I had an experience some years ago, which taught me something about the ways in which people make a bad situation worse by blaming themselves．One January, I had to hold two funerals on successive days for two elderly women in my community．Both had died “full of years”, as the Bible would say．Their homes happened to be near each other, so I paid condolence （吊唁） calls on the two families on the same afternoon.

At the first home, the son of the deceased （已故的） woman said to me, “If only I had sent my mother to Florida and gotten her out of this cold and snow, she would be alive today．It’s my fault that she died.” At the second home, the son of the other deceased woman said, “If only I hadn’t insisted on my mother’s going to Florida, she would be alive today．That long airplane ride, the sudden change of climate, was more than she could take．It’s my fault that she’s dead.”

You see that any time there is a death, the survivors will feel guilty．Because the course of action they took turned out badly, they believe that the opposite course — keeping Mother at home, putting off the operation — would have turned out better．After all, how could it have turned out any worse?

There seem to be two elements involved in our willingness to feel guilty．The first is our pressing need to believe that the world makes sense, that there is a cause for every effect and a reason for everything that happens．That leads us to find patterns and connections both where they really exist and where they exist only in our minds.

The second element is the view that we are the cause of what happens, especially the bad things that happen．It seems to be a short step from believing that every event has a cause to believing that every disaster is our fault．The roots of this feeling may lie in our childhood.

A baby comes to think that the world exists to meet his needs, and that he makes everything happen in it．He wakes up in the morning and summons the rest of the world to its tasks．He cries, and someone comes to attend to him．When he is hungry, people feed him, and when he is wet, people change him．Very often, we do not completely outgrow that childish view that our wishes cause things to happen.

1.The author had to hold the two women’s funerals probably because __________________.

A．he wanted to comfort the two families

B．he was an official from the community

C．he had great pity for the deceased

D．he was priest of the local church

2.People feel guilty for the deaths of their loved ones because _______________________.

A．they couldn’t find a better way to express their sorrow

B．they believe that they were responsible

C．they had neglected the natural course of events

D．they didn’t know things often turn out in the opposite direction

3.According to the passage, the underlined part in paragraph 4 probably means that ______.

A．everything in the world is predetermined

B．the world can be interpreted in different ways

C．there’s an explanation for everything in the world

D．we have to be sensible in order to understand the world

4.What’s the main idea of the passage?

A．Life and death is an unsolved mystery.

B．Every story should have a happy ending.

C．Never feel guilty all the time because not every disaster is our fault.

D．In general, the survivors will feel guilty about the people who passed away .

 

Even as Americans have been gaining weight, they have cut their average fat intake from 36 to 34 percent of their total diets in the past 15 years.  And indeed,  cutting fat  to control or lose weight makes sense. Fat has nine calories per gram. Protein and carbohydrates（碳水化合物） have just four. Moreover, the body uses fewer calories to metabolize fat than it does to metabolize other foods. Compared with protein and carbohydrates — which break down into amino acids and simple sugars, respectively, and can be used to strengthen and energize the body —— dietary fat is more easily converted to body fat. Therefore, it’s more likely to stay on buttocks, thighs and bellies.? 

But cutting fat from your diet doesn’t necessarily mean your body won’t store fat. For example, between nonfat and regular cookies, there’s trivial difference in calories because manufacturers make up for the loss of fat by adding sugar. Low-fat crackers, soups and dressings can also be just as high in calories as richer versions. No matter where the calories come from, overeating will still cause weight again. The calories from fat just do it a little quicker. A Wisconsin computer programmer who decided with a diet coach to eat only 40 grams of fat a day learned the lesson firsthand. He wasn’t losing weight. Then he showed his food diary to his coach and revealed he’d been eating half a pound of jelly beans a day. “They don’t have any fat,” he explains. But they had enough sugar to keep him from shedding an ounce. ? 

Nonfat foods become add-on foods. When we add them to our diet, we actually increase the number of calories we eat per day and gain weight. That was borne out in a Pennsylvania State University study. For breakfast, Prof. Barbara Rolls gave two groups of women yogurt（酵母乳） that contained exactly the same amount of calories. One group’s yogurt label said “high fat”—the other, “low fat.” The “low fat” yogurt group ate significantly more calories later in the day than the other group. “People think they’ve saved fat and can indulge themselves later in the day with no adverse consequences,” says Richard Mattes, a nutrition researcher at Purdue University. “But when they do that, they don’t compensate very precisely, and they often end up overdoing it.”

What lessons did the computer programme learn ?

A. Overeating will cause weight gain

B. He can eat half a pound of jellybeans a day

C. He can’t didn’t eat any fat

D. His coach gave him a lecture

Prof. Barbara’s ecperiement proved that _______________.

A. two groups ate the same amount of calories

B. two groups ate the same wmount of yogurt

C. the “ low fat” yogurt group ate more calories later in the day than the other group

D. people increase the number of calories they eat per day and gain group

According to the author ,________has less calories.

A. fat                      

B. protein and carbohydrates

C. low-fat soups             

D. sugar

What can you infer from the text ?

A. To keep from being overweight, people have to eat nofat food

B. The calories from fat just do it a little quicker than from protein and carbohydrates

C. People should avoid temptation

D. Americans realize that it is necessary to count calories before eating the food

A new research has uncovered that culture is a determining factor when interpreting facial emotions．The study reveals that in cultures where emotional control is the standard，such as Japan，focus is placed on the eyes to interpret emotions．Whereas in cultures where emotion is openly expressed，such as the United States，the focus is on the mouth to interpret emotion．

“These findings go against the popular theory that the facial expressions of basic emotions can be universally recognized，”said University of Alberta researcher Dr．Takahiko Masuda．“A person's culture plays a very strong role in determining how they will read emotions and needs to be considered when interpreting facial expression．"

These cultural differences are even noticeable in computer emoticons (情感符号)，which are used to convey a writer’s emotions over email and text messaging．The Japanese emoticons for happiness and sadness vary in terms of how the eyes are drawn，while American emoticons vary with the direction of the mouth．In the United States the emoticons ：) and ：--) show a happy face，whereas the emoticons ：(  or ：--( show a sad face．However，Japanese tend to use the symbol (＾-＾) to indicate a happy face，and ( ；_；) to indicate a sad face．

“We think it is quite interesting and appropriate that a culture tends to mask its emotions． The Japanese would focus on a person's eyes when determining emotion，as eyes tend to be quite subtle (微妙的)，”said Masuda．“In the United States, where open emotion is quite common，it makes sense to focus on the mouth, which is the most expressive feature on a person's face．”

60．The text mainly tells us that______．

A. cultural differences are expressed in emotions

B. culture is the key to interpreting facial emotions

C. different emoticons are preferred in different cultures，

D．people from different cultures express emotions differently

61．If a Japanese wants to detect whether a smile is, true or false，he will probably______．

A. read the whole face                    B. focus on the mouth

C. look into the eyes                        D. judge by the voice

62．People used to believe that___________．

A．some facial expressions of emotions were too complex to be recognized

B．people in the world interpreted basic emotions in different ways

C．people could only recognize the facial expressions of basic emotions；

D．people all’ over the world understood basic emotions in the same way

63．The computer emoticons used by the Americans show that_____________．

A．they express their feelings openly

B．they tend to control their emotions

C．they are good at conveying their emotions

D．they use simpler emoticons to show their feelings

 

When you finished a piece of writing, check that       that the tenses are consistent and the

spelling is correct.

A, they are making senses                         B, it makes sense    

C, it makes senses                                D, they make sense

 

Want to be a volunteer for Beijing Olympics in 2008? Recently, the recruiting started.

The recruiting of Beijing Olympics Volunteer starts from Aug 28, 2006 to end of March 2008.

Stage 1: Beijing Volunteers

From August 28, 2006, the program opens to applicants in Beijing (and Beijing only).

Stage 2: China Volunteers

From Dec, 2006, people from outside Beijing can submit their application.

Stage 3: Overseas Volunteers

By March 2007, people from outside China (including in other countries) can apply for volunteering in Olympics 2008.

The Program

Travel, hotel are not provided. Only working meal is available for volunteers (makes sense, isn't it?)

If you have any questions, just call Olympics Volunteer hotline: +86-10-12308

According to news, 100k college students have applied for the position after three days of recruiting. 50,000 to 100,000 volunteers are needed for the game.

If you want to participate, just call the number and ask more questions about the program. However, my guess is, to be admitted to the program is not easy.

Who has the most time to apply for volunteering in Olympics 2008 ?

A. Liling from Beijing        B. Wangbing from Tianjin .

C. Jane from Australia        D. Dongdong from Yunnan.

Being a volunteer in Olympics 2008 , you can enjoy free ________ service.

  A. food  B. taxi  C. hotel  D. ticket

Why does the author think it is not easy to be admitted to the program?

  A. Because too many people want to watch the game live.

  B. Because the volunteers can have good free meals every day.

  C. Because the volunteers can watch the game without buying a ticket.

  D. Because more and more people care for the Olympics .