. any amount of lead will do great harm to people’s health

C. more lead was found in Beethoven’s bones than in his hair

D. scientists used to think that Beethoven’s death was caused by other metals instead of lead

In which section（版）of the newspaper might you read this report?

A. Health.          B. Technology          C. Entertainment.           D. Culture.

What is the best title of the passage?

A. A surprising discovery about Beethoven.

B. Beethoven died from lead poisoning.

C. Lead — a killer metal for human beings.

D. New examination of Beethoven’s body.

An Ofsted (英国教育标准办公室）study reports that teachers are discouraging students who want to leave school and work as apprentices (学徒）in beauty salons (美容中心）or hair dressers.

　　Inspectors questioned 105 young people for a report on apprenticeships published on Wednesday. They found several examples of young people who felt they had been laughed at by their teachers for wanting to progress to work-based learning, particularly in care or hairdressing, rather than stay on at school.

　　Right or wrong, is it any surprise that this is happening? From 2014，the government will measure schools according to the rate of their pupils who go to university. Brian Lightman , general secretary of the Association of School and College Leaders, says the government has already put teachers under “very great pressure to focus on academic subjects”

　　On the other hand, the Education Act 2011，which came into force in November, places schools under a duty to give fair career advice to pupils. This advice must include information on all post-16 education and training choices, including apprenticeships. This doesn’t appear to be happening in several schools, according to Ofsted9S report. Many of the young people the inspectors talked to said the advice they had received on apprenticeships was “unsatisfactory”.

　　Schools were also blamed for lack of work experience courses, which are particularly important for teenagers considering an apprenticeship. They help students decide whether they enjoy a line of work and enable employers to see whether those on work experience have the potential to be hired as apprentices in future years.

　　But there is a good reason why they can’t do this: they’d be unable to adapt to GCSE (英 国齊通中等教育证书）exams if they did. Sometimes, it seems, schools just can’t win.

1.Why do teachers oppose the students’ leaving school and working as apprentices?

A. The government urges teachers to concentrate on academic subjects.

B. The students are only wasting time working as apprentices.

C. Employers are under great pressure of taking GCSE exams.

D. Employers don’t give students chances to work as apprentices

2.Pressure for schools to provide pupils with career advice comes from ______. 

A. Association of School and College Leaders

B. Education Act 2011

C. GCSE exams

D. OFSTED

3.The underlined word “They” in Paragraph 5 refers to _____.

A. schools

B. employers    

C. work experience courses

D. teenagers considering an apprenticeship

4.What does the author think of teachers’ discouraging students working as apprentices?

A. Surprising               B. Understandable

C. Wrong           D. Right

 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.

1.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.

2.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.

3.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.

4.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

5.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?