Daniel, you really should cut down on sweets. You ______ fatter every time we meet.

A．are getting        B．will get            C．have got          D．get

In meditation(冥想) ，people sit quietly and focus their attention on their breath. As they breathe in and out, they attend to their feelings. As thoughts go through their minds. they let them go. Breathe. Let go. Breathe. Let go.

According to a recent study at the Insight Meditation Society in Barre, Massachusetts, three months of training in this kind of meditation causes a market change in how the brain allocates(分配) attention. It appears that the ability to let go thoughts that come into mind frees the brain to attend to more rapidly changing things and events in the outside world. Expert mediators are better than other people at catching such fast-changing stimuli(刺激), like facial expressions.

The study provides evidence for changes in the workings of the brain with mental training. People can learn and improve abilities of all sorts with practice. everything from driving to playing the piano. The study has shown that meditation is good for the brain, It appears to reduce pressure and promote a sense of well-being.

In an experiment, 17 volunteers with no meditation experience in the experimental group spent three months meditating 10 to 12 hours a day. A control group also with no meditation experience meditated for 20 minutes a day over the same period. Both groups were then given the tests with two numbers in a group of letters. As both group looked for the numbers, their brain activity was recorded.

Everyone could catch the first number. But the brain recordings showed that the less experienced mediators tended to grasp the first number and hang onto it, so they missed the second number. Those with more experience gave less attention to the first number. as if letting it go, which led to an increased ability to grasp the second number, This shows that attention can change with practice.

Just ask Daniel Levision, who meditated for three months as part of the study.” I am a much better listener,” he said. “I do not get lost in my own personal reaction to what people are saying.”

48. The underlined word “them” in Paragraph 1 refers to ________.

A. feelings               B. minds               C. people                    D. thoughts

49. Meditations manage their daily tasks better because they ________.

A. are given less pressure                     B. allocate their attention better

C. have more stimuli for life                 D. practice them more frequently

50. In the experiment, volunteers doing meditation for longer hours ________.

A. were more likely to catch both of the members

B. were used to memorizing numbers in groups

C. usually ignored the first number observed

D. paid more attention to numbers than to letters

51. The study proves that ________.

A. meditation improves one’s health

B. brain activity can be recorded

C. human attention can be trained

D. mediators have a good sense of hearing

完形填空（共20小题；每小题1分，满分20分）

阅读下面短文，从短文后各题所给的A、B、C、D四个选项中，选出最佳选项。  

Introduction to Letters to Sam

Dear Reader,

Please allow me to tell you something before you read this book. When my  36  ,Sam, was born, my heart was filled with joy. I had been sitting in a wheelchair for 20 years before then, and I have been  37  ill many times. So I wondered if I would have the  38  to tell Sam what I had  39  .

For years I have been hosting a program on the  40  and writing articles for a magazine. Being  41  to move freely, I have learned to sit still and keep my heart  42  , exchanging thoughts with thousands of listeners and   43  . So when Sam was born, I  44  to tell him about school and friendship, Romance and work, Love and everything else. That’s how I started to write these  45  . I hoped that Sam would  46  them sooner or later.

However, that expectation  47  when Sam showed signs of autism(自闭症)at the age of two. He had actually stopped talking before the discovery of the signs. He  48  to communicate with others, even the family members. That was  49   for me but didn’t stop me writing on. I realized that I had even  50  now to tell him. I wanted him to  51  what it means to be “different” from others, and learn how to fight against the misfortune he’ll  52   as I myself, his grandfather, did. I just  53   if I could write all that I wanted to say in the rest of my life.

Now,  54  the book has been published, I have been given the chance. Every chapter in the book is a letter to Sam: some about my life, and all about what it means to be a   55  .   

Daniel Gottlieb

1. A. son            B. nephew      C. brother     D. grandson

2. A. seriously    B. mentally      C. slightly     D. quietly

3. A. ability      B. time          C. courage     D. responsibility

4.A. written         B. suffered      C. observed    D. lost

5. A. radio      B. television      C. stage       D. bed

6.A. ready       B. unable     C. anxious    D. eager

7.A. warm        B. broken     C. closed        D. open

8. A. hosts      B. visitors        C. readers     D. reporters

9.A. began       B. stopped      C. forgot      D. decided

10.A. letters        B. emails      C. books      D. diaries

11. A. find          B. read            C. collect      D. keep

12.A. developed   B. disappeared   C. changed     D. arrived

13. A. tried    B. refused         C. regretted     D. hoped

14. A. exciting      B. acceptable      C. strange     D. heartbreaking

15. A. less          B. everything      C. more      D. nothing

16. A. understand   B. explain      C. believe     D. question

17. A. fear     B. face            C. know      D. cause

18. A. felt          B. guessed     C. saw       D. doubted

19. A. as            B. once            C. though     D. if

20. A. teacher       B. child      C. man       D. writer

 (10·重庆)

Introduction to Letters to Sam

Dear Reader,

     Please allow me to tell you something before you read this book. When my   36 , Sam, was born, my heart was filled with joy. I had been sitting in a wheelchair for 20 years before then, and I have been  37  ill many times. So I wondered if I would have the  38  to tell Sam what I had  39  .

     For years I have been hosting a program on the  40  and writing articles for a magazine.  Being  41 to move freely, I have learned to sit still and keep my heart  42 , exchanging thoughts with thousands of listeners and  43  . So when Sam was born, I  44  to tell him about school and fridship, romance and work, love and everything else. That’s how I started to write these  45 . I hope that Sam would  46  them sooner or later.

     However, that expectation  47  when Sam showed signs of autism (自闭症) at the age of two. He had actually stopped talking before the discovery of the signs. He  48  to communicate with others, even the family members. That was  49  for me but didn’t stop me writing on. I realized that I had even   50  now to tell him. I wanted him to  51  what it means to be “different” from others, and learn how to fight against the misfortune he’ll  52  as I myself, his grandfather, did. I just  53  if I could write all that I wanted to say in the rest of my life.

     Now,   54  the book has been published, I have been given the chance. Every chapter in the book is a letter to Sam: some about my life, and all about what it means to be a   55  .

                                                                  Daniel Gottlieb

36. A. son                     B. nephew                     C. brother                     D. grandson

37. A. seriously              B. mentally                    C. slightly                     D. quietly

38. A. ability                  B. time                          C. courage                    D. responsibility

39. A. written                B. suffered                    C. observed                   D. lost

40. A. radio                   B. television                   C. stage                        D. bed

41. A. ready                  B. unable                       C. anxious                     D. eager

42. A. warm                  B. broken                      C. closed                      D. open

43. A. hosts                   B. visitors                     C. readers                     D. reporters

44. A. began                  B. stopped                     C. forgot                       D. decided

45. A. letters                  B. emails                       C. books                       D. diaries

46. A. find                     B. read                          C. collect                      D. keep

47. A. developed            B. disappeared               C. changed                    D. arrived

48. A. tried                    B. refused                     C. regretted                   D. hoped

49. A. exciting               B. acceptable                 C. strange                     D. heartbreaking

50. A. less                     B. everything                 C. more                        D. nothing

51. A. understand           B. explain                      C. believe                      D. question

52. A. fear                     B. face                          C. know                       D. cause

53. A. felt                      B. guessed                    C. saw                          D. doubted

54. A. as                       B. once                         C. though                      D. if

55. A. teacher                B. child                         C. man                         D. writer

 Daniel's family      their holiday in Huangshan this time next week.

     A. are enjoying                          B. are to enjoy

     C. will enjoy                              D. will be enjoying