Some people are lucky enough to be born with a good sense of direction and even if they have only visited a place once, they will be able to find it again years later.
　　I am one of those unlucky people who have poor sense of direction and I may have visited a place time after time but I still get lost on my way there. When I was young I was so shy that I never dared ask complete strangers the way and so I used to wander round in circles and hope that by some chance I would get to the place I was heading for.
　　I am no longer too shy to ask people for direction, but I often receive replies that puzzle me. Often people do not like to admit（承认）that they didn’t know their hometown and will insist on telling you the way, even if they do not know it; others, who are anxious to prove that they know their hometown very well, will give you a long list of directions which you can not possibly hope to remember, and still others do not seem to be able to tell between their left and their right and you find in the end that you are going in the opposite（相反的）direction to that in which you should be going.
　　If anyone ever asks me the way to somewhere, I always tell them I am a stranger to the town in order to avoid giving them wrong direction but even this can have embarrassing results.
　　Once I was on my way to work when I was stopped by a man who asked me if I would direct him the way to the Sunlight Building. I gave my usual reply, but I had not walked on a few steps when I realized that he had asked for directions to my office building. However, at this point, I decide it was too late to turn back and search for him out of the crowd behind me as I was going to meet with someone at the office and I did not want to keep him waiting.
　　Imagine my embarrassment when my secretary showed in the very man who had asked for directions of my office and his astonishment when he recognized me as the person he had asked.
【小题1】What is the writer going to do when someone asks him for direction?
　  

A．He will direct the right way to the person willingly.

B．He will reply to it by the means of being a stranger to the town.

C．He will give the very person long list of direction.

D．He is going to show the man an opposite direction.

【小题2】Why did the writer consider himself to be an unlucky dog?

A．Because of his poor sense of direction.

B．Because he always forget the way to home.

C．Because he did not have any friend.

D． Because he used to be shy and dared not ask others the way.

【小题3】How did the visitor feel when he was showed into the very room?

A．He felt strange.	B．He felt embarrassed.
C．He felt very sad.	D．He felt astonished.

【小题4】Who showed the right way to the interviewee according to the passage?

A．Someone we don’t know.

B．The writer did it for himself.

C．The secretary did so.

D．A warm-hearted old lady did itI.

ALBANY，New York—Students who rely on working at night to improve their

grades might want to sleep on that strategy: A new survey in the US says those who never study all night have slightly higher grades than those who do.

A survey of 120 students at St.Lawrence University found that students who had never pulled an all­nighter on average had higher grades than those who had. The survey found those who did not study through the night had a grade point average of 3.2 compared to 2.95 for those who did.

The study, by assistant professor of psychology Pamela Thacher, is to be included in the January issue of Behavioral Sleep Medicine.

“It's not a big difference，but it's pretty striking, ” Thacher said, “I am primarily a sleep researcher and I know nobody thinks clearly at 4∶00 in the morning. You think you can do，but you can't.”

Many college students, of course, have inadequate or irregular sleep, for reasons ranging from excessive caffeine to poor time management.

“A lot of students were under the impression that all­nighters were a very useful tool for accomplishing work, and that caffeine intake was very useful in meeting deadlines and stuff like that, ”said Mr Chatani, who had a 3.4 grade point average last term.

Dr Howard Weiss, a physician at St.Peter's Sleep Center in Albany, said the study results made sense.

“Certainly that data is out there showing that short sleep duration absolutely interferes with concentration and performance on objective testing, ”he said.

“Some night owls do get good grades, of course，which may be explained by circadian (昼夜节律的，生理节奏的) rhythms, ”Weiss said, “Some people have different 24­hour body clocks from others, and may do better depending on classes and testing time.”

63.The purpose of the passage is to tell us 　　　　

A. the bad effects of pulling an all­nighter

B. pulling an all­nighter leads to sleep problems

C. Thacher's doubt about all­nighters

D. all­nighters influence students' grades

64. According to Thacher's study，around 4 o'clock in the morning is a time when 　　　　.

A. one can think more clearly

B. one has his/her best memory

C. one can't learn efficiently

D. one's brain falls into a period of deep sleep

65.What can we know from Dr Howard Weiss' words？

A. Thacher's study is not convincing enough.

B. He believes in Thacher's study.

C. Thacher's study makes no sense.

D. Thacher should take exceptions into consideration.

 

A 70-year study of personality suggests that pessimism is a risk factor for early death, especially among men.
　　The study results also indicate that pessimism can be linked to increased risk for sudden death from accidents or violence, according to the report published in the March issue of Psychological Science.
　　Christopher Peterson of the University of Michigan and his colleagues analyzed data from the Terman Life-Cycle Study, which began by studying California public-school children with high IQs in 1921 and followed them through their life. Most of the 1,528 children were teenagers when the study began. Those still living are now in their 80s. In 1936 and 1940, participants were asked to complete a questionnaire designed to obtain information about difficult life events and their effect on overall outlook. One such question was, “What do you regard as your most serious fault of personality or character?”
　　Pessimists were defined as fatalistic(宿命论的)people who tend to blame themselves when things go wrong and who believe that one bad event can ruin the rest of their life. They also tend to expect bad things to happen to them and feel that they have little or no ability to change their situation.
　　Males were more likely than females to be classified as pessimistic. Compared with individuals with a more cheerful and optimistic outlook, pessimists were more likely to die from accidents and violence (including suicide).
　　A pessimistic personality may lead to poor problem-solving ability, social difficulties and risky decision-making. Taken together, these variables put the pessimist at higher risk of untimely(不适时的) death, say the researchers. Such a person is less likely to avoid or escape potentially dangerous situations, the researchers concluded. “A pessimistic way of thinking in which people worry too much about bad events, predicts untimely death decades later,” according to Peterson.
【小题1】According to the passage, you may be a pessimistic person, if one failure makes you feel________.

A．other people have been unfair to you.

B．other people will help you.

C．you cannot change a bad situation.

D．you can do better next time.

【小题2】According to the passage, pessimists may feel all of the following EXCEPT________

A．helpless when faced with difficulties.

B．cheerful when faced with troubles.

C．hopeless when one bad event occurs.

D．guilty when things go wrong.

【小题3】Which of the following statements is true, according to the passage?

A．Pessimists believe that everything in life depends on fate.

B．There are more pessimists among women than among men.

C．Most pessimists will end up committing suicide.

D．All pessimists will eventually die from accidents.

【小题4】The Terman Life-Cycle Study is a research program that studies________.

A．people over 70 years old.

B．people since their childhood.

C．pessimistic people over 80 years old.

D．only younger people.

【小题5】The analysis made by Christopher Peterson and his colleagues shows that pessimistic people________

A．will die from violence if they learn to be optimistic.

B．will more likely die from violence than optimistic people.

C．will die from violence because their IQs are low.

D．will die untimely if they are not able to learn to be cheerful and optimistic.