Sam lived in a small village. His mother was often ill and he had to spend much money on medicine. And when he was twenty-eight, he borrowed some money from his friends and married. His wife was beautiful but came from a poor family. So she could not help him. She had to tell her husband to find work in the town. She hoped he would get much money to pay for his debt(债). They young man thought she was right and had to say goodbye to her and left.

The young man could neither read nor write. Of course nobody would employ (雇用) such a man like him in the town. He had to go to an island and planted trees for a farmer there. The island was small and there were only three men on it. They lived a hard life and Sam missed his mother and wife very much. He wanted to write to them, but he couldn’t. Luckily, Charlie, who was in school for five years, helped him. Sam asked the farmer to post the letter for him. From then on he waited for the answer every day. About two months later the farmer brought his wife’s letter to the island. He was very happy but he didn’t read it. He had to ask Charlie to help him again.

The farmer came out of the house and found Sam was stopping Charlie’s ears while he was listening to the young man reading it. It surprised the farmer and he asked, “What are you doing it for, Sam?”

“I can’t let him hear my wife’s letter!”

1.Sam’s wife was a _____________ woman.

A. nice and rich????? ????????????? ????????????? B. beautiful but poor??? ????????????? C. kind and strong

2.Sam had to go to the town to find work because _________.

A. the town was a good place????????????? B. he could read and write??? C. he had to pay for his debt

3.The life on the island was ______________.

A. difficult??????????? ????????????? B. easy?????????????? ????????????? C. relaxing

4.Who posted the letter for Sam?

A. Charlie.???????????? ????????????? B. The farmer.??????? ????????????? ????????????? C. Sam himself.

5.From the story we know Sam was a ___________.

A. rude man???????? ????????????? ????????????? B. kind and hard-working man?????? C. cruel husband

"Earworms", some people call them. Songs that get stuck in your head go round and round, sometimes for days, sometimes for months. For no clear reason you cannot help yourself from humming or singing a tune by Lady Gaga.

To a psychologist, the most interesting thing about earworms is that they show a part of our mind that is clearly outside of our control. Earworms arrive without permission and refuse to leave when we tell them to. They are parasites (寄生虫) living in a part of our minds.

If you have got an earworm you can suffer an attack of it simply by someone mentioning the tune, without having to hear it. This proves that earworms are a part of long-term memory. Humans have an "inner ear", for remembering phone numbers, for instance. When it gets infected with earworms, rather than review our plans for the day, or lists of things to remember, the inner ear gets stuck on a few short bars of music or a couple of phrases from a song. A part of us that we normally do not have to think about, that should just do what we ask, has been turned against us, upsetting us with a request that we never asked for. The mind is an inner world which we do not have complete knowledge of, or have control over.

Fortunately psychology can provide some advice on how to deal with an uncontrollable mind. Consider the famous "don’t think of a white bear" problem, which tells you to try not to think about white bears, or to do something else, to avoid both thinking of the white bear and not thinking of the white bear. For earworms, the solution may be the same. Our inner ear has become infected with an earworm. This is a part not under our control, so just sending in instructions to "shut up" is unlikely to be of much help (and has been shown to make it worse). Much better is to employ the inner ear in another task. If your mind is poisoned by Brittany Spears’ Toxic, for instance, then try singing Kylie Minogue’s Can’t Get You out Of My Head. Let me know if it works!

1.According to the passage, earworms are ______.

A．songs that keep going round in our mind

B．worms that live in a part of our brain

C．tunes by pop singers like Lady Gaga

D．parasites clearly under our control

2.Which of the following statements is TRUE?

A．Singing songs may get earworms out of your head.

B．Earworms are used for keeping long-term memory.

C．Humans do not have complete control over their mind.

D．You won’t suffer from earworms unless you hear the song.

3.What does “it” in the last paragraph refer to?

A．The instruction to shut up your mind.

B．“Don’t think of the white bear” problem.

C．Kylie Minogue’s Can’t Get You out Of My Head.

D．Using the earworm-infected inner ear in another task.

4.What is the passage mainly about?

A．The causes and influences of earworms.

B．What earworms are and how to deal with them.

C．How to clear earworms out of your head.

D．The relation between earworms and popular songs.

"Earworms", some people call them. Songs that get stuck in your head go round and round, sometimes for days, sometimes for months. For no clear reason you cannot help yourself from humming or singing a tune by Lady Gaga.
To a psychologist, the most interesting thing about earworms is that they show a part of our mind that is clearly outside of our control. Earworms arrive without permission and refuse to leave when we tell them to. They are parasites (寄生虫) living in a part of our minds.
If you have got an earworm you can suffer an attack of it simply by someone mentioning the tune, without having to hear it. This proves that earworms are a part of long-term memory. Humans have an "inner ear", for remembering phone numbers, for instance. When it gets infected with earworms, rather than review our plans for the day, or lists of things to remember, the inner ear gets stuck on a few short bars of music or a couple of phrases from a song. A part of us that we normally do not have to think about, that should just do what we ask, has been turned against us, upsetting us with a request that we never asked for. The mind is an inner world which we do not have complete knowledge of, or have control over.
Fortunately psychology can provide some advice on how to deal with an uncontrollable mind. Consider the famous "don’t think of a white bear" problem, which tells you to try not to think about white bears, or to do something else, to avoid both thinking of the white bear and not thinking of the white bear. For earworms, the solution may be the same. Our inner ear has become infected with an earworm. This is a part not under our control, so just sending in instructions to "shut up" is unlikely to be of much help (and has been shown to make it worse). Much better is to employ the inner ear in another task. If your mind is poisoned by Brittany Spears’ Toxic, for instance, then try singing Kylie Minogue’s Can’t Get You out Of My Head. Let me know if it works!
【小题1】According to the passage, earworms are ______.